Here is a definition for those that are not farmiliar with that word. 

Indolence – lethargic and not showing any interest or making any effort

That was me last week, we went out of town and hung out with the family for 5 days and did nothing but eat.  But then after we ate we went and ate some more.  Following all of the eating though we did a little eating.  It was so bad I could actually see me, myself, and I.  So that is why I didnt blog all week long and I am sure that no one really cared because I assume that you all were getting your eat-on as well.  Well todays blog come from a verse of scripture that I read earlier in the week and the Lord really spoke to me through it.  The verse is John 14:6 which reads “I am the way and the truth and the life”.  Now being a Christian for a long time like I have been I have heard this verse thousands of times and said yep Jesus is the way to heaven, He is the truth for the world, and through His death on the cross He is the eternal life.   And all of these things are true, however as I was reading this verse again this week the Holy Spirit pointed out to me that Jesus is just not the way to heaven he is the way for everyday.  The point is to trust in Jesus for every decision that you make and every step that you take to guide you.  The only way that you can get this guidance is to cling to Him with all of your might.  The analogy (and those who know me know I love analogies) was used that if you were going to someone’s house and you had never been there before would it be better for them to just tell you how to get there or actually ride with you and show you turn for turn.  Without their guidance you could make wrong turns, bad decisions and even get into an accident trying to read directions that you scratched out on the back of a Burger King reciept (I have no clue why I choose that).  Isnt it a whole lot easier to get to your destination when you have someone who knows where and when to turn and the best route to go sitting in the car with you and giving you turn by turn directions.  This is how our relationship with God should be, we should be so in tune with Him that we dont try to plan our turns and routes but yet we wait for His direction.  The only way to be in tune with Him is to spend time in the word and to spend time in prayer.  I hope that we all take the time to listen and follow his direction. 

 God Bless ~ Tyler

Well it is good to be almost to the weekend, we are in the middle of preparations for B-dawgs birthday party this Saturday and then holiday travel that will soon follow.  But I wanted to share something that the Lord showed me this morning and has been showing me for the past couple of days.  It started with the last time that I lead worship on a Sunday night, as I was leading there was really not a response from the congregation at all (I mean nothing).  And that was a little frustrating as you want to know that people are worshiping with you and are finding a way to the throne through the worship.  I left with a little frustrated and sour attitude but then the Lord reminded me as I wrote about earlier that it was for Him not for them that we do things.  Well He drove home this concept for me this morning as I was reading my devotional this morning in Numbers chapter 20.  This is where the Israelites are complaining that there is no food and no water to drink.  So Moses and Aaron went and fell on their faces (notice the faith and obedience) and scriptures says that the Lord appeared to them.  The Lord then told them to take the staff and go SPEAK to the rock and it would produce water for the people and the livestock.  Well Moses took the staff as commanded and gathered the people together in front of the rock.  Now here is where things went haywire  (Verse 10 & 11) “10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.” (NIV emphasis added).  You can almost hear the frustration/anger in Moses’ voice and even though he accomplished what God told him to do he did it his way and was not obedient to what God told him.  Look a little further down in scripture and look how God addresses and punishes his actions (Verse 12) “12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” (NIV emphasis added).  So here you see how this great man of God, the one who delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and delivered the ten commandments to the people lost a blessing and something that God had promised due to the fact that his attitude and obedience were not there.   This brings us to present day and our point for today’s blog…we as Christians and especially as pastors or worship leaders, it is so important that we do everything to God’s glory and honor.  We must remember that we are nothing more than a tool and that we don’t save anyone only God can do that, we are merely a vessel through which he works.   And we must remember to constantly remain in prayer and in the word so that we protect ourselves from putting the glory and honor in places that they don’t belong.  God expects 100% obedience from us just as we do our own children, however just with our own children there is forgiveness but there are also consequences.  Ok I am starting to run on now…I hope that you see how attitude and obedience are so critical to ministry and to our lives.  Remember to guard yourself with prayer, the word, and fellowship with other believers.

God Bless ~ Tyler

Wow, what a weekend that was. I am almost glad to going back to work to get a break. But you know it was once again an awesome time in God’s house. God showed me something yesterday that will apply to my sermons and to my singing from now on and this is something that as a long time Christian I have known and for the most part understood however I haven’t always put it into practice 100% of the time. There are times that you want something to be great because you want people to be affected by it because you think it is powerful or you want something to be great because you are filling in for them and you don’t want to let them down. Well all of that is kinda in the wrong mind frame and is bordering on prideful. We need to keep in mind that it is God that we are doing these things for, even if no one else likes what we have done or shows appreciation; it is because of Him we do things and for Him we do them. Keeping perspective on this is a crucial part of ministry because you cannot please everyone and understanding that makes it a lot easier to handle those issues when they occur. That is one thing that I love about God is that He will always send those little adjustments to your heart, thinking, frame of mind, so forth which if you listen to them and adjust it is a lot smoother sailing, than the alternative (Being Huge ground breaking events – because God will try to get your attention). All this to remind everyone to stay in the word, stay close to God because he doesn’t move and listen closely when He speaks to you.

God Bless ~ Tyler

Also for those of you who read the blog I am in the process of growing the links database, if you have links to sites that you like (music groups, or authors, anything Christian related) send them over to me.

Today’s devotion is going to be a little different in that it is a devotion about devotions. Redundant? Possibly but as I was doing my devotion today I was struck with this statement (after reading it I urge you to take a second and think about it):

“People’s lives depend on how skilled we are!”

Now after pondering on that for a little while I was hit with the reality that as humans we complain about circumstances and events that happen in our lives that we don’t understand. But do we ever take the time to stop and think how is God using this to sharpen me or train me for something. Another way to think about it is if you were tasked to cut down a forest would you want an axe that was sharp or dull. Well obviously you would want a sharp axe so that every swing made as much impact as possibly. Well we should look at our Christian walk with God the exact same way! We should study his word, and participate in discipleship through a local church or conference so that when God puts an oppurtunity in front of us to share his word we can make the most impact as possible. If you are not skilled in His word then you are the same as a dull axe…useless! Consider this verse in II Timothy 2:15

15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

So that is it. Study God’s word, learn what he has in store for you and make yourself available to be used as a tool for HIM!

God Bless ~ Tyler