"Can anyone define sin anymore?"

A friend of mine asked this question on Facebook this morning. "Can anyone define sin anymore?". Well, I'm sure you all know that I couldn't help myself from answering........:)

"Sin" is 3 things: (got this from Steve Shermett)
#1 Doing the things God does NOT want us to do
#2 Not doing the things God WANTS us to do
#3 Our inability to actually do #1 or #2

We are all lost in sin, moreover there is no way any one of us can "Fix" our sin. We can try (and we do as Christians) but we will ALWAYS fall short. We will never be good enough........This is why I am so thankful that God has provided an Answer..........a way around our imperfection or our "sin".

The definition of "sin" has never changed.....The worlds ability to recognize sin has though. The exact same is true for the Answer. Jesus has never changed but the worlds ability to recognize Him has.

Some of my most favorite lyrics are those written by Casting Crowns. "What if the life that we pursue, came from a hunger for the truth. What if the family turned to Jesus, stopped asking Oprah what to do."

The only way to know what "sin" is and how to overcome it...... Read His Word daily and pray. Have a daily relationship with Jesus.......Learn from Jesus on how to live ............and stop "asking Oprah what to do".

Blessings!
Mike

We need to trust Him with how we LIVE not just how we DIE

Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Hey, that sounds good. Lets do that...........yeah right, if were honest that's easier said than done! WHY?

Over the past few weeks God has shown me what it means to "trust and lean not". Lets just say, when you are lying on an ICU bed, the doctors are telling you that you are dying and they need to do XYZ to save your life....... Trust me, there is no pride in that situation. I'm not sitting up in the bed saying, "Hey doc, I know you know more about this situation and you are the most qualified and prepared person to make decisions for my LIFE but.............lets do ABC!?!?!  Absolutely not! I am persuaded that the best, most obedient patients in the hospital are the ones that are in a life threatening situation and they are dying and NEED the doctors to save their lives.......more importantly they TRUST the doctors because when your dying, what other options do you have?

Well, the similarity between trusting Doctors (in an emergency situation) and trusting God was not lost on me....

Just like Doctors, when we NEED them (in an emergency) its a lot easier to "Trust" them. When its life and death and there is nothing you can do its very easy to "Trust" them.
In the same way, when we NEED God its easy to Trust Him as well. I can think of MANY times when Colleen and I we were brought to our knees and there was no other choice but to trust God because it was "out of our hands", no greater example then last week, there was no other choice but to Trust God. People said, you guys are SO Faithful and trusting in the LORD. well......Trusting in God when there is no other option is pretty easy.

But what happens when its not life threatening or when we do have some control over our situation...? From my experience the similarities between God and Doctors continues. Its easy to trust a doctor when the situation is dire (emergency) but we all know, as soon as the doctor saves our lives and we are on the road to recovery we start to "lean on our own understanding". The doctor says, you need to start eating healthy, exercise more......you have to take your medicine. Sure, we might do it for a little while but many times we see people stray from the direction of the doctor thinking they don't need to or even that they actually know better. Most of the time this leads to your health deteriorating and you get in a situation where you NEED the doctor again........ but sadly, sometimes its not the same doctor because now that you are sick again or you are not better yet, you need a second opinion.

You all know what I am getting at. This is why God says "Trust in the Lord" moreover this is WHY He says "AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING".

Folks, we are called to Trust in our Lord for ALL things but not just "trust" but to have faith that God will give us the best possible care even if we don't understand it. Its easy to do when you have no other choice....but do we trust Him when we do have a choice?  

Don't wait for an emergency to "Trust in the Lord". The doctors told my wife in the ICU that I may need to be put on a ventilator. (its basically a life support system). What was interesting was what he said. He said "at this point we would put him on the ventilator to avoid crisis, notbecause of crisis". Truth is folks, we all need to be on a ventilator and that ventilator is the Word of God. We need to commune with Him daily in the Word......not because of crisis, but to avoid crisis.  

God allows hardship in our lives. Lord knows, that I have seen my fair share of trials in the last 6 years since I started living for Christ.........If I'm honest, I have also been one of the most prideful and sinful guys I know over that time period. I cant help but think that these "struggles" were God's way of getting me to a point where I would trust and obeyHIM........where He is the LORD of my life.....where I would work hard for HIS kingdom and not my own kingdom. Everyone has a "testimony". Some are crazy stories of drugs, sex, alcohol, lawlessness etc etc......I think God is working my testimony from being a "christian".....you know, luke warm, carnal, fake, hypocritical, prideful, hidden sin etc etc....to actually, really, no kidding, seriously LIVING FOR HIM! We all have to get to a point where we Trust Him with the little things that we have control over. Not just trusting Him in the ICU but trusting Him in our homes, how we raise our kids, how we spend our money. We need to trust him with how we LIVE not how we die.  

Kind of long winded today but I guess to sum up what I have learned:

• "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding".
• DON'T WAIT FOR A CRISIS to practice this! Get on that life support system NOW.
• When things have been going good and they take a turn for the worse, don't look for a second opinion, listen and obey the Father.
• Trust in the Lord for ALL THINGS, not just the big ticket items. To truly do this, this will take some big Humility. Like I said, its easy to trust Him when you have no other choice. The question is, do you trust Him when you HAVE a choice?

Some of the most inspiring people I know are the ones that humble themselves to Gods Will and trust Him when its hard. Lying on my death bed 1 1/2 weeks ago was EASY to trust Him. As the hospital bills come rolling in, as the effects of my not being able to work in my restaurant for 2-3 weeks hits payroll, as my wife starts to show the effects of exhaustion because I can barely get out of bed, as the stresses of maintaining and keeping "MY" kingdom from crumbling start to come..............giving it up to God, now that's Trust. Lets see how "inspiring" I am then.

God bless!
Mike

"Didn't see that coming!"

Sunday after church my sweet boy was walking into the kitchen with a fresh Coke bottle and when he got to us  the bottle slipped through his hand and shattered on the floor! Soda and glass went everywhere! My sweet sweet 4 year old little boy stood there with a perplexed look on his face and said with a very matter of fact voice "I didn't see that coming!?!" LOL! It immediately made us all laugh.

Monday night my father in law walked into the ICU room and broke some serious ice with the same exclamation......."I didn't see that coming". Making us all laugh. I so appreciate the people God has surrounded me with to help me get through this season in my life.

WOW! What a ride! I want to first think God! I know the He is the only reason that I am able to write this update to you all. Your prayers to Him saved my life. currently I am at about 50%. I feel (and look) like I was hit by a freight train. As of right now, 4 days into this season of my life.....I have what the doctors called "significant" Pneumococcal Pneumonia in both my lungs. I am in a lot of pain and every breath still seems to be a struggle. The good news? I am out of the woods and on the road to recovery.

As most of you know my wife and I were at a wedding on Sunday night. I started to feel cold. Cold turned to freezing, freezing to violent uncontrollable shakes and shivers. We went to Urgent Care straight from the wedding and already had a temp of 104.5. Urgent Care could not get my fever to break with medication and all the tests they did were negative (they couldn't find out what was wrong). They told us to go right to the ER.

Colleen and I went to the ER on Monday early morning and I was basically the walking dead. Blood pressure was 61/41 (120/80 is normal). Long story short the pneumonia was so severe it took over my body and went into my blood stream causing my organs to start shutting down. I was admitted directly to the ICU. I wont go into too much detail here about the next 24 hours but suffice it to say that I was closer to seeing my heavenly father then I think I want to admit. The Lord decided to intervene and I improved so much over the 2nd night, when the doctor came in the next morning he was visibly surprised that he did not have to put me on a ventilator. I guess the Lord has some more work for me here on earth :)

Over the next day or so the focus changed from saving my life to finding out why an otherwise healthy 36 year old would get so sick so suddenly. With the Lord, my wife and hundreds of family and friends with me in prayer we searched for answers. The Doctors thought it was several things. They tested......we waited....they tested ......we waited.......they tested.....HIV, Lung Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure......

And the winner is.......NOTHING!

So whats the answer? For those that know me, you know I have been "sick" in some way shape or form since November. Never seeming to be able to get over what I had. The doctors think that I was just a walking time bomb. Add stress, working too much and exposures to who knows what with a compromised immune system I created the perfect storm.

How am I doing right now?? As of today I am SICK, VERY SICK. Although I am not dying anymore I am fighting one of the worst types of pneumonia's you can get. I am on a heavy regiment of IV antibiotics and at the very best i'll be in the hospital until the end of the weekend. I am hopeful for a full recovery and trust that God has a plan.

Colleen and I appreciate your prayers and help. We are humbled by your friendship and so happy that God has surrounded us with amazing people to minister to us.

God bless you! I hope to see you all soon.
Mike