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Empty Barrels make the most noise.

A drum is hollow and that is why it makes so much noise when it encounters “pressure.”  (A drummer with drumsticks is a definite pressure.)   The opposite, is a barrel that is full.  You can beat on it, kick it, yell at it and it just doesn’t make much noise.  A full barrel is not easy to move.

Empty barrels make the most noise.

How would you define an empty barrel?  I think, that a barrel is only defined by what’s inside it.

An empty barrel is…well…nothing but empty.  Uninspiring.  But….

Think of a barrel full of wine.  A barrel full of oil.  A barrel full of whiskey.  Pork barrels.  A barrel full of fun. A barrel with a rodeo clown in it! A barrel full of monkeys! man-wearing-barrel-and-suspenders-after-divorce1When I think of those kind of barrels…Voila!…I get imagery, identity and inspiration.

So…a barrel is best defined by what is inside of it!  This leads me to ask…  What defines you?  Where do you get your identity?  WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR FILL?  What are you full of?

So…let’s use the clown in the barrel illustration and just imagine that everyone of us is a clown and we all have our own barrels we carry around.  Please understand, that we can switch barrels any day or every day.  My posting this is not about me thinking I’m the God barrel and others are not.  My posting this is for us all to measure only ourselves in the presence of God and work on being the God filled barrel as described below.  The start of measuring where we are is understanding what the different types are.

What fills your barrel?

Self Filled Barrel…these types are just that…full of themselves.  Always thinking about themselves.  These types take way more selfie photos and post them on facebook, instagram, vine, twitter and other barrel filling venues, way more often than what is normal.  Part of being a healthy person is having a healthy self-love, but that is not what I’m talking about when I mention barrels full of self.  This barrel is a very selfish person and  is very lonely because they love themselves the most.  When this Barrel gets sick of themselves, it will then desire to be filled with material goods, better make-up, over the top body augmentations, that outrageously attention grabbing new automobile, money, jobs, and anything that tastes good to the self…or makes self look better. It’s all very self-ish.

Other’s Filled Barrel…Another type is the kind that runs around always needing others to fill their barrels.  This barrel thinks very lowly of themselves..but you can’t notice that fact very easily. This type seems happy and bright.  This type is very good at talking and can be known as a people person.  But, if you pay attention, you will begin to see a pattern.  This type politely begs for attention, by giving attention, hungers for recognition as they give recognition, yet they are empty.  This type has learned how to get their barrel filled by others.   They approach others and compliment others…WAY too often… and tell others that they are doing wonderful…even when they are not doing wonderful, they will tell you that you look great even when you put on clearly mismatched clothing and look ridiculous. They over compliment, coddle,  innocently and complimentarily lie to you…regularly…and then sit patiently in front of you hoping that you will fill up their barrel with your compliments in return.   This type of barrel has a lot of leaks in it, and thus has to continue the over-giving and false complimenting with lots of laughter, fun, and starvation driven attention.  In our society today, this type is considered okay because we think we are helping each other by falsely complimenting each other.  Our society has catered to this being natural.  We start it with our children.  Giving them trophy’s when they should have gone home empty handed.  We tell them they are winners when…in that race…they were the loser.  Education systems are talking about not using red ink anymore, it seems to harsh on our wonderful children.  And then they grow up…and have to face loss, no trophies, and regular dissapointment…and we wonder why depression and psychotic medicines can’t stay stocked in our pharmacies.  OTHER’S FILLED BARRELS!

God Filled Barrel.  This barrel is the type of person who has figured out that their definition is found in only one being.  God. Jesus. Holy Spirit.  Which ever title you prefer of those three, or all three…this barrel is FULL.  This barrel understands that they are not better than anybody else but simply have chosen a life of fullness and gratitude.  This barrel can get angry and express that anger, but you are a light…I like the thought of being a barrel full of light!  This barrel is lot like Jesus, because their barrel is full of Him…He is light.  This barrel understands their imperfections to be only unique traits that their creator bestowed upon them and them only!  This barrel knows it can share what is inside of it…because there is a lifetime guarantee of free refills.  This barrel doesn’t get caught up in scarcity…a panic and fear of not enough to go around…so they just keep giving.  This barrel can be kicked, burnt, cut, or broken and yet maintain its confidence because it knows its creator is the great barrel builder, healer and fulfiller!  The God filled barrel has absorbed into its very fibrous container the Scripture passages of John 8:31-32 where Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you FREE.”

and

Colossians 3:1-4,  “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.Which one are you?”  

The two passages above scream one phrase to me.  “A God filled barrel is always full!”

SO…if I’m not a God Filled Barrel that’s always full…then what must I do to become one?…Please Note…this is not an easy task.  Don’t be decieved into thinking that you can say a prayer and instantly become a God filled Barrel.  Becoming a God filled barrel usually takes a lot of repair.  Most repairs are noisy, painful and full of grinding, sharpening, pressure, realignment…and it’s usually a messy fix.  To become a God Filled Barrel is a life long commitment to stick to it, even when it doesn’t feel good!  So…here’s how to begin the process…

If you are the self-filled barrel, then you must humble yourself and recognize that you can’t keep it up.  You can’t fulfill yourself  the rest of your life.  You must admit that you aren’t that good and you must take on the passages of Scripture that communicate this truth to you… “Consider other’s better than yourself.”  You must work on becoming like Jesus who washed the feet of even His betrayer.  HE IS KING, yet took on the form of a humble servant.  You must transform your barrel to only be filled with who God says you are!  God loves you so much…that even while you were a full blown selfie…selfish bigot, nasty self worshipper…God still chose to kill His one and only Son…so that He wouldn’t have to kill you to pay for your sins.  That is love!  That is identity!  That is a God Filled Barrel!  For a self-filled barrel to become a God filled barrel, I’m not asking you to think less of yourself…I’m asking to stop thinking of yourself, period. 

If you are an Other’s Filled Barrel.  You have got to admit people have become your gods.  You worship the favor of mankind.  Oh…this will be hard for you to admit if you are an other’s filled barrel.  You have been so trained that your idol worship is actually the love of God for other people.  You come across as a people person who really loves other people…and you do love other people, but if you are an other’s filled barrel, what you love more than other people and more than God is when people “love” you back!  This is idol worship and you must stop it.  This will be hard for you, because you have more than likely surrounded yourself with other’s just like you.  You must admit that the friends you have in life…the one’s you really like…well…you only like them because they do for you what you do for them.  “Birds of a feather…flock together!”  If you are an other’s filled barrel, then, when you begin to change this about yourself…you are going to find out who your true friends are.  What happens to an other’s filled barrel type, when they quit doing their false worship of others?  They find themselves standing by themself, because the other… Other’s filled Barrels…went after others who will fill them up because you stopped being their God for them and stopped filling them up.  If you are an Other’s filled Barrel, then you must only let Jesus Christ fill you up.  Oh…it will always feel good to get compliments…but you will notice it someday when you truly become a God filled Barrel…because when the compliments come from people…you notice them…but you won’t need them to make you full!

If you are God Filled Barrel…then just be you.  Keep drawing near to the ever giving, all consuming, all inspiring, King of Kings, who never quits, never leaves, never disappoints and always keeps His fulfilling promises….AND YOU WILL NEVER BE EMPTY!  You will be able to look death in the face and with a crinkle in your nose and a squint in your eyes say, “Where O death is your victory…Where O death is your sting!”  You are living for another life, another earth, another Kingdom…in fact you are bringing that Kingdom to this earth…to this life and to others!barrel of light

The most critical thing about which barrel you are…it’s your choice.  You don’t have to be stuck in any one of the barrels if you don’t want to be.

You are made to be a barrel full of God…a barrel of light!

 

 

 

 

 

 


Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #10”

(To Mary) Woman, here is your son. (To John) Here is your mother. — JC
John 19:26-27(HCSB)

Awkward. What a strange message for Jesus to share publicly. Yet, because Jesus said it publicly with other people hearing…I chose to make this one of Jesus’ “Tweets.”

Imagine the scene. Jesus is on the cross. He is literally about to die. He is looking out at the people and He sees His mom. His mom is Mary (do I really need to write that?) She is crying (I assume) and is standing next to the disciple named John. The Bible describes John as, “the one whom Jesus loved.” Is it ironic to anyone else that the book of JOHN is the only book in the Bible that actually says that “John is the disciple whom Jesus loved?” In case you don’t know…the author of the book of John and the John referred to as the one whom Jesus loved…is the same person. John, wrote that about himself! There has got to be a good story in there somewhere. Someday we can ask him.

What’s the point of this Tweet? Its pretty simple. In Jesus’ time where Hebrew Culture ruled the day…Jesus was Hebrew…Yes…Jesus was a Jewish man. That would mean He wasn’t white. That would mean He wasn’t black. He would have more likely been very…what we call…tanned. Dark thick hair. He was Jewish from the Mediterranean area. Dark eyes. But…I suppose I could be completely wrong. Maybe he really could have looked just like Jim Caviezel. We know his mom was Jewish. But His real Father….well…Genetics wouldn’t matter! I can’t wait to meet Jesus face to face and see what He really looks like. Maybe He really did have blonde hair and blue eyes. LOL

Back to the Hebrew thing here. In Jesus time and in the Hebrew Culture it was the husbands job to be the head of the household. The husband was the provider. If something happened to the husband, then the first born son would be responsible to step up and be the head of the household. If the new head of the household died…then right on down the line to the next oldest son. The next oldest son would take responsibility for the family in all areas. If there were no more men in the family to take this responsibility it would be passed to a different man in the family, maybe a cousin…if there were no other family men, the responsibility could be passed on to a friend of the family. You get the idea.

So this instance in time, where Jesus is sending this “Tweet,” has several angles to it. First…in my opinion…it proves that Joseph, Mary’s husband, has passed away. We don’t know for sure. We have no record of Joseph after the instance where Mary and Joseph can’t find Jesus for 3 days, and when they finally find Him, He is in the temple area speaking to the religious leaders…Jesus was about 12 or 13 then. After Joseph and Mary find Jesus, there is no mention of Joseph again. Nothing. Maybe God took Joseph’s life for losing Jesus? LOL…just kidding. See how I think? LOL

So in this Tweet, where Jesus is saying publicly to Mary….”Here is your son.” And to John….”Here is your mother.” I think this demonstrates that Jesus is the head of the household. The oldest son. I suppose its arguable that someone could say that Jesus is the Son Of God and can do whatever He wants…and He didn’t have to be the oldest son to give this Tweet. That could be true. But I see a theme throughout the Bible that Jesus honored culture and respected law.(He didn’t have to.) I’m pretty convinced that Jesus is head of the household here and is making sure that His mother will be cared for when He is gone. Now…Jesus had brothers and sisters. But it seems they weren’t on the scene. So, i think Jesus was asking John to step up and take care of His mother. We won’t know for sure until we physically meet Jesus someday. I’m sure we’ll ask and get a clear answer from Him then. How cool with that be?

The other, and more important point about this Tweet of Jesus being sent out while Jesus is on the cross…It shows that Jesus was continually focused on Promoting the progress and purpose of others. If there was ever a time for Jesus to say. “Hey…Everybody! This is about ME!” Then this was the time. Yet His focus was to make sure the people He was leaving behind would be cared for and loved. He was concerned about others. In fact, I can think of only one time where Jesus thought about himself. Its the time in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus begs to have “this Cup of Suffering” taken away from him. For a few moments, Jesus thinks about himself and begs for His Father to get Him out of the crucifixion. This thinking didn’t last long. Immediately after asking His Father to take away this pressure….He bowed and submitted and began to promote the progress and purpose of God/Others by saying…. “Not my will be done, but yours.” (If you want to watch a full message I preached on this very subject on video about this “cup of suffering” then click on this link, its the video titled “Cup of Suffering.”) PLEASE NOTE: If you leave this sight right now to watch the video without reading the rest of this blog because you intend to come back and read it later, the parts you have not read are all underlined. It should be easy for you to return and know where to “pick up” your reading right where you left off!

Jesus cared right up to His very last heart beat. He cared for you. He could have come off that cross and settled the score right then and there. He could have come off that cross right there and shut everybody up and prove His Lordship. He could have called on the angels with swords drawn to free Him from the cross and they would have obeyed Him. He could have worked any miracle He wanted to. Right then. How tempting it must have been. But He didn’t. He honored the wishes of His Father and stayed on the cross and kept His mind on others. He knew it was better to die to for you and your cause than it was to think only about His own feelings.

Jesus continually focused on the needs of others. Not his own. I love the phrase “Promote the Progress and Purpose of Others.” Its easier said than done.

There is no phrase that better describes the focus of Jesus.

Today…as you pursue your check lists and live in your rituals…would you pay attention to others around you? When you get to the office or wherever you work…God will already be at work there. Join Him. Open your spiritual eyes and see the spiritual needs in the people around you during your day today. Be the one who joins God in His work today and get to the business of promoting other people’s purposes in life. When you and I fully do that…That’s when Jesus has a way of bringing it all back around on us.

That is truly living.

What can I do for you today to help promote your progress and your purpose?
If you ask…I will do whatever I can.


Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #4”

My Mother and My Brothers are all those who hear God’s Word and obey it. JC Luke 8:21 (NLT)

This Tweet of Jesus plays out like a movie in my head. Jesus is inside a house and He is spending some time with a crowd of people. He has just recently set out, going from town to town, teaching, and healing, and building His influence. In this scene He’s in a house. The Bible said that His mother and brothers show up and want to talk to Him but they couldn’t get to Him because the crowd was so big. How cool would it have been to be in the crowd? Someone runs into the house and said to Jesus, or maybe they shouted it over the top of the crowd. “Hey Jesus….your mother and brothers are outside and they want to talk to you.” I imagine Jesus taking a seat for a second, the crowd is silent waiting to see what He is going to say or do. He grabs His mobile phone and hits His Twitter App and tweets out to His followers, “My mother and brothers are all those who hear God’s Word and obey it.” –JC All throughout the room everybody’s mobile phones start beeping the tone that lets them know a new message has just arrived into their inbox. The women in the room grab their purses and begin to dig through them looking for their phone. The guys do a quick self “pat-down” trying to remember what pocket they stashed their new iPhones in. The rustling ends and everybody’s faces are aglow in the candle lit room as they are reading their message from their phones. At nearly the exact same time as the whole crowd finishes reading this obscure tweet…you can hear the crowd in nearly unison say, “huh?” The guy in the back who doesn’t have the new 4G phone sounds like an echo as he says, “huh?” about 24 seconds later.

It would be a strange tweet to receive wouldn’t it?

I can’t imagine how confusing this must have been to the crowd listening. Even more…imagine what Mary, Jesus mom, and His brothers might have thought when they heard His reply. I think James, Jesus’ younger brother might have pulled Mary aside and whispered to her that he thinks his older brother might be doing drugs. Or maybe James would have said…”Mom, you can’t let Him keep getting away with that kind of attitude.”

To be honest…I’m not really sure what to blog about this comment. It seems pretty clear.

Jesus is simply saying…My family members obey the Word of God.

I want to be in Jesus family. I want to obey the Word of God. What should I obey?

I think Matthew 25 gives us a “final exam” glimpse at what Jesus “Family” does while on earth.

Things like clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, visit the prisoner, care for the sick, love and care for orphans and widows, do kind and loving things for society’s “least of these.” The Bible is also loaded with great things that Family members of Jesus should WANT to do.

Who are the “Least of These” in your circles of influence. In our world today our Circles of Influence have expanded. You and I can get on an airplane and arrive in the middle of Africa in very little time. The Word of God tells us to love our neighbors. We have world-wide neighbors and we have neighbors living under our own roof tops and next door.

To Obey The Word Of God…is to GO into all the world and love all people. Love is action.

Are you really a family member of Jesus?
What action will you do today or this week that shows you are a family member of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the final judge, the savior of the world, King of Kings, the Messiah, the doorway to Heaven?
Now that’s a family member anybody can be proud have!


Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #3”

It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of thieves! JC 40
Matthew 21:13 (HCSB)

Do you remember the movie “City Slickers?” Jack Palance played the part of “Curly.” Billy Crystal played the part of “Mitch.” Curly was an intimidating man in the movie. Very focused and direct. In the movie there is a scene where Curly and Mitch have to round up a cow that got separated from the herd. While these two men are off on their own, Curly uses the time to challenge Mitch about “The Secret of Life.” Curly, a leathery old cowboy, challenged Mitch to understand that the Secret to Life is to get his ONE THING figured out. Mitch wanted to know what the “One Thing” was because Curly was holding up his pointer finger in the air demonstrating the #1. Mitch sarcastically says, “The One Thing is your finger?” According to Jack Palance playing “Curly.” Jack said…”No, you’ve got to figure out your own one thing…You get your one thing figured out and everything else don’t mean Jack.” Except he didn’t actually say “jack,” if you know what I mean.

Do you think Jesus had his ONE THING figured out?

Jesus’ one thing was complete honor and delight for his one True Father. Over and over in the passages of Scripture we can read how Jesus’ only real “thing” was to honor and delight His Father. Some of those passages read like this.
“I can do nothing outside of my Father, I only do what I see Him doing.” Jesus to the Jews.
“Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Jesus to the Devil.
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Jesus to His Father.

Do you have that kind of priority structure? Your “One Thing?” Your Essentials? Do the people around you know it.

I suppose its safe to say that after the temple scene where He “tweeted” the passage above…everybody knew what Jesus’ one thing was.

After tweeting this passage, Jesus took a whip and began to whip people out of the temple area. He flipped over tables. Scattered the money, the animals and the people. This scene had to have been a scene of total chaos. There would have been yelling, pushing, frantic running and fearfulness. One passage comes to mind from this scene. Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

Jesus’ one thing, is His passion for the honoring of God’s Household.

God’s household is His Kingdom. God doesn’t live in buildings made by the hand of man. God’s House is His creation, His will.

The temple area in Jesus’ time was massive. I’ve personally stood on this specific area in Jerusalem. This area was supposed to be an area of worship. In Jesus time there was even an area called the “Court of Gentiles.” Its of my opinion that this is where this scene took place.

The Court of Gentiles was an area where the Non-Jewish people (Gentiles) could gather and watch what was going on in this Holy place. To the Jewish people, Gentiles were unclean and a Jewish person was not even allowed to touch such a person. However, they created an area of “evangelism” for the Gentiles to stand and watch in hopes that the Gentiles watching might be converted. But in the pursuit of money, this evangelism area had been converted into a market. When the Gentiles arrived expecting to stand and observe the Holy activities of the Jews, maybe even pray to God, what they found instead was a giant Swap Meet. And when Jesus arrives on the scene and sees that an area of evangelism had been converted into racketeering. He created a racket. The fire inside his bones that consumed Him to be so devoted to the will of the Father….let loose! Jesus officially “lost” it! He got angry…yet didn’t sin. Our world of political correctness has forgotten that you can get angry, call people out, speak the truth, demand justice, demand accountability and yet not sin. Our culture would do well to remember and practice this. Our Church Culture too.

So…if Jesus walked into your “house” what would he use a whip to clear out? What would He see that would cause Him to flip over your tables in anger? Jesus knows your unbelievable potential to be such a strong follower of His…what in your life would He be really upset about because you are choosing to settle for it, instead of be all that you can for Him?

When I say “your house” I mean your life. Your body. Your home. Your work place. Your thoughts. Your habits. Your marriage. Your words. Your heart. You!

Your “house” was created to dedicate and Honor and Delight God the Father…have you turned it into a place of thievery, sin or????

What is of God’s that you have made your own?

This tweet of Jesus is focused and serious. It deals with Eternity and Heaven and Hell are in the balance.

Does Passion for “God’s House consume you?
Is it your ONE THING?
What will you do about it today?


Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #2”


RT@JesusChrist” #2
Matthew 13:33 (NIV)

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” 2

In the time of Moses when God commanded the Israelites to leave Egypt under the leadership of Moses, God commanded them to prepare bread for food on the long journey they were about to embark on. God told them not to use yeast in this bread because they wouldn’t have time for the bread to rise as they were going to have to leave Egypt in hurry.

Since that time, the Jewish people use unleavened bread in their times of worship and celebrations as a reminder of that great Exodus out of Egypt. Because God commanded the Israelites not to use Yeast in the bread’s preparation it became custom in the Jewish culture to refer to yeast as an example of evil and sin.

Jesus, in this tweet, turns the tables on the Jewish people. He is using yeast in a good way. Jesus was good at doing this kind of thing. He was good at catching the people’s attention when it came time for Him to teach. Many of the other teachings of Jesus recorded in the Bible demonstrate that Jesus had a knack for using the common to teach in an uncommon way. This uncommon form of teaching, done with his authority and cleverness, was part of the reason He had such large crowds pushing in to listen to Him teach. It also helped that He could raise the dead, heal the sick, blind, deaf, mute, etc. That will help draw in a crowd too! Too many people get upset at the mega churches for their marketing practices and they get blamed for being shallow because of the large crowds that they attract. I hope you and I are not that quick to judge because Jesus used marketing and drew in large crowds as well. Some might argue that Jesus’ miracles were out of His love for people, not marketing tactics. I would agree with them, but I can’t guarantee that it also wasn’t a marketing tactic of Jesus to help Him draw a crowd so He could teach about the Kingdom of Heaven. Don’t forget that Jesus is the one who commanded his followers to be “Sly as a snake and innocent as a dove.” Strategy and marketing are not sins, they are instruments of change.

So, as I am retweeting Jesus’ comments about the Kingdom of Heaven being like Yeast, I hope you are asking, “how is this relevant to you and me throughout today?” I think its good to understand Yeast first. Yeast is a living cell. It’s actually a Fungi. There are estimated to be potentially millions of different kinds of yeasts throughout the world. The experts say that we have only identified about 1% of all yeasts that exist. Yeast contributes to the creation of some of Jesus’ favorite things. Bread and Wine! Don’t forget that the religious wackos of Jesus’ time accused Jesus of being a Glutton and a Drunkard. We know that Jesus didn’t sin because we have the perfect Scriptures that verify this. But in Jesus’ time, the New Testament hadn’t been written and the Religious people of Jesus day who were very legalistic didn’t have the Bible to show them differently. They just saw Jesus hanging out with people who loved to party, drink, eat, etc.

Back to yeast. Yeast multiplies in different ways. One way is that it simply recreates itself. This process is called “budding.” It is like something we might see in an Alien movie today. All of a sudden there are two. If you can’t relate to Aliens, then how about Gremlins! Remember that movie? Don’t give them water or else. Yeast is like a Gremlin. Add a little water, flour and salt with some yeast and let the party begin. A little bit of yeast thrown into the mix and given a little time will cause the dough to expand and multiply way beyond the original mixture of dough.

So Yeast starts as just one. Give it the right stimuli and the next thing you know a bud develops off the single cell. Give it a little more time you have two. Give them a little time and the two will each have a bud develop. The next thing you know you have four. Give the four a little time and the four will develop a bud each. The next thing you know you have 8. 16. 32. 64. 128. 256. 512. 1,024, 2,048, 4,096, 8192, 16,384……!

You get the idea? In just 14 steps it went from 1 to 16,384 and it continues.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like Yeast! God the Father, started with one…John the Baptist. Then God grabs the hearts of Mary and Joseph. Next thing you know you’ve got a little “bud” growing inside of Mary. Now we have Jesus. Jesus decides to get some “buds.” Peter, James and John and then eventually 9 others that totaled 12. Next thing you know Jesus has started a Yeast-like movement. It multiplied so quickly and powerfully that even when Jesus was killed it was only days later when 3000 people were baptized. Talk about the ultimate “buddy system.” It all started with just one.

Today, it starts with you! You are but one. Yet, you are not alone. Jesus promised you that He would never leave you. He tells you that nothing can separate you from His love. This world changer named Jesus, actually lives in you…if you’ve given your life to Him. Just like Twitter. Have you chosen to be a “follower” of Jesus? If you don’t know how…just let me know on this blog page. There’s nothing to be afraid of or embarrassed about. I’d love to answer your questions about it all.

If you are a follower of Jesus, then its time to get your bud.

If you think about it, You are probably a follower of Jesus today because of a “bud.”

Someone invested in you. I haven’t met anyone yet who is a follower of Jesus Christ who did it all by themselves. Somebody made you their bud. What an honor for you to know that somebody made you their bud. They cared about you. If you are like me…then at one point in your life you were a real pain in the butt. Yet he made me his bud. The guy that got me is named Kevin. He made me his bud. Kevin brought me a little Heaven right here on earth. Who made you their bud?

So, here’s the deal. I don’t know if you remember the Lord’s prayer right now or not…but in that prayer Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven… “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven…”

“”The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like YEAST that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

You are that yeast. Don’t be one that ends the multiplication with you. Do you have a bud? Who do you already know right now that is not in the Kingdom of Heaven yet? Do you care about them? Do you want them to know Jesus Christ like you do? Do you want them to taste forgiveness, and joy and purpose?

Then get your yeast on and start being their bud. Don’t try to change them…thats God’s job. Just be their bud. Listen to them. Be the friend to them that you would like to have for yourself. You know what to do. You just have to make the decision to do it. Be a bud.

Be the Kingdom of Heaven. People will notice.

Who’s your bud?


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Copyright Trent Renner 2013