It Has Been A While.

      It has been quite a long time since I have entered anything on my blog and I know many of you may not know what I have been up to recently. I am still pastoring in Cotter, AR and am still trying to live a life as much as like Christ as possible. Since I last made an entry I have switched jobs. I am now teaching school at Mountain Home Guy Berry College and Career Academy in Mountain Home, AR. It is with the public school system and is an alternative learning environment. It is a great place to be able to teach and I enjoy the students that I am a working with. If you have followed my blog in the past my hope is that you will continue to follow along and be blessed.
      As we begin the new year I cannot help but reflect on my need for a savior. This morning during the service I challenged the congregation with the question, Do I really need a savior? or more importantly, Do I believe that I really need a savior? As I reflect on what the Bible says about sin I am reminded of Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." As a part of the human race it is imperative that I realize am included in that "all". I have been reading a Systematic Theology text by Wayne Grudham that defines sin as any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. The standard by which I am judged is not other men, but the pure and holy God who created the universe. His word speaks to sin in action, individual sins such as lying or stealing, but also sins of attitude, such as coveting and anger. Both are addressed in the scripture and when I think about myself I realize that I still need a savior because I  am sinful in both action and attitude. Furthermore, I realize that my nature is also sinful. In order to see my sinful nature I do not have to look very far. I think of my desires to put myself above others. I think of how I respond when people hurt me. My reaction apart from Christ is to hurt them before they hurt me. Therefore, it becomes more apparent to me each day I am saved, how much I really need a savior.
         When compared to God's holiness my righteousness is no where near enough. My righteousness sticks out against God's holiness like red dot painted on an otherwise stark white wall. Because sin so corrupts my entire being it is impossible for me to save myself. I cannot become something I am not. I need Jesus to come in and completely change me. According to the book of Romans, what I have earned for my sin is death. I cannot save myself. I need Jesus to make me righteous and to transform my life. Therefore, my prayer as I start this new year is that Jesus continues to be my Lord and savior and that he makes me who he has called me to be. In Christ I am a new creation. All things have become new.