The View From The Pew:The Tattoo Story

It is black with flames in a semi-circle above and below. There is a Boston Terrier in the middle with “Got Bostons?” underneath. It is the same as the sticker on the back window of my truck. It should be, I designed them both. The sticker on my truck is white vinyl. The tattoo on my upper arm is black ink.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving I went into Inkredible Tattoo in El Centro and I let Rene’ poke my arm repeatedly with a needle. It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would, but I wouldn’t call it exactly pleasant. He did an incredible (Inkredible?) job and if I do get another tattoo, he will be the one to do it.
What hurt as bad as the needle was the verbal needling I was getting from my wife, Lanette, and my fake daughter, Esli. Esli even Facebooked photos of me getting the tattoo!
Don’t ask me why I got a tattoo, I’m not really sure. I have thought about it for a while now. I had to make sure I was doing it for the right reasons. I had to make sure it wasn’t some weird midlife crisis or something. It wasn’t, I just wanted a tattoo, and for the first time in my life I am in a place where I didn’t have to worry about “shoulds and oughts.”
I have lived most of my life by the “shoulds and oughts.” I grew up in a very conservative religious environment, and they had some pretty strict rules about drinking, dancing, smoking, tattoos and many other items. I let them shape my attitudes and actions for most of my 50 years. I haven’t rejected all that I grew up with, but I have made sure that what I believe is God’s Word, not man “cherry-picking” Old Testament Scriptures.
The tattoo is a great example. As soon as the picture was posted on my Facebook page a couple of people publicly and privately voiced their displeasure and disappointment. I knew that was coming. They quoted Leviticus 19:28 where it says not to put tattoo marks on myself. The thing is, the same passage also says for me not to eat meat with blood still in it, not to wear clothing made from two different fabrics, and not to cut the hair off the side of my head or clip the edges of my beard. If you’re going to quote one verse, you have to quote it all.
Jesus came to establish a new relationship with us so that we would not be slaves to the Law anymore. Jesus said the most important law was this: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Matthew 12:29 TNIV)
So I have changed my views on some things. I still don’t dance, but that’s because I look goofy doing it. I still don’t smoke or drink alcohol, but those are personal choices that I have made in my relationship with God. I know Christians who do all three, and that is between them and God. I find myself going back to the New Testament to find my relationship with Christ, and it is freeing and refreshing. I haven’t “watered down” my Christianity or message, but I have made sure it’s God’s way not mine or somebody else’s.
If you are one of the many people who have found “religion” stifling and rejected Jesus because of it, I encourage you to reject religion and find a relationship with Jesus instead. Drop me an email at jerry@remnantchurchonline.com and I can help you find out how. It is really an incredible life!
Proud to be “inked”… Jerry

The View From The Pew: Christmas 2009

Last year my church entered a float in Imperial’s “Parade of Lights.” Remnant’s float was, well, underwhelming. I should know, I am the one who arranged it. We had a trailer with some lights and a Remnant banner. We weren’t ugly or anything, just not real exciting. It served the purpose, though, and we were happy.
This year I mentioned on a Sunday morning that we needed help putting together a float for this year’s parade. A couple of ladies stepped up and offered to take over putting the float together, and I was very relieved. Whatever they did would have to be better than last year. Boy, was I way off.
You see, this year’s floats were not just better, they were exponentially better. They were better like a Ferrari is better than a Pinto! They were better like filet mignon is better than a baloney sandwich with no mayo!
Our entries had two truck and trailers and a golf cart. The trailers had lights that twinkled, a canopy of lights overhead, candy that lit up, they were beautiful!
I would have been happy with another trailer with a few lights strung on it, maybe a banner or two. The ladies who decorated our float this year went far above what I expected. They went the extra mile for our Christmas parade floats.
That is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is us remembering that God sent his only son to earth to save us. On Christmas, God went over the top! He did something he didn’t have to do, he went far above what was expected.
The Old Testament pointed to the fact that God would send a savior. It foretold of one who would come and save God’s people from their sin. Nobody could have imagined it would be God’s own son. They knew he would be special, but God did so much more than anyone expected.
Our Christmas sermon series at Remnant is called, “The Christmas Conspiracy.” The whole idea of the series is that Jesus was born to start a revolution. It was a revolution of love, a revolution of grace, a revolution that would change lives.
It is important to remember that the little baby born in the manger that day was born in the shadow of a cross. Every day that Jesus lived as he was growing up, the cross was looming in the distance. Make no mistake about it, Jesus was a cute little baby in a manger, but he was born with a price on his head. He was born so that he could die on a cruel cross of torment and be the price for the forgiveness of our sins.
On Christmas God went over the top. He sent his son to earth to pay the price for you and me. I wouldn’t have offered up my sons or my grandson, but God sent his only son. Why did he do it? Love. There is no other way to explain it, God loved us so much that he sent his own son to live and die for us so that we could join God in heaven. God is the one who wrote the rules, he could have done it any way he wanted, but he chose to go over the top. He chose to send something so personal, so full of love, that we had to take notice. On Christmas, we have the opportunity to notice. Will you? Will you make this the year that you acknowledge the greatest gift of love ever given? Or will you continue to ignore that little baby who was born to start a revolution in your heart and life?
Riding the over the top floats… Jerry

When Giving Overtakes Getting

A message by Pastor Frank Garcia at Remnant on Sunday, December 6, 2009. Part of the series, "Christmas Conspiracy"
When Giving Overtakes Getting

When Light Invades Darkness

A message by Pastor Jeremiah Vik at Remnant on Sunday, December 6, 2009. Part of the series, "Christmas Conspiracy"
When Light Invades Darkness

The view From The Pew: Cell Phones

My cell phone is a T-Mobile G1. It is an amazing phone! It has 3G internet speed (although not here in the Valley), it takes pictures, it has all kinds of apps. I have a Bible program, a program that I use for grocery shopping, a couple of Twitter clients, a gas mileage program and quite a few others. I watched the movie “Iron Man” in a doctor’s office waiting room once on this phone.
I like the phone so much that I have modified it to run a newer operating system, and it has a bigger battery. This phone is amazing and can do some really cool stuff. I can tether it to my laptop and use the phone as a modem for my laptop. Amazing!
So obviously I use this phone for more than just making calls. I have my calendar, email and all kinds of info on it. I can even work on sermons on it and review PowerPoints.
What if all I did was use it as a cell phone? I didn’t have any apps, I didn’t use the calendar or email functions, I just used it to make calls. Would that be okay? Sure, it’s a cell phone, it’s primary purpose is to make calls. On the other hand, it is so much more than a cell phone. It really is a mini computer, able to do some incredible things.
The other night in Bible study, my friend Steve used this awesome analogy for the Christian life. He compared living the Christian life to having this awesome cell phone that you just use for calls. Sure, it works for that, but it is designed to do so much more.
Some people live their lives like I use my cell phone. They have accepted Christ and they are living it to its fullest. They are doing their best to apply Christ’s teachings to their lives and they are working it! They are like the wise builder Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7:24, 25: "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
That lifestyle does more than just help you each day. It helps you when the storms hit. Oh sure, you still get wet, and you may get knocked around, but in the end, your house stands because it is built on God’s foundation.
Other people live their lives totally ignoring God’s words and precepts. They know God is there, they just ignore him and what he requires. They are like the foolish builder in Matthew 7:26, 27: "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
Pretty stark difference huh? One house survives, one house collapses. Which house do you want to live in? We are all going to go through hard times, the question is how will we react, how will we live? Want more info? Drop me an email at jerry@remnantchurchonline.com. I’ll help you modify your cell phone AND your life!
Excuse me while I answer this call… Jerry

The View From The Pew: Adultery

Sorry, folks, there isn’t anything funny in this week’s column. I tried to come up with a way to couch the message in some kind of allegory or illustration. I tried to think of a humorous anecdote to introduce this subject. The problem is that way we dance around this issue too much, we try too hard to talk carefully about it. We find ways to excuse it, to justify it, to somehow lessen its impact. The problem is, we can’t.
The topic of today is adultery. The dictionary defines adultery as, “voluntary sexual activity between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband.” The problem with that definition is that it is incomplete.
Here is how I define adultery, “A voluntary physical or mental act by a man or woman who is willing to break a sacred vow to their spouse, their children and their family in exchange for stolen moments of physical gratification.” Or how about this one, “An act of pure selfishness by someone who decides that whatever physical or mental desires they have is more important than the pain and hurt their actions may cause.” Notice I threw in mental. You cheat with your heart long before you cheat with your body.
Chances are good that your marriage vows said, “ to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse… to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.” There’s really not a lot of wriggle room there. It doesn’t say, “until something better comes along.” Or, “until a really hot chick catches my eye, then all bets are off.”
Our eyes or heart begin to look around because we are either bored or dissatisfied at home. Instead of remembering our vows and working on our relationship, we look to someone else. We begin to justify our thoughts long before they lead to actions. We blame it on our spouse, or stress or even the other person. If they didn’t flirt with us, or if they dressed differently then we wouldn’t be so tempted. Or we lie to ourselves and say that we would never cheat, we’re just having harmless fun.
Baloney! James 1:14, 15 says, “each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” In short, we have no one to blame for our sin but us.
The problem is that we don’t begin with the end in mind. Next time you are tempted to stray, as your mind begins to fantasize about that other person, I want you to try something.
Go into your bathroom and look into the mirror and see the face of your spouse, your children, your parents, or someone who really trusts you. Now imagine telling them what you are doing. Imagine looking into your son or daughter’s face and saying, “Daddy has to move away and your life is going to be cheated because I couldn’t control my lust. I hope that the person you someday marry will never do to you what your dad did to your mom.”
Or try this, drive past your house and park down the street. Now imagine your kids playing inside it without you. Or imagine them sitting down to dinner with their mom and her new husband. Imagine some other man raising your kids while you get to see them on the weekends.
Now tell me that a physical or mental relationship with someone else is worth it. Tell me that the pain that your sin will cause is worth it all. I doubt very seriously you can do it.
Begging you to count the cost before you act… Jerry

The View From The Pew: Driving and the Golden Rule

Sometimes it seems like driving is a real test of my faith. Between the drivers who do not understand that you have to accelerate to merge onto the highway, to others who assume you will you stop because they can’t be bothered by silly little things like stop signs and lane dividers, driving becomes a real opportunity for me to live out my commitment to Christ!
In the Sermon On the Mount (Matthew 6 & 7) Jesus laid out how his followers were to act. At Remnant Jeremiah and I have been preaching our way through this passage, and it has been rough. You see, the principles that Jesus taught here aren’t options, they are the ways he followers MUST live.
One of the portions of this great teaching is what is known all over as “The Golden Rule.” In Matthew 7:12 Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
When Jesus said this, his listeners were familiar with the concept. In fact, they had heard the idea the same way many of us apply it. The Jewish teacher Hillel said, "What is hateful to yourself, do to no other." At first blush, it sounds like what Jesus said, doesn’t it? It’s not. Hillel (and us) apply it negatively. For example, if someone falls in front of us we think to ourselves, “Well, if I fell I wouldn’t want someone to laugh at me and kick me in the gut. So I won’t laugh at them or kick them in the gut.”
Jesus put a totally different spin on this. He said to treat other people the way you want them to treat you. So for a Christian if someone falls in front of you your thinking should be, “If I fell I would want someone to help me up and make sure I am okay, so I will help them up and see if they are okay.” A totally different way of living. One is defensive and just tries not to do wrong, Jesus’ way is proactive and tries to do good.
This is a great way to live whether you are a Christ follower or not. So how do you apply this? Here is what I taught at Remnant:
First of all, ask yourself “How do I want others to treat me?”
I made a list of ways I would like people to treat me. The list included having people challenge me to excel, and forgive and forget. You can’t treat people the way you want to be treated until you are aware of how you want to be treated. Get some paper and make your own list. Go ahead, I’ll wait…
Got your list? Good, now “Start modeling!” No, I am not telling you to get your glossy photos together, I am telling you that you have to start showing others by your life, not your words. Talk is cheap, actions are gold. If you want to be forgiven, forgive. If you want to be encouraged, encourage. If you want to be treated gently, treat others gently.
Finally, you have to “Live it!” This has to be a way of life, not just the way we go around treating people once in a while. That means that you are more courteous as a driver, you are a nicer boss, a better neighbor. The Golden Rule infuses everything you do. Can you imagine what a better world we would have if everybody lived this way? That is the world Jesus wants us to have, but it starts with us. It starts with me on Highway 86 in the mornings, in the corridors at the Sheriff’s Office, and everywhere I go. Wow. A lot to live up to, but it is my responsibility, my joy, my destiny. Yours, too!
Letting other drivers through… Jerry

When Heaven Invades Earth

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, November 29, 2009. Part of the series, "Christmas Conspiracy"

When Heaven Invades Earth

Solid Rock Or Shifting Sand?

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, November 22, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Solid Rock Or Shifting Sand?

You Might Be...

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, November 15, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

You Might Be...

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

A message by Pastor Jeremiah Vik at Remnant on Sunday, November 8, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Fork In The Road

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, November 1, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Fork In The Road

Me First

A message by Pastor Jerry Godsey at Remnant on Sunday, October 18, 2009. Part of the series, "Manifesto"

Me First