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Are You Living up to Your Name??

Posted by Ben | | 11:07 AM
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Judges 6:11-16

11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

13 "But sir," Gideon replied, "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

15 "But Lord , [a] " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together."

This is a story that most christians are familiar with. But today I have a different perspective of this story

I think that we overlook some of the details of the story that hold a very important facts about Gideon and his family

This first Fact is that Gideon's name literally means mighty warrior.

I think that Gideon was afraid to live up to his God given destiny

So many christians do this in there walks with christ that as soon as crap comes there way they run and hide!

They don't stand and fight they tuck tail and run!

I believe that in order for us to be successful in the kingdom we must begin to live up to our names and our destiny's!



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Light My Fire

Posted by Ben | | 5:58 PM
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Luke 8:16-18

16"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. 17For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. 18Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

When I first read this passage it confused me! Because it sounds like God is telling us that he will take away everything! And then I listened to a message by Judah Smith and in his message Pastor Judah explained some things and then I began to think and so I decided to write this blog about this passage.

I think that our mindset and mentality going into church many times is that we go to church to get "Convicted" from something that the pastor says or we read our bibles to get "Convicted" about something that God reveals to us in his word.

In this story Jesus uses the example of a Lamp and the Conviction is the fire or the spark that lights the lamp.

I think that many times we come into church and say GOD LIGHT MY FIRE! And after he lights our fire it goes out because we don't act upon it!

Because we take this fire home with us and we put it under our bed's and when you put a fire next to a matress creates a fire that is why in verse 18 it says

"whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

That the lamp we thought we had didn't use it properly and it turned into a fire

Later on in this passage in verse 21 Jesus's mother and brothers came to see him and after his disciples told him that he replied saying this

"He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."

A key part of this verse is that Jesus uses the analogy of Family which means that the people who hear God's word and act upon it are highly valued in the kingdom!
The reason our fire goes out is because we get a word and all we do is hide it! Instead of taking it and using it and putting into practice which would make us less popular we choose to hide it and let it go out because we can go back to church next wensday and get a brand more fire!

Let us not be a people who hear the word and do nothing about it let us be people who hear the word and put it into practice.

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The Lovers Call

Posted by Ben | | 5:56 PM
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Song of Songs 2:3-13

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love.
5 Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6 His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
8 Listen! My lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10 My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."

When I first read this verse it seamed to me like this really confusing scene from a romance movie or something! and then I began to really study the words and the context that they are written in and God began to show me somethings!

The first verse that God showed me is verse 4 where it says
"He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is love."
As I really began to think about this verse and look at the words in the Hebrew I found out that the Banner can also be called his presence
We could also translate this verse to say
"He brought me into his chambers and his presence of Love filled the Room"
I began to think about that and I thought about how awesome of an experience that would be to go into God's inner chambers and just feel his love all around me!
As I read on in this passage God showed me something in verse 5 and 6 where it is talking about how "I am faint with love" and how he holds my head with one hand and embraces me with the other but then after it talks about this little romantic scene it says in verse 7
"Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires."
This confused me because it went from talking about this romantic story to saying Don't fall in love!
But then as I read on I realized it was saying to wait until the time is right! Because later on in verse 10-13 it says
10 My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.

To me this is saying that the time as finally come and as the lover comes to his beloved he tells her "Arise" or Wake Up come with me for the winter is over!
The winter signifies a season and I think that verse 7 was saying that we need to not awaken love until the time is right!
That for the lover in this story the time was not right he had to wait until after the winter season came before he could take his beloved out of her home and into his chambers!
Another thing that caught my eye was in verse 12 where it says the season of singing has come!
After I read this God told me that the season has come NOW is the time to embrace our lover and to go away with him into his chambers! For NOW is the time to awaken a spirit of love and intimacy in worship!
But in order for that season to come there must be singing that this "Banner" or spirit will only go out through worship and singing!

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Real Religion

Posted by Ben | | 5:55 PM
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I came across this quote today and it really messed with my head!


"Mystical experience without moral
commitment is false religion." John Stott

I think that so many times we come into church for the chillbumps or the good feeling that the holy spirit gives us we don't come to truely "Die to ourselves" as Paul instructs us to do!
Because it's much easier to come to church for the good fealing instead of the life changing experience of Raw and Real presence of a living God!
We don't want to Loose ourlives to find them we would rather loose our lives with a good feeling because if we to that we can still be popular because the feeling doesn't change you!
But a true Encounter with God will!

So many of our churches engage in this form of false religion every sunday morning! I think that this breaks the fathers heart because they would rather live in the moment because when there living in the moment and there at the bar they can get wasted just like when there at the altar they can "Feel" God's presence!
So many people don't truely pick up there crosses and follow christ because in doing this takes some work outside of coming to church on sundays and wensdays!
It takes hours of prayer and hours in the word and a willingness to let your life be led by someone else!
We are a generation that lacks commitment you can see this in many different aspects of our lives from our relationships to our after school programs!
So many times we back out of things when they require a serious investment of our time!
We do this same thing when it comes to our realtionship with our relationship with God!
We back down when God call's us into things like full time ministry!
We tuck tale and run when god tell's us to go and start a prayer meeting at school!

Now I wanna hear your thoughts on this so comment or message me about this blog I wanna hear what you think about this quote and the rest of my blog!

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Let the Tango Take Control

Posted by Ben | | 5:54 PM
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I don't know about you but I am tired of our choreographed churches with choreographed worship and preaching!
I am tired of doing the same thing in worship every week!
I think that we need to let the Tango Take Control in worship!
By saying that I mean that we need to let the music guide us and not go along with the choreographed raising your hands and sitting down and standing for the fast songs and clapping!
I think that now more than ever we need to just let Go in worship and let the Tango Take Control!

In 2 Samuel 6:13-15 the Bible Says that David danced freely before the Lord in the streets when the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to the city of Jerusalem!

Here David Let the Tango take control as he began to dance around wildly in the streets not caring what anybody else thought of him!
I wish we would have this mindset in worship today!
That it doesn't matter if the music sounds good all that matters in worship is that you are crying out to God!

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Go Wash

Posted by Ben | | 5:51 PM
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Go Wash

John 9:1-8
1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9Some claimed that he was.
Others said, "No, he only looks like him."
But he himself insisted, "I am the man."


This is a story we all have heard many times in sunday school or from the pulpit but as I read this passage this week God showed me something that I had never seen before!
He showed me the importance of the word "Wash" in this passage.
Most people would overlook this small word but I began to think about it and God then revealed to me that Many times people come and ask god to heal them or touch them or deliver them from the situation there in and God does heal them or touch them but they don't realize it because they don't "Wash"!
Because we as americans want everything now we don't want to waste time by going and washing the dirt from our eyes so we can see so we have many people in churches today walking around with Mud in there eyes who think that god didn't touch them but in all reality he did they were just to stupid to wash the freaking mud out of there eyes!
The Second thing that caught my eye in the verse is toward the end where people were wondering if this man was the same blind man they knew before.
I think that so many times we go into school after experiencing god and we still look the same! We may not act the same or talk the same but we still look the same!
In Ruth 3:3 Ruth had to go and Wash herself before she could go from her life as a servant girl to a life with Boaz of luxury!
That in leaving our former lives we have to take time and wash our selves before going into our new lives as christians so that others may see the difference in us because people will always judge the way you look before the way you act!

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