Eat and Grow

When my boy isn't eating his food I look at him and say, "you need to eat so you can be BIG and STRONG."  He smiles at me and tries to copy my flexing gesture, and begins to eat.  I was thinking about that this morning.  The whole idea that if he didn't eat, he really would begin to get weaker and weaker.  He needs food to grow and he needs it for strength 

Well, when I think about my spiritual life, I truly want to grow.  But if I am honest, I often don't want to eat.  I just want it to happen: no effort, no energy...just happen.  But that isn't how things work.  That is only the way our selfish and lazy minds work.  We want something, but don't want to put the work into getting it.  Ponder this idea.  Ask yourself what you are truly after.  If you truly desire God, than no amount of work, pain, or struggle will side track you from pursuing him.  But if what you are after is your own good, than you might just find laziness more appealing than God himself.

You need to eat your (spiritual) food so you can be BIG and STRONG!  Feed yourself.

Controlling our Hope (Part 2 of 2)

I can’t control the weather.

I can’t control who lives.

I can’t control my kids.

I can’t control my wife.

I can’t control what people think of me.

I can’t control what is demanded of me.

I can’t control when unexpected costs come.

I can’t control if I get a disease or major health problem.

I can’t control if I get hit by a car.

I can’t control if my “stuff” works how it’s supposed to.

I can’t control my kid’s health and safety.

I can’t control my brain to function as it should.

I can’t control politics.

I can’t control who wins the Super Bowl.

I can’t control.

I can’t control.

I can’t control.

Thinking about life makes me realize how little is up to me and how much is out of my hands.  Why then, do I spend so much physical and emotional energy trying to control what I can’t…all the while neglecting the very things I can control.

By God’s grace and through the power of the Spirit, I can control my obedience to Him.  

I can be faithful by saturating myself in God’s word, whether I feel like it or not. 

I can be faithful by loving my wife, despite how she responds. 

Loving and disciplining my kids, whether it is easy or exhausting. 

Sharing my faith, whether people respond or not.    

Sometimes faith seems complicated, but I think that is because our hope is in so many different things and we try to control all those things.  Maybe faith is simple.  Our duty is to obey God and keep his commands (Eccl 12:13).  It is that simple.  What makes it complicated is not what is asked of us, but that our desires are not where they should be.  It gets complicated because our sinful hearts pull us in so many directions, and in that we try to control much of life around us.  Maybe it is time to stop trying to control so many things.  Time to stop being anxious and worried over things we can’t control.  Time we just look at what God has called us to be obedient to, and do it.  Time we trust God for all that other stuff, and focus our energy where it should be focused.  After all, trying to control these things instead of trusting God accomplishes nothing except revealing our hope is in something other than God Himself.    

Controlling our Hope (Part 1 of 2)

I hope I make a difference.

I hope my marriage thrives.

I hope my kids love Jesus.

I hope to provide for my family.

I hope people like me.

I hope to enjoy life.

I hope tragedy doesn’t strike those close to me.

I hope my neck stops hurting.

I hope it rains.

I hope my car will work when I turn the key.

I hope to have more kids.

I hope our economy will strengthen.

I hope.

I hope.

I hope. 

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” -1Pe. 1:13

Hope.  Fully.  Those words rise from the page as I read this verse.  How many different things is my hope in?  How many things, even good things, do I hope for because I want them to come true.  Yes, it is a good thing to want to make a difference.  But is that a hope I have because of what I want?  Or is it a hope that overflows from a hope that is fully on Jesus Christ?  How would my life look if my hope were fully on the grace that is to come?  How would it be different?  Why am I so far from that? 

All these little hopes seem harmless, but in the end focus my attention and energy away from the sovereign plan of God.  Why do I hope it rains?  If God wanted it to rain, it would rain.  So why not, instead, hope in God through the drought.  Hope that He will accomplish his purposes through this.  I believe that as we are swept away by the greatness and beauty of who God is and what He has done, that our lives will be changed.  It is not trying harder, doing this or that, or learning more that will transform us into who we are called to be.  We need to hope in Christ.  Fully.  Everything else will work itself out though that hope.      

The Christian Walk

After hearing a sermon, there are some key points or feelings you usually take from it, but it is often difficult to remember the details.  Since my sermon was about the Christian walk, I wanted provide some of the details from the sermon in writing, so they can be remembered and referred back to;  Because if we miss the purpose of the Christian walk…we will miss Jesus. 

Below are the 3 main points (from Col. 2) I communicated followed by the quote by Tullian Tchividjian (Presbyterian Pastor and great grandson of Billy Graham).  His quote sums up beautifully what the Christian walk is about and how we are to grow in it.

1.       You are completely full in Christ.  Everything you need, in Christ, you already possess.  So don’t seek fullness anywhere else, you have it.

2.       You have triumph because of Christ’s triumph.  It isn’t about what you do but what Christ has already done for you.   

3.       You live the life you are called to live because of your love for Christ, not to gain the love of Christ.

“I’m realizing that the sin I need removed daily is precisely my narcissistic understanding of spiritual progress. I think too much about how I’m doing, if I’m growing, whether I’m doing it right or not. I spend too much time pondering my failure, brooding over my spiritual successes, and wondering why, when it’s all said and done, I don’t seem to be getting that much better. In short, I spend way too much time thinking about me and what I need to do and far too little time thinking about Jesus and what he’s already done. And what I’ve discovered, ironically, is that the more I focus on my need to get better the worse I actually get. I become neurotic and self-absorbed. Preoccupation with my performance over Christ’s performance for me makes me increasingly self-centered and morbidly introspective. After all, Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on “how he was doing”

So, by all means work! But the hard work is not what you think it is–your personal improvement and moral progress. The hard work is washing your hands of you and resting in Christ’s finished work for you–which will inevitably produce personal improvement and moral progress. Progress in obedience happens when our hearts realize that God’s love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience. Martin Luther’s got a point: “It is not imitation that makes sons; it is sonship that makes imitators.”

The real question, then, is: What are you going to do now that you don’t have to do anything? What will your life look like lived under the banner which reads “It is finished?”

What you’ll discover is that once the gospel frees you from having to do anything for Jesus, you’ll want to do everything for Jesus so that “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do” you’ll do it all to the glory of God…That’s real progress”

*from June 2011 Newsletter Article 

The Resurection...why does it matter?

What if there was no Easter?  What if Christ was born (Christmas) and then died on the cross (Good Friday), and it ended there?  Think about it.  Do you believe that Christ rose from the dead?  that the event was significant for some reason other than what happened on the cross? 

The Apostle Paul realized that there were people having these questions, so he addressed this issue in a letter to the church in Corinth.  Here is Paul’s take on the resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men…If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (1Cor 15:14,17,19,32b)”

Paul could not make it any clearer: No resurrection, no Christianity.  No resurrection, no eternal life.  No resurrection, no payment for sins.  “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead,” Paul declared (1Cor 15:20a).  So there is Christianity, life, and payment.  Let’s think about how this all comes together through the resurrection.

In the Old Covenant, priests would have to make sacrifices day after day for the sins of the people (Heb. 10:11).  Why?  Because the sacrifices that were made were for the sins the people committed…they couldn’t cover future sins.  So, since they (and we) daily sinned, the sacrifices had to continue.  On top of that, the sacrifices they made did not take away sins (pay the penalty for them) they were just a sacrifice to show that sins needed to be paid for (Heb. 10:11).  Jesus, on the other hand, only had to sacrifice himself once (Heb 10:12), and that sacrifice took away sins of the past, present, and future. 

What does the resurrection have to do with this?  First, His sacrifice took away sins because Jesus was able to die in our place for our sins.  This was possible not only through the cross, but the resurrection as well.  Jesus had to die for our sins (the cross) but he also had to conquer sin (the resurrection).  Death is a result of sin, so in rising from the dead, Jesus conquered sin.  His resurrection is victory for Christ and for us.  The cross was the payment and the resurrection was the victory.  The resurrection gives Christ the ability and authority to not just die as a sacrifice for sins, but to take our sins away.  (cf. 1Cor 15:54-56)

Second, Christ’s resurrection doesn’t just take away past sins, but future as well.  Christ is the sacrifice for our sins, and in rising from the dead he has become our living sacrifice.  He is not lying dead on an altar like the animal sacrifices.  He is alive; interceding for us (Rom. 8:34).  His resurrection made his sacrifice one that lives on.  We don’t have to wait for another sacrifice…because of the resurrection we can have life, be forgiven, and have hope that our sins do not get the last say.  The resurrection makes his sacrifice effectual forever. 

Spend some time this Easter season to really think about the resurrection.  Think about what it means.  Think about what it does in you.  Think about the gravity of it.  The Christian faith depends on the resurrection being a real.  Is it real for you?  Not just in your head…but have you experienced the power of the resurrection in you?  Dwell on this.  Let it change you! 

Daily Littles

"The Christian life is a great thing, one of the greatest things on earth. Made up of daily littles..." Horatius Bonar

When we approach the Christian life we usually see it in terms of big decisions, big actions, and big life change.  There are times we make big decisions, such as when to have kids, what job to take, or where to live...but on the whole, life is about the little decisions, and growing closer to God and being faithful to him is directly tied to those little decisions.  

A heroin addict doesn't get to that point over night, it happens after an extended period of time, making little decision after little decisions...eventually getting to the point of addiction.  An athlete doesn't just think his skill will be there for the big game.  No, the athlete runs, trains, practices...and those little decisions make him succeed.  Why would our Christian life be different?  The little decisions we make take us down a path, for good or for bad, and prepare our hearts for life's challenges.  It's the decicions to be diciplined to read our Bibles, the decision to help your neighbor, the decision to talk with a friend about Jesus, the diccision to not let your anger fester.  All your decisons take you somewhere, the question is, where?

Horatius Bonar challenges us in this saying: "Let us be on our guard against old self in every form, whether it be indolence, or temper, or coldness, or rudeness, or disobligingness, or slovenliness, or shabbiness, or covetousness, or flippancy, or self-conceit, or pride, or cunning, or obstinacy, or sourness, or levity, or foolishness, or love of preeminence. Let us cultivate a tender conscience, avoiding old notions and conceits; yet watching against the commission of little sins, and the omission of little duties; redeeming the time, yet never in a hurry; calm, cheerful, frank, happy, genial, generous, disinterested, thoughtful of others"

Think about your daily littles.  What do they say about you?  Where do they take you?  Where do you fall short of obeying Christ?  

Cross to Bear

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." -Mk 8:34

This verse is asking two things of those who wish to follow Christ: deny and take.

Denying yourself requires much more than we want it to.  I doesn't mean denying your personality, dying as a martyr, or denying stuff.*  It means denying you: your selfish desires and hope in the things of this world. It is calling you to not live for yourself.

But we don't just deny, we then take.  Taking up you cross means that you agree to do whatever God call of you, no matter the cost.  This has nothing to do with bearing the troubles life brings you* (death of a loved one, difficult job, family trouble, etc.), but everything to do with obedience to God's will, and accepting the consequences that may follow.  For some this will involve physical suffering and ever death, but for others it might involve a sacrifice of time, money, comfort, friends, or anything else.  The idea is that nothing is to be held back...we take up our cross no matter what it is, and in doing this it shows our love for Jesus surpasses our love for anything else.

The cross imagery here calls to mind a very profound idea:  Someone who carried a cross through the city to their execution would publicly demonstrate their submission/obedience to the authority which they had previously rebelled against.*  This is exactly what we are doing in taking up our cross.  Though we were once far off (Eph 2:13) and enemies (Rom 5:10) of God, we now make a public declaration of our submission to Christ.  We intentionally live for His will, come what may.

Cross bearing denies self and seeks to live out what God calls us to.  The end goal of cross bearing is not the suffering it may require, rather the end goal is obedience to what God calls us to.  Jesus dying on the cross is the ultimate display of this type of obedience, where He gave everything to fulfill what He was called to do.

So what is your cross to bear?    


*Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Your Mind is a Sponge (Part 3)

What we have discovered the last 2 days is that our minds our sponges, and we are probably soaking up things we shouldn't.  Statistically, we are spending 100x more time in front of a TV than at church.  What we now turn to is some practical things we can do to be influenced by Biblical rather than cultural influences.  These are just ideas.  What you need more than a few ideas is the desire and commitment to saturate yourself with biblical influences and rid yourselves of much of your negative influences.

1. Know what your influences are and list them out.  If it is TV, what about it is influencing you?  Are you watching too much, are you watching things you know you probably shouldn't?  If not TV, it may be a hobby, the culture you live in...whatever it is, if you don't know it is influencing you, how can you combat it?  

2. Intentional Schedule:  We schedule meetings, events, parties, vacations, etc., yet never seem to schedule our free time.  I know, scheduled free time doesn't sound free...but it is!  My deepest desire is to know and follow Christ, yet I have often found myself wasting time, watching TV, or doing something else that doesn't line up with that desire.  To combat that, I try to schedule some of my free time.  When and what are you going to read?  What time will you watch TV and what time will it be shut off?  When will you work on house projects and hobbies?  The problem most of us have is if you are left without a schedule, we come home hopping to really get into the Word and find ourselves 3 hours later still watching TV.  If you schedule your time each week (and stick to it), this can be avoided.

3. Book List: The truth is, we all need to spend more time saturating ourselves in the Bible and other Christian books.  We are spending too little time in this area, which has a major impact on our spiritual growth.  So make a list of books you want to read and when you will read them.  Have categories, so you can be reading about and working on many different areas of your Christian life.  Example:  I read a biography on Saturdays, marriage/parenting book on Wednesdays, devotional everyday, personal growth book on Saturdays, and ministry related books throughout the week.  At any given time, I am reading between 6-10 books at a time.  I will admit that this is a lot and I am a little crazy...but there is no reason why you can't have 2-4 books you are reading at a time.  There is no reason you can't substitute a TV show for Christian book.

4. Let Technology work for you: Laura and I have shows we like to watch, but instead of watching them when they come on TV, we wait.  Then we either watch in on our own time at hulu.com or we wait until it comes on DVD and rent it from netflix (TiVo works too).  What this does is allows us to watch what we want, when we want it.   We are not locked into a specific time slot and we don't have to worry about missing a show.  Some people watch a show each night, get hooked, so they can't find time for other things since they "have" to watch their show.

5. Change your mindset.  Have a mindset that works towards eternity, not one that just works for getting through each week.  

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1Cor 10:31