This is My Story

A story.  Jesus loved a good story.  Just pick any one of the four gospels, start reading, and it won't be long before you find our Lord sharing a simple, yet riveting, story that conveys deep spiritual truth.

Whether we realize it or not, we are all writing a story, with our lives, to the Lord.  Each day we make decisions that will one day be called into account.  If this is true, and I believe it is, then shouldn't we desire to write the best story possible?  The good news is, when Jesus ascended to heaven, He did not just send us a comforter...He sent us a best selling author.  The Holy Spirit of God - the One responsible for the penning of the scriptures, lives within us and can help us to make right decisions that will make our lifestory one worth reading.

If you live in the Fredericksburg area, I hope you will consider joining us at Kingdom Baptist Church for this exciting new message series, throughout the month of February and March.  Our worship celebration begins at 10:30am.  Look forward to seeing you here.  

YCBD Update

Some of you might be wondering how everything has been going with my health, and the progress of my book - You Can Beat Diabetes.  First, I want to say that my health is great and I give all the credit to God.  Between eating healthier and exercising on a regular basis, my blood sugar has been as normal as any person without diabetes.  Even though I know that the changes made to my personal routine must be permanent - it is almost as though I never had the disease.  No one knows the future, and who's to say it could not come back someday - but for right now, it feels like God has taken it from me.  That is not bragging, or prideful...I promise you.  As for the book.  I have been pleased with the doors that it has opened, for me to be able to talk with people.  Can't say that book sales are lighting the world on fire like The Shack - but I'm not selling books out of the trunk of my car either.  YCBD was self-published, but I am currently looking into having the book picked up by a traditional Christian publisher, so I would covet your prayers in this matter.  It would be exciting to write future books - whether they be diabetes related, or encouragements for Christian living.  I really want to congratulate Marty Reed, who worked the program prescribed in my book, and is doing incredible.  I always said that if YCBD helped even one person, it would be worth the commitment that was made to write it.  That prayer has been answered.  If you know someone who has contracted type 2 diabetes, and is unsure of what to do next, please point them towards You Can Beat Diabetes.  They can find it on amazon, both in paperback and for kindle.

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New Book Launches in November - Part 1

I'm really getting excited about the launch of my new book this month.  Currently I am in the process of making some final interior changes before publication.  Once those changes are made, and the okay is given, You Can Beat Diabetes will be available for purchase on Amazon - both as a paperback and Kindle edition book.  I want to use the next few blog posts to share excerpts with you from the book.  Nothing will give me more joy than to hear that someone's life was changed forever because they got serious about their condition and worked the plan provided.  Here is the preface to You Can Beat Diabetes.

Have you ever purchased a car and thought to yourself, "What a great car.  In fact, I can't remember ever seeing one just like this before."  Then you get out on the road in your new ride, and it happens – "Hey, there's a car like mine.  Imagine that."  And a short time later – "Wow, there's another . . . and another."  And before long, your car, the one that was so unique, is everywhere you look. 

                So what happened?  Did you start a new fad?  Was everyone waiting to see which vehicle you would purchase so they could buy one just like it?  Of course not.  You just never noticed before.  Once you actually owned that kind of vehicle, the blinders fell off and your eyes were opened to a new reality.

                Before being diagnosed, I never really thought much about diabetes, let alone type 2 diabetes.  Oh sure, I heard media comments from time to time about how diabetes was a national epidemic, but there are lots of epidemics in the world.  Why give more attention to this one?

          Then my dad contracted the disease in 2005.  When he first told me, I wasn't sure how to react, and the physical distance between us only added to the sense of helplessness; so we only talked about his health in a general sense, nothing too in-depth.

                It wasn't until diabetes impacted me personally that I began to realize the enormity of the disease.  Now that I owned it, my blinders were off, and it was everywhere.  This new reality was overwhelming for me, as it probably is for you right now.  With the abrupt awareness of your condition come feelings of dread, denial, vulnerability and even betrayal by your own body.             

                 No one plans to get this disease.  In most cases, it’s a downward spiral of depression, overeating, sleep deprivation, weight gain, despair, and ultimately diabetes.  Sound familiar?  If so, then allow me to help you break this cycle in your life and beat diabetes.   

                I've been where you are and have come out a winner on the other side.   

I've been discouraged.

I've been overweight.

I've had high cholesterol and an HbA1c of 14. 

And I've experienced the dark clouds of fear and anguish that accompany a diagnosis of diabetes. 

But I've also been encouraged. 

I've also gotten my weight under control, and brought my cholesterol back into the normal range. 

Today’s HbA1c is 5.5, with blood glucose averaging around 85 mg/dl daily. 

I'm telling you, "You can do it!" And it can happen in a relatively short period of time. 

                Perhaps you are not diabetic yet, but have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and don't want to cross that line.  Then permit me the privilege of coaching you, through this book, while there is still a chance to avoid diabetes altogether.

                My hope is that You Can Beat Diabetes will become your constant companion – a trusted resource in your battle against type 2 diabetes.  May God bless you as you read, and make the changes necessary to beat diabetes in your life.

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Manufacturing Church

My good friend Scott Hunter of Marriage On Fire ministries recently put this link out on Facebook. I watched it and had a good laugh until it struck me how close to the truth this video really is. Can church become so manufactured that God is nowhere to be found? I believe we all know the answer to that question. And the reason we know is because all of us have worshiped before with less than our whole heart.

How many times have we, as church leaders, dropped this week's songs and sermon into a familiar template without even thinking to ask, "Does God want something different this Sunday?" I appreciate these guys highlighting a danger that every church faces - substituting an experience for God.

Please don't misunderstand. If a church has a nice building . . . great. If a church has cutting edge technology . . . fantastic. There is nothing wrong with having a top notch music program and you can be so progressive as to broadcast a hologram of yourself preaching to 100 satellite campuses, at the same time. I get it. But if God is not there then what's the point? When the pastor preaches, it better be "Thus says the Lord" and not a psyco-babble sermon. When the musicians play and sing, their offering must be in spirit and truth if they want God to be pleased with it.

Watch the video. Have a good laugh. Then do your best not to go there.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A

The Real Deal

A few years ago I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Adrian Rogers. We were both standing in line outside The White House - waiting to be let in for The National Day of Prayer gathering. He just walked up to me and said, "Hi, I'm Adrian Rogers," or something just like that. It was so surreal.

I told him I was a pastor and he asked, "What kind of church do you pastor?" Knowing that this man preached to tens of thousands every week, I humbly said, "A small one." He laughed, hugged my arm and introduced me to the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. I will never forget how genuinely kind Dr. Rogers was to me personally. He made this small-time minister feel at ease in the midst of spiritual giants.

Since then I've had the opportunity to talk to others who knew Adrian Rogers personally and confirmed that he was the real deal. He always took time for people and never looked past them when they were speaking. While pastoring a great church he never saw himself as anything more than a humble servant to a great God.

This morning I went to lwf.org and listened to one of Dr. Roger's messages, The Sin That Lost A War, while working out on my elliptical. Every Christian should hear this message for sure, but I would especially recommend it for the men. If you are concerned about the legacy you are leaving for your family, please take the time to listen to this sermon - proclaimed by one of God's finest pulpiteers. You won't be disappointed.

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Our Purpose for Living

If happiness and fulfillment were based only upon having our needs met then there should be a lot more happy people in this world. However, we all know of people who are financially well off – yet are not happy. They are living lives of stress and worry.

I heard of one husband who said to his wife, “Why are you always worrying? It doesn’t do any good?” His wife said, “Oh yes it does. Ninety percent of the things I worry about never happen, so it must be working.” Sound familiar?

As I mentioned in my last post, we worry about whether our needs will be met but there might be a greater worry that Jesus eludes to in Matthew 6:33 - a life lived without purpose. Like Solomon, many of today's Christians have sampled everything the world has to offer and come up empty. They desire a life filled with purpose and meaning, but are looking in the wrong places.

Jesus says that our physical needs will be taken care of as our spiritual purpose is fixed. We are to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness . . . then all these things will be added to us. The word first gives the thought of that which is before, prominent and best. The children of God are wandering around searching for meaning and purpose and the whole time, God is saying, "I am your purpose. I am your meaning. I am what is best." You cannot have a greater purpose than living for His Kingdom and righteousness.

So what does it mean to seek His Kingdom? It is to recognize God's reign and live with a passion of bringing people into God's family. Seeking His righteousness means to look for in hopes of obtaining. It is not saying that we will attain God's level of righteousness, but God has called us to be holy as He is holy.

The Lord wants us to focus on the spiritual purpose He has designed for us and when we do . . . some astounding things will happen.

• God will meet our physical needs.
• We'll live a life of fulfillment since we now have a purpose to live for.
  
• There will be a peace that comes from knowing that God is pleased with us, because we have made His priorities our priorities.

God's blessings are always on the pathway of service. They almost never come when we live only for ourselves. Live for the King and His Kingdom.

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Do You Know That God Knows?

This Sunday I will be continuing my message series Escape to Generous City, and will be dealing with the subject of worry - the nemesis of generosity. In Matthew chapter 6, there is a very interesting phrase that the Lord Jesus imparts to us in verse 32, "For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." Did you get that? God knows what we need. Now to make it personal, say it to yourself, "God knows what I need." This seems elementary but I assure you it is not, because to the degree that we believe v.32 is true, reveals the depth of our faith in God's ability to provide for our needs.

Now we think we need a lot of things. And if I don’t get what I think I need then I'm forced to make a determination. Either God wants me to have it but is testing my prayer life and patience, or He doesn’t believe it is a genuine need in my life.

And that is what we have a hard time accepting.

The truth is, if it’s not something associated with our livelihood (food, clothing and shelter) then it really isn’t a need – but a want.

How many of us pray for God to give us something we think we need, and when He doesn’t, take matters into our own hands? How many of us say to God with our actions, “God, I really needed it and you weren’t moving fast enough (I know how busy you are) so I just went ahead and took care of it. If you would still like to help then please send money so I can pay the credit card bill when it comes.”

I think it happens all the time and that is why Christians, who should be the most content people on the planet, are mired in constant worry and stress. And because of this . . .

• They are living with bills they were never meant to have
• They are living with material things that they were never meant to have but are now responsible for. When you own something . . . it own you as well.

As long as the Christian remains tangled in a web of worry, he cannot escape to Generous City. God never promised to give us everything we wanted, but He did promise to supply all our needs. And perhaps our greatest need of all is to be reminded occasionally that God is keenly aware (more than we are) at every moment of exactly what we need.

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Happiness or Joy?

Which one do you want - happiness or joy? You might ask, "Aren't they the same?" Actually they are not. Adrian Rogers says that happiness is based upon happenings. In other words, happiness is fleeting because it is dependent upon circumstances. Is the sun shining today? Is there money in the bank? Am I excelling at my job? Do I have a good relationship with my spouse? Are my kids getting good grades? Does the car need repairs? Do I need to lose weight? Am I getting enough exercise? You get the idea.

We could spend hours asking questions about every area of life and probably end up depressed. However, joy is not dependent on happenings - but on our relationship with God. It might be rainy outside (and it is at the time of this writing), you might be living from paycheck to paycheck, you might be stalled in your job, you might be desperately in need of a date night with your spouse, the kids are getting Cs, the car needs new brakes, you need to lose ten pounds and can't seem to find time to exercise - but there are some things you are doing right.

You are spending time with God each day, in His Word and in prayer. You are seeking to please God in how you live your life. You are not perfect, but when you make mistakes you quickly ask for forgiveness and believe God grants it based on 1 John 1:9. You are more concerned about what God thinks than what other people think about you. You recognize that your self worth is not determined by your appearance, education, social status, position, possessions or bank account - but by God Almighty.

Isn't it interesting that the Macedonians, who were living in abject poverty (2 Corinthians 8), were able to give to the Christians in Jerusalem - and do it with abundant joy in their hearts. I'm sure it did not make them happy to be poor, but the Macedonians loved God so much that their joy overcame circumstances that would devastate most people. God meant all the world to them.

And by the way, if you ever doubt how much you mean to God, don't forget that the Lord of all things had you in His mind and heart before you were ever created. The God that has universes to drip from His fingertips thought on you and ultimately gave His only Son to die for you. When we can remember God's love for us, and see our relationship with Him as our sanctuary, then we too can abide in abundant joy.

So if you can be happy then do it. And if you can have joy and happiness at the same time . . . that's a win-win. But if you must strive for one then strive for joy and more times than not, you will find happiness as well.

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Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord

Last Sunday I spoke on Exodus 14 where Moses says in verse 13, ". . . Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." We get excited when we read this because we know what is coming next - the parting of the Red Sea. The problem is, the Israelites had no idea what form their salvation would take - only that they needed to stand still and trust God. Who could have imagined that God would part a sea for them? Only God - which leads me to this thought, "God doesn't always answer our prayers the way that we hope He will, but He does answer, and His answer is always right." Sometimes the sun still sets on your hopes and dreams. Sometimes the person you pray for never recovers. Sometimes the promotion you worked for is given to someone else. Sometimes the test comes back and it is cancer. Sometimes a good friend turns his/her back on you. Sometimes the bills are overwhelming and there are no additional funds to pay. I don't know what your crisis is, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. If you are His child then He will answer your prayers. The question is not, "Will He answer?" The question is, "Will I trust Him, no matter what the answer is?" We must learn to trust Him because God rarely answers our prayers exactly as we think He should. Instead He grows our faith by answering in ways we would never have considered in a million years.

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A Pastor, Fireman and Superhero

"So Joshua, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Sometimes he will tell me that he wants to be a pastor. Other times he will say that he wants to be a fireman. Most recently, he informed the family that he has decided to be a superhero when he grows up. We're still waiting for the super powers to kick in. I don't know what Joshua will finally choose when he gets older, but I am thankful that all of his choices thus far are professions that involve helping others. I was reminding the church last Sunday that the pleasures of this life are fleeting and only leave us with temporary satisfaction. The greatest pleasure comes from serving others and knowing that you made a difference in their lives. I love Mark 8:35 which says, "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it." It would be awesome if my son became a preacher someday - if that is what God wants. I would be proud if the Lord led him to be a fireman. But the truth is, as long as we teach our children to love and serve God by loving and serving others, they will all grow up to be superheroes.

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Relationship, Not Religion

Our Starbucks group just finished Francis Chan's Crazy Love book and it was awesome. In the final chapter, Chan's barrage of truth is hard hitting and causes you to ask some intense questions of yourself. Here are a few of the lessons taught in chapter 10.

• God may want you to go overseas to be a missionary, or He may call you to be more of a missionary where you are now. If we have a right relationship with Jesus, we will be open to all possibilities.
  
• We often say that we can do "all things through Christ" but live and plan as though God doesn't exist.
• We say that we are waiting for God to reveal His calling on our life in order to avoid action. Chan asks, "Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday?" Ouch! Don't say that.
  
• If we want to experience God, then we must be willing to put ourselves in situations where we will fail unless God comes through.
• Remember to treat everyone you meet the same way you would treat Jesus.
• Ask yourself, "Would I rather have Jesus walking right beside me, or have the Holy Spirit living in me?"

Crazy Love is a great book because it draws its wisdom from the greatest of all books - the Bible. I would highly recommend it to any pastor, believing that if an entire church would read this book, and be open to change - it would totally transform that church. Here's hoping that you will all become crazy lovers of Jesus.

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Get That Ram!

Right now I'm reading through Genesis and just finished the story where God asked Abraham to offer Isaac. I can't even imagine how Abraham must have felt. His heart must have sunk when God asked him to give-up the most precious thing in his life. On top of that, Abraham had to journey for three days until God showed him where to offer the sacrifice. What was he thinking during those three days?

• Did I really hear God right? Maybe I was mistaken.
• Why would God want me to do this when He knows how long we waited for this promised child? Is He trying to torture me?
  
• What have I done wrong? This must be a judgment for some sin in my life.

Ultimately Abraham did as God commanded. He put away his doubts and acted on faith. Because Abraham demonstrated his total obedience, believing that God would keep His covenant, the Lord spared Isaac. But then an interesting thing happened . . .

Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son (Genesis 22:13).

God confirmed Abraham's faith by supplying the provision (a ram caught in a thicket), but the provision was not revealed until Abraham demonstrated his faith. And after the provision was revealed, Abraham still had to grab it and use it for the glory of God. God could have just revealed the ram beforehand, killed it, laid it on the altar to be sacrificed, and lit His own fire - but how would that have strengthened Abraham's faith? All I'm saying is that it's good to have our faith tested from time to time. It's good that God doesn't do everything for us. It's good that we have to wrestle the ram and offer the sacrifice. These experiences deepen our faith and increase our love for God. So the next time you experience a crisis of faith, trust the Lord to provide exactly what is needed for the situation. And once the provision is revealed, get that ram! Receive what God has given and use it for His glory.

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For the Glory of God and the Kingdom

This January I am launching into a new sermon series entitled For the Glory of God and the Kingdom. On Sunday we will be looking at Luke 17 with the story of the ten lepers. In that story the lepers called Jesus master and begged for his mercy. Jesus tells them to present themselves to the priest and while they are on the way, the lepers are miraculously healed. However, only one of them returns to give glory to God. The Bible does not tell us why the other nine men did not return, but we must be careful not to condemn them before looking at ourselves. How often does God bless us, and we fail to thank him for his blessings? How often do we fail to thank God for the blessings we enjoy on a daily basis? As a church, our desire is to grow, so are we thanking God for what He has already given us, and are we prepared to be entrusted with others? I really don't want to put a time constraint on this message series because the lessons are too important. If we can get a hold of the importance of God's glory and God's kingdom, I believe it will change and transform our church. In January we will have churchwide evangelism training during our Sunday school hour. If we're going to ask God for greater witnessing opportunities, we need to be ready. Let us start the New Year right be preparing for what God is going to do.

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Conference Pics

Just got some new pics from the conference. If you are interested, check out the new album on FB. I will probably add some of the pics to our Marriage University site at www.marriageuniversity.net.

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Yes It Is Worth It

We just got back from Gettysburg and had a great conference with Wanted Marriage Ministries at the beautiful Eisenhower Inn. We had the opportunity to teach three sessions and God really blessed. It will be exciting to see what God does with this conference in the future. I'm not sure how you top having Harold and Bette Gillogly as keynote speakers, and music by Calling Levi. We really felt that the couples there were fully engaged and sincerely wanted to put the truths they were learning into practice. For all the Marriage University alumni who read this blog - thank you for your powerful stories and encouragement of our ministry. Whenever Crystal and I drive home from a marriage conference, we are exhausted. But when we ask whether the time and energy was worth it, the answer is always the same, "Yes, it was definitely worth it! You are definitely worth it!" Please stay in touch with us through marriageuniversity.net or look us up on facebook. Love you guys.

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Make Peace, Not War

We are going to Gettysburg to make peace - not war. Crystal and I have been asked to do three workshops at Growing Together Hand in Hand, a conference put on by Wanted Marriage Ministries. This conference was organized in response to LifeWay's Festival of Marriage pulling out of Ocean City, Maryland. The keynote speakers for this event are Harold and Bette Gillogly, and Calling Levi will be leading the worship. Whenever we teach at an event, we always ask friends and readers to pray for us. In an event this big, there are bound to be husbands and wives who see this conference as their last ditch effort to stay together. We know that we're headed into spiritual warfare because the devil would love nothing more than to destroy these couples and devastate their children. If your church does not currently have a marriage ministry, you might want to pray for God's guidance (and your pastor's blessing) in starting one. Your pastor may already have too much on his plate to lead this kind of ministry, but a successful marriage ministry might lighten his counseling load and strengthen the church overall.

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Born to Be Wild

I pulled into the church parking lot like I do most days, went into the building and started towards the stairs to put my lunch in the refrigerator, when there was a knock at the door. I opened the door and was confronted by a rugged middle-aged man named Kevin who had obviously led a rough life. He wore a t-shirt with a flaming skeleton riding a motorcycle, a hat that said "Rebel" and sported tatoos on his arms. At first I was apprehensive, but that all changed when, a few moments later, Kevin broke down crying right in front of me. He told me that his brother recently died of heart failure, and that he was looking for some kind of closure for his brother's death. I began to talk to him about Jesus Christ, but he said, "I don't believe my brother was saved, but I don't believe in hell." I said, "We don't get to decide what we want to believe about God, and what God has placed in His Bible. The same Bible that tells us that there is a heaven also tells us that there is a hell - we cannot pick one and leave out the other." I asked him if he was with his brother when he died, and Kevin said no. "Then how do you know that he didn't call on the name of the Lord before he died?" Kevin did not know. In fact, he told me that his brother was afraid to die. I did not want to offer false hope, but sometimes we assume that a person died lost, when they could have called on Jesus before they died. The thief on the cross had nothing to offer God, but in the last moments of his earthly life, he called out to Christ and God saved him. I was able to share Jesus Christ with Kevin and challenge him to get into a good Bible-believing church when he gets home to Jacksonville, Florida. He told me that he was just sitting over at the bus station across the street, waiting for his ride, when he saw me pull up to the church. Kevin said, "Something told me, go across the street and talk to that man, and I sure am glad I did." I was glad too. We can plan our days and fill in our calendars, but God doesn't wait for appointments. Before Kevin left, we had prayer together. He gripped my hand tightly and I asked the Lord to give him the closure needed in his life. With tears in his eyes, this rugged traveler gave me a big hug and joined his ride leaving Fredericksburg. Afterwards, I thanked God for reminding me that He still speaks to the hearts of people. Out of the blue, God can send someone our way who desperately needs a representative for Jesus Christ. And when He does, we must be ready.

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A Proud Papa

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter came onto the platform at the end of the service and (in front of the whole congregation) whispered in my ear, "Daddy, I'm ready to be baptized." It caught me completely by surprise and made me very proud. On Sunday Lauren followed through with her commitment and I had the privilege of baptizing my own daughter. How many people get to do that? It was really cool. Another thing that was cool was how a video clip we showed in the service a few weeks ago influenced another little boy in our church to get baptized. After watching the video, he told his mother, "I want to be baptized." We are living in a visual generation, so why not use what will reach them, and challenge them to live for God? When I think about this world, it has nothing good to offer our children. We have to teach our kids to be in the world, but not of the world. We have to lead today's youth to follow Christ because serving Him is the only thing that will bring lasting satisfaction, both here and in eternity. I don't know the future, but my daughter just took a step in the right direction - and for that, I'm a proud papa.

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Where Is the God of Elijah?

I promised to blog about the end of our Elijah series since we were running short on time two weeks ago. I mentioned that God wants us to have hearts like Elisha in that he would not leave Elijah's side no matter what. We need to have some holy ambition and hold on tight to God, even when it might seem like God is the one pushing us away (Matthew 15:21-28 and Luke 11:5-10). But beyond seeing ourselves in Elisha, I believe we see Jesus in Elijah. There are many similarities with both of these powerful prophets. Elijah and Jesus performed many miracles, stood for righteousness, walked closely with God (though Jesus is God), finished their earthly ministry, were taken alive into heaven (of course Jesus was resurrected), had witnesses that watched their ascension, and both will return in the last days (John 14:1-3 and Malachi 4:5). The real question is, do you believe we are living in the last days? Do you agree with Peter's words in Acts 2 when he said, "Save yourselves from this perverse generation?" If we are living in the last days (and I believe we are) then it should cause us to have a sense of urgency when it comes to sharing our faith with others. All around us are lost people who will spend eternity somewhere, and we have the message they need to hear to be saved - saved from a perverse generation. We might live to, one day see Christ's return for His church. And on that day, all believers will be like Elijah and Jesus, called up to be with God for all eternity. What a day that will be.

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Elijah picture from Crossroads Fellowship in Raleigh, NC

An Offering God Can Respect

I'm currently reading through the Bible and came across something interesting in Genesis 4:3-5. The Bible says, "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering." Notice how God joins each person to their offering - Abel and his offering . . . Cain and his offering. I've often heard the teaching that the reason God rejected Cain's offering was because it was not an animal sacrifice. I'm not sure this is right. Pastor Robert Morris in The Blessed Life points out that Abel brought of the first of his flock, but Cain brought his offering in the process of time. God received other offerings in the Bible that were not animal (blood) sacrifices, so what's the problem? The problem was Cain's heart, not his offering. And because Cain's heart was not right, he did not revere God highly enough to put him first the way Abel did. This is evident later when Cain kills Abel and has the audacity to say to God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" So God sees our offerings as linked to the condition of our hearts. And we are not just talking about financial offerings, but even our offering of praise that we bring every Sunday. If our hearts are right with God (notice I did not say perfect), then God receives our offerings as worship to Him. If our hearts are not right, then God does not care to receive our offerings because they don't mean anything. I've heard some pastors say, "God wants you to be a cheerful giver - but He'll take it from any old grump." But I say, if it makes you grumpy to give to God (time, talent, treasure) then don't - because from what I can see, He won't accept it anyway. So the next time you offer something to God, you might want to pause and ask yourself, "Is my heart right with God?" Because if it's not, sin might be crouching at the door.

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