Friendship - Edition #1

Sunday, February 5th, 2006

Friendship – Edition #1

I am sick. I am under the weather.

(From westgatechapel.net) How To Be A Friend

THE POINT:
People don’t care what we know, until they know that we care.

THE KEY VERSES:
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Romans 14:4
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Philippians 2:14
Do everything without complaining or arguing…

1 Thessalonians 5:18
…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

KEYS TO MAKING FRIENDS:

Be positive

• Avoid complaining and criticism.
• Give sincere appreciation for everything, especially as it relates to your friend.
• Smile, laugh, and have fun.

Be agreeable

• Avoid arguing at all costs.
• Quickly admit when you are wrong.
• Imagine the other person’s point of view.

Focus on them, not you

• Listen more, talk less, and NEVER INTERRUPT.
• Be genuinely interested in them.
• Show them how important THEY ARE, not how important YOU ARE.

NOTABLE QUOTES:

The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.
- William James (1842-1910)

Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.
- Edwin Percy Whipple (1819-1886)

“A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.” - Paschal

(questions from byfaithonline.com)

• How would you define friendship? How do the passages define it?
• How important is commitment? How have you been at it? How should you be? What can you do to be better at commitment?
• Relationship is essential to life and is the Christian‘s number two priority in life. Why do you suppose this is true? Consider the veracity of Scripture.
• Friendship is not to be feared, so why do we? How have your fears kept you from being a good friend to someone who needed it?
• How can you embrace your friends better, even when they hurt you? When and how do you balance people hurting you, yet continuing your friendship with them?
• What do you think is the secret to making friends?
• How does being friendly help you make and keep friends?
• How do the stresses of life keep you from effective relationships?
• How have you rationalized that it is the other person’s problem, when a friendship is ended? How often is it yours? What can you do better?
• If you want friends, you have to be a friend and be likable. So, what can you do to make this happen?

I am going to be looking at these questions in coming days, to look at what I need to be doing in my life, in my relationships, and to move forward in decisions that I am looking at making in my life. Some scriptures that I see:

Matthew 20:1-16
1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5 So they went.

"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'

7" 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'

8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'

9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'

13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Matthew 26:47-50
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.

50 Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."

Luke 7:31-35
31 "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children."

John 15:1-17
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Revelation 2:4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

Revelation 2:14-15 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Revelation 2:20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Revelation 3:1-3 I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Revelation 3:15-19 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Super Bowl XL Party Feb 5th!

Wow-e-wow... a super bowl party... this is going to be so much fun. Will the stinkers or the wet birds win it? I don't know, but I will be watching ever so eagerly as I munch down on my munch-n-crunch and cheese whiz crackers as I do every year. Hot dogs? can't have a party without hot dogs. Chicken wings... well, maybe. I am just looking forward to the finger foods and being with friends. That's what makes the game worth watching. Let me know if you need directions and would like to attend. jonathonray201@hotmail.com

A Study on Love - Edition #28

Friday, February 3rd, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #28

Last night, I wanted to leave God. I wanted to quit. I had become disgusted with everything around me… and I blew up. I blew up like a volcano. My rage overpowered me to the point that I was going to leave God, leave the church, and that was just going to be the beginning. Now, I was sleepy, sick, and I felt alone… and so pride was not only there, but it was in massive control. On more than many occasions, I am gentle as a butterfly… in fact I can’t even remember when the last time I did something like this… explode beyond my means. I was borderline violent. I took care of what needed to be taken care of, and then I went and laid down on the bed and collected my thoughts. I was completely irrational… and I knew it. Besides, I can I leave God. He’s everywhere. I could leave the church, but God is everywhere. I talked with my wife about the emotions and feelings I had… and all is well. But I have found a huge need I have within myself. It’s simple, yet so complex. I haven’t felt needed lately. I have felt that if I simply disappear, I wouldn’t be missed. I guess it has selfish undertones to it, but I don’t know… it’s almost a natural feeling, though. I mean, if I have a girlfriend who doesn’t want to be with me… would I stay in the relationship? It’s human nature to be wanted and used in a good way. It’s a perk of life, I guess. I have become resolved in my heart to stay in the fight and be apart of the church and be a ground-shaker again. Onto the QT:

Romans 12:1-21
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You see, I was dwelling in bitterness. And I wanted to repay evil for the wrongs I was feeling. I see that I have to overcome the evil inside me, the sin that festers, and overcome it with the goodness of God. I could see that my love was not sincere… in fact, I have had some downer thoughts on the whole “body of Christ” from which I have been hearing a lot about of late. (See 1st Corinthians 12)

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

My thought is… what part of the body am I. Lately, I have felt that I am the large intestine. I store up poop, I go through life virtually unnoticed, except when I have a problem, and then I am hated and despised for not working properly. Real or unreal… I don’t know… but my attitude shouldn’t be what it has been. And for that, I repent. I would like so much to a “more useful” part, but I guess that is not my lot. Anyway, Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #27

Thursday, February 2nd, 2006

Happy Groundhogs Day!!!

A Study on Love – Edition #27

A middle aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near-death experience. During that experience she sees God and asks if this is it. God says no and explains that she has another 30-40 years to live.
Upon her recovery she decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation, and a tummy tuck. She even has someone come in and change her hair color. She figures that since she's got another 30 or 40 years she might as well make the most of it.
She walks out the hospital after the last operation and is killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.
She arrives in front of God again and asks, "I thought you said I had another 30-40 years?"
God replies, "Sorry, I didn't recognize you."

(From humor.about.com) PHOENIX: Phoenix Phil, Arizona's official groundhog, was buried alive beneath a recently constructed K Mart parking lot. Therefore, he did not appear on Groundhog Day and forecast the weather by looking for his shadow. 

"That groundhog, he was a gonner," explained Governor Janet Napolitano.

"There is no precedent for the groundhog not showing up," said Arizona State Senator John Dumbreak, "so we don't know what this means for sure." Dumbreak introduced legislation to designate Randy the Rattlesnake as the official February 2nd weather prognosticator for Arizona. The legislation was passed in emergency session. 

"Problem is, rattlesnakes don't have a shadow," noted the Governor, "but irrationality and misinformation has never stopped the state legislature from passing stupid laws."

Baja Arizona neo-luddites were thrilled at the news that Phoenix's groundhog ended up beneath six inches of asphalt. 

"Maybe, in retribution, God will punish their progress-mad leaders and bury Phoenix under 3 feet of snow," commented Ned Ludlight, local luddite leader. 

"More likely they'll end up with 12 more years of summer," quipped Joe Sam, our foreign correspondent and statutory agent.

Frightened Phoenix Chamber of Commerce officials frantically dug in the parking lot until well after dawn on the 2nd, hoping that the groundhog could be found. 

K Mart officials were not amused at having their parking lot torn up.

"Using a rattlesnake as our February 2nd weather critter doesn't send the right message out about Arizona" explained Sonja Sellem, with the Phoenix Chamber. 

The rattlesnake appeared at dawn, and bit a television news anchor on the ankle.

Memorial services for Phil were held in the parking lot.

Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, "I’ll bet you don't know what day this is."
"Of course I do," he answered as if he was offended, and left for the office.
At 10:00 a.m., the doorbell rang and when the woman opened the door, she was handed a box of a dozen long stemmed red roses. At 1:00 p.m., a foil-wrapped, two-pound box of her favorite chocolates was delivered. Later, a boutique delivered a designer dress.
The woman couldn't wait for her husband to come home.
"First the flowers, then the chocolates and then the dress!" she exclaimed. "I've never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!”

OK… enough of the humor. Poor groundhog being buried under a K-Mart, well, at least they didn’t get a poser. But still, a replacement would’ve made a little sense… but a snake for groundhogs day? That’s pretty weird. My son is ill… wouldn’t eat his food this morning… and he is sleeping right now.

Ruth 4:13-17
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."

16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

I like Ruth. Her name means companion and friend. And she lived up to that name with Naomi, whose name means pleasant. Those are good names. I was a bit depressed yesterday. I am in a lot of pain today. I see the doctor tomorrow, as does my son. But I am in better spirits today than yesterday. Groundhogs day… it’s such a silly holiday, the strangest one that I can truly think of that is popular by society. There are many other holidays’ out there that aren’t really acknowledged that should be placed to the forefront that aren’t given much a chance. And really, do we need a list of holidays to remember to do the things we should? Saint Patrick’s Day is to remember to be compassionate to one another… we celebrate it once a year, but the attitude should be to celebrate it everyday. Christmas is about the remembrance of Christ, celebrated once a year… New Years is about change… Anniversaries and Birthdays are about growth… I don’t think that they are necessarily foolish, but if left to just once a year, then we miss the point of what they are all about.

(From Groundhog.org) Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole.

If the day is cloudy and shadow-less, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

So, well… whatever. It still seems like a very silly holiday… it’s like a big rat popping out of a hole, and irregardless of what happens, winter is still coming, at least if God wants to bring it, he will. Heck, God can make it snow in July if he wants to. I think more so now that this holiday is about silliness over anything else. So, have fun, enjoy life and tell a joke. Use the ones in this if you want to… but relax. Life is too short to be stressed about anything. Whatever happens will happen.

Job 2:9 His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"

I think quite the opposite… Love God and live… that’s all that’s important. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #26

Wednesday, February 1st, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #26

Tomorrow is Groundhogs day. Ah… I loved the movie. Maybe I should give it a watch tomorrow. Yesterday my son was a trial. Keeping me and my wife on our tows, he kept us busy and really tested our love. Children can do that, I guess. He kept crying and crying and kept wanting things that we were not sure what it was. It is written that love always perseveres. I think we did that, but the thing is that is doesn’t say that love is always easy. And that is because love isn’t always easy. I mean, if I am to love my enemies, and if an enemy were to come in here and take out my son and wife with a 42, and I am to love that person, that wouldn’t be easy at all. In fact, I would want to take that gun and use it on them.

Numbers 14:17-19
17 "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."

1st Corinthians 13:1-8a
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

Luke 7:44-48
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Something that the bible doesn’t say, but I will say it… love always forgives. That is what Jesus was all about or at least part of what he was about. He came here to save the lost… how can I save the lost if I don’t forgive them? And I like how Moses put it… in accordance to your great love… in other words, in agreement to your love. In the act of granting your great love, forgive these people. What is something to note, Jesus, god in the flesh, never condemned anyone. He never said, you are going to go to hell, you stupid sinner! The only time he raised his voice was when the people made the church a market place and when the kids were mistreated. In fact, he raised up the sinners. He protected them in many ways (the woman who was going to get stoned, the tax collector who prayed, eating at Zacchaeus’ house). And it was showing this love and forgiveness that these people came to be his followers. We forgive, because we were first forgiven.