Cyberattack Thwarted, 1 John 2:21

Within the past hour an attempt was made to hack my Facebook and Yahoo accounts. Those attempts have now been thwarted.

I received Emails alerting me that an unauthorized user was trying to get into my accounts from a remote location. They were only on my Facebook and Yahoo accounts for a few minutes before I got back into them and changed the passwords.

To everyone on my friends list:

Whoever got into my accounts had access to everything in the accounts including my list of friends. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD NOW.

To the hacker:

I have your IP address, the state, and the city that you made the attack from. If you wanted information from me, you should have acted like an adult and just asked. If one of your friends did it, the trail will lead right back to you — again.  Just stop.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
–Romans 1:25

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
–1 John 2:21

Despite the inconvenience that this has caused to my friends and I, I forgive you. However, my forgiveness does not validate your actions.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
–Matthew 18:21-22

2012 — Make the Most of Every Opportunity

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
–Ephesians 5:15-17

During the New Year may you have:

• enough happiness to keep you sweet – enough trials to keep you strong,
• enough sorrow to keep you human – enough hope to keep you happy,
• enough failure to keep you humble – enough success to keep you eager,
• enough friends to give you comfort – enough wealth to meet your needs,
• enough enthusiasm to make you look forward to tomorrow,
• and enough determination to make each day better than the day before.

¹¹ And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
–Romans 13:11-12

Have a happy and blessed New Year!

5 Days of Christmas: Day 5

Day 5 
The Big Idea: Once we encounter Christ, we have a choice to make.

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, “Letʼs go to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen
him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them
about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what
the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
–Luke 2:15-20

The shepherds saw something they werenʼt expecting. They had an
encounter with Godʼs Kingdom in an amazing way. And afterwards, they
were left with a choice.

What were they to do with the information they just heard?

The truth is that once we encounter Christ, each of us, you included, has a
choice to make. When people hear the Gospel, or have a chance to
encounter Christ through the Bible, there is a choice to be made. People
have to respond one way or another. They will either move on this
information, or they will not. They will either be compelled to know more, or
the will choose to walk away.

The shepherds had a choice. They made their choice and they made it
well.

The shepherds acted and they retold. They acted on the angelsʼ message.
Look in verse 15. They heard and they moved. They could have sat and
talked, or they could have gone home. But they didnʼt. They followed through
and they were rewarded by coming face-to-face with the Son of God.

But they didnʼt stop with simply acting. They retold. Verse 17 says that once
they were sure of the angelsʼ message, they couldnʼt contain themselves.
They started talking. They started spreading the word about Jesus. It was as
if they couldnʼt keep quiet.

Today, over two thousand years later, weʼre still expected to do the same. If
you know Christ, you should find yourself compelled to speak of His story. If
you have encountered God and His Kingdom, you know that you will find it
hard to keep your mouth shut.

You have to move. You have to act. And with God empowering you,
you will. And youʼll be awesome.

5 Days of Christmas: Day 4

Day 4 
The Big Idea: God sent Jesus into our world to break down any barriers between Him and His children.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An
angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the
Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to
you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you:
You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly
host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to
men on whom his favor rests.”
–Luke 2:8-14

Have you ever been in a situation where suddenly your assumptions or
thoughts about a specific person or thing were pretty much blown off the
map? Maybe it was the moment you realized the little test you were
“prepared” for was really an overwhelming obstacle you had no chance of
conquering. Or the moment you realized that she really does like you, a lot!
Or how about the moment you realized your team is completely
overmatched. Or . . . Well, you get the point. There are moments of clarity
where what you thought was the case may not necessarily be the case at all.

The shepherds who were in the fields outside of
Bethlehem? They experienced one of those moments in a
big, big way.

Itʼs safe to say that the shepherds knew God. Or they knew of Him as well as
they could. They were Israelites. Their people had a rich history with God.
They were, after all, Godʼs people. But, everything they thought they knew
about God and His ways were pretty much overwhelmed that night. All of a
sudden, the God who was a little distant and a lot mysterious, was right up in
their world. In their faces!

Look at the description in verse 9: “the glory of the Lord shone around them.”
Can you imagine? God was no longer an idea, He was real. He had broken
the invisible barrier between His Kingdom and this world. And itʼs entirely
safe to say the world was never the same.

Isnʼt that a pretty good way to think about the Christmas story in general?
Isnʼt it really as simple as God breaking the barrier and coming into our
world? It is that simple. Yet, the power behind this simple truth is life
changing.

You are who you are today because God chose to send His Son into
this world.

5 Days of Christmas: Day 3

Day 3 
The Big Idea: Jesus’ birth proved that God’s values aren’t the same as the world’s.

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a
census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2
(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius
was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own
town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town
of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of
David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was
pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be
born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
–Luke 2:1-7

Over the last few years there have been some pretty cool stories of people
finding near-priceless treasures in the least likely of places: yard sales.
Thereʼs the story of the person who paid a few dollars for the painting that
turned out to be worth millions. Then thereʼs the guy who bought an old
baseball card that was discovered to be one of the rarest cards in existence.
Can you imagine how cool it must have been to find out how valuable these
relatively small purchases were?

These stories illustrate a simple truth: the most valuable things can
sometimes be found where you least expect it. But these stories donʼt hold a
candle to the story you just read in Luke 1:2-7. Not even close.

You see, this is the ultimate case of something big,
something amazing, showing up in the most unforeseen
place.

Think about it . . . Jesus, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the promised
Messiah came as a conquering ruler, displaying His power and might,
appearing in a palace in front of throngs of crowds, in one of the leading
cities in the world . . . Huh? Ummm . . . not so much.

Jesus didnʼt come in any of these ways. He came as a baby, vulnerable and
small. He came to one of the most obscure cities you could find. And He was
born in a glorified barn, surrounded by livestock. Not exactly the way a
King comes into this world, huh?

But you see, this is exactly how God works. And itʼs exactly how Godʼs
Kingdom works. God values the low and the lost, the broken and the beat
down. Jesus came not to lead the rich and powerful, but to heal the sick and
sorrowful. Jesusʼ mission was and is about redemption. Itʼs a rescue mission.

And it had to start where it started, with a little baby, in a little corner of
the world.

5 Days of Christmas: Day 2

Day 2
The Big Idea: There is nothing that can limit God’s working in this world and in your life.

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a
virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called
the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going
to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to
be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is
impossible with God.” 38 “I am the Lordʼs servant,” Mary
answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the
angel left her.
–Luke 1:34-38

You live in a world where logic rules. Where reality wins. There are things
you want that you canʼt have. Some may be relatively fun, like wanting to
be a TV star or a famous athlete. Some may be more serious, like wanting
your parents to get back together or wanting someoneʼs health to improve.
Whatever the case may be, there are plenty of things in life that are simply
impossible to have, achieve, or grasp.

And while this is a major bummer, itʼs just the way it is. There are some
things that just arenʼt possible.

Except when they are. Except when God gets involved.

Have you ever prayed for something you thought could never happen only to
see it happen? Have you ever seen God “open a door” you thought was
closed? Have you ever watched God blow away your human-based
understanding with a God-sized movement?

Mary did. Mary watched God do the impossible. She watched Him defy the
laws of nature. But before she saw the miracle, she doubted the Miracle
Maker.

Look back at verse 34. For a moment, even face-to-face with an angel, Mary
had an attack of humanity. “How can this happen?” Mary knew how babies
were made, and she knew for a fact she wasnʼt a candidate! But Mary forgot
one thing. The rules that she knew governed the creation of life? The process
she was sure she had not been a part of? Mary forgot that God actually set
those rules in place. God created the process! Thus, He can work outside
the process when He chooses.

It sounds a little oversimplified, but itʼs true: Nothing is impossible with
God.