Heath with a Purpose

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.   15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.   16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt. Jesus is making a claim right here. If you call yourself a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ you are the salt. This identity is not earned, but just by associating as a follower of Jesus we take on this identity. So what does that mean? Salt today is often used to add flavour. Its so common every restaurant as well as maybe the table in your home has salt and pepper on the table or near by at al...

The greatest piece of evidence in support of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for me, is the fact that we can't define him. If this God was created by man then we could comprehend who he is.  Before I was a believer, as I looked from the outside in, my view concerning a relationship with this "almighty" God, was that these people believing this stuff were creating a God that they wanted and on top of that it seemed that people believed in this same God differently. For an example The same God that freed the American slaves in the 1800's was the same God who protected the slave trade. People on both sides of this had a relationship with God, justifying their position yet rejected the other position.  I didn't realize it but I was making a big mistake. I was allowing my little bit of knowledge to determine my opinion, ignoring all of the knowledge that could be understood. This might sound odd but if we're honest, its a lot easier putting our own t...

He said to them,  “Because of your little faith. For  truly, I say to you,  if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed,  you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and  nothing will be impossible for you.”   Matthew 17:20 I don't know about you but after reading what Jesus said to his disciples I feel like I have very little faith. Im not near any mountains but if I were, I feel like I wouldn't be brave enough or would doubt I could move a physical mountain by my command.   When thinking about how much of something we tend to think in quantity. In this remark by Jesus we can notice that he uses such a small item to describe a faith that can move mountains. If one mustard seed of faith can do that I must have less then a 10th of that kind of faith. The trouble with this thinking is that if I want to gain a larger faith I'd need to somehow add to what faith I already have. I can try to work more, pray ...

We are influenced by everything around us. The weather, our culture, news, available entertainment, our friends, family, social media When I get curious about something to the point that I am going to look into it the sources I use, either to educate myself or to support a thought or an idea I currently hold, that shapes my understanding. This is the case for me when  I first took on the task to educate myself with a greater understanding of God's existence and the history the Bible. I started by buying a bible for myself but I found it difficult for myself to study it on my own. I found it more helpful to listen to someone who could make the scriptures more relatable. When I came across a guy named Mark Driscoll, I thought I found the teacher I needed. Mark Driscoll is a passionate, "beat Christian men up" kind of preacher. He was the first preacher that I listened to that I felt like was preaching my life. I even at one point, when I first started going to c...

God knows everything you've done, you're doing, and what you're going to do.  “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23:24‬ ‭NIV ‬‬ When someone says God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient it tends to lead to the question "if God is everywhere, has unlimited  power, and is all knowing then why does he allow bad things to happen?" Most people who don't believe that a God exists struggle with this concept. If God was real and is everywhere,  and he can do anything and  he knows everything why does all of this evil still happen? One mistake we easily make is we put ourselves in the judgement seat. We can see apparent evil and then blame God or use as evidence against such God because he knew that this apparent evil was going to happen but didn't stop it even though he was there and had the power to do so. This would be a fair ju...

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:13‬ ‭NIV‬‬ “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:6‬ ‭NIV ‬‬ The gospel is best understood when it's discovered, not when it's told. As christians, our influence on the world has a far greater impact when we live the life scripture calls us to, seeking God first and loving our neighbours. When we are known for telling others what to do and how to live, we are putting ourselves in between them and Christ. We need to be transparent. Our goal should be that when people see us, they really see God. What I'm writing might seem hypocritical, but if anything, by writing this it allows this to be a reminder for myself as well.  The most fulfilling discovery I have ever come across is Jesus Christ. It sounds cliché and I might have lost all, if not most of my readers that don't believe or don't have a relationship with Jesus.  I'm n...

I have previously talked about shame and how the proper response is to worship God. The last thing you probably want to do when your in a dark place is worship. You might think God deserves better. In April, I heard a pastor preach on Lazarus in John 11:43-44.  When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” ‭‭ Before Jesus came into each of our lives we were dead to sin. But Jesus has called us like he called Lazarus. Now picture Lazarus walking out of the grave. Did he come out glowing wearing white with angels singing behind him? No, he probably stunk and was still wrapped in his grave clothes. We are just like Lazarus. We still aren't perfect even though we are now alive in Christ. When God called us it wasn't when we were in a state of glory, but rather a state of m...

We all struggle with our sin. Sometimes it's struggling with the temptations that lead us to our sin. Sometimes it's struggling whether or not what we do is a sin in God's eyes or not. And sometimes it's struggling with the shame we have after we have sinned. Let's Look back to the beginning in the garden right after Adam and Eve committed the first sin.  Genesis 3:9-10 “But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”” ‭‭ When we are struggling with the shame of our sins, our instinct is to hide from God. We naturally want to isolate ourselves because the weight of our shame is to much to bare sometimes. But the truth is that God wants you to give him your shame. Jesus' death on the cross shows us that he wants us to be reunited back to God. God treated Jesus with what we deserved, so God can treat us with what Jesus deserves. We are blameless in hi...

Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life. Out of all his titles, I find this one the least relevant. I need him to be the Lamb who was slain, the lion, my king, the endless spring of water in my life, the High Priest I confide in, the light for my path. But why the bread? In all the other examples they all are necessities but bread is not. Some people have cut bread out of their diets to be healthier and some people can't eat it without getting sick. I know back when Jesus was walking the earth people didn't count their calories or have the same awareness about the food they ate that we do (then again do we even know what we are eating), but because I believe Jesus knows everything he should of known that eventually we would come to realize that bread isn't necessary. As I read John Chapter 6, the whole picture starts to reveal itself. First you see that Jesus preforms this miraculous miracle feeding the 5000 with a boys lunch, then he is found walking on the wa...

I got caught up reading about Jesus calling his disciples to follow him. Did God call you to follow him? What did it look like? Is the journey what you thought it would be? All these questions flooded my mind as I read how these men just dropped everything to follow Jesus. Some left their work, others left their family. Jesus says " whoever saves their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life to me will save it."   Why did Jesus use the word "loses"? Why not the word "give", or "offer", or "share"? Why lose? Are we playing a game of life with Jesus where he has to win and defeat us so we can also win?   I love games. All kinds of games. Sports, board games, video games etc., but I have a hard time understanding his logic. If I lose I win, but if I win I lose? Very often God's way seems illogical. When I try to understand it from a logical point of view from a human perspective, it just doesn't make sense. But the...