RULES

Did you know there are rules to being a Christian?  Well, there ARE guidelines you should follow, but to say, or imply, that there are rules, that if not followed, will get you a one way ticket to Hell is simply not true.  I have not posted in this Blog for two years.  Partly, because I have been busy.  Partly, because I know that no one is reading it.  But mostly, because I have been in a rut.  I have lost my fire.  I have gotten caught up in the rules, regulations, and appearance of it all.  Today, I want to talk about the rules.  The ones that you are not suppose to bend let alone break.  The ones that “good Christians” would never have a problem with.  Well, you know what?  These are also the ones that get us labeled as hypocrites, because I don’t care how great you are you are not perfect.  We should be transparent in order to help the lost.  We should be honest about our “real” selves in order to demonstrate we are no better, no different, and no superior, to anyone else.  We are ordinary people with an extraordinary Father that has given us the gift of salvation through His grace.

Rule #1.  We should read our Bible everyday.

Yes, we should.  Yes, there are many of us that do.  Yes, it is God’s desire for us to be in His word daily.  Yes, we should have that burning excitement to meet with Him everyday.  What happens if we don’t?  The biggest problem I have experienced with this rule is that if we don’t read daily we are not honest about it.  We cower down and pretend we do, because if we don’t then we are not a good Christian.  We fear being looked at as “bad”.  But, how does it look to the non-believer that is reading his proverbial Bible through our lives?  We are being dishonest.  In translation, we are lying!  In the past two years I could safely say I have altogether read my Bible two months worth of days.  I really struggle in this area.  If I lose my fire I tend to lose my focus on being in the word daily.  The answer, however, to losing your fire is to pick up your Bible!  I encourage you, though, be honest.  If you are stuck in your walk.  If you are having trouble staying in the word.  Don’t lie about it.  Get an accountability partner.  Seek the advice of a mature Christian friend.  Don’t let this rule be the reason one of your non-believer friends chooses to walk away from getting to know God.

Rule #2.  We should never get angry.

Should we try to control our emotions and not let them display a bad witness?  Absolutely!  Should we pretend that being saved has exempted us from the emotion of anger?  No way.  If anyone has tried to tell you that you should not experience anger anymore because you are a Christian they have a lot to learn.  If anything, I find that there is more for me to be angry about now.  People not accepting the love of God, people having a double standard for those that have, people that have accepted the love of God acting in a way that destroys their witness.  All of these things anger me.  I also let the normal things of “life” anger me.  There is no magic switch that turns you into an always happy, always smiling care bear because you were saved.  Once again, we should take our emotions to the Lord.  Go to Him in prayer, and be honest about your shortcomings.  We are not perfect.  We should never claim to be.

Rule #3.  We should pray everyday.

The simple answer to this one is YES!  Everyday, you should meet the Lord in a time of prayer.  But, once again, if you are having trouble with this don’t lie about it and pretend that you are in prayer everyday.  The truth is there are many times that people just fall out of the routine of meeting with God.  Yes, I said the word routine.  No, I’m not going to Hell for calling a daily prayer time routine.  I, personally, see nothing wrong with developing a routine prayer time.  Routine in the manner of same time, same place everyday.  It’s like a toddlers nap time.  If you develop a routine of nighttime Bible reading and prayer at 9:00p.m. eventually you will have it as part of your day that you can not go without.  I am sure I am not the only Christian alive that sometimes falls out of routine.  Then your prayer life becomes nothing more that a few memorized lines before meals and bed.  Notice I said “memorized lines” instead of “routine time”.  There is a big difference in memorizing words that you repeat in the same order at the same time everyday and having a routine time to meet with the Lord in prayer.

Rule #4.  We have to be out of Church by 12:00.  (Don’t want Burger King to get crowded.)

This is not really a rule that is regulated by the outsiders looking in so much as the insiders wanting out.  Why is it that as congregants we feel that it is okay to tell the preacher he is preaching too long?  Why is it that we feel it is necessary to leave the Church by noon?  Why is it that as a culture we have become so ADD that we can not give our attention to the word of God for more than a half an hour?  If we are listening to an awesome, powerful message does it cease to be powerful after 20 minutes?  Here is my problem.  What if we have a visitor at church that is hearing the gospel for the first time, but it is cut short because the preacher is scared he will have an inbox of ugly emails the next day for going over his allotted time?  I feel we could potentially be the cause of a soul not being saved!  If you have time to watch a movie, listen to your iPod, play on the computer, or go shopping I think you can make a little more time in your life to listen to the word of God for an extra 15 minutes on Sunday morning.

As I’ve stated several times in this Blog, being a Christian is hard.  Rules one thru three are all about being transparent, showing your shortcomings, and admitting to them.  We as believers HAVE to be transparent.  If we try to give the illusion of perfection it does nothing but push people away.  We have to be honest that we are not perfect.  We all sin.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  We all mess up and have to ask for forgiveness, but in the end we are forgiven by His grace! 

Rule four is speaking directly to the Church.  We can NOT allow our personal perception of how Church should be to cloud what we are really here for.  Who cares if we go over by 15 minutes?  Who cares if we do not abide by every little tradition and schedule?  Our purpose is to spread the Gospel to the nations, and if it means being late to lunch than so be it!  We as Christians need to wake up and realize the time for saving souls is NOW!

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

Politics

So, one of my areas of particular struggle is Church Politics.  “So-in-so is not helping with the children.”  “So-in-so is not helping in the kitchen.”  “So-in-so is not tithing.”  “So-in-so is not rationing the toilet paper properly!”  It bothers me so much I find myself reacting in a way that I am not proud of.  For that I am sorry. 

That said…  Let’s look at the situation from fresh new eyes.  If you are going to be doing the work of the Lord how should your heart be?  Now, I know that is a loaded question, but lets take a look at it.  If you are hard at work in the children's department, sweating bullets trying to be prepared, and praying you may reach a child today what happens when you are also harboring resentment because Ms. Smith is not in there helping you?  Most likely that resentment will present itself during your time with those children.  You will not be as effective as you should be.  You may inadvertently end up causing more harm than good.

Now, Ms. Smith is working in the kitchen during a church-wide event.  She is busy making sure tea is made, silverware is ready, and stressing over if there will be enough food.  She is also upset about an altercation with you this morning when you stated you could not work in the kitchen today because you had to keep an eye on your children.  Now, as Ms. Smith is serving a spoon full of mashed potatoes to a visitor, she slings the food on the plate without so much as a smile.  The visitor, who has not yet accepted Christ, is now completely turned off.  She thinks that if that is what being a Christian is all about she wants no part of it!

Those are large situations, but what about Ms. Jones.  Ms. Jones does not like the fact that some of the younger congregants are coming to church in slacks instead of dresses.  She voices this opinion in mixed company and it is overheard by a young new visitor (who happens to be wearing slacks that day).  That visitor never comes back.

I say all of this for this point.  Shouldn’t we serve with a joyful heart?  If we are truly doing what we are doing for the glory of God would we notice the actions of everyone else?  That leads me to ask…  Are you serving for the glory of God or are you serving for the glory of you??  Brothers and Sisters, I implore you serve with a joyful heart, enjoy what you are doing, and leave the politics out of it.  Many a person has been turned off to Christianity because of Church Politics.  Let’s demonstrate the true love of Christ!  If we are to be that only Bible someone reads today lets make sure we are expressing the true spirit of Christ.

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.  Proverbs 15:13

Am I a book?

Have you ever felt like you are in a constant race? Trying so hard to pull ahead, but to only fall farther and farther behind. That is my life. I am a Christian. I have a deep sincere love for Jesus Christ. So, that means my life should magically be perfect… Right? Wrong! Now people watch me, analyze me, scrutinize my actions and speech. It makes me sad that Christians are so ruthlessly targeted for signs of hypocrisy. That said, we do it to ourselves!

If you are looking for an answer to properly handle a situation, or someone to tell you how easy and wonderful life should be because God is now on your side… Please stop reading now. This is going to be all about how hard this life is, and how easy it is to mess up and give someone the wrong impression of what being a Christian is about. My hope and prayer is that you or someone you know will learn from my mistakes. I plan to be very honest about my shortcomings and mistakes. I feel that if more people were brutally honest about how hard it really is to lead by example that we (Christians) would not get such a bad rap. I am not looking for sympathy or someone to tell me that these things get easier. I am simply looking to make people aware that I am not perfect and, by no means, do I claim to be. I am a sinner that is saved by grace! This is not a life of perfection and happy-go-lucky harp playing in a cloud. This is a life of service to an almighty, all powerful, merciful God that has saved ME. Not because I deserve it, not because I worked my way to it, not because I am any better than anyone else. He did it because he LOVES me, and just like any father he has to forgive me daily.



Join me in a journey through the struggles of an everyday Christian life. Walk with me as I discover the truth that I may be the only Bible some people ever read, and that is why I MUST strive to be a good example.  I will stumble, I will fall short, I will do and say things that I will have to ask for forgiveness for.  In the end I will ask for that forgiveness and I will make things right as the Lord reveals them to me.  I want everyone to know I am not perfect nor will I ever claim to be, but if I am the only Bible you read I want you to see that though I make mistakes, I try to the best of my human ability, to make them right and live to glorify my awesome Father in Heaven!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9