Thursday, June 30, 2011

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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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

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?

Monday, June 27, 2011

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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Friday, June 24, 2011

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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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

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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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

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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Monday, June 20, 2011

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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Thursday, June 16, 2011

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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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

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 loveMake 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 problemIt 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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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

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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Monday, June 13, 2011

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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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Lessons God Taught Me This Week As I Taught Others

This last week I have been in Bolivar, Missouri for Fuge Camp. Fuge Camps are an amazing ministry to thousands of teenagers throughout the summer and winter months. I have had the great privilege of serving as Camp Pastor this summer for 3 weeks of camp. I miss my family and kids terribly. I miss worshiping and being with my church family The Journey Church. Despite how much I miss both my family and my church, this last week (as I'm sure the other weeks will be) has been an opportunity for God to work in my life. I have been amazed at how God has placed hundreds of students, youth pastors/workers, and camp leaders in front of me, that I did not know prior to this past week, and has given me such a deep and profound love for them, to pastor them. I would love to think that I am just an all-around good guy who loves people naturally, but I am not. It is truly the work of God to perform this act in my heart towards these people. It has brought me such joy to serve the students, youth pastors, and camp leaders with the Word of God. I have been filled with a love that started, not with me, but with God, for those God has brought me into contact with through Fuge.

I have also been reminded this week that it is the power of God's Word that changes lives, not gimmicks or stand-up comedy routines. I feared at the beginning of the week that I may not be what people at camp had become used to getting. I struggled internally with whether I should try to be something I am not. In the end, God lovingly reminded me that it is not about me being accepted or approved of, but to fulfill what He has called me to do - faithfully preach His Word. For a guy used to preaching upwards to an hour on Sunday's with my church, I was not sure Fuge Camps was ready for me. But praise be to God, His Word never comes back void. The Lord blessed the ministry done this week in powerful ways. I was reminded not to conform to what I believed won the applause of men, but to keep the pleasing of God as my ultimate goal. 

I pray this coming week, as well as the week of camp I have in July, will serve to further the glory of His great name. I pray that He will continue to amaze me with the work He is doing in my own life. As we plant and water, He brings the growth. 

It's funny; I thought I was coming to do the ministering at camp, but it is me that is being minister to. God is teaching me that ministry has less to do with specific age groups or areas of ministry, but it has more to do with being open and willing to minister to whoever God has put before you. The goal of all ministry is to exalt and praise God and His glory. It is all about the glory of His Great Name.

Leave a comment below around these questions: Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever walked into a situation where your preconceived ideas were completely uprooted by God? What kind of lessons did you learn from those times?


Tomorrow on the BLOG: We will take a look at the difference between the true gospel and the therapeutic gospel. What are the differences? How do we cling to the first, and avoid the trap of the latter?


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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What Happened At Your Conversion?

When you stop to ponder what happened at the moment of your conversion (new birth) it can be hard to find the right language to describe it. If you had to explain to someone else what took place could you put words and terms to it?

Today I want to give us a look at what happened at our conversion. This will be helpful not only for understanding your own conversion, but also knowing what needs to happen for those who have yet to trust Christ.

Here's what happens:

1. We HEAR THE GOSPEL. This could be through a sermon, evangelistic encounter, or just a personal relationship in which the gospel has been made known. (Romans 10:14-17)

2. Once we have heard, we believe by FAITH (which is a gift of God) the gospel message and surrender our whole lives to Jesus Christ. This surrender includes REPENTANCE of sins by turning from our wicked ways and turning to God. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 2:38; Matthew 4:17)

3A. At the moment of faith & repentance we are PARDONED of all our sin. This simply means that our record of debt has been canceled. We are forgiven. (Isaiah 55:7)

3B. At the moment of faith & repentance we are JUSTIFIED before God. While being pardoned cancels our record of sin, being justified restores us to relationship. So instead of only being without a sin-record before God, we are also given right-standing with Him. (Romans 3:21-26)

3C. At the moment of faith & repentance we are ADOPTED into the family of God. We are not born children of God, but children of wrath. In order for us to be made children of God, we must be adopted into God's family. He did this for us at our conversion. (Galatians 4:4-7; 1 John 3:9-10; Ephesians 2:3)

3D. At the moment of faith & repentance we are REGENERATED and are made new by the Holy Spirit. We are made new creatures in Christ, the old is gone and the new has come. (Ezekiel 36:24-27; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

This is what happened at our conversion. We HEARD THE GOSPEL, in some form, and we believe by FAITH (a gift from God) and REPENTED of our sins. At the moment of faith & repentance, God, in one simultaneous action, PARDONED us, JUSTIFIED us, ADOPTED us, and REGENERATED us. Praise be to His name!!

This is the order of salvation. It is what happened to you and to me. This teaches us as believers that we must be messengers of the gospel, since it is the catalyst for all of salvation. God saves sinners. He has done this great work in us. We should live to glorify Him in all we do, for how could we live for another?

Please leave a comment below based on the following questions: Is this something that helps you to understand the work of God's grace in your life? Does this finally help give some language and structure to your understanding of salvation? What was the most helpful for you?

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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Scandalous Nature of our Love for Scandal

Because of the continuous number of scandals that are reported on a regular basis, we are no longer shocked by the news of yet another one. The headlines have been filled lately with the story of Rep. Anthony Weiner and his lewd photo that was tweeted from his account. This politician is just one of many who have been busted for doing inappropriate things while in office. We have become numb to the stories because we have been exposed to so many of them.

Here's the questions I want us to interact with or think about: why does this headline create so much stir? Is it because we demand integrity from those who lead us or is it because we enjoy wallowing in the muck of scandal? 

I ask these questions because I want you to think about why these stories reach such national recognition. Do we really think that Capitol Hill is fighting for good morals and values? The answer, in my opinion, is a resounding "no!" The legislation passed in the last several decades goes to show that values have slid further and further from the minds of politicians and their policies. 

So why the fuss?

I postulate that the reason Capitol Hill seems to care so much about this inappropriate photo taken by this House of Representatives member is the same reason why we care - we enjoy wallowing in the muck and mire of sin. We enjoy watching other people fall. We like to see how dirty people are. 

Why do we enjoy this? Because it makes us feel better about ourselves.

The real scandal is the scandal we pull on ourselves. The real scandal is that we convince ourselves that we care about integrity and moral values, but in reality, we just like to see people fail. If we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that we take a quite, unsuspecting pleasure in watching other people get exposed and brought down. 

How do I know this is the real motivation? Because I know myself. I know the grotesque pleasure I often find myself having when I see people fail. I pray that God would help me through the scandal I have pulled on myself, and that I would be saddened by these stories instead of finding hidden pleasure.

Leave a comment below around these questions: What do you think about this? Do you think I am right about my assessment about why we pay attention to these things? If so, what would you add to my thoughts? If not, why do you think I am wrong? I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Monday, June 6, 2011

The Gospel of Sin Management

We cannot manage sin...

Sin is an ever-lurking, ever-consuming aspect of human existence. We sin as naturally as we breath. I am not applauding this fact, but merely stating the truth as it exists. We may want to sin less. In fact, if we are followers of Jesus, we should want to sin no more. But the way we view our sin will have a great deal to do with how we engage it.

There is a false gospel that circulates Christian thought and churches of all kinds. It is the gospel of sin management. The gospel of sin management encourages us to work hard at trying to subdue our sin. The gospel of sin management seeks to have us avoid our sin issues, perhaps even ignore them.

We cannot manage sin, we must kill it! Sin is not something to be managed, we must slay it. When I speak of "sin," I am not referring to a general concept of it, but actual sin in our lives, i.e. greed, lust, pride, anger, drunkenness, cheating, lying, laziness, deceptiveness, gossiping, slandering, etc. Rather than getting sin under control, we must kill it. We must aggressively go after sin issues in our lives because they will militantly come after us.

God warns Cain in Genesis 4:7 "sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." God's words to Cain were a warning that sin was crouching, ready to pounce on him, if he did not slay it first. Sin's power is real. It is a beast that cannot be tamed. It must be killed.

If sin could be managed in an effort to overcome it, then Christ's death on the cross for sins was unneeded. If sin could be managed, then we have no need for a Savior that takes our sin, guilt, and shame upon himself so that we can be liberated. Remember this: the gospel of Jesus is about how Christ came into the world to take upon himself the sins of his people so that they would be liberated from the devastating effects of sin, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, able to slay it. If we come to Christ for salvation and justification before God, why would we then later attempt to manage the sin in our lives? 

Looking to Jesus Christ and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit is not just something we do to be justified before God and forgiven of our sins, it is what we continue doing in order to slay the ongoing assaults sin will wage against us. We never graduate from turning to Christ to conqueror sin. We MUST rule over it or it will rule over us.

What sins have you been trying to manage through your will power? What sins do you find yourself continue to struggle with? Turn today to Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, kill the sin in your life. Look to the Savior who says, "my grace is sufficient" (2 Cor. 12:9) and who Paul declared "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) Through Christ alone can we overcome sin. We cannot fix our sin through our own fleshly efforts. No amount of will power will overcome the power of sin. We must fix our eyes on Jesus and go on the offensive against it. 

Answer one of these questions by commenting below: Why do you think we attempt to manage sin instead of killing it? In what ways have you found sin to be crouching at the door of your life?

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Friday, June 3, 2011

Collecting Experiences Instead of Stuff

Our family vacation is coming to a close, but it has been such a great time. This was the first trip to Disney for our children and they have had such a great time. As a parent, my desires on these trips have changed. When I was younger it was all about the rides and the fun I was having. The only thing I care about now is how this experience is for my family.

Even now as an adult, the most memorable moments that have lasted with me from childhood involve experiences. I remember going fly-fishing and camping at Centerhill. I remember family trips to Panama City Beach. I remember trips to Gatlinburg/Pigeonforge. I even remember specific events and instances from these trips. These moments have lasted with me while most of the stuff from my childhood has long disappeared.

Taking time to reflect on this has shown me very clearly that what matters most for me as a husband and father is to create experiences for my family. It matters more for me to create moments that live forever in their minds than it does for me to buy them stuff. Stuff will eventually be tossed in the trash, but memories that matter will stay forever.

What childhood memories do you still have? What type of experiences do you believe are the most lasting? What recent experiences/moments have you created lately for your family?

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Making Time for What Matters

Life moves at a rapid pace for everyone. We have to quit making excuses for the things we fail to do. "I am just too busy" or "I just can't find the time" is not a valid excuse for failing to do things that are important. There are many things that are important for us to do in our lives that we have managed to carve out daily time for:

1. Sleeping
2. Eating
3. Bathing
4. Brushing Teeth
5. Etc.

We would all agree that these things are important for our daily physical health, and so we do them. We have learned over the years to create a routine and pattern that allows for these things to happen. We rarely have to think about doing these things, we just do them.

But what about habits that are necessary for our spiritual health?

Do you have a built-in routine and schedule in your daily life that allows for:

1. Scripture Reading
2. Prayer
3. Family Worship
4. Fasting
5. Etc.

We will do things in our lives that we have planned to do. You may feel that the spiritual disciplines I listed above are different from the habits we have created for physical necessities, but their not. The spiritual health of our lives are just as vital as our physical health. In addition, our spiritual lives will absolutely effect our physical lives. We must carve the time out and develop routines that make these things as second nature as eating, bathing, brushing our teeth, and sleeping. These things should be non-negotiable. We do them not because we "need" to but because we "must."

The benefits of building these routines into our lives far outweigh the costs. Not only will we be building great habits into our lives, the real benefit gained is that these disciplines are a means of grace that God has given to us to fellowship and grow with Him. They are not an end, they are a means to an end - communion and fellowship with God. We need this more than we need our next breath. It is the most important matter in our lives.

So the question I pose is: are you making time for what matters?

What routines have you created to help you build these disciplines in your lives? What struggles do you have when trying to implement these? Which of the few I mention do you find the easiest to do and which are the hardest?

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Illusion of Freedom

Being a pastor is certainly not an easy task. I encounter of hundreds and hundreds of people on a weekly basis, each from different backgrounds and each with their own ideologies or takes on the world. One of the ideas that I have heard and encountered on many occasions, particularly by those who do not follow Christ or attend church regularly, is that they are not Christians because they want to be independent and have their freedom. When people speak like this what they are really saying is that they want to live how they want to and make their own choices without someone telling them how to live.

This type of thinking is an illusion.

The person who lives under the "illusion" of freedom always seems to be doing the same thing others are doing. People who say that they want to make their own choices and live how they want to live always seem to be following the masses in their choices. Just think about it. The person who says they do not want other people telling them how to live seem to be the one's who are out getting drunk with regularity and living in sexual promiscuity, doing exactly what "the world" says freedom is. In their "independence," they tend to live like everyone else. In their "freedom," they tend to be following the masses, not thinking and living for themselves.

Here is the truth of the matter: the cry to live independently and without having someone tell them how to live is nothing more than a desire to fill the cravings of the flesh. There is no independence in the lives of those who stray from God, they are only choosing a different set of rules to live by. The rules that govern the "independent" are heavy loads to carry, loads that often end up breaking the backs of those who shoulder them. Those who sought their freedom from God and rules, often find themselves under a more deadly set of rules: the rules of lawlessness. It is in this condition that they find they are not free at all, they are only serving another master, one who is oppressive and unbearable.

Take time to think about this. The illusion of freedom for those living lawless lives is truly an illusion. I do not know of many who have engaged in this type of life that feel free. They live routine lives of party at night, suffer in the morning, and start again the next evening. They are drones to their "freedom."

Did you ever suffer under the illusion of freedom? If so, what was it like when you finally found real freedom in Christ? Have you encountered this type of thinking from people you know? If so, do their lives model the freedom they think they have?