Getting fit in 2012

I've been using a free weight loss/fitness website for the past few days and love it! It's called Lose It! Here are a few reasons why you should give it a try if you've tried other programs that didn't work:

• It an easy calorie based program. No counting points.
• A database of food items are already in the system so you don't have to look up the calories for every item you consume.
• You can add to your daily calorie intake by doing some excercise. The more you exercise, you more you can eat!
• It's FREE!
• You can "friend" others who can provide mutual accountability.
• Some of your data (your calorie intake and weight loss) are graphed so you can visualize your progress.
• Those who "friend" you can see you weight loss progress but they cannot see your weight unless you allow it to be visible on your profile page.
• Etc.

If you're interested in taking care of God's temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), consider joining www.loseit.com and friending me. Simply type "matt ellis" into the friend locator and you'll see my picture.

It's a Small World After All

It's fascinating how small our world has become with the arrival of the internet. One person can easily influence folks in other countries from the confines of his own home or workplace. To illustrate, the following is a list of the hits I have received on my blog over the past 30 days.




Pageviews by Countries

United States 907 Canada 6 France 4 Australia 3 Hungary 3 Malaysia 3 Netherlands 3 Guyana 2 Israel 2 India 2

To forgive or not to forgive...that is the question

I had a conversation with someone recently regarding the topic of forgiveness. He was grappling with the desire to forgive and yet the inability to act on that desire.

With a sincere heart, he asked me how he could win this battle  that was raging within him.

I noted that refusing to forgive is an illogical response to wrongs committed against us. Essentially, when we refuse to forgive, we are saying, "Since someone wronged me, I will continue to abuse myself for years to come."

But as illogical as that response may be, I know all too well the problem he described. I struggle with it. Truth be told, everyone does.

And yet, the command in Scripture is clear and we must comply:
"And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ." (Ephesians 4:32).

In our conversation, I gave a few suggestions on how I've been able to forgive and move on. I'll share the one that has helped me overcome the big stuff.

It begins with this conviction: The person who claims to be a believer and yet, having committed a large offense, refuses to make it right is showing themselves to be lost.

• Matthew 18:15-17 tells us that if someone doesn't make things right after repeated attempts at reconciliation, they are to be treated as a lost person regardless of whether or not they claim to be saved.
• 1 John 3:6 states that anyone who claims to be a believer will not sin (in the original language, this is written in the present, continuous sense - "He will not keep doing wrong."). Believers will sin but will eventually make it right.
• Passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Ephesians 5:3-5 tell us that folks who claim to be believers and yet remain in sin are deceived. They are not saved and are not on their way to Heaven no matter what they think.

These three bullet points are VERY serious. They are stating that folks who remain in sin, refusing to make it right, are showing themselves to be lost and on their way to Hell.

(I recently preached on Hell. If you want a little glimpse into what it will be like, click on the link at the end of this post.)

So, as I talked about forgiveness, I mentioned that I found it easier to pray for someone when I realized that if they continued in their sin, refusing to make it right, they may be bearing the fruit of someone who will spend eternity in Hell. 

That paradigm shift has helped me cross the line. Instead of holding onto grudges, I have found it easier to pray for the offender. I have prayed that they would make things right. I have prayed that if they are not saved, that they would make that right before it's too late.

I don't care how justified you may feel in holding onto grudges against someone who has wronged you. I've struggled with those feelings, too. The real issue is where people will spend eternity. Only the most calloused of hearts can remain indifferent to someone who will soon experience the torments of Hell forever ... and ever ... and ever ...


Here's the sermon (video) on Hell: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=KGD66PNX

Praise & Love and why they are inseparable

This morning, I read Psalm 134 where it calls upon the reader to praise the Lord.

“Now praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the Lord’s house at night! Lift up your hands in the holy place, and praise the Lord! May the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.” (Psalm 134:1-3)

As the average Christian reads those three verses, they probably feel the pangs of conviction and think: “I really need to praise the Lord more. I don’t do it enough.” (Of course, by “praise,” we mean enjoying times of contemplation on the Lord’s incredible attributes and proclaiming the glory of those attributes.)

Let’s suppose that I’m speaking to a hypothetical believer. He shows up for church but sings the songs half-heartedly. Away from church, he acknowledges that he rarely speaks of how wonderful God is.

After he acknowledges his struggles with praising God, I pose this question to him: “Do you LOVE the Lord?” More than likely, he would give a resounding “Yes! Of course I love Him! Doesn’t every believer!?”

And that’s the problem … we separate love and praise. In reality, the two are directly tied to each other.

For example, I absolutely love my wife. We spent a few hours together recently to do a little Christmas shopping for our boys. Now, I cannot possibly tell you how much I loathe shopping but I wouldn’t give up the time we spent together for anything! We laughed. We held hands. We communicated on a deep level on topics ranging from how we’re raising our boys to what we think God is up to in our lives. It was FUN because I loved the person I was with, my best friend!

Now, imagine that you came up to me and said, “Matt, I wonder if you could give me 5 things that you greatly admire about your wife.” I guarantee you that I would have no trouble whatsoever! In fact, I’ll rattle off a few right now:

1. She loves the Lord.
2. She loves and takes care of her family.
3. She brings out the best in others.
4. She genuinely cares for others.
5. She has a servant-heart.
6. She is a high-achiever.
7. She is industrious.
8. She is frugal with her family’s finances.
9. She’s fun to look at!!!
10. I could easily keep going...

That list didn’t take me long at all. Essentially, it’s a list where I was singing Kim’s praises. Why did I find it easy to praise Kim? Because I love her! Praise is a natural outflow of love.

Now, let’s imagine that a husband and wife aren’t doing too well. They constantly fight and the love fires are burning dangerously low. If you were to ask each spouse to give you 5 things that they admired about each other, do you think they could do it? Probably not. Why? Because it’s difficult and unnatural to praise someone that you don’t love.

So, are you praising God like you should? When’s the last time you praised Him, I mean REALLY let ‘er rip? Maybe a more relevant question would be: “Do you even feel like praising Him?”

If you're struggling to obey all of those biblical commands to praise God, maybe you should start somewhere else:

"He said to him, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and most important commandment." (Matthew 22:37-39).