Sweet Potatoes and Sin

Ever left something like a sweet potato untended for far too long? If not, check out the picture to the left to see what happens to a tater in a dark place. Roots begin to develop and grow.

If you think about it, sin can be similar. Left untended in a dark place, sin will take root growing steadily until it is so entrenched that it takes significant focus and prayer to be rid of.

As James says: "...each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." -James 1:14-15.

At the first sign of temptation, nip it in the bud. Rip out anything that's started to take root in your life and throw it away. Avoid seeding your mind and environment with things that make fertile soil for sin. Instead, fertilize ground that is rich in righteousness and ripe for the fruit of the Spirit.

Is there anything growing in your life that needs to be uprooted?

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Note: no sweet potatoes were harmed in the writing of this post

Hungry for Righteousness

Have you ever been really hungry, so hungry that both animate and inanimate objects were at risk for consumption? This happens every once in a while for me and I could eat a box full of donuts but that would probably just make me hyper, give me a major sugar high, and result in a stomach ache while leaving me wanting for real nourishment. Usually, only things of substance like oatmeal, spaghetti, or a chicken sandwich can satisfy the hunger.

Over the past couple of months, I've been meditating a bit on Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."I've read or heard this verse many times but haven't spent much time pondering it before. The desire to fulfill emotional/spiritual hunger is natural and as with physical hunger, numerous options are available.

People may try to fill their spiritual/emotional hunger with things like TV, sports, alcohol, relationships, internet surfing, work, achievement, or an assortment of other things. These things may temporarily fill emptiness but will never provide true fulfillment.

I challenge you to spend the next 30 days asking God to put in you a hunger and thirst for righteousness. Feast from the table of spiritual meat and potatoes and be filled. Drink deeply and be satisfied from the springs of His righteousness.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Poetry: Rain

Pitter patter on the ground
Rain drops falling, falling down
Skies above bring life below
watering the earth to grow

Coffee Haiku

A pleasing scent floats
the fresh fragrance of morning
coffee awaits you

Blog Maintenance

Howdy friends! PursuitofHisbest.com has recently undergone a bit of maintenance and I wanted to take a moment to point out the new features. There are now static page sections in the header of the blog. At the moment, these sections include About, Photography, Writing, Music, and Store. Each of these will provide a bit more information about PursuitofHisbest.com as a whole as well as insight into my photographic, writing, and musical pursuits.

The Store section will feature various products for purchase. Check back often for new items. The Recommended Reading link launches an Amazon store with books that I personally recommend. (most are on topics of either faith or finances) One additional element of the store is a link to Amazon that you can use to make general purchases for anything you're shopping for and a small portion of the purchase will help support PursuitofHisbest.com.

Thanks for reading!

Luck vs. Hard Work, Focus, and Prayer

“You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.” – Barbara Bush

It's not often that someone skates through life purely on luck. Opportunity comes to those who focus intently, work hard, and pray a lot. God sometimes supernaturally orchestrates things in our lives but I believe that He also expects to use the talents, skills, and abilities that He's given as effectively as possible. Effective use of God given gifts accomplishes far more than human effort can ever hope to attain.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Bezalel

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts." Exodus 31:1-5

Some people have the idea that a person must be a vocational minister in order to really serve God on some elevated level. This thought couldn't be further from the truth. While God does call some people to be vocational ministers, He also calls people to a vast array of other professions and equips them for those things.

Bezalel had the hand of God upon him and was given all kinds of knowledge, creativity, and craftsman oriented skills which could be used for His glory. God has similarly given each person unique abilities and empowered them to serve Him through those skills.

If you're a good teacher, do that as unto Him. If you're good at construction, do that as unto Him. If you're gifted with financial matters, serve Him in that arena. If you're artistically inclined, let Him guide your creative efforts.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

No matter what your job is, do it well and in a way that would glorify God. This can open doors to share with co-workers, clients, or vendors about spiritual matters. You may be the first person they've encountered who demonstrates Jesus in real life outside the walls of a church building. Many people give up on church or have just never had interest in going but would be open to listen to someone they respect in the professional world.

We are all vocational ministers. Some have the title of pastor while others have the title of accountant, nurse, salesman, police officer, waitress, or custodian. God has given you talents and abilities, use them to bring glory to Him.

Alabaster

This is a song I wrote based on the passage about the woman who anointed Jesus with an alabaster jar of perfume and cleaned his feet. See Luke 7:36-50 for the full story.

While it is written to speak to her scenario, the lyrics can apply to anyone's life in receiving forgiveness and then telling their story of freedom in Christ.

Alabaster
by: Andrew Allen

Take your jar of alabaster
pour it out upon the master
clean His feet and dry your tears
you're forgiven do not fear

Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your spirit fail
The chains of sin are broken
Go into the world and tell

He has given me life
and healed the pain
from all the things that I've done
freed me from shame

Give your heart to Him instead
and listen to the words He says
Sin is gone now you are free
Faith has saved you go in peace

Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your spirit fail
The chains of sin are broken
Go into the world and tell

He has given me life
and healed the pain
from all the things that I've done
freed me from shame

In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him

How many times have you compartmentalized faith as a part of your life? It can be so easy to have that 5, 10, or 15 minute quiet time in the morning or at night (check it off the list), go to church for a couple hours on the weekend, and then more or less not include God in the rest of your day/week.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." "All your ways" means all, Not just some but all. On a practical level, that means staying in a constant mindset of conversation with God. As you're driving to work, before that conference call, when you're making a difficult decision, while you're standing in line at the grocery store, as you're talking with people. At all times.

When we get in this habit of praying continually -I Thessalonians 5:17, we can really involve God in all aspects of our life and not act as if he's just a minor player in it. He becomes intricately woven throughout our lives and we more clearly hear from Him as He guides our steps.

A really short but good book on this topic is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

Lasting Joy

False hope and cheap imitations of joy promoted by the world are revealed as shallow when juxtaposed with life in Christ. Lasting joy and satisfaction will only be found in fixing our eyes on Jesus and running the race of life in His power.

JUMP: Life Transformation

Over the past 9 months or so, I've been helping a friend at church to write and edit a book. As of this week, it's hot off the presses. Yay!

The title of the book is JUMP: Life Transformation (JUMP stands for Jesus Understands My Problems) and the concept is about replacing hurts, problems, and unhealthy coping mechanisms with a core centered on Christ. While it does address addictions and other hurtful behaviors, the book is much broader than that and speaks to anything which occupies the place of Jesus in a person's life.

The book summary is:
Do you have a problem that's holding you back from a life of freedom and joy? Do you turn to unhealthy habits, behaviors, or choices when you find yourself overwhelmed by life circumstances? Maybe you know someone who has a problem and wish you knew how to help.

JUMP is about replacing hurts, problems, and unhealthy coping mechanisms with God-enabled life transformation. Are you ready?

Jump In!

It's been a fun process to take a concept and develop it into a finished product. I definitely have a much greater appreciation for what goes into writing a good book. Even though I was very involved in creating the book, objectively, I think the book has some great material which will help lots of people.

We may eventually get it up on Amazon or other online sites but for the time being, it is available online at JumpRecovery.org as well as the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church bookstore in Liberty, Missouri. If you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it. :)

Dangerous

Do you want to be dangerously effective as a disciple of Christ?

Danger implies an element of risk or lack of safety. As it applies to your walk with God, seek to be a warrior for Him that is dangerous and that the enemy fears. Not that you might have a sense of power but that God would be glorified and His kingdom strengthened.

Warfare is not easy and is wrought with danger. Acknowledge warfare in the spiritual realm but don't shrink to a life of easy comfort. Instead, seek an active and joyful existence spent serving and worshiping God, walking closely with Him, and knowing that he will provide power in battle.

We will not be perfect and will mess up from time to time but this should not prevent us from being used for God's purposes. He is fully capable of using imperfect people to accomplish His will.

As His disciple, seek to learn and grow in your relationship with Him. Share with others and invest in their lives so that they too can know Him.

This kind of life will be dangerously effective.

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew

Eres Santo

Este es un cancion de alabanza escribio en Espanol.

Eres Santo
Tus nombre es magnifico
Alabanzas estan tus solo
Tienes el poder sobre todo
me das todo lo que necesito

Senor Jesus Christo
Te quiero en mi vida
Senor Jesus Christo
con tigo tengo alegria
Si Senor

Eres santo, eres santo
Eres santo, eres santo

Traducir para los gringos lo dice:

Your name is great
Praises are yours alone
You have power over everything
You give me all that I need

Lord Jesus Christ
I want you in my life
Lord Jesus Christ
With you I have joy
Yes Lord!

You are holy, You are holy
You are holy, You are holy

More of You

Here's a song that came to me while having a personal time of worship.

More of You, I want more of You
Inside my heart and my soul
More of You, I want more of You
Jesus Lover of my soul

You are good, so good
You are good, so good

You are good and You love me
You are good and You love me

Even in the darkness I can see the light
You are shining brightly in the dark of night

More of You, I want more of You
Inside my heart and my soul
More of You, I want more of You
Jesus Lover of my soul

You Alone by David Crowder Band in Spanish

Here's a Spanish translation of You Alone by David Crowder Band that I put together.

Tu Eres
Tu eres todo lo que necesito
Me arrodillo a tus pies
Te alabo tu solo
Tu me has dado mas de
Lo que podria haber querido
Y quiero darte mi Corazon

Tu eres el Padre
Y tu eres bien
Tu eres el Salvador
Y tu eres Senor

Estoy vivo, Estoy Vivo, Estoy vivo, Estoy Vivo

Tu eres el Padre
Y tu eres bien
Tu eres el Salvador
Y tu eres Senor

Dios te bendiga

Lord of All

This is a song I wrote based on Psalm 8:9 and Philippians 2:10.

Lord of All

Oh Lord our God how majestic is your name
Oh Lord our God how majestic is your name
In all the earth, all the earth, in all the earth, all the earth

Jesus your name is holy
All creation declares the same
Every knee on earth will bow
and every tongue proclaim that

Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all of all
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all of all
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all of all
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, is Lord of all of all

Sheep Thinking

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." -Psalm 23:1

Have you ever really wrapped your mind around this verse? It's from one of the most familiar passages in the Bible but it's possible to miss the meaning in the familiarity and imagery.

I've not interacted a whole lot with sheep but have been around them briefly. They are skittish, nervous, worried, apt to wander, and greedily lunge for food. If we really think about it, many times we're similar to sheep. We can be worried and concerned about our needs, wants, and desires. Often times, we wander away from the Shepherd either because we think we know best how to meet our needs or because we're stubborn or maybe don't trust Him.

The sheep's lack of vision and knowledge of the shepherd's plans can lead it to dangerous places if it does not stay close to the shepherd and walk in the way he has planned for it. The shepherd will protect and provide for the sheep and may need to occasionally discipline it but ultimately has good intentions for it.

Let us move beyond sheep thinking and fully trust the Shepherd. Let us seek His voice and guiding when we're scared, depend on His provision, and know that He'll lead us in paths of righteousness. When the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not be in want.

Running on Faith

In Running on Faith, we meet Jason Lester, an incredible athlete and follower of Christ. As a boy, Jason was hit by a car which after recovering from the initial injuries, left his right arm paralyzed. He went on to live a very normal and active life despite this challenge. In young adulthood, he also came to faith in Christ and this faith has been his source of strength and motivation for tackling some of the most difficult athletic endeavors known to man.

After moving to Hawaii to train full time, Lester learned how to swim with one arm and went on to compete in the name brand Hawaii Ironman race consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 113 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. This was not enough though, he later competed in the Ultraman race which consists of a 6.2 mile swim, 261.4 mile bike, and 52.4 mile run over the course of 3 days.

Throughout the book he talks about his faith in God and how he continuously relies on Him in both training, racing, and daily living. It is one of the most inspirational real life stories I've read. It is highly likely you'll be inspired to go for a run, bike, or swim after reading it. Whether you're an athlete, interested in stories of Christian faith, or enjoy seeing people overcome great challenges, this book is for you.

If you found this review helpful, let Amazon know at this link

Love That Gives You Hope

This is a song I wrote after reading a book about a family’s experience with a daughter who had an eating disorder. While that was in mind when writing the song, the lyrics apply to anyone with a hurt, habit, or hangup. If you need help with something along those lines, check out a Celebrate Recovery at a church close to you.

Love That Gives You Hope
By: Andrew Allen

You are broken and you’re hurting
It’s so dark and you’re afraid of what’s to come
It’s unspoken but it’s certain
That there’s something wrong that haunts you deep inside

All the confusion and chaos screams at you
You wonder if you’ll ever know what to do
Well take a breath and hold on tight, it’s gonna be a hard fight
And just keep going till the darkness turns to light

The light of freedom, unshackled and unchained and living free
So hold on and surrender to the Love that gives you hope eternally

There’ll be times where you want to give up
When everything just seems to drag you down
You might be scared feel like you’re stuck
With no end in sight and so much to overcome

All the confusion and chaos screams at you
You wonder if you’ll ever know what to do
Well take a breath and hold on tight, it’s gonna be a hard fight
And just keep going till the darkness turns to light

The light of freedom, unshackled and unchained and living free
So hold on and surrender to the Love that gives you hope eternally

God at the Grocery Store

Today, at the grocery store I had an experience that on the surface was a case of poor customer service. I had gone to the deli to pick up some turkey and the deli clerk was talking with another person who was either a friend or casual acquaintance. She went on and on for several minutes and was quite involved in the conversation (from what I could tell she was complaining about something) but was not engaged in any tasks related to work. This kept up for some time and she seemed oblivious to my presence and need for assistance until finally the other person mentioned something to make her aware of a customer needing help and that he should probably get going.

I didn’t let the incident get to me too much but as I was thinking back over it, I realized that this type of thing probably happens at a deeper level more than we realize. We might be going along in life and get wrapped up in our own little world, interacting with friends and not even realize someone on the periphery that needs help or is reaching out to us.

From time to time, it’s important to look around in case there are people that we can minister to that we might not be aware of at first. It could be something as simple as being a listening ear or lending a hand. Maybe the person is hurting and looking for more in life than what they’ve known so far. Look for opportunities to break out of the normal bubble of life and be available to engage people at their point of need and be Jesus to them.

Who is someone you can be Jesus to?

In pursuit of His best,

Andrew