Billys Beans

Some times, actually let me rephrase that, a lot of the time, life seems to be like the honey on your fingers after eating KFC's biscuits. Its sticky. Its messy. And its annoying if you don't have wet wipes to clean up the mess you've made. In life, we often make these messes in the midst of trying to juggle life. We strive to reach all that we can in every aspect of our life; thinking that the perfection of each region will mean perfection in our happiness.  We try and find that perfect balance to successfully squeeze everything in.  Its exhausting, stressful, and in the end hopeless.   Thankfully, these circumstances have already been tried and tested for us. God knows us all to well, and used Solomon, the wisest man there was as a demonstration in our pursuit of satisfaction.  Now, for a little background, Solomon was the son of King David. He was the richest, well-known man in his time. He had lots of money, status, and women. In his writing...

Why are we so obsessed with ourselves? We go to seminars and receive counseling. We go the the dentist and orthodontist to get a pearly white smile filled with straight teeth. We get facials, go tanning and  get our hair dyed to follow the hottest trends. We spend hours in a gym and take supplements or pills when we are not happy with the reflection staring back at us in the mirror. Ultimately, we have convinced ourselves that if we try hard enough, we can perfect our selves. We wear ourselves out trying to reach the humanly impossible standards we set only to find out that all our efforts bring are frustration and exhaustion. Jesus came to bring us rest. He came so we didn't have to tear ourselves apart in the process of striving to be perfect. He came so we could stop focusing on us, and start focusing on Him. Jesus is the perfect picture of righteousness that we could not, and will not be. All we have to do is stop looking at ourselves and start looking to Jesus. ...

Who did Jesus surround himself with?  The thieves of the town, the prostitutes, the poor, the beggars, the sick, the outcasts, the unrighteous, the sinners...you and me. What? I'm not a thief. I don't beg (well maybe in high school for my parents to grant me an extended curfew). I am surely not a prostitute. I am in good health. I hope I'm not an outcast.  I am UNRIGHTEOUS.  I am a SINNER.  We sure are all in the same boat now.  So why would we think that church is for the healthy, the righteous, the wealthy, those accepted in society, the rule followers and those who seem to be "good" by the standards we some how created if that was not whom Jesus came for? Some where along the ride we forgot that WE are going to church because WE need help. Church is not a training session for us to sit on our pedestals and learn how to help those who aren't faithfully seated besides us.  It's not for us to look upon our modestly dressed self'...