Sayed Musa

I sit at my desk drinking coffee while planning my next youth sermon. Next to the east side of the church is the post office and next to the west side of the church is the municipal building.  Both these buildings are run by the government, and neither have any problem with what I am doing at my desk.  So I sit comfortably and continue my work....

In the mean time, on the other side of the world, a man named Sayed Musa is set to be executed because of his Christian faith.  He has done nothing which deserves government actions...he has simply believed.  Here is a link to an article that describes the situation and is being updated as events unravel:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor?s=Sayed+Musa

With this happening as we speak, there are a couple of questions I want you to ask yourself, as these are the questions running through my mind.

1. Do I pray for persecuted Christians throughout the world?  Because of how easy it is to believe here, we forget that there are people who profess the same thing we do, but because of where they lived are getting brutally tortured.  There is a free magazine called Voice of the Martyrs (click to go to website) that tells the stories of those who are persecuted.  It is a great magazine to have to remind you to pray and make aware to you what others are going through (since our news doesn't find interest in this).  
2. Do I really believe what I say I believe?  If it came down to it, and I was getting tortured like Sayed Musa is getting tortured, would I hold fast to the faith?  
3. Why am I so timid to share my faith?  Brothers and sisters across the globe are getting killed for it...what am I so afraid of?  Rejection?  Being seen as a Jesus freak?  Loosing a friendship?  Having an awkward conversation?  What would Sayed Musa say to us if he heard our excuses?

May Sayed Musa's story remind us of our call to preach the gospel at any cost.  May it bring us boldness to be who we are called to be.  And may it bring us to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters.

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.

Salad or a Big Mac?

Sally waits in line with her little boy Jack as her mind races.  What should she order for her boy?  Should she order him a Big Mac, and make his day?  Or should she order him a salad because that would be the healthy option?  Satisfaction or heath.  This is what it all boils down to.  Both have there advantages and both have there drawbacks.  What will it be?

We all know that pursuing Jesus is good, but what is "good."  It is good to order the salad, but that isn't the option that will bring Jack the most joy.  Unfortunately, this is often how we view what it is like to follow Jesus.  We know it is the right decision, but it will lack the satisfaction that the alternatives bring.  We want to change, and become more like him, but are afraid that this change will result in boredom and a lack of joy.  Well, this is because we view things all wrong!

"The secret of gospel change is being convinced that Jesus is the good life AND the fountain of joy.  Any alternative we might choose would be the letdown."*  He is the joy and satisfaction of the Big Mac while being the wise choice like the salad.  He is both!  God created us to live in fellowship with him.  This means that our desires find their true satisfaction in him, since that is what they were created for.  This means that there will be no lasting satisfaction in anything apart from Jesus.  This is good news!  You can have both!

Our problem is that we live in a culture where we want things now.  Yesterdays news is boring, answering an email after its been in your inbox for two days is too late, waiting more than 5 seconds for a webpage to load is frustrating, getting stuck in traffic throws our whole day off.  What is our response to our impatience?  It is wanting satisfaction now.  We would rather have a lesser satisfaction now then a greater one later.  I would rather eat the Big Mac now and deal with the consequences later.  Take a step back and really think.  You will realize that Jesus truly is our deepest longing and joy, we are just too impatient to see it and wait for Him.  Joy in him isn't a quick fix, its a long road...and too often we would rather have the quick fix.  It is like a child who has a deep desire for a bicycle.  But instead of saving up for one, he uses his allowance each week on candy.  It satisfies his current desire, but not one of his deepest ones.  I will end with a quote from C.S. Lewis, where he drives this point home:

"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

*Tim Chester in "You Can Change" p15

State of the Union

Tonight, our president will address our nation on the state of the union.  Some will watch confused, unsure what the answers are to our problems, some will watch in support of their party, unconcerned about actual issues,  and some will watch nervous for our nation, knowing there are real issues that need to be solved.

Here is the truth behind the State of the Union: we live in a world plagued with sin, and not matter what happens in Washington, we will have major problems in our society.  It doesn't matter who is President and what party is in the majority, sin will continue to fracture society.  With this in mind, here are some Bibilical ways you can view the government and political issues:

1. God establishes all authority, therefore we are called to submit to government (Romans 13:1).  This does not mean that we must agree, but through our disagreements we are to submit to the ruling authority.  (sidenote: if the government ever does ask for us to do what Scripture forbids, this is when we obey Scripture and disobey government.)      

2. Support issues, not parties.  There are issues on both sides of the isle that the Bible would support, and issues on both sides of the isle that the Bible wouldn't support.  Be someone who cares about Biblical issues, not political parties.

3. Fight for what is Biblical, do not just vote for what is Biblical.  Too many Christians use their vote as their only voice.  (Don't get me wrong, we should be responsible citizens and care about who is elected and what is passed.  We should vote...but that is not our primary task.)  God does not call us to just hope things change through the government...he calls us to action.  He calls us to fight for injustices and make a difference.  No matter what the government does, there will still be world hunger, diseases, abortion, unemployment, pollution, sex trafficking, drugs, education issues, fraud, health care issues, war, corruption, crime, and so much more.  What issues do you care about?  If you care about them and they are Biblical...figure out how you can help!    

4. Know what true change is.  Too many people think that if we can just legislate certain policies, than things will be better.  As Christians we don't believe that things will change through policy changes, but heart changes (which is why laws are broken daily...because the heart is still bent towards sin).  Things will begin to change as hearts are transformed, as the gospel begins to invade hearts.  Change will happen as your fiends, neighbors, and family begin to grasp who God is and what he has called us to.  Change will happen as hearts of stone are changed to hearts of flesh (Ez 36:26).  

Pray tonight as our nation is addressed.  Pray for our leaders, that their decisions would truly impact lives for the better.  Pray for yourself, and how you can make a difference.  And pray that hearts are changed as the gospel is spread...for this is the true hope for the world!

Not in this World (Resolutions 4 of 4)

"Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable or, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."
We spend so much time seeking happiness in this world, yet this world will soon pass away.  It is temporary.  Let us seek our happiness in the world that will not pass away, it the world that will bring us true joy!  Let us spend our time on things that are not temporary, but that will last forever.

"Resolved, never henceforward till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but to act entirely and altogether as God's"

Our culture uses the words "mine" so much that we believe we own things, we believe we are our own...that we can do what we want.  Yet scripture tell us differently.  It tells us that you are not your own, "you were bought with a price, therefore honor God with your body (1Cor 6:20)."  We are God's, and he has a purpose for us.  Let this constantly be on your mind...you are His!

Fighting Sin (Resolutions 3 of 4)

Sin is around us and in us so often that we become desensitized to it.  Let us fight to do away with the sin within us, and care deeply about the sins we see within ourselves.    

"Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it."

There is a root cause to every sin, and Edwards wanted to find that root!  Can you trace your sins back to the original cause?   

"Resolved, to examine carefully and constantly what that one thing in me is that causes me in the least to doubt the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it."

If we are not waging war against our doubts than they will fester and grow until our doubts are so great that we wonder if it is even worth being a Christian.  Doubts are not bad, unless they go untouched.  Doubts are there so we can wrestle them and grow from them, not so they can isolate us from our faith.  

"Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself; also to inquire so at the end of every week, month, and year"

Care deeply about your sin, for sin separates us from God.  Find a specific time where you will examine your life and how you have fallen short of God's commands.  If it isn't' scheduled, it probably won't happen often.  

"Resolved, constantly and diligently, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not."

Discipline of the Mind (Resolutions 2 of 4)

"Resolved, when I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can toward solving it"

What would it be like for us if every time we had questions related to divine things, that we did everything we could to figure it out?  Not because there is an answer to everything, but because we want to deeply understand the things of God.  What questions about God, scripture, or other divine things do you have?  How will you solve it?  

"Resolved, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking" 

Jonathan Edwards is known to have a very strict diet, not because he was concerned about his looks or his weight, but because he cared about his mind.  He knew that what he fed his body affected his whole being, and he wanted his mind to be clear so he can think upon God with a clear mind.  Are there things you could change in your diet so that you feel better, you mind is clearer, and you have more energy for pursuing God?  

"Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of them." 

This is a lot of study!  To study them so much that you can see yourself growing in understanding!  There are many times I have trouble recounting what I studied the night before.  Edwards did not want this to happen to him...his study was for growth in God, and he would study so fervently to make this happen.  How can you study the Bible in a way that you remember what you have read, and understand it better?  Are there better times in the day for you to study that would increase its effectiveness?        

Edwards was very intentional so his mind could be actively engaged in the pursuit of God.  Let us follow suit in discipling our own lives and minds for God's glory and our good.