NCarolinian

There are venues in sports where the stadium acoustics help the home team when the Fans get loud enough for the visiting team not to hear their own thoughts.  I have seen this.  I have also seen the fans support and cheer their team to what seems like a miraculous comeback. To many this sense of control by the Fan is called The Extra Man .  For example, in basketball the Fan may be called The Sixth Man.   In American football the Fan may be called The Twelfth Man .  But besides the volume of the masses in the venue and the moral support given to the home team, it is the coaches and players that literally and figuratively - have the ball in their hands .  They are the ones that are in direct control of the outcome of the contest.  They are the ones battling it out - setting screens, blocking, passing, running, and scoring.  The Fan, well, he/she just appreciates the effort very much from the sidelines. The message conveyed here to the Christian...

A Disciple comes from a  Discipline .  Someone who follows a certain training or teaching.  Jesus had people who followed Him learning His teaching and "soaking up" His training.  What Christians call The Twelve Disciples were not the only Followers of Christ's teaching and training.  Other men and women followed Jesus through His years of earthly ministry ( Acts 1:15 ).  Throughout the centuries the call to live under the discipline of Jesus has continued to flow through those who have decided Jesus is their Lord and Savior. The Discipline of Jesus was and is Love.   "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." - 1 John 4:16 Jesus ascended and then sent the Holy Spirit to aid us in being effective Disciples for Him.  Jesus was the full expression of love on earth while He was here. "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him," - Colossians 1:19  ...

Praise God anyway!  My two favorite Biblical stories to exemplify this charge are Paul and Silas in prison ( Acts 16:16-40 ) and the Fiery Furnace ( Daniel 3 ).  I can hear somebody possibly saying, "Well, yeah they praised God in the Paul and Silas story, but I don't recall them praising God in the Fiery Furnace story." "Praise is not a feeling, it is an expression.  It must be expressed to be considered praise.  It must be expressed to be received by God, witnessed by the lost, and feared by hell.  You may be feeling admiration in your heart, but how are you expressing it to God and to the world?  How are you 'making it known?'  How are you 'declaring' it?  That's praise." (p.101, How To Worship A King, Zach Neese) I can well imagine, even if it is not documented, that after being pushed into a furnace that was heated seven times hotter than normal and not being burned or even the smell of fire on them - there was some vocal praising go...

There are those in my life who know me fairly well.  Many of those people are my immediate family.  Folks like my wife, mom, dad, and brother all know me pretty well.  They have spent a good chunk of their years invested in a relationship with me.  Still, they do not know everything about me, just like I do not know everything about them. Ever heard the phrase - "I get you" - meaning, I understand you ?  In the movie Avatar , the main characters said, "I see you" as the equivalent phrase.  I was at work today and walking out to my car to go to lunch when I heard in my spirit the Holy Spirit say, "I get you!"  I about lost it (in a good way).  Of all the people in and out of this world to say, I get you , God the Holy Spirit is the one you want communicating that. From my ugliest, private moments before God to my most glorious moments in full view of others and Him - He understands every thought, action, word, gesture, concern, ......He underst...

In case you didn't know, there is a difference between Punishment and Discipline. I write this not only in hopes that it will benefit you but that it will crystallize it for me. Punishment has the element of something deserved because of breaking a law, an agreement, or covenant. The rule of Cause and Effect comes into play. Payment is due by a wrong-doer.   Divine punishment is the Holy, wrathful outcome or consequence executed due to a divine judgment [Chadwick Dictionary/Concordance ;)].  Punishment itself brings with it an air of finality.  In Scripture, there are some places that mention no reprise or appeal that is given in association with punishment ( Zechariah 14:19 ). Some punishments last for a certain period of time, like a year ( Jeremiah 11:23 ), other punishments can last for eternity according to Matthew 25:46 . Discipline is a variable term.  When, where, and what the discipline is - is up to the giver and usually a corrective measure , not a d...

Someone clears their throat at a dinner to say a few words, possibly a prayer over the food (Grace). Someone dings the side of a china glass before making an announcement or speech at a wedding dress rehearsal or other event.  A bullhorn is raised in front of the mouth of someone who stands before a mass of people who need instructions.  Someone steps up to a microphone on stage and the crowd grows silent in anticipation of his/her words. All of my word-pictures portrayed here display a person about to speak and call attention to the fact that his/her words are important enough that your consideration via silence and attention are required. Father God and Jesus did this too! "After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.....a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud ...

Love.  The number of songs, poems, speeches, and written dissertations on this subject is staggering.  So, I might-as-well add my two cents worth to the mix. Perhaps you know these verses that describe God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love . - 1 John 4:8 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love . Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 1 John 4:16 Now that you know God is love, take the infamous 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 passage and replace the word "Love" with God and "it" with He. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 What a mighty and lovely God we are befriended by - ...

"There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11 NASB, emphasis mine).  An angel spoke these words. Shepherds heard them first.  But what the angel said to them, God says to anyone who will listen.  'There has been born for you...'  Jesus is the gift.  Does He build a bridge and command you to cross it [for this gift]?" (p.150)  No, He builds the bridge, crosses the bridge Himself, offers Himself, and if accepted by you - places you on His shoulders and carries you back across into His kingdom, blessing you all-the-while. Like I, or others, have said in previous blogs - "This is the gift that God gives.  A grace that grants us first the power to receive love and then the power to give it.  More verb than noun, more present tense than past tense, grace didn't just happen; it happen s ."  (p.150) Interesting what happens when you listen.  I was given the opportunity recently to operate in Grace.  While ret...

If no one has ever said this to you, I now say it - from henceforth you are permitted to make mistakes.  The individual has so many performance-driven influences that demand perfection it makes the head spin just thinking about it.   God's way is different, God's way is higher (Isaiah 55:9). "His faithfulness does not depend on yours. His performance is not predicated on yours.  His love is not contingent on your own.  Trust God's hold on you more than your hold on God." (p.135)   God chose all of humanity to have fellowship.  God's Son died and rose again for the redemption of that relationship/fellowship with all humanity.  God first loved me.  Now, I willingly place all my  eggs  in His  basket .  I place my life in His hands (it is so much better that way).  I place all my hope in Jesus Christ, my Lord, Savior, and Friend. Yes, I have been  Saved  since 1979, but total trust, total hope in Christ is...

I play a few video games that require me to kill.  Although these other soldiers of the other cause are virtual, if you get killed by them you can always spawn another life close to where you lost your previous one. Besides it being a stress reliever for me, it also got me thinking (which is dangerous, I know). Death - some people flirt with it voluntarily, others involuntarily. In the real world, it takes a certain person with a certain personality to place himself at the edge of no return. It is one thing for your armed service to be forced (draft) or your will to be forced into action by defending yourself.  For example, you may defend your country against a declared/undeclared enemy or a thief in your home.  It is another thing to voluntarily sign-up for duty to serve and protect in any service that has the potential of you not returning home. There was a time, when I was younger, that I could have seen myself in the shoes of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, ...

God' justice of His grace says that everyone in history - past, present, and future - must be paid for by the life's blood of God's only Son, even knowing some are going to flat-out reject His unconditional, sacrificial, gift.  Taking on their sins, for justice sake, as well as those who will decide to follow Him, is a Love and a Just God I cannot fathom yet I have a personal relationship with Him by faith. I am adopted by God. "God saw our entire lives from beginning to end, birth to hearse, and in spite of what He saw, He was still convinced 'to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave him great pleasure' (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)." [p.120, Grace, Lucado) As Father God loves Jesus, so Father God loves me. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17) And God raised us u...

I read some material that I needed to hear for my life right now.  I want to share it with you so it bless you and encourages you also. "You have his Spirit within you.  Heavenly hosts above you.  Jesus Christ interceding for you.  You have God's sufficient grace to sustain you." (p.97, Grace , Max Lucado) Allow me to take 2 Corinthians 12:9 and work it backwards.  First, read the verse as is - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. Now for the backward compatibility of this verse through my paraphrase. I get the honor and privilege of Christ's power resting on me as I boast in my weakness because that is where God's grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect.  "Grace takes on an added dimension here.  Paul is referring to sustaining grace.  Saving grace saves us from...

One Biblical topic I could talk your ear off about is Eschatology or End Time Events.  I get really excited speaking about seeing my Savior one day soon.  However, with all the studies I have done, with all the bending of the ear I could do about this topic I have found something else.  That something else is a charge or challenge to live a magnetic, Christian lifestyle while eagerly expecting the return of Christ for His church or bride, commonly known as The Rapture. In a recent study I did, I found some major New Testament prophetic Books and Chapters have this charge or challenge to live out an attractive, magnetic, Christian lifestyle located right behind the prophecy of Christ's return.  The Books I studied were Matthew, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Peter, and Revelation.  The following are the verses that fell after the prophecies. Matthew 24:44-47 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. "Who then is ...