One problem that I have had with “Christianity” is its complexity. Nothing seemed simple. We have this really huge book which is really difficult to read even within one year. If you do make it within a year, then it’s even harder to glean from it (however, I do recommend a one year plan from time to time).

But back in March, I found something. It was something that I had missed several times. It was a “God’s plan for you” list. It is generic but as I began to study this order, I found it consistant with EVERYTHING else in the Bible.

It stems from 2 Peter 1:6-7. God has a plan to develop you. So if you question what is going on in your life, well, here it is. The foundation is faith, but I believe that most Christians have the wrong idea of faith. It seems that many Christians are buying into this “leave your brains at the door” attitude. I have expounded on this on other articles.

But faith challenges us to believe with your heart, not just your head, one issue. God is omnipresent. This is good to hear when we are going through a crises. But this is not so good of news as we disobey God. As we begin to move “faith in God” from a head knowledge to a heart knowledge, one thing must change. Our behavior. If my behavior is not being changed, then I challenge my faith.

2 Peter 1 tells us that we are to add our knowledge of God to our moral excellence. After we have knowledge of God, then we become more in self-control, patient, and build a better character, and becoming more loving. But many Christians today want to skip being morally excellent and skip straight to knowing God or becoming more loving.

Take a look at the list of 2 Peter 1:6-7. Let’s talk about what God is doing in your life to grow you.

Here is the second part to a message that explains faith a lot better than I do. This is from Ravi Zacherius. If you want to hear the first part, just search for ravi and it should appear.

This issue of Faith has been a difficult issue to understand. But one of the biggest changes in my life has been the fact that God is omnipresent. Once I understood that God is omnipresent and this fact became more than head knowledge, my prayer life radically changed.

No longer was I praying to a God that was millions of miles away but He is sitting with me in my office.

It took a while for this to set in but things began to radically change once I began to really believe in the omnipresence of God. In today’s Bible reading, Isaiah describes how God will one day be the ultimate ruler. However instead of being this egotistical being, Isaiah describes Him as being a Counselor, a Father, and a Peace (ch. 9). This is not the God of the future but also a God of today.

I remember talking to God as if He sat millions of miles away and the only way He will listen to me is if I bowed my heads, closed my eyes,  and ended with “In Jesus name I pray, Amen.” But once my head knowledge of God’s omnipresence became Faith, prayers started getting answered; a closer relationship started happening; I started hearing His voice and His Spirit talking back.

The point of me taking so long describing Faith is because I believe that we have totally misquoted Faith. Faith is not something that we “hope” works out, but facts that we believe in that changes our behavior.

This has been an enjoyable week. VBS has been quite a success. One thing that I am amazed of is the number of new faces that I see working in VBS. Many times I have to pull someone to the side to ask for a name of who is working. This week has also been a good sign of our children’s department. We have a lot of workers who have contacted me stating that they would like to get involved weekly with the children’s department.

I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. First I need to get with all the section leaders and other leaders in the choir to see what we need to do to make sure 09 is the best year yet. Then there is that meeting with the children’s department and the educational department to turn things up one notch.

I really appreciate all the volunteers that we have running around here. It’s YOU who determines how great the church is. Many times churches have an attitude of “we don’t have to do it anymore because we are paying you.” Yeah, this thinking doesn’t go very far. But one thing that I learned from one of the best choir directors in the world is that the determination of the workers that determine the success of the ministry. I love you guys.

A few people have asked me if there is a way to block “forbidden” websites from their computer. For example, I have a 7 year-old niece. A simple little search for swimsuit and she got more than she wanted.

Here is a program that I recommend and the instructions on how to use it.

1. go to: http://www.naomifilter.org/

2. click on:   Click here to DOWNLOAD NAOMI in English

3. save it on the desktop and run it. Just follow the instructions from there.

4. On the bottom, next to your clock there will be a new icon. click on this icon to get everything started.  Put in your password.

WARNING. This program is unforgiving. This program does not have a list of websites that keeps you out. It reads the text on the page and if the text matches up with one of the words that it filters, it will shut down your website. If you forget your password, you are out of luck. There is no other way to uninstall the program.  The Arkansas Baptist State Convention website used another work for gender on their home page. My browser was not able to put up that website. There was no way for me to temporary shut down Naomi to pull up the page. Even a computer geek like me cannot fix this program. So, never forget your password.

I do hope this helps.