First, however, let me say that our loyalty to our church should be stronger than our attraction to the better praise band down the street or to the in-depth preacher who just took a job at the church on the corner. Leaving a church should feel like leaving a marriage. It should hurt because we have lived our lives with a group of people, and now we are leaving. But, again, there are legitimate reasons to leave. Doctrinal considerations or the specific needs of our children are, for instance, two valid reasons for leaving a church. When a church is moving in a direction that an individual or a family feels is contrary to God’s Word that is another prudent reason for making a change.

But how should one leave? The usual method is to slither out the back door with the hope that no one notices. Over the years I’ve had numerous conversations with people who have left Santa Barbara Community Church, conversations that are sometimes embarrassing and sometimes hurtful. Haven’t seen you in a while, I say as we pass on State Street. Is everything okay? Then I learn that this person has moved to another church for whatever reason. I’m quick to try to relieve the embarrassment. Assuming this person has moved to a good church, I say something like Well, may God bless you and keep you. . . That’s a great church, and I’m sure it will be better with you in it. We’re all on the same team in the Body of Christ. We’ll miss you.

But these conversations—while cordial and sincere—are hurtful because they happen accidentally. A serendipitous encounter at the grocery store should not be the moment to announce that three months ago you left your church. When I have these encounters, I find myself thinking as a pastor, I’ve prayed for this person and invested my life in this family. I performed his wedding and dedicated his baby. Besides, aren’t we members of the same church universal? How could he and his family leave without so much as a good-bye?

So how do we leave a church? I offer the following suggestions:
First, leave deliberately. Don’t slither or slide. Don’t wander hither and yonder. When it’s time to go, go—and then go become an integral part of another good, Bible-believing, Christ-saturated church. The New Testament knows nothing of individual believers taking a little from here and sampling a little from over there. The biblical doctrine of the church describes a body of believers deeply committed to Christ and to one another.

Second, go graciously. Has your theology changed to the extent that you need to join a different church? Have the needs of your family or your work schedule compelled you to make a move? Fine. Move, but move graciously. Resist the temptation to concentrate on the warts and blemishes of the church you are leaving. (You’ll find, soon enough, that your new church has a few of these too!) It is important that you leave your church graciously and join your new church graciously. Eugene Peterson writes:
Every time I move to a new community, I find a church close by and join it—committing myself to worship and work with that company of God’s people. I’ve never been anything other than disappointed. Everyone turns out to be biblical, through and through: murmurers, complainers, the faithless, the inconstant, those plagued with doubt and riddled with sin, boring moralizers, glamorous secularizers. Every once in a while a shaft of blazing beauty seems to break out of nowhere and illuminate these companies, and then I see what my sin-dulled eyes had missed: Word of God-shaped, Holy Spirit-created lives of sacrificial humility, incredible courage, heroic virtue, holy praise, joyful suffering, constant prayer, persevering obedience.

Third, go thankfully. I write as a man who has been a pastor of the same church for almost three decades. During these years many people have left our church (some of them because of me). To be honest, some of the people who have left I don’t miss much. And others I miss sorely. But I always appreciate the one who takes the trouble to say good-bye.

Embarrassing or awkward as it may be, have an exit interview with one of the leaders, elders, or pastors of the church you are leaving. Explain the reasons for your departure, express your gratitude for their hard work, and commit yourself to praying for the church with which you will no longer be associated. These exit interviews are rare, but they are sweet. Pastors care about people. So when someone comes to me, shares where God seems to be leading, and gives thanks for the season of involvement at _____ , I beam with joy. Pastors are not running a business and trying to get more customers. Pastors are shepherds of a flock. On our good days we are not jealous of our sheep; we have their best interests at heart. Still, it is rarely easy to hear someone say, I gotta go. . . In fact, it always hurts. But the pain is softened when we learn that he or she is going to settle in a godly congregation of Christ-exalting believers. After all, we’re on the same team working for the same purposes.

Church membership and church involvement are serious undertakings. When we meet Christ, we are saved into the church. The Bible speaks of our being members of one another (Romans 12:4-5). We are joined together in Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16). We eat from one loaf and drink from one cup (Ephesians 4:4-5). We are to carry one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). We might even find ourselves selling our property in order to meet another’s needs (Acts 4:32ff.). We are to be a forgiving community (Colossians 3:13) that is deeply in love with one another (John 13:34). The church is a precious gift to God’s people. Christ died to bring the church into being (Ephesians 5:25)! The church is the mantelpiece of God, the display of God’s splendor before the angels (Ephesians 3:10)! So let us take care that we cherish the organism that Christ suffered to create—and may God bless his church!

Let’s blog about the Elephant in the room….

~ God Bless
Pastor Tyler

So tonight they started the program off with this video and I just wanted to share it with you all I hope that you enjoy it!

The Shampoo Model

Acts 8:4-8,26-40

God calls us to be a “Missional Church”.  So what is a Missional Church?

A “Missional Church” is an authentic community of faith that primarily directs its ministry focus outward toward the context in which it is located and to the broader world beyond.

So as a Missional Church:

I.  He calls us to WORK v4-8
1.  Phillip was preaching, casting out demons, and healing the lame.
2.  Because of the movement of the Spirit there was much joy in the city.  Is there joy in our city? Our Church? Your Home? In You?

II.  He calls us to SUBMISSION v26/v29b-30a
1.  The angel told Phillip that it was time to go.  Phillip did not argue or question he simply left and went where he was told.
2.   He was told to go to the desert in the middle of the day.  This seems so illogical to man but to God this is exactly when he was needed.

III.  He calls us to an OPPORTUNITY v27-39
1.   Phillip had no idea what he was being called to go do but through his obedience and his submission he was able to give the gospel to the Eunuch who then spread this same message to the continent of Africa.
2.   In this opportunity we see that God prepared everything, in v26 we are told that this place was a desert but in v36 we are told that they came across a body of water!  In the desert the last thing that you would expect is water but God has prepared the situation and had taken care of everything.
3.   We also see that God prepared the heart of the Eunuch as he was searching for the meaning of scripture and needed someone to explain its truths.  Once again God was prepared and had Phillip in the right place and exactly the right time.

IV.   He calls us to REPEAT v40
1.   In v40 we see that right after Phillip is done baptizing the Eunuch he is supernaturally moved to another place and he immediately continued preaching the gospel and sharing Christ with every town that he came to.

However, in this life all decisions and circumstances are not as laid out and clear. Halloween is a great example of this. More to the point should we as Christians take part in Halloween? Well, because of the nature of this blog I am not going to answer this question for you. This will be something that you and God are going to have to determine for your own household what the right thing to do is. I will however briefly discuss both sides and then provide you with my own personal household’s decision. My goal is simply to bring to light our motives as Christians for our actions so that we don’t blindly go through this life but we intentionally walk as a reflection of God.

First, let us deal with the origin of the Holiday itself. It dates back over 2000 years ago to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, whom the festival originated with, lived in the areas now known as Ireland, UK, and parts of France. They celebrated their new year on November 1st, thus designating the 31st of October as the end of the harvest and the start of cold winter, days with more darkness (lack of sunlight), and a time of year that was associated with human death. The Celts believed that this one night of the year was a boundary between the living and the dead. The festival of Samhain was believed to be when ghosts of the dead returned to earth which allowed the Celtic priests also known as Druids to communicate through them to predict the future. The celebration consisted of burning crops and animals as sacrifices on altars that were constructed to honor the Celtic deities. As with other holidays that we observe the Catholic Church would later step in and attempt to replace the holiday with a “Church-sanctioned” holiday and therefore made a holiday named All Saints day celebrating the religious dead. The term All Saints Day is also known as All-hallows Eve; which is where we get the modern name Halloween from. American culture has really taken the holiday to make it more of a day of fun and fantasy that its origin would depict. Americans all over this great country will dress up as their favorite heroes, characters, fantasies, and even in some cases favorite Bible characters. They will travel door to door to receive prizes, candy, and all sorts of different “treats”.

Now that we understand the origin lets discuss the different thoughts on it from a Christian perspective. This among a few other holidays (Easter, Christmas) can spark a wide variety of debates in the church of what is right and what is wrong. As even I definitely had a view that some would say is somewhat legalistic, although in preparing for this blog I was confronted with what is God’s heart on this matter more so than what is my heart on it. One viewpoint that Christians will take is that it is the “Devil’s Holiday” meaning that it is all evil and there is nothing about God in this day. And they will quote I Peter 5:8 saying that we must be aware of the Devil as he is “…prowling like a roaring lion waiting to devour…” and that is true but partly taken out of context when used for one specific event as that is not exactly what Peter was addressing as he was writing that letter. They will also quote 1 Thessalonians 5:22 which states that we should “…abstain from every form of evil” which is definitely true however again if taken out of context could be used for anything from smoking to diet soda to certain types of food or to even TV and computers. However, there are some that will dismiss all of this all together and say that they is nothing demonic about the holiday and that it is all harmless fun and that there is nothing wrong with dressing up and going around to the neighbor’s house to collect candy. I believe that this however is just as incorrect as the previous.

We as Christians must constantly be evaluating our lives through the context and through the “lenses” of the Bible. We must look at this the way that God would look at this. We must seek His will and His heart on the matter instead of trying to draw legalistic lines in the sand that make us feel better about us and that we are doing something right and that somehow makes us closer to God. Remember that the only thing that has made us right with God is faith in Jesus. If we are a follower of Jesus Christ (meaning we have faith in Him and surrendered our life to Him and understand that apart from Him as Savior we are going to be separated from God for eternity upon death) then we must evaluate everything that we do through His eyes. The only way to know this is to be in the Word every day and to spend time with Him every day. And in Psalm 24:1 it tell us this:

“The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…” ESV

Which means simply this: God is in control of all of this! There is not a day that is not His. There is not anything that goes on that is not under His authority. Does He allow things to go on that are displeasing to Him? Sure. But we must look at the world as He does, it is filled with people who He desires to reach and bring closer to Him.
So the Harrison household is taking a different approach this year. We are still not going to participate in Halloween festivities like dressing up and going door to door. We are not going to hang decorations or attend any parties that are specifically Halloween “get togethers”.

We are however going to hand out candy to everyone that comes to our door. We are also going to give them a flashlight that says “Jesus is the light” and we are going to take the opportunity to tell them about Jesus. The reason that we are going to do this is because this might be the only chance that we get to speak to these kids and parents about Jesus. Look at it this way we are constantly trying to find time to go out into the community to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors and this one night we don’t have too…They are going to come to us! So let’s make it count Christians!! So even though I am still not a big fan of Halloween I am a HUGE fan of spreading the Gospel to those that don’t know Jesus. So this Holiday season I want you to be careful but more importantly I want you to be intentional!

God Bless,
Pastor Tyler

Ok, so I have put up a ton of videos lately and have really flaked on the blogging.  I know, I know.  I will get back to it.  However I think that you really have to see this one.  It will make you evaluate your worship!

God Bless

PT

~|~ God Bless
PT

Jesus was named prophetically. Matthew 1:20-23 says, “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means, ‘God with us.’”
Names of Jesus – The List
Why are there so many different names of Jesus? The names serve as a description of who Jesus is and how He works in the lives of individuals. Some scholars have located over 700 titles and different names for Jesus in the Bible. Let’s study a few of them here.

God – Jesus is called God in several passages in the Bible. Along with His sinless life, miracles, and resurrection from the dead, His claims to be God stand firm (John 20:28).

Lord – In the New Testament, this term is used as a salutation to honor a man of distinction. The disciples used this term to salute Jesus as their teacher and master (Matthew 22:43-44).

Word – This title was used by the apostle John to describe the mission of Jesus. The title states Jesus’ Godhead and eternal and absolute deity (John 1:1, 14).

Messiah – The long awaited “anointed one” who would deliver Israel. Jesus came to deliver mankind from sin and death (John 4:25-26).

Alpha and Omega – These two characters were the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This descriptive title expresses the eternal nature of God – the beginning and the end (Revelation 1:8; 22:13).

Savior – Jesus is the person who rescues mankind from an eternity in hell.

Redeemer – “One who frees or delivers another from difficulty, danger, or bondage, usually by the payment of a ransom price.” In the New Testament, Jesus is viewed as the ultimate Redeemer who gave His life as a ransom (Mark 10:45, Titus 2:14).

Light of the World – Jesus is the Person who brings true knowledge of God. Those who reject this light bring judgment upon themselves (John 8:12; 3:19-21).

Lamb of God – This title refers to the Old Testament sacrificial system where God accepted the blood of animals as atonement for sin (John 1:29, 36). Jesus’ blood made atonement for sin!

Ruler of Creation – Christ existed before the creation of the world and He is sovereign over it (Revelation 3:14).

Mediator – Because Jesus is fully God, He can represent God to man. Because He is fully man, Jesus can represent man to God. Reconciliation is possible (1 Timothy 2:5).

Bread of Life – Jesus is the one and only supplier of true spiritual nourishment (John 6:35).
Way, Truth, and Life – Jesus is the only way to heaven, the only source of truth, and the foundation of all life (John 14:6)!
Names of Jesus – Personal Meaning
What do the names of Jesus mean to you? Do they have personal significance? Is Jesus your Savior, your Mediator, your Redeemer? If not, we encourage you to learn more about Him and accept the gift of salvation He has offered to you.

If Jesus is your Savior, are you overcome with thankfulness for what God has done for you? Take a moment and praise Him using His various names. “Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are my Life, for without You my life would be worth nothing. You are my Savior and my King, the Lamb of God who atoned for my sin. You are the Alpha and Omega and You control the beginning and end of each circumstance in my life. You are the Bread of Life and I can feast on Your spiritual nourishment to keep me in perfect peace. You are my Lord and my God. In Your holy name, amen.”

-Author Unknown

~ God Bless
PT

Remember: “Who doesn’t want to be SUPER”

Love in Christ ~
P.T.

I really don’t have anything to say after that except is that does not make you worship and praise Jesus then we need to check your pulse.  I hope that you take a second and just worship and praise God for the mercy and grace that He has freely given us.

God Bless ~

Pastor Tyler

The ministry methods that succeeded in evangelizing people during the modern age simply are no longer working because the average lost person is culturally different than he or she was a few generations ago.  ~Mark Driscoll

It seems very obvious to me to say that people in 2011 are very different from those born in the 1950′s and even still there is a greater difference from my Grandfather who was born in 1918.  Think for a second about the changes that he has seen in this country during his life.

The US National Academy of Engineering, by expert vote, established the following ranking of the most important technological developments of the 20th century:

1. Electrification
2. Automobile
3. Airplane
4. Water supply and Distribution
5. Electronics
6. Radio and Television
7. Mechanized agriculture
8. Computers
9. Telephone
10. Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
11. Highways
12. Spacecraft
13. Internet
14. Imaging
15. Household appliances
16. Health Technologies
17. Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies
18. Laser and Fiber Optics
19. Nuclear technologies
20. Materials science

Tonight, God revealed something BIG to me. So big that its midnight and He has yet to let me sleep. The revelation weighed so heavy on my mind and in my heart that I felt, I needed to share it with others in hopes of encouraging each of you in the everyday sacrifice and extra effort that we take to raise Godly children.

I realize some of you don’t know me that well, nor do you know my heart, but I can humbly say, that I am in no sort of way taking credit for the things that God has done. My purpose for writing is to first and foremost exalt God and to secondly, help encourage God’s people who share a common passion.

Eleven years ago, God placed a conviction on my heart. A conviction that was so strong, that mentally and physically tormented me at times. A beautiful idea, I thought..for someone else! I liked the sound of it, at times, when I juggled it around in my mind….. I could choose what we learning and how it was to be taught, everything could be centered around God, more time with my kids, more family time, more flexibility..I mean the list went on. With all that being said, the idea of it, was all so emotionally frightening and just down right physically draining….how can I do this? Educate my own kids? Prepare lesson plans? Put up with their attitudes all day? Give up a part of me that longed for a career, hobby, or just ‘me’ time? Again, the list went on. Countless, sleepless nights, I prayed for God to remove the conviction….the conviction of a word that frightened me to the core….HOMESCHOOLING!

And God, he has such a way of making himself known….and yes, the conviction grew stronger…and I, feeling overwhelmed and taken back by the idea…well, did the Godly thing..NOT! I satisfied my flesh, and I enrolled my oldest (Kyra,now 11 ½) in public school. Kindergarten passed, then first grade, and all the while God was faithful in continuing to strengthen the conviction he had years ago placed within me. I know he must have been looking down at me, shaking his head and maybe even pointing and shaking a firm finger at me saying , “Sweet child of mine, why do you run from me when I speak?” Seems I had my own game of hide and seek in motion, only to be reminded that you can’t run nor hide from God!!! Amen, ladies?

After many sleepless nights, chats with other Christian ladies, prayers and scripture readings, a supportive and encouraging husband, and a uprising second grader who was suffering from Mono, with which I was having to homeschool anyway… I stepped out in faith..no, I leaped….blindfolded and scared. But no longer could I stand to meet with God, day after day, knowing that my disobedience grieved Him so. But to be obedient meant I had to let go..and yes, you know it, Let God!

Obedience….it means doing the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing, and trusting God to take care of the rest! I was reading a book called, Jesus, The Lord, and one author put it like this, “The defining mark of being a follower of the Lord is a determination to obey.” ( John, McArthur) I had learned a great lesson, one I still remind myself of daily….If I am what I claim to be, a disciple of God, then I am to be constantly available to the Father and instantly obedient to do what he ask of me. And then trust that He would take care of the rest. There is something to be said about that hymn written so long ago, Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way..you know the rest! I was taking a leap into the most dreaded word….Homeschooling! Can you relate?

Since that leap, I have went on to homeschool all four of our beautiful children…Kyra, now 6th grade, Taylor, 4th grade, Amery 2nd grade and Brayden kindergarten. All with four completely different learning styles and personalities!  Challenging, to say the least. I wish I could say it’s been a breeze from the get-go! Not a chance! Our family is a huge fan of Tim Hawkins, a Christian comedian and one who has got us through a lot of stressful days. He said it best when he said, “You sure don’t see many atheists homeschoolers, do you? Cause after your first week of homeschooling, you’ll be crying out to God!!!” So funny but more so, sooo true!

I know ladies, that there’s time when we glance back at the decision we made, and we see God’s hand in it and then other days we question everything about it! What I am about to write is specifically for the days when you question what God has called you to do. This is my own personal testimony and only one revelation that I have witnessed from the gift of homeschooling. There are others, yet this one, the most recent. It was refreshing and I hope you find it refreshing for your soul as well.

I hurried up the stairs tonight, trying to get four busy bodies to throw themselves in bed, so I could clean up the kitchen, see my husband off to work, check my email and facebook ofcourse, then curl up in my bed and read until my eyes could no longer hold up! Taylor and Amery share a room and I was in there trying to help move them along. The whole time I was fussing, “hurry up, get your p.j’s on, pick up your dirty clothes…blah, blah, blah!” And when I get edgy, I clean! So, I went to gather a few straggling papers, books,dolls, and whatever else was there, when I noticed a neatly stacked arrangement of books tucked away near the bookshelf. I began to plunder through, not expecting to see much…and I what I found was so much more….reassurance!

It belonged to my second born..Taylor, age 9. To give you some history about Taylor, here goes…sweet, timid at times, beautiful, honest, perfectionist ,neat, orderly, (hence the perfect stack of belongings) and loyal. All these things, but one attribute that would do her in if she failed to give it over to God…..worrier!!!! And I mean to the point of not sleeping, throwing up at times, hives, over some of the smallest things! Tyler and I would often pray with her and for her over this very thing. We often had conversations about how we all struggle with something and that as she learned to trust God she would learn to worry less. But it grieved her…you could tell. Not only did she worry, but now she worried about worrying!! Geez..poor kid. She knew that sin separated her from God and she could not stand the fact of letting down her Heavenly Father. I knew that. I had often witnessed it and prayed with her. But she knew she needed God to help her. She really knew.

Tears swelled up in my eyes, when I unraveled her stack…scripture scattered everywhere across a loose leaf piece of notebook paper…scriptures that God had given her to keep close as a reminder.  Some of them included, 1 Peter 5:6 “ Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you.” Scripture about how to live your life..like Micah 6:8 “ He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God,” and  numerous references from Proverbs and Hebrews.  Also, in the stack, I discovered three different devotional books, marked with torn paper that held the place of these titles, “Why Worry?” and “Real Faith.” In addition, I found notes from a study we did two years ago, as an addition to our homeschooling day ,..“Walking In Faith.” Her glittery hot pink Bible,book marked with highlighted index cards, all  contained the Word of God. Lastly, I opened up the journal..skimmed through and on the last page an outline of all the material and references I previously talked about, neatly titled, in all caps, FAITH, DON’T WORRY! And at the very end, she wrote , “Faith-is trust. When we trust in Jesus we receive eternal life in that very moment.” God gives faith to those who ask him! John 11:26, Ephesians, 2:8. Circled and marked with astros, “I don’t have to worry, cause I know God!”  I wept.

Often times, we don’t get to see the beauty that comes from being obedient! But tonight, I was reassured. Train them babies up in the ways of the Lord! Isn’t God amazing? He took a nine year old girls heart and inside it placed a passion and desire to please her Maker!

Maybe we don’t always teach some subjects well or pick a curriculum that fits our children perfectly. And maybe we grow overwhelmed from wondering if our kids will fit in socially with their peers, or if they will measure up to others academically. While I believe that God is concerned about all those things, I know that he is more concerned about their little hearts. Homeschooling has given me more of an ability to raise my kids in an environment that is Christ-focused and when I witness times as these, I have joy, that surpasses all understanding. Keep on keeping on, ladies. God is using you to build mighty soldiers for Christ.

God Bless each you on your homeschooling journey!

Love, Krystal

1. Share the quote and the article with you (it take abouts 5 minutes to read it is very short)
2. Share a video with you that accentuates the point of this blog and of the article as well.

So here is the quote that I read that I felt was very profound and possibly a perspective changer (as a pastor I love perspective changers).

God laid aside his wants—and so can we

God’s action in the world never revolves around the immediate satisfaction of wants and needs. His action is focused on reconciliation. The amazing news is the God of the Bible incurred all the cost of reconciliation himself. He paid our debt in full to restore us to his family. And when we see the God of the heavens lay aside his wants and needs to serve us, we can make the much smaller sacrifice of laying aside our own.

Now take a second and look at this article

OK, now that you have read that…take about 2 minutes and watch this video from the Family Fued.  Now I am not condoning the topic I am simply making a point as to the order that the answers fall in the survey.  It really makes my heart grieve that we have grown so lackadaisical as believers that we have lost a lot of the impact and priority in society.

Give me your thoughts…
~ God Bless
Pastor Tyler

And this year I am going to start off with a HUGE undertaking so I need your prayers.  Here at 2metalheads we are going to read the whole Bible in 180 days.  Now you say that doesn’t sound like much but it  is going to be a challenge that can really test your  fortitude.  Let me give you an example why;  there are 1189 chapters in the Bible, that means I will have to read 6.6 chapters a day to keep up.  And again that doesn’t sound like many but with anyone who is devoted to their quiet time and is a true student of the Bible you know that God can speak volumes in a verse much less 6.6 chapters. 

But, I am so excited because I know that through this process renewal will come.  Renewal of what? you ask; well of strength, of joy, of spirit.  This is what happens when we study and dwell in His Word,  the Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts and encourage us in ways we expected and ways that we did not.

But so often for us to really take on the challenge of studying His word would mean that we have to hold a mirror up to our life and go through all the areas that we want to either ignore, keep, or that are too painful to look in.  We are forced to look at ourselves and evaluate the sin that is in our hearts, our lives, and our thoughts.  This is always a humbling experience no matter how long you have been a Christian.

Stop and take a second to look at Adam and Eve, in the account of creation in Genesis we are told that once they both had eaten from the forbidden tree their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked.  After covering their nakedness the very next thing they did is hide when they heard the presence of God in the garden. 

[8 ] And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
(Genesis 3:8 ESV)

And isn’t that what we like to do?  We like to have our little back pocket sin and try to hide that from not only our spouse but also from our friends, our Church family and most especially God.  And if we don’t spend time with Him then we don’t have to feel guilty about being “naked”.

But with anything else in life continual “maintenance” is always better then letting something go.  It is like the flowerbed in your front yard.  If you dont weed that bed for a few years and it becomes grown over with weeds, it is easier to just leave it alone.  But, before long the weeds are taking all of the nutrients and the plants, flowers, shrubs aren’t doing as well as they could be.  The flowers are just a little less dazzling or the shrubs are not as full as they could be. 

But if you pursue the bed and you constantly weed it, it becomes easier and easier to maintain and the plants, flowers, shrubs gain all of the nutrients that they need to thrive.  The shrubs are full, the flowers are blooming and it all looks magnificent.  Well it is the same with our Heart, if we are constantly examining it and allowing the Holy Spirit to weed it through Scripture then we are going to see the fullness of God and the blessing and the growth that He would desire for us.  We will have the blessing of becoming more and more Christlike.  So take the time to allow the maintenance to happen, get up 20 minutes earlier or go to bed 20 minutes later, whatever it takes to get into the Word and allow the Word to get into you!

God Bless~
Pastor Tyler