GPS and God

I bought a GPS when I first moved to Ohio. It was a great thing to have. It made it so that I could get anywhere and it always gave great directions. Lately though, it has stopped working. It can’t pick up a signal and when it does finally pick up a signal, it doesn’t always know when I have made a turn. It’s pretty much broken. It lasted for 8 months and now it doesn’t work. It’s not reliable and needless to say I am not buying another one like this.

I was thinking about my GPS and reading Scripture the other day. I came across Psalm 32:8 which states, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Isn’t it great to know that we can always go to God for directions and guidance? I know he won’t tell us how to get to Main Street, or to the interstate like a GPS, but he will give us directions for living our lives. He will help us make hard decisions, like where to go to school, what job to take, or what to do in a difficult situation. The GPS might not always work, a map might not always get us where we need to go, the advice of Oprah or of some other person might not always help us make the right decision, but I know that my God always will. He is reliable! He promises to guide us and teach us how to live. He promises to give us counsel and he promises keep his eyes upon us. My GPS is broken and I will have to buy a new one, but at least I know my God will never be broken and I can always depend on him!

Chocolate Cross

The cross is probably one of the most spotted symbols today. Crosses can be found in churches or on monuments. People wear crosses as jewelry. Singers and rap artists are often seen wearing huge crosses around their necks. You can also find crosses in the food section of Wal-Mart made of chocolate. That’s right! Chocolate crosses!

The other day I was walking through Wal-Mart with my wife and we went down the seasonal aisle in the food section. This is one of my favorite places to go when I visit Wal-Mart. This is the aisle where different things are sold for different holidays. With Easter around the corner, this aisle was full of the colors of spring, with Easter eggs and Easter Baskets and shockingly chocolate crosses! This really surprised me. I would never have thought that anyone would ever turn the cross into food. I think that when we start to see chocolate crosses, it’s time to question whether we know or even understand why the cross is important.

A cross 2,000 years ago was today’s equivalent of the electric chair and it was used to execute Jesus Christ. This is why we should display the cross today.

(Just think! If Jesus had died today, instead of hanging cross around our necks, we would be hanging an electric chairs around our necks instead)

But the fact is, we have beautified the cross into something that it’s not. No longer it is remembered as an instrument of death, but it is seen as a candy or a decoration. We must remember what the cross really was.  God used this tool of death, the cross, to sacrifice the perfect sacrifice for our sins. It is not an ornament, a decoration, or a candy, but the instrument in which God reconciled the world to himself. Through the cross, God poured out his wrath for our sins on his Holy Son. And through Jesus’ death, we can now have a relationship with God and have eternal life. We no longer have to face God’s wrath and punishment when we die, but rather was can now have Christ’s righteousness and his forgiveness.  Jesus died on the cross to free us from the bondage and punishment of sin. He died so that we could become like him. He our father, and us his Children.

I am not agaisnt the cross as jewelry or being seen in a church or anything like that.  I just think we need to remeber the cross for what it really was. It was a tool used to sacrifce Christ for us. Not this neat little delicious symbol with no meaning, but the insturment God used to save us from our sins and change our lives and the course of history forever.

Who was Jesus?

Recently in my youth ministry, we began a study called “A Journey to the Cross.” Easter is coming up, so I figured that it would only be fitting to  talk about the cross for the next couple of weeks. During this study, I plan on addressing several topics on Jesus’ death and resurrection. This week, we are talking about the identity of Jesus.  A lot of people know about Jesus. They know his story and they know the claims made by Christians that he was God, but they often don’t believe it. They simply say that he was a great teacher just like any other religious leader that ever lived. I wanted to address this issue with my students. I want them to know and understand that Jesus was really who he said he was. There is actual evidence out there to support our Christians beliefs.  There is tons of evidence out there to show that Jesus was really God. While researching for Sunday’s lesson, I came across several websites that give evidence for our Christian faith. Here are just a few of those websites that discuss the identity of Jesus and give evidence to support the Christian faith:

(Just so you know, Apologetics is a field of Christian theology that aims to present a rational basis for the Christian faith, defend the faith against objections, and expose the perceived flaws of other world views…. I mention this, because  The word “Apologetics” is used a couple of times in the list below)

Carm- Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry

www.carm.org

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry wants to help Christians be able to defend their faith. If you want to learn about your faith, get answers to tough question, and be able to defend the Faith that you already have, CARM is the place for you.

Dr. Gary Habermas

www.garyhabermas.com

Gary Habermas has dedicated his professional life to the examination of the relevant historical, philosophical, and theological issues surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus. Getting any of his books or reading any of his articles would be a major benefit to a person who is serious about understanding the evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Josh McDowell Ministries

www.josh.org

Some consider Josh Mcdowell to be the greatest apologist of all time. His book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, is a  Christian Classic and a must have for anyone that wants to fully understand the evidence that supports Christianity. Check out the “Is Jesus really God?” section on his website.

Lee Strobel

www.leestrobel.com/indexMain.php

Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel, the former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times best-selling author. Strobel has written many books like, “The Case for Christ.” His website has some great videos that are worth watching.  Click on the Video Channel when you visit his site.

Got Questions?

www.gotquestions.org

I use this site all time when preparing lessons and sermons in my ministry. This site will help answer any question that you might have concerning the Bible.

Answers in Genesis

www.answersingenesis.com

Answers in Genesis is an apologetics (ie, Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith. They specialize in the book of Genesis and creationism, but cover everything else too!

Don’t Worry! Pray!

I have not been to a doctor in years. Growing up, my parents did not have health insurance, so we never went to the doctor because we couldn’t afford it. My parents told us that we weren’t allowed to get sick, and strangely enough we never did. But now that I am grown up, and I do have health insurance, I decided that it was about time for me to visit the doctor.

A couple of weeks ago I had my first appointment, and the doctor said that he wanted me to have my blood drawn in order to find out if I had high cholesterol. So today I went back to the doctor’s office in order to have this done. Let me be honest, I was in fact very nervous and worried about having my blood taken. I have never had my blood drawn before. I once gave plasma during a time in college when I had no money and I didn’t enjoy that so I was not looking forward to this. I don’t know what it is, but there is something about giving blood that I don’t like. I guess the whole idea of someone stabbing me, pumping my blood into tubes or bags, and then running tests on it doesn’t seem right to me. So full of concern and worry, I went to the doctor office this morning, and to my surprise, everything went fine. They drew my blood and nothing went wrong. The nurse put the needle into my arm and about three minutes later it was over. It wasn’t extremely uncomfortable or painful and it turned out that there was no reason for my concern.

Whether it’s giving blood or something else, I think we all get anxious, nervous, and worried at times. Whenever I feel this way, I am reminded of great passage in scripture.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

– Philippians 4:6-7

Whenever I pray about something that makes me nervous or anxious, I always feel better. And when I have to finally face that something that made feel that way, I often find out that I had no reason to be concerned in the first place. God really will give us his peace if we simply pray and give our burdens and anxieties over to him.

Scary Puppies

My wife would love to have a puppy. I would not love to have a puppy. I will be honest with you, (Somebody once told me that is important to do that, or maybe I read that somewhere) I do have a slight fear of dogs and luckily for me, our landlord doesn’t allow for us to have any animals.

The other weekend my wife and I were asking ourselves what to do. We got online and found that there was an animal shelter nearby. Kate suggested that we go and check it out. I knew that my wife would enjoy it, so being a good husband, I agreed. Even though I fear those scary puppies, I know that the more that I am around dogs the easier it will be for me if we ever get one.

So we headed over to the pound or shelter (I don’t know what it is called). We got out of our car and went inside.  The first room that entered was the cat room. No problems here. Cats are quiet. They do smell, but at least they are quiet. For some reason, Kate doesn’t want a cat. A cat I could handle (Let me tell you that I don’t like cat’s either, they seem snobby).  But no! Kate wants a dog.  After being in the quiet, relaxed, cat room, we entered the next room, the dog room. As we walked in, this loud uproar of barking began. On all sides of me there were dogs, (yes they were in their cages) barking as loud as they could. Some were small, and others were huge. I only remember the huge ones. In my mind as this point, I was waiting for these dogs to break down the cages and eat me. Needless to say, I left this room rather immediately. I actually went up to one of the volunteers in another room and asked them if there was any way for the terrifying dogs to get out. And I definitely did use the word terrifying during this conversation. She looked at me like I was crazy and asked me why I was here if I was scared of dogs (She wasn’t very nice). I told her why. I came here for my wife. My wife likes animals so I am trying to like them too. The lady told me that I should volunteer and that this would help me over come my fear. I just nodded when she said that. There is no way I am going to volunteer to be around these killing machines.

As you can see, I have a fear of dogs. But Lets face it, We all have fears! Some fears are rational. Other fears may be irrational. For example, someone thinking that a bunch of dogs are going to break through their cages and attack a person. That might be irrational. Either way, we all have fears.

People in scripture had fears too. I am reminded of David facing Goliath. All the armies of Israel feared this giant man who came out to taunt them day and night for forty days, but not David. When David saw this giant, Goliath, he said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David knew that he could face this giant and kill him. He knew that he could do it. Not because he was anything exceptional, but because he had God on his side.

David and the armies of Israel had a Goliath-sized problem but David knew that they also had a God-sized solution. David knew that he could face any fear, any situation, any problem because God was with him. God gave him strength and made him strong. I am reminded of a verse. Romans 8:31 states, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Because David knew that God was for him and on his side, He easily faced this giant and killed him with a sling and a few stones.

We can face anything, just like David, when we realize that we have God who created the universe on our side. When we realize this and put it into perspective, it’s hard to fear anything. Someday, My wife and I will get a dog, and I will be okay and will probably survive (maybe). It might take some prayer, but I will have God on my side and he is for me. I know that I will be able to handle having a dog (a quiet small one).