God of the Covenant: Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

God of the Covenant
Reflection on Genesis 1 - 11

“I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” - The LORD to Noah and his sons (Genesis 9.8 - .11).

This is the first of many covenants the LORD makes between Himself and His creations. These covenants are agreements between the more powerful, CREATOR God and with the less powerful, creation. They establish a relationship between Himself and us. Like all of His covenants the LORD is the initiator. It is the LORD who makes the covenant with Noah, Abraham and the People of Israel. Today it is the LORD who through the Son, Jesus Christ, initiates and made a New Covenant with us today.

I believe the LORD creates these covenants because of His love for us and all of His creation. In spite of the fact that we have chosen to sin the LORD still wants to have a relationship with us. In order for us to be in relationship we need a covenant. An agreement that establishes our relationship. Under the “Old Covenant” the LORD was distant and frightening. Now thanks to the LORD Jesus Christ we live under a New Covenant. Under this New Covenant based on sacrifice, grace and surrender the LORD is close. No longer do we need to fearfully wait at the bottom of the Mountain of the LORD (Exodus 19.23) now we can confidently approach the Throne (Hebrews 4.16).

There is a New Covenant available for you. It is your choice to surrender to the LORD and live in His grace or reject Him and continue to live in your sin.

Work: Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

Reflection - Work

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. - Genesis 2.15

It is clear from this verse that we had a job in the garden of Eden. The LORD creates everything and in the midst of all creation a garden is created. We are left wit the task of tilling and keeping it. I can tell you that gardens don’t maintain themselves. It takes work on the part of the gardener. The gardener needs to prune, pull weeds, fertilize, mulch, plant seeds, transplant seedlings and the list goes on. This hard work keeps a garden from being over grown and becoming wild. This was our task in the garden of Eden to be gardeners. As part of Adam’s “dominion” over creation was the task of caring for where he lived. If he didn’t till and keep the garden of Eden it would eventually become over grown, wild and not the place the LORD had made for him to live and work in.

Two important concepts come out of this.

1. Work is not a curse but a blessing. Gardening can be enjoyable but it is hard work. The work the LORD gives us to do is a blessing for us. The New Testament makes it clear that we have work to do. Our work consists of continuing Jesus’ ministry on the Earth. We are given gifts from Holy Spirit that allow us to do the work we have been called to do.

2. We are still stewards of this world. For the foreseeable future this is the only planet we have to live on. Since this is the world the LORD put us on to live on we need to take care of it. Just as Adam and Eve had the job to caring for the garden of Eden we have the task of caring for the Earth.

Reflections on Abraham Part Two: Blessing or Not

Reflections on Abraham
Part Two: Blessing or Not
Genesis 12.10 - .20

The LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you don to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” (Genesis 12.17 - .19)

Shortly after calling upon the LORD at Bethel a famine strikes the land Abraham is living in. In order to find relief from the famine Abraham decides to take his family to Egypt. Abraham is afraid the Egyptians will see his wife, want her, kill him and taker her for their own. In order to save his life he tells the Egyptians that Sarah is his sister. Pharaoh sees Sarah wants her, makes a deal of some kind with Abraham and takes her. This causes trouble. Pharaoh's household gets diseases and Abraham has to return to the famine stricken land.

Earlier the LORD made a promise to bless and protect Abraham. As a result of the blessing and protection of the LORD all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. Abraham is to be a blessing not a curse to the peoples of the earth. Unfortunately in his dealings with the Egyptians he is a curse! The entire household of Pharaoh is cursed with serious diseases because of Abraham’s lie about Sarah. His choice does not lead to a blessing but a curse.

What about us? We can be a blessing to those around us or we can be a curse. We can allow the blessings and love the LORD gives us pass through us onto others. Or we can be like Abraham in this case and stop the blessings from passing on. The choice is yours.

Reflections on Abraham Part One: The Call

Reflections on Abraham
Part One: The Call
Genesis 12.1 - .9

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” - Genesis 12.1 - .9

After the LORD appeared to Abram with this promise and command Abram obediently leaves. He has a choice. He can stay home where everything is comfortable and familiar. He can continue to live in his father’s household and protection. He can continue to live among his own people with the people who know him. He can continue to live in his own country where the landmarks are familiar.

Instead he leaves. He leaves it all behind to go into the unknown. That was all he was asked to do. In return for a wonderful promise from the Creator God, Abram is simply to be obedient. The LORD promises to bless him. When the LORD blesses someone that person finds himself being cared for, protected and favored by the LORD. There are promises of a new home, blessing and protection.

There is more going on here than meets the eye. Once again the Creator God takes the first steps into a relationship with His creation. We, humanity, have no idea how to have a relationship with the Creator. Look at all the goofy religion in our world. People desperately trying to get in touch with the Creator. Trying to do it on their own terms and with their own ideas.
The good news is that the Creator God makes the first step and shows us how to have a relationship with Him! We are not left on our own. He wants to be in relationships with us because we are loved more deeply than we can imagine by Him.

I love stylophones!

Snow and Wind Storm

As I was shoveling this evening (February 10th 2010) the wind was amazing!

Blizzard 2010 Video

Here is a short clip of the conditions at the Byrd House the morning of February 10th 2010. This clip doesn't do the wind and snow justice, it is pretty crazy out there.

View from the Front Porch Day #2

Here is an updated front porch view. Note the amount of snow on the park bench on the bottom right hand side as compared to yesterday's photo.

View from the Front Porch

Panoramic shot from the Byrd House.

Snowmageddon 2010 Begins!

The snow has started here at the Byrd House.

#2 Cain and Able: Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

Cain and Able

“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” - LORD God (Genesis 4.6 & .7)

Cain and Able are Adam and Eve’s first two boys. Cain works out in the fields. Able works with livestock. One day both of them bring an offering to the LORD. Cain just brings some of the fruit of the soil. Able brings the fatty portions of the first born. The LORD accepts Able’s offering because it is the choicest parts being sacrificed. While Cain’s offering is just normal everyday food. Cain is upset by this and the LORD warns him that sin desires to have him but he must master it. What a warning!

Now if the LORD spoke directly to me with a warning like that I think I would listen to him. If the LORD spoke directly to me every time my own evil desires were tempting I think I would listen. I think I would know better after some help like that.

But to often like Cain we ignore the warnings and walk through temptation and into sin. We knew better but went ahead. We knew the Holy Spirit was pulling us away but we did not control ourselves. We allowed sin to master us.

Self-control is not easy but I believe it is a defining characteristic of a follower of Jesus Christ. Self-control is about being self-aware and thinking ahead. When we master ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit then the LORD is our master not sin.

All You Need to KNow in Life You Will Learn From D&D

This is an awesome short talk about all you'll need to know in life.

All I Need To Know About Life I learned From Dungeons and Dragons. An IgniteOKC Talk. from Chad Henderson on Vimeo.

#1 Don't Follow god but Follow God

Don’t Follow god but Follow God
First in a Series of Reflections on Genesis 1 - 11

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” - Narrator (Genesis 1.27)

“You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” - The Serpent (Genesis 2.4 &.5)

The truth of the first 11 chapters of Genesis is not just that they happened that they still happen. Each and everyday the same temptations, righteousness, sin and victory occur. We are given a choice. We can either follow god or the LORD GOD.
The Serpent tempts Adam and Eve in the garden with the idea that they can be like god knowing good and evil. They see this temptations as something they desire. The desire to be like god gives birth to sin. The sin to pridefully and selfishly be like god leads to death. This is a death of their, and our, relationship with the LORD GOD. Death of their life in the Garden. Death of the joy they were to experience. Death of who they were created to be. Eventually, their own deaths as they were cut off from the Tree of Life.
What they forgot was they were already like God. When the LORD GOD creates us He created us in His image and (wait for it) LIKENESS. We were already like God but we believed the Serpent’s lie! The lie that we can be like the god of our creation not the God of creation
We were created by the LORD GOD to be in His image and likeness. We will only find who we are truly created to be when we stop following god and follow GOD.

What I Learned From 2 Lego Cars

What I Learned From 2 Lego Cars

During a recent Upper Room Teen Ministry’s Sunday Night Live we built Lego cars! Two teams each had one small Lego car to build with one small twist. The twist was that the instructions were across the hall and only one team member could look at the instructions. She then had to tell her other team members what to build. The one who looked at the instructions could not build the car, that wasn’t their job. The other team members were the only ones who could build. Amazingly it took more than 30 minutes for a group of 7th - 12th grade students to build these cars.
So why did I do this to them? So they would learn 3 important things.
First, I wanted them to learn that instructions are important. If we want to know how to build something right we need to look at the instructions. In life we don’t have an instruction book but we do have the Bible that gives us guidelines as to how the LORD calls us to live. If we want to know how faithful followers of God live, we read their stories in the Bible. If we are called to follow Jesus, we need to know how Jesus lived. We need to read those stories in the Bible. Instructions also need to be interpreted. Sometimes it isn’t really clear what the Lego instructions are showing us. The Bible is similar. We have to take what we read and ask, “How do we live this?” We need to carefully observe our lives, the stories we find in the Bible and merge the two into a life that is pleasing to the LORD.
The next lesson I wanted them to learn was that they are needed as part of the church. No member of the construction team was more important than another. The one who looked at the instructions was just as important as the ones who built. The same is true in the church. The church is the Body of Christ and each part of the body is needed for it to continue the work of the LORD. The church is the Family of God. Each family member is needed to complete the family and for the family to function. For this Family of God or Body of Christ to function properly, we need teachers for Bible classes. We need people to volunteer to lead singing, pray, give a Communion devotional and introduce visitors. We need people to volunteer to set up tables and chairs for fellowship meals and other activities. If the parts of the Body or the members of the Family don’t do their part it won’t function.
The third lesson is closely linked with the second, not only are you needed as part of the Body of Christ or the Family of God but you need to be present when they meet. In our Lego car building if one of the construction team members decides not to participate, the team would have been able to finish the task. If the person who looked at the instructions decided not to do their job, the rest of the team would not know what to do. If the builders decided not to do their job, the instructor would not have anyone to build. If we don’t show up when the Family of God meets then the family is not complete. If parts of the body don’t show up when the Body of Christ meets, then the body is incomplete. The Family, the Body can not be what it is called to be if the parts or members are absent.
Isn’t it amazing what you can learn from a small Lego set.

The Spiritual Implication of Play-Doh (Romans 12.1 & .2)

I really enjoy Play-doh. When you open the little yellow container to that wonderful smell a whole world of opportunity opens up. I dump out the lump and begin to shape it. With my hands, I can make abstract shapes, little people, creatures, plants, vehicles or buildings. These things aren’t going to make themselves. I have to shape them and mold them. I have to take my time to form what I have in my mind to create.

Play-Doh has no choice but to conform to how it is shaped. It can’t ask me to be a square, a car or a little kid. It is going to become what I want to make. It will conform to the shape of a cookie cutter. It will conform to the shape of various tools that come with Play-Doh kits to make spaghetti or tube or stars. It has no choice but to conform to the outside forces placed upon it.

We, on the other hand, are not like play-doh. We have some choices. We can choose to conform to the patterns of the prevailing culture. We can choose to look, act, talk and think like the culture, the world, around us. If we choose to conform ourselves to our culture we will only find sin and death.

But...

We can also choose to cut across that culture and live differently. We can’t do this on our own. We can only be transformed into something new through our faith and obedience in the LORD Jesus Christ. It is our participation in His sacrifice, through baptism, that our relationship with God is restored. It is only then that the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit directs how we live our lives. When we choose to be conformed into the image of Christ we becoming a holy, pleasing and living sacrifice to God the Father each and everyday.

You are not a lump of clay to be shaped and molded by forces outside or your control.
If we choose to be conformed to our culture we will only find sin and death. If we choose to be conformed into the image of Christ we will find grace, love and life. Which choice will you make?

What is love?

check out my latest sermon it is about love! click here to listen

A Prayer of Thanksgiving after meditating on John 3:16 - .21

A Prayer of Thanksgiving after meditating on John 3:16 - .21

LORD
We come before you tonight confessing our love for lies and our love of darkness.

BUT

You out of your great love sent your son
who is the light
who is the truth
into the world

You gave him so that we will find eternal life through our belief in your Son.

Your Son, who came into this world not to condemn us but to save us all.

THANK YOU LORD

THANK YOU LORD

Thank you for giving us your Son who calls us out of our darkness into his light.
Thank you for giving us your Son who calls us out of our lies into the truth.
Thank you for giving us your Son who call us out of our condemnation into salvation.

Salvation that only comes thru the name Jesus Christ.
It is in his name that we praise you in this prayer.

Amen

A Prayer of Blessing

LORD

We ask that you will put your name on us.

We ask that you will...
guard us against temptation.
guard us against the Evil One.

LORD look at us and bless us.
Look at us and give us your grace.
Look at us and give us your peace.
Look at us and give us your love.

Open our eyes so we may...
Look at others and give them grace.
Look at others and live in peace with them.
Look at others and show them love.

As we wear your name make us a blessing to the world.
We ask this in your Son’s wonderful and holy name.
Jesus the Christ
Amen

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