What are the idles in your life?

Note: before reading this blog, please read Ezekiel Chapter 8! Yes, the whole chapter!

That wasn’t so bad now, was it? Ok, so Jeremiah was Gods right hand prophet, before Israel went into Exile. Jeremiah predicted the exile just as it happened. When Israel was in Exile however, God rose up a new prophet, Ezekiel. As you read in your homework assignment in Ezekiel chapter 8, in a vision, God brings Ezekiel to the Lords Temple in Jerusalem to show him what the elders and high priests were doing behind closed doors. Ezekiel saw four visions. In his first vision, God represents to Ezekiel an image of an idle in the entrance of the inner court of the temple. It’s called, “the image of jealousy” because it provokes the Lord in jealousy. In his second vision, he saw the elders worshiping images of Egyptian gods, and burning incense to them in a secret room. Among these men were Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan. This is likely the same Shaphan who reads God’s work to Josiah (2 Kings 22:8-11). This gives you a concept of the depth of sin which the leaders had fallen. In Ezekiel’s third vision we see women weeping for the God Tammuz. Tammuz was beloved of Ishtar, the god of spring vegetation. Vegetation burned in the Summer, died in the Winter, and came to life in the Spring. The women mourned over the gods demise in July and longed for his revival. The fourth month of the Hebrew calendar still bears the name Tammuz. In Ezekiel’s fourth vision, he saw 25 men worshipping the sun. This happened in the most sacred inner court where only priests could go (Joel 2:17). Twenty-Five men were worshipping the sun as an idle. These 25 represent 24 orders of priests plus the high priest.

Pretty hardcore stuff. My initial reaction was wow, I sure am glad than my sins aren’t as bad as these guys. Seriously, who worships these things in the world today, well at lease here in America? Than it hit me, we are all guilty of these things, myself included. Anything that we put before God is an idle, period. In Ezekiel’s first vision, the god of Jealousy, it says that God is a jealous God, and you shall have no Gods before Him, that’s the first commandment (Exodus 20). What is that TV show that you just can’t wait to watch? When it’s on, you are glued to the TV, and during the week, you can’t stop thinking about it and long for it all week long. Or what about that new video game? You just can’t stop thinking about it. When you’re at work or at school, all you can do is think about that video game. There is a reason that I gave up TV and video games, they were gods to me. Maybe your god is sex, or drugs, or weight loss obsession, money, your job, or dare I say it, even your own family can become idles in your life (Matthew 10:37).

In Ezekiel’s second vision he sees people worshiping images. How often do we put up picture of our favorite movie star or rock star? We buy all of their paraphernalia, see all their movies, and go to all their shows. We stare at their pictures, follow them on Twitter and Facebook, and obsess over their lives.

In Ezekiel’s third vision, he sees women worshiping the different seasons, the god of vegetation. How often do we sit here in Minnesota and spend our time and energy during the long winter months complaining about the cold and wishing for Spring? We hibernate and go into hiding; some people even get depressed. This goes hand in hand with Ezekiel’s fourth vision, where he sees 25 men worshiping the sun. In the Winter we long for the sun, and the hot weather so much, that we have to go to the tanning salon to fake bake, we throw beach parties, and plan extended vacations to tropical locations.

Now maybe you are reading this blog and think that I am getting carried away and going over bored. Well lets read Ezekiel 8:18. Therefore I also will act in fury. My eyes will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

I just finished reading a book called “Share Jesus without fear,” by William Fay. Great book; but more on that in a not so future blog. In the last chapter of the book, Bill, does a great job explaining our judgment before God.

“On our judgment day, it is not the liar, the murderer, the homosexual, or the fornicator who will stand before God in judgment first; it will be the household of faith. The person who rejected Christ will have to wait while we believers take our place in front. As they look on, we will have to look God in the eye and explain our every deed, done or undone, every word, spoken or unspoken (Matthew 12:36). I do not believe that God is going to force obedience on us, because that is not his way. Love never forces anything. But when we disobey by choosing to ignore God, He will allow us to experience spiritual dryness.”

Please understand that I am not saying that TV, and video games are bad. I’m not saying that you can’t enjoy a certain actor/actress movies, or plan a vacation in the middle of winter to get out of the cold, I am simply saying, what it your motive? Are you enjoying these things, or are you obsessing over them?

I am just as guilty of these things as anyone, so I will end with a prayer. Dear Heaven Father, You are the one true God in Heaven and on Earth. I have put so many things before you. I pray to you today that you will open my heart and my eyes to all of the idles in my life, so that I can put you first in everything I do. I pray this in Jesus holy name, amen.

My time with God

I arrived at my prayer cabin at 3:45pm on Monday afternoon. The Wilderness Fellowship Ministries (WFM) has 4 prayer cabins, I stayed in the Timothy. I was a bit bummed that my cabin was 88 degree, and the A/C hadn’t been put in yet for the season. However the amazing staff had the A/C in my cabin with 30 minutes of my arrival. There is a couple that lives on property that prays for the guest before they even arrive. As they pray, the Lord speaks to them, and gives them bible verses to share with the guests upon their arrival. My verse was Proverbs 18:8&23. He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherished understanding prospers. The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. I am excited to spend the next few days finding out what this means.


On Tuesday I woke up realizing just how beautiful it was out at WFM. I found that I was constantly being distracted from my bible study because every time that I looked up, I saw the beauty out the window. I would see the woods and all of Gods creations.


As I was sitting reading our of Ezekiel, I was reminded that God doesn’t want us to be perfect, He just wants to have a relationship with us, and be a part of our everyday lives. I am also realizing just how easily distracted I am really am. I had a really hard time clearing my mind, even at WFM. I found it very difficult to take advantage of the quiet and solitude. But I was determined to stay faithful to an already faithful Father in Heaven. Later that afternoon while I was looking out the window I remembered Matthew 7:7. Seek and you shall find. How can I ever find God, if I am not looking for Him? So I got down on my hands and knees and began to pray.



After about 15 minutes, God spoke four words to me very clearly, “It’s not about you!” Wow. Our pastor reminds us of this almost weekly at church, her favorite quote is, “It’s not about you, it’s never been about you, and it’s never gonna be bout you.” It sure is different what it is coming straight from God Almighty. John 3:30 says, Jesus mush increase, and I must decrease. It’s not a metaphor. I know what I have to do. It won’t be easy, it will take lots of hard work, and it certainly won’t happen over night, but I will remain a faithful servant to the Almighty.

By Wednesday morning I was getting lonely, and starting to miss Jane and the kids very much. I toyed with the idea with leaving a day early, but decided that I wasn’t going to let the devil with that argument. I don’t want to say that I was getting bored, that just wouldn’t be true, but being ADHD, I can only sit, read, and study for so long. I went out for a nice long walk, which was very peaceful. I was able to clear my mind enough to come back and spend the entire afternoon in the word, which I’m glad I did, because I wrote my next blog.



It was great to finally be home. Jane and the kids were not home yet, but arrived within a few hours. It was great to spend time with them. I also took Faith out on a date which was really fun.

I definitely recommend the WFM to anyone who is looking to spend some time along with God. You can visit them online at http://www.wildernessfellowship.com.

The Wilderness

I will take my children into the Wilderness and there I will speak tenderly to them. I will restore their fruitfulness and turn their valley of trouble into a door of hope. Hosea 2:14-15

I am leaving this afternoon for Wisconsin, Fredrick Wisconsin to be exact. As I mentioned in a previous blog I will be renting out a prayer cabin at the Wilderness Fellowship Ministries, to spend a couple of Days with God. I will come home on Thursday. I will have two full days with God. I have no agenda, and no expectations. I am just going to show up, and see what God has planed for me.

When I fasted for Lent, I had an objective for my fasting. By the time Lent was over, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t quite accomplish what I wanted to. Click here to read my blog titled, “Left at the Alter.” That is why I am going into the Wilderness with no agenda or expectations, because there will be no disappointment, just quality time along with God.

I will bring my bibles, some worship music, and other miscellaneous reading material. I decided that I will not be fasting on this trip. I will not be eating any huge meals, but I will be bringing food. I am excited because there will be no distractions, kids, TV, cell phone, and the time won’t matter because there will be nowhere else that I will have to be.

I will be coming home on Thursday and leaving on Friday for another camping trip with my family, so I don’t know if I will have time to post a blog on Thursday or not, but I will do my best, otherwise I will post one next Monday.

On a final thought and on a totally unrelated subject, I want to give you a few things to think about. Who is Jesus Christ to you? If you died today, do you believe that you would go to Heaven or Hell, why or why not?

A note about Lamentations

I just finished reading the Book of Lamentations. It is nice and short with only 5 chapters. In essence it is basically a review of the Laments of Jeremiah’s time as a profit.

In the original Hebrew, the first four chapters in Lamentations are acrostic poems. Each verse in every chapter begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has 66 verses rather than 22 because it is a triple acrostic: the first three verses begin with the equivalent of A, the next three with B, and so on. This was a typical form of Hebrew poetry. Other examples of acrostics are Psalms 37, 119, and 145, and Proverbs 31:10-31.

We all have our own Lamentations in our lives, some have it more difficult than others, but it’s important to remember that our trials here on this earth only bring us closer to God. Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Lamentations 3:39. I like to look at it this way, most of the trials (not all) that we have in life, only come because we didn’t do what God wanted us to do in the first place. If we would listen to God the first time, our lives might not necessarily have less trials, but it would certainly be easier to overcome them.

Christianity and Star Wars Episode

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with Him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."
But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed. Then He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." Luke 8:40-49.

Do you believe that if you have the Faith of a mustard seed, that you could command a mountain to jump into the sea, and it would happen? Matthew 17:20 says that you can. Lets think about Star Wars for a minute. The Jedi have special powers, where they can do things; things that would be otherwise impossible without the force. They were able to use the force to pick up there light sabers, to keep rocks from crushing them, and even to change the minds of others. There was almost nothing that they could not do with the help of the force.

Christians are like the Jedi, and we have our own force, God. I can do all things though Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13. With God, all things are possible. Matthew 19:26. Today, there are people who have the faith to heal the sick, make the blind see, make the lame walk and raise people from the dead. These people are out there, and these things are happening every day. Why don’t we see it? Because here in America, with live such plush lives, that we don’t need to rely on God to survive. If we are hungry, we go to the food shelf, if we are homeless, we go to a homeless shelter, if we lose our job, we collect unemployment, and worse case scenario, there is the option of welfare. We have the resources to take care of ourselves even in the most troubling times of our lives. The people who live in the most remote places in the world don’t have a food shelf, a homeless shelter, unemployment, or welfare. They absolutely, must rely fully on God 100% of the time for their survival. These remote places around the world, are the places where the missionaries go. These are the places where real miracles are happening every single day.

These are the things that we take for granted here in the States. We need Jesus to inherit eternal life, but we don’t need God to survive, so how can we possibly have enough faith to receive a miracle, let alone do one. The women in the bible who touched Jesus robe, just new that if she only touched it, that she would be set free from her years of bleeding. This wasn’t a theory that she came up with, it was a fact, she new it. So what happened, she touched Jesus robe, and she was instantly healed. Why? Jesus said that it was her faith that set her free. All she did was believed that it would happen, and it did. Now here’s the best part, we don’t need to physically touch Jesus to be healed, all we have to do is have enough faith in Jesus, and we can do anything, including making the blind see, and the lame walk, and yes, even raising people from the dead. The force is with us, the force of Jesus, and in His name all things are possible.

Yes, we can do these things if we only believe that we can. If there was a legitimate purpose to command a mountain to jump into the sea, and you had enough faith, and actually believed that you could do it, in Jesus name, it would happen. Could we actually pick things up and move them around or stop a ceiling from collapsing on us? If there was a legitimate reason for doing so, and you ask it in the name of Jesus, and it would give glory to God, yes, absolutely, you could do these things.

I do honestly believe that I could do all these things, but my flesh is weak, I could do them if I had enough faith. This has been my struggle for quite some time now, having enough faith to do miracles. If I ask for it in Jesus name, and it will give God glory by doing so, I could do these things, and I believe that with all my heart. So why can’t I do these things? I just simply don’t have enough faith, I am a doubting Thomas. Those of you who know me, know that I have tourettes. Not the kind where I swear, but I have tics. I believe that someday, I will have enough faith to be prayed for, and my tourettes will go away. I will be healed, I will be a living miracle of God. I long for that day, so that I will have an amazing testimony to share with people about the awesomeness, and glory of God. I hope that this blog encourages you to think about what it would take for you to trust God, so much, and have enough faith, where you could do miracles too.

Christianity and Star Wars Episode III

Christianity and Star Wars Episode II

Christianity and Star Wars Episode I

Jeremiah

I mentioned before in a previous blog that you may or may not know that the Book of Jeremiah is not written in chronological order. In the words of the “Every Man’s Bible,”

“Some scholars think that during the chaotic times, Jeremiah’s secretary Baruch simply filled up every inch of whatever scarce scroll material he could get. Chapter 36 for example, tells us about one time when a sadistic king burned a bunch of his work, forcing him to rewrite it.”

I really enjoyed Jeremiah, which was the first Book of the bible that I did not read; I studied. I took me over 4 months to read it, but I got so much more out of it, than if I would have just read it trough. Jeremiah was just an average Joe like you or me, and God decided that Jeremiah would be a great profit. When God says that we have to do something, we have no choice but to obey. And I can’t stop! If I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak His name. His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in. Jeremiah 20:9

Jeremiah was not a popular profit; he never prophesied anything good for Judah. This book leads to the destruction of God’s people, where they are forced into exile for 70 years, a great book when read in correct order. Anyways, I encourage you to read Jeremiah in chronological order.

a. 1:1-7:15 b. chapter 26 c. 7:16 to the end of chapter 20 d. chapter 25 e. chapters 46-51 f. 36:1-8 g. chapter 45 h. 36:9-32 i. chapter 35 j. chapters 21-24 k. chapters 27-31 l. 34:1-7 m. 37:1-10 n. 34:8-22 o. 37:11-38:13 p. 39:15-18 q. chapters 32-33 r. 38:14-39:14 s. 52:1-30 t. chapters 40-44 u. 52:31-34