Love Your Enemy

Jesus said "love your neighbor." Wanting clarification, someone asked him "who is my neighbor?" In reply, Jesus told a story about one of the most hated people in that society...the story we know now as "The Good Samaritan." In the deeply polarized state of American public opinion today, let the followers of Jesus lead the way in loving...

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?"

Post Project Reflections

After 2 weeks solid, today is my first day to breathe a little after the major push of the huge Mount Scott Learning Center Project.  After working with the school, architect, designer, several subcontractors, and about 80 volunteers, the project is nearly done.  I’m physically & mentally exhausted, but emotionally and spiritually vibrant!  I wanted to pass along some scripture truths that God is blessing me with this morning in the afterglow.

When we sacrifice our comfort/time/energy/resources, putting ourselves out there to serve others in the Name of Jesus, He shows up!  He blesses us, the process, and the results. And the joy we receive by knowing we have served our Master, is the reward.  This goes way beyond happiness.  Happiness has to do with our circumstances, but joy is a transcendent reality from God Himself!  Check this out:

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken. Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:10-18)

I hope these words bless you like they did me.

The Heart For Obedience

This morning I'm reading Matthew chapter 5.  Beginning in verse 17, Jesus addresses His PURPOSE.  Some of the people who were listening to His teachings and following Him were misunderstanding Him...apparently they were interpreting His progressiveness as license to ignore God's Law.  He clears-up the confusion, and introduces a little more to chew on, as was His teaching style...

17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

I like how Jesus teaches.  In this section, He strips away the legitimacy of both extreme views....licentiousness and legalism.  Licentiousness is the belief that God doesn't really care about our moral beliefs & behaviors so we "have license" to do whatever the hell we want.  He clearly knocks this off the shelf.  Legalism is the belief that our acceptance before God is dependent upon the perfection of our doctrinal beliefs & outward practices.  He exposes this fallacy in a more more nuanced fashion by noting the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, who in that time were the ultimate pious-rule-followers.  So...what's the point?

God is concerned with our hearts...aka our motives & values & desires.  The following wise words are from the study notes below verse 20 in my Bible:

"Jesus was saying that His listeners needed a different kind of obedience altogether (out of love for God), not just a more intense version of the Pharisees' obedience (which was mere legal compliance). Our obedience must 1) come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves, 2) be God-centered, not self-centered, 3) be based on reverence for God, not approval from people, and 4) go beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law." 

Good-News in a Bad-News World

Ashamed and dismayed by the rancid violence and moral apathy of the world we live in.  It seems like every day I read about some new atrocity that drives another nail into the coffin of goodness in the world....misguided people believing and doing stupid things in order to perpetrate twisted world-views.  Where is all this hatred coming from?  And what's the cure?

A good friend of mine has a 5-year-old grandson who apparently overheard some of the latest shooting reports on the news.  He asked me how he's supposed to explain hatred and violence to this precious young soul in his care.  We had an encouraging conversation that gave me some hope...not because we figured-out a fix for society, but we did recall some fundamental truths we can rest in and teach to others:

1. This world is not home, it is temporary...and it is broken.
2. There will always be evil in the world, and hatred is never overcome by hatred.
3. God is alive and well.  He has a plan, and will have the last word.
4. Jesus is God's voice of love to mankind, His Word continues to flow through His followers today.
5. Not all people who call themselves "Christians" are truly following Jesus' example.
6. None of us can change this broken world, but each of us can know and follow Jesus.
7. When lots of people follow Jesus' example in their own lives, evil is defeated...and really wonderful things happen.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"He who lives by the sword will die by the sword." Matthew 26:52

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:17-21

Repentance

This morning I’m basking in a wonderful truth about God…the real God who is actually there.  Not the god who conveniently upholds all my desires & cravings, nor the god of rules who stands waiting before me with a whip…but the God who perfects both truth and love, who models the right path, and fills me with what is needed for me to follow Him this day.  He helps me to see behind the veil of appearances of the world I live in.  He helps me to recognize the depravities & errors in my own thoughts & feelings, and to choose His better way.  He fills me with courage and strength to take a step in that direction…one step at a time.

The verse that’s blessing my socks off this morning is Romans 2:4…that God’s kindness leads us to repentance.  Repentance is a wonderful thing, truly a gift from God.  He grants us the ability to see when our path is diverging from His, and to make course corrections at any time.  We’re never too far away from God that He can’t reach us in a second, never too dark that His light cannot reach us!  I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced countless “repentances” in my life that have put me back on the right track in my relationship with God and His plan for me.  I can’t tell you how thankful I am for His great, overarching love and faithfulness!

Repentance” comes from the Biblical Greek word “Metanoia,” which means “change of mind”…or, like in the military, doing an “about face.”  Jesus talked a lot about repentance…turning away from the broken promises of the world and following Him instead.  In a world that is chronically broken and in-crisis, we don't make progress by trying to manage or eradicate darkness...but by focusing on God's light.  I repented initially as a teenager many years ago, and He changed the course of my life forever.  But there are also smaller-scale course corrections in daily life, that are essential for keeping me in close connection to my Lord.  I used to believe that repentance was something we only needed to do once, but in a way it’s a daily thing…an opportunity for us to choose to follow Jesus again this morning, and tomorrow morning, and so on.

This morning I’m praying about what I need to repent of so that I can see & follow Jesus more clearly.  How about you?

The Sent Ones

John 20:19 - "On the evening of that first day of the week [after Jesus' resurrection], when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

This is an amazing passage of scripture for many reasons.  Today I want to focus on just one of them...the connected words "sent" and "sending".  This reveals one of the purposes of Jesus.  We have this way of putting Jesus' work into our self-centered boxes, and I think most of us might say that His purpose in coming to our world in the flesh was for the cross...to pay for sin.  Of course, this is absolutely true - and praise God for that, right?!  But there were other reasons as well.  HE WAS SENT HERE TO SEND US.

The "sent-ness" of God's people is certainly not limited to the professional religious people we've come to associate with God's work: Pastors, Missionaries, Chaplains, Reverends....there are lots of titles.  I've lived in that world vocationally, in various forms, for 22 years.  One of my greatest struggles during this time, a struggle that is shared by many of my "comrades of the cloth", is the ongoing difficulty of trying to convince all the people of the church - aka "the laity" - that THEY are the Pastors, Missionaries, Chaplains....and that the job of leaders is to equip them to be & do what God has called them to.  The modern system of "church" isn't like this, it has a way of perpetuating the myth of the clergy as God's true sent ones, and the rest of His people as their supporters.  Often we see the clergy reinforcing this type of thinking.

The ministry of Jesus was all about empowering those around Him to continue His work in their own circles of influence.  His work was about loving, healing, sacrificing, and helping people transform into citizens of a New Kingdom....to discover their true spiritual identities and devote themselves to His mission in their everyday lives so powerfully that it exploded like a good virus.  This was, has always been, and still is the way of His Kingdom...and it's available to anyone who will answer that calling.  Notice that the scripture says "disciples" and not "apostles."  His sending commission was given to the whole group of people there, not just "the leaders."

It's interesting that when we see the word "sent" in this context, we automatically think in terms of changing location to take the message of Jesus somewhere else.  Surely, this is true of people who are called to raise support, leave their homes and go "out to the mission field."  But what about the rest of us?  When we have this limited view of "sent-ness," it breeds the false idea that God's work is happening somewhere else...and those of us who aren't called to it, or can't afford it, are stuck here in our own lives with little missional purpose.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  What about the mission field outside your door?  What about your neighbor or co-worker or friend who desperately needs to know the Good News of hope that lives in you? Who's going to serve & love that person if not you?  Who's going to listen? Who's he/she going to turn to in times of trouble if not you?  Every single follower of Jesus is sent to be His representative in the ebb & flow of daily life....with people we already know.

You don't need to go to another country to be "on mission"...you just have to "live sent."  Geography is irrelevant.  THAT is the mission that we are all sent into.  There's nothing wrong with overseas missions, they're a noble & God-given pursuit, but many of us want to jump over the familiar & mundane opportunities He's already given us in order to shine His light somewhere else.  That's part of the reason why short-term mission trips often produce a short-term depression after the experience....because temporary transformative experiences don't replace the long-term relationships and circumstances that God has already sent us into.

Where is your mission field?  Where is God sending you?

Overcoming Fear

Contrasts help us understand ourselves and the world around us.  Some people are more contrast-oriented than others.  You know the type..."black & white" personalities that see everything through worldview-lenses that turn everything into one extreme or the other.  It helps them make sense of things by comparing them to the contrast-types they carry around in them.  I'm kind of like that.  It has its benefits & detriments, just like all character traits.  (Hm...benefits & detriments in itself is a contrast...).

Anyway, for most of my life I thought that the opposite of LOVE was HATE.  It ends up, I think I've been wrong about that.  Love and Hatred as emotions are secondary....but both can become deep-seated enough in us as to because part of our default personality settings.  However, there's a difference.  Love begets love.  We love because we have been loved....We hate because of something deeper and more sinister.  we hate because we're afraid of something.  Perhaps we're afraid of appearing weak or stupid, or afraid of not being in control.  Fear, in the end, is a lack of trust in God's Sovereign Goodness, it's giving-in to the belief that God is responsible for the pain & suffering in the world, and that He cannot totally be trusted.    

Today I'm being challenged on this, and reminded of the Godly Truth we have access to because of Jesus.  I pass along that challenge to you.  Let's live in love...doing so overcomes fear by definition.

1 John 4:7-21

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19We love because he first loved us. 20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Zephaniah's Promise

"The LORD your god is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

It's always vital that we interpret the messages of scripture through the lens of itself, rather than importing our own ideas & values and imposing them on the message.  Getting this right is tricky, not just because of the language & culture barriers between our lives today and those of the original writers & recipients of scripture...but also because it takes time.  We don't tend to like things that require lots of time & attention, we like microwaves and smartphones for a reason.  But then again, the most important things in life are not quick & easy.

This passage comes after several pages full of judgments and forecasts of doom against the historic enemies of God.  At that time, before the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the "Chosen Family Of God" was limited to the Nation of Israel.  Messages of warning and condemnation were leveled against people & nations who were operating in active defiance against God's purposes, including some within the fold of Israel.  In a nutshell, the posture of most of Zephaniah's book was him waving his arms and saying "Wake up people! You cannot spit in God's face forever!"  Some of these admonitions were contemporary, others looked forward to the end of time.  Timeless principles are woven through the fabric.

At the end his prophecy, Zephaniah's tone changes as he addresses those who remained true to God in the midst of all the hypocrisies of their contemporaries.  People who, though imperfect, repeatedly came back to the place of faith in God...refusing to allow themselves to get swept along by the lies and temptations to give-up hope that God is actually among us, that He is good, that He is ultimately in control, and that we can put our trust in Him no matter what's going on around us.  The words are meant to give hope and promise and healing to those who have suffered in the pursuit of God.

"The LORD your god is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

Part 2 - Your Spirit Is A Muscle

"Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8

I wrote a blog on Tuesday correlating physical training with spiritual training.  As I exposed in that blog, I tend to lapse into inactivity and apathy when I don't have a physical goal I'm working toward. So....that begs a question.  THE QUESTION.  What is the goal you're striving toward in your walk with Jesus?  That you'll have a comfortable life? That things will go well for you and all your circumstances will be "blessed?"  This seems to be the mindset we often fall into, making God out like He's some kind of Celestial Santa Claus who exists to fulfill our desires.  Not so. In fact, DESIRE ITSELF is a ongoing foe that we must bring into conformity under the Lordship of Jesus in our lives if we want to experience TRUE BLESSINGS.

A lot of people believe lies about God's intentions for us...His desires / aka His "will" for us.  Indeed, he wants us to be happy, but He defines happiness differently than we do.  His definition doesn't include dependence upon circumstances going "our way."  In fact, it often is experienced most powerfully and transformationally when things are NOT going our way!  We have a fine way of wanting God to meet our needs in ways that don't require us to posture ourselves so that we can.  One classic & common example is the phrase "God wants me to be happy"....which is used all the time to justify decisions and alliances He would never want us to make....and will not bless.  We all do stuff from time to time that mutes God's voice in our spiritual ears.  How do we position ourselves to hear Him better, find His path for us more readily, and give us courage to DO IT?

We need daily reminders to avoid putting our faith/hope in things, circumstances, and people that will never "make us happy", so that our souls can firmly rest on the Solid Rock of Christ.  THAT is the goal....connection to Him.  And the starting point is SURRENDER/SUBMISSION.  When we are walking in His love, acquiesced to His leading; we will see through His eyes, be filled with His heart, and speak with His words.  I want to surround myself with people who want to be sold-out to Him, and will help me as well.  Training partners.

Here are some scriptures that are inspiring me this morning:

Colossians 3:1 - "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is youra life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.b 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

1 Peter 2:11 - "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."

Your Spirit Is A Muscle

I'm in the middle of training for my annual Summer Triathlon.  I tend to take care of myself best when I have a physical goal to work toward....something big that I'm preparing for that won't go well unless I prepare for it...you know what I mean?  Without the goal, I easily fall out of shape, muscle atrophy, and I gain weight quickly; but WITH the goal, something inside me drives forward and creates new abilities as I work toward it....this is especially true when the race costs money up-front!

I didn't actually start exercising seriously until 2005-06.  During that time, I signed-up for a big race and trained hard for 9-months.  I lost 35 pounds.  Since that time, I've done about 2-3 race events each year to keep the fire burning.  I seem to vacillate back & forth with weight, but have stayed in relatively good shape...AS LONG AS I'M WORKING TOWARD A GOAL.

I've seen that this is also true of my spirit.  Did you know that your spirit is a muscle?  Not literally, but it requires and responds to activity & goals just like your physical body does.  Why would we think it to be different than that?  Scripture teaches all kinds of things about our spirits.

• Each one of us is made uniquely, wonderfully, in the Image of God...aka we have "God Stuff" in us, which differentiates us from everything else in creation.  
• We are God's sons and daughters, made for relationship with Him. 
• We are given special gifts to contribute with those around us as well as the world at large.
• When we come into the Lordship of Jesus, we become part of His Body, His physical presence in this world....His ambassadors.....His agents.
• God's favor & power flows freely through His people who are fully connected & committed to Him and His purposes (Kingdom).  The more we focus on His reign in us and through us, the more we experience of Him.
• God's Kingdom is continuing to advance, behind the veil of human history, until one day it will break through what is temporal and become fully, unreservedly, inaugurated.  We have very little idea of what that will look like, but we put one step in front of the other each day in faith.

So if this is reality, why do we often find ourselves living as if it were not?  If this is our priority, why do we become distracted & enamored by temporary pleasures and hypocrisies?  If this is the type of life we are meant to live, why do we settle for the mundane, apathetic, purposeless model of the secular culture around us?  We allow ourselves to fall out of spiritual shape, and our faith-muscles to atrophy!

Most often, the aspect of God's character that we need most is His GRACE.  It reminds us that He loves us no matter what, and that He's there to help us no matter how much we screw up.  That's something we will always need in liberal quantity!  But sometimes we need a big kick in the ass also!  God's grace is His part, and although there is certainly no effort involved in our SALVATION in Christ...there is certainly is effort involved in our SANCTIFICATION in Christ.  That's a big churchy word that means "becoming set apart for Him."  What would happen in your life if you...

• Read your bible for 30-minutes every day, because You knew that without it your mind would be full of your own thoughts?
• Prayed daily that God's Kingdom would be manifested through your life, and prayed for the people in your life, whether you like them or not?
• Adopted an attitude that each of your days belonged to God, not you?
• Viewed relationships as opportunities to benefit others, rather than benefitting from them?
• Looked for opportunities to serve others and share your hope Christ when ask why?
• Truly believed that you were God's agent, and that your life's goal was to become who Jesus would be if He were you?

This is the kind of training mindset I need to have in order to compete in a Triathlon...working for a prize that will not last.  More, I want to live in order to build my spiritual endurance and strength so that I can become more able to be like Jesus today.

SCRIPTURES:

1 Cor. 9:24 - Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Matt. 16:24 - Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save their lifef will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 

1 Thess. 5:15 - Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22reject every kind of evil. 23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 

Truth or Love - 2

I received a very thoughtful email response to yesterday's blog, and in my reply I ended up writing another blog in the process :)  Here's a clip from the dichotomy I addressed yesterday:

"Today in America we’re seeing a huge spiritual backlash against the traditional christendom of our predecessors. Generations have been growing-up believing increasingly that truth is relative, religious people are mean-spirited, and churches are full of hypocrites. The travesty is that this has been sometimes true…enough of the time that it’s poisoned an otherwise Godly heritage and given birth to a pendulum swing.  I may be oversimplifying to make a point, and forgive me if that’s so, but it seems to me that the type of faith that was promoted & exemplified in most of the 1900’s was characterized by an overzealous pursuit of true doctrine, separatism and growth formulas; at the expense of honesty, brotherly love, and the lifestyle of service that was displayed by our Master. This backlash has produced a tidal wave of followers of Jesus who are very sincere, accepting, and accommodating; but who really don’t know what they believe or why…and they’re falling prey to all kinds of false, misleading, and cancerous beliefs that don’t look anything like Jesus. " 

Of course, I was simplifying a very complex issue in order to make a point….sort of poking at both ends of a spectrum.  There’s a tremendous amount of polarization in America generally, and within American Christendom specifically.  My effort here is to shake this up a bit and point to a uniting force that Jesus and the Apostles talked & wrote about a lot…and modeled as well.

This has to do with Biblical interpretation…what lens do we look through?  In speaking to a polarized situation, I think that those on the more “doctrinal/legalistic side” are often in need of more self-aware and loving motivations.  And I think that those on the “anything goes as long as we act lovingly” side need reminders that there actually is absolute truth and it’s important.  The point is that there is no “right place”…there is just tension between these two values.  Even Christ’s assertion, often called the “Great Commandment” in Matthew 22, is that all the law & prophets hang on the 2 commandments to love God with everything we are and to love others as we love ourselves….and upon further investigation we learn that “loving God” is synonymous with obeying His commands.  So we again are faced with this interesting dichotomy because if you chase truth and love to their ends, they seem to lead to different places…But they actually both lead to God.

I still struggle to find balance in this every day, in every situation, because life is messy and not prone to stasis.  I think we’re called to live in this dynamic tension, gradually growing more wise and peaceful in it but never really mastering it…that’s part of my understanding of “walking by faith.”

There are certainly portions of scripture that are meant to be taken literally (don’t steal, love people, honor your parents, learn the scriptures and pray, etc.) and others that are meant to be taken figuratively (cut off your hand if it causes you to sin, eat Jesus’ body and drink his blood, hate your father & mother so you can love Jesus more, etc.), the trouble is that there’s bound to be disagreements about which is which…and this will always be the case…but we can put differences aside in what Paul calls “disputable matters” and remain unified in the “main things” (There is one God and He is real, Jesus is Him on earth, Our connection with His work saves us, wow).  If all of us Jesus people can see our differences as secondary or tertiary, perhaps we would be so condemning and dismissive of each other when we disagree.

On the other hand, throwing doctrine out the window so that we can just blindly love everything can’t be right either.  There are a lot of Jesus people I know whose belief system has been so affected by the PC environment we live-in that, if truth be told, they would say that their belief in Jesus is no different/better than their co-worker’s belief in Buddha or Allah or Krishna…that all the other deities worshipped in humanity are all different forms of the same truth, and that the one chosen isn’t as important as a person’s sincerity of belief.  In my research & experience, this belief (universalism) is more prominent in America, especially the Northwest, than Biblical Christianity…and it has definitely impacted and infiltrated the ongoing Body of Christ.  The critical path with believers caught in vortexes of false belief is to emphasize the historical reliability and spiritual uniqueness of God’s “salvation history” as chronicled in the Bible…and where we are now in that story.

If the Bible is real, then Jesus was the most theologically true person AND the most inviting and loving person who ever lived.  Although we are not Him, we are called to follow.

Truth or Love

Truth Or Love?

Parenting is a great metaphor for life, and many of my hard-earned lessons have come through my relationships with my kids.  They’re fantastic kids, and I love them with all my heart.  I would take a bullet for either one of them in a second if needed.  Sometimes, when I hear noises at night while I’m laying in bed, I imagine exactly how I would jump out of bed and sprint up the stairs to save them from a bad guy with my bare hands.  At other times, they make me so crazy frustrated I have to go for a run just to get some sanity & peace before talking with them.  The issues we’ve encountered with our children are nothing compared to the hell I put my own parents through when I was a kid…just ask anyone who’s known me for awhile.  Anyway, in moments of frustration, when kids get stuck in a behaviors or underlying beliefs that threaten their well being in some way, it’s the parents’ job to hold them accountable to what’s right…but to do it in such a way that feeds their spirits and strengthens the relationship.  This is parenting 101…and it’s the hardest lesson of all.  Chasten and embrace. Set free and guide. Judge and accept.  Obedience and grace.  These seem like opposites, and most people lean heavily on one while neglecting the other.  Healthy, effective parents embrace the tension and excel in both.

So here’s the metaphor.  Today in America we’re seeing a huge spiritual backlash against the traditional christendom of our predecessors. Generations have been growing-up believing increasingly that truth is relative, religious people are mean-spirited, and churches are full of hypocrites. The travesty is that this has been sometimes true…enough of the time that it’s poisoned an otherwise Godly heritage and given birth to a pendulum swing.  I may be oversimplifying to make a point, and forgive me if that’s so, but it seems to me that the type of faith that was promoted & exemplified in most of the 1900’s was characterized by an overzealous pursuit of true doctrine, separatism and growth formulas; at the expense of honesty, brotherly love, and the lifestyle of service that was displayed by our Master. This backlash has produced a tidal wave of followers of Jesus who are very sincere, accepting, and accommodating; but who really don’t know what they believe or why…and they’re falling prey to all kinds of false, misleading, and cancerous beliefs that don’t look anything like Jesus.  

This is one of the most important issues facing the Church today…rediscovering the art of living in truth AND love. We can only do this in the power of God’s Spirit living in us.

On the one hand, Jesus commanded us to love each other and sacrifice our preferences for others.  We see Him and His early followers in the New Testament standing in strong opposition to religious fundamentalists and making friends with the shadiest people in society.  

On the other hand, we are recipients and guardians of truth.  If the Bible is actually true historically and philosophically, and if Jesus really is who He says He is, then adherence to that narrative and body of teachings is of paramount importance.  

We need a new movement.  One that joins these two character traits of God and puts them on display to the waiting, watching, wandering world around us.  Let’s be the Holy Spirit’s movement, starting in our own lives.

Scripture Reading.  Below is an excerpt…just verse 15 of Ephesians chapter 4.  But you should read the whole thing….so good!

“…Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

What We Seek

The Bible gets blamed for all kinds of delusional thinking.  We tend to misunderstand for a variety of reasons, and chief among them is our propensity to read into it what we already think and then extract a sentence or two that upholds our view.  In this way, many unwittingly re-create a god of their own making...rather than allowing it to speak for itself and form the lyrics of truth from God's anthem to our own.

This morning's example of this is an often misquoted passage from the end of Matthew chapter 6:

"So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matthew 6:31-33

Seems like a really great deal, right?  Taken by itself, it seems to be a promise...one that is very self-explanatory and amazing.  However, do you see that first word?  "SO"....This implies that it's looking back to what was just said.  Anytime you see something like that, you'd better read the part before so you're sure that you're understanding the purpose of what you're reading.  Here's the full section, which is often broken up into 2 sections in our modern Bibles.  Here, read the full section (Matthew 6:19-34):

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of Godd above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

So you see, this section is not about getting all our nutritional and clothing needs met.  It's about focusing our "seeking" on our relationship with God rather than the needs of today & tomorrow.  There is an aspect of promise in there, however, it's not the point...and it surely isn't meant to be instructing us to approach God with our daily needs as if He were our person Genie to meet all our needs.  It's about having different framework than the corrupted, materialistic world around us.  It's about teaching us what truly makes us content.   It's about the connection between WORRY and DESIRE.  It's an object lesson to teach us that "If I only had _____ I would be happy" doesn't actually produce the contentment we seek.  I'll leave you with this:

"I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:11-13)

The Prayer God Always Answers

So often we pray wrong.

There’s a right way and wrong way to do it.  But this has nothing to do with saying religious words in just the right way, or with how much emotion is put into them.  It has to do with motive…what’s in the heart of the pray-er.  You know what I mean?  God sees through all the fancy & emotional words we might say, and looks into the heart.

On the one hand you may have someone who seems to be very comfortable in prayer, and who likes to pray out loud in public settings with words that sound knowledgeable and holy, but who’s heart is actually very far from God’s.  And on the other hand a person who stammers & struggles to express the things within but who’s heart is intimately lined-up with the purposes and character of the Spirit within.

Which one does God hear? Well, He hears both of course.
Which one does He appreciate and respond to?

Scripture teaches us about the nature of prayer and the ONE we pray to (or, with), so we don’t need to come up with our own self-centered definitions and impose them upon a Lord we don’t understand.  The mistake we often make is that we tend to view the Lord from our own limited perspective, and we tend to interact with Him accordingly.

“God please do this for me…”
“God this is what You need to do about….”
“God please give success to ….”

These are not good examples of prayer’s purpose…although they certainly exemplify the pattern of many of our prayers.  The purpose of prayer is to weave our hearts/desires/circumstances/choices…. to the Lord’s.  Prayer isn’t about getting God to do what we want done, but getting ourselves lined-up with what He wants done.  This is the definition of “praying according to God’s will.”  Indeed there are many scriptures that speak about asking God for things/people/circumstances, but the common denominator is HIS WILL not mine or yours….HIS evaluation of the interworking of circumstances from His time-less perspective.

The English word "prayer" comes from the Biblical Greek word "proseúxomai" - prós, meaning "towards, exchange" and euxomai, meaning "to wish, pray" – literally, to exchange wishes; to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes (ideas) for His wishes as He imparts faith.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

“You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?” (James 4:2-4)

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” (Luke 11:11-13)

“Always be joyful. NEVER STOP PRAYING. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

So, perhaps our role in prayer is not to inform God of what we want….but to remain close to Him so that we know what HE WANTS and WHAT HE IS DOING…and then align our lives and priorities around Him in a lifestyle of prayer. The peace & joy that we seek will follow.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

Pray Easy

I've read a few books about prayer over the years, and my favorite quote is from a Bill Hybels book back in the 80's or 90's called "Too Busy Not To Pray."  He says:

"Don't pray hard.  Pray easy.

Prayer doesn't do it.  God does it." 

I was reminded of this as I was reading & praying through Jesus' teaching about prayer in His 'Sermon on the Mount'...Let's pray like this:

"When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the religious buildings where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this:

"Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

 

 

Onion-Skin Theology

I wasn't always a professional spiritual guy.  I spent my first 4-years of college studying architecture and working part-time as an engineering draftsman.  I was pretty good at it, but came to understand that it wasn't my calling...and subsequently went (kicking & screaming) into ministry...which is another story.

While I was studying Ephesians chapter 2 the other day, I did some study about the Greek word translated into English as "heavenly-realms."  It's the word "epouranios", which is from "epi"-on, upon, against, fits, on the basis of....and "ouranos"-heaven.

I had the epiphany that the Kingdom of God is like when I was designing something and would use "onion-skin" to help with the design process.   We would make a base drawing, then use onion-skin - a very thin and transparent layer of vellum - to superimpose design options on top of the drawing to see how they would look.  For example, if I was designing a house floor plan, I could use onion-skins to explore various layout options for interior walls or exterior landscaping.  It has occurred to me that this is what it must be like for the Kingdom of God among us.  Although we cannot "see" the Kingdom, its realities are all-pervading and ever-present...like an imperceptible layer of higher-reality that superimposes and interacts with our daily lives, pasts, and futures.  This is an incredibly accurate analogy for how scripture views the "heavenly-realms."  It's not "over there" or "later"...it's right now, among us.  It's not limited to space & time like we are, it's an additional layer superimposed upon space & time, interacting with it...us....me....you.

Kind of like when Jesus would say things like "he who has eyes to see, let him see."  ....or in Luke 17:20-21 when He said, "Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.'”

So, the question is, which reality is more real?...and how do we live into that one?

The Great Obstacle and Greater Remedy

The greatest obstacle between me and the life I seek is myself.  This morning I was reminded of this, and the remedy.

"Surrender don't come natural to me. I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want, than to take what You give that I need. And I've beat my head against so many walls...now I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees. And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn. And Your grace rings out so deep, it makes my resistance seem so thin. You have been King of my glory, won't You be my Prince of Peace?" (From the song "Hold Me Jesus" by Rich Mullins)

     "The trouble is not with [God's] law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 
     And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
     I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:14-25)

Crisis of Faith

When God invites you to join Him in His work, He presents a God-sized assignment He wants to accomplish.  It will be obvious you can’t do it on your own.  If God doesn’t help, you will fail.  This is the crisis point at which many people decide not to follow what they sense God is leading them to do.  Then they wonder why they do not experience God’s presence, power, and activity the way some Christians do.

The word “crisis” comes from a Greek word that means “decision.” The same word is often translated “judgment.” We aren’t talking about a calamity in your life such as an accident or death.  This crisis is not a disaster or a bad thing.  It is a turning point or a fork in the road that calls for a decision.  You must decide what you believe about God.  How you respond when you reach this turning point will determine whether or not you proceed with God in something only He can do or whether you continue on your own way and miss what God has purposed for your life.  This is not a one-time experience.  How you live your life daily is a testimony of what you believe about God.

All through scripture when God revealed Himself, His purposes, and His ways, the response required faith.  Read what God says about faith:

• Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. (Heb.11:1)
• For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor.5:7)
• [Jesus said,] The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)
• For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt.17:20)
• [Paul said,] My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5)
• If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all. (Isa. 7:9)

Faith is confidence that what God promised will come to pass. Sight is the opposite of faith. If you can see clearly how something can be accomplished, faith is more than likely not required…  Christians (as well as everyone else) have a natural tendency to try building a life in which faith is unnecessary.  We establish a comfort zone where everything is in our control, but this is not pleasing to God.  God will allow things into our lives that drive us to utter dependence upon Him.  Then we see His power and His glory. 

Jesus said if His followers have faith in God, they will do even greater things than He He has done.  Our faith in the Lord must be based on God’s power, not on human wisdom…  On their own, the disciples could not feed the multitudes, heal the sick, or raise the dead.  But God could and did do these very things through them.  When God lets you know what He wants to do through you, it will be something only He can do.  What you believe about Him will determine your response… We face the same crisis of belief the people in the Bible experienced. When God speaks, what He asks of us requires faith. Our major hindrance to obedience is our self-centeredness. We think we have to accomplish the assignment in our own power and with our current resources.  We think, “I can’t do that. That’s not possible.” In other words, we lack faith.  We forget that when God speaks, He always reveals what He is going to do-not what He wants us to do for Him. We join with Him so He works through us.

Excerpts from “Experiencing God”, by Henry Blackaby

Flesh vs. Spirit

There are great lies among us, and inside us.  Insidious rumors that we desire desperately to believe.  One of the greatest of these deceptions is that indulging our desires for pleasure is the purpose of life.  This is one of the predominant falsehoods of the American dream…that the “pursuit of happiness” is the great goal.  Of course, pleasure does bring temporary gladness…and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the delights of this amazing world.  But the lasting joy & peace that every human seeks always eludes us just beyond the corner of whatever pursuit we’re currently engrossed in…as long as we hold pleasure as an end unto itself.

Pleasure was never meant to be the source of our wholeness, but a by-product.  We were made to be deeper, with greater purpose, than what mere experiences could ever fabricate for us.

Reflect on the following words of scripture.  I challenge you to ponder them, measure them against your own experiences, meditate on the truths you find in them, and allow them to draw you closer to the Living Spirit of God today:

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love…So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:13-25)

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

One could say that, in terms of the Spirit, the best defense is a good offense.

Lessons From Nicodemus

We have this way of thinking that our lives, and the generation we live in, are really unique.  Of course, no YOU has ever existed before, and the circumstances we live in are certainly unique in the sense that they haven't happened before.  After all, we do live within this thing called "time."  That being said, there are fundamental principles that drive our personal passions & pursuits (sorry for the alliteration), as well as the greater global dramas that drive people groups, nations, economies, etc.  That's all just to say that, at the root, we're not much different than people of the past because we have the same engine.  In a sense, our lessons were their lessons.  Today we all have all the knowledge of the whole world available on our phones, but there are things beyond knowledge that often elude us.

Jesus had this way of cutting to the heart of issues.  He spoke the language of knowledge, but was far more interested in what was deeper...what was behind the curtains of appearance.  He had a clandestine conversation once with a very well known & powerful religious & political leader.  Clandestine because Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Jesus at night, under cover of darkness, to avoid association with the revolutionary young teacher / miracle worker who was wreaking havoc on the status quo.  Nicodemus opened the door wide to hear Jesus' thoughts, and we see in this dialogue some amazing things as Jesus brings new & unexpected realities across the threshold.  We would do well to consider taking them to heart for ourselves, in our day.  Here are some highlights from that conversation, found in John chapter 3:

• "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."  This is where the phrase "Born Again Christian" comes from.  Although in the original Greek language it literally means "Born From Above."  Some English translations stick with this meaning...I like it because it connotes something very different.  To me, "born again" conveys the feeling of throwing away the first one and doing it again.  But I think Jesus' intention was to convey more of a dual-citizenship idea.  There is, indeed, a sense in which we must throw-away our selfish, sinful desires in order to truly walk in step with God, but that's certainly not a one-time deal, is it?  "Born from above" has this aspect of connecting us with a greater, other-worldly reality.  So we have Jesus' invitation to live our lives in 2 realities simultaneously...with greater loyalty to the "one above."  That would change everything for our lives, would it?

• "The 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.”  This connects with many other scriptures that seem to say that that following God, for real, doesn't follow conventional wisdom and won't result in conformity with what's popular in society at large.  It carries with it the call to surrender....surrendering our desires, plans, priorities.  This isn't because God's like a petulant child who wants to "be the boss of us"...He doesn't need that, but apparently we do.  All throughout history, we tend to make a mess of things...and although the idealogues among us make great claims to their own versions of "utopia," there is no such thing as unmarred & lasting peace and harmony in this world.  That's because this world was designed to be temporary, it leads to something beyond.  The SPIRIT, which is God's ongoing work in & through the hearts & souls of all His people, is from that place...and is constantly manufacturing personal revolutions that usher people into that reality.

• "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."  "Evil" is a funny word.  Practically no one who does evil things considers them to be evil...that's a really strong word, right?  Evil simply means "against God's character/design/desire."  We often want to soften the blow of evil so that it doesn't seem so sinister and malevolent and "bad"...because those words certainly could not apply to us!  That's an example of self-defensive reasoning...it doesn't work, and would never hold-up in any serious discussion of logic...but we all do it, and it is what it is.  Not everything is "black & white," but many things are.  IMHO, most people who make an informed decision against following Jesus do so, not because they truly "disbelieve" but because of the price that believing would require them to pay.  Many of God's children love things that are inconsistent with Jesus' character to the extent that giving them up to follow Him is simply "not worth it" to them.  But God's invitation is to all of us (I'm saying me too!) who have evil tendencies, to come into the light.  What we find in the light is that there's no comparison between the temporary happiness we glean from our evils, and the lasting joy & peace that rewards us for letting them go.  Choose your reward wisely.

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."  Yeah, you've heard that one before, right?  Jesus, aka "God's Son" / "God In a Human", is the key to all of this...the pivot of history...the answered prophecy.  If I'm sounding like 100 movies you've seen right now with similar themes, consider their source.  I'd love to share with you, so feel free to reach out to me if you want more info about who the historical Jesus really was, what He did & said, and what we're supposed to do about it.  Or talk to someone you know and trust who seems to understand this stuff...if they do, I'm sure they would love to share with you as well.  

"We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

(2 Corinthians 4:18)

Remember Your Chains

Amazing lyrics from one of my all-time favorites:

I couldn't help but wonder

What he was thinking

As he stared out the window

Through the sky

It seemed he was taking

His last look at freedom

From the hopeless, longing look in his eyes

There were chains on his hands

And chains on his feet

And as I passed him by

The thought came to me...

Remember your chains

Remember the prison that once held you

Before the love of God broke through

Remember the place you were without grace

When you see where you are now

Remember your chains

And remember your chains are gone

There's no one more thankful

To sit at the table

Than the one who best remembers from his pain

And no heart loves greater

Than the one that is able

To recall the time when all it knew was shame

The wings of forgiveness

Can take us to heights we've never seen

But the wisest ones, they will never lose sight

Of where they were set free

[Chorus]

And in the light of all that we've been forgiven of

We will find our heart's full look at freedom

To give and receive God's love

[Chorus]

Remember your chains are gone

by Steven Curtis Chapman

Faith is a Verb

Powerball

Politicians
Partying
Pleasure
People

What do these have in common?  When we put too much faith in them, we end up disappointed & disillusioned.  We often tend to put our faith in the wrong things, don't we?

Faith

...that things will get better if we just have faith.  That's a real popular thought in our culture.  The problem is that, most often, it doesn't have an object...a deep reservoir to pull from...a firm foundation to build upon...so we end up having faith in things that aren't real.  Empty Faith.  Blind Faith.  I love optimism, but looking ahead to hopeful results based upon faulty or absent bedrock is not faith.

God defines faith for us:

• "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6)
• "Whoever has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)
• "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4)
• "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:17)

This kind of faith actually works!....as long as it's a a verb, not a noun.

I do hope that things will work out well for me, those I love, and for my countrymen....but even more, I have faith in the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated.  It's a higher loyalty.  Here's how the Apostle John described faith, in more detail:

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 John 5:1-5)

The original Greek root word used for "believe" and "faith" are the same.  It literally means to "put one's trust in."  It's also the same word translated "trust" in the following passage....what are you putting your trust in today?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:1-6)

I can do all things

Have you ever watched a post-game interview and seen a well-meaning Christian athlete give God the credit for his performance or his team's victory?  I usually have a mixed reaction to that...part of me appreciates the person's sincerity in wanting to share how much God means to him, but often the declaration is accompanied by a sense of self-centeredness and bad theology that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  I don't think I'm alone in this.  One the most MIS-quoted scriptures at times like this is "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength."  This verse is cherished by multitudes of those of us who cling to Christ...but unless we read it in the context of what comes before and after, we lose its meaning entirely.

Here's the whole section:

"I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:11-13)

This is an example of how easy it is to make scripture say what we want it to say.  In the end, our relationship with God is not about getting Him to side with our cause...but us getting our own hearts & motives lined-up with His.  I don't think God cares about helping us become rich or driving nice cars or making our favorite teams win.  He cares about people...our characters, relationships with Him and others, and our willingness to be faithful to His Kingdom in the midst of our short lives in this world.

I'm not so self-inflated as to believe my words will make a difference to any sports heroes, but this was a truth that God impressed on my heart this morning as I was studying Philippians 3 & 4.  I want to allow Christ to transform my heart so entirely that His cause becomes mine, and that my identity & purpose can rise above whatever circumstances I find myself in so that I become part of His work in the world.  I hope this helps you in the same way.