Sharing the Gospel With One Another

There is a misconception among many Christians these days that the gospel is for unbelievers and that believers move on to more "profound" things. It is absolutely true that the gospel is for unbelievers. We are to preach the message of Christ's life that brings us righteousness and his death that brings us forgiveness. We should urge unbelievers to heed the gospel's message and repent of their sin and turn to Christ. However, we are to preach the gospel to one another as believers as well. We never graduate from the gospel, but continue forward in our education and strive to become "doctors" of the message of grace - experts.

Biblical evidence for this is found in Romans 1:15 as Paul is beginning his letter to the church in Rome. He tells these believers, "So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." Paul had not been to see the Roman Chrisitians. They had been evangelized and formed as churches by Paul's understudies, Paul had not been there to evangelize or meet the believers. Paul longed to go see the believers and share in the fellowship of Jesus Christ with them. Part of that fellowship was to preach the gospel to them, not because they didn't have it or know it, but because it is a message, the message, that must be repeated over and over again. The gospel must be shared by believers, to believers.

What does that mean for us today? It means that as believers we should be preaching the gospel to ourselves daily. It means we should be sharing it with our brothers and sisters in Christ in our homes, churches, and other places. The reason we keep preaching the gospel is that it continues to ground us in the reality of God in His holiness, justice, and power. It grounds us in the reality of the sinfulness that marks our lives and our complete unworthiness. It grounds us in the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus Christ who atoned for our sin by his death and it is the basis of our hope in his resurrection. We are grounded in the reality that he who predestined us, called us, he who called us justified us, and he who justified us will glorify us (Rom. 8:29).

This is good news worth repeating every day, even with believers.

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FORWARD

Journey family,

We are in the midst of exciting times. 2011 has been the most fruitful year of ministry in our church’s 5 year history. We have seen incredible numbers of professions of faith, baptisms, and numerical growth in the church. You guys are a big reason for why these things are happening. You invite people to experience what is happening. You give faithfully to see our ministries continue to thrive. You serve unselfishly to see kids ministered to, people welcomed, and the worship gathering to glorify God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

With all that is going good, we are also in a dangerous place. The danger we are in is that we could easily grow complacent with where we are. We have buildings. We have decent tithe dollars. We could just mail it in and call it good. However, you know that is not how we roll. The Journey Church is not interested in playing it safe. We are not interested in growing comfortable or complacent. We believe there is a lost and dying world in need of the gospel, which demands our comfort zones be shattered. There are too many people in our neighborhoods, schools, families, and workplaces who have yet to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have the mandate and privilege to go after them.
With all of that being said, the elders of the Journey want to introduce some language to the congregation that we want to start using, to remind ourselves of our mandate and the great need around us. We want to use this in our conversations at church, in small group, and when we are with our church family sharing in fellowship. We want to see this language used on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking places. We want this to become a part of the very DNA and fabric of our church. What is the language:

#FORWARD. FORWARD as a church, FORWARD with the gospel!

Our church can’t sit and grow complacent, we must move FORWARD. The gospel is not just for us to sit around and talk about, it must go FORWARD. There are cities around us to be reached, we must go FORWARD. This also includes our personal lives. We have to learn obedience to God in all things, we must move FORWARD. We need to be immersed in His Word and in prayer, that’s how we move FORWARD. We must give our time, dollars, and energy to see this reality accomplished among us, we have to step FORWARD.

On Sunday, October 9th, at our Sunday morning services, we will be announcing more details about how we are going to move FORWARD. Until then, be praying and asking God about what you and your family will need to begin doing in order for you to move FORWARD. FORWARD in your faith and FORWARD in your service to your church family.

Great things are coming Journey Church. Let’s believe that God has greater things in store for us than we have already experienced. It’s time to move FORWARD!

Journey Church: if you are ready to move forward and want to let others know about it, share this post on your Facebook and/or Twitter. Let's get the word out!

Union & Communion With God

I have always had questions concerning how we can never be snatched from the hands of God, but at the same time experience seasons where He feels distant from us. The issue here is about the ebbs and flows of our relationship with God. If we are forever secured in relationship with God through Christ, do our sins committed after our conversion have any effect on us? This has often puzzled me.

Recently while reading John Owen's book Communion with God this issue was brought up. The way Owen described this issue was that in Christ, we have union with God. This union is forged by our faith in his death and resurrection. At our conversion we were joined in union with God, justified before Him. This union is forever and irreversible. Once we have experienced this union with God through Christ, we can then participate in communion with God. This communion is a relationship that we can experience with the Lord Almighty as a result of our union through Christ. However, our communion with God, unlike our union, can have seasons of great delights and seasons of great sorrow. Our communion with God can fluctuate depending on our willingness to pursue God, be in His Word, seek Him in prayer, repent of our sin, and other things like this. Communion with God is forged as we seek Him and come to Him. Communion is disrupted and slowed when we do not seek Him and have sins that have gone unchecked.

It is important for us as believers to understand this dynamic. In Christ, we have union with God Almighty, and that can never be taken. However, our communion with God, the feeling of being close to Him and sensing His presence in our lives, is dependent on our seeking of Him. Communion with God will have some seasons that are better than others.

We should all desire to draw nearer to God in closer communion and fellowship with Him. If we do not feel close to Him, it does not mean that we have no union with Him, but could point out to us that our communion with God is struggling due to some area of neglect in our lives. This serves to encourage the believer that even when we have failures in our lives, our union with God is never shaken. But this also rips away the deception from people who believe they can experience closeness with God, yet live in unrepentant sin.

What are your thoughts? Does the distinctions help you to understand the dynamic at work in our relationship with God? What insights does this give you concerning this subject? 

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Suffering Shame and Hatred from the World for Christ

Yesterday we taught through Matthew 10:16-25 where Jesus speaks about the persecution that will come to his followers. The premise that we ultimately set forward was this: Followers of Jesus will be persecuted for their allegiance to him; therefore, if you do not experience persecution, you either 1. do not belong to him or 2. are living a sinfully quite life about your faith in Christ. There is really no in between. Jesus promises that suffering will come. 

We need to begin living much louder lives about our faith. The world will grow increasingly intolerant of followers of Jesus, but true believers will endure to the end (Matt. 10:22). Instead of dreading this persecution, why don't we consider it a privilege? It is a great privilege to suffer for the sake of Jesus' name and fame. Let these words from Peter resonate in your mind and heart today and throughout the week:

1 Peter 4:12-14 (ESV) - 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and God rests upon you.

Why do you believe we are so quick to run from persecution when Scripture calls us "blessed?"

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Let This Define Our Church & Lives

Ray Ortlund, a pastor in Nashville, TN of a church named Immanuel Church, posted on his blog this morning about the five marks of revived churches. Ray blogs regularly at The Gospel Coalition. May this 5 marks go beyond defining our church, but also our lives! Enjoy.

1.  Awareness of God’s presence: “The first and fundamental feature in renewal is the sense that God has drawn awesomely near in his holiness, mercy and might.”

2.  Responsiveness to God’s Word: “The message of Scripture which previously was making only a superficial impact, if that, now searches its hearers and readers to the depth of their being.”

3.  Sensitiveness to sin: “Consciences become tender and a profound humbling takes place.”

4.  Liveliness in community: “Love and generosity, unity and joy, assurance and boldness, a spirit of praise and prayer, and a passion to reach out to win others, are recurring marks of renewed communities.”

5. Fruitfulness in testimony: “Christians proclaim by word and deed the power of the new life, souls are won, and a community conscience informed by Christian values emerges.”

My Growing Skepticism of the Modern-Day Role of the Pastor

Yesterday at church was a great day. We dedicated over 16 children. We baptized 6 people (almost 80 for the year) who were making public professions of faith in Christ. We had one service and the building was jammed packed! It was an incredible day. 

However, my day continued on into the afternoon. I had three meetings that afternoon with people from the church. One meeting was with a new couple who attends the church and the Lord is working on their hearts in phenomenal ways. They are wanting to honor the Lord with their relationship and were asking for accountability. The second meeting was with a man in his fifties who for the first time in his life, the gospel is making sense to him. He wanted to know how to draw closer to the Lord and truly give his life to Christ. We talked about seeking the Lord fervently and with desperation. The third meeting I had was with a lady who had tremendous trials and tribulations in her life over the last few years. She was inquiring as to how she could walk through those things in faith and know that the Lord is with her. We had such a good time of searching the truths of Scriptures and seeing how God can turn trials into blessings. I left these three meetings feeling truly used by God to help people apply the gospel to their lives.

Why do I mention these meetings? What is the point I am aiming for in this post? The answer is this: I see the meetings that I had in the afternoon equally as important as the services that happened in the morning. 

In the world of pastoral leadership and church discussions, one of the major questions asked and raised is whether the pastor can be hands on with the congregation he leads and the church still grow. In others words, can a church keep growing and reaching people if the pastor is still assessable to the congregants?   Most involved in this conversation say "no." Most do not think that a pastor can remain involved in the meetings about salvation, premarital counseling, and other type meetings and the church still grow to reach a lot of people. I am not saying that this is a false assertion, but I do have my doubts and points of skepticism. Where does my skepticism come from?

One of the things I enjoy doing is reading. I read a lot of books. Most of the books I read are theology books and things concerning the Christian life. My favorite books are the one's that have been written by dead people. I love old books, particularly the Puritans, and those who are Puritan-influenced. One of the things that I have noticed when I read these old pastors is that they frequently visited with and met with their congregants. They met with them over all sorts of issues. They met with them despite how big their congregation was. Richard Baxter visited every one of his thousand plus congregants in a year's time. Ichabod Spencer had Sunday night inquiry meetings where people would flood his home and he would meet with and answer questions for hours. In addition to Sunday night inquiry meetings, he made weekly house calls to congregants and those seeking the way of salvation. 

When I read things like, this and then I think about what popular wisdom and opinion in our church culture today has become, I question whether they were ignorant of the ways to really grow their church or whether we are ignorant of what it means to be pastors. 

I desire to be available to the congregation I lead. I know that it cannot be completely dependent upon me and that there will be limitations to my availability to every person. However, I wrestle over the popular opinion that pastors have to limit their involvement with only a select few in order for the church to grow. I cannot escape the thought that as a pastor, I am called to walk with anxious souls concerning the way of salvation, and that goes beyond preaching to them on Sunday mornings. 

These are just some things on my heart and mind right now. What are your thoughts on this? What do you make of the popular opinion today of the role of pastors? Do you believe the Puritan-model is more biblical? Do you believe there is a middle ground? 

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Away with the Traditional "Sinner's Prayer"

How does someone come to faith in Christ? Is there a magic prayer which changes our status as hell-bound sinner to heaven-bound saint? Are our words alone enough to change our heart of stone to a heart of flesh that feels and beats for the Savior King?

Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the "Sinner's Prayer" has gained mass popularity by television evangelist, revival preachers, and now, most mainstream churches. It typically goes something like this, "Just admit to God that you are a sinner, tell him that you believe in His Son Jesus, and commit your life tonight/this morning that you want to be a Christian. Friend, if you prayed that prayer then you are now saved. Your sins are forgiven and you will one day spend eternity with God when you die." Other things are often added or expounded upon, but for the most part, this is something we have grown accustomed to hearing from others. The question we should ask is: is this right?

Before this became the "popular" and "acceptable" way of leading someone to the Lord how did pastors, laypeople, and others instruct sinners on finding grace? This is a terribly important question! A friend of mine, pastor and blogger Tim Brister, recently posted a "Sinner's Prayer" on his blog from 19th century bishop J.C. Ryle (whom I thoroughly enjoy reading). I have posted this prayer below, see if you can notice the difference in how one should seek grace. See which of the prayers best models a biblical picture.

Ryle's Prayer:

When does the building of the Spirit really begin to appear in a man’s heart? It begins, so far as we can judge, when he first pours out his heart to God in prayer. 

If you desire salvation, and want to know what to do, I advise you to go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place you can find, and earnestly and heartily entreat him in prayer to save your soul. 

Tell him that you have heard that he receives sinners, and has said, “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” Tell him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to him on the faith of his own invitation. Tell him you put yourself wholly and entirely in his hands; that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself: and that except he saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all. Beseech him to deliver you from the guilt, the power, and the consequences of sin. Beseech him to pardon you, and wash you in his own blood. Beseech him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in Your Soul. Beseech him to give you grace and faith and will and power to be his disciple and servant from this day forever. Oh, reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are in earnest about your soul. 

Tell him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to see you when sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to tell Christ. 

Doubt not his willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is Christ’s office to save sinners. He says himself, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). 

Wait not because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. just as you are, go to Christ. The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to him. You will never mend yourself by staying away. 

Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan. 

Despair not because you do not get an answer immediately. While you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If he delays an answer, it is only for wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. The answer will surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it. It will surely come.
Oh, reader, if you have any desire to, be saved, remember the advice I have given you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.

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Exciting Days Ahead of Us

Yesterday's message at The Journey Church was an important one. It was a jolting reminder of the necessity of staying focused on the mission of the gospel. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. As we scan our cities and we behold the vast number of lost people who have not made Christ the treasure of their lives, we should be filled with compassion and determination to about our Father's business. We are also called to pray that God, the Lord of this great harvest, would send laborers to reach His people, chosen from the foundations of the earth.

There are exciting days ahead of us as a church. The excitement is centered on envisioning hundreds, if not thousands, of people coming to Christ, being baptized, and joining the mission of reaching the harvest. However, excitement around these things is not enough, we need commitment. We will need sacrifice. In the coming days these commitments and sacrifices will become more defined and more clear, but for now, the challenge is for us to pray and ask God to prepare our church for the task He is calling us to.

Please pray for me church, that I would lead as He has called me to. Pray that I would be submitted fully to Him to say, do, and act upon the things He is revealing to me. Pray for all of our elders (James Ulmer, Tim Davis, Kim Working, Kyle Heckman, Shawn Allen, me) as we huddle to pray, plan, and prepare our church for where God is leading us in the months ahead.

Greater things are yet to come!

I Love Pastoring

I had such an incredible experience this summer preaching to over 3000+ students and adults leaders. I have preached sermons which the Lord has used to bring conviction, salvation, restoration in relationships, and other types of visible fruit. These experiences have been great, and the people I have met and worked beside have been fantastic. But at the end of the day, while preaching to these large groups of people, my heart finds more joy in pastoring and shepherding the congregation in which God has made me an overseer.

I do not say this to minimize the opportunities to preach to others, but I say it to express how blessed I am that God has given me such a love for the people I pastor. I want to see them discover the riches of Christ more and more each day. The difference between being a pastor and an itinerant, is that I get to continue to walk with those and shepherd those I preach to. I enjoy this part of it more than the hour (sometimes more LOL) I am standing and exhorting them from God's Word.

We need itinerants, so this is not a knock against them, but we need more men who love their congregations, not use their congregations as stepping stones to something greater. I never want to prostitute the congregation I shepherd so that I can have more "opportunities" or a bigger platform to speak to others. I want to walk with a group of people who know me, warts in all, and still love me, and still love for me to use my gifts and calling to lead them.

I am first and foremost a pastor. I love shepherding people. I love discipling new Christians. I love sitting down with families who's marriages are struggling and pointing them to Christ and to the gospel. I love marrying people and doing their premarital counseling. As our church has grown, I have not been able to do these things for every single person, but these things still matter to me. This summer, and the opportunities I have experienced, have served to make me grateful for the Lord's favor and opening of doors to preach the gospel, but it has also served to show me that the Lord has called me to be, above any other ministry role or opportunity, a pastor. I never want to abandon the local church and her ministry for some larger platform. Regardless of what doors the Lord does or does not open for a larger platform to teach others, my heart is always to be a shepherd of a local church, who are learning together what it means to live out the gospel together.

I thank God for this. I love you Journey Church.

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Spurgeon's Heartfelt Cry & Our Evangelistic Zeal

"When I think of the thousands of souls in this great city that have never heard of Jesus, that have never listened to him; when I think of how much ignorance exists, and how little gospel preaching there is, how few souls are saved, I think - O God! what little grace I must have, that I do not strive more for souls." - Charles H. Spurgeon

The above statement, spoken by Charles Spurgeon in a sermon to his congregation in London on October 14, 1855, is still ringing with truth; it is dripping with humility and sincerity. He made the statement concerning his own heart. As he surveyed the condition of his city and the people inhabiting it, he wondered why his soul did not year more vehemently for those without Christ. This was a man who pastored what could be considered one of the first mega-churches in history (thousands of people). If you have ever read a Spurgeon sermon, you would quickly see that his zeal for the Lord and the lost is much greater than many of us would attribute to ourselves. Yet, he yearned that his soul would care more.

As we begin our week, where would we rate our zeal to see those who are lost find Christ? Do we truly see the spiritual implications of what it means for them to be ignorant of Christ? Do we truly understand the magnitude of why we were sent by Jesus to go (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8)? Would we cry out and pray as Spurgeon did above?

This coming Sunday at The Journey Church, we are going to be studying Matthew 9:35-38. In this passage, Jesus states that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The land is ripe for a harvest of the gospel, but there are not many laborers willing to go. May we do as Jesus commands, "pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers for the field," but may we also be willing to be the answer to that prayer.

Would love to hear your thoughts: Why do you think our hearts are so easily hardened and shut off from caring about the lost? What do you think needs to happen for this to change? 

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Who's The Boss?

Everyone has authority over their lives. It does not matter what environment you are in, there is usually someone in authority over you. We have bosses, coaches, teachers, parents, elders, husbands, and all sorts of different authority figures in our lives, everywhere we go. But a great question to ask yourself is this: who is the true and ultimate authority over my life?

All of us have to answer that question. The Sunday school is answer is: Jesus. The true answer is "Jesus," but many only say that because we are supposed to. While saying Jesus is our ultimate authority, many of us live as if we were. We make our decisions, doing what we want, with who we want, when we want, and how we want. "This is my life" is the mantra for someone who believes they are the ruling and reigning authority over their lives.

Others have a different authority over them. For some, their friends are their ultimate authority. This may sound strange, but when you look at how they make decisions in life, it is based off of how they believe their friends will accept or approve their decisions. What they wear. Who they hang out with. What they do with their free time. The way they talk. The activities they engage in. All of these things, and more, mark the life of someone who's friends serve as their ultimate authority.

Some of us have let the opinions of our culture and society, which changes like the weather, to be our ultimate authority. If our culture says it's okay to sleep together before marriage, then we do it. If our culture say's homosexual relationships are okay, then we approve it. If our culture says it's okay to pursue vain and lustful desires, then we engage in it. We must stand apart from a world that seeks to live according to its own desires. We must stand firm in the authority of Christ and His Word, even if the entire world were to go against what God's makes clear about His ways and what He wants His people to do.

We need to take a hard look in the mirror and evaluate whether we are truly living under the authority of Christ. Many who say they live under God's authority are only saying it, their lives and actions say something very different. To live under the authority of Christ means that we care more about what God thinks than what we or any other person thinks. We let God's Word serve as our guide, not our own opinions. This is why every word of Scripture should be taken seriously, not only the parts we have highlighted and underlined.

Pray and ask God to reveal to you how you are doing in submitting to His ultimate authority.

Questions for reflection: What things in your life need to be aligned today to better surrender to Christ. What attitudes and actions need to be repented of so that you can serve Christ as your ultimate authority, instead of someone else?


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Who Are You Trusting Today?

How aware are you of your need of Christ today? If you are a believer, at some point in your life, you came to recognize how deep your need for a Savior was. However, this is not suppose to lessen once we become a Christian. Even as a believer, we should recognize daily our deep need for the grace and mercy of Christ Jesus in our lives. We should see how utterly helpless we are without his strength and power. If you are not a believer, then you certainly need to recognize your deep need for Christ. You are only one breath away from coming face-to-face with Almighty God, who will judge you with righteousness, and you will be found guilty of law-breaking. Guilty law-breakers are sentenced to eternal death. Condemnation awaits those who have labored and toiled for their own selfish ends, rebelling against God and His ways.

Everyone, believer and unbeliever, has desperate need for Christ today. 

Our recognition of this reality will make all the difference between a person who lives self-reliant and fully surrendered. When we view our need for Christ as only a one-time event, then we miss the truth. The truth is this: we are helpless and in need of everything; we have nothing in ourselves that is sufficient or suitable for navigating the daily obstacles and challenges that we face. We need Christ. We need him more today than yesterday. As believers, we are not called to be growing in our independence from him, but in our dependence on him. We are to be fully surrendered to Christ. Each day the challenge is to lay down our lives. We are commanded to pick our cross, embrace our daily deaths, and let him live in us.

So who are you trusting today? Yourself? Or the One who said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)

I'd love to hear your thoughts: why do we seem to lean on ourselves (even as believers) instead of daily trusting Christ and leaning on him?

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Forgiveness in the Midst of Tragedy

I am speaking about forgiveness today at Fuge Camps to over 1000 students. The subject is important to me because I have had to learn some tough lessons about it. I wrote today on Consuming Grace about my journey of learning to forgive the doctor who removed Kaleb's kidneys by accident. This was a difficult road, but one that was worth all the pain.

My story is not the only remarkable story of forgiveness. I watched a video today of another remarkable story. It is the story of young woman who was raped and had to learn how to forgive the one who did it. Take a look at her story, and the let God work on your heart about those in your life that need forgiveness.

Let God speak to you today on the issue of forgiving those who hurt you. There is freedom in Christ from all the bondage we experience, including the bondage of our past hurts.

Measure Your Love For God

We have been taught from the time we were young that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This teaching has been repeated so often that we are almost numb to its shocking and radical nature. The truth of the matter is this: if you want to measure your love for God, test and evaluate your love for others. Then you will get an idea of the answer. There are some mind-blowing implications from the teaching "love your neighbor as yourselves," here are a few:

1. It comes on the heels of another command, the first great commandment, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). They are connected together and inseparable. You cannot divide these two commandments from one another because they hinge on one another. Love God and love others.

2. The love we are expected and commanded to love others with is outside of our natural capacity to produce. The love we give others, that God commands and is satisfied with, comes from Him, not ourselves. This is why we must start with loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, because it is then that we can love others. This is why the two commands are connected together. It begins with God, then moves to others.

3. We cannot say "I love God," but fail to love others. Because the two commandments are tied together, it does not allow for you to say you love God but not love others. It also means you cannot say "I love others" but fail to love God. You will not love others as you have been commanded because it will be all self-driven and self-willed. If you have no relationship with God, you will be very selfish in your love with others because love is from God (1 John 4:7).

4. A failure to love our neighbor as ourselves is not a problem with our relationship with our neighbor, but with God. At the end of the day, our love for our neighbor is a reflection of our love for God. In Christian circles we love to say, "I love them, I just don't like them." That is our "Christian" way of saying, "I don't love them." We feel like it excuses us of sin, and that's what being unloving to our neighbor is - sin. 

If we say we love God, then we must love our neighbor. If we truly love God, then we WILL love our neighbor as ourselves. It will be a natural overflow. 

Pray this prayer: Father, I recognize today that I am incapable of loving others as you have commanded me to. I am sinful, selfish, prideful, and often love conditionally. Forgive me Lord. I turn from this wickedness today and cast myself upon the mercy of Christ. I need you Lord. Strengthen me, help me, and shape me into the person who is able to love because I have been loved by You. Thank you for not casting me aside when I sin. Thank you for the love you demonstrated for me when you gave Jesus for me, even when I was still a sinner. Open my eyes today to see ways in which I can love as you have loved me. I pray for the Holy Spirit to empower me with a love that can only be supplied by You. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. 

Offer a thought: When you look at how you love others, what does it reveal about your love for God? In what ways do you think the definition of love in our society differs from the Bible's definition to love?

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Gospel-Centered Parenting

I am reading a book right now on parenting. I usually do not read books like this, not because I dislike learning about parenting, but because most of the books I have seen are flesh-driven, rule-driven books that fall short of sharing how to parent with a gospel-centered approach. My interest was captured recently when I learned about a book from Timmy Brister on how to parent with grace and the gospel driving your philosophy and approach. The name of the book is Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus. It is a fast and easy read. This is a book that goes beyond giving parenting tips, it teaches you the gospel. Not only does it teach you the gospel, it shows you how to contextualize the gospel in different parenting situations.

Check out a few quotes from the book to get an idea:

In talking about the need for God to do a work in and through our children, instead of trusting that our "good parenting" can fix/change/save our kids: "There are no promises in the Bible that even our best parenting will produce good children. None." (59)

"We have far too high a view of our ability to shape our children and far too low a view of God's love and trustworthiness." (57)

"Raising good kids is utterly impossible unless they are drawn by the Holy Spirit to put their faith in the goodness of another. You cannot raise good kids, because you're not a good parent." (50)

On the encouragement and accolades we give our kids for "obeying the rules" or "being nice" they say, "Our encouragement should aways stimulate praise for God's grace rather than our goodness." (43)

"If a Mormon can parent the same way you do, then your parenting isn't Christian." (37)

On the issue of teaching our kids to flesh and fear-driven obedience, "Every way we try to make our kids good that isn't rooted in the good news of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is damnable, crushing, despair-breeding, Pharisee-producing law." (36)

"Instead of the gospel of grace, we've given them daily baths in a "sea of narcissistic moralism."" (20)

You can tell from these quotes the tone and nature of the book. It gives lots of practice helps and examples to accompany the biblically-centered truths. At the end of the day, I want to be a parent that teaches my kids the gospel, through my parenting. I do not want to preach the gospel to them, only to then teach moralism and flesh-driven obedience. This book has sparked in me a desire for other parents to evaluate their parenting through the lenses of the gospel. This fall, I am considering doing a parenting seminar around this book. Let me know if this would interest you.

I would love to hear from you: Is your parenting grace-centered or law-centered? Are you teaching your children the gospel through your parenting or are you encouraging and celebrating the idea of their own efforts to "obey rules" and act like "good little boys and girls."

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Affection-Driven Devotion

I am hitting the road this morning to preach two more weeks of Fuge Camps in Greenville, S. Carolina. I was called to fill in for a guy who had an emergency situation with his family. I have already preached three weeks and it has been an amazing experience. I blogged about it here recently.

The message I open camp with each week is the difference between the Affection-Driven life vs the Obligation-Driven life. As Christians we are often taught about our need to read the Bible, pray, serve others, attend church, give, love one another, submit to authority, relate to the lost, and the list goes on. These things are not wrong or bad, but they can become stumbling blocks if not taught properly. The motivation behind "why" we do them is equally as important as doing them. 

Many of us have been taught throughout our lives and our Christian experience the do's and don'ts, the right's and wrong's. The issue we need to wrestle over is not "do I do these things" but "why do I do these things?" Is my obedience the fruit of my relationship with Christ or am I attempting to make them the root of my salvation. In other words, do I do a lot of things in an effort to make God happy with me or do I do these things because they are a naturally outpouring of my affections for Christ? We are called to do the right things and live the Christian life in obedience, but these things stem from a heart filled with a love for God that has been created by the grace of God, through the faith provided as a gift by God. 

In Psalm 42:1-2 David speaks about how his soul thirsts for God, the Living God. He talks about how a deer pants for water, and that likewise, his soul pants for God. This is the writing and expressions of a person who's affections for the Lord are stoked white-hot. When is the last time you could say David's prayer and heart expression has been your own? His heart is a great example and model of one that exhibits great affections for the Lord.

When it comes to evangelism, we don't need new strategies, we need new hearts. Hearts driven by affections for the Lord. When it comes to relating to authority, we don't need to try harder to submit to imperfect leaders, we begin by submitting to the Lord who has placed those leaders over us. When it comes to loving others, we don't wait until people are more lovable, we begin by loving the One who fuels our capacity to love. When it comes to forgiving others, we don't wait until people deserve forgiveness, we begin by praising the God who forgave us through the precious blood of His Son. This drives us to forgive others. It all begins with our relationship with God. 

This is what it means to live an affection-driven life as opposed to the obligation-driven life. We cannot and will not live the Christian life with any joy or fulfillment if it is done as a duty or obligation. We must be driven by our affections for Christ Jesus, who is altogether lovely, who is altogether beautiful. Fix your gaze upon him and find your affections stirred and raised to fervent pitch! Hallelujah, what a Savior! How could we not want to live for him and his glory!?!

What are some things you have found that help to stir your affections for the Lord? For me it is reciting the gospel to myself and reflecting on the unique aspects of Christ's roles as Redeemer, Bridegroom, Advocate, and Friend to me. These always serve to fan my devotions for Christ into flame.

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Big Day in the Life of The Journey

Today was a HUGE day in the life of The Journey Church. For years now we have had no membership in our church. It has taken a lot of study and a lot of listening from leaders far smarter than me to realize that it is biblical and necessary. The elders and I engaged in a lengthy process of studying this subject and walking through what a healthy membership would look like in our church. We begin offering membership classes next week and will continue to offer them quarterly. I am excited about what this means for us as a church.

What benefits are there in membership? Why should we do this?

1. It allows for the elders and staff to more effectively shepherd the flock God has brought to The Journey. 

2. It sets out clear expectations as to how leaders in the church will serve and pastor the flock, while also providing clear expectations as to what it means to be a member of a church. 

3. It allows for people to know what we are about as a church, as we have the opportunity to teach and talk about it in the membership format. 

4. It creates a definable group at The Journey that we can call "the church." 

Some time early this week the message from Sunday will be on the website under the "Stand Alone" messages category. You can listen to the sermon I gave about why church membership is a biblical expectation. In the message, I lay out why this subject is so important.

If you do not go through the membership process at the church, we are not going to ask you to leave or treat you like a second-class citizen. That is not the aim of installing membership. But I must add to that promise, a second promise, which is we will not stop pushing you and challenging you as to what it means to be a Christian, to be connected and committed to a local body of believers.

This was a BIG day in the life of The Journey. We have a long ways to go before we are able to say we have arrived, but I can honestly say that I have never been more excited about where we are as a church. The things I see our church growing in go far beyond numbers of people in the seats. I see us growing in our desire to be biblically faithful. I see us growing in our desire to live out what it means to be the church. I pray this continues. May we continue to remain connected and committed to one another, under the banner of Christ, as we the bride follow him in covenant together.

It is my joy to be your pastor.

Why do you think it is becoming harder in our culture to have people covenant with the church in membership? What can be done to help with this?

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The Short Life-Span of Suffering

One day suffering will be swallowed up. It will be engulfed. The things that often torment and haunt us now will eventually be defeated and we will triumph with joy abounding forever. Eternity offers us the hope that our present sufferings are only temporary.

Paul says in Romans 8:18 (ESV) "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

These things we face, and everyone faces them, will eventually be history. God has promised victory. One day those in Christ will experience this victory. Dostoevsky, the 19th century Russian novelists, understood this. In his book The Brothers Karamazov he makes this amazing statement:

"I have a childlike conviction that the sufferings will be healed and smoothed over, that the whole offensive comedy of human contradictions will disappear like a pitiful mirage, a vile concoction of man's Euclidean mind, feeble and puny as an atom, and that ultimately, at the world's finale, in the moment of eternal harmony, there will occur and be revealed something so precious that it will suffice for all hearts, to allay all indignation, to redeem all human villainy, all bloodshed; it will suffice not only to make forgiveness possible, but also to justify everything that has happened with men."*

Many are going through different trials and tribulations today. Would you pray for them today and ask the Lord to strengthen and encourage them? Would you also pray for the Lord to bring forth the day in which all things will be restored, and the above description comes to pass? Suffering does have a short life-span. We must remember that. It is partly how we are able to carry on in the midst of it.

How can remembering suffering has a short life-span serve to better endure it?

Related posts: A Prayer for the Overwhelmed

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*Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002), 235-236

The Guardian - Releases September 1st

Robbie Cheuvront, the worship leader at The Journey Church, and one of my best friends, and I have been in Atlanta the last few days doing interviews with television and radio programs. We have been here to talk with people about The Guardian. The Guardian is a book that Robbie and I wrote that is a fast-paced thrill-ride where a young girl is trying to unlock the secret of an ancient scroll passed down to her through her family from the disciple John. It has the feel of a National Treasure type goose-chase.

The book is a fiction book, but it is not just entertainment. The beauty of the book is that it is communicating spiritual principles and the gospel through story. It is a great book for someone who is not a big reader of non-fiction. It is a great book for someone you may want to have a conversation with about faith. It is a great book for believers to be forced to wrestle with their own willingness to do what God calls them to do.

We are incredibly excited about it and we are getting phenomenal feedback from everyone who has read it. We would love for you to purchase a copy. Take a look at the video trailer for it below.



You can pre-order the The Guardian now from Amazon or pick it up at your local book retailer on September 1st.

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The Gospel Still Works

I have been behind on blogging for the last week. I was speaking for Fuge Camps at Belmont and could not find the time needed to do it. This summer I had the opportunity to speak for three weeks at Fuge Camps, two in Missouri and one here in Nashville. I had insecurities going into this experience because I questioned whether the 31 year old pastor, who preaches for almost an hour, would be accepted. I had heard how some camp pastors approached their messages at these camps and I did not feel that is what God was calling me to do. I made the decision to approach camp like I approach preaching at church: being faithful to the Scriptures and preaching Jesus.

To my amazement, though I should not have been amazed - THE GOSPEL STILL WORKS.

The way God moved in the three weeks I had the opportunity to preach at Fuge just grounded me further in the fact that the preaching and teaching of God's Word is the key to seeing lives changed. Humor does not change lives. Sappy emotional stories do not change lives. These things are not bad things, but if they replace the gospel, they are. The good ole' fashion gospel message is still enough to change people; in fact, it is THE THING that changes people.

Instead of feeling like we need to make God more likable or Christianity more palatable, we should lay before people the unadjusted gospel message. We should be quick to communicate the truths of Scripture and call them to believe. I do not know the full impact of the three weeks I preached camp, but I do know that many students came to believe, an adult chaperone became a believer, and many youth pastors and leaders encouraged me that it was such a great week for them.

I praise God that He would use me to be a part of His great redemptive work. I am amazed that He would, but I should not be, because it is the gospel that holds the power, no matter who shares it, or how old they are.

What things do you feel we try to replace the gospel with in order to make God more likable to sinners or Christianity more palatable?

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What is the Gospel?

So many people talk about "the gospel" but so few define it the same way. There are many versions of the gospel that are not the gospel at all. There are distortions of the gospel which only set forward part of the truth, while neglecting other parts. An example of this would be a gospel that proclaims that God is love, which He certainly is, but neglects to speak about the wrath of God poured out on unrepentant sinners, which He absolutely will. If this is the gospel message shared, then it is not the gospel.

I cannot cover every aspect of the gospel, nor will I try, in one blog post. But what I do want to attempt to do is give you a skeleton for understanding and explaining the gospel. I did not create this; in fact, there have been great books written on the subject which go into incredible detail about this gospel skeleton and other facets (two of these would be What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert and Counterfeit Gospels by Trevin Wax). Here is one way to help remember and explain the gospel.

The Gospel:

1. God - the gospel message begins with God. The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God was here first. God is eternal. He is Creator of all things. God is Sovereign King over all things. The Bible describes Him as ruling and reigning the world. It is His sovereign plan that governs everything. In addition to being creator, God is holy. He is holy, more holy than any of us can fathom. He is perfect in all His ways. He cannot sin, nor can He put up with sin. Because of sin, God will also be Just Judge of the world. In His perfect righteousness He will judge the world according to His perfect standard. God created humanity to experience close and loving fellowship, to be His image-bearers in the world.

2. Man - man, who was created in the image of God, for fellowship and worship of God, has rebelled. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We have chosen our own ways over God's ways. We are selfish at our core, and we willingly sin against His perfect standard. Our condition is a result of the fall of Adam in Genesis 3, yet all are guilty because sin is done willingly and often. In our fallen condition, man is separated from God and will one day suffer under His righteous and just judgment for sin. We must all stand before God and give an account for our lives. The Bible declares that all are guilty. In this state, man is without hope.

3. Christ - But God, being rich in mercy, showed His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ Jesus died for us. God made him (Jesus) to be sin, who knew no sin, so that we might become His righteousness. The story of the gospel is the story of God's rescue and redemption of sinners through His one and only Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, has existed from the beginning of time. He willingly stepped out of heaven and into history, so that he could live a perfectly righteous and sinless life, accomplishing the demands of the law, and went to the cross, so that he could take upon himself the sin of his people. At the cross, Jesus Christ drank dry the cup of God's wrath reserved for sinners. He took what he did not deserve, so he could give what humanity did not deserve. He gave his life for sinners and was killed on the cross, but on the third day he rose again. He was raised in victory, conquering Satan, sin, and death, and ascended back to heaven where he sits ruling and reigning the world, awaiting the day he will return to bring judgement and the restoration of all things.

4. Response - the only thing that we as sinful humans can do in response to this good news is reject it or surrender to it. This news requires a response. We cannot simply agree with it, rather belief in it requires a surrender to God. Our response is faith and repentance. We turn our lives over completely to the will of God. We trust Jesus Christ and we follow him. Our lives are made new in response to this message. We are forgiven, saved, redeemed, restored, and made new in Christ. We are then called to live our lives for the glory of God in all things, seeking to love as He has loved, and to share this good news with others.

This is just one tool that can be helpful for remembering, reciting, and reflecting on the gospel. Take time to review this with yourself. Practice sharing it to yourself. Remember God, Man, Christ, Response and learn to take your faith and the gospel everywhere you go.

Have you found other tools that are helpful for sharing the gospel? What things about this method do you think can be helpful for you?


An older post similar to this topic: The Death of Orthodoxy


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Homosexuality and Christianity

Homosexuality and Christianity. Can these two words go together? This issue is a hot-button topic. As Christians, we are being bombarded as to how we are to receive homosexuality as an acceptable choice for people to make. We are told that we should not speak against it. We are made to feel that if we disagree with this view that we are the ones who are weird and from another world. I have preached a sermon on this topic and shared my views on this subject. I will probably do another one in the near future. For now, I want to offer a great read from Al Mohler in the Wall Street Journal about this topic.

Al Mohler Article in the Wall Street Journal

I would love for you to comment here your thoughts on the article and this subject. Please be respectable in your comments, showing Christlike character, regardless of what side of this issue you land on.

Greed is the Enemy of Gratitude

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." - James 1:16-17 (ESV)

Every good and perfect gift is from above. This statement is a reminder of the source of every blessing we have. There is no such thing as something that you have earned or attained for yourself. There are many who work hard, do the right things, and strive to succeed, who do not experience the desired outcome. We should be reminded that "every," not some, of the blessings we have received come from God. This should be cause for gratitude to well up within us as we think about every thing in our lives worth giving thanks for:

* our family

* our home/residence

* the meals we eat

* the air we breath

* the electric bill (because we have air-conditioning)

* our vehicle(s)

* our children

* your job

* the computer you are reading this on

* our health

This list could go on and on; in fact, you should attempt to continue the list for the purpose of seeing just how blessed you are. We have every reason to be people of gratitude as we think about our many blessings. 

The enemy of gratitude is greed. Greed is not just an attitude that says, "I want, I want," but it is an attitude that thinks, "I deserve, I deserve." Greed is the sinful trait in us that wars against gratitude. Instead of being thankful for every blessing we have been given, we feel like we deserve everything, and more. Greed moves us to take for ourselves. Greed says, "take for yourself; get what you deserve; put your own needs first." If we understand that God is the giver of every perfect gift and blessing we have, then it should produce gratitude, which ultimately produces generosity. If we are not people of generosity then we have a problem with gratitude. If we have a problem with gratitude then we can be assured we are battling greed. 

It looks a little something like this:

Your Life - Gratitude = Greed

Your Life + Gratitude = Generosity

Gratitude is the key. If we are people of gratitude we will soon become people of generosity. If we are not people of gratitude we will find ourselves struggling with greed. If you want to help boost your level of gratitude, continue to reflect on James 1:16-17. Take Scripture's advice: do not be deceived, God is the giver of everything you and I have, and for this, we should be eternally grateful. 

Take time today to reflect on the many things you have to be grateful for, and recognize that God is the Author of the blessing. What is your biggest struggle with gratitude vs greed? Does your level of generosity demonstrate your gratitude accurately or does it demonstrate your greed?

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Treasuring the Word of God

I watched this video yesterday and it ROCKED MY WORLD. You do not have to watch the entire thing to walk away changed, just watch the first 5 minutes of it. Notice the enthusiasm these people have as they anticipate receiving the Bible in their language. Listen to the prayer the elder man prays around the 3 minute mark as they receive the Bibles. Watch how grown men weep as their people receive God's Word for the first time in their community.



Question: do we treasure the Word of God in this way? In what ways does this make you grateful for having God's Word and how will it move you to engage it more?

Compartmentalizing our Lives

Many churches work hard to build and instill the Christian faith and life in to their congregants. They do not want to just teach them about the faith, they want to see them live the faith. One of the core reasons why it often appears to fail is that people live compartmentalized lives. This is when our lives are broken into different segments such as our "work" life, "home" life, "school" life, "social" life, "recreation" life, "church" life, and so on.

What often happens is that we hear teaching from the Bible that informs how we should live, think, and align our lives to God's will, but we only apply this to our church life. In other words, we add it to our databank of thoughts and behaviors inside of our church life, but while at home, work, school, and in our social lives, we are left unchanged. This is compartmentalizing our lives.

I hate to say this, and I could be wrong, but I believe a majority of American Christians live this way. 

I know the second I make this statement that most reading this will never put themselves into that category. Most believe they are living their Christian lives just fine, even though there are blatant discrepancies in most other areas of their lives. The Christian faith is an all-encompassing, all-consuming thing. Faith in Jesus is meant to permeate every other area of your life, so that what Christ desires from you becomes the preeminent factor in every other area of life and decisions made in it. So what would be some examples of living a compartmentalized life?

**If you try to be nice to people at church because you are "supposed to," but at work you ignore people that you do not know or new people who are hired, you are living a compartmentalized life

**If you have "church" friends that you act one way around and then "non-church" friends that you act another way around, you are living a compartmentalized life

**If you have the money to dine out regularly, buy vehicles, and take vacations, yet say you do not have the money to honor God by tithing/giving, you are living a compartmentalized life

**If you tell unchurched friends and family they need to be in church, yet you virtually miss the entire summer because you are on the lake or doing other things, you are living a compartmentalized life

**If you engage in a wild and licentious lifestyle on Friday and Saturday nights, but see no contradiction with calling yourself a devoted Christian on Sundays, you are a living a compartmentalized life

These are but a few examples of how it is easy to begin compartmentalizing our lives. We need to repent of this sin. We are not honoring God if we only follow what He wants in some areas of our lives instead of in all areas. God does not want to rent a compartment in our lives, He wants to own the whole thing. When God owns and speaks into every area of your life, then your whole life will reflect a commitment to the things that please God, not just some parts.

Questions: what other ways have you witnessed people compartmentalizing their lives? In what ways have you struggled with this?

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Fighting With Your Spouse in Light of the Gospel

Every married couple will have arguments. It does not matter if you are Christian or not. There are several reasons why we fight with one another: 1. because the other one is always wrong (figured I would get that one out of the way), 2. because both people are sinners, 3. because both people are different from one another, and 4. because both people are sinners (did I mention this one already?).

As a couple, dating or married, you are different from one another. You have different backgrounds, different experiences, different personalities, different likes, different insecurities, different expectations, and the list goes one. The reason you will have arguments with one another is because you married someone different than you. The reason you married someone different from you is because you cannot marry yourself, because of this, you will have arguments.

The other big cause for trouble in our relationships is sin. In addition to marrying someone different than you, you married a sinner. Yep, that's right, they are a sinner. And so are you. Because we marry sinners, and our spouse's marry sinners, there will be clashes in the relationship. We will show a lack of self-control. We will fail at being slow to anger, as the Bible says, and instead, have outbursts of anger. We will lack patience, compassion, and at times, energy. Because we are sinners, we will have moments where we will fight to have our way, to advance our own personal kingdom and agendas. Because we are sinners, we will care more about trying to conform our spouse rather than focusing on transforming ourselves. Being sinners will cause fights within our marriage.

Are we left helpless? Does the gospel inform us on how to navigate this?

I want to list some ways that the gospel can help us as individuals, and as couples, to navigate the times when we are arguing or fighting with one another. I wish I could say I have mastered these and have no problem with them, but I cannot. This list goes out to broken people from a broken person. May we all learn to apply these.

1. Remember that it was God the Father's providence and plan that brought you together with your spouse. This is important to remember when you are thinking, "what the heck have I done in marrying this person?!?" You committed, before God, for the long-haul; that means the "d" word has no place in our vocabulary.

2. Understand that the purposes of marriage are to glorify God and to sanctify one another. What does this mean? It means that you are called to glorify God through your marriage, but it also means that God is sanctifying you (transforming your character) through your marriage. Sometimes sanctification hurts because it requires we die to selfish tendencies. Embrace it.

3. Communicate to your spouse in a way that acknowledges they are a child of God. It is okay to clearly tell how you feel to your spouse when upset, but do it with intent to communicate not instigate, condemn, or tear-down. We do not avoid having conversations about how we feel as Christian couples, but the way we communicate aims at seeing a productive result, not tearing the other down or creating a fight. We have to remember their value in the eyes of God before we sin against God in our communication to them.

4. Commit to only speaking to your spouse in such a way that is glorifying to God. In other words, make sure that the words, tone, and attitude behind your speech would be something glorifying and pleasing to God. The Bibles says in 1 Cor. 10:31 "so whether eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." This includes our communication with our spouse. If you are too angry to do this properly, then you should begin praying for God to help give you strength, self-control, and patience to only speak to them in a way that glorifies Him.

5. Extend grace & forgiveness to one another with the lavishness that God has extended it to you. God has given us (followers of Jesus) grace. This grace has forgiven us of our sins though we deserve the most severe of punishments. If you struggle to give grace and forgiveness to your spouse when they mess up, just ask yourself why you believe you deserve grace and forgiveness from God for your daily mess-ups.

6. Give love to one another unconditionally, even when it is undeserved. Why should we do this? God has loved us through Christ with unconditional love. We did not earn His love, we received it unconditionally. Even when we mess up, God does not take His love away from us. We cannot operate with a conditional love toward one another by only showing our love when the other has done something to merit it.

7. Trust Jesus Christ to be sufficient to meet our needs as we have struggles. We often run to a million other things when we are having problems. Jesus wants us to come to him. We must not see Jesus as someone we only run to when we have religious questions. He desires to be our strength in times of weakness. He desires to be the first one we turn to, not the last.

8. Look to the power of Holy Spirit to help you in the midst of your arguments. In the heat of the moment our flesh desires to be right, to get the last word, to hurt the other's feelings, and so on. We must instead ask prayerfully for the Holy Spirit to be our guide, to be the Great Helper He was promised to be in Scripture. The fruit of the Holy Spirit's work will include: patience, self-control, and selflessness. These things are needed in our marriages.

These are just a handful of ways that the gospel informs how we are navigate arguments with our spouse. In the end, Christians should be modeling a different way of approaching marriage, not mirroring everyone else in the world. The way we do this is looking to Christ and seeing how the Scriptures inform what the gospel requires of us in any situation. This includes how to fight in our marriages.

Leave a comment below: Which of these is the most helpful to you and why? Why do you feel we forget as Christians that the gospel speaks to how we should handle conflict with one another?


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Ambition: A Potential Enemy of Faith Alone in Christ Alone

I am a naturally ambitious person. This can be a very helpful quality and trait in our world today. Employers like to hire ambitious people for their companies. People like to be around ambitious people. People with ambition seem to be going after something, striving for great things. So ambition in our world today is celebrated and applauded, perhaps rightfully.

There is one major drawback, that I have experienced, to being full of ambition: when as a follower of Christ your ambition serves to create unreachable standards and unattainable goals over you, leading you to feel as though you have failed when you do not meet them. 

I fall victim to this trap ALL THE TIME!

Here is what it looks like for me: I will determine that I am going to begin reading, praying, and exercising for X amount of minutes per day. I get all of these things lined up and organized. Then I will also add some goals for other things I want to do: work on foreign language, disciple people, activities I want to do as a family, things I want to do at the church, and the list goes on. I get all these "good" things lined up in my mind that will 1. help me to grow in my walk with God and 2. serve the kingdom of God.

Then something happens...

I fail. 

I will fall short on one or more of all of the things I organized and set out to do. After failing I feel as though I have let God down. I get hard on myself and wonder if I am really the Christian I thought I was. The problem with ambition is that it can serve as a master over you. If you are not careful, you will find yourself turning away from faith alone in Christ, and turning to works of the flesh and law for your right-standing with God. The things I organize for myself to do are not things that God says I MUST do in order to be made right with Him. No, I am made right with Him through my faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ, who shed his blood to purchase my life. That is what makes me right with God, not my best efforts or accomplishments.

Ambition can cripple you as a believer when you do not meet your lofty goals. 

So am I wrong for wanting to read more or pray more or serve more? No.

Am I wrong for making reading more, praying more, and serving more my foundation for pleasing God or growing in my faith? Yes.

We may not wrestle over being circumcised or obeying the Jewish food laws today, but if you struggle with what I just described of myself, then you too are guilty of the sin of the Galatian Church: turning to things other than Christ for your justification and sanctification, and putting over your head an unattainable standard that will only leave you a slave to your weaknesses. 

We must look only to Christ, not our ambitious goals.

Leave a comment below to the follow questions: Do you struggle with this in your own life? If so, in what ways?

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My Struggles & the Gospel's Remedies (Part II)

Yesterday I talked about my struggles with anxiety and how the gospel helps me to get through it. I want to follow-up that post by talking more specifically about my struggles and how I have learned to deal it with it along the way.

One of the things I have learned about when my anxiety begins to intensify is that I am usually tired, stressed, not exercising properly, or dealing with a specific situation that is causing me to worry. I can go months without the least bit of a problem and then find my heart-rate rising in some weird random situation, and I immediately begin to examine my life to see where I am out-of-balance. An example of this is my plane ride home last week from Kansas City. Leading up to the flight home I found myself getting anxious about the flight. One of the things that often triggers my anxiety is the feeling of claustrophobia. The thought of being on a cramped airplane and unable to get off it for at least two hours started my mind and heart to racing. The interesting thing about this is that I had been on three flights in the previous two weeks that did not create this anxiety at all. My family and I flew to Orlando and back home. Then I flew to Kansas City to speak at a Youth Camp for two weeks. None of these flights created anxiety in me. But as I found myself heading to the airport to fly home, I already sensed the anxiety beginning. After two weeks of preaching, I was physically exhausted. I was tired. This was a trigger. As I boarded the plane my heart started pounding through my chest as I realized it was a jam-packed flight. I sat by the window with two other guys on the row with me. It was the definition of being trapped in a tight space.

As I sat in the seat of the airplane and watched person after person continue to board the flight, I had thoughts of getting off. I had thoughts of ordering some wine to knock the edge off. I had thoughts of going into a full board panic-attack. But as I sat in the seat, thinking all these thoughts, to the ignorance of everyone else on the flight, I started to pray. I started by telling God that I did not want to look to any other source of strength than Him. I shared honestly with God my fears, however irrational, and that I needed Him. I began reminding myself that even this struggle was part of my sanctification process. By being in a position where I could not control how I was feeling, I was forced to recognize my deep dependence on God. I was forced to remind myself of my lack of strength. It was a hard lesson to grasp, but I had to learn that God had me right where He wanted me, turning to Him, when I was tempted to turn toward something or someone else.

We need to understand something: our struggles and challenges, whether physical or emotional, can be used by God to teach us dependence and submission to Him. They teach us that we are still in process, we have not arrived. They teach us to look toward the day when these struggles will be no more. But while they still exists, they teach us that God works through them to work on us. I am going to say something that some of you may not agree with, but I am learning first hand to be true: the anxiety that I struggle with is a gift from God. It is a thorn in my flesh that I have prayed be removed and taken from me, but God continues to remind me that His grace is sufficient for me. His power is made perfect in my weakness. So I boast all the more in my weakness, for when I am weak, He shows Himself to be strong. My flight home became a moment of worship and communion with God, as He showed me that He is indeed enough.

Questions: What types of worries, struggles, or situations in your life are you trying to learn to apply the gospel to? Why is it that we often try to fix things ourselves or with methods other than applying the gospel?

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My Struggles & The Gospel's Remedies

I want to share something I have not told a lot of people. I struggle with anxiety. Different times and seasons bring differing levels of intensity, but it has been a continuous part of my life for the last 6+ years. It started soon after my son Kaleb had been through a lot of medical issues after birth. I think trying to be strong for the family without ever letting my own guard down took a toll on me emotionally. Out of the blue one day I had a major anxiety attack and thought I was having a heart-attack. I have struggled with anxiety in some shape or form ever since.

The reason I am writing about this today is because I want to show how the gospel of Jesus Christ is sufficient for dealing with anxiety or any other issue. We pigeon-hole the gospel as a "get out of hell free message," when in reality, the gospel is an all-consuming, life-transforming message in every area of our lives. The first several years I struggled with anxiety I did not realize this. I did not seek the gospel promises as my hope through times of anxiety, instead I looked to my own mental strategies to cope with it. I have never been on medicine for it (not that I am against that) because I have grown to realize that medicine cannot be my Christ. Either Jesus is enough through my anxiety or he is not. I do not want medicine to be my idol, the thing I run to to give me peace, contentment, self-control, comfort, and hope - the very things Jesus has promised to be for me.

Ways my anxiety and anxiety attacks have served in my sanctification process:

1. This body will one day be deceased. I am weak and fragile, despite how often my mind wants to think I am invincible. My body is broken and in need of ultimate redemption. In Christ I have a promise that it will be, in this my hope is secured.

2. My theology of who God is and His care for His children is put into action. When I am feeling anxiety rushing in and my heart-rate rising, I begin to quote Scriptures that remind me, "his grace is sufficient...his power is made perfect in weakness...he will not leave nor forsake me...I do not suffer alone." My faith in God's Word and His promises is put to the test when my flesh is seeking another relief from the anxiety. Instead of turning to something other than Christ, I throw myself at his feet and beg his grace and mercy over me. In him I am comforted.

3. People face things everyday that go unnoticed and undetected by others. Most of you probably did not know that I struggle with anxiety. How many people do we walk by and work beside everyday that have serious struggles and issues that we are unaware of? We have a gospel that speaks to the struggles of life, not just the problem of hell. We have a God who is more than enough for our struggles, not just enough to save us. Ask the Lord to help you to be more sensitive to those around you. Pray that He would give you the ability to speak the promises of His Word to them and minister to them.

Questions: What struggles do you have that need to be submitted to the gospel's promises? Do you find yourself turning to remedies other than Christ during your difficult times? Do you think taking medicine for issues like mine is wrong? Why or Why not? What can you do today to better trust Christ through all circumstances you may face or experience? 


Tomorrow I will share more about lessons I have learned as I have dealt with this issue.

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The Motivation for Giving

Here we go, a post a giving. Everyone can now let out your collective sigh (insert sigh here _______ ).

The dreaded post on the subject of giving. For some reason, and I have several ideas, we get a little uneasy when the subject of money is brought up, especially the subject of our giving of it. I am not going to quote the typical passages on giving or get into a massive debate about Old Testament requirements vs New Testament requirements. We all know, regardless of what % you believe the Bible requires of believers, that followers of Jesus are called to be generous with their finances, and that giving/tithing in the local church is rooted in biblical foundations. Instead of debating the nuances of giving, I would rather get into what I believe is the most important thing: motivation.

In order to help discover your motivation, let me create a mock scenario and see how you would respond.

We are going to pretend for a moment that someone in the church struck it big financially. Rather than getting into a lottery debate, we will just say that someone started a business that became the equivalent to Apple or Microsoft. In other words: BIG BUCKS! This person in the church loves the Lord and is a generous person and so they give millions upon millions every year to the church. We can even take it up a notch; they give so much money that the church is wealthy and is searching for ways to give the money away for ministry purposes. Here is the question for you to answer: if this were the case in the church that you attended, would you continue to give faithfully or would you begin to tell yourself that you need the money more than the church does? Would you continue to give like the church needed every penny or would your giving be adjusted because of the perceived lack of difference it is making?

The reason I pose this scenario is because it is one way of getting to the core of your motivation. If you quit giving in the same way that you had previously, then your motivation for giving is driven by the basis of need that you believe exists, "The church needs my money; therefore, I give." Your giving in this scenario has less to do with a conviction about what giving does to you, and has more to do with how you feel your giving is contributing to the cause. I do not want to discount the importance of feeling like our giving is being used for the kingdom, but the primary motivator for giving should not be based on the "return on investment."

The motivation for biblical giving is supposed to be a desire to please the Lord because we love Him and His church. Our motivation for giving should be the fact that we have been given everything, yet we deserve nothing. Giving is supposed to be an overflow of our worship to God. We give cheerfully and with joy because we are serving the King of Glory in this way. Even if the church became independently wealthy, our individual giving should not plummet or disappear, rather it should continue as we always have, driven by a desire to give back to the One who has given us everything. Giving to the local church has less to do with the needs of the church (though that is important), and has more to do with the heart of the individual giving, and how the Lord is transforming them. 

I would love to hear your thoughts or comments. What do you think about the motivation for giving? What other motivators (good or bad) do you see?

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Bearing With One Another vs Putting Up With One Another

Ephesians 4:2-3 (ESV) - Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

The apostle Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives a command to the Ephesian church that still stands as the expectation for believers today. Paul tells them to "bear with one another." In speaking about the relationship with fellow believers, particularly those who worship in the same local gathering of believers (the church), there is a high expectation as to how we relate to one another. We are called to bear with one another. 

Why is this necessary? 

BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE JACKED UP! People gossip; people make commitments that they do not keep; people are selfish, people make critical statements; people get jealous; people judge others wrongfully; people hurt other people with dirty looks and cold shoulders. Why do people do this? BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE JACKED UP! We are sinners! Last time I checked, that included EVERYONE, me included. 

In the midst of all this, we the church are called to live differently. We as followers of Jesus, in the middle of a broken world, with broken people, in which we are counted among them, are called to live differently, not out of the power of our own strength, but through the strength provided in Christ through the Holy Spirit. What does Paul tell us to do? Bear with one another...in love. This is how unity can be found amongst people who are very different. This is how unity can exist when sinners are the constituents. 

But there is a big difference between bearing with one another vs putting up with one another. The first has everything to do with enduring through tough times & with tough people as the Lord gives you strength, the ability to forgive, and the reminder of your own sin. The latter just suggest that you DEAL WITH IT. You may have bitterness and resentment toward someone who has hurt you, knowingly or unknowingly, yet you just PUT UP WITH IT...because that is what Christians do. 

Christians are not called to "put up" with one another, but to "bear with" one another, in love. We do this as we trust Christ to give us a love for those who sometimes are unlovable. We do this as we look to the Lord to help us forgive those who have hurt us. We do this as we see ourselves more and more clearly, and realize that we are part of the problem. It is much easier to bear with others when we realize the great need we have for others to bear with us.

It is a gospel-imperative that we bear with one another, not simply put up with one another.  

Leave a thought below on: ways in which you think believers can grow in their ability to bear with one another. What other differences can you highlight between bearing with one another vs putting up with another? 

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A Prayer for the Overwhelmed

We often find ourselves tired, worn-out, and at the end of our ropes. Sometimes we become overwhelmed with all the circumstances that life has thrown at us. For many, this can become an incredibly difficult time in your faith. Many different things and scenarios can create this feeling, but regardless of the situation, the Bible tells us that Christ is enough. Our great God has given us the promise, in His Word, that He is with us and for us. In these times it is important to pray and to seek God through these times, not turn from Him. I have offered a prayer, for those of you who may struggle with the words to find when life is weighing you down. Pray this prayer from your own heart, and trust the Lord to do what He does for those who seek Him.

Father, I begin with praising Your name. You are worthy to be exalted and praised in all things, even when I am stressed. You are worthy to be lifted up and glorified, in and through my life, even when all is in chaos. I humbly come to You, my great God and King, and declare that it is true that You are all I have, and all I really need. While my heart knows this to be true, my flesh often runs to meet my own needs and relys upon my own strength. Help me today Lord to recognize that You are the great Sovereign Lord over all things, and that You invite me to bring every need I have, big or small, to You. You desire for me to bring my anxieties, depression, financial burdens, relationship problems, addictions, sins, and all things to You, as You teach me that I cannot bear them on my own. Help me to live in submission to You today. Help me to let go of things that I cannot control, though I desperately cling tightly to them.  

I want to pray specifically for those pressing issues in my life Lord, that perhaps only You know about. I pray for physical and emotional strength to walk through this day in such a way that only You receive the glory. I know in order for this to happen, I will need for You to undergird my faith and give me spiritual strength. Help me to face the battles that surround me with a confidence that can come only from You. Help me to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, the One who gave His life so that I would not walk alone. May the presence of Jesus in me be real today. Lord, I need you and I want you. Holy Spirit come, lead me, guide me, comfort me, help me through this time in my life. Help me to live in faithful obedience each moment of each day, and to not get overwhelmed by my circumstances. I know that you oh God are over all things. I know You can absolutely step in and change my circumstances. But even if You don't oh Lord, I will follow You still. I know that if You leave me in these circumstances, then there must be something You intend to do in me through them. Help me to learn to trust You instead of trying to be You. 

Thank You Triune God: Father, Son, and Spirit, that I am invited to come to You. Though I have no merit of my own, through Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I am invited to experience deep fellowship with the Father as I pray to Him. I know that You are with me. May that comfort me today in all I do. 

I pray this in the name of Jesus, precious Lord & sufficient Savior, Amen. 

Leave a comment below: What things can I or others being praying for you about? Do you ever find yourself so overwhelmed with life that even praying can become difficult? Explain

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The Therapeutic Gospel

I read a great book recently by Trevin Wax entitled Counterfeit Gospels. I have had the privilege of getting to know Trevin recently and I am pleasantly struck by his deep love for the gospel and his belief in the local church. This book helps believers to know the true biblical gospel versus a counterfeit, because "even those of us who have walked with the Lord for many years may be inclined to accept cheap imitations of the truth."(13)* We live in a day where there are counterfeit gospels everywhere. The scary thing about a counterfeit gospel, as with counterfeit money, is that it can look authentic, which is often why it is believed to be real.

As followers of Jesus, we are carriers of the gospel message. We have been commissioned to go and tell (Matt. 28:18-20/Acts 1:8), but we must get what we are telling right or there can be devastating results.

Let's look at one of the counterfeit gospels we face so that we will be more prepared to stand firm. Let's look at "the therapeutic gospel." The therapeutic gospel completely changes the intent of the gospel because it attempts to diminish the effects of "the fall." Trevin writes, "We call this counterfeit "the therapeutic gospel" because it confuses our spiritual symptoms (a troubled marriage, anxiety, anger, addictions) with our spiritual disease (sin). Because the diagnosis is superficial, the treatment is also superficial."(44) There are many different ways in which the therapeutic gospel manifest itself.

Versions of the Counterfeit Gospel:

- The Happy Meal Gospel (45-46): This counterfeit distorts the gospel by making our lives all about the pursuit of happiness. When we make the central goal of life being happy, we will often use our happiness to trump Scriptural authority over our lives. Our gospel message becomes about how Jesus came to give you the happiness you are looking for.

- The Fill'er Up Gospel (46-48): This counterfeit distorts the gospel by posturing that people are really just "like a car running low on gasoline." We have bad self-images and self-esteem. What we need is to believe in ourselves. Sin in this gospel distortion is anything that would make us doubt our worth. The gospel prescription becomes a pep talk which champions a belief in yourself: you can do it, try harder, you are a winner, etc.

- The Paid Programming Gospel (48-50): This counterfeit distorts the gospel by treating the gospel as a commercial for a product that promises to make your life better. This gospel preaches to people that coming to Jesus will make your life better. The problem is we do not define what "better" means. For some, better means that some of your emotional or physical circumstances are going to improve. The problem though is that it does not get to the heart of our real problem: spiritual brokenness.

- God as the Vending Machine (51-52): This extreme counterfeit distorts the gospel by presenting God as the dispenser of blessings if you do your part. It is often called "the prosperity gospel." The ultimate problem with this false teaching is that it puts God in our debt, when in reality, God owes us nothing! As Trevin states, it "inverts our relationship to God, making him out to be a puppet whose strings are pulled by our actions."(52)

There is much more that could be said when describing these. The counterfeits are subtle and can be easily missed in the sermons we hear and books we read. The gospel message is not therapy to help us cope with our lives. The gospel is the awe-inspiring announcement that sinful, undeserving people are given the gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, who bore the wrath of God reserved for us. Yes, we deserve wrath and condemnation for our sin against a holy God. The gospel is about the rescue we experienced through Christ, not the help we were given to cope with life.

To conclude this discussion about this counterfeit gospel and the true gospel, Trevin captures it like this, "The therapeutic gospel makes grace expected. The biblical gospel makes grace amazing."(61)

Leaven a comment below around the following questions: in what ways have you seen these counterfeits in or around your life? Why do you think we are so quick to be drawn to these counterfeit versions of the gospel? What do you believe are protective measures we can take to prevent falling for a counterfeit in our own lives?

* All references from the book are in parenthesis

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