Steadfast

Above all other elements of God's character, i'm in awe of his steadfastness. A simple search of the word came up with 224 hits in the ESV, most of which are proclaiming God's steadfast love.

However, many are imperatives for the Christian:

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [1 Cor. 15:58]

5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. [2 Thess 3:5]

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. [1 Tim 6:11]

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. [Titus 2:2]

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. [James 1:12]

And it makes a lot of sense to me why God would make it a priority to exhort his people to steadfastness. Simply put, we are fickle followers...me especially.

Over the past few years the Lord has been teaching me that though it is good to have high goals, the crown of life is not promised to the visionary, but to the man who remains steadfast. It seems like the Lord has consistently given me seasons of worship where he will instill in me desires and aims to do great things, but when those seasons change, the aims and goals get lost and forgotten. Like Lewis said, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." Though we cry out with Peter "I will die for you", like him, when trials come, we find that we are far from steadfast.

Yet, we must not be satisfied with our unstable hearts. We must take up arms as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We must fight to be men who have a single eye fixed on the Lord alone. We must fight our flesh and the whisper in our ear that says "You have failed and will never amount to anything" and respond loudly "Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8"

Let me be clear here, I don't want you to hear this like a drill sergeant ordering you to lace up your boots and get 'er done. By no means. I'm convinced that the steadfastness that the Lord commands comes only from the Lord himself. I think this steadfastness is achieved on ones knees before it is ever acted out on ones feet.

So I pray...Lord make us steadfast like You are. Then we will shine like stars and will truly be a city on a hill for all to see.

Read more...

Lead your family Men

The video speaks for itself...

Read more...

It's been a while...

Well, I may be blogging to myself now after a 4 month blogging sabbatical, but i'm going to write anyways.

To be honest, I stopped blogging because I really didn't have much to say. The past year or so has been a steady downhill slope where I've been stumbling and sliding towards the valley of lukewarmness. I've had to continually make excuses for my failure to honor the Lord over and over, and for a long time, it was getting worse and worse.

Yet thanks be to God and Jesus Christ for being patient and gentle with fickle followers such as me. Isaiah 42:3 "a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice."

The past month has been one of repentance and it's been a battle. In the words of Lecrae, Satan is a beast. This is why the word warns believers that they shall face many trials and tribulations to enter into the kingdom. However we have a champion that has disarmed the enemy and will one day silence his mouth. This brings me hope and encourages me to take up arms and fight the good fight.

Though it took far too long, I'm now determined to be done with excuses. I resolve to pursue the Lord, pursue my wife, encourage my brothers, and serve the church. The lamb of God is worthy. All praise to Christ!

Death In His Grave (Performance Video) from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

Read more...

The Wisdom of God

I've been reading "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer on and off as of late, and just a couple minutes ago stumbled upon this gem:

"It is vitally important that we hold the truth of God's infinite wisdom as a tenet of our reed; but this is not enough. We must by the exercise of faith and by prayer bring it into the practical world of our day-by-day experience.

To believe actively that our Heavenly Father constantly spreads around us providential circumstances that work for our present good and our everlasting well-being brings to the soul a veritable benediction. Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart.

There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. Our insistence upon seeing ahead is natural enough, but it is a real hindrance to our spiritual progress. God has charged Himself with full responsibility for our eternal happiness and stands ready to take over the management of our lives the moment we turn in faith to Him. Here is His promise: "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will i do unto them, and not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16
(pg. 97)

If only we would trust that God in his wisdom sovereignly is working ALL things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to His purpose. How different would our day-to-day life look?

Read more...

On Loving Your Coffee and Your Neighbor – Kevin DeYoung

This article was mostly about Starbucks claiming to provide a cup of coffee that will bring about community in your life and save the world (which apparently it doesn't...who knew!?). If that interests you, check the link.

However, I liked something DeYoung said at the very end of the article:

Enjoy your Starbucks coffee, but don’t imagine you are the “global Good Samaritan” for doing so. You may have noticed from books like Stuff White People Like and Hipster Christianity that there is something of a backlash afoot against pretentious coolness. Please here me (and see point 3): there’s nothing bad, and probably lots good, about listening to emo bands, drinking fair trade coffee, and reading Wendell Barry at Panera Bread. Just don’t wear it all as a badge of spiritual honor.

Those who like McDonalds more than Starbucks and Bell’s Pizza more than Magdalena’s Tea House need to be extra careful that in an effort to defend the “uncool” they don’t end up demonizing the “cool.” Some people like the things that “hipsters” like. No problem. They need Jesus too. We all need Jesus. The battle is between God and the devil, between good and evil, between sin and righteousness, not between bourgeois and bohemian.

Forget hip and unhip. Don’t try to be cool. Don’t revel in being uncool. Just be who you are and love your neighbor as yourself.

I'd probably lean more to glorying in the "uncool" and judging the "cool", but it's all the same. Let's "be who we are" and boast in the cross.

On Loving Your Coffee and Your Neighbor – Kevin DeYoung

Read more...

Pray More

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Let these truths encourage you to pray:
We can do nothing apart from Christ
The weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal but are mighty THROUGH GOD
Our strength is through Christ
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective
We take heart because CHRIST has overcome the world, not us.
We are more than conquerors THROUGH Christ
Salvation is of the Lord, not man.
We have not because we ask not...

Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Read more...

Internet Security

I'm not an expert on internet security and identity theft, but I do know some stuff.

Basically, if you are connecting to a wireless connection that isn't password protected (WEP of WPA) then someone could connect to your computer and see anything you type in and/or any website you go to. This means that every time you jump over to Starbucks or Caribou to drink a latte and surf the web, you are riskin' someone stealing any username/password that you type in and checking out any emails you write. Even if the passwords are encrypted (the ***** come up instead of the characters) a decent hacker can get that info using programs that are available online.

What you can do:

• Don't use Internet Explorer. Download a different browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
• Don't buy stuff online at these places. Some websites may not be protected. Avoid transactions where you will type in your credit card information.
• In Gmail, you can go to settings (in the upper right) and choose the option "Use https always". This makes not only the login https protected, but also all the emails you send and receive. It's supposed to slow things down some, but I haven't even noticed.

Anyways, do some research if you don't believe me. It's a big deal apparently.

Read more...

Self Forgetfulness

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For when we lose our lives, we find them.

I need to return to this truth. do you?

Read more...

Anger's Root

A quick question that has humbled me as of late:

Is your anger due to the fact that someone has wronged or dishonored or undermined or overlooked or insulted YOU,

OR

because they dishonored, undermined, overlooked, or insulted JESUS?

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

Read more...

I Signed the Declaration

Summary: A group of Catholics and Christians got together and wrote a document that pledges to aggressively defend against the assault of our present culture and government on

the sanctity of human life
the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

I signed the document HERE. I was number 44,700 somethin.

Here's why my main man Al Mohler signed it.

Read more...

Gettin Married

Although something like 98% of people get married someday and therefore almost everyone could say that they are going to get married, it's even MORE likely in my case...

yeah...I liked it so I put a ring on it.

that was for you chels....and jody.

Read more...

My Prayer

Prayer for Mercy- Isaiah 63-64

15 Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful [5] habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
16 For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
18 Your holy people held possession for a little while; [6]
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
2 [1] as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? [2]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in [3] the hand of our iniquities.

8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful [4] house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
12 Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Read more...

I've been taught continually that laziness results in sin. For me, TV and video games are the usual culprits that lead me into sluggardly (I made up that word) behavior. I resonated with this passage:

Proverbs 24:30-34

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

There's work to be done!

Read more...

Health Care Reform

If you're like me and spend a minimum of 2 hours in your car daily and listen to NPR, you are probably tired of hearing about Obama pushing for Health Care Reform. I hate it because I don't know jack about it and you have to be a scholar or have some kinda specialized degree to understand the shiz.

Well, thanks to Between Two Worlds, I was directed to a VERY informative (and ridiculously long) article on the problems with American Health Care and Health Insurance. I strongly urge you to read the whole article (i'm 1/2 way through) so you can see how much of a problem our current Health Care System is. It opened up my eyes to what kind of a mess we're in.

Here's a little snippet:
How often have you heard a politician say that millions of Americans “have no health care,” when he or she meant they have no health insurance? How has a method of financing health care become synonymous with care itself?

The reason for financing at least some of our health care with an insurance system is obvious. We all worry that a serious illness or an accident might one day require urgent, extensive care, imposing an extreme financial burden on us. In this sense, health-care insurance is just like all other forms of insurance—life, property, liability—where the many who face a risk share the cost incurred by the few who actually suffer a loss.

But health insurance is different from every other type of insurance. Health insurance is the primary payment mechanism not just for expenses that are unexpected and large, but for nearly all health-care expenses. We’ve become so used to health insurance that we don’t realize how absurd that is. We can’t imagine paying for gas with our auto-insurance policy, or for our electric bills with our homeowners insurance, but we all assume that our regular checkups and dental cleanings will be covered at least partially by insurance. Most pregnancies are planned, and deliveries are predictable many months in advance, yet they’re financed the same way we finance fixing a car after a wreck—through an insurance claim.

The whole article can be read HERE.

Read more...

New Job Location

Well, the Lord has blessed me greatly in multiple ways:

1. I still have a job despite layoffs within Kokosing
2. I just got placed on a job in Nelsonville (see picture below for more details)
3. I'm going to get to work on the Bridge portion of the project, which is what I wanted to get involved in

This means that i'll be living in Columbus and actually will be able to partake in activities such as:

1. Seeing my girlfriend on the weekdays
2. Hanging out w/ buddies
3. Joining a community group w/ Veritas and serving the church more regularly
4. Possibly living w/ brothers in a house as opposed to living with grandmas in a one bedroom apartment...and by live with grandmas, I mean have them as neighbors...and just for the record, I really love the grandmas

Okay, I think the numbered lists are done for now. Or are they?

1. No
2. No
3. and no

Alright, that was just silly.

Anyways, it appears that i'll be moving out of Hurricane and over to Nelsonville very soon, as in this week or next. That could change I guess, but I'm going to push for more sooner than later.

Guys at my work often say a little phrase when something good happens to somebody, "You must be livin' right." Praise the Lord that that saying is a crock of crap. I'm thankful that although i'm regularly "not livin' right", he blesses me in grace.

(Click on the picture to see my excellent art work, I slaved over this for hours)

Oh and for those out there who care to know, this job is the 3rd phase of a project that is putting a bypass around the city of Nelsonville. Kokosing is just now completing phase 1 and Beaver Construction is going to be starting up phase 2 at about the same time we get rockin'. The job consists of substantial dirt work (4.5 million cubic yards of excavation/embankment), 8 bridges, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 miles of full depth concrete pavement. It bid for $45,200,000 and some change. I'll likely be on this project for 1.5 to 2 years, although who knows what could happen.

Praise God!

Read more...

Kevin McCarthy is my friend

Yep, Veritas Community Church, where I attend, got a shout out on the Resurgence, Mars Hill's blog.

However, even more ridiculous, Kevin McCarthy helped write the study guide that was posted to download. Yeah, he's one of my best friends.

I know him. We hug sometimes. Man-hug that is...

Check it.

Read more...

My job and the definition of ministry success

Truth be told, the amount of work that I have to do on my job right now is decreasing rapidly. That being said, my boredom at work is on the rise. So, i'll probably be posting crap on here more frequently and might even update the "books i'm currently reading" section cause it's way out of date.

On a completely unrelated note, I read this quote about how to define ministry success and it tasted my pancakes (trust me, that phrase is spreading rapidly across the nations...especially my homeland of Lithuania. You should use it).

The measure of how ministry is progressing in your church or fellowship, and the way to evaluate whether you are making progress, is not attendance on Sunday, signed up members, people in small groups, or the size of our budget (as important and valuable as all these things are!). The real test is how successfully you are making disciples who make other disciples. Are we seeing people converted from being dead in their transgressions to being alive in Christ? And once converted, are we seeing them followed-up and established as mature disciples of Jesus? And as they become established, are we training them in knowledge, godliness and skills so that they will in turn make disciples of others?
This is the Great Commission—the making of disciples who obey all that Christ has taught, including the command to make disciples. And this is the touchstone of our faithfulness to Christ's mission in the world, and the sign of a healthy church: whether or not it is making genuine disciple-making disciples of Jesus Christ.

Read more...

The Death of a Child

*** THIS IS A MUST READ ***

I just read an interview from a Father and Pastor in Alberta, Canada whose little girl was murdered in broad daylight.

Here's an excerpt and a quote from Spurgeon:
"Dear friend, have you found that trouble cuts the cords that tie you to earth? When the Lord takes a child, there is one less cord to fasten you to this world and another band to draw you toward heaven. When money vanishes and business goes wrong, we frequent the prayer meeting, the prayer closet and the Bible. Trials drive us from earth. If all went well, we would begin to say, "Soul, relax". But when things go amiss, we want to be gone. When the tree shakes, the bird flies away. Happy is the trouble that loosens our grip of earth." - From Beside Still Waters

HT: Challies

Read more...

Selfish

I know this is going to sound crazy to most of you, but i'm selfish. I know it's tough to believe, but it's the truth. Here's the question that convinced me of it:

How often do you think about yourself?

I think about myself at least 98% of the time. It's gotta be something out of control high. And it isn't always in pride either, unlike the times I think about myself kicking a thief in the middle of a bank robbery or throwing a touchdown to win the superbowl (both of which happen far too often...I mean me thinking about it, not actually doing it). Sometimes I think about how much I suck, which still is ridiculous. God doesn't rejoice in our self-loathing if it doesn't lead to worship. A lot of people who don't believe and don't honor God hate themselves, so really, it's not biblical humility.

The truth is, a lot of times I operate in the middle. Not loathing myself, not pridefully slapping myself on the back, but simply going through the motions satisfied to have few thoughts of God and MANY thoughts of self. I hate it. I'm so tired of it.

I want the spirit of John the Baptist. Talk about a guy who didn't think about himself. People start leaving him left and right to follow Jesus and all he says is "He must become greater, I must become less."

I'm done with self. I want Jesus. I want more thoughts on his perfection and less thoughts on my WHATEVER. How can those who died to sin live in it any longer?

May the God of freedom grant us what he promises.

Read more...

Why Orwell was Wrong

http://www.recombinantrecords.net/docs/2009-05-Amusing-Ourselves-to-Death.html

It's a VERY interesting comic strip shizzle about our cultures addiction to entertainment.

Read more...