Mental Musings

Once you put your faith and trust in Christ, it is then not possible to pick and choose what you will believe in God's Word. God tells us that all scripture is from God and that Jesus is the Word of God. If you choose not to accept certain parts of God's Word than you choose not to accept Christ. If you believe that certain parts of God's Word are false or wrong, then you are claiming that Christ is false or wrong. You cannot separate Jesus from the Word of God, for Jesus is the living, breathing Word of God. You cannot choose to both accept and reject Jesus, to believe and disbelieve Him, or claim He is truth and, yet still, somehow untruth.

Ashton Poole, photo by Noah Pace. This is a guest post by my 17-year-old son, Ashton. He loves to take photographs and write stories which he shares on Tumblr . To Christians involved in politics: (Well, some.) The only problem I ever have with anyone's political opinion is in how they express it. Whenever I see words like "libtard" or "retardican," I have officially lost all interest in whatever that person had to say, no matter what it was. Joe Biden gave an excellent example during the 2012 VP debate, when he started laughing at what Paul Ryan had to say. At that point, I had no interest in anything Biden had to say; I couldn't stand the thought of that man in a position of power. The point I'm trying to get at is this; many Christian's should avoid talking about, say, President Obama in the manner I see many speaking of him in. I don't care if he is a islamic extremist who was sent here to destroy our country, don't ac...

We had a very interesting visitor today: a young man, named Orion, who looked to be in his early twenties wanted to warn us of the coming apocalypse. He shared that he had been summoned to the throne of God where he saw Jesus at the right hand of God and Mary at the left hand and Trayvon Martin crying out for justice because of George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict. God told Orion to pick up a golden bow and shoot a fiery arrow setting loose the first disaster of the tribulation that would destroy a large portion of the Eastern seaboard. Orion claimed to only know about the beginning and ending of scripture, but he continued to ask questions about who we thought certain characters really were supposed to be. He told us that Echidna was the serpent that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. He said that Adam spoke Latin first and shared what were supposed to be the last words that he spoke directly to Orion. He explained that the Greek gods and Norse gods are real and that they sit...

So today I was returning from a meeting about an hour from the church when I suddenly felt extremely lethargic and a little sick to my stomach. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open and it was a struggle to keep my head and arms from simply dropping. Coupled with the rainy weather and high summertime traffic, this was not a good feeling to have while zooming down Interstate 95. Since my home is closer to the Interstate exit than the church, I decided I should swing by my house before heading back to the church. It was an enormous effort to get my feet out of the car and walk up the steps to get in the house, but that movement made me realize something: I was having trouble breathing. I have had asthma for about five years and I am still trying to learn how to tell when I am experiencing problems with my breathing. It seems that the symptoms are never the same. I have experienced this sudden exhaustion before, but I was with someone else and able to let them drive the rest of...

As a worship pastor, I am always talking to people about serving in various positions of the music ministry. The most typical response I get is "I'll pray about that." A close second is some variation of "I don't have the ability to do that." Doubting our own abilities is a normal thing, but it should not be the reason that we fail to serve God. Why do we doubt? Well, with shows like American Idol and The Voice; with instant access to media through iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube, just to name a few; and with Mega-churches broadcasting their services; it isn't hard to see why the average musician is hesitant to put himself in the spotlight. Our nation has transitioned from a culture where everyone is a winner, even little Johnny who can't carry a tune in the proverbial bucket, to a nation obsessed with only the best of the best. I am discouraged by the increasing desire by many church leaders to use only the best talent. These leader...

This is part 3 in a study of Romans 12. Begin with part 1:  Sacrificial Lifestyle . As a worship pastor for the past thirty years, there have been times when I wished that I could just sit in the congregation and be part of the worshippers rather than a worship leader. But that is not my function. There have been times when I wanted to participate in the Wednesday night youth fun rather than lead choir practice. But that is not my function. There have been times when I wished I could stand at the doorway and be a greeter. But that is not my function. In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelo...

Darkness caressed the world with gentle reassurances. "We are all the same in here," it said. "No one need feel guilt or shame here for we have all done bad things, but the Darkness covers all of that. Come and join us and live as you desire." When Light appeared in the midst of Darkness, those living in the Dark cringed and shy away. The Dark dwellers did not like the light. The Light was seen as an angry blaze that burned past their eyes and into their souls. It was repulsive to them, so they recoiled back into the comfort of the Darkness. Darkness could not overcome the Light, but Darkness found a way to dim the effects of the Light. Darkness whispered to the Light, "We choose to live in the Darkness and you have no right to cast your Light of righteousness and judgment on us." Those living in the Dark attacked the Light, casting sticks and stones toward the Lights attempting to put them out. At the same time Darkness began to sway some of the Lights....