DanSardinas.net

The necessity of Thankfulness

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone and here we bask in the glory of another filled stomach!  Our family is thoroughly enjoying our Thanksgiving together!   I can't tell you how much I think four day weekends rule!!!  We have so much to be thankful for as a family.  We have so much to praise & thank God for!  Of course, there are the usual items to be thankful for. (Family, Friends, Employment, Salvation,  Provision, Good Health...etc).    This list can go on & on.  However, it is so sad that we focus on being "thankful" really only one time a year.  This should not be so.  Yesterday we taught our kids that yesterday was not called Complaingiving or Whinegiving.   It is Thanksgiving!  

Paul tells us here in Colossians 2 that our lives are to be grounded and built around Christ.  Paul says that our lives should be "overflowing" with thankfulness.  Thankfulness should not be a list of 'items' (although it could include a list) it should be a spirit that lives with us everyday.  Thankfulness is a choice that we make to allow a spirit of gratitude to reign over our present circumstances!  This attitude makes what James says a little easier to understand.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2

I got to be honest here.  My life is not overflowing with Thankfulness.  How about yours?  Overflowing to me means that I am unable to contain the attitude and it spills out to every area of my life!   Living a life that 'overflows' with Thankfulness does not focus on the few negative things & ignores all the good!   Overflowing thankfulness should drown out all attitudes of selfishness & complaint.  Overflowing thankfulness is contagious!  Who am I influencing with my spirit of thankfulness?  

Put your life in perspective.  Allow your joy to come from God's presence & not your circumstances.  Circumstances change everyday...God changes not.

The necessity of Small Groups: Live Together or Die Alone

In my last post,  "The necessity of relationships and social media", we saw the necessity of connecting with others.  We largely focused on the human need for connection and one of the ways people express that need.  Social media websites are useful and helpful.   However social media interaction is just scratching the surface on human connection. 

It is great to have people comment on your latest status update on Facebook.   It is even refreshing to have somebody "ReTweet" something you said on Twitter.  However, we were made for much deeper social connectivity.  This is a universal truth that can be seen everywhere. Take a look at some of the better know TV Shows of late.

Lost: a show about what happens when a plane crashes on a mysterious island in the middle of nowhere.  It is a story of 48 survivors who must "Live together or die alone".  That quote from the season 2 premiere displayed the need for the survivors to stick together no mater what.  The survivors needed each other to survive.  When the show ended we all saw how important these people were to each other in their lives.  

 

Fringe: A show about weird phenomenons happening in the world.  TheFringe division of the FBI investigates all of these weird cases.  However the show is much more about the Fringe Sciences they are investigating.  Olivia, Peter, Walter, Astrid & Agent Broyles are the main characters of the show. The show is about how this group of people come together and must rely on each other.  Their reliances and closeness takes them from alternate universes to mutating underground children.  Yep.  Just go watch it. :)  

How I Met Your Mother: A show about 5 friends that live in New York City.  It's told in a narrative style from a father who is telling his 2 teenage children the story of "How I Met Your Mother".  During the course of the story you see how much this group is dependent on each other.  They fight, laugh, cry as they experience life together.  

Seinfeld: How can we forget about this show.  This show is probably one of the best known sit-com's of all time.  A very funny show that again centered around a group of 4 friends living life in .... NYC.   

 Jerry, George, Kramer, & Elaine....what a bunch.   One of the 'givens' of this show is that you can bank that everybody will eventually make their way to Jerry's apartment.  They weren't always the best people...especially to each other....but they all knew that they needed each other.  

In so many more ways, the people of God, should be closer than 4-5 friends experiencing life in NYC.  The first group of Christians understood this truth.  You need a group of people that you can call upon when you need them.  You need people who will tell you the truth...even when you don't want to hear it.  You need other people to support you when you fall.  You need people to cheer you on when you are down.   Not only do you need them.    They need you!  Look at these verses from the book of Acts.

Acts 4

³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

 That's what a church is.  A church is : a group of people who have given themselves to following Jesus and his ways with God's people.  The greek word for church, 'ekklesia' means 'called out assembly'.  It's a group of people who believe and claim that Jesus is Lord.  They are proclaiming to the world, that the ways of Jesus, bring, hope, healing and resurrection to a lost and dying world.  They understand that they are in it together.  They need each other.  

A church is a group of people who do life together.  Lots of churches today have small groups that meet throughout the week.  That is a great thing.  However....I fear that the reason that many of these groups are not effective are because they have the wrong focus.  Many times, the focus of these groups is the bible study or the lesson.  It is not different than a Sunday School Class.  Not much different than a Sunday Morning Worship Service.  A 'bible study' or discussion can be involved in these groups.... but what about the time to connect?  We don't need another Bible Study. We are quite good at that.  What we stink at....is having genuine relationships.  

We need a time for people to put the things that they have learned in context with other people.   Are the small groups at your church a bible study?  Or are they a chance to 'do life together'? Small Groups will really reveal the organic nature of the church.   A successful church will be classified as one "of small groups" not "with small groups". There is a big difference!  Who are you connecting with?  Who are you doing life with?  This is a major part of your faith!

The necessity of relationships & social media

It is one of the most  basic of human needs.  The need to feel needed and connected with others.   It all began, well....in the beginning.   God created a man from the ground and named this man Adam.  God put Adam in the garden that He created....and it wasn't long before Adam's need was known.

 

Genesis 2

¹⁸ The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." ¹⁹ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ²⁰So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.²¹ So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.²³ The man said,  "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man. ²⁴ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. ²⁵ The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

It is not good for people to be alone.  God created human beings to be communal.  People need to laugh, love, cry & share their lives together. When they do they are filling a need that there were born to fill.  Even God Himself lives in community (The Father, The Son & The Holy Spirit).  Several times in the OT, God uses the word "us" to refer to the rest of the Triune Godhead.  God hates loneliness.  We are hard wired for such genuine and real relationships.  After all, we are made in the image of God.  God first wants you to connect with Him.   It is amazing to me how lonely people are in the world.    A world with over six billion people!   How is that possible?  This is possibly why social media is such a hit with people.  

The most popular social media website is Facebook.  Facebook now claims they have just passed  500 million users!!!!   According to Facebook, 250 million of those users log in daily!  Facebook is a great place to connect.  Within a few days of me joining Facebook a couple of years ago.....I was instantly connected with old friends from high school & college I though I'd never hear from again.   Twitter has also come on full steam ahead.  They now have 100 million users who post 55 million tweets a day!    Most of these facebook posts and tweets are meaningless...but there is a deeper sense of connection.   Myspace, Foursqure are other examples of websites that help people connect.  Social media has helped me connect with others to find my blog.  When I publish this article...a tweet and a status update goes out to my friends and followers.  People want to feel like they belong.  

Some people may disagree with this article and say they just want to be left alone.  That may be true.  However they still have a need for connection.  There is a place for solitude.  In  my next article...I'm going to take it to the next level.  Facebook and Twitter are great....but if it goes no deeper....than something big is missing.   

How about you?  Do you feel a need to belong?  How do you connect with others?  How has social media changed your perception of others and the world.   Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.  :)

The necessity of Simplicity - Hallways, Bugs, & Less Buttons

Simple is good.  Simple is beautiful.  
A couple of weeks ago..Lori and I went on a date.  We went to a Mexican Restaurant (Iguana Mia's) in Downtown Cape Coral.  Besides going for the great food and the free tortilla chips...I love going here because of this hallway.   It's just a simple hallway...but unique.  The green neon lights show the way to the heavenly food.  I don't have to worry if I'm headed in the right direction. There is just something peaceful about simplicity. 

After dinner we decided to go down to Cape Harbor and take a walk.   As we were walking down by the water I saw this bug.   It caught my attention because the bug was facing the water..perfectly still.  I stooped down to take a picture with my iPhone and realized I had just captured a beautiful shot.  The bug was quiet...I guess as quiet as a bug can be.  He sat perfectly still.  He was watching the setting sun turn the sky and clouds into magical colors.  Simple.  There is nothing complicated about a bug sitting by the water watching the
sunset.   (Ok..I didn't ask him if he really noticed the sunset....but it makes for a great point in my blog) It's just these simple, ordinary moments of life, that show me that my life is way too complicated.  

Who makes it complicated?  How does it get this way?  The answer lies with the Michael Jackson song...."The Man in the Mirror".   Or as my son, Tyler, likes to sing...."I'm sleeping with the Man in the Mirror".  Don't ask. :)  I seem to love to get in the way and make things more difficult than they need to be.  It must be because I love to be in control.  Or maybe it's because other people make life complicated for me.  

 

I'm a big fan of Social Networking.  One of the things on Facebook that always makes me chuckle are people's relationship status.  There are the typical choices.... (Married, Single, Looking...and then the famous 'It's complicated'.  Don't ask me why...but I always grin when I see that.  Relationships are sticky.  Messy.  Complicated.  They are like that because people are imperfect.  For once...I'd love to see a relationship status that says.... Married - Simply loving it.   Or how about this one..... Single & Simply Available.  A relationship with God is an amazing and simple thing.   I'm so glad that God didn't heap on us a bunch of complicated rules to follow in order to believe.  One of greatest verses n the bible is "Be still and know that I am God".  The jailer, asked Paul & Silas in Acts..."What must I do to be saved?"  and they replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."  Simple.  There is no complicated relationship status with God.  

I think people need less buttons.  That's my simple solution to fix the complications of the world.  No, I 'm not talking about the buttons on your clothes.  I'm talking about buttons.  Confused?  Well take for example....the genius of Apple.  Ok...all of you Apple haters..keep reading here..you might be converted.  Apple has always been known for it's simple, elegant and gorgeous designs.  The iPod is Apple's digital music player.  It is the King of MP3 players.  A common theme for Apple design is....simple.  You don't have a zillion buttons that do different functions.  On most iPod devices there is a 'click wheel'...and that's about it.  The iPod Shuffle has even less buttons on some of it's models.  On iPhones & iPod Touch's there is only a "home" button.   Less buttons would translate into less confusion.  Don't aim to have more in your life....aim to have less.  Less is more.  

Simplicity is necessary because without it....you will go crazy.  Simplify your life.   The easiest way to do this is to trim down your calendar.  Or you can just stop and pause and soak in all of the beauty around you.  Be a bug that stops and watches the sunset.  Oh yes...complications will still come...but the beauty is sifting through the junk and making it simply beautiful again.  

 

The necessity of Water - www.givefreshwater.org

You & I take if for granted everyday.  You drink, bathe, cook & clean with it.  You can't imagine life without it...because you haven't had to.  It's always been there.  Without it you can't live.  Without it...there is no LIFE.  Earth is the only planet in the known universe that has life and it's because of it.  This 'it'...is water.  Not just water.....but clean water. Fresh water.  

 

Water is necessary.  And there is an organization that is doing something about it. Greensville, South Carolina based Water Of Life has a mission to bring clean water to the 1.1 BILLION people around the world, who don't have access to it..  Not only clean water...but also the Gospel of Jesus.  Their mission statement is "Providing the water of life, both physically and spiritually, one village at a time. There's life in the water". It is a organization that gets me pumped.  They get it.  We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus would be involved with this too; if He was walking the earth right now.   

There is no doubt, that God's heart is bent towards the poor & oppressed in scripture.  Here are just a few verses.  

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11

" Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise, says the LORD, I will protect them from those who malign them. " Psalm 12:5

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4

"I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." Psalm 140:12

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." Proverbs 28:27

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

If God's heart is bent towards the oppressed, poor, needy....shouldn't our heart also be consumed with this effort?

I beg you to get involved.  1.1 billion people...think about it.  Billion.  1/6 of the worlds population.  That should not be so!  There are several ways you can get involved.

1.  Give to "Water of Life". $10 a month helps bring clean water to an entire village!  That's right.  Can you give up $10?  Buy 2-3 less coffees a month.  My giving up of 2-3 coffees a month can give an entire village water for a MONTH!  Our family is going to start giving $10 a month.  Will you join me?   Click here for to donate.

 

2.  Go on a trip to bring fresh/clean water to a village. Click here to learn more about trips.

3.  Connect with Water of Life online & social networking.  

     a.  Visit their website.  www.givefreshwater.org

     b.  Connect on Facebook.  

     c.  Follow then on Twitter.

4.  Tell others about what they are doing....tell your church, pastor, friends, family.  Spread the word about the 1.1 billion in the world who do not have access to clean water.  That is not right!!!!!

 

 

 

The necessity of the Gospel

The Gospel is the hope that God has not given up on the world.  It is the GOOD NEWS that through the death, burial & resurrection of Jesus that we can be made new and right in God's sight.  The Gospel is the culmination of the relentless love and pursuit of the Father over all of creation.  The Gospel is the story of how God rescued me from my sin, guilt, pride, selfishness & everything else under the sun.  Through the Gospel, God is restoring, repairing, & renewing the universe.  Without the Gospel there is no hope.  Without the Gospel there is no forgiveness for sins past, present or future.  Without the Gospel, there is no way to have a right relationship with God.   The Gospel is the power of God.  Paul writes in Romans that "the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes..." This is why the Gospel is necessary.

However....here is the kicker.  That's where most people stop.  People think of the impact of the Gospel as an event in the past.  This is not biblical.

Jesus just didn't save me.  Jesus IS saving me!  Everyday I need rescue.  Everyday I need renewal!  Everyday I need restoration.  I am not just saved...but I am being saved.  This is the process that the Bible calls "sanctification".  God is setting me apart.  It is the process that the Father uses to make me more like his Son.  The Gospel shows me the hope that I have, and also shows me that hope that I must give the world.  Because of this..we must learn...that the Gospel is not just just a message to proclaim.  The Gospel is a message to be lived out.  The Gospel is bringing "Good News" to those who have none.  This is why the Gospel is necessary. 

The Gospel is not just about bringing people to heaven..but it's also about bringing heaven to earth.  Have you noticed that the Bible doesn't end with people going to heaven.  The Bible ends with Heaven coming to earth. Interesting.  The Gospel is not fire insurance.  The Gospel is holistic in nature.  This is why the Gospel is necessary.

The mission then becomes to join God in community for the restoration of the world.  How is God restoring the world?  What does this restoration process look like?  How is the Gospel not just proclaimed...but also lived? What is your definition of the Gospel?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

The necessity of Mystery and Doubt

For the last 6 years I've gotten my fix from a show called "Lost".  It was a brilliantly written show.  It frustrated a lot of people because the show did not reveal a lot of secrets up front.  It kept you hanging for awhile.  A long while.  What's in the hatch? Who are the Others?  What is the Island?  Why are all the survivors connected?  What is that black smoke in the jungle?  However, it was for that reason, that I loved it.  The show was loaded with biblical symbolism throughout the six seasons.  There was so much symbolism, that Pastor Chris Seay from Ecclesia in Houston, wrote a book about it.  You can get more information on "The Gospel According to Lost" here. I reveled in the mystery.  If we had all the answers then what would be the point of the mystery?  Why even watch the show?  

 For me faith is the same way.  Not having all of the answers can be very frustrating.  Why is God like that?  Why did this happen?  How is this going to work out.  How about reading scripture?   Have you ever read a verse and said...."Whaaaaaatttttt?!?!?!"  Yes. Yes you have.  Admit it.  It's all a part of the mystery.  If you have no questions about your faith...then what kind of faith is it.  It's the mystery that makes your faith stronger.  It's knowing that you don't have all the answers.  It's about knowing that God is God and you are not.  The mystery makes our faith deeper and more rewarding. The point of the mystery is not knowing all the answers...but in knowing God more intimately.

In fact, most people dog and get down on "Doubting Thomas".  In John 20...Thomas doubted that Jesus had in fact risen from the dead.  Thomas needed to physically touch Jesus in order to believe.  However, it is through this doubt that I believe that Thomas encountered a deeper understanding of faith.  Instead of casting our doubts aside as "not being a good Christian".....let's use those doubts to drive us deeper in our understanding of truth!  We doubt, not cause we don't believe...but because we want to believe more fully!  

We need to celebrate the life-long mystery of knowing an amazing GOD.  Each day is a new episode and each year is a new season.  Make the best of the story because your pursuit of God is what makes this life exhilarating.  You need to wrestle with your questions and doubts.  

Lost finished last year and is not going to come back.  The story has been told...but it's far from over. The internet is still abuzz and the conversation continues of the mysteries and theories associated with the show.   As in our faith...the story has been told (The Bible) but it's far from over.  In fact, God's story continues in and through our lives.   We are a part of the mystery.  Wow. 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Romans 11:33 NIV

"Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? JOB 11:7

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28