Christian Encounters: George Washington Carver!

Prior to reading this fine literary work - all I would have been able to articulate about the life of George Washington Carver was that he was able to find a lot of uses for peanuts.  As I read through this work though, that barely scratches the surface of who this man was.  He was a man who learned early on to overcome adversity and his hunger for knowledge carried him to great heights and continuously aided his effort to conquer the racial barrier that was so prevalent in the late 1800's.  

When I ordered this book from www.booksneeze.com, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it - and rolled the dice on this one.  I must say, though, that I really did enjoy reading about the life of George Washington Carver.  I was challenged by his hunger to learn; and inspired by his continual effort to show love and acceptance.  I would like to say in the face of similar challenges as GWC I would rise to similar heights, but as you read this work, you begin to understand that it is not simply him at work, but the spiritual realm working in and through this humble, teachable, and inspiring man.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Gonna try and get better at this...

I know it has been awhile since I have taken the time to share thoughts and write - which is kinda sad for me, because I really love to write and enjoy blogging, so I am gonna try and do a better job (at least for a little while)

This morning, I woke up kinda early, and I actually felt refreshed and renewed from sleep (not waking up feeling tired is AWESOME).  I made some coffee, let the dog outside, and decided that instead of going for a run, or heading off to the gym - I was gonna dive into the Word and just spend some time with Jesus.  And man, was it EPIC this morning.  I love when I get an opportunity to be obedient and His faithfulness blows my mind...

This morning, as I was reading in the book of Luke, God showed me many different things, and caused me to wonder about a few things that I would like to share.  I have been slowly making my way through this wonderful Gospel, and today I am in Luke 22.

In vs. 2 we see that the chief priests and scribes (think church staff people and pastors) are looking for a way to put Jesus to death.  I know in my own study, a lot of times I think of these guys and immediately begin to judge their hatred of Jesus and desire to put him to death.  I think of these evil, sneaky, black cloak-wearing, "Boris from Bullwinkle" type bad guys.  But - as I pondered their hearts this morning, 2 things occurred to me: 1) these are pastors who think they are protecting there people from a heretic. 2) They have become consumed with their kingdom and not God's.

Allow me to ellaborate a bit... First of all, these are not evil guys who set out to do bad things.  These are men who loved God, and wanted to be obedient to His Law.  They wanted to keep people safe and make sure that they didn't fall prey to false teaching.  Their desire to kill Jesus, while terrible and heart breaking, I don't think means that these guys are EXTRA evil.  I think that I have been wrong in my judgment and harsh thoughts towards these guys.

But, they don't get excused from all wrong doing, in vs. 2 it says that they want to put him to death, because they "feared the people". But, at this point, every one is in love with Jesus - the tide has not yet turned, and their "fear" is of losing the peoples respect and affection.  They don't want to lose their position and power in society.  As a result - they fear losing their kingdom for God's.

Needless to say, this was convicting and something I had never seen in this passage before - it really hit home with me, that more often than not, I find myself fearing that God's plan, and Kingdom is going to invade my own - and just like these chief priests and scribes, I decide (subconsciously) that I am going to look for ways to put God's will and way to death, so that my kingdom can reign.

As if that wasn't enough to chew on, in this same chapter - a few other things happen...

1) While in the garden, Jesus asks his disciples to pray - not for him and the journey he is about to go on, but for themselves and the temptation they are about to face.  That Jesus, while in his most desperate and trying hours on earth - would care for the lives and spirits of his friends, was/is inspirational to say the least.  It goes to show you that Jesus' concern while on earth, truly was not for himself, but for those around him.  Something we could all stand to practice a little more.

2) A question arose for me out of Judas' betrayal.  Why did Judas need to betray Jesus?  I know it fulfilled prophecy and everything, but have you ever stopped to think about why it happened?  Was Jesus wearing an Abraham Lincoln mask?  Was he sporting a fake 'stache and black rimmed glasses?  Was he like Superman, and when he wasn't wearing the "jesus-frock" people didn't know who he was?  I doubt it... Jesus spent time with lots of people, and in vs. 53 he acknowledges that he has spent time with those who come to capture him.  I really doubt that Judas NEEDED to identify Jesus in the crowd.  I think people knew who Jesus was.  I wonder, was this a part of Jesus' suffering and identifying with humanity?  Did he suffer, not just physically and emotionally from those who hated his message - but also, suffer betrayal from a close friend - just because he knew that you and I would suffer betrayal from friends and loved ones?  Did his love and desire to identify with His Creation in every way, extend to being betrayed by a brother - for no other reason that he loves His people and wanted to know us that intimately?

Maybe, maybe not - there may be a deeper theological reasoning that I don't know why Judas had to betray Jesus.  Maybe historically there is something that I don't get.  But, I know that I am comforted in knowing that Jesus suffered everything I would suffer, and whether its the primary purpose or not, he even endured betrayal from a brother and a close friend - and can identify when I am hurt by loved ones and friends.

Thank you Jesus, you really went to great lengths for me!

Been awhile...

I don't know exactly how long it has been since I have done this, but I feel like today - I should put into words all that God is stirring in my heart.

I have been studying the Gospel of Luke and the major prophet work of Daniel - and this morning God really challenged me in both accounts.

First of all, in Luke - we see that Jesus is hands on with people, and not the type of people I would spend time with.  He takes the time to hang out with tax collectors, prostitutes and "sinners".  As I was reading this, I thought about those whom I spend time investing into.  Why is it not the guy who stands on the corner asking for a dollar?  Is there a better candidate out there for understanding the love and acceptance of the grace of God - than someone who has already hit rock bottom and is looking for help?  No - I spend time with "churchy" types like me, who think like I do, and are in similar situations as I am in - because then I feel comfortable.  But is life about me being comfy? I sure hope not...

Secondly, in Daniel - I was reading about Nebuchadnezzar and God's pursuit of him - and was blown away at my own narrow-mindedness.  Here is a pagan king, ruling over God's people, building idols and graven images to himself, thinking of himself as equal to God, and concerned only about his glory - and what does God do?  Send Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to minister to him and relay the glory and power of God to this pagan king.  

This morning - God really hit me with 2 truths - one, no one is ever to "far gone" for the gospel of grace.  The truth of the gospel of grace is that I am NOT good enough, so God wrapped himself in flesh, walked as we do, suffered temptation, torture, scorn, and crucifixion - so that I could be a part of God's family.  This causes me to step back and rethink how I look at people.  How I judge people.  How I determine who I am going to spend time with and who matters to God.

Secondly - is the length to which God will go to for a person, and to make his name and glory known!  Read Daniel 3-4 and examine it from the perspective of what God does for him.  Not how he saves his people and revelation to Daniel of his dream - but the length to which God goes to for the heart of Nebuchadnezzar.  It is pretty awesome!  And at the end of chapter 4 - the King of Babylon writes "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven for all his work are right and his ways are just and those who walk in pride he is able to humble."

God is able to capture hearts, and willing to save those who need him most - I just need to get my opinions and junk out of the way so that God can do what He wants to do!

Fun times...

It has been awhile since I have blogged, and for that I feel kinda bad.  It's not that I didn't want to, but finding the time to share all thad God has been walking us through can be kinda difficult.  So here is my attempt to briefly describe where I have been at with God...

It has been a rollercoaster ride lately.  One of those coasters that seem to shoot straight up to the clouds, and then you make a 180 degree turn and plummet down to the ground only to shoot straight back up again.

Last week, we took a trip to N'Awlins, LA - which was awesome.  We got to see a good friend of ours, visit our old stomping grounds and the school I used to go to, and eat a lot of amazing food while listening to some of the best music ever.  It was great - but leading up to and then on the tail end of the trip, we have been under some of the fiercest spiritual battle I have ever faced.

1 - Due to a mistake on a ticket I received for not having current registration, I was suppose to have an "arraingment hearing" on the 27th of April for a FATALITY mistakenly marked on the ticket.
2 - That never really happens so there is no precedent, which means finding the right person to talk to is almost impossible.
3 - The hotel we were suppose to stay in which NEVER fills up, due to our procrastination because of the ticket problem, FILLED UP!
4 - Our friend fell and hurt her ankle and heel really bad, right before we spent a week walking all over the city
5 - On Tuesday of our vacation my son fell down some stairs, landed on his head and had a lump the size of a golfball most the week
6 - When we got home, our AC had broke so our house was 92 degrees!
7 - Stayed with my parents for 2 nights and 3 days (blessing), unable to sleep well because of staying on air mattress
8 - Some spiritual attack occurred on Sunday (as it always does) but that will remain vague...
9 - Quote from AC company number 1 - 2400 dollars (here's where you put the heart attack at)
10 - Decide to wait - and I drive all the way to Tampa yelling and wrestling with God and my flesh about the money!
11 - God puts me in my place, fills me with His Spirit and makes me okay with spending that much money to fix an AC unit on a house we have a contract on and aren't going to be living in much longer.
12 - What happens? I get a call from another company, that promises to save me a lot of money and that I am being ripped off by company number one.
13 - One more night in mom and dads house.
14 - AC guys from Accu-Temp come out and FIX our unit for $350!
15 - Last night, we were able to sleep in our own bed, in our own house, and woke up late this morning!

So, I know towards the end it got less into the attack and more into the provision from God - but it has really been a cool last couple of days!  The battle can be so fierce that I at times, was just a wreck.  Monday, I was driving to help out with a ministry called Amazing Love in Ybor.  They feed the homeless, and have a worship service for them.  I want you to catch this perspective for a second...I am driving, in my air conditioned car, to feed people who sleep on the streets and are not sure where their next meal, shower, or bed is going to be - and I am fighting with God about how "bad" my situation is! And how unfair he is being!

Yeah, here is where conviction goes.

In the car, I actually told God that I was going to praise Him in my circumstances, but my heart was praising to make God feel like a jerk for being mean to me!  I don't know if I can communicate this accurately, but I felt like if I told God how awesome He was, while He was being a jerk to me, He would realize how big of a jerk He was being. (I realize my theology was terrible, but it was what I was feeling)

Then, a funny thing started to happen - as I praised, God softened my heart, and the praise become real, instead of manipulative and guilt.  He opened my eyes to all the ways He had provided for us, and showed me that He had blessed us with the money to pay for the repairs, given us a cool place to sleep every night, and that if He chose to use His money to fix our AC, so be it - why should I complain and argue with Him.

So, I repented and that night - after God made me willing and joyful about paying $2400 to fix our AC, I got a call telling me that it could be fixed for $350!

And so, here I sit - excited about the future, full of love for my Daddy, and hopefully a little wiser and more trusting of Him.

Poor Pastor...

1 Corinthians 4:9-13 "For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.  We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. WE have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things."

1 Corinthians 4:16 - "I urge you, then, be imitators of me."

As I read this passage this morning, a new perspective hit me that I had never really seen before, or maybe I have never taken the time to slow down and actually pay attention to the words I am reading...

But, look at the first chunk of verses again...doesn't sound like what we would want as a spiritual leader, does it?  Someone who is the SCUM of the world? The REFUSE of all things? Not my idea of a leader I would be quick to follow.  I like the idea of being an imitator of the Paul who stands before the men in Athens and points them to their false, unknown God and makes it about Jesus. Or the Paul that demands an apology from the magistrates in Philippi, because they punished a Roman citizen unfairly...

But, he refers to himself as a homeless, starving, beaten and ridiculed piece of trash.

I have heard the phrase "Be imitators of me" preached before about Paul, and what a great man of God he was, and how above reproach he was to ask people to be like him... and I have often thought that, to say that - took a level of confidence and a pair of stones, that I guess I just don't have.

And, when I read the phrase in context, it makes sense. Paul is saying, look at me, I am nothing.  Jesus is everything.  The world considers me garbage and I can do, and will do nothing without Jesus.  Life is hard, and not gonna get any easier.  But, I am plugging along, worshiping Jesus.  Be like me.  Put up with the hatred, the beatings, the disrespect, poverty, and hunger - for Jesus.

Kinda put things in a new light for me this morning.  Paul isn't saying, I am so great be like me.  He is saying, life is hard as a Christian, you are gonna get treated poorly, and if I am able to endure, so can you.

What if as pastors, we adopted that message? What if pastors and leaders looked like that today? Instead of building hangars for their planes, or adding another suit to their wardrobe - they got up in plain clothes, with calloused hands from their regular job (not a 6 figure salary from a church) and shared their trials, struggles and persecutions.  And then pointed to Jesus.

That would be pretty awesome!

Acts 13....

"And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52)

I want to paint for you a picture this morning.  Imagine you are Peter or Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13).  You head off to temple, sit and listen to the reading from the Torah and towards the end of the reading, the religious leaders turn to you and ask you to share a word of encouragement.

What would your word be?

Peter, filled with the Spirit of God, stood up - and walked those gathered through the Old Testament and spoon fed them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He took something very personal, familiar and that they could identify with and tied it into the Gospel.   And while many books and classes have been taught on doing just that, this is not what struck me today.

The people are so moved by their encounter with the Truth and so impressed by what the Spirit reveals through Paul that they invited him back another Sunday.  This time, almost the whole city shows up.  Imagine, the place is packed, everyone is whispering and sharing stories about what they heard last week.  People are anxious to hear what this guy, Paul has to say that has everyone so excited.  The religious leaders and devout Jews show up, see the crowds - and these men of God, who are suppose to teach, train and exhibit the Word of God, allow jealousy to creep into their spirit and begin to stir dissension against Paul and Barnabas. They get the devout men and women in their corner, and they begin to contradict what Paul had taught the week prior.  Even though, Paul began in the Old Testament, and tied it into Jesus - there is no limit to which false teachers will go to lead people astray.  But this is not what hit me.

Hearing the people being led astray and probably seeing the crowd quickly turn on them, Paul and Barnabas get up and speak out in boldness and declare that the Jews received the Gospel first, but have decided that they themselves are not worthy of eternal life, and so now the Gospel goes out to the Gentiles... there are about 10 sermons that could be preached, but still not what hit me.

The Gentiles in hearing that they can have a relationship with God, and that He loves them - rejoice and worship God - still not where I am going

This sends the religious leadership into a frenzy and they immediately begin to persecute Paul and Barnabas and DRIVE THEM OUT OF TOWN! Paul and Barnabas head out, dusting the dirt off their sandals as they go, not wasting time with the religious leaders, but moving forward to take the message of Jesus to wherever God leads them next... but still not what hit me.

"And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." 

There we are - this verse, that I have so often skimmed over, was powerful today.  Think about the roller coaster ride that Paul and Barnabas and those who came to faith in Jesus in Antioch had been on.  Yay for Jesus - let's hear more, No to Jesus - false teaching, YAY for Jesus - it's not just for Jews, No to Jesus - persecution and run out of town.

I don't know about you, but my head would be spinning and I would wonder what the heck God was doing.  But what is their response - filled with Joy and Holy Spirit.

They grasped something I think all believers need to grab ahold of - our filling of the Spirit and joy should not, cannot, MUST NOT be conditional.  Whether we are facing revival, or revulsion - we can be filled with joy and the Spirit.  What hope we have, that we can serve God, be filled with His Spirit and have the fruit of His Spirit evident in our life, regardless of our circumstances.

I think about how often this is untrue in my life, and that leads me to repentance.  How often I have joy after a successful preaching engagement or ministry event or divinely appointed conversation.  And how quickly all of that can go out the window when something goes awry. 

Oh, to be free from the conditional emotional response and simply live a life tied to the Spirt of God, filled with His love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control...

Requires me to die to myself, live in Christ.

Difficult - maybe. 

Attainable - gotta believe it is!

Marriage...

Sometimes I talk to people, and they talk about things that are revealed to them in a dream, and to be honest, I spent so many years as a negative, bitter skeptic that this is still usually my first reaction - but most of the time, I just end up jealous because I don't really ever dream. About anything. When I sleep - it is mostly dark, blank, amazing nothingness until the next morning.

But, about a week ago, I had a dream that has stuck with me and it hit me again this morning as I was talking with God.  In my dream, I was at a funeral and some new friends and old friends had gathered together to celebrate the life of someone, who it was I do not know.  But at this funeral, an old acquaintance was there, a friend from days long since past, a female.  For whatever the reason would have been, I was at the funeral alone and after it was over and we were all walking our separate ways I decided to walk this woman to her car.  We were reminiscing and enjoying talking when I decided to ask her out for coffee.  In my dream, I had a check in my spirit, because this would violate the very boundary that I established at the foundation of my relationship with Katie.  And, in my heart, I heard the lie whispered.

"It's innocent, she doesn't need to be bothered, and its simply coffee.  It means nothing"

And yet, it meant everything.

It was at that point that I woke up from my dream, disturbed at "dream Nate" and his willingness to comprise it all - for NOTHING!

I remember telling my wife about the dream, and her just kind of listening and I think thinking I was crazy to be bothered, but later that day as I was hanging out with God, and He and I were going over this dream, he whispered something in my ear:

"Aren't we in a covenant relationship that is deeper than your marriage? How many times have you traded in our relationship for NOTHING?"

What I had thought was a picture of my earthly relationship with my lovely, beautiful and amazing wife, was really a sad and staggeringly accurate depiction of my marriage to Christ.  I have been SO guilty of believing the lie that sin is harmless, or that forgiveness is already ensured, or that God won't know, and it's not a BIG deal, or my intentions are good... that I have been an adulterer.

I have cheated on Christ, many times over.  And the thing that wrecks my heart, is I know that as long as I am in this flesh, and struggle and war in this life, I will continue to commit adultery.

A passage that has stuck with me a long time now, is Ezekiel 16.  In this chapter, God is so madly, deeply in love with His Bride (us) and He pours out on her every blessing, adorns her with fine linens and gold and she USES that which He gave her, to betray him and whore herself out to others.  And God's heart is wrecked, because His Love betrays Him.  But, I love the last few verses - after God's heart has been broken, and His Bride has left him, offended and rejected him and done everything in their power to despise him - he promises Jesus and an everlasting covenant!

What an amazing display of love.  I am overwhelmed when I think of his love for me, despite my consistent attempt to drive a wedge between us.

I wonder, what would our lives look like if we honored the covenant we made to Christ on the day we first called him Lord?

What would our churches look like if we remembered to live lives of devotion to our Husband?