disciplebygrace

Is Jesus Enough For you?

2011-01-18T19:32:00.004-05:00

This is the gist of my message from Winter Retreat 2011.

The theme for the weekend Was "GO." The focus was on how we as Christians are called to humble ourselves, serve others, and share the love of Christ with the world.

I find it funny how that simple two letter word has a way of sparking incredible amounts of fear in Christians. The word "Go" seems to cripple and paralize us. We say, "I'm not prepared for that. I need more training. I might mess up."
The goal of this message is to let Jesus start to work on your heart. Because let's be honest, most of us do not like to serve. It means we have to humble ourselves, and put someone else ahead of ourselves. We have to care about someone else's desires more than our own, and that goes against our nature. We just are not wired that way!
But Jesus calls us to do exactly that.
- Go make disciples
- Love your neighbor as yourself
- Let your light shine before men
- Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends
And these are just a few.

But let's be honest, most of us do not like the idea of humbling ourselves for another. But that is not completely your fault. After all, we live in the most selfish and consumer driven society on the planet. We have the "Fast Food Mentality in America."
-I want it now
-I want it my way
-And I want it super-sized!
And we adhere to this philosophy in every aspect of our lives. Even in our churches. Think about your church at home for a second. Seriously, take a second. I'm willing to bet that 90% of you just thought about something you do not like about your church. And the other 10% are doing it right now, because all it took was the power of suggestion. See, we have to fix our minds.
Are you really upset that they didn't play your favorite song? Or that there was no guitar? Or the sanctuary was hot? Or the pastor was boring? Or that baby was crying? Or we didn't take communion? Or the old people won't let us have fun? Or the young people don't show enough reverence for God? Or the people don't like my tattoos and piercings?
If these things are what dominate your thoughts about your church, then Jesus is not enough for you. That is not your church's problem. It is yours!

Why do you have to be entertained? Do you understand how lucky we have it here in America? Have any of us ever had our life threatened because we professed to believe in Jesus?
I want to tell a couple of stories I heard from Francis Chan and David Platt at Passion 2011. Both of these men have recently taken trips overseas to visit believers in other countries.

Francis Chan talked about his trips to China and India. He told us that he had never seen such passionate worship. Not loud worship, because that is dangerous in these countries. But Passionate worship. He talked about how his heart just pounded as they sang songs and prayed and worshiped Jesus. Francis said he asked one of the leaders in China how many of his church attenders just claimed to be Christians and were not really living it out. After all, we all know people like that here in America. They claim to be Christian for whatever reason suits them, but there is no evidence of Christ in their life. Well, the church leader looked confused when Francis asked him this. He said "What do you mean? Why would you do that? That would be Stupid!" We have to understand that in China, claiming to follow Christ means you give up your normal life. Your place in the community, your safety, and often your family are now gone, and you are left on your own. Why would anyone give up all of that just to say they are a Christian? Quite simply, they would not. He even told us an incredibly emotional story about an 11 year old boy who decided to follow Jesus, and his father threw him out, and told him he was on his own. Imagine having that much faith in Christ at 11 years old.
These people really live it out. These people are ready to lay down their lives, and sacrifice everything just for the chance to share Jesus with someone who doesn't know Him. Because Jesus IS enough for them.

David Platt talked about the house churches he went to in Asia. He never mentioned what country he was in, I suspect it was his way of protecting the people he met while overseas. But he told stories of how they met in these small rooms underground to keep their secret. They don't have anything. Maybe a Bible or two, and a light bulb. 60 people crammed into a room smaller than your high school classrooms. Well they invited David to lead a Bible study for them. These are guys that gather together in secret at the risk of their lives. David said he planned about an hour long lesson, because that is what we do here. We meet together, usually eat something, make some small talk, and study God's word and talk about it for an hour or so. Well he shows up, and they say "ok, we have about 8 hours, let's get started."
"umm.... uhhhh.... ok"

So for 8 hours they sat together in secret and studied, and talked about God, and rejoiced in Him, and worshiped Him. David says he doesn't even remember what they talked about that day, but they were so hungry to know more. At the end of the day they said, "pastor, can you come back tomorrow, and teach some more?"
"Sure, like tomorrow evening?"
"No, no"
"So like an early morning thing?"
"No, all day please"
"Well, what does all day mean exactly?"
They said, "about 12 hours."
"uhh..ohhhh.oh, ok. Anything particular?"
"Just the Bible"
"Oh, Ok"

So David decided to talk on Nehemiah. He was giving them the history behind the book; things he had learned from his schooling, and other Old Testament books.
And the men said, "We've never heard all of this background information before. Can you teach us like this for the entire old testament?"
"Uhhhhh......well that would take a long time....."
"Please! We really want to know the Old Testament."
So for 12 hours a day, for the next week and a half, they went from Genesis to Malachi. Imagine spending 12 hours a day in the word, and loving it! I wish I were at that point in my faith.

Well he had one day with them after he finished Malachi, and David said he went in and was just teaching on something, and one of the guys stopped him and said, "pastor, we have a problem. You have taught us the Old Testament, but you have not taught us the New Testament."
"Seriously!??"
"Yes pastor, the New Testament today please."
"Ohhhh.... ok" So for the next 11 hours they walked from Matthew to Revelation.
These people love the word of God. It is worth giving their lives just to know it. Imagine going to a late night worship service. You put on dark pants and a hood, and everyone is asleep except for the Christians, because they know it is the only time they will have the chance to meet in safety. And you follow another believer down a small path and into an underground room with 60 people stacked inside. There is 1 light bulb, and you worship for hours. No piano, no guitar, no robes, no nothing."
We hear stories like this and we think: how can we help them? What can we send them? They have nothing. Well don't stress, the Holy Spirit is doing just fine in their country. Without all the things we fill our churches with. Because Jesus IS enough for them.

You see our problem is that we are at the root of our Joy. The things that make us happy are strictly about us. What do I mean by the root of our joy? I mean What really causes you to be happy. What gives you joy? Here's an example: Making an A on a test. It makes us happy. Why? Because it means we will pass the class. Well why does passing the class make you happy? Well, because it is a psychology class, and you want to get your degree in psychology, and become a psychologist. Ok, why do you want to be a psychologist? Because I want to help people. That makes me happy. Ok, great. Why does helping people bring you joy? Now we are getting to the root. There may be a few answers to this question, but here are a couple of choices:
-I feel a sense of satisfaction knowing I helped someone through a problem or a tough time, and it makes me proud of myself. So that makes me happy.
- God has called me to reach the need and struggling in the world, and I can bring Him glory by helping people.

One answer puts yourself at the bottom of your joy. One answer puts God at the bottom of your Joy. What are you rooted in? Are you rooted in your desires? Or are you rooted in the desires of the almighty God who created the Universe and wants to lift is all up. If you are putting yourself at the root of your joy, then you are not at the right place with God.
What is God calling you to do? Are you letting your desires get in the way?

Here's the deal. There are 6.8 Billion people in the world. Even the most liberal estimate would put the world at about 1/3 Christian. And that is people who claim to be Christian. In many contexts that is just a social or political thing. But even if we assume that all of these people were actually followers of Christ, then that still leaves over 4 and a half billion people who, at this moment, are without Christ, and on a road that leads to an eternal hell.
4 and a half billion. let that sink in.
If this is true in the world we live in, then WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO PLAY GAMES IN THE CHURCH! We don't have time to waste our live putting our Christian spin on the American dream. We have a Master who calls for sacrifice, and a Maker who guarantees a radical reward.

I want to give you a small portrait of Jesus from the book of Luke. I hope you will see that He is worth your life. Starting in Luke Chapter nine, verse 57. As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head."
Jesus said to another man "Follow Me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You Go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another man said "I will follow you, but first let me go and say goodbye to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow, and then looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Now this is a weird passage. It's almost as if Jesus is trying to talk these guys out of following Him. But it makes this passage so interesting. It is so contrary to the way we work today. We will do anything and everything we can to draw the crowds.
Jesus on the other hand, when the crowds started getting big, He'd say something like In John 6: "Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you." THAT"S WEIRD! You can imagine the looks on the faces of the disciples. "Jesus, we're never going to get on the list of the fastest growing movements if you keep telling people to EAT YOU." And as you can imagine, the crowds would leave.
In Luke 14:5, Large crowds were following Jesus, and He said to them, "If anyone will follow me, he must hate his father and mother, brother and sister." How's that for an opening line? Imagine following a religious teacher in the first century, and He tells you, "if you want to follow Me, hate your family."
It get's better. Next statement of Jesus: "If you are going to follow Me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me." Now first century people hear cross, and they think shameful, humiliating, painful, instrument of pure torture. Imagine following a teacher today, and he tells you to "take up your electric chair, and follow me." It's creepy. If that's not enough, in the end of the passage in Luke 14 Jesus says: "If anyone is going to come after Me, he must give up everything he has."

Hate your mom and dad, pick up your instrument of torture, and give up everything you own.

That's a lot different than admit, believe, confess, and pray this prayer.
We come to texts like this one, and we just try to put ourselves in the shoes of first century heroes, and we think, what if Jesus had said these things to you? Some of you are thinking, this is kind of deep... It's kind of heavy...Maybe I'm not ready for this. Well this was the initial introduction to Jesus for these people. There was no easing into it. What if Jesus said to you, "you must give up everything you own?" What if Jesus had said these things to you?
Then we come face to face with this frightening reality: Jesus HAS said these things to us. He HAS told us that in order to follow Him, we must give up everything we have. He HAS told every one of us to love Him in such a way that it makes all of our other relationships look like hate in comparison. And He could tell anyone of us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.
Now we don't believe this. We take texts like these and say, "well what Jesus really meant was......" This is where we need to be really careful, because this is where we start redefining Christianity according to our preferences. We start taking the Jesus of the Bible and twisting Him into something we are a little more comfortable with. a Jesus that looks like us, Thinks like us, Talks like us. A Jesus that doesn't mind materialism. A Jesus that is ok with nominal devotion. A Jesus that wants us to avoid all dangerous situations. But here's the problem. When we make Jesus like this. When we twist Him into our nice, middle class, American Jesus, the reality is that now when we gather in our churches, and we sing songs and lift our hands, the reality is, we are not worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. We are singing to, and worshiping ourselves. And the danger is, we think we are worshiping Jesus.
You need to understand that Jesus requires much from us, because He has already given so much more for us. When Jesus had these conversations, He was already on His way to the cross. He knew His destination, and He was choosing to go. Jesus CHOSE the cross for you. We are not ultimately saved from our sins because of what a bunch of Roman soldiers decided to do to Jesus. No. We are saved from our Sins, because Jesus Chose to lay down His life as a perfect sacrifice for us.
Think about it. Jesus was in the garden in Jerusalem sweating blood. Why? Is it because He was afraid of what some Roman Soldiers were going to do to Him? No. Jesus knew that He was about to be separated form God. The most painful thing possible for Him. Jesus CHOSE to endure divine wrath. A wrath that you and I deserved and Jesus did not. Jesus is sweating blood, because He is about to go to the cross and endure the full wrath of God for all sin from Adam and Ever, up til us today, and those sins still to come in the future. It's as if you and I were standing in front of a dam that is a thousand miles high, and a thousand miles wide. And then suddenly that dam was let loose, and all that water was coming crashing down on us. But then right before that tidal wave of God's wrath crushes us, the ground opens up and swallows every last drop right in front of us. So at the cross, Jesus took the full cup of the wrath of God that we deserved, drank every drop, and cried out, "It Is Finished!" That is what Jesus has done for you.
Jesus says, "I am not a means to an end. I am the end." This is so dangerous in our culture. This hits right at the core of how the gospel is so often sold in our day.
- Come to Jesus to get life
- Come to Jesus to get Happiness
- Come to Jesus to get Stuff
It's the rampant prosperity gospel, and it is no gospel at all.
- Come to Jesus to get health
- Come to Jesus to get Wealth
- Come to Jesus to get fulfilled
- Come to Jesus to get this or that... NO!
You come to Jesus to get JESUS!
He's the one we want. And He's the one we need. Instead we want to come to Jesus so we can have all of this stuff in this world. So we can fill our lives with the same pleasures as everyone else around us. The same things they are chasing. And then we tack Jesus on on Sundays.

This is NOT Biblical Christianity.

Jesus IS enough for us! But if you look at our lives, it doesn't look like Jesus is enough for us. We fill our lives with so much other stuff. And our churches... It takes so much to entertain us. It takes so much to get us to celebrate Jesus.

Jesus IS enough for you Will you allow Him to get back to the root of your life? Or will you keep chasing the American dream?

Go Fish

2010-04-11T20:33:00.002-05:00

Go Fish

When Jesus invited the first 4 guys to follow Him, He made His agenda clear up front. He said "I want you to follow me, and when you follow Me, I am going to turn you into something you are not already." Now we would expect Jesus to say something like: "Follow Me and I am going to make you more disciplined." That's what I would want anyway...
Or maybe some thing like: "Follow Me and I will make you more spiritual." After all, He is th.e Spiritual Leader, right?
Or "Follow Me, and I am going to make you smarter, because I know everything and you don't." (Not that that really sounds like God, but hey, why not?
"Follow Me and I'll make you a better Husband"
"Follow Me and I'll make you a better wife"
"I'll make you Richer."
"I'll make you more organized."
All Kinds of things that we think God would want to make us, And when He calls these first four guys to follow Him, He right up front says this:
"I want you to follow Me, and when you follow Me, I'm going to make you..." And What He said must have scared them to death. Or maybe more than scared them, it probably confused them. Because after all, this was not what they were interested in, and yet, they followed Him anyway. Essentially what we are going to discover, is that Jesus' agenda for them is His agenda for us. And Like those first four guys, it is a little confusing, a little intimidating. But here's the deal, for those of us who consider ourselves followers, Jesus would say to you, just like He said to these four guys: "I want you to follow Me, and when you follow Me, I am going to make you something..."
Now I would opt that He would make me more Disciplined, or richer, or healthier, or a better leader, or more organized. Maybe you would say a better father, a better mother, a better spouse, a better boss, more loving. There are a lot of things we would want Jesus to make us. And He says "ehh... that's fine. But Phill if you really want to follow Me, I'm going to make you into something else."

Our Story comes from Mark chapter 1, starting in verse 14. This is the account of when Jesus first called these first four guys.
Verse 14: 14After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Now the People of heard this and they started to get excited. "The Kingdom of God is Near!" They were expecting a big military leader to come and stamp out Rome, and restore the Jewish People to their rightful place in the world. But as we know, God had other plans, plans Higher plans than this world. But nevertheless some of the Jews got excited. Jesus Says "Repent and believe the good news." Meaning, Get your heart in order! Pay attention to God! He is about to do something incredible, and if your heart is in the wrong place, you might miss it. So get your heart right, and when God does something great, you won't sleep through it.
Have you ever paid attention when they come on the news and say tonight at such and such time there is going to be a meteor shower? Are you like me and you always want to see it? And are you also like me, where either the bed is really comfortable, or you just forget all about it? Everytime I plan to get up and see it... I have never seen a Meteor Shower. They come and go, and I always miss them. But you know, the Meteor Shower came and went , and the fact that there were people out there in the cold to watch it didn't make it happen. But the people out there saw it and enjoyed it, and the rest of us slept, missed it, and only hear stories.
Jesus is saying God is about to do something, and you need to get your heart right, or you are going to miss it.
Do you know what kind of people find Shark's teeth on the beach? The people that look for them. You don't generally find a shark's tooth unless you look for it. I have a cousin, and we used to travel with each other's families as kids, and she always found sand dollars, and cool seashells, and shark's teeth, because she loved that and always went looking. Looking for them doesn't put them there, but you don't see them unless you look. This was the message Jesus was trying to get across. Pay Attention!
Now these for guys caught this message. First, we get Peter and Andrew in verse 16.
16As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you more spiritual, I will make you more Disciplined, I will make you a better person, I will make you honest, I will make you Holy." No! He says I want you to follow Me, and I know this makes no sense, and I know you have no interest in this right now, but I am going to make you something that you aren't. I am going to make you a "fisher of men." Luke tells this same story, and in He quotes Jesus as saying "from now on, you are going to catch men." And Peter and Andrew must have thought: WHAT??!!?! Like scale them? And put them on ice? And sell them for $6 a pound? What is that about? But look at what happens in verse 18:
18At once they left their nets and followed him. Now understand this, they were working with their Father. And He is probably close to retirement, and thinking my two sons will carry on the business... And they say "See ya dad, going with the preacher! We've known Him for 5 minutes, and we're leaving you and the family business and following Jesus."
Doesn't seem realistic does it? Let's read on. Verse 19: 19When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
They Left their father in the boat with the hired men and followed. WHY? I don't think they had a clue what Jesus meant by "Fisher's of Men." They may not have even heard Him, Yet they followed. Why? This is where Mark telling us the short abridged version hurts us. In Luke's version of this story, we see that this happens after Jesus sent these guys out in the middle of the day to fish (when you usually fish in the early morning or night), and filled their nets to the point they were almost breaking. That is why they Followed Him. I'm sure their Father Zebedee was Screaming "Follow Him!!! Can you believe this! Go!"

The Amazing thing is, a few chapters later, and by the end of the New Testament, Peter, Andrew, James, and John had become just that. Fishers of Men. They had become men who took Jesus message and begun to share it in their own sphere's of influence, which were very different; through their own personalities, which were very different. God used these four men to relay that message to a completely different generation of people. A generation that understood that it wasn't enough to follow. To follow is to fish. And they shared it with other people who understood, that to follow is to fish. And they shared it with another group of people who understood, that to follow is to fish. And so on... And here we are, halfway around the world, celebrating and worshiping a Jewish Carpenter who walked the earth over 2000 years ago. Not because people followed Jesus, but because a group of people understood that to follow is to fish. Followers Fish.
Now when these guys started, they were awful at it. I mean there was this time when all these children were around Jesus, and they shewed them all away. And Jesus is going "Oh Brother... THAT WAS MY ILLUSTRATION!!! Yeah, I was going to demonstrate what faith looks like, and you just ran off all the children."

"Oh! Sorry... OK Bring the Children back in!! Jesus wants the Children back!!"

Then there is the time they start arguing amongst themselves about who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. Right in front of Jesus they do this. Like a couple of ants in front of an elephant arguing about who is bigger. REALLY!!??
Oh and this one- one time they go and try to cast out a demon and the demon won't budge. They go back to Jesus, and Jesus asks "Did you pray?"

"Well....no"

"You have to pray!"

"Oh yeah! Pray!"

So they struggled. But by the end of the story, these four guys, and a tax collector, and a doctor, and some prostitutes, and a bunch of people from all walks of life begin to get it. They became, not just followers of Jesus, they became fishers. Because when Jesus called you to follow Him it wasn't just to help you. His goal is for you to do in the lives of others what someone did in your life. If you are like me, you probably became a Christian for purely selfish reasons. I mean I was in high school, and I realized that when people die they either go to heaven or to hell. And heaven is good and hell is bad. And if you become a Christian, you go to heaven, not hell. That didn't take a whole lot of thought did it? Sign me up!! My reasons were selfish. Yours were too, right? Maybe you needed help in your marriage, or your finances were falling apart, or you had an addiction. Something was going on in your life. Or maybe things were going great, and you just felt an empty void, and you needed something. So you became a Christian, because you needed God to mend or fix something for you. And once you were on board, you realized "Hey God! I need you to fix some other things."
So when we pray, for the most part, isn't it: "Give me, Give me, Give me. Bless me, Bless me, Bless me. And Protect me, Protect me, Protect me! And get me a job, now get me a better job, and now even a better job. Or Fix my marriage, or find me a marriage, or get rid of this boyfriend! Help me! Help me!"
And God is so patient, and He interacts with us on a daily basis and answers those prayers. Then we show up on Sunday morning, or whenever you show up to worship, and we praise God for how big and faithful He is. But the early church knew there was more to it than just selfishness. They knew it was their job to tell others about what they had seen and knew to be true. If they didn't tell people, how would they ever find out?
Now most of us can get this pretty easily, or maybe you already have it. But isn't it interesting that in spite of the fact that we are grateful that somebody caught us, and we know that we have to share for people to hear, we still shrink back from our responsibility to be fishers. So, why do we do it? Why do we shrink back? It boils down to one word. We are simply _____. What? What is the word that came to your mind?
AFRAID. We are simply afraid.
-What if they ask a hard question?
-What if I sound stupid?
-What if it gets awkward?
-What if it gets uncomfortable?
-What if they walk away?
-What if it ends our relationship?

But because of our fear, we shrink back. And before we know it, we are on the sidelines. And then we just have guilt, because we aren't doing it. The primary players in the New Testament were all a bunch of cowards at one time. Look at Peter: A little girl came up to him and said "Don't you follow Jesus?" And He cursed at her, and said "Never Heard of him!" When Jesus was arrested, did his best friends stand by Him? No, they disappeared into the shadows, Scared to Death! Afraid to even be associated with Him. But in the book of acts (a book about what Jesus' followers did after his Resurrection), these same cowards became courageous witnesses to what they had seen and heard.

Let's look at one more story. Acts 4:23-29
This is after Jesus died, and rose, and went to be with God. Now Peter and John have gone to the temple to Pray. On their way in they see a man who has never walked before. Peter says "rise up and walk." The man does, and then he leaps, and then he jumps! He's excited, and he runs into the temple screaming "I'm healed!!" He gathers a crowd, and he points to Peter as the guy that did it, and Peter preaches a mini sermon about Jesus. Well, the people in charge of the temple weren't happy. Talk about God, Religion, the Law...But NOT about Jesus. That bothers me! So the temple guards arrest Peter and John and throw them in Jail. The next day they bring them out and say "Look, you have to stop talking about Jesus." So of course, Peter preaches another sermon :). "We have to talk about what we have seen. For there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved." In other words, God has done something, and if we don't talk, nobody is going to know! Is this the same guy that was scared of the little girl? Amazing what God can do!
So the leaders have a meeting and say, "Look, this is your last warning! Don't talk about Jesus ANYMORE!" And they sent them home. This is where we pick up the story in Acts 4:23
23On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So they went back to the people who had been praying all night for their safety. Because honestly, these people probably thought they were dead ducks. After all, these leaders had enough leverage with Rome to get Jesus crucified, taking care of His followers should be no problem, right?
Verse 24: 24When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. OK, timeout for just a second here. If you were one of these followers back at the house, and these two influential Christians (who have not written their books yet) were just spared... What would you pray? Mine would be something like this "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day (because we always say that) Thank you for saving them. And now down to the serious stuff: Help Me! Help Me! Help Me! Protect Me! protect ME! Protect ME! Bless Me! Bless Me! Bless ME! And protect my family and those who I care about..." Sort of like the prayers we pray anyway, right? Why would I pray like this? Because I would be scared to death that they were coming after me!
But Suddenly these people have an Aha moment. And I don't know why, but if it would happen in my heart and in our churches today it would be revolutionary. It dawns on these people what's going on, and they begin to connect the dots. Suddenly they remember what they were taught about the Messiah. And they suddenly realize that they are in the middle of something incredibly significant. And not only are they in the middle of it, they are PLAYERS! God has decided to involve them in something He has been up to for all of time. And when they pray, it's not what we pray, "help me, bless me, protect me." No, when they pray, their eyes are opened, and they have the big picture, and they pray an incredible prayer. They don't start with "father, thank you for this day." No, Here's how they start: "SOVEREIGN LORD!" In other words, God who is Large and in charge. God even though it looked bleak, we realize that you never lost control. "You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. How is that for Context? 25You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
" 'Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One. It is a psalm they had memorized as kids, and all of a sudden, they realize that they are living it out right now! We've seen this fulfilled! verse 27: 27Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people[e] of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.28They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. But now get this, they almost missed it. Why do I say that? Because they are like us. And when Jesus was arrested, their prayers were "Save Him! Help Him! Protect Him!" And He was crucified and He died... And we thought "OH NO! God has lost control!!" Then He was raised from the dead, and we couldn't believe it! Now We Get it! THIS was Your plan all along! You are the Sovereign God who is active in our midst!
How badly do you think the disciples wanted to go back and redo the crucifixion days? The ones where they ran and hid, and missed the greatest work God ever did. If only we could have seen what God was doing then! Now that they've had this realization, they get to their request... and they don't know what to ask. Because everything they have prayed until now has been against God's will, and now, they don't know how to pray. They are thinking, our lives are at risk, and they could come arrest us at any moment. A major problem! But, what if our arrest is part of God's design? We don't know how to pray! We don't know what to ask for!
So they go on. Verse 29: 29Now, Lord, consider their threats, Not, do away with out enemies. Who knows, you may be using them. Not, Don't let us be arrested, because maybe God wants us to be arrested. So what do they say about the people that could arrest them and take their lives? They say "God, at least consider those things." We don't know what to ask for. We just want You to know what we are stressing about. Deal with it according to Your will. You obviously know better than us. And then their final request, and I want to challenge you to add this to your prayers. Because if we do it wholeheartedly, it will change the face of the church. Their last request: and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
I've begun asking for it, because it is something I need. Because I realize that God wants me to be a player, and not just sit on the sidelines. Do you want to know what Boldness is? This isn't Boldness, I'm just writing thoughts down, for someone who might choose to read them. Boldness isn't your preacher on Sunday morning. He's standing up there and you are all staring at him. What do you expect? He has to talk!. Boldness isn't the guys downtown in your city with the banner whose yelling at women about what they wear, and proclaiming that Jesus is coming. (That's something else entirely, and maybe I'll get to it another day).
Do you know what boldness really is? Boldness is the soft spoken woman in the company who decides she's going to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays. Boldness is getting in a car and driving three hours to go see your grandmother to tell her about Jesus, so that you know when you get to heaven your grandmother will be there, too. Boldness is the 35 year old guy who knows that his dad refuses to talk about Religion and God, but he decides, I'm doing it anyway, because I want my father to understand that there is a God who loves Him. Boldness is buying someone else's meal and saying "I wanted to show you Jesus' Love in a practical way." Boldness is speaking up when an opportunity comes along. Boldness is about men and women perfectly positioned by God to reach the people around them.
Their volume wasn't what made the early church scary and effective. No. It was because they had so much at stake. They could lose their jobs, their place in society, even their lives, yet they still spoke about Jesus whenever they could. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!? Because they suddenly realized that a Sovereign God was giving them the chance to be a part of the most important activity in the universe.

Ok Finishing up. I'm giving you homework :). Ha! who would have thought that by reading a blog you would get homework. For those of you in school still, I'm extra sorry, but I want you to take this seriously. It's a really simple thing, and it's very non threatening. I want you this week to just walk up to ten people and say "I love you, and God loves you."

I'm just kidding. Sorry, just wanted to scare you a bit. No but seriously, I do have something I want you to do. It will take you about 10 minutes. The point is to remind you of two things 1. That you were once a fish yourself. 2. To remind you of the gratitude that you had for the person that led you into a relationship with Christ.
I want you, sometime this week, to sit down and write a letter to the person who introduced you to Christ. You don't have to mail the letter. In fact for some of you, that will be impossible, because that person is no longer living. I just want you to remember that if it wasn't for this person, you might still be a fish. And if that were true where would you be today?

You are perfectly positioned by God to be that influential person in someone's life. Figure out who that is. Maybe one day, they will be writing a letter to you.

Defining moments: Week 2- Distortions

2009-11-11T00:22:00.002-05:00

Week 2- Distortions

Last week we were introduced to the idea of defining moments. If you remember, we said a defining moment happens when a truth, either a new truth, or a forgotten or pushed aside truth, comes front and center in your life, and changes things. It changes the way you think or feel about something. Maybe it changes the way you act, or your outlook on life. Everyone has had defining moments. Here are some ideas if you are struggling with this.
- Divorce. Anyone who is a child of divorce, or anyone who has ever been through a divorce can easily say that it is life changing. A very prominent person in your life is no longer there in the same way. The truth that you and your spouse, or that your parents, either could not live together, or that they placed a higher importance on something other than their marriage comes front and center, and the life you know is about to change. It will be a defining moment for the rest of your life.
- Have you ever lost a close friend, or a loved one? Anyone who has lost someone they cared about, someone who was a big part of their daily lives, is going to feel great sorrow when they are gone. It changes the way we operate on a daily basis. This is a defining moment, because the life you knew before has changed, and it is never going to be like it used to be.
Think of a time where something happened in your life that changed your thinking or your approach to life.
What was it?

Today, we are going to talk about distortions.
A distortion is something that makes the truth unclear. It is something that comes along and blurs the picture, or makes it fuzzy, so that you can't see it clearly. People do things all the time because their view of life, or of God is distorted. Distortions can severely mess up your life.
- Look at Money driven people. Our world is full of them. All around you you can see people who base their entire life, and their entire self worth on making money. It is the single thing that drives them. Making money is the only way they know how to measure success. Maybe you are one of them. Is money really what you want to base your entire life on?
- Our world is also full of pleasure seeking people. People just out for themselves, just trying to get to their next fix. For some people that pleasure is a gambling addiction. For some it is drugs or alcohol. For some people it is a sexual pleasure. For some it is belittling others to make themselves feel superior. For all of them, however, it is putting a higher importance on self gratification than anything else in life. It is the "I want it all, and I want it now!" mentality. Not a healthy way to live life.
- How about the arena of terrorism? Distortions drive terrorists. If you press them to find out the truth behind why they did the things they did, in every case they say "Because I believe that God- blah blah blah" It all comes back to what they believe about God. "I believe that God hates these things, so God sanctions this, and God wants me to go kill all of the infidels that are breaking his laws." It is all about God.

Right now there is a woman in Africa awaiting trial, and she could be put to death. Do you know why? Because she had a baby out of wedlock. The sentence for this in her tribe is death. Why? We think: "How can they be so harsh?" Well, they would say that she has broken God's law, and God demands that she dies. And I know you are sitting there thinking, "That's not my God!" But hey, maybe it is. There is only one God. The problem is that so many people have a distorted image of that one God, and that distorted image is what dictates their actions. Their messed up picture of God determines what they do. They are doing things based on a blurry picture, a distorted truth. When you can't see the picture clearly, you almost always come to the wrong conclusion, and we as people do this every day. now I know you guys are not out blowing up buildings, but sometimes we are guilty of following distortions, as well. But everywhere there is a distortion about God, there is some kind of consequence. So every once in a while, in God's grace and in God's mercy, He brings truth front and center. And just like we talked about last week, if you will stand in the light of those truths for a while, and not retreat back into the darkness where is is comfortable, your eyes will adjust, and there is potential for God to change your life.

Remember Jesus walked into this kind of a world. A world where there was massive confusion about God. And Jesus shows up, and says: "I have come to explain God." Jesus spent His entire life performing miraculous signs, and helping people, and answering their questions before they asked, and telling them things about themselves that only they themselves knew. But He didn't do it to glorify himself. No, Jesus said "I have come from the Father, to explain the Father to you, because He doesn't want to remain a mystery." God wants the confusion to go away. He wants you to know Him for who He is, and not who you have imagined He is, not who you have made Him up to be, not who you have been told He is. Over and over Jesus encountered people, and taught truth about God, and lives were changed for ever.

Today we are going to talk about a man that was confronted with an uncomfortable truth. He gets blinded by a truth that made him want to scramble back into the darkness of what he had always known and believed. This truth did not sit well with him at all, and it may not sit well with some of you either. Are you ready for the truth that was so hard to grasp, so hard to handle, so hard to accept? Here it is:
"Good people don't go to heaven.
Good people don't have the promise of eternal life.
Good people will never necessarily enter the Father's Kingdom."

What? How does that make sense? Let's look at a story about Nicodemus.

John 3: 1-17
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. Let me stop here for just a second. Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council. This is a group of Jews that represented the people of Israel to Rome, and also, Rome to the people of Israel. they were the Liaison between the two. Rome ruled over Israel, and they had set up a governor who ruled and taxed the people. Rome used the Jewish leaders to communicate to the common people in Palestine. So Nicodemus has a really important job. his Job is to keep the people happy with Rome, and to keep Rome happy with the people. As long as he and his buddies did a good job, Rome paid them very well. as long as the people were calm, and everyone was paying their taxes, everyone was happy. The Roman Governors paid the Jewish leaders well to keep the peace and make their job easy. So here is Nicodemus, rich, important, knows the scriptures, trusted by the people as a Jewish Leader. This is the guy that is coming to see Jesus. The last thing he wants is a new religious leader causing an uprising and getting Rome's attention. Let's read on.

2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]"

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You[c] must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e]
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

First off, notice that Nicodemus called Jesus "Rabbi." Rabbi in it simplest terms means a respected Jewish teacher. Calling Jesus Rabbi shows what Nicodemus thought about Him. Unlike most of the other Jewish leaders, Nicodemus respected Jesus as a teacher, and even said "we know you have come from God as a teacher." Don't overlook that. It means a lot that Nicodemus has been watching Jesus, and respects Him. But, even though he doesn't hate Jesus, he is still like the average person today. Ask most people today who Jesus is, and you will get an answer like this: "I think he was sent by God, and was a pretty good guy, and taught some good things...." Nicodemus, just like most people today, does not say that Jesus is God, or the Messiah, or the Savior, or anything like that. He didn't believe that.

Nicodemus was coming to Jesus to get some questions answered. He sees Jesus as a teacher sent by God who can give them some insight into God's plan. The Jewish leaders want to know when God is sending the Messiah to get rid of the Romans and return Israel to their rightful place as the dominant power in the world. So Nicodemus shows up, and he is trying to get insight into God's plan. Now here's the thing with Jesus. Jesus always knew what everyone was going to ask even before they asked it. That's disturbing! Over and over, the Bible says "Jesus knew the hearts of men, or Jesus started telling a parable or a story, or Jesus would start teaching about their problem before they even asked a question." That's Disturbing to anyone! And even though they didn't agree with what Jesus had to say, they're thinking "How did He know? That's unbelievable!" Look back at the story, did Nicodemus ask a question before Jesus started talking? No, he was busy buttering up Jesus (or at least he thought he was) telling Him He was great, and from God... So Jesus just interrupts and says "Let me just cut to the heart of why you are here." He says "I tell you the truth." Put on your sunglasses Nicodemus. It's about to get bright. "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

Nicodemus responds, and I think he laughed. I don't think he was at all serious. He's thinking, there He goes. I've heard He does this. He's talking about what I came to talk about before I even talked about it. He says, "How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he can not re-enter in to his mother's womb and be born a second time, HAHAHA!. WAIT! Can He?!! I mean, that's not what you are saying is it?"

Jesus says again, "No one enters the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and of spirit. If you are born of flesh, you are flesh. If you are born of spirit, you are spirit." This was offensive to Nicodemus. He was Jewish, and like the other Jewish people, he believed that if you were related to Abraham, you were in. And Jesus says, "that's not enough. you have to be born a 2nd time; be born from above. Unless you are, even you Nicodemus, a leader of God's people, will never see God's kingdom." Wow! Imagine getting blinded with that truth. But instead of retreating back into the darkness, Nicodemus pauses, and he realizes that there is a chance that he could have actually been wrong. What is his response? He asks (and I think he was a little panicked) "How can this be?" He's thinking: I'm not arguing, I just can't make it work in my head.

You see, Nicodemus believed like our world believes. He thought there was this cosmic scale that measures all of the good things we do against all of the bad thing we do, and as long as the good outweighs the bad, and you have more boxes in the green than you do in the red, that you are fine. You pass. You get in. Our entire world lives this way. The problem with this line of thinking is that people are trying to earn their way into heaven, but it doesn't work that way. God doesn't look at a scale when we die. Our good and bad deeds are not the basis of how we get into heaven. Nicodemus always thought "well there is a good God and a good heaven, and good people get in, and if I am a descendant of Abraham, then that like triples the weight of the good side!"

But eventually Nicodemus began to understand. He realized That Jesus wasn't trying to give him advice on what Nicodemus thought he already understood. No, Jesus was teaching him something entirely new and different. It's not "how to be good enough," it is "how to receive brand new life with meaning and purpose." That new life comes through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Only by believing in Him can we find that new eternal life. The days of the scale are over. in fact, the scale never really worked to begin with. Honestly, if you think about the scale system long enough you will shoot so many holes in it. You'll walk away saying "I don't know if I believe in Jesus, but that scale thing doesn't even make any sense!" You will soon realize that if the scale thing is true, then somebody made it up. where are they? If it's true, where is the God who set it up? And where is the list of things that we should do to get to heaven? And if this is the system, you'll realize that the person who made it up wasn't even nice enough to give you the list of do's and don'ts.

They never explained:
- What good outweighs what bad.
- How much you have to do
- When the time runs out
- Is there a curve you are graded on?
- Is Mother Theresa good? No? Than I am in serious trouble!

Where is the standard? You can't use the Bible or the ten commandments, because this system isn't even based on that! We have to get back to the simple message of Jesus. "Not that good people go to heaven," but simply, " forgiven people go to heaven." And forgiveness is only found through the person of Jesus Christ.

Defining moments: Week 1- Opening Your Eyes

2009-09-22T20:40:00.003-05:00

Defining moments

Over the next few weeks (maybe months depending on how inspired I get) I am going to be developing a lesson series called defining moments for my youth kids. Hopefully I will have the time to get them typed and uploaded each week. That is the plan anyway. My intent is to change the format so that they are more in a sermon style, than a lesson style, so if it feels like I am jumping quickly sometimes, be patient.

Week 1: Opening your eyes

If asked, We could all come up with something that we know to be 100% true. Probably several things if we sat and thought about it for a while. Examples would be things like Gravity (if I let go of this pen in my hand it will fall), or that if I smack someone for no reason, they will undoubtedly be upset with me. I am sure you could come up with a list of things that are 100% true, but I bet after you were finished, there would be nothing on your list that upset you. Why? Because we like to ignore the truths that upset us, make our lives difficult, or generally conflict with our way of life. For example, The fact that God despises the sin that you committed last night, probably did not make your list.

In this new series called defining moments we are going to be looking at some of these difficult truths to find out what we can learn from them. First let's tackle this: What is a defining moment? A defining moment is a moment in our lives when we come face to face with a truth that we, either never knew, or a truth that we have kind of purposely forgotten.
And suddenly when we are faced with this truth, our lives are transformed forever.
-Our view of relationships
-Our view of our friends
- Our view of God
- Our view of Life
- Our view of "Whatever" is changed forever

Sometimes it is a truth we have never heard before, and it instantly hits home with us. Sometimes it is a truth we were raised with, or have known for a while, And it had become an "inconvenient truth." An inconvenient truth is something that interferes with our lifestyle, or our goals and dreams. It is something that is true about our life, but we don't want to admit it. We know it is true, we just don't want to bring it front and center, because it gets in the way of the direction we selfishly want to go.

I want to tell you a story about a man named Charles. Charles is a farmer outside of Atlanta, GA. He was out on his tractor pulling a bush hog. If you don't know, a bush hog is basically an industrial sized lawn mower. It is an extension on the back of a tractor with huge blades meant to clear out a property so seeds can be replanted. Well Charles is Bush hogging his property, and he hit a bees nest. so he jumped off his tractor in a panic and left it in gear. He walked along beside it for a while until all of the bees left, and went to jump back on. He grabbed the steering wheel and went to put his foot on the step, but he missed the step and slid underneath the tractor. The last thing he said he remembered were the huge tires rolling over his legs, and they were followed by the sled with all of the blades on it. Charles knew men who had dies bush hogging properties, because, as we can plainly see, it can be very dangerous. He passed out because of the pain and the weight.
He awoke just a few seconds later, and was looking up at the sky. He said he couldn't feel his legs, and as he looked to his left he saw the bush hog disappear into a ditch and stall out. Then, almost afraid to look, he sat up, and his legs were untouched. He whispered a prayer of thanksgiving and stood up. Then he fell to his knees again, and had a worship service in the middle of his field. He stood up, took a few steps, and fell to his knees again. he got to the gravel driveway in front of his home, and he dropped to his knees and had another worship service, and thanked his Heavenly Father for a new gift of life, and a new opportunity. He went inside, and called all four of his kids and told them how much he love them. And if you were to talk to Charlie today, he would look you in the eye and tell you "I have no problems." It was a defining moment for him. The truth that life can be short, and we are not invincible was brought front and center in his life. And from this moment on, his life would never be the same.

The problem for most of us, is that there are some truths that we just really don't want to know. Mostly, because they bother us. Honestly, those of you who are in a relationship; you don't really want to know every little flaw about that person do you? "No! Don't Tell Me! LaLaLaLaLa! Leave me with the illusion that they are perfect." You have decided that this relationship is God's will for your life, and that is all that matters. The rest: "I don't want to know! I don't want to listen!" Because hearing that may mes sup my dream and my plan. so we push the truth to the side. But wouldn't it be a good idea to have all of the facts before you decide to spend the rest of your life with this person?

Or how about this parents? Do you really want to know all the little things your child is doing? No. Because that might mess up the good clean image you have of them. you might have to find out that they are not actually perfect. The truth may be hard to handle, but are you really better off not knowing it? Absolutely not. You may feel better about it, but in all truth all you are really doing is hurting your child, because you are ignoring the problems in tehir life.

We are afraid to mess up the illusion that things are wonderful. Somewhere deep down we think that maybe if we ignore the truth long enough, it won't be the truth anymore. Maybe if I focus on my reality, it will actually become reality. But you know as well as I do, that that kind of approach to dating, that kind of approach to family, that kind of approach to school, that kind of approach to work, that kind of approach to any area of your life never leads anywhere good.

there are couples that get married, and a week later, or a month, or a year later, they realize that things aren't what they thought they were. The truth is, they saw the warning signs long before the wedding, but they ignored them, because they didn't line up with "their reality." That is, the false reality they were trying so hard to create for themselves.

Here the main theme for the next few weeks. It is never productive to ignore the truth.

- Ignoring the truth about your grades leads to disaster

- Ignoring the truth about your friends leads to disaster

- Ignoring the truth about who you are dating leads to disaster

- Ignoring the truth about your finances leads to disaster

- Ignoring the truth about your kids and loved ones leads to disaster

In the same way, turning a blind eye to what is true about your Heavenly Father, never leads to a safe and good place.

One thing we have in common, you and me, even though I'm the youth pastor and I'm like a professional Christian. I still mess up; and a lot more than I want to admit. If you knew how much, you'd probably question why they let me teach kids. another thing we have in common is that, like you, I have this picture of what I want God to be. And when I run into verses that dispute that and paint a different picture of God, it bothers me. You are the same way, too. even though you may not realize it yet. I've noticed this; when people come up to me and say "I just don't believe that what you said is true about God..." when you look closely, their conclusions don't come from researching the Bible. The problem is that it makes them uncomfortable. It is more along the lines of: "I refuse to believe it is true, because it wrecks my perfect world, and how I justify the things I do."

Here is my "God according to Phill" list

1. God won't let anything bad happen to me or my family, becaus physical protection is God's #1 concern.

2. God will never let anything bad happen to me, because I work at a church, and I serve Him.

3. Here's one, He is intensely interested in the outcome of high school soccer matches. I mean I know we have a war going on in Iraq right now, but you send someone else to deal with that, becausemy players are on the field. And they've worked incredibly hard, and really need this win today to build on their season. Oh! And I need you to ignore all of the prayers from parents of the other team.

4. How about this one: my sins aren't much of a concern to God, because He has bigger concerns in the world. That is; my sins, my habbits, my issues, God says "That's OK phill, there's bigger fish to fry." And I say "Yeah I'm with you on that God." I mean I'm a little inconsistent, but my sins don't really hurt anybody else, so god Just says "Let's move on." He's not too worried about my sins. I mean, you don't think he's too worried about yours either, do you? That's why you keep doing them, right?

5. My last one has to do with Hell.

Hell- well nobody really goes there anymore. at least not forever. In the end there is a giant loophole that god has created. And in the end everybody is fine except for a short list of people. You know, the couple of categories of people that I personally believe deserve to spend eternity in a lake of fire. and God Looks at my list and says "I'm with you on that."

That is what I want God to be like. And when I hear verses that contracdict that, and all of the sudden there is new truth that messes up my world, I say "No! I Don't Want To Believe That!" I'm not arguing that it isn't true. I am not trying to be rational. I am just saying that I don't like it, so I am going to try and ignore it, and maybe it will go away.

This is exactly the world that Jesus Walked into. Jesus did ministry in a world that was full of distortions. The Jewish people were stuck in their old ways, ideas and traditions. He walked into a world where:

- If you were rich, you were blessed by God and could do no wrong.

- If you were poor, clearly you were cursed by God.

- If you were sick, it is because your parents sinned and God was punishing your family.

- The Jewish leaders believed that God was a racist and was going to exclusively bless one nation, and could care less about everyone else.

- At this time God was a puzzle to figure out. You dared not call Him Father. God was so far removed that they were afraid to even mention His name.

So Jesus showed and started to teach. And People were amazed. "I've never heard that before." And they found themselves wanting to embrace iteven though it was intensely uncomfortable.

Lets look at the book of John 8: 31-41 Here Jesus is teaching in the temple.

³¹To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

³³They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants^b]">[b] and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

³⁴Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father.^c]">[c]"

³⁹"Abraham is our father," they answered.

"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would^d]">[d] do the things Abraham did. ⁴⁰As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹You are doing the things your own father does."
"We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself."

If you hold to My teachings, the truth will set you free. This is what Jesus tells them, and us. He doesn't simply say follow, Jesus says Hold. I think He used this word to show that it would not be an easy thing to do. The word hold symbolizes a tight grip, or a tough situation. Let's look at it this way- When you have been in a dark room for a long time, and you step out into the light, what happens? The light is almost blinding. Your eyes have adjusted to the darkness, and as soon as that light shines in, it is painful. If I were to ask you which is easier to see in, the light or the darkness... you would instantly say the light. But before you walked out, your eyes had adjusted, and you saw pretty well in the dark. and after you had been there for a while, it was probably pretty comfortable in the dark. and walking out would hurt my eyes, and it is painful, so I think I am just going to stay here in the dark where it is comfortable. The truth that Jesus reveals is often like a blinding light that hits us while we are in the darkness, and if we will just stay in the light, and hold to the truth, eventually our eyes will adjust and we will be able to see better.

Look at the encounter Jesus had with the jewish people in the temple. Jesus Told them that if they held to His teaching, the truth would set them free. What was their response? They Scoffed, and said "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" Did anyone besides me laugh a little when they read that? We've never been slaves to anyone? They are slaves to Rome at this exact moment! Not to mention the years they spent under Babylonian control! And surely they haven't forgotten abuot a little place called Egypt that Moses came and led them out of by parting th Red Sea. But their serious response was "We have never been slaves to anyone." Wow! Way to go on that one guys. Very convincing. You can't fault them too much, though. They are just blindly following their culture, just like we do. Their culture told them that, because they were Jewish, they were God's Chosen People. Meaning That They are free because of their Lineage, because "Abraham was their father." Another Distortion of the truth about God. What Jesus is telling them is that they are, in fact, just like everyone else, and that all people are going to be judged equally. What is their response? "Ooh! Oww! That is Bright! I can't handle the bright light, so I am just going to walk back into the darkness where I am more comfortable. Let me just stay here in what I believe. My reality is more comfortable than the actual truth, so I am just going to stick with it. I wonder how judgment went for those guys?

To see the truth, and embrace it, we have to step out into the light, even though it hurts for a minute. In the long run it makes it easier to see, and the ability to see clearly makes life go so much smoother. If you hold to the Teachings of Jesus, you eyes will adjust, and you will see things more clearly than you ever have before.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to look at Jesus' encounters with several different people. We'll see how it was a defining moment that changed their life if they were willing to step out of the darkness, and stepped into the light. We will see what we can learn from their experiences.

The Barbarian Way

2009-05-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

It's been over a year since I have sat down to do this. I really hadn't realized how lazy I've gotten. Since I preached this Sunday at church I figured I'd share with those of you were not there. So enjoy!

I've really begun to notice lately that Christianity is becoming far too domesticated and civilized. Most of our churches are more focused on comfort and satisfaction than they are focused on reaching people for Christ and creating true disciples out of them. In fact it seems that Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing his name. We've lost sight of what the call of Jesus Christ looks like. We have this picture in society today that Once we become a Believer in Christ, all of our troubles and worries are supposed to disappear. Life suddenly becomes easy and carefree. All of our debts have been paid, so why do we have to do anything at all ever again? I'm justified, right? My salvation has been bought, now I want to live the life of luxury. This is the idea of Christianity that is prevalent in most American Churches today.

When Jesus walked among us on Earth, who did He choose to represent Him? Fishermen, a tax collector, women. None of these were the top class of the Jewish society at the time. In fact, most were outcasts, and would have been incredibly unpopular in high class society. Why did He call them? Probably for a lot of reasons, but the most practical is probably that they did not have a high place in society to lose by eing controversial.

Let's go a step farther, and look at who God chose to use to prepare the way for Jesus. John The Baptist. When the grown Up John is introduced in Matthew Ch. 3, what do we learn about him? He lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and wild honey, and wore clothes made of camel hair. In case you are not a historical expert, his diet and clothing choice was not popular, not even in Jesus' day. But this was the guy chosen to proclaim Jesus to the world. He was the one baptising people in the wilderness, and he always told thme that he was baptizing with water, but someone else was coming who would baptize them with the spirit of God. John, this strange outcast in society, this weird man who ate bugs and honey, this long haired man who came out of the woods; he was the one God chose to Baptize His son Jesus. And when he did, he got to see one of the most glorious things imaginable. John saw the heaven's open, and he saw the spirit of God descend on Jesus and heard a voive saying "this is My son, with Him I am well pleased." An unforgetable experience... or was it.

A Short time later John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus with a question. What was that question? Ask him This: "Jesus, are you 'the one'? Or should we be waiting for someone else?" John had baptized Jesus and watched the spirit of God come down on Him. How could he question Him later? Because John was stuck in prison, and he heard about Jesus doing all these miraculous things, healing people, encouraging people, but doing nothing for him. Jesus was not getting him out of prison; a place John had been thrown into for doing What God had commanded him to do. What was Jesus' reply to john? "After all these good things have been done in front of you, you will be blessed if you do not fall away." Normally this response would have us scratching our heads right? I mean seeing miracles and good works done is not normally the type of thing that would make you fall away, if anything they would strengthen your faith and bring you closer to God. But John saw all these things happening, and Nothing was being done for him. So he began to question his faith, just like we do when things aren't going the way we think they should be going. Jesus' response to him mean this: "John, I'm not coming through for you this time. I am not going to get you out of prison. I am not sparing your life. Yes I have done these things for other people, but the plan I have chosen for you is different, and you will be blessed if that doesn't cause you to fall away.

Jesus knew all about John's situation, and the fate John would face. But Jesus knew that he came to save us, not from suffering and pain, but from a life of meaninglessness. John was exactly where he needed to be, fulfilling God's purpose for his life. Why on Earth would Jesus want to rescue him from that?

This is radically different from the more civilized picture of Chriatianity we get in most church circles. The tamed down version we get is this: "Jesus died and rose from the dead so that you could live a life of endless comfort, endless security, endless indulgence, and endless safety." Or maybe we like the even simpler version: "If you will simply confess that you are a sinner, and believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven when you die." Either case is ridiculous if you think about it. One waits for a life that starts after you die, and completely ignores the life you are living now (making it meaningless). The other one makes a complete mockery out of the life you are living by telling you that you'll no longer have trouble of any kind. Come on. do we really believe either one of these?

The call of Jesus is much more barbaric than this. Jesus always said "come, follow Me." He never lied about the danger or the cost that could follow. He told them up front, "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves" (Matthew 10:16)

The danger of civilized faith is that we get comfortable, and we become blind to the spiritual nature of life around us. when did we ever see Jesus call people to a pristine life in a golden Religion? When did Jesus ever say believe in me, and then act prim and proper and better than everyone else? Never. It was a barbaric call to a barbarian way. "Come, leave your boats, leave your life, leave your families, leave your jobs, follow Me."

I want to look at John 21: 14-23. I think this passage clearly shows how the call of Jesus can be for each of us. I am going to paraphrase, you can look it up on your own if you want to. This is the third time Jesus reappears to his disciples after He was resurrected. And this meeting is mostly about Peter. Peter's life is the perfect example of the Barbarian call. Even though Peter said he would lay down his life for Jesus, and then he kinda sorta, REALLY dropped the ball when Jesus was being put on trial, Jesus was going to ask a Lot from Peter. Jesus told Peter that he was the rock on which Jesus would build His church. NO PRESSURE! Right? Jesus asked Peter the same question 3 times. "Peter, do you love me?" Each time, Peter Adamantly said "Yes!" The third time he said "Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You!"
So Jesus took the conversation deeper. Here He warned Peter, "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself, and went where you wanted; but I tell you when you are old, they will stretch out your arms, and dress you, and someone else will lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to him to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Jesus had only one invitation for Peter; only one path for Him to Chose. There was only one way for Peter to truly follow Jesus, and that was for Peter to step out of his comfort zone and lead...and eventually die. Jesus Never watered down the cost of following Him in hopes that He might fool Peter into choosing to follow Him. If Peter chose to follow Jesus, it would mean that one day he would be dragged off and killed. It Would cost him his life. And just like Peter, each of us is called to a walk with Jesus that is filled with uncertainty, mystery, and risk.

So how did Peter respond? He turned to John, the disciple closest to Jesus, and made him the focus. Peter says, "Lord, What about him?" I know what Peter is doing here. He is doing the same thing that we would do, reacting the same way we would. He's thinking "If I have to die, I want to make sure everyone else has to die, too; especially those close to You. No special treatment! That's NOT FAIR! After all, if this is a barbarian call, shouldn't it turn out the same way for all of us? Won't we all have to suffer hardship and die a brutal death? But it just doesn't work that way. Some will. Some won't.
Here is how Jesus answered him, "If I want John to remain alive until I come back, what is that to you? You must follow Me." I am sure that this angered Peter at first, and if we put ourselves in his place, it probably would have angered us, as well. But Peter is not as wise as Jesus, and neither are we. There is a reason Jesus chose this path for Peter and not for John, and it has little, if anything, to do with his love or personal feelings for either of them. It simply comes down to this. There is a plan that needs to be accomplished, and the person who will be set on course for that plan will be the person who has the best gifts to accomplish it and bring God the most glory. In this case it was Peter, not John. John's gifts were suited for a different plan.
Is it fair? Probably not. At least not by our standards. but you will never be happy or content if you turn down the path god has chosen for You.

The problem with civilized Christianity is that it claims to offer this group plan that has already been negotiated with God. An of course, the plan is always the premium package of - get rich, get comfortable, get secure, get safe, get healthy, get married, get 2 and a half kids, get a house, get all you could ever want when you get God. Everybody get's the John package; nobody get's the Peter package. But a life of ease and comfort was never promised, we just set out to make it that way.

All Jesus ever said was "follow Me." the good news, though, is that when you follow Jesus, it doesn't matter how dangerous or turbulent it gets. Jesus is there with you. After all, you have been following Him, right? Our problem is that we try to do everything ourselves, and we tend to shut Jesus out and not rely on His power. But Christianity wasn't designed for us to do it on our own.

There are a few lies That we have come to believe as truth in Christianity, and I want to talk about a couple of them today. The first lie is that we can do it on our own. Most of us are on this lie right now. You are ready to go! "I'm gonna do it! I'm going! I'm doing this! I'm doing that! I can do it!"

No you Can't! It's a lie! The truth is, you and I can't live the Christian life. I'll prove it to you.

- Do you have incredible success an consistency in your time alone with God?

- Are you having incredible success in your devotion to prayer?

- Do you find that you are incredibly consistent in loving the hard to loving the hard to love people in your world?

- Are you doing well at not being yourself and full of God all the time?

- Are you consistantly sharing Christ with the lost and dying world around you?

- Are you having incredible success and consistency in fighting off temptation of any kind?

Do you feel like crap yet? I do. Ask around, we are all a bunch of miserable failures at the Christian life! We can't even do the basic things, much less go and die for the cause of Christ around the world.

Well I've got news for you. If you've ever thought the Christian life was difficult... you thought "this isn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be, I mean I came to some church thing, and everybody was singing this song, and I felt cool, and I met Jesus, and they gave me a Bible, and I thought WOW! This Is GREAT! Then I got home and after about a day, I realized This Thing is REALLY HARD!"

Well I have news for you. The Christian life isn't hard. The Christian life isn't even difficult. The Christian life is impossible. There's only one Guy who has ever been able to pull it off. and He was so good at it, they named it after Him." There has only been one person that ever successfully pulled off the Christian life. It's not you, and it certainly isn't me. But Jesus, Thank God, lived the Christian life. And He's still living it now.

And the Joy is, God isn't saying "you an do it!" God is saying to you: "I'm not asking you to do it. If you think you are going to do it on your own, Look Out! You are about to fall!"

"I'm not asking you to do it! I know you can't do it! I know how hard it is! I know it's impossible! I know you, and this isn't gonna work for You!"

But it has worked once. And the good thing about the fact the Christ did live the Christian life, is that He is still with us. Meaning, He is still living the Christian life. Jesus Is still living the Christian life. God is saying to you today I am not asking you to go and live the Christian life, I'm saying you can't live the christian life. But I know who can, and I have an idea:

I'm going to put the One who can live the Christian life inside of the one who can't live the Christian life, so that together the One who can live the Christian life can live the Christian life through the one who can't live the Christian life.

That is the mystery of the gospel.

Paul wrote these word to the church in Colossae (Colossians 1:26)

"The mystery of the gospel was kept hidden, but is now being made known to the saints." Meaning- David, Daniel, Moses, Jonah, Abraham, they didn't know this, but you are going to get to know it.

Verse 27, "This is the mystery, which is Christ in you, the Hope of Glory."

You see God knew we couldn't do this on our own, and He didn't just give us an example to follow. He gave us His son Jesus, to come and live life through us. And God's saying "I'm not talking about believing in someone so you can go somewhere when you die. I'm talking about receiving something that becomes , in you, a power source for when you live."

We have this famous question in Christianity: If you were to die tonight, do you know for sure that you would go to heaven? Most of you have probably heard this question at some point in your life. Now don't gte me wrong, I am not knocking the question, it is a fair question, and you should have an answer for that question in your own heart. But what about this question: If you don't die tonight, (which I think we will all agree is more likely) do you have the hope and confidence in a power source that will allow you to live triumphantly tomorrow? Because most of us, Lord willing, are not going to die tonight. that is why God gave us Jesus to be our power source. God gives us, not the belief in someone named Jesus, He gives us Jesus to come and live in us, and be God in us, and be His Righteousness in and through us.

Galatians 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me.

Let's go back to Colossians. I want to make sure that you didn't miss something. They Mystery of the Gospel is "Christ IN you. the hope of glory." Notice the word in. You should praise God that it does not say and. You see we've had this belief system for so long that Christianity is Christ and me, Christ and you. Like it's me and Jesus, and we are gonna storm the gates of Hell! We're a team! A dynamic Duo just like Batman and Robin! We're gonna knock em' out!

And Jesus is looking at you like uhhhhh.... I guess I can work with you. But it's not Me and you. That's not the hope of glory.

Christ and you is not the hope of glory.

Christ and me is not the hope of glory.

Christ and anybody is not the hope of glory.

Christ is the hope of glory!

Christ in you! Not Christ and you! Not your effort plus His effort equals victory. But Rather, He is victory in you.

Some of you have believed the lie that you can't stop sinning. Most of this all has to do with the fact that we don't know who we are. Many of you have believed the lie that you are just a "sinner saved by grace."

Stay with me before you check out and call me a heretic. This is the biggest identity crisis we have as believers. We think- Of course we are just sinners. Just a beggar trying to help another beggar find bread. I'm JUST a sinner. Emphasis on the "Just" word. Like, "That's what I am. I'm Just a sinner!... Oh, saved by grace." We tag that on as the afterthought. But our identity point is "SINNER."

So that when we sin, we have a fallback strategy... "Well what did you expect? I'm a sinner!"

I mean why not just wake up in the morning and haul off and do a big one and get it out of the way?

If your mentality is that you are a sinner, then you are going to find it completely ordinary for you to sin.

But it's a lie, you are not just a sinner. you are: a sinner, worse, a rebel, worse, an enemy of God, an alienated person from God, Hostile towards God, a Reviler of God, whom God found in your sinfulness and redeemed, restored, forgave, cleansed, and made holy in Jesus Christ. You are now one of the Colossians people, these Philippians people, these Ephesians people that paul wrote to. You are now a saint!

What's entertaining to me is that Paul's letters all start out the same way: "To the Saints...." Then he goes on to talk about their horrible sinful lives. Stop Sinning! Stop Being Idolaters! Stops being sexually immoral! Stop hating each other! Stop the gossip! Stop the slander! Stop Backstabbing!

But he opens each letter with "Dear saints, dear Holy ones" Why doesn't paul just start with "You big fat Bunch of Wretched Sinners!... saved by grace." Why not? Because that's not who they are, and it is not who we are either.

I want to talk about what most of us have made the most comforting verse in the Bible. And it is because our eyes are on each other and not on God. If I were to ask you what verse comforts you the most, I'd get things like John 3:16, or Philippians 4:13, or Jeremiah 29:11, or John 16:33, And a few more that I got from people Sunday morning. But this verse comforts us more, and we don't even realize it.

Romans 3:23. I bet you know it. I bet most of you could quote it. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," You get all kinds of Amen's in a church with this verse. And then everybody goes out and sins, and feels good about it. Why? Because that is what we think we are.

if there is a period at the end of that verse, you either put it there yourself, or someone has played a really mean trick on you. This is one of the coolest commas in the bible, because it completely changes our identity. I'll bet there are not 5 people who read this who can confidently keep talking without going to look up the verse. And I'll tell you why. It's because we have been sold half of the gospel, and we thought that was enough.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

God has freely Justified us by forgiving our sin. All of our sins. Christ isn't on the installment plan. It's not "I died for all the sins you have commited up until now, and after that you ask Me, and I'll forgive again, you ask Me, and I'll forgive again, you ask Me, and I'll forgive again, and so on and so forth" No! Christ died one time for all sin. And whe I come to Him for forgiveness, He doesn't just dole it out on a daily basis. No, He gives it out in one overflowing tide that washes me and cleanses me from all of my sin past, present, and future. He covers me, and calls me forgiven. Jesus has come to live inside of us, and be God in us. through Christ we have become the righteousness of God. Isn't it time we started acting like it?

I want to challenge you to pay special attention to your life this week. First, remember who you are: you are a Saint who makes a mistake and sins, not a sinner who can sometimes do good things.

Second pay attention to your convictions this week. don't just dismiss them like you normally do. Stop a minute and think about it when you are faced with the decision of being a person of integrity, or just taking the more appealing, simple, and easy way out. Live up to your convictions this week, and see how different your life feels.

The Real God

2008-03-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

The Real God

Are you confused about anything in life right now? Are you seeking answers on something? Are you just flat out searching for some kind of meaning to the boring and stale existence you seem to be living out each week? If you answered no to all of these questions, can you tell me your secret? Please! I think most of us out there are searching, and the problem is we really don’t know what we are searching for. Christian and non-Christian alike, I think people know there is something more to life than what they see. I just don’t think most people know who He is. A quick glance through history shows us that we, as humans have always been searching for something to add meaning to our lives. As I have stated before I feel like God gave that desire to us from the beginning so we would be compelled to seek Him out and find Him. The problem is that we like to make things more complicated than they need to be. God said Here I am, come to me, and I’ll even give you the desire to do it. What did we do? All throughout history, we have decided to try to fill that desire with something else.

In the New Testament book of Acts, we find Paul making this case over and over again. The most incredible occasion, in my opinion, was when he went to Athens. Think of what you know about Athens in the first century. I know it is straining your brain to remember back to that high school world civ class, but stay with me. Who are some of the most famous Athenians you learned about in your history classes? Plato, Aristotle, Socrates. What did all three have in common? They were some of our world’s greatest and most famous philosophers. That means, they tried to figure out stuff. Like why are we here? Why am I insecure? And why do I want more? Now I know these men all lived and died before the 1^st century A.D., but we still know their thoughts and ideas today, and I’m sure the men Paul spoke with in Athens were very familiar with them as well. After all, Athens was still viewed as the center of intelligence in the ancient world. They were known for having many of the greatest and most intelligent minds in their city.

In this city full of the “most intelligent people in the world,” what did Paul find? In his own words, “a city full of idols.” In fact, he found a multitude of idols to gods of every name and description. If you are even mildly familiar with Greek Mythology you can probably name 3 or 4 of them. Many of us have heard stories about many more than that. Paul saw altars to each of them, and then he saw one that stopped him in his tracks, an altar to “an Unknown God.” It floored him, because the Athenians really had done something intelligent. They realized they could have been wrong. More specifically, they realized they could have missed something. And just in case they had, they did not want that god to be angry with them for not giving him the respect and worship he deserved. They were just trying to cover their bases, and make sure that all deities were happy in the case that there was something, or someone else. The altar “Unknown” stood among them just in case it turned out there was another object of worship superior to all the others that they already had. I told you they were smart. . . sort of.

What is also amazing is that when Paul went to Athens, he went straight to the common area of the city. If you don’t know this is where all the philosophers hung out during the day. They talked and bounced ideas off of each other, argued, got cocky and full of themselves, and figured “stuff” out. In other words, this is where all of the brightest minds in the most intelligent city in the known world would have been. These are men probably taught by the students of Plato and Aristotle. So Paul figures, why not dive into the deep end and go for broke. (Take a second to grasp how gusty that is. Remember where he is, and what kind of people he is about to confront with a completely brand new idea and philosophy.) Paul had to be prepared, because he knew he would meet resistance from the renowned scholars, and from many he did. Some of these men, however, were intrigued by Paul’s teachings and thoughts, so they invited him to come to the Areopagus and share his teachings there. The Areopagus is the governing body of the city, much like our congress, but maybe more like English parliament. In any case they made decisions for the city.

Paul shows up and get’s straight to the point. “Men of Athens, I see that you are religious in every respect. For passing through your objects of worship I also found an altar with this inscription ‘to an Unknown God.’ What you worship in ignorance, I now proclaim to you.” There wasn’t a lack of worship in Athens, these bright minds realized on their own that something else was out there, but they were unsure of what it was. They were not apathetic, in fact they were very devoted. They were just wondering if there was something more. Although the altars and idols of ancient Athens lie in ruins today, people everywhere are still searching, still building altars to everything under the sun. Wondering if there is a god they can know who will bring fulfillment. Maybe now we start to understand God’s word when it says “He placed eternity in our hearts.” Somehow we know He is there, all creation around us screams that there is more to life than living and dying-- painted skies, a perfectly rotating Earth in a perfectly spinning galaxy, the atom, all are pretty amazing, too amazing to be left to chance. But back to the story.

Standing before the men of Athens, Paul took a deep breath, and unfolded the mystery that his listeners had been searching for. He told them about “the God who made the world and all things in it.” Paul identified Him as ‘Lord of heaven and earth,” and said “this God gives to all people life and breath and all things.” In other words, Men of Athens, meet the God of gods. It turns out these intelligent guys were right all along. There was another God greater than all of their idols; more powerful than all the images inhabiting their altars. This God, as Paul proclaimed, is powerful enough to invent the whole world and everything it contains. He “does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything” from us. So I guess God doesn’t live in that church building after all. Guess we might have to put an end to that threat we all got as a kid. You know the one that went something like: “SHHHHHhhhhhh. . . This is God’s house,” or “don’t use that language in God’s house,” or maybe “Settle Down! This is God’s house.” It is an effective threat to most kids. It strikes fear into them to think that God might actually live there. It is effective, but wrong. It does make for a nice image, though, doesn’t it? You know, God at the door after the service greeting everyone. “Thanks for coming, appreciate you being here, glad you made it, hope you enjoyed it, was everything ok? God Bless. Oh yeah, that’s me…ummm, I’ll bless. Come back to see me. Have a nice week!”

Is that God? Watching all the cars drive away, turning the church lights off, settling in for a long quiet week. Maybe He’ll play a little bit on the organ, or turn on the Xbox in the youth room. Maybe He might even have a huge ping pong Grudge match with Jesus while the Holy Spirit Judges. And then once again on Sunday morning He throws the doors open once a again and cries “Hey! Good to see you, come on in!” I don’t think so. God isn’t stuck in our church world. He might even care less about us running in the halls than we think! Why? Because He’s HUGE. Creator. Initiator of all things. Way too vast to be stuck in some building all week. Far too interested in our lives to watch us drive away from Him. Much more worthy of our time than just one hour a week.

Our all-sufficient God doesn’t need anything from us! He made the world and everything in it. Paul wanted the men of Athens to know He’s the constant supply of life, breath—Everything. And He wanted them to know that God is near.

Paul was describing a huge limitless God. God has “determined” for all humans “their appointed times (our lifetime) and the boundaries of their habitation (the details of our existence).” For what purpose? “That all men (people) would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him, and find Him. He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.” No wonder our world is filled with worshippers. This is the searching soul God created us with. He made it so that we could find no rest until we find out rest in Him. The good news is God is searching us out, too. He is seeking us, because He wants us to know just how amazing He is. He’s seeking us so we can find Him and value Him with all our heart.

He’s seeking you because He is God. . . and He knows you can not live without Him!

That explains a ton of stuff for us. First off, it explains why we worship, and why we are so good at it. It is why, in fact, the entire world is worshipping (something) at this very moment. But most of all, it explains why Jesus willingly came. Jesus knew it was up to Him to bridge the gap, and connect us to God. The same God that created us, and desires to be with us. Jesus knew that He was the only way we could be connected to God. So God used Jesus as the way to allow us to fulfill all the desires He instilled in us from birth. In doing so, Jesus awakened us to the possibility of centering our worship on who, and what matters most. . . forever.

We are all worshippers

2008-02-11T14:14:00.000-05:00

We are ALL worshippers. That is, we ALL worship……… something

“As I am writing, my flight home to Atlanta is climbing high above the Chicago night. Staring out across the horizon I am captivated by thousands of tiny lights dotting the landscape as far as I can see. Countless twinkling stars of earth, hundreds of thousands of beacon lights. It’s like a sea of little lights…all kinds of lights—streetlights, headlights, house lights, neon lights…all kinds of lights.

And I am thinking, everywhere I see lights, there are people. People everywhere. A sea of humanity. And every single person down there is someone created with amazing potential and purpose. All uniquely fashioned to reflect back to their Creator His beauty and wonder: each one breathing the air of earth in one accord. Each person given life to give Him praise. And that is only the view in one direction, looking out over just one city, in just one state, in just one nation, on one continent.

I’m floored as we jet through the darkened sky. I think of how this earth is home to Billions of worshippers, created to light the darkness with stories of who God is…with echoes of all He has done. But do they know it? Do you know it? Do you know in this moment that you were made by and for God?

While we soar over Chicago, our plane is just a tiny speck to anyone who might look up and see us, a little dot of light blinking its way through the night. Yet on board this flight are even more people. People everywhere. Across the aisle from me, a middle aged-woman is digging into a well-worn Bible. (No, I’m not making this up) She’s leaning forward as she reads, as if she knows this book holds some secret key. I’m thinking how the same God who is worthy of all the world’s worship is the author of the every pages in her hands. She’s holding His autobiography in her hands. There before her eyes is the extension of God’s hand. And she is devouring it in large chunks, miraculously forgoing another showing of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” It’s as if somehow within its pages she has discovered life’s very meaning. It seems we all are eventually captivated by the question of why. Why are we here? Is there a reason for our lives? Is there something we are uniquely destined to do?

It’s the age-old dilemma—what’s the purpose of life? The answer begins and ends with God. Simply put, you and I were made by Him, and made for Him. You and I exist for one purpose alone—to reflect back to God His matchless glory. You were made for a unique relationship with Him. And your life was designed to be a mirror that reflects all the best things about Him to the world around you. Finding our Maker and connecting with His purposes is the one thing we are all seeking.

Okay, to be fair, things have changed on board. Forty minutes have passed, and the woman across the aisle is now reading a David Baldacci novel sending occasional glances toward the movie monitor. Uh-oh the headphones are going on, I think she is being sucked into the movie. Apparently she’s seen My big Fat Greek Wedding a dozen times and is having no difficulty jumping right into the flow. It hasn’t been thirty seconds and she’s already laughing. (Not as loudly as the guy in front of me, mind you, who with headphones on is giving a loud blow-by-blow commentary of each scene to the guy trapped beside him.) I guess tonight we won’t see a miracle after all. The “little movie engine that could” wins again. The unstoppable force of a big fat Greek wedding rambles on. But she still gets major credit for her deep dive into the pages of God’s word. For she—just like the rest of us—is seeking God. And as far as I can tell, finding Him on a plane to Georgia.

(The guy next to me is sound asleep. The lady in front is talking in what sounds like a South African accent. The flight attendant buzzing around is tall and Romanian. A businessman behind me is wide awake and feverishly working.) And there are people all around you too. Today as you work out, sit at the lunch table, or study in the library, there are people everywhere.

All these people.

Do they know their lives have an amazing purpose?

Do they?”

-The Air I Breathe by Louie Giglio

You are a worhsipper. You are. Deal with it. Everywhere you go, everyday, all day long, it’s what you do. It’s who you are. I don’t know if you consider yourself a worshipping person or not, but you can’t help but worship…something.

Think of it this way, worship is simply about value. If I break it down into the simplest terms Worship is simply striving for and seeking out what we value the most. Worship is a thing we all do. We are all about it on any given day. I’m not just talking about the religious crowd. Not just the Christians and Churchgoers among us, I’m talking about every person on planet earth…a multitude of souls proclaiming with every breath what they feel is worthy of their affection, their attention, their devotion. Each step, each move, each action proclaims what they worship. Many people who would rarely set foot inside a church door would probably tell you worship isn’t a part of their lives, because they aren’t religious. But everybody has an altar. Everyone has a throne they kneel before.

If we look all throughout history, we can see the evidence of people worshipping. The timeline of mankind is littered with trillions of little idols. Every culture, every corner of the earth. Every time period has its set of gods that were worshipped. They may not have been gods in name, but they were treated that way by the people. Just circle the globe and see what cultures today are worshipping. Maybe it is alcohol, maybe it is technology, maybe it is football, maybe it is their country, but above all they are all seeking something to reach out for and hold onto. The really compelling question is “why?” What is it that makes us do this? Why do we have the innate desire to strive for something greater than ourselves? Why do we need something to believe in. Why are we so insatiably drawn from idol to idol, desperately in need of something to champion, something to exalt, something to adore? How do we know for sure that there are things out there that are more important than others? Things that deserve our worship. How do we even know that value, beauty, and worth exist?

As the Bible states, all things were created by Him and all things were created for Him. You were made by God, and if that was not enough, God made you specifically for Himself, because He values you. Because of that, you have a deep internal homing device that causes you to long for your Maker and pulls you toward Him. It’s like God placed this magnet inside of us, and it pulls us to Him. Hence, deep in our souls we realize that there is something we fit with, someone we belong to, somewhere that feels like home. God has created that in each of us since birth! Isn’t it amazing? The problem is that most people do not know what we are looking for, so they search for it all over the place. No one has told them about God, and His plans and designs, so they try to fulfill this desire He gave them with other things in life.

Worship does not have to have a single thing to do with God or anything spiritual, because worship is about saying this person, this thing, this experience, this WHATEVER, is what matters most to me. I put this first in my life. That thing might be a relationship, a dream, friends, social status, money, fame, stuff, a name, some kind of pleasure, anything. Whatever it is for you, whatever you call it, this thing or person is what you have concluded in you heart is worth the most to you. It is exactly what you worship. If worship shows us what we value most, we should pay attention to what we do. I’d bet we worship a lot of things more than we realize. Just look at your actions, and see what things are most important in your life right now. It’s easy to find out what we worship. You simply follow the trail of your time, affection, energy, money and loyalty. At the end of that trail you will find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what is of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship.

I’m sure not too many of us want to admit that we worship our Xbox, or our jobs, or certain pleasures of life, or him, or her, or our bodies, or just flat out ourselves. But I bet if we are honest we will realize that we worship these things infinitely more than we worship our Creator. The trail never lies. We may say that we value this thing or that thing more than anything else, but when we follow the trail, and see the volume of our actions, we will see what it is we actually value and direct our worship toward. In the end our worship is more about what we do than what we say. Worship is the activity of our soul, not the words that come out of our mouth.

So not only do all people worship, but they all worship all the time. Worship isn’t just a Sunday thing, it is an all the time thing. Right now there are people all around you. They come in all shapes and sizes, personalities, ages and purposes. And they are all worshipping, that is they are continually making decisions based on what is most important to them in their lives, what they value the most. Worship happens everywhere…all day long. Sadly, I think the purest and most passionate forms of worship occur outside of the church or worship service, and they have no reference whatsoever to the God of all Creation. All you have to do is go to the next big name concert at Freedom hall, or how about next years edition of the Louisville/Kentucky college basketball rivalry. Heck, in September the arguments generated by that one basketball game probably generate more passion in your school or office building than God has ever gotten on the Friday before Easter. But seriously, let’s take a look at these events. Many of you may not remember this, but in the 80’s Michael Jackson was THE event to see. He had an unbelievable following all over the world. Here is Louie Giglio’s reaction to a video he saw of Michael Jackson Concerts:

“Talk about worship! In Multiple cultures all over the world, mobs of people numbering in the hundred’s of thousands were glued as one to his every move. On every continent the gathered like an army, waving their hands in the air. Some fell to their knees. Others strained with outstretched hands, hoping for a brief touch from his. Seared in my mind is the image of one young girl with a look on her face of total awe. I couldn’t believe it. What I was watching was some of the most intense worship I had ever seen…anywhere. Far more “full-on” than much of what I’d experienced inside the church. And for what? Granted Michael Jackson is a living legend when it comes to entertainment, but he is not a great god. Nat even close. Yet the worship was phenomenal, demonstrating the God given capacity for adoration that is rooted in the soul of every man.”

Don’t you see it when your favorite band plays, or your favorite team plays? Maybe you are even guilty of it yourself. People naturally doing the thing it seems we were all created to do. Worship.

So take time today to do two things. First, analyze your life. Follow the trail and see what throne it leads you too. Figure out what you are worshipping the most. Second, pay attention to the people around you. Louie saw so many things on the airplane trip back to Atlanta. He noticed so many things about the people on that plane and how they chose to spend their time. What are the people around you worshipping? Where are they trying to find their home? Where are they seeking their happiness? What can you do to help them?

Praying for you?

2007-02-16T00:02:00.000-05:00

"Father God,
I'm praying to you Lord, for somebody who knows you Lord, but......just hasn't been seeing you in the right view lately.
Father, I'm prayin for a friend. He and I are pretty close,
And out of all my friends, for this one I'm concerned the most.
He says he's readin daily, but he ain't really learnin.
He's been in church, but he Ain't moved by any sermon.
His face weak.... Hasn't prayed in a week.
He wakes up and just weeps, with his face in a sink.
Lord, you've got to help my man... I'm prayin for him daily.
He ain't seeing..... and it just seems as if He's going crazy!
He says he's feeling trapped, can't even hit up the mall,
because every lady is half dressed tempting him to lust and fall.
He keeps the tv off.... videos just make him feel,
that he is nothing without money, girls, and shiny wheels.
The other day he told me that he felt less of a man,
because he didn't have a 5 year plan, or a piece of land.
And man it's crazy, cause his family thinks so much of him,
Plus he's got a Godly wife who's always showing love for him.
But he's struggling, even though he talks to me...
But he doesn't listen to me when I tell him that he ought to be.
I'm scared for him, because there's people that look up to him.
He's got some younger siblings that have been changed by what he's done for them.
But is it done for him? Lord don't let it be.
If he don't want to talk to you, then father hear from me.
Is it done for him? Lord don't let it be.
If he don't want to talk to you, then father hear from me.

Now his condition has worsened since we were last conversing.
I'm with him now and he ain't doing well, of this I'm certain.
He says he's tryin to trust You, doesn't want to disgust You,
but he was in the midst of sinners and did not discuss You.
And just today his anxieties got the best of him.
He knows Christ, but for hours refused to rest in Him.
He's not the best of men, but Lord, I know he really loves You.
and I can't understand why lately he's not thinking of You.
People trust this dude, You could crush this dude.
Father, he needs more of You, I pray You touch this dude.
What can I say to him? I'm determined to pray for him.
Father empty and break him, I pray You'll just have Your way with him.
Cause there's a change in him, and the effects are strong.
I pray you'll open up his heart cause it's been so long.
And when he gets home, I'll pray he'll open up
this 66 book love letter You wrote for him, and soak it up.
Because he ain't hearing You, and he ain't feeling me.
And God I know it's killing You, because it's killin me.
And matter of fact, there's something else he's concealing...see,
The person that I've been praying about is really me."

- Lecrae (with some grammer changes )

This song really touched me when I heard it earlier this week....I'm sure we all have friends who are struggling through tough issues like this..... but how often do we realize it when we ourselves are dealing with all the same problems........As Jesus said... "You should remove the plank from your own eye before tryin to remove a speck of dirt from your neighbor's eye."
Who says all Rap music is of the devil?

outreach takes reaching out

2007-01-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

Christians and non-Christians have one thing in common; they both HATE evangelism.
Fears, Inadequacies, feelings of doubt, the thought of being rejected, thinking you don't know enough, thinking no one wants to hear it, Afraid that man might punch you in the face. What's your reason for not stepping out and sharing the love of Christ? Maybe it comes down to the fact that we don't trust God enough, and all these other thoughts are just excuses we've made up to hide it. Our faith is small, and because of that our deeds look the same.
We are called to share the love of God with those around us. But you ask, "why would God call me to do something so painful?" Simple.... He didn't. God called you to do something joyfull and rewarding, you have made it painful. We turn Evangelism into a chore that God, like an overbearing parent, forces us to attempt. Because of that, we end up hating it. What reason do we have not to? The key is to change our mindset, and turn evangelism into something fun, something that actually gets through to people, something that actually, believe it or not, leaves a good impression on them.
If you think that is impossible, that is because you have dealt with too many sharks in your life. Sharks don't just live life, they attack it. I'm sure we can all recall an experience when an evangelism shark bit us. Most Christians who take on the challenge of evangelism, unfortunately, tend to get this way. They confidently come up to you (sometimes in packs), and tell you that you are a horrible person, and attempt to knock you unconscious with repetitive scripture quotes about this great God that sent them here to yell at you for not already believing in Him and accepting Him. They absolutely know what is best for you at this exact moment in your life, and they are not leaving until they have removed all of your stupidity, and forced you to pray something about a guy who died and forgave you... to some God you know nothing about, and then they want you to pladge your life to Him, all so they can feel good, and feel like they are obeying God. Oh yeah.... and Jesus Loves you. Now smile and be happy :). If you are anything like me, you were just happy when they left.
Now I'm not going to say that approach never works, because I have seen it work... But I think in most cases it does more harm than good. Personally... I don't believe that fear and confrontation is the best means to get to a loving relationship with God anyway.
WAIT! Whats that??! a loving relationship? There's love in that situation somewhere? Did I miss something? No you didn't, and that is the problem.
What if, be patient with me, I know this is hard, but what if when we want to reach out and share God's love, we actually reached out and shared God's love. That is we actually do something nice for someone, so that they actually experience this mythical love of Jesus we so casually talk about all the time, but never show. But how do we do that??? It's actually much easier than you think. This past Sunday, my friend Matt and I stood outside of Blockbuster Video and handed out Hot chocolate to their customers as they were leaving on a cold and rainy night. It's anything that isnice, unexpected, and unusual. Maybe you could design a card explaining yourself and what you are doing, and then you walk around downtown putting change in all the parking meters that are about to expire, and leave the card. Maybe you do the same thing and wash windshields. Maybe you go to a park on a hot day and hand out bottles of cold water to the people there. Or if you don't have a talent for planning and orgainizing things in advance try this one: the next time you are in line at starbucks, or your normal fast food restaurant, turn around and offer to pay for the person behind you. (might want to make sure it is not a family of 7) Not only will this astonish them, but it will astonish the cashiers working, and I gaurantee you will get asked, at least by the person you are buying for, "Why on Earth would you do that for me?" The simple reply: " I just want to show you God's love in a practical way." And Boom your in ( most of the time) and worst case scenario, it might cost you 10 bucks. Most people will be so astounded, they will want you to tell them more. Especially in the Northern half of the country, where kindness like this is unheard of. I usually just tell them that if Jesus were here today doing ministry, I think this is what He would be doing.
Here, you have to be careful not to turn back into a shark. Don't push them, let them dictate where the conversation will end. You've already done enough to influence their entire week, and possibly more. Give God time to work through what they experienced. It's not you job to save them, you don't have that power anyway. Only God can do that. You have done your part by obeying His call to share love. Let Him do the rest, and then there is no pressure on you at all.

There are three things that can happen to you when you share your faith. Either someone completely rejects you, calls you a dorkface, pushes you down and kicks you in the stomach (that first part is much more likely than any of the rest), or the exact opposite could happen, and they accept Christ and then fall to the ground and immediately start kissing your feet out of gratitude (again, the first partis much more likely than the rest). But most of the time.... it will feel like nothing at all has happened. In most situations (non-sharklike) they will simply hear you out, say "that's nice" or "thank You", and then they will be on their way. But don't be naive and think nothing has happened. As I said before, they won't forget. They'll think on it for a week or two, or might remember it much farther down the road. God can do a lot in a week. Look around you ( He created this entire world in a week). I think he could take care of that person in a week if it was His desire.
This process is called planting a seed. You put the thought in their mind, God comes along and uses other things to water and nourish it. Eventually, in God's time and not ours, the seed sprouts and grows into faith. When it comes down to it, there are three things that can happen. Either you win them to Christ, plant a seed, or they reject you. All are a success.
HOLD ON! Sure they become a believer-- success. A seed gets planted-- ok something decent is happening it just takes a while...so success. But If they call me a dorkface, and push me down and kick me in the netherregions, that can not be a good thing.
You are correct.... until you read Matthew 5:10. Jesus tells us in his sermon on then Mount that if at anytime we are persecuted and rejected because of serving Him or something He has done, we will be for ever blessed for it. So I say... success... as soon as your breath comes back :).

But I'm on a tangent..... to sum up. Jesus Calls us to love. Yes we should share our Faith, but if we are showing the world around us love, as Jesus did when he was here, then telling them why comes easily and naturally because of it. It takes all the pain and work out of evangelism.... an actually makes it a lot of fun to do. Now what's your excuse?

Why can't I ever seem to stop?

2006-12-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

So I haven't done this in a while. Maye it is because I've been lazy, or maybe I just needed a reason to be inspired :). Sorry these always tend to come out in sermon form... I can't seem to help that.

"I do not understand what I do. For What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do...It is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives within me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can not carry it out...For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. Oh what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
-Romans 7:14-24 (as written by the apostle Paul)
I know what I ought to do and do not do it. Instead I do the things I despise. Who has never felt that way? If you have not, I want to meet you and learn your secrets. Even the apostle Paul wasn't able to escape this trap, and he wrote half the new testament. This tells us 2 things; one is good and one is bad. First the good; If even one of the most respected founders of Christianity, and arguably the most successful evengelist who ever lived has admited to this struggle, we should not bediscouraged that we find ourselves entrenched in it today. The bad side, however, is that our enemy, the devil, is crafty enough and sneaky enough to pry his way into the life of a man who was as spiritually sound as Paul. Meaning he could easily do it to most of us.
So what does this mean for us? Do we simply say: "Well Paul dealt with it, so it must be ok?" And then we just move on continuing in the same things, in the same ways, just because we feel better about it? NO! Is that why Paul wrote this? To justify your sins? I doubt that seriously, and you know it is not true either. Paul simply did not want you to feel as if you were the only one dealing with this. He wrote this to show his inner struggle. He was trying to beat it. It was not his purpouse to make his readers feel good about sinning. He was working hard to escape the trap he had found himself in, and he wanted to show that. Why? So that his readers would approach this problem with the same seriousness he had himself.

"But because of your stubbornness, and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God." -Romans 2:5
Paul knew the danger of letting sin run wild in his life. Giving sin such a foothold in one's life severely messes with their mind. If you let it sonsume you you will act upon it before you can clear your mind enough to choose not to.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -Romans 8:1
Wait a minute! Doesn't that conflict with what Paul just said in Romans 2:5? How can I not be condemned if I am storing up wrath with my unrepentant heart? Let's look at this 2 ways.
1st: If you are a parent, this will make complete sense to you. Parents love their children. god loves His children. But Parents have to discipline their children to teach them right from wrong, and ultimately shape them into adults who know how to conduct themselves in a civilized manner. Likewise, God must discipline His children so that they know how to act when they are with Him. Does it mean He does not love them? No. Does it mean he condemns them to Hell? No. Quite the contrary. God disciplines His children, because He loves them, in order to make them better.
2nd: Here is where you have to analyze yourself. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That is a fact. I am in Christ Jesus. Is that a fact? Sure I said a prayer a few years back and asked Jesus into my heart, but what has happened since then? I am told that if I am in Christ I am a new creation. The old ways have gone, and new things have come. (2Corinthians 5:17)
Do I see that? Have I changed? Has there been a transformation in my life? Or, do I still act as I did before I "met Jesus." Jesus said "if you love Me, you will keep my commandments." -John 14:15 Do you love Him? Then why don't you? I bet if you are honest with yourself, you will actually find that you love these other things more than you love Jesus. Change that.

So back to the struggle with sin. We don't want to do it, yet we still do, and because we still do we are storing up wrath for oursleves. So how do we stop? Plain and simple... you have to want to. The problem is that, chances are, you really don't want to stop. Until you do, you will have no success in overcoming your desires. But when you do decide you want to, you will find it easier if you have a brother/sister in Christ to help you. By that I mean find someone you trust to confide in, and someone who cares enough to get on your case about it. Also, A little self discipline doesn't hurt either.
Paul tells us in Romans 8:38-39 that there is nothing that can keep us from our God, and that through Him we are more than conquerors, meaning that we have the power to overcome anything. In Pilippians 4:13 Paul says that we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. Notice Paul did not say some things. He said All things.

So where will your desires take you? Closer to God or farther away? What is the desire of your heart? do you want to get closer to God? Or would you rather chase your earthly pleasures and build up a harsher punishment later?
God is a just God, and he does vindicate himself. sooner or later you will see that for yourself.

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus The Lord, so walk in Him" -Colossians 2:6

That would be perfect...... but I'll pass

2006-10-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
This is a promise of God. He knows what is best for us. He has a purpose for us that He has already laid out. He wants our lives to be successful. Why doesn't it happen? Who wants to blame God? I bet lots of hands would go up if I asked that in a crowded room. But God has stated that He wants us to be successful. If that is what He desires, would He really try to keep us from that?
We have all felt abandoned by God at times. We struggle with feeling adequate about our lives. We simply want more fullness, more happiness, more satisfaction. after all, that is what God promised us. Why hasn't He delivered? Why does He just sit there while I suffer? Why doesn't God intervene and make me happy? Well I ask this... Why won't you let Him?
God has not moved. That goes against His nature, against His promises, and, most of all, against His Love for you. God has told us in John, Hebrews, Joshua, and probably other places, that He will never Leave us, never abandon us, and never forsake us. So why aren't we fulfilled? We have moved away, and what is worse, we are still choosing to do so.
We can probably look back over just the last 24 hours and see situations where we chose not to obey God. Why should we obey God? I am not naive enough to think that people don't ask that question everyday. Well here are a few ideas.
1. He created you. We call Him father for a reason. He gave you life. Without Him you would not be here at all. Ideally there is a form of respect that is shown to a father from his child, that is if the father is deserving. I know not everyone has been raised by a father who was worthy of that respect, if they even had a father at all, and for that reason God has given us more reasons to respect him.
2. He died for you. Without the death of Jesus Christ where would yo be? I'm willing to bet your life would have even less purpose than it does now. If you need a tangible example try this: put yourself in the shoes of a 15 year old child. You have no family, no home, and occaisionally no food. Each day is a new experience in suffering. Common people scoff at you and make fun of you as they pass by. Then one day you actually encounter a caring person. They are deeply moved by your situation and decide to take you into their home. they offer everything they have to you, their food, their home, their finances, their friends...... their life. How would you feel toward them? Do you insult their generosity by refusing to obey them? would you run away from someone who has saved you from so much? I doubt it. But you do it with God all the time don't you?
3. How about a purely selfish reason... God promises to give you what your heart truly desires. That means pure happiness. It is not a promise to give everything your head desires, your envious nature and greedy personality desire, or your lustful body thirsts for. These things don't bring true happiness. Oh sure you are feeling great when you get these things, but how long do those feelings last. If you can sustain it for moer than a couple of weeks I'd be impressed. These worldly pleasures are very shortlived, and if you are truly honest with yourself, you will probably see that they don't really satisfy you. all they do is make you want more of them. But God promises to know your heart, and what it really desires. Does that mean you will have it tomorrow? Probably not. Does that mean you don't deserve to have it tomorrow? Not necessarily. Most likely it means that if in fact you got it tomorrow you would do 1 of 2 things. Either you would not appreciate it yet, or you would fluff it up to the point where it is not enjoyable at all in the future. But rest assured that He promises you will have it. And if He knows what to give better than you do yourself, isn't it safe to say that He also knows when to give it better than you do yourself?

Sothat brings us back to the question... Why do we run away? Why won't we obey? Because we like to play god and be in control of our lives. If you are anything like me you hate not being in control of things. You feel like the worst could happen at any moment, and then you would have no way to fix it. But what I have found is that when I am "in control" the worst still happens, and I still have no way to fix it. you know why? Because I don't have the power to control everything that happens in my life. But I know someone who does. But don't get me wrong, just because I know this amazing Guy that will hold me in the palm of His hand, and protect me from anything, and set me on the perfect path, does not mean that I let Him do it. No No No..... I am an incredibly selfish person. I want everything now. Regardless of whether I am ready for it. I want to be in control. I want to live my life the way I choose. I want to be god in my life. Bet you never realized you felt that way sometimes. Did you ever really think that your selfishness is pushing God away, and saying you want to control things, and in effect take His job. I didn't for a long time.
God spoke through Isaiah inchapter 55 of his book, and He told us that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. Bottom line... that means He is smarter than us. It means His timing for things is better. It means that when I want something now, I should seek His will, and first see if I can handle it yet, and then see if it is intended for me yet. Yeah this is getting long...... I'll do patience later.
Just think about this.... why are you running? Why won't you let Him take care of you. What makes you want to have the power in your life?

theology 101

2006-10-02T15:43:00.000-05:00

So some of the kids in the youth group have really started asking me some very intelligent questions. They were so good and so complex that it has inspired me to write about christianity in General. Rather than doing this in Random Q and A fashion... I figured I would try to create one really big picture, and we could just have ourselves a little theology discussion and debate. Feel free to comment on this one. God and Theology are things that I really love to talk about and discuss (but not argue). Be patient with me... it will be long, but I'm painting a very large picture. So here we go:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That's Genesis 1:1 In case you have never opened a Bible. The 1st chapter of Genesis goes on to detail the entire creation process. On Earth, God created Land, sea, skies, plants, animals, and finally humans in His own image. First God created a man, and then a woman from him. (Adam and Eve if you will, but if you study closely you will not find names for them) After God created each thing, He said it was good, but when man was created God said he needed more. Man needed someone else, a helper, a lover, a friend to complete him. Then God declared that to be good, as well.
We describe God as good.... so what do we mean by that? We have diminished the word "good" in our modern vocabulary. If we really enjoy something, or find something acceptable or desirable, we say it is Awesome, great, fantastic, amazing, or maybe tight, the bomb, sweet, thunder, or whatever tomorrow's word on the street will be. The word good was all that God needed. Why? Because the word good meant the absence of anything bad. Can you say that about any other word mentioned above? I doubt it. They are great words, but when we use them we are not always describing something in a good way. Example: The flood caused by Katrina in New Orleans was both awesome and amazing, but you cannot say that nothing bad was present, therefore it was not good. But we call God good, and He said the same of His creation.
We established that God created everything and that God said it was good. Does anyone have a red flag waving frantically yet? The meaning of good is the absence of anything bad right? When you look around God's creation today chances are you see things that are bad. So how does God get off calling it good? When He created it it was. So you ask, if Evil was not present where did it come from? How did it arise and create the world we live in today? Excellent question.
We seem to either forget or ignore that first part of Genesis where God states that He created the Heavens and the Earth. The heavens were created first. And who was in the Heavens? God was, and so were the Angels. To focus we will focus on the three Arch Angels we know about. All three were Angels created by God for a specific purpose.
First Michael: Mos of us have seen the movie "Michael" that starred John Travolta, and we have a small idea of who Michael is. For those who do not, view Michael as the high commander of God's armies of Angels. second Gabriel: He was God's announcer. He makes several appearances throughout the Bible in order to proclaim God's word or instructions to God's people.
Third Lucifer: or as we know him- Satan. God Named Him Lucifer. Lucifer was designed to give praises to God. (how ironic is that?) It is not that Lucifer simply led the angels in praising God. When you think of this don't think of your church organist or praise leader. No, Lucifer eminated music wherever he went. If it helpd you to view a music box sticking out of his chest, do that, it was probably something close to that idea. He could not help but to praise God wherever he went.
So how did Lucifer fal to what he is today? The same way you did... free will. WHAT!?!?! God gave the Angels free will too? But they are perfect. They can't choose wrong! That was your thought wasn't it? If not, I bet it was at one point in time. It was for me. But Lucifer Got greedy. He wanted everything that God had. He was and is powerful, and his pride blinded him and made him believe he was as strong and as powerful as God was. His Greed and Lust for Power became his downfall. Because of it, he was cast out of heaven and made to rule over the underworld. Unfortunately, Satan managed to convince one third of God's angels to choose to come with him. now tell me you don'tbelieve in Deamons, because that is who they are. Satan has introduced the evil temptations into the world, and that is why we are as messed up as we are today.
Why? I mean really....Why would Satan care at all about the people on earth? What use does he have for them? Honestly, none that I can think of. It's not like he is going to take humans to war against angels. Even he knows that is idiotic, no matter how many there are. Michael could probably let out one scream and kill them all. No. There is one reason. This is why satan cares about you, and tries to come after you. God kicked him out of heaven and forced him to the underworld. This without a doubt infuriated him. If you are mad at someone it is your natural instinct to want to take from them what they value the most. That is what Satan does. He goes after what God desires the most.... a relationship with his people. Taking that away is how he could hurt God the most, and Satan knew it.

So we move on to a new question. Why did God give us free will if it woul lead to evil, death, and destruction? Why let people choose if they are going to choose to hurt themselves? Why give the ones you love the chance to walk away? Let's look at it this way: Put yourself in the role of a mother or a father (please choose the one that applies). you have conceived a son, and have also built a fully functional human robot. This robot is programmed to do everything you ask, listen to everything you say, and choose the correct response in every situation. It is bound by its programming. It can not go against it, and it is true that it will not give you any problems. But you also have a son who, probably taking after his parent, is deceitful and mischevious. Which will bring you more joy? Seeing that Robot take off running to embrace you, because that is what it is programmes to do? Or seeing your son take off running to embrace you, because he has chosen to and because he loves you?
God has the ability to make us do what He wants, when He wants it, and do it how He wants it done, but where is the love in that? There is no love in creating a bunch of machines to do your every request. That is how a factory works, it is not how a joyful and loving relationship works. In order for God to love you, he had to give you the opportunity to choose whether you would return that love. If not, he would be no different than you autocratic tyrant of a boss, or a slave driver operating a sweat shop in Taiwan.
That was the easy part :) Now it gets fun.
Some say that if God truly loved us, He would not allow any of us to be separated from Him and spend an eternity in Hell. still others would step farther, and twist scripture and say that God has predestined some of us to spend eternity apart from Him. This comes down to how you define predestination. I see three approaches to defining predestination pretty often. 1st some us it to support that God is all knowing, and He knows what you will do before you decide to do it. True statement, but don't call it predestination. It defines God's knowledge well, but does nothing to speak of His actions. The 2nd group would say that predestination is like fate, and that God has already purposely set into motion a chain of events that we can do nothing to change. For example: God programmed you to be reading this very blog, at this exact moment in your life. choice is just an illusion. this takes us back to the machine complex we discussed earlier. It is contrary to God's character, and leaves out the chance for true love. If God wanted to control everything in such a way, He would never have allowed Evil into the world in the First place. 3rd Still others say that god is only active in predestining those who will find His salvation, and those who will not. For these I almost pull my hair out, because they are so close.
Predestination has everything to do with people finding salvation. They did great there. However was not God predestining certain humans to be saved and certain humans not to, but rather God predestining how those humans were to be saved. They would be saved by faith in Him, and faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. This salvation is for all God's people. Let that sink in. All God's people. Your church family, the disciples who followed Jesus, Paul, Billy Graham, a tribal church in Kenya, your little cousin billy Ray who was just baptized yesterday. But what about Abraham, Noah, Moses, David? Did Jesus save them? Absolutely!
WHAT!?!?! They lived and died before Jesus. How did Jesus Save them? They could never have even heard of Him!! I ask this.... how are they saved without Him? Do you really think they managed to make an atoning sacrifice for every malicious or lustful thought that passed through their mind? I can't even keep track of mine. There is no way. God Preached Faith to those in the Old Testament just as he preaches Faith to those in the New Testament, and just as it is preached to you and me.
To understand this we must understand that God transcends time. Meaning God is above it, operates outside of it, and is not bound by it. How would you define eternity? Pause....... seriously think about it.

Most would say eternity is time that never ends. Well...... did it begin? We as humans are bound by time. In fact, we are slaves to it. Our entire lives run on time schedules, we can't escape it. You always have some place you have to be at some time. don't you? But for God, Eternity is the absence of time. No beginnin. No end. No nothing. Does your head hurt yet?
God knew how He would save mankind even before He created it. He knew before time as we know it began, that Jesus Christ would save all of His creation. How's that for predestination?
If that confuses you tell me, and we will talk more. I didn't want to write a novel..... so believe it or not, you got the short version. I'm going to stop for now. I was going to get into ordinances and sacraments, but this is long enough, and that would have added too much. Hopefully I have worked your mind enough to allow you to sleep tonight. Comments and questions are welcomed. Stupid arguments are not. God bless you all.

How do they see you???

2006-10-01T19:02:00.000-05:00

"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants and stewards of the mysteries of God."
The apostle Paul scribed these words to the church at Corinth, but they are still appropriate for us today. How often do we allow ourselves to be regarded that way? Does it happen just by your normal course of action on any given day? My guess is probably not. It would not from mine. As I have thought about the people I come into conteact with daily, weekly, or with any sort of regularity, I can't say that most would regard me this way. Why? Because I do not give them the opportunity. If I do not act in this manner, I will never be regarded in this manner.
Although indeed, I may often liev up to the calling of acting in a way that is holy and pleasing to God, would those around me realize that that isactually my motivation for doing it? Would they even think it strange? Or would they just simply view me as being a nice person? there are a great deal of people I would never regard as a "servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God."
Ghandi is the perfect example. He was an incredibly respected world leader even though he never held any sort of political office, nor ruled any country. Ghandi held strictly to a policy of non-violence, and welcomed anyone into his presence. It would have taken a serious character flaw to leave Ghandi disliking him. But Ghandi had nothing to do with Christ, and he did not claim to.
Certainly, Christ is not the only motivation to live a life loving and caring for others. It is, however, the only motivation that brings eternal rewards.
And Although it is true that we are able to make it to heaven based on accepting the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and not based on our actions, if you say that you believe something to be right and true, but then show the opposite by your actions, who is going to believe you? And possibly worse... whose perspective of Christianity have you tarnished beyond anything you can do to repair it? I think a great many believers can look back into their past and fell an overwhelming sorrow for actions they have commited in front of nonbelievers that have left deep impressions.
Regardless of our intentions, you are affecting lives everyday whether we realize it or not.
You see, like it or not, by embarking on this Christian lifestyle we have accepted a higher calling with more responsibilities. Our main one is to share the joy and rewards God has given us with others. We don't simply share that with words. You can not share joy if you don not have joy yourself. Is it possible to share anything you don't have?
Sharing is more than words. an overused, but very applicable cliche' is that our actions do speak louder than our words. Christians know that phrase well. After all, we are all hippocrites. we would have to be perfect not to be. Perfection is our role model, after all, and that is what we strive to be. If indeed no one is perfect, then all Christians are hippocrites. Deal with it.
I don't say that my like needs to be perfect. My point is that I need to pay better attention to the people I am around when I let my imperfections slip, as they are sure to do.
First, we mus adjust our lives to actually reflect the principles and morals we believe in. Afterwards, we have to find a way to convey where our morals come from. You will be rewarded for treating with others with love even if they do not know that it is Jesus that compels you to do it. But will that do anything to change their lives? They won't have a chance to receive that reward if you can't convey The saving Grace that has covered you. In the 10th chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that anyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved. But how can they call on someone in whome they do not believe? And how can they believe in someone they have never heard of? and how will they hear if no one tells them?
Treating others with love is great, but revealing to them why we do it is better. we have to ask ourselves this: If we treat someone well, show them love, always take care of them, but never introduce them to the savior that compelled us to do it....... are we really showing them love at all???

Why I suck, and why that is OK

2006-09-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

So, as I said before, I only do this when I get bored, and I got bored while giving the C.A.T.S. test one day, so I wrote this. (Those from Kentucky already know that I basically had 3 hours of silence.) It only took me about a week to find time to type it . So here goes. This is why I suck.
I suck , because I have been given free will. Now I realize that the fact that I have free will is the only reason I can love god and love others, and it actually be meaningful. But, it also means that I have the power to screw up, and do it well, and do it often.
It makes God harder and harder to fathom each day. That is, that He knew from the beginning that it would be better to allow us to make mistakes rather than function as machines that always do what is expected. In order to let love into the world, He had to let evil in, as well, and thus give us the right to choose between them.
So why don't I? Why can't I choose between them? One minute I choose to love someone, and the next, to ignore them. First I choose good, then I decide that evil is much easier, or more convenient. Why can't I simply be bold and choose to follow one path? why do I allow myself to go back and forth so many times that I ge myself tied in more crazy knots than a 5 year old's shoe laces? James only hinted at our problem when he saidnthat out of our same mouths come both praises and cursing. In reality, they both come from our mind, and even more exist that we do not speak. In fact I am sure many are like me, and what is thought in their mind is often much worse than what actually proceeds out of their mouth.
How often is it better? How often do we have a nicer thought in our mind than what we say? For me it is almost never. I can't even think of a time unless I was intentionally trying to be harmful with my words. We are always so quick to let everyone know that we have something good to say, but we always hide our true feelings if they are bad.
Most of the time I know what the correct decision is if I will just think about it. So why do I do otherwise? Why do I argue with God when He has already given me the ability to know what is correct on my own? Why, even though He knows what is best for me, do I made it seem as if it is the wrong decision to choose the one He has set before me? And why do I not see the irony that arguing with Him is arguing against the very power that gave me the ability to argue at all? Why do I use this gift that God has so graciously given me against Him?
This makes grace all the more amazing. That a no good enemy of God like I am (at times) can still have the chance to have a personal relationship with Him. I am glad that my salvation is not up to me. If it were, I would have no chance. But while, indeed, my ability to talk and be with God is nto up to me, my ability to please Him is. That is where I need to work on my life, and stop taking His grace and forgiveness for granted. I need to give God at least a fraction of the pleasure He has already given me.

Jesus died for everyone..... EVERYONE

2006-09-25T19:41:00.000-05:00

Jesus........
I was sitting and thinking and reflecting the other day, it was kind of a quiet time, I just hadn't intended for it to be one. So I was just entranced with Jesus dying on the cross, and how difficult a step it must have been for Him to take to actually go through with it. He prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane the night before that if there was another way.... God should use it. I'm thinking I might have had a similar response, except I'm sure mine would have seemed more like begging than I simple request. I know we all love to think of how much Jesus loves us, and that He expressed that love by going to the cross. Now I don't discount that Jesus loves us, but there was more to it than the Love that my Savior has for us. God's entire plan for saving the souls of this world was to be fulfilled through this one act. This was God's plan. And God is first and foremost about God, and second about our lives and His love for us. If we were first (above His righteousness and Holiness) His Character would not matter, and therefore He would not be any higher than us. So God is all about His plan.
Well I began to realize that since God was all about His plan, Jesus had to be as well. His own life depended on it. Jesus had lived a perfectly sinless life. He taught those He came into contact with all about righteousness and purity while being faced with the same temptations I am faced with, plus countless others. Yet He never faltered to those temptations. If He had not been tempted as we were, He would not have been worthy to be a sacrifice for us. So Jesus was sinless, because He had never gone against His Fathers desires. So if He had not gone to the cross and died for all of us, He in turn would have been committing a sin, because He was making a willful act, apart from God, on His own power. That means if Jesus had not gone to the cross, he would not have been on His way to Heaven and would have been cut off from fellowship with God. That is why I say Jesus died for everyone....EVERYONE..... even himself

getting a real blog

2006-09-25T19:17:00.000-05:00

So I finally decided that I was going to not rely on myspace for this since many of my friends do not own a myspace account. And this is.... for lack of better terminology, a real blog. So here you will get my random thoughts.... mostly about God and how we relate to Him....... but maybe a few random entertaining things intermingled. My first posts will probably be some reposts of my myspace blogs, so if you have seen them, sorry this isn't new yet.... but eventually you might get some good stuff from me :)