What a vacation! It was such a joy to spend such quality time with my family. Which is why you take vacations, right? We had a blast! We even got to have Zoe the dog with us which made it even better. But, you know what happens after vacation. Work. You have to go back and no matter how much you love your job, which I do, it is an adjustment. I got back and it was a good week, which made it easier, but it was still getting back to work.

With that being said, I have been thinking about my career recently. God has put me in a great place where I am at, but I look for signs. I have been volunteering in ministry and it has been awesome. But is that where he really wants me? I see where I am at and I truly believe He wants me in the secular business place to show my love of Christ. I just keep getting that feeling from Him. It is frustrating though. It has been a while since I have not been in management or running my own business, so I know that I am capable of so much more. It is times like this that something jumps out at you in Scripture. The last couple of days have led me to 1 Chronicles and this about David:

In the past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who really led the forces of Israel. And the Lord your God told you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be the leader of my people Israel.’” 1 Chronicles 11:2 (NLT)

David was doing all this work and the people were taking notice. Even though Saul was the king, the people were led to David. So when I read this it just jumped out. Just because I am not in management right now, I might be making a difference with the people I am around and God is working where I can’t immediately see to pave the way so that I can shine an even greater light on His Glory.

We see it so much in the Bible where God tests our patience. Can you imagine being Moses and waiting 40 years? Jonah spent 3 days in the belly of whale praying that he wouldn’t be digested! Waiting a few months for things to change at work really shouldn’t be that difficult. But it is. Thankfully I have these examples and many others to look to. That is how I can really shine the light on His Glory. Who said this isn’t practical?

Read on…

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As Christians, we’ve all had the conversation with other Christians. It is the “my Church is better than your Church” conversation. Now, we would never say that, but it begins as, “This weekend was incredible at my Church. Pastor Soandso said…”. At which point, your friend says, “Well, my Church was even more incredible…”. The fact is, we are all one Church and that is why I was so excited when I found out about the One Prayer series.

Now that we are half way through the One Prayer series, I thought it might be finally time to write about it. Actually, I knew this series was coming a month before it did and I wanted to blog about it then, but teachiing and summer got a hold of me and I was unable to. It is incredible to participate in this with Palm Valley Church, along with so many other churches around the world. I can’t explain it as well as Craig Groeschel:

All of which leads me to this: In my Daily Read a couple of days ago, I came upon Acts 10 and 11, where Peter is summoned to Caesarea where the Holy Spirit comes upon the Gentiles, whom the Jews believe should not be a part of this new church. When Peter arrives back in Jerusalem, he’s getting the business from the Jewish believers and he responds with the best comeback ever:

“And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?” Acts 11:17 (NLT)

Yep, we’re all in this together folks. This series and movement is incredible. Building churches in other nations, uniting established churches around the world and learning from other great teachers from around the country. Now this is God-sized vision and it is fun to be along for it all. It is awesome to, as the One Prayer website explains it, “Refocus our understanding of the Church as a body of believers instead of a physical location.”

So, what’s your One Prayer? Good stuff…

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It has taken me a while to write this post as I have not been sure how I want to put it into words. First and foremost, I want to make sure that everybody knows what an honor it is and how humbled I feel to be asked to do this. It is God at work and nothing else. It has nothing to do with me, but God using me to reach others. With that being said, I am excited to share that I will be teaching the Middle School and High School services this weekend at Palm Valley Church.

I have been serving in the ministry for almost a year now and I am totally in my element. While sound in the main service was great and using the gifts that God has given me, I believe that is cranked up to 11 in the Student Ministry. A few months back, Pastor Darius asked me to host some of the games in the High School services. That has been a blast, but it was few weeks back that Darius asked me if I would teach service this weekend. Since starting this blog almost two years ago (has it been 2 years?), I have really studied a lot of teachers and I am excited to share with the students this weekend because I truly believe that this is a gift that God has given to me to share.

So incidently, that is what I am going to share this weekend: using your gifts to serve the church. I have been given the gift of serving this church for the last couple of years and I think that my testimony will resonate with the students. I really have to hand it to Darius for handing over this message to somebody who is serving. I think it is a great idea for all services. Who better to testify about serving the church than those that are taking the time away from their schedules to serve the church? And when somebody comes to the church with tremendous gifts, move out of the way and let them bring it! It is awesome to be part of Palm Valley right now.

In closing, if I have not mentioned it, I am very excited about this weekend. I want to thank Darius, Jeremiah and Christina for allowing me to invade their space and be a part of what they do each and every day. I know that there are a lot of great people out there that have been training for an opportunity like this and love teaching that could do an exceptional job this weekend, but I truly appreciate the love and faith that these guys have in me to speak with the students that I love interacting with each weekend. Thanks again for allowing me to share the message that God has had me obsessing over the last few weeks with the students! And finally, I will be sharing more about the message after I have given it (I am hoping some really cool stuff) after this weekend. WOW! Praise God…

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Previously in the Daily Read, WHOA! This is the most close to today’s events in this book that I have come across. Guerrilla groups and splinter cells among the Judah’s people. This is wild stuff. But, we do get to see some peace for a change for Jeremiah from the head guard Nebuzaraden in that he can stay in Judah. They appoint Gedeliah to govern, but he is soon assassinated by Ishmael and his crew. Johanan his band come and run him off, then ask Jeremiah to pray to God and find out what to do next. What will they do? I think you know, but that is for the next reading.

Getting back to how this relates to current events and a topic that I have brought up before, have you ever thought about how this relates to our own domestic situation in the US? How many churches do we have in this country? How many conflicts have we had on our own soil? Coincidence? I think not. While we are a land that is free to worship as we choose, we worship together peacefully and I am thinking that the number of Christians is the greatest. I don’t have any facts to back this up, but it occurs to me that all that worship here do so in peace and humility. Let’s pray that other areas of the world in conflict can do so as well.

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Previously in the Daily Read, boy did Zed get it. After Jeremiah told him to surrender to Babylon, he is “too afraid” and runs out the back door. He could have lived with his people and be remembered fondly for his grace had he listened to what the Lord said. But instead he had to watch all of his sons and officers killed, he had his eyes gouged out and was put in prison. OUCH! And you thought that you had a bad day! The destruction is really coming. The good news for Jeremiah is that King Ned has given him preferential treatment and gets to remain in Judah.

On another note, we are approaching the end of our first book! A cool accomplishment and it’s exciting because I think we will have others joining in. I am really looking forward to Thursday when we read Lamentations and Friday when we begin Ezekiel! Thanks for stopping by.

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Wow, what a great weekend at church. Randy, I wish we could have had more than a few moments to chat, but we will get together soon. Now on to the mashup, which is not that bad today:

Jeremiah 38:14-39:14 > 52:1-30

Previously in the Daily Read, the Lord tells Jeremiah that he will buy some land from his cousin Hanamel and guess what, Jeremiah buys some land from his cousin Hanamel. Shocking! Who would have thought? Jeremiah asks why and the Lord tells him it is to show that people will buy and sell land again in all the land. A show of good faith by God who has really been testing his prophet.

More hope from the Lord as well, and while he says the Babylonians are still coming and they will destroy the place, He promises that there will be a time when all will be good. While the people of Judah and Israel think they have been abandoned:

But this is the Lord’s reply: “I would no more reject my people than I would change the laws of night and day, of heaven and sky.” Jeremiah 33:25

This comes from the one who created the laws! Finally, the Lord tells Jeremiah to pass along to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian that even though everything around him will be destroyed, he will be safe as he has shown his faith. Way to go Double E! I, Matt the Regular Guy, has spoken! Read on…

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I don’t know how many more times I can come up with terms for remixing! It doesn’t matter because it is tremendously fun. Here is today’s read:

Jeremiah 39:15-18 > Chapters 32 & 33

Previously in the Daily Read, let the destruction begin! The troops of Babylon are marching in and King Zedekiah thinks he will get help from Egypt. Not! He sends for Jeremiah and asks “Any messages from God?” Yep, you are going to be taken into captivity by King Ned and the Babylonians. But the good news is that he will be allowed to die with his people and they will remember him fondly. That’s the good news? Bummer.

Zed also calls for the release of the slaves which is done initially, but of course, as is the course in this book, the people take them back. You can only imagine how God feels about this. He has extended grace to King Zed, but this is what he gets. Let the destruction continue!

Also, Jeremiah is imprisoned. They think that he is defecting to Babylon, but he was just going to check out some land. So again, King Zed asks about news from the Lord. Still the same, you will be defeated by Babylon. Jeremiah does get to go to the nicer prison, though. So he has that going for him. Read on…

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Today’s reading is jumping around again, but I love reading it in order:

Jeremiah 34:1-7 > 37:1-10 > 34:8-22 > 37:11-38:13

The following days readings are pretty wacky. But, I think that you will probably agree that it is better to read this way than to try and read straight through.

On a personal note, I got home really late from work tonight and after taking out the trash, playing with the dog and relaxing for a bit, there is no way that I would not post tonight.

Previously in the Daily Read, the timetable is long for the people of Israel and Judah, but at least they know that there are better days coming. I especially liked that the Lord took out Hananiah. He was giving false prophecies and the Lord took his life. Now, this sounds bad to say, but I think that one of the worse things that you can do is give people false hope, especially those that are in dire circumstances. I don’t know where I get this from, but I can assume that is from living a Christian life.

Echoing what Randy said (sort of, not the Babylon part, but the part of a better life) in his comment from yesterday’s read, I love the hope in:

“For I know the plans that I have for you” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen” Jeremiah 29:11-12

Finally, I finish with this. Israel realizes what it has done. I love this verse because we can all probably relate at one time or another:

‘I turned away from God, but then I was sorry. I kicked myself for my stupidity! I was thoroughly ashamed of all I did in my younger days.’ Jeremiah 31:19

While I wouldn’t say that I totally turned away from Him, I did things in my younger days that were not in the best interest of my faith. I still kick myself for my stupidity! Thank you God for being there and Jesus for allowing to me to live and get better. Read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, God brings it to the leaders that have “lead his flock astray” and curses the false prophets for giving his people hope in prophesies that He did give them. I love the astonishment in this statement:

“Am I a God who is only in one place?” asks the Lord. “Do they think that I cannot see what they are doing? Can anyone hide from me? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” asks the Lord. Jeremiah 23:23

That is classic! If you think you are going to get away with it, you are wrong. He is always there. The Lord goes on to give Jeremiah a parable using figs, some good and some rotten. The good represent the people who will exile to Babylon and find God again. The rotten ones are those that are the leaders and others who just won’t believe. So we are really seeing some hope from the Lord in this reading that, yes, if they worship him again they will be able to return to their land. Even at their worst, the Lord gives the a shot at redemption.

Finally in chapter 27, God has Jeremiah wear an ox yoke to demonstrate the oppression that these people will have submitting to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (boy that just rolls off the keyboard. Not!). While the Babylonians will take everything including the gold utensils of the Temple, they will be back when God wants them back. The Every Man’s Bible has an interesting note that relates to Nebuchadnezzar. While he was not a king that he would normally associate with, he used the unrighteous to teach his people a lesson and did not let them be mistreated by the Babylonians. Things will get better for the people of Judah and Israel. Read on…

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Previously in the Daily Read, Jeremiah has spoken for God and used the Recabites as an example of doing as he says and he warns the leader of Judah that there will be no deliverance from Babylon.

It seems to me that he is really letting people know that if they change their ways, they will be able to return to their homeland, but the same can’t be said for the Kings. He is putting full blame on the leaders and they will never return to their land. My favorite verse of this reading is:

When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied ‘Don’t bother me’. Since childhood you have been that way — you simply will not listen! Jeremiah 22:21

As parents, have we not felt that way at times! That is great. But what really got me is how this happens in today’s world. Take the real estate market, for example. How many houses have we seen on the market around us? It was going great, but now it has taken a downturn. People continue to think that it will be hot forever. But, everything is cyclical. And we need to have God in our lives at all times, good and bad. Sometimes people start believing their own hype and they think that they are the reason for their success, but it is always in the Lord’s hands. We have very little to do with it. Thanks God. Read on…

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