7 Deadly sins (Gluttony)

You won't find the seven deadly sins list in the Bible. It's not there.

All 7 are sins to be sure, but the list was conceived by man.

The 7 deadly sins are: Wrath, greed, slothfulness, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

The reason that these 7 sins made a list is because they are thought to be the root for every other conceivable sin known to man.....and we know plenty of them don't we?

A friend of mine said, "why don't you blog about the 7 deadly sins and how they affect people and why we succumb to them."

So let me tackle the "why we succumb to them" portion first. This should cover the "why" for each of them. We succumb to sin simply because we are born with a natural bent toward sin. Think we aren't?

Have any of you ever had to teach your kid how to disobey?

No, you never had to do that. You had to teach them to obey, they already knew how to disobey.

We give into sin because we want to. Our human nature desires sin.

Now, I am not going in any particular order, but thought I would start with Gluttony because of something I saw this last weekend that struck me as odd.

Gluttony: Excessive eating or drinking -dictionary.com

First of all, the Bible says this in Proverbs 23:21, "..for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

I know there are non-believers that read this blog, but I don't think I have ever run across even a nonbeliever that looked at any proverb and said, "That's stupid".

So regardless, if you're a Christian or not, I think we can agree that there is a ton of wisdom in Proverbs, and this particular verse is saying that gluttons become poor.

How does this happen? How do you get from gluttony to the poorhouse?

Think about your last Thanksgiving dinner. After your third plate you unbuckled your belt and went and laid on the couch watching the football game.....occasionally waking up to see what the score was.

There was no work getting done around your house for the next 24 hours. Am I lying?

Maybe you drank too much beer or wine. You woke up the next morning with a hangover.

How much work did you get done that day?

Gluttony leads to a lack of motivation, and a lack of motivation can certainly lead you to the poorhouse, can't it?

The biggest problem with the sin of gluttony, is that you don't hear many sermons about it.

I think the reason is because it's acceptable by the world's standards.

America is one of the most obese nations on the planet. Many pastors are included in that statistic, and it's difficult to talk about the kettle being black when the pot is too.

The church has helped make gluttony acceptable.

This last weekend I drove by a church with a big sign out front. You have seen this church too. Maybe not the same one, but they are all over the place.

The sign simply said, "Friday night - ALL YOU CAN EAT fish fry."

Nothing like encouraging sin huh?

How well would it go over if the same church sign said,

"Friday night - ALL YOU CAN WATCH PORN."

Just because it's acceptable, don't make it right.

Try something today. Start paying attention to what you put in your body, and how often.

Cut back your calorie count. Cut back on your portion size, and see if you don't find some energy that you haven't had in a long time.

I would bet you would be a better parent and spouse for it.

More energy to play with your children.

More energy to do..........that thing with your spouse!!!

Now, that's what I'm talking about!

Caller ID

The most amazing invention on the last decade.....hands down....CALLER ID.

It's awesome isn't it? Don't lie! You know I'm speaking the truth.

That phone rings and you pick it up to see who is trying to reach you, and you have about 2-3 seconds to decide if this person on the other end is worthy of your precious time.

You know I'm right, that's why you're smiling right now!

So there are times you answer the call. There are times when you don't.

Either way, the call comes. Jesus calls each one of his children at some point.

If you are reading this, you are not exempt. The call has been placed to you.

At some point, the call has come.......and you have done one of four things.

1.) You didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, and kept on doing whatever you were doing.

2.) You forgot to look at the ID and yelled at the person on the other end and warned them of the danger they were in if they aver called you around dinner time ever again.

3.) You looked at the caller ID and decided not to answer.

4.) You have decided to pick up the call.

If you responded with #4, then you can stop reading.

If you chose #1, #2 or #3, then I hope you lean in and read this very clearly.

THE PHONE WILL KEEP RINGING UNTIL YOU ANSWER.

Jesus is not known for trying once and moving on.

He made you.

He is interested in you dropping what you are doing and listening to what He has to say.

Maybe you heard His call to turn to Him and you didn't even bother to answer.

Maybe you felt Him calling out to you and you yelled at Him for bothering you during dinner.

Maybe you felt Him calling you but you looked at the caller ID and it said: "Jesus, what up homie?", and you laid the phone back down and picked up the X-Box controller again.

I just want to share something with you.....JESUS HAS REDIAL!!

Sooner or later, when you least expect it, He is gonna hit that redial button, and you are gonna have to talk.

He presses the redial button because he doesn't have an option.

He loves you.

He is love.....and love never fails.

He will track you down, and when you finally answer that call, I pray that the conversation ends in conversion.

Stop avoiding the call. He can be a pest when He wants to be.

Just skip a few steps in between and engage in the dialogue He has been waiting to have with you you.

Caller ID.

Please just pick up the phone and save yourself the trouble of His redial.

Trust me. He is extremely busy and there are plenty more calls to make.

Don't write 'em off

I have this friend who I have known for around 4 years.

Before he was my friend, he was an employee.

He came into my office one day looking for work. Very blunt and very raw.

He said, "I'm a convicted felon, and I need a job".

Do I offer this guy an opportunity? What would he do with a second chance to get his life on track? Could I offer this guy a different ending to his story?

Hanging next to Jesus on the cross was a convicted felon. I'm sure most of the people walking past him thought that he was worthless.

Jesus thought differently though, and gave the man's story a different ending.

He was one of the best hires I have ever made, and through his employment I got to pour into him and help him figure out life.

He would call after hours with questions or concerns and it was the after hours conversations where I was able to share the Gospel with Him.

I was able to give him advice and give him scriptures to look up to help him on his way.

About a year ago though, trouble found him once again. We parted ways from a business standpoint and he was now living in prison.

My thoughts were: I really wanted to give him a different ending to his story and now this.

I received a letter from him though shortly after he went in, and it made a grown man cry.

It was one of the most beautiful letters I had ever received. I keep it in my nightstand.

The best line of the letter was, "Can you send me a Bible?"

I visited, we continued to write back and forth, and I even received calls over the months to come. He is out now. Again.

But something is different this time. He knows who Jesus is.

He comes to church now every Sunday. Sometimes to the main campus, sometimes to ours, where he helps tear down after service is over.

He still reads the Bible I gave to him, and he still has questions. He is helping others now that were once in his position and he is doing it with love and grace.

I am going to baptize him soon.

He has a new ending to his story. It is still being written but the ending is amazing and it goes like this:

He dies, and now stands face to face with his Creator, and Jesus smiles and says, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Maybe you have been trying to reach someone and you've had setbacks, or maybe it seems like no matter what you do, you can't get through to them.

Don't write 'em off.

They are gonna need help writing the end of their story.

And it's a beautiful thing to be able to help hold the pencil.

Get Kre-8-tiv

My cousin owns a company. It's a pretty unique business.

Party buses.

They are customized school buses for the most part. The seats as you remember them have all been removed to make way for long benches that go all the way around the perimeter.

For the most part as you would guess, the big business in these buses is done on the weekend. People will rent them out for bachelor parties or just to go bar hopping in the Cleveland area.

Some of them are even equipped with a stripper pole.

The business has been successful and has been expanding over the last several years, but I got a call from him the other day.....

In so many words he said to me, "I'm just getting tired of dealing with drunk people.......I am trying to come up with some ways to do something positive with the buses"

Yes sir.

He is trying to work out a way to use the buses to transport inner city youth to places like the Kalahari water park or other places that they may never get to experience otherwise.

How awesome is that?

Creativity. Using something at his disposal for something greater. Simply amazing.

We talked about holding and art competition where the winner, or the one with the most improved grades would be able to take their artwork and use the bus as their canvas to reproduce the artwork in a moving bus size piece of art.

He is still looking for more ideas. Feel free to send some of yours.

But more importantly, what do you have at your disposal that can be used for something greater?

You may not have party buses but you have something.

Get Kre-8-tiv. Change the world.

Lessons from Home Depot (part 2)

My daughter wanted to carry the bag with the candy and everything else in it, so I warned her that the bag is heavy and it's a long walk to the car, but she wanted to do it on her own.

So she began her journey. Taking short steps. Switching arms. Growing more and more frustrated with each step…….until finally she realized that the burden is too much for her little body to handle on her own.

The Book of Matthew in the Bible records a statement from Jesus.
Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

We all want to carry the bag.

Pride tells us we can do it all by our self.
Truth reveals that we can't.

I love what my daughter said to me when she had enough. "You can carry it now, Daddy."
I was happy to. She is my child.

I specialize in taking care of her needs…….she just had to let me help her.

You are no different.

I wonder if anyone reading this has found that life's burdens are too heavy. You started off wanting to carry your own bags but lately it has become to much to handle on your own.

You need to know that there is someone right beside you who would be delighted to take that bag for you.

He specializes in taking care of His children's needs.

May today be the day you say, "You can carry this now, Jesus"

Lessons from Home Depot (Part 1)

I took my daughter with me on a quick run to the Home Depot this week to pick up some paint and a few other odds and ends for a project.

As I was waiting at the paint counter, she lost interest and began wandering over to the checkout counter.

She is a candy freak. She could sniff out a Skittle in the center of a 10' thick block of concrete, so finding candy on an end cap at her eye level was a given. She also managed to grab a 20oz. Sunkist from the refrigerator right next to it.

She took them over to the checkout all by herself and she handed the items to the young lady behind the counter. The lady looks at me as if to ask, "Do you want her to have these?"

I nodded to the lady that it was alright and gave her the finger........you know, the I'll be there in 1 minute finger.

Once the paint was ready I went over and paid for everything, including the pop and candy.

I'm a sucker.....and she knows it.

My daughter is only 3.

She has no source of income. She is flat broke. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, there is no way she could pay for the pop and candy.

But none of that matters. She got the pop and candy anyhow.

How is that possible?

Because my daughter has an ace in the hole.....her daddy.

I paid the cost for something she couldn't.

Because I love her.

We live in a fallen world. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered the framework, and it has driven a wedge between us and God ever since.

So how do sinners like ourselves get into the presence of a Holy God?

We can't do it by ourselves. We don't have the resources.

Someone else has to pay for our pop and candy.

Jesus paid for our sin the day he was pinned to the cross.

Jesus paid for our pop and candy.

And just like my daughter, all we have to do is accept the gift.

My daughter took the pop and candy, smiled at me and said, "Thank you daddy".

That was good enough for me.

It is good enough for God too.

Holy Ship

Christian-

We have all seen them before.

The ship in the bottle. Some of them are pretty amazing.

Do you know what I noticed after looking at them over the years though?

The bottle is insignificant in the big picture. Sure it holds the ship, but nobody is looking at the bottle.

The sailboat inside of the bottle is what’s so amazing.

The detail of the ship and the awe of how it got into the bottle is what lures people in.

Now, I want you to pretend for a moment the the bottle was opaque.

Close your eyes for a second and imagine that all you can see is the bottle and not the contents.

The bottle sucks doesn't it.

It’s boring.

Nobody gives a rip about the bottle.

It’s just a freakin’ bottle!!!! There is nothing special about it.

Christian-

When we made the decision to allow Jesus to be the leader of our life and the forgiver of our sins, our boring opaque bottle was filled with something magnificent.

Something alluring and attractive and full of awe resides in us.....in our bottle.

Did you know that we have control over the opacity of our bottle?

We do.

We can either choose to let the opaque color give way to clarity and reveal Jesus dwelling inside of us, or we can pretend the boring opaque bottle is what people want to see.

Thank God, I am no longer the person I once was. People that knew me a while ago are still trying to figure how something so awesome got inside of my bottle.

But they wonder it because they can see the ship.

Christian-

There is a ship in our bottle

Can people see it?

Does the way we live our life allow people to see the ship?

Reveal the ship and your neighborhood will change!

Reveal the ship and your city will change!

Reveal the ship and your country will change!

Reveal the ship and your world will change!

Reveal the Holy ship!