christlike

It Will Take More Than A Moose to Change Our Direction

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , , ,

moose 1

Have you ever denied someone that you are a Christ-follower? Maybe out of fear, or rejection, or possibly even being physically harmed?

We know the story of Peter denying that he was a follower of our Lord. Not just once, nor twice, but three times in a single night. Most likely, you or I would have behaved in the same way.  But later, when he is brought before the courts because of his witnessing for the Kingdom of God, he doesn’t deny Him. He speaks up about Him. And gladly accepts a physical beating to speak up about Him.

I remember a backpacking trip with two friends the month before we had to return to college. It was a dreary, raining day. We had been walking single file for over three hours with my turn to lead. We each had over 60 pounds of weight on our backs, covered with a hooded rain poncho, our heads looking down on the trail with each step, our feet in rhythm with each other and with the rain. The trail was narrow, muddy, and slippery. It was raining so hard that with your head bowed down and eyes narrowed to the ground you could only see two to three feet in front of you. As we walked, I came to a sudden and complete stop. My friends couldn’t stop in time and both crashed into each other and into me. Fortunately, I was able to keep standing in place while leaning backward to prevent myself from crashing into the largest moose that we have ever seen. He stood over eight feet tall, antlers wider than the trail, and his face with nose snorting and eyes questioning my sanity looked me face to face. There was less than one foot that separated his bodily presence from mine. If he took one step forward and turned one of those antlers in my direction, it would more than hurt. What seemed like an entire freshman year in college, I yelled “Moose”, then “Backup” while stepping backwards and pushing my friends to reverse their direction. (Its amazing where one finds strength in a time of emergency.) When everyone realized what was happening, we all stepped backwards in unison. Step by step, inch by inch, foot by foot, until we were a safer distance from our new found friend. After discussing the situation we realized that it would take us twice as long to turn back and take a different trail. Therefore, we decided to take our stand and wait. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long. Our friend took a few steps towards us and then turned off the trail and proceeded on his lonely way. I felt like a prisoner released from jail. I knew somewhere, someplace this experience would teach me a lesson for life. And it has. When you believe in something strongly, don’t back away. Stand up to your true self. However, there comes a time when you may have to back up for a better perspective of the situation; a time when you need to view the forest above the trees; a time to evaluate the situation before moving forward.

As we grow older we realize that life is such that we may not only take three steps forward and two steps back in our journey, but sometimes its two steps forward and three steps back. But as long as we know our destination and our purpose for living, each struggle, each step, each obstacle is only a temporary delay of the inevitable. Our life is a learning process preparing us for eternity.

There is a time to step back. There is also a time not to step back. However, when it comes to living a life as a disciple of His, are you going to step back or are you going to fully accept His calling?

OUR PRAYER

PRAY 9

Almighty Dad, we thank you for always being here, for always being with us, for always guarding our steps. Help us always to walk with you. To allow you free access into our heart, mind, and soul. To allow you to lead us down paths where no matter what troubles or problems are ahead, we know you will help us through.

Help our unbelief to diminish. Help us to be strong. Provide us with directions each and every day in how we can best serve you and those you have given us to minister. Again, thank you. Amen.

Dr. Mike

Tired?

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , ,

Keep On Keeping On

tiredSpeed is a relative term.  What may be fast for you may be slow for me. and what may be fast for me may he slow for you.  If we were all running in the one hundred yard summer Olympics race, we would all be measured under the same conditions.  There would only be one first place winner who would be considered the fastest person and everyone else would be slower in comparison.  Thank God that our Kingdom race doesn’t have only one winner.  For all who participate, receives the prize.  And the prize is not awarded to the person who gets there first, but the one who endures to the end.  So that everyone who enters the race is already a winner.

When I use to take my early morning six-mile walk around the public lake there were people who would jog, run, roller blade, bicycle, stroll. etc.  There were many times when these same people circled the lake two and three times while I would only complete one time around.  But we all finished.  The key is to just keep moving.  Find a steady pace that is acceptable to you and just keep moving.  You know when you are slowing down.  When you walk, the spring in your feet may be missing, the legs may feel tired, or the rhythm of your breathing may be erratic.  But when you become aware of it, you may do a little dance, stretch the legs, or do some deep breathing exercises, but you keep on moving.  Likewise. when we are spiritually slowing down, when the carnal self is taking charge of the situation; when we are not surrendering our will to God, when serving others becomes a chore, then we need to realize something is wrong with our relationship with God.  It’s then when we need to realize our communion with God has slowed down.  The spiritual disciplines have been reduced from a practical experience to a mental exercise.  We’ve slowed down our pace by not spending more time with God but by allocating less time with Him.  A dangerous position when you are a disciple of His.  Therefore, what shall we do?

We return back and emphasize the basic Christian disciplines: prayer, Bible study, fast, worship service, simplify, and celebrate. Not for the sake of exercise, but for the intense purpose of strengthening our relationship.  We pick up the speed again.  Our pace may be slow in comparison with some of our brothers and sisters, but then it may be fast for some of our other brothers/sisters; either way, it’s the speed we are comfortable to move at to maintain a deep relationship with our Heavenly Dad.  What speed are you moving at as a disciple of His?

OUR PRAYER

PRAY 8

Almighty Dad, thank you for calling us out of this world and allowing us to participate in the greatest race of a lifetime. We thank you for bringing people into our life to teach us the disciplines that allow us to keep focused on you.  Help us to keep in the race, not to detour or to quit, but to endure to the very end.  Let the speed that we move be at a rate that we can handle and not burnout.  Let our walk with you he steady and refreshing.  Let it always lift up you and me.  Let it always revive the soul and energize the spirit. Let it always change our heart to become more like yours.  Let everything we do, say, think, and breathe be done in your glory and honor. Our success is your success.  Your success is our success. Help us to be successful in your eyes. Again, thank you Jesus for intervening each and every day in every prayer in every way.  Amen.

Dr. Mike

Have you ever asked yourself why are you a Christian?

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , ,

Believe it or not there are some people who have never asked themselves the question. They typically are the cultural raised or 2nd generation Christian who simply followed their parent’s customs.

They are Christian simply because their parents were and their parents were and their parents were, and … You get the point? Or maybe is it the socially accepted religion in your community? Or is it good for business? Or was there a Christian girl that you had a crush on and she would only date other Christian boys? Or were you the rebellious type and did something that your parents would disapprove? The question remains ”have you someplace and somewhere made a personal decision for Christ?

faith & life

I look at my own  life as an example.  My parents  were both Christians. Dad was a devote Roman Catholic and mother Eastern Orthodox. They sent me to a Catholic grade school and high school where religion was always included in the curriculum. My child­hood friends were Catholic. My neighborhood was predominately Catholic. Yet today, I am not a Catholic nor an official member of any one traditional denomination.

Back in my high school senior year, the question entered into my mind, “What is life all about? One day you are born. You experience child­hood. Your enter grade school, then high school, then college. You obtain a career, you marry, and if you are fortunate children enter your life. You rear them, switch careers in middle-age; children leave home for school and a life of their own. You retire, travel, spend time with the grandchildren, and then they bury you in the cemetery plot among people you never knew. What is it all about?”

That is the question that led me in search of answers. I found myself in the public and college libraries reading books by people that I couldn’t even accurately pronounce their names. I took comparative religion courses. I read the answers from different religions. I met with the local priest and ministers of different denominations in search of the answers. I spent over two years of intense study on the subject. My search eventually led me to a cult (I didn’t think at the time it was a cult). But they provided answers that made sense. It was a combination of new wave and old fashion religion very attractively packaged.

Basing their answers from the Bible (it was here that I afterward learned how easy it is to manipulate scripture out of context), extracting scriptures from different areas of the Bible, they concluded that we all had the opportunity to become like God as God is God. Again, this was my earlier misunderstanding, but it motivated me to develop a strong, personal relationship with our Heavenly Dad and to the study of scripture. Since then, He’s open my eyes to a more accurate understanding of scripture which motivates me even more and even assures me that God is Good and has my best interest at heart at all times.  But, why are you a Christian?

OUR PRAYER

PRAY 8

Our Merciful Dad, thank you for caring. Thank you for caring enough to allow us the privilege of living in a country that allows religious freedom. But help us Lord to understand the differences between being a real Christ-follower and a cultural Christian. We want to be real with you. We want to experience the living dynamics of being your child. Lead us and surround us with people who are like you; people who care and want you to live your life in them. Help us surrender ourselves totally into your hands. Take charge of our life. We want to be a God made person and not a self-made person. Help us be a success as you define success. Help us set aside all the vanity that this world exhibits and replace it with your substance. Allow the Holy Spirit full access into our life. Change our heart, mind, body, and soul to exemplify you. Help us be a real person; honest with you, ourselves, and with others. Help us stop playing games and accept our high calling of being a full time committed disciple of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers. Glorify you in all that we do.  Amen. Amen.

Dr. Mike