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Thursday, January 28, 2010
Which Way Do You Go Which way do you go when you are at a cross road? For quite some time now I have wanted to ask this question. I primarily work with college aged people who are at the time of their life when they have to make a few life changing decisions. They often come to the old proverbial fork-in-the-road. It’s interesting to watch as they navigate through this uncertain time in their life. I’ve seen some go down the right road, but unfortunately, many venture down the wrong road. Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you ever come to a point in your life where you didn’t know which way to go? You are moving along the journey of life and all of a sudden, you come to a spot where you have two directions to choose from. The FORK! And at this fork, it is unclear as to which direction you should take. There are no clear markings that tell you which direction you should take. And, since you have never been down this road before, you can’t rely on past experience to guide you. As well, there doesn’t appear to be any road signs telling which way to go. Have you ever been there? I would imagine right now you are thinking about one of those moments in your life. They don’t happen all the time, but when they do, they are memorable. You know. You have two choices of colleges to attend, which do you pick? Your friends are going on a spring break trip to a fun college destination, but your church is going on a mission trip, what do you do? You feel like God wants you to give a year or two seeking Him in an internship or discipleship program, but you don’t know how you are going to pay for it, what do you do? You met Mr. or Mrs. Right Now and you realize that the relationship isn’t going anywhere, but you enjoy being with them. You know what you need to do but instead you do nothing hoping the decision works itself out. The FORK! I see young people at these crossroads all the time. And I don’t think they understand the importance of the decisions they make during these moments. They don’t realize that the decisions they make early in their life at these crossroads will determine the path they will journey on for the rest of their life. Andy Stanley calls this, The Principle of the Path. The direction you are headed will determine your destination, not your intentions. The fact of the matter is this: You can set yourself up to make good decisions concerning the direction you head in. Even when you find yourself at a particular crossroad that you have never been at before, there are others who have been where you are. And they know which direction you should move in. Although you may not have had certain experiences before or can’t necessarily read the directional signs you see at your crossroad, doesn’t mean someone else can’t navigate you through. They may have the experience to lead you where they have been before. The key is for you to allow other more experienced people to help lead and guide you at these critical times in life. The question then moves from, which direction do you go, to who do you trust to lead you? I have found it best to have spiritually mature mentors in my life all the time. This is especially critical in times when a decision needs to be made that will affect the rest of my life. When you arrive at your fork-in-the-road moment, you need to make the best educated decision that you can. You can have peace of mind on which way to go, but it starts by making sure you allow the right people to speak into your life. Word… P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 4:48 PM 0 Comments   Monday, January 11, 2010 I Don't Feel You Anymore Tonight at church the spirit of the Lord was heavy in that place. We have had an Evangelist in who teaches on the power of the Holy Spirit so the past few days have been an emphasis on seeking God. Tonight at the end of the service during the altar time I found myself at the front of the altar praying for myself. Things are going pretty well and I feel like God is alive and well in my life but I wanted to feel him like I used to when I was younger, at camp or youth group or something. My prayer was, “God, I want to feel you like I used to. I want the tingly feeling and goose bumps on the back of my neck like I used to get when you were near.” My prayer was sincere and I prayed it in good faith expecting God to touch me like He used to. After a few short minutes, I heard Him speak to my heart. It wasn’t what I expected and He started with a question. He asked me, “Alex, what are you doing?” I responded in my heart that I was waiting to feel Him all over me like I used to when I was younger. Nothing wrong with that, right? His answer is one that I think is not only for me, but for you too. He said, “You don’t need to feel me when you KNOW that I am with you. You used to get those goose bumps because that’s what you needed at the time, but you have grown past that. You know the truth and the truth is that I told you I will never leave you nor forsake you. So, believe it even if you don’t feel it. Now get up and let your cup overflow by ministering to other people.” WOW! I believe God is saying that to you as well. You don’t need to seek the feelings any longer now that you have the truth! You know God is with you, even when your feelings tell you otherwise. I mean, you know your parents love you even when they have to punish you. You know your best friend is still your homie even though you are busy with life and can’t be around them all the time. You know you love chocolate even though you are on a diet and trying to cut back. Some things you don’t have to feel, because you just know! The same is true for God’s presence in your life. You don’t have to have the goose bumps and tingly feeling that you once had in order to know that God is still with you. All though there is nothing wrong with these types of experiences. But, perhaps God is saying to you, instead of waiting for the hair to stand up on the back of your neck, realize the truth of and go and minister to someone. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. Don’t allow the enemy to tell you anything other than that! Word… P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 11:13 PM 0 Comments Wednesday, January 06, 2010 Random Thoughts for 1.6.10 1. I think we all need to make Psalms 141:3-4 our prayer for the day: “Help me, Lord, to keep my mouth shut and my lips sealed. Take away my lust for evil things; don’t let me want to be with sinners, doing what they do, sharing their delicacies.” (Living Bible) 2. What’s up with the frost on the ground this morning?! I had to scrape my windshield with a credit card. On the way to school today, my 2nd oldest, Michael, asks me if I think that Jack Frost is real. I turned the question on him and asked him what he thought. He said, yes because no one else could cover the whole ground with frost except for Jack Frost. I told him that I thought God did that. He quickly informed me that God uses Jack Frost to do it. I was schooled! 3. Avatar was entertaining at best, too long at worst. Definitely not all that it was hyped up to be and all that everyone made it sound like. I was impressed with the graphics, but thought the storyline was “out there” and too far fetched. Australia – now that’s a good movie. Very under-rated, yet a modern day epic movie. That’s a movie you for sure want to check it out. 4. I really appreciate grandparents! Both my mom and Ang’s parents have been down to help out and to visit these past weeks since Katie was born. I wish they all lived closer! They are such a blessing. 5. Relationships are under attack. Pray for your friends, family, spouse and loved ones and then give them a little bit of extra grace. If you want them to return the favor of grace, humble yourself in their eyes. This is hard but definitely worth it!!!! 6. I challenge you to read through the entire Bible this year. If you start now, you would only need to read about 95 verses everyday and you will make it through the whole Bible. Have you ever done it? 7. Now that I have a daughter, my view on dating has changed. Who needs it!?! More to come later. 8. The way I see it, in this world, there are 2 kinds of people. What are they? (Leave you comment below…) That’s all for today. Until next time. Word… P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 9:20 AM 0 Comments Monday, December 28, 2009 The Touch December of 2009 was a rough time in the Bryant household. My wife was pregnant with our fifth child, Katie, and the pregnancy was wearing her down. I was extremely busy, spending my time juggling the responsibilities of pasturing and helping to maintain some sense of order in our home. As a result, I noticed that neither Angie nor I were paying as much attention to our 4 other boys. My 3rd son, Mason, had just turned 3 years old and Katie was born the day after his birthday. Mason is used to getting a lot of attention from both of us and since it was his birthday time, it was expected he would get a little extra attention. However, with the new arrival, Mason was inadvertently pushed to the side. One night, when I arrived home after a long day, I noticed that Mason was extremely clingy with me. He wanted me to pick him up and hold him and pretty much not leave his side. That night, I decided to break from the normal bedtime tradition and lay on his floor while he was falling asleep. Even though he was only 3 years old, I could tell he really appreciated it and he felt special. As I lay on the floor right next to his bed, he moved over to the side of the bed so he could be as close to me as possible. He kissed me a couple of extra times and kept looking into my eyes and smiling. He was slow to fall asleep that night and I could tell his little mind was thinking. After a couple of minutes he slid his arm over the side of the bed, stretched out his hand towards me and began to open his hand wide as if to say, “hold me daddy”. There we lay alone in his room, with the moon shining through the mini-blinds and my son wanted reassurance that daddy was still there. Without saying a word, I reached for his hand and put my index finger inside the palm of his hand. He quickly grabbed it and closed his hand tightly. He smiled again and stared into my eyes and didn’t say a word! Soon he closed his eyes and fell asleep. That night, Mason needed a touch from daddy and you better believe, I was more than glad to give it. It was a moment that shot straight to my soul and I will never forget it! Do you ever feel this way with God? Have you been at the point where you felt distant from Him and needed a simple touch from his hand? Are you alone with him in the dark of night and just need a little reassurance that He is still there? If this is you, just stretch out your hand in faith, and know that your Father is lying right beside you holding your hand. And truth be told, these gentle touches mean more to Him than you will ever know. And He will never forget these gentle moments with you, his child. Word… P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 10:50 PM 0 Comments Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Big Mistake What do you do when you make a mistake? Are you one of the few people who can readily admit when they mess up and quickly make amends in order to move on? Or, are you like most people who have trouble admitting when they are wrong? They try to cover over mistakes or move on quickly before anyone notices. Raise your hand if this is you. I would imagine you are reading this in the comfort of your own home while sitting at your computer, so be assured that no one is watching you. Go ahead and put that hand in the air; it’s liberating. The bottom line is that since we are human we are going to make mistakes. Some of them, unfortunately, are bigger and more costly than others. What you do when you make these mistakes is the issue I want to discuss. I’m reminded of a story found in 1 Chronicles 19. It’s the story of a mistake made by new King of the Ammonites, King Hanun. His father died and he was chosen to sit on the throne to replace him. King David, of Israel and Judah, sends a delegation to King Hanun to show kindness and to express sympathy towards him for the loss of his father. When Hanun’s father was alive, he showed kindness to King David and it was now David’s intent to return this kindness to his son. However, King Hanun believes David is attempting to spy out the land in preparation for an attack. David’s act of friendship is taken the wrong way. So, King Hanun makes a big mistake and embarrasses the ambassadors King David sends. As you can imagine, this angered King David and he planned to attack King Hanun and the Ammonites. When Hanun realizes his mistake, he didn’t attempt to make amends and apologize to King David. No. Instead, he escalates the problem by preparing to go to war. To add more fuel on the flame, he brings a whole other nation in on his mistake by getting them to go to war with him. This eventually leads to a terrible military defeat of both nations at the hand of King David and his army. This could have all been prevented if King Hanun would have responded correctly when he made the first mistake. Upon realizing his error, he should have apologized, said sorry and asked for forgiveness. In this case, an apology could have prevented an all out war in which many people lost their lives. What about you? What do you do when you realize you have made a mistake? Are you quick to admit it and move towards correcting it? Or do you try to cover it or pretend that it’s not a mistake? In my experience, I have found the sooner you admit you are wrong, eat a little crow, swallow your pride and say sorry, the sooner and more likely you are of recovering from your mistake. Don’t be like Hanun and try to cover the mistake. This will only end up costing you in the end. Even if it looks like your plan will work, in the end, it will lead to your downfall. You smell what I’m laying down? Word… P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 5:57 PM 0 Comments Thursday, November 05, 2009 What God Hates Have you ever heard someone say, "I hate that"? Some people hate a lot of stuff. I was taught that hate is a strong word and I should avoid using it. In Proverbs 6:16-19 we learn what the Lord hates. This is a list that we should take note of. 1. THE SIN OF THE EYE. “A proud look.” This reads literally, “haughty or lofty eyes,” meaning supreme disdain for everything and everybody. 2. THE SIN OF THE TONGUE. “A lying tongue.” A lying tongue is hateful to God, because He is the God of truth. 3. THE SIN OF THE HAND. “Hands that shed innocent blood.” This means to inflict pain and cruelty, a murderer, and cruel disposition. 4. THE SIN OF THE MIND. “A heart that devises wicked plans.” There are evil thoughts in all men’s hearts, but the devising and fabricating of them, making the heart the devil’s workshop, is the mark of utter depravity and wickedness, and is abhorrent to God. 5. THE SIN OF THE FEET. “Feet that are swift in running to evil.” Some not only do evil, but they do it with eagerness. 6. THE SIN OF THE HEART. “A false witness that speaks lies.” A low, mean, and contemptible character, whose very breath is loaded with falsehood. 7. THE SIN OF THE SPIRIT. “And one who sows discord among brethren.” Quite a list, huh? It makes you think. Let our prayer be this: "Lord, we don't want to hate many things, but let us hate the things you hate and love the things you love." Word... P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 4:03 PM 0 Comments Sunday, November 01, 2009 Yesterday I posted a status update on my facebook that I believe is going to be quite controversial and elicit an interesting dialoge. Here is the question: "How come at Christmas, Chrisitans are quick to fight to keep the reason for the season alive - Jesus Christ. But, at Halloween time, we are willing to dismiss the reason for the day in exchange for so called "harmless fun"? I'm very open to your thoughts on this..." This question came from a discussion that my wife and I had after our kids went to bed. We don't celebrate Halloween and we don't trick or treat. It's difficult explaining this to our kids (all little boys love candy), but we feel that by the grace of God they understand our decision. We feel, OUR family will not celebrate the holiday because of the underlying secular and spiritual themes associated with Halloween and the origin of it. This is an easy decision for us because Ang and I agree on it. However, the hard part is explaining to our 8 year old and 6 year old why we don't dress up and trick or treat, especially since so many of their friends DO. Fortunately God has given us grace with our boys and they go along with our decision. But, the question came up between Ang and myself when the boys were in bed. It appears that Christians live a double standard on this. I realize "to trick or treat or not to trick or treat" is a very controversial thing amongst Christians. When I drove home from church tonight, I saw many young families seemingly having great family fun, I don't hate on them for that. The Christian culture seems to have accepted this holiday as traditional and acceptable. I mean, what parent, Chrisitan or not, wants to deprive their kid of a tradition that we did when we were young?! But, I have 2 issues with the whole thing: 1. I fear that we are entering into Halloween decision without doing our homework. You can google Halloween on the internet and quickly see there is more to the day than harmless family fun. I don't think it can be easily dismissed that there are ties to deeply rooted spiritual things that God warns us about in the Bible. 2. We seem to claim a double standard. We want to uphold the original meaning of Christmas - which I fully support - Jesus Christ, but we are willing to dismiss the original meaning of Halloween. I think we have to do our homework and makea prayerful and educated decision for our family. I don't hate on anyone for what they decide, but for me and my house... well I think you know where I stand. Word... P. Alex posted by Pasta' Alex # 5:19 PM 0 Comments |
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