Proverbs 10

At first glance these thirty two proverbs attributed to Solomon might seem to be unrelated, but looks especially at a glance can be deceiving. With the first verse of chapter ten, one can imagine Solomon leaning over and speaking softly to a child, sharing wisdom from years of experience. His observation is that the wise son brings joy to his father, but foolish son brings grief to his mother. Solomon uses the net nineteen chapters to expand on the type of wisdom a son should exercise. There are some overarching themes in these verses, such as the taming of the tongue and having wisdom of when to speak and when not to speak. Another is having the wisdom and foresight of not being lazy since laziness bring poverty. The last overarching theme here is that of integrity. Verses 7-10 speak of righteousness, obedience and love.

These thirty two sentences also share the same structure for the most part. The first sentence is a contrast to the second and this contrast is usually indicated with the use of the word ‘but.’ The contrast in these verses are between righteous and wicked, lazy and diligent, wise and a fool. Daily living is hard, but with a little wisdom we can navigate life better.

Kid President and Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving, a day to thank God for His blessings. It is a day to be with family and friends. It is a day to be nice to everyone… but can we stretch that one day to say a week, a month – or maybe a year?

Kid President suggest a couple of words and phrases that we should incorporate in our everyday conversations that can help us be nice to each other through out the year.

The legacy WILL continue with you.

Billy Graham has been preaching the gospel for the past 70 years. He has been sought out by politicians, notable people and the social elite. His message has always been the same – The Cross. At the age of 95 he shares with us his last message – The Cross.

Enjoy and let’s continue this legacy by sharing this video with family and friends who might be looking for a relationship with Jesus.

How old is too old?

I have recently been asking myself this question,

“How old is too old to lead a youth group?”

Who says that am too old!

Of course this question lead to many other questions, such as, “Do you loose your relevancy as you get older? Are the generational changes too drastic to bridge? and Is youth group considered a stepping stone to another ministry? or Is it a ministry with the same weight as small groups or sunday school ministries?”

It is prevalent for many of us to think about our relevancy. For some of us who are parents of pre-teens and teens and are also leading a youth group this statement – “You just don’t get it!” Can become a point to ponder and sometimes it becomes a speck of doubt. When names such as Waka flacka flame, Drake, Pusha T and Rick Ross are unfamiliar to us, when we have no idea what Twerking is or what YOLO means and when we ask the kids to spell out each word when texting us back, does that mean that we are not relevant anymore? When we use an illustration and we blank stares because the kids have never heard of Saved by the Bell or Different Strokes. Are we loosing our relevancy? Maybe so, culturally speaking, but if we are rooted in the word of God our spiritual relevancy will never be outdated. When we teach about moral, principles and the commands based on the Bible we will always be relevant. Even though this culture and society might deem Biblical standards as outdated, now more than ever, we need to stand behind them and uphold them. We might loose our cultural relevance, but we will never loose our spiritual relevance as long as there are teens that need Jesus.

It is said that a new generation comes about every 40 years, but with the advances in technology and the life span getting longer and longer there are more generations living side by side than before. The millennials, the Gen X’ers, Baby Boomers, Silent Generation and the G.I. Generations are the five generations that are living side by side now. The G.I. Generation are now is Senior Citizen homes and have witness the invention of the computer, the microwave, the cell phone, the laptop and tablets while Millennials take such inventions for granted because they have been raised using such devices. Does this mean that the generational shift is to drastic for there to be a bridge between them? Can a Baby Boomer, a Gen X’er and a Millennial not just coexist together but relate, work and worship together? Yes! Our God is a MultiGenerational God. In Revelation, John sees the multitudes of people praising God, my hunch is that not all are the same age. It is said that church is a small glimpse of heaven and that this life is just a dress rehearsal, therefore I can say that despite the generational differences God continues to be the focal point of our lives.The same truth that God revealed to those in the past is the same truth that He is revealing to us. We share the same need for Jesus and for salvation regardless of the generation. Lastly, wisdom comes with age and many of our younger generations can learn something from the older generation… and vice versa.

This next and last point is a touchy subject. There are some Pastors/leaders that considered Youth Group as a way to pay your dues in ministry before “graduating or being promoted” to a more important ministry. Seldom have I heard a church leader refer to youth ministry as a life long calling and rarely have I’ve known youth leaders who consider youth group a life long calling. If we believe that our “children are the future” (I know cheesy) then why do we short change the ministry that is informing and equipping our kids to follow God. Why are we allowing leaders to view and use this important ministry as a stepping stone, as a training ground to advance their “career or ministry track” to something “better”? I would urge all of us to reconsider how we view youth ministry as a whole because in a few short years Pastors and church leaders will have these teens as congregants, but only if they felt valued, cared for, loved, challenged and nurture enough to stay and be a productive member of the congregation.

How old is too old to lead a youth group? – Age is but a number!

What is a life worth?

In the 2000s federal agencies’ valuations of a single American life varied from about $5 million to $9 million.

Have you ever thought about how much is your life worth, in dollars? I am sure that if it was up to us we would say that it is priceless, but what about for someone else?

I was watching the news, as many of us do, and I caught a clip reporting the festival on Randall’s Island and it’s closure. As I awaited for the commercial to finish I was intrigued because I has no idea that there was an event in Randall’s Island and it peeked my interest to see why the last day of this event was cancelled. The news reporter, once again, pop up on the screen he began to talk about the event and the reason behind the cancellation of the final day. He reported that several concert goers became sick and died after using drugs. As the story continue the reported interviewed several concert goers and asked for their reaction. The first was somewhat shocked and showed some sympathy towards the tragic events and stated “I don’t want to speculate on anything”. The last two where a bit more shocking to me. A young man and a woman where asked about their reactions and began to complain about the cancelation and expressed their dismay in “having to pay for what someone else did”! They seems very upset that the event was cancelled due to these deaths even when informed that the company was going to provide some type of refund.

This led me to ask some questions. What is a life really worth? Are we really in a place in history where my convenience trumps the life or death of another person? Is this mantra, “You do you and I do me” really the mantra of this generation? Am I really that far removed from the prevailing thoughts of this generation? Lastly, If this is so then how will this affect us now and in the future?

Of course I don’t have the answers to all these questions, but I can say with certainty that a life is more precious than my comfort. A life and death is more important than my temporal and earthly desires. When we start to minimize someone’s life we start to lose our humanity, our perspective and ultimately our connection with God. I don’t know how much a life is worth, but I know that every life is precious to God. I am not sure if this mantra “You do you and I do me” is the prevailing worldview, but I know that Jesus commanded us to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” I am not sure how these views will affect our kids and our future, but I do know that my future is secure in God’s hands and this means that my future is destine to be one spent with Him for eternity.

Reconnecting

Two weeks ago I took a trip abroad and circumstances were such that my phone was disconnected and thus I was not connected at all to the internet, chat, text, Facebook etc. I was able to learn a couple of things about this experience.

First, I just want to share that I went to Guatemala, a country found in Central America. It is the country that borders Mexico on the south. It was inhabited by the Mayans centuries ago and they left many remnants, artifacts and traditions that are still felt today. It is a very picturesque country with several volcanoes (one which is active) huge lakes and colonial structures. The native population is skilled in creating colorful and beautiful tapestry, interesting wooden carvings that double as jewelry boxes and vibrant paintings depicting scenery and it’s native picture.

As I mention earlier, there are several things that I learn through this experience, and I will share them in the next couple of post.

1. The first thing I learn is this – disconnected from technology does not mean disconnected from people.

It was interesting to experience a different type of connection with family as I was disconnected from the on-line world. It was a great experience to be able to give my full attention to any and everyone that I spoke with. Conversations became more focused without the intrusive buzz of the phone on vibrator, the compulsive sneak peak at the screen to see if I missed a text, tweet, message or email or constantly thinking about what to take a picture of to upload to Instagram. My attention was solely on the conversation and I actually enjoyed it a lot more. This disconnect helped me to connect more with family and friends.

Many believe that they can be productive and effective while multi-tasking but I have seen contrary. Some might get the gist of the conversation while they text and check email, but miss the eye contact, the facial expressions and everything else that come along with effective communication. I have read that many young people have problems making friends off-line because they don’t know how to. This is a sad state of affairs and it’s telling of how much technology has infiltrated and taken over out lives.

This also creeps into our spiritual lives. Are you constantly Tweeting during the sermon? Do you check email, update your Facebook status (with nothing that has to do with the sermon) or do you use this time to schedule the week, clean out your email or critic the preaching? Then you are really not using the time to connect with God. Disconnecting from tech can mean connecting with God.

Something to think about – disconnect for a full day and work your way up to a full weekend. You will be able to see how this disconnect will help you to connect more with your spouse, kids, friends, family and significant other – not to mention God.

1. The second thing I learn is this – we believe that being disconnect means that we are missing out a lot of important or crucial information, which is not necessarily true.

When I reconnected I found myself inundated with emails. As I was going through them for what seem to be 2 hours I realized that I did not miss much. Many of the emails from subscriptions I signed up for shared similar articles and information from one week to the next. In addition to that, if I missed an article I just had to go to the website and sera h through recent articles. Some other emails had info that could wait or had been handle by someone else that was capable.

Something to think about – being informed is great, but sometimes we get so bogged down with information that we can’t see the beyond it. There will always be new articles, news stories, the latest info and being able to filter all this information can and will help us spend time on things that are more important like God and family.

Restoration

Jesus is in the business of restoration. Rest|oration – His words bring rest which restores our lives.

Liberation Theology

Last night I went to see Dr. Cornell West and Dr. Ray Rivera speak on liberation theology. This was my first time hearing either speaker. I had a great time and came away with great information and insight.

Dr. Ray explained his 4 models of liberation.
1. Confrontation – this derived from the confrontation between the pharaoh and Moses.

2. Collaboration – thus was evident in the story of Joseph and his rise to power and subsequent aid to God’s people.

3. Civic engagement – we this reflected in Nehemiah and his approach to the King to rebuild the city walls using the native populous

4. Confronting the church – the only New Testament example derived from Revelation where John us confronting the seven churches each with their own fault.

Dr. West was a great speaker and affirmed Dr. Rivera’s exposition of liberation theology. He brought different points to the table to support each of the four models. Some if the golden nuggets where:
1. It does not matter the color of the four inside the boot that us pressing on your neck.

2. I’m my crooked state I tend to make the word of God seem crooked

3. We all need to be washed by the blood if Jesus

Overall it was a great night.

Coffee with God (part 3)

My third and last entry on having coffee with God (spending time with God)

Sometimes our conversations with God resemble a Frappuccino in that we want choices and we rattle off a list of needs and wants.

———- Sits down again ———

Hey God, so obviously you know my situation, but just incase you missed something here is a list of things that I would like for you to do for me. Take your time… no rush but I put them in order of importance so if you can take care of the first one that would be great!

Thanks! Amen

———————–

The bible says that we should not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6

God is not and should not be treated like a credit card, where we pull it out whenever we need to get something. He should not be looked at as the person who is there to fulfill our every whim and desire. Praying to Him is not to come a present a list of wants and needs is more than that. Imagine you going up to an uncle or aunt that you hardly see and you have no idea which side of the family they fit in. When you see them the first thing you do is pull out a list of what you want them to give you. Isn’t that ridiculous? But that is how we treat God sometimes. We hardly have a relationship with Him but when we see Him or come to Him is to give Him a list of things.

The reason we pray is not to so that we can receive things or as a result of things that we have or get, we pray because this is how we have a time of intimacy and communion with God. It is about trust, knowing that when we ask God He does answer, He does care and He knows our needs before we ask.

When we don’t pray you know what happens? Nothing… nothing happens. When we pray heaven and earth move. You don’t believe me? When Moses prayed to God, God parted the red seas to rescue His people. When Joshua prayed the sun and moon stopped for whole a day, when Elijah prayed it did not rain for three years, when David prayed  He found refuge and His strong tower, because Daniel prayed he was delivered from the Lions Den, when Jonah prayed inside the belly of the whale the whale spit him out and setting on the right path, when Jesus prayed Lazarus was brought back to life, as the disciples prayed the Holy Spirit came upon them with power… there is power in prayer, but only when our relationship with God is genuine, is true, is real and is based on love.

——— Sit back down –

God, am sorry, am sorry that I seem to continue to do the wrong thing. I try my hardest but I just seem to fail more than I care to admit. I need you, I need your help, I need you to walk with me, to talk to me, to guide me.

You say you love me, its just hard for me to believe that you love me despite of all my mess ups all my imperfections above all my failures. Sometimes is hard to believe that you are here that you want to be with me, to sit here and spend time with me. Honestly sometimes I wonder if you understand me or if you are bored listening to all my junk. But there is something I know, that you have never cancelled our time together here, that you have never not showed up, that you have never not helped. You have always been here, waiting, listening, looking for me and ready to tell me that you love me. Thank you.

——————————–

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for that is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How can we rejoice when we are hurting? When things are falling apart? Because we can come to God in prayer and He will always be there for us, He will always have time for you, He wants you to talk to him. Lets rejoice knowing that when we are in the midst of our storms, God is there to be our refuge and strong tower and ever present help in our times of need – so pray continually? Does this mean that all we do is pray, that prayer will become an all consuming activity? No, not necessarily, I believe that this means that we need to constantly be aware of the presence of God. We need to live, function and operate as if God is always with you, as if God is always there. Being aware of the presence of God changes your whole perspective and how you engage life as a whole. Prayer is not just talking to God but is also listening to God and God talks in many different ways. He speaks through His word, through other people and through nature, but the questions still comes back to – How is your relationship with God?

Is your relationship such that you have a cup of coffee with Jesus on a daily basis? Or is your relationship such that you really don’t have coffee with Him. Do you feel like you can approach Him with confidence or is he just left sitting there waiting for you?

Coffee with God (part 2)

I like to drink coffee, for no other reason than the taste of it. Especially if it’s lite and sweet. Others might like it with no milk, no sugar or with creamer. In fact there are many ways to prepare a cup of coffee. Though my preference is lite and sweet with milk, I occasionally like to change it up a bit.

I remember when my wife and I were dating. We would plan to spend a day together and maybe take a walk in the park, watch a movie and/or participate in a church function. Then afterwards we would spend more time together. I would leave to go home at about 10pm and get home in an hour. After putting away my coat and getting comfortable I would pick up the phone and call her. If you were to ask me about our conversations and what we spoke about for such a long time I would not be able to tell you. I don’t know what we spoke about for such a long time. All I know is that if our conversations became repetitious and lacked substance the relationship would have fizzled out and I would not be including her in this post.

I am calling this type of communication the Decaf, because we need to have some substance, some oomph in our relationship with God.

Can you imagine if this is the way we communicated with God?

Lord thank you for everything, thank you for all that you done. Thank your for hmmm my family and friends and everything. Lord thank you for who you are…

How am I doing? Well, I okay oh and thank you for that, thank you for all that you done, for everything.

Awkward Silence –

But yeah did I mention that I want to thank you God for everything, for all that you are doing, for all that you have done, for who you are.

Some expert say that if something is done for more than 21 days it becomes a habit, a routine. Sometimes our conversations with God become a routine. This can be good and bad at the same time. It is good that we take time to spend with God and that we do it consistently. It’s bad when what we do consistently becomes a routine. We pray the same way for the same things all the time. We sit down and pray for breakfast “Lord thank you for this food, thank you for providing and bless the less fortunate, Amen” pray for lunch, “Lord thank you for this food, thank you for providing and bless the less fortunate, Amen” pray for dinner, “Lord thank you for this food, thank you for providing and bless the less fortunate, Amen”

We can and should break out of this routine but how? When we begin to think and believe that we are speaking to a person, when we think about who you are speaking to, God, the creator of the world, that one that made all of this and that made you. The one that never changes, that is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Alpha an Omega, the one that love us so much that He gave His only son to die for us in the cross so that we can have eternal life with Him in heaven. When we start to think about who we are speaking to, praying to, things begin to change. My prayer time, my time with God is much more different. Is not about what am I doing for God, but is all about being who God created me to be. It is not about repeating words that lack meaning and substance. Is about love and a relationship with the one who gave it all.

When we establish a strong and meaningful relationship with Him then we can hold on to Hebrew 4:16 –

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

This is how then we can approach God when it comes to prayer. We can come to His throne of grace with confidence, confident that He will hear our prayers, confident that we can communicate with Him, confident that because our relationship is strong and healthy He will not only listen but also help because He is not just a mysterious force, a supernatural entity, He is not a spiritual entity that does not care, or would prefer no to be bothered. He is our creator, He is our father our Abba. He is the one that sent His son to die for us so that we can have a relationship with Him. His son was sacrificed so that we can come and sit and have a cup of coffee with Him, spend time with Him and be in an intimate and loving relationship with Him where we not only speak to Him but He speaks to us!!!

Why do we pray? We pray because prayer works, we pray because through prayer we find the strength, the wisdom and the courage to face this world.

Romans 12:2 says Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Yes, we will encounter problems, we will face trails, we will go through situations that will wear on us. The answer to all this is prayer. Come to God in prayer.