In the Zone

Have you ever stopped to think about how awesome God's name is? Scripture says that at the name of Jesus, demons tremble.  We pray, and we end by praying in the power of Jesus' name.  When we are in trouble or crisis or in a panic, we will call upon the name of the Lord. The Lord's name is powerful and meaningful.  It is full of hope and comfort.  It has the ability to comfort and convict.  No other name evokes a reaction like God's. Yet, we are so casual with his name.  We use it when we're surprised.  "Oh my God," we'll say.  We say it when we're upset or mad.  "Jesus Christ," we'll exclaim, but not in an act of worship.  We even use it as a curse. God is firm in his word in Exodus 20:7.  "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord, your God."  That means we are to uplift his name.  We are to worship his name.  We are to magnify his name. We are not to make it common or meaningless or devalued.  We do that when we

One of my favorite movies is Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you've seen the movie (and really, who hasn't), it starts with Indiana Jones navigating a booby trapped cave in search of a pagan golden idol.  After surviving spears, pits and even a rolling rock he must flee from, he makes it out of the cave with the idol in hand, only to have to turn it over to a rival who has recruited the local, native population to surround him. Yes, I know it's just a movie.  But in our society and culture today, we're still chasing after idols.  We may not have to plow through bobby trapped caves, fight off spiders and snakes, or even run from a giant rock intent on squishing us flat, but we chase after idols nonetheless. Don't believe me?  Let's look at few statistics. The average American spends 8 hours a week playing video games.  We spend anywhere between 13-18 hours a week on the Internet. (Including you, right now, since you're reading this o

Where I grew up, I often saw a barn with this message on it's roof:  "There are many paths to God, pick one." At first, I didn't quite understand what it meant.  But as I got older, I realized it's meaning: "God can be found in many religions, so just follow one and you'll be OK." Now, it just makes me angry.  I wonder how many people drove by that barn, read those words, accepted them and will spend eternity apart from Christ because they served a false god. Make no mistake about it, God is clear in his Word.  Exodus 20:3 says we are to have NO OTHER GODS.  Jesus says it again in John 14:6 when he says "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man may come to the father EXCEPT through me." There is only ONE God.  There is only ONE path to God.  That is through a relationship with Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life on this earth, submitted to human authorites and died on a cross for our sins and mistakes.  Jesus is the only way