As I was in the voting booth this song kept dancing around in my head. I’m sure glad I had the restraint to keep it in my head. If you know me I have a tendency to hum and sing out loud.

We get so wrapped up in ourselves that we loose sight of reality. If we misplace our cellphone we have a panic attack. If we loose or someone steals it, we feel as if it’s the end of the earth. We’ve been so violated, my life is on that phone. Butt have we… and is it really?

Last Friday afternoon I had the privilege to make a new friend. A woman in her early 40’s, homeless with just one school size backpack to claim all her belongings in. As I approached her you could see the pain in her eyes. After about 15 minutes of listening to her ups and downs and about the demons in all our lives I asked her about her pain. She was shocked that I noticed and with watery eyes she removed her shoes to reveal the source. Her feet were badly bruised, blistered, scabbed and infected. I would not have believed that someone could walk in such a condition had I not seen it with my own eyes.

While in the military they drilled one lesson into my head. Take care for your feet. If your feet go, it’s over. Here was a woman that had a drive in her that I have seldom witnessed. Peering at her feet I asked where her socks were, she replied, I don’t have any. So after our visit and lunch I left, promising to drop off later a few provisions (homeless care bags) to the location she was staying.

Later that afternoon I returned. She had a look of disbelief saying, “I didn’t think I would see you again, I figures we scared you off”. Smiling I handed her a pair of new white crew socks. You could have cut the air at that moment. She wept uncontrollably as she held tight to that pair of socks murmuring the words, “there is still hope”.

My friends we run through life blinded. We look for those things that please us. Take a step back, slow down and look around. There is so much that we all can do with little obligation. The socks given to that woman were just a single dollar and required no great sacrifice, yet hope was reaffirmed once again to this woman.

Should we stop at socks? No. Lets start there and allow God to move us to accomplish even greater things for the sake of His kingdom.

So as I close this story I must ask, would Jesus wash and care for the feet of this woman? Would he consider her worth the time and effort? And if you believe the answer is yes become his hands and feet.

Here’s a little pick me up for you…

This is my first and last political post for this campaign season…

Should you and I vote? Yes. If your going to vote and I hope you do, how should you vote? Should you vote based solely on political party, economic plans, welfare reform or tax plan? No. We should vote according to God’s word. Does the person or persons seek after God’s counsel? Do they submit to the absolute authority of God? Are they more concerned with pleasing man or God? So get out there and vote. If you vote any other way, you are seeking your own desires before God’s.

Be about the Fathers business and live…

Don’t check us out! OUCH… Seriously, there is so much more riding on our decisions (choices) that mere personal preference.

It’s time to wake up as the trend of church attrition continues here and abroad. This trend serves as evidence that we easily get out of the habit of going to church. Simply going to church does not connect us with the living God. After all, as a true believer isn’t He already with us.

So then why is there so much decline? Simple, we’ve tried too hard to convince people that we are what they need. Check out all the great features (benefits) that we offer you and your family. We have numerous classes, well-equipped playgrounds, top-notch entertainers, coffee shops and well-polished hip motivational speakers. What about Christ Jesus, don’t you think he has a word or two about this entire “going-on” in his Church? This is not to say that these things are necessarily evil on their own. It is us (you and I), that make them so.

Look closely at the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. Here is a man eager for eternal life. He approaches Jesus and asks what he must do. This is a dream come true to us in ministry, people coming on their own wanting to join up! Yet Jesus doesn’t get excited at the mans desire. Jesus explains what it takes to have eternal life and the man is greatly grieved at what he hears. Verse 22 paints a vivid picture, the man went away grieving!!! Jesus didn’t make excuses or justify the mans lifestyle. Jesus simply told him the cost and that cost is everything.

Did you catch what happen to that man, he left. This is no way to build a church? What do you get when you convince people to attend church? Give up?…. Pew Warmers. People must want to change, grow, be accountable and be counted on. It is time for people to realize that we are to be the Church.

In CS Lewis’ book “The Screw Tape Letters”, Lewis nails my point with this statement from chapter 16, “the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes man a critic when the Enemy (God) wants him to be a pupil”. When we invite people to come and check us out, aren’t we asking them to be our critic? This is why we at VRM encourage people to come and worship God with us. This says we are not here for you or ourselves, but for the Lord and this is the proper attitude we should be reflecting.

Is this the end of the process? No, this is how it should begin… keeping EVERYTHING Christ-entered.

People are not looking for a church as much as they are seeking God… so let us all come together seeking after Him.

Keep it real… Jesus gave his life for us.

It’s 3:00am and these thoughts plaque me from a conversation early this afternoon…
Why do so many walk and live for Christ conditionally? It’s wearisome to hear Christians make bold statements as; “God doesn’t want me to do that”, “I don’t feel the need”, That’s not my calling”, or my favorite, “God wouldn’t want me to do something that I don’t want to do”. When did we turn the life of a disciple into an al a cart drive thru religion.

I’ll leave you with this point…

Just think how difficult it was for God to send His son, knowing what Jesus would go through. Imagine how excited Jesus was to come and be beaten, rejected and ultimately left on a cross to die.

What God called upon Jesus to do was about us, showing how much He loves us. What we do and say now reflects how we feel about Him.

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.
John 6:38

A thought provoking story that was shared with me today…

“If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale
and gave all my money to the church, would that get
me into Heaven?” I asked the children in my Sunday
School class.

A five-year-old boy shouted out, “YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!”

This one goes out to Jedi_12…

This is a copy of a letter a dear young friend of mine wrote to his brother and sister-in-law. This young man (early 20’s) discovered the very real Jesus and needed to share his newly transformed life with his family so he wrote them this letter.

What great faith he had and still has. This is the kind of testimony I wish we all had. Please take the time to read his compassion and love for God. Just imagine if we all could catch the passion of this young believer in Christ.

To my brother and sister,

I am writing this letter in hopes that you may see the path that God has put me on. This letter is hard to write because it is to you guys, my family. It is hard to share Christ with people who know you, because they know your past and most of the time they think that it is just a phase that you are going through. But that is far from the truth. I wish you could see me now, I wish I could show you how, I’m NOT who I was. God has changed me and I have opened my heart to Jesus and the joy I get from that is more than words can say. But don’t take that out of context, I have my good days and my bad days, but it doesn’t matter. Because I know that this world is only temporary, more…