The Giving Jar

Or The Good Stewardship Jar.

Or The Quit Wasting Money On Stupid Crap Spoiled Children Of God Jar.

Whatever you want to call it, here's my idea:

Get a big freaking jar. Pray that you resist temptations to throw money away by buying junk on a whim, as we have been so trained to do in our overindulgent culture that is all about comfort and security. Take that money, in cash, and attach a note to it that indicates the date and the crap you didn't buy. Continue this until you're dead or the Lord returns.

At the end of every year, give the money away and get blessed for having helped someone instead of spending on junk you obviously didn't need anyway.

Now, please, don't for a minute let me sound like I'm on my high horse coming down on "everyone else". In my B.C. days I wasted a ton of money on all kinds of selfish whims, and I've done my fair share of that after coming to Christ as well. I think I'll try this jar thing in my home and see how it works. Hopefully well! :-)

Grace and Peace

Bankruptcy Or Divorce, Only $200!

I saw a billboard on the way back tonight that said the following:

Bankruptcy or Divorce, $200

That's just another sad commentary on the state the world is in, where there is enough demand for both of these things to warrant posting a huge advertisement on the side of the freeway.

Don't care to practice good stewardship of the money you've been given and pile up debut? Forget that the wicked borrow and don't repay. Forget God's Word, just declare bankruptcy, quick and cheap!

Wives, don't care to submit to your husbands as to the Lord? Husbands, don't care to love your wives as Christ loves the church? Forget God's Word, just get divorced, quick and cheap!

Now I realize that what the Bible says doesn't matter to unbelievers, and we live in an unbelieving world. But for my brothers and sisters in Christ, let's never adopt the same attitude and heart as the rest of the world, where we can so lightly toss aside important principles given to us by our maker.

Good stewardship in all things IS important. We are not to get over our heads in debt and should make every effort to repay whatever debts we do have.

Confession, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration ARE important. God HATES divorce. Even when there are biblical grounds for it, such as sexual immorality, it is not a requirement. It is a LAST RESORT.

Let's all stay strong in the Word and let it stay strong in us, lest we get swept up by the beliefs of those that don't.

Grace and Peace

Satan Claus?

Tonight, I rant.

I'm in a bit of a mood right now for a lie in which I have partaken for the sake of limiting arguments. That lie is about a fat guy in a red suit. I seem to hate that guy more and more as time passes. My feelings toward him go up and down, but tonight they're not particularly good.

Whatever the origins of the Santa lie may be, today for me he just represents the world's Christmas. That overindulging and materialistic corruption of something that is supposed to be focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, yet seems to have him completely missing from the picture. The Lord of Lord and King of Kings is replaced by trees, snowmen, wreaths, bells, candy canes, lights, and this dude with his pet reindeer.

Now I see nothing wrong with some traditions like decorating the tree, putting your presents under it, making special treats, and so on. Those can be some fun family moments -- as long as they don't take away from the truth of Christ coming into the world.

What bothers me about Santa is that he's, plain and simple, a big fat lie. We tell our children that there's this magic man that flies around giving children toys. That's pretty stupid. What kind of lesson does that teach? Parents think its funny to lie to their kids? Yay. How could that possibly help when you try to tell them the truth about other things?

You know what's a better lesson? Mommy and Daddy gave you these presents because they love you. They give much because they've been given much by our great and glorious God, especially the greatest gift of all, which is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Start adding extra crap around the truth and eventually the truth gets really hazy. I wonder if its coincidence that Santa and Satan have the same letters in their names. Interesting.

End rant. I'm done.

Grace

You know, looking back at my life before I knew Jesus Christ, I think I could do the "saved by works" thing. Really. I wasn't so bad of a person like all those child molesters and rapists out there. I'm good enough.

Nevermind that I wasted my time every night playing videos games and watching pornography.

Nevermind that I didn't give any of my time or money to help other people.

Nevermind that my prayers to God all thanked him for my family, my life, my job, and my friends -- but instead of every caring what God's will was, I justed wanted him to keep me rich and comfortable.

Nevermind that I would do "nice" things for my wife now and then, but all too often only to get what I wanted.

Nevermind that I was looking for happiness in all the wrong places and coming up empty.

Nevermind that I often had in my heart way too much worry, or sadness, or anger, or fear, or anything else that wasn't peace and wasn't joy.

Nevermind that I led a selfish and sinful life and was proud of it and being able to revel in how much time and money I was able to waste on nothing.

Nevermind that my long term goal was to "enjoy" life as much as possible before I died.

But at least I wasn't like those other wicked people, right? Right? Nope. Wrong.

Thank God for grace. Thank God that my salvation was not, is not, and never will be dependent on my own efforts, because the best I could ever do comes up infinitely short of what God requires. Thank God that Jesus came into this sinful and broken world and paid the price that we could never pay.

Thank God that all he requires is belief in his son, Jesus Christ. That sounds too easy, doesn't it? But that's it. That's what the Bible teaches. In my own experience, and that of many others, the moment you truly believe in the saving power of Christ and turn to him, you are transformed from the inside out. That moment is a catalyst for a new life of joy and hope.

The only real questions to ask are "What does belief in Jesus Christ look like?" and "What's my response to it?"

Grace and Peace

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

Man, I love the song Little Drummer Boy! What a good song!

I like it because that's me, the drummer boy. That's you if you know Christ. We come before him, knowing he's a king. Not just a king, but THE king, come to earth as a little baby, made poor. And when we come before him, we know we have NOTHING to offer him. We don't come to him going "hey Lord, look at what *I* can do for *you* because I'm so righteous, so good, so holy, so whatever." No, we come with our pockets turned out and dirt on our face. We got nothing and we know it.

What does the drummer boy do next? Plays a song on his drum. We play the drum too you know. We play the drum every time we help feed the hungry in Jesus' name. We play the drum every time we clothe the naked in Jesus' name. We play the drum every time we comfort someone in need in Jesus' name. We play the drum every time we lift up the name of Jesus Christ and God the Father. We play the drum whenever we're walking in the Spirit and doing the good works that have been laid out for us to do and whenever we're praising our great God and Savior.

We don't play the drum because it saves us. We don't play the drum because we're obligated. We don't play the drum grudgingly with a heavy heart. We don't play the drum because some dude told us to play it. We don't play the drum because we're greedy for some kind of material reward or because we fear what will happen if we don't play the drum. No, we play the drum joyfully for no reason other than the reason, and reward the drummer boy got:

The king of kings and lord of lords smiled at him.

Ain't nothing better than God smiling down at you. We just need to remember it!

Grace and Peace

Keep Who In What?

I think we should move when we celebrate Christ's birth.

Really, how many people are actually honoring Christ on "Christ"mas anyway, despite what many people claim the day is truly about anyway? Maybe we say a prayer or two. Maybe we reading something from the Bible. Maybe we sing some songs. But then what do we do? Demonstrate gluttony at the dinner table? Overindulge our children with gifts that they don't really need, many of which will find their way to the donation bin or the trash heap? Pretend that we have something meaningful to say to people we don't see the rest of the year, so we can have some false sense of "relationship" or "fellowship"?

I argue that very little of what we do on this holiday has anything to do with what we as Christians are supposed to be celebrating on the day bearing the title of our savior, Jesus.

I've had this picking at my brain for a little while. Then I went on two rides at Disneyland that amplified it -- The Haunted Mansion and It's A Small World -- all decorated for "Christmas". I knew it was going to be the world's version of Christmas, but at first it still really bugged me. A bunch of Santa crap, decorations, food, and presents. None of that has anything to do with what Christmas is supposed to celebrate.

About halfway through the Small World ride, I realized something. You can't keep Christ in the middle of that kind of Christmas. I actually thought "hey you bozos, where's the nativity scene here" -- but no, our savior doesn't belong among all that foolishness, to be cheapened and brought down to that level. It would be more of an insult to my God and Savior to slap a Christian's Christmas in the center of all that pomp.

Now there are those who want to take "Merry Christmas" and turn it into "Happy Holidays" because they are offended by Christ. There are many of us who are Christians who absolutely hate this and want to hold fast to the name of the holiday. But how well do we hold on to the purpose? Anything sacred about it has been so completely mixed up with this secular rich western idea of Christmas that it seems so difficult to get any real meaning out of it. Let's just cut our losses and let the world have their "holiday" of glitz, overindulgence, and commercialism, and pick a new one that can have real meaning for God's people who want to actually celebrate the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ.

I realized that no one, including myself, is going to seriously campaign for another day to celebrate the birth of Christ on. We'll just go on as usual, saying that Christmas is about Christ and then not really making the day itself about him. Let's just stand up and be honest about this one day of the year, and then do our best to celebrate Christ's birth, death, and resurrection every day of our lives in our thoughts, words, and actions -- without feeling the need to claim this one day as something any more sacred in lifting up the name of Jesus.

Nehushtan!

Grace and Peace

800 Pacos

A co-worker posted this. I think its from Turning Point.

A Spanish father and son had a falling out, and the son ran away. The father set off to find him, and after months of looking to no avail, he finally put an ad in the Madrid newspaper. It read: “Dear Paco, meet in front of the newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” 800 Pacos showed up to the newspaper office that Saturday, all looking for love and forgiveness from their fathers.

Forgiveness is a difficult concept. Our main point of reference on the subject is how hard it is to forgive someone who has hurt us or a loved one. And because we struggle with forgiving others, we sometimes have a hard time accepting God’s forgiveness. But regardless of how we view God’s willingness and ability to forgive, He sees us in purity through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, rather than in the filth of our sin.

When we feel like running away from God because our sin is just too great, we have to remember that all is forgiven. He loves us, and He is waiting for us with open arms.

Grace and Peace

The Buzzard, The Bat, And The Bumblebee

A co-worker posted this:

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!

That's the answer, the escape route, and the solution to any problem. Just look up!

Grace and Peace

Three Bullets

A co-worker posted this:

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old rifle and three bullets. So, he decided that he would go out hunting and kill some wild game for dinner. As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit. He shot at the rabbit and missed it.

The rabbit ran away. Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it.

The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree.

As he went further, he saw a large wild "Tom" turkey in the tree, but he had only one bullet remaining.

A voice spoke to him and said, "Pray first, aim high and stay focused."

However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill. He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer. But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still, the voice said again to him, "I said 'Pray, aim high and stay focused.'"

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice.

He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey. The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat for his family. The snake was dead simply because the man listened to God.

The moral of the story:

Pray first before you do anything, aim and shoot high in your goals, and stay focused on God. Never let others discourage you concerning your past. The past is exactly that, the past. Live every day one day at a time and remember that only God knows our future and that he will not put you through any more than you can bear.

Do not look to man for your blessings, but look to the doors that only He has prepared in advance for you in your favor. Wait, be still and patient. Keep God first and everything else will follow.

Grace and Peace

Flair Minimum

There's a movie called Office Space I liked in my B.C. days. There's a recurring bit in the movie about a girl who works at a restaurant where she's required to put on "flair". In other words, a bunch of pins, buttons, and other junk, all over her waitress outfit. She has a requirement of a bare minimum 15 pieces of flair, but her boss always encourages her to wear more flair. He's kind of a pest about it, always asking her if she wants to just get by doing the "bare minimum" or get into the spirit of the whole "flair thing" like everybody else. She obviously just wants to do the bare minimum, because really she thinks the flair is stupid, and he persists in condeming that person who just...does...the...bare...minimum.

Well I can understand how this girl's attitude was toward flair. I might just want to melt all my flair down into a tiny "flair ball" and chuck it in the garbage can!

But what's our attitude toward God?

Are we the kind of people who approach God's Word with the idea that we're going to look through it and see just how sinful we can be and still get to heaven. Sometimes people ask questions like "Can I be a Christian and still " or "God will forgive me if I do right?" or "How much am I required to give?" or "Do I really need to go to church that much?" Wrong questions. Wrong approach. The idea is not to see just how close we can cuddle up to sin and how much we can hold on to the world and still be right with God. We should examine our lives well to make sure we don't do this type of thing as Christians, for that is not how we are to act.

Our great and glorious God abhors sin and a lukewarm attitude, and, as his followers, so should we.

Our approach should not be to do the bare minimum and grudgingly put on Christian flair. No, it should be to pursue God with everything we've got! Sure, we're going to mess that up. But that doesn't mean we should settle for mediocrity and complacency in our walk with the Lord. The world is a huge current of water trying to knock us down and wash us away -- if we don't keep swimming against it, we're going to be crushed, defeated, and a far cry from the children of God we're supposed to be. So let's all pray for on another that we grow stronger in the Lord with each passing day and have our hearts and minds always set on him and his amazing grace and love!

Grace and Peace

Don't Offend Me

How do you like that phrase "Happy Holidays"? I can't stand it very much myself. But what I don't really get is someone who believes in Jesus yet refrains from the traditional "Merry Christmas" so they don't "offend" people who don't believe in Christ.

That's dumb.

Let me throw out another one. I've had people now and again tell me that they don't agree with what I believe -- but that its okay because I still don't "offend" them.

That's also dumb.

Look, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, came to earth to die for us. God reached into my life and into my heart and totally changed it. The truth about why we need him, what he did for us, what we need to do, and what he expects of us is recorded in his best selling book, the Bible.

So, if my God, the one true and only God, offends -- if what he wants of you offends -- if the message of the cross, offends -- too bad. If you're offended, you're wrong, and he's right, end of story. Sorry, you don't get to argue. He's God.

"Wow, you're pretty arrogant" some might say, and some have said.

I might be if I was saying this on my own authority. But, no, I'm not, because a year and a half ago I didn't know the one true God either. I was fine not paying any attention to spiritual things and living life totally for myself and what would make me "happy". I was a sinner through and through, no doubt about it. The residue from a depraved and wicked heart still haunts me now and again.

Yet, God saved me.

That's right, he saved me. I didn't save myself. I didn't do anything on my own that gives me any kind of right to stand up and say under my own authority "this is the way it is and this is what you need to do." No, Almighty God reached out into my life and did the work himself. All I did was cry out to him from complete brokenness after being shown the sad state I was in. He did the rest.

So when I say that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and you need to trust him for your salvation -- when I say that religious systems where we work for our salvation are false -- when I say that this or that detracts from Christ alone, I don't say it out of my own arrogance or self-righteousness. I say it based on the Scripture-backed experience of crying out to a merciful, wonderful, holy, perfect God who has the power to save anyone who puts their trust in him. If he can save ME and lead me to repentance and eternal life, he can certainly save anyone else!

That's not offensive. That's truth, and its absolutely wonderful. Praise the LORD!

Grace, Peace, and (a very early) Merry Christmas!

Sad Sad Values

I just explained to my oldest daughter what an abortion was today. Her immediate two responses were "I'm glad I didn't get killed!" and "That's wrong, I want to help so no other babies get killed!" I'm so thankful to God for my precious precious miracle and the heart he has put in her.

So while I was Googling around for an anti-abortion place where we could volunteer together at (still haven't found one, so if you know of one, please share), I came across this:

http://www.fwhc.org/abortion/fake.htm

It pissed me off. So now I'm going to rant.

"these groups want to be the first contact a woman makes when she thinks she might be pregnant, so they can talk her out of considering abortion."

Good! Praise the Lord! That's a lot better than being held accountable for murder, better than feeling the guilt from being responsible for it, and better than hardening her heart even further.

"They do NOT provide referrals for abortion."

Good!

"While waiting, they are forced to watch anti-abortion videos or be surrounded by anti-abortion propaganda."

Good! If you're going to murder someone, you *should* see *exactly* what happens to them, shouldn't you?

"They complain that their confidential information was used against them. In some cases, they were followed home, and mail and phone calls intruded into their homes."

If that saves a life, good! What kind of argument is that? Oh NO, *mail* and *phone calls*. How DARE you! *Mail* *intruded*? Give me a break. Can I throw a hissy fit for all these coupons and ads I don't want because it is "intruding into my home"?

"They attempt to make women feel guilty."

Good, but they don't do it. That guilt comes out of a failure to totally suppress her God-given moral compass.

"They advise unmarried women to abstain from sex, presenting abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy."

Good! That seems to be pretty effective. 100% I believe!

"IF you discover you are seeking help from an anti-abortion facility, protect yourself from further harassment."

Wow, that just takes the cake! What a sad look at the values of the world. *Protect* yourself from *harassment*! OH NO! I might hear and see things I don't like and want to ignore because someone is trying to *protect* someone else from *death*!

Someone tell me again why we shouldn't just run a wrecking ball through every abortion clinic we see? At night after the janitor's gone home of course.

May the Lord open the hearts of every "pro-choice" person in this world so that they see the evil they support and come to repentance.

Grace and Peace

Ups And Downs

I get the phrase "walking with the Lord" but I think for my own life at time I won't use that one. I think I'll go with "riding Space Mountain with the Lord." That seems more appropriate. You know where the ride ultimately ends, but to get there its a crazy ride. Sometimes you can see where you're going, but most of the time you can't. And there are a lot of ups and downs!

It's those ups and downs that are on my mind today. Sometimes I get into this mode where I'm just riding a high where nothing is going wrong and nothing can get me down. The ride just goes up and up and up and I somehow think "hey man, I've got eternal life through Jesus Christ, NOTHING can ruin this mood!"

I'm an idiot.

Even on a day that's been totally wrapped up in the Lord, things can, and do, go awry. There's been times when it took just an instance for a few darts from the devil to get through and cause me to crash down. And then stupidly I think "What's going on here? God, I thought I was your kid! What happened here?!"

Ditto the idiot comment.

Those ups and downs are really more superficial emotions. The calm delight inside that comes from knowing and growing closer to my Father and my Savior is still there on both kinds of days. During the down times I might not pay attention to it enough, but as soon as I've passed through an emotional valley and my senses are coming back to me, I feel that delight in the Lord restoring me from the inside out.

It seems to be useful to distinguish between the way we feel in the core of our being, which gets transformed by Christ when we come to him, and the shallow easy-come-easy-go emotional roller coaster ride that we experience day to day. I think when we're in Christ and have a solid handle on the former, the latter shouldn't affect us so much!

As God has been showing this to me, it became clear also that he has used both the ups and downs to work in my life. Logically during the highest highs I've been used for the benefit of others while during the lowest lows I've been shown areas in my life in need of improvement.

Thanks, Dad, for an awesome ride!

Grace and Peace

Average American Christian

I just read something that blew my mind, and not in a good way. "The average Christian in the United States spends ten minutes per day with God; meanwhile, the average American spends over four hours a day watching television."

That's sad. I have some questions for the "average American Christian" mentioned above:

- Do you wonder why you feel so far away from God?

- Do you feel your prayers never get answered or even heard?

- Do you lose the struggle against this sin or that one time and time again?

- Do you want desperately to know what true joy actually feels like?

If the initial statement is true about the "average American Christian" then I expect a lot of "yes" answers from the one that fits the bill. The reason for that is simple, the "average American Christian" serves a different god. Television, maybe, or one of a million hobbies that could take its place. But really its more simple than that; the false god here is "self".

So let's not waste so much of our time with things of this world that just don't matter in the end! Let's keep our hearts and our minds focused on, and centered around, Christ! Immersing ourselves in the things of the Lord is far better than indulging ourselves in the things of the world!

Grace and Peace

Beautiful Christian Sister

A co-worker sent this out. I like it.

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER
By Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say.... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Pretty is as Pretty does... But beautiful is just plain beautiful!

Grace and Peace

Tolerance And Focus

I just had some thoughts running around my head today about tolerance and focus, in the context of doing some kind of social outreach. Sometimes you get various local religious groups partnering up with one another to use their resources more effectively in helping others.

That might be fine depending on the situation, but we need to remember to keep focused on the end goal.

The end goal is not to make people's lives better for a short time. Doing that is a means to demonstrate Christ's love to other people, but the intended end result of that demonstration should be that more souls turn to Christ! Remember that Jesus didn't do all those miracles just to heal people and improve their short lives here on earth -- he primarily did all those miracles to prove he was who he claimed to be.

So when partnering with others I think we really need to keep in mind how the gospel is going to be preached. We don't want to give the impression that all religions are equally valid and/or that's its really all about just doing the good works, because neither is true. So if Jesus is seen to be just one of the boys along with Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, and so on, that's a problem. Jesus is God in the flesh, come to earth to die as payment for the sins of the world. That message comes first and must not be blocked or distorted!

Imagine for a moment a diverse group of guys all working together at some event and someone says "hey you guys, tell me what you know about Jesus."

The Muslim dude speaks up: "He was a prophet like Moses."

The Catholic lady corrects him: "No, he was much more than that. He is God in the flesh and he was crucified to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Now let me tell you about the true church that he started while he was on earth..."

The Mormon guy breaks in: "You'll have to let me take it from here, because the church you belong to is not the one true church -- the church I belong to is the one true church. But before I talk about that I want to tell you about how Jesus actually came to the New World and about this guy named Joseph Smith..."

The Jewish guy interrupts: "What's wrong with you two? Jesus was a man just like any other. He claimed to be the Messiah, and he claimed to be God. He was crucified, and he died. He disciples probably stole his body to make it look like he rose from the dead. End of story!"

The Buddhist lady backs him up: "That's right. But still, he was a great moral teacher like Buddha. We can learn a lot from his teachings."

As the Jehovah's Witness guy starts to talk about Michael the archangel, the majority of the group notices the Christian guy walking back in from the front door. They see the other guy walking away down the street, obviously reading something in his hands.

"What did you tell him?" they all asked.

"I just told him the simple truth -- that I once I lived an empty, meaningless, and self-centered life, despite all that I had. I told him that Jesus is the one who showed me that sin, saved me, and gave me a new heart. Then I prayed with him for a moment. I also gave him a Bible and showed him where he can read more about Jesus. Why, what are you guys still talking about in here?"

Grace and Peace

Zeal And Treasure

I have to tell you I got so blessed today! I met two guys from Set Free Ministries today that just blew me away. Rarely have I seen such obvious excitement and joy overflowing from a brother in Christ. These guys were just so clearly thrilled to be working for the Lord and had such a passion for Jesus and helping other people!

All I could think is "Lord, I want THAT kind of love and zeal".

One of the guys also offered up an interpretation on the parable of the treasure in the field, which I will share.

The parable goes something like this. The kingdom of God is like a treasure in a field. A man walking through the field finds it. He goes and sells everything he has to buy the field and thus obtain the treasure.

I understand the man to be a sinner such as you or I coming to Christ in repentance and receiving the greatest gift there is. But here was this man's spin on it:

Let's say the man is us, the field is the world, and the treasure is God. That doesn't really work too well, because we can't really buy God, and we really don't give up absolutely everything.

Instead let's say the man is Jesus and we're the treasure. He really did give up everything. He gave up his crown and his cloak to come down to earth and die as a sacrifice for our sins, purchasing us with his blood. We're his, and he works through us.

I don't really believe that's the intended meaning of the parable, but I still think its a very meaningful point my brother made! :-)

Grace and Peace

Speaking...Or Arguing...The Truth In Love?

Recently I have angered someone because I told them, in short, that they followed a false prophet and followed a different Jesus than written about in the Bible. I supposed I can see how that would make someone angry, but we still went back and forth a bit. Through some discussion that ended up hitting a brick wall in the end, as far as I can tell, I have been accused of the following:

- Hatred. In that my comments during discussion were a personal attack against the members of the church started by this particular person.

- Rudeness. In that my words were sharp and unloving.

- Pride. In that I came across like the Pharisees who were prideful and thought they were right with God and everyone else was purposed for stoking the fires of hell.

And some other things. I didn't keep a paper trail; I just happen to remember those, along with this:

- I shouldn't let beliefs come between relationships with family.

Dead wrong.

I'm not saying believers should be jerks, but they certainly shouldn't suppress the truth just to "be nice". When someone is in a fraudulent and flawed system we should just keep quiet to keep the peace? I don't think so.

Christ said this: "Do you think I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three." (Luke 12:51-52)

Should we not tell people following the world's religions about Jesus because we might offend? Should we not warn people about false teachings and false prophets because we might offend? Should we not approach brothers and sisters who are backsliding because we might offend?

That's what the world says to do. That's not what the Bible teaches. It's not what Christ said to do. It's not what Paul said to do. It's not what Peter said to do. It's not what John said to do. I'll take their instructions over those of the world's pluralistic, relative-truth, all-paths-lead-to-God opinion.

Despite what some may claim, truth is absolutely knowable through God's Word and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, false beliefs can be positively identified. Trying to show this to people in love is not rude, not prideful, and not hateful, whether or not someone put a "Jesus sticker" on their beliefs.

In short, having a "happy" relationship with someone is less important than that someone having a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ,

Having said that, I admit freely the following shortcomings of which I find myself guilty:

- I too often fail to speak up (or shut up depending on the situation) because I don't want to hurt relationships, because I fear possible ridicule, or because I'm worried about the repercussions and covering myself at work. For shame! God help me to be better in speaking the truth, preaching the gospel, and avoiding the appearance of agreeing with incorrect opinions and beliefs!

- I see that, with regarding to false teachers in particular, I have failed to heed the Word. Too often I get it into my head that I need to discuss, debate, or argue. What the Bible teaches is that we are to avoid false teachers. We are not to bless them or wish them well. We are not to give the impression that we think they have legitimate claims, doctrines, or opinions. John tells us that to do this is to share in their wicked work.

That last statement was a hard one for me, because I know that the rank and file member of some group is likely not intentionally trying to do anything "wicked". However, it follows that if they preach a false Jesus and/or a false gospel, they are spreading falsehoods and doing something wicked anyway, whether or not they mean to.

Too often already I have thought that this is where people are coming from and they need to see the light -- unfortunately, what I thought was an opportunity to speak the truth -- even if the person didn't want to hear it -- turned out to be nothing more than a distraction, keeping me from focusing on the things of God.

Thank you Lord, for using this latest altercation to open my eyes to my sin of getting sucked into that which is pointless and a clear failure to redeem the time!

Grace and Peace

The Heart Of A Child

I came across this poem tonight and like it:

Whatever you write on the heart of a child,
no water can wash away.

The sands may be shifted when billows are wild
and the efforts of time may decay.

Some stories may perish, some songs be forgot,
but this engraved record, time changes it not.

Whatever you write in the heart of a child
a story of gladness or care --

That heaven has blessed or that earth has defiled,
will linger unbearably there.

Who writes it has sealed it forever and aye.
He must answer to God on that great judgment day.

And, fathers do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the disciple and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

Grace and Peace

Fresh Or Canned?

A co-worker posted this.

Human: Our Father who art in heaven.

God: Yes?

Human: Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.

God: But you called ME!

Human: Called you? No, I didn't call you. I'm praying. Our Father who art in heaven.

God: There, you did it again!

Human: Did what?

God: Called ME! You said, "Our Father who art in Heaven." Well, here I am. What's on your mind?

Human: But I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's Prayer. It makes me feel good, kind of like fulfilling a duty.

God: Well, all right. Go on.

Human: Okay, hallowed be thy name.

God: Hold it right there. What do you mean by that?

Human: By what?

God: By "hallowed be thy name"?

Human: It means, it means...good grief, I don't know what it means. How in the world should I know? It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?

God: It means honored, holy, wonderful.

Human: Hey, that makes sense...I never thought about what "hallowed" meant before. Thanks. Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

God: Do you really mean that?

Human: Sure, why not?

God: What are you doing about it?

Human: Doing? Why, nothing, I guess. I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control, of everything down here like you have up there. We're kinda in a mess down here you know.

God: Yes, I know; but, have I got control of you?

Human: Well, I go to church.

God: That isn't what I asked you. What about your bad temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money -- all on yourself. And what about the kind of books you read?

Human: Now hold on just a minute! Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at church!

God: Excuse ME. I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example.

Human: Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others.

God: So could I.

Human: I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I really would like to cut out some of those things. I would like to, you know, be really free.

God: Good. Now we're getting somewhere. We'll work together, you and ME. I'm proud of You.

Human: Look, Lord, if you don't mind, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. Give us this day, our daily bread.

God: You need to cut out the bread. You're overweight as it is.

Human: Hey, wait a minute! What is this? Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hang-ups.

God: Praying is a dangerous thing. You just might get what you ask for. Remember, you called ME, and here I am. It's too late to stop now. Keep praying. [Pause] Well, go on.

Human: I'm scared to.

God: Scared? Of what?

Human: I know what you'll say.

God: Try ME.

Human: Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

God: What about Ann?

Human: See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Why, Lord, she's told lies about me, spread stories. She never paid back the money she owes me. I've sworn to get even with her!

God: But, your prayer, what about your prayer?

Human: I didn't...mean it.

God: Well, at least you're honest. But, it's quite a load carrying around all that bitterness and resentment isn't it?

Human: Yes, but I'll feel better as soon as I get even with her. Boy, have I got some plans for her. She'll wish she had never been born.

God: No, you won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. You know how unhappy you are...well, I can change that.

Human: You can? How?

God: Forgive Ann. Then, I'll forgive you, and the hate and the sin, will be Ann's problem, not yours. You will have settled the problem as far as you are concerned.

Human: Oh, you know, you're right. You always are. And more than I want revenge, I want to be right with you. [Sigh] All right, all right, I forgive her.

God: There now! Wonderful! How do you feel?

Human: Hmmmm. Well, not bad! Not bad at all! In fact, I feel pretty great! You know, I don't think I'll go to bed uptight tonight. I haven't been getting much rest, you know.

God: Yeah, I know. But, you're not through with your prayer, are you? Go on.

Human: Oh, all right. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

God: Good! Good! I'll do that. Just don't put yourself in a place
where you can be tempted.

Human: What do you mean by that?

God: You know what I mean.

Human: Yeah. I know. Okay.

God: Go ahead. Finish your prayer.

Human: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

God: Do you know what would bring me glory? What would really make me happy?

Human: No, but I'd like to know. I want to please you now. I've really made a mess of things. I want to truly follow you. I can see now how great that would be. So, tell me...how do I make you happy?

God: You just did.

Grace and Peace

What Lies Beneath

Recently someone was unsure how I might feel about them because of a lifestyle choice they made. Now before I continue, I must say that the point of this post is not to say anything about any specific behavior, but something much more important than that. So, for the sake of example and having something in your head, pick something from the list: a college guy choosing to live and sleep with his girlfriend before getting married, or an older man choosing to turn to the bottle to drown his sorrows and forget his problems, or a young girl choosing to sell her body for money, or a teenager choosing to center his life around smoking pot, or two men/women choosing to "marry" each other, and so on.

The point here in these examples -- examples that we see every day in the world -- is that these are people who have chosen to live outside the will of God. But that's not the central issue! The lifestyle, choice, behavior, whatever you want to call it, is not the real problem. Sure, many people might focus on it and try to correct it if the person's particular choice is not "normal" by the world's standards. But the fact of the matter is this:

Cleaning up a sinful lifestyle apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ does no good.

It's like what Duncan said (roughly) in one of his sermons: "A lot of people tell me 'I got a lot of sin in my life right now; let me go clean that up and then I'll come to your church.' No, that ain't it. Come as you are, get right with God through Jesus, and he'll do the cleaning up."

Duncan hit the nail on the head. Hard.

You could be Mr. Goody Two Shoes "Christian" Boy your entire life. You could go to church every weekend, twice. You could go to several midweek Bible studies. You could give all your extra money away and then some. You could spend all your free time serving at the church or in the community. But if you are not born again from above through the power of the Holy Spirit, it doesn't matter one bit. All the "good works" and "good behavior" people do will not save them. Only the power of God working in their lives after realizing and admitting spiritual bankruptcy can do that.

Only after that new birth can a person really begin to have a changed life that means something, because only then do they have a changed heart.

So when those who are not in Christ and making "shocking" lifestyle choices, their Christian friends and family may have much to say against their external behavior and condemn it very harshly, but that's not really justified in my opinion. If someone is outside of Christ, it doesn't really matter what they are doing in their life -- denying Jesus as Lord and Savior is denying Jesus as Lord and Savior -- no matter what.

Getting right with God through Jesus is the biggest and only issue that needs to be addressed in anyone's life! Anything beyond that gets taken care of as the person grows spiritually in Christ.

So to my brothers and sisters out there, focus not on condemning or correcting behaviors in your unsaved friends and family, but rather keep showing them the love of Jesus, keep praying for them, and keep preaching Christ crucified. These are the things that attack the real problem. After all, Christ suffered and died to restore relationships with God, not to make rule-following robots that don't love him! The line really is right -- "no religion, just a relationship."

Grace and Peace

Baggage And The Bible

Do we let Scripture transform us or do we let us transform Scripture?

One thing we all do when we approach Scripture is bring our own baggage with us. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly can be. Its a bad thing when we block God's Word from transforming us because we want it to fit into what we already believe to be true. Its a bad thing when we dismiss the truth of God's Word because that truth is hard to hear. Its a bad thing when we plug our ears to it because it tells us to do things we just don't want to do.

Let me give some examples that have popped into my head:

- As an American, I live in a nation that has crazy wealth. We are the richest people on the planet. Even those we might consider poor in this country have so much more than those in many many parts of the world. Yet how many Americans think they're rich? Very few. We think we're entitled to so much material crap and so many services that most of the people in the world just don't have. That blinds us when we read about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God and how the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

- The world is filled with atheists, deists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, in-name-only Christians, and so on. Many in these groups preach the same thing the "politically correct" talk show hosts and politicians preach -- there are many paths to God and all are equally valid -- you have your way and I have mine. We should just be tolerant of one another. And so on. That kind of mentality affects us when we read about our good works being filthy rags in the sight of God, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, that Christ died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and so on.

- There are those who claim that monogamous, or even any, homosexual relationships are not against God's will. There are those who also claim abortion is not against God's will. They shout the mantras of "Equality!" and "Choice!". Those ideas affect us also when we read God's commands.

- There are many who embrace the evolutionary theory, despite the fact its a very shaky theory at best. It isn't even compatible with the idea that sin and death entered the world because of Adam's disobedience. Yet that's okay because some atheist scientists with a God-hating agenda to push support it. Embracing such things affect us when we read about our origins, our purpose, and our very nature.

But there's something very sad about those examples I just cited. They don't come from the mouths of unbelievers only. They also come from the mouths of CHRISTIANS -- or so-called Christians at the least.

In that light I must say there is something terribly wrong with:

- Putting self, safety, security, comfort, and worldly pursuits above God, which says "God, you're number TWO, or THREE, or FOUR...and I don't really BELIEVE you when you say you'll take care of me."

- Denying that Jesus is the only way to heaven, which says "God, your sacrifice on the cross is WORTHLESS and I can get to heaven on my OWN."

- Abandoning God's commands for the sake of man's ideas, which says "God, your commandments are nice, but I'd rather do things MY WAY."

- Dismissing God's explanation of origins because some man thinks he has one that doesn't involve God, which says "God, I think WE are smarter than YOU."

I want to vomit now. This is the kind of crap we tell God when we make ourselves the authority instead of his word.

So why do it?

Because it tells us what we DON'T want to hear. That we're depraved and in desperate need of a savior. That we're not in control. That we don't know everything. That we're not the greatest beings in the universe. That we do live in a fallen and broken world. That our hearts lie to us. That some, maybe many, maybe all, of our friends, family members, and co-workers are going to hell. That we need help. That we're weak. That we need to tell people about Jesus even though its hard for us. That we're not basically good. That God doesn't want to be put in a box. That there is something more to life than entertaining ourselves. That we should spend our time and money better. That we don't really earn anything. That people will hate us. That we will suffer through trials. That God hates lukewarm, lip-service paying, I'll believe in you as long as you don't change my heart and my life, nonsense from people.

Should I go on?

So what if we don't want to hear it? Is our baggage THAT important to us? Do we insist on believing in a God only on OUR TERMS? Why, when We can have ETERNAL LIFE through Christ. When we can have a RELATIONSHIP with the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE. When we can serve the LORD OF LORDS and KING OF KINGS? That trumps EVERYTHING we could possible bring to the table and into our reading of the Word.

Let's all pray to have our hearts and minds opened more and more to the transforming power of God's Word as he speaks to us through it.

Grace and Peace

The New Canaan?

I had a few thoughts fly by.

We look at some of the people and practices in the Old Testament and think "how wicked". However...

...sacrificing unborn babies to the false god Choice is no better than sacrificing children to the false god Molech.

...worshiping the false gods of Money, Power, Pleasure, and Comfort is no better than worshiping the false gods of Chemosh, Dagon, Asherah, or Astarte.

...engaging in casual sex because it feels good is no better than engaging in ritual sex for a good harvest.

And so on. I mean, really, we live in a culture that typically...

...is hell bent on rebelling against God.

...doesn't believe in a real place called hell.

...accuses people of being unloving or even hateful when they say that Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others were false prophets.

...thinks saying Jesus is the only way to heaven is completely intolerant.

...considers people bigots when they call homosexuality sin.

...fails to acknowledge there is even such a thing as sin.

...doesn't believe in absolute truth or that truth is knowable.

...thinks the world came from nothing and people came from goo -- yet those that claim to believe this often think that somehow their life still matters.

So look around the world today and ask yourself if it really looks better or worse than ancient Canaan. I think the latter.

Praise God for salvation through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Praise God for His Word and His truth! Please Lord keep us strong in the faith among a chaotic world that forgets about you or flat out denies your existence.

Grace and Peace

Idle Hands

Lord forgive my idle hands
That the devil takes under his command
To do nothing for your kingdom's sake
But rather your Son's heart break

Thank you for holding on tight
And not letting go without a fight
To pull me out of the pit I jumped in
When I betrayed you for my sin

When far from you I surely stumble
Thank you Lord for keeping me humble
And bringing me back to your embrace
As I bathe in your mercy and your grace

Thank you for again showing me
Why you bled and died upon that tree
I need clear cut reminders that you bought
Me, a member of a stubborn stiff-necked lot

And that for me to be free you gave your all
So the next time that I trip and fall
Please pick me up and help me to stand
And forgive this sinner his idle hands

English Is A Crazy Language

I ran across this in "How To Choose A Translation For All Its Worth," an excellent book by Gordon Fee and Mark Strauss. Neither one of them wrote this part as far as I know:

There's no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, two geese. So one moose, two meese? One index, two indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through the annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?

How you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love?

Have you ever run into someone who was dis-combobulated, grunted, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all).

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it!

E-Mail Of The Year

A co-worker sent this out (lifted from elsewhere):

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:

"Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning."

"You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride."

"You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job."

"You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams."

"You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card."

"You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps."

"You want me to do all this and then you tell me ... I CAN'T PRAY?"

Pray for prayer to be brought back into schools. Pray for God to be brought back into schools. Pray for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed once again in the finest learning institutions. Pray for revival in the church and awakening across the land.

Grace and Peace

The Resurrection

Jesus is not just our perfect example. Don't misread. He IS our perfect example. But he is not ONLY our perfect example.

I say this because there are those who deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ yet claim that it doesn't really matter if he didn't rise from the dead. They say that all that really matters is his sayings and his example. They say that we just need to follow those.

Wrong.

The resurrection is of the utmost importance. If the resurrection didn't happen then Jesus was either the biggest liar on the planet or a complete nut job because of the grandiose claims that he made! Claims to be the Son of God. Claims to be the savior of the world. Claims to be a ransom for sin. Claims that he would die and rise again.

You see, Jesus didn't come for the purpose of setting a good example. He came to provide a way for us to deal with our sin. God cannot overlook sin, yet he loved the world so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for it. He is the atoning sacrifice to cover our sin. When we put our faith in Jesus, when we realize our spiritual bankruptcy and accept that he covered us, something happens. We become his, bought at the highest price that could be paid.

Without the resurrection, we have no verification that Jesus is in fact the savior of the world and the one we should follow. Without the resurrection, we are not assured of salvation. Yet we do know. We know the Bible is historically accurate. We know the resurrection lines up with the historical facts. Many have gone out to disprove the resurrection and in the process have come to Christ and have amazing testimonies to share regarding the proof of the resurrection. Sadly, there are many of us who just don't want to look into it or accept it because we love our sin and hate God.

Isn't that just a brilliant plan of God's to identify the savior? Take something common to all men, death, and make it so the savior conquers death and lives forevermore. Who has ever even claimed to conquer death, let alone actually conquered it? None, except Jesus. Therefore we know he is the way, the truth, and the life, and if we put our faith in him, we are assured of our salvation. No religion on the planet offers that certainty. Not Judaism. Not Islam. Not Buddhism. Not Hinduism. Not anything.

Praise God for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Grace and Peace

Meaning Of Life

Who are you going to listen to regarding what life is about?

How about the philosopher? The one that says there is no God and life is meaningless. If evolution were true, which it is not, life would be meaningless. The philosopher would be right. We would just be here because of random chance. We would have no absolute moral standard. We would have nothing to look forward to after death. All the things we do in this life would in the end amount to absolutely nothing. That would be very, very, depressing.

How about the entertainer? The one that says life is all about pleasure. This person could say there is no God (in which case I life would really have no purpose anyway) or there is a God, but he just wants us to have the most fun we can before we die. We would be like those cursed pirates in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie who, no matter how much they have, they are never satisfied. I know that feeling well.

How about the the psychologist? The one that says life is all about self discovery? I don't even know what to say about this one. Self discovery, or finding oneself, just sounds dumb, doesn't it? When you're the lost sheep you can't find yourself; the shepherd comes and finds you.

None of these sound very appealing. Not one bit. No man made explanation regarding the purpose of life is satisfactory.

I'll listen to what the Bible says about what life is about. In a nutshell, glorifying God and enjoying him forever. We do that by fearing him and obeying him. By keeping focused on eternity and not our short time on this earth. By desiring to know deeply know him more and more and come to him in prayer. By following his purpose for our lives.

But first we need to get right with God, and that only comes through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Grace and Peace

Dwell In Safety

I was reading through the beginning of the book of Psalms this evening, and this made me think a bit:

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." (Psalms 4:8)

How interesting to think about that in the context of modern American culture, where we have doors with a gazillion locks on them, alarm systems, gated communities, security guards, cameras, etc. Really the protection most people have on their homes isn't going to stop a whole heck of a lot of someone is determined to do something bad to you. Some people have a ton of security, or perceived security, but really those cheap little locks on just about every door in America isn't going to stop something with a bump key, a lock pick gun, or a heavy foot.

Whatever security we have, or think we have, or don't have, we do have a big gap in how safe and secure we feel -- for certain.

You can go to the richest, safest, most protected neighborhoods on the planet, and you're certain to still find some people who constantly live in fear. Scared someone will break in and take their stuff. Scared someone will come in and do them harm or hold them hostage. Heck, isn't that why these things called "panic rooms" exist in the first place? Probably.

Then you can go to the least protected neighborhoods on the planet where sometimes the cops are even afraid to go, and you're certain to still find some people who doing think twice about it. They walk out of their run down apartment to wherever, passing by a number of folks who would take their life in a heartbeat if there was good reason too.

What's the difference? I don't know in all cases. But in some what else can it besides knowing God and how big he is. One group doesn't know God and/or doesn't trust him to protect them even among their man-provided comfort and safety. The other group knows God very well and recognizes his sovereignty. They are the ones who said "Here am I LORD, send me. Send me to the bad neighborhood. Send me to the jungles. Send me to the remote villages. Send me straight into the lion's den LORD, because I'd rather run a rescue boat up to the gates of hell than stand in the shade of the church steeple."

You know, most of us are somewhere between the two. I know I'm not like the latter, yet that's how we all should feel.

Grace and Peace

Death Of Time

You know what the last "famous" deaths I remember are? Anna Nicole Smith. Heath Ledger. Michael Jackson. There was a big fuss over those. Now I hear that Patrick Swayze has died, over which more fuss will be made. Okay. So what? 100 people die every minute. Some of those people were made right with God through Jesus Christ and many were not. Whether you're name is Joe Famous or John Doe, it doesn't really matter.

But what makes these celebrity deaths so much more noteworthy than others that they should make the newspapers and the news programs?

I know the truthful answer: Nothing. Not one single thing. Yet the fact that it happens is a reflection of what our culture values, and that's sad if you really think about it.

Caring so much about *entertainers* reflects a culture where we've got way too much time and money on our hands, and we must be bored out of our minds. We need entertainment to relieve that boredom in a futile quest to find happiness in things that don't satisfy. I know this first hand. In my B.C. days I went through a number of obsessions that seemed to satisfy for a while, but in the end they always left me empty and hollow inside. There's nothing there. C.S. Lewis was right. We are far too easily pleased.

That's expected of the world, but Christians seem to get sucked into frivolous things too -- just as easily and obsessively in some cases! We need to pay very careful attention to what we let eat our time, otherwise we'll find we have a little less of it, then a little more, and more, and more. The phrase "if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy" applies here for certain. In this culture, its far too easy to find ourselves busy doing absolutely nothing -- and there is plenty of evidence to prove it.

The Bible tells us we should be "making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Eph 5:16) I don't think we take that to heart enough. We should.

Grace and Peace

What's Your Focus?

What are some typical things we do during the day? And what do we focus on when doing those things?

We may drive to and from work, often through much traffic. We could get irritated and complain about the ever increasing time the drive takes. We could pass the time by listening to some inane political babble on talk radio. Or we could use that mindless driving time to connect with the Lord in prayer, listen to his word on CD, or listen to Bible teaching on the radio -- turning monotonous driving into a way to further immerse ourselves in things of the spirit.

We may work. We could see that as just a means to put bread on the table. We could see that as a necessary evil in life on this earth and just try to get the day done with. Or we could see that as another opportunity to serve the Lord and let the light of Christ shine as we do our jobs well, do them cheerfully, and do them with integrity -- turning serving men on the job into an opportunity to serve the Lord.

We may help our spouse with some task around the house that we don't really want to do. We could see that as doing a mundane chore that just needs to get done. We could see that as scoring points with them to get something out of it later. We could see that as a way to get them off our back about helping out more. Or we could see that as a way to show love to them by serving them -- turning an unpleasant job into a way to serve Christ by serving others.

We may go to the store to pick up some things. We could see it as mindlessly fetching items we may or may not really need. Or we could see it as another opportunity to reach the lost we meet along the way -- turning a boring task into an opportunity for evangelism.

There are a million more situations in which this logic could be applied. The question is always the same, though: Who's first? With the right focus, there is always one who is first. The drives are secondary; Christ is first. The job is secondary; Christ is first. The housework is secondary; Christ is first. The grocery list is secondary; Christ is first. And so on!

Everyone, myself included, needs less and less of the former and more and more of the latter. What's your focus?

Grace and Peace

What If

Let's play a game called "What if...would we?" The first part is this: What if after our physical bodies died, that was it? I don't mean the atheist version of it, but rather where everything about Christianity remains true, except for any kind of life after death. So what if that was true -- would we still desire to know, love, and serve God? Would we still want to present our lives as a sacrifice to God? Would we still want to be set apart? Would we still desire the things of the Spirit over the things of this world?

That sounds like a tough question.

It has a problem in it at the get-go -- do we who know Christ really want all those things anyway, knowing the wonderful promise of eternal life? Though I would argue that if we don't want all those things now, then we don't really know Christ, or at the very least, we don't know him well. I would argue that if we don't want to give our lives in service to Christ now, then we, or the devil, are just telling us what we want to hear to make ourselves feel better. Maybe that makes us in-name-only Christians. Maybe that makes us lukewarm Christians. Neither is what we could, or should, be.

So we move forward with the assumption that we're genuinely in Christ for the purpose of answering the question.

I know the obvious answer is supposed to be "Yes, of course!" But after thinking about it for a short while the other day, I think my answer to that question at the time was "I don't know." Looking back I see that Satan was throwing a fair number of darts my way that day, because here's where my mind went: So what do you get out of it then? You spend a great deal more of your time focusing on other people and things of the Spirit, and then you're dead and gone. Why bother? Why not just live it up and have as much fun as you can before you're dead?

Then I put the question aside for a while until tonight.

What a stupid line of thinking going through my head. Thank God for the shield of faith.

Our creator gave us so much, including our lives. That alone makes him worthy of praise and worship. He loves us so much that sent his son to die on the cross to pay for our sins and free us from terrible bondage. Faith in his son allows us to live in the presence of God forever. There is nothing greater for us. But, really, even if this life was it, we still gain much through faith in Christ. I can testify to changes in my own heart and life that came through faith in Christ, but really I don't think anything sums it up better than these words of our Lord: "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11)

So if we really think we would not bother with Jesus if there was no promise of eternal life, we need to ask the following about our relationship with God knowing that there IS a promise of eternal life: Is God really first in our lives now? Do we really love Christ, or do we love sin? Do we really want to serve our Lord more than we want to serve ourselves through fulfilling worldly and sinful desires?

It's just a "what if", but its still food for thought, I think. I had a bite either way.

Grace and Peace

Loving The Word

After Vietnam fell, a translator named Hien Pham was imprisoned in Vietnam, accused of helping the Americans. He was forced to read only communist propaganda which eventually wore him down. He started to think that maybe God really doesn't exist. He was determined not to pray any more or think about his faith.

The next morning Hien was assigned to clean the latrines. This was the nastiest job there was. As he was cleaning out a can overflowing with toilet paper, some English one on of the papers caught his eye. He grabbed it and washed it. Guess what it was? Romans chapter 8, which in it says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" and "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There was no more relevant passage of scripture than that Hien could have read in the situation he faced, and on the very day he was determined to stop praying and stop thinking about his faith.

Hien figured out there was someone in the camp using the Bible as toilet paper. So he asked to clean the latrines regularly so that he could clean off more pages of scripture and add them to his collection for nightly reading.

Now my question is this: Do we love the word of God enough to clean off one waste covered page at a time so we can have just one more little treasured bit of it? The obvious answer is yes, but I'm betting the majority of us don't. We should.

Grace and Peace

Selling Religion

I gave a dude a Bible today working the register at a local store. He said his friends were trying to get him into Jesus Christ and he took it. I told him well now he can read my story and now he can read all about Jesus Christ. Awesome, I'm glad he took it, and I'm glad for him that he has friends who care to tell him about our Lord.

Then I was walking away I heard the dude who was behind me say "I don't know if I can top that, I'm not selling religion." Ouch. That was a knife. I couldn't let it go. I came back and told him that it wasn't about religion, it was about a relationship. That it's not about ritual but getting right with God and that he can laugh all he wants, but its true whether he believes or not and that he needs to look into it. He was laughing the whole time. Then I left.

That ticks me off even though I know its expected.

I focused on the "religion" part of his comment at the time, but really the "selling" part is even more offensive. Its a stupid phrase. Christians aren't selling anything. Huxsters who use the label may be selling something but not Christians. We're trying to give something. The same truth that we have about our desperate need for a savior, who that savior is, what he did for us, and what we need to do. That's it. We preach Christ crucified because accepting God's free gift through the cross is the difference between eternal life and eternal punishment.

Denying the existence of God isn't going to save you.

Denying the existence of hell isn't going to save you.

Putting the issue of salvation on the back burner isn't going to save you.

Doing more good deeds than bad deeds isn't going to save you.

Claiming all paths lead to God and you just have a different one isn't going to save you.

There is only one name under heaven by which we are saved, and that name is Jesus Christ. Putting your faith in him will save you. Period. That's not a sale, that's a priceless gift, given free of charge by Almighty God. All you have to do is take it.

Grace and Peace

Making What Alive?

There is a lot of bickering back and forth about John Piper's blog post here:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1986_i_hope_my_daughter_hears_the_presidents_speech/

That bickering is largely unproductive. Reading it is also largely unproductive, so I am guilty there. Yet more evidence that we waste so much energy on things that just don't matter. But in the chaos I found a nugget I want to reiterate from a response by a guy named Matthew Brazell:

The primary source of outrage among Christians is they think he will promote Socialism in his speech. People need to understand social change is not going to come in the world from politics, whether conservative or liberal. Regeneration and sanctification produces righteousness not legislation. We Christians seem to think the more conservative legislation that we have, and the more we support Israel the more righteous the nation will be, therefore God will bless the nation. Let me tell you something, we can have as many conservative laws in the world, but if the people are wicked, God will not favor those people and will not favor that country. God cares about a lot less about capitalism, "*your* money, *your* guns and *your* freedom", your prosperity, your American identity, your American exceptionalism, then you think. God is much more in the business of making dead people alive then making dead systems such as politics alive.

Amen.

Grace and Peace

Who Will Say What Now?

I came across this tonight, which apparently is one of the things the Qur'an says about Jesus:

"And behold! God will say [i.e. on the Day of Judgment]: 'Oh Jesus, the son of Mary! Did you say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of God?' He will say: 'Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would indeed have known it. You know what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Yours. For You know in full all that is hidden. Never did I say to them anything except what You commanded me to say: 'Worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' And I was a witness over them while I lived among them. When You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a witness to all things'" (5:116-117).

I assume this goes along with the line of thinking that Jesus was a prophet and never claimed to be God. While a read through the New Testament should clearly refute that claim, that's not the point of this post.

Look at what it says. It talks about worshiping Jesus AND Mary. Worshiping Mary is not found anywhere in the pages of the Bible. We are to worship God, and God alone, and Mary is not God. Worshiping Mary is something associated with the Catholic church, which has many practices and teachings that are not found in the pages of scripture.

Whoever wrote that bit in the Qur'an was off target, because it sounds like whoever wrote that bit was looking at the practices of the Catholic church in that area, at that time, and condemning those practices -- rather than looking at what Jesus' own followers from the 1st century wrote down about him and his teachings and what Jesus' own followers practiced!

So now I ask the question, why would God ask Jesus "Did you say unto men, worship me and my mother..."? I ask this, because the question in itself reveals a lack of understanding about what Jesus actually taught while he was on earth, and what disciples of Jesus actually believed and practiced. The only logical conclusion is that God would not ask such a question, which in turn means that text quoting it cannot be from God, but rather from man.

By the grace of God I already knew this, but I pray that God pour out his Spirit on those who do not so that they come to realize who Jesus is and what he did for us on the cross.

Grace and Peace

Serve God In All Things

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." (Eph 6:5-9)

You know I've never really thought about these verse as much as I have today after listening to a message on them. It kind of gave me a different perspective on work. You see in my B.C. days I had once made a bit of an idol out of work. Not as much as some, but enough to call it such. That's the kind of thing that happens when one trusts in money and work brings in the money. Praise God for opening my eyes!

But after I came to Christ I had this totally opposite opinion about work. It was this necessary thing I had to do for now to feed my family. Don't get me wrong, I was still very grateful for the very good job I have, but I didn't see the work itself as all that important. I mean, really, what am I doing for the Lord in it? I'm not preaching. I'm not teaching the word of God. I'm not helping the sick, the poor, the lonely, etc. How does what I do serve God?

Then along comes Ephesians and knocks me in the head. Ouch.

But before I go on, one thing must be understood about that word "slaves". Slaves in Biblical times, specifically when Paul penned this letter, were not the same as what we normally think of. When I hear "slave" I think of slavery in the U.S. less than 200 years ago, and some may think of similar slavery in the U.K. Not so back in the day. In fact today's employer-employee relationship is a closer comparison than anything like recent slavery.

So what's Paul saying to us? Quite simply, to do the jobs we've been given and do them well. To be thankful we have them. To respect those above us and below us. And so on. To do everything as if we're serving God, not men.

That comes out of the idea that gets forgotten sometimes -- that all of life is sacred. There is no such thing as this sacred/secular divide where there are the "godly, churchy, things" and the "worldly things". The reformers sought to bring this understanding back to the people. In fact, that is exactly where the work ethic in western culture (that used to exist and is falling off the earth) has its roots. I forgot that sort of thing, and I divided the two in my head. But, no, everything is sacred. Every task we could possibly do, we can do as a service to God.

So know this. You are serving God wherever he placed you. Serving in one capacity is not more important than the other. There are those who are called to serve mainly within the confines of a church building doing "church" things (Bible teaching, preaching, etc), but really most Christians are called to serve outside those walls, even though we don't always want to.

Maybe a lot of us would like to go and hang out at the church or go on missions trips and serve that way, but really can't, but we should realize that we're all still serving. Many are called to be out among unbelievers in an unbelieving world. That's the mission field. That's where the darkness is. That's where the light of the world needs to shine and the salt of the earth needs to preserve. That's the focus we should have and the attitude we should have. I didn't pay much attention to that until today. Shame on me for that and for neglecting my duty far too often.

Now maybe, even knowing this truth, we are discontent with our place. Well, the Lord really may be calling us to move in a different direction. But for those of us that, like me, compartmentalized the sacred and the secular, maybe that discontent feeling is not justified. We must consider prayerfully which is the case. If it is the latter, then we need get back out there with a renewed sense of purpose and the knowledge that the Lord has put us exactly where he wants us to serve him. And the we need to serve him with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength!

Grace and Peace

Two Wrongs

This is dumb:

http://ricksanchez.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/28/threats-to-obama-up-400-and-a-pastor-hates-obama/

From two sides.

The first side is preaching hate from the pulpit and preaching politics from the pulpit. This was more hate than politics, but neither should ever be done. This pastor can hate Obama all he wants, but that is not what he is supposed to do. Yes, Obama is wrong regarding abortion. Very wrong. That's a no-brainer. A lot of other people are wrong too. But that doesn't mean we hate them. Having hate in our hearts is sinful just as murder is sinful. No, we are called to love others even if we hate what they do and what they promote. Our God loves everyone. He doesn't love them because of what they do or who they are, but because of who He is. If His love was contingent on our actions, he wouldn't love anybody.

This pastor tries to use the Bible to defend his hate, but he is wrong. God loved David. Adulterer. Murderer. God loved Matthew. Back-stabbing tax collector. God loved Saul. Christian-killer. Jesus died on the cross to save everyone and even asked for forgiveness for those who nailed him to it. Is that not love? The fact of the matter is that we are all sinners that God still loves. To be saved, we all need to come to repentance and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Obama included.

The second side is what the world does with stupid preaching like this. The media is all to eager to eat it up, blow it up, and make it into an example. We know this. They take anything that is a little off the wall, pump steroids into it, and make it into the entertainment for the day. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the antics of a puppy or the rampage of the latest serial killer. when either hits the news, its entertainment.

The problem here is that stupid news clips are what some unbelievers form their opinions of Christianity with. So when someone goes around shooting his mouth of under the label "Christian", it builds a wall up between the people that eat it up and the people trying to reach them, making this a double-travesty and making it harder to reach them.

So I say we should stand on the third side. The side that says pray for our nation's, and the world's, leaders so that they may come to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ and lead looking through that worldview. The side that says also to pray for preachers so that they may preach the love of God and Christ crucified, rather than hate and politics.

Grace and Peace

Bored?

A wrong question: As a Christian can I do X, Y, and Z? Or how worldly can I be and still be saved?

A right question: How close to Christ can I get while I'm here on the earth?

Many Christians, myself included, seem to often ask the former instead of the latter. How many times do we get sucked into frivolous things that have nothing to do with the kingdom of God? And, even worse, how many times do we get sucked into these things because we're bored? Shame on us if the latter is the case!

Isn't that why the entire entertainment industry exists here in America? Because people with money get bored and have nothing better to do? I think sometimes we get spoiled and are like little children complaining "Mommy, I'm bored, entertain me, entertain me!" When we do that often enough, we start to get addicted to whatever our pleasure is. In my B.C. days I was a prime example of the person who gets addicted to nothing. Praise God for lifting me out of that pit! I pray that he keeps me from crawling back into it.

Now, such addictions are understandable for unbelievers, especially those that don't even believe in God at all. For those that think this life is it, its easy to see how addiction to movies, television shows, sports, music, video games, books, work, or whatever other hobby is out there, happens. The Bible tells us that in the last days people will be "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." Really, for those without God, pleasure becomes their god.

But those addictions do not satisfy. Never have. Never will. And for those in Christ, being driven by such worldly pleasures is not what we are to do. The Bible tells us that while "everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial" and that we should "live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God." Christ didn't die and rise again so we can spend the bulk of our time trying to enjoy life our way rather than God's way.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying never do anything that smells of the world. God gives us all that we have, including time to rest, and that time should bring us joy. The questions therefore become how we use that relaxation time and what it does for us. Do the things we do life us up and refresh us? Do the things we do glorify God? Do the things we do help build up our relationships with others? Or do the things we do just let us zone out, escape, and get another pleasure high? Sometimes the distinction is crystal clear, and sometimes not, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't pay attention to it.

So, to reduce my point to a silly little one liner, if you're BORED, go do something for the LORD.

Grace and Peace

To Divide Or Not To Divide

I'm listening to Brian Broderson go through Ephesians now and thought I'd share these thoughts that were also in one of his talks. Its a good thing now and then to get a healthy reminder that Christ and the cross are central and of vital importance.

So here goes.

There's a lot of division among those who claim to be Christian today. There is a lot of it within the actual body of Christ and even more among all who claim the label of Christian. Division of the latter is completely appropriate, because there are some essentials that are, well, essential. Without them, the label will be just that -- a label. Division over the latter is rather pointless though. Too often folks part ways because of issues that are not key. And when we cannot agree to disagree amiably, it certainly doesn't do much to draw unbelievers in to church buildings.

I'd like to go through some of the essentials versus non-essentials.

The essentials:

1. There is one God.

2. That God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus is God.

4. Jesus died for our sins.

5. Jesus was born of a virgin. If the savior was conceived with a human father and not the Holy Spirit, than Jesus is a sinful person just like us and not the Son of God. He would not be able to save us in that case.

6. Jesus led a sinless life. Same argument.

7. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. Without this we have no guarantee that anything Jesus said was true. We have no guarantee that the sacrifice he made to pay the price for our sins was acceptable.

8. We are saved by grace through faith. We can't do anything on our own to get right with God. If any human effort could make us right with God, than Jesus died for nothing.

Some non-essentials:

1. Modes of baptism. Immersion versus sprinkling. Adults versus infants.

2. Ministry models. Bishop rule versus elder rule versus congregational rule.

3. Eschatology (end-times). Amillennial versus post-millennial versus pre-millennial views. Pre-tribulation versus mid-tribulation versus post-tribulation views.

4. Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

5. Human freedom versus God's sovereignty.

6. Eternal security.

7. Creation of the Earth (6 literal days versus millions of years).

There are many more non-essentials. I'm sure if one thinks hard there are more essentials, but this is just an example of the kinds of things we should and should not split over. Really I haven't even given much thought to most of those non-essentials, other than the beginning and end of the world. I listed because they are just that, non-essential. Bickering over them distracts from the central message of the cross.

Grace and Peace

Soldier

An Awana missionary read this at a meeting this weekend. I thought it was awesome. It brings to mind Paul's advice to Timothy:

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him." (2Ti 2:3-4)

I am a soldier in the army of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Holy Bible is my Code of Conduct. Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this army and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the rapture or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me in the Sunday school, to teach the children, work with the youth, help adults or just sit and learn, He can use me because I am there.

I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up. I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.

When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all of my need. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to Captain and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in the army, and I’m marching, claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not run around. I am a soldier, marching heaven bound.

Grace and Peace

God Loves Everybody

The senior pastor at our local church wrote a little "ABC" poem about the different type of people that God loves. It was silly and light and got people engaged. But then he went on to make the real point. God does in fact love everybody, including terrorists and murderers. That bothered some people.

But that's the truth of God's word. When the Bible says "God so loved the world..." that doesn't include only "good" people. If that's who God loved, he wouldn't love anybody, because there's really no such thing. Everybody falls far short of his standard, which is the whole point of why Christ came.

So, even though they make your worst of the worst list, and mine, God loves rapists. God loves child molestors. God loves pornographers. God loves drug dealers. God loves prostitutes and pimps. God loves burglars. God loves corporate thieves. God loves crooked politicians. God loves lawyers who know their client is guiltly but get them off anyway. God loves drunk drivers. God loves arsonists. Get the picture? God loves everybody.

The point was made that he destroyed people in the past for their wickedness, so how could he love them? And I know people have pointed out that if God loves everybody, why would he send anyone to hell?

Well. God is also holy and righteous. He hates all manner of sin, and sin must be dealt with.

Out of his love God will show mercy to the sinner (that's you, me, everybody). He will be patient with the sinner and wait for him to accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, who paid for the sins of the world on the cross. But that offer doesn't last forever. Eventually he will give the sinner over fully, and that sin will have to be dealt with another way. The one who doesn't accept Christ and do it God's way is in dire straits at this point. He has to pay for his sin, but can't. There's only one place for him to go. In other words, God doesn't send anyone to hell; they send themselves there by choosing to do things their own way rather than God's way.

Back to all those "really bad people" out there -- they need their sin dealt with the same way the rest of us do, but God really does love them. He loves them as much as he loves you. They'll be punished one day if they don't come to Christ, but that's their choice. However, if they repent and turn to Jesus, they too will be forgiven, just like you were if you already received Christ. In fact, there is NO ONE who can out-sin God's forgiveness. So what are Christians to do? Spread the gospel to everybody, even those no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole. That's a difficult job. Praise God for those who are called to go out there and do that job with all their heart!

Now, if you're one of those still struggling with this notion that God loves everybody, consider Paul, formerly Saul. You know him. That Rabbinic Jew who was bent on getting Christians killed just for believing in Jesus Christ. Had he had his wish, no one would know about what Christ did today. There would be no Christians. Yet God loved HIM. And he used him. He used him to be a missionary like the world has never seen since. He used him to write much of the New Testament. He used him to bring the good news to the gentiles. He did much through Paul. Yet this man wasn't just a regular "bad guy" back in the day -- he was having people MURDERED for believing in JESUS. And God saved him. So why wouldn't he save anyone else?

Jesus is for everybody. If you don't know him, he's for you, too.

Grace and Peace