Assalted

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)

Did you know that the Salt Institute has discovered 14,000 known uses for salt!

That is a lot more than I knew! I use it to add a little flavor, but there is a lot more. Here is an excerpt from a blog I received earlier this week called Faith Lens:

Our bodies do not naturally make sodium chloride so we need to consume it in order to make blood, sweat, digestive juices, and tears.

Salt also has historical significance. Salt was used as one of the earliest forms of money and trade; at one time the value of an ounce of salt was an ounce of gold.  Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt.  It has been used as a preservative to help food stay good for longer.  Salt has been used as a flavoring agent.  Have you ever put a tablespoon of salt in a glass of chocolate milk?  It helps change the flavor of the veggie’s you might not want to eat or makes your popcorn delicious.

Salt can be used as a cleaner.  You can use salt to clean your bathroom or polish tarnished brass or copper.  Salt has healing properties.  You can use it as a mouthwash to clear up canker sores or as an antiseptic.  Salt keeps us safe.  Salt is spread on icy roads and highways to keep our feet and cars from slipping.  It is used to soften our water, removing chemicals that we don’t want in our water.  Salt can also put out grease fires, drive away ants, kill poison ivy, and deodorize your shoes.  The Bible mentions salt a number of times, but what exactly does that mean?  It has so many different uses.

Wow! Did you know Jesus was telling you to be all of these things when He said to be salt for the earth!

And do your realize that your life shines in the darkness, but what exactly is it revealing? As those who are to be cleaners and healers of the world, I think we do a lot to dirty and hurt the world in the process. We think our place is to reveal what everyone else is doing that will keep them from being with Jesus and we forget about all of the wrong we are showing forth to the world that needs to know who Jesus is. Mark Lowry said it best in the quote from this image. We are to shine in the world so that they are drawn to Jesus, not to show forth everyone else’s problems, when we are selves have enough problems to worry about.

So let your life shine and show others to Jesus  and heal and clean and add flavor, wonderful flavor to the world that needs to be reunited with it’s creator! Live your life that others see not you, but your great Daddy in Heaven and will seek out the relationship they can have with them.

Humble thyself…

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
But the word of God increased and multiplied.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. (Acts 12:20-25 ESV)

Have you ever seen an angel of the Lord descend from Heaven and smite someone? Herod was struck down as he spoke to his people because he did not correct them. He did not tell them that he was not a god, but allowed them to continue chanting the words of a god, not a man. He allowed what they were saying to him to go to his head and he maybe thought he was a god.

Have you ever felt like you were a god? Have you ever done something so well, that people say that no one has done it better. That you really are the best person in the world to do this. These things can easily go to our heads, but we must be careful. There is nothing in this world that you do that can not be done by someone else. And probably just as good or better than you, no matter what someone else says. And that is ok. Someone else can do the stuff you do, but no one else can be you. You are unique, created by God that way, and that is who deserves all of the glory. God is the one who deserves the glory and who is the only God.

So we have to be humble and say we do the things we do only by the grace and power of God. As Bach wrote on each piece of music he composed the initial SDG for Soli Deo Gloria, “To God alone be glory”. Remember to humble yourself, so you will never see the angel of the Lord descending from Heaven to smite you.

Called to be Bold!!!

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:13-31 ESV)

We are called to be bold in a world that does not always want to hear or see the message we bring. We are called to be bold about who has given us power to be and to move in the world. We have not been given a spirit of timidity but one of power and boldness to go and be bearers of the message of the Gospel. The good news that Jesus wants to be in a relationship with all of us and in order to get us to this point He was faithful to go to the cross and die for all of us.

You see Peter and John were uneducated but the words they needed to speak were given to them by God. So we are are filled with the words to say in a world that needs to hear a message from God. We must boldly go into our communities and speak the truth we have from God.

For you see just as Peter and John were told to be silent by the religious authorities, they knew they could not because God had given them the words to say. So like those uneducated men, we must boldly follow God and speak what He has told us to.

Do not fear for God will be and is with you. Boldly speak the truth He has given you to speak even in the face of the religious authority, so we all might grow and hear the words that need to be spoken!

Called and sent…

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”
Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10 ESV)

Have you ever been called and sent to do something?

That of course is a trick question. I believe all of us are called and sent. I was called to be pastor in Northwestern Ohio, and then in Southwest Texas. I am currently waiting my next call, but while I wait for the official piece of paper and the documentation of a congregational call, I live out the other calls God has given me.

You see I am a husband for 16 years now and I have a responsibility to my wife, to help her and honor her and be with her in good and bad, to be a companion for her for the journey we are on. I am also a father and so I have to be there for my children and honor them and help them grow up and be the people God has created them to be.

I also have this blog which has followers. I have a call to all of you who read this, to be a guide or a stimulus. To help you engage with the God who loves you and wants a deeper relationship with you.

We are all called, and sent. We have been given gifts by God to use in the world and to help our brothers and sisters draw closer to God and to help those who may not yet have that relationship.

Jeremiah tried to get out of the call, much like many of the pastors I know, we run from God trying to make excuses. Jeremiah was young and he thought he was not able to speak. But God told him, “I have known you since before you were a twinkle in the eye of your mother, I am the one who knit you together in your mother’s womb, I know all about you, your strengths that you deny, your weaknesses that you brush to the side. I know who you are and what you are capable of, and I will be with you.” Then God touched his mouth and said, “I have given you the words to speak, so do not fear what to say, but know that my Spirit is with you and will give you the right words to say.” And just like God did this to Jeremiah He does it to you!

God loves you and wants to see you use the gifts He has given you in His kingdom here on earth. So go and do what He has called and sent you to do, and do not fear, for He is always with you.