Born again

I was preaching on Sunday on the gospel passage of John 3:1-17. 
In John 3:7 Jesus gives us a command: "You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'"
To be born again or born anew is not baptism, confirmation or any ritual of the church.  Rather it is a personal decision to give Jesus control of you life and to ask forgiveness of your sins.  It is not an optional part of Christianity rather it is the crux of the matter.  Will I live my live for me or will I surrender my life to Jesus and live for him?
To those who choose Jesus, God gives them the right to be called sons and daughters of God, entry into heaven and eternal life starting now with God.  So my friends I ask you to make this decision for yourself and join the party in heaven.
The song might be something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyri3QYKujE

Giving things up

As many of you know, today is the start of Lent.  Lent is a time of preparation before the celebration of Easter.  Traditionally Lent was (and for many still is) a time of fasting.  It is a time to get your heart right before God and to lay down our distractions at the foot of the cross.  These distractions are things that can be given up until Easter and in a very real sense fasted from.
Not all fasts need to be of food.  In our modern fast-paced culture, there are many good things that if we are not careful consume our time.  An obvious culprit is television but there are many other good things that can distract us.  Sports, games, movies, facebook, the internet and even novels if given the chance will take all of our time.
Time is the one thing we do not get extra helpings of.  Over the years, I have given up candy, television and video games for Lent.  Each time I do it breaks the back of the item over my time.  The urge to eat or do these things is broken and my submission to Jesus is affirmed.  So would you join me this Lent in laying down our distractions to prepare for the coming King.
Here is a song I think might be appropriate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12gxl-CgRc

Judging...?

All of us have heard the phrase : judge not lest ye be judged (some of us in more modern English).  But the question is though what place does judging having in a Christians life? 
Well ultimately God has the final say on all especially on judging.  It is his arena to work in.
There is a place for discernment and differentiating between good and evil.   The Bible is the mirror by which we gauge our lives that shows us our imperfections and rough and messy spots.  As I read the Bible, I am convicted of the messy parts of my life that need to be changed by the grace of God.  We are sinners saved by grace.
The problem of course is we too often spend our time comparing ourselves to other people and not to the mirror of Scripture which convicts us all.  When we do this comparing and gauging against other people, we ignore our image presented by the Bible and think we are better than other people.  This my friends is being judgmental.  Judgmental people have many excuses for their behaviour because they are better than their neighbours who act worse.  God doesn't play favourites with sin though.  If you break all of the ten commandments vs just one( lying for example), you are equal in the eyes of God.  You are both sinners who have rebelled against him.  
The really sad thing is a person who has broken all ten of the commandments is more likely to admit he is a sinner and cry out for mercy.  When we only sin a little, we think it is okay because it is not serious.  Little do we realize the little sins are the easiest to do and the most devious.  All sin is serious.  "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." 
So lets leave judgment up to God and use discernment between good and evil to keep ourselves individually in line.   No one is called to be the final judge of other people but by using the Bible, I can judge myself.  Let us live in grace and mercy with one another realizing we are all sinners and all fall short.
ten commandments