Burning Bright

As we traveled the roads of Barry County this evening on our way home from my parents house we were treated to a couple of light shows that only our creator could give us. In the west, the sun had set and the sky was an amazing shade of orange. It was as if God had taken out one of his paint brushes and perfectly stroked the western sky with an opaque hue of vermilion.

We were also able to watch the luminous lights of the firefly this evening. Hundreds if not thousands of these little bugs pranced throughout the evening sky showing off their best moves for us and for their lady/boy friends.

These two forms of light were incredible this evening. They reminded me of how amazing my creator is and how small I am. It also reminded me to look at my own light. It made me think, what does my light look like?
As a kid, I sang the song "This Little Light of Mine" all the time, not thinking much of it. I enjoyed this song, because it required me to show off my finger as if it were a candle. At the tip of this imaginary candle held and imaginary lit wick in which I was to show off to all my other snot-nosed, fake candle lit friends.
The goal was to keep this wick on fire no matter the circumstances. My two personal favorites were/are "hide it under a bushel...NO" and "don't let satan blow (or actually blow) it out"
This song is such a simple song, but it's a song that I thought of tonight as drove north on Patterson Road.

Am I letting my little light shine? Am I showing off my Savior the best I can or am I hiding it under my thick skin? Am I letting satan get a little snort of his evil on my fire or do I have it protected on all sides?

Jesus says,

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

~Matthew 5:14-16

Did you read that? We are the light of the world. If you are a Christian you have something that many people would love to have a fire that should not be extinguished. This isn't something that appears occasionally, like the nightlight in my daughters room that turns on only when the other lights are off or the light that burns in a campfire, but must be put out after the s'mores and weenies are put away. No! Jesus is talking a flame that cannot be extinguished.

So what does your flame look like? Is your flame one of the trick candles that goes out for a time when your not at church or around your Christian friends, but turns back on as soon as you are around them? Does your candle burn on mission trips, during a difficult time in your life or when you hear that certain song on the radio?

I like what the second part of this passage says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16) Notice Jesus doesn't say, "let your light shine so that others can see how wonderful you are."

Jesus points your flame to God's glory.

I think this is what makes keeping that flame going so tough. We want the recognition for the good that we have done. We want people to know that these things that are happening would not be happening if were not for us. Jesus disagrees. To God be the glory...not Josh! To God be the glory...not you! To God be the glory for the great things He has done!!!
God deserves all the glory for the things we do. We could not do anything without the amazing power of our Lord. We are a messed up people that need to recognize that our little light we have been given would not have even been lit, had it not been for the amazing mercy and grace that God has given us.

Let your light shine so that God will be praised.

The Jury Finds The Defendant...

We Americans love a good trial. We love having an eye on the courtroom, assume we know all of the details and believe from the "look-in" that we've been given, that we can give a judgement call. Whether it's the Salem Witch Trials, O.J. Simpson, The NFL lockout or today's Casey Anthony decision...it gets our attention.

In this case of Casey Anthony, the little I saw made me think pretty quickly that this girl is Guilty (with a capital 'G').

I watched the verdict in my office today (along with the rest of the church staff) and was immediately surprised by the outcome. If you didn't see it, here it is:



Right away I shook my head in disbelief. "Where is the justice in this country anyway?" I thought to myself. I wrote it on my Facebook, commented on other people's Facebook and figured I have all the answers for that jury and for Casey Anthony.

Jump ahead a few hours to this evening. I watched a movie with Ryan Hunter and Sarah Watkins called "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee". It was a movie that had a lot to do with the area of South Dakota we will be traveling to in just a few days. Here's the trailer for it:



To give you a short review of it: After the Massacre at Little Big Horn, the white men are out to make sure that the Sioux are put in their place. They want them to be put on the reservation and are willing to pay to make them stay there. Sitting Bull wants nothing to do with it and after giving in a little to the white man, changes his mind and stands up for his people.
As they attempt to take Sitting Bull and the Sioux and put them in their rightful place a war breaks and Sitting Bull and many, many others are killed.

There, now that I've spoiled the movie for ya (but you should know it anyway, it's American history), let me get to my point, but first a few verses:

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
~Hebrews 10:26-31

Have you ever heard of the term unrepentant sin?

Unrepentant is defined in the dictionary as: "showing no regret for one's wrongdoing."

As I mentioned immediately following the Casey Anthony trial my thought was, just wait 'til she has a date with God on judgement day. Just wait until the ultimate juror can see past all of the lies that apparently this jury hasn't seen past. Oh she's gonna get it!
Then I thought to myself (and I talked with Pastor Jeremy): "Is this the attitude to have?" I mean sure this woman possibly killed her daughter. She possibly deserves the death penalty, but who really am I to judge? From the verses above you see that it's not mine at all. It's a problem between Casey has to figure out. Is she going to recognize this sin (if indeed that's what it was) as a sin and bring it to God or is she going to bare it herself (if indeed she did kill her daughter).
Watching this movie this evening made me think about this a little more. As a white man, I feel awful for what we did to the American Indian (Native American). I look at as someone coming into my house and demanding me to leave it, no questions asked, and if I don't they'll take it anyway. We talk about illegal immigrants coming in and taking all of our jobs and even legal immigrants taking the jobs we once had. But technically aren't we all immigrants (except Native Americans) and haven't we all taken something that wasn't ours to begin with? Where's the justice in that? Have we repented of our sin to America's first people?

Of course I could go on and on with examples of injustices and unrepentant hearts, but let me stop here. We have an opportunity to turn our selfish hearts around. To recognize that Casey Anthony needs a Savior just as much as Josh Cnossen needs a Savior. Watch this video with the words from Isaiah 53:5. When you watch this think about the fact that every time Jesus was whipped, every time they mocked him, every drop of blood, every hammer of the nail was for you and for me and for our sin:



When we don't repent of our sin and decide that our plan is better than God's, we are looking at this death that Jesus had and saying, it doesn't matter, I got a better plan, I can do it alone. We need Jesus, we need someone to take care of the mess we've created, you do, I do and Casey Anthony does. Will you pray with me that Casey will see the need for Jesus and that we will as well!

Life's Not Fair

I spoke with my doctor the other day and he told me I have pre-diabetes. I share that with you not only as a prayer concern and accountability to living a healthier lifestyle, but because it lead to the next question I had for him. This is how the conversation went:

C-noss: "I know I'm a bit overweight and I know I need to lose some pounds. I know I don't eat right and that this is a good wake up call for me. However, I know plenty of people that are quite a bit bigger than me, yet they aren't even diabetic. Why is that? WHY ME?"

Doc: "Josh" (my alias), "I have three words for you: 'Life's Not Fair'

C: But it just doesn't make sens...

D: (counting with his fingers) 'Life's Not Fair'


I've been told this my entire life...When I didn't get the push-pop that everyone else had. When I didn't make the freshmen baseball team, when the girl that I so desparately wanted to date rejected me and when I see people going through hard stuff and it doesn't seem to get better...I'm reminded once again that (say it with me now) Life's Not Fair!

In John 16:33 Jesus says,

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Now looking at this verse at first glance my thought is that it's a 'crap sandwich'. Let me explain: Jesus starts with peace (that would be the top bread piece) then he talks about tribulation (the crap) and ends with overcoming the world (the bottom bread piece).
But if you look just above this verse (:32) Jesus speaks to his disciples regarding his departure and he tells the disciples that they will leave him.

"Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone."

At the hour when it appears Jesus seems he could really use a friend...what do his friends do? They disappear, they desert him.

Talk about Life Not being Fair

These disciples, picked out specifically by Jesus himself to follow him are about to desert him. These men that watched Jesus perform miracles and wash their feet, who ate with Him and learned from Him, who said they would die with him all of a sudden get cold feet in his darkest hour. Have you ever had friends like that? Have you ever felt alone in a situation? Are you going through something that it seems that nobody else would understand?

It woulda been really easy for Jesus to say those words "Life's Not Fair"...but he doesn't...he doesn't.
I purposely left out the rest of John 16:32. The end of the verse says this:

"Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me."

If you just quickly read through that read through it again, slowly. Jesus has a hope that we need to grab hold of. Jesus doesn't say, "Forget this whole dieing on a cross thing. The disciples don't understand, sufferings not fun, I'm outta here!" Instead he recognizes that God is with him and he's not alone.

We've all been given different cards in our life. Check out this video:


These cards look different to each and every individual, but the one thing that can be said is that no one escapes the good OR the bad cards. We all have gone through tough things, some more than others. God does not promise us an easy life. On the contrary, the book of James (1:2) tells us to "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds," but he's not gonna have us go through it alone.

Trials help us! They make us stronger if we go about them the right way.

Jesus came to this earth to right a wrong to replace something that needed replacing and to help us recognize that we are sinners desperately in need of a Savior.
Jesus died so that we may live, how much more love could the son of God give. (in the words of an old DC talk song).
Jesus knows we're going to have trials, He knows that we are going to mess up, He knows that life is not perfect and it NEVER will be (until He returns or calls us home). He knows that we will continue to struggle. But He assures us that He will "overcome the world."

My thought for you and my thought for me is exactly what Jesus said: "take heart; I have overcome the world." Jesus understands life isn't fair, but he wants all of that worry, all of that anxiousness to fall on him because he has overcome it!

Find peace in the knowledge that whatever your going through your Father knows about and Jesus Christ died for!