Happy, Happy, Happy!

Many of you that watch the hit A&E reality show "Duck Dynasty" know that is the motto or catch phrase of Phil Robertson, the founder of Duck Commander and the patriarch on the show. He often says that in order tell everyone if they do this, then everyone involved will be "Happy, Happy, Happy!" However, the question comes to me, in life what truly makes you "Happy, Happy, Happy?"

Many normal Americans will automatically say being secure, whether it be money, stuff, safe home or sometimes replacements for the security that is given to us by our parents with sex, alcohol or drugs. I have come here on this blog to tell you, you are wrong. If you are a believer in Christ then you should be happy anyways but I know that the "American Dream" tells you that the more stuff and the more "successful" that you are the happier you will be.

Well lets what take a look at what the Bible says will be the keys to a happy and successful life. It isn't the biggest house, the largest income of your friends, the nicest car or the largest television. It is living life like Christ. Looking for people to minister too in your own community and providing for those who have less than you when you have more than you can ever have. You don't really need a new car, but it sure is nice to have. You don't need to make more money than your friends, but you sure would like to. You don't need the largest television but man it sure makes it cool to watch movies and sports.

The main problem is as Americans we have been blessed. Blessed so well that many of us are in the top 5% of income earners in the world. We have access to transportation, and it is easy to find a Dollar General or Wal-mart just about anywhere now a days, so access to places to buy "stuff" is generally only 30 minutes away at the most. The interesting thing is that instead of being content many of us are trying to get ahead. Make more money, work more hours and end up flat out overworking ourselves for the equivalent of what? 20 extra inches on the television, a ATV, Jet Ski? You get the point we are working ourselves to death for stuff we really don't need.

Do you remember the children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."? If you recall, the mouse was given a cookie and once ate the cookie he asked for a glass of milk. After he received the glass of milk he asked for a straw. The story keeps going on and on with the mouse asking for more and more stuff to go with the items that he is receiving. This is a common problem with Americans. They make all this money and get one thing and that one thing needs this and that and next thing you know you have racked up credit card bills, mortgages and car payments and you can't seem to find a way out. The truth is "enough is really never enough."

Well what does the Bible say about this "Love of Money" or "Keeping up with the Jones." Hebrews 13:5 reads as follows "Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you." (HCSB) Why do we constantly think we need to go out and get more security in stuff when God, through Jesus has clearly said that he will provide for you. Why do we continually lack the faith to trust that God will provide for you?

The answer in short is simple, we have been taught to do what is best for you in our society. Lean into our own understanding if you will. I know your thinking, wait that's a Bible verse. Yep it is and here it is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and do not rely on your own understanding think about Him in all your ways,and He will guide you on the right paths.(HCSB) This verse spells it out for us, trust in the Lord (not yourself or possessions) think about him and he will direct you on the way you should go.

I know that it is hard sometimes that we have to put our trust in someone that we can't see but that's why we must have faith. Faith that God will show us his will, Faith that God will give us security, Faith that he will provide for you. This is one of the main reasons many Christians don't tithe. They don't think they can get by each month without doing so. I was one that thought tithing wasn't that important, but when I was in college I decided that I should start. When I did, my bills at the University of Missouri were getting paid and I had money left over. Whenever I thought that I couldn't tithe it was getting hard for me to find money to pay any bill. God showed me that when I tithed, I was trusting 10% to my Lord and Savior and he was rewarding me back. (Enough preaching on that topic)

The last verse that I will bring to the forefront is Matthew 6:19-20 and it reads as follows, “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal." This verse is pretty self explanatory once you dive into it. Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, because moth's and rust destroy your stuff(nothing last forever, well except a John Deere 4020) and thieves will break and steal your property. Instead you should collect treasures in heaven (getting saved and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ) because nothing can destroy or steal that once you make that decision or someone makes that decision.

So to wrap up, where are you investing your money and your time? Are you investing it in the world, in stuff that will ultimately fade and be gone or are you investing your money and time in eternal things? Are you living for your eternal life or are you living for next week? Are you stocking up treasures for eternity or are you stocking up needless possessions that you will just need to upgrade in a year or two? I hope that you are reasonably doing both, because being a good steward of both is what God really wants. He entrust you to take care of what he has given you, so don't waste this opportunity.

Just give me money, that's what I want!

I came to a realization today after reading a book called "Weird" by Craig Groeshcel (Which I recommend you read) when he talked about how as Americans we are always wanting more. Income, Stuff, money. More; More; More; More. And guess what I am as guilty as anyone else.

As a Christian, for one, I should not be worried about money. I should have faith that God will provide for me. I should not or ever need to worry about my money or if there will be enough or if I can live on that money.

My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:6, and it says "do not be anxious about anything, but in everthing by prayer and supplication (Supplication is a prayer asking the Lord to provide things) with thanksgiving let your requests be made to God" ESV

This verse is fairly simple if we break it down. Don't worry about anything. Simple stop worrying, God wants you to trust him and not on yourself.

In everything with prayer take your request to God. Okay, just as simple: Pray everyday and don't be afraid to take your request to God.

I remember when I was little and I was afraid to pray for myself. Mostly because I felt guilty when I would pray what I called selfish prayers. Well this last verse said that we should pray for everything including ourselves. Now this doesn't mean that if you are going to pray for that video games system or a new car that God is some magical Genie that grants wishes on command. That is just not how God works or how it should work.

You can pray for your needs, like health and money needs, but don't think that just because you ask for it God has to answer your prayer. It may just not be part of his will. Also, without faith in God your prayers none of your requests will fall on deaf ears.

Now, there are a few other verses on prayer so I want to take a look at those.

James 5:16 says "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" ESV

You may wonder why your prayers may not be working or getting answered. James lays it out very clearly in the last scripture. Righteous men have great power in their prayer. You may ask, "What is righteous? It is defined as being upright or exhibiting high morality.

Now I know that the word righteous can set many people off. Some people interpret is as someone who is religious and that looks down on others by pointing out their downfalls. Well that's not even close by definition. Those folks are judgmental jerks and those people are really Christian Atheist by all accounts.

Let's look at 1st John 1:9. It says the following, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ESV

In James 5:16 we just got done talking about how an unrighteous men's prayers aren't powerful but God gives us a way out of that. If we confess our sins (sounds like 1st John 1:9 doesn't it) daily, and give up those to the Lord, because he is faithful and just he will forgive us of our sins. How great is our God! He loves us so much that he expects perfection and forgives us ultimately because he knows that we can't always live up to that expectation, because we are all sinners.

Now let's look at John 14:13-14 and it says, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." ESV

This helps to wrap up this blog, if we get close to God and are righteous and ask God to work in our lives within his will in mind. He will meet our needs and follow through with our requests. So, are you close enough to God that you talk to him everyday, or is it a Facebook friendship? One that you only see his status updates to keep in touch. I hope you are the first of the two.

Tragedy

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

If you have taken a journalism class you have become very acquainted with these terms. They are the 6 things you ask to write a story. They are needed to complete the story. As Humans we like to know the facts or the things that we know for sure and in a tragedy we usually know the who, what, when and where, but many times we don't know how and we really don't know why. That's is where we question God.

Many times you hear, "God is Love.", and you think to yourself why would someone that loves someone let them be hurt. In short, it comes from the sin that was let in the world by Adam and Eve. Simply that is why bad things happen is this world because this world is imperfect. All in all all the tragedy is part of God's plan, and he uses the bad things to help Christians grow and their churches grow.

Not long ago my church had a terrible accident that struck a very nice family in the church. They lost a young man and a child was injured very badly. All this happened and we at the church pulled together to help this family cope with the loss of the man and the recovery of the child. It was hard at first because many folks don't want to be bothered with right after a tragedy but that is what the church is about. Helping the sick and the hurting and believe me losing a loved one unexpectedly hurts like no other hurt you can have.

Some of you may ask, "Well, why does God hurt us when it says in the Bible that he has plans prosper us and not to harm us?"

That verse is Jeremiah 29:11.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

That verse, in my mind, is directed at Christians. Once a Christian is saved they will spend eternal life in Heaven and no longer will spend a eternity in hell. That's why this verse says that God has plans that will prosper you. Of course he does, I mean what about Heaven is there that will harm you? Nothing. Heaven is the perfect place and there will be a hope and future. Once you have accepted Jesus into your heart then you will be promised hope and future.

To wrap up, when a family goes through a tragedy be ready to step in do the following things.

1) Pray
2) Meet their needs
3) Support the Pastor
4) Read the Bible for inspiration
5) Pray

Thank You and God Bless

Tony

Porn and Sex

This is a tough subject for many people anymore, especially Christians. We can get caught up in the secular world and how it bombards us with images of women or men. Porn is more view-able now than it has ever been. Just type in certain words in a search engine and wha-laa you have explicit photo's that link to explicit websites.

This is a tough subject for me as well, because I have struggled with porn addiction in the past and have relapses now and then. It first started for me I stayed at my Grandmothers house and she has Cinemax. Cinemax features Soft core porn on Friday and Saturday nights and when I was there I would stay in the basement so I could watch it. I would watch it for the thrill of being caught.

Fast foward to 18 years old, then I was attending the University of Missouri and in a fraternity. I was in a culture that awarded promiscuity and it was celebrated when you did. It started my first semester and eventually got worse. I am glad that my parents protected us from having internet in my house, that way I couldn't waste my time on it.

I am still battling thoughts and things that cloud up my mind. It is like a snowball effect. You see an image and that can trigger a thought, then another thought and then before you know it you are trying to look at porn or at least considering it. The realization is that when you are addicted getting caught doing it won't stop you. I have been caught by my mother, sister and girlfriends in the past and that didn't stop me.

The only way to quite is to ask the Lord to help you. The Devil has a hold of you and the only way to get him off your back is to ask him to send the Holy Spirit and help you out. Our God is greater and stronger than anything. You need to understand that. I asked God for help and realized that there is nothing that I could do to stop, only with God's help was I going to come close.

Here are some tips:

1. Put blockers on your internet to keep certain material from popping up
2. Watch what kind of cites you go to - will it help lead to others that are bad?
3. When you go to work and there happens to be pictures of women, don't look at them and avoid them as much as you can.
4. Have an accountability person to help you, you need someone to give you encouragement
5. Know your business of what you are doing on the computer - get on, get off as quick as you can.

Trust me out there parents, once this stuff gets you it starts to take control of your life and take over your thoughts. I am glad that I was raised in church and have a Godly girlfriend that helps me get through my struggles.

Temptation

Temptation occurs around us all the time every day. As Christians we are tempted just as much as any person in the world. James 1:13-14 says that we can not blame God for temptation but we must realize that when we are tempted it is the work of the devil and that is a concept that many Christians just don't get. . God doesn't tempt us. He doesn't challenge us like that and he will not let the devil tempt you more than what you can bare. When Jesus walked on the earth we was burdened by temptation daily, just like you and me.

Hebrews 2:18 reminds us that Jesus was tempted and will be able to help us through our temptation in the form of the Holy Spirit. The entire book of Job is about temptation and how to overcome it. Job was chosen by the Lord to be tested by the devil. He ultimately overcame a great deal to still praise the Lord and because of his faith he was rewarded.

1st Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that no temptation that you will encounter will be any sort of temptation that someone hasn't seen before one time or another. It also reminds us that he will never let that temptation crush you and will let you stand up to the temptation.

We must always remember that the devil is always lurking around the corner much like a lion (1 Peter 5:8-10), ready to pounce on you at a moments notice. If we stand firm in our faith then we will persevere over any temptation. Whether it be sexual, drugs, alcohol, lying, cheating; whatever you besetting temptation may be. There is not one thing that is bigger than God or one situation he can't pull you out of.

Helpful verses on Temptation

• Job 23:10-11
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• Hebrews 2:18
• Hebrews 4:15-16
• James 1:2-4
• James 1:13-14
• 1 Peter 5:8-10

Confronting another Christian with Sin?

You know today in the United States of America it is not okay to confront someone that is doing wrong in the eyes of the church because we are called intolerant. Well I know that killing an abortion doctors, killing gays or even yelling things at them isn't okay. In the Bible it also says that we have rules and standards to live by.

I believe that we should "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." I agree with this, but the main problem with today's society is that any criticism is taken the wrong way. We aid this by letting every player on the team and giving everybody a trophy. We need to fail to learn lessons. My mother and father loves me,but when I do wrong they call me out on it, that's what love is: having accountability for others actions.

The most quoted verse on judging others is this: Matthew 7:1-5

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Most of the people who quote this verse take it our of the context that it was in. Jesus was talking to the Pharisee's, who were hypocrites themselves. The Pharisee's would punish people for doing things that where against the law of church but then do the things that they would punish people for. What Jesus means to remove the Plank from the eye, is that in order for you to judge someone you have to be blameless yourself. Jesus wasn't talking about sinning in this context he was talking about the religious leaders.

The Bible does say that Christians should confront other Christians when they sin: Matthew 18:15-20

If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn't listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released inheaven. Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is inheaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them."

According to the Bible, we should confront those who have sinned against us. Then if they don't listen bring two others to help you talk to this person. If that doesn't work then take if to the church, and then if he doesn't listen then, you must treat him as an outcast. One that isn't a Christian because if a person knows he is doing wrong and continues to do that then is he really, truly a person of Christ and God. My answer: probably not.

Now to refute the judging thing.....Personally I interpret the Bible as the truth. If the Bible says it's a sin, then well it's a sin. I believe that the Bible says that we can confront someone if it is truly a sin. If is something that is menial that doesn't effect you or me then we don't have room to talk. That is what Jesus was trying to tell the Pharisee's in Matthew 7. If someone you know is sinning and is a Christian then you need to confront them and show them of their wrong. I think that is what the Bible wants us to do. If we don't, then aren't we just enabling the sinner.

My personal belief is that it is the hardest to talk to a Lukewarm Christian on this subject. Mostly because they know it's wrong and they can throw Bible verses at you to refute your point. In Francis Chan's book Crazy Love he talks about the lukewarm and how they are 50/50 Christians. 50 on/ 50 off. They do what they want. They really don't love to the fullest. They are just their to get their "Get out of Hell free" Card. These people are hardest to deal with because they can be fooled by the devil so easily due to their lack of faith in the Lord.

I tend to call many of these people "Checking Account" Christians. The have Good Receipts and Bad Disbursements. They try to balance their heavenly checking account. They justify what they do bad by doing a good act. What's funny about that to me is that's how most people think you get to Heaven. Well they have a rude awakening coming to them sooner than later. They won't get to Heaven that way. Only by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and truly meaning what they say. Not just saying the words, but allowing the Holy Spirit come in and change their life for the better.

Romans 3:23 and John 3:16 are the two best verses for us to realize that, 1) God wants us to accept him into our life, 2) He wants us to have a personal relationship with him, 3) You must turn your life from what you were doing and repent, that's the only way you can truly be saved.

Tony Amos: Philippians 4:6 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.