Near Disasters

Have you ever had a near disaster?

In 1961, a B-52 dropped a pair of 24 megaton bombs on a farm in North Carolina. They didn’t explode.

In 1980, a fix-it guy dropped a wrench which bounced off the ground with enough force to penetrate a hole in the Titan II missile while she sat on her silo in Arkansas. The top of the silo and the tip of warhead flung over 600 feet in a massive air disaster.

When I was about 5 or 6, I experienced my first near disaster. At the time I lived in Sparta, New Jersey in a suburban area with plenty of kids in my neighborhood. The key to being 5 or 6 and being happy was you had to own a bike, any bike. If you had a bike you were almost an instant member of the neighborhood bike gang.

Some may remember our bikes back then. They were all 1 speed bikes (unless your parents had money); banana seats with a sissy bar on the back; playing cards clipped to the wheel frames with clothes pins; big handle bars and some with a goofy horn or bell. These bikes were cool when we didn’t know what cool really was and we all had a special trick only we could do with our bikes.

At the end of my street, there was “The Hill”. The hill was a thousand miles high, well it seemed that way to us but actually was more close to maybe a thousand feet but steep. The hill was the highest point in the neighborhood and the road that ran up the center took you to another neighborhood.

The Hill was our starting point, we’d line up at the top and race down the hill. There were a few dangers mainly from cars but after 9 in the morning, this danger was minimized. Of course some of us had brake and tire issues but that never scared us, we were daring.

Which brings me to my first near disaster. This particular morning we were perched and ready to race down the hill. This particular morning I got a good jump at the start on the rest of the guys and took an early lead. As I got half way down the hill out of the corner of my eye I detected movement. Apparently, a little Weiner dog did not care for us racing down his hill that day and attempted to stop us.

He chose my bike to run in front of and I t-boned the Weiner dog. The next sequence of events are still blurry to this day. I don’t know whatever happened to the Weiner dog; I don’t remember what happened to my bike; I don’t remember what my friends did but I do remember the severity of the road rash when I flew over the handle bars from the quick stop. This was a near disaster to me.

The bible talks a lot about near disasters. It reveals that we all are going to face some before we breathe our last breath. But for those of us who trust in Jesus, we need not worry. The same Lord who takes care of the birds by providing them food, the same God who has every single hair on our heads counted, will be at work to protect us and our houses in accordance with His will.

Proverbs 3:1-18 my son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. ²

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

⁴Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.⁶

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. ⁸

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

¹⁰My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.¹²

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.

When you lie down you will not be filled with fear and your sleep will be pleasant. You will not be afraid of sudden disaster, or when destruction overtakes the wicked; for the LORD will be your source of confidence, and He will guard your from being caught in any trap.

Amen?

Runt of the litter

I had a friend named Mark. Mark believed in God but didn’t attend church. His reasoning was “There were very few good people that actually went to church.” He knew people that go to church who were liars, cheaters and hypocrites.  He refused to associate with those type of people. This bothered me because, I go to church. It saddened me because he missed out on the one of the most important reasons for going to Church, fellowship with the body of Christ.

Sometime later, Mark’s Female Boxer had a litter of puppies. They were so cute I had to have one. The runt of the litter was very small and white. A white boxer is considered an imperfection and some breeders have them put to sleep because it is bad for the blood line. I chose this puppy.

Mark asked, “I have 5 other puppies, in great health; perfect markings and not sickly. Why did you chose the runt?”

I simply stated, “Because she comes from good stock and I refuse to condemn her. When Jesus chose his apostles, he didn’t choose the cream of the crop; he didn’t heal the healthy and he didn’t hang out with the most popular people. His church was a work in progress…imperfect.” He chose me, the runt of the litter!!!

Truth: There are no perfect Christians and no perfect churches.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this (Not perfect), or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

The Apostle Paul also said, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  1 Timothy 1:15

So anybody who thinks he is a good person is only fooling himself. When we get saved, Jesus does not destroy bodily weakness. We still have sickness, pain, and many health problems. Our souls continue living in a corruptible body…..we make mistakes! All of us have moments when our hearts are not completely pure.

Here’s another truth: Church people should strive for perfection. When we are saved, we don’t desire to stay the way we were, we seek change. The word “press” in Philippians 3:12 means to follow after, pursue…like a runner in a race.

1 Corinthians 9:24 says: Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

Notice it says we are to run the race…that’s all of us. There can only be one winner though but does that mean we give up running? NO! Does a Nascar Driver think he will win every race? He’d like to but reality is in he knows he probably won’t. He still runs the race though, why? Because winning a single race isn’t the only reward; because winning the Cup at the end of the year isn’t the only reward. He keeps running because there will always be another race.

We keep running because there is more than one race. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. The accomplishment of running the race is doing your best to win, that’s all God wants. Each single race has a reward but that’s not the only goal.

Again, another truth: Saved people are not perfect, just forgiven. Every Christian; no matter how long you’ve been saved; no matter how close our relationship is with Jesus; has the constant need for the grace of Jesus.

1 John 1:8-9 if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That word “confess” indicates that it is not a one-time thing. If it was a one-time thing it would be the word confessed. In other words, it’s a continual process! A continuous race.  We keep on “confessing” and God keeps on forgiving our sins! Forgiveness is a gift that we must receive daily from Jesus.

We are not judged on our ability to be good Christians. Our righteousness is based on our dependence on Jesus. Even the most holy; religious; evangelical; pastoral and obedient person’s lives are based on their dependence on Jesus.

We will NEVER be perfect in our Earth Suits….never.

We ARE forgiven through confession of sins.

The whole reason for this post is if you don’t go to church because of hypocrisy or people not being good enough or because you fault other Christians based on how they are living there lives. Quit providing excuses and holding people to a higher standard.

IT’S NOT YOUR JOB!!!

You should be busy “pressing toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of Christ Jesus”!

Do this and you WILL WIN the prize!!!

 

Hide and Seek

Remember playing Hide and seek as kids? You know the rules, 1 Kid was the seeker and counted to 10 with his eyes closed. Meanwhile the others would go hide. The seekers job was to find them before they made it back to base. We played in a large cemetery near my house which made it even more challenging as well as spooky.

Throughout the Bible, mankind has played Hide and Seek with God, especially me. In the Garden of Eden, after the apple incident, Adam and Eve felt shame and tried to hide from God. Peter hid from Jesus after denying him 3 times. I hid from God for many years because I was afraid of Love. Growing up, Love was not a big priority in my family so when later in life, love was expressed to me. It scared me and I would run and hide.

We hide for many reasons, and we hide behind things like wealth, fame, popularity, addictions and pain. I used to hide under my bed thinking, if my Dad didn’t see me, he couldn’t punish me.  We try to drown out or cover up our sins, thinking…”If I don’t think about my sin, am I really sinning?” The pain and depression of this way of thinking is, we hide ourselves from God, limiting God’s work in our lives.

Of course, we can’t hide from God but we can limit him.

Jeremiah 23:24 "Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him? Declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth?

God is Omnipresent, we can’t hide from him. We can hide in God though and he will protect us

Psalm 32:5-7 "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."

When David confessed his sins, God forgave him and protected; soothed and delivered him. David hid in the Lord. When we hide in God we lose our fears and gain comfort in him.

When my son and I played Hide and Seek and if I was the seeker, I dramatically would search for him saying, now where can he be? My son always seemed to hide in the same spot every time but I would purposely not find him.  I’d open the closets, look under the bed, and look in the toilet stating, “Wow, he is such a great hider!” Eventually, after passing his usual hiding spot, he would come out of hiding and jump into my arms.

You see, that’s how we play the game. We come out of hiding and jump into or father’s arms…where it’s safe!

God, our Father is Base!

Focus: a frontal view

My Mom used to say, “I could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo”. She was right but also wrong. When in my early teens I used to go door to door selling from what is called a Tom Watt Kit. Now unless you’re a 60’s or 70’s kind of person, you probably would have never heard of this kit. Basically, it’s kind of like what the kids are selling these days, you’ve seen them… They come home with a magazine full of stuff to buy and an order form…not to mention the prizes they can win.

Tom Watt Kits were something like that but instead of a magazine, you had a personal representation of each product they sold, in a big old box. Well, it seemed pretty big for me. I would carry this door to door and sell my wares. I sold a lot and won quite a few prizes. Why? 3 reasons… The product was pretty good merchandise (candles, toys, tools and even some pet stuff) and look really good. The reason number two, I looked pretty pathetic dragging this box around the neighborhood year after year.

The last reason is the reason for this writing, if I brought magazines around so people could pick out items, it would be ok. People could actually see, feel, touch, smell and taste what I was trying to sell. Our focus, vision and senses give us most importance in the decision making process.

It’s all about vision and focus. This is ok but we often look at things with earthly eyes, rather than heavenly eyes. We tend to look at things through our own glasses, than with glasses equipped with faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7
we live by faith, not by sight.

The writer speaks of how God responds to those who walk by faith, and not by sight.

Psalm 73 there is this guy named Asaph and in verse 2 and 3 he states: But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

He’s lost his focus. He continues in 4 – 12: 4 they have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.  Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, "How can God know?
Does the Most High have knowledge?" This is what the wicked are like- always carefree, they increase in wealth.

We can think of people that we come into contact with on regular bases that have it good. Making lots of money, not many cares or concerns in this life, always doing well, no problems at all. And we look at them, and see their success, and then we look at ourselves, and we start our own little pity party. Woe is me. I’m doing all of this stuff for God, and I’m not as well off as some of these people.

Verse 13 and 14: Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been plagued; have been punished every morning.

How can we fix this type of thinking…..I’m asking you because I have been going thru this very thing lately. Isn’t this wrong all together?

Verse 15 and 16: If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me.

A great example of how we try to rationalize it all and it only gets more painful. The answer seems to be ‘YES’… but only because we are looking from the wrong angle. Our focus is off. Verse 16, 17: When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

It’s apparent; we need to see with the eyes of Jesus and when we enter into worship and the sanctuary of God, we see things very clearly. We need to change our focus, a draw near to him. As we draw near to God, like Asaph, we gain focus. Verse 18-20: Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!  As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.

When we see the things of this world and start to feel bad about ourselves, we should draw near to God—come to His sanctuary. Worship him. Come to church and fellowship with other believers. This will help us with our perspective.

Also…did you know self-pity is a sin? Verse 21 - 22: When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in your very presence.

I know this fellow from a small town who saved for years so he could see the big lights of New York. When he got to his hotel, he yelled at the Bellman. “Sir, I have saved for years and years to come here, and this is the best room you can give me?” The Bellman simply stated, “Sir, this is the elevator.” Now I know that sounds funny but we are just like that sometimes. We feel bad because we think we have been slighted because that’s the way we saw them.

We tend to look at our lives, our hardships as evidence that things are going wrong. But sometimes, when things go wrong, it’s because we are doing things right. Job was living rightly when everything went wrong—it was his proper perspective that allowed him to not sin against God.

Verse 27 and 28: Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Focus: we need to walk by faith not by sight.

I wrote this because I had lost focus. My new prayer…Papa God, I was grumpy today because I lost my focus. Sometimes we need to focus on what’s ahead!

In God we Must!

Ps. 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

On the currency of our great nation are the words, “In God We Trust.” Is this true? Is this true for most of the American people? It is one thing to say we trust God and then it is another thing to actually trust Him.

Again, I refer to my Navy days. One of the key responsibilities of a sailor is firefighting. A fire on a ship is a pretty bad thing. Yes, I know, the ship is surrounded by water but can you imagine being out in the middle of the ocean, and a fire breaks out on the ship. Onboard a ship there is a lot of dangerous things that if they were to get hot or catch fire, life would be really unpleasant. Bombs, fuel and oil to name a few…The metal encapsulated vessel you call home is on fire, and you either fight or flee.

One of the first training classes you take in boot camp is firefighting (One of the first training films you watch is the tragedy aboard the USS Forrestal…or as we like to call it, The USS Forest-fire).  One of the first things you look for when fighting a fire is trust. If you are manning the fire house you have to trust the guy behind you to keep you from catching fire. See, on a metal ship with metal rooms, fire likes to radiate a lot of heat at you. The guy behind you is holding a fire hose too, but it is designed like a shower head, he sprinkles water over you so you don’t burn up from the heat.

The fire house is connected to a pump on the ship that pumps water from the sea. The guy that maintains the pump, you have to trust him to.  You wear an Oxygen breathing apparatus (OBA) because the air/fumes will kill you. The guy that maintains this equipment, you have to trust him to. Oh yeah, in some of the rooms where the more volatile combustible fluid, gas and material are? They are guarded from fire with a system called Haylon. Haylon removes the oxygen from the air to help put out the fire. Fire needs oxygen…so do people. You have to trust the guy manning the Haylon system.

That’s a lot of trust. That’s a lot of trust put on some imperfect things. That’s a lot of trust to put on someone that you have been living next to for months, playing poker with and sharing meals with. That’s a lot of trust to put on things based in a emotional and physical world.

Yet some of us fail to trust a father who has control over these things and everything else as well. Fail to trust a father who is perfect; not based on physical or emotional states. He has proven time and time again, that if we trust him, he will not forsake us.

When a little boy named David was getting ready to go up and fight someone who was really, really tall and really, really strong. He went and chose five smooth little stones and he took his sling to go out and face this giant. He took just one stone and struck him in the forehead and then cut off his head to kill him. Boy, he had some superior trust, David trusted in God.

You have Noah building a boat in the middle of the desert without a drop of water in site. Nobody understood what he was doing, not even his family, and not even Noah. He simply trusted in God and did what God had given him to do. And because of his trust, he and his family were saved from the flood. He put his trust based on a faith in God.

James 4:8-10 “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

It was Benjamin Franklin’s belief that our country would not survive without the help of God (Smart man, wonder why they said he was a atheist?). The leaders of our country in our father’s generation understood this as well. So the phrase, “In God we trust” was chosen as our national motto by an Act of Congress in 1956. It first appeared on paper currency in 1957.

If the phrase, “In God we Trust” is the national motto of our country, declared so by nothing less than an Act of Congress, I want to respectfully suggest that it’s a phrase we should use and display more often. In recent years, people have been wearing a variety of ribbons to show their support for various causes.  I can’t think of anything more patriotic than to wear the national motto as a ribbon.

 
I think our great Nation did well with this motto. I see a lot of people wearing different emblems and messages on their bodies these days. Save this, I care about this and don’t believe that...

It seems to me that to save time, money and get all the messages across using buttons, ribbons and bumper sticker, you would only have to display 3 words.  

In God we trust!

Or better yet, IN GOD WE MUST!!!

Comparison: our power struggles

Comparison: our power struggles

This weekend, at church, a truly inspiring man of God spoke. At first, it wasn’t the words that had me riveted to the moment. Sitting in the first row of seats and directly in front of this man speaking, I listened but all I saw was a big man. He had arms the size of my legs; he was tall, muscular and very commanding. If I was as big as strong and brave as him, I would be evangelical too.  

Later I realized, I was comparing the man with myself and I missed the message. I forgot, he wasn’t perfect and the things in his physical life were subject to failure too. I was focusing on the man and not the message.

This is a snare to a Christian.

2 Corinthians 10:12-18 we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.  We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory, but, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

 

The trouble with some is we compare ourselves to ourselves. We measure our life based on what we know. We measure ourselves based on pride; passivity; complexity; defiance; under-achievement, and perfectionism. We also compare ourselves at work, home and church…if I could only be more like the Pastor who taught this weekend. It may sound strange but it’s true; and as a result, we feel empty!

Let’s face it, most people are hurting, carrying a lot of emotional baggage, they are looking for heroes, false mentors and other people to depend on. Who is your hero? Is it some popular athlete; maybe it’s a teacher you knew that helped guide your life; maybe it’s some wealthy person who started from nothing or maybe it’s some Pastor on the stage who you wished you could be like.

Growing up, I sang in our church choir. My choirmaster was an accomplished musician and recognized both my brother’s talent and mine. He coached and taught us to sing better. He took us to Radio City Musical were we sang solo’s onstage for a lot of people. I’m telling you this because I looked at this man as a Christian mentor. If it wasn’t for this man, I would have never realized my talent to sing. I thought he could do no wrong…but I was wrong.

He fell and he fell hard and never got back up.

In the movie, “Monsters Inc.” they powered the city by screams they collected screams but did not intend to hurt anyone. They needed the screams for power. Later on in the movie, they realized that laughter drew more power than the screams. Sometimes we are just like this, we power our lives with pain and scream because we have to work too hard or it gets difficult. Or we try to power our lives using others as the ignition and fuel for our power.  Failure wreaks havoc on this type of power. Later we realize there is another way to do things that’s easier and more powerful. What were we thinking?

Comparing our lives to others is painful and can result in a lot of screaming. Why? Because the things we compare our lives to be not perfect, our heroes make mistakes…they are only human and are capable of falling.

Jesus is perfect.

Truth be told, Jesus Christ should be your mentor, power supply and hero…it is him you should be more like!

Surrender: Just grow up

Surrender: Just Grow Up

 

Sometimes we need to ‘give up, and to grow up!”…to completely surrender! 

Our experiences can help direct our lives. They can change you, but you need to be willing to give them up. We need to let things go in order to grow. Are you willing to let some things go in your life? Do you want to grow?  

In Mark 10:17-29 there was this rich guy, he had it all. Money, power and he probably a good looking fellow to boot! He was seeking the truth though, unhappy with the political correctness, works oriented and heartless religion that surrounded him. He knew there was more to life than materialistic endeavors. He knew that one day he would die and that would be it, subconsciously he sought an eternal life.  

So he goes to Jesus, and he tells Jesus, “Hey, I am good guy!”, sound familiar? 

Jesus brings up the Law of Moses, because he was a great teacher The Law reveals our inability to please God and leads us to seek His grace. Without knowledge of God’s Law, it becomes difficult to see that we are sinners in need of help. This young man failed to see the requirements of the Law; he didn’t see himself as a lawbreaker. 

Jesus tries a different approach seeing that something is not right with this young man, so Jesus told the young man “Sell it all and give it away.” Jesus was not making poverty or philanthropy a requirement of salvation; He was exposing the young man’s heart.  

If God told you to sell everything and follow Jesus…would you? 

So the Rich guy says, “He could not do that and walked away.” Jesus stopped him and said, “Is that your final answer?” 

Some people think that we are all supposed to be poor.  Not true, poverty is not a sign of spirituality. Poverty is the result of the curse of sin and poverty should be resisted and taught against. God wants us to prosper. He wants to bless us but He needs to break us from being controlled by our wealth first.  

Notice, God didn’t say we shall all be millionaires? Prosper means to enjoy what you have (my definition). But the truth is many of God’s people are not prospering. They are broke, and in debt. God blessed Abraham with abundant wealth; we are told he had over 400 servants! God blessed Paul with enough money to travel the world and do mission work and to pay for it almost all by his own income. He must have made a lot of money! 

God desires that we have enough money to provide for ourselves and to do the work of the ministry. He will provide you with this money if you learn how to manage what you have. God will never give you anything that you can’t handle…including money. I hear people say all the time, “God, if you will just let me win the lottery, I can better serve you.” (Or something likes that.) Why should God give you more of something when what he has already given you has been misused? 

If you buy your child a computer and he misuses it by going to websites infested with Virus and Malware. Forgets where he leaves it then complains it’s not his fault the computer is so slow. (ok, this is experiential knowledge) Would you buy him another computer? It’s the computers fault after all, right? Of course not, why should G0od give you any more if what he has already given you is being abused?

I realize this seems pretty bad but there is another danger of prosperity and wealth… riches can grab a hold of you and begin to control you. That is what the problem was here with this rich guy. His money became his god. So when he asked Jesus what he needed to do, Jesus went right to the source of the problem. What was really holding this young man back? It was his money.

What is holding you back?  

What is keeping you from living out God’s vision and calling for your life? For everybody it is different. Maybe it is your image or the way you view yourself, good or bad. Is that holding you back? Maybe it is your wealth, or your goals and plans, or your skills and talent that are holding you back.

Whatever it is, God calls you to give it up. Not so He can take it away, but so that it won’t destroy you and hold you back. “Sometimes you have to let things go in order to grow.”  

Mark 10:29, 30 - Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.

In other words, no one gives up stuff that won’t get back more than they give up times many hundreds!

At the end of the war in the Pacific when Japan surrendered, Japanese general came aboard the US ship and walked up to General McArthur. He extended his hand to shake the general’s hand, but the general did not extend his hand. He stood firm and said with a clear voice, “Your sword general.”

Now if you know anything about the military you will understand what was going on here. General McArthur would not accept the Japanese general’s handshake until he completely surrendered. This would be expressed by giving the general his sword. There was a moment’s hesitation but then the general took off his sword and gave it to the general as he bowed. This was complete surrender.

There are many who would like to completely surrender to Jesus. Jesus won’t shake your hand till you give him your sword.  Until you completely surrender.

Ready?

 

 

Judging: Pigs and Planks

This morning I was reading about God’s forgiveness when I came upon a favorite verse we use in handling it. Matthew 7:3-5 "And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me remove the speck out of your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye."

As I read this I realized the emphasis was on the “plank’ and not the ‘speck’ in relation to sin. Correctly stated, the speck and the plank represent sin, hence it’s all sin. Jesus here uses the graphic example of a plank of wood and a speck of dust. Here’s one guy with a little piece of dust in his eye. There’s somebody else with a two-by-four coming out of his forehead, and he’s trying to get that speck out. Every time he turns around, the other guy has to duck. Sounds like a Laurel and Hardy or 3 stooges bit.

Jesus used the illustration of a plank and a speck because he was a carpenter; that was familiar to him and it was familiar to the people around him.

You ever watch a die-hard football fan watch football? He’ll criticize the quarterback for not throwing well, the receivers for not catching the easy passes, and the linemen for not blocking well. Especially if his team is losing! If he’s so good at knowing what to do, then why is he sitting in a chair watching the game instead of being out there coaching or playing? I’ve seen these armchair quarterbacks play in the filed or their backyards. Talk about 3 stooges!

Jesus says, "You’ve got no room to criticize others because of your own inadequacies!"

Yet, even though we are unqualified, we still judge. I don’t think that the plank in our eyes is necessarily a worse sin. I think he’s talking about the sin of self-righteousness, appointing us as the official speck of sawdust inspectors of the brotherhood. The only sins over which we have control our own, and those are the ones that should command our greatest attention.

So, if a brother or sister comes to you with a speck in their eye do we run away and wait till our planks are removed? Hopefully you don’t. Jesus was saying there is a place for some discernment in people’s lives. If you see brothers or sisters who have specks in their eyes, you need to help them take it out and in turn they will help you with your plank!

""Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness."  Galatians 6:1

Jesus says, "Don’t judge, don’t condemn." Then, in the same breath, he says, "Make certain judgments concerning people and behavior."

Did Jesus just contradict himself? Nope! In this second statement, Jesus acknowledges the need for making decisions concerning people and behavior that is detrimental to our Christian lives. The command not to judge others doesn’t mean that we can’t see the sinfulness of certain actions.

But be warned…

You can take a pig and put him in a bathtub. You wash him. You floss his teeth. You put mousse in his tail. You do whatever you want. Then you put him back outside, and you know where he’ll go…back to the mud. Jesus was saying there are people like that. These words are harsh, but his point is that we shouldn’t waste spiritual treasures on those who have no spiritual interest.

In Matthew 10, Jesus sent some disciples out and he said, "Look. When you go into a town, and they don’t have the time of day for you, shake the dust off your sandals and get out of there." Some people are spiritual pigs

We need to be careful not to become harshly judgmental, looking for faults, taking the opportunity to look down on others from our position of self-righteousness.

We need to be able to recognize sin for what it is. Any attempt to overlook or justify sin on any grounds is itself sinful.

But most of all, we must realize that God has forgiven us and we need to discern between pigs and people.

 

 



Like this…

Do you remember the song, “Oh, Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way!” That song was sung by Mac Davis. It was a catchy tune and I can still hear the song in my head today. One of the reasons this song was so popular was because it resembled a world view. It reminds us how the world places value on people.

The world’s vision of people is physical beauty, money and accomplishment. This is how many people get values of themselves. Of course, this doesn’t line up with the Word of God. There is no biblical guarantee that you will automatically receive healthy feelings about yourself when you accept Jesus as Your Savior. Some people do, but many do not.

I didn’t! You want to know a secret about me? I have low self-esteem. I love myself as a Man of God, doing what’s right and true… but at times, I don’t like myself. Matter of fact, there are times I’m so disgusted with myself, I’ll refuse to look into the mirror. Why?

It is mainly because I label good feelings about myself as pride or conceit -traits that God hates Proverbs 21:4. When I say I don’t like myself is because of my dislike of my carnal self. That unredeemed part that has wrapped itself around my human self in an attempt to control it. The carnal self can be destroyed, but not the human self. I see it as a tension between two verses - “I can do all things through Christ” and “Apart from me you can do nothing”

I have to constantly remind myself that how we view ourselves should be how God views us. God has already established our value, we just need to acknowledge and recognize it.

When I was in Italy during the Navy, I overheard others talking about the value of items you could obtain while in Italy. You could buy rugs and fabrics for pennies and return home and sell them for 200 – 300% profit. As Sailors, we were allowed to purchase and bring aboard ship only a certain amount of items. Basically, if they didn’t fit in your locker on the ship, you really couldn’t bring it aboard.

Being Italian, I realized this issue and went to find a stone called Paesina. A Rare Italian stone made into jewelry and worth a lot of money in America. I acquired 20 pounds of it with the intention of making a lot of money off it. I would have too except I failed to realize the value wasn’t really in the stone itself but the craftsmanship of the Jeweler. I did make a profit but it was nothing compared to what I would have made if it was already in the form of jewelry.

1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”

We are like the Italian stone when we first become saved….rare and valuable. Our real worth is when we let the craftsman mold and shape us once we become saved. This takes time and involves a lot of chipping away, sanding, smoothing and polishing. This doesn’t occur instantaneously.

There is a great video on you tube produced by “The Skit Guys” called “God’s Chisel”. I highly recommend you to see this video if you haven’t had the chance. It deals with God Chipping away at us and revealing our true selves in him.

Yes at times I don’t like myself very much but I know God loves me and views me much differently. Isaiah 62:5 “…as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

My low self-image of myself is a reflection of how I believe other people see me. It consists of who I think other people think I am. That’s a lie straight from the Devil! It would be real cool if everyone liked me but I need to realize that it’s not necessary! Even Jesus was not liked by everyone. He had but twelve disciples, and one betrayed him and one denied him.

Proverbs 23:7 as a man thinketh in his heart so is he

Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with saying, "Nobody can make me feel inferior without my permission."

Saying adapted for Paul’s New Thinking: No one can make me feel anyway at all without my permission. My feelings are our chosen reactions to life’s events.

God wants to give us his view of life. He wants to enable us to love ourselves as he does, in order that we can love others the same way.

I am where I’m at because God loves me…what’s not to like about that?

 

 

Mistakes: Portals of Discovery

 

Mistakes: Portals of Discovery

 

I was working in my office as usual a few weeks back when something caught me by surprise. This squirrel was scratching against my office window for a good 5 minutes. Guess it didn’t realize it couldn’t get in. After he finally, or I thought finally, went away he came back again about an hour later and tried again. Matter fact, he came back about 3 or 4 times that I know of. I guess he never learned from his mistakes?

Mistakes are a part of life and when we make those mistakes we are called to learn from them. We call that experience.

When I was in Navy boot camp in Great Lakes Michigan, there was a rule that when you folded your blanket, you had to place it where the very edge of the blanket was touching the end of the bed. This was a strict rule and it being off a centimeter would have failed an inspection. Once…..just once I made this mistake and the company commander disciplined me as a result. Never happened again, I learned my lesson.

Israel made some mistakes too. God tried to lead them into the Promised Land directly after their exodus from Egypt. They showed a lack of faith and refused to enter into it out of fear, so this led to their forty years of wandering in the desert. They were spiritually immature so God sent them on a 40 year spiritual boot camp in the wilderness. He still blessed them and provided for their needs but all the while he was disciplining them.

They performed multiple acts of disobedience; they got Aaron to make them a golden calf; they griped when there was no water and they griped when there was no food. God gave them these things, as he was disciplining them.

Deuteronomy 8:5 “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.”

It seems sometimes that we have so many opportunities to mess up in life. We do things we know we shouldn’t – and we make mistakes. We all make mistakes, When General Motors tried to introduce the Chevy Nova into South America, they neglected to notice that in Spanish “No VA” means “No go…

When Coca-Cola was introduced in China, their attempts at finding a phonetic equivalent in the Chinese language resulted in a drink called “bite the wax tadpole.”

Sometimes when we make mistakes we try to deny it. When we try to deny our mistakes that is when the trouble really begins. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says, If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. We all make mistakes!

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”

Thankfully, God is in the restoration business. He uses our mistakes and failures to bring about His intended results. It’s often through our mistakes that He is able to teach us and to transform our character…but only if we will let Him.

Sometimes we make a mistake and we think we can never go on again. Maybe we think we could never be forgiven because we have done such terrible things, but this is just another mistake.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Jesus was taking about freedom from sin. Some of the worst mistakes we make are sinful ones.

Whatever mistakes you make in life, let them be a place of learning. Whatever error you see, replace it with truth. Whatever else you do, live by faith: Faith that you will make mistakes and faith that God will see you through it.

I don’t know what life has dealt you this past week, month, year or lifetime. But I do know with God – “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!”

So if life has become messy because of mistakes…cling to the promises of God! He loves you more than you can imagine. He will be there for you when everything and everyone else has abandoned you.



Band of Brothers

Lie #1: I can do it myself - I don’t like to fly! Not because I am afraid of dying or claustrophobia, but because I don’t have control. Face it; most of us want to believe that we are competent and capable. Ultimately we’d like to believe that we are in control! None of us really are in control but we sure would like to believe it.

The first lie is a control issue a challenging lie.  It says I can take on anyone, any challenge, and any time. I don’t need help. I am in control.

Lie #2: This is just the way I am - The second lie is when we realize, we don’t have control. This is a surrender lie. It is what a man says who has given up and let go of control. It’s surrender to the desires of his own heart and not God’s.

To change or overcome from these lies, independently, is hard….not impossible but really hard. It’s even harder to do it by yourself. Speaking directly to us men, we need to learn that we need each other. That’s right I said it, Men need other men!

Hey guys - You can’t make it alone and you don’t need to try!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Remember the series on HBO, “Band of Brothers?” I love that series for many reasons besides being a history nut. I love the series because it represents men being there for other men. No Lone Wolf McQuade’s in that bunch.

Ok so here is how we can become a Band of Brothers:

1. I’ll carry you when you’re tired and you carry me when I’m tired.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
2.  I’ll Pray for you, you pray for me
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed...
James 5:16a
3. I’ll get in your face, you get in mine
when Peter came to Antioch, and I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Galatians 2:11
4. I’ll be there for you, you be there for me
…correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
2 Timothy 4:2

 

A “Band of Brothers” help each other to eliminate the lies, asks the hard questions, doesn’t blame others, confesses immediately and fully, helps each other do the right thing and a “Band of Brothers”…

 

 WINS Together!!!

 

Ticket Theology

Last week, driving home from somewhere, my thoughts turned to my writing; more importantly, what to write about. Usually, when I get this temporary writers block, I go back to basics Grace and salvation. In my thoughts, I came up with an analogy (something I have never been really good at).

Salvation is like waiting in line for tickets to the “Best Concert Ever!” Why are people in line? The want tickets to the show…some wait days in line so they can get the best tickets. There are those who KNOW somebody and already have the best tickets; there are some that get ticket given to them for answering the right question or doing something goofy as part of a radio promotion or raffle.

Interesting analogy to say the least but it has one humongous flaw. As humans we already have a Grace ticket. That ticket was filled out in our name when Jesus sacrificed his life for ours. Our tickets were bought and paid for at Calgary. We just need to accept the ticket! But that’s not the real flaw….

The flaw is “Ticket Theology.”

People with ticket theology think that the only thing that is important in the Christian life is salvation. They rarely think about real discipleship, they just want their ticket. They want to avoid hell and go to heaven without ever considering whether they will be happy in heaven. I might say that if you don’t like living for God here, you’re not going to get the full benefits there.

Ticket theology trivializes the Christian life. This kind of thinking reduces the Christian life down to some kind of spiritual fire insurance. It turns the Christian experience into a recipe: “Say this and you will be saved,” or “Pray this prayer and you will be forgiven.” It is very important that we are saved by grace. The Bible does say, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Many people stop reading there and forget the next verse: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

We cannot save ourselves by our good works, and whenever we think God owes us heaven because we have been better than most people then we are in trouble. But there is more to the Christian life than just being “saved by grace.”

What is the point of being a Christian?

1.      It is developing a relationship with God and living for him.

2.      It is the decision to no longer live for ourselves or our pleasures and interests, and to give our lives totally to God. It is falling in love with God and his ways.

3.      It is discovering life as we become closer to him and learn his will for our lives on a daily basis. It is coming alive to joy and the fullness of what we were created for.

4.      t is so much more than just having our sins forgiven.

5.      It is growing every day in our relationship with God and learning to be faithful to him as we mature as his disciples.

6.      It is developing our relationships with other Christians and becoming a part of the family of God.

Maybe you think you have your ticket, but you have never entered into the kind of life that mirrors the life of Jesus. What good is the ticket if you never walk into the concert? And what you discover as you walk into the concert hall is that you are not there to be entertained, you are supposed to take your place on the stage and become one of the performers. You are to live out on that stage what it looks like to be a person who follows Jesus so well that others want to join you and become a part of the concert themselves.

Don’t just grab a ticket and wait…hop up onto the stage and let’s show all what it’s really like to have a ticket!

Natural States

Natural States

Mark 6:45-51a Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I, don’t be afraid. “Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.

Life is tough it can sneak up on you and get out of control very fast. There are times that it seems there is no end to it and/or how bad things can really get. It’s during these times we really speak out to the Lord but not just to end our turmoil. It’s these times we wish God would just reach his arms down and give us a big hug!

When I was in the Navy and out on the open sea, things could get out of control real quick. Some were caused by human factors and some just occurred naturally. There were 3 constant natural conditions we were always presented with. We were either; in a storm; coming out of a storm; or preparing to enter a storm. These storms can mean high wind, waves and blinding rain. These are often represented in our Christian walk. We’re not just talking about weather conditions here. Our Christian lives can, and very often do resemble these conditions.

Adverse winds will blow in our homes and cause waves to roll in and disrupt the well-being of our habitation. When the winds of jealousy, covetousness, prejudice, pride, selfishness, and greed appear. It’s a pretty common fact that the waves of broken hearts, hurt feelings, sleepless nights, broken homes, fear, unforgiveness, and confusion are sure to follow.

We can’t always predicate the pattern and direction of the winds and storms in life. They often arise suddenly, quickly, instantly, and without warning. As the winds and waves move without restriction they leave behind a path of destruction. The winds and waves of life leave behind a parade of powerless, lifeless, aimless social outcasts and relationship challenged people yearning for acceptance and love.

We need Jesus in order to deal with the winds and waves of life. We need to be able to navigate through the nautical noise. We need to be able to stay afloat and sail through our stormy seasons. Jesus is our anchor to stabilize our position in turbulent times. Jesus is guiding our rudder, mapping out our course from the island of despair to the mainland of eternity! Jesus tells us what to do when we don’t know what to do! Jesus guides us in the proper decisions of life.

James 1:6 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

In times of trouble, we must ask in faith! There is no room for doubt. When we waver or doubt we are hesitating. We are holding back when we should be moving forward in action. Remember faith is not merely assent but application. Faith is active.

In Mark 6:54a, Jesus got into the boat AND, “the winds died down!”

I’m not saying that the reason for troubles is because we don’t have Jesus in our heart.  I am saying that as long as we have these earth suits on (we make mistakes), we will always face these 3 types of Natural conditions.