Love or Duty

This thought was passed to me and others @ a conference for student pastors in Oklahoma City, OK. Jarrod Jones was our speaker. He warned us not to preach duty to God, but share the love of God and our need to love God. We must teach the Gospel as well as Grace. The key is that we do not focus on behavior modification. He focused on several passages but the ones that deal with this issue comes from Rom. 7:4, 14.

Here is difficulty. Behavior modification is tangible & measureable. A heart and love for God is not easily measured. As a minister, we want to neatly package things so that people can see immediate results and we as well. Yet, the spiritual journey of our faith and growth as followers of Jesus is nothing immediate and sometimes not measureable by human standards.

Just something to thank about.

the Inauguration of the blog

This should probably have a warning label attached to it. Maybe an age verification should be required prior to my blogs. Who knows what you may encounter in one of my diatribes of vocabulary. It might be serious, comical, just plain stupid, or one of my rants about our culture/political climate, or just a sharing of my family.

Regardless as to why you are reading this, I appreciate it. I hope to inspire, challenge, cause you to think, or just share in this journey of life. Inevitably I hope to cause you to think more like Christ, look more Him, and act like Him.

I am far from it myself and not the prime example. I am a sinner who was once condemned but has been set free by the generous and unworthy gift of Jesus Christ who is God's Son and lived a flawless life, and took what I deserved on the cross. It is the fact of His resurrection from once being dead that enables me to share with Him now, but even more in life after death-the joy of heaven.