Ok, so most of you who know me well know I LOVE Tim Hawkins! He is my favorite comedian! I love his parodies and his jokes about the south! He's ten times better than Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, or Jeff Dunham!
So for a very late Valentines Day gift, my hubby and I bought tickets to see him in Aiken, SC for May 22nd! I am sooo stoked!
For those who want a taste of Tim Hawkin's (family friendly and Christian clean) material. Go to www.timhawkins.net
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What Would You Do For Your Treasure?
For today's post, I feel like going back to my sermon notes in my Kindle from Ryan's lesson last night. God really used my husband's message to the youth to open my eyes last night.
The main passage he read from was Matthew 13:44-46:
The second question Ryan asked the youth was "What are we willing to give up to get that?" Simple enough, he explained that none of us in the room have every truly been asked to give up everything like the two men in the parable. We cannot comprehend the choice of being asked to give up everything like they did. Ryan then pointed out Romans 12: 1 -2:
You see, we ARE called to give up everthing. We are called to become living sacrifices. To give up our lives. To die in our sin, and be raise as a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is not we who live these lives now. It is Christ who lives in us. Our lives are not our own. It now belongs to Christ. A living sacrifice is what we english teachers call an oxymoron. That is, the words "living" and "sacrifice" should be contradictory. They are, indeed, opposites. For in the Old Testament, when something was sacrificed, it was killed. Death was the outcome of a sacrifice. Whether it was an animal or a crop offering. The crops were cut from their lifeforce, the roots.
Ryan ended the same way I ended my last post. As Christians, we are just like the two men in the parable above. We have found a treasure of great value - Christ. We should not only give up everything to get this treasure, we should tell everyone we know about the treasure we have found! If you were to wake up tomorrow and find out you have become a millionaire overnight, you wouldn't keep it quiet! You would want to scream and shout about it! I know I would. We are called in the Great Commission to go and tell! Baptise and make disciples!
The main passage he read from was Matthew 13:44-46:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!The first question Ryan asked was "What is the Kingdom of God?" On earth, it is the Body of Christ - the Church. We are God's Kingdom here on earth. When we are born again, we enter into this earthly Kingdom of God. In Eternity, the Kingdom of God is Heaven. Everything else will be destroyed. It is only those who enter into the Kingdom of God on Earth, that will join in with the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Jesus says “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). What he is saying is that may God's earthly kingdom (the church) reflect God's heavenly kingdom.
The second question Ryan asked the youth was "What are we willing to give up to get that?" Simple enough, he explained that none of us in the room have every truly been asked to give up everything like the two men in the parable. We cannot comprehend the choice of being asked to give up everything like they did. Ryan then pointed out Romans 12: 1 -2:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
You see, we ARE called to give up everthing. We are called to become living sacrifices. To give up our lives. To die in our sin, and be raise as a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is not we who live these lives now. It is Christ who lives in us. Our lives are not our own. It now belongs to Christ. A living sacrifice is what we english teachers call an oxymoron. That is, the words "living" and "sacrifice" should be contradictory. They are, indeed, opposites. For in the Old Testament, when something was sacrificed, it was killed. Death was the outcome of a sacrifice. Whether it was an animal or a crop offering. The crops were cut from their lifeforce, the roots.
Ryan ended the same way I ended my last post. As Christians, we are just like the two men in the parable above. We have found a treasure of great value - Christ. We should not only give up everything to get this treasure, we should tell everyone we know about the treasure we have found! If you were to wake up tomorrow and find out you have become a millionaire overnight, you wouldn't keep it quiet! You would want to scream and shout about it! I know I would. We are called in the Great Commission to go and tell! Baptise and make disciples!
What will you do with YOUR treasure?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Finding God's Purpose In The Storms
Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
I was sure by now, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
This song has been a great ministry to me of late. Its hard when you find out someone close to you is gone. Its even harder facing it each and every day. Especially when you do not know if that person is a Christian. Ryan's best friend from high school committed suicide three years ago today. He basically lived with Ryan and his friend Chris. They were like brothers. He was Ryan's best man in our wedding. Just a few weeks after we were married, he was gone. Ryan knew something was bothering him at the wedding, but we guess he was too into making it "our" day to bother Ryan with his troubles. Today is a hard day for Ryan and for me as well...
Over the holidays, another one of my classmates passed away in a wreck. That makes four while we were in school and about five since we graduated in 2002. It is really hard. I shudder to think about why I did not stand up then for my faith as boldly as I do now. I never even asked some of them about God. I am not proud of it. Ryan knows he shared Christ with Chad. Chad even took one of Ryan's old Bibles and read through it. He asked Ryan some questions about what he had read. Atleast Ryan has that. I'm ashamed that I do not.
I hope and pray that each of you do not have those regrets. Be bold in your faith. Share God's wonderful story! Pray for those you have shared it with constantly!
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms
I was sure by now, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away
Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
Chorus
This song has been a great ministry to me of late. Its hard when you find out someone close to you is gone. Its even harder facing it each and every day. Especially when you do not know if that person is a Christian. Ryan's best friend from high school committed suicide three years ago today. He basically lived with Ryan and his friend Chris. They were like brothers. He was Ryan's best man in our wedding. Just a few weeks after we were married, he was gone. Ryan knew something was bothering him at the wedding, but we guess he was too into making it "our" day to bother Ryan with his troubles. Today is a hard day for Ryan and for me as well...
Over the holidays, another one of my classmates passed away in a wreck. That makes four while we were in school and about five since we graduated in 2002. It is really hard. I shudder to think about why I did not stand up then for my faith as boldly as I do now. I never even asked some of them about God. I am not proud of it. Ryan knows he shared Christ with Chad. Chad even took one of Ryan's old Bibles and read through it. He asked Ryan some questions about what he had read. Atleast Ryan has that. I'm ashamed that I do not.
I hope and pray that each of you do not have those regrets. Be bold in your faith. Share God's wonderful story! Pray for those you have shared it with constantly!
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