The Forgotten Blog

Life gets busy sometimes.  So busy that you forget to share some thoughts along the way.  Most of the time, for me anyway, it isn't the amount of things that need to be done today.  It is usually the amount of things that I think need to be done as a whole that gets me bogged down.  This weekend, Pastor Jason drove home the point that we need to focus our energy into the issues of today and watch God take care of things.  Tomorrow is another day with its own trouble.  Todays trouble is enough to deal with at once.  Here's where you need to be careful.  Many take a thought like this and use it to excuse careless or lazy living.  But that isn't the point at all.  His desired idea is rooted in the teachings found in the Bible, Jesus' words to be specific.  He was helping them realize that stress or worry can't help the issues of the day.  They certainly won't help the events of the future either.  We need to let God be in control and do our best with the things of each day.  Doesn't that mean we don't need to set goals or plan for the future?  NO!  Jesus was trying to help us realize that HE is in control and HE will work out the details.  Worry wont add any days to our lives.  In fact, worry has been proven to reduce them.  So in conclusion, let's try to let God be God.  He's good and really does have all things under control. 

If you want to look at a few of Jesus thoughts on this, look in the Bible.  The best place to look is Matthew 6:25-29.

The Ultimate Challenge

I know what you're thinking. The title sounds a little inflated. If it were any other challenge, I might agree, but the truth is, you won't get a better challenge with a guaranteed payoff like this one. I Psalm 34:8, we see it. "O taste and see that the Lord is good..."! In those simple words is the challenge of all challenges. It is the "try it, you won't regret it" promise. God is so confident that His ways will give you the life you've always wanted, that he dares anyone who is brave enough to stop doing things their own way and try His. You know what is weird? People are so afraid to try His way! They say things like, "The Bible isn't true" without reading it. They say "God's not real" without checking to see first. They even say "God doesn't care about us" without reading about His love, in His book called the Bible. I don't know about you, but saying something isn't true, can't be real or He doesn't care, without even checking to see, is not being honest.
Think about it! If people didn't taste thing, how would we have all the cool foods we have today. Someone had to "Taste and See" if the food was good, so that we could eat it. When it comes to God, I want you to know that I've taken a "taste" and God is good!
Q-What do you say? Are you willing to take a "taste"?
Q-If not, I'd like to know what is holding you back?

Hurt, but healing...

I remember it like it was yesterday. We were playing a team twice our size and to be honest, more than twice as good. The score board was agreeing with my assessment early in the forth quarter. It was then that the unthinkable happened to this FRESHMAN. They kicked the ball off to me. At 5' 11'' 156 pounds (that's what we listed me so I would be eligible to play varsity) and scared to death. My first thought was where is the sideline? But this wouldn't end up helping. As I stepped out of bounds, I was hit so hard I slid under the opposing teams bench, dislocating my shoulder. I couldn't get up. My team needed me to play or the game would end in forfeit. They picked me up and all I had to do is stay in the game. We finished the game and then I went to the hospital. Few days in a sling and I was good as new, sort of. I could have taken myself out of the game or the team could have seen I was hurt and refuse to use me.
Sometimes life injures us and we have to "play" hurt. My dislocated shoulder wasn't the only kind of injury I remember from high school. Even though I was a starter on the football team, I felt like no one cared. No one knew because I played hurt. And just as I played hurt in the game, the people we know and love, need us to play hurt in the game of life. 1 Corinthians 12 tells us we need all the parts of our body to be complete. No part of the body is useless. Even when we get hurt, we don't become useless. So stay with it, don't take yourself out of the game.

Maybe you have some hurts. The Bible is filled with ordinary people hurt by the stuff we deal with everyday. If you could use some help with some hurt you're experiencing, let me know.

Extreme Make-over...

The unthinkable happened yesterday.  I'm getting ready to go to church and out of the corner of my eye, I saw it.  For a split second, I was back in high school.  You'll remember a day the minute I tell you what I saw.  The first thought that raced through my mind... "Not now!"   On Sundays, I stand in front of a group of teens...  I sit next to the Pastor in front of the whole church...  "We have a Super Bowl Party tonight."  If you're a teen or recently was one, you know!  I had a zit on the end of my nose!  Life would be over if it wasn't for the next thought, "It's okay, God love's me!"  I say that with ease, but not every one reading this is so sure.  For those of you who struggle with that thought, I want to let you know that JESUS came to this world that beat's us all up sometimes and settled it forever.  In John 3:16, Jesus proclaims to all who read, hear or see it on a banner somewhere, that he loves you just the way you are and wants to make a way for you and HIM to be together forever.  All you have to do is believe!  No changes necessary, no donations, no tricks, just faith (believing what you can't see or touch).  It's made all the difference in my life.  I guess the question, is what do you have to lose?  You don't have to go to a church to receive, have a pastor pray with you.  All you have to do to obtain, possess this forever relationship, is to tell Him you believe.  You can stop reading this post and simply tell God you believe Jesus came to this world to connect with you.  Some things you might want to know:  

-We all do things that God doesn't like.  

-God says that the price for those wrong things is to not live forever with Him.  As much as you don't like that, He didn't like it more.  

-So much so that He decided to pay the price for us.  That's why Jesus came.  To pay the price meant that someone would have to die.  Instead of you dying, He died for you.  He paid the price for the wrong things that we do so we could be with Him forever.  

-When we believe He loved us that much and tell Him so, He makes it permanent and official, that we cannot be separated from Him and His love anymore.  If you ask me, that kind of love is awesome!  Jesus is challenging you to Try Him, You'll love Him!

Q-What do you think?   Honestly, what do you have to lose?  

If you decide today to believe that Jesus loved you and paid your price for you, let me know!