One of my most prized possessions is a spiral notebook. This is an important item to me because it’s a document that my parents used to record a season of illness I had when I was a baby. For those of you that don’t know, for six months or so, I had what was labeled as “Infantile Spasms” or an infant that was having multiple seizures. In the notebook, my parents made comments and observations as to how many seizures I was having, as well as recording all of the steps that they took to try to minimize the seizures.
In this notebook, it is recorded that on April 24th, 1982 I stopped having seizures. In fact, this year is a special milestone because I haven’t had another seizure for thirty years now! On that April day all those years ago, I was in the hospital (based on entries in the notebook this was not an uncommon occurrence). For some reason that is still unexplained, I flat-lined; I’m told that I actually turned a shade of blue. After flat-lining for over three minutes, God intervened. The flat-lining stopped and my normal coloring began to return to me. Life returned to me! In short, if it weren’t for God’s miraculous intervention that day, I would not be alive today. I wanted to publicly give all the thanks, praise, and glory to God.
Every subsequent April 24th, I’ve stopped to reflect on life. This year, I’ve been thinking about what I want my life to be about for the remaining years God gives me. Christian singer and songwriter Chris Tomlin wrote a statement in his book “The Way I Was Made” that perfectly describes my life’s goal. He said, “We were created to shine the spotlight on God – to spread the fame of God everywhere we go.” As far as I'm concerned, you can put that sentiment on my epitaph one day.
Kevin
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” - Ephesians 3:20-21
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
The importance of Easter
Happy Easter, everyone! I hope that in the midst of your day today you take some time to reflect on the real reason for this holiday: Jesus Christ is alive! He literally and bodily resurrected from the dead over 2000 years ago.
It occurred to me that some of you might not understand why we Christians hold the resurrection of Christ up as such a momentous event. What’s so important about the resurrection? There are many reasons, but I want to camp out on just one today. Jesus Himself said that He was going to die, but that He was not going to stay dead. If you read the gospels you see Jesus, on more than one occasion, informing the disciples of what was eventually going to happen to Him (although they didn’t understand what He was talking about). Consider Mark 9:31 for example, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Verse 32: “But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”
If Jesus was killed, and He stayed dead, it would have been revealed that Christ was nothing more than a liar. Why? Because He said on numerous occasions that He was going to die, but that He was going to be resurrected. Therefore, if Christ did not literally and bodily resurrect from the dead, Christianity’s founder, Jesus, was essentially nothing more than a charlatan! No wonder the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” But, hallelujah, Jesus did rise from the dead! It is a matter of historical fact. Despite Christianity’s opponents, no one has been able to produce conclusive evidence that Christ actually stayed dead. Christ the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!
By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning more, I would encourage you to read “More Than a Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell. It addresses the resurrection of Christ, but also many other important issues as well.
Happy Easter!
Kevin
It occurred to me that some of you might not understand why we Christians hold the resurrection of Christ up as such a momentous event. What’s so important about the resurrection? There are many reasons, but I want to camp out on just one today. Jesus Himself said that He was going to die, but that He was not going to stay dead. If you read the gospels you see Jesus, on more than one occasion, informing the disciples of what was eventually going to happen to Him (although they didn’t understand what He was talking about). Consider Mark 9:31 for example, Jesus says, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Verse 32: “But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”
If Jesus was killed, and He stayed dead, it would have been revealed that Christ was nothing more than a liar. Why? Because He said on numerous occasions that He was going to die, but that He was going to be resurrected. Therefore, if Christ did not literally and bodily resurrect from the dead, Christianity’s founder, Jesus, was essentially nothing more than a charlatan! No wonder the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” But, hallelujah, Jesus did rise from the dead! It is a matter of historical fact. Despite Christianity’s opponents, no one has been able to produce conclusive evidence that Christ actually stayed dead. Christ the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!
By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning more, I would encourage you to read “More Than a Carpenter” by Josh and Sean McDowell. It addresses the resurrection of Christ, but also many other important issues as well.
Happy Easter!
Kevin
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The amazing importance of rest
Today is the last day of a two-week vacation. As I contemplate returning to my normal routine tomorrow, a part of me certainly feels sadness to see it end. At the same time, I feel happy as I look back on a fantastic season of needed rest and relaxation.
We live our lives at such a frenetic pace today. We always have so many things pulling at us. That’s why it is so vitally important to take time out and recharge our batteries. I’m not necessarily referring to vacations per se (speaking for myself, I can’t go away on a vacation as much as I’d like to because of the responsibilities in my life). But as I thought about this topic, I was reminded afresh that God Himself told us how important it is to take time out of our busy lives to rest. Of course, I’m referring to the admonition to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-11).
I wonder if you’ve ever thought about the Sabbath as a one-day vacation. In my opinion, that’s what the Sabbath is supposed to be. It supposed to be a day set aside for recuperating from a busy week. How many of us are guilty of not following God’s command to rest on Sunday? I’m not trying to pile on the guilt; I'm simply trying to remind us all that rest is vital to our human existence. Without it, we will simply crash and burn from exhaustion. We need time to rest.
Kevin
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" - Deuteronomy 5:13
We live our lives at such a frenetic pace today. We always have so many things pulling at us. That’s why it is so vitally important to take time out and recharge our batteries. I’m not necessarily referring to vacations per se (speaking for myself, I can’t go away on a vacation as much as I’d like to because of the responsibilities in my life). But as I thought about this topic, I was reminded afresh that God Himself told us how important it is to take time out of our busy lives to rest. Of course, I’m referring to the admonition to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 20:9-11).
I wonder if you’ve ever thought about the Sabbath as a one-day vacation. In my opinion, that’s what the Sabbath is supposed to be. It supposed to be a day set aside for recuperating from a busy week. How many of us are guilty of not following God’s command to rest on Sunday? I’m not trying to pile on the guilt; I'm simply trying to remind us all that rest is vital to our human existence. Without it, we will simply crash and burn from exhaustion. We need time to rest.
Kevin
"Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" - Deuteronomy 5:13
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