Lady Gaga

hmmm?

Fish or Cut Bait

The phrase "Fish or Cut Bait" is an idiom. I said this last weekend in a talk about trash. This led me to explain what it means to "fish or cut bait."

It means to seriously take action on something. The "something" is our desire to look at the trash in our lives and get rid of it. A pretty radical view - that it is better to know Christ, to have him as part of your life then to have ANYTHING ELSE this life can give you. My passion is to desire Christ so much in my life-- so strong that I consider everything else to be "poo."

The more Christ is in your life the better things are. We feel so close to God that our cup literally overflows. We are so excited about what Christ has done and is doing in our lives that II Cor. 4:15 says,

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

You are literally to spill over to others what Christ is doing in your life.

Random

Came across this in a blog. It was interesting how our culture is so "lovesick" over celebs, but once they are older-- ya know grey hair and at deaths door, they become unnoticeable at the tail end of their lives. Now, the writer jumps around a little and is a little random, but he does share a sliver of truth.

"John Mayer is rich. And even better, he’s almost tired of the money. Every celebrity that is rich enough, for long enough realizes money can’t buy happiness. It’s why Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wins multiple super bowls, marries a model and then says that he’s not content. It’s part of the reason celebrities start charities and care less about money the older they get. And although he’s young, John Mayer already has a watch collection worth $24 million. Yes, you read that correctly. You can’t tell me that Mayer hasn’t looked at those watches at least once and thought, “What am I doing with $24 million in watches? There has to be more to life than this.”

Nice reminder

I preached on Philippians the other day. This is why I blogged about trash talker. It gave me a chance to remind everyone that Philippians 4: 7,8; 13 isn’t about playing sports, making the team, or being famous (prestige, power, and popularity). The stuff above is still collecting dust. Man, that helmet looks good!!

Trash Talker

The Apostle Paul is the man. He was a terrific speaker and writer. When one reads his writings these are the words to come to my mind about who he was as a Christian.

Passionate, Wise, Intense, Sold out, not ashamed, Prophetic real. In all of Christianity, there has never been any other man who challenged the world to follow Christ. If religion had a most valuable player, Paul would have received MVP. When he walked in the door, people stopped and stared. They listened carefully to every word he said because they realized this guy was going somewhere fast, and they didn’t want to be left behind. It probably was intoxicating for Paul.

What was wrong with Paul? He had everything going for him. He had popularity, security, power, prestige; … he had all these amazing credentials, yet he was lacking the most powerful person in his life. Why is it our desire to go after the credentials of popularity, power or prestige. Why is it … deep down inside of us that we long for the feeling when we do enter the room, we want people to stop and stare?

Why do we find our identity not in Christ, but in our four beloved years of high school? It is found in what we do, not who we are. I Google the “why” and I came across ehow.com. It is a “how to” site. And it was sad, yet very comical what I found:

How to Become Popular in High School By eHow Contributing Writer

Popularity in high school means different things for different people. Accepted girls possess the looks, charismatic demeanor and clothes. Trendy boys show humor, size and strong physical prowess. Many high school students want to be a part of the in-crowd to keep from victimization by those people who have a desire to control everyone and everything. To become popular alludes to having more friends and benefits. Read on to learn how to become popular in high school.

Instructions

Spend time alone and understand what works. Knowing how to love one self brings forth confidence, which attracts people.

Design a trend. Put together fashionable outfits that accentuate strong features and hide the weak ones.

Build up a toned physique by working out daily. Taking the time to improve on overall appearance gets people's attention.

Join school activities. From playing baseball to writing for the paper, becoming involved in different groups of interest gains some level of fame.

Be assertive. Walk up to someone new each day and offer a greeting.

Share something personal and witty. Good humor grabs people's attention, allowing them to remember the source behind the laughter.

Do something unexpected. Defending someone from a bully or volunteering for an activity that was never tried before can add more friends in the circle.

I know extra-curricular activities are for some value. I played sports. I was in theater and the arts. When I had hair, I was pretty popular. In my office, I have tribute to my high school years. My “ode to High school,” is dedicated to my trophies, 1^st place finishes, and my last place finishes, and my pics of my high school friends. Sure, all these activities were good for me. They shaped me into who I was, but when I became a senior, God started to deal with me.

Do you like trash? Do you know what you do with trash? Ya get rid of it.

One of the most challenging verses in his writings comes from Phil. 3:7-8. Open your Bibles to these verses. We have Bibles for you to your left. Feel free to pick up and feel free to write in them also.

Phil 3: 7-8

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.

Paul had impeccable creds. Paul reminds us where he came from. (Read Phil. 3:4-6). If anyone had to reason to trust in position, power, and prestige, Paul did. If anybody had reason to boast in his success, Paul did. If anybody could point to radical commitments and faultless lifestyle, Paul could. He had it all.

And it was worthless. Paul used a word for these credentials, his profit, and his success …

Garbage. The Bible translators looked at this word Paul used in the Greek- the original language, and determined to be to vulgar. The NIV used the word "rubbish." I kinda like the phrase "human waste." Maybe poop.

Paul was saying that prestige, possessions, the power, the popularity he enjoyed were actually hindrances in his life, and he was not going to get near it… at all.

Notice what Paul uses in the text: I once thought, I consider, I compared …

He was using this reflective language. To consider something means we carefully reflect; we work at an understanding; we pursue the hidden truth. What I want you to “consider” is the illusions of your lives you so desperately follow blindly.

Paul had to take time and effort to search the scriptures and compare the real truth to what he thought was truth. In this consideration, it led him to reflect deeply on his own sinfulness and God’s great grace. He wanted to be found in God. Paul tried it his way: doing everything in the attempt to measure up to God’s standards. But his struggle for being good revealed he needed a savior. And this realization—this consideration—he penned

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.

His call to die shattered the worldly illusions in his life. Our consuming desire is to honor Christ and glorify him all day, and every day through our obedience to Him. This is the treasure found: Gaining Christ and loosing myself in that treasure.

The Fun Theory

Mike, the middle school picked this up out of nowhere!

Thefuntheory.com is an initiative of Volkswagen and is filled with some creative ideas.

Check it out: thefuntheory.com to see lots of plans, designs, mock-ups and explanations.

I can't help, but think.

I had a call from a student who was in my student ministry back in the Clearwater days. It was an awesome conversation. It was 15 years ago when I was in my first ministry at a Bible Church (similar to a Baptist church) in Boonsboro, MD. This was a "crazy" long time ago.

We reflected together about his journey of faith. I baptized him almost 10 years ago. We talked about how God got a hold of him and led him to make a decision about full-time ministry. Today he is a youth pastor in Texas.

This is what it is all about when you are called to minister to others. It is really cool. Nothing profound here, it is all Jesus.