Whatever Happened To Love?

Today, worship will be at the end of the service, but we do want to start out with a new band that has started up here at Mosaic. The name of the new band at Mosaic is Broken Pieces, Mary Jane, Garrett, and Angel will be playing guitar and doing vocals, Chris is on percussion. I will be playing bass and helping with vocals. The name Broken Pieces comes from the concept of a Mosaic is made up of broken pieces. Hopefully we will continue to practice and do more of the worship service in the future, until then, here is a song that is an illustration for todays service, titled, Whatever Happened to Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAOlX2tkTjM


Slam Original © by Mike Furches/Barry De Fleron: Whatever Happened To Love

Whatever happened to love? Whatever happened to caring for each other?
What happened to building up instead of tearing down?
Whatever happened to, whatever happened to love?

You say you love me you say that you care
Come on now punk I got brains beneath my hair
I know what’s a happenin I know what’s real
You talkin at my back with all kinds of zeal.

You say this and you say that,
Expect me to believe you well that’s just phat
Who do I believe? Well you’re not one,
You’re just pretendin to have God’s son.

You say you know me sayin it’s not true
Just answer me this if you dare to.

Whatever happened to love? …. (Repeat 1st Stanza)

Jesus came and then Jesus died
It’s because of him that we won’t be fried.
He don’t ask all that much of us
Just love him and others and not make a fuss.

Sometimes we talk sometimes we pretend
But that won’t hack it in the very end
You say you love me show me that it’s true
Come on now show me by the things you do.

You don’t like a hearin what I say
Well just answer me this rhyme right now today.

Whatever happened to love? …. (Repeat 1st Stanza)

A friend of mine, a pioneer in Jesus Music named Barry DeFleron wrote the original song Whatever Happened to Love. I use the chorus from that song here, but I wrote the verse and bridge as well as did the arrangement. There is a long story there but I will simply say that many times it is easy for us to conveniently quit loving. I don’t know how many times I have heard people say in a variety of situations, I just don’t love you any more. I am grateful that the love of God, the love provided by Jesus don’t quit on us, don’t change for us. But our actions don’t always show and mirror the love of Jesus.

I would ask, what kind of excuses do we make to not show others love? Do we ever say things like: ‘I don’t have the time?’ ‘You don’t understand what they did to me.’ Or, ‘Well brother I love them but you know I can only do so much.’?

Today we are going to do more of an expository message where we are going to look at Scripture, talk about it some and then go on to the next scripture. I want to look at the passage in the Bible 1st John Chapter 3.

1st John 3 makes it clear: A child of God is to love one another in word and in deed. Let’s look at what the passage says in the first three verses.

1 John 3: 1-3
Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world do not know who Christ is, they don’t know who we are. My dear friends, we are already God’s children, though what we will be hasn’t yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ is holy.

We all need to understand once in Heaven our imperfections will be gone. We will be like Jesus. Here there is an incredible component that I don’t know if most folks understand. You see, God has adopted us as his children. This is an incredible concept that adoptive parents understand, often their children, but others outside of those who have adopted don’t fully understand. Adoption has as a part of its root, a choice, a decision that one makes to accept one as family, as blood.

In my own life, through the adoption of my son I have come to understand this, and I come to understand it more the older I get. Hopefully my son also understands it. I will never forget being told about the reality of getting my son with less than a weeks notice. We had to go do what seemed to be like a test drive to see if we wanted our son. He was less than a month old and we were to meet him and the foster parents at the Adoption Center, Bethany Christian Services in Greenville South Carolina. We went in, held him and in our amazement was told to go talk about it. My wife and I stated we didn’t need to but was encouraged to at least go eat lunch and talk about it.

My wife, Mary Jane and I were across the street at the Burger King for only a few moments and we realized there was nothing to talk about. We knew in our heart of hearts that God was giving us our son. He had been called Jake by the foster parents, and we ended up naming him Nathaniel William Seth, he was ours as much as our daughters was.

It was interesting that during this presentation at church, Nicholas reminded us that in Jewish customs, that a good Jew could denounce their relationship with one of their own children, but once adopting a child, that child was their responsibility for life, no matter what. God has adopted us into his family; we are his no matter what. God has shown us all that much love by taking us, adopting us into his family.

We need to realize that we become like Jesus through life. We will be totally like him once in Heaven. That doesn’t change the fact that we are becoming more and more like Jesus. Heaven and the things that our relationship to God, through adoption, brings us, doesn’t have to wait until we get into Heaven, it in fact can start now.

There is not a lot of insight into what Heaven is like in the Bible. Human language is so limited it can’t even begin to describe Heaven. While that is the case we need to also understand that if we are obedient to Christ and his teachings we will experience glimpses of Heaven.

Now let’s move on and look at the next part of this passage:

Verse 4-8
Everyone who sins breaks God’s law, because sin is the same as breaking God’s law. You know that Christ came to take away sins. He isn’t sinful, and people who stay one in their hearts with him won’t keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don’t know Christ, and they have never seen him.

Children, don’t be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done.

We can not continue to practice our sin; we must practice Jesus’ righteousness. This is a part of each of us taking on the nature of Jesus in our relationship and acceptance of him. We must realize that as we become as Jesus that Jesus had no sin, being absent from sin he can advocate on our behalf for our sins. If unwilling to change our practice of sin we must question if we really have relationship and or know God. The truth here is according to that this passage says, if we don’t change, we belong to the devil.

Part of being born again is receipt of the Holy Spirit into our lives. The Holy Spirit will make the desire to continue sinning unacceptable in our lives. Now understand, we continue to sin due to the fact that we are not perfect. The nature of Christ, His seed, His Holy Spirit dwells in us & makes us uncomfortable about it though. We will want to change our behaviors when it comes to doing wrong. If we don’t want to change we again, don’t have a relationship with Jesus.

This is not always easy because it is not in our nature. We have to understand though; the nature of Christ is not the same as ours. There is the story of the scorpion and the frog. A scorpion and a frog needed to cross a body of water, the frog would have no trouble but the scorpion couldn’t swim. It asked the frog to ride on his back across the water, “You’ll sting me and kill me,” the frog replied.

The scorpion emphatically replied, “No I won’t, for to sting you would assure the death of us both.”

Reluctantly the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the water. Halfway across the frog felt the sting of the scorpion. “What have you done?” asked the frog, “now we will both surely die.” The scorpion replied, “I couldn’t help myself, it is in me nature.”

When looking at ones nature we can think about things like the nature of a pig, a dog in heat. Only imagine what characteristics are within our own nature that has to change. Yet, they must change and will change as we take on the nature of Jesus in our life.

When looking at the nature of Christ, we see his nature to hate and abstain from sin. He gives us a new nature where we will take on this same nature, we will not want to sin, we will do our best to abstain from doing the things that displeases God.

Now lets look some more at the passage in 1st John by looking at Verse 9-13,
God’s children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power lives in them and makes them his children, so they cannot keep on sinning. You can tell God’s children from the devil’s children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.

From the beginning you were told that you must love each other. Don’t be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil. My friends don’t be surprised if the people of this world hate you.

Our actions indicate to others who belongs to God and who don’t. Our unwillingness to change indicates that we aren’t born again, no matter how many times we have raised our hands or prayed a prayer. Going forward at a crusade doesn’t make you a Christian any more than eating a Big Mac makes you a hamburger.

If you don’t struggle with sin and have a desire to change, you don’t belong to God. Christ gave two commandments. Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind and strength love your neighbor as yourself. The world will see followers of Jesus or Christians as a goody two shoes, religious fanatic, Jesus Freaks, and more. When this happens be of good cheer, it is one of the marks that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. I firmly believe that righteous behavior and actions make others feel guilty and ultimately they hate us for making them feel that way.

Lets continue now with this passage by looking at verses 14-16
Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life. But if you don’t love each other, you are still under the power of death. If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know that murderers do not have eternal life. We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other.

Loving each other is proof to the world and ourselves that Jesus lives. It is here that many make their mistakes; Christians seem to find reason to justify hate, or to redefine the true meaning of love. On this point, realize, hating is equivalent to murder.

When looking at, and thinking about what love is we need to think about the real example; look at the cross Jesus said, “If you are to be my disciples you must take up your cross and follow me daily.”

This scripture then makes it hard for many. These next verses are among those I call the “Hard Sayings of the Bible.”

Verse 17, 18
If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, not by merely talking about it.

I have a t-shirt I had designed some years ago. It has Furches, Magic with a Message on the front of the t-shirt and on the back it has this passage. I can’t tell you the times I have worn one of those t-shirts and someone would tell me they didn’t know that passage was in the Bible. That says something about the teachings in churches, and the life practices of many who call themselves Christian.

We have to understand, feeling sorry for someone is not love. We can talk the talk, but we have to walk the talk, actions always speak louder than words, and unfortunately on this point, most don’t have the actions to show that they are living out at least this one passage.

How important is it to love, 1st John goes on to give us further instruction in the next set of verses, 19-21
When we love others, we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. But even if we don’t feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him.

What we do will prove what we believe. Our actions indicate the reality of the relationship we have with Jesus. We have to make sure that those actions are not centered on ourselves but directed towards others through service and love.

If we want an example, remember, Jesus ministry was largely to the poor, and needy. He is the ultimate model of who to follow. If we have trouble knowing what to do, remember, sometimes we can’t trust our own hearts; we deceive ourselves, and others. Our actions are the proof God has changed our heart and that he is greater than our sin.

In wrapping up, lets now look at verses 22-24
He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him. God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. If we obey God’s commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.

Now in this passage, understand, verse 22 is often taken way out of context. The key to this principal is that we have to obey God and do what pleases him. This passage is about serving & loving others, not loving & serving ourselves & our own desires. It should be noted, that the more we become like Jesus, the more of the things Jesus wants will become the things we want. This isn’t a passage for claiming cars, homes, money and so forth, it is a passage that is encouraging us to become more like Jesus, and wanting the things Jesus wants.

Jesus is talking to his disciples and followers here remember, he also stated, “If you are to be my disciples you must take up your cross and follow me daily. There is also the need to his restatement as well as the apostles and writers of the New Testament of the great commandment, Jesus is our Lord our God, love him, believe in him, love each other just as he has told us to. When we obey God’s word we live in fellowship with Christ and each other. He is with us and we are with him.

We need to look at ways we can show others love in our own life, but we need to do the same as a church. In the wrestling community there are often people looking for locations to host certain events. I recently let the state coaching certification director know they could use Mosaic. One of the things that surprised many is we were willing to let them use the premises without charge.

I have been thinking about other ways can use the facility to facilitate ministry; one idea is ministry to the poor and needy, homeless, and so forth. Free coffee, food on occasion, and a service of some type to this community is one way of letting others know we really love them, how we love them, how we continue that love has a bearing on how they see Jesus.

Let’s pray; Father help us love, help me love. Lord may those we come into contact with see you through our actions.

Right now I am going to have us take a small break. I want to encourage people, a part of worship is giving, if you are a part of Mosaic, you have a responsibility to help the ministry of the church, if you are reading this and participating on line, you have the responsibility to find a ministry that you can support. It could be a ministry like Mosaic, The Virtual Pew, even Compassion International or some other ministry doing important work. If you are a part of a local congregation or group, support those groups.

Now let’s take some time to relax, spend some time with each other, and if at home or at work, then call a friend or family member and let them know you love them. After that then come on back and we will participate in worship together.

Welcome back, now as we enter into worship, you know a lot of the message requires most of us to change our heart. With that said, here is a great worship song to remind us of this need.

Change My Heart O God:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUjUvoynGMM


Sometimes we have a hard time letting God change our hearts. More often than not this is because of the pride we have.

Lay Down My Pride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnF4sC0eqA


Once we are willing to give up our pride, surrender to the call of God, we realize that we start being with God on a daily basis. Once with God we realize there is no better place to be.

Better is One Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIluG4xUXCU


How does this change come about, it comes about through the Holy Spirit giving us the ability to allow it to happen, we just have to surrender.

Holy Fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW4aCmI_uiw


I know some of this sounds crazy today, but we serve a God who can make all things possible, including the possibility of loving others. You know the word Halleluiah means “Praise God.” While in a fun way, this next song is a reminder of the goodness and the joy of praising God. Let’s all have some fun with this one as we reflect on the joy God can bring in our life.

Cartoons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWFJ_rykyA4


I hope you have all been challenged today to love more, to love The Least, The Lost, and The Last, in fact we are all there, we are all among these population groups in some way or the other.

Father God, thank you for each of the folks who participated in this service in one way or another. I ask with all sincerity your blessings on each of them. Bless their day, bless their life’s, no matter who they are, enemy or friend, may your grace, may your love touch each person. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen!

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The Miracle of Healing From Abuse

This article can be prefaced by reading two other posts that were earlier published. The articles appear in the archives where you are viewing here, and at Hollywood Jesus. The stories and links are as follows: My Christmas Journey with Physical and Sexual Abuse, and The Sound of Death.

As many know I just returned from Tennessee where I went on my Christmas Journey Home. It wasn’t a journey per say where I was experiencing the joy of Christmas, but a journey where I needed to let my mother know that I forgave her for the things she did to me as a youth. I have written quite a bit about my relationship with my mother over the past years, the story is available for the asking in my book, The Keystone Kid. Needless to say without rehashing that story, my experience with my mother is different than most people, it involved physical and sexual abuse, abuse in such a way that most would think that the harm done would never bring about any reconciliation.

One of the things I have learned as I have gotten older and tried to implement God’s directives to me as illustrated in the Bible, is that I can do more than I ever imagined possible with the grace of God. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of these super religious people, in fact, I don’t care a whole lot about religion. I do believe that I have been given hope, life, and salvation through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. As a result of recognizing my own failures, my own inability to do good, I have come to realize the need for salvation in my life. I now have a relationship with Jesus Christ and as crazy as that sounds, I just don’t know of any other way to put it. I really do believe he lives that he speaks to me through his Holy Spirit and that he has given me a love letter and instruction manual called the Bible that will help me become more like Jesus as I apply the teachings of the Bible to my life. Now on that point, I also believe that many religious groups that focus on the law as opposed to the liberty, that focus on the judgment more than they do the grace, are just that, religions and in many ways, not that much different than the religious people Jesus had trouble with during his time as a man on this earth.

My life has been affected by the impact of the sins of others on my life. In many ways it caused me to sin, although I am responsible for my own sins in life, but some would say that in some areas, such as temperament, language, sexuality, and much more, I never really had a chance at understanding appropriate relationships, in some regards, I have to admit, I still struggle with some of these things, but I have come to know who has the answers to my questions, who has given me the knowledge to grow and do better than many would have ever expected. I give full credit to trying to listen to the teachings and applications illustrated in the Bible and from Jesus own example. While I am far from perfect, I am far more perfect than I was last year, the year before and so on.

In my own journey, I have realized that I needed to follow the directives of Jesus, forgive even my enemies, and forgive even those who had done me wrong. I had really come to the place of peace over the last few years that this also included my mother, if after all, I could forgive my mom, then I could forgive virtually anyone. Now this is a detailed process, a detailed and complicated thing to put into practice at times, but it is none the less, a process required by the Bible. It becomes difficult because the Bible goes so far as to say that if I can’t forgive or love those on earth who I can see, how can I expect to love God who I can’t see, or that God will forgive me in the way I forgive others. I know that I am in need of forgiveness, and I am in need of God’s love. I could as many do make all kinds of excuses to not love, to not forgive, but in my own spirit, in my own heart, I would know of my inability to do these things and would have to deal accordingly with the Bible verses that tell me to forgive and love if in fact I didn’t.

Along my journey, I have written openly and now have started videoing parts of the journey. Some ask why, I have been ridiculed by some in my family, but it becomes very clear, very fast when one looks at the responses of the many people who have been touched and helped by my journey. As long as I know people are being helped I will continue to share my journey. I do it because I know there are many people who have gone through what I have, and need to know they are loved and there is hope. My God, my Savior, was there with me all along the way, offering love, and help, others need to know that he is there for them.

How hard is this journey? How hard was this particular journey? I don’t know if it is acceptable grammar or not but I would say the simple answer to this is, VERY! That’s right, it was, and is very hard, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it, I believe that all good things, even those things that are hard to come by are sometimes, if in fact, not many times worth the effort. Not for any other reason than to give my own spirit hope, and the confidence that I know I am bigger than the evil that was perpetuated on my life, and in fact, the evil I have at times perpetuated on the lives of others.

This time, my journey, the first of what I expect to be several journeys, included a long drive, over one thousand miles one way in fact, plus having to go to a place, Upper East Tennessee where I go through emotional stress, and emotional conflict every time I seem to go back. While the area is beautiful, while there are some happy memories there, while it is my “home town,” it is also the place that reminds me of all of the hardships of growing up. It is the place where I still have horrible memories that will likely have some impact on me for the rest of my life. For those that have been through abuse of one sort or another, they understand, for those who have gone through traumatic events, that have an understanding of what causes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they understand. All others, just don’t get it. Imagine though, having lost a loved one, or experienced extreme tragedy in life, and then every time you get around that area, or find yourself in situations that remind you of that area, you have nightmares, you have feelings of reliving the situation and stressful event. That is what happens with me, while I have had to learn to deal with some of these things, it is one of the reasons I am up at 3 AM this morning, and sleep is a precious commodity because you don’t like the nightmares. There is much more, but my wife, my son, and others have noticed the difficult time I experience when I go home, this trip, even though for a good reason, was no exception.

As mentioned in another posting, seeing my mother for the first time in some time, and since being diagnosed with cancer was not easy. Cancer is one of those diseases that tears apart and destroys the body, even in the attempt to heal, the radiation and chemotherapy appears to destroy the body. You can read about my thoughts there in the article The Sound of Death. This article however is to highlight several other things that occurred, while I know some will have to endure the length of the article, I think you will be fascinated by the events.

First regarding the filming I was working on for the possible documentary. I did not get a satisfactory solution to the sound issues, but I think there is a way to use what I have, and to do voiceovers of other sections. There are many hours of film, in many sections that will be of benefit. I was able to go into Keystone, the projects I grew up in, as well as visit several of the places the abuse occurred. I was also able to visit the place where I was saved and share my story. This was a rather emotional experience and it is evident in the footage. It was the first time I had been back to that place in approximately 30 years. I also went to the cemetery that illustrates a great deal of the tragedy in my family, and in my life. This was a very difficult situation; in fact, I had to go there twice because the first time involved a blow up, my fault that had me on edge. There is a long story here but like I said earlier, some of the events were not pleasant. There was also a great deal of the conflict that was not videoed, a blow up that involved some healing between my sister and I, and more. There were other things I wanted to video but didn’t get the chance to. I expect there will be additional trips home that will give me this opportunity and the bottom line, is there will likely be many more hours of footage to pick and choose from.

I felt compelled in this posting to share some things that won’t be easy, but should be shared and will hopefully inspire the potential of hope for some out there. These things have to do specifically with my mom.

First, I was able to go through a ton of photos that was good, I will be going back to make some copies of those which will provide a lot of use in the documentary. But besides the photos I was able to find out other things about my mom that I didn’t know or thought would be worth bringing up.

One of the things is that as many know, abuse runs in cycles,. In most situations where abuse occurs it is something that has gone on for generations. I have my suspensions as to why this is the case in my family, but I have no doubt it is the case in my family. I won’t go into detail regarding all of those situations surrounding the abuse, but there is no doubt that the abuse has gone on in my family for some time. I suspect that my sister and I have broken the cycle in our families, I suspect there are others, but I also know the impact is lasting on what we went though, and damage was done. In regards to going through abuse and hardship, when looking at my mothers life I had to come to other conclusions.

If I look at my life, and only my life, I don’t know if the healing and forgiving process is complete or not. I say this because a part of forgiveness is letting go, but another part is in finding value in the life of the person you are offering forgiveness to. This is also in the case of having to forgive my mother.

In looking at the life of my mother, I am aware now of the fact that she was also abused a great deal as a child growing up. I am also aware of the tragedy surrounding my mothers’ life. I wasn’t aware of the totality of that tragedy. I now know, my mother has never had to my knowledge a truly loving relationship with men where the relationship didn’t end in tragedy, this includes my birth father.

For years I have tried to obtain information regarding my father, for years, people have been reluctant to provide me information, I knew he did some crazy things, had a crazy violent temper, and not much more than that. On the trip, I learned that it was much more serious than that. An example was a time where my father had beaten my mother to a pulp, and then forced her to sit naked in front of a window in the house for hours while people walked by to look at her. He did this while all of the time laughing at her.

Then there was my mothers second husband, which she don’t talk about, he was killed to my understanding while trying to hop onto a train in the Chicago area.

Her third husband was extremely abusive, he beat her, and sexually assaulted her and my sister.

My mothers fourth husband was an alcoholic, while he wasn’t abusive, he ended up dying from complications related to alcoholism even after having his limbs amputated.

My mothers fifth relationship was with a man who was married, I just found that out on this visit home. It was my understanding that this man died of complications related to emphysema. While there is some truth to that, the bottom line is that he took the situation into his own hands and ended up stabbing himself to death. Because of the fact that he was married to another woman, my mother wasn’t even able to attend the funeral.

My mother has led a tough life, this is only an illustration of the relationship she has had with the men in her life. Yet, despite all of this difficulty, my mother was recently inducted into the Tennessee Union Hall of Fame, and while home saw a proclamation from the State of Tennessee that recognized her for this honor and the fact that she was the first woman ever inducted into the Union Hall of Fame. This has an implication to it that I was reminded of while in Tennessee.

On Christmas Eve, my mom who had been receiving care and help in a nursing home was transported via ambulance to the Emergency Room of the Johnson City Medical Center due to a bout with pneumonia. It was at the Emergency room on Christmas Eve that I learned something else valuable about my mom. It was here that I met a fellow union member, a friend of hers named Pastor Roy and his wife.

While in the emergency room, I fellow came in with a smile and a deep Southern accent. For all of my friends who think I have an accent, I can only assure you, as has been affirmed by others, I have indeed lost a great deal of it, to hear Roy or my mom or many others in East Tennessee speak would be more than enough assurance of this. Roy it seems is a pastor of a small Baptist church in or near Roan Mountain Tennessee. He is also a union member and has spent quite a few of the last number of years speaking to, and working with my mom.

While in the emergency room, I did something I needed to do, I knew that Roy had been working with my mom, and as some from outside the family are ones that can address spiritual things I asked him, “have you had time to work with my mom or speak to her regarding the Lord.” His response was strong, solid and brought a number of tears to my eyes that night.

Roy proceeded to tell me that I had nothing to worry about. While my mom was a tough, at times, mean and angry woman, she had made the commitment to commit her life to the Lord. She had done so once as a young woman, but realized the need to do so now. Roy, along with his wife, told me of the years it had taken to get through with my mom, and in fact it took years as there was so much she was unwilling to talk about. After years of work though, she finally got to the point of sharing her life, and recognizing her own need to have relationship with Jesus Christ. Roy told me how moved he was, his wife assured me of the reality of that decision and then he said something else I in all honesty had not expected.

In the process of my mothers decision, and his efforts, Roy shared how my mother had shared personal things with him regarding her sins and her past. He implied that she had shared about the abuse. I will certainly talk to Roy more about this in the future, even hoping to video him telling of my mom’s conversion and life as he knew it, but there was something else Roy shared. The thing that touched me, almost broke me in the hospital was Roy sharing with me, “Boy, your momma read everything you ever wrote. When it came to teaching, she would read it, try to understand it, and if there were things she didn’t know or understand, she would print it out and bring it to me to help explain it to her. Even then, I think she printed off almost everything you ever wrote and brought it to me.” I must tell you, even now I have tears as I write this. You see as a part of the mission of The Virtual Pew, I have stated that one of our goals is to touch one person a day. Not that we only want to touch one person, but each single person is important to God, so many ministries don’t see that, they are so focused on large numbers. There is nothing wrong with all of those numbers as long as we see the value of the one person. Luke 15 in the Bible makes it clear, each of those single, individual people are important to God, they should be important to us. I firmly believe this and it is one of those things that hopefully make this ministry different. While I had hope of this, while I had the belief in this, I never contemplated that my mother, the woman who had abused me, would be one of those people this ministry would have an impact on. The sacrifice, hard work, was worth it before, but now the value of that has gone up tremendously. I can’t explain that, I don’t know if I even want to try to, but I know in my heart, in my soul, this has been a God thing.

This wasn’t all Roy shared with me, he shared as well that my mother, who had gone through so much tragedy, had done so much to help so many. There was a reason she was the first woman inducted into the Union Hall of Fame, she had been a strong advocate for the poor, the oppressed, those taken advantage of and so many more. Roy made it clear, she at times could be angry, even mean, she was never reluctant to let people know what she thought. For those who think I can be blunt, be blessed you didn’t know my mother. I recall my mother telling a former member of the Hells’ Angels who was covered with tattoos, stood around 6’2” tall while holding a snake that, “If you don’t get that snake away from me, I’ll smack the shit out of you!” Larry, the member of the Hells’ Angels told me, “Mike I think she meant it.” “Larry” I replied, “she did.” Despite this tough attitude from my mother who was mean, at times extremely violent, there was something about her, I think her own experiences, that drove her to help others. I never saw this, never really thought that much about this, but it was a reality, and a state proclamation from the State of Tennessee hanging in her home office, demonstrates this.

There was much more that happened, some of which will likely be in the video once it is completed. I did have the chance to sit in the hospital room with my mother, alone, holding her hand, and tell her, “Momma, I know life has been hard, I know there are a lot of things about our past that have been wrong, Momma, I want you to know that I love you and I forgive you.” My momma is struggling right now with speaking, she can in fact speak only with a faint whisper. I reminded her at times that after all of those years of working with bands I had a hard time understanding her. I would have to often times put my ear next to her mouth to hear her speak. She would tell me, “Michael, you can’t hear and I can’t talk.” She would then laugh. The moment I shared my forgiveness and love though, I had no trouble hearing her reply, “Michael, I love you to, and thank you.” There was more that was said, but I don’t know if there was anything more important during that conversation than that moment. I have that moment on film, and it will likely be in the documentary at some point, not to bring any glory to myself, not to manipulate or use my mother in any way, but to let people know, that even in tough situations, even in hard times, forgiveness and love is possible. I now have a mother, if only for a short period of time in my life that I can love. Some will question what made that possible, I will reply, nothing but the blood of Jesus, which provides healing, comfort, forgiveness and love made that possible. It made it possible because the Jesus that offered himself as a sacrifice for my sins still lives. He has not only provided these things for me, he wants to provide them for you.

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You Can Do It!

Today I was really blessed that I got to participate with the worship team. I am at heart, a musician and as any other musician will tell you, there is something special about the worship experience when you get to play your instrument. It is for that reason, that I appreciate Brian Hickey and Chris Atherton allowing me to play along today. That said, let’s all think about the words and music in today’s worship time. Join in, sing along, or simply put on the head phones, or turn up the volume and enjoy.

Trading my Sorrows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KsfwvpcQhY


Sometimes I think of how much love I need? I think we are all at that point and we need to realize, I need to realize, that as long as I depend on people I will never have enough, when I depend on God though, my attitude changes.

Enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI9RIbaa87I


I know when I hear from others, especially in regards to the struggles I have gone through that God uses you to share your love with me. I know that in reality, this is how we show God that we love him. God loves us through the hands and arms of others. Of course his love is far more perfect than we are, but it is a place where God wants us to be, that is, being his arms, feet, voice, and love.

Love is Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3rCB97_lKE


God is an incredible God, we don’t really stop enough to ponder his love for us. Use this song to move you in that direction.

God of Wonders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f76mSbNnFQ4


Let’s pray, Father God, you are enough, you are a God of wonders who has shown each of us how much you love us. Father, let us be instruments of love to show others how much you love them. Thank you for loving us enough to want to use us, let us be satisfied in what you want for us dear God. Thank you for all you have done in my life, in our life, be with us and let us all be grateful for what you have done for us, and what you are going to do through us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Now let’s take that infamous Virtual Pew Coffee Break. Take some time, get a cookie a cup of coffee, and then do what you ought to be doing anyway, give someone a call, tell them you love them. Take some time to let those around you know that you are different in how you live your life, how you live your faith. Then I also want you to remember the need to support some ministry, whether it is a church you belong to, or a ministry that blesses you in one way or another. Then step back up into your pew seat and enjoy the rest of the service.
Welcome back! I hope that cup of coffee, or beverage of your choice was good. Some have seen the movie The Water Boy with Adam Sandler. While you may or may not like this movie, you can’t deny the contribution it has made to American Language. In fact there is one saying in the movie that is used in virtually every movie made by Sandler since then. The saying is even in the new movie Bedtime Stories. How many can remember the phrase famous from the movie The Water Boy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


There is a little bit of a difference in the new movie Bedtime Stories, instead of You Can Do It! We hear the phrase from Rob Schneider, “I Can Do It.”

As I look at the message today, I am reminded of the making sure I understand the vision of The Virtual Pew and Mosaic. There has to be a difference in the world view which we have in comparison to other churches, for example last weeks message at Mosaic by Nicholas St. John where he asked the question about the church being a church that sees her people as people made in the image of God, loved by God, and once coming to God, as Saints with freedom and liberty given by God. The Church is a church in reality, seen as saints as opposed to being seen as sinners. It is an attitude thing, an attitude in the reality of what God has made those who choose to follow after Christ.

Mosaic and The Virtual Pew muse see itself as a church that realizes the importance of prayer, not just individual but corporate. It is for certain, that all churches, all Christians, all who have a relationship with Christ will want to build on and grow in their relationship with God, that starts and in some ways, ends with prayer.

Mosaic and The Virtual Pew must see themselves as a church that sees value in getting to know, care for, and love each other. So many churches, so many people who say they are Christians do such a wonderful job of talking about their need for love, yet few actually do a good job of showing love. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it when people show me love, not just tell me about it. In fact, I am kind of tired of all of those, Christian or not, who talk about love, who talk about a God type relationship, but in reality, do nothing to live out the concept. We all struggle with this at times, but realizing that we struggle with this, and then taking the step to be better than this and then actually try to love others by our words and actions is an important step for those who say they love Jesus, want to follow him, and then have relationship with one another.

The Virtual Pew and Mosaic must be a church that understands the value of serving the community in areas of service, justice and power of God. This is an area that we seem to neglect, and then wonder why it is that so few want anything to do with this thing we call church. When we show we care about the struggles others are going through, when we care about social justice and serving the “least of these” then they will know we really do care about them. In fact when we do these things, Jesus went so far as to say it was as if we did it directly “unto me,” Jesus speaking of him. When the church goes out of its way to do these things, then the church is doing what it is supposed to be and followers of Jesus are living the way Christ has commanded them to live.

Mosaic and The Virtual Pew must realize we are a church that realizes we are involved in a war with real consequences, victories, and yes losses. The Bible talks about this being a spiritual war we are involved in. We have to see these daily battles, these daily struggles as battles in that war. We have to realize that there are spiritual things going on around us that are having an impact. If we truly realize the implications of the battles we are involved n then we will desire to not loose any of those battles to Satan and instead want to win them all for God.

Now I realize many won’t like what I am going to say now, but I have found it to be truth. When we recognize the above areas, begin to apply them in our life, we will see Satan attacking our individual lives, the church, our families, and trying to tear the church apart. Satan will have issues with us as followers of Jesus, both as individuals and as a corporate body taken on the causes of Christ. He will attack us, there is no doubt about it but we have to remember, war is not easy, war is not fun, but this war is necessary.

How have you been looking at the difficulties in your life, in the local church, or in the larger Universal Church? When life gets tough, when you don’t think you or the church can do it anymore, remember:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


Today I have a long passage from the Bible I want us to look at, it is actually 2 chapters. I want you to take the time to read it, think about the story it is telling and then let’s get ready to move on from there.

Numbers 13, 14
(1) The LORD said to Moses, (2) " Choose a leader from each tribe and send them into Canaan to explore the land I am giving you."
(3) So Moses sent twelve tribal leaders from Israel's camp in the Paran Desert (4 -16) with orders to explore the land of Canaan. And here are their names: Shammua son of Zaccur from Reuben, Shaphat son of Hori from Simeon, Caleb son of Jephunneh from Judah, Igal son of Joseph from Issachar, Joshua son of Nun from Ephraim, Palti son of Raphu from Benjamin, Gaddiel son of Sodi from Zebulun, Gaddi son of Susi from Manasseh, Ammiel son of Gemalli from Dan, Sethur son of Michael from Asher, Nahbi son of Vophsi from Naphtali, and Geuel son of Machi from Gad.
(17) Before Moses sent them into Canaan, he said: After you go through the Southern Desert of Canaan, continue north into the hill country (18) and find out what those regions are like. Be sure to remember how many people live there, how strong they are, (19 -20) and if they live in open towns or walled cities. See if the land is good for growing crops and find out what kinds of trees grow there. It's time for grapes to ripen, so try to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.
(21) The twelve men left to explore Canaan from the Zin Desert in the south all the way to the town of Rehob near Lebo-Hamath in the north. (22) As they went through the Southern Desert, they came to the town of Hebron, which was seven years older than the Egyptian town of Zoan. In Hebron, they saw the three Anakim clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai. (23 -24) When they got to Bunch Valley, they cut off a branch with such a huge bunch of grapes, that it took two men to carry it on a pole. That's why the place was called Bunch Valley. Along with the grapes, they also took back pomegranates and figs.
(25) After exploring the land of Canaan forty days, (26) the twelve men returned to Kadesh in the Paran Desert and told Moses, Aaron, and the people what they had seen. They showed them the fruit (27) and said: Look at this fruit! The land we explored is rich with milk and honey. (28) But the people who live there are strong, and their cities are large and walled. We even saw the three Anakim clans. (29) Besides that, the Amalekites live in the Southern Desert; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are in the hill country; and the Canaanites live along the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. (30) Caleb calmed down the crowd and said, “Let’s go and take the land. I know we can do it!"
(31) But the other men replied, “Those people are much too strong for us." (32) Then they started spreading rumors and saying, “We won't be able to grow anything in that soil. And the people are like giants. (33) In fact, we saw the Nephilim who are the ancestors of the Anakim. They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers."

Numbers 14

(1) After the Israelites heard the report from the twelve men who had explored Canaan, the people cried all night (2) and complained to Moses and Aaron, “We wish we had died in Egypt or somewhere out here in the desert! (3) Is the LORD leading us into Canaan, just to have us killed and our women and children captured? We'd be better off in Egypt." (4) Then they said to one another, “Let’s choose our own leader and go back."
(5) Moses and Aaron bowed down to pray in front of the crowd. (6) Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes in sorrow (7) and said: We saw the land ourselves, and it's very good. (8) If we obey the LORD, he will surely give us that land rich with milk and honey. (9) So don't rebel. We have no reason to be afraid of the people who live there. The LORD is on our side, and they won't stand a chance against us!
(10) The crowd threatened to stone Moses and Aaron to death. But just then, the LORD appeared in a cloud at the sacred tent.
(11) The LORD said to Moses, “I have done great things for these people, and they still reject me by refusing to believe in my power. (12) So they will no longer be my people. I will destroy them, but I will make you the ancestor of a nation even stronger than theirs."
(13 -16) Moses replied: With your mighty power you rescued your people from Egypt, so please don't destroy us here in the desert. If you do, the Egyptians will hear about it and tell the people of Canaan. Those Canaanites already know that we are your people, and that we see you face to face. And they have heard how you lead us with a thick cloud during the day and flaming fire at night. But if you kill us, they will claim it was because you weren't powerful enough to lead us into Canaan as you promised.
(17) Show us your great power, LORD. You promised (18) that you love to show mercy and kindness. And you said that you are very patient, but that you will punish everyone guilty of doing wrong--not only them but their children and grandchildren as well.
(19) You are merciful, and you treat people better than they deserve. So please forgive these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.
(20) Then the LORD said to Moses: In answer to your prayer, I do forgive them. (21) But as surely as I live and my power has no limit, (22 -23) I swear that not one of these Israelites will enter the land I promised to give their ancestors. These people have seen my power in Egypt and in the desert, but they will never see Canaan. They have disobeyed and tested me too many times.
(24) But my servant Caleb isn't like the others. So because he has faith in me, I will allow him to cross into Canaan, and his descendants will settle there.
(25) Now listen, Moses! The Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys of Canaan. And tomorrow morning, you'll need to turn around and head back into the desert toward the Red Sea.
(26) The LORD told Moses and Aaron (27 -28) to give this message to the people of Israel: You sinful people have complained against me too many times! Now I swear by my own life that I will give you exactly what you wanted. (29) You will die right here in the desert, and your dead bodies will cover the ground. You have insulted me, and none of you men who are over twenty years old (30) will enter the land that I solemnly promised to give you as your own--only Caleb and Joshua will go in. (31) You were worried that your own children would be captured. But I, the LORD, will let them enter the land you have rejected. (32) You will die here in the desert! (33) Your children will wander around in this desert forty years, suffering because of your sins, until all of you are dead. (34) I will cruelly punish you every day for the next forty years--one year for each day that the land was explored. (35) You sinful people who ganged up against me will die here in the desert.
(36) Ten of the men sent to explore the land had brought back bad news and had made the people complain against the LORD. (37) So he sent a deadly disease that killed those men, (38) but he let Joshua and Caleb live.
(39) The people of Israel were very sad after Moses gave them the Lord’s message. (40) So they got up early the next morning and got ready to head toward the hill country of Canaan. They said, “We were wrong to complain about the LORD. Let's go into the land that he promised us."
(41) But Moses replied, “You’re disobeying the LORD! Your plan won't work, (42 -43) so don't even try it. The LORD refuses to help you, because you turned your backs on him. The Amalekites and the Canaanites are your enemies, and they will attack and defeat you."
(44) But the Israelites ignored Moses and marched toward the hill country, even though the sacred chest and Moses did not go with them. (45) The Amalekites and the Canaanites came down from the hill country, defeated the Israelites, and chased them as far as the town of Hormah.

One of the sad things about this story, is the people didn’t remember that when it came to God, their response should have been:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


Many, estimate that millions had gone on the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. They all had the chance to see the Promised Land, however, only 2 got to go into the land to live. Imagine going on the greatest vacation ever and you only get to look in through the gates. You don’t spend time there, you don’t realize what lays ahead for you, you only take a quick glance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33HUjLT5zVU


There were respected leaders selected to scout out the territory in the Bible story above, 12 in all. All of the leaders, plus Moses got to see the Promised Land but didn’t get to go in. Only two, Joshua and Caleb got to go into the Promised Land. They all saw the potential harvest, and the large amount of fruit, but most focused on the obstacles more than they did the potential. Are we like that? I know that I often am, I have to remind myself of the very thing Joshua and Caleb knew:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


How do we see things, do we see the positive and potential or do we see the negative and hazards? We have to realize that with God living within us, all things are possible, we have to remember, that greater is he who is in us, than he who is in the world. We have to also remember, that with God, all things are possible. Are we taking what we should know from what the Bible tells us and applying it in our lives? Or are we living in the same ol defeated, making excuses life that provides nothing but misery and heartache? If we want things to be different, we have to act different, a good place to start for those that love Jesus is to realize that because of God living in us, “We can do it!”

Often: when we see or experience the negative we blame people. Remember Satan is our enemy, not people. We tend to get angry, become upset at people, I know it is easy to do, but while those people are responsible for their actions, Satan is enemy, not them, in fact, they are people Jesus loves and wants to provide hope and salvation for.

In the above story out of the Bible notice how Moses, Joshua and Caleb call the people to prayer and then they pray. It was easy to be repentant at the time, but did you notice how the people responded initially when called to prayer? They wanted to stone Moses, Joshua and Caleb. They were not receptive to what these three men of God had to say.

In the process we can see that the Lord honored those who honored him, those who had confidence in him, those who trusted him, despite the difficulties that lay ahead at the time. The nature of God doesn’t change. God wants people to quit making excuses, he wants people to follow through with the vision and purpose he has, that is true for Mosaic, and The Virtual Pew. It is even more importantly true in the lives of the people hearing this, or reading this. God don’t want you giving up on him! He doesn’t want you making excuses, finding fault, quitting on the very thing he has brought into existence. The truth is, sometimes we try to make spiritual excuses to quit the things God has lead us to, we have all been taken to the place God wanted us in a church, in a fellowship or in the life of another, and then backed out, quit at times not realizing the full potential of what God was going to do, we have even been critical of those who led us on the journey, the ones God has given vision and hope to.

Remember as I stated above, the nature of God don’t change. The Lord becomes angry at those that have forgotten what he has done for them. I don’t think God appreciates quitters because quitting shows that there is a lack of faith in the ability of God to do exactly what he said he was going to do. Too many of us quit on loving people, we quit on churches that we think we need to move from, we quit on the heart of being different than the institutional church because we find it easier to join a bigger mega church where we can hide, we can go on and on why we haven’t fulfilled the mission and calling God has on us, but the nature of God don’t change. We should never forget what God has done for us, and what he wants to do through us. Any church, any group that allows one to hide behind the numbers in the sanctuary has forgotten about the fact that God chooses to use people go grow churches, to grow people in their faith. On this point, I don’t hold that God always gets what he wants here, it is a theology that can be quite dangerous, to assume that theology is correct would be to assume that God desires abortions to take place, that God desires for innocent children to be killed by drunk drivers, or deranged husbands. It has to simply be understood, things happen that God don’t desire, we are the instruments of that in that he has given us a free-will to make stupid decisions. Just like those in the story above. There were 12 who went in, 10 who lacked faith in the ability of God to deliver, although they had seen God deliver them time, and time again.

God wants us to know this about him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


We need to get rid of Murphy’s Law, you know where we are told that something will inevitably go wrong. The law should be for the person who professes faith in Jesus Christ that there is nothing too difficult with Christ.

One of the things to realize is that how we ask a question makes a difference in the results we see, are we asking negatively or positively. Not just in the questions related to what God can do through us, but in the things God wants to do for us. A Recent Army kitchen survey showed that when serving apricots in the military mess hall, that when asking: Wouldn’t want a bowl of apricots would you? 40% said yes. Then when asking the question: Would you like a bowl of apricots? 50% said yes. Notice the improvement with the slightest of change, but then notice that when asked the question: Would you like 1 bowl or 2 bowls of apricots? 50% said 1 bowl, 40% stated 2 bowls only 10% with none. It’s how we ask the question, see the issue. Our attitude, and heart makes a difference. Not only do we have to ask things differently of others, we have to live differently. Some think this is not possible, I say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


We are the ones that determine how we look at things; no one can make us look at things in a negative light if we realize that Christ is the one that can do all things, or even yet, that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. When we quit, when we lack faith in God’s ability, we don’t look like we believe these things, our lives show it, and those that are looking to us for answers see it. What is really sad is the actions we take when we do realize it, it isn’t that much different than those in the story involving Joshua and Caleb. We don’t have the attitude of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


Asking the right questions and responding to what we think is the right answer has to still be done God’s way. I remember a guy who moved into my house in Oklahoma. He was one of three Christians that forgot about Christian obligation while living in that house. He signed a one year lease, and after being there for a short period of time contacted me to tell me that God had called him to another ministry location so would I let him out of the lease agreement. I reminded him, in a loving way of course, that if God had called him to his present job, had moved him to sign a one-year-lease and then called him to another church, that God would provide a way to maintain his financial obligation to pay the rent on the house until the house was rented out to someone else. He didn’t like it, but the truth is, God don’t call people to churches, don’t call them to ministry, don’t call them to be involved with people he loves so much, and then suddenly change his mind and call people someplace else. God delivers, he takes to the place he wants, it is up to us and our response if we enter into the Promised Land.

Notice the people’s response in this story though. After they were confronted in their sin, they want to jump up and do things their way instead of God’s way. They still held on to their selfish desire without listening to and doing the very things God told them. They decided to not listen to Moses in his directives here. We as well have to realize that a good heart, good intent, don’t make things right. We still have to listen to God and a part of listening to God is doing things God’s way. When we make mistakes, we are often given the opportunity to go back and make things right. It has amazed me for a number of years at the churches and people who say they love Jesus are so filled with pride that they won’t do this. They keep on doing things their way and then wonder why it is that it appears as if God is an angry God. God allows us to make mistakes, what ticks him off though is that when we go on in life doing things our way instead of God’s way. On this point, Frank Sinatra was a wonderful singer, but the truth is, the song “I Did It My Way,” is horrible teaching. God only wants us to do it our way, when our way is his way. Being disobedient, not having the faith God wants us to have is not doing it God’s way. When times get tough, when we don’t think we can, when we are having issue we have to address our problems with the attitude.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rAHnwWfsaY


Now is the place where continued teachings and discussion can take place. Express your thoughts, make your comments, and post your questions and concerns. It was wonderful to hear all of the questions and comments that came about from this, there was a lot of insight from those in the congregation discussion.

I encourage you to really bless God for what he has done with your praise and with your life. Remember that how we live our lives are an ultimate act of worship.

Blessed Be Your Name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du0il6d-DAk


Today in closing, I joy in the opportunity to pray for you.

Dear Lord, thank you for being patient with me. I ask that I can be more faithful, that I will realize I need to stick it out in the things you have called me to. Father forgive me when I fail you, forgive me when I quit or give up, help me, help us all in this area. Now Father God, Creator of the universe, I ask you to bless each of those who have participated in this message. May your Spirit bless and protect them. May your Spirit cause them to ponder this message, apply it and live it. Then God, I also ask that where we have failed, where I have failed, help me get back on track and do the things you would have me do in my walk to serve you. Thank you God, thank you for your love, now be with each of us for the duration of this week, for it is in the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!

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