Oasis; there’s a word we don’t normally use! One of the definitions from dictionary.com for the word “oasis” is “something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change, from what is usual, annoying, difficult, etc.”
We humans legitimately need an oasis or refuge to help soothe our pain, comfort our hurts, and guard us from the chaos that life can bring. God is teaching me that in the midst of pain, heartache, and uncertainty, He wants me to run to Him. He wants to be my refuge, my safe haven, my oasis.
Furthermore, it’s easy to run to something else for comfort. For example, some people run to food. Food is a gift from God, but it’s not meant to be a refuge. Some people run to pornography; this is sinful and contrary to God’s will. Some people run to money and material possessions. You get the point, none of these things are sufficient; God wants us to run to Him.
Look at it this way: when a small child falls down and hits their head, they are in pain and they need to run to someone so they can cry it out. Should they run to their toys? Should they run to the refrigerator? Of course not, that’s ludicrous. They should run to their mother or father. In the midst of pain, there’s nothing like the loving embrace of a parent. In the same way, nothing else can satisfy, comfort, and protect us like God can.
Kevin
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” - Psalm 9:9
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
The wonders of Heaven
Do you remember that classic scene in “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy and Toto first arrive in Oz? The mighty tornado has lifted them from Kansas to the new world. You’ll recall that up to this point in the movie everything and everyone has been in black and white, but when Dorothy opens the front door of the house, Oz appears in beautiful color! There’s glorious music playing, sights Dorothy has never seen, and probably smells that she has never smelled. She says to her dog, “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
This is the scene that I play in my head when I try to imagine Heaven. Although this is far from the perfect illustration (for one thing, you’ll remember that Dorothy almost immediately wanted to leave Oz) it’s a tiny sliver of what Heaven might be like! The fact is, Heaven is going to have sights, smells, sounds, and wonders that our human brain simply can’t comprehend while we are still here on Earth.
I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, that’s up to God. For the remainder of my time on Earth, I’m passionate about doing and being whatever God desires for me on this Earth. I want to point others to Him and how great He really is. To put it simply: my will is to do His will. But, having said all that, I must confess that I do long for Heaven.
Incidentally, after talking about how glorious Heaven is, I can't conclude without briefly pointing out that there is a misleading fallacy being presented today. It teaches that everyone will one day get to Heaven. That’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that Heaven is reserved for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Acts 4:12 says that there is no other name under Heaven by which man can be saved except for Jesus.
When I was a boy, God used Billy Graham at one of his crusades to help me realize that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I chose to go forward at the end; I cried out to God to save me and asked Him to come into my life. I became a Christian that day, on my way to eventually seeing Jesus face to face in Heaven!
Kevin
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes: there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" - Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)
This is the scene that I play in my head when I try to imagine Heaven. Although this is far from the perfect illustration (for one thing, you’ll remember that Dorothy almost immediately wanted to leave Oz) it’s a tiny sliver of what Heaven might be like! The fact is, Heaven is going to have sights, smells, sounds, and wonders that our human brain simply can’t comprehend while we are still here on Earth.
I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, that’s up to God. For the remainder of my time on Earth, I’m passionate about doing and being whatever God desires for me on this Earth. I want to point others to Him and how great He really is. To put it simply: my will is to do His will. But, having said all that, I must confess that I do long for Heaven.
Incidentally, after talking about how glorious Heaven is, I can't conclude without briefly pointing out that there is a misleading fallacy being presented today. It teaches that everyone will one day get to Heaven. That’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that Heaven is reserved for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Acts 4:12 says that there is no other name under Heaven by which man can be saved except for Jesus.
When I was a boy, God used Billy Graham at one of his crusades to help me realize that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I chose to go forward at the end; I cried out to God to save me and asked Him to come into my life. I became a Christian that day, on my way to eventually seeing Jesus face to face in Heaven!
Kevin
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes: there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" - Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Real love
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Some of you might think that you can’t
celebrate Valentine’s Day because you are not in a romantic relationship; I beg
to differ. The truth is anyone can
celebrate Valentine’s Day. I say this
because Valentine’s Day is a holiday that is all about elevating the virtue of
love.
Let me quickly clarify something lest I’m
misunderstood. When I speak of love, I
am speaking of a selfless, giving love.
Our culture today has blurred the lines between what real love is and
what lust is. For instance, you watch a
TV sitcom today, or a movie or something like that, and you see that a man and
woman meet for the very first time, and in the very next scene (or at least
very soon in the relationship) they are in bed together having indulged in a
carnal sexual experience. I submit to
you that this wasn’t a love scene as many would label it; this was simply what
I’m going to call a lust scene. What’s
the difference? The late preacher, Dr.
Adrian Rogers once put it this way: “love wants to give; lust wants to get.”
The Bible says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus
Christ laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). John is saying, “Do you want an example of
real love? Look at what Jesus did on the
cross for you and me.” In other words,
just as Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross was out of nothing but pure
love for us, we show love by sacrifice, unselfishness, and consideration for
others wellbeing.
Therefore, let’s go back to my example of the man and
woman that has just met. The couple
desires sex, but real love is patient (1 Corinthians 13:4). Real love is willing to wait. Yes, I’m certainly saying that singles
shouldn’t have sex until marriage as God says in His Word (see Hebrews 13:4),
but I’m also saying that this applies to a married couple. At times, your spouse may not desire sex. For example, it's become a joke, but "not tonight, honey, I have a headache" is actually a legitimate reason for a married couple not to have sex. Real love says, “I’m going to
choose to put your needs ahead of my own.”
Kevin
Friday, February 10, 2012
A noteworthy dream
Recently, I had an unusual dream; one that stuck with me in a way that most normally do not.
In my dream, I was riding on the subway. Suddenly, a fellow passenger (who looked remarkably like the Giants coach Tom Coughlin for some strange reason) began asking people one by one why they thought they were going to go to Heaven. When he got to me, I said, “The fact is, I’m not relying on my own righteousness to enter Heaven; I’m relying on the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”
Not long ago, I finished reading John Bunyan’s classic book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” for the very first time. I had read bits and pieces of it before, but never all the way through. I was enraptured by this book and I found it difficult to put down. Incidentally, for those of you unfamiliar with the story, Pilgrim’s Progress was written by John Bunyan in the late 1600’s. It’s an allegory of a man, named Christian, who spends most of the book travelling to the Celestial City, or Heaven. Along the way, Christian discovers that there are many enticements that seek to distract him from his quest.
There’s one portion of the book where Christian, along with his friend Hopeful, encounter a man named Ignorance. Ignorance desires to go the Celestial City, but he wants to get there his own way. He begins to list his resume: he has lived a good life, he prays, fasts, and gives to others. Christian and Hopeful try to lovingly explain that this is not the way that one enters the Celestial City. Eventually Christian proclaims to Ignorance, “True faith takes refuge in Christ’s righteousness.” Did you catch that statement? "True faith takes refuge in Christ's righteousness."
Bunyan's point is clear: if admission to Heaven was dependent on our own personal righteousness, we all would be sunk. Why? Because the Bible says that our righteous acts are like filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). Does this mean that we should disregard trying to be righteous altogether and instead live like the devil? No, not at all! There is great value in living a righteous life. What this verse is telling us is that if we live in such a way that we are trying to somehow earn Heaven by our own effort, merit, and works, God isn’t impressed. In that scenario, God is saying all He sees is a dirty rag. Rather we must look to Christ to be saved.
Kevin
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” - 2 Corinthians 5:21
In my dream, I was riding on the subway. Suddenly, a fellow passenger (who looked remarkably like the Giants coach Tom Coughlin for some strange reason) began asking people one by one why they thought they were going to go to Heaven. When he got to me, I said, “The fact is, I’m not relying on my own righteousness to enter Heaven; I’m relying on the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”
Not long ago, I finished reading John Bunyan’s classic book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” for the very first time. I had read bits and pieces of it before, but never all the way through. I was enraptured by this book and I found it difficult to put down. Incidentally, for those of you unfamiliar with the story, Pilgrim’s Progress was written by John Bunyan in the late 1600’s. It’s an allegory of a man, named Christian, who spends most of the book travelling to the Celestial City, or Heaven. Along the way, Christian discovers that there are many enticements that seek to distract him from his quest.
There’s one portion of the book where Christian, along with his friend Hopeful, encounter a man named Ignorance. Ignorance desires to go the Celestial City, but he wants to get there his own way. He begins to list his resume: he has lived a good life, he prays, fasts, and gives to others. Christian and Hopeful try to lovingly explain that this is not the way that one enters the Celestial City. Eventually Christian proclaims to Ignorance, “True faith takes refuge in Christ’s righteousness.” Did you catch that statement? "True faith takes refuge in Christ's righteousness."
Bunyan's point is clear: if admission to Heaven was dependent on our own personal righteousness, we all would be sunk. Why? Because the Bible says that our righteous acts are like filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). Does this mean that we should disregard trying to be righteous altogether and instead live like the devil? No, not at all! There is great value in living a righteous life. What this verse is telling us is that if we live in such a way that we are trying to somehow earn Heaven by our own effort, merit, and works, God isn’t impressed. In that scenario, God is saying all He sees is a dirty rag. Rather we must look to Christ to be saved.
Kevin
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” - 2 Corinthians 5:21
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
A fascinating survey
Recently, I was intrigued to see a poll presented on the website yahoo.com. The question was, “who’s the best superhero of all time?” Respondents were given three choices, Superman, Spider-Man or Batman.
The results for this poll, when I gave my vote, were as follows: 54% said Superman was the greatest superhero, Batman was next at 33%, and Spider-Man was last at 13%. It was a tough vote for me as I love all three heroes. Superman is, of course, the gold standard. He is the epitome of what it means to be a hero. I love Superman because there is no moral uncertainty with him. He does the right thing, no matter what. As for Spider-Man, my respect for him has deepened over the years. Here’s a guy that protects the denizens of New York, and his reward is usually to be mistrusted, feared, and shunned (thanks to the local media purporting the erroneous view that he is a public menace). But he still protects his city, even with little reward.
Having said all this, I have to admit that I voted for Batman as the best superhero. Batman is the hero that has always been the easiest for me to relate to. Why? Because I can never hope to fly, use x-ray vision to see through walls, or obtain the ability to climb up walls, but I can look to Batman as an example of someone who does what he has to do, despite not having any super powers. He simply has his wits (and his utility belt) to help him out trouble.
Kevin
The results for this poll, when I gave my vote, were as follows: 54% said Superman was the greatest superhero, Batman was next at 33%, and Spider-Man was last at 13%. It was a tough vote for me as I love all three heroes. Superman is, of course, the gold standard. He is the epitome of what it means to be a hero. I love Superman because there is no moral uncertainty with him. He does the right thing, no matter what. As for Spider-Man, my respect for him has deepened over the years. Here’s a guy that protects the denizens of New York, and his reward is usually to be mistrusted, feared, and shunned (thanks to the local media purporting the erroneous view that he is a public menace). But he still protects his city, even with little reward.
Having said all this, I have to admit that I voted for Batman as the best superhero. Batman is the hero that has always been the easiest for me to relate to. Why? Because I can never hope to fly, use x-ray vision to see through walls, or obtain the ability to climb up walls, but I can look to Batman as an example of someone who does what he has to do, despite not having any super powers. He simply has his wits (and his utility belt) to help him out trouble.
Kevin
Sunday, February 5, 2012
My thoughts on the Super Bowl
This year’s Super Bowl is a very intriguing matchup. The New York Giants are playing the New England Patriots. This is a rematch of Super Bowl 42, a game in which the Giants won 17-14 thanks to a game winning drive by Eli Manning. Interestingly, the Giants and Patriots also played earlier this year back in November. The Giants also won that game 24-20 in a contest very similar to Super Bowl 42 (Eli again led the Giants on a game winning touchdown drive).
Based on all this, conventional wisdom says that the Giants should win. However, as Tim Tebow said in his Super Bowl prediction, it is hard to bet against Tom Brady. Brady has only lost one Super Bowl and that was to the Giants, so you can bet both he and his teammates will be ready to avenge their previous losses to the Giants. The Pats haven’t won a Super Bowl in seven years and they have an undeniable resolve and focus.
Furthermore, consider how some of the New York Giant players have really been boasting loudly about how they are going to win. According to an article by sports writer Michael Silver, Antrel Roll said, “we are going to win this thing.” Chris Canty said, “Get ready for a parade.” Here’s the article where I got those quotes should you be interested.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AufK7vQHvjKKGTwd_106ItNDubYF?slug=ms-silver_offerings_giants_trash_talk_osi_rolle_020312
They have every reason to be confident given the reason history, but this brazen talk borders on overconfidence. Plus it adds fuel the fire to the Patriots to come out and prove them wrong. Moreover, I’m reminded of the verse in Proverbs that says that pride comes before a fall.
So what is my prediction? I have to go with conventional wisdom. The familiar maxim is that defense win championships and the Giants simply have the better defense. Yes, the Patriots defense has improved since the playoffs began, but I just don’t think they will be able to slow New York down enough to get the win. In conclusion, it’s going to be a fantastic game! The Patriots will make plays, but Eli and the Giants will make a few more and they will pull out a narrow victory. I’m going to say it will be 27-21 Giants.
Kevin
Based on all this, conventional wisdom says that the Giants should win. However, as Tim Tebow said in his Super Bowl prediction, it is hard to bet against Tom Brady. Brady has only lost one Super Bowl and that was to the Giants, so you can bet both he and his teammates will be ready to avenge their previous losses to the Giants. The Pats haven’t won a Super Bowl in seven years and they have an undeniable resolve and focus.
Furthermore, consider how some of the New York Giant players have really been boasting loudly about how they are going to win. According to an article by sports writer Michael Silver, Antrel Roll said, “we are going to win this thing.” Chris Canty said, “Get ready for a parade.” Here’s the article where I got those quotes should you be interested.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AufK7vQHvjKKGTwd_106ItNDubYF?slug=ms-silver_offerings_giants_trash_talk_osi_rolle_020312
They have every reason to be confident given the reason history, but this brazen talk borders on overconfidence. Plus it adds fuel the fire to the Patriots to come out and prove them wrong. Moreover, I’m reminded of the verse in Proverbs that says that pride comes before a fall.
So what is my prediction? I have to go with conventional wisdom. The familiar maxim is that defense win championships and the Giants simply have the better defense. Yes, the Patriots defense has improved since the playoffs began, but I just don’t think they will be able to slow New York down enough to get the win. In conclusion, it’s going to be a fantastic game! The Patriots will make plays, but Eli and the Giants will make a few more and they will pull out a narrow victory. I’m going to say it will be 27-21 Giants.
Kevin
Saturday, February 4, 2012
"Walking in a winter wonderland"
Christmas is long over, but the song that talks about “walking in a winter wonderland" is playing in my head. You see, Colorado is currently digging out of a huge snowstorm. I’ve been told by the local media that this is the biggest snowstorm in February since the year 1912! The official total was 15 inches of snow! Check out these pictures.
As we endured all this snow, I was reminded of a text of Scripture in Job 37. Elihu remarks, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor” (Job 37:5-7).
I remember hearing a sermon where the pastor quoted Job 37:7. Here it is again: “So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor.” This pastor asked his congregation, “Have you ever had to miss work due to a snowstorm?” I can answer that question in the affirmative. I’ve missed two days of work due to the snow. But rather than get upset about it, I've decided to stop and contemplate the works of God. I’ve considered afresh just how amazing God is. He is in control of everything, which includes the weather.
Kevin
As we endured all this snow, I was reminded of a text of Scripture in Job 37. Elihu remarks, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor” (Job 37:5-7).
I remember hearing a sermon where the pastor quoted Job 37:7. Here it is again: “So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor.” This pastor asked his congregation, “Have you ever had to miss work due to a snowstorm?” I can answer that question in the affirmative. I’ve missed two days of work due to the snow. But rather than get upset about it, I've decided to stop and contemplate the works of God. I’ve considered afresh just how amazing God is. He is in control of everything, which includes the weather.
Kevin
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