Growin' Up Gregory

As many people are getting more excited about football starting up, it's sad that the top story out of football right now is about a back up quarterback sitting on a bench.  No, literally it is.  I'm not writing this to in any way debate, or even really to discuss, Colin Kaepernick's protest of the American flag due to police violence against African Americans.  By now most of us have seen what he did and heard why he did it.  My concern is the vastly different reactions, emotions, and feelings that are coming out of his protest.  Again, I don't want to debate, and am not intelligent and informed enough to do so, whether or not he was right or wrong.  My initial reaction was that of shock and anger and how he could disrespect the flag and what it stands for.  But then I read about why he did and see others reactions to it and I believe that many, once "cooler heads can prevail," would agree that his motivation is noble, but his method could have used some mo

Working at the bank, finances are obviously a large part of what I'm exposed to and looking at daily.  This morning, after attempting to revisit our family budget yesterday, the thought came to me of how would we be different if we treated Jesus like we treat money? 1.  When there is a need, we'll give money.  How many of us when we see a family lose everything to catastrophe (i.e. fire, flood, etc.), or go thru a major illness like cancer with a family member will be more than willing to donate to their cause to help provide needs and pay medical bills?  Or when a charitable organization is having a fundraiser, our businesses, or individuals are quick to write a check and make a donation?  Don't get me wrong, these are very good and honorable things.  But how many people do we pass daily whose greatest need isn't money?  How many people do we walk by daily who are bankrupt in Christ without giving them a dime?  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit ha

In this story, Jesus has begun his ministry.  He's already performed several miracles, including cleansing a leper, healing a paralytic, and healing the sick.  He has called his 12 disciples to follow him, and is going through the land teaching.  We will also read about the Sea of Galilee, which to put into perspective is 13 miles long and 7 miles wide according to one source. On this day, as evening has come, Jesus said to them, "Come, let us go across to the other side."  And they left the crowd and took him in the boat and went with him, just as he was.  And there were other boats with him.  And a great windstorm arose with waves breaking into the boat so bad that the boat was already filling with water.  But Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion.  The disciples woke him, and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"  And Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind and the sea, "Peace!  Be Still!"  And the wind ceased and there

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever." - Psalm 136:1 Dr. Jerry Walls used Psalm 136:1-9 in the devotion this morning but I wanted to share his thoughts that went along with that text:  "When my children were growing up, I was constantly prompting them to do all kinds of things.  I would prompt them to open doors for people, prompt them to wash their hands and brush their teeth, and prompt them every other day to clean their rooms.  On some days, it seemed like all I was doing was prompting them.  But more than anything else, I was constantly prompting my children to say thank you.  And I prompted them the same way every parent in the history of the world prompted their children.  When I saw they might have missed an opportunity to say thanks, I would simply remind them by saying, 'What do you say?'  When I said, 'What do you say?' my children knew this really wasn't a question.  I would have been surpr

There's a sign on a local church in town that reads, "You must learn from your failures, or you fail to learn."  I think that's an important concept to not only understand, but to put into practice.  Even the old saying, "you live and you learn," may have biblical roots.  Job tells us 12:12, "Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days." So this got me to thinking, what did I learn from last weekend in Asheville with friends, away from Thomas, and doing the Spartan Race? 1.  Parents really do need time away from their children.  I'm sure most people reading this are either thinking, I agree 100%, or I disagree 100%.  But it's difficult to find that balance in being a good, involved parent, yet also a good, loving spouse.  Brittnee and I are happy, let me just get that out there before someone reads too much into that.  But that doesn't mean we can't be happier does it?  We love playing with Thomas, watching him

I finally got back to finishing up this passage I had looked at a couple weeks ago.  This is the final verse and my final thoughts on prayer from 1 Timothy 2. "I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling." - 1 Timothy 2:8 In this verse, every place, refers to what would be considered our corporate worship services today.  It was where and when the church gathered together to worship.  Paul was encouraging the people to step up and be leaders, especially through prayer.  I know at our church right now, we've had to have many people step up in different areas to help us keep things on track and moving forward.  Each church's current situation is different but all churches need volunteers willing to step up, lead, and pray.  As Paul goes on to write about lifting holy hands, he's not giving us instructions for how to hold our hands during prayer.  Rather, he is using imagery here to tell us to live a cle

"For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in truth." - 1 Timothy 2:7 Paul is declaring here that he had been appointed, or called, to be a preacher.  He was letting the people know that this was God's plan, and not his.  And as a preacher, his mission and purpose in life was to proclaim the Word of God, and Paul did that through preaching, teaching, and writing.  How are we proclaiming God's Word today?  Are we telling anyone about Jesus' sacrifice?  Are we living out a life that honors Him daily? Paul takes the time in this passage to note that he is a teacher of the Gentiles who were the outcasts of the day.  This small truth transfers over to a greater truth of the universality of the message of the gospel.  It does not discriminate based on how you were raised, who your parents were, your social status, income level, or the color of your skin.  Paul was man enough to

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time." - 1 Timothy 2:1-8 V5 restates the truth that Christians know that there is only one way to receive salvation, by placing your faith and trust in God.  Jesus is our mediator, the one who intervenes as John MacArthur said, between God and us sinners.  This verse reminds us of the great need for the lost to come to know the Lord, and leads us to the great sacrifice Jesus made so we all could do so. Jesus voluntarily gave himself up as ransom to pay for our sins.  Yes, he is God's son, and that was God's will.  But how many of us have disobeyed our parents or not done what they wanted us to at times?  Jesus willingly gave up his life, and in a brutal and agonizing way, so that we would not have to bear the debt of sin in our lives.  Now if that's not something to be thankful for I don

"This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." - 1 Timothy 2:3-4 Paul starts out these verses calling God by the name our Savior, reminding us that He is the source of our salvation, and we cannot save ourselves. Isn't it great to know, that the Creator and Ruler of the universe "desires all people to be saved."  The Greek word for desires used in V4 is different from the meaning of God's purpose.  His purpose, which is bigger than His desire, is to save everyone, even though scripture lets us see that not everyone will not be saved.  But it is reassuring to know that His desire, His want, His hope, is for us to be saved and not be separated from Him by sin. So we see that the Lord wants us to be saved, but how does that happen?  In order to accept Christ's gift of salvation, we must first know about it, we must have the "knowledge of the truth.&q

I'm still working through this same passage on prayer from 1 Timothy and I won't copy all the verses but you can read from the beginning to have a better understanding of the full passage. "...That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior." - 1 Timothy 2:2b-3 Paul's plea for Timothy here is for the church to live peaceful and quiet lives.  So how do we do that?  Well the thought of peacefulness is a life that is free from internal disturbances or distractions.  We must first be at peace with ourselves before we can be at peace with others.  A quiet life is one that flows from being peaceful and is a life free from external disturbances and distractions.  Now this does not mean that the church is to just go along with whatever the world says in order to be peaceful.  We are not to waver on biblical truth period.  You won't find true Christians saying that some