Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing

The Overflow of Easter: A Whole Theology of Resurrection in One Chapter

The Overflow of Easter: A Whole Theology of Resurrection in One Chapter

Redirecting Emotions and Joy

Jonathan Edwards; the old school theologian is widely regarded as an ambassador of the faith. He was a well studied thought leader that many of today's prominent pastors draw their concepts from. I was recently reading a book about Jonathan Edwards and it covers many of his concepts that are extremely deep. Edwards depth came from a developed relationship with the Lord so deep that you can smell his desire in his books. This man relentlessly pursued Jesus.

Now a concept that caught me recently was this idea of redirecting our emotions and joy from the world to things of God. We all have affection for things of this world because we equate these things with something of great value. Usual that value is identified with being able to provide us with satisfaction, happiness or joy. We rarely stop to challenge our beliefs in regards to affections such as money and recognition. Edwards would call these "false affections". Then we have affection to things not of this world, the things of God and His kingdom (fellowship, ministry, prayer, reading the Word). These are things that we hear about in church that pump us up and make total sense but loose value because the pay out is so far away from us. However if we were to really unpack these affections we would find that they satisfy our desires not only now but into eternity. Edwards called them "true affections", claiming that they are worthy to be pursued. The understanding of this concept would not only provide us satisfaction and happiness but it would bring us joy. Joy is on par with true fulfillment which is what we all so desperately want but so few of us ever really experience. Many of us can feel happy and satisfied but joy is rooted in the Spirit and we only can experience this when we are pursuing things of God.

On an evangelistic tip don't you think that non-believers would be more open to hearing about Jesus when we explain that it's not about repenting of your sin and correcting behavior but it's about acknowledging your sin and redirecting your efforts (emotions and joy). Redirecting from things that don't last, that don't satisfy, and that don't bear fruit to things that are of the Lord that do provide every good thing (true fulfillment).

Proverbs 2:4-7 "and if you look for it as for silver ans search for it as hidden treasure then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God... He holds victory in store for the upright".

How do you memorize Scripture?

How do you memorize Scripture?

If You Abide in my Word, You Are Truly My Disciples

If You Abide in my Word, You Are Truly My Disciples

Click expert on video tab. 5 minutes of your time

Self Evaluation

Hey everybody. So, for those of you who don't know, six weeks ago I had Tommy John surgery on my elbow. Just before my surgery I wrote to y'all about how God had given me peace and how my identity didn't lie in baseball. Well, I'm pleased to tell you that I believe that more than ever now. My God is still good enough. Oh, and everything is going good with the rehab. Anyway, the past few days I got a chance to spend some time at Augusta National watching the Masters. What a place. I think if God were to come down and play golf He would probably go there. I was so captured with the sheer beauty of that place that I caught myself several times just looking around (not even watching the golfers), marveling at what God had created. I went home and started thinking about some of the blessings that God has given me. One of those blessings, I think, is the ability to self evaluate. I wonder what my life would look like if I was looking on from the outside... like watching the movie of me. What would that movie be about I wonder? Would it be a baseball movie with some family and a few prayers mixed in along the way? Would I be the main character, director, producer, and writer. Sadly, I think in my life up to this point I have put me first, then family, then God. So many times I have been asked to rate where I keep my priorities, and I know the right answer to that question. Have you ever met someone who didn't answer God, family, career, friends in that order or pretty close? I haven't. And that's how I've answered every time. That doesn't make it true though. All those other people might be answering truthfully, but I can only speak for me. Do I spend as much time with God as I do my career? Not even close. Do I spend more time watching tv than hanging out with God...yep. Let's just cut to the chase. I haven't picked up my cross and followed Jesus like I should. See if you can relate to me here. Sometimes I'll go to church or hear a great podcast or something and get all fired up. Then I'll make a bunch of empty promises, and a few days later I'll be back to that stagnant, luke warm lifestyle. This time on the disabled list has given me a chance to feel the luke warmness that is my life. There is no doubt I was given this time to become stronger. Physically, and spiritually. But, there is now way I will become stronger spiritually without an honest assessment of exactly where I am on my walk with Christ. I'll wrap this up by saying that in my time of reflection I had wandered off the path on that walk with Christ. If you were watching the movie about you....would you be proud of it? Better yet...would God be proud of it? Thank you God for the mirror that you have provided me with. And thank you God for the gift of injury.

-waino

John MacArthur Bread

“Walk . . . with all humility.”
- Ephesians 4:1-2

Avoid pride in your position, intelligence, or spirituality.

Years ago, when my children were young, my son Mark told my youngest child, Melinda, to take something out of the room. She said, “You’re not my boss.” Mark replied, “Dad is the boss of Mom, Mom is the boss of Matt, Matt is the boss of Marcy, Marcy is the boss of me, and I am the boss of you.” So Melinda obeyed. After that, Melinda decided she was the boss of the dog, and the dog was boss of nobody. No one wants to be on the bottom rung of the ladder!

Everyone holds a certain position in life, and everyone is tempted to take advantage of it. Look at Herod in Acts 12:21-22: “Herod, having put on his royal apparel . . . began delivering an address to them. And the people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’” He loved the attention. What happened? “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died” (v. 23). Intellectual pride can also be a stumbling block. It’s easy for Christians to think their theology is perfect and they have all the answers. But the more I study the Bible, the more I realize how little I know. I feel like a child who fills a pail in the ocean. My learning is only a small bucket of water compared to the vast sea of knowledge. I know very little, and I’m still learning.

The worst type of pride is external spirituality without internal holiness. Jesus reserved His greatest condemnations for those who had such pride: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:27-28). You may look spiritual on the outside, going to church and acting “Christianly,” but your heart may be full of sin.

Suggestions for Prayer:
Examine your heart, and confess any pride in your position, intelligence, or spirituality.

For Further Study:
Read in Daniel 5 about what happened to a king who took pride in his position. Notice how God humbled him. Such sin wasn’t trivial to God; it shouldn’t be to us either.



From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.

Spiritual Muscle

1 Timothy 4:8 "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and life to come."

I thought this verse helped compliment Adam's post. Chew on it and spend time in prayer asking God to reveal an area of your life where you can build more spiritual muscle.

Spiritual goals

So, today is not my day to write but ive been pondering something so I wanted to run it by y'all? This time off has given me a chance to think about a lot of stuff. One thing ive been thinking about is the way I set my spiritual goals. Not just how do I set them but how do I keep them. And not just how do I set them and how do I keep them....how do I react when I do or do not keep them? Here's what I mean. I usually start out each year saying I'm gunna read my Bible everyday, or pray for someone every day, or I'm gunna pray without asking for something at least once a day...etc. Well, the way it usually goes down is I'll revisit those goals in a few months and if I've been keeping my goals immediately I get prideful (only happened a few times cuz I usually choke.). Or I get discouraged because I haven't been living like I promised. Lose, lose either way. Pride or discouragement. So, my question is this...have y'all found a way to walk that line successfully? I think it's okay to be a little proud if I follow through, but not the way I usually do it. I know I need to just live in the spirit and God will keep me straight but it seems tough. Let's get some dialogue going....

Waino

ESV: Trusted By Leaders

ESV Trusted By Leaders - Lecrae Moore

God - Doing His Thing

God Doing His Thing
Two Novembers ago I met a woman in Laguna Beach at a Hope International event that was bring awareness to providing micro lending to entrepreneurs in third world countries. In my conversation with her it came up that I had played baseball professionally for 9 years and was recently transitioning into business. She mentioned that she had a son who played varsity at Laguna Beach High School and he was a pitcher. I politely extended an offer to work with her son and give him some instruction. She was thankful for the invitation and took down my phone number however I never heard from her. Almost a year later I get a call from a father who I had met 1 time in my life at a 10 year old travel teams baseball practice. He was very nice and extremely likable so when he called I instantly remembered him. He asked if I was coaching and I said no, he asked if I had any interest and I replied that I did but didn’t have an ounce of time because I was busy building my business and spending time with my growing family. He invited me to coffee so I took him up on it. I showed up to coffee and he was there with the head varsity baseball coach and they politely cornered me and asked what time if any I could give them. I stretched myself to say 2 hours a week, 1 hour on 2 different days (Monday and Tuesday). I went on to add that if this in any way affected my commitments to my family and business I’d have to bow out. They jumped at the offer with two huge smiles and gave me a hug. Just to help drive home this situation, every varsity program has a full time pitching coach and most have 3 coaches here in Southern California. The fact that they were excited out 2 hours from me blew my mind. Fast forward 5 or 6 months I’ve been working with the kids for 5 months and they are an awesome bunch. I can tell that they are very well parented and all of them are hungry for instruction and show me tremendous respect. They take a team trip to Hawaii for the preseason and pay for my wife and I to go (extremely generous). Christy is thrilled and I’m excited but worry about leaving work for 5 days. We get over to the Island and we’re short pitching due to injuries. On the second day we already used up 75% of our guys and we’re only half way into our games. Needless to say I need somebody to step up and throw a lot of innings and be conservative with their pitches which can be tough with teenagers. I get an unbelievable outing from one of my favorite kids who had never pitched 3 innings before. He battles so tough for 6 innings we had a heartfelt moment after the inning and I hugged him because I was so proud of him. Days later we were boarding the plane to go home and a mother came up to me and said “Ben, I’ve met you before, I met you at 3 Arch Bay in Laguna Beach for the Hope International event. My heart sputtered as I realized that God had orchestrated this detailed plan to get me to coach this team and influence these kids. I was blown away by His power and grace. The fact that God is using me and the way in which He has done it blows my mind. How great is our God? I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I did realizing it. Praise to the king!

Hebrew Heat

Two scriptures that I'm feasting on right now...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that it set before us..." Heb 12:1

"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Heb 12:11

That's all I got.

Where Does Your Identity Lie

What's up everybody? So, two weeks ago I reported to Spring Training. I came in better shape than I've ever been in (as baseball players we are genetically engineered to say that every spring even when we're fat). But, I truly believe I was better prepared to play ball this year than ever before. This was supposed to be my year. Everyone I know, and don't know, was telling me this was my year to win the Cy Young. I had thrown 7 bullpen sessions in preparation to face hitters for the first time, and everything was going great. I honestly can't remember a time where my delivery and overall confidence in my stuff was even close to where it is now. But, God had different plans than all that for me this year. While facing hitters the first time I felt a twinge in my elbow, and long story short I am scheduled to have Tommy John surgery on monday morning. Season over, no Cy Young, no competing,...nothing. But, let me say this. I have learned more about myself in the last two days than in the last five years combined. Here is what I've learned...my status/success in baseball doesn't define me, not even close. I have been amazed at how much peace i've felt through all this. My wife has made that easy, as she has kept her amazing positive attitude throughout. Another thing I've learned is that I have been EXTREMELY blessed with some of the best friends and teammates a person could ever ask for. Before I left the clubhouse my teammates all showed me so much support it literally has been eye opening. I have been so much in awe of how fortunate I am that I haven't even had time to think about being hurt. Praise God for that.
Another thing I know is that I could not have done anything differently coming in to spring. My ligament had been partially torn twice before so it has finally reached it's breaking point. I'm okay with that. I absolutely hate the idea of missing this season with teammates. I think we have a real good shot to win the World Series. The group we have is really special, and I'll have my pom pom''s out in full force. But here's the deal. This injury, the one that makes me miss an entire year of baseball, has allowed me to stop missing what is right in front of me. I am blessed with an amazing God. A God who continues to teach me lessons in mysterious ways. I'm blessed with an amazing family. I'm blessed with friends who really care for me, and I have felt it this week. And I'm blessed with teammates that started out as friends and have become family. I believe this to be a test from God, and it has opened my eyes. I believe I can still greatly impact God's Kingdom from this disabled list. And if any of you people who I just bragged about catch me slippin....please slap me around. Thanks for reading.

my identity?
-adam wainwright ...follower of Christ

Fearing God????

This is my first time writing for e fellowship. I was at our bible study tonight and shared this story with the guys and Adam told me I had to fill in for him tonight so here it goes…..

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a Golden Retriever named Cammie my wife and I love her more than anything. One of my favorite things she does is when we come home she runs to the door wagging her tail like crazy and loves on us for as long as we will stand there. Well, my wife and I went out for breakfast 4 days ago for about an hour or so. Our plan was to come back, get Cammie and take her to Petsmart so she could get some new toys. When I opened the door go greet her she wasn’t there. Then I walked in the condo I noticed that she had got into the bathroom trashcan and got out one piece of paper and chewed on it. Now this wasn’t like Turner and Hooch style where the blinds were tore down the kitchen cabinets were emptied and the entire house was trashed. No this was one piece of paper. When I looked around the corner I saw Cammie sitting up looking at me and shaking out of control. She was shaking like she had been stranded for hours in the Antarctica. When I looked at her and started to scold her she wouldn’t even look at me and before too long she slowly walked over to me still shaking and curled up at my feet and gave me the saddest look I have ever seen. She has done this before but this time it hit me different. I was so disappointed in her that I told my wife we weren’t going to the pet store and I literally didn’t talk to or pet her for two hours. I went on a run later that day and I usually take her with me but since I was still mad at her this time I didn’t take her. On my I pod the song International Harvester came on by Craig Morgan. Now I am a redneck and love country so I have heard this song a million times but never like this. Part of the lyrics go like this

I'm a God fearing hardworking combine driver

Then it all hit me…..

My dog knew that she had done something wrong and I can only imagine what she was thinking when she heard my truck pull up. She was so scared of me as her master that all she could do is shake because she knew she made a mistake. It didn’t matter to her if it was a big mistake or not she knew she messed up and let me down. I look at that picture of Cammie and I said to myself…… I have never been that dog. I don’t fear god.

Why is that??? How can I not fear the one that created me for crying out loud? The one that made the heavens and the earth and all other things. The fact is that I am so scared of so many other things that really don’t matter at all. For instance……

- giving up 2 runs and not getting an out

- having one of my teammate not like or respect me

These are just quick examples. The fact is we follow the rules and laws that people put in place but not the ones that our creator did. I will be confronted with a decision and I know that there is a clear right and wrong thing to do but I’ll quickly justify it by saying “well it’s not hurting anyone” or “nobody will know about it” or the go to is “it’s not like I’m the only one that’s doing it” and I will go ahead and make the decision that is in the wrong. And I don’t shake like my dog… I just simply go on about my life and put on the Christian face around the right people and “deal with it”

I’m going to take a line from Fred our Chapel leader….Can I tell you something???? I’m sick of it. I’m sick of accepting the worldly view as to what’s right and what’s wrong. And fearing the people and situations that wont get me into heaven.

Dadgummit!!!!!!!! I AM WORKING TO FEAR GOD NOW.

Sorry it’s so long but hopefully it impacts you… I could get into why I’m really glad god doesn’t yell and put me it timeout when I screw up like I did to Cammie but that a completely different topic….

Here are some verses that talk about fear

1 Samuel 12:14

Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice and if you do not rebel against the Lords commands then both you and your king will show that you recognize the lord as your God.

Deuteronomy 6:13

You must fear the Lord your God and serve him

Hebrews 13:6

So we can say with Confidence “The lord is my helper so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?

Psalm 61:5

For you have heard my vows, O God. You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.