Make Sure Your Heart Has a Good Battery in It's Peacemaker

There is a very important quality we need to establish in our life.  It is the quality of being a Peacemaker.  Peacemaking is a very thankless, special quality that few have and all need.  A peacemaker is one who insures that harmony and unity are supreme.  They are super sensitive to situations and analyze both sides of aggression to find the best possible solution to a problem.  Instead of envy and selfishness, a peacemaker is a lover of peace, considerate, submissive, and full of mercy and good fruit.  Their life carries a certain purity that is only explained by those they come in contact with.  Sadly enough, I have known few true peacemakers in my time and sadly I have not been a very good one myself.  Even the best of peacemakers always have to be on alert to keep their relationship with Christ current and real.  In James 4: 13 - 18 it talks about people who aren't peacermakers, who have the wrong qualities and spread disorder and evil.  Then it talks about those who are truly wise in their walk and their purity of heart spreads good fruit and unity.  The end result of a non-peacemaker is a lot of hurt and confusion and not much good comes from it.  The end result of a peacemaker is what the Bible calls "a harvest of righteousness."  When peace is sown, the fruit it bears is righteousness.

I have a friend who has a pacemaker and if his heart gets below a certain beat sequence his pacemaker will give him a wake up shock to keep his heart  pumping correctly.  The reason for the pacemaker is because his heart quit working efficiently enough to be trusted.  The pacemaker is a fail-safe device to make up for a sick heart.   When our heart gets sick and we begin to allow our old nature to control our actions we don't see a harvest of righteousness, we see a harvest of weeds or sin.  God wants us to get beyond the desire to control things for ourselves and get to the point that everything is under His control.  Our heart will weaken from time to time, but God is our peacemaker.  He will take those things that rattle others and cause us to look at them as He does.  Then our reaction will be one that turns a bad situation into peace and harmony.

As I said before, to keep the quality of a peacemaker it takes a constant watch over our lifestyle, our words, and our reactions.  Allow God's great reminder shock to keep you in line with the path He has you on.  There is a world needing to see more of God's Peace and less of our worldly attitude.  Ask God to keep you on track with His Spiritual Pacemaker.  Our heart is a wonderful organ that keeps us alive.  God's batteries (the Holy Spirit) are always charged and ready to keep peace alive as we grow closer and closer to Him as His Peacemakers.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

The Biggest Loser is The Biggest Winner

A big part of our Chrisitan Pilgrimage is what I like to call "The Exchange."  The Exchange is where we start seeing less of our old self and more of Christ in our lives.  The Bible calls it Sanctification.  Sanctification is a process by which those who know Christ take on more of the nature of God through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In that process God takes over more and more control of our lives and through Bible Study, Prayer, and interaction with other believers the process moves forward.  When that process moves forward unimpeded we see ourselves more and more spiritually "in shape"  More of God starts to be seen in our lives and like old skin the things that used to be a part of our lives start shedding off.  Before long the transformation process is very noticeable to us and all who know us.  Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  You can always tell when a person is in the middle of this transformation.  The old habits of their life start to be less noticeable and a new fresh outlook and lifestyle takes its place.  The transformation is not without it's setbacks, but with our focus on God and His ways, the process continues to renew our mind and we start looking and acting more like Jesus and less like the old self.  One of the big problems in this process is when we don't walk away from sins that have been controlling our lives for years. You see, we receive God's grace for our sin and when we come to realize a sin area in our lives, we admit that to God and ourself.  We know that His forgiveness at the time of our conversion has covered that sin which makes it possible for us to walk away from that sin.  But somewhere in the process we continue to let that sin have control, along with the grace God gives.  The two somehow coexist.  We receive more and more of God's grace, but the sin remains there as well, so we continue to do that sin again and again.  No transformation, just repetition.  If a picture could be shown of our condition, it would look like we are extremely overweight.  Deep down inside at our core is a very in shape person who has let themselves go and accepted the fact that there will be no major changes.  Just like the TV Show the biggest loser, we lose focus, gain weight, and our self identity suffers.  That's when we need to get ourselves on a regimen of spiritual exercise, and start dieting in the area of allowing sin to continue to reign in our lives.  The sin weight we have raises our guilt levels, affects the condition of our spiritual heart, and shuts down our activity as a believer.  The sanctification process, or spiritual breathing, starts to slow and almost stop.  We no longer have the joy of a person "in shape" and we doubt whether we will ever get rid of this sin weight.  Much like the TV Show, we need help.  We need coaching to get over the hump and get our focus back on  the transformation that needs to take place.  A workout plan might look like this:

1.  No interaction or consumption of your past sin life groups.

2.  Get around people who have been able to come out of this problem and can coach you through it.

3.  Exercise your faith and do a major "sin burn."

4.  Check your scales on a regular basis to see how the tranformation process is progressing.

5.  Get family and friends to keep an eye on your progress and make yourself accountable to them and your trainers.

The end result will not be a winner in a competition per say, but you will be a winner in the game of life.     The Biggest Loser of expelling the amount of the old sin nature in your life is really The Biggest Winner.

In Romans 6:1-2 says, "What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?" 

Sanctification is a wonderful process that causes us to fulfill the cry of Peter in 1 Peter 1:16 where he quotes Leviticus 19 "Be holy, because I am holy."  It is God's desire for the sanctification process to continue because it is the best for us.  We will only be happy when we are spiritually in shape and exercising our faith on a daily basis. Then we can say "transformation complete." No more bloating, no more excuses, no more overindulging in your past sinful desires.  Sanctification!  The process all believers long for where we have a desire to be in shape and looking more like our heaven Father every day.  Today the diet and exercise begin!!!

The pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

If It's Gonna Help, It's Gonna Hurt

If you've ever been to a workout gym you will hear all kinds of comments about working out.  You will probably see a trainer yelling out to some poor guy going "you can do better than that!" Then you will go to the next station and some lady trainer will be yelling out, "If it's gonna help, it's gonna hurt."  The lady looks back at the trainer and says, "then I don't want it to help."    When you decide to shape up in anything whether physical or spiritual you have to be willing to feel the burn.  When training the body you have to go through the soreness, injuries, recovering from injuries, and the overall mindset has to be commitment.  Why?  Cause it's going to be tough, but the end result is worth it every time.  In the spiritual life you will have many different stages to go through and at times they will seem too tough, but hang in there.  One of the toughest things for us to have to deal with as believers is words.  When you take a stand for Christ you are going to be misunderstood, chastised, and at times victimized.  It's going to hurt at times, but it's going to help in the long run.  Some Christians don't even want to get into the tough part and they will only let people know they are believers when they are inside a church.  That way if we say something or do something marginal no one calls our hand.  Keep in mind our spiritual exercise is in the world and every day people see us and want to know if we will really stand by our faith or not.  When we proclaim Christ, we must do it in every part of our life and our words must be His truth alone.  That's why God's Word speaks so much about what we say.  When we take a firm stand for the Lord others will share their opinions to recant what we are saying as false.  Their words will at times come in the way of insults and that spiritual exercise can really hurt. 

1 Peter 4:14 says, "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."  When God is in your life you will suffer slander at the hands of those who don't believe and you will be insulted if you are active in your faith. We now bear the name of Jesus and His Name and the lifestyle that follows it will put us in conflict with the world we live in time and time again.  It is inevitable.  Yet we as believers think we are never going to have to deal with things being said against us because of Christ in our lives.  We want just enough of the of the world and just enough of Christ to remain loved by both.  The more of Christ you see in your life, the more it exposes and opens your eyes to the lies of the world.  Then we've got a problem.  Deny Christ and shut up, or proclaim Christ and suffer the consequences.  The choice can be tough, but God gives us grace and strength for making that choice.  In verse 15-18 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

So, if we are going to live for Christ and speak for Christ to the point of making a difference it will at times hurts.  That hurt is what the Bible says is "taking up your cross."  That cross may seem heavy at the beginning, but the more you work out the easier it becomes because you are becoming spiritually fit.  Now is the time to get in shape and to plan a great workout.  You can even call it The Firm.  Standing Firm in  your Faith.  The more you do it the more in shape you will become.  If It's Gonna Help, It's Gonna Hurt..

The Pilgrimage continues......

David Warren

You Can Handle the Truth

"Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."  The old saying that has been recited as a fail-safe reply against getting riled when someone puts you down.  It's our attempt to deal with words.  We live in a world of words.  Words, truthful and untruthful, are thrown around like dust in the wind.  Like dust, the words we say pick up a breeze and travel from place to place gathering more and more body until they become like stones that are ready to be tossed at whoever gets in the way.  An old Spanish Proverb says, "a word from the mouth is like a stone from a sling."  Those very small words at the beginning seem so innocent, but soon innocence is lost as they are fertilized with our own desires and impressions.  They grow into either great encouragements or discouragements for all who use them.  In our modern day language we have even been able to take what amounts to bad words and make them seem good so we don't have to give off the impression we are doing anything wrong.  The words still put down the other person and lift us up, even though we were in the wrong.  It's called passive aggressive.  The use of words has become an art to many and can call people to arms or cause peace to come upon a seemingly aggressive situation.  The moment they leave our mouth and hit someone's ear, words make an impact. Words have a high priority to God and His Perfect Words are vital to us.  That's why we should never attempt to water down God's Word, but speak it for what it is.  God's Truth.  The full effect of God's Word cannot be made a passive aggressive hint as to what God is saying about life and it's practices.  We should take His word and allow it the breadth it desires when speaking to our heart, as well as, other's hearts.  Every time I hear someone say,"just tell me the truth, I can take it"  I get a amused because usually they really can't take it.  The truth that is!  A famous quote by Jack Nicholson who played Jessep in the movie A Few Good Men says a lot.  After Tom Cruise's character yelled "I want the truth" Jessep answered, "You can't handle the truth."  In reality, most of us think we can't handle the truth....the real unfiltered truth  from God's Word.  But whether we think we can handle it or not, we need it.  We need the full effect of pure truth and not the passive aggressive type truth that is filtered by man's impressions.  In face, watered down truth really isn't truth at all.

So, Stick and Stones may break our bones, but......words with substance and purity are going to hurt some too.  It's a good hurt because it stops us from going the wrong way and gets us back on track.  It also take the good strides we are taking in our relationship with God and helps us stay aligned with Him.   Words do make an impact, so make sure that whatever you say out loud is prompted by the God who gives us His Words for use in every situation.  In James it says that the tongue is a very small part of the body, but it's affect is very powerful.  God's Word was handed down to us through prophets He empowered to share His pure truth.  Now we are His mouthpieces for sharing that same truth.  Let us make sure that we don't marginalize any of His Word so that the impact it would make is compromised.  If you really believe God's Word is pure and real, then share it wisely and let His Will be done.  Seek the Spiritual Truth from God and then live it and share it. Don't follow words that are soiled by the world's impressions of truth.    Paul told this great truth to Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:15 where he said, "Do your best to present to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  It may be tough, but remember, with the Holy Spirit in our lives, we CAN handle the Truth.  Just let the real truth from God's Word be the truth you handle.

The pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

The Unknown Versus The Known

When God starts doing a great work in your life, it won't be long until He starts stretching your faith band.  He will put you in situations that will bring you to a crisis of belief.  In that crisis you will be asked at times to come up to the edge of darkness and take one more step.  Throughout the Bible it shows God stretching His people, them responding, and the result of their action.  Honestly, God will help you get to know just how much you trust Him real quick.  But it's not without a perfect purpose.  He usually follows up these "stretching exercises" by moving you to a whole new level in your walk.  At the time, all of it seems so tough, but after you have persevered and trusted Him, you see just how aweseome God is and how much He cares for you.

Radical Faith is a funny thing.  You get to a point where you think you have pretty much seen it all, and then you realize there is so much more to learn about God.  Then trusting Him becomes a way of life and nothing satisfies you more than seeing God's Hand move all around you and through you.  You move from seeking the Obvious or The Known, to seeking the Not so Obvious or The Unknown.  This part of the Christian pilgrimage goes all the way back to the Disciples and their faith in following Jesus without really having any prior relationship with Him.  He came up to them and said "follow me" and they did.  Really what He was saying was "follow me into the unknown and I will let you see things you haven't seen yet."  In the known versus the unknown it doesn't take long to see that the unknown can be a scary place without God, so you are totally dependent on His every Word.  He becomes your only light and your source of strength.  Your very existence is because you trust Him and Him alone.  The known is something you share with many others.   Many live in the known because it's faith is built on things one can see, and it's safe.  The  unknown puts you in a position to see things you haven't seen before and others will not get to experience those things because they won't commit to trust God in that way.  Many great leaders in the faith have been willing to not only talk about that step of faith, but have lived it.  When they took that step of faith their lives were never the same.  The awesome thing about God is He will take the unlikeliest person and show them more than others because of one thing.  They have unconditional FAITH in God.

Years ago when I was a youth pastor our youth group went to a nearby lake for our annual summer trip.  We spent time swimming, skiing, and hiking.  One particular girl who went on our trip was a very colorful personality at best.  She would irritate even the best of our students and she talked during the whole trip saying silly things that made us laugh at her and wonder if she was for real.  One of our student leaders had been having a pretty good time giving her a hard time the whole trip and he was having a blast at this girls expense.  She would brag about something extraordinary she had done and her bragging went from rocket scientist to professional athlete.  In other words, she was a story teller.  On the last day of the trip the student leader had really been giving her a hard time about being all talk and no truth.  As we were heading up to jump off a cliff called Big E into the lake he proceeded to challenge her, knowing she wouldn't jump when she got up there.  She was ALL talk.  We all jumped off and waited below for the next person to jump.  The student leader was last and the girl was next to last.  She smiled and turned to look at him and turned around and JUMPED!  We couldn't believe it.  She didn't look below, she jumped, and came up letting out a war whoop.  The student leader couldn't believe it either and went to the edge and looked over in unbelief.  He also looked down and realized the 40 ft. drop that awaited him.  To our amazement, he froze.  He backed away from the cliff  and after 20 minutes he had still not jumped.  He just couldn't talk himself into jumping.  He thought about what could happpen, how it might feel hitting the water, he might hit funny, or any other thought that would make you scared to jump.  We waited in the water, with the girl, and begged him to let go of his fears and jump.  Finally, he jumped and we were able to go home.   But not before the girl gave him a barrage of cuts that we will never forget.  It was a day all of us will remember for the rest of our lives.  The unpredictable jump of one not expected to jump into the unknown.  She didn't look over the edge, she just jumped.  He looked over the edge and couldn't jump.  Great men and women of God have always come to a time where they have to walk into the unknown and just trust God.  In Hebrews 11:7  the Bible says, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."  Build an ark for a rain storm that had never happened before?  You go Noah.  That is walking into the unknown for sure.

If it comes down to the unknown versus the known, I would advise choosing the unknown.  You only get to follow God's light, but He has a very good light.   You won't be left in the dark and you will see things that you never thought possible.  We need some more believers with uncompromising faith who are willing to take the next step into the unknown.  The impact of their all out belief will change everyone they meet.  I'm pretty sure the next Billy Graham or Paul the Apostle, or Noah is out there and they are one step away from God doing a great work through their life.  Is it you?  Take the step.  

By the way, the unknown to us, is the known to God.

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

Ratatouille Phoooey

It's amazing how much Christianity has changed in the last few years.  Of course, God is still the same, but we have lost some of the basic things that make up the faith.  Those very things that seem so basic and simple are in God's eyes very needed and complex.

Like reading and proclaiming His Word.  I have seen and been in many churches where His word is an afterthought to a preacher's message, so he can at least say God was included.  Many times there are Bible studies where God's Word is never consulted, yet we explore what WE think about a particular subject.  I have even had ministers tell me that they won't put up scripture in their buildings because that isn't "in."  Isn't in.....how interesting.

Like challenging God's people to immerse themselves in serving God.   There is a reason the church has to beg for people to serve.  We have set a standard of convenience for service.  After we get through with everything else we have cluttered our lives with, we will pray about giving God some of our leftover time.  That is like planting a seed and then the plant really starts to grow and then we quit watering it so it won't stretch and grow toward the light.  God's people need to have direction and without it they will stall and fall away.  The challenge begins with a vision for doing something great with the gifts God has given us.

Like Calling Ministers and not Hiring them.  Sadly enough I believe that in our churches we are hiring more ministers than God is calling.  A desire for bigger salaries, bigger churches, higher positions in denominations, and CEO Pastors many times can cause us to set a standard for those in "the ministry" that God never intended in His church.  A standard we call excellence, but God calls distance.  Distant from Him and His initial purpose for not only believers, but those who are set aside to serve as shepherds and vision casters of His church.  We have bought a load of goods that may keep the church from ever experiencing revival again in the modern day church era.  Ever again? Yes!  This could come across as judgmental if it weren't becoming worse and worse every day.  Now we can't deny it.  Something is wrong!! What is it?

I look to the wonderful Disney Movie, Ratatouille.  If you missed it, it involves the desire of a ghost of a chef trying to keep the integrity of cooking good food in place.  Another person has taken his great restaurant and the reputation it had and mass marketed fast food to make more money.   Of course, greed is at the forefront of this marketing scheme.  So the ghost takes a young inexperienced chef want-to-be and a rat (yes a rat) who hasn't lost the magic of combining different basic herbs and makes them an unlikely team for keeping the "quick fix" of fast food out of his restaurant.   Everything done by the restaurants of Paris in that day revolved around one food critic, who name was Anton Ego.  He could make or break a restaurant by his impressions of  how good or bad the food was.  The only problem with Anton was he had lost his own way from the basics of what good food was and begun to set HIS own standard for good and bad.  He had drifted away from his first love, taste.  In a pivotal scene of the movie, the rat has the young chef cook Ratatouille.  Ratatouille is a very basic dish that was a foundational dish of choice for those in that area.  Over the years the great chefs had forgotten their reason for cooking and drifted from making Ratatouille.  It used to be the main dish at any meal, but it soon became a side dish at best.  Ratatouille was served to Anton Ego when he came to their restaurant to judge their menu.  All those in the kitchen tried to keep the Ratatouille from leaving the kitchen but it made it to the table of Anton.  When he tasted the basic, exquisite taste of true Ratatouille he was overwhelmed.  It brought him back to a time when he was younger and more pure.  What was thought to be an outdated, irrelevant dish changed Anton's life through it's purity of taste.    His taste buds were awakened and he wanted to eat it again and again.  Rather ironic don't you think?

Perhaps we have let standards from people like Anton Ego set the bar for each of us to follow.  Suppose they are setting standards and trends that are not necessarily what God intended.  Suppose we are in such an apathetic state,  we just follow like Zombies.  Perhaps what is the main course for our Christian Walk has become the side dish and we have distanced ourselves from the radical change in our life at our conversion.  I believe we need to grow as believers, and we need to use the lastest things to make our message more and more creative, but never at the expense of the main recipe of life, Jesus Christ.  At the time the dish Ratatouille was served to Anton Ego, the other chefs were kind of saying, "Ratatouille Phoooey" by their attitudes about the basic dish.  Afterward, they were confused by how it could be so well received.  For some of you believers you may read this and say, "Normal Christianity - Phoooey, it won't work."  Before you answer, take one taste and see how the flavor of  basic faith hits your taste buds.   Believe it or not, it may awaken tastes and flavors of your faith that you lost years ago.  If it does, then what became the side dish of your life will once again become the main dish.  Then you will once again smell the fragrance of His grace in your life and there will be a sensitivity to God like never before.  Go on. Taste and See.  Come back to the purity of ministry, not for the sake of self advancement, but for God.

Psalm 34:8 (New International Version)

 ⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;

       blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Don't Open That Door

I know all of us at some time or another have watched one of those horror movies where there is a killer on the loose and he (for some weird reason) wants to start a killing spree in someone's home. Of course, the parent's are gone from the house and have left a babysitter to watch their kids. Then the weird events start to happen and we go through one sequence after another of bad mistakes. In almost every one of these movies the babysitter, or the kids at home hear a noise in another room. Then they approach the room and we are all going "Don't open the door, don't open the door. Turn and run." Do they do that though? Of course not. They open the door and a huge axe or knife comes out of the dark and kills them and you just want to say, DUH! When you are looking at TV or a movie screen it is so easy to be an armchair quarterback, when in reality we might do some of the same dumb things if we were in similar situations. We would like to think we would make moves to keep ourselves from getting killed by the crazed killer. The one that always gets me is when they know there is a killer in the house because there are dead bodies everywhere and they still keep opening those doors. It makes me want to say, "Excuse me Captain Obvious, you are now in idiot territory!"

How frustrating it must be for God to see His children fall again and again after His Word has made the killers so obvious. I had a friend who years ago made some wrong choices and his family was totally torn apart because he "opened that door." He let his own will become his gauge for life and God's Word was put on the shelf and became DEAD in his life. The Word of God, sharper than any two edged sword, set aside. DUH! Life is full of absolutes. If you try to live a life without God in control you will absolutely fail. If you try to dabble in things that are questionable (open the door) you will absolutely fail. If you think you can coast through your life as a believer, you will fail! Why? There is a cause to everything you do and knowing that cause can head off anything that might come your way. In James 4:1-2 he says, "you lust and do not have, so you commit murder." Do you see the cause? It is selfishness. It's the "I want what I want, and I want it now" syndrome. What causes selfishness? It's the "dark side" that is referenced in the Star Wars stories. You know, there is a constant battle between the dark and light side of the force and in that battle we have to always keep our armor in great shape. Selfishness causes us to put the armor down and walk away from the battle thinking we can distance ourselves from it, but the battle follows us and we are defenseless. God does not want us to be defenseless and He protects His own, but we must put our desires out of the equation and expel selfishness from our lives. You heard me! Step away from the me first attitude and let God be on the throne of your life. He must be Lord in all the areas of your life. If He is not, you will fail. I know that sounds so strong; so black and white. That's because it is. So, now that you know the cause, you can choose to keep the door closed to your own wants and desires that are contrary to God's Word. In doing that God will bless you and all those who come in contact with you. Remember, the killer is always going to be on the loose somewhere in the house. He wants to start a killing spree in your family. You will hear him and see evidence of things he's doing around you. What you need to do is make sure you don't open the door and let him destroy your life.

Ephesians 6: 10-12 (The Message)And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. If you will surrender to God He will protect you and your house and He will lead you through all the struggles of life. Also, He will lead you to a life of blessing and hope. Your selfishness will change into devotion to the one who saved you. Then the destroyer will be defeated.

ONE BIG QUESTION..Are you aware of the things around you that are killers trying to destroy your life? 

DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR!!!

The Pilgrimage continues......

David Warren

Talking Heads

I am amazed by the amount of information that comes from multiple sources on an hourly basis.  I will hear one guy say one thing about a subject and then turn to another channel and another guy is saying the complete opposite.  The old phrase "talk is cheap" really applies in most cases.   We can say so many things without doing anything.  Even though we don't want to admit it this problem has worsened every year over the past ten years.  Someone will make a statement like they are really going to do something and when it comes to crunch time they back out or fall way short.  The people in our country who run for a political office are some of the most notorious for not following through with the many promises they make when trying to get elected.  When someone says they will do something and then follows through with it they are almost considered a maverick.  For Christians this should never be the case.  We are people of faith.  People of faith believe what they say and then follow it up with action.  As Christians we must always set the pace for putting feet to our words.  In James 2: 17 the Bible says, "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."   It's like the super glue that comes in two separate tubes.  When the liquid in the tubes is by itself it has no bonding power.  When you combine the two together the resulting mixture forms a super strong bond.  Separate weak.  Together strong.  That is exactly how faith and deeds are and without the two mixed together both are weak.  Faith by itself can become just words by "talking heads" who say one thing, but DO nothing!!  Deeds or action without the base faith to give direction and purpose will become nothing more than meaningless attempts to work ourselves into feeling better.  In that same chapter in verse 24 James says, "you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."  To me the word Justified means Verified.  When you see a believer live a life of faith you can see it through their actions.  Then you can know it verifies what is at their core.  Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  What is at your core?  Does your action reflect your faith and is that reflection good.  The Bible says a lot about talking and doing.  Make sure that you mix those two together and you will rock the world you live in.  Don't be someone who says "I have faith" but doesn't show it through their actions.  Don't be a "talking head."  Let your faith be seen by your actions and God will be glorified.  The Bible says it will also be counted as righteousness.  That is awesome!  You might say "where do I start?"  In our country the best place to start is in the church.  You will have no problem finding an impact position in a local church, because our churches are full of people with actionless, dead faith.  You mixing the two elements of faith and action together could be the spark that sets off the next revival in a lifeless, faithless, visionless, Americanized church.  God knows.....we need it!


The Pilgrimage continues......

David Warren

What is That Smell?

When I was in the fifth grade my family moved from Arkansas to a town in Missouri .  The town was called West Plains and I was fortunate to grow up there and graduate from high school as a ZIZZER.  I will explain the name ZIZZER in later blogs.  Some of my first memories of West Plains was moving to a home on Manze Ave that was about two blocks from the high school. I would get on my spyder bike with my banana seat and my butterfly handlebars and ride down to the high school and ride on the sidewalk that surrounded the school.  At the time I really didn't know anybody so it was my task to get to know the territory.  My mom was very protective, so she set my boundary at the high school parking lot.  After about two weeks of the same route I talked her in to letting me branch out and I rode another two miles down the street across some railroad tracks and that's when it hit me.  The Smell!!  The smell was awful and it was coming from a big building right by the railroad tracks.  I turned my bike around pulled in the parking lot and before I knew what I had done I yelled out "What is That Smell?"  One of the workers was coming out of the office and heard my question and made one replay,"Smells like money to me!"  As I grew up and played baseball on the field down the street from the factory, or ran by it en route to the track at Carmichael Field I would smell the factory (which made cheese) and those words would come to my mind. "Smells like money to me."  I will never forget the sweet memories of West Plains and every time I smell something that is really strong in the wind I think of the old cheese factory.

There is also a fragrance that we as believers keep the rest of our lives.  It is the fragrance of the Lord in our lives when we accept Christ.  The change that takes place is seen immediately in our lives upon the regeneration made possible through the blood of Jesus.  From that moment on we put off a sweet smelling fragrance that is easily recognizable by all who know Christ.  That fragrance draws us to each other in a very personal and unifying way.  We long for that fragrance from others in faith and that smell always denotes victory.  In 2 Corinthians 2: 14-16 Paul speaks of how God leads them from place to place in a perpetual victory parade as they share their gospel message.  The word victory is speaking about those who receive Christ and become part of God's forever family.  He goes on to say that everywhere they go people breathe in the exquisite fragrance of Christ in their lives.  The aroma smells like LIFE.  The life that only Christ can give.

The cheese factory is a very memorable smell of my past and the impact is still felt. Also, that smell faded when the factory shut down and left town.  Our fragrance stays with us for good. When I received Christ that aroma was not only my past, but my present, and my future.  Also, it is a smell that means life to all who hear the message of who God is and what He offers to all.  All of us can have that Victory Parade Paul is talking about if we will allow the fragrance to get stronger and stronger through deepening our walk with Christ.

If someone happens to get close enough to you and they notice Christ in your life, don't be surprised if they are drawn to the fragrance given off by the Holy Spirit in your life.  And if they by chance say, "What is that smell?"  Be ready to say, "It smells like eternal life to me! Would you like to try it?" To all the old ZIZZERS from my past I say, "Thanks for the memories, and seek Christ with all your heart." I hope the fragrance of Christ in my life was a sweet smell to you.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

I Am What I Am

Years ago when I was a youth pastor, we had a band come to one of our events and their lead singer was an awesome singer. I had a chance to talk to him for awhile and of course, being a musician, I tried to find out all the instruments he could play and where he was musically.  To my surprise he wasn't biting.  I persisted though, and finally he blurted out, "I just sing.  I don't play any instruments.  I just sing."  I said, "Oh, ok.! Most people in music "branch out " in one form or the other and try to learn to play different instruments and in many ways it becomes a challenge to learn the next big thing.  This guy wasn't like that and it kind of intimidated me.  Why?  Because he knew what God had equipped him to do and he wanted to do that one thing and do it well.  He didn't get in on "the game" and I will have to tell you, I was very impressed and learned a  lot from our little conversation.  I also noticed at the concert later that night, that he was very good at what  he did and spent a lot of time on the talent God had given him.  He left the playing and the other stuff to the other guys.  HE WAS SECURE IN WHO HE WAS...

Certain personalities many times have certain little "ticks" they have to deal with from time to time.  Like the compulsion to do the next big thing without finishing or completing the one thing they are naturally gifted to do.  It's kind of like a spiritual ADD and much like ADD you can lose focus on the important thing and allow other things to distract you from God completing His work in YOU!

Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5, saying "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God."  Paul goes on to drive home the point that his weakness was made strong through the strength of the Lord, so that when praise comes around it naturally goes to God.  He said he couldn't fool anybody with his persuasive language, but he could share what he knew, and that was Christ crucified.  The rest he left up to God.  He was glad to say, "I am what I am."  We try to say that but many times want to show that we are exceptional.  The only exceptional in us is Christ.  We are stewards or caretakers of the abilities God has given through the way He made us and the power of the Holy Spirit.  What has God given you and are you taking care to protect it and grow in it.  Or do you find yourself getting bored with it and then walking away from it before it has become all it was meant to be.  God has naturally gifted all His people to serve Him, but never forget how and why you got this gift.  It is for God's glory.  You may have a great desire to be a great communicator and speak before a large group of people, but God enabled you to do something different.  Take what He gave you and grow that talent or gift to the best it can be.  I don't believe God just flippantly gives us these gifts to be unused or abused.  There is great purpose in our lives and God's plans go way beyond what we see.  Lives are waiting in the balance for you to find how God has uniquely gifted and created you.  You are who you are and that is good.  Stay on track and God will show you awesome things you never thought possible.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

WOW! That's a Great Price!!

If you've ever seen the Staples commerical where the guy looks at a staples product on their shelf and yells, "Wow!  That's a low price!" then you will never forget it.  This catchy commercial has now produced a follow up commercial where another guy is astounded by the amount of enthusiasm the one guy has until the first guy points to what he is commenting about and that guy looks at the price and yells the same thing. Then the first guy yells, "I know!" I believe it's the excitement and the loudness of the guy's reaction to what he is seeing that is so catchy.  Today I want to take a look at his last comment, "I know!" The guy knew immediately that he was in a store looking at prices that were noticeably better than other stores of the same type. The second guy realized the good prices when the first guy's excitement became very noticeable.  Excitement about something so awesome is hard to contain......or it should be.

Right now in our country it seems like Christianity has taken so many blows that it is causing people to become "silent" believers.  It's almost like we think our faith is offensive, so we keep it to ourselves.  The reason we fall into this trap of mediocrity is because we probably don't know what we are talking about.  I mean we KNOW Christ and He's in our heart, but we haven't developed a confidence in our faith because we haven't advanced in our walk.  The end result is, we are silent.  One silent witness leads to another and then we make it an all-encompassing lifestyle that is not Biblical at all.  I guess you can say we become closet Christians.......SAD!

If we are going to make the impact God wants us to make for Him then our lives are going to have to start proclaiming it again and again.  Not bragging, just worshipping without holding back.  Not putting others down, but glorifying God without reservation.  If you want to get back into living the way Christ teaches us to live, then you need to a look at what happened in your life when you accepted Christ and say it!   You know what I'm talking about.....Say it!  Wow!  What a great price! I used to lead a chorus years ago with these words, He paid a debt, He did not owe.  I owed a debt I could not pay.  You know what that is saying, "Wow! What a great price!"   If you want to relight that fire, make your quiet times and your prayer life throughout the day become meaningful by putting some action to it.  Others will wonder at first what you are doing, and then they will catch on.  Just like the apathy that caused us to lose our momentum in our walk, the excitement will bring it back.  But.....know what you are talking about   Here's what Peter said in one of his letters.  1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"  The more you develop your relationship with Christ, the more bold you will be and others will come alongside.   You NEED to be bold.  Christ wants you to be that witness that impacts everyone you meet.  2 Thessalonians 3:13 says, "And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right."  God wants us to be active with our faith and He wants us to be prepared.  Now is the time to take your quiet times and your daily walk to hyperdrive.  It's worth shouting about! 

The Pilgrimage continues......

David Warren

To Be Continued....

I was watching one of my favorite Chuck Episodes awhile back and it was building to a big climax and then those dreaded words came on the screen, "To Be Continued."  I was in shock.  How could you drag me along like that for almost an hour and then just leave me hanging?  Of course, we know the how and why.  They wanted me to watch next week.  I did.  They didn't need to do all of that to get me to watch though.  Here is my schedule:  Look at the show listings on Sunday Night; set dvr to record Chuck, day over, go to sleep.  Watching Chuck has become a "habit" for me and I consider myself an insider.  I can't wait for the next hilarious week's episode and eagerly anticipate watching the Chuckster with no distractions.

Which brings to mind.  I do this same thing with anything I really enjoy.   Whether it be a night out with my wife, a great favorite meal from a favorite restaurant, a great movie (with large refillable popcorn and a diet coke) or.......my quiet time.  I was reading a recent Oswald Chambers daily devotional and he stressed the need to make your whole day one that is centered around keeping your thoughts on Christ.  I agree totally and believe that meaningless, repetitious quiet times with no life change rate right up there with attending church for no apparent reason, and repetitious prayers.  I mean, come on.  Religious exercise has little or nothing to do with improving our relationship with Christ and deep inside we know we have the tendency to make an unhealthy habit of almost everything.

The quiet time I am talking about is a synergetic thing.  One that begins with God showing you a great truth and then that truth builds on another and another, until you start really hating to leave your time with and God and can't wait to do it again and again.  I'm talking a quiet time that changes you completely every time you take that time plunge into God's Wisdom Waters.   God desires for us to grow closer to Him and one way He seems to do that is by tying everything in our life together moment by moment.

Many a time I have finished a quiet time and just when I thought I had something figured out God says, "to be continued."  Instead getting upset, it just keeps me thinking about that particular truth all day until our next time together.  As I am doing that what happens is He is preparing my heart and mind for the next thing and when He lays an insight on me I am more ready to accept it because He wet my appetite.  Thank you God for caring enough to spend time with me.  Continue to show me Your ways and keep on continuing.   Philippians 1:6 says, "He who began a good work in  you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  To be continued.....

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Dying Principle Comes Alive: Encouragement

I was at one of my son's football games a few years ago and he was having a great Senior year in football and was looking to get a scholarship to play Division 1 Football.  A lot of things in his life were revolving around  this huge task, and he had to be sold out to do it.  It took extra effort, a great amount of focus, and his desire to achieve the goal was almost more than we all could handle.  But, Praise God, he landed a full scholarship at a Div.1 school and his dream was realized.  I constantly encouraged him to "stay with it, don't give up."  The encouragement helped him weather every storm and God blessed the efforts he made.  During that Senior Year I got to be around a lot of the players on his team and I noticed something that almost escaped my gaze.  I began to go to different players one on one and tell them how good they were doing and how impressed I was with their effort.  I also told some of the guys, they were going to go far and couldn't almost believe the result.  Guys who usually put out a fairly good effort in practice and in the game, started putting out an extraordinary amount of effort to prove what I was saying was right.  In particular there were three guys (not counting my son) that I made a concentrated effort to encourage.  Each one of those guys gave more effort after a little bit of continued encouragement, than they had ever done before.  Another amazing thing happened as a result of me encouraging them.  They would just come up and sit beside me after practice or before the prayer at game time.  At first I kind of thought they were mocking me (cynical me) but I realized they felt a connection with me because I took the time to notice and comment in an encouraging way.  I'll never forget the change I saw and it taught a real good lesson to me about how God can use encouragement to challenge us to greatness.  You may not believe this, but saying "You can do it!" really makes an impact when it is sincere and heartfelt.

The lesson I learned has to be relearned many times because I am selfish and my selfishness gets in the way of God using my life for His purposes.  I have to watch myself on a regular basis, because I will tire of encouraging others and even think, "I wish someone would encourage me."  Then I realize......it's not about me.  It's about HIM and everything gets back in place.  In Romans 15:4 it says, "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."  The hope I wrote about yesterday is directly connected to the encouragement of God's Word and God's Word is connected to God.  We must begin to live a life of encouragement and see God's People come out of the slumber of apathy, and once again come alive. In verse 5 Paul goes on to say, "May the God who gives us endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." In true encouragement we find true unity.  WOW!!

Let's be found encouraging each other to follow God and use the gifts and talents He has given us for His Glory.

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

The Triple Crown Winner!!!

It is horse racing season and we have already completed The Kentucky Derby and The Preakness.  In The Kentucky Derby, Calvin Borel, the jockey for Super Saver rode his horse to a great victory.  At the end of the race, Calvin stated that he was going to win all three races that make up The Triple Crown and "run the table."  It was a great challenge for all to hear and, of course, I was hoping he would do it.  The Preakness came around last Saturday, but when the dust cleared there was yet another winner, the horse was Looking Lucky.   The Triple Crown is won by the horse who wins the 3 major horse races of the year, The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont.  It is a huge accomplishment for any horse and only 11 horses have won it in the last 91 years, and no horse has done it in the last 32 years.  Each year horse racing fans believe this could be the year, and the hype begins right after The Kentucky Derby.  The anticipation for the next race, The Preakness, is unparalleled and if the Derby Winner wins there, it gets even more heightened.  Only to be dashed, year after year.  It's not the lack of a Triple Crown winner that amazes me.  It's the anticipation year after year and the "belief" that it could happen this year.  They have HOPE!

Hope is an amazing thing for anyone, but especially Christians.  We should be running over with hope in our lives.  We should believe anything is possible and live off the foundational truth that God is alive and well, and working a great work in this world.  Sadly enough, that is usually not the case.  Our hope is built off what is going on in the world around us.  We let the news, or should I say bad news, dictate what we do and how we do it.  We begin believing the lie that the world is filling our brains with and quit believing the truth.  Then we lose it....HOPE.  When Christians lose hope we shut down just like people who don't know the Lord.  It's almost like we lick our finger, stick it up in the air to see where the hopeless wind is blowing, and that is where we hoist our flag.

It's an amazing thing hope.  We just don't seem to have enough of it.  Instead of anticipating God doing a great work again and again, we just exist.  Unlike the anticipation of a possible Triple Crown winner by those who are willing to "bet on it."  We at times don't even believe in our "sure thing."  Hope that is generated by the Holy Spirit is hope that is real and does not disappoint.  In Romans 5:5, Paul said, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."  Whether you anticipate it, or believe or not, our God wins The Triple Crown every time.  God the Father reaches down to man through Jesus Christ the Son, and leaves the Holy Spirit to continue winning race after race in our lives.   That is how we have hope.  Psalm 33:20 says, "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:22 says, "May your unfailing love rest upon us. O Lord, even as we put our hope in You."

We are in a race and only one will win.  The one who's hope is in the Lord.  In 1 Corinthians 9:24 it says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,, but only one gets the prize.  Run in such a way as to get the prize. "  Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore,, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."  If you can't get any hope in the Lord, and you can't seem to win in any races, are you sure you are even on the right track?  If not, now is the time to get with the best trainer in the universe.  He will continue to grow your faith more and more until your hope quotient starts to soar.  Here is the cool thing.  If a group of people, like a church, could tap into this truth, there would no holding them back.  They would see souls saved and lives changed by God's power on a regular basis, instead of trying to figure if they can keep their doors open. Now that is what I call CHURCH.  If you decide you are going to try this hope thing, then plan on being a little dylexic when getting a read on the world around  you .  When the world says "slow down," speed up.  When the world says "take it easy" bear down hard.  When the world says "the sky is falling" look up and go. "That's not the sky, that's my Lord."  Why?  Because the race has already been won, and we are following the Eternal Triple Crown winner.

The pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren

There are Holes in our Theories. God is really powerful after all!

Probably one of the biggest obstacles to building a house (our life) is the barrier of a lack of trust. I think we have taken on some strange ways of looking at God's power and His capability to move.  In this type of reasoning God becomes less powerful and more human.  I don't adhere to this new "movement" and believe there are holes in it.  I believe God is really powerful after all.  A lack of trust by us is the problem.

Here are some definitions of the noun form of the word trust.  reliance on the integrity, strength, ability of a person or a thing.  Confident expectation of something; hope.  Once again, it all comes back to "how much do you trust God."  Believing God can do what He says is a very liberating thing for a believer and when we learn to TRUST God in everything it causes our life to change at the very core.  Let me illustrate what I am saying. When you realized your need for salvation, God said to turn to Him, repent, and receive Jesus and your new life in Christ began immediately.  That initial step of faith put your life as a believer in motion and then you continued a life of trusting God.  Then came human reasoning.  You knew the part where you read a scripture that is clear about how God can move in a situation and yet you found yourself trying to minimize how powerful God is by putting your spin on His Word.  You said, "Under certain circumstances that may or may not be what God was meaning, so I don't think He literally meant what is said.  "Woah!  Who just became god?  I was listening to a preacher from one of the largest churches in America talking about trust.  He made the statement that we shouldn't expect God to move immediately in a situation because He has to put everything in place.  When that move is made a lot of things are affected.  He even went on to say, "Give God a break!  Some things take time."  I agreed with what He was saying until I realized that I was trying to figure out God with human reasoning. and it just can't be done.  He is God!!!  So are you trying to tell me that my salvation had a time sensitive delayed effect?  When I prayed to receive Jesus, God had to work some things out.  Then after say, two weeks everything was completed and eternal life started then?  I guess that blows the belief that every moment of every day is vital to all of us. NOT!!! Ephesians 5:16 says, "Be redeeming the time because the days are evil."  Time belongs to God!!   And God doesn't need any help or explanations from us to be God.  I really believe we all have angels that are guarding us.  But what if one of the angels representing God got a little busy right as I was about to fall asleep and run in a ditch.  Instead of waking me up, I just ran in the ditch and got killed.  So now not only is God's power minimized, but He also gets distracted because He is so busy.....Can you see where this reasoning is going?  Before long we could make God no more than what our human reasoning can understand. That is not trust.  To really grow in our faith and continue to see God build our house we need to learn to trust, rely, and have confidence in the God who made the heavens and the earth.   We also need to believe that He hears the heartfelt cries of His children. The disciples had the same issue all mankind seems to have when it comes to trusting God.  During a time when they were fearful and feeling doubt in John14:1 Jesus said, "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."  There is no doubt God can be trusted.  The doubt comes from our perception.  Can we trust God?  You need to answer that question before you go any further in building your house.  Without true faith you minimize who God is in your life and the rest of your reasoning is flawed because of faithless faith.

I love the movie Holes.  In that movie a young man had fallen in love with a single lady who was a teacher at a school in their community.  In his desire to let her know his feelings he would offer to do work around the school so he could be near her.  She would ask if he could fix this, and that, and his answer was always "I can do that."  Every time she asked him to do something he responded in the affirmative because he loved her.  When we learn to trust God, really trust God for who He is, we will learn to bring everything to Him and ask Him to move.  God's Word says his reply will be, "I can do that."  In our human reasoning we will try to reason that God gets tired of us asking, but here is the HOLE in that theory.  God really is as powerful as He says and He can handle it and handle it well.  In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."  He doesn't say, "let me get back to you on that!" That is the deal breaker.  He is listening and ready to hear our prayers at all times. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 5:16, "pray without ceasing in all circumstances." Why would I do that?  Because I trust Him. That's why we should learn to spend time with him throughout the day...every day.  Putting our trust in God is the best and first move.  He will hear. He will respond.  He can handle anything we bring before Him.  He is almighty God!!!  He really is powerful after all.  But of course, you already knew that didn't you?  Don't let the current movement to bring God to our level fool you.  I want God to hear me at my level and respond from His level. There are no holes in his ability to respond quickly to our cries.  Maybe over time we have become SELF RELIANT, and that has caused us to be less God reliant.  May it never be so....

James 1:5-8 gives us a good answer to all of this. "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will given to him.  But when He asks He must believe and not doubt."  Answers are readily available.  There are no holes in God's answers.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren