truChristian: Genuine Love

What does it truly mean to be Christian? In Romans chapter 12, there are a list of several characteristics that outline a life that is satisfying to God. Love win's the first spot on our list. Not just love in general, but genuine love.

"Let love be genuine." -Romans 12:9a

What does it mean to show genuine love? For love to be genuine, it has to be real. How often do you hear someone say something, then show something completely different? Genuine love means that your words match your actions. It's non-hypocritical love. It's real, and it's true!

"True" love is the first, and most important characteristic of living a life pleasing to God. Being a true Christian is about being true or real in love. This week, let your love be genuine. Let your actions match your words. Show real love and start living the life of a true Christian!

Blog Update

Is the normal Christian-like routine feeling like it has lost it's touch? Have you ever wondered if you are a true Christian? Are you longing to become a Christ-following Disciple? My new mini blog series entitled "truChristian" is going to be an answer to all your questions.

We will be going through Romans 12:9-21 and looking at taking a look at Christianity from the outside. Will you join me on this journey through scripture? The first blog post begins tomorrow, so keep an eye out.

Help spread the word, comment, and don't forget to subscribe via email. Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!

Stop, Drop, and Follow!

Imagine this scene. You're living during the time of Jesus, and he approaches you to say "Come, follow me." We see 2 similar scenes in Matthew 4:18-22 as Jesus approaches Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and James and his brother John. In the first instance, Jesus approaches Simon Peter and his brother Andrew while they were fishing. Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

What I love most about both of these scenes is that they didn't hesitate. All 4 gave up what they were doing, and immediately followed him. James and his brother John were so immediate in their response that they left their father and boat without hesitation.


"At once they left their nets and followed him." -Matthew 4:20 NIV


I admire their willingness to, without doubt, immediately follow Him. This quick response gives us a great picture of their commitment and devotion they had for Jesus. Like these four, we too are called to follow Christ. We are told to follow the example of Christ. Many hear that calling but don't act. Do you have the devotion and commitment like Peter, Andrew, James and John? Put yourself in their shoes. Would you be willing to give up everything, right now to follow Jesus?

Fall on Your Knees

Thanks to Chris Tomlin and his latest Christmas album titled Glory in the Highest, I am officially in the "Christmas-spirit." Today I did a little reading on the life of Jesus including his crucifixion and most importantly his resurrection.

Jesus was born and He died. There's no question about it. The real miracle happened after His death. He lived. Jesus walked the earth for another 40 days and showed Himself to over 500 people including His disciples. Jesus not only proved to His disciples that His teachings were the real deal, when He appeared to them after the resurrection, but His physical presence taught them not to fear death. Through sin we have death, but through Christ we have life.

Through sin we have death, but through Christ we have life.

This is the story of stories. Christ arose. He died, and our sinful-selves died with Him. It proves to every believer that just like Romans 6:11b says, we are "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Isn't this something to be thankful for this holiday season? God's grace covers us so that we may have eternal life! There's one line in the lyrics to Chris Tomlin's song O Holy Night that capture perfectly my emotions after hearing such a powerful, and loving story:

"Fall on your knees..."

I realize that this is a song about Christ's birth, but these are such powerful lyrics that can be connected to His life, death and resurrection as well. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's the Bread of Life, and the Light of the World. Most importantly, He's alive.

Spoiler Alert: God Wins

While living life, it's far too easy to get caught up in the emotions. Life gets the best of us all. We screw up and sin. It's like a story gone wrong, and without Christ everyone's story would have a tragic ending. We're born sinners. It's just what we do. It's human nature. Everybody deserves condemnation. But there's good news to our story of life: God wins.

With God, we can accomplish anything. He tells us over and over that with faith the size of a mustard seed we can do amazing things. Our Creator is bigger than any problem we are faced with, but sometimes we have a hard time of grabbing hold of that faith.

Imagine for a second that you have the opportunity to sit down and have lunch with anyone in a position of power. Who would it be? Would it be President Obama? How about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg? It's probably someone the general public admires like teen star Justin Bieber, or Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady? What if this someone in power wrote a book and gave it to you. Would you read, and love every word? Or would it be shoved in a dark corner only to be pulled out on special occasions?

Sounds like an awfully familiar picture. God has given us His word, in the Bible. Sure it's assembled by man, but it's God-breathed. For this next question, I want you to be completely honest with yourself: Where does God's word rank on your reading list? A safe conclusion for the general Christian is that it's not even in the top 10.

Where does God's word rank on your reading list?

The Bible is God's word. It's truth. In our journey through our individual stories called life we can choose to live it day by day, or live it smart. The Bible is filled with spoiler alerts to the life story. My hope is that we take those spoiler alerts, and we act. Read His word, learn what God has done, and wait for He has coming!

Give Your All for His Glory

One of the only TV shows that I actually make time to sit down and watch is the show called Gold Rush Alaska. In this show, the Hoffman crew work night and day, shedding blood, sweat, and tears just for the hopes of finding a small rock hidden under 30 feet of solid dirt. I look back on the countless episodes of last season in disbelief. With all the countless empty pans, and the financial troubles that arose from heading home empty handed the crew still managed to sign up for another go this season. The drive, determination, and commitment for that hope of success is what I admire in the crew.

In today's day and age, no matter what the cause it's practically impossible to find that type of commitment. Even in the Christian world, how often do we see fellow Christian's giving it their all? It's rare, and it's very rare. Jesus tells us in Matthew 13:44 that the kingdom of heaven is like treasures hidden in a field. Eventually a man finds this treasure, and goes and sells everything he has just to buy that one field.

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bough that field." -Matthew 13:44 NIV

Being a Christian isn't easy. We're faced with hardships and trouble, punishment and persecution. Too often I see many Christians giving only bits of sacrifice. Sometimes when life gets the best of us, we need to look at the dedication and commitment of the Hoffman crew. The kingdom of heaven is real, and the treasures are beyond all imagination. Are you giving everything to buy the field? It's time we give our all, every bit of who we are, for the glory of Christ!

Do you know God?

When you hear the word "God" what is the first thing that come to mind? What personal, and living qualities do you associate with Him? The topic of who God is came up in my discussions this week and I wanted to share a little bit more on the subject.

Many people today are worshipping a god. Mormons, Muslims, Jews, Christian's and many other practices of religious beliefs all worship a single "God". Some have even gone so far as to say this "God" is the same, and where people differ is in the specific beliefs. Someone this week told me that "God" is the same no-matter what religion.

If you believe that, you need to listen close! In order to understand who someone really is, you need to understand them and a major part of understanding is knowing their history. You can learn of God's history by reading the Bible.

Most Christian's would agree that being a Christian isn't necessarily a religion. It's a relationship. Not sure about you, but I'm not in a relationship with someone unless I know the person very well. Do you know God?

He's the one that, in 7 days, spoke this whole world into existence. He's the one that walked with Enoch. He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He lead Israel out of Egypt, by parting the Red Sea and stopping the flow of the Jordan river. Most importantly, He became a man so that we could have eternal life. He's all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. God is loving, righteous, and just. He is who He is.

I encourage you this week to learn more about who God really is by reading His word. Take some time today to read about God's work, so we can build a strong relationship with Him in the future!

"Be still, and know that I am God." -Psalms 46:10 NIV