This weekend, I had the pleasure of being a part of "Jason and the friends," the band that led worship for Eagle Retreat 2010 in Salina Kansas. I really believe that it was a God thing that happened this weekend.

First of all, we weren't even supposed to be there, (the band that is). Through a weird series of events, (not going to go into them), Jason got asked to lead worship very close to the start of the event and was asked to put a band together. Luckily, he had two friends that he had led with before that were (kinda) in the area of Salina at the time. So we were called up and the experience began.

Another great part of this weekend was getting to hear the pastor for the event, which was none other than Andy Addis. If you have never heard of him, he is probably one of the greatest baptist preachers I've heard. His mix of comedy, stories, and just straight biblical wisdom really come together to create a wonderful teaching experience. He has an ability to speak to any congregation that he is asked to, whether that be for a camp full of 3rd through 6th graders to teaching an adult church congregation.

The theme verse for this week was a verse that I had read before and really been hit hard and convicted by the Holy Spirit on. The verse was Hebrews 12:4 "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." This verse was dubbed the "No whining verse." The main emphasis Andy made with this verse is that, especially in America, we love to complain and let others know our struggles and hopefully they will feel bad for us.

"You don't understand, I just can't kick this habit of looking at pornography."
"Well, have you tried not looking at it?"
"Kinda...."

or

"It's just SO tough to stop cursing."
"What have you done to stop it?"
"Well.......it's just SO tough....but nothing I guess..."

I believe that the actual quote from Andy was, until your attempt at stopping to sin gets to the point of shedding blood, you do not have any clearance to complain."

"...and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Another verse we talked about was, as everybody agreed, the one verse that everybody would cut out of the bible if they were given the option to do so...

"Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (NASB)
"Do everything without complaining or arguing" (NIV) Philippians 2:14

So even if we DO resist to the point of shedding blood, we still don't really have any clearance to complain. In everything we do, and this is my prayer, we need to have the attitude of the Apostles who were beaten for the cause of Christ. "So they went on their way...rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for HIS name. And everyday, in the temple and from house to house they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:41-42)

So my prayer for you today is that you would always "Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of one's faith produces endurance." (James 1:2-3) Always know that God wants the best for you and He will never give you more than you can handle. Always rejoice if you have to suffer for Christ, because the suffering here on earth helps you to receive a crown in heaven.

So I hope this just gives you something to think about. Always know that I pray for the readers of this blog, (if there are any) that they will be changed for the better and would grow closer to God through this.

February 25: Sin

I don't know about you guys, but I seem to stumble into sin a lot. I know that everybody has sinned, and that noone (except Jesus) is perfect (Romans 3:23), but it just seems like I sin at least twice as much as any other person around. The thing about it is, I seem to sin, and sometimes to intentionally sin without even thinking about the consequences. What I need to be thinking about are the next consequences that will help you and I avoid sin the best we can.

The consequence of sin is that distances us from God. We're already apart from Him far enough it seems, we should always be wanting to get closer to God rather than distance ourselves from Him. It also creates an even bigger separation between you (and me) and God. Isaiah 59:4 says, "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. That right there should be reason enough for us to strive to life a life free from sin.

When we sin, it not only affects our relationship with God, but it also affects the relationship with others around us. I know that when I sin, I can sense kind of a shortness with my peers. Call it me getting frustrated very easily with people. I know that they don't mean anything by what they do, and it's only because I've hindered my relationship with the One who provides all happiness and patience. And that's why I lose sight of the happiness and patience that I experience with my peers.

The good news about his comes from 1 John 2:1b "And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world."

So we need to always look up and see the example that was set by Christ. Live a life free from sin, because Christ has freed us and released us from the captivity that we were in when we were entangled in sin.

"Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of one's faith produces endurance." James 1:2-3 God does not Himself tempt us with sin, but he does allow us to be put through trials in order that we can be filled with righteousness. (James 1:13)

And the encouragement with this subject comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13 which basically says that God will not put us through more than we can handle, and anything we do go through He always provides us with a way to endure and to escape what we are going through.

So my prayer is that this entry has helped you, (I know it has helped me just typing this) realize the consequence of sin and what it does to our relationship with Christ. I hope this has encouraged you to live a life that you were called to live when Jesus died on the cross.

February 23 1 John 1 memorization

I started to read 1 John the other day and the Holy Spirit really convicted me of some things. The way it talks about our sin and if we sin, then we have no fellowship with God. That hurts. So I did some intense prayer and I felt like God wanted me to begin the process of memorizing this book. So, here it is, I am not looking at my bible at all right now, you'll just have to take my word for it. I am reading out of a New American Standard Bible.

"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at, and what we have heard concerning the Word of Life. And the Life was manifested to us and we have seen, and testify, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and is now manifested to us. What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also, so that you may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. These things we write to you so that our joy may become complete.

This is the message we have heard from the beginning and now proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and yet walk in darkness, we deceive ourselves and lie against the truth. But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we will have fellowship with Him and the blood of His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we do not Sin, we lie and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all righteousness. If we say we do not sin, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us."

OK, that is all of chapter 1. I do admit that I had to look at my Bible a couple times in order to get started with a couple points of that chapter, but I am still working on it. Hopefully I will have it perfected sometime soon.

If you are trying to memorize something, I want you to feel free to comment or write something on my blog. Feel free to even quote to me what you have been memorizing, I would LOVE to hear it. "I write Your Word on my heart, that I may not sin against You." Psalm 119:11. That is my prayer tonight for me and for everyone out there trying to memorize God's Word. Thanks again for reading my post

Beginning Post

Hello everybody. My name is Travis Ward, and I have created this blog in order to keep myself accountable to getting into God's Word more. I will be posting periodically (hopefully at least once a week), about what I have been reading and my thoughts on the scripture. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and/or comments. I look forward to hearing any kind of feedback, positive or negative. Thanks a lot!