Growin' Up Gregory

So many of use things on a daily basis and trust them to function properly even though we are completely clueless about how they work.  I know very little about internal combustion engines, but I trust my car to crank and drive me to town every day.  I know even less about amps, volts, and watts of electricity, but I know that if I flip the switch my lights should turn on.  And I don't understand how wireless technology and data is communicated, but I trust that if I send a text out that it will make to wherever in the world it is intended to go.  When the angel came to Mary, she likely didn't fully understand what was about to take place in her life either, but she trusted. Read Luke 1:26 - 38 Trust God's Grace and Presence By choosing Mary to be Jesus' mother, God had bestowed His grace on her.  Sometimes we certainly feel like our calling or purpose in life is nowhere near as significant as Mary's.  And sadly, it isn't since the Savior is alre...

Recently, the 1964 movie, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, has faced criticism for promoting bullying, talking down from parents, and being unfriendly.  Here are my thoughts on that...and more. 1.  This movie is a Christmas classic.  If you like it, good.  If you don't fine.  It's a over 50 years old and if it offends you, it's not the problem, your perspective (or overly sensitive feelings) are.  To add to this, if you're offended just now by something that has been around for 50 - 100 years, someone has gotten in your head.  That object hasn't just changed to become offensive. 2.  Why are you focusing on Rudolph being picked on for having a different nose?  Guess what, kids are mean, and adults can be meaner.  Why aren't we focusing on Rudolph shrugging off the criticism of his peers, ignoring the negative talk from his coach, and not letting the discipline of his parents (more on that next) turn him into a victim?  He was an o...

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where what seemed like a complete coincidence had actually been carefully planned out ahead of time?  Maybe it was a set-up by friends with someone they wanted you to date, maybe it was a surprise party or celebration, maybe even a coach getting a technical foul that would inspire his team to play harder, or maybe you found yourself the victim of being "punked."  Sometimes the coincidences we think we see in life aren't coincidences at all, they are a part of God's larger plan for His world and our life. Christmas, and Jesus' birth, is certainly no different.  This was far from an unplanned pregnancy.  Christ's birth had been foretold many years before.  One scientist actually calculated the odds of 8 prophecies of Jesus being fulfilled in one person at being 1 in 100 quadrillion.  We literally have better odds of winning the lottery (1 in 175 million) multiple times than that Jesus Christ would have fulfilled t...

I hope that everyone had at least one opportunity to enjoy a firework show to celebrate Independence Day over the past week.  I think it's amazing that nearly every small town in America seems to have some sort of festival and firework show to celebrate our nation's freedom; a freedom that many have fought and died for which is so vital to our way of life in this country and we should all be deeply grateful for those who have sacrificed their time, energy, and lives to defend our nation. But back to the fireworks.  Depending on where you're watching and who you're watching with, the best part of a firework show is either the first BOOM and flash of light when the kids sit down and start to be still and quiet for a minute; or it's the final climax when the exhibitors show you their best, brightest, and loudest - the grand finale!  For those seconds the sky lights up like the middle of the day, the booms don't seem too loud anymore, and it creates an almost magi...

As my wife would be quick to point out, I have a tendency to overcommit and say "yes" to too many things.  It seems like if I sense a moment of spare time and someone comes along and asks if I can help with this or that, then the next thing I know I'm sitting in another meeting with another group of people trying to accomplish some good.  But as any smart husband will learn to do, I have gotten better at running things by my wife before agreeing to them...most of the time. And I'm willing to bet that most people's lives are pretty similar in some aspects.  We all want to do so many things: work (or at least make money), spend time with family, spend time with friends, serve our community, enjoy hobbies, spend time with ourselves, etc. There are only so many hours in the day so how do we do it?  How do we balance work, family, friends, church, and taking of ourselves?  We don't. Have you ever balanced two kids on a see-saw?  Or looked at one of those old...

I recently did something that I never thought would happen...or at least not any time soon.  I cut my workout days back from 5 days per week to 4.  Now I know for some people who aren't as into working out as I am, that doesn't sound like a big deal.  But excluding vacations and days to rest before races, I have honestly worked out at 5AM (or earlier) almost every weekday since February 2010.  My fitness and training was, and probably still is, an addiction.  And I honestly wasn't sure how I would handle not training that one day of the week.  I assumed that I would be sluggish, that it would mean I was lazy, and that I would instantly get weaker and fatter.  But none of that happened.  Actually, I feel more refreshed throughout the entire week and haven't noticed any drastic changes in my strength or size so far.   For someone who had always lived by the mantra that the more effort and work you put in, the more results you will get ...

ABC's "The View" is blind. I could write a long post analyzing their recent talking points and showing instances of hypocrisy and intolerance on the show but it's not worth my time and I honestly don't watch enough TV to be overly concerned with the opinions shared there. But I will make one thing clear as it could be a matter of where someone spends eternity. In Joy Behar's 'apology' she stated, "I'm a Christian. I give money to the church. You know, I actually help Christians with my pocketbook, so I'm not insulting Christians." Ma'am, any true Christian knows that going to church, giving to church, watching church, or anything like that does not make you a Christian. You receive salvation one way - "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9 You can'...

My body has gotten to the point that I now enjoy looking at rollercoasters more than riding them.  I still enjoy the rush you get riding one, but my aging back just doesn't handle the twists and turns and bumps like it used to.  This week, has been somewhat of a real life rollercoaster ride.  There were no major losses or disasters like a death or terminal illness but I did get cussed out by one person, had my character somewhat questioned by another, and had a couple days of lunch and evening appointments making for a hectic schedule.  But there were some goods - I had a satisfactory review at work, completed some tasks from those meetings, had lunch with an old friend, and received a couple sincere compliments.  And wouldn't you know, to top it all off, this week's Sunday school lesson tied directly in to the week I was having.  God's timing is awesome. The lesson this week is titled "No Fear" and comes from Acts 18:1-11 where Paul is in Corinth.  ...

This morning, we had a joint Sunday School gathering at Tabernacle.  Our guest speaker was a former member of TBC and Union native, Ralph Brown.  His topic was the title of this post, "The Strength of the Church."  The text he used was Luke 24:44-53 and records some of Jesus' last words to His disciples prior to his ascension and I encourage you to read it.  He shared with us from that scripture 4 points that are the strength of the church and these are my takeaways from that message. 1.  Headship The head of the church is Jesus Christ.  That goes for the worldwide kingdom of God and the local church body.  The head of your church is, or at least should be, Jesus.  It's not your pastor, the deacons, or the biggest tithers.  Jesus is to be the leader of the church.  Colossians 1:18 reads, "And he is the head of the body, the church." Jesus should be our motivation for why and where we come to church.  We shouldn't come just for ...

What kind of t-shirts do Christians wear? What kinds of foods do Christians eat? What kind of cars do Christians drive? What kinds of haircuts do Christians get? What kind of tattoos do Christians get? (okay I made that one up and added it in) "While the Bible speaks to these issues to come degree...we are all tempted to say more than the Bible does on certain issues, to impose rules on others based on our personal preferences about how others should act or behave." This was actually a major issue in the early church.  Yes, even before anyone with a computer or smartphone could put their 'words of wisdom' out there for the whole world to read with social media.  The church at Antioch around A.D. 49 had a group of Judaizers basically claiming that recent Gentile converts to Christ would have to become Jewish in all practical ways in order to truly be saved.  This became a cause of strife in the church and led to a meeting in Acts 15 of the church apostles and e...

I often hear older people talk about the "good old days" or "back in my day" and they wish that things would go back to the way they were back then. That will never happen. And sadly, many of us in the millennial generation may even make the same statements one day, if we haven't already.  A.W. Tozer said this, " Regardless of where you look these days, change is inevitable. Things are not what they once were. I am not one that bemoans the past for the simple reason that the past was not as good as we remember." People, technology, industry, work, laws, morals, relationships, social media, privacy and so many other things will always be changing. If you want to survive the storms of change in your life you must have some constant that holds you on course.  There is only one things that never changes, that has never had to change because He has always been good and perfect - God.  Malachi 3:6 reads, "For I the Lord do not change......

Here we are.  Moses is up on the mountain getting instruction from the Lord.  Meanwhile, the Israelite people have rebelled and turned their back on God asking Aaron to build them an idol to worship.  They have completely tossed Moses and God to the side and bowed down to a golden calf.  God is furious at the people to say the least and has told Moses that He plans to destroy them and start over and "make a great nation of you (Moses)." (Ex 32:10)  If you are one of these Israelites, you just turned your back on God.  He knows.  He's mad.  What do you want to happen next?  Moses begins to plead with the Lord, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?  Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume (destroy) them from the face of the earth?'  Turn from your bur...

The Israelites have had a difficult time.  They were oppressed for many years in slavery, finally set free, only to be chased by the Egyptian army and cornered at the Red Sea.  They questioned Moses and God.  But God, doing as He always does, responded to their fears and rescued them. The Israelites have cried, complained, and grumbled to God.  They have faced difficult circumstances and at times even lost hope.  But God has delivered yet again.  In the midst of the people's feat and questioning, God provides an escape.  In Exodus 14:29, "The people of Israel walk on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left."  The Lord saved the Israelites that day and the people saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore as God brought the waters back together through Moses (Ex 14:26-28). God has once again set his people apart.  "By saving His people and judging their enemies, God demonstrated that He...

You can see Part 1 of this blog here:  Where is your path heading? (Part 1) We looked at the path of the blessed man, so what does the path of the wicked look like? Psalm 1:4-5 - "The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." This verse basically starts out telling us that all the things we just read about the blessed man are not true of the wicked man.  It's basically translated as a big "No No" or as Lee Corso might say, "Not so fast my friend."  They take the advice of the wicket, stand in the path of sinners, and even sit with mockers.  They do not delight in God's instruction and law, but rather spend time thinking up and creating their own.  They don't spend time in God's Word, but rather fill their minds with worldly thoughts. The Psalmist compares the wicked to chaff, which to fully understand we ...