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Are You Judgmental?

October 14, 2009 by jbrianhill

Are you judgmental?  What a way to start the post today!

The Pray As You Go meditation today is focused on Romans 2:1-4 (you can read it here).  We all judge – the act of comparison of ourselves to others leads us to judge.  But in reality, we are no different than anyone else.  We have all done things we aren’t proud of at some point in our lives.  So Paul tells us that we don’t have an excuse.  We have no right to judge others.

But the real heart of this passage comes in verse 4.  God, who has every right to judge, shows kindness, tolerance and patience to all.  It is this reaction that leads us to a change of heart.

So what can we learn from this passage?  Maybe we should focus more on kindness, tolerance and patience when it comes to relating to others.  I don’t believe that God expects us to turn our backs to injustice, but when it comes to relating to others, the key is to treat them with kindness.  That is how God deals with us, why should we treat others any other way?

Posted in Church, Formation, Grace | 1 Comment »

Some Days It Just Doesn’t Happen

October 13, 2009 by jbrianhill

Some days it just doesn’t happen – you know?  No matter how hard we try, some days we just never settle enough to hear from God.  It should never be an excuse but I think rather than beat ourselves up, we should realize that God is near and trying to speak to us regardless of our disposition.

From the outset of this ministry, my intention with this blog has been to be completely transparent with my thoughts.  Sometimes that comes out more raw than polished but you will not find anything but honesty here in these posts.  My blog posts, most of the time, flow directly out of my own personal journey and the insight God gives me through that journey.  But today, I went to the file cabinet in my mind and found the files pretty bare.  Pray for me.

But even in this experience, God is teaching me that we are not going to have a deep, inspirational time with God every morning (or whenever you spend time with God).  The real issue becomes faithfulness and consistency.

So know this today, even on the days that your time with God seems dry and lacking fruitfulness, God is there right beside you.  Stay strong – stay faithful.

May the God of all blessings and mercy shower you today with the peace that you can’t understand.

Posted in Formation, Grace, Hope | 2 Comments »

Make Time For The Important Things

October 12, 2009 by jbrianhill

This past week was extremely busy for me.  Normally, I have an evening or two at home with the family but this past week it didn’t happen.  Then the weekend was crazy with things going on at church as well.  Consequently, I spent no time with my family the entire week.  I have to tell you, as I drove to the office today and thought about the week ahead, I was convicted.  I have all these important things on my calendar for this week and, again this week, my family isn’t on the list.

So my challenge today is to look for ways to adjust and put in some quality time with my family.  God has called each of us to carry out the plan God has for us.  And in doing that it is very easy to get so busy doing good things that we lose focus on the best things.

Don’t lose sight of the greatest blessing God has given you – your family.  Make time for them today.

Posted in Family, Parenting | 1 Comment »

How Will They Ever Hear?

October 9, 2009 by jbrianhill

I have been working through the book of Romans for quite some time during my prayer time.  I have been camping out in chapter 10 for weeks.  I think God is trying to tell me something.  Maybe God will use this to tell you something as well.

Romans 10:14 is a very logical illustration of how God’s plan to spread the Good News should work.  You can look at it here.

Paul, in the previous verse, has explained that anyone who cries out to God will be rescued.  Then Paul moves into a very logically explanation of what this should look like by asking some questions.  People can’t cry out to someone they don’t believe in or trust.  And they certainly can’t trust in someone of whom they have never heard.  And they will never hear about God’s love and trustworthiness if no one tells them about God.

All very logical.  We know this is true – but what do we do about it?  How does this verse, this logical explanation of God’s plan, play out in your life everyday?

God could have chosen to redeem the world in any number of ways, but this is the plan chosen.  Be the hands, feet and voice of God today.

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Missions | 1 Comment »

It Takes More Than 140 Characters

October 8, 2009 by jbrianhill

In our tech savy world, we have become quite efficient.  We have learned to do more with less – or have we?  We have developed technology that helps us communicate with others in all kinds of new and creative ways – efficient ways.  I can email someone in another city or even country and in seconds, get an answer to my question.

I can send a text message to a friend and get a response without the wasted time of all the normal pleasantries of a personal conversation.  We have become very efficient in many ways.  But what is this doing to our relationships?  (You know it might be an issue for you if you text message your child to come to dinner and he or she is just in the other room).

We have become proficient in communicating in 140 characters or less thanks to Twitter, but what can we really communicate in 140 characters?

Don’t get me wrong, I have adapted to the way we communicate right along side the rest of you, but every once in a while, maybe, just maybe we ought to stop long enough to really have a conversation – invest in each other’s lives.

My challenge to you today is this:  Think of someone you have not talked to in a while – then pick up the phone and call them – maybe even go to lunch and really build a relationship.

God created us for community, one with another.  It is hard to grow a community in 140 characters.

Posted in Community, Motivational | 3 Comments »

Have Some Fun

October 7, 2009 by jbrianhill

I have been listening to the new David Crowder Band CD for about two weeks.  I don’t know if you are a Crowder fan but I have always loved their music.  I had the opportunity to visit University Baptist Church in Waco a few years ago and got to hear them there (they are the worship band for the church).  I think I have every release they have done.

At any rate, this new work is a little different (of course most of Crowder’s are).  The title cut is called “Church Music.”  The song is not what you would expect – it has a 70’s disco sound combined with a little 80’s pop – and it is just fun.

As I was listening to the song this morning, I was reminded that church – and our Christian walk – are not meant to be serious all the time.  God created us to have fun occasionally too.

So here is your challenge today – go have some fun.  Do something spontaneous – and while you are doing it, praise God for loving you!

Posted in Formation, Grace, Motivational | 1 Comment »

Living On The Beam

October 6, 2009 by jbrianhill

Balance Beam Pic

Sunday I did something out of the ordinary.  I used a prop for my sermon on doing impossible things (I borrowed the illustration from Francis Chan).  For about a third of the sermon I stood on a make shift balance beam about 3 feet off the stage.  I used the balance beam to relate our Christian walk to walking on the beam.

When we become Christians, there is an excitement and enthusiasm that we feel – we are going to do amazing things for Jesus.  But over time, life hits us in the face and from the side and from every direction.  Before we know it we figure out that it is just easier to hold on and ride it out.  Gradually, we find ourselves not standing on the balance beam attempting amazing things but rather, holding on to it for dear life –  trading the idea of doing great things for the safety and comfort of security.  Unfortunately, the picture you see above is what most Christians look like.

At the end of life I want God to be able to say “Well done!” not “What was that?”

Dare to risk – dare to live on the beam, not holding on to it!

Posted in Formation, Motivational | 3 Comments »

The Mystery of God

October 5, 2009 by jbrianhill

Here are a couple of questions to start your week off in the right direction:  “Is your religion big enough for God?  Does your belief system allow for mystery and faith?”

The history of the church is such that mankind has worked very hard to define beliefs and answer life questions.  This is not a bad thing at all.  God gave us brains to process our life experiences and then try and understand them.  But what has happened over time (hundreds of years) is that we have developed a belief system that seems to have an answer for everything.  Man has worked for years to put God in a box.

Is it possible that over time, some very important aspects of our understanding of God and our relation to God have been left out or even worse, maybe things that have no real relevance to our relationship with God have been added to the belief system?

I believe we do a real disservice to ourselves and others when we strive to downplay or even deny the mystery of God.  We can never truly understand God.  At the end of the day we can only hope that we partially understand the parts of God that God has chosen to reveal to us.

For me, my religion is not big enough for God and knowing that, I think, puts things in perspective.  God is full of mystery and it is that mystery that draws me continuously toward God – seeking a relationship with my creator whom I can never fully understand on this side of death.

What about you?  Do you embrace the mystery?  Or does it make you uncomfortable?

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope | Leave a Comment »

Cleaning Out Left-Overs

October 2, 2009 by jbrianhill

Earlier this week Kristi decided it was time to go through the refrigerator and do a little inventory and clean out.  I am not sure how it is in your house, but left-overs don’t normally fair too well here.  Our boys won’t usually eat them.  The good thing is that now that the boys are older, we rarely have much left to put in the refrigerator after a meal.  But what does go in is destined to be there a while (depending on how far back it gets pushed on the shelf).

Our normal rule of thumb is if we can’t remember when we had the meal, then the left-overs probably shouldn’t be eaten.  But occasionally there are things in there that we can’t even identify, much less remember when we had.  So Kristi went through it and cleaned it out.  And now, we are all set to start the process again.

How often do you do a personal inventory?  How is your spiritual life?  Are there things crammed into your life that really don’t do anything but take up time and space?  Maybe its time to go through your heart and do a little cleaning.  From time to time I have to do this to make room for God.  I fill my life with mostly good things but sometimes I don’t leave room for the best.

Spend some time this weekend reflecting on what is stale in your spiritual walk and then resolve to do something about it.

By the way, does hot mustard go bad?  I’m thinking after 8 years it may not be good.

Posted in Formation | 1 Comment »

A Code That Opposes

October 1, 2009 by jbrianhill

I have been reading out of Colossians this week while practicing lectio divina (a fancy term for meditative prayer and reading).  Chapter 2 of that book deals with getting at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus – and also points out in the process, what doesn’t lead us to Jesus.

Verses 13 – 15 of chapter 2 talk about the fact that when God saves us, we are freed from the rules that man has put in place (you can read it here).  Verse 14 gives us a very vivid picture of what God thinks of the rules man has set in place to make our way to God.  It says that God canceled those regulations and took that code “that opposed us” and nailed it to the cross along with Jesus.  In other words, all the things man had put into place that were necessary to follow God, to draw near to God – all those things were destroyed.  I don’t know about you but that is a liberating thought for me.

It got me to thinking – what code have we put into place in modern day religion that opposes people?  Or put another way, what hurdles have we placed in our religious systems that make it difficult for people to come to God?

Do we expect people to act a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to talk a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to dress a certain way to come into our churches?  Do we expect people to like what we like to come into our churches?

Reading this passage reminds me that the rules we throw up that make it harder for people to come to Jesus are not of God.

How do you make it hard for people to follow Jesus?

Posted in Church, Formation, Grace, Hope | Leave a Comment »

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