Growin' Up Gregory

Back in the early 2000's when I was younger, wilder, and without a wife, mortgage, and a kid, I was really into cars.  No, not working on them, my brother Jordan got all those skills.  I was into buying and selling them, driving them, fixing them up, and keeping them clean.  I never had the fanciest car in town or anything like that (though I probably acted like I did).  But during this time, my best friend had a Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with all kinds of modifications on it.  The car looked amazing and could back it up with nearly 400 horsepower.  We regularly washed cars together, cruised together, and yes took pictures of our cars together so we knew each other's cars pretty well.  I had helped wash it, ridden in the back seat before, and even ridden shotgun.  But one night, he asked if I wanted to drive.  And like any young guy who had only driven SUV's and Hondas at the time, I said yes and was in the driver's seat before he ha...

We all know that we are human, we make mistakes, and that we are sinners.  If you didn't, now you know that.  And if thought you were perfect, just ask around and some of your close friends will likely inform you that you aren't.  And in case you don't think you sin, Romans 3:23 says, "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Football season has kicked off at the high school and pre-season NFL levels, and is just around the corner for college.  There are certain rules in football that all players and teams have to follow (Yes, some of them don't make sense but that's for a different post). In football, if a player makes a mistake and receives a penalty, the whole teams loses the yardage.  If a lineman jumps offside, the team goes back give yards.  If someone gets a holding penalty, the team loses ten yards.  And if a player or coach loses their composure for a moment and receives a personal foul penalty, the entire team has to back ...

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23 Many Christians, and anyone else who's studied the Bible, will rather quickly agree that sin brings about spiritual death.  But we sometimes neglect the idea that sin can bring about death in other days that we don't even realize.  Sin can lead to the death of a dream, of a relationship, or even the death of your afternoon plans. So how do we prevent these deaths in our life?  James 4:7 reads, "Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  In this context, submit literally meant to "line up under" as soldiers would line up under a military commander in preparation for battle.  This type of submission requires a conscious and intentional effort on the part of the one following God.  It requires us to give Him our allegiance, to obey His commands, and then to follow His leadership. The notion of submis...

Some of the best new on earth is salvation, but even it comes against the backdrop of sin, and the fact that we are all sinners and need salvation.  Many of us have probably heard the word "sin" so much that it either has no meaning or has become so over-defined that we are now confused by it. So what is sin? The original Greek word for "sin" meant simply to miss the mark as an archer may miss a target.  Well if we are missing the target, what was the target anyway?  Romans 3:23 tells us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."   Simply put, sin is falling short of God's standards for our attitudes and actions.  It's not measuring up to what our parents want us to do, what our co-workers wants us to do, it's doing what God wants us to do. Did you realize that "whoever know the right thing to do and fails to do it" has sinned?  That's what James 4:17 says.  Sin could be compared to shooting basketball:  whet...

When Christians and "church people" begin to view and confront sin the way we would a child who has gone astray, then maybe people will be able to hear us because we won't sound like a bunch of arrogant hotheads. My son is only 3 so I know that I haven't been through the trials many parents have faced. But I also don't believe that if he comes home after a night of drinking, getting busted for drugs, with a pregnant girlfriend, or some other stupid, bonehead mistake that I'll stop loving him. Yes I will be angry, upset, hurt, and pretty ticked off. But he will be able to sense the love that I still have (and the anger). I will do my best to communicate my love and concern for his well-being but also my disdain for the sin that he has committed.  I'm not saying that we tolerate this continued behavior either, I'm talking his first big screw-up.  A continued breach of trust and ignoring instruction is a whole other story. ...

There are tons of questions in our town, state, country, and world that need answering. And there is no shortage of information, opinions, suggestions, and advice (wannabe answers) from news and social media outlets. Yet we still have more problems than solutions. What are we to do? I found a book with tons of information in it that handles government, protests, raising kids & families, having friends, making & handling money, sex, in-laws, race, war, work, and much more about life and death.  Why hasn't everyone heard about it?  Why isn't the news trying to promote and sell it?  Why aren't people on Facebook selling it for cheap with everything else they're not using?  Why aren't we opening it to find the answers?  Wait!  I almost forgot to tell you what it is.  It's the most published book in the world, the Bible.   Once some of you finish your eye roll, let me share a few examples: - Government:  "Let ever...

It's amazing how God works the little things in our life in such a way that the timing of them works out perfectly. I don't believe in coincidences, I believe in divine intervention. A couple weeks ago I picked up a devotional that I hadn't touched for a month or so. Today's reading, though it hasn't fully answered the question I'm struggling with right now, has at least helped shine some light and insight onto the situation. From Disciples Path: "Many Christians feel uncertain or unsettled about their place in their local church, which is understandable given that people - even well-meaning disciples of Christ - aren't perfect. Still, Jesus has promised us a place in His body. Therefore, our service in the church becomes a matter of faith more than comfort." If you're not familiar with the body of Christ, read 1 Corinthians 12:12-20,27 for some background. How many of us feel 100% certain that we are right w...

In case you wonder why it's always the "rich" people complaining so much about taxes, here's an intriguing fact from an article I read on MSN that may shed some light on the subject:  "The top 1 percent of American taxpayers still pay an effective tax rate of approximately 31.9 percent, on average, while the bottom 20 percent of the population pays an average of approximately 3.9 percent," reports the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Let's look at this in real dollars. If you m ade a salary of $36,000 per year, that would come to $3,000 per month gross income. Falling into the top 1% tax bracket would mean that you would have $2,043 to spend as you decided in your paycheck. Taking that same salary applying it to the lower total tax bracket would mean that you would have $2,883 to spend. Which group do you want to be in? Would you complain if others were paying that much less than you had to living in the same country receiving the same b...

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and do the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8 This verse has been read and quoted many times to help inspire churches to reach those right outside their door and around the world.  It's also one that many missionaries feel is a major part of their calling to travel and spread the gospel in some of the most remote and dangerous areas on earth.  We seem to have more means, more ability, and I would like to think more motivation than ever before.  So why does this question from my devotional this morning bug me so much:  What obstacles are currently hindering the gospel message from being fully proclaimed "to the ends of the earth?" Sadly, my honest answer is me.  I'm not making every conversation about Christ and the wonderfulness of his grace.  I'm only sharing with those I feel comfortable talking about faith with, those wh...

In 1 Kings 17:1-7, Elijah was in Gilead with Ahab and the Lord told him to depart from there and go hide by the brook Cherith  east of the Jordan River.  Elijah was commanded to drink from the brook and the Lord told him that ravens would bring him food there.  So Elijah went and did as the Lord had commanded and lived by the brook.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and the evening, and Elijah drank from the brook.  But eventually, the brook dried up because there was no water. God showed us his miraculous power in this passage by commanding the ravens to bring food to Elijah.  God showed his compassion by providing this food for Elijah.  But then God decided to no longer provide water.  The brook that had supplied water for Elijah had dried up.  What happened?  Had God's heart toward Elijah turned cold?  Was he being punished? No.  God was prompting Elijah to move.  In the very next verse, God tell...