Friday, November 30, 2007

SOnTheM 08

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9

The word peacemaker immediately brings to mind a scene from Back to the Future III, where a gun salesman tells Marty (Michael J. Fox) that he wants the gun that kills Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen to be a Colt Peacemaker. Funny, isn't it? Naming a gun a peacemaker. Making peace by killing violent men.
God's ideas are always greater than ours. His peace does not involve killing violent men, but by sowing seeds of peace in the lives of those men. Instead of killing them, we should win them with love. These seeds of peace can be huge gestures or seemingly meaningless actions, but somehow they help someone find peace - peace with themselves, with others, and with God.

"And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." James 3:18

Hmmm...peace promotes righteousness, and the righteous are the ones who make peace, so they are the ones who sow the seed of peace. Vicious circles anyone?

The sons of God will imitate Christ, the Son of God. They will not be the Savior of the world, but they will be the saviors in peoples lives as they help others to find and to make peace. They will be Jesus with skin on. By the way, sons don't do anything to become sons. They just are sons. And just because they are sons, they are heirs, and to be an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven is a great thing.

Go! Make peace!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

SOnTheM 07

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

Purity: - without blemish or flaw; - 100%; - nothing there but what should be there
The reward for being pure in heart is that you shall see God. How can anyone SEE God? First off, He isn't a physical being, yet He is all-powerful and can allow people to see physical manifestations of Himself. Moses cried out to see the glory of God (not God Himself), and God replied, "You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live" (Exodus 33:20). But then, because God desires to shower gifts upon His children, He allowed Moses to see HIS BACK!!!

The pure in heart refers both to inner moral purity and a heart wholly and completely committed to the Kingdom of God. Each of these is necessary for the other to exist. Without one, the other will not be.

May you be pure in heart. May you commit yourself totally and completely to following Christ and living your life to the standards He set forth - not moral codes of conduct, but live by Faith, Hope, and Love.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

SOnTheM 06

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7

The object of this mercy is not specific because this mercy is universal, regardless of the situation. Max Lucado wrote "Without forgiveness, bitterness is all that is left." Are you harboring bitterness towards another? Have you been merciful and forgiving? I find that most of the time I can't say that I have been. Most of the time, even if it just goes on in my heart and head, it is hard to forgive someone...I mean to truly forgive them. It's hard to totally, completely, be merciful to others regardless of the circumstances. I think this goes back to the steps that these beatitudes show: once you have admitted that you are poor in spirit, are mournful over your sins and others, long for true righteousness, then you will be able to be merciful, for then you will more concerned with the state of the other person's heart than the state of your pride and the pain you've felt. The meek are the merciful. Being meek means admitting that you are a sinner; being merciful means having compassion because you understand that others are sinners, too. Does that ring a bell with anyone else? It does with me.

Your reward for being merciful is that you will receive mercy. Sometimes others will give you mercy, and sometimes they won't, but God will always be merciful to those who are merciful.

May you be merciful today. Better yet, may you seek out ways to be merciful, even to those who have done you no harm, and may God shower his mercy on you even more than He has already done.

Monday, November 26, 2007

SOnTheM 05

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6

Hunger and thirst show desire. Not just a deep longing, but a deep, heartfelt need. Righteousness is a spiritual need as necessary to the soul as food and water are to the body. Obviously, none of is actually righteous in and of ourselves (Romans 3:10). This means that the desire for righteousness is insatiable...that is, it cannot be satisfied by our own means. Then again, Genesis 15:6 talks about Abraham in this way: "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness." So, does this mean that our faith in Christ, which credits us with righteousness, satisfies our deep longing for righteousness? Yes and no. Yes, it is the only way we can be called righteous. No, because it is the fact that we are called righteous that causes us to strive to live lives of righteousness.

The reward for hungering and thirsting for righteousness: you WILL be filled. You will be counted among the righteous.

May you long for, from the very depth of your soul, righteousness. Not for the sake of piety, but for the sake of loving your God. And may you be satisfied.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Summerville Is Going To State

Summerville High School (my alma mater) beat Gaffney last night, which means they're heading to the state championship next weekend to face Byrnes. I know Byrnes is a major powerhouse team and that they've been nationally ranked several years running, but I've been waiting for several years to see a showdown between Summerville and Byrnes. It's going to be a good game.

GO GREENWAVE!!!

Friday, November 23, 2007

SOnTheM 04

"Blessed are the gentle (meek), for they shall inherit the earth."

My wife defines meekness as strength under control. It's one thing when we admit our shortcomings before God, but it seems to be totally different when others point out our shortcomings (whether they do so with love in their hearts or not). Being gentle or meek in those situations is key. Being able to keep our hearts and minds focused when we are confronted with our own failures is harder than most accomplishments we will make. If you are meek, you will not automatically go on the defensive, as so many of us (I'm at the top of the list) are apt to do.

LaGuardia airport is one of the major airports in New York City. It is named for Fiorello Henry LaGuardia, the mayor of New York during World War II and the Great Depression. He was said to rule New York with an iron fist in a velvet glove. Pontificate that for a little while, and then you'll have some idea of gentleness.

The reward for being gentle is to inherit the earth.
"What would you like for Christmas little boy?"
"I'd like the whole planet."
"Okay."

May you be gentle today. May you react to others with meekness, and may you inherit the earth for doing so.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everybody (all 4 of you who read this). Remember that all good things come from the Father of Lights!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

SOnTheM 03

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

This mourning is not the type of mourning you experience at a funeral. This is mourning over sin, over both your personal sin and our corporate sin as a community, nation, and world. The beginning of following Christ was to admit that without Him we cannot accomplish anything. This takes it up a notch. To mourn is to feel sorrow when you turn from God, who provides everything. That's sorrow, not guilt. Everyone experiences guilt from time to time. Sorrow, however, is rooted much deeper and effects every part of you. To mourn over your sins is to forget your own image, to stop caring what people think about you and to cry out to the Lord.
The reward for mourning over you sins: you shall be comforted. What a blessing it is when you're mourning and someone comforts you. How much greater is it when God comforts you. And remember, we are comforted so that we may in turn comfort others with the comfort we have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

May you mourn today, and rest in God's comfort.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

SonTheM 02

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

Matthew recorded eight beatitudes given by Jesus. Beatitudes were not a new idea, though. They were rooted in poetry and wisdom literature (like Psalms and Proverbs). However, what Jesus mentioned as beatitudes are not at all what people in that time would have expected.
These beatitudes build on each other. It's kind of like an 8-step program. Unfortunately, though, you can't just walk through the steps once and be a great follower of Christ. Each of these is a day-to-day act.

The word poor here means "beggerly poor." The same word is used to describe Jesus in 2 Corinthians 8:9. To be poor in spirit has nothing to do with earthly treasures and wealth, but rather means that you have confidence in God alone. If you're poor in spirit, then you have acknowledged that you are spiritually bankrupt and that only through God's provision can you accomplish anything. Basically, it's admitting that you have nothing to offer God that He doesn't already have access to, and that it is only by His grace that you live day to day.
The reward for being poor in spirit is having the kingdom of heaven. This is present tense. That means that we HAVE the kingdom of heaven, not that we will receive the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is an already-not yet concept. It's already here as Christ reigns in the lives of His followers, but it hasn't come in its entirety yet.

May you be poor today. May you know that without God, nothing is possible. And may the kingdom of heaven be active in your life today as you allow Christ to reign in you.

Monday, November 19, 2007

SOnTheM 01

"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:"
Matthew 5:1-2

Jesus went up on the mountainside and he sat down. Why would he sit down to teach? Wouldn't it make more sense for him to stand up so that his disciples could see him? Yes, I guess it does make more sense, looking at it from a Western perspective. In Jesus time, the teacher/rabbi sat down, while the people stood up. Sitting was a sign of authority, and as you know, Jesus had all authority in heaven and on earth. Who were these disciples? Just the twelve apostles and a few others. Nope. At this time, Jesus had not yet begun his teaching ministry (for the most part), and so many people were still following him because they had seen him do miracles. After this point, however, people began to see that the Way Jesus taught would be a hard one, and from this point on, even though many came to follow Jesus, many others who began following him left because they were not willing to follow his Way. The disciples mentioned here were many; this was a large group of people wanting to follow Jesus without ever hearing him teach them what it meant to follow him.

Over the next few weeks, months, etc., I am going to blog about the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and this was the opening to the Sermon on the Mount. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more frequently as I go, but stay tuned for more. Feel free to leave comments, additions to what I've said, and even leave disagreements. Thanks.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

What a Week

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. The last couple of weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y!!! Sarah and I were planning on moving to a new apartment this past week, so we've been packing and getting everything ready. Well, we signed our lease on Tuesday, and I told the office there that the apartment needed to be fumigated before we moved our furniture in on Thursday. At that point, I had already moved numerous boxes and tubs and a table and four chairs and some other odds and ends over there. Well, we stopped by Wednesday afternoon to check on it, and nothing had been done. I have to say that even at my worst, I have never felt as bad as I did when Sarah started to cry because of the infestation problem, which seemed to be getting worse daily. Well, we took matters into our own hands and bug-bombed the apartment Wednesday. Thursday, we rented a Penske truck, took the day off from work, as well as had a couple of friends, Rich and Dustin, take off from work, to move. Sarah got to the new apartment Thursday morning and things were EVEN WORSE. After jumping through hoops and waiting all day Thursday, we managed to completely get out of our lease there, but we didn't have a place to move at the end of the month. Fortunately, my parents and Sarah's parents all came over to help us unload the moving truck Thursday evening so that we could return it and weren't paying to keep the truck while we were stuck in limbo.
Well, Friday morning we went to talk to the office at our current apartment complex, and they set us up with a nice apartment in the same complex. Whew! So, yesterday, we started moving (AGAIN) and should finally finish up this Tuesday. Man, life can be stressful sometimes, can't it? Thank goodness we have a God who knows our needs and is willing and able to supply for ALL of them.
Oh, by the way, we took a time out from moving to go to the Clemson game last night, where Clemson choked and gave away the ACC championship. What the crap!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

If you don't like who you are, then become who you were created to be

Adam – wasn’t spiritual leader
Noah – drunk
Abraham – doubted God would fulfill His promises
Jacob – deceiver
King Saul – was impatient and didn’t trust in God’s timing
David – lusted, conspired, and murdered
Jeremiah – complained
Peter – hotheaded denier
Thomas – doubted
James and John – prideful
Paul – pious and suffered from at least one physical ailment
Timothy – too young and had an ulcer

Hal – all of the above

"Why would we take the worst moments in our lives and make it the defining characteristics of who were going to be forever?" - Erwin McManus

I know who I was. I was a sinner. I was dead in my transgressions. I was lost.
I am not that man any longer. The core of my being has been changed. Yes, I may screw up from time to time (sometimes I screw up more than others), but it is because I do not do what I want to do, and what I do not want to do, I do. My God has exchanged my flesh for His Spirit, and the core of who I am is centered on Him, and not on me.

"If you don't like who you are, then become who you were created to be." - Erwin McManus

Monday, November 5, 2007

The White Stone

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." - Reveleation 2:17

This is a passage from the letters to the seven churches found in the book of Revelation. This particular passage was sent to the church at Pergamum. I don't want to get into the hidden manna part, but I do want to take a moment to talk about the white stone. Why a white stone? Surely there are more precious rocks out there? Why not a diamond, or a ruby, or an emerald, or something cool-looking like that? Why a plain white stone? In Biblical times, when a person was on trial, instead of saying whether the person was innocent or guilty, the judge would use a white stone and a black stone. I'm pretty sure you can figure out which one is which. Saying that the one who overcomes will receive a white stone is another way of saying that, for Christ-followers, God doesn't look down and see our sin; He sees us as totally innocent, devoid of all shortcomings. How awesome is that! God looks at me, a wretched, sinful, backsliding man, and sees JESUS!!! Not only that, but the white stone has my name on it--not the name Hal, but a name that only God and myself know. This innocence that God bestows upon us is a personal gift. God doesn't just say "All of you down there, you're innocent." He looks at me, He looks at you, if you're a Christ-follower, and says "(You're name here), you're innocent because of what My Son did for you."
To quote Aaron Keyes, "You're not guilty anymore!!!"

Lord, thank You for Your forgiveness and Your forgetfulness. Thank You for setting my sins away from me as far as the east is from the west. Thank you for drowning my sins to the bottom of the deepest sea. And thank You for continuing to forgive me, even though I continually fail You. Your love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness never end, and I can never do enough to repay You for that, but help me to spend the rest of my life trying to do so. Amen.