Because that's the way God made it!!

Elijah is going through the phase of asking the "Why's". I will give you an example of what I am talking about:

Me: Elijah, can you see that cow over there in the field?

Elijah: Yeah!! Hey Papa I see a cow over there. What is it doing?

Me: It is eating.

Elijah: What is it eating?

Me: Grass.

Elijah: Why is it eating grass?

Me: So it doesn't get hungry.

Elijah: Why does it get hungry?

Me: Becasue it's stomach is empty.

Elijah: Why is its stomach empty?

Me: Because is it hungry. (At this point I don't know what else to say)

Elijah: Why is it hungry?

Me: Because that is the way God made it.

And Elijah has now come to the point where he accepts that answer as the final answer of everything. He knows when he hears that there is no more asking why.

What a powerful point......that we should not ask anymore questions about why things happen, why do we look this way why, why, why? It is because God is in control! That's the way God made you. End of discussion!!

But let me continue, of course one day when Elijah was telling me about something I thought I would turn the tables and ask Him the "whys".

Elijah: Look at my animals, Papa!

Me: Yeah, they look cool.

Elijah: The tiger is standing next to the hippo.

Me: Why is the tiger standing next to the hippo?

Elijah: Because he likes him.

Me: Why does he like him?

Elijah: (looks at me for a second with a confused look on his face) Because that's the way God made them.

Me: Why did God make them that way?

Elijah: Because He loves them.

I didn't ask anymore questions after that. What else could I ask?
A 3 year old teaching a 29 year old about the sovreignty of God. I was humbled.

The song "Praise the Lord" is based on Psalm 148. You know....."Praise the Lord, ye heavens adore Him, praise him ye angels in the sky........"
This is what verse 5 says of Psalm 148, "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created."

What else do we need to know.

BB

The Carlton Dance!!

For all of you Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fans, enjoy this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxdauqh3epw

You might be an Idiot if.....

Last night I was putting Elijah to bed. Before Elijah goes to sleep he has a sequence of events that he likes to do. Around 8:00 pm he likes to have a cup of yogurt for his bedtime snack, then brushes his teeth, plays with his animals for 1 last minute, kisses mom goodnight, Papa reads him 2 books, then prays, tells everyone "he loves them infinity and see you tomorrow".

Last night he prayed this way, "Thank you for everyone, thank you for the clock, thank you for the walls, thank you for the carpet, thank for........, the list goes on. As I was laying there beside him I have to admit I grew tired of his "thank you's". I even interrupted him during his prayer and said "No, Elijah we have to pray for the people who are sick and need help."

Yes I know, I'm an idiot!

I interrupted a prayer where my son was thanking God for all the things around him and told him something else. It's not that praying for the those who need help is bad. I just interrupted a heart felt prayer by my son and let my idea of the traditional prayer outwiegh his.

I am sure there are lots of lessons to be learned from this. And I am sure this probably won't be the last time I show my stupidity in fatherhood. But I wonder how many times we let our own thoughts outweigh others or more importantly how many times we let our thoughts outweigh God's?

BB

Dirty or Clean Hands

Does anyone know what a car mechanic looks like? What I mean is when you walk into a car shop, what is one thing that will distinguish a mechanic from the front desk worker? They all may be wearing the same uniform that says Brian’s Auto Shop, but not all of them may be a mechanic. They all will probably be wearing boots to protect their feet from heavy objects. They all may look a certain way, but if you will notice a good mechanic’s hands will be dirty. Their hands will be dirty from the grease, dirt, or oil from a vehicle. The mechanic will get their hands dirty from being underneath the car, changing the oil, working to repair an engine part or changing the tires. If a mechanic claims to be working real hard but has clean hands, then what can you conclude about the mechanic? Either they have some miracle soap or they are lying. My guess is that they are lying. James 2:17 says, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” The mechanic’s dirty hands are representation of his actions. Dirty hands tell others his actions are following his responsibility. They tell others that he is doing what he is supposed to be doing. The mechanic could go in the back of the shop and rub dirt from the ground to get his hands dirty, but then again his actions would not be true. Our faith in God is more than just a belief or idea. It is showing what you believe. If your actions do not accompany your faith, then your faith is not real.

So my question to you is: Are your hands dirty?

Live it,

BB

A Happy Jesus?

On Wednesday night I suggested an idea at The Station that referred back to Beatitude no. 2. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Mt 5:4) Each week is building off one another so follow me on this one:

Now the beatitudes are Godly characteristics that we should strive to have in our heart. The first beatitude is "poor in spirit" (dependent upon God). This is placed first because it is the most important characteristic as a follower of Christ and it puts the following beatitudes in perspective. Meaning: they cannot be fulfilled by our own strength, we must be emptied of ourselves and beg for God's help. So, the reaction to poverty in spirit is? Mourning.

Jesus, when speaking of mourning, is not talking about a shallow crying or sadness for a short period. He is speaking of an intense deep sorrow over our sins. Our sins cause us to be separated from God, which should cause us to deeply mourn. So if Jesus is telling us to have a deep intense sorrow over our sins we commit, does that mean that we need to be gloomy and filled with sadness? No. Let me put this way. Think of a friendship or relationship that you have. Think of the closeness that you feel when both of you are communicating well and enjoying each others company (this is a time of enjoyment, laughter, happiness.) Now if you did something wrong against that friend. How would it make that person feel? Horrible, right. Your friend may feel betrayed, let down, or hurt. But hopefully you have a strong enough relationship that you will remain friends. Well that same thing happens to the relationship you have with God when you sin. It hurts God when you sin. And it should cause you to mourn, knowing that you have hurt God. Not just a brief sadness for a couple hours, an intense sorrow.

So to help us understand this better lets look at the times when Jesus was grieving, filled with sorrow, weeping, etc. Then look at what he was mourning over. Compare how many times the Bible tell us of Jesus being joyful versus Him being sorrowful.

If you want to comment, click on the "Comment" link below.

The Station Video

Green Beans and Ketchup

When my son was younger, he would not eat green beans. And still to this day, he does not eat them. But at the beginning we salted and peppered them.....nothing. He would eat everything but the green beans. We tried everything to get him to eat them. I tried to shove it in his mouth – JK!! We tried to pretend the beans were an airplane, truck, anything to get him to eat it. Nothing was working. I thought to myself I can outsmart my son, how hard can it be? He likes ketchup!! I put some ketchup on those beans. Success! He ate one bean, two, then three…..I had a great idea!! Then he started to figure it out. Instead of eating the beans he sucked the ketchup off and spit the bean out. Failure. All I did was create a way for him to eat ketchup instead of the green beans. Which ketchup is good and all, but not as nutritious as green beans.

I say all this to tell all of you to put ketchup on your beans and maybe it will taste better.

No really, I say this because this is what we do to our faith. We need a relationship with God. We need spiritual nourishment to keep us healthy. Having a true relationship with God is our nourishment. Proverbs 3:5, 8 says “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding……..this will bring health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.” Our own understanding tells us to put ketchup on our faith, instead of just eating the green beans. Instead of having a true relationship with God, we like to cover it with ketchup. We like to do things that are (what we think to be) beneficial for us. It is not nourishing to put ketchup on green beans. It does nothing but add taste. We feed our taste buds and think it is something true. But we are only fooling ourselves. Jesus sees right through the ketchup. When He was sitting with His disciples at the Last Supper and tells them that He is going to be betrayed. All the apostles including Judas Iscariot say “Surely not I, Lord?” Jesus saw right through the ketchup of Judas. Jesus saw right through the faith of Judas and tells him that “It is you.” We mix things (popularity, entertainment, school, etc) with our faith and all it does is leads us away from having real nourishment. You see Judas let his greed for life and money cover his faith. It led him to betraying Jesus and his death. When we mix things with or cover up our faith it leads us eventually to betray Jesus.

Eat the green beans. Seek a true relationship with God. And don’t put ketchup on it no matter how good it tastes!

Live it,
Beau

Youth Calendar