Christmas gifts.

So this Christmas season has had me thinking a lot about gift giving. I know as soon as I start talking about gifts everyone thinks ok ok, here he goes, he's gonna start talking about it's better to give than it is to receive. Well... sort of, but not really. I have actually been thinking about the gift God gave me about 6 years ago.

A lot of you know me as the mild mannered, funny, joke telling, church goin' guy. That was not always me. You see, there was a time when you couldn't have dragged me through the doors of a church if the world was all on fire and that was the only safe place on the planet. There was a time when I couldn't give a crap about pleasing God, much less care about how anyone but myself could be made happy.

As far as faith, I was truly what you would call a mocker. I thought as long as I believed in God I was as good as gold, going to heaven, if there was such a place. Also, as we all know, only really bad people go to hell, and I had never done anything really bad. I was content to live my life the way I wanted to, drink as much as I want, look at as many women as I want, pretty much live for whatever made me happy at the time.

When I saw people who were "living" for God, all I could do was make fun of the Bible thumpin' holy roller who thought they were better than everyone else. I had some bad experiences with people in my life who claimed to be God followers and as far as I was concerned they were hypocrites and I wanted nothing to do with it.

So what does that have to do with Christmas gifts? Well, for me that lifestyle started to be not fun. It was empty, ridden with guilt, and quite frankly just kinda started to feel wrong. I started to feel that there was more to life, like, maybe this wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It is amazing to me how much I clinged to things that were totally wrecking me. So I started to pray. I didn't pray like all feverishly or religiously, I just kind of started asking God to make himself real to me. To show me what life was all about. Maybe it was out of desperation, maybe it was out of guilt, maybe. I think it was God calling me back to him. I can see all the eyebrows of people who don't buy it going up in disbelief, hang in there though, I'm getting to the point.

So about 6 years ago, something amazing happened. God showed up in my life in a way I couldn't shrug off or dismiss as coincidence. This guy from Texas came to where I worked at the time. We were short handed at work and he flew up from our Texas plant to lend a hand and help out. All this guy could talk about was Jesus. I mean he was a total nut. But for some reason I just couldn't stop listening. I mean he wasn't preachy or anything he was just talking about how God was working in his life and the life of his family and I just knew that God had put this person in my life to get my attention. The kicker was this, he said that at first when his boss approached him about coming to Minnesota, in -20 degree weather by the way, he said no way. However, the following Sunday he felt like he needed to do it. He told his wife if they asked him to go again, he would know it was God wanting him to go. So sure enough, they asked him again.

So he showed up. He talked about Jesus, I listened. I knew deep in my soul that God had sent him to talk to me. I made up my mind then and there that God was indeed real, and that I would follow His plan for my life from that moment on. God gave me a great gift. I felt his love for me and I knew it was real. All the stuff that had kept me away from him no longer mattered, what mattered was he loved me.

I was reminded of that story this Christmas when I read John 17: 1-3 '"Father the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."'

See God wants us to know him. That is why he sent his son, Jesus. Jesus prayed that prayer just before his arrest and crucifixion. He died for our sins so we could have a relationship with God and receive the gift of eternal life. That is the greatest gift I have ever, or ever will receive.

It's funny to me now to look back and think how much I resisted God. How many times I mocked those who had faith and loved Jesus. My hope is this Christmas, if you are the mocker, to give God a chance. Think and pray about what life is all about. Ask God to show you the truth.
If you are someone who has a mocker or someone in your life who is extremely resistant to faith or even talking about it, don't give up on them. I was one of those people, big time. God will soften hearts, trust in him, keep the faith.

Thanks for reading, have a great Christmas and a happy new year.

Wisdom. Where are you getting it?

I have been thinking a lot lately about where people get wisdom. I mean it seems time and time again people are hearing bad advice and running with it. The more I think about it the more I realize that we are constantly bombarded with advice. You've got Oprah, Dr. Phil, Maury, Kathy Lee, The Today Show, radio, podcasts, magazines, newspapers, bloggers (ironic huh?), co-workers, friends, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, books, all telling us how to do things.



People are all too glad to be helpful. I thought I would just take a few minutes today and rant a little about where we get wisdom in our lives and how it can wreck us or help us.



So first of all, I am not saying that talkshows and books and friends and family are bad places to gain wisdom. I just get a little freaked out that people hear bad advice and it can wreck them. We've all been there, took the wrong advice or wisdom and it worked out bad. For me, the dumbest advice I ever take... is my own. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." In other words, I am really dumb, on my own... If you go through life and just do things because YOU think it is the right way, you are screwed.



About a year ago our washing machine broke. So... I became the Maytag repair man. I thought hmmm, must be the motor, I'll just order one online and slap it in myself. Motor shows up on the door step, I put it in, plug in the machine, it fills with water and...... nothing moves. Crud!! Okay so now pride kicks in, just a little, not too much, tee hee. Okay so it must be the timer, duh. Go online order a timer, shows up, put it in, washer fills up with water..... nothing - again. I have never gotten this thing fixed to this day, luckily friends of ours intervened into the insanity and blessed us with a new washer.



If you are like me, it is really hard to look anywhere but within for wisdom, and let me tell you there just simply is none in there. You have to be extremely careful where you look for wisdom, for some it's not looking within for wisdom, it is looking to anyone who will listen. This too is dangerous. Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps."



Did you hear that? A prudent man gives thought to his steps... This does not mean a prudent man knows everything. But, he looks in the right places. It is so important to look in the right places. Don't just listen to any idiot with an opinion, including yourself. Heed wise counsel. Look for someone with their stuff together. If you're having money problems, talk to someone who has it together financially and do what they are doing. If you have issues with your kids, talk to someone who doesn't appear as crazy as you do and learn!!



I think often times we are too prideful to admit that we don't know what to do, so we either seek help in the wrong places, or with foolish people who don't know anything, or we just don't seek help at all and just suffer. Seek wisdom from those who you know are wise!! We all know people who are wiser than us. Suck it up and ask for help!!



The first place to look should always be God and his word. Pray and read your bible, ask him to show you the steps to take, I promise he will. Just be careful who and what you listen to, tune out the idiots and listen to the wise people!!



Proverbs 13:14 "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death."



Don't be like me, just call the Maytag man!!

Thanksgiving.

Today is the big day. The day when most of strap on the 'ol feed bag and eat ourselves into oblivion, and then flop down on the couch and melt into a turkey induced football coma. Gotta love it.

I would urge all of you though to take a moment and thank God for all that He has blessed us with. I hear a lot about the bad economy, the health care debate, and how much things generally suck. I want to remind everyone of how good we really do have it, for the most part.

We live in a country where we have freedom. We all, for the most part, have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. Even if you don't have some of those things, we still live somewhere that we have an opportunity to get them.

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season give thanks for what you have, and not only that, think of those who don't have as much as you do. There are a lot of people who are in need. Homeless people, people who just lost their jobs, can't afford to get food, can't afford to buy their kids gifts for Christmas. We all at some time or another have had the gift of help from somebody. This summer and fall a lot of my friends and neighbors and family came together in some way or another to make sure that the roof on my house got replaced. It was amazing to see God work through people!! To see people give up their time and cash so that a friend could not wake up on Christmas morn with a lap full of holiday snow.

I would implore and beg all of you to help someone in need this season. Contact a local charity and see if you can adopt a family for Christmas, give your time or money to a local mission where they feed the homeless, every time you walk by the red Salvation Army kettle throw in some cash or change. If we all do a little it adds up to a lot, and we can change the world, just a little for the better.

Matthew ch 25: 34-40; "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

We have so much to be thankful for, let's share what we have with others. Let's give, so others also can have something to be thankful for.

Thanks for listening to me rant, have a great Thanksgiving, God bless you all.

First Blog Post Ever?!!

Okay so here it is. This is the first blog I have ever posted. I hope it doesn't suck. My name is Jason, I am a Christ follower, A husband to a beautiful wife, a father of two great kids, and a total screw up. I am hoping by doing a blog I can be a help to others, share my thoughts on life, and express myself. So here it is:



Today I did something I have never done before. I am trying to get more and more into God's word 'cuz I think it helps to grow you as a person and as a Christian. Lately at church (crossing-church.com) we have done this thing called the EZ313. Basically, it gives you daily bible readings and you take the verse or phrase that most talked to you and write it down, what you observe about it, apply it to your life, and ask God to help you do what it says. (SOAP, Scripture Observation Application Prayer) This has been an amazing help to my daily bible reading. But one of the things that was talked about at the last series at church (Eat This Book) was how the bible was written down by scribes. So I took a chapter of the bible and wrote it all out by hand. I was amazed at how much more the Word stuck out and how much more I got out of it by reading it and writing it. I was also amazed by how long it took just to do one chapter, and how many times I had to look back and forth from bible to paper. It totally gave me a new appreciation for how much work it was for the people who were scribes and had to do all this by hand on an animal skin to get copies of the bible before the printing press. Amazing.



So, the chapter I chose to start in was Matthew chapter 5. I figured to start in the Beatitudes would be kind of cool, and shorter than doing a whole book of the bible which was my original plan.



A couple of things that really stuck out for me were:

• 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.' If your desire is to do what is right, you will be satisfied. Righteousness is doing what God asks you to do.


• 'Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' When you strive to do what is right, you will face opposition, people will make fun of you, they will hate you, and some of your days will suck. But, the kingdom of heaven is yours!! This is really cool because often times I lose sight of what is most important, being a Christ follower is not always tulips and daisies and all things nice. Persecution is not fun, but the reward for doing what God wants us to do is so much greater than the pain we suffer here.

These were just a couple of the things that stuck out, there were many more, the whole chapter really spoke to me. It gave me a new perspective when I paid attention to each word and phrase as I wrote it down. Really cool!! Give it a try I think it will change how you view God's word.