C.R. Mooney

Simple enough.  This Psalm is by far my favorite chapter of the Bible.  It has strengthened and encouraged me in many ways.  What is your favorite verse or chapter?

Psalm 27 (NIV)

Of David.

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

² When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.

³ Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

⁵ For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

⁶ Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the LORD.

⁷ Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸ My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face, LORD, I will seek.

⁹ Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn your servant away in anger;
you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
O God my Savior.

¹⁰ Though my father and mother forsake me,
the LORD will receive me.

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.

¹² Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence.

¹³ I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

This morning I woke up with this thought in mind, “God show me what I need to deal with in my life – what keeps me from walking perfect and blameless as You have called me too?” The Holy Spirit then brought Galations 2:20 to mind. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” I need to be careful not to beat myself up though. Some would say that you have to “Kill the flesh!!” but we have to be careful NOT to. See, I cannot crucify myself, someone else has to do it. God uses other people in our lives to help change us. I believe that as long as my heart is for God, that He will work things out of me that are not giving glory to Him. After all, isn’t He more gentle and merciful than I? The Word says He has ABUNDANT mercy (1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the ressurection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” .

When will I learn that this life I live is not my own? When will I learn, not in my mind but in my heart, that the life I now live is not my own. When will I follow the example set by Jesus in the garden and let my prayer be “Not my will but YOURS be done” (Luke 22:42 – Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.)

Here are two more quotes form Jesus from John 5:19 and 30, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.“, and “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” Jesus said He could do nothing in and of Himself, only what He saw His father do. How can I think that I can do anything on my own? Why do I try to stand on my own two feet?

I can have the type of relationship with God where I lay aside my desires, motives, and pride and say to God, “I will do nothing unless You tell me to.”

I need to die to myself so that my selfish wants, needs, and motivations are not in the picture. Actually, I have already been given the power to do this according to 2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

When will I accept that am NO LONGER a sinner by nature, and do NOT have to live a sinful selfish life.

Lord, crucify me and help me to look to Your will for my life. Let my motives be out of love for You and love for my brother, and not love of self. Teach me to be who you have already given me the power to be. I repent of my pride and my doubt. Thank you for freedom through Christ Jesus!

Regardless of your destination in life, you encounter obstacles.  In Obstacles Welcome, Ralph de la Vega chronicles his life from child immigrant from Cuba to President & CEO of AT&T Mobility. Ralph shares his inspiring story filled with adversity and the many lessons he has learned along way.

Ralph takes the many challenges of his life, from being separated from his family for four years, to conquering communication and infrastructure problems after hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, and teaches us that obstacles are to be met head on and not run from.

One of the many lessons I gleaned from Obstacles Welcome is that you have to be the driver in life, and not the passenger, in order to accomplish your goals.  Otherwise you are merely a spectator of others trying to accomplish theirs.  This thought has also stuck with me, that short term success can be easily achieved, but long term success and growth (both business and personal) comes from having great vision, inspiring others, and executing that vision.

I highly recommend Obstacles Welcome, not only as a great leadership book, but also as an inspiring story of a success which comes through hard work and perseverance, no matter your pedigree.
Thank you, Thomas Nelson, for allowing me to blog review this book.

-  chris mooney

Last night, there was a massacre of people, including women in the Philippines.  The LA Times picked up the story and are reporting at least 30 people dead.  One of the men where I work is close friends with a missionary family there, and here is the email .  Please PLEASE pray for God’s protection for them!  Please pray for the families of those who died, and please pray for those Muslim families to come to the knowledge and belief in Christ so His glory will be known!

Dear praying friends,

We are used to sporadic and senseless violence in the areas where we work.  Last week when I drove to spend time with our underground believers I found out about a looming, politically related conflict between two warring clans in the same Muslim people group.  This morning the unthinkable happened.  To lessen a potentially violent reaction to a candidacy registration, some delegates from one clan sent their women representatives with the hope that the other side wouldn’t harm the ladies.  This morning at approximately 9:30 am, one clan ambushed and kidnapped a contingent of over 40 people on their way to the capitol of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.  No one survived.  The women were raped and beheaded and were members of a prominent and powerful family.  Lawyers, family members, body guards and media personnel were also massacred.

This is only a few kilometers from where we have our oldest and most established ministry!  Presently our staff are hunkered down at our school with my orders to evacuate as soon as possible.  The problem is that it is night and no one can travel safely after dark.  Hopefully there will be public transportation available tomorrow or one of our staff in a nearby city will try to run the gauntlet and pick them up.

For those of you who don’t live here it may be hard to understand the gravity of this situation.  In the culture where this happened revenge is considered a virtue.  Everyone expects an indiscriminate and unprecedented blood bath.  This is worse than the wars and kidnap threats we have endured in the past.  Much, Much worse.

This effects everything.  Our school will probably have to shut down for the rest of the school year.  No parents will send their children to school when by virtue of them being a distant relative of one of the clans become targets of a blood feud.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PGC STAFF AND THE BELIEVERS FROM THIS CULTURE!

PLEASE PRAY FOR WISDOM TO MAKE WISE DECISIONS THAT ARE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PEOPLE AND MINISTRIES WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR.

PLEASE PRAY THAT JUSTICE WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE GUILTY (EVERYONE KNOWS WHO IS BEHIND IT) AND THAT THE INNOCENT WILL BE PROTECTED.

Thank you for standing with us,

Tom

Love & Respect - by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (Thomas Nelson)

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

The core of Love & Respect by Dr.Eggerichs is to address the means by which couples can stay out of the “Crazy Cycle,” and enter the “Energizing Cycle.” It is based on Ephesians 5:33, Husbands love your wives… and wives respect your husbands.”

Eggerichs maintains that the key here is that women are built to love naturally, so they need to work on respecting their husbands unconditionally, and conversely that men are built to respect naturally, so their focus should be in loving unconditionally.

Being a man, and married for ten years, I can say it is not my first inclination to buy self-help books on marriage. However, I am very glad I chose this book to review. What helped me most is Eggerichs’s point that the person I am married to loves me, and though I oft misinterpret her, or fail to understand her viewpoint, she does mean well.

Also the appendices in the book are helpful with ideas that you can use to reinforce the lessons from the book.

One thing I didn’t care for is the amount of testimonials in the book. It felt almost like an infomercial at times, and I found myself skimming through them.

Thank you Thomas Nelson for allowing me to blog-review this.

This is a recent story from the Barna Group, which does extensive studies on Christianity.  My reaction is , “What are we doing wrong that professing Christians do not believe Satan or the Holy Spirit are REAL?”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

Click on the heading to go to the article…

Most American Christians Do Not Believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit Exist

April 10, 2009

A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent.

The survey explored beliefs about spiritual beings, the influence of faith on their life, views of the Bible, and reactions to faiths other than their own.

Views on Spiritual Beings

The Barna survey asked questions about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Satan, and demons.

All 1,871 self-described Christians were asked about their perception of God. In total, three-quarters (78%) said he is the “all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe who rules the world today.” The remaining one-quarter chose other descriptions of God – depictions that are not consistent with biblical teaching (e.g., everyone is god, god refers to the realization of human potential, etc.).

For the other survey items a four-point opinion scale was used to measure people’s reactions to statements about each spiritual entity.

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan.

Promises. As kids, we are taught that promises are to be taken seriously, and so we grow up trying our hardest to keep them.  Maybe it’s because we remember a promise being made to us by a parent or friend that ended up being broken, or maybe we try hard to keep them to avoid causing others disappointment. Maybe it just goes back to “Let your ‘Yes’ be yes, and your ‘No’ be no.” (Matt. 5:37)

I think sometimes that we only say “I promise” to the easy stuff.  “I promise, I’ll take out the trash before I leave.” “Tomorrow we’ll go the park, I promise!”  You know, the incidentals.  If the promise isn’t kept, it’s not a big deal.  Maybe that is where our problem started, because it seems today that promises don’t mean much at all.

Maybe the best example is that of the politicians. They make all sorts of promises to get elected, and a majority never come to fruition.  Part of that may be it is not in their sole power to deliver on them, to which I say, “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”  To others, I would say, “Don’t make promises you never intend on keeping.”  Either way, it really is setting a bad example.

Maybe more disheartening the example that 50+% of married adults (even Christian adults) make: “Til death do us part.”

I know, I know, crap happens, people “fall” in and out of love.  People change. People fight. People cheat.  The fact remains, a promise was made.  It’s one of the most important promises we can make, yet it is taken so lightly by so many.  If you think I am being harsh, I am, but please keep reading.

I ask a question.  Would you keep a promise, if it meant someone else being uncomfortable?

Like,  “I promise not to smoke any more.”  The chances are, if you make this promise, you will be grumpy for awhile, I know, I have been around plenty of people trying to quit.  But I have patience and tolerate them, because in the end, them keeping their promise is better for their health.  If fact, in their hardship, I even encourage them to keep this promise.

Now, would you keep your promise if it meant hurting someone’s feelings?

Scenario. “I will help you move next weekend.” Here, a promise is made to help someone, but on that day, your kids are not feeling well and your spouse asks you to stay home and help out.  What do you do? Well, you feel sympathetic toward your spouse and children, and you know it may hurt their feelings, and maybe they feel they are not number one for a few hours, but you go and help your friend move.  Why? Because your word is your word, and it sucks sometimes, but you do it.

Moving along, do you keep the promise when it causes harm to yourself?

“I promise to protect my family.”  A robber breaks in, and without hesitation, a man or woman will do whatever necessary to protect their loved ones, even if it costs them their life.  Makes sense right?  One of the most costly to follow through on, but we do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do.

Now the difficult one: Would you keep a promise if it cost the life of your child? I know someone who did.

A man was promised that a nation would be made from his offspring, but to follow through on it, his own child had to die.  The promise was made by God, to Abram, at the cost of Jesus’ life.  Not only did God follow through on the promise, He made the promise knowing what it would cost.

Now I challenge myself and you to keep our word.  Make your yes, yes, and your no, no; especially when it comes to your marriage.  We make mistakes, I know, I have made plenty, but we can’t give up.  I doubt very highly that keeping the promise “Til death do us part” will cost us the physical lives of our children, but it is killing generations in many different ways (broken homes, broken relationships, bitterness, even hatred being passed around like Halloween candy all in the name of “What’s best for the kids” translates to “what is best for me.”).

It’s not easy sometimes, but it’s worth it.  It’s work a lot of the time, but it’s worth it.

This is a great bit of audio.  Here is the video from youtube, or if you like, you can follow the link and download the mp3.

Words that hurt so good: “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” John 16:2

Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?   As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.   Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.   For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,   Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

To live is Christ, to die is gain (compilation) by Compilations

Copyright Eric Morris 2006

There are a lot of things going on in the United States today, politically speaking (bear with me a minute, this is not a political rant).  It isn’t hard at all to see that our country is at a fork in the road and the vehicle is stalled until we decide on a direction.

In times like these, the opinions on what the problems and solutions are vary, and some who carry them speak louder of it than others.  I have heard that the Obama administration is taking the country to a socialist, Marxist, communist direction, and I have heard many solutions varying from impeachment, to voting out all incumbents in 2010, to outright revolution.

Now, others feel this is a great direction.  There are millions of individuals who need the health care programs being proposed, the programs afforded by the stimulus to help with heating bills and home renovations, and the incentive at a corporate level to be more environmentally responsible.

Regardless of which camp you are in, I offer the following:

There was a man named Jonah, you’ve probably heard of him.  God speaks to the prophet that he is to go to Nineveh, and we know his reaction.   He gets on a boat and heads the opposite direction.  In response, God sends a violent storm and everyone on the ship is afraid that the storm will sink the ship.

Here is the how the rest goes down (Jonah 1).

All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.   But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.   So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)”

Doesn’t this sound familiar? Let’s bring it into today’s world.

The ship (country) is in troubled water, and people (especially conservatives) are running around screaming, “The sky is falling!”  They are crying out to their gods (representatives, radio talk shows, and the like) “What do we do? Why is this happening?”  all to no avail.  They think they are being punished for some wrong doing of theirs, or those around them, but this is not the case at all.

See, the story is not about them, and it is not about the storm: It is about the saving of a people.

The entire time this storm is going on, where is the prophet?  He is in the bottom of the ship, hiding.

And there it is.  Jonah finally faces the truth that all of this is happening solely because he is not doing what God commissioned him to do.  See, the answer for the men of that ship (and our country) was not to throw the captain (president), crew (congress), or cargo (legislation) overboard.  None of these would stop the storm, and did not cause it.  The only thing that can stop it is the obedience of God’s people. Our problem is, we’re running and hiding in the bottom of the ship still and not recognizing our wrong.

Jonah had to realize his disobedience was the problem, own up to it, and then obey.  Once he decided that he was responsible for the calamity around him, he jumped overboard (died to himself and his own ideals).  Instantly, the storm was gone, and I love this part, “God provided…”  We need to get to that place as believers where we say, “It is our fault that this storm is on you.”

So what is the believer to do in the current political climate?  Obey God’s commissions.  If we simply lived (and I am including myself in all this) as Christ taught, none of these actions the administration is purposing would even be necessary.  God told us to take care of the fatherless and the widows.  He calls the believer to give all to those in need and not to worry about himself.  He calls us to be good stewards of the earth.

As for the health care bit?  Where is the believer in this?  See Matthew 4:23-24 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.”

If we as Christians would stand up and pray for our leaders first, without prejudice, malice, or selfish motivation, that in itself would be a milestone.  Let’s take care of what Jesus called us to do FIRST, and he will calm the storm around us.  The revolution that needs to happen needs to be in the hearts and actions of God’s people.

- mooney

We’ve all been there.  You’re walking through the food court of your local mall, bee-lining it to the restrooms because one of the kids can’t “hold it” any longer, and you hear the words, “Free sample?”  Your thought process stops for a moment and your mouth begins to water as the smell of General Tsao’s chicken hits the back of your tongue.  Your head turns past a smiling lady and your gaze turns toward the tray she is holding.

“Free sample?”

Little Johnny is tugging at your arm, and it is the moment of decision.  What do you do?

At this point, my senses override my child’s pleading to relieve himself and I say, “Sure!”  Now, I have no intention or time to indulge in the delicacies the Flaming Kitten, I mean Wok, but I know a little dab will do for now.  Maybe next time I’ll get the veggie with three meat special, but for now, it’s off to my fatherly duty.

Maybe you find these people annoying and just brush by them in annoyance.  But you know, they really don’t mind it.  It’s a time proven effective way to generate sales: Get the product before as many people as possible. Some will buy, some will not.  The number of people that buy will go up exponentially however, if you you can get them to taste its savory goodness.

What is this all about?  The gospel.

In Matthew 4, Jesus tell his potential followers, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  Most of my life that translated as, “Let’s go catch some people.”  Intriguing, right?  But how do we do it?

Most of today’s literature would suggest that you become good friends with someone, then over time share the gospel with them.  Honestly though, if you are a Christian, how many non-church friends do you really have, and of those how many do you actively try to tell the good news too?

I think this is a flawed method, and unscriptural.  See, in calling the disciples to be fishers of men, they new exactly what it meant.  Their method of fishing was not to put bait on a hook and pray that a fish would bite.  No, they took their boat to where they knew the fish were, and cast a net.  Some times they caught many fish, others they caught none.  When they cast where Jesus told them, their nets were overflowing to the point of breaking.

Are you starting to get it? Jesus wants us to spread the net wide, and offer our free gift to everyone.  Sure, some people are going to blow you off, maybe even be angry; but in the end, if we offer as many as we can something they can sample, many more will receive the gospel willingly.  Some will chose to follow Christ, others won’t, let the Holy Spirit worry about the results.

For now, let’s try to get over our shyness, and offer the one thing that actually matters in life.  maybe the next time you ask someone “Free sample?” will be the one time they accept.

God bless!