If you have peace, you can make peace. And that is extremely important. Because in this world we WILL have tribulation. Life happens. Every single day. I've heard it said that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it. You can either be a thermometer, and take the temperature... letting what's happening around you dictate what happens inside you... or you can be a thermostat, and set the temperature... letting what's inside you dictate what's happening around you. The more excellent way is to be a thermostat. The more excellent way is to know what's really inside... and in knowing (and believing), let it out. Share what you've got. Give what you've got. The LOVE that you've got. The grace, and mercy, and forgiveness that you've got. The peace that you've got. If you know it, throw it. That's as simple as I can make it as far as ministry goes. Know what you've got and use what you've got. Let the mind of Christ, that's already in you, BE in you. Live abundantly. Live out of your abundance. With the understanding that it is love that makes life abundant. That it is love that makes life worth living. That it is love that makes living possible! To live is to love and to love is to live. Here's what I want to say today though, now that I've said all that: Love is gentle. Love is kind. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love, in a word, is peaceful. And, yes, I understand that Jesus kicked some tables over. I understand that He said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). All I can say about that is... He had some overcoming to do. Which is why WE are overcomers. Not because we can (or need to) overcome. But because Jesus already did. He finished the work. He did the heavy lifting. And now we can rest. In the arms of our loving heavenly Father. Look at what Jesus said in Luke 8:48, "And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." See, what I'm trying to say is that Jesus made peace. And we "make" the peace that He already made by believing that He already made it. By receiving it and releasing it. By breathing it in and breathing it out. By letting the peace that's inside come out. Jesus is our peace. In Him we have peace. But that takes faith. That takes knowing and believing that He did what He said He would do. The Holy Ghost wildfire of love--the consuming fire that love is--burned everything else away and left only itself (HIMSELF). Jesus brought every mountain low and every valley high so that we wouldn't have to stumble or fall or even climb. So that we could walk the straight and narrow way that leads to life. The way of love. The way of (again) mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and... peace. If you're not always trying to fight every battle... you can be peaceful. And if you're peaceful, that peace will expand. If you HAVE peace you can MAKE peace. If you know and believe it. If your faith connects you to Jesus--who (one more time) IS our peace! Don't worry about what tomorrow holds. Have faith in the One who holds tomorrow!

I know, I know, they're all my favorite. But this is legit one of my favorite Bible verses: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). And, interestingly enough, this is the only verse in the KVJ that uses the word "peacemakers." Which, by the way, is number 1518 in Strong's Greek Concordance and means, "pacificatory, that is, (subjectively) peaceable: - peacemaker." And the key there, to me, is peaceable. Because you can't give what you don't have. If you want to MAKE peace, you must first HAVE peace. That's why I focused on Jesus being our peace. Focused first on the truth that while we may have tribulation in this world, we can be of good cheer. Life happens every single day. BUT even in the midst of that tribulation, we can have peace. Because the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. Here's the part I really like though: "For they shall be called the children of God." To me, this is kind of the same thing as, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Because, to me, being called a child of God is the same thing as being identified as a child of God. Or, remember how I always talk about telling people about God without even saying "God"? It's not about people saying, "Tom's a Christian." It's about people knowing what I'm about. Knowing that I love them. That, to me, is what we should strive for. Being known as a good person. An honest person. Someone who has your back. Someone who will lay their life down for you. That, to me, is what it means to be called a child of God. To be known as a disciple of Christ. And, quite frankly, I'm not worried if people know that I'm a pastor or not. I generally don't tell people that. Unless they ask. In the same way that I don't try to force my opinion on people. Unasked for advice is unwanted advice. If people come to me, that's different. But I'm not getting all worked up about what people do. I think that being peaceful is the best thing I can do. If you're not helping, you're hurting. Right? And sometimes staying out of the way is the best way to help. Because sometimes people have to make their own mistakes. Travel their own journey. And, as a parent, that can be hard. Sometimes I just want to, like Jesus said, pull my kid in under my wings and make sure nothing bad ever happens to him. But I know that doing so would probably make sure nothing good ever happens to him either. It's my job to train him up in the way he should go... and then let him go. To make sure he can handle things... and then let him handle them. And I'm telling you, when you don't stress out about every little thing... you're so much more peaceful. And, the whole point of today's Rant, when you're peaceful... you're a peacemaker. You can sometimes make things better just with a calm, peaceful presence. You can sometimes make peace just by being peaceful. If everybody is panicking, but you're not... sometimes that can help other people stop panicking. You can spread joy by being joyful. You can spread love by being loving. And you can spread peace by being peaceful!

I mentioned yesterday that when the peace of God reigns in your heart you can sleep in the boat even when the storm is raging all around you. And that's kind of what I want to focus on today. Mark 4:37-39, And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Basically Jesus roused Himself from sleep (or a posture of rest) in order to tell the storm to peace out. He was, quite literally, the calm in the midst of the strom. The eye of the storm, right? Because He could see what was really going on. The disciples were all caught up in what was going on around them. Jesus just let what was inside Him come out. How peaceful to just be asleep, right? And then He let that peace come out. What's inside is what comes out. Always. Well, what you BELIEVE is inside is what comes out. Your belief dictates your actions. What you believe is what you will do. Actions come from belief. That's why behavior modification only really ever has tiny short term "success." At the end of the day you are who you are. Or, again, you are who you believe you are. If you believe you're a dirty sinner who needs to hide from God... you'll run FROM Him instead of TO Him. If you believe you are God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased... you will run TO Him (and rest in His loving arms) instead of running from Him. And that's what He wants. He wants us to be at peace. He doesn't want us to be afraid of Him. He doesn't want us to suffer. The verse we looked at yesterday mentioned how fear has torment. And that the opposite of fear... is love. There is no fear in love. When we know our heavenly Father loves you, we don't have to be afraid. Of anything. Certainly not of HIM. What a disservice religion has done by creating the picture of a God we need to fear. That's the exact opposite of what Jesus showed us when He showed us the Father. He showed us love. A man--like we are--who loved people. Who was willing to lay His life down for His friends. A man who was at peace, and could therefore make peace. He was asleep in the boat. He wasn't worried about the storm. But, because His friends were worried... He let the peace that was inside Him come out. And that changed everything. The wind stopped and the waves were still. It went from full on storm to smooth sailing. Listen, I know the idea that God gives us mountains so we can learn how to climb. At the same time, Isaiah wrote about God bringing the mountains low and the valleys high so that we could have a straight and narrow Way to walk. The Way that leads to life. And peace. And mercy. And grace. And forgiveness. The Way that leads to love... because it is the more excellent way OF love! Tomorrow we're going to talk more about being peacemakers. Helping others peace out. Like Jesus did. So don't miss it!

Sometimes when I hang up the phone instead of saying bye I'll say, "Ok... peace out!" I think it's from a movie I've seen at some point in my life, because I do it in kind of a weird voice too. But the point is--and I think this is timely--we can have peace no matter what. Because the fire inside us is always hotter than the fire we're in. Look at John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Did you catch that first part? In HIM we have peace. He IS our peace. And I think we know, this kind of goes without saying, in this world we WILL have tribulation. Life happens. Things don't always go our way. So we can either live in fear and let outside circumstances wreck us... or we can rest in the arms of our loving heavenly Father. The verse I want to use for this Rant series is 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." See, we always seem to compare and contrast love with hate. I think more than anything hate is hurt. You can't hate someone you don't care about. Because if you don't care about someone... you don't care enough to hate them. I think the reason John put fear and love together is because love is our safe place. When you're afraid, you tend to want to run. Fight or flight, right? But the important part is knowing where to run to. Knowing that we have a safe place. That we can, in a sense, peace out. The key is knowing that we don't have to run FROM God--because He's not out to punish us--but that we can run TO God. He is there to help us. To pick us up when we fall down. To carry us through. In this world we WILL have tribulation. That's just called life. And life happens every day. What's that old saying? We don't need to know what tomorrow holds when we know who holds tomorrow. Because the One who holds tomorrow is also the One who is holding us. Our peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our peace is in Him. He IS our peace. Why? Because He has already overcome the world. Everything that needed to happen... happened. Two thousand years ago on the cross. Like we're always waiting for God to move. When, in reality, God already moved. The cross was when Jesus overcame. Listen: An overcomer is not someone who CAN overcome. It is someone who HAS overcome. We don't need to overcome (in our own strength or through our own efforts) because Jesus already did overcome. The work is finished. And now we can rest in the arms of our loving heavenly Father. We don't have to stress out, or worry, or be afraid. We can just love. We can let God love us--and most of the time, I'm telling you, He does that through people--and we can love Him back by loving people. See how that works? It's simply receiving and releasing the love of God so that we can experience the love of God. We can have a sense of peace no matter what's going on. We can sleep in the boat in the midst of the storm. We can have peace no matter what's happening. We can, in a very real sense, peace out!

Preaching is about more than just memorizing Bible verses. And as someone who has a hard time memorizing Bible verses, I can say that's a good thing. But preaching is also about more than just cramming Jesus down people's throats. If you do that, people will choke on Him. And that's not what we want. In fact, if that's what we want, we need to want something else. The poing of preaching is to show and tell what God has done for us. And in us. And through us. And as us. To let people know what this life is all about. Which, in a word, is love. How do people know that God loves them? Well, we all like to say, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Which I don't have a problem with. Truly. I think that's absolutely what you should get out of the Bible. In fact, I think that's the only thing you should get out of the Bible. But what about people who don't have a Bible? The only God they will get is from other people, right? Which, by the way, is really kind of the whole point. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in the body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. It is our "job" or our "responsibililty" or our "calling" to be a witness. To share our experience. Preaching isn't about scaring people. And it isn't about convincing God to move. On the cross... God moved. He did what He needed to do. He did everything He is going to do. And I say that because what He did on the cross reverberates throughout all time and space and history. It is the biggest thing that has ever happened. And it took care of everything that ever needed to happen. Preaching the gospel is sharing the good news of God, and His love. And the only way to do that is by loving people. The only way to truly express God's love... is to love people. That's the New Commandment. That's what we were created to do. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God by loving people. Letting God love us, and loving Him back by loving people. Preach the gospel at all times... and if you have to, use words. That's what this life is about. It's about being loved and loving others with that love. It's about filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with--the love of God. So preaching is less about being religious and forcing people to act the way you think they should, and it is more about just letting what's really in there (again, the love of God) come out. Letting your light shine. Letting your life be an epistle read of all men. Because people are going to read your book either way. Might as well give them something worth reading. A more excellent way. I like to say it like this, "You are God's love letter to the world." You are how the God who is love chooses to express Himself. You are the face of the invisible God. His Spirit lives in you, and LOVES in you. I think some of the best preaching I've ever done is when I haven't said the words "God," or "Jesus" at all. Because sometimes those words will turn people off. But love never turns people off. True, sacrificial, agape, laying your life down love is what everybody needs. So if you give that to people... that's what you were created to do. That's why you're here. To be loved by God and to love others with that same love!

I touched on this verse yesterday but I really want to dig into it today. Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the part I want to focus on is the "Repent" part. So let's start with what that word means. It is number 3340 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "To think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction):- repent." Repent doesn't mean what a lot of the religious world has made it out to mean. In religious circles it has come to mean, "Apologize for your sins so you can get into heaven!" When, in fact, to repent means to reconsider something in light of something else. It doesn't mean, "You better knock it off or else." It means, "Look at what Jesus did! Things are different now!" Because, and I understand that Jesus said this before the cross, but here on this side of the cross... the cross is why we can repent. The cross is what happened in order for us to be able to repent. To think differently... about everything. Because, as my momma always says, "Either the cross changed everything or it didn't change anything." When we're preaching this glorious gospel of the Kingdom... and how it is at hand... available to us... we have to give the people something better than what they've already got. A more excellent way, if I can say it like that. But it has to be real. We can't offer people la la land and then not have anything for them when they look at us expecting something. "And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:5-6). And did you see how the lame beggar got exceeding abundantly more than he could ask or even think? How he was just trying to scrape by but the disciples went ahead and fixed the actual problem? That's what we have available to us. Not just a better life in the world. Not just more convenience or more stuff. But the keys to the Kingdom! The Kingdom of God. Which is the Kingdom of love. Love is what makes this abundant life that Jesus came for us to have... abundant. Love is what makes the way a more excellent way. Love is what we all need. And love is what is available to us. That's what we ought to be preaching. And, really, that's ALL we ought to be preaching. When I founded this Jesus Rant deal I planted it on the rock of 1 Corinthians 2:2, "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." That's why I called it Jesus Rant; because all I planned to do was rant about Jesus. Which means ranting about love. Because God is love. My point is, you think things are a certain way. But that doesn't necessarily make it so. We need to look at things cross-eyed (through the finished work of the cross) with the light of the world (the light of life and love) shining so that we can see things clearly. Because what you see is what you be. You can't be a witness, or testify, or preach, about something you don't know and believe. You have to first experience it, and then you can tell people how good it is. That's our job, or our mission, or our calling. Let what's inside--the love that's inside--come out!

It's important to practice what you preach. That's how you can preach the gospel at all times. It's not just what you say. It's what you do. It's how you live. Having said that, what you preach is important. Look at Matthew 4:17, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And look at Matthew 10:7, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Jesus was concerned with the Kingdom. And the truth that it is at hand. It is available to us. All we have to do is reach out and take hold of it. Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of the gift we've been given. Receive and release the love of God. Receive it BY releasing it. If you want to feel love... love somebody. If you want to experience the Kingdom... share it with people. Preach the gospel OF THE KINGDOM. The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of love. And don't preach it like this: "You can get to the Kingdom after you die if you do this, this, and this." Don't preach law. Don't preach hoops to jump through. Don't preach religion. Preach love. Preach life. Shew forth the praise of your heavenly Father. And remember that praise is not how we get God to do something. Praise is what happens after we understand that He's done something. The goodness of God will jerk a praise up out of you. What I think I'm trying to say is: You can't preach about what you think (or hope) God is going to do. We are called to be witnesses. To tell people the good news about what we've heard, and seen, and experienced. To tell people the good news that the Kingdom is at hand. To tell people what's available to them. And not in that old time religion, "Do in order to be" earn your bread by the sweat of your brow nonsense. But in the ultimate truth of the universe that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands! Into OUR hands. He did it all so we could get it all. That's a big part of what the cross was all about. It's all about love. So what I'm trying to say today is, we need to know what we're preaching. Because there's a lot of nonsense out there. A lot of stuff that we've kind of accepted or taken for granted. Stuff that really doesn't hold up when we compare it to the God who is love. Jesus was all about the Kingdom. All about life. All about love. Because those three things aren't just connected, they are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. Living in (and out of) the Kingdom is how we experience Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. That's what we need to be preaching. Not, "Get right or get left." But, "The Kingdom is at hand." We don't need to go anywhere. The Kingdom is within us. Because the King is within in. We're not reaching OUT as much as we're reaching IN. It all comes from the heart. What's inside comes out. We don't need to get things from without to fill ourselves with. We need to fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Preach the gospel of the heart. Let what's inside come out. Let the LOVE that is inside come out!

Preach the gospel at all times! And if you absolutely have to... use words. That's what this Rant series is about. Because I think too many times religious folk want to "Chapter and Verse" people. They want to hit someone over the head with the Bible. Or force Jesus down their throats. None of that works though. If you cram Jesus down someone's throat, they will choke on Him. Period. Scaring people straight might work, in the very short term... but behavior modification is not what we should be striving for. What you do flows from what you believe. And the two hardest things in the world are: 1. Doing something you don't want to do and 2. Not doing something you do want to do. Behavior modification doesn't work because you are trying to force someone to be someone other than who they are. And that's the key: Instead of trying to get people to be someone they're not... we need to be able to let people be who they are. And we need to be able to show them who they are. That's what the gospel is all about. Look at John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth--leads and guides us into all truth. By testifying of Jesus. It shows us who WE are by showing us who HE is. Because Jesus is our true identity. He is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in our flesh. Love in our body. Jesus is the mirror that shows us who we really are. Which, when you consider what He said to Philip, takes on a whole different meaning. "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" If you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. You've seen God. You've seen love. And you see Jesus by looking in the mirror. You see LOVE by looking in the mirror. Because it (HE) is in us. Love is not just what God does, love is who God is. Which means love is not just what we do. Love is who we are! Preach the gospel at all times. The good news about Jesus. The ultimate truth of the universe (that says God is love and He loves you, the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His (our) hands). And if you have to, use words. Love is giving. It is more of a show than a tell. "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise" (Isaiah 43:21). We show up and we show out. We show people who God is by loving them. Period. That's as simple as I can make it. If you want someone to see God, love them. Because they will see YOU. They will see the love in you coming out of you. The GOD in you coming out of you. That's what preaching is really all about. And don't get me wrong, I love a good sermon. We need to be able to hear things differently. See things differently. Let someone else's revelation take us higher. That's all good and proper. But I'm talking about on a day to day basis. If you want to change the world, go home and love your family. If you want to preach the gospel, love the people you come into contact with!

I was a preacher before even I was a pastor. I've been told I'm good with words. A pretty good public speaker. I don't like to argue, but I don't lose many either. Now that I've said all that, I want to say why any of that is important: "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began" (Romans 16:25). Or let me say it another way, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Basically, knowing and believing are two of the most important things in the world. And they have to come in that (Divine) order. Because you can't believe something you don't know. Faith comes by hearing. You hear the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God... and then you can believe that Word. We are stablished (or established) by the gospel. By the preaching of Jesus Christ. The only way in which me being good with words matters... is if I use my words to help people. Preaching a gospel that fills people up with what God has already filled them with. And the only way I can do that is by filling myself to overflowing with what I'M already filled with... by knowing and believing that I'm filled with it. The only way I can love someone is by letting God love me and loving Him back (with that same love) BY loving the people in my life. It doesn't start with me. It starts with God. We love (HIM, by loving each other) because HE first loved us. If God didn't love us, we wouldn't have any love to give. He gave us His only begotten Son that we would not perish, but live. He gave His life for us, and to us, so that we could have it. So that we could experience it as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. And if living and loving are the same thing (and they are), that means we experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as He LOVES in us, and through us, and as us. Receiving and releasing the life--the love--that we've been given. That's how this life--love--works. This life OF love. And that's why preaching is so important. But right here I'm going to say the most important thing I'm going to say in this Rant series, and I'm going to keep saying, and try to explain it as well as I can for next few days. Ready? Ok. Preach the gospel at all times. And if you have to... use words. Love is about more than just saying, "I love you." That's one powerful way to do it, and I believe people need to hear you say that, and I believe you NEED to say that. At the same time, actions speak louder than words, right? If you're saying you love someone but you're treating them like dirt... what's real? And more importantly, what is getting through to that person? Your words... or your actions? Spoiler alert: It's your actions. Charity is love in action. Laying your life down for your friends. Giving what you've got. Not just saying it... but doing it. Letting your life be an epistle read by all men. A love letter from God to humanity, written on the fleshly tablet of your heart. Written IN you, but proclaimed BY you. So I guess kind of what I'm trying to say--as a preacher--is, practice what you preach. Prove that you believe what you're saying by putting it into action. Don't just tell... show. Don't just speak... act.

Consequences can go either way. That's mostly what I'm trying to say in this Rant series. Because when you reap what you sow... that has nothing to do with God punishing you. Grace is getting what you DON'T deserve, right? And mercy is NOT getting what you DO deserve. When we're dealing with God He's more interested in who we are--and making sure we know who we really are, which is who we are in Him--than in what we do. Because He knows that what we do flows from what we believe. Our actions flow from our identity. Christ's love controls us. Because either we don't know we are loved and we do everything we do in order to get that love that we think we don't have... or we do know that we are loved and we do everything we do in order to share that love with the people in our lives! But to end this Rant series I really just want to hammer home that consequences are not always a bad thing. Look at the dictionary.com definition for consequence: "the effect, result, or outcome of something occuring earlier." Because, as I mentioned the other day, ever action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton's third law. So what I think needs to happen more often is... we need to do things with purpose. Look at Luke 14:28-29, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him." Before you do something, ask yourself: Is the juice worth the squeeze? Is what I'm doing serving my purpose and my goals? You've heard the old saying, "If you want something different... do something different." And I always add the little asterik, "Unless you're building something. In which case, stay the course." We have this microwave, snapshot mentality so often where we think, "If I don't get instant gratification, it's not worth it." But we have to remember that life is always changing and evolving. Rome wasn't built in a day. All things are working together for good... but good things take time. You can't expect to have it all when you're just starting out. But even baby steps are foward steps. Forward progress. The consequences of moving forward is that you're going to get where you're going. It may take time. But that's ok. We have been given a never-ending eternal life. An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love! If we want to enjoy that life... look. If you sow love you will reap it. Not because loving people is about getting--because love IS giving--but because it is a natural consequence of putting love out into the universe. If you shine, the world lights up. Action, reaction. And that's how it's supposed to work. That's all we're supposed to do. This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine. And when it shines, it lights everything up. As it's supposed to. So we can see clearly. So we can live fully. To live is to love and to love is to live. The consequences of loving... is living. The consequences of living... is loving. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. So. Consequences aren't always bad. They simply depend on what you choose to do. And they have nothing to do with God punishing anybody!