Sometimes The Prince of Peace Stirs Up Trouble On Our Behalf

Just read this intro & ending to a horrific Old Testament story found in Judges 9:


"22 After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years,23 God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.24 God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon's seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers...56 In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers.57 God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled." [Judges 9:22-24,56-57 (NLT)]


Ouch and Dang!
This just reminded me of a powerful New Testament passage. In it, Paul reminds the Christ-followers in Rome of a passage that comes from Deuteronomy. The Christians in Rome were being highly persecuted and often had to make the life-or-death choice between following the emperor & Jesus. These next few words take on a completely new level when you are on the brunt end of such evil:


"Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the LORD." [Romans 12:19 (NLT)]


So I can see why they had to be reminded to trust that God can & will take vengeance.
Because sometimes The Prince of Peace has got to stir up some trouble on our behalf.
And I would much rather have God fighting for me than me fighting for me.

The Absurdity of Christmas

Merry Christmas.
I hope you get to take some time to read the following and reflect on the wildly absurd action of Jesus actually leaving His place of glory and humbly coming to earth for our sake.

I love my family. I love my parents. I love my grandparents. I love my friends.
But most of all I love my Savior.

This passage will forever remind me of the true meaning of Christmas:

"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Though he was God,he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross.Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
(Philippians 2:5-11, NLT)

Let's be the Christ and act with the same absurd service to one another.

A Jewish Priest Touches An Outcast...That's Not Normal!

Jesus was Jewish. Not only Jewish, but a Jewish priest. And the norm for a Jewish priest was NOT to touch people with leprosy. Heck, they weren't even AROUND people with leprosy! Lepers were quarantined to live in their own sick towns as to not infect anybody else with their mutilating disease. So when a guy with leprosy comes running up to Jesus (a Jewish priest) you can bet people's heads turned & they were most likely expecting Jesus's head to turn too.
All eyes on Jesus.
What does he do?
How would He choose to handle & react to such an outcast, such an unclean person?


"Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said."Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared." Luke 5:12 (NLT)

Jesus does the unthinkable. He touches the man THEN heals him with his words. Catch that. Jesus didn't heal the leper with His touch, yet He chose to touch the man while the leprosy was still there and THEN heal using His word.


I'm so glad Jesus chose to touch me, while I was still riddled with the infected sin throughout my body, and then heal me. He didn't expect me to come to Him already clean because He is the One who does the cleaning.

Analogy of the Day

Character is revealed by your fruit just as Faith is revealed by your storms.

(got some help from my Life Application New Testament Commentary on this one)

Analogy of the Day

Mac OS X is to a Lexus GS as Vista is to a Geo Prizm

Analogy of the Day

Texting while driving is to driving while drunk as putting on makeup while driving is to driving while on crack.

Current Caden Phrases

There's more to come, but here's a start:

• "Nooooo, dad!" (while angrily slamming hands on his legs)
  
• "Did you miss me?"
  
• "It's poop." (to anything that looks odd to him, including lobster tails and wet leaves)
  
• "...mama's bed." (often in a weird whisper-type voice)
• "I didn't do any-fing!" (he's not so good at his "th-" words yet)
• "I'mma make some-fin'." (he loves the kitchen)
• "Wrassle, dad?" (yep, just like a redneck would say.)
• "Poop it..." (still not sure about that one.)
• "Bigger, dad. Bigger." (if the music is too soft in the car)
• "I fik it." (with tools in hand)
• "Pees-ba spoon. Pees-ba spoon." (when he wants his peanut butter fix.)
• "Luvers." (When I leave for work.)
  

Most Clicked Tweets

Just in case you missed the opportunity but wanted to check out the links when you had some more time, here are my latest Top 5 Most Clicked Tweets:

1. I am loving our new church management system. It's web-based, secure, simple, cost-effective & empowering. Check them out! http://ow.ly/I41U (32 clicks)
2. If you're looking to ruin your marriage now or in the future don't read this from @perrynoble - http://ow.ly/J1Xj (22 clicks)
3. Want to know what the Jewish Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is all about? Expiation - http://ow.ly/Ji07 (16 clicks)
4. his is for @zacjs8, I found my new favorite-better-than-El-Sabrosito-authentic-mexican-food-right-on-my-block taco stand! http://ow.ly/Jkbv (12 clicks)
5. Asking the wrong questions can lead you in the wrong direction, so, ask the right questions - http://ow.ly/J21h (11 clicks)

Twitter is more than just a place to reveal that "you're going to the bathroom and the cat is starring at me" throughout the day. It's about sharing great content too.

A Strong Rebuttal For Charges Against Your Lack of Age

"Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity."

-Timothy 4:12 (NLT)

Instead of getting a bad attitude when this happens (the getting-thought-less-of), get stronger in your example. Let your words, actions, motives, faith, and pure living be the rebuttal to the charges made against you and your lack of age.

It's Been Some Time (My Poem)

A little bit because of vacation.
Away.
A little bit because of my schedule.
Hectic.
A little bit because I haven't been disciplined.
Lazy.
Mostly because of my own fault;
A Blogging-loser.

Yet I press on. Yet I press on.

PS. It's good to be back on track!