It never ceases to amaze me how the older you get the faster time seems to go by. I can remember my grandma (who we affectionately called "Kiddo") would say that time goes by so fast when I would get impatient waiting at her house to go home for Thanksgiving. See when I was younger I would spend the week before Thanksgiving over at my great-aunt Estelle's house. Then on Thanksgiving day we would go over to Kiddo's house. Kiddo always made the turkey. From there we would then head back over to my house. Thanksgiving was also when we would celebrate my birthday, so I always looked forward to getting home to get my gifts. Well anyway I took the long way around to reflect over the past year. It amazes me how much the boys have changed. You can check out my beautiful wife's blog at: shannonaprille.blogspot.com for events over the past year. We are coming up on the one year mark where Shannon and I were able to take a trip out to the southwest where I had a conference in Las Vegas and then came back home through Colorado. I will post some pictures in a few days. I admit I hated Las Vegas, it truly is Sin City; however that place is surrounded by some very beautiful country. I just cannot believe it has been a year since we took that trip.
Now I can't slow down time. As Shannon's post http://shannonaprille.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-know-i-cantbut-i-wish-i-could.html says, I know I can't but I wish I could. Enjoy the moment, love your kids, time is short.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Once and For ALL Sacrifice
"For I know my transgressions an my sin is always before me." Psalm 51:3
This morning I was reading Hebrews 10. I love this chapter because it talks about how Christ came as the perfect sacrifice once and for all! We no longer have to offer the blood of a goat or a lamb for our sins every year for the blood of Christ was our perfect sacrifice once and for all! Why is this important to me you ask? Consider this: We have a Creator who created the whole universe and put us in it. He made us in His image and likeness. When He made us He gave us the free will to either accept Him or reject Him for that is True Love. Now when we rejected Him we could no longer exist in fellowship with the Holy of Holies, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, sin and holiness cannot exist together, we were cursed... cursed to die. We will die not only a physical death but a spiritual death as well. Enter the love of the Creator, He knew the cost of our sin and knew it would take a sacrifice once and for all. The blood of Jesus Christ, our Creator, the Son of the God Head had to be shed to take away our sins "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14). Through the blood of Jesus Christ "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)
So then what? Christ calls us to live in Holiness, to be Holy because He is Holy (1 Peter 1:16). There is also a curse in the blessing of Christ: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26-27)
Christ came and made the sacrifice once and for all. If we would only be pierced through our hearts and seek Him out, He has made himself known to us, He loves His creation... will we reciprocate that love?
This morning I was reading Hebrews 10. I love this chapter because it talks about how Christ came as the perfect sacrifice once and for all! We no longer have to offer the blood of a goat or a lamb for our sins every year for the blood of Christ was our perfect sacrifice once and for all! Why is this important to me you ask? Consider this: We have a Creator who created the whole universe and put us in it. He made us in His image and likeness. When He made us He gave us the free will to either accept Him or reject Him for that is True Love. Now when we rejected Him we could no longer exist in fellowship with the Holy of Holies, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, sin and holiness cannot exist together, we were cursed... cursed to die. We will die not only a physical death but a spiritual death as well. Enter the love of the Creator, He knew the cost of our sin and knew it would take a sacrifice once and for all. The blood of Jesus Christ, our Creator, the Son of the God Head had to be shed to take away our sins "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14). Through the blood of Jesus Christ "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)
So then what? Christ calls us to live in Holiness, to be Holy because He is Holy (1 Peter 1:16). There is also a curse in the blessing of Christ: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26-27)
Christ came and made the sacrifice once and for all. If we would only be pierced through our hearts and seek Him out, He has made himself known to us, He loves His creation... will we reciprocate that love?
Friday, August 7, 2009
A Father's Greatest Legacy
I spent many years trying to figure out how I can make an impact on this world. From high school until about 3 years ago I spun my wheels serving at various churches some in the capacity as worship leader and others as just a member, I spent time in various mens groups, trying to get ahead at work, looked for ways to possibly sing for a living, and went down a lot of wrong roads. All the while feeling like I had to do something that would make a difference. Then it happened, wham! The Lord got my attention, I was thrown off the road I was on. Throughout 2006 and 2007 the Holy Spirit showed me my sin, convicted me to get into the Word of God and was turning my world upside down. All I had thought, all I had sought after suddenly faded away. After all toiling was meaningless, only the Creator and Lover of my soul brought meaning. I had read through most of the Old Testament and what struck me was how messed up Israel had gotten. I read Lamentations and my heart ached, I saw a lot of our own country in how Israel had hardened their hearts and turned away from the Lord. Weren't the warnings given in Deuteronomy 9 and 10 enough? Apparently not. With each generation Israel grew further and further from the Lord. Their hearts were hardened. Why did that happen? What jumped out at me was reading 1 and 2 Kings. As it went through each king it always started off with the king's name, age, how long he ruled and then most would say "He committed all the sins his father had done before him". Typically it would refer to what that king's father had done. Oh every so often it would say "and so and so did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" but that was the exception. However the father lived is typically how the son lived. It all started with David. David was a man after God's own heart; however he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. His sons (remember most of David's sons were from many wives, Solomon was from Bathsheba) took notice and most often repeated what David did, but more often worse than what David did. The trend continued with Solomon and so-on. Now please understand this has nothing to do with generational curse baloney (that's a whole other topic); however, Dad's, our sons learn from how we live. What the Lord had revealed to me was this: The greatest legacy and impact I will have on this earth is how I raise my sons. I have 3 sons, each one will probably have their own children, and each of them their own children. Folks if we want to turn this country around focus on your children, teach them how to live. As Deuteronomy 11:18-24 states (please read that whole chapter in context):
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes 0f your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."
It took many generations to get where we are at today and it will take many generations to change it... starting, Fathers, with our own children. If you haven't yet, listen to the song "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns... wow! Nothing happens overnight. I urge all Fathers, to surrender to the Lord, turn away from your sins, be broken and humble before the Lord, if you do that then we will start to see change, raise your children in a manner that will honor and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That will be your greatest legacy!
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes 0f your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."
It took many generations to get where we are at today and it will take many generations to change it... starting, Fathers, with our own children. If you haven't yet, listen to the song "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns... wow! Nothing happens overnight. I urge all Fathers, to surrender to the Lord, turn away from your sins, be broken and humble before the Lord, if you do that then we will start to see change, raise your children in a manner that will honor and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That will be your greatest legacy!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Take from the Rich and give to the Richer?
Just a thought on all this talk about health care and redistribution of wealth. The idea behind cash for clunkers, the healthcare bill, new taxes on the ultra wealthy is really about the redistribution of wealth. The US government is the most powerful and wealthy entity on the planet, so why would we want to take money from an individual and give it back to the government? Ah but you say well the government is making everyone equal. Greed exists regardless of the society, or in other words whether the society is a Lennon Utopia (Imagine All the People), socialistic, communistic, or capitalistic we live in a fallen world. The interesting things here is that the 2 of the wealthiest people live right here in the US. Did they take money from the poor to get that wealthy? In the US we have laws against stealing, so the answer to that is now. Those men created their wealth through the innovation of their products and ideas. So why would we allow the government to steal from anyone? If anyone has any thoughts please let me know.
Hank Hanegraaf this past week has had Dr. Jay Richards on his show talking about capitalism. It has been a very intriguing and though provoking conversation. Dr. Richards has written a book called Money, Greed, and God. I plan on purchasing this book and reading it so I will post more of my thoughts later.
Hank Hanegraaf this past week has had Dr. Jay Richards on his show talking about capitalism. It has been a very intriguing and though provoking conversation. Dr. Richards has written a book called Money, Greed, and God. I plan on purchasing this book and reading it so I will post more of my thoughts later.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Knowing
The other night Shannon and I watched this movie called "Knowing" with Nicolas Cage. I will be blunt, it was one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen, it was actually kind of disturbing. The reason was because it ultimately attempted to define our purpose here on earth and how life came to be on this planet. Basically the movie claims that we were put here by aliens. What a bunch of nonsense!
I am currently reading the book The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. Lee Strobel takes the toughest objections to Christianity and attempts to answer them through various interviews with some of the smartest people around. He takes a hard look at the origin of life and tackles some of these ideas, like: life came from aliens, or evolution. Through reading this book, and other research; I have come to the conclusion that it takes more faith to believe in evolution or that life came from aliens than it does to believe that there was a Creator, and not just any Creator, a Creator who loves our souls so much that He gave us the choice to reject Him.
Consider this: When you look at say a shoe, you don't say that the leather, shoe laces, sole all miraculously came together do you? No! You would say someone designed the shoe and put it together. So why would you look at something as complex as a molecule or a cell and say "oh it just miraculously happened?" What about a tree, or an animal. The chances that things would simply come together and life would form is zero. Don't believe me? Read it, do the research yourself. Why would you just believe what you hear from the Discovery Channel, or in the media? Don't you want to know?
One of the great things about our Creator is that He revealed Himself to us, through His creation, and through His Word. We don't have a blind faith! So the next time someone states that the Bible is false and that we evolved from apes, ask that person where the proof is? Just because the Discovery Channel says so isn't good enough.
I am currently reading the book The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. Lee Strobel takes the toughest objections to Christianity and attempts to answer them through various interviews with some of the smartest people around. He takes a hard look at the origin of life and tackles some of these ideas, like: life came from aliens, or evolution. Through reading this book, and other research; I have come to the conclusion that it takes more faith to believe in evolution or that life came from aliens than it does to believe that there was a Creator, and not just any Creator, a Creator who loves our souls so much that He gave us the choice to reject Him.
Consider this: When you look at say a shoe, you don't say that the leather, shoe laces, sole all miraculously came together do you? No! You would say someone designed the shoe and put it together. So why would you look at something as complex as a molecule or a cell and say "oh it just miraculously happened?" What about a tree, or an animal. The chances that things would simply come together and life would form is zero. Don't believe me? Read it, do the research yourself. Why would you just believe what you hear from the Discovery Channel, or in the media? Don't you want to know?
One of the great things about our Creator is that He revealed Himself to us, through His creation, and through His Word. We don't have a blind faith! So the next time someone states that the Bible is false and that we evolved from apes, ask that person where the proof is? Just because the Discovery Channel says so isn't good enough.
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