"A Pair of Boots." A Poem.

I am a pair of boots, dried out, faded and dusty after a walk in the wilderness.
Color faded from rich deep brown leather to a sandy white crust.
There are scuffs and gouges in my sides where I have stumbled and twisted among rocks.
Dried blood coats my heel from a rattler’s head I had to crush.
I’ve been deep in water, crap and mud. Forced through high grass, thorns and brier.
Hundreds of miles traveled and my soul is wearing thin, I’m tired.
But now, I’m at a place of rest, feet out, I can breathe again.
I’m picked up and picked away at, the thorns and chunks of mud are gone.
Next I’m wiped clean with a rag, collecting all the dust and blood.
Then I’m wiped again, but this time I’m coated with shine.
Polishing my leather hide, gives life, fills me up with pride.
Once again, I show my true color, how I’m meant to be.
The scuffs are still residing but they help tell my story.
I am a pair of boots, polished, rugged and worn after a walk in the wilderness.

My Teaching on 2nd Samuel 2

      I am always blown away with the ways that God uses me and the opportunities he provides for me. I received another opportunity on May 2nd of 2012 to teach for the second time at Calvary Chapel Kauai's Wednesday night service.
I have posted the audio below as well as my notes.
I hope you are edified.

Recap

- David returns from the philistine army to his hometown of Ziklag and finds it burned and people taken.

- David seeks the Lord and Goes to the Amalekites and reclaims everyone and everything.

- Saul goes into battle against the philistines and is killed along with his 3 sons.

- David hears of Saul's death, kills the messenger and laments for the Death of Saul and Jonathan.

Main Teaching
David is inquiring of the Lord as to where he should go next.
David is from the line of Judah, so he wants to return to his own tribe.
But he remains faithful to God and seeks him for very specific direction.
God tells David to go to Hebron.

Some Facts on Hebron.
                - 27 Miles northeast of Ziklag, surrounded by smaller villages, lots of room.
                - In Genesis Abraham and His wife are buried there. It's an old town.
                - When David reclaimed his people from the Amalekites,
                  he sent spoils of war to the towns where leaders had helped him. Hebron was one of those towns.

So David goes to Hebron with His two wives and all his men and their families.
David is appointed King over the house of Judah.
We see in verse 11 that David was king there for 7 years and 6 months.

Just like David, we too should come before Lord seeking his direction.
David is so trusting of the Lord's guidance because he loves the Lord.
Jesus did the same thing. When God came to earth as a baby, he was not lying in his manger planning out who his disciples were going to be.
He chose to start from the beginning as a normal man, relying on God the Father for direction. Jesus was praying and seeking direction from God all the time.
I think that in today's fast paced world, we often think we are too busy to ask God for direction...
And then to wait for an answer from the Lord? Who has time for that?
People that care about what God wants.
If you don't have "time" to seek God's direction, you are running your own life.
What's the limit on things that you allow God to direct. Where do you draw the line to stop seeking his guidance?
Its that simple. I encourage you to start being intentional in seeking God for everything.
Try it. You may be surprised at the results.


David finds out that the men of Jabesh-gilead are the ones that retrieved Saul's body and son's bodies and buried them.
Remember that the Philistines took Saul's body, cut off his head, stripped him of his armor and fastened his body to the wall at Beth-shan. Super disrespectful to the dead.
The men of Jabesh-gilead were brave and kind, showing loyalty to the Saul, and David asked God to bless them.
David also said that he would do good to them.  At this point, David may be realizing that he would soon be King over all Israel.

Do we show loyalty to the ones in authority over us?
This is a hard question to ask. Super controversial topic. That's why I get to talk about it.
But guess what, the Bible is filled with controversial things.
David knows that Saul was placed in authority over Israel by the Lord. David respected Saul, even while Saul was trying to kill him.
I know for myself this is a hard topic. I have had my fair share of ripping into politicians and leaders.
But the closer I grow to Christ, I see how important it is to respect those that God has set over us.
And God knows every ruler is ruling, God was not surprised when Castro took the reins of Cuba.

Titus 3: 1-2

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
In Acts Chapter 4, John and Peter are speaking to the people, The priests, Sadducees and the captain of the temple come and take them into custody. They are arrested and questioned, and yet they still respect the authorities.
It was only when they were told not to speak of Jesus anymore that John and Peter disobeyed.

Jesus was the Same way before all authorities when he was on trial.
All these great men never disrespected the rulers.
What makes us think that we have the right to that?
David had the right attitude. We should too.
Don't trash talk your leaders. Respect them and Pray for them.

Ish-Bosheth made king of Israel (8)

Abner made Ish-Bosheth king over the regions of Gilead, Ashuri and Jezreel. And he made him king of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin and all the land of *Israel.
Saul had 4 sons (1 Chronicles 8:33). Three of Saul’s sons died with him in the battle including Jonathan(1 Samuel 31:2).
His youngest son was Ish-Bosheth. Abner was Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul's army.
Ish-Bosheth was 40 years old when he was made King of Israel and he reigned for 2 years.


The Battle of Gibeon (12)

There are now 2 kings in Israel, David and Ish-Bosheth.
David is ruling in Judah and Ish-Bosheth in the rest of Israel.

The captains of each army wanted their king to rule the whole nation. Gibeon was Saul’s home town. It was near to the land of *Judah and about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Hebron.
 Each captain took a group of soldiers with him to Gibeon. But neither of the kings went.
The two captains may have gone there to try to make a settlement without a war. They chose 12 men from each group to have a fight. *Israel had 12 *tribes. So perhaps the 12 men acted on behalf of the whole nation. Then whichever group won the fight, their king would rule all 12 *tribes. This is similar to what happened with David and Goliath in 1 Samuel chapter 17 (see verses 8-9). The plan did not work at Gibeon.
After they see that it's ended in a tie, David's men killed a bunch of Abner's men.

Asahel {as a heel} chases Abner and dies (18)
During this fight, Asahel wants to go after the Leader. So he chases Abner through the battle, Abner tried to get him to stop.
Zeruiah was David's Sister (1 Chronicles 2:12-16) Joab, Abishai and Asahel are her sons, and David's nephews.
He was the youngest of the three commanding brothers. Probably not very experienced in war.
Asahel would have received fame and honor for killing Abner.
He left the safety of his Brothers and Men and pursued to his own death.

I think that Abner just halted and held up the end of his spear. Asahel not having time to stop and was impaled.

I see in this section the need for fellowship and wisdom.
To dive into a very hard setting without prayer, guidance or others to help is pure foolishness.
Asahel was doing what he thought was best. He was pumped up in the heat of battle and acted on emotion instead of thinking it through. And it led to his death.
There are times when God raises people up to do great things.
But we should not bite off more than we can chew, trying to be the Hero by our own strength, forsaking clarity of mind for brash foolishness.
Seek the Lord in all things. Our own strength is limited, God's strength through us is limitless.

Joab and Abishai chase Abner (24)

Joab and Abishai continued to chase Abner because he had just killed their youngest brother.
They came to the hill called Ammah as the sun set.
The men from the tribe of Benjamin came to Abner. They stood together as a group at the top of the hill.
Abner basically tells Joab that they need to stop fighting because they are of the same nation. He calls them Brothers.
Joab has wisdom and considers what Abner says.
Even though Abner killed his little brother, Joab still had enough wisdom to see that their fighting was foolish and detrimental to the nation of Israel.
Joab blows the trumpet signaling the end of the battle.
Each army went back their own way.

We see that God's favor is with David's men. They only lost 19 men besides Asahel.
Where as Abner lost 360 men.
Talk about good fighters.

Joab has even more motive to kill Abner then Asahel did, yet he showed great wisdom in stopping the pursuit of Abner.
So we see a contrast between these two brothers.
One that acts quickly and foolishly without thinking, and the other that reframes from being driven by emotion and seeks wisdom.

Be wise my friends.
When hard times come up in your life, remember to seek the Lord first.
He has ways of making things happen that we can't see.
I don't want to act on my own knowledge.
I have to admit that even in first studying for this teaching I was relying on what I knew, instead of what God wanted me to say.
Jesus showed great patience and wisdom in the way that he sought the Lord.
As Christians, if we are truly modeling our lives after Christ, we should have no problem seeking the Lord.
I learned a lot from this passage, I hope you did too.



Prayer

- Thanks for the Word
- Respect and pray for our authorities
- Keep Seeking God in all things

My Life Values and Goals

After a six month break from blogging, I have decided to start up again.
This post is more personal then most because it describes my life vision and goals. I want to share this with you, not to boast, but to be held accountable for the things I believe God has called me to. I pray that as you read this, you could be inspired to plot out your own life vision and goals and use them to track your progress in life!

Having a plan for your is something that I'm finding is very important the older I get.
In my past there has been a lot of time where I did nothing because I did not have a plan for my life, I was just living for the moment; selfish really. Every action I completed was focused on a temporary pleasure.
            My life now, after accepting Christ and choosing to follow him, has been reformatted. I have no desire to turn to the things of my past. I sense the pace in this breath we call life. In understanding this, my values, plans and goals are all reworked to complement my new life.
            I have three major life values, my first is "devotion to God."  I am saved by God, so therefore I am doing all I can to show respect for the great love he has for me. This is not just a favor that I am trying to repay. I know that I can never do that. As soon as I accepted the gift of salvation; I was accepting membership into a family larger then I could comprehend. God is my Father, I want to please him by listening, obeying, and fellowshipping with him regularly. This also includes enjoying the benefits of that relationship! 24 hour guidance, being loved unconditionally, teaching and correction for the rest of my life.
            The second value in my life is "loving people." "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus taught about loving others often, and he showed the greatest love for others by dying for the whole world. In following after Jesus, I too want to love others more than myself. The first group of people that I love is my family. Until I am married, I will pour myself into their lives. Respecting my parents authority, loving them as well as the sisters that God has blessed me with and being willing help them when hard times arrive.  
As soon as God brings me into a relationship with my future spouse, I will direct my attention to her. Being her best friend and loving her as Christ loved the church.  Maintaining romance and continuing to pursue her for the rest of my life. I want to know the very essence of her being.
My future children will also be of high interest in my life, I want to love them by setting the best example I can of "a man after the heart of God." I Not only want to be someone for them to watch, but I also plan be relational with them, spending time playing, learning and resting together. I'm very excited to have kids!
The people that surround me in life are also important to me, God has placed them in proximity to me for a reason. I love spending time with them and getting to know them better, sharing what God has done with my life and assisting them in any ways that I can without taking away from my relationship with God or my Family.
            The third value in my life is "making disciples." I wish to follow in the footsteps of Christ by accepting his commission and doing what I was created to do. In the little Discipling I have done since my serious commitment to Christ I have found so much growth in myself as well as others. I love the feeling of existing for a purpose and fulfilling that purpose! Seeing my Disciples grow as they investigate what it means to be a follower of Jesus is great.  Allowing God to use me has opened up the doors to all kinds of new opportunities and being a Discipler makes me more accountable as well. I thank God for the gifts he has given me, and pray that I can benefit and expand the kingdom with them.
            My long term goal is to be "A Man after the heart of God" my whole life. To never fall away from him, which is only possible with his help. To stay interested in the Lord and pursue him as long as I live. I have dedicated my life to his service and I will use all that is in me to uphold that. I want to be a disciple maker, fulfilling the commission that Christ has appointed me with.  Someday I also would like to become a counselor. I enjoy listening to what other people have to say, the trials they are experiencing, praying for them and aiding them in finding a solution.
            I thank God for the interest he has given me in my life and I depend on him for continued instructions. Until I receive more directions from him, I will seek him and use what he has equipped me with in the setting that he has placed me in. 

3 Conversations that I found helpful

      I have not Blogged for the last 2 months. I have just been very busy working. But now I am back with my latest take on things.
Over the Summer I was getting upset with how my relationship with God was going.
We know that God never goes anywhere. We are the ones who tend to stray away.
And that is pretty much what happened, I let myself get back into a selfish mindset.
But I was so dried up, I wanted to feel God's Spirit poured out on me again.
So I crawled back to God, asking for Him to draw me close once again. And he has.
      

      Last month I was working this question. "How can I constantly be near to God?"
The answer is simple, We have to seek Him out.
I have also noticed 3 things that have been very helpful to getting near to God.
I call them "The Three Conversations"

1. Conversation with God (Prayer/Worship)

2. Conversation with Believers (Fellowship)

3. Conversation with Non-Believers (Evangelism)

      The First of the three is Conversation with God, known as Prayer and also Worship.
In Psalm 5:1-3, David says, 

"Give ear to my words, O Lord; Consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch."

      David was just one of the many men in the Bible who talked to God and Relied on him.

Jesus would often get away from the crowds and go pray to the Father. Because Jesus was constantly in prayer withe the Father, He knew the Lord's will and could carry it out. 

As Christians we are to model our lives after Christ. Jesus Prayed, so We Pray. 

     

      The Second of the Three is Conversation with Believers, Fellowship.
Romans 15:1-2,

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up."

      As Christians we are to help each other bear the burdens of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
We are all Brothers and Sisters in Christ. All together in one Family.
Acts 2:42-47 talks about Believers being devoted to the apostles teaching and fellowship.

Verse 44 says,

"And all who believed were together and had all things in common."

They were relying on each other. Take advantage of the church family that God has given you. Be committed to it, serve, and allow yourself to be humbled by being served.

The Third and Final piece is Conversation with Non Believers, Witnessing, Evangelism.
I really don't like the term Witnessing, I feel like we have slightly lost the meaning over time.
When you witness something, what are you doing? Think about it.

If you witness a car accident, you are seeing it happen.

You are observing, experiencing something.
Non Believers are actually witnessing us. They are seeing our lives, how we act and talk.
Matthew 5:16, 

"...Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

      We are to shine the light of Christ in our lives. Share what Jesus has done with us.
Be approachable, open and friendly like Jesus.
This is where we take all we have learned and put it into practice.

1. Conversation with God (Prayer/Worship)

2. Conversation with Believers (Fellowship)

3. Conversation with Non-Believers (Evangelism)

Getting To Know God

The Old Testament is filled with great stories of God's work within his people.

This is where many Christian children's story books come from.Today there is much emphasis on the New Testament and The Gospel.

I would not argue the importance of that, since it is the key to understanding our salvation. However, there is so much to know about our God.More than we can even understand.
The Old Testament is a window that we can look through to see the very nature of God.

I have started my plan to read through the Bible. I have never done it, but I really want to and so I am doing it. I am reading New Testament and Old Testament at the same time. I am currently in Numbers in the Old Testament. I can say that I was not very excited to read through Leviticus and Numbers. But now, as I read through it, I see so much of God's Character being revealed. I used to see God as this Giant glowing white old man who was grumpy and didn't really have a personality. But the more and more I read the Bible, I see that God has a Personality, a perfect personality!

God is not a God of Chaos and Confusion, but a God of Order and Creation. He loves to create and see us create. He had specific ways he wanted things built for the Israelites. He created all that we have on Earth, all the results of the combinations of things we can create. God enjoys watching us create, we are practicing our gifts. Like a child mimicking their parent as they work, so we do the same when we create. God has had this beautiful plan for everything since the beginning of time.

God is a God of Justice, but is also Compassionate and Forgiving. There are so many times in the traveling of the Israelites where the people complain and go against God and his rules. God is always ready to fry um all with fire from heaven, but Mosses talks to God face to face and asks him to spare them. God has mercy on them and only bakes those who are in complete rebellion to him. I was laughing while reading in numbers 16 this morning. God was getting so fed up with the children of Israel complaining about everything, in verse 45 God says "Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." So we see that God gets angry, but Mosses and Aaron made atonement for the people and turned God's wrath from killing all of them. But still, 14,700 died. So we see that God does have a personality, he gets mad when we go against him, but now have Jesus who is our mediator instead of Mosses, and Jesus is God. Mosses was just a man and could not stop all of God's wrath.

There are so many characteristics to God, they are innumerable, but what I want to emphasize is that God is real, he has a personality, he has feelings, and he is passionate about his creations. We need to see Him that way. We are made in his image, we were designed after him. God IS the perfect blueprint, Jesus IS the perfect creation from that blueprint. Jesus' personality reflected God's own personality to its maximum ability through human form.

I want to know God like I know my friends and family members.

I want to know what he likes, what he hates, how to please him, how to be lovely in his sight.
I hope that this is your goal too.

The same producer of the entire universe talked to Mosses face to face.
You can talk to Him too.

Know that God is real.

He is watching you right now. Wanting to talk with you.

Do it.

Talk with your Designer, Savior, King and Friend.

Boys to Men

There is a beauty in the innocence of a young child.
Knowing how much garbage there is in this world and then seeing a little child who knows nothing of it. As you watch the child get older, you start to notice them learning new things, simplistic yet selfish tendencies. The child will have a choice between right and wrong, fully understanding, and still they will choose the wrong. When children are young, we pretty much accept this type of behavior, knowing that they are learning and hopefully grow out of it. However, I have noticed this behavior in many many boys who claim to be men today. So, when do boys become men?

Some would say to look back at the times of Christ, at the age of 13 the males were considered men. That would be awesome if males today could be considered "Men" at 13, however with the pressure of our culture and all other obstacles in our world today, that simply won't work for most boys.

Some would say the age of 18 is when you are an adult, I would not agree with that considering this is the age that most graduate from public high school.

Some would say age 21. Because you can legally get drunk does not make you a man. You want to be your own man? Don't get drunk on your 21st birthday! Go against the grain.

I feel that age does not define becoming a "Man".

Emotions are running wild in today's "Men". I see guys getting so self centered, having full blown pity parties in front of people. I seen guys blow up in front of girls and guys over the smallest things. I hate seeing boys who call themselves men just sulking around in sorrow or letting anger run them.

"Get a hold of yourself you sally! Grow up, shut up, be a Man."

I'M SO SICK OF EMO BOYS! Emotions aren't bad, they are good. But if you can't control them, you have no right calling yourself a "Man".
There was once something known as chivalry. It has been lost with today's generation, save a few good men. Chivalry is all about protecting and respecting women, encouraging other men and just pouring yourself out in general. Upholding standards and rules, doing the right thing. If you are willing to help others without expecting anything back, you are moving in the right direction.
There is hope, but it needs to start with a change of heart.
Find your identity in Christ.
Be a man like Jesus was. Serving to Death. Loving to Death.
Stop being selfish, look at the needs and cares of others.
If you want to grow, you have to look outward.

Why I live this way.

To him I will cling in good times and bad.

The master writer of my life story.

If I am happy or if I am sad.

To him I will give all the glory.

He sends me here, He sends me there.

I will listen and obey.

I know His plan is perfect, I know that He does care.

That is why I live this way.