Whoever says material things can’t make you happy underestimated the power of a clean garage.

The garage is clean and that makes me very happy.

Of course the fewer material things lying around the easier it is to keep the garage clean.

Fifteen years ago she came into our lives and it’s been a tremendous blessing.

From what I hear from the others the trick is surviving the next three years!

I guess we’ll just take that one day at a time.

Seriously, she’s the kind of daughter you want your daughter to be.

Happy Birthday!

There’s something to be said about 3 or 4 generations of family who like each other and live in the same town.

What a great treat it was for us last night to sit at the table for the regular Sunday night meal of one such family.

The food was amazing – you can’t go wrong with homemade chile verde, tortillas, rice and beans.

The climate was even better.

I took a half day assignment at our neighborhood school today.

Two of the kids in my class were from church – that was fun.

Why does the day have to start with Math?

Ruins a perfectly good day!

When the 4 lepers discovered the Aramean camp was empty they had tremendous decision to make.

Do we tell the people in Samaria who are dying or do we keep the good news (and the spoils) all to ourself?

The first decision they make is to enjoy the bounty for themselves.

2 Kings 7:8 (NCV) When the men with the skin disease came to the edge of the camp, they went into one of the tents and ate and drank. They carried silver, gold, and clothes out of the camp and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent. They carried things from this tent and hid them, also.

But when the reality finally hits them, after the second helping of guilt . . .

2 Kings 7:9 (NCV) Then they said to each other, “We’re doing wrong. Today we have good news, but we are silent. If we wait until the sun comes up, we’ll be discovered. Let’s go right now and tell the people in the king’s palace.”

For right now let’s not focus on fear being the motivation for them sharing the good news.  Let’s focus instead on the reality that we’ve found treasure, we have good news to share.

As CT said last night in our class (not a direct quote but close enough):  We’ve found an incredible treasure of blessings and are just trying to figure out how to share that with others in a way that won’t alienate them.

Well said and something we all need to figure out.  The filmstrips don’t seem to be working.

Who would have guessed (besides Al Gore of course) how great would be the impact of those two words?

Our office broadband is on again off again right now.

Reminds me of . . .

The message yesterday was not recorded and several people asked for a copy (which always makes me nervous) so I’ve tried to give an expanded version of my Message Notes.

I had a hard time getting through this message.  Probably because God has had a hard time getting through to me.  I’m burdened by the sin of those who have harmed ones I love.

The sticking point for me (because the message must first speak to the messenger is how burdened am I regarding my own unrighteousness?  It’s always easier to focus on the sins of others (it keeps me from focusing on my own sin).  In fact notice how when we talk about the failings of others we’ll call it sin, but when we talk about our failings we’ll call them shortcomings.

Do Not Judge (Matthew 7:1-5)

Matthew 7:1-2 (NCV) “Don’t judge other people, or you will be judged.  You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you.

When Jesus says, “do not judge” we have to INTERPRET, we have to make a DECISION, as to which particular meaning of the word he had in mind.

Did he mean to say . . .

Do not ANALYZE or you will be ANALYZED?

Or . . .

Do not EVALUATE or you will be EVALUATED?

Hebrews 5:14 speaks positively about the need for discernment that we might distinguish between good and evil.

From the context we determine that discernment is required because there is such a thing as good fruit and bad fruit (Matthew 7:15-20).

When Jesus said “do not judge” I believe he meant to say:

Do not CONDEMN or you will be CONDEMNED.

He could have also been using the word in reference to exacting vengeance (Romans 12:19).

If we accept the two definitions for the word “judge” in this passage as “do not condemn” and “do not avenge” then the rest of the passage makes sense.

Why are we not to condemn?  Because in so doing we are taking a right reserved only for God.

The sin we engage in, when we take this exclusive right, is trying to make ourselves God.

The result?  We will be judged by God, for that action – in the same manner and amount and fervor that we ourselves used to condemn others.

Why are we not to avenge?  Because in so doing we are exercising a right reserved exclusively for God.

Again, we’ve tried to make ourselves God and will be judged by God for that action – in the same manner amount, the same fervor that we ourselves sought vengeance on others.

It’s never wrong to analyze and evaluate.  It’s always wrong to condemn or avenge.

How am I to apply this truth?  What does it look like?

Do not judge means we hate the SIN but love the SINNER.

And you will never understand what this means until you actually find yourself in a position where you have to choose between the sin and the sinner.

It’s hard to keep this pithy little statement in order.  More often than not we hate the sin AND we hate the sinner.  Oh, we may not really “hate” them, but our actions certainly reveal that we do not love them.

Some people love sin more than we love sinners.  Think of the stuff we pursue and protect in our own lives.

There are plenty of people who will speak out against sin.  There are few people who will speak in favor of the sinner.

I don’t know.  I guess I’m just tired of preachers whose only message is condemnation.  I’m tired of church systems which exist to point out the error in others.  I’m tired of those who hide behind contending for the truth as they condemn anyone who disagrees with them.

I try to stay clear of people who think it is their job to pronounce judgment on others.  I stay clear because sooner or later they will find something about me they don’t like.

Do not judge means we get rid of the sin in our OWN LIFE.

We stop focusing on the error of others and concentrate on the error in our own life.

What if you quit asking God to bless you us so much stuff and started asking God to sift through the silt in our heart?  (Psalm 26:2)

Few of us can ask the Lord to look closely into our heart and mind because we’re too scared to look.  We have a pretty good idea of what God will find.

You will never grow spiritually, you will never get close to God, you will never experience the fullness of his mercy, the replenishing of his grace without such honest evaluation.

This evaluation is designed not to reinforce how bad you are.  This evaluation is designed to reinforce how good God is (Psalm 51:1-4).

It is only after this honest self-examination, finding and removing sin that we can serve any useful purpose to help someone else (Psalm 51:6-13).

Taking care of your own life BEFORE worrying about others is what Jesus had in mind when he said:

Matthew 7:3-5 (NCV) “Why do you notice the little piece of dust in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the big piece of wood in your own eye?  How can you say to your friend, ‘Let me take that little piece of dust out of your eye’? Look at yourself! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye.You hypocrite! First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your friend’s eye.

This means I must remove the log from my own eye, because I’m beating you to death trying to point out the speck in your life.

It is ludicrous to focus on the trivial issues in the lives of others when we have not yet face the major issues in our own lives.  But that’s exactly why we do it.  If we can get the focus on the speck in their eye maybe no one will notice the beam in our eye.

Do not judge means we love enough to help someone who is STRUGGLING.

Galatians 6:1-5 (NCV) Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help make him right again. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin, too.  By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is important when he really is not, he is only fooling himself.  Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Each person must be responsible for himself.

The help we offer is done with a spirit of gentleness and mercy.  One sinner helping another trusting that love still can cover a multitude of sins.

By the way, the word “judge” in this passage is the same word “judge” in Matthew 7:1.

The specific implication of this word is to sift through your own actions.

The spiritually mature believer is the believer who handles these types of situations with care, love, gentleness, humility, wisdom and spiritual discernment (James 5:19-20).

Why do suppose that thee are so many who are willing to preach wrath and condemnation and there are so few who are willing to share the grace, mercy, and peace that comes through Jesus Christ?

Why do you suppose that so few people have any role whatsoever in saving souls?  Could it be that so few of us really, truly love the world as Christ loved the world?  Could it be that so few of us truly love as Christ loved them?  (1 Peter 4:8)

Our motivation for helping someone remove sin from their live must be love.  We must love someone, struggling with sin, so much that we will do whatever we can to help.  We have to be the ones who bring the mercy and grace of God into their lives to escape his judgment.

To judge another person, by way of condemning or avenging, is to take on a role for ourselves reserved only for God.  God alone is qualified to judge in this manner.  God alone can see beyond outward appearance. God alone can see the underlying cause and motives for behavior (1 Samuel 16:7).

A common tendency with messages like this is to think, “boy I wish so and so were here to hear this.”  I’m hoping you understand that I am that so and so and you are that so and so. It’s not about how everyone else needs to repent.  It’s about how I need to repent and you need to repent.

We all need the gentle reminder that God will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin.  God will always reject a heart that is proud, which focuses on the sin of others and neglects the self-sifting required of those drawing closer to the heart of God.

Our costco in Virginia carried Mystic pizza – THE BEST FROZEN PIZZA EVER!

Seriously, in a taste test I chose mystic pizza as the best tasting frozen pizza ever.

This pizza company began in Mystic, CT and became famous for the quality and taste of the pizza.  (There was this movie thing as well).

Well, the Stockton Costco didn’t carry Mystic Pizza (nor Manchego Cheese but we’ll save that for another day).

We requested and requested and requested and requested till we got tired of requesting.

For over two years we’d head down the frozen food section at Costco hoping that Mystic Pizza would be waiting for us on the shelves.

Low and behold – on Monday as we made our way down the frozen food aisle – there it was – in all its splendor and glory our beloved Mystic Pizza.

The cheese one is the best – you can customize it with your own toppings and create your own slice of heaven.

So, if you live in Stockton and are a member at Costco – you must go buy Mystic Pizza so they will continue to keep it in stock.

Seriously, if you don’t like it I guarantee that you can give it to me and I will.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old times since?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.