It is for that reason, perhaps, that I am a little more grateful that Christmas is here. It is a time that I will be able to slow down a little and process the events that my family have recently experienced. More than that, however, Christmas is a time to remember that it was into our emptiness that God came. He wrapped Himself in flesh and lived in our neighborhood. He experienced all of our trials and burdens and then took upon Himself the weight of our shortcomings, failures, and sin. He who had never sinned became sin for us that we might be righteous. He poured Himself out for us.

He still pours into us. As Psalm 23 promises, he is eager to “restore our souls.” He takes us in our weariness and breathes new life into us.

I pray that you have a Merry Christmas, that your stockings are full, and your hearts are renewed.

Over the past few weeks, God has been speaking to me about some things that need to happen in my own life and ministry. They are things that I can see that He has been preparing me for. So the words that I spoke to our church a week ago must apply to me as well:

Life change steps of faith happen when conviction seizes the opportunity to move in faith.

I will be talking more specifically about what these things are in the weeks to come. The point of all of this is, however, that my expectation for God to move amongst our church must begin with the expectation for God to move in me.

This afternoon I was reading and was struck by the following words:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. – 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)

The thought that God is looking for people to strengthen encourages me. When you read the Bible it does not take long to see that God is primarily focused on Himself; not us. His primary objective is to display His own glory. He created us for His purpose. He set forward the work of redemption to secure worshipers for Himself. He will bring all things to an end in order to fulfill His glory.

Yet… He is seeking people to strengthen. He is looking for people in which to pour His power and divine resources. He longs to single out people to build up, encourage, and empower.

And what kind of people is He looking for?      …”those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” He is not looking for the best dressed, best educated, or even the best behaved. He is looking for those who have set their hearts on Him; those who are passionate about Him.

In other words, God seeks to bless those who are passionately pursuing the same thing He is… His glory. As I meditate on this text, I am reminded that if I set my heart to seek His gifts I will miss His gifts and may altogether miss Him. However, if I set my heart to seek His glory, I will find His gifts but more importantly I will find Him.

The beginning of the football season saw the reemergence of Micheal Vick. Micheal went to prison a couple of years ago on criminal charges for promoting dog fighting.

A couple nights ago, Kanye West committed a crime of his own. Maybe it wasn’t one worthy of jail time but he has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. Even the President Obama referred to him as a “jack*ss.” When you are called a name like that by the President you’ve performed a major mess-up.

And I have heard judgmental statements about both of them come out of my mouth and the mouths of many professing Christians. But God has convicted me about that and has used both situations to remind me of something huge.

As God’s people, we are to be agents of redemption. It is not our place to push people down after they’ve tripped. We are the ones called to lift people up. We are to desire the best for people. We are to seek the best for people. Even the Micheal Vicks and Kanye Wests of the world. We are called to love them.

What does that love look like from a Biblical perspective?

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
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.

But what does that look like practically? I think the best question is this:

Would you be more excited to see Micheal Vick go to the Super Bowl or jail cell?
Would you rather see Kanye at the Grammy’s or in the gutter?

More than anything I would like to see both men transformed by God and seeking Jesus… but… your answers to the questions above will say much more about the state of your own heart than the guilt of their actions.

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The Life-Giving Voice of the Son of God
By: David Mathis

Let’s talk about your resurrection from the dead. If Jesus doesn’t come back before your die, then you will be raised someday—believer or non-believer—by Jesus from the dead, either to eternal joy or to eternal misery.

At least six observations about the final judgment can be made from John 5:25-29:

1. Jesus raises all the dead. Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy will be raised from the dead. And Julius Caesar, Judas Iscariot, Isaiah the prophet, Michelangelo, Johann Sebastian Bach, Adolf Hitler, Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain, and Princess Diana. All the dead who have ever lived will be raised from the dead by Jesus. Millions of Chinese and Nigerians and Indonesians and Germans. And you too.
2. Jesus raises all the dead by his mighty voice. He upholds the universe by his mere word and one day will raise the dead just by speaking.
3. In a sense, the hour of the resurrection has come. Jesus raised Lazarus as a foretaste of the resurrection he will bring about in its fullness someday.
4. The power of the Son of God to raise the dead originates in himself as God. It’s not that the Father is a source and the Son is a channel. The Son has life in himself just like the Father has life in himself. Life comes from the Son, not just through the Son.
5. Nevertheless, it is crucial that this Son of God also be human<a son of man<in order to be qualified for his role in the judgment. God deems it fitting that human beings be judged by one who knows what it’s like to be human. And not just human, but one who suffered to deliver the rest of us from judgment. There is something suitable that the one who sentences men to heaven or to hell will be a suffering Savior. The judge of all men will be able to look into every eye and say, “I too was tempted. I too suffered.”
6. Finally, eternal life and eternal judgment at the last day will be in accord with our deeds—good or evil. Not ‘based on’ our deeds but ‘in accord with’ our deeds. If we are justified by faith, our faith will produce good works. And our good deeds will be the evidence, the confirmation, the verification at the judgment that we were justified by faith alone.

Someday we all will be raised.

The NFL preseason started a couple weeks ago. College football began just a couple days ago. We sat in the stands last night as Lake Placid played Sebring.

But it really starts tonight. At 7:00pm tonight there is the kickoff to by drug of choice. The Gators of the University of Florida officially begin their 2009/2010 football season. I say 2010 because their season won’t be over until they win the BCS National Championship game in January.

I write this post in order to help prepare those of you who live in Lake Placid. When you hear loud noises coming from the Morey house tonight do not be startled. Everything is OK. We’re just rockin’ with the Gators.

While I was there I paid a visit to Westridge Church. The church is about five miles from our house there and I have been fond of the church for a long time. Westridge is about 12 years old and averages 4,000 in worship. I have been blessed to know some of their staff. God has built an amazing church there.

I went to worship as well as observe how they do certain things. I wanted to learn more specifically about how they do two different things:

1. How they handle guest services.
2. How they handle lighting, sound, and other environment issues during their services.

Their guest services are exceptional. I expected it it to be such. They are a church that truly exists to bring people to Jesus. From the layout of the building to the volunteers, I always feel like special guest when I attend.

Their worship service was great. The music was the same as our contemporary service (although I prefer our worship leaders). I did, however, learn from how they handled their lighting and sound. I was impressed with some of what they did.

It was a profitable trip. I feel good about our house. I learned from a great church.

By the way, my father-in-law is still in ICU in Lake Placid but is feeling much better. Thanks for all of the prayers.

Coincidentally, as I am heading out of town, my inlaws are coming into town. They are going to spend some time with my wife and kids. No, I didn’t plan it this way. In fact. I really enjoy the time I get to spend with Mandy’s parents. I have been blessed to have a great relationship with them.

Pray for me as I drive. I had the opportunity to fly for free but in the words of my wife, “How are you going to bring things back from the old house if you fly?” Oh well, so much for the short flight.

However, I do get to stop by the Holy Land (Gainesville) on the way. I could use a little Bono’s BBQ and a glimpse of the Swamp.

I also have to be honest about something else. I’m not real excited about the personal changes that I’ll have to make to adjust to the church changes. We all have comfort zones. We all have schedules and experiences that we do not want to do differently. I know that there are people in the church that don’t like the schedule changes. There are some that don’t like that they will have to attend at a different time or be part of a different Link Group or even serve in their ministry at a different time.

I can understand. I’m not crazy about some of the schedule changes it will create for me. It is going to stretch my comfort zone. It’s going to inconvenience me. But I must remember that God’s goal for me and for us is not convenience – it’s commitment. All of us have made comfort such a high priority that we forget that most of the world’s Christians have very different challenges than we do. When we are inconvenienced by changes in service times other believers face being killed for meeting together in the middle of the night.

Sometimes I need to shake myself up to get a proper perspective. Have you been shaken today?

I don’t think that my pace has very changed much but I have have hit a comfortable stride. I have thought about it a good bit over the last few days and have decided to blog again. This time I want to start fresh. So this is post #1.