A Focused Resolve

It is always interesting to hear what people are making resolutions about as the New Year is just around the corner. I have been guilty of making some difficult if not weird resolutions in the past. Like the following:

1. I resolve to win the lottery and if I do I’ll give most of it to my friends, family and charity.
2. I resolve to live in my own little world, because at least they know me here.
3. I resolve to not make any resolutions, because nobody is perfect.

I ran across a place on the Internet where you can make your new year’s resolutions online, and they will email you a monthly reminder of what your resolutions are. What I found interesting was seeing what resolutions people were making for 2012. Not surprisingly, exercise and dieting topped the list. Also near the top were things like becoming a better person and a better spouse.

How can we move beyond just making resolutions and begin creating solutions for our lives? We do it by working on the core issues of our lives instead of just making cosmetic changes. We have to go to beyond the symptoms to the source of our problems. Losing weight may only be a symptom of the core issue of a lack of self-control in your life (around which there may be many other symptoms).

Perhaps you are using food to sedate yourself. Controlling your drinking may only be a symptom of the fact that you are looking for something to deaden the pain and disappointment in your life, instead of finding your comfort and strength in God. Controlling your anger may only be a symptom of a deeper need you have to control life and the people in it with your rage. We need to focus on the core issues rather than the present problem.

We need to focus on personal development. I am talking about something more here than running out and getting yourself a new abs exerciser so you can get ripped abs. You can be the perfect weight and have a perfect body, and still miss the point of what it means to be a human being. You can read all the self-improvement books on the shelves of Grace Family Church’s Bookstore “The Source”, and still be out of control. You can be the best educated person in the world, and still be clueless about how to live life.

You might know a lot about a broad range of subjects, and still be ignorant when it comes to things that are ultimately and eternally important. You may have all the right investments and be set for life financially, but be bankrupt spiritually.

You cannot have victory and freedom in your life if you are holding some things back from God’s control. It isn’t going to happen. If you are saying, “I will obey God in everything except this,” you are blocking God’s work in your life. This is not so much personal development as it is allowing God to do a work in you.

Paul realized this when he wrote: “So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 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. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

But then he answers his own question when he says, “Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:21-25. It is through Christ that we are delivered from our own wretchedness — not our own effort.

But what if you have failed so many times before that you have given up even trying? Take seriously the words of Paul when he wrote: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:12-14.

Forget the past with its failure, and press on toward the future where God has called you. Every day is a new beginning with God. We need to focus on building relationships. None of us can survive this world alone. Nobody gets out alive anyways! We were not created to live in isolation. There are no spiritual superheroes that can live isolated and insulated lives. There is no such thing as an army of one. We all know that the loner who needs no one else, and saves the world singlehandedly, is the stuff of movies only.

“For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone” Romans 14:7.

The church is not an organization, it is an organism. When we are together, God meets us in ways that he does not meet us when we are alone.
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” Matthew 18:20.

We need to focus on a life of service. One of the great tragedies of the world is people who live only for themselves. Their whole world centers around them. Everything is measured on how it affects them. The only effort they put forth is on things which will benefit them. Their focus is on getting instead of giving. They want to be served rather than serve. But the mark of true disciples of Jesus Christ is people who want God to use their lives.

Is your life being prepared for works of service?

God has created me, to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission — I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in heaven. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do well, I shall do his work. Therefore, I will trust him. I cannot be thrown away.

You have a part to play in God’s plan for the world.

Focus on it.

A Wallet full of Regret

I lost my wallet once. So I got on my hands and knees and started looking. A man walked up and asked me if I had lost something. I simply replied, “Yes, I lost my wallet.”

He asked me where I lost it (Really?).

I told him I lost it down the street a bit.

He then asked, “Well, why you looking over here then?”

Because the light is better!

I know, goofy joke, right? I told it to set the stage for my blog. I have things in my life which I have hid (lost on purpose) and regret. I know where/what they are but like the wallet, I choose not to look at them. I am afraid to look over there for fear of bringing up a past pain or conflict and dealing with regret.

I know my previous post spoke of Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” but there is more I need to say on this. How would you like to be visited by the ghost of your past? How would you like to go back and relive your sins, your mistakes, the foolish choices that changed your life?

How would you like to be forced to watch helplessly, knowing what the outcome is going to be, unable to do anything to change the result, feeling the sharp pain of regret at not having taken the other path, or at least wondering what would have happened had your choices been different?

Don’t you sometimes wish you could go back and talk to yourself at those key moments, talk to that person in the movie of your life, warn them, tell them where the road they’re taking will lead?

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. - 2 Corinthians 7:10

Sorrow over sin can by healthy, up to a point. It can help us learn from our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them. But regret is anything but helpful; it’s destructive and debilitating. It allows the sins and mistakes of the past to reach out and poison our present. And if it’s not handled appropriately, it will just lead to more wrong choices and more regret, a vicious cycle.

Regret is also unhealthy when it leads to an attitude of hopelessness. "What difference does it make? I’ve already messed up. Regret can also lead to apathy, paralysis; an unwillingness to seek God’s blessing -- in our marriage, our family, our job, our ministry.

We don’t have to be paralyzed by regret, we don’t have to let it rob us of the joy and hope that God has promised us as our birthright in Christ.

Jesus said, "I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. - John 10:10
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. - John 15:11

Those promises of abundant life and joy are for all the followers of Christ, and not just those who have never made a serious error in judgment or who have never committed a major sin. Those promises are for every one of Christ’s disciples, whatever their background, whatever sins or mistakes their past may contain.

Many people think that God has one perfect plan for their lives. As long as they stay in that plan by walking in obedience, and seeking His guidance for major decisions, they will enjoy God’s best. But if at any point they "mess up" badly enough, by sinning or by not seeking His guidance, or by making a foolish decision, then they are out of God’s plan, and they can never again enjoy His full blessing on their lives.

All of your sins and mistakes that you thought were detours, exit ramps from God’s plan for your life were in reality a part of His plan. You are right now, and always have been, precisely in the center of God’s plan for your life. There was never a possibility that it would be otherwise.

What was the greatest sin in history? The worst thing that any person or group of people ever did? How about murdering the Son of God? How about putting to death the most righteous and holy man ever to walk the earth?

And yet, as supremely evil and wicked as that act was, the Bible tells us that it did not thwart God’s plan. In fact, it was a part of God’s plan.

If the greatest sin in history was part of God’s sovereign plan, then your sins are included in that plan too. Your sin has not thwarted God’s plan for your life. God’s purposes are eternal, from before time. His purposes for the world are eternal, and His purposes for you and me are eternal. They don’t change. They aren’t altered or voided because of our sins or our bad choices.

The story of your life has not been ruined, not by your sin or anyone else’s. God’s good plan for your life is not buried under the mistakes of the past. God has a plan for your life, a good plan, a wise plan, a loving plan, a sovereign plan, and that plan is still in effect. You haven’t missed it. He is working out that plan in your life right now, today.

Will you believe that?

By the way, I found my wallet!

Bah-Humbug!

I just finished watching “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens for the millionth time. This was the version that Jim Carrey played in but not my favorite. I’ve always enjoyed the Muppet’s version.

I always liked saying, Bah-Humbug! This Carol, has a Spiritual aspect but not like “Casper the friendly ghost” spiritual but like Holy Spirit spiritual beginnings.

It begins at the same place where Scrooge did – with a convicting spirit that comes to us in our self-centered lives to show us that change needs to happen. We all have come from our own Christmas past and we have been reminded by the visiting Spirit of what has gone before. The Ghost of Christmas Past that appeared to old Ebeneezer Scrooge could well be compared to the visitation in your heart of the Holy Spirit.

If you will remember, it is Scrooge’s old partner, Jacob Marley, who comes to him first to warn him that he is going to be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas. Marley has already met his doom. In effect what we can see here is that Scrooge is given something that is still offered to every one of us if we will heed God’s Word and listens to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to us. Change!

What was coming to Scrooge was really going to be good news, but he surely did not recognize it as good news in the beginning. His first reaction was one of refusal to. He was very resistant to the leading of the Ghost of Christmas Past and was finally forced to look into the past to see how far he had fallen.

When the Holy Spirit comes to us, it does so in much the same fashion as the Ghost of Christmas Past came to old Mr. Scrooge. Sometimes, before we can hear the good news of what God has done for us, we first need to hear the bad news. It’s only in hearing the bad news that we can truly hear what the good news has to say, embrace it and then desire to make a change.
In both the Story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and your story, the goal is the same: It’s all about redemption; bringing you back into a right relationship with men and with God while there is time. Once life is over; it’s too late then. The change must happen now, by choice.

As Scrooge is confronted with the man that he truly is, he doesn’t like what he sees. He has had his head stuck in his books; and his mind focused only on making money for so long that he doesn’t see the real world around him. He has become uncaring, cynical and angry at life.

As you go through life do you see those in need around you, or do you choose to ignore them and keep moving on? Do we ignore those who are truly needy; pass them by without even a nod; and go on our merry way without compassion?

What about those that we pass by every day in the malls and the department stores? How many of them are lost in sin? How many are just putting on an outward appearance of having fun but down deep inside they are hurting?

How many are lonely and discouraged but we don’t have time to try to lift them up or tell them about the love of Jesus? Perhaps we need a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present. Perhaps we need a visitation of the Holy Ghost in our hearts to remind us that we are here not only for ourselves, but to reach out to others in need and to share a little kindness and show them the Love of God.

Man has ever searched for ways to know the future, to see what is ahead; to make changes to avoid the dangers, or take advantage of opportunities that may come. Psychic Hotlines, Fortune Tellers, Palm Readers, and other mediums are sought after continually that we can know the future. Some of the most well-known people in America have sought out the services of fortune tellers and spiritual advisors; and many of those advisors need spiritual guidance themselves.

We don’t need fortunetellers and psychics. We have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The Bible already tells us what’s coming in this world. Whatever comes in the future, God already has a path of victory laid out for those who will follow Him. All of the Spirits of Christmas that visited Mr. Scrooge came with the same purpose in mind – to give him an opportunity to change.

That’s what the Holy Spirit and the Word of God does for us as well. The Bible contains stories of people who waited just a little too long to make the change. Because of the hardness of their hearts, men were cast into the fiery pits, and remain there today and forever, simply because they waited one day too long to heed the warnings that God sent to them.

I doubt that any of you will see three Spirits this Christmas. There will be no Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present or Christmas Future to shake you and awaken you to face reality. But I have no doubt that you will be visited by the Holy Spirit because He never quits trying to reach us. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you how far you have fallen from God. The Word of God will show you how far you are from being a perfect man. And both the Spirit and the Word will point you to the only path to a second chance for a new life.

2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new."

It’s not where you’ve been; it’s not where you are; but it’s where you’re going from here that really matters; so why not go into the future with Jesus?

(Tiny Tim: “God Bless us, everyone!”)

JOE

I was reading in Mathew, like I normally do when Christmas time comes around. I love reading about the birth of Jesus at this time of the year. As I was reading in Mathew 2, I realized, there is what we might call the forgotten man of Christmas whose influence we need to make everything work. Joseph is the forgotten and ignored man of Christmas.

Yet, Joseph models for us the kind of sensitivity God wants us to develop to hearing his voice.

Think about this, Joseph was engaged to be married to a pretty young lady named Mary. She’s the kind of young lady he can commit his whole life to; she’s godly; quietly submissive; has a good testimony and she’s dedicated to him. Then the bomb drops as Joseph finds out some shattering news …Mary is pregnant!

Now that news is bad enough even when you are the unmarried father of the earlier than expected new baby! But it’s shattering news when you discover that it’s not your baby and even worse when the bride to be is saying, “I’ve been faithful to you all along”! This is where Joseph’s sensitivity to God saves the day!

Sensitivity to God is what saves men and women in the midst of life’s sometimes horribly confusing circumstances. Joseph could have been mad, angry, upset and even ready to do Mary or himself violence.

Now think about this, there is a battle raging on two fronts at once. On one hand Joseph has a young lady on his arm every day in the market place.

As they walked along the roads of Galilee going to a friend’s house for dinner or something like that, who is pregnant! He is beginning to notice the groups of people standing together and talking while they look in his direction! He is no doubt dubbed the sucker of Galilee, ‘poor guy, he’s going to marry Mary who is pregnant to another guy!”

But on the other front here is a battle that is raging in his heart as God speaks to him in that still small voice that says trust Me in this Joseph and everything will work out! You see God builds on our breakthroughs to lead us on to greater challenges.

Now as the confusion begins to ease up, Joseph has heard the angelic choir; seen the adoring shepherds; been visited by wise men and met Simeon the prophet in the temple. And as he is recovering from the whole scene there at the Barn, God calls upon his sensitivity once again.

Mathew 2: 13 - Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;

Are you kidding me? Now he has to leave town again and go to Egypt! When we look at Joseph what we see is a man who has patience in discovering the will of God. For Joseph the call of God meant going down into Egypt, a place every spiritual and God fearing Jew understood as outside the will of God.

For Joseph it meant bearing reproach; being a foreigner; living as an outcast and being scorned. Does that sound anything like the will of God you’re called to today? The truth is that if you’re doing the will of God you’re not going to completely fit in!

Joseph role was temporary but in this he was able to see the eternal! Joseph gives every one of us an example to follow because although his role is temporal His influence is eternal.

Don’t underestimate your place in the eternal plan of God for your life.

You may appear in God’s great plan for a moment but your influence could last for eternity!

Some Pastors…

A few months ago, I had a dream. The reason I remember this dream is because I have so few of them. In this dream I was at church and the men in white suits were leading me away. I was in a strait jacket and I was just babbling away. As I got into the vehicle, I heard one of the Pastors say, “I’m going to miss Paul, he volunteered for everything!”

I truly believe God was trying to tell me if I volunteered too much…again, I would go crazy! If this were true - that being “too involved” is what makes people “crazy” - then every Pastor of every congregation in the land would need to be outfitted with straightjackets.

Of all the people within a church, the Pastor is often THE most committed and involved of any. If this was true, then many of you reading this would be irritable and difficult to be around, because you are highly committed to serving God. It’s been my experience that the “more involved” a person is in ministry, the more satisfied and fulfilled that person is - not the other way around.

Yet, people do get frustrated serving God. Sometimes it’s because they are faced with difficult circumstances, or difficult people, or a shortage of resources. But even those frustrations can be overcome if God’s people understand two things: Who they are, and why they are doing what they do.

1 Peter 2:5 "...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

You and I are Pastors for God. Peter was not the only one to tell us that. John wrote in Revelation: Jesus “… has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father…” (Revelation 1:6) Isaiah prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus were born, that under the New Covenant you and I would “be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God...” (Isaiah 61:6)

And now because we are priests of God, we have a right to handle the holy things of God. We have the privilege of coming before God in prayer. We have the right to touch and partake of communion. We have the right to baptize others into Christ. We have the responsibility of knowing and teaching the Word of God. PLUS we have no need for anyone other than Jesus to intercede for us before God.

Last week, I went into the Sanctuary Men’s Bathroom and saw a peculiar site. There were 4 men washing their hands at the same time. That’s a miracle! (I’m kidding here) What amazed me was when all 4 men finished washing their hands, they took paper towels and wiped around the sink. They cleaned up the overspray of water from washing their hands.

Why did these people act this way? They were acting like adults. This was their church and as far as they were concerned, when something had to be done there, they saw it as their responsibility – not the janitor’s, not youth minister’s not the Pastor’s – but theirs.

As a church we’ll only attain our full strength when as many of us as possible realize we are Pastors of God. When we realize that as God’s ministers that jobs need to be done – and we’re the ones to do them. And when we realize that we are called by God to work together (Ephesians 4 ) so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

That word ‘together’ reminds me of a story I once heard. In a Sunday school, they were teaching about Church. One of the little boys in class only had one arm. The teacher led them in the age old hand gesture of, “Here is the church and here is the steeple”. The teacher, realizing the attention it would bring to the little boys disability, quickly glanced in his direction. At that very moment, a little girl sitting next to the boy looked at him and said, “Let’s Build the Church together!”

Let’s build and maintain the Church together!

Stormy Weather

During my time in the Navy, I was given the opportunity to go to Israel. Although it was a Temporary Assignment of Duty, I was able to spend 3 months there. While there, I stayed for a week in a tourist town called Tiberius. For you geography buffs, this town sits on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This was an experience that I had been hoping for since I became a Christian.

The Sea of Galilee really isn’t a Sea though. It’s more of a very big lake. It’s freshwater, about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide and surrounded by mountains. It’s fed by Natural Springs and the Jordan River. Being surrounded by Mountains, it has very serious and sudden storms.

Kind of like Christians, storms will come suddenly, and unexpectedly. There are storms that come affecting your families, your flesh, and your finances. There are many forces to be reckoned with when the storms come. The lightning, the winds blowing, and the flooding waters are all forces that come with the storm.

The Force of the Storm May Discourage You. I have often found myself discouraged when in the midst of the storm. The disciples were certainly discouraged in thinking that Jesus was asleep, and did not at all care about the storms. Likewise, as you are going through your storms, the devil will whisper that the Lord is nowhere around. HE LIES!

The Force Of The Storm Can Drain You. The force of the storm can weigh heavy on you, bringing despair. You will begin to think that the winds will never quit blowing. HAVE PATIENCE!

The Force Of The Storm Can Defeat You. When you are thinking about giving up, be like David when he said, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.” Psalm 46:1-3.

The Force Of The Storm Can Determine You. Back to the Navy, the Drill Instructors were very tough on us; we ran for miles; did hundreds of pushups and sit ups; did close order drill for hours and when we finished that… we did it again. Why? They were making us strong and tough! The Lord also lets us go through storms to toughen us up for spiritual warfare. Some of the strongest people that I have met are those who have constantly been exposed to the storms of life.

There is a natural fear the come with the storms of life. In Mark chapter 4, these disciples were afraid because they were not trusting. They forgot that the Lord had said; Let us pass over unto the other side. He did not say, Let us get to the middle of the lake and sink. They simply did not trust the Lord when this great storm came.

Because Of Unbelief, They Were Afraid Of The Potential Dangers. When the Lord said, “Peace, be still”, He was using a word that He used to rebuke the demons. This gives indication that this storm was no ordinary storm, but one sent by Satan. I have been in storms that could certainly be described as Satanic in origin. You can sense that it is just that. When these kinds of storms come, you must guard your mind, because you will begin imagining all kinds of things taking place.

Hebrews 11:6 we are told, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for him that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him.”

Trusting God is so vital, and when you are going through your most difficult storm, you must trust him more. Have faith in God. Those who were with Jesus were fearful because they were faithless. There is a no more difficult journey for the believer than when he begins to travel by sight rather than by faith. As we sail upon the sea of life, even when the tempest is raging, we must trust Him, he’s the Captain of the ship!

When we are really believing the Lord, we are on a journey that involves trusting the Master of the ship come what may.

You may be going through your storm at this very moment.

TRUSTING IN GOD is the only answer!

Pushing the Rock

I spoke of a class I took in the Navy concerning leadership training in a previous blog. One of the training sessions was centered on this huge rock in front of the training building. Our Instructor gave us a direct order one morning as a learning situation. Our task? Every morning we were to “push the rock”.

Sound silly? We thought so to but we did what we were ordered to. We had talked in length about this task. The consensus was, “we were trying to move the rock, however small a distance (it was a big rock!)”. We started measuring the rock from the steps of the building to see if we had moved it at all.

As we were getting near to the end of the course, the instructor asked us what we thought of the rock session. We told him we didn’t understand it one bit, the rock never moved and nothing positive came of the session. He simply stated, “I didn’t ask you to move the rock, I asked you to push it. I wanted you to work as a team but also realize, as a leader, you will give orders that may seem impossible but also may have another purpose behind them”.

God’s lesson in “pushing the rock” is he only gives us one small task at a time. Often we seek education, power, popularity, ambition, we long to see more than we see, and feel more than we can feel. We see people with the circular problems, always back to the same place, and we see very little real change.

Sometimes, God doesn’t want us to see the “Big Picture” because it may overwhelm us into thinking it’s impossible. Yet, in Luke it says, “What’s impossible for man is possible for God.” So what’s the plan?

God has a plan for your life and a plan for my life. We can abide by His plan or we can by-pass it and do what we want to do. The problem with doing our own thing or following our own plan is we will have to suffer the consequences.

If we are inpatient and choose to leave God out of our lives, we are headed for disaster. On the other hand, if we consult God concerning our issues, asking him to guide us according to his will, listening to his response, and then patiently waiting for his plan to kick into action, we will be in for a victory.

God always has a plan by which he works. That plan is not on the same timetable as ours. In other words, God puts his plan into action when it is the right time. We are aware of this because many times we have prayed and asked God to give us something or help us get something and it did not happen. It did not happen because it was not in God’s plan for us at that time.

During your lifetime recall the times you asked God to help you get that promotion or that particular job or position. How about the time you wanted to buy a certain house and the deal did not go through.
Remember your high school days and you had your eye on a certain young man or young lady, but a relationship never developed and you couldn’t understand why.

Sometimes, you just have to push the rock for a while. God is working as your pushing the rock, your muscles are developing, your stretching ligaments and tendons and your focusing on the task at hand. To be a spiritual warrior in God’s Kingdom you have to be in shape, you have to prepare yourself daily and you have to understand where you are to go to the next place.

Even as God gives you tasks or sessions in your life there may not be an apparent reason or result. God’s plan may be to develop and train you for the next task or session in your life. What you are doing now may have no rhyme or reason to you, but it does to God!

So don’t give up “pushing the rock!”

Falling Down

You ever here the rhyme, “Ashes to Ashes, we all fall down”? I remember playing this game and when we did our " Ashes, ashes, we all fell down.” we collapsed giggling, on the ground. We all fell down.

One explanation of this little nursery game is that it refers to the plague that hit London with such ferocity in the 17th Century. Perhaps it refers to the fact that the disease was so contagious that if you were in a group where someone sneezed, likely before long all in the group would fall down and die. I don’t know about that; but I do know that there is a contagion more powerful than the plague. There is a sickness that infects us all, and from which all will die. It’s called sin. As in all have sinned. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Yet, last week, I didn’t want anybody to know I sin; that I’m not perfect; that Paul has a weakness (or two) nobody wants to hear that and nobody wants to acknowledge how deep that goes? We do not want to see the all-ness of sin. All have sinned; ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Look at King David; he had every reason to push his sin under the royal carpets, because the confidence of his people would be shaken if the truth were to come out. David had every reason to deny his sinful style of life, for there was already rebellion brewing in the heart of at least one of his sons. David needed to cover up this sin.

But he could not. He could not because Nathan the prophet saw through the sham and the shame and pronounced, "You are the man." You are the one who stole and plundered and killed. And David, once caught, issued no press releases, hid behind no attorneys, put out no excuses. David fell on his face and cried out, from the depths of his being, "Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me."

This past week, I fell down. Instead of falling on my knees and confessing my sin, I ran away! I quickly shut the world out and blamed the world for my sin. That’s how we are sometimes though, we prefer to look for someone or something else to blame and hide our shame. This didn’t start with us though, I blame Adam!

The Lord said to Adam, "Why did you eat this forbidden fruit?" and Adam said, "The woman" gave it to me, and then went even farther … "the woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit." It’s not really my fault, it’s her fault, and beyond that, it’s your fault, Lord, because you should not have put her there in the first place! So do we attempt to escape our singular responsibility for our actions?

Sin is not just breaking rules; sin is not just violating laws or bending commandments. Sin is that posture of pride that puts self on the pedestal and preens and prances (by the way, I gave up preening and prancing). Sin is a denial of who God is.

What we do is no private matter; it is not even just an interpersonal matter. It has a divine dimension. What we do and who we are is of concern to the one who made us. He knows and he cares, and more than that, He is hurt when we try to dislodge His place. It not only hurts God but it also hurts your friends. I hurt God and my friends this week when I ran.

I’m sure some of us think of ourselves as very small fish in a tiny little pond, and that what we are about has very little consequence. But I tell you that in the economy of God there are no small fish, there are only His sons and daughters of infinite worth. And therefore His heart is broken when we let malice or hatred, prejudice or shame, or any such thing, takes us over.

Ashes to Ashes… and yes, we all fall down.

But out of the ashes of shame Christ rose. Out of the falling into sin He brings us.

Thank you Jesus!

Don’t look at me

This message was brought to me by a few friends of mine in small group. When it was stated, “Paul, we can see by your face that there is some conflict in your mind.” Now I know God is in my heart because of the words I speak and my actions towards others. The words we speak are evidence to what is on our hearts. But what’s the deal with my face?

Okay, I have been told I don’t smile enough….let’s not go there. Yet it’s not just facial but body language as well. The way we use our bodies to communicate is very powerful. Many of us, even though we say one thing, express something quite different with our bodies. Body language is a means of communication through body movements or gestures. Folding arms, a leaning posture, or a squinted face all portray a message without use of words.

If it is true that “what you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say,” then what are you and I saying to Christ with our bodies? Most of us can talk a great game. We know the right words to say. We’ve mastered the right formulas. But our body language has the power either to confirm or to deny what we have spoken.

In John 7:24 we read “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

But regardless of this warning, the majority of the people pass judgment based on appearances. The majority of people allow themselves to be led by first impressions, be it positive or negative, and these influence their attitude and behavior toward others.

So then how do we keep from being deceived if we can’t go by appearances?
Matthew 7:16-20 we read “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

There are many people in this world that appear to be something that they are not. People that disguise themselves by wearing masks of religions, and that speak eloquent and fancy words. There is but one way for us to distinguish these types of persons from the rest, there is but one way that we can prevent from being deceived.

The way is to examine the fruits that they produce. In other words, although our first impression may be good or bad, although the appearance of a group or individual is good or bad, as true Christians we have to learn to wait on God.

We are called to love, and many will say that this is a great disadvantage, but it is not how many say or think. The love of Christ is our advantage because when a person genuinely loves God’s work; when a person genuinely loves his neighbor as he loves himself, then we are speaking about a person that will look further than the appearance.

We have to examine ourselves carefully because if we find that we are criticizing, envying, and hating, then we must recognize that we are not bearing good fruits. If we are not allowing our life to reflect the love, grace, and mercy of God, then we have to recognize that we are not bearing good fruits. If our life is plagued by disagreements, resentments and disobedience, then we have to recognize that we are not bearing good fruits.

There is no conflict in my mind or heart; I am just thinking things through.

Appearances can be deceiving, let’s be very careful that we may not be deceiving ourselves.

Trust God but don’t leave your keys in your car.

When does trust mean that we do nothing except let go and sit and wait for God? When does trust mean that we get active and make some plans and start to do things and allow God to empower and guide while we are in motion?

When I went on my yearlong mission back in 1986, one of the jobs I did was roofing. While installing a roof on a two story home, I slipped and started to fall off the roof. At the last moment my hand reached out and grabbed the gutter. In my terror, I yelled for help.

The foreman (one of my brothers on the mission) yelled back, “do you believe?”
Still very scared I answered a quick, “Yes!”
“How about faith, do you have faith?”
I really couldn’t believe he was asking me this while my life was in peril… “Yes” I screamed, “now help me!”
He said, “Then Let go!”

When I first started attending Church, I had a real problem with tithing because I had a lot of bills. I decided to speak with a Pastor about this. The pastor replied, "Paul, if I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you should fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?"

"Sure” I stated, “if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month."

"Now, what do you think of that," he replied. "You say you’d be willing to put your trust in a mere man like myself’ who possesses so little materially, but you couldn’t trust your Heavenly Father who owns the whole universe!"

In the first account, trust meant letting go and in the second, trust meant doing something and then trusting in God. Does trusting mean that we do nothing and wait on God, or does it mean that we seek God actively as we get moving along? We really experience the depth of God’s promises - in dangerous, uncomfortable, and unsafe situations.

Remember how the city of Jericho falls into the hands of the Israelites? They take the city simply by marching around it for seven days, and then God miraculously tears down the walls at the shout (yes, shout) of the Israelite army. God had a plan for the fall of Jericho; He knew how it was going to happen.

Before this all happened though, Joshua had sent a couple spies into the city. Secretly, meaning he did this on his own, this wasn’t part of God’s plan. They obviously weren’t going to need detailed reconnaissance on the military readiness of the people of Jericho. Why send the spies if God was going to do a miracle? Even worse, isn’t this whole spy thing contrary to the very nature of what it means to trust God – isn’t it an example of Joshua acting in his strength rather than in God’s?

Obviously God was not upset at Joshua, or there definitely would have been consequences for doing his own thing. Sometimes it is ok for us to get busy and do the things that make the most sense. I have known people who wanted to walk with God and be so dependent on Him that they would literally wake up in the morning and pray about which pair of socks to put on.

God gave us the ability to make decisions. We often take that and run with it and try to make all the decisions ourselves, without involving God in our daily lives, and that is wrong. But it is also wrong to never make decisions.

Trusting God means that we wait on Him for guidance and direction and leadership – and it also means that we get going in the direction He points us in.

Sometimes in life we get stuck. We get in a rut, we feel like we’re spinning our wheels, we’re discouraged and down and going nowhere. Are you stuck because you don’t know where to go, or are you stuck because you do know where to go but are waiting for something else to happen before heading that direction?

God has it under control. He knows the hurdles and the pitfalls and the obstacles, and He is bigger than all of them. If you are going in the direction He wants you to go in, trust Him to take care and let go.

Trusting God means waiting on Him for direction; it also means using the minds and gifts that He has given us to head in that direction. As long as we head in that direction in His strength and not in our own, as long as we continue to trust Him along the way and even let Him make mid-course corrections, we can be confident that we are to trust in Him and walk in His power and not our own.

Ulterior Motive

About 9 months ago, I asked God to give me wisdom as I examined my motives. The conclusions I came up with is too long of a list for me to give here. To really sum it up, I had my hands in too many cookie jars. I was overwhelmed with commitments and responsibilities. I was doing the right things for the wrong reasons. My motives, though genuine and caring, weren’t properly aligned.

Every action we participate in is fueled by motives. But when motives become misaligned, there are major problems that can occur. When there is a mixture of good actions with wrong motives, we call that having an ulterior motive.

In Matthew 20:20-24 we are introduced to Salome. Salome’s name means clothing, and clothing can be used to conceal. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7:15, as He issued a warning to be on the lookout for wolves in sheep’s clothing.

In the 20th verse, "Then came the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him." Though she came worshipping, it also seems to suggest that worship was not her pure motive. We are told that she came with something else on her mind, on her heart, something she wanted Jesus to do.

So she, along with her sons, came to Jesus with a plan, a scheme, with an ulterior motive. Part of this being another word that usually falls into motives called, “manipulation”. That is always at the root of any actions produced by ulterior motives. Businesses do it; Church’s do it; Husbands do it, wives do it, and children do it. They seek to secretively sway the circumstances in a position that will be favorable for them.

God doesn’t do it though, he looks at the heart. He doesn’t look at the clothing, but He sees beyond the facade, and into your motives! Worship does move God, but it does not manipulate God! Yet, you would be shocked to know how many people involve themselves in Spiritual activities for the wrong reasons.

So we see here, a woman with her sons, coming in what should be a sacred act of worship, but they come with a plan, a scheme, and another desire. They’re not coming because they want to give honor to Jesus. They’re coming to get something from Jesus! There are many people today who come to the Lord for the wrong reason!

That’s one reason why some people don’t last. Because they came to the Lord "with an understanding" that God would do what they want Him to do. And when that didn’t happen, they quit! You see, when people do something for the wrong reason, they won’t do it for long!

Jesus wasn’t ignorant of Salome’s intentions; Jesus was disheartened, because the motive wasn’t right. She was doing the right thing, but for the wrong reason. I can hear Him say, "What do you want when you act like that?" Because that’s what it was - it was an act!

She came scheming, saying, "You like worship? Okay, I will give you worship. And in return, hook my boys up!" And Jesus told her, "You don’t even know what you’re talking about!" One of the things she wanted was to bypass the process involved in attaining the next level. People do it all the time.

"I’ll go to church, and God can get me a job." "I’ll pay my tithes, and God can get me out of debt." But worship, or any other spiritual act, is not a shortcut for processes. You can’t worship your way out of debt if you’re coming to God with a scheme; a plan, or with an ulterior motive.

Many people want to lay out stipulations to God, based on what they have given up to serve Him. They want Him to know what they walked away from to be with Him. But no one has given up as much to get with God, as God has given up getting with you! He gave His Son!

You put at risk the very thing you want God to do, plus everything else He could do on your behalf. If you’ve been bargaining, scheming, coming to God to see what He can do for you, you may need to examine your motives.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

(Re-posted from my Thanksgiving Blog from Last year)

Oh wonderful God, Savior, my Lord.
I open my heart to you in prayer, continuous.
Even though my thanks is only one word.
Our praise in words is always endless.

Sometimes my Lord, we forget to pray,
Over the wonderful things you give.
Our worldly wishes and dreams may stay,
Though it is in you that we should live.

Sometimes we fail to see the loving stand,
That Jesus, your son endured for us all.
The pain, torment by many a mistaken hand,
And completing his divine altar call.

Sometimes we know not what to pray,
And forget what to be Thankful for.
We miss the blessings every single day,
Even the lost hearts that you restore.

So this is my prayer,
Thanks for always being there,
Lord
Keeping us in your loving care,
Lord
Comfort in the things I can’t bare,
Lord
Thanks for the heart to always share,
Lord
For the Grace that I wear,
Lord
In Jesus’s wonderful name we declare
You’re Love!
Amen

It is neither Turkey day nor even Thanksgiving day in my eyes…
It is Thanks-God-for-Giving day.

God Bless!

Selective Memory

My Memory isn’t what it used to be. Especially with names! I tried many different techniques of remembering people’s names; repeating their names over and over; familiarization of their name and something about them specifically; and many others. It didn’t work for me. I even tried an old trick where you ask the person to spell their name for you as if you were taking notes. The last person I tried this method with replied sarcastically,
“S, M, I, T, H”.

The longer we live, the more there is to remember. And yet the more we remember, the more we forget as well. Isn’t that ironic? That could be due to several things. That could be memory loss. Or it could be selective memory.

How much do you remember? They say that as we grow older, our long-term memory may stay in place, but our short-term memory has problems. I know that I can remember lots of things from way back, like when I climbed the tree in the front yard. I remember that because I got stuck and my Mom had to climb up to get me. Yes, my Mom was cool that way!

I remember the last time my Dad laughed. I was 7 or something. I had taken my Schwinn Bicycle (pretty cool back then) and rode down the biggest hill in our neighborhood. A dog ran out in front of me and I T-boned (no pun intended) the dog with the front wheel of my bike. I went flying over the handle bars and slid down most of the asphalt hill on my side. Not Pretty! My Dad thought it was the funniest thing.

My short term memory though, sometimes I forget where I leave it. I think it may have something to do with selective memory. Selective memory: meaning that we remember certain things and forget other things, on the basis of our feelings. If it feels good, our selective memory remembers certain things and forgets others. Not consciously, maybe, but subconsciously.

Think about it, I can tell you the day, hour and minute I got my last promotion. (Good Selective memory=ON!) When I had my surgery last year and I woke up in a lot of pain. Spent 2 days in the hospital but I can’t remember what actually transpired while I was there. (Bad Selective Memory =OFF!)

We do this with sin. Selective memory can mean that we just turn a blind eye to our sin. We wipe out all the stuff that hurts, we concentrate on the good times, and we hope the pain and the sin will go away. If we think we can deal with the issue of sin just by forgetting about it, we are off the mark. It won’t work.

The Bible says, “You can be sure that your sins will find you out.” Just when you least expect it, that thing called guilt will jump up and grab you by the throat, and the memories will come back. The pain and the shame, the guilt and the wrong, it will come back to haunt us. Selective memory will not, by any means, get rid of sin.

If your selective memory is stuck in remembering only the fun and frothy moments, and you do not recall your sin, you will have missed the grace of God. But it is also true that if your selective memory is stuck in remembering only the painful and the shameful, and you do not recall the mercies of God, you too will have missed the wonderful grace of God. Either way, you have missed the grace of God. Either way, selective memory is a deep, deep spiritual issue.

The good news is that God too has selective memory! God has provided a way through which He will choose to remember selectively. The Scripture puts it, “He will remember our sins no more.” God’s selective memory is an occasion of grace for us.

Here are a couple things you should SELECT to REMEMBER!

Remember how God has been gracious.

Remember how God has given life and life abundant.

Remember and be thankful.

Remember to come to God’s Table, unashamed and unafraid, here to remember the Lord’s death until he comes again.

Remember!

Have you heard the one about…

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…A time to cry and a time to LAUGH. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4 The dancing and grieving you can have, I’m more than laughing type.

A cheerful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22a

A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life. Proverbs 14:30

Our body performs "rhythmic, vocalized, expiratory, and involuntary actions." Fifteen facial muscles contract and there is electrical stimulation of the zygomatic major muscle. That’s the muscle that extends from each cheekbone to the corners of the mouth. It raises the corners of the mouth. Currents of varying intensity produce a wide range of facial responses. The respiratory system is upset by the epiglottis half-closing, so that air intake occurs in irregular gasps, rather than calm breaths.

Under extreme circumstances, the tear ducts are activated, so that while the mouth is opening and closing and there is a struggle for a sufficient amount of oxygen intake, the face becomes moist and often red. Sounds more like a disease than what happens when we laugh. (I’m not a doctor, I got this from WebMD!)

Noises often accompany this odd behavior "ranging from controlled snickers, escaped chortles, and spontaneous giggles, to ridiculous cackles, noisy hoots, and up-roars and guffaws. It’s a tension dissolver. It’s an antidote to anxiety. It’s just like a tranquilizer, but without any side effects. And it’s free!

No matter what you may have heard, or how you were raised, it’s okay for Christians to have a good time. Jesus was criticized by His enemies for partying with sinners. He believed it was okay to celebrate at weddings, to enjoy the hospitality of His friends, etc. When’s last time someone looked at how you respond to life and said, “What amazing things has the Lord done for you?” Being critical and grumpy aren’t qualities that make people want to have what you have.

Even when you can’t see the funny in your everyday life, on the basis of Scripture, we need to learn to look for the right times to laugh. God has given us this capacity for enjoying good humor so we need to intentionally incorporate laughter into your daily routine!

Ready to laugh?

A Pastor and his wife decided to get a new dog. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their need for a Christian minded dog. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted. The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. "Fetch the Bible," he commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner. "Now find Psalm 23," he commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw. The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog. That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed. One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?" "I haven’t tried yet," the pastor replied. He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor’s forehead and began to howl.

Are you laughing yet?

Jesus saw a crowd chasing down a woman to stone her and approached them. "What's going on here, anyway?" he asked.
"This woman was found committing adultery, and the law says we should stone her!" one of the crowd responded.
"Wait," yelled Jesus. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Suddenly, a stone was thrown from out of the sky, and knocked the woman on the side of her head.
"Aw, c'mon, Dad..." Jesus cried, "I'm trying to make a point here!"

Laughing now?

Moses, Jesus and an old man are golfing. Moses steps up to the tee and hits the ball. It goes sailing over the fairway and lands in the water trap. Moses parts the water and chips the ball onto the green. Jesus steps up to the tee and hits the ball. It goes ailing over the fairway and lands in the water trap. Jesus just walks on the water and chips the ball onto the green. The old man steps up to the tee and hits the ball. It goes sailing over the fairway and heads for the water trap. But, just before it falls into the water, a fish jumps up and grabs the ball in its mouth. As the fish is falling back down into the water, an eagle swoops down and grabs the fish in its claws. The eagle flies over the green where a lightning bolt shoots from the sky and barely misses it.
Startled, the eagle drops the fish. When the fish hits the ground, the ball pops out of its mouth and rolls into the hole for a hole-in-one.
Jesus then turns to the old man and says, "Dad, if you don't stop
fooling around, we won't bring you next time."

If you need a laugh, come see me.

As Christians, we should be the HAPPIEST people on earth!

Paid in Full!

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus tells a parable about a business owner. He talks about the owner of a vineyard who hires workers for the day. In the early morning he goes out and finds people who will work and agrees to pay them a living wage. They go out to the fields and start to work. Around nine he goes to the square and finds more people, and this time he says “I will pay you what is right”. They go out to the fields too. He does this again at noon, and then at three. And at five he goes out and finds people who haven’t been hired yet, and he hires them and sends them to the fields.

When it comes time for everyone to be paid, he starts with the ones who came at 5pm. And they get a full day’s wages. Now, can you imagine being those folks who were hired at 9am? The people who were hired eight hours later got a full day’s wage. They must have been thinking, “If they got paid for the full day, we are surely going to get even more!”

Except they don’t. They get the full day’s wage that they agreed on earlier in the day. And they grumble about how unfair it is. You get the same pay whether you worked one hour or nine hours. The owner of the vineyard answers, “I did you no wrong. I paid you for the day. Are you angry because I was generous and gave what was mine to give to the others? The last shall be first. And the first shall be last.”

If you’re like me, you read this parable and you feel a little uneasy. It doesn’t seem right that the ones who came at 5pm get paid as much as the ones at 9am. That’s not good business; I would lose my profits for my business if I did this. It’s not what we’re taught our whole lives. It’s not fair. That vineyard owner had it all wrong.

But I was wrong.

The main character, the business owner, represents God. And the workers in the vineyard, whether they came at daybreak or 5pm, really represent us. Jesus is trying to teach us all something about God, and one another. We all like to believe that we will be rewarded, if we just work hard enough. It’s what we have heard since we were in grade school. If we worked hard enough, we could do anything we wanted. And so many of us burn ourselves out, run ourselves into the ground, in order to try to create the future we want.

I don’t fault hard work. I often work long days, and have a hard time disconnecting when I should. I check email when I’m out with friends, I pick up the phone on my day off, I have an inability to shut off. I am a workaholic. I sometimes find that despite my best laid plans, despite my hard work, in the end things don’t always go exactly my way. And sometimes that feels really unfair. Especially when we see someone else get something that we feel like they haven’t earned.

Right?

Still remember that the vineyard owner is God. And remember that none of us gets what we deserve. Instead, we get a whole lot better. That’s not the point of God’s grace. We don’t do what we do as Christians to earn God’s love, you can’t...sorry. We do what we do because we already have God’s grace, and we are so filled with gratitude for that grace that we can’t help but glorify God through our actions.

We don’t donate to the food pantry to get to heaven. We don’t volunteer on the Second Saturday of each month for fear of eternal damnation. We don’t serve as ushers, greeters, production assistants, or in hospitality services because we want to get to heaven. We do all these things not because we were the workers waiting at the vineyard at sunrise. We do these things because we were the ones God went out and found at 5pm, and we were chosen to go into the vineyards anyways. And we were not treated fairly. We were treated better than fairly. We were treated with grace.

When you really feel that grace for the first time, when you really believe it, you are free. You are free to labor in a vineyard where all are paid not according to the work they do, but according to what God does.

You don’t need a resume.

You have already been interviewed.

You’re already fully qualified for the job.

Do you want the job?

Are you offensive?

I love this time of year! Football! Being an Expert Football Couch Coach, I can tell you what a good football team should have or be. Defense is good. Defense is important. Defense is needed. BUT… in order to win football games you must score points. Second, it’s extremely difficult to score points on defense.

If the cornerback intercepts the football that defensive player is now an offensive player. The same is true for a linebacker who picks up a fumble. Once these defensive players have possession of the football they are now on offense.

In Matthew 5, Jesus explains to His disciples that they must be salt and light to the world. Light in darkness is obtrusive. Light in darkness will stand out. Light in a world filled with darkness will be offensive.

I don’t think Jesus meant that we should be rude, distasteful, or discriminatory. Being offensive does not mean that we should be judgmental. I don’t think that is how Jesus was telling us to be offensive.

Safety Points (2):

Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines offensive as “making an attack.” The basis for the attack is not violence but instead the unexpected love and peace of Christ.

Field Goal Points (3):

Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines offensive as “giving painful or unpleasant sensations.” Jesus is saying that the foulness is overpowering the world and we need to bring the sweet sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch of grace. People are so used to the foulness of this world that the salt and light can be painful and unpleasant. It will be offensive.

Touchdown Points (6):

Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines offensive as “causing displeasure or resentment.” Just before Jesus calls His followers to be light, he warns that those who follow him will suffer persecution.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit Jesus.

What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. The displeasure and resentment should not result from being rude or mean. Instead the resentment will be the consequence of being offensive to a socially relative culture. By being offensive in this way we will be resented by many. Yet, we must still be that offensive light shining in darkness.

By being light we are being offensive. We are making an attack. We are giving painful and unwelcome sensations to this dark world. When we are light in darkness we are offensive, on the offense, and we will score for Jesus. We will plant seeds and win souls for Christ. We will introduce people to the transforming grace of God. When we are offensive we make our world a better place.

That’s what Jesus means as He tells us to be light in a dark and mixed up world. He wants us to be offensive.

He wants us to score for HIM!

Worship Connections

I love going to the movies. I love the smell of popcorn, the comfortable seats, the experience of being with friends and family. You know what I mean? You’re sitting there in a barely lit room; there is a sense of excitement as you wait for the movie to start. Then the lights begin to dim…the screen changes from trivia questions to previews of upcoming movies. The sense of anticipation builds even more as the previews end and everyone stops talking.

There’s a sense that you are about to experience something truly amazing. I get the same feeling when I go to a concert, or to a professional football game. There’s that sense that I am about to experience something that will energize me and stay with me for days, weeks, or even years.

When was the last time that you had a sense of anticipation for what you are about to experience?

When was the last time that you walked through your Church doors with the sense that you are about to experience something that will energize you and stay with you for days, weeks, or even years?

God spoke these words to the prophet Isaiah, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” This would often be referred to as half-hearted worship. We go through the motions, but there is missed connection between our words and our hearts. We participate almost as if we were half asleep, rather than fully alive. We treat worship as the previews, rather than the feature presentation.

To worship is to experience God. It is to know, to feel, to experience the resurrected Christ in the midst of the community. It is breaking into the glory of God. God is actively seeking worshipers. Jesus declares, “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” John 4:23

During worship, do you raise your arms to the Lord? I never could figure that out either. When I tried it, it didn’t physically do a thing for me except make my arms ache. There always were these people in front of me too that raised their arms in worship. How was I supposed to have a clear view of the stage with their arms in my way? I was wrong in this thinking.

Some people sing along, some people dance, some people kneel and a lot of people raise their arms to the Lord. It’s not about the physical action at all; it’s about worshipping the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind! There has been a connection with God. This connection can only happen if we remove all of the obstacles between God and ourselves.

You see, God didn’t design worship to be an expensive meal at a fancy restaurant. He designed worship to be a family meal, a time to come together in a comfortable setting, with your brothers and sisters. Does it really matter whether you raise your hands or clap with the song? No one is going to look at you any differently because of it. Our focus cannot be on pleasing people with our worship; our focus must be on pleasing God.

I took a Navy course called “LMET”, Leadership, Management and Education Training. As a teaching tool, our instructor brought us out to the Obstacle course. As we viewed this very difficult obstacle course he chose me to be the first. Before I was allowed to start, he blindfolded me, WHAT? How could he expect me to do the obstacle course?

What I didn’t know, is he steered me not towards the obstacle course but the open field alongside of it. So, you can imagine what was going through my mind and actions. Even though there were no obstacles, the obstacles were still in my mind. I stumbled about trying to keep from falling or hurting myself.

The instructor never said, I had to navigate the obstacle course, this is something we assumed.

We do this with God a lot! We assume there are obstacles but God has removed them already. The obstacles that prevent us from worshiping God are most often imaginary. God has removed all of the obstacles that could prevent us from being the people He wants us to be. Yet, the reality is that our progress is much like the progress of my obstacle course experience: fearful, erratic, and slow.

We all need to pursue an authentic worship experience with God.

Don’t let it be said, “These people come near to God with their mouths and honor Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.”

You’re my Hero

Where have all the heroes gone?

I remember that as a child, I had many heroes. On television I would sit for hours watching Tarzan, Batman & Robin, Superman and many others who fought for the cause of good. I remember in the world of sports, names like Jim Thorpe, Gehrig and Ruth, Seevers, Mantle, Staubach, Unitas, Starr, Lombardi, Dale Earnhardt - how they all stirred-up dreams of succeeding and becoming something bigger than life.

Then I grew up.

In the world we now live in, the heroes of my youth have all been stripped of their dignity and the magic torn away from my childhood. Babe Ruth was an Alcoholic, Batman and Robin isn’t real...etc.

I even remember as a child thinking my own father as a huge man, powerful and strong. Yet his addictions his weakness, his imperfection, is what I remember most now. He died in 1996 of a massive Heart Attack and severe stroke.

Where have all the heroes gone?

Can they be found in Bart Simpson, in Beavis and Butthead, in Al Bundy, Howard Stern, Dennis Rodman or RuPaul? Not to mention the President of the United States?

In Hebrews 11 the definition for faith is, “Assurance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen.” The rest of chapter 11 lists examples of faith in those Godly men and women who were known for their belief in God - People like Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Rahab the harlot.

Though all were imperfect, and they all lived at various times in uncommon situations, they all set their feet upon the same track. I challenge every one of us to take to the track and strive to become a hero for the next generation to follow. How?

Have you ever tried to run a marathon while carrying a couple of bowling balls? Silly, isn’t it? You have a much better chance of winning if you cast off the extra weight. Often as Christians, we continue to carry the burden of sin when we don’t have to. Rid yourself of sin.

Peter walked on water until he took his eyes off of Jesus - He lost his focus.

Jesus is our coach and guide - it is Jesus who shows us how to run the race. Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love just as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us." Real heroes fix their eyes on Jesus.

So many begin the race, but so few Heroes complete it! Remember this - Nothings matters if you do not finish! I desperately desire to be a hero to my son, Logan, but I cannot be the hero he needs without finishing the race God has set before me.

Where have all the heroes gone?

Our heroes are still here striving to finish the race, I’ve seen;

A seventy-nine year old man who has dedicated his life to loving God and loving people more than anyone I’ve ever seen;

A struggling young single mother, trying desperately to instill her belief in God in her children;

An elderly lady on a fixed income who mails out at least 200 cards a month to others to encourage them;

A Crippled man who aches with physical pains daily who constantly puts others before himself;

These are just few of my heroes• Just look around, think about others in this heroic sense – you’ll find many heroes of the faith in your Church, all striving to follow the one - Christ - to the end.

If you love Jesus with all your heart, soul and mind… we are heroes!

Hebrew 12:3, 4 "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

Jesus, our hero, shed his blood! And he did it for us!

Allow him to be your hero for now and eternity.

A Half Time Talk

I love Football, watching it, playing it and even just talking about it. As the particular game I was watching went into half time, I began my half time festivities. You know what I’m talking about here, snacks, drinks and the call of nature.

I got back to my seat with my provisions and realized it was still half time, the game hadn’t restarted yet. As I listened to the sports announcers talk about what needs to be done and why this or that might work. One of them said, “Well, Dan. I’m sure (insert football team here) is getting an earful in the locker room as we speak.”

My mind thought on to what may be talking about or doing in the locker room at half time. The objective of a half-time talk is to tell the team what they may not want to hear. There may be yelling, screaming or maybe pats on the back and joy. Or maybe the things they really need to hear in order to succeed in the 2nd half.

In Mark 14, Jesus is telling his disciples some things they don’t want to hear. Team Jesus (God’s Football Team) has been doing really good. Jesus performed many miracles, healed hundreds of people and even raised Lazarus from the dead.

And then they entered into Jerusalem where the crowd goes wild. “Team Jesus” has gone into the locker room with a 20 point lead… and victory is assured. Yet, Jesus knows this illusion of success will soon disappear… and so will His team. He knows He needs to tell His team things they don’t want to hear… things He needs to tell them - they need to hear if they’re ever going to overcome the tragedy and despair of the next few days.

On at least 3 separate occasions Jesus specifically told the disciples about the coming days. The disciples were never quite willing to accept this idea because this wasn’t how the game was supposed to be played.
So now, here they are at half-time. They’re about to face the hardest challenge they’ll ever encounter.

They’re about to see their Master arrested, beaten, condemned and crucified. And ultimately, they are all going to fail Him. Not just Judas but every single disciple is going to run away and hide. They’re going to be afraid that the same forces that will arrest and crucify Jesus will come for them.

Its half time, and they’re about to go into a part of the game they’re not prepared to handle. Its half time, and they’re about to face forces of darkness that’ll overwhelm and fill them with despair. It’s half time, and it’s at this point that Jesus sees the need to give them “the talk”.

Jesus gave this half-time talk because He wanted His disciples to understand: the crucifixion was the victory over the opposing team. The crucifixion was the entire reason they had come out onto the field to begin with. If Jesus hadn’t gone to the cross for our sins they would have lost. And we would have lost.

His crucifixion was not an accident. Jesus didn’t get caught by surprise.

It was the GAME PLAN!

We all must go to Jesus for that Half time talk. You may not like what you hear; you may think you don’t have the ability or energy for victory.

Guess what though, “He Knows YOU can win!” You’re on the winning team!

Let’s run out onto the field already victorious.

Half times over… for now!

Wimp or Warrior?

When I was in 5th grade, I was terrorized by a bully. Lunch at the time, was .35 cents a day and the bully would wait for me on the playground, every day. As I saw it I had 2 choices, get beaten up and he’d take my money, or just give him my money and hope he didn’t beat me up. I don’t have enough paper to explain the many ways I tried to get out of this. Let’s just say, they never worked.

Finally, I decided I would get even with him and start taking Karate. When I went down to the Dojo (GYM), I found out it would cost me $5.00 a week to learn Karate. It was cheaper to give the bully my lunch money than to take Karate lessons.

Aren’t we like that as Christians sometimes? We believe it’s cheaper to pay the bully than to learn how to defeat him? The problem is that many Christians do not understand the reality of the situation. We are involved in a battle in this inv isible world with an experienced and strong bully.

You want to be a “Spiritual Warrior?”

Following these 4 guidelines and you will become one.

1. A spiritual warrior knows his enemy.
It’s easy for believers to lose sight of the enemy. We are so easily side-tracked. We put ourselves whole-heartedly into a fight that has no eternal relevance. In fact, that fight can sometimes damage the cause of Christ. As spiritual warriors, we need to have a clear picture of the enemy.

Throughout history, wars have been fought. Some have been local conflicts. Some have been national conflicts and some have been international incidents. The common thread throughout these wars has been that there is a specific enemy.

There is a specific enemy. Above all, when in war, it is imperative to maintain focus on your enemy.

2. A Spiritual warrior knows how the enemy operates.
In Ephesians Paul states,
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes”. I love the use of the word “scheme”. It gives a good picture of our enemy. He is scheming, manipulative, devious enemy.

He’s a bit like a guerilla warrior. Guerrilla warfare is characterized as unconventional. They don’t operate as a traditional army. Guerrilla warriors attack their enemy at different areas of weakness to inflict maximum damage. Each enemy is attacked in different ways to ensure premium loses. Sound familiar?

Our enemy operates the same. For many of us, Satan does not come to us and tempt us to murder or steal. These are some of our areas of strength. But our enemy studies us, looking for a weakness, and when he finds that weakness, he exploits it. That’s why we so often stumble over the little things. We lie. We gossip. We slander. We curse. Satan attacks our weaknesses.

When we know our enemy, when we understand the motivation and his strategies, we understand how we can combat him. We can launch countermeasures. We will be able to arm ourselves against our enemy.

3. A spiritual warrior trains for battle.
Remember the movie “Rocky”? What Rocky knew is that to defeat his formidable opponent, Clubber Lang, he had to train hard. He had to work hard to be able to overcome the odds and defeat his enemy. I’m sure Sylvester Stallone didn’t intend to have such strong spiritual parallels, but we can get so much out of that.

As spiritual warriors, we cannot simply go into battle against our opponent. What we need to realize is that our enemy is fierce and strong and on our own merits, we cannot beat him. Not without God!

4. A spiritual warrior has the right tools.
We have been given tools to help us in battle. A big part of training is properly utilizing the tools at your disposal. This is something that soldiers, fighters, and athletes alike understand. Hockey players don’t play without using all their equipment. To do otherwise would be foolish. A soldier doesn’t go into battle without his weapon. To do so would be foolish.

We have many tools, all important in their own way. In my opinion though, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and coupled with that is prayer as the most important.

You see, as spiritual warriors, we have an advantage that most armies don’t get. We know the outcome. While our enemy is strong, we serve a God that is stronger. In fact, we serve a God that has already defeated the enemy.

Spiritual Veteran’s Day

I volunteered, at the age of 17, to join the US Navy. At first, it was just a job, not a 9 – 5, thing but I did my work and took my pay. I found God and was saved earlier in my Naval Career. As my heart was changed and I devoted my life to Jesus, my job turned into a commitment. I started to faithfully serve God and my country and realized my duty as both a Christian and a Soldier.

Now our country no longer requires us to serve, were volunteer only countries. God does not force anyone to serve in the service of His Kingdom, but He does plead with us to volunteer and come to salvation through Christ our Lord. He also sends out recruitment officers to urge people to serve in His Army.

On this Veteran’s Day, I’m listing some key points to be a Spiritual veteran... in comparison to a guardian of our country.

Veteran’s Faith:
When you serve our country, you must have faith in the American government that it will supply your every need. Your food, clothing, shelter, medical needs, and even your companions are supplied by your government. When you serve God, you must also have faith as you are called into His service that He will supply your every need. You will not have to worry about your physical needs when you serve Christ.

Matthew 6:31-33 therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek :) for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

When it comes to faith, the Lord wants us to be true veterans; “experienced through long service and practice.”

Veteran’s Commitment:
When you serve our country, you are expected to be completely committed to your country and to allow nothing to prevent you from performing your duties and serving faithfully. When you serve God, you are also expected to be completely committed to Christ and His Kingdom. You are expected to serve Him faithfully, not allowing anything to keep you from doing His will.

Veteran’s Obedience:
When you serve our country, you are required to follow orders and are expected to be obedient to the letter. When you serve God, Christ expects and requires nothing less.

Isaiah 1:19-20 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

For a Christ follower, the important thing isn’t what God has us doing; the important thing is that we’re doing what God wants us to do."

Veteran’s Devotion:
When you serve our country, you are expected to be completely devoted to the country it represents. When you serve God, Christ expects you to be completely devoted to Him and His Kingdom.

To be a true spiritual veteran, one must be completely devoted to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Being a soldier and serving this great nation is an honor and it is one thing that I am personally very proud of within my life. But as I think of my military service, I can’t help but to think of a greater calling to a service that God has called all of us to. We are all called to be Soldiers of Christ!!!

2 Timothy 2: 3-4 you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

To become true veterans of the cross, we must first be good soldiers of the cross.

God has made us all true Spiritual Veterans.

Successful Joe

Some people measure success by money. Some people measure success by power. Some people measure success by public opinion. I believe many people have the wrong idea about success.

There is a joke about a Woman who was married 4 times. She married a Banker, a Famous Actor, a Pastor and then finally an Undertaker. When asked, she felt her life was pretty successful.
Her reasoning for this:
She explained, “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go!”

It’s a joke of course… or is it? Aren’t some people this way? Maybe not to this extreme but hopefully you get my point. Success should not be measured by money. Success should not be measured by popularity. Success should be measured by God.

One of my favorite, Men of God (and action) was Joseph. Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelite’s who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” (Gen. 39:1-2)

Joseph was a young Israelite man. He ran into conflict with his brothers and they sold him to a group of Ishmaelite traders who in turn sold him into Egypt. In the middle of that bad situation God called Joseph a success. If Joseph could be a slave in the land of Egypt and still be a success, there is hope for all of us.

Do you have faith?

Real faith involves a personal relationship whereby we know the assurance of God’s abiding. In verse 2 it states, “The Lord was with Joseph” a personal relationship. Faith involves the realization that everything you have and everything you own belongs to God.

In Chicago, there was a boy named James. His desire was to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work.

One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around and our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives."
Every time you take a take a bite of Philadelphia Cream cheese, cook a pot of Macaroni & Cheese, spread some Grey Poupon, slurp down some Jell-O or eat the cream out of the middle of an Oreo cookie. Remember a boy and his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed.

James Kraft became who he was because God put him there. Everything you have comes from God.

Are you faithful?

Joseph was faithful to God, even in a hostile environment. He was a slave! He was living in Egypt!

Remember the saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game?”

God does not call us to win or lose but to become more Christ-like. Life is not a game but becoming more Christ-like should be yours. He calls us to be faithful. God will give us the strength to be faithful to our circumstances.

Being faithful to our circumstances is like this other joke I heard. These doctors wanted to learn more about optimism and pessimism. They took one boy and stuck him in this room full of Horse manure and a shovel. The boy wined and cried and sat in the corner crying and saying, “This is my lot in life, I ask for toys they give me manure!” They removed him from the room. It was obvious, he was a pessimist.

The stuck the second boy in the room who promptly grabbed the shovel and started flinging manure all around the room and laughing. When the doctors asked him why he did this he explained, “With all this manure, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

This may be an exaggerated story but it makes a point. We need to be faithful to our circumstance no matter what! Which boy are you?

Are you focused?

Joseph remained focused on God’s plan for his life. Yes, he was a slave in Egypt. Yes, he faced a bum rap. Yes, he had a bad situation. However, he focused on the sovereignty of God in his life. Focus is such a powerful force.

The successful person is the person who believes that God can take the hurts, the pains, and the disappointment of your life and use them to help others and bring glory to His name.

If you live by faith, remain faithful, and focus on God’s sovereign will for your life you will be a success.