Hear no evil, see no evil

Even when you don’t see it or hear it, there is evil in the world.

Everywhere can hear the stats on such things as murder, accidents and bad things happening.

You might hear something like every 8 seconds a man is murdered across the world.

Usually if you are like me, you think that is just crazy.

Yet it can be true.

Whether you see it or not.

Whether you hear it or not.

Bad things do happen and whether you believe it or not it’s true.

It doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.

Faith can be similar to the hear it or see it.

It’s not about something being bad, but rather believe what was said.

Faith is something you cannot always see or hear.

Paul went out and did some amazing things in Acts 19:11-12…

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

What?

Can you believe this?

You didn’t see it or hear it yet just like evil even if you don’t believe it was true.

There were plenty of eye witnesses accounts of what happened and this is what was written down in the Bible.

I have said and heard plenty of people say, “If God just did….or if God would just perform this miracle then I would believe.”

God doesn’t work that way.

People even said this in the Bible, they still didn’t believe after the miracles.

This is why it’s called faith.

Even though you can’t always see the presence of God or witness the miracles yourself, it still is true.

Amazing things did happen through Jesus and through Paul.

Bad things happen in the world, but so do good things.

Just because I don’t see a kid dying of a sickness every 10 second doesn’t mean it’s not true.

Faith is hard to have and believe, but trust me when I say it’s true.

I had a lot of doubts in faith before making a decision to follow Christ.

Afterwards I study for year to learn about the Bible and Christ.

It’s true.

Even when I said if I just saw a miracle with my own eyes I would believe, honestly I would not have.

Would you?

If you couldn’t see faith or hear it with your own body, can you still believe?

I can and I can tell you that Jesus loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.

Having faith in something I can’t always see or hear is amazing in itself.

Jesus is real.

Faith is hard.

Yet I still believe.

Where are you at with God?

Can you still believe in things you can’t always see?

Have a great day.

Helping a pregnant women with morning sickness

We have the ability to help others out.

It could just be a simple as listening to someone else, some could be a physical act you could do for someone like raking leaves for an elderly neighbor.

Helping others is so amazing for you and for them.

This past weekend I was gone to a youth conference while Hailee battled morning sickness and was out of commission to chase around three crazy and  awesome kids.

Our friend Nathalie helped us out by picking Connor up on Friday night and taking him for the night.

It’s the little things that can be such a big help and really means a lot esp. when there was nothing I could do to help my wife.

Some of the smallest things we can do can be the biggest blessings to other people.

We can help people but not like Peter helped people.

In Act 9: 32-43 there is a story about Peter helping a couple of people out.

The first was Aeneas.

Aeneas couldn’t walk and Peter came by, healed him and instantly Aeneas got up and started walking.

The second was a lovely lady named Tabitha (Also known as Dorcas).

She was known for doing good and helping the poor.

She got sick and died.

Peter was in town and they called for him.

People were in tears crying over the loss of an amazing person.

Peter sent all of the people out and this is what happened in verses 40-41…

“Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.”

Through God, Peter was able to perform two amazing miracles.

God did amazing things then and he does amazing things today.

Matthew 19:26…

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

He was telling the disciples about a man who couldn’t give up all his possessions and follow Jesus.

He had a discussion about sacrificing for God.

In your life, what do you sacrifice for?

Is it worth sacrificing for?

I think one of the hardest and easiest things is to adjust your time to help someone out.

What can you do to help someone out?

You might now be able to help someone raise from the dead, but you can help in many other ways.

What can you do to help someone else out today?

Have a great day.

Falling off a bunk bed, how bad could it hurt?

Falling off the bunk bed = not fun.

Recently we have been  blessed to have two bunk beds given to us.

I know each of our kids have their own bed but I am an advocate of bunk beds.

My brother Zach and I had bunk beds since we were about five.

One of the negative aspects of bunk beds, when you fall off of them.

I remember this happening two or three times.

I remember waking up and flipping over to land on my back, it didn’t hurt and I just went back in bed and went to sleep.

It’s different being a parent of kids with bunk beds.

You worry about them falling off.

Both Connor and Nevaeh have bunk beds, but that isn’t what we worry about, it’s Ty.

Ty is a dare devil and isn’t really afraid of much.

He saw Nevaeh swim without a floating device so he wanted to do the same and tried.

He isn’t afraid of bunk beds, would climb up the ladder and be jump on the top bed.

This kid would be warned, but we knew it was only a matter of time.

A couple of weeks ago Ty fell off the bunk bed.

He was crying and sad.

I looked him over and he looked fine, I got him our kids ice pack and held him. 

A minute later he is out playing again.

It’s a miracle!

Just kidding.

It is funny how that kid could face a tough experience and be fine a minute later.

We are unfortunately filled with cases that aren’t this simple.

I know several people that have cancer and other problems that hurt.

I try every week to spend time and go over our prayer list in our Church and it’s full of hurt people.

It makes you sad that sometimes you can pray for that person but you can’t do more.

In biblical times this was even worse.

They didn’t have the doctors or health system we are blessed with today.

On top of it, a lot of people looked at it, if you were sick or in pain, you did something to tick God off and nobody would spent time with you.

In Acts chapter 3 was one of those times.

A man who was crippled from birth was picked up and dropped off in front of the temple gate called beautiful.

He would spend time begging from people.

Peter and John walked by this man.

They started to talk to him.

He thought they were going to give him money instead they said and you see the response in the next verse Acts 3:6-8…

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.  He jumped to his feet and began to walk.”

People who knew this man would walk by and say, how is this man walking?

He praised God.

God performed many miracles in that day.

Jesus healed many people in his ministry, but there was so much more to Jesus then just healing people.

He taught them and he forgave them.

In a class I took my first year at Bible college the professor posed the question:

“Which was easier for Jesus, healing or forgiving?”

The answer…

Healing, forgiving people put him on the cross.

While Peter and John were able to heal the people in the name of Jesus, we don’t see this happen much today.

At least in our minds.

I have seen some amazing people that were given no chance to live and overcome all odds and get better.

I mostly see a different type of miracle.

A miracle in someone’s mind.

I have seen and experienced what Jesus has done for me and many other people.

I have seen when people have had a bitter heart towards someone else for years all of a sudden become close again.

People were abused, raped, hurt in almost every way you could imagine and were able to forgive those people and not that that traumatic event control them.

Jesus does miracles every day and sometimes because it’s not a miraculous healing in our mind it’s not that huge.

Jesus forgives people for the greatest mistakes they could make and those people can be knew again.

Hearing Ty fall of the bunk bed is scary, and we are glad he is alright.

That was something small.

God can help us work on the areas we fall short in.

Forgiveness and moving on in life.

Did Jesus die on the cross for your sins so you could have hatred and mean spirited feeling towards other people?

Or did he die on the cross to forgive you of your sins and allow you to forgive other people and show them grace?

Jesus can heal your hearts and allow you to move past those hurts that are slowing him down, but first you have to make the decision to believe in him and believe he died on the cross for all of your mistakes, shortcomings and sins.

Are you ready to move on from that bitterness?

Jesus can make that happen.

Pray to him and see what can happen.

Have a great day.

Witnessing the Lions knocking off the Packers for Thanksgiving

The Lions will give the Packers something they won’t want to give thanks for, a loss.

I have a really good feeling about the Lions on Thanksgiving this year.

I always think they will win, but by halftime, that is usually erased.

This year we are going to witness a great event on that day.

There are some things that it would be nice to witness to in my life.

Things I would like to witness….

·         The Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Clippers and Spartans winning championships

·         Seeing my kids get married to great spouses

·         Seeing my kids doing something amazing with their lives

·         My kids getting baptized

·         A miracle

The list could go on.

What would be something you would like to witness?

Witnessing can take a different take.

Witnessing could be something good or bad.

Witness the Lions win….good.

Witness a murder……bad.

There are certain things we witness in our lives but witnessing can mean more.

In the bible, witnessing can mean sharing Jesus with other people.

You witnessed what he has done in your life and the impact that has made so you want to share it with other people.

Jesus tells the disciples this in Acts 1:8…

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In other words, once being filled with the Holy Spirit, they will share Jesus in these places.

Think of it this way, you will share Jesus where you are currently at, in your state or region, in your country and to the rest of the world.

For me this would be Terre Haute, Indiana/Great Lakes, United States and the end of the world.

This is how we are supposed to serve and show love.

We show love to our community then to our state then to our country and to the world.

God put you where you are at right now to do something amazing there.

You can do something great where you are currently at, you do not have to go overseas to be a witness.

We try to this this up with our ministry programs by having the ability to serve.

We just got done with Operation Christmas Child in which we make presents and ship them overseas to different countries where they will receive the gifts.

We can wait to witness great or we can help be a good witness by doing something great.

How can you be a good witness to other people today?

Have a great day.

Working on your day off

Sometimes a break is nice. 

I know there are times in my life when it feels like there are no breaks.

I am in the middle of one of those right now.

I am writing this as I am a leader at a week of camp.

Last week I was at CIY and it was amazing.

This week I am at camp and next week VBS.

It can be exhausting when it feels like there is no break in life.

But good can still happen when we are tired and exhausted.

Sometimes we need what God gives us over a break.

Jesus healed a man’s vision.

He was blind from birth, and Jesus made him see again.

Pharisees questioned him, they wondered how he could do such a thing.

They were split and this is what they thought in John 9:16-17…

“Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”  But others asked, “How can sinner do such miraculous signs?” So they were divided.

Some of the Pharisees couldn’t understand why Jesus worked on a holy day like a Sabbath.

It was a day off that God gave the people, yet Jesus didn’t keep to this because he healed someone on the day off.

Sometimes we are tired, exhausted and feel like we can’t move on.

Yet even in his tiredness, Jesus was still able to do good.

He healed and helped people.

Even with healing people, people asked about laws instead of the miracles God performed.

There are people that will question the good of intentions of you.

They did this with Jesus.

Sometimes we have to work through and don’t have a break.

I think of a single mom raising a newborn.

There is no sleep involved in raising a newborn, especially when you are working too.

Hang in there when you are tired.

Jesus went through and helped people on his day off.

Even in the times we feel like we are running on empty, God can still do amazing things for us.

Some will question our motives, but God knows our heart.

You can take a day off from work, you cannot take a day off from your faith.

Where are you at with God?

Have you been trying to do everything on your own?

God can give us rest, but sometimes in life we can’t take a break and God can still use us in those times.

If you are exhausted, hang in there!

For me, Camp, CIY and next week with VBS can be tiring, but I look forward to God using me and the staff I work with for his benefit.

Having a purpose to be tired for is awesome.  Even when I am tired, I am excited to see God move.

Have a great day.

I saw the whole thing!

It’s true, I saw the whole thing.

Do you believe what you can’t see?

If I told you that I could bench 320 pounds, would you believe me?

What if I told you I have been lifting for the better part of two years and have worked my way up from 150 to this mark, but I looked the exact same?

Most people would say, “I would have to see it to believe it.”

I can’t bench 320.  I would be surprised if I could bench 150 right now.

Sometimes we need eye witness proof to see what truly is happening.

Sometimes we don’t.

With the miracles Jesus performed, we can’t see that they happened today.

We don’t have scientific evidence to prove Jesus walked on water in John 6:16-21.

But there were a group of witnesses.

Verses 19-21…

“When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.  But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”  Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”

There were eye witness accounts. 

Witnesses mean a lot today, but they meant even more in the past.

All of the miracles and amazing things that Jesus did, there were witnesses around.

A lot of those witnesses were told, if you deny what Jesus did with his life and being raised from the dead, you will live.

They told them they could not and they were killed for their belief in what Jesus did.

Some of the ways the people died….stoned to death, crucified, boiled alive, crucified upside down just to name a few.

Some were told if they denied Jesus and the miracles they proclaimed he did, they would live.

Their eye witness account was huge.

The Bible is made up from stories with eye witnessed accounts of these miracles.

Some stories we hear today are false, even when we believe they are true.

Snopes.com is a website to answer false questions put out there in the www today.

Is what you say is true, worth dying for?

We can trust that miracles like Jesus walking on water really happened, because the witness were willing to die for what they saw.

Is what you are living for or claim to be  living for worth dying for?

There are a lot of things I am not sure with the world…

·         Why people care about a royal wedding?

·         Why the Lions can’t win a Super Bowl?

·         Why some of the best tasting food is always the worst for your health.

·         Why I took high levels of math with no application purpose at all.

·         Why some people seem to have everything and some have barely anything.

Honestly there are a lot of things I am not sure with.

One I am sure, Jesus did these miracles, died on the cross for our and my sins, was resurrected and is worth spending my life living for.

For a long time I didn’t believe in the miracles of Jesus, eye witness accounts was one way I knew it was true.

What are you 100% sure of with your life?

Is what you believe in worth dying for?

Have a great day.