“An Apple Beside The Rod”

I want to start off with a quote from Martin Luther who was a famous Christian theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Protestant Reformation. “Keep an apple beside the rod to give the child when he does well.” Today’s blog is to express to leaders the importance of ENCOURAGEMENT and CORRECTION. Of course Christian discipline is needed to enable us to grow in reverence for God. But even discipline has to be presented in love. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction”. Its seems that the church has the rebuke part but fails to embrace the encouraging part. I am not talking about all churches or even all Christian. But if you spend more time rebuking and correcting then you do encouraging then I am definitely talking to you. When Jesus came, he came preaching love. In Matthew 22 one expert of the law came to Jesus and asked him what is the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus replied: " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus is saying the two greatest Commandments is love God and love people. As Christian we are quick to love God but slow to love people. It’s important that even in times of correction that we show love. As I stumbled across Martin Luther’s quote my mind went straight to the church. For far too long we have disciplined and not lifted people spirits. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t mind you stepping on my toes, but a true leader will step on your toes and not mess up your shoes. Titus 2:15 says “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority”. Leaders who constantly rebuke people are abusing there authority, and are probably lacking confidence in themselves. Sometimes rebuke isn’t the help that some people need. You will be surprised at how many people will change there ways if you showed them love and kindness. Let’s remember God loved us even when we were in our mess. Paul said at the end of Romans 2:4 “The goodness of God leads you to repentance”. If Gods uses love as a tool to lead man to repentance, why do we use rebuke? Its time for the church to re-evaluate what tools we are using to bring people to repentance. Lets stop using the rod more then we are using the apple, because the apple will probably be more effective.


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“Principles For A Healthy Christian Marriage”

A healthy Christian marriage is not easy to obtain. It is something that will take a committed effort on both spouses. A lot of times we think marriage will be easy because falling in love seemed easy. The truth is keeping your Christian marriage strong will take a on going effort. The great news is building a healthy marriage is not all that difficult, it just takes discipline and commitment.

The first principle in building a strong marriage is limit the amount of times you argue. I know that sounds easier said then done but it is true, don’t argue unless you absolutely have too. Most spouses argue because they want to get there point across. The problem is, you will make your point and loose you spouse. Proverbs 25:24 says “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife”. Quarrelsome means: To argue/disagree in an aggressive, angry way. When a woman likes to argue it sends the mans heart to the roof but his body will physically be with you. It’s nothing worst then having your man in the house but his heart be elsewhere. Instead of using energy to argue, use that same energy to have a conversation. Communication is a absolute must in a successful marriage.

The second principle is praying together. My wife and I usually pick the mornings as a good time to pray together. Have you ever heard the cliché “A family that prays together stays together”? My wife and I have found that to be true. Colossians 4:2 says “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful”. How is it that as Christian we find time to pray with everyone else except the person that we wake up with every morning? Lets stop making excuses and get on a prayer schedule with our spouses.

The third principle is set aside time each day, or at least once a week, to read the Bible together. Reading and discussing the Word is a great way to bring a marriage closer. I think my wife and I talk at least once a day about the Word. Sometimes she just wants to get my understanding of a scripture and sometimes I need to get hers. It’s truly an awesome way to grow together in God.

The forth and last principle is to Continue Dating. This is a very key principle in keeping the marriage healthy. This is important because as Christians its easy neglect the area of romance in the relationship due to church. YEAH I SAID IT, due to church! You can’t be so involved in church that your marriage suffers. Any good pastor will tell you to make sure home is taken care of first. My wife and I spend time together on a consistent basis. This may not always include going out on dates. Sometimes we will sit at home and just watch TV together. We like to call it “Date Night”. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I believe I have a great Christian marriage and that is because my wife and I follow these principles.

Maybe your marriage is not where it should be; perhaps it is even headed for divorce. I encourage you to try these steps before making any final decision concerning your marriage. We serve a God that can fix ANYTHING. One of the biggest mistakes most people make in the midst of a marital crisis is to wait too long. Don’t wait another second to work on your marriage; God is saying work on it today. I leave you with a famous scripture found in Mark 10:9 “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate".

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Religion Vs. Relationship

Religion is defined as A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship. Relationship is defined as A connection by blood or marriage; kinship. In today’s Blog I want to talk about the difference between Religion and Relationship. For far to long Christians have confused the two, “Religion and Relationship”. There is a major difference in being loyal to religion and being loyal in a relationship with Jesus. Its important to note that religion is man made and does not take the place of having a genuine relationship with Christ. The problem I have with religion is if your not careful it will fool you into thinking growth is taking place. A relationship with Jesus is the only thing that truly encourages growth. When searching the New Testament you will find that Jesus came against the Pharisees for there religous traditions. In Mark 7:9 Jesus said "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions”! It’s sad but many times that’s what religion does, it sets aside the flawless Word of God in order to keep its tradition. There are many things that I was taught in religion that is not hell sending. Many times Religion will leave you scratching your head and asking many questions that can not be answered. Growing in relationship with Jesus your questions will always be answered. 1 Corinthians 2:10 "God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God”.

Religion can leave you unfulfilled. Its almost like Chinese food, it taste good but an hour later you will be hungry again. A real relationship with Christ will always fill you up. He is truly the bread of life. John 4:14 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst". I am convinced that many people think having a relationship with church is the same as having a relationship with Jesus. A true relationship with Jesus goes way beyond the four walls of your church. Religious teaching provides information about God. A relationship with Jesus enables us to actually know God.

Perhaps the first instance of organized religion can be found in Genesis chapter 11. The descendants of Noah organized themselves to build the tower of Babel instead of obeying God’s command. They believed that their unity was more important than their relationship with God. God stepped in and confused their languages, thus breaking up this organized religion. Please don’t get me wrong I don’t have a problem with religion, I have a problem when we promote religion and leave out relationship. Some religions are essentially nothing more than a list of rules, do’s and don’ts that a person must observe in order to be considered a faithful adherent of that religion. The two most common ingredients in religions are rules and rituals.

As we are closing I pray that you would ask God to strengthen your relationship with him. Ask him to separate you from mans rules and rituals and bring you into a deeper level in him. True religion is receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and thereby having a right relationship with God, and then doing things (rules and rituals) out of love for God and desire to grow closer to Him.

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