It's A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood

If you are around the age that I am (20s - 30s) you would remember growing up to a very familiar theme song:

Would You Be Mine;

Could You Be Mine;

Won't you be My Neighbor

Ok. Ok. Let me admit part of me really just wanted to post this video for childhood flashbacks, but there's a serious reason for this song.  It's surrounded by the element of a being a neighbor.  In Luke 10: 25-37 Jesus introduces us to the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

This is a very familiar passage and if you haven't read it before, I advise you to.  But to give a brief synopsis:

A lawyer approached Jesus asking him the requirements for eternal life.  Jesus cleverly asked the lawyer what does the law state (the Old Testament).  The lawyer responded from a passage found in Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18 which said: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength  and with all your might, and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  Then the lawyer asked Jesus who his neighbor was, to which Jesus told him the parable:

A man was walking along a road and was robbed by thieves who robbed him, stripped him, and left him half dead.  As he was laying half dead, a priest saw him but walked on the other side of the road, another religious man  saw him, looked at him, and then passed on the other side, but, a Samaritan (whom Jewish people hated) saw him and had compassion on him.  So, the Samaritan fixed up his wounds and took him to an inn.  The next day, the same (hated) Samaritan payed the innkeeper to supply housing for the man.

At the end of this parable Jesus asked the lawyer who was the victim's neighbor to which the lawyer would've reluctantly replied, the Samaratain.

Wow, that was a longer synopsis than I expected, but what really stood out to me was what my Study Bible called: A Collection of Attitudes.  This looked at the the 5 characters of the parable and how they reacted to the situation.

To the lawyer, the wounded man was a subject to discuss.  This is was just a parable to discover the definition of a real neighbor, the lawyer wasn't there, it was just a topic.

To the thieves, the wounded man was someone to use and exploit.

To the religious men, the wounded man was a problem to be avoided.  They didn't want anything to do with the man, they just walked on the other side.

To the innkeeper, the wounded man was a customer to serve for a fee.

To the Samaritan, the wounded man was a human being worth being cared for and loved.

To Jesus, all of them and all of us were worth dying for.

Wow.  What a collection of attitudes gleaned from this parable.  I'm not here to lecture anyone of the negatively depicted attitudes and neither was Jesus.  The who point of this discuss can be found in verse 37 where Jesus tells the man, "Go and do likewise."

Who's our neighbor?  Anyone & everyone but especially those that are going through hard times be it finically, emotionally, mentally  and any other -lly you can think of.  We as believers should be drawn to those that are hurting, not run away from them or just casually walking on the other side.  We are called to go.  So we should go!

So, Would You Be My; Could You Be My; Won't You By My Neighbor!

Righteous Anger

I don't know about you, but I grew up thinking that I shouldn't get angry.  Implanted in my brain was the idea that getting angry actually is a sign of weakness.  Not being able to control your beast mode of sorts was irresponsible; that the bible tells us not to get angry.

Boy was I wrong!  The bible doesn't tel us not to get angry.  It just reminds us to be slow to anger. (Proverbs 14:29)  Quite Frankly, there are some things that ought to get us angry.  The injustices in the world, children being killed, women being gang raped in India (if you don't know what I'm talking about Google it).  These things should get our blooding bubbling.  Make us feel queasy at society because if you haven't noticed, society is on a highway to Hell with no turning back!

No my friends, getting angry is a natural feeling.  But let me offer some advice here: we need to watch HOW quickly we get angry and WHAT makes us angry.  If every little offense gets you whipped up ready to fight someone then you might have what we call an anger problem.

I'm going to make a premise here, that the Holy Spirit actually can convict us to get angry.  It can convict us to feel some type of way about an injustice and spring into action.  Martin Luther King Jr was angry at the injustices that was happening to black people.  All of those passionate speeches wouldn't have come if there wasn't some righteous anger.  The Holy Spirit also gives us the ability to discern the difference between righteous anger.  I'm under the full belief that if you angry because of an offense to yourself, then it's probably not righteous anger.  However, if you are angry on behalf of other people, your chances improve.  Jesus tells us in John 15:13 that, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (NLT)

But it goes beyond that!  The difference between righteous anger and worldly anger can be summed up to one word: reason.  When we allow the worldly hate penetrate our hearts we tend to lose reason.  See with righteous anger, you won't lose reasoning.  With righteous anger, you see the offense, and you want to do everything possible to remedy said offense.  But here's the kicker: within reason.  MLK knew that he would probably have to die in order for true freedom to be accomplished.  So it was reasonable for him to not be afraid to go into Birmingham (which was affectionately known as Bomingham), Alabama to fight for those he loved.

The second way you know whether you are righteously angry can be boiled down to a second word: hate.  1 John 4:20 is very clear when it says : "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." (NIV)  When you get to the point where you hate someone for what they did, you need to take a stepback.  You can dislike the sin that they are committing, but my friends, you cannot hate the person. Righteous Anger tells someone or a group of people, "I love you but what you are doing is wrong, it's hurting other people, and I can't let you do that anymore."

What better example of righteous anger than Jesus' anger.  All throughout the Synoptic Gospels the same story (in slightly different ways) is told of Jesus' Anger.  Let's take it from Mark 11: 15-17 (no particular reasoning in just choosing Mark)

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’" (NIV)

I'm going to end the blog with this.  Lets look at it this way.  Jesus went into the temple saw how various people were defacing it.  So he stopped all the activity and turned over the tables.  Why?  Because they turned the temple into something that it wasn't supposed to be.  You can't go into a house of prayer when there are marketers and livestock selling their goods.  He was righteously angry at what was going on.  But did you notice, he didn't tell the people that he hated them nor did he do anything beyond reason.  He didn't see red to steal an idea from Kevin Hart.  He did what he had to do and then moved on.  

That right there is righteous anger.  It's not the most popular thing in the world because even with righteous anger you will be scrutinized in the world.  However, you won't have any hate in your soul therefore you didn't sin.  Remember be slow to anger.  The world will always judge you.  So just remember to Do You Boo-Boo (sorry, another Kevin Hart reference. haha).  Be yourself and keep your head on your shoulders.

--MJA

Stop...and Think

It's been over a week since my last blog post, so I have to start off by saying, Hi!  How are you?  I missed you guys.  I've had a bunch of different issues entire into my noggin, however, there has been one that has seemingly been etched into my brain.  It's an issue that we all have.  It's a body part (kinda) that we all have, both male and female.  If you guess the tongue, why don't you give yourself a 5 second pat on the bat! *smiles*.

But seriously people, what we say, or as the bible eloquently puts it, the "power of the tongue" is a dangerous tool that we have.  What you say impacts how people view you on the surface and how you view yourself under the surface.  One thing that the bible continually states, both in the NT and OT is that we need to watch.what.we.say.  Whether is lyin or over-truthin', we need to get to the point where we stop....and think to oneself, "Hmmm...is what I'm saying reallllllly necessary? Am I "speaking the truth in love? (Eph 4:15)."  If the answer to that question is questionable (see what I did there?), then you should probably refrain from saying it in that manner.

Solomon, who was a king over Israel was known as the wisest man that ever lived.  The majority of the sayings found in Proverbs are by him.  Most of the Proverbs speak to laziness or wickedness, but there's one shining one found in the 18th chapter, 21st verse, that says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."  You have the opportunity to help someone or absolutely crush someone with what you say.  I don't believe that we fully grasp the weapon that we have.  

He doesn't stop there though, he continues "And those who love it will eat its fruit."  Those that love the power of the tongue, those of us that love to hurt other people by words.  Those of us that need to tear other people down just to lift oneself up, will "eat its fruit."  What does that phrase mean?  It essentially means that you will use it.  What you say can have some HUGE consequences for not only others, but yourself.

Lets fast forward to the New Testament and hit the ever friendly book of James, where he devotes almost an entire chapter on the tongue (3:1-12).  No verse is more prevalent that the 8th verse where the author reminds us that, "no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."  Whoa. Restless Evil. Full of Deadly Poison.  Next time you just blurt out an in-the-moment-extremity, be reminded how powerful your words are...

James, as he often does, leaves us slightly depressed.  I mean, he clearly states that the tongue is untameable.  So why even try?  What's the point?  All of our work is futile right?  Welllll, we do we abstain from sin?  We will never ever ever be able to fully control our humanly sinful nature right?  Oh wait, because the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).  Because when I'm in Christ, I'm a new creation (2 Corith. 5:17). Those seem like great reasons to at least try to tame this muscle.

What do we do?  What do you do when that person that knows how to get under your skin just catches you on a bad day?  What do you do when you feel like the only way your significant other will understand the gravity of their actions is if you curse them out?  Is there another way to discipline your kids without yelling at them?  It's hard...it's hard to control our emotions sometimes.  I'm guilty of saying the wrong thing often.  I've also been on the other side of a loose tongue.  And I can honestly tell you that they both are sucky.

Paul has an answer, he urges us to, "Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. (Eph 4:29)"  What is Paul saying her?  Basically, if the motivation for what you saying to to destroy, rather than building; to degrade, rather than uplift. Then, don't say it!  What's the age old phrase: "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Stop. And THINK. I'm not telling you to only say positive things. I'm not telling you to only paint the rosy picture of life because to be honest, we need to be knocked on our backs every once ina while (Especially men!) What Paul is telling you however is to stop what you are about to say and do a double check and determine if what you are saying is out of love or out of spite. There are plenty of different ways to tell your boo-boo s/he needs to relax. This method leaves room for "tough love." Just lay of the spite. There's enough spite and hate and Sphate (spite+hate) in this world.  But not enough building and loving and Buloving (I think you got that one!).

Let's go people. Lets work on controlling our tongues. Lets be responsible for what we say. Lets take this responsibility over our words seriously. No one deserves to get hurt over your words. Besides, it's less work in the long run when you don't have to take your foot out of your you-know-what.

So before you say anything (especially out of an emotional state):

Stop.....

And

Think.

--MJA

Time to Breathe (It's Thanksgiving)

Well, the holiday season of thanks is coming up in less than 24 hours, so I absolutely have to write a blog post about it.  While you are being surrounded by craziness in life such as the great (horrible) Thanksgiving Song: "It's Thanksgiving"impeding school work, house preparations for the great family meal, I'm going to invite you to do something unnatural.  Take the time to breathe.  Instead of being consumed by the busyness of life, how about you spend this break from work, break from school, to breathe.  To have time with your family and loved ones.  To watch some football. To yell at the TV...to breathe.

Many of us have been living with a theory that seems like it is the right thing, but in reality it may not be.  I'm talking about workaholism   Doing too much work, not giving yourself margins to live your life.  Not being about to literally live your life to the fullest because you don't have any time to live out! Having margins in your life are not only necessary, but also, refreshing.

You know when you wrote a paper in school, and when you would type it on Microsoft Word (or something else), you had margins.  You had margins to restrict how much you are writing, but if you wanted to say, be cheap and get more bang for your buch, you could make the margins smaller...and smaller....and smaller...just to fit everything in.  But here's the problem, teachers had standardized margins, so when you tweaked with the default, you would lose points right?  Well if you look at life as a standard word processing document, and God as your teacher, you might view things a little different huh?

This is an interesting dynamic.  In our American lifestyle  the more you do, the better.  I mean logically, the harder workers (generally) will get paid the best.  (Generally) will live the more abundant  (Generally) will be the happi.... Oh wait.  I need to stop there because the hardest workers aren't (generally) the happiest are they?

An old wise saying noted to us that, "if the Devil can't make us really bad, then he'll try to make us really busy."  Why?  Because being busy with seemingly important things, stops us from paying attention to the most Important thing.  I'm too tired to work-out...I'm too tired to read...I'm to tired to do this-to do that....I don't have enough time to read my bible.  Sound familiar? (yes, Michael, it does)  God, err, Teachers, give us the perfect amount of space to get everything we need to get done.  When we fill our lives, errr..papers with fluff, we feel like we don't have enough space.  What we need to do is sift through our papers and dwell on the important things, God, our family...and then you can just keep going down the line.

I know..I know you need some scripture.  Well, if you turn yo Bibles to the story of Mary & Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  I'm not going to go into it too much because I want you to do some reading on your own.  But notice what Jesus said in verse 42.  If something great is 100 yds away, you shouldn't be occupied by the "good" thats 10 yds away.  Keep on pressing toward the mark my friends! (Phillippians 3:14)

So this Thanksgiving, be happy.  Sure there is going to be some prep time.  But the key is, don't let it drive you crazy.  Don't let it hinder your time with your loved ones.  This season is a time to have a heart of gratitude.

I'm going to end it with a great quote from Craig Groeschel:

"When something small loudly demands all our attention, 

its noise often drowns out the whisper of what's enormously important"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

--MJA

My Prayer

This post is going to be a little different.  For one, it's probably going to be my shortest post, but it's also not going to be a normal one.  This one is My Prayer.  I don't know if people are actually going to read this or not, but this is My Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come into you name lifting up the readers,

I don't know if they are young

or if they are old.

I don't know if they are believers

or if they haven't yet professed your name.

But, I know that they are hurting.

I know that they are struggling.

I know that they need help.

I know that they need encouragement....

We all do.

I pray that you continue to use your Spirit.

To continue to dwell in the temple of your New Israel.

I just pray that you don't leave us...

I just pray...

Continue to bless our lives according to your will

Continue to accept us despite our faults...

our mistakes...

our blunders...

our sins...

I want to thank you for your Son.

I want to thank you for giving him up for the ultimate sacrifice.

I want to thank you for sparing your wrath.

Watch over us.

Please... watch over us as we embark on this crazy this crazy thing called life;

We need you...I need you!

I pray that this blog is reaching people in need.

I pray that your Word is being proclaimed eloquently and sufficiently.

Father, Your Grace Is Enough for me.

Ahhh your grace...it's so amazing and soooo undeserved.

I pray that you continue to use me as a vessel...

To use your people as a vessel for your namesake.

Teach us how to love...

how to forgive...

how to bless others as you did us.

When I doubt, be that comforter

When we cry, be the greatest hugger

When I yell, be my shoulder I can lean on

When we pray, hear us...

Bless Your people. Love Your People. Keep Your People

In Your Matchless Name I Pray.

Amen.

--MJA

I'd rather be Clark Kent than Superman

One time, my co-blogger, Moises made a status on his Facebook that said as follows:

"I've been reminded that it's okay to be weak because that's when God works in crazy amazing ways. I'm honored to serve an awesome, mighty God!"

Instantly, when I saw that I began to have a mini-shout in my head especially because of the first part of that statement. It's ok for me to be weak.  I don't have to do it all.  Thank God for that!

I recall that in my series about relationships (What's Goin On [part 1]) where I interviewed ladies on what annoyed them about me, one of the surprising things that popped up was that they don't like it when men try to fix everything.  Sometimes they just like to vent to us.  And if I'm going to be honest, that, as a man, as a man that loves to fix problems, shocked me.  Actually, it kinda rattled me.  But after hearing woman, after woman saying the same thing, I knew that it was a problem.  

Now, when I look back on it, I'm thankful that ya'll don't expect us men to be Superman; it's ok to be Clark Kent!  To be honest, I'd rather be Clark Kent than Superman.  God is similar, but different at the same time.  Let me explain what I mean:

There are over 600 Laws in the Old Testament (OT) that God gave the Israelites to follow which were transcribed through Moses.  The reason for the amount of laws, is because that would be Israel's way to prove to God that they loved him.  If they didn't follow the laws, God's wrath would be placed upon them (which happened PLENTY of times).  However, if they did, God would bless them and keep them from harm.  The problem is, they went through ebs and flows of doing the right thing, and then turning around doing the wrong thing.  They would worship only God for 20 years, and then devote themselves to idols for five years. And that drove GOD crazy! (The book of Exodus articulates this topic a ton)

It not only drove God crazy, but it also broke his heart.  He didn't want to see his people keep doing stupid self.  It got to the point, that there was soo much blood on their hands, sin had stained their souls that it was basically irreversible.  The only way to fix their faults was for a sinless man to be offered up a sacrifice.

Now, there wasn't a sinless man alive until God sent his only begotten son, Jesus into this earth. And let me tell you, Satan tried EVERYTHING in his power to blemish Jesus...butttt...it didn't work.  When it all came down to it, Jesus took on the wrath of God, conquered the deepest depths of Sheoul (Hell) to wipe our slates clean and to set us free from the wrath of God.

Because of that, we no longer have to be perfect under the law.  I'm hear to tell you that Christianity is not a set of do's and don'ts.  It's not about who is the "better" Christian.  It's not about legalism.  It's about love.

God wants you to have a good time.  But we have to keep in mind that every single commandment given to the Israelites also centered around one principle: love.  Take a few of the 10 Commandments, Do not love other Gods (because God loves you, so why would you love others), Do not murder (murdering implies anger towards your neighbor, complete opposite of love), Do not commit adultery (cheating on someone is for one a selfish act that act isn't loving others as you love yourself).  I can go on...and on.

But here's the thing.  Yes, Christianity, following Jesus isn't about legalism.  Because if it was....I would've failed a looooooonnnnng time ago and so would you have...don't front! BUT, when you commit yourself to love.  When you commit yourself to God. Something changes. The Bible tells us that, "when you are in Christ, you are a NEW Creation, the old ways have become new."  So, what does that tell me?  It tells me that, when you fully devote yourself to God, there's no way you can possibly do all the stuff you used to do and it feels the same.  There's a thing called the Holy Spirit that lives in us and that connects us to God and I don't know about you, but everrry once ina while, when I do something that I KNOW I shouldn't be doin, I get a little inner pull.  Now I can choose to ignore that tug and then I have to repent, butttt I've learned that it hurts a heck of alot less to listen and concede to that pull than not.

I have a problem with "religious" people that have placed the myth in peoples heads that God wants to keep you in bondage.  That God wants you to be boring.  That God wants you to be unattractive to others. Nahhhhhhh!  (I'm going to steal a line from Pastor Waller right here):  

God doesn't want to keep you in bonds; He wants to keep you from going OUT-OF-BOUNDS. 

He wants you to be safe in his arms.  He doesn't want you to get hurt.  You are his chilren'.  Ya hear me??  That tug, that kick, that pull you get from the Spirit isn't anything but God saying, hold on, if you keep going down that road something negative might happen.  It might not happen today, or tomorrow, or this year, but it will happen.  

Despite all the warnings in the world we get.  We still choose to go down the "bad" paths.  And the amazing thing is that we aren't going to Hell for it.  No one here is able to keep all 600+ rules faithfully to a teed.  But, you can easily confess that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved, and instantly, that weight is lifted off your chest.  I mean can you imagine trying to lift a 600lb barbell...I sure can't!

I'm so thankful that Jesus called to me when he said: "come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Ahhhh rest.  A book I just finished called Disciples of a Godly Young Man sums this point up perfectly:

"God save us from the misery of such a system that sets up spirituality as a series of wooden laws and then says, 'If you do these six, sixteen, or sixty-six things, you will be godly ' Christianity  godliness, is far more than a checklist.  Being 'In Christ' is a relationship, and like all relationships it deserves disciplined maintenance, but never the 'shrink-wrap' of legalism." - pg. 175

Mistakes are made, we live through them, we learn from them, but we don't go to Hell just because of them.  And I thank GOD for that!

--MJA

You've Got To Forgive

Well, yesterday (August 12th), I preached my first sermon.  It was on forgiveness, and for the most part I think it went well.  I'm generally an overly critical person so there are somethings I don't like about it and there are some things that I need to improve.  But for the first time, I'm overly pleased.  You can check it out here if you want!

You've Got To Forgive

~Michael J. Adams

Let Em Uz Ya!

Abraham was a jolly old man, yet God used him to be the father of the world.

Moses had a speech impediment, yet God used him to deliver Israel.
David was a nobody, yet God used him to rule over millions.
Paul one of the greatest persecutors of Christians, yet God used him as one of the best advocates for Christianity.
Jesus was born ina manger, yet God used him to save sinners (aka everyone).

What does this tell us?

That no matter who you are, what your "issues" are; God can and will use you. The only question is: Are you holding yourself back?

Just take a quick look at me: I'm the Student Director of the United Voices of Praise (Messiah College's Gospel Choir), I'm the Director of Tapestry (Harrisburg BIC's Gospel Choir), I'm part of the select few planning the Baccalaureate coming, AND I'm planning on going to seminary next Spring.

Now, it may look like I'm boasting but hear me out, I'm not.  If you know anything about the real me, you would know that I am one of the most shy/reserved guys you will ever meet. I process just about everything and I am completely introverted. Most people don't believe me when I tell them that, but its the absolute truth.  It takes me forever at times to muster up the courage to do simple acts.  Granted, the older I've gotten, the better I've become at being outgoing, but all in all I'm just a shy introvert.

How does that make any sense? To be honest, I have no idea.  I joke and say that when a spotlight gets on me or when I get in front of people I become bi-polar and that outgoing manic, but once its gone, I just fade to the background.

The point is, if God can use little ol me, He can definitely use you.  You just gotta open up yourself and present your body as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1).

So, as I borrow the phrase from my God-Brother Calvin that in english says: "Let Him Use Us" but in 'Calvin' it says: "Let Em Uz Ya!"