The Price of Integrity

How much does integrity cost? Well, that depends. It depends on what your willing to do to maintain it or what you are willing to do to lose it. Integrity takes time to build. In order to create a legacy in your life of integrity, you need to demonstrate over time, with big things and small things, that you are willing to do what is right, what is true, what is moral, despite the cost. As long as it takes to build integrity, the sad thing is, it can be lost in an instant. Integrity is only as good as your latest choice.

Let me give you an example of how easy it is to slip in your integrity:

Let's pretend for a moment that a friend was able to get tickets to a game that you really wanted to watch. However, the tickets were not bought or gained honestly, instead, they were bought from a scalper in a place where scalping is illegal. Now, you didn't buy the tickets, but you are using them as a result of an illegal purchase. Are you wrong for doing this or is it only the fault of the person who bought them illegally? The answer: YES, you are at fault. YES, you are sinning. YES, you have comprised your integrity. In this scenario, you sold your integrity for $40 or so, simply because you didn't want to purchase the tickets for full price.

I know for many this sounds extreme, but here's the deal: as followers of Jesus we are called to above reproach, to set the examples in speech and action, to be light in a world of darkness. We are called not to just have a "belief" in God, but to honor Him with all choices. What is the price of integrity? It is a high price to pay if you want it, but it can be lost for the price of nothing.

It All Points to Jesus

I love Christmas. We celebrate the birth of the King of Kings. We are reminded that God initiated a rescue plan to redeem us and reconcile us back to Himself. Where do we get our evidence that the birth of Jesus was the hinge point of history? Where do we learn that Jesus' birth changed everything and was the promised hope we were looking for? The Gospel accounts tell us the story of Jesus and what he accomplished, but it is the Old Testament Scriptures that show us why Jesus' birth is so important. It is the Old Testament that tells us that we should be expecting a king, a messiah, a Savior.

As Christians today we often ignore the Old Testament as if were just a bunch of history. Sometimes we view it as the story of the vengeful and wrathful God, only to give way to the loving God of the New Testament. Not only is this view wrong, it is downright heretical. God is unchanging. The same God who announced judgment and enacted judgment in the Old Testament, is the same God who brought Israel out of exile when they repented, spared the city of Nineveh, and promised to provide redemption through a Savior. When we begin to think about Jesus, we need to understand that he came as a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and promises.

Jesus himself tells us that all of the Old Testament points to him. After Jesus' resurrection he appears to two men on the road. They did not recognize Jesus and were actually telling Jesus about what had happened to Jesus. In the midst of talking with them Jesus had to tell them the meaning of it all because they did not understand: ²⁵He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. - Luke 24:25-27 Jesus says that the Old Testament Scriptures point to him. Notice he even references every section of the Old Testament (Moses and the prophets). Jesus explains to them how the Scriptures (being Old Testament Scriptures at the time) pointed to and spoke of him. After Jesus leaves them they discuss how their hearts burned within them as he opened up the Scriptures.

It all points to Jesus. Remember this season that God communicates with us through His Word. Remember that God fulfills His promises. Remember that there is no difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament...God is not divided, there is but One God, distinctly understood in three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Remember that salvation was bought for you at a price. The price was the life of Jesus Christ, who became the sacrificial lamb, and who died a death in our place, that we might live. He who was rich became poor so that we who are poor could become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). That richness is a life lived redeemed and justified before the Living God. Remember in the midst of all your family get-togethers, services, dinners, gifts, and all the festivities: it all points to Jesus.

The Incarnation

This Sunday at the Journey I'm going to be unpacking one of the greatest, most under-appreciated realities of the Christian faith: the Incarnation. Without the Incarnation there is no cross of Calvary. Without the Incarnation, there is no atonement, no resurrection, and no significance to the person of Jesus. The Incarnation marks an amazing period in the history of man, God becomes flesh.

I don't want to go to much into detail about the Incarnation here on the blog because I still want you to come to church :-) but I think this is a misunderstood and rarely celebrated points in our faith. There is a beautiful reminder laced right in the middle of it: the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Why? To save us. To rescue us. To redeem us. To pull us from the dominion of darkness and to bring us into the glorious light of his Kingdom. The Incarnation is a like a Navy Seal parachuting into a war zone to go in and win the victory. The Word became flesh, he parachuted in to rescue us. This should elicit a response of praise and worship.

This Christmas season, be slow to make it about all the other things: trees, lights, Santa, gifts, food, family, programs, shows, etc. and be quick to make it centrally about the radical, saving actions of the God who rescues and became flesh to do it.

What are your biggest questions or confusions about the Incarnation?

Problems with Neighbor breed Problems with God

Let me ask you a question: are there people in your life that you are less than cordial with? Let me ask a better question: are there brothers and sisters in Christ that you would say that you don't like very much? I ask the question rhetorically because I already know what the answer is: YES!!! I know there are people that get on your nerves. I know there are people who's personality gets under your skin. As a pastor I witness this reality between people, but I also fall victim to it as well.

If the Word of God, and not our emotions, opinions, and broken assessments, are to lead and guide us, then we need to take caution to what it says. When our lives don't align to its commands we should repent, meaning, turn from. We must ask the Spirit of God to stir our hearts toward change and we must go to our brothers and sisters in which we are not in right standing and reconcile. Take a look at what the Bible says about this subject:

1 John 2:9 (NIV) Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

1 John 2:11 (NIV) But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

1 John 3:15 (NIV) Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

1 John 4:20 (NIV) If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

These are but a few verses that are contained in one book about this subject. These words are convicting. If you say you love God, but you have problems with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, then the love of God is not in you. No eternal life in he who hates his brother. So at the end of the day, God doesn't care about your excuses or reasons for why you don't like somebody. How do you combat this type of thinking?

Be reminded regularly that while you were still a sinner and enemy of God, Christ died for you (Romans 5:8). If God could love you, in all your sin, in all your rebelliousness, in all your wicked ways, how is it that you, who has been forgiven, cannot seem to find love for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. In God's eyes this is unacceptable. Take time today to reflect on what people in your life you have had a hard time loving and repent today. If necessary, talk to this person and reconcile with them. Make a vow to God to love them with the same measure of love in which you were given through His Son.

Why do you think this is such a problem in our churches and lives?

The Death of Orthodoxy Part 2

We are products of our culture. Regardless of how much you would like to think you have escaped the snare of the culture around you, you are immersed in something that has formed you. As Christians we know that our role in the culture is to be counter-culture, and live the ways of Jesus over and above the ways of this world. We are not supposed to be people who disconnect from the culture and try to hide from it in an effort to be holy. The Amish have attempted to do this. They don't live with electricity or phones and many other things we would consider normal because they are trying to live "set apart." The problem is this, the culture is so consuming that even the Amish can't escape it. You see, the Amish often have businesses in which they sell the goods they produce to the world outside of their farms. If you venture into an Amish dairy farm you will notice quickly just how difficult it is to escape culture. They have regulations they have to meet which requires them to conform to the rules. They have a phone located in the facility. They have particular equipment and machines. They follow the rules. Even the Amish, who try to live untainted by the culture, cannot escape the power of the culture around them.

So here's where I'm going with this. In my travels the last three weeks to other churches, I have seen many different styles, sizes, and types of churches. I have seen churches meeting in traditional buildings, warehouses, and schools. The one glaring thing that has stood out to me in my visits to these churches is the overwhelming, undeniable effect that culture has played on what the churches are doing. I'm not talking about the use of video, having heat and air, or sitting in chairs, rather, I'm talking about what seems to be a Bible anemic, commitment lacking, consumer product. At many of my visits I never heard the Bible preached. Often when it was used it was referenced to support the ideas and examples the pastor had mentioned, instead of the text of Scripture providing the points. I witnessed worship time that resembled concert performances more than participational worship. Communion was not served at any of the places that I visited, which has become something in the American church that seems to have been made into an "occasional" ordinance of the church, instead of what it was always viewed as by the apostles and early church: essential.

The culture has played an undeniable role in shaping our churches. Not all of this is bad, but not all of it is good. I believe it is okay to use and redeem some of cultures advancements and technology to allow the gospel message to be further spread; however, there are some things in the church that should be non-negotiable, unchanging, and staples of our gospel communities: participatory worship that brings glory to God through both its content and spirit, preaching of the Bible as the centerpiece of our messages and not man's wisdom or humor as the central component, the practice of taking Communion/Lord's Supper regularly (some churches perform more skits in a year than they take Communion), and a spirit of unity and community, not a feeling of attending a show, performance, or concert. Some of the things that separate churches who demonstrate these and those who don't are small and subtle things. At the end, we should be desirous of seeing our churches glorify our Father and His Son, as we carried by and united by the power of the Spirit. The design of a church is to never glorify a pastor, a worship leader, to impress or satisfy attendees, or to lift technology or creativity over and above Jesus. To bring glory to God and share His gospel is why gather and exist as churches.

These things, things I've mentioned before, and other things not wrote here are why I believe there has been a Death of Orthodoxy. I desire to lead the church I pastor and participate with to honor God in staying true to the things that are not on the table for debate and if needed, stand as a voice crying out in the wilderness for repentance.

Confessions of a Pastor Who's Still Learning

I'm a lousy spiritual leader in my home.

I think I needed to start the post by just getting that out of the way. I'm a pastor who can lead and shepherd and care with the best of them, but I have felt a conviction from God lately that I'm not doing all I should/could be doing to take my home to the next level. Now don't get me wrong. We are not a pagan household. I do regular discipleship with my son. We will pray as a family and we have no problem talking about God. You see my problem is not with the family, it is with my wife. I don't feel that I'm doing enough to help us to grow as ONE spiritually. I don't want to sit down and teach her the Bible like I'm leading a class, because the last thing she wants is to feel like I'm making her go to school. I have had a hard time finding good marriage devotional. So I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to help create and foster that time for us.

There are also fears attached to this. I have never seen this modeled for me in my life, so much of it is going to be starting from scratch. I fear some of the levels of vulnerability that it is going to require. I fear not doing a good job. I simply want to be better, and I know it is going to require some changes of my habits.

I started by confessing and repenting before God, then I sat down and talked to my wife and apologized and told her my conviction. Thankfully she is desirous of a deeper intimacy together as well through our walk with God. Now comes the hard part: doing it. If you have suggestions as to what you do as a husband and wife, I'd love to hear it. If you have a devotional that have seemed to work well, leave a comment and let me know.

Do you find yourself struggling with this? Why do you think this is such a hard thing for us to do in our marriages?

He Is Not Like Us

Forming and shaping God into our image is a very popular thing to do these days. If you want your cause to have more weight, say that God is for it and try to find a verse (though usually out of context) to support it. We forget that we are shaped into God's image and that a major responsibility humans carry is to be image-bearers. This can be tricky to think about because at the end of the day, we know that we often don't do a good job at reflecting God. There are attributes of God, things that are a part of His essence that we share, known as communicable attributes. Things such as: love, kindness, knowledge, etc. These are attributes of God that He shares with us. There are some things about God though that show us that He is not like us. These things teach us a great deal about God's richness. These three things about God, when understood, provoke deeper understanding and worship of Him.

3 Attributes of God that remind us that He is not like us:

1. God is Eternal - God has no beginning and no end. He does not live in successive moments of time, but instead sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees in time and acts in time. God is transcendent in that He is bigger than time and space. No one has given him life, and no one can take away that life. God has life in himself. Before the world was made, God needed nothing to make him happy or to make him God, he is self-existent and self-sufficient. God has it all, without beginning and without ending. (Psalm 90:1-2)

2. God is Holy - The Bible speaks of a lot of God's holiness. To be holy means to be different from all else - to be unique or separate or set apart. An important element of God's holiness is that He is completely separate from all that is wrong or impure or sinful. He has life that cannot be stained by anything bad. Because God is truth He cannot lie or believe a lie. Because God is faithful He cannot go back on His word or break a promise. Because God is righteous, He cannot do what is evil or consider the evil that others do as okay or acceptable. He is holy, and so he is separated from anything that is contrary to his own life as God. (Isaiah 6:3; Exodus 15:11)

3. God is Unchangeable - God is God, and this means He cannot be less than who He is as God, just as He cannot be other than who He is as God. God has every quality within his own life as God, and because of this, He simply cannot change for the better or for the worse. God is the same today as He was yesterday or 5,000 years ago. God is who He ever is, and nothing in the very character of God can change. He can be relied on, trusted, and followed, for He does not sway like the trees with every passing wind. (Psalm 102:25-27)

Considering that God is eternal, holy, and unchangeable should bring us to both praise for God's greatness and trust because of the faithfulness of His character. We can count on Him. He has all power, wisdom, and goodness. Knowing these things lead us to honor Him, worship Him, trust Him, and humble ourselves before Him. He is not like us.