Growin' Up Gregory

I had the privilege of sharing this lesson in Sunday School yesterday so I thought I would share it here as well.  I know the prodigal is a familiar story to many Christians but sometimes it helps to revisit old stories to see how they may impact us now. In this parable, Jesus is responding the Pharisees complaints against him for being so welcoming and willing to eat with sinners.  This parable was also following the story of the lost sheep out of 100, and the lost coin out of 10, then the lost son out of 2, which shows us how much he cared about the world as a large group, then smaller groups, all the way down to individuals. There was a man who had two sons.  The younger son came to the father one day and asked for his share of the estate now.  The father granted the son's request and once the son received everything he was to have, he took off on a journey to a distant land.  The son then proceeded to waste his fortune on wild and reckless living.  ...

Let's set the scene here for a minute.  You and some friends are fishing at the river.  The weather is beginning to look bad so you decide to call it a day and head back.  But on the way, one of your buddies falls into the water and the current begins to pick up, the weather starts deteriorating and the conditions start to become severe.  You then realize that your friend is not a strong swimmer and the current and rain are beginning to take them under.  So now here you sit in the safety of the boat watching your friend; it could be your son, dad, brother, or other relative even; struggle for their life.  What would you do? Many people are quick to raise a hand and claim to be a hero and say they would jump in the water and rescue their friend.  Heck I would probably say that myself.  But let's be mindful, if you jump in and grab someone in fear of their life in dangerous water, there is a chance both of you would drown, so we need another ...

I would imagine that many of you, like me, go through periods in our lives where we aren't sure what to do, where to go, or how to get there.  We can listen to respected people that we look up to, pray to God, read the Bible, and may still find answers unclear at times.  Unfortunately, this post won't give you all the answers for the direction of your life because I don't always have all the answers for my own.   But it may offer some encouraging words of wisdom for our daily walk as we walk forward with God. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened for you." - Matthew 7:7.  As I've been reading through Psalms there are numerous passages that swing from extreme pain and fear to overwhelming praises of the Almighty God.  But all throughout Psalms, when he sought God, the Lord heard him.  And when the Lord hears us He will deliver us.  If your path seems to be sliding off track or not going the way y...

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.  And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted.  And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:16-20 These verses are well known to most Christians as The Great Commission.  And we have likely heard many sermons and read numerous lessons on them.  But my reading this morning looked at it in a way that I believe is vital to our country and world today. Athletes like Jackie Robinson (MLB), Charlie Sifford (PGA), and Althea Gibson (tennis & from South Carolina), opened doors for African Americans to their perspective sports. ...

Every day we wake up we have a choice to make.  We can leave the switch in the middle, flip it to cold, or flip it to hot.  Now in the middle, you slack off a little at work or in school, just sort of go through the motions of your workout, and you're in the room with your family in the evening but you're paying attention to your phone or TV. If you flip it to cold, you may call in to work or just totally check out and be unproductive once you're there, you skip the gym, and when your family is home to spend time together you remember "urgent" errands you need to go out and run so you take off. Or you can flip your switch to hot.  You get to work or school early (or at least on time) and work or study hard, you push yourself and encourage those around you in the gym, and when the family is home you're talking, interacting, sharing stories about your day, and maybe even enjoying some laughs. I think just looking at these analogies we would all say that we...

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" - Psalm 30:11-12 All throughout Psalms and even within these two verses, David goes from the valley to the mountain.  I'm sure that we all go through valleys of some sort in our lives, so you may be wondering what makes these two verses stand out.  Well David here is expressing his gratitude to God for what He has done.  He's turned his "mourning into dancing," and "clothed him in gladness."  Obviously David was thankful for God's presence and answered prayers in his life so he did what so often we slip up in doing.  He expressed his gratitude.  How often do you feel gratitude, toward God or even someone  else around you, then not get around to telling them?  We all have our reasons.  Sometimes we get busy and fo...

Now before I start, let me say that this post literally could go on forever and ever so this definitely is not an all inclusive plan for building a stronger relationship between you and the Lord.  This is just a couple ways we can get to know Him better daily through prayer. First, through constant conversation with Him.  You will not have a close relationship with God by going to church once, or even twice a week.  One book even says that a daily quiet time will not bring the closeness to Him that we often desire.  We are to share all of our life with Him.  Let me be clear though, a daily quiet time and of study and devotion is vital to the relationship, but you cannot give God a time slot on your schedule and then check it off as being done.  He should be included in every activity, every conversation, everything that comes up during your day.  Alone time with God is important, and Jesus modeled that for us.  But you can pray continuall...

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch our your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.'"  And they did so.  Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast:  All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.  The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not.  So there were gnats on man and beast.  Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God."  But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said." - Exodus 8:16-19 God commanded Moses and Aaron to strike the dust so it would become gnats.  They responded to God's command by obeying Him.  But Moses and Aaron were not the ones who turned the dust into gnats, God was. As the people were being pursued by the Egyptian army and were trapped by the Red Sea, God told...

"How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.  The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." - James 3:6 When we think of fire, we may think of a small campfire to roast marshmallows, a wood stove fire that is contained, or possibly a raging inferno that is destroying a building or forest.  James here is comparing our tongue to a fire.  The sinful words that come out of our mouths have the power to destroy everything they touch, and like a fire can do so rapidly or slowly, but with dramatic effect either way.  We should also be mindful of our speech because even if it's not directly what we say, the permeating "smoke" from our speech can destroy the things around us as well.  Often times even when we are filled with good and honorable actions, our tongue can stain, or contaminate, our body throug...