I Want to Be Like This!

When I was a kid, I loved to watch Michael Jordan play basketball.  It started when he was with the North Carolina TarHeels, and then it continued when he was with the Chicago Bulls.  I remember going to my backyard and playing basketball on the goal my dad put up for me.  I would try to dribble like Mike, to shoot like Mike, and to dunk like Mike!  There was a commercial that came on TV, and the song that played had these words blasting from my speaker: "Like Mike!  If I could be like Mike!  I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike!"  

Today, I was reading in Ephesians 4, and one verse really jumped off the page at me.  Paul says in Ephesians 4:2, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."  Today, my prayer to God is that I want to be like this!  I prayed for God to help me be humble, help me be gentle, help me be patient, and help me be loving.  I don't know about you, but I struggle at times with humility and gentleness and patience and love.  I have the Burger King mindset way too often: I want it MY way RIGHT away.  I prayed today for God to forgive me.  I prayed today for God to help be embrace and embody these words that Paul used in Ephesians 4:2.  I need help from God in my home, as a husband and a father.  I need help from God in my church, as a pastor.  I need help with my heart and with my mind.  I need help with my eyes, my mouth, and my hands.  Sometimes I look at things I don't need to look at.  Sometimes I say things I shouldn't say.  Sometimes I do things I shouldn't do.  And all the while, I not only have the potential to hurt myself but also to hurt others.  Oh how I need God desperately!  I don't know about you, but I want to be reminded daily by the Spirit of God these awesome words from Paul in Ephesians 4:2.  I want God to help me put these qualities on daily so that I can be who God created me to be...in the home and in the church and in the community.  Thank God for Jesus, our Living Hope, who empowers and enables us to walk in righteousness and to love God and to love others the way He loves us.  I claim the power of Jesus in my life today to be like this!  I want to be like this: humble, gentle, patient, and loving.  Lord, help me today and each day moving forward!  I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be like Jesus!!!

God's Special Possession!

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, GOD'S SPECIAL POSSESSION, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Peter 2:9

Many years ago, my father went on a business trip to San Diego, California.  It was the week before my birthday.  He came home on June 29, 1986, which happened to be my 13th birthday.  My dad worked for State Farm Insurance, but he also owned a small business, "Batter Up Sports Cards."  One of my favorite memories of my dad was buying boxes of baseball cards and opening them up together.  I also loved going to old collector's stores and buying cards and comic books with my dad. However, on June 29, 1986, my dad had something special for me.  It was a box full of old cards.  I remember getting several cool cards: Ted Williams, Duke Snyder, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente.  The card that was really special was the Sandy Koufax card from his rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  I've held on to many of those baseball cards my dad and I collected over the years.  They mean a lot to me.  My dad died of a massive heart-attack on May 29, 1989.  Several months earlier, we watched the 1988 World Series together when our Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Oakland A's.  We had some special moments together over the , and, yes, our love for baseball was deep.  As I approach "Father's Day" this Sunday, June 21st, I can't help but think about my dad.  And as I approach my 47th birthday, I can't help to think about my one of my SPECIAL POSSESSIONS on this earth: the Sandy Koufax card my dad gave me.

My dad was a great guy.  I never doubted my dad's love for me and my brothers and my mom.  We all knew that he would do everything he could do to provide for us and to take care of us.  The most important memory I have of my dad was that he loved God.  He loved to read and study his Bible.  He prayed.  He took us to church.  It was my dad who showed me the love of God before anyone else did, and for that, I am grateful.  My dad always made me feel like I was his SPECIAL POSSESSION.  Maybe that is why that Sandy Koufax baseball card is one of my SPECIAL POSSESSIONS today.  And I believe that is why I love this passage of Scripture in 1 Peter 2:9.  God's love is greater than any love we could ever receive, greater than any love we could ever imagine!  As John tells us in 1 John 4:8 and 16, "God is love."  When I repented of my sin and trusted in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I became a child of God.  As Peter would say, I became a part of God's "chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."  I became "GOD'S SPECIAL POSSESSION!"  God called me out of my sin, out of the darkness and into His wonderful light!  And now, I have the opportunity and the responsibility to declare His praises to the world!

There are many days in this life when I don't feel special.  There are many days in this life when I feel worthless.  And I am not here to blame anyone or anything.  Many times my feelings in this life are directly tied to my own sinful actions.  However, as a child of God, nothing and no one can ever change the truth of God's Word.  I belong to God!  I am GOD'S SPECIAL POSSESSION!  I do believer that feelings are important and feelings are real, but I believe truth is what truly matters.  I don't want to move forward in this life based on how I feel; I want to move forward in this life based on Who I know and what I know.  I know God is my Father, and I know His love for me is immeasurable and everlasting and unconditional, and it is enough!  I am so thankful that my Heavenly Father gave me an earthly father who showed me love, who showed me that I was special.  I don't know who will read this, and I don't know what your journey has been like up to this point.  I don't know if you had an earthly father who showed you the love of God or not.  But I do know this, God's Word is available to you right now.  God's love for you is real and it is available right now.  God is your Heavenly Father, and His love is unmatched!  You can know right now that you are GOD'S SPECIAL POSSESSION!  All you have to do is call out to Him.  He will meet you where you are.  He will speak to you.  He will love you with an immeasurable, everlasting, and unconditional love.  And it will be enough!

And I know it's a little early, but "Happy Father's Day" to all the dads out there!  May you not only know that as a child of God you are his SPECIAL POSSESSION, but may you also show your family that they, too, are GOD'S SPECIAL POSSESSIONS!

Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, Slow to Become Angry

Sometimes the medicine I desperately need is the medicine I don't like to take.  I remember when I was a kid, my mom took me to the doctor.  I was told I had a severe throat infection.  I did not want a shot, and when the doctor told me I was not getting one, I was excited.  He wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to my mom.  We went to the local drug store, and I was given a cough syrup to take.  No big deal, right?  It was a pretty red color, and I was thinking maybe it would be a strawberry flavor.  WRONG!  That stuff was nasty!  I tried to tell my mom that I would get better on my own because I did not want to swallow that stuff again!  However, it was the medicine I needed even though I didn't like it, and I did get better quickly.

I am reminded by God's Word that I am a sinner in need of a Savior.  Romans 3:23 reminds us all that we are sinners.  Our sinful nature is one that rebels against God.  I don't like to use the term, but in our sinful state we are "enemies" with God.  That is not how He created us.  He created us to be in intimate relationship with Him and even with one another.  Sin separates.  Sin devastates.  Right now, we are seeing much division and chaos in our country and in our world.  I don't know about you, but I sure do hear a lot of noise.  At times, sadly, that noise is coming from me.  Let's be honest, I have more than a throat infection; I have a sin infection.  As a sinner, the medicine that I desperately need is Jesus!  Seeing my sinful condition is not easy; it is not fun at all.  Turning from it is even more difficult.  Why?  Repentance first involves recognizing our sin and taking ownership of it.  Again, I don't know about you, but I don't like doing that.  I like thinking of myself better than that; surely, I am not the one who needs help; surely, I am not the one who is wrong; surely, I am not the one who needs a Savior.  Repentance also involves turning away from sin and turning away from self; repentance involves humility.  Again, in my sinful state, I don't like humility.  In my sinful state, I only want what I want when I want it where I want it how I want it.  Repentance involves dying to self.  That is hard.  However, I know that is what I need.  I need a Savior; I need Jesus.  I know that God loves me; I know that God created me to be in right relationship with Him and in right relationship with others.  

As I have grown and as I am growing in my faith, which is a gift from God, I now understand that I still need good medicine to make it in this life.  James 1:19-21 is the good medicine I need today.  With all that is going on in our country today with racism, violence, and hatred, I need God's Word.  James tells us this: "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK, and SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."  Oh Lord, this is the medicine I need, even though in my sinful state I don't like to take it.  Lord, help me swallow this good medicine.  Lord, help me be attentive and listen more and better.  Lord, help me to control my tongue and only speak words that build up rather than tear down.  Lord, forgive me when I give myself to anger, not righteous anger that comes from you, but human anger that is selfish.  Lord, help me to value and to practice repentance daily.  Help me turn away from the evil that is so prevalent today.  Lord, give me a humble heart to embrace the Word you have given me so that I can be a vessel of the righteousness You desire.  Oh Lord, I want to be QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK, and SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY, and I want this for Your glory and for Your honor.  Amen.

Jesus, Our Hope and Our Comfort

I am heartbroken; I am angry; I am desperate.  I am heartbroken at what I have seen and am seeing in our communities.  I am angry about injustice, racism, sexism, and godlessness that exists.  I am desperate for Jesus.  In Genesis 3, we read about the fall of mankind.  Adam and Eve sinned against God; they rebelled against God and His commands.  Sin was born into our world in that moment of rebellion and rejection.  Even then, God gave us hope; God gave us comfort.  In Genesis 3:15, God says, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."  Our hope and our comfort is Jesus.  God made a promise that Jesus would come to defeat the true enemy, Satan.  Sin was still in the world.  Mankind was still sinful, but salvation was available; salvation came through Jesus.  We continue to see mankind's struggle with sin in Genesis 6.  Genesis 6:5 says, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time."  Of course, we know the context these words.  The flood of God's judgment fell on the earth.  God called people toward repentance and faith, but people rejected Him, rebelled against His Word.

Sin separates us from God.  Sin separates us from one another.  Sin is devastating.  Sin is deadly.  We see it in every generation; we see it in every people.  As Paul says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  If we are not heartbroken about OUR sin, if we are not angry about the injustice and racism and sexism and godlessness that OUR sin has produced,  and if we are not desperate for Jesus, our Hope and our Comfort, then devastation and death will abound.  I need a Savior.  You need a Savior.  We need a Savior.  His name is Jesus.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:3-7, "Praise be to the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.  If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.  And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."

As a Christ follower, I have repented of my sin and believed in Jesus.  I no longer live for me; I live for God with Christ in me.  I don't belong to me; I don't belong to this world; I belong to God; I belong to the kingdom of God.  As a Christ follower, I live to glorify God.  I live as an ambassador of His kingdom.  I live as a vessel of His love, His grace, and His mercy.  Am I perfect?  No.  Do I still struggle with sin in my life?  Yes.  However, as a Christ follower I have Hope and Comfort.  I have Jesus, and I am commanded to live as Jesus lived, to love as Jesus loved, to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:3-11).  I am called to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8).  I have to make a choice daily to die to self and sin.  I have to make a choice daily to submit to God, to entrust myself to Him.  I have to make a choice daily to live in love toward EVERYONE.  How do I do this?  I know and rely on the love God has for me (1 John 4:16).  I am not perfect; I am not better.  But I am saved, and I am alive.  I live for God.  I live in love.  I stand with any and all who are hurting and broken today.  I stand with those suffering injustice, racism, sexism, and godlessness.  I want to be a vessel of hope and comfort for you.  I want to show you Jesus.  He is our Hope and our Comfort.  Nothing and no one else will satisfy.  Only Jesus.  Only Jesus.  Only Jesus.

Lord, forgive me of my sin.  Lord, thank You for loving me and laying Your life down for me.  Lord, help me.  Lord, give me the strength I need to be a vessel of Your love, grace, and mercy to a broken world.  Lord, help me be a reflector of You, our Hope and our Comfort.  Lord, I am desperate for You because our world is desperate for You.  Lord, may these words of my heart be the actions of my life, my life lived for You and for Your glory.  Amen.

Happy 12th Birthday, Jonah!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Psalm 139:14

On May 21, 2008, God blessed us with another child.  Jonah Everett Thomas, you are a gift from God, and we are so thankful for you!  You are "fearfully and wonderfully made," and we are so proud of the young man you are growing up to be!  Your smile and kind heart are treasures for anyone and everyone who knows you, so please keep smiling and please continue being kind.  We love you so much, and we hope you have an awesome birthday!  -  Dad, Mom, Francie, Jacob, and Katie