What's Wrong with this Moment?

This has become a really powerful question for me lately.

"What's wrong with this moment?"

I have to admit the last several years have really been an up and down roller coaster for me emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, and financially. I feel like stress, depression, anger, and confusion have gotten the best of me. I've somewhat lost my identity. I lost that confidence and God-esteem that carried me for years. It has all been drowned out by stress and uncertainty.

There is a concept I hear a lot about that I normally associate with Eastern philosophy/religion and that is the idea of "being present." I'm discovering it for myself in the Scriptures though and I must say it's a game changer.

Most of our anxiety and stress comes from places in the future and past, places we can't go to from this present moment. Scripture teaches us that it is a waste of energy to worry.

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, ... 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single foot to his height ? ...31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ...34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Luke 12:25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life[b]? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

The power of "worrying" will not fix your problems anymore than it has the ability to make you taller or live longer. IT IS A WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY! (in fact will probably make you shorter and die more rapidly).

There are things we all need to be concerned about. The test results of an important medical exam? The outcome of our court hearing? If we will make the sale? How are we going to pay the rent? I would be worried if you "weren't" concerned about things like this; but freaking out, losing sleep, being angry with others, falling into depression, and so on...will not change the result of your medical exam or pay the rent.

In fact, I believe it creates a negative feedback loop, that keeps you in a bad place. (We will get more into that in another blogpost.)

So when I find myself starting to go down this road lately, I've started asking myself, "What's wrong with THIS MOMENT?" I know that scary thing I'm concerned about is just around the corner, a mere few days away, but I'm not there, I'm here. I'm in this moment. When I start to look at this moment, I start to find so many things to be grateful for. I don't miss the moments with my son, friends, and family that stress recently has been robbing me of. I don't miss the mindset of the thousands of things that are actually beautiful in my life currently. I am reminded of how blessed I really am.

"In your presence there is fullness of joy." Psalm 16:11 One of the reasons that worship times are so powerful for us is because it causes us to become "present" in His presence. It is one place that we learned to practice this idea of being present. We allow ourselves to focus in on Him, letting the world fade away, leaving our worries and concerns behind, and give the Lord what is due to Him. We must be "present" in His presence to experience the fullness of joy His presence provides." The problems and future worries still exist outside but we are able to get lost in the moment of being with Him.

Learn to worship not only in church and song, but in mindset and spirit. That same intention of focusing on his presence and what you can be grateful for is available to you even as work or go about your normal routine.

What's wrong with this moment? Nothing, for He is here with me.

"God Hates Fags" guy found out today if he is right or not?

I see a lot of FB, Twitter, and blog post celebrating the death of Fred Phelps, the pastor who headed the Westboro Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas, prior to his excommunication in 2013. Phelps became infamous for protesting the funerals of soldiers and members of the LGBT community. Probably most well known for his "God Hates Fags" signs during the funeral protest.

Most of these celebration post are, of course, from military families and the LGBT community. I would expect his funeral to be picketed from members of both of these groups. I also see a lot of Christians celebrating his passing. There is a side of me that feels it too. Though most of us do not believe he represented our community, it was still embarrassing having the likes of this man with the title pastor and publicly quoting scriptures.

I want to address this post to my Christian family, those of us who are celebrating. I want to challenge you with two things to "grapple" with if I may. They are things I struggle with so of course I don't want to be alone and I'm going to push you in the pool.

The first is the "ideology" that Phelps perpetrated is not that far removed from some of the preaching and belief systems I have witnessed and participated in over the last 20 years in Christendom. I once too believed that "God hated fags", and so did a lot of other ministers behind closed doors, and in the secret places of our hearts. We dressed up the sermons in scripture and politics so it wasn't as brash as a picket sign at a funeral, but the message was the same. In fact, a part of our heart felt or may still feel this way. We don't admit it, maybe not to our congregations, friends, or even spouses verbally, but our actions and underlying tones reveal it. Phelps had the balls to put it on display to the world, yet a lot of us are afraid to come out of the closet with our little "hate" monster. We don't rebuke Pat Robertson when, live on the 700 Club, he suggests gays with AIDS wear rings to cut and infect others. We don't speak up when a North Carolina pastor suggest that gays and lesbians be rounded up and held behind electrified fences until they die off. If Fred Phelps does not represent us, these men do. They absolutely represent Christianity in this country and our silence aligns us with them. So I ask you, do you stay quiet because on some hidden level, you secretly agree with them?

The second thing is does our celebration line up with scripture?

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
    and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
    and turn away his anger from him. - Prov 24

Ask yourself some questions:

Did you pray for your enemy as Scripture commands? You took the time to publicly celebrate his death but did you take the time to secretly pray for him when he was alive?

Do you believe in a literal hell and believe he went there? How could any Christian believe in such a place and also celebrate when someone goes there, even an enemy? If our enemy goes there it is not a time for celebration, but for mourning. Did we do our part to win our enemy over to God (see question above)?

For those former members of his congregation and family who are being bombarded by the media and world at large right now, how would the Spirit lead us to deal with them? To picket them? To celebrate publicly? To say good riddance? To remind them it is "us" vs "them" so the world doesn't associate them with the True Church? Or would we be wise to treat them with sympathy and love by demonstrating compassion and forgiveness? Apparently something never preached before in their pulpit.

I'm shutting my glass door. Let the rocks fly ;-)

Book Release!

Some of the blog post that were originally here are now missing? It's because some have been rewritten and used in my new book. Very excited about this and all the support.

Book is already a top 40 devotional on Amazon and included on their Hot New Release page.

You can get your copy here. Please spread the word. Thank you Grapplers Church fam!

Dear Steve,

Today, I went and visited a friend who is in a really bad place. It made me think of you.  So, I decided to look you up today. Thought maybe I’d finally reach out, and maybe visit. I’ve been saying that for years. Looked once or twice on the internet but couldn’t find you. I bet if I pushed hard enough, asked the right people, I could have. 

Well I found you today, at least your obituary. I feel like the worst friend ever. I loved you like a brother. You were my partner in crime. We had so many great memories. Laughing through the tears right now at how crazy we were. 

Sorry I didn’t see you the last several years. I lived overseas a while and when I got back I thought I’d look you up. I’m asking myself right now why I never really did though. I think it’s for a couple reasons. 

I couldn’t stand seeing you like that. You were actually about the only guy in my life I was semi-jealous of. There was a part of you that was larger than life. You were the party. You had so much energy it was insane. To witness that energy trapped in a mostly lifeless body was hard for me to witness. I felt like you were tortured and trying to hide it. I saw me in you, because we were so similar, and I don’t think I wanted to face the fact that something like that could happen to me too. 

The second reason is, you always asked me so many deep questions like I was your older brother. You asked me more “Why?” questions than a nagging 4 year old discovering the world. I always felt the need to have an answer for you brother. When your accident happened…I had no good answers. I rehearsed your questions and how I might respond a million times in my head over the years. Damn it, I never had a good answer. I was afraid you were going to ask me some really tough questions about God and about why. I didn’t want to let you down. I kept waiting till I had the answers before I was gonna see you. 

I see pictures of you now online. You were out and about some living your life as best as you could. How is it you were the victim and you came to terms with it; I was not, and I never did. My pride and fear kept me from enjoying years with one of my best friends. That is something I will have to carry for the rest of my life. I am ashamed. 

Just a couple weeks before your accident, we had dinner. It was the first time my wife had met you. She went on and on after dinner about how you looked like “The Rock”. It was another moment I was semi-jealous of you ;-) I think that is how I will choose to remember you. 

Jesus, can you help me redeem this sin I’ve committed somehow? I’ll burden the guilt, it’s mine. I just want to be better for it. Oh, and I know you are “The Rock”, but would you mind giving that “rock” a hug for me, and tell him I’m sorry and I miss him. 

Scott

Feeling all "warm & fuzzy". Encouraged to Love!

To me, Paul’s greatest encouragement, which stands the test of time, is to love.

 “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” -  Romans 13:8

Think about the law and loving your neighbor. If you loved someone, would you steal from them? Would you covet what they have? Would you murder them? Would you lie to them? It is easy to see that, love not only fulfills the law, but reveals Gods character. God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Without this love, even our most “sacrificial” acts are in vain. When things are done out of love, they are done with the intent of serving another. When love is absent, there is a selfish motive, sometimes even hidden in the heart from the doer. “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” – 1 Cor. 13:3

Gifts are useless without love. Acts and character benefit no one without love. The law is useless without love. But Love, ties them all together perfectly. “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” -  Col 3:14

“…and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13:13

“Love never ends.” – 1 Cor. 13:8

How you can support our free Christian Podcast

We are having great success with the launch of our free Christian podcast. The link below will take you to a post on how you can continue to support our podcast. We want to make sure that you who have been faithful readers of the blog for more than two years, dont miss out on the podcast as well.

Click Here to Learn About the Wrestling with God Free Christian Podcast

Official Release of the Wrestling with God podcast!

For the 2 year anniversary of Grapplers Church "Wrestling with God" blog we released the official Wrestling with God podcast!

The first few episodes are on iTunes and Stitcher already. They include some incredible interviews with gospel hip hop recording artist K-Drama as well as Missionary and Church planter Patrick Hubbard. We will be releasing a new episode weekly and have some really inspiring people lined up.

After only one day we are already on the New and Noteworthy section of iTunes Religious podcast. With your support by downloading, subscribing, and rating we will climb to #1 I am sure!

You can find it on iTunes here! Wrestling with God Podcast

You also can listen directly from your web browser by just going to GrapplersChurch.tv

Know of a unique ministry that we should feature? Have an album or book you are releasing? Let us know by leaving a message on Grapplerschurch.tv Just click the leave a voice message tab on the right hand side of the website!

Enjoy and God Bless!

Scott Blair