I think of two verses when I read this,

 Matthew 5:39 (NIV) “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. and if someone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” I like the way The Message paraphrase says it even better, “Don’t hit back at all. If someone strikes you, stand there and take it.”

Or, how about Ephesians 4:26 where Paul tells us, “Be ye angry, and sin not” (KJV).

While I do not condemn this pastor, or his congregation, I do question his stand. I have given two examples of where the bible tells us not to retaliate against those that sin against us. Heck the Lords prayers asks that God, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. If this how we “forgive” those that trespass against us, then how is it that we should expect God to “forgive” us.

I certainly don’t claim to know everything there is to know about everything. As such I ask anhybody reading this to show me the scripture that tells us we should respond in this manner. Again, I amnot judging this pastor for his post, I just question the wisdom of it. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “Everything is permissable - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissable - but not everything is constructive.”

This is where I feel I am. No, there is not somebody trying to kill me, and no I don’t feel that I am living with my mortal enemies. However, I can relate to the time between when David was anointed to be king and when he actually became king. I know that God has called me to full-time ministry, but in many ways I don’t feel any closer to that calling then when I first felt the call.

There is a part of me that longs to sell my house, pack up the family and go off to seminary. However, I am being told by many people that I trust that I really don’t need to do that. Plus, I can’t really uproot my family to do something that I WANT to do, but am sure God wants me to do.

Anyways, I guess this post was just so that I could unload a little. If you are one to pray, then pray for clarity; that I would know what direction God would have me to go.

I wonder did David ever find himself wondering if God really intended for him to be king of Israel. “God, if you really want me to be king of Israel, why am I living with the Philistines?” Ok, maybe he never actually asked that question, but I could see where he could have felt that way.

So, God could take a man that was not even rasied by his biological parents, infact raised by the very people that had enslaved his own people; a man that would later become a murderer, and turn him into one of the most influential people in the world. The influence of Moses is still felt today; whether it is the 10 commandments hanging on the wall in the Supreme Court, or his writings in the millions upon millions of bibles that have been printed.

If you think you see an emerging trend in Story Time, you are correct. The Bible says, in Romans 3:23, “…for ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God.” I hope that through Story Time you might see that not only can God save you, regardless of how you have sinned, he can use you to do a mighty work. Many people would rank murder among the top of their bad list, Christian or not. Yet God took a Murderer, Moses, and used him to do such increadible things. The enemy would have us believe that there are certain sins that can’t be forgiven. That we have, somehow, been to bad for God to even forgive us, much less use us. And even if we don’t feel our sin is too bad to be forgiven, the enemy wants us to believe that we could never be used by God.

My goal here is to show that while the people in the Bible did amazing things for God, they were just normal, flawed people like me and you. And, if God can use them, he can use you and me as well.

Do you know who this man is?

 Well, I want to challange that thought. Jesus did indeed say that we were the light of the world. However, I don’t think that means our churches should be completely filled with light. After all, when Jesus said we were the light of the world, he was referring to those that had salvation. So, if there is no darkness in our churches, we are missing the mark.

If you are still not following me, here it is. If Christians are the light of the world, then a church service filled with the saved would be very bright. However, when we introduce some lost people into that same service, then things begin to darken a little. If we are not bringing lost people into our churches, then how can they ever come to know Jesus. Yes, I know that some will come to know Jesus without ever stepping foot into the church. However, I think that most will accept salvation through the influence of the church.

So, I ask again, is your church dark enough? Are there enough lost people in your church? If not, what are you doing to get more lost people there. I must admit that I don’t do all that I feel I should to get people into my church, but I am making a fresh commitment to do so. My goal is going to be to invite at least one person per week.

I have heard it said that the way to bring lost people into the church is to “Invest and Invite”. What this means is that we are to invest in people and then invite them to church. After all, noone cares how much you know untill they know how much you care. So, we should invest in relationships with lost people, showing them that we love them, even as God loves them. Then when we invite them to church, they are more receptive. I have also found that when I have invested in this manner that it often becomes easier to invite them to church.

So, Is your church dark enough? If not, what are you doing to bring more lost people in?

Many people are familiar with the story of Paul. However, for those of you that are not, here you go. Paul was originally named Saul. As Saul he spent most of his time persecuting the followers of Christ. In fact he was responsible for deaths of many of them. Then one day while traveling he was stricken blind by an encounter with God. He was given instructions to see a certain man who would heal his blindness.

Saul followed these instructions and received healing from his blindness, received a new name, (Paul) and received salvation in Christ. From here Saul now called Paul became a powerful follower of Christ. During the course of his ministry Paul was imprisoned on more then one occasion and was eventually put to death for his Christian beliefs.

We are indebted to Paul for having written a large portion of the New Testament. The books he wrote were letters that he sent to churches that he had started in different cities. In fact some of these letters were written while Paul was in prison, awaiting his execution.

So, let’s recap. Paul was so anti-Christian that he even went so far as to have many Christians killed. Yet God chose him to write a large portion of the New Testament that we read today.

 After his conversion he was thrown in jail on more then one occasion and knew that he was going to either die in prison, or be put to death. Yet he maintained hope and faith and continued to write letters instructing the early church.

So, what does this have to do with you or me. Well, I think that Paul’s story shows that no matter what kind of sin our past holds, God is willing to forgive us. In fact not only will He forgive us, he can use us in a mighty way to profit the kingdom. We can also learn from Paul that regardless of how bad things get, like being wrongly accused, thrown in prison, and sentenced to death, we can maintain faith and hope.

While we will all sin and ,therefore, all deserve death; very few of us will ever be guilty of the kinds of sins that Paul committed. So, if God was willing to forgive Paul, he will also forgive you. And if God would use Paul, he can also use you. Furthermore, while we will all suffer, few of us will find our selves beaten, flogged, imprisoned, and eventually put to death for our faith. So, while the enemy likes to tell you that your sin is unforgivable, or that your suffering if far to great and that all hope is gone, I think Paul shows us that we will be forgiven, we can be used and we can always have faith and hope.

So, our story is about a man; we will call him Steve. This is not his real name but names are being changed to protect the innocent. Ok, actually I just wanted to change the name to make it more interesting. So, Steve is a powerful man and is very well known for his firm anti-Christian agenda. This goes on for some time as Steve continues to battle Christianity and becomes more powerful and more famous. Until….. one day Steve suffers a tragic injury. As he recovers from this injury he comes to know Christ and ends up becoming a strong crusader for Christ. This change in him eventually leads to him being wrongly accused, thrown in jail and sentenced to death.

Do you know who this man is?

So, I am not suggesting that we open up to every person that asks us how we are doing. However, what I am suggesting is that we should open up with the few people that we are actually close to. In the book I mentioned before they suggest that FINE stands for Feelings Inside Never Expressed. I think there is a lot of truth in this. Society tells us that to express our pain makes us week. This is a lie told by the enemy. We must express ourselves. Otherwise our pain and bitterness corrodes us from the inside out. So, next time someone close to you asks you how you are doing, tell them. Not only will this help you, but it will bring you closer together.

• Food: because I love myself I make sure that I have food.
• Shelter: I ensure that my mortgage gets paid so that I (and my family) can have a place to live.
• Clothing: Because I love myself I make sure that I have clothing (this could also be considered a service to those around me as no one should ever have to see me naked except for my doctor and my wife, and they both asked for it.)
• Employment: because I love myself I do all I can to ensure that I maintain employment.
• Transportation: Because I love myself I make sure that I have transportation so that I can get to the aforementioned employment.

 This is just a small list of the things that I do because I love myself. So, how does this relate to loving my neighbor as myself. I imagine that many of you have already made this connection. So if I love my neighbor as myself, then anything that I do because I love myself, I should also love my neighbor enough to do for them. So, if I ensure that I have food to eat, then I should also ensure that my neighbors don’t go hungry. If I ensure that I have shelter, then I should ensure that my neighbor has shelter. If I, well you get the idea.

So, the question I end up asking myself is, “Am I loving my neighbor as I love myself.” “Am I showing the same level of love for my neighbors that I do for myself.” “Am I as concerned for making sure that my neighbor has the things they need as I am for myself?”

If I am being honest with myself then I would have to say no to all these questions. This is something that I need to work on. I think that this is also an area in which our churches are failing badly.

So, how would you answer the question, “Are you loving your neighbor as yourself?”