No One Else

I am what I hate
Infested with sin
When I open the gate
And let the demon in

That old man dies
Uncountable times
Yet he still tries
To commit more crimes

Against God and man
And who I love most
I hate the plan
Of which he boasts

To hunt and destroy
And make me a slave
Stealing away my joy
As he digs my grave

Lust of the eye
And lust of the mind
Ways that I die
Aren't hard to find

It feels so good
Feeding lies and hype
But I know I should
Want a different type

Of passionate thought
Than this spiritual heist
Because I have been bought
By the blood of Christ

Help Jesus, there's no on else
Who can save me from myself

Holy Roman Gods, Batman

Let's take a trip in the way back machine to the Roman Empire and look at three dudes.

First, Augustus. He started out as Gaius Octavius Thurinus, and later was named Gaius Julius Caesar. 27BC is where the title Augustus comes in -- a title which subsequent emperors were also given. Go look up a list of Roman emperors. It's interesting to see all the man-glorifying crap that was slapped on the end of their names. The Augustus title is not a political title, but a religious one. It stood for authority over humanity and nature, meaning something like "the illustrious one" or "the revered one". He also used the title "divi filius" for himself quite often, meaning "the son of a god". On top of that, he allowed worship of himself as a living god. When Augustus died, he was deified like Julius.

Second, Tiberius, the next emperor. Like his predecessor, he was given the same title Augustus, but he didn't go around flaunting divine titles and he refused to be worshiped as a living god. He didn't care much for temples dedicated to him either, but he did allow one to be built in Smyrna. Tiberius was very unpopular by the time of his death, and the senate refused to vote him divine honors.

Third, Caligula, who had the phrase "Let there be one Lord, one King". Of course, it seems he thought that "one" should be him. He appeared in public dressed as various Roman gods, referred to himself as a god when meeting with politicians, presented himself as a god to the public, replaced the heads of various Roman gods on statues replaced with his own, and encouraged people to worship him as a living god, Neos Helios -- the New Sun. Got pride?

Now, this phrase "divi filius" is not the same as "dei filius" -- "divus" seems to be lesser than the "deus" used for Roman gods like Jupiter and Mars. Dei filius is what the early Christians used for Jesus -- the divine Son of God, who is the same "stuff" as God. In other words, God in the flesh.

So, given this little history lesson, I find two things worthy of mention.

First, I find it curious that when Jesus was walking around on the earth, the emperor at the time, Tiberius, refused to be worshiped as a living god. In contrast, Jesus accepted worship from people, from the wise men who came to visit him as a toddler to after his resurrection. The emperor before and the emperor after didn't, but this one did. Curious, indeed.

Second, it seems that the claims of the early Christians could certainly piss off some leadership. Here, with Augustus, Caligula, and beyond, you have men born into wealth and power who say either "I'm a god" or "I'm a son of a god", encourage temples to be built to them, encourage worship of themselves, and so on. All the while you have Jesus' followers saying that there is one God who became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, born poor in a no name town to a teenage girl. On top of that, the title they use for him puts him above all, including deified emperors and greater "gods" like Jupiter.

There's quite a difference between a man trying to be God and God becoming a man. The former sends one to hell, and the latter saves many from it. I'll take door number two, Jesus.

John And Jesus

Around the time of Jesus' ministry on earth, students of a particular teacher would serve them. If they lived today, they'd get their Starbucks, pick up their dry cleaning, and wash their car. There, however, was one job they would not touch with a ten foot pole -- untie the teacher's sandals and was his feet. That job was left for the lowest of slaves.

Enter John the baptizer, who says that he is preparing the way for the Lord and told people to bear fruit that lines up with repentance from sin, rather than relying on their ancestry to be right with God. Some people think he might be the messiah, the savior, the one promised in prophecy that people were expectantly waiting for.

What does John say to this? "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Luke 3:16) So John says that there is someone coming, and he is not worthy to untie his sandals, the job relegated to the lowest of slaves in that culture. The one to come must be great, indeed.

That one is Jesus. So what does Jesus say about John? "I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John." (Luke 7:28a) So, by Jesus' description, John the baptizer is the greatest man that has ever lived. Yet, John is not worthy to untie Jesus' sandals.

Now fast forward a bit to the Last Supper. What does Jesus do? He washes the feet of his disciples. He does the job of the lowest of slaves, yet he is the one who is much greater than the greatest person that ever lived. Why? Mark records Jesus saying to his disciples "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:42b-45)

So to be great, those who follow Christ must not be great as those in the world attempt to demonstrate greatness, but rather as Jesus demonstrates greatness -- through serving others in humility. The first glorifies a man; the second glorifies God, and Jesus is all about glorifying God.

For the one who does this and belongs to Jesus, it's good news, as "the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than [John]." (Luke 7:28b) The lowest in Jesus' kingdom is greater than the greatest person who ever lived. That's awesome.

So how does one get into the kingdom then? How does one belong to Jesus? How does one find the ability to live a life for God and others instead of a life for self? He doesn't do it through his own strength, that's for sure. He does it through the power of God's Spirit in him -- the result of a transformed heart, mind, and life.

As Jesus told Nicodemus, "I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). Make no mistake, a man cannot brag that it was his own decision to "become born again" -- rather, it is God doing the transforming work in a person's life, for "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 3:8)

So what do you do if you are not a born again believer in Jesus Christ who has had his heart of stone replaced with a heart of flesh that wants to live and die for God? Agree with God that you are in fact a sinner with no hope of saving yourself, and then turn from your sin to Jesus, who paid the price for your sin so that you don't have to. Ask him to save you. He doesn't say "no" to that.

Let's recap:

- John the baptizer is the greatest guy who ever lived
- If you're in God's kingdom, you're greater than John
- Jesus, bringer of the kingdom, was the ultimate example of a servant leader
- We're supposed to be like Jesus
- The only way to be like Jesus is to be born again
- The only way to be born again is to repent and trust Jesus for salvation

See, the external is not enough. Jesus helps fix the problem at the core -- our hearts, the internal. Jesus gives us a heart for God, a heart for him. If you don't have that, you might just be externally religious, looking good to men on the outside but dead on the inside. That's worse than being externally wicked, looking bad to men on the outside. If you're in the latter category, repent of your sin and turn to Jesus. If you're in the former category, repent of your religion and turn to Jesus.

There's a lot of variety in what a man may need to turn from -- but there is only one he needs to turn to.

Grace and peace, friends.

Do What For Who?

I was listening to a co-worker at lunch today describe some of the annoyances and other issues going on in his life. I've heard similar accounts a time or two before and couldn't help but think later "man, he needs Jesus in his life." Now that I say it, I wonder how many times one of my Christian brothers, and former co-worker, thought the same thing about me. This person is not very receptive to Christianity from what I can tell, and I admittedly don't try to steer any conversation in that direction with him. In my own weakness and self-righteousness, I admit I don't really care to have him in the lunch group because of the attitude I perceive he has toward Christianity -- as well as the worldly topics of conversation.

Now that I write it, it sounds like I have too much of a religious attitude that I need to repent of and get dealt with. After all, it was the Pharisees and teachers of the law who were the worst ones in Jesus' day -- and he told them to repent as well, being the worst ones enslaved by pride.

But that particular shortcoming is not what I wanted to deal with in this post -- rather it is my lame motivation behind the thinking "man, you need Jesus in your life." In this case, and others, I thought a person needed Jesus in his or her life because of some issue or attitude -- usually having to do with relationships with other people. While it is true that being transformed by God's Spirit can certainly improve strained relationships, that is absolutely the wrong motivation for coming to Christ.

I am somewhat sickened that the attitude revealed here reminds me of false teacher Joel Olsteen and his message that God just wants you to be rich, healthy, and have good relationships. What a load of crap. How was Jesus' relationship with people? Well, his family thought he was crazy during his earthly ministry. Many of his followers left him when he said something too tough for them to swallow. He was continually at odds with the religious leaders, who eventually murdered him because he claimed to be God.

When speaking about how people should view him, Jesus said "I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:35-37)

Clearly, Jesus is not all about fixing our personal relationships. He is all about us repenting of our sin and coming into a relationship with him, and God the Father through him.

And that is what the motivation for pointing someone to Jesus should be. It should not be "hey man, turn to Jesus, he can make stuff in your life better." Jesus can do that, but that doesn't mean he will. In fact, some things might get a whole lot worse, depending on your perspective. After all, those who hate Jesus don't care much for his followers, either. Think about the typical Hindu or Muslim on the other side of the world who is the first in their family to come to Christ -- it is not going to go well for them, considering how coupled religion, culture, and family are in much of the non-western world.

So again, our motivation should not be "Jesus can fix some of your problems" but rather "Jesus has already fixed the one big problem." He is, after all, Lord and Savior, not Genie and Magician.

Shalom, friends.

The Genealogy Of Jesus

Jesus is probably the most talked about ever. As well, he is probably the most disagreed about person ever, despite having a rock solid record of his coming to Earth, his ministry while here, his sacrificial death on the cross to atone for our sins, his bodily resurrection, and his ascension into heaven. As we approach Christmas where believers focus on the incarnation -- God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ -- let's take a quick look to see what the Bible has to say about his ancestry, as presented in the four gospel accounts.

Mark is easy; he doesn't deal with it. Maybe that's a little weird, but it is not without purpose. Mark was writing to a Roman audience -- generally a multicultural audience who didn't care a whole lot about genealogy and cared quite a bit about getting things done. Mark's gospel account also happens to be the most fast paced and action oriented of the four. Jesus went here, said this, did that, went there, did this, and so on. Jesus was a doer, and he got the job done.

Luke is different; he's an investigator. He's writing the book for a guy named Theophilus, who was taught about Jesus and wanted to know the truth behind what he was taught -- or if it was all bunk. From what I understand from people who know Greek, well, Luke's writing is very articulate. He was also a doctor. In short, he's a really smart guy bankrolled by a really rich guy who's funds aren't going to run dry -- he did his homework. And what does that homework say? Jesus is from the line of David, through his adoptive father Joseph. Luke also makes sure to record that Mary's pregnancy is a miracle from the Holy Spirit -- not some horrid offense against the betrothed couple where Mary had physical sex, violating the sanctity of their marriage.

Matthew was a follower of Jesus, and he wrote to a Jewish audience, so he's got a different agenda. Things not important to those Mark and Luke wrote to are of vital importance to Matthew's audience. Right up front, in the first sentence, Matthew makes sure to say that Jesus was both a son of David and a son of Abraham. He also, like Luke, makes sure to record that Mary's pregnancy is a miracle from the Holy Spirit, plus he adds that Joseph didn't even have sex with Mary until after Jesus was born. I think this is so there was no question at all -- not only was Mary a virgin when she became pregnant, she was a virgin when she gave birth. On top of that, Matthew does something not normally done, in that he includes the names of women in his genealogy of Jesus -- including Mary, which seems to imply that she also is from the line of David. Again, this is probably done so there is no question -- if adoptive father Joseph and biological mother Mary are both from the line of David, there's no argument!

And now we get to John. John is writing to Greeks, who are steeped in philosophy and don't really know a whole heck of a lot about Jewish history and religion. So rather than go down that road, John choose another one. Using terms like the Logos (the Word), and echoing the beginning of scripture, he shows that Jesus is the eternal Son of God -- the second person of the Trinity become the God-man on earth. Jesus' earthly line doesn't matter here -- the fact that he is the eternal creator and sustainer of all things does.

So there we have the God-man's coming to earth recorded from three different perspectives. Why does it matter?

Prophecy and truth.

If Jesus was just the product of two teenagers messing around, the Bible would be a horrid lie. He would not be the promised savior from the line of king David in fulfillment of prophecy, and other things the Bible says about Jesus would not necessarily be true. If Jesus is not God in the flesh come to save us, we who claim the name of Christ are terribly duped and are spreading evil. Really it's the same issue as Paul brings up in one of his comments on the resurrection of Jesus -- which says that if Jesus did not in fact rise from the dead, we're rightfully the laughing stock of the world. Thank God that is not the case, and that we do have good evidence, historically and experientially, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

So what about prophecy as it applies to the birth of Christ over two thousand years ago? There's a lot that can be written here -- more than I know about myself for certain -- but let me throw out a couple that I think are particularly relevant to my post.

First, Micah 5:2 -- "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Who's origin would be from ancient days? No mere mortal man for sure. Biblically that leaves the messiah to be an angel, as the Jehovah's Witnesses believe, or God himself, who Jesus actually is.

Second, Isaiah 9:6 -- "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Exactly who is going to be born that we're going to call "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father"? No mere human for certain. No angel or other created being, either. You don't call anything created "Mighty God" nor "Everlasting Father" -- even Jesus himself was the one who said "call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." Only one can fit this prophetic description, and that is the God-man Jesus.

Let's also not forget a few other comments recorded early on in the gospel accounts about the baby Jesus. Mary was told to name him Jesus in the first place, because he would save people from their sins, and Jesus means "savior." The name for your child meant more back then in that culture than they do to us westerners. Also, when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, a prophet there said that he had finally seen God's salvation and could now die, and a prophetess gave thanks to God and started telling people who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem that he, Jesus, was it. On top of that, the wise men who understood prophecy about the promised messiah came to find Jesus and worship him, bringing him gold (for a king), incense (for a priest), and myrrh (for his death, the purpose for which he came!). Now please note, when these wise men worship Jesus, who was a toddler at the oldest by then, no one rebukes them -- and people have been rebuked in other places in the Bible for worshiping angels. Angels certainly are, by Biblical description, much more intimidating than a kid in a diaper. So who is this child again?

God in the flesh. Our Lord. Our Savior. Jesus Christ.

French Hookers

I read this account in a book I borrowed and absolutely love it.

An acquaintance told me about Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a great Christian scholar with whom he was studying in Europe. Dr. Schaeffer decided to take a weekend off to visit Paris with a couple of his students. One night as they strolled the streets of Paris, they saw a prostitute on a street corner. To the student's horror, they watched their mentor walk right up to the woman.

He said, "How much to you charge?"

"Fifty dollars."

He eyed her up and down and said, "Nah, that's too little."

"Oh yeah, for Americans, it's one hundred fifty dollars."

He stepped back again, "That's still too low."

She quickly said, "Uhh, oh yeah, the weekend rate for Americans is five hundred dollars."

"No, that's still too cheap."

By this time she was a little irritated. She said, "What am I worth to you?"

He responded, "Lady, I couldn't possibly pay you what you are worth, but let me tell you about someone who already has."

The two men watched as their mentor -- right then and there -- knelt with her on the sidewalk and led her in a prayer to commit her life to Christ.

That's the end of the story. I don't know what happened to the woman after. Maybe it was just the emotion of the moment that she got caught up in and she's on the streets today. Maybe she's the most zealous Christ follower in her part of the world, letting his light shine through her everywhere she goes.

But that's not really the point. The point of the story for me is not the woman, but how the man saw the woman. As one of Shane Claiborne's college buddies has put it in the past -- Jesus never spoke to a prostitute. What?! That's right. He never spoke to a prostitute because he never saw one -- all he saw was a child who was lost and needed to come home.

Begotten

There's a lot of Jesus camps in the world today, and I don't mean the kind you send your kids off to get their brains sufficiently scrubbed with the truth. I'm talking about different beliefs about Jesus' nature and mission on Earth. There's probably about as many beliefs about Jesus as there are pizza topping combinations, but there are some pretty major groups the take the lead.

You've got the "Jesus never existed" camp and the "good moral teacher" camp for those who don't believe Jesus is the savior of the world, and then you have the camps that believe Jesus died for their sins, some of which say Jesus is God and some of which say Jesus is something less than God. It's the latter camps I'm most particularly interested in, but let's address the first two very briefly.

Regarding the "legend" camp, there's more evidence that Jesus existed than any other ancient historical figure. The Bible is incredibly reliable historically, especially the New Testament which talks about Jesus. In other words, if you're willing to believe a bunch of old dead guys existed 2,000 or more years ago, you have no reason to say Jesus didn't.

Regarding the "good moral teacher" camp, you also cannot say reduce Jesus to this based on his recorded life in the Bible. You could say that he was if you didn't believe most of what was written about him in the Bible, which you'd have no basis for believing, but that would be a whole other blog post. Given that the things he did and said are even somewhere in the ballpark, there some pretty bold stuff in there.

Let's just take a look through the book of Matthew only, quickly. He said that he had the authority on earth to forgive sins. He said that anyone who acknowledges him before men, he would acknowledge before God, and that anyone who denied him before men, he would deny before God. He said that no one knows God the Father unless he, the Son, chooses to reveal him. He said that those who left all for his name's sake will inherit eternal life. He said that he's going to come back in glory with the angels and judge the world. He said that he would died and be raised to life again, and told his followers where to meet him. That doesn't sound like something a "good moral teacher" would say. That sounds like something a lunatic or a liar would say -- unless it was true. There is no door open for the good moral teacher argument. You either say that Jesus is Lord or a nut case or a devil. Those are your choices.

Moving on from there, let's go to the camps that say Jesus is, in fact, Lord. How about those that make him out to be something less than God? Let's take a look at a few things.

How about the first part of the gospel of John? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Read on and you'll see that the "Word became flesh". That sounds like God becoming flesh to me. Some will say the Bible is translated wrong here and it should read "the Word was a god" -- nevermind that those who know Greek and have read the ancient text say that's hogwash.

How about the first part of the book of Hebrews, where it was through Jesus the world was created? Not "a" world, but "the" world. Everything. The whole universe. From nothing.

How about in Acts, where it is written "be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." who's blood? God's blood. Jesus' blood. Same blood.

How about those times people worship Jesus and are not corrected, knowing full well the commandment about worshiping God alone? They are not corrected. Other times people fall down at the feet of angels to worship them, and they are corrected and told to get up.

How about when Thomas says "My Lord and my God!" He's not corrected by Jesus either. Or how about when Paul writes "our God and Savior Jesus Christ?" He does that more than once.

How about Jesus' play on words? "I tell you that before Abraham, I AM." This isn't poor grammar, this is a reference to that whole burning bush thing with Moses, where Moses asks God who to say sent him, and God replies "I AM WHO I AM -- tell them I AM has sent me to you."

How about claiming to forgive sins? He goes around forgiven sins and talking like he's the one offended. Think of it this way -- if someone smacks you in the head, and I tell them "I forgive that," won't you wonder what kind of funny cigarette I've been smoking? I didn't get hit in the head. But that's how Jesus went about -- forgiving sins without checking with the people that might have actually been hurt by people's sins.

How about claiming to die on the cross for the forgiveness of the sins of the world? How could any being less than God himself pay the price for the sins of the whole world? The payment due to an infinite God for sin is infinite. If Jesus is finite, he could not pay it. If Jesus is not finite, then he is infinite, and there is only one who is that.

How about the phrase "Son of God" itself? This isn't some phrase that was taken to be heard as "yeah, we're all sons of God." No, to the Jewish ear 2,000 years ago, that is the equivalent of saying "I'm God." To make it fairly clear, he also said "I and the Father are one." Not one purpose, not one team, not one group. One. Don't believe that's a claim to be God? What was the reaction? "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." It's pretty clear that the Jews of the time thought Jesus was claiming to be God.

How about the most famous Bible verse of all time? Let's go to the KJV on this one -- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Now I'm not a "KJV only" guy, but I think we've lost something in more modern translations with "one and only Son" or "only Son. I get why it was changed -- no one knows what the heck begotten means any more. But look in the lists of families in old Bibles -- "so and so begat so and so who begat so and so and so on!" Begat means you made another one of the same kind. People beget people and dogs beget dogs, and so on. God creates. He created matter, people, animals, plants, and so on. They are not him. But Jesus was not his "created son" -- he was his "begotten son". In other Words, the same "stuff" of God, not anything lower that was created.

So I'll agree, it's true. There is no one place in the Bible Jesus says "I am God." There are a ton, just in case we miss a few of them.

Who Is This Man?

I love this part from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity":

Then comes the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Indians, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world Who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.

One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did.

He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.

Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less do unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is "humble and meek" and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Shaken

I could just as rightly title this "Shattering Complacency In Middle Class American Christianity" but, man, that title sounds so boring it nearly put me to sleep writing it.

I think God's shaking me up again.

Sure, I spew "you gotta be transformed, you gotta be transformed" but it's a continual thing too, not a one shot deal. I think I hit a plateau in my walk with the LORD, and while that makes for easy walking...it's not all about making things easy, is it?

Let's review though.

I'm a sinner. Through and through. All kinds of junk in my life, living for myself, selfish as can be, thinking I'm "good enough". Good enough for what I don't know, but not as bad as those drug dealers, murderers, and child molestors. Yeah, there's always someone worse you can compare yourself to when you want to think you're "good". Except for that one guy out of billions. Truth be told, there is all kinds of garbage in my past that I'm ashamed of, some of which I keep tucked away in the vaults of my memory, accessible to myself and God alone.

Thank God for grace.

He draws me in like a magnet. Flips my heart, my mind, my life around. I've got peace. I've got joy. I want to learn about him more and know about him more. Note that I said "about" him. We'll come back to that. I feed on the Word. I search solid sites on the net. I suck info out of my bro's brain. Thanks, David. Then I want more. Join a small group and study this. Go to the weekly Bible teaching and learn about that. Take some classes and get even more. All good stuff. All edifying. But I got lazy. No, I got complacent.

I had my checklist in order. Easy peasy plateau for me. What a leech. Time for a good shaking up.

Alright, I'll serve. I'll serve in this ministry and that one. And I'll do this other thing over here and maybe give over there and help out with this. Yes, that sounds good. I'm producing. I'm giving back from what I've been given. I'm doing my part to tell people big and small about Jesus. Again, all good stuff, but note again that I said "about". I'm still going to get to that.

Until this week I had my checklist in order again. Another easy peasy plateau. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I wanted to know about Jesus and tell about Jesus, but I have not wanted to be Jesus. I have not wanted, really, deep down, to give like Jesus, to serve like Jesus, to care like Jesus, to imitate Christ like his Word says to do. I don't know that I want to now. I'm more like the Pharisee giving out of his wealth than the old widow giving everything she had to live on and trusting recklessly in God. I don't make myself nothing for the sake of others so they may see Christ in me.

Like someone said in a book I read once upon a time -- it's not that we have a hard time understanding what God's Word says. We just have a hard time wanting to do what it says, so we complicate it to get around it. You know -- take up your cross, deny yourself, follow me, imitate Christ -- it's all pretty clear.

So I guess I'm getting sick of knowing about God and would rather know God. It's time to get away from falling in love with the idea of Jesus and just fall in love with Jesus, madly and deeply.

I don't know how to do that. But God's pretty big.

Thanks for reading. I pray you fall in love with Jesus. Selfishly even, so I can bug you about how that happened.

Which Jesus Do You Follow?

If you claim to follow Jesus, which Jesus do you follow?

- Do you follow a Jesus who was just a good moral teacher and example to us?

- Do you follow a Jesus who was just a prophet?

- Do you follow a Jesus who was just in tune with some "divine consciousness"?

- Do you follow a Jesus who is an created angel or other spirit?

- Do you follow a Jesus who's death on the cross was not sufficient to pay the price for your sin?

- Do you follow a Jesus who is just one option out of many to get to heaven?

Or do you follow a Jesus who is God made flesh? A Jesus who died on a cross for the sins of the world? A Jesus who rose again? A Jesus who is coming back to judge the world? A Jesus who provided the only way to be right with God?

Why does this matter? Because sin is the problem, and the proper penalty needed to be paid for it. If Jesus is not God, then would his death been sufficient to pay the price for sin? No! You can't pay an infinite penalty as a finite being.

It's as simple as this -- Jesus had to be God to pay our debt, and Jesus had to be man to die. If your Jesus is not God, or if your Jesus didn't need to die for us to be saved, or if your Jesus' death was not enough for us to be saved, you've got the wrong Jesus. You need to get to know the Biblical Jesus, turn away from whatever religious system or set of beliefs is blocking you from him, and ask him to put a new heart in you.

It's not about religion, it's about a relationship with God.

Binary

Some things are just binary in nature. A person can't be kind of pregnant, and a person can't be sort of dead. Neither can a person be kind of saved. There is a path to life and a path to destruction, and to be on the path to life we all ultimately need a new heart, which comes from Christ.

Spirituality, religion, moral behavior, good deeds, and so on, will not do it. It's not about how much you pray, how regularly you attend church or read a holy book. It's not about how well you toe the line and follow the rules. It's not about how much money you give to charity or how much time you give to volunteer. It's about a complete transformation from the inside out.

I don't say this from some high horse. I say this as a sinful, rough, and broken person, who was on the path of destruction destined for hell -- despite thinking for years that I was "a good person" who worked hard, took care of my family, and avoided "really bad" things. God in his mercy drew me in, shook me up, and showed me both my sin and my inability to pay for it. It was only then that I cried out to Jesus to save me, at which point he completely changed my heart, my mind, and my life.

So when I say these things, it's not about my way is better than your way. It's not about selling religion or cramming the Bible down down someone's throat. It's about how dire my situation was, and how dire everyone's situation is without turning to the only one who can solve the problem.

Want life? Get Jesus!

Failure

Physical security failures help mechanical engineers to design better locks.

Computer security failures help programmers learn to design better programs.

Production failures help manufacturing engineers to design better processes.

Medical failures help doctors to design better surgical procedures.

Bridge failures help structural engineers to design better bridges.

Airplane failures help aviation engineers to design better airplanes.

Car failures help automotive engineers to design better cars.

Sports failures help coaches to design better plays.

And so on.

Spiritual failures help people to see why they need Jesus. Because while we can do a bunch of stuff "on our own" to make things better, we have no power on our own to be the children God wants us to be, no matter how hard we try.

Thanks, Jesus.

In Praise Of Christ The King

I was at a food packing event this morning at the Salvation Army downtown in San Diego, hosted by Friends and Family Community Connection (http://www.ffccsd.org/). Very cool. During the orientation, I picked up a magazine from a table that was open to a page with this text:

In Praise Of Christ The King

How fearsome and far
The universe runs!
Who counts every star?
Who numbers new suns?
But Christ is the king
Of unthinkable space;
So stand up and sing
Of his goodness and grace.

The last and the least
Our Jesus calls best,
Proclaiming the feast
His Father has blessed.
To ruin and shame him
They nail him up high,
But now we acclaim him
For daring to die.

That sorrow is past:
Let wrong do its worst.
He'll reign at the last
Who ruled at the first --
The Lord of all years
That are coming to birth,
As laughter and tears
Grow together on earth.

Then go, sister, go,
And pray, brother, pray:
Let everyone know
The Christ of today.
His truth sets us free:
(How the story rings true!)
He conquered for me;
And He's calling for you.

-- John Coutts

'nuff said.

Jesus In A Nutshell

Reminds me of a programming book "Perl In A Nutshell". :-)

I took a break from reading through kings to skim one of the gospel accounts. I thought it would be interesting to through and see a big overview of what Jesus talked about while he was here on earth. Here are the key points as I saw them in a nutshell:

1) There is good news for the underdog. Jesus came for us. After all, he came to seek, find, and restore the lost. He didn't come so much to seek and find the stubborn hard-hearted people who refuse to believe him no matter what.

2) We have to see our own sin. We have to come before God in humility and repent of our sins. That means agreeing with God and turning away from sinful behavior and turning toward him. That means getting crap out of our lives that cause us to sin against God.

3) God's Word matters. He wants us to keep it. Judgment will come. The righteous who keep it will be rewarded, while the wicked who do not will be punished.

4) God, however, doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to turn to him, and the invitation is there for all people. Even so, many will not accept it and turn to him.

5) We need to believe in, and we need to believe, Jesus. We need to follow him. We need to trust him. We need to recognize his divinity.

6) Jesus came to suffer and die for us, paying the price for our sins that we cannot pay on our own.

7) We need to love God above all else and love others very much. We need to put him and his kingdom first.

8) The expression of that love is more than a feeling. It's actions. We need to do something tangible to show God's love to others.

9) The motives behind our actions are extremely important. God cares about the heart.

10) Jesus is coming back and we need to be ready. He will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Until he comes, we need keep his commandments, point others to him, and be wary of those who will pull us away from him.

There is much more to say than that, but that is the overview. If we get these and keep God's Word, we do well.

Grace and Peace friends!

The Deity Of Jesus Christ

Props to Mark Strauss tonight for prompting me to write this. Higher props to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for working in the hearts and minds of all believers!

Remember that Da Vinci Code movie? I guess it was a book first, but I saw the movie only. There's a lot of crap in it. Of course there is, it's a product of a godless industry. However there is one especially large piece of crap in it -- that argument that the church viewed Christ as human only until the Council of Nicea in the 4th century, in which he was "voted" to be divine -- by a narrow margin at that.

All bunk. One can look up what the vote was about and what the margin was to se that. But Dan Brown's nonsense or some council is not what this post is about. We have to go back before that, into the 1st century. What did followers of Christ write about him?

How about John? Chapter 1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All thing were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have see his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

There you have it. Jesus as both divine and human, and creator to boot.

Not enough? How about Paul? Colossians 1, chapter 1. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things were created through him and for him...For in him all the fullness of God was please to dwell..."

There you have it again. Jesus as both divine and human, and creator to boot.

Not enough? How about the author of Hebrews, chapter 1. "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power....And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, 'Let all God's angels worship him.'"

There you have it again. Jesus as both divine and human, and creator to boot.

Three different 1st century New Testament authors independently attesting to both the divinity and humanity of the God-man, Jesus Christ -- let alone the numerous indicators of this through Jesus' words as recorded in the gospel accounts. The conclusion, according to scripture, Jesus is God.

"Oh wait, what about..." others will say. This "Who is Jesus?" test is a good one to help answer the "Christian or non-Christian cult?" question. Here's the common two "what abouts" in the above passages:

First, "and the word was a god". This is what the Jehovah's Witness' translation of the Bible says. Go find a Greek New Testament and some impartial dude who knows Greek well and have him tell you. There should be no 'a' in there. It's a mistranslation made intentionally to fit the Jehovah's Witness' mission to prove to everyone that Jesus is not God. It's bunk and it's wrong. And guess what? Even that Bible is still littered with numerous indicators to the divinity of Christ.

Next, "firstborn". Uh, oh, Jesus was a created being himself, even though he created everything else? Well, no. "Without him was not anything made that was made." If he was created but also created everything, then he had to create himself. That's just stupid. :-) But that's not the end of the argument either. Firstborn is used to indicate status as well -- the most honored.

Grace and Peace friends.

The Way

Props to Brian Broderson for his exposition on John 14:6 that led to this post.

There are plenty of destinations in which there is only one way to get there. Heaven is one of them, for Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He didn't say "a way," he said "the way," period.

Now this idea that Jesus is the only way to heaven makes a lot of people mad. Many think Christians are narrow minded for believing this. Well, then, I suppose we are. If being open minded means denying what the Bible says or not believing it, then narrow minded is the correct choice. But let's at least give a good reason for that choice instead of reiterating the bold statement and leaving it there, as if we're trying to exclude people from God's kingdom.

Look at the history side of it. Jesus isn't just some fast talking carpenter dude who showed up 2000 years ago and said "hey everybody, jump on my bandwagon." No way. He came in fulfillment of thousands of years of prophecy prior to being born on earth, and he came for a specific purpose.

With that in mind, go all the way back the beginning, to the first man and woman. God created mankind to be in fellowship with him. He gave that first pair of people a specific command to follow, told them the consequences of disobeying, and they blew it. That's the sort of thing that happens when you give people choice instead of making them robots. So this one act brought sin into the world and sin brought death into the world. No worries, God promised a redeemer who would come and deal with this quite large problem. The Biblical record shows the line of that redeemer get narrowed down to Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Judah, and king David. Years later, Jesus, of the line of David, is born on earth. He is the redeemer promised to the first man and woman so long ago.

What about his purpose in coming? That first pair of people sinned. That's bad. Fellowship with God was broken. They felt shame for their sin, as shown by their reaction to their nakedness that they hadn't noticed before. They attempted to cover their shame with sewed together leaves, but that wouldn't do. God instead clothed them with the skins of animals, showing that blood had to be shed to cover sin. That theme of atonement for sin wove its way into so many ancient cultures in different ways for so long until foolish philosophies like atheism showed up. Why? Because it goes all the way back to the first man and woman. Its wired in us. In the line of people from which our redeemer was to come, there was a priesthood setup where animals were sacrificed to cover the sins of the people so the could be in fellowship with God -- a lesson to show that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. The final act of atonement took place when Jesus, God incarnate, willingly gave his life up on the cross.

This is why there is one way. Jesus, and only Jesus, is the one and only promised redeemer who dealt with sin himself, restoring our fellowship with God. Through him, all can be saved, and those who come to him in repentance, are.

Grace and Peace

What Has God Done For You?

In Jesus' earthly ministry, there was an incident where he came upon a demon possessed man. The demons begged Jesus not to cast them into the abyss, but rather to send them into a herd of pigs. Jesus did this, and then the pigs ran off the edge of a cliff. I guess they should have thought their request through a little more.

The man who was possessed was sitting up and in his right mind after that. The people nearby were scared -- except for the no longer possessed man who thought that was pretty awesome and wanted to go with Jesus. Jesus wouldn't let him but instead told him to go tell people what God had done for him.

For followers of Jesus Christ, those words might as well have been spoken today. Go brothers and sisters and tell people what God has done for you, because the testimony of an individual is a powerful thing indeed! Its more than just head knowledge of the Bible -- its an actual person's account of the transformation that has occurred in his/her life.

What God has done for me is that he opened my eyes to the reality of sin in this world and how messed up it is, that one day the world will be judged, that Jesus is the son of the living God, that his atoning sacrifice on the cross paid the price for my sins, and that I desperately needed to turn away from sin to Jesus -- accepting him as savior and making him lord of my life.

What God has done for me is cast out the demons of pornography addiction, video game addiction, and anxiety and smashed the false idols of children, spouse, sex, work, control, car, entitlement, and so many more. What God has done for me is transform my heart and mind from the inside out, and he did it overnight the day I got on my knees and cried out to Jesus to save me, a hopeless sinner.

Praise God for his work in my life!

Through Jesus Christ, what has God done for you? What demons has he removed? Alcoholism? Drug addiction? Sex addiction? Food addiction? Self pity? Pride? Depression? Anger? What relationships has he restored? Marriage? Kids? Family? Friends? What has he healed you from? What has he given to you? In what specific way has he delivered you from bondage to give you a fuller, more abundant life?

The answers across the body of believers number as many as the stars in the sky, but the instruction to all is the same -- now go, and tell what God has done for you.

Grace and Peace

A "Balanced" Life

I came across this on Facebook here and thought it was excellent:

By Keith Ferrin - Founder and President, True Success Coaching - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Colossians 3: 23-24

It seems you can’t pick up a business book or magazine these days without reading something about “work-life balance.” Everything I read about a balanced life sounds really good. The problem is, I have a hard time actually doing it.

In fact, whenever I bring up the concept with someone, I can almost predict the eye roll followed by the heavy sigh. I have come to believe the reason for this is because God doesn’t call us to a “balanced” life but rather an “integrated” life.

The primary metric for measuring a balanced life is time. If I spend this much time at work versus spending this much with my family, serving my community or worshiping at church, my life will be balanced.

Alternatively, the primary metric for measuring an integrated life is lordship. So, instead of determining how much time I am spending here or there, the real question becomes, Is Jesus Christ the Lord of every aspect of my life?

It is wholly possible to live a balanced life yet not give Christ lordship over a certain area or areas of our life. Jesus wants to be Lord of everything—our work, family, friendships, leisure time and worship. The bottom line is that a balanced life can still be compartmentalized, but an integrated life cannot.

Paul begins the second half of his letter to the Ephesians with these words: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Here are just some of the areas of life he then goes on to discuss:

• Relationships
• Attitudes
• Reconciliation
• Our calling
• Service to the church
• Maturity
• Our minds
• Sexuality
• Honesty
• Work
• Our attitude toward money
• Our willingness to forgive others
• Our relationships with nonbelievers
• Wisdom
• Purity
• Marriage
• Our duties as parents
• Our relationships with bosses and employees
• Prayer
• Unity
• Our encouragement of one another in our calling

Now that’s an integrated life!

Quite honestly, integration is harder than balance. But it’s what we’re called to do, and it leads to a sense of purpose and fulfillment that only comes from placing ourselves daily—in the center of God’s will. Integration requires examining our lives to see where we need to give Jesus His rightful place as Lord, discovering what we need to do in order to be obedient to His calling and executing those action steps, and conducting a regular evaluation that covers all areas of our lives.

Living an integrated life is a journey, not a task. There is no deadline. There is no chart or graph, just a constant prayer running through our minds: “Jesus, this day and every day, I give You Your rightful place as Lord of everything I am and do. When this day ends, may You be smiling. Amen.”

From Devotional Ventures, © 2007 by Corey Cleek
Published by Regal Books.

Grace and Peace

The Man And The Birds

I originally heard a version of this from Chuck Smith on the radio. This version is credited to Paul Harvey, here:

http://www.tyny.com/christmasstory.html

The man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound...Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud...At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them...He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms...Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.

And then, he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me...That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm...to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand." At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - Adeste Fidelis - listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

Spiritual Switzerland

When it comes to the things of God, you can't be Switzerland. You have to take sides -- in more ways than one.

One way is in the answer you give to the question of "Who is this Jesus anyway?"

You can choose to be with the allied forces by acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, come to earth to live among us and die on a cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, thus ushering in the start of God's spiritual kingdom here on earth.

Or you can choose to be with axis forces by claiming that Jesus is just a "carpenter who talked a lot", a philosopher, a good example (but still only a man), a prophet and nothing more, or even a legend. That's a sad choice because its a wrong choice.

But choosing not to decide to answer the question at all is still making a choice. In a song called "Free Will" by the band Rush there is a line that goes "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice" and that is absolutely true. Not choosing still leaves you in the hand-basket along with everyone else who rejects the savior of the world.

No, to inherit eternal life, you must choose to acknowledge who you are before God acknowledge who Jesus is, repent of your sins, and accept his free gift of salvation. When you really and truly do that he will be a new heart in you that only wants to please him. In short, as the Bible says, you must be born again.

Another way you take sides in how you walk Jesus once your are born again of the spirit of God.

You're either moving closer to God in your walk or further away. You can't stand still, you can't tread water. Its one way or the other way.

We who are believers should constantly check ourselves, check our actions, check the motives behind them, and see if we are growing in faith and moving closer to God or not.

Its like being caught up in a fast moving current of water. If you try to stand still, you'll just get swept up by the current and moved far away from where you are. And so it is with following Christ -- we can either actively check ourselves and take measures to keep moving forward on the road to life or we can get swept away by the cares of the world, or carried away by false doctrines that center around a false Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, test yourselves often to see what the evidence in your life says about your walk with the LORD. Others, please throw your very lives to Jesus and ask him to transform you from the inside out -- he is this only one who brings lasting joy!

Grace and Pace