Growin' Up Gregory

If you could live anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? In these times, it's a tougher question than usual right?  We could pick a tropical destination, somewhere with a good job, somewhere close to family, or wherever you heart may desire.  But no matter where you chose right now, one thing remains true about all places - no matter how 'perfect' we may think it to be, problems will still arise there. It's nearly impossible to escape pollution, evil, and the virus that plaguing our land right now.  But there is a location with none of these problems - Heaven.  In John 14:3, Jesus said, "And if  I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself."  None of us enjoy talking about death.  But it is an impending reality for all of us.  It may be today, tomorrow, next year, or decades from now.  But you don't have to fear death if you know the next step. What's it like? In Revelation 21, John offe...

I'm not a doctor...but I do share a bed with a former medical assistant so that counts for something right?  Bad dad joke, sorry.  But for real, I don't know how serious we should be taking all the news and hype around COVID-19 aka the Coronavirus.  That being said, here are my thoughts and opinions based on the current outbreak and medical situation in my community. First, I wanted to keep from commenting too much on this publicly.  If it gets bad and people die, I look like a jerk who needed to be more compassionate.  If it's not bad and we cancel events and people stop living their life out of fear over something that doesn't materialize, we all look silly - and miss days, weeks, months, and for some, seasons that we'll never get back. Our church, like many, has recently asked the question, "Should we have services?  Abbreviated services?  Online services?  Just one? etc."  I didn't plan this verse for my daily devotional: "And let u...

Most of us have seen a movie or commercial where a child stumbles through the house on Christmas Eve and discovers Santa Claus carefully placing presents under their Christmas tree.  Upon this shocking discovery, the child becomes fully enlightened by Santa's existence and exclaims, "You do exist!"  The child has heard the stories and seen the presents before, but prior to having this proof for himself, he didn't quite believe.  But now, he knows that Santa is real. If you know God, think back to before you knew who He was.  You likely had heard stories about creation, burning bushes, floods, and many other miracles.  But until you saw the proof and the facts really got into your head and your heart, they likely still didn't seem real.  It's almost like that little boy before he saw Santa - you had heard about him, you had seen some evidence, but you didn't really believe. Thankfully, God has given us significant proof that He does exist.  Psalm ...

If you've been following along, you've seen what authentic joy is and the foundation that it comes from.  But what does it look like in our everyday lives?  How do we live our lives in such a way that others can't help but see our joy and faith? Read 1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 True authentic joy is infectious.  People can spot someone who has true passion, true care, and true desire to be doing what they're doing.  This goes from the girl waiting on you at the fast food restaurant to the boy bagging your groceries.  If they are joyful in what they're doing, you can tell it because real joy is set apart. True joy does not ebb and flow with the environment around us.  It doesn't matter if your team won, your new car got a dent in it, or your favorite show got cancelled.  True joy goes beyond the trivial things that make us "happy" to the point that we are joyful in what God has given us - nothing else is needed.  The people in Thessalonica saw 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...

Most people nowadays plug in their destination on GPS anytime we are heading somewhere any significant distance away even if it's a familiar location.  And if you're like me, when the GPS gives you and estimated travel time, your first thought is, "challenge accepted."  And if you're more like, you also try your own personal shortcuts sometimes only to hear the oh so polite, yet annoying, voice saying, "recalculating." I've seen sayings on shirts and articles online about God being our GPS.  And I used to go along with that thought thinking it's cute and anytime we can get God in the conversation, there's potential for life change so that's always a plus. But if we really think about it, God is not like a GPS.  With our GPS, we set our desired destination and it tells us a route that is either the fastest, shortest, or easiest to get there.  But with God, sometimes we don't know our final destination, much less the exact time that...

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'...

There are moments in our lives that we can never forget.  They may be good or bad - a first kiss, our wedding day, birth of a child, death of a close friend or family member, a terminal diagnosis, graduations, or tragedies like 9/11.  Some of these moments are just etched in our brains never to be forgotten.  And there are other seemingly small moments that that didn't seem significant at the time but after years of reflection we realize the impact that a kind word or even a negative comment made on us.  It's easy for us to tell the stories of our proudest and most memorable accomplishments.  But what if one of the most important things we ever did is hard to remember? I heard a sermon a few weeks ago about knowing your moment of salvation, remembering the exact moment that your whole entire world changed and Jesus came into your heart.  Some people shared detailed stories of the place, the day, the time, even the weather.  The preacher talked about ...

In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned they began praying and singing hymns while in prison.  Then an earthquake shook the prison so that all the doors came open and the shackles came off the prisoners.  This was the perfect opportunity for them to escape.  But they remained along with all the other prisoners.  This had such an impact on the prison guard that he asked the men, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  Their answer is the simplest, yet most important foundation to coming to salvation.  They told the guard, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."  That was it.  There was no understanding of creation, comprehension of the Trinity, divinity training, or theology required for salvation.  The ONLY requirement was and is to place your faith and hope in Jesus Christ. If you are saved, you likely remember the feeling of peace in your life that came in those moments.  And you un...

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...

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, now free, still managed to find something to complain about to God, their hunger in the wilderness.  But God doing what He does, provided for them.  In Exodus 16:11-16, we see how God chooses to respond to these rather ungrateful people.  The Lord tells Moses, "I have heard the complaints of the Israelites.  Tell them: At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full.  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God."  In the evening, quail came and covered the camp.  And in the morning, a layer of dew surrounded the camp.  When the dew evaporated, there was a fine flake-like thing on the ground.  When the Israelites saw it, they asked, "What is it?" because they didn't know what it was.  And Moses answered them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.  This is what the Lord has commanded - 'Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat.  You may take a cou...

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...

Who do you think would love you more? The person you gave $1 - $100 - $1,000 - $10,000 - or $100,000? Now before we get into the whole "you can't buy love" discussion, yes I am aware of that.  This is merely to prove a point. If I gave you $1 you would likely be thankful but could easily forget the gesture.  If I gave you $100 you would probably think I had lost my mind.  If I gave you several thousand dollars you would likely want start being best friends.  But if I gave you $100,000 or more I imagine that for most people they would feel forever indebted to the giver.  I know I would.  I would feel obliged to answer when the call, help when they ask, and check in with them regularly always having time and energy reserved for when they may need me. I wonder if that's why some of us love God more than others.  If you've lived a very good moral and holy life committing very few sins, you perhaps received $100 worth of forgiveness.  But if yo...

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 ...