I'm Going Behind Bars

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in number; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."  Jeremiah 29:4-8

This passage is part of a letter to captives taken by Babylon to live in a home not their own.  The prophet Jeremiah tells the people to not sit and wait to go back home but to work for the peace and prosperity of the land in which they now.

This world is not our home, at least not until Christ brings Heaven down here to earth.  This present world is something we are sojourners in.  1 Peter 2:11 calls us "aliens and strangers in the world."  This present world is not our forever home, but it is our home today.  We are not to live with our chairs facing east waiting on our butts for Jesus to come back.  Yes, we should eagerly wait for Him to return but we should do it like the first two men in the parable of the talents.  We should be busy waiters.  We should be caught serving our communities when Jesus returns.  We should be caught bettering this world when its owner comes back.

With that in mind, I got a phone call recently asking if I'd be part of the MDA Lock Up.  I will be "in jail" on Thursday, March 22nd until my $2,000 bail is met.  $2,000 will support a person with MDA or ALS or the like going to camp. 

ALS is the disease my step-dad's mother died of and it is awful.  Children with MDA and ALS and other similar diseases need our help so that's why I'm part of this lock up in Waverly. 

My campaign has just started.  Please consider donating by clicking here today.

The Battle Against Whining

My son is nine months old and is getting to be a good manipulator.  Joshua has a fake cry.  It's good that he's not a poker player because his bluff is pretty easy to see.  He also has a fake laugh.  He has had these two for quite a while but those haven't bothered us much; in fact, they're kind of cute.

However, he's begun to realize the effectiveness of whining.  Joshua has begun to be a frequent whiner.  For example, he knows that he's not allowed to play with pens.  He'll grab a pen and I or Christine will take it away and he'll whine.  When he whines sometimes we'll hide the pen or distract him with something else but today enough was enough.  Today Joshua got the pen taken away and he whined at his mom to get it back.  I then got up from the couch and decided that this whining is something we need to nip in the bud starting now.  He understands more of what I say than he can say back obviously, so I talked with him about all the toys he had and could play with and how his whining wasn't going to change the circumstance.

I'm pretty sure tomorrow we will need to fight the same battle against his whining but we're going to fight it.  Whining is a behavior that I don't want my son to have as a habit.  We've got to parent intentionally and from a position of authority early or we're going to fall behind and potentially lose in this area of discipline.

Now don't get me wrong, we aren't mean to him.  Joshua is showered with toys and hugs and kisses and praise for good behavior.  We know he is just a baby but he's going to be parented by us, he's going to be raised not simply grown.

See, I take the pens away from him because I don't want him to jab one down his throat or stab himself when the point comes out.  I'm willing to fight the battle against whining because I don't want him to be like other whiny children I've seen that become whiny adults.  We make it our job as parents to raise our son with love and discipline because he is so important to us.

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when He rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines those He loves,
and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.'

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."  Hebrews 12:5b-11

Being a father has helped teach me about my Heavenly Father.  Today as I tried to correct a behavior in my son I didn't do it because I enjoy giving him a hard time.  If I was looking to do things the easy way I would appease every whine Joshua has, but I'm not looking for easy, I'm raising a little boy who will raise my grandchildren someday.

As I look in the mirror today I ask: Am I whining at God and missing His good?  Am I begging for something harmful when my Heavenly Father knows it will hurt me?  Am I stuck in an infant behavior pattern when my Father is trying to mold me into a man who raises men? 

Today I needed to look in the mirror and the battle against whining is helping me do that.  As I work hard to raise my son I want to think about what God is doing to raise me, to sanctify me and I want to not push against that but instead accept that as a grace from my Father in Heaven today.

Give Me Jesus- A Prayer for A.J.'s Family and Friends

Saturday I found out a friend from college had taken his own life the day before.  A.J. Zaruba was an energetic, kind, talented man who found himself in a dark place but I wish he knew the world was a brighter place with him in it.  I hadn't had much interaction with him since college but I always found him to be a good guy and super talented musically.  The last time I talked with him was over Facebook messenger.  He was going through a rough time but getting help and I wanted him to know I was proud of him for looking for help.  I sent him one of the prayers I prayed for him and his family and I'm glad I did. 

Like many of us that were friends with him from Wartburg or from choir I wish I would have reached out more.  I wish I could have let him know how much he was wanted in this world, but I can't go back and neither can any of us. 

The last song I sang as a member of the Wartburg choir was directed by him.  It was "Give Me Jesus."  The lyrics of "Give me Jesus" are words written as an expression of saving faith. 

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.'  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile... the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  Romans 10:9-13

"Give Me Jesus" has words that have been my prayer in times of pleasure and times of sorrow.  It's the first song that came to mind to pray and to pray for A.J.'s family when I heard the tragic news. 
"Lord, give them Jesus!  God they need Jesus right now to be their source of comfort and strength to make it through this day and all days after."

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39

I don't claim to speak for A.J. and his faith but a Christian is one who has cried out with their heart, "GIVE ME JESUS" and nothing at all in all of creation, and nothing means nothing, could ever separate us from Jesus.  The Apostle Paul says those that cry out sincerely, "Give me Jesus as Lord" and believe it in their hearts will get Jesus and will never be able to lose Him... never.

My prayer today is not for Austin Jacob Zaruba.  My prayer is for all of his family and friends and students whose lives were changed by knowing A.J. and that prayer is "give us Jesus today."

O Praise the Name (Anástasis)

This Sunday at Grace was a great time of worship.  In Discipleship Class we talked about Galatians 3:1-14.  In the sermon we talked about Esther chapters 1 and 2 and learned to have God's eyes and not Xerxes' eyes.  We had tremendous Gospel centered music, Scriptures read that proclaimed the goodness and holiness of God and just a sweet time of corporate worship.  And on top of all that Christine's uncle Jerry from Missouri surprised us by joining us at church.

The song below was my favorite from our musical worship.  The song "O Praise the Name (Anástasis)" does a fantastic job of retelling the Gospel story.  Anástasis, by the way, is the plural of the word meaning to recover from a debilitating condition and experience rebirth.  Please take time to listen to it and pay close attention to the words today.

Fear That Stiffens Spines

I'm reading through the book of Mark with two guys at Wartburg.  The chapter we're going over for next week is chapter 15.  This chapter is about the trial, mocking, beating and crucifixion of Jesus.

One line jumped out to me as I read it today.

"Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.  He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified."  Mark 15:15

"Wanting to satisfy the crowd."

See, Pilate was not convinced of Jesus' guilt; in fact, he was convinced of his innocence.  The elders, chief priest and teachers of the law brought Jesus to Pilate to be tried and put to death.  The only reason that Pilate would be involved in this sort of matter was to keep peace in his region.  Historical records tell us that Pilate had been warned about other uprisings that happened in the region.  So, Pilate was on high alert regarding uprisings and was, perhaps, afraid of Rome taking away his position. 

But Pilate was a fairly wise ruler.  Pilate offered up Barabbas and Jesus and asked which of them the people wanted released.  Some of us have been taught that Barabbas was seen as a low-down horrible murderer, but this simply isn't true.  Barabbas was a murderer as an insurrectionist.  Barabbaas murdered while part of an uprising against Rome.  Barabbas was to many a hero.  What Pilate did was shrewd.  The leaders claimed to be afraid of Jesus leading a rebellion for His Kingdom against Rome, so Pilate offered them a known rebel against Rome.  In choosing Barabbas the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law were showing their cards.  They didn't care about the people getting hurt in a rebellion.  No, they were not righteous worriers but instead they were jealous murderers.

Pilate showed shrewd wisdom but in the next moment he displayed cowardice.  Pilate gave in to the leaders of the people not because he was convinced of facts but because of the pressure of the crowd.  Pilate became an accomplice in the most egregious murder of all time because he wanted to satisfy the crowd.

How often have I caved in not out of knowledge or wisdom but out of my want to satisfy the crowd?

Fear the LORD.  This is the answer to my problem of people pleasing and your answer to it as well.  When I cave in to peer pressure I announce through my action that I fear people more than the Author of Truth. 

Fear the LORD.  Much of our cowardice can be remedied by a magnification of God in our hearts and minds.  If I rightly thought of God I would be unable to follow anyone else.  If I saw in my mind's eye Christ more closely as glorious as He really is then why would I fear any other?

Stiffen your spine through a healthy dose of fear.  Gaining a more proper awe of and more elevated view of God's holiness will embolden us in all circumstances.  Pilate gave in to satisfy the crowd, but when one sees God as He is he can only ever want to satisfy God.

Fear the LORD and lose all ability to fear anything else today.

Papa's Prayers

I really appreciate my grandpa's prayers.  I don't mean the prayers he prays for me, though I'm sure he does that, but I mean that I love listening to him pray.  I don't remember if he's always prayed this way but the way he prays is so good and so uplifting to me.

"We thank you and praise you for who you are."

This is one of the phrases that my grandpa, my Papa, uses a lot in his prayers.  This phrase is so good.  He often uses this phrase and then recounts attributes of God.  I'm not sure it's his intent to teach as he prays but I think he does and I hope people listen.  One of Papa's main source of praises is who God is.

Who God is must always be a bedrock of our praise and of our faith and therefore of our prayers.

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of His glory."  Isaiah 6:3b

The prophet Isaiah tells us that in God's throne room are seraphim (angels) with six wings that praise God with the words above. 

And John says:

"Day and night they never stop saying:

Holy, holy holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."  Revelation 4:8b

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."  Revelation 4:11

In Heaven right now there is praise for God simply because of who He is.  Why should our prayers be any different?  Papa prays like this and it is a proclamation of the One trusts.

My grandpa also often recounts the salvation story in his prayers.  The last time we were with him and he prayed I listened closely as he spoke of Jesus' death and resurrection for us.  My grandpa praises God for what He has done on the cross.  In your prayer life rehearse the Gospel story because it will enrich your prayer time.

My grandpa's prayers have been a teaching tool to me and I know they have been a source of teaching to him as well.  Prayer is a way in which we preach to our own soul.  Recounting the Gospel story and declaring the good attributes of God (and all of them are good) grows our soul's muscles to trust in times of testing.

My grandma died at a younger age than I ever expected her to die.  Her funeral was a sad time for the family, to say the least.  I will never forget being at her visitation and standing next to her body with my wife and Papa.  There we were looking at her cold, lifeless body knowing it was empty of her soul for now.  The gravity of the knowledge of death that touching your loved one's body brings is heavy. 

As the three of us stood next to her body my grandpa turned our way and said with tears in his eyes, "He answered my prayers.  He healed her."

Yes, Jesus healed my grandma.  There is no more pain or suffering or shortness of breath in her today nor will there ever be.  Jesus healed my grandma even though it's not exactly the way I would have wanted or my grandpa wanted. 

In that sadness I was deeply encouraged by my grandpa's faith.  And I'm sure that time spent talking with his Savior and recounting His goodness and His attributes strengthened his faith to be able to rise to the occasion, even if that circumstance was the loss of his dear wife.

Do you recount the attributes of God in your prayers?  Do you rehearse the Gospel story in your prayers?  If not, I ask you to take the example of my grandpa to heart and put it into practice because it will bless you in the good times and in the times when we're led into the valley of the shadow of death.

Try praying like my grandpa today.

Our Father: A Sermon Jam

The last several days I wrote a handful of posts about The Lord's Prayer.  I also am teaching a series on The Lord's Prayer with the youth group.  Last night I taught about the phrase "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name."

We talked last night about how the "who" of prayer is much more important than the "how" of prayer.  Not that how is unimportant, because why else would our Lord teach us how to pray if it wasn't, but the who of prayer is of upmost importance.

Last night I used a Francis Chan sermon jam in the lesson.  I highly encourage you to watch it today.

Billy Graham Dead at 99

This morning I learned that the most prolific evangelist of all time Billy Graham died in his home.  He was 99.

Billy Graham's death is not a sad time because he was a man that lived out the Great Commission with all vigor.  Today he is in the presence of his Lord and Savior and I'm willing to bet that he was greeted by the phrase, "Well done good and faithful servant.  Come and share in your master's happiness."

When I heard of his death I couldn't help but wonder if he was met in Heaven by the thousands, if not millions, that he introduced to Jesus as their Savior who were this morning excited to introduce him face to face to Jesus.  I wondered what sort of glory he saw this morning and what sort of glory awaits me on the other side of my last breath.

Billy is a man that I admired greatly.  He was a man that focused on the Gospel and on the mission that Christ had given him.  He was not a perfect man but he strived for Godly character and a reputation worthy of his calling.  He is a man worthy of imitation.

I leave you with some of the best Billy Graham quotes below today:

"Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead.  Don't believe a word of it.  I shall be more alive than I am now.  I will just have changed my address.  I will have gone into the presence of God."

"I haven't written my own epitaph, and I'm not sure I should.  Whatever it is, I hope it will be simple, and that it will point people not to me, but to the One I served."

"The most thrilling thing about Heaven is that Jesus Christ will be there.  I will see Him face to face.  Jesus Christ will meet us at the end of life's journey."

"Heaven doesn't make this life less important; it makes it more important."

"I am not going to Heaven not because I have preached to great crowds or read the Bible many times.  I'm going to Heaven just like the thief on the cross who said in that last moment: 'Lord remember me."

"The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith."

"The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us."

"It is God's job to judge, the Spirit's job to convict, and our job to love."

"I have never known anyone to accept Christ's redemption and later regret it."

"God proved His love on the cross.  When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, 'I love you."

"Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys."

"A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip."

Our Holy Father

For four days on this blog I've spent time looking at and thinking about The Lord's Prayer.  We've look at the phrases: "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven", "Give us today our daily bread", "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" and "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  Today I want to focus on the opening line of Jesus' prayer as recorded in the book of Matthew.

"Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name," Matthew 6:9b

The most important thing about Christian prayer is to whom we pray.  Obviously what we pray is important or Jesus would not have taught His disciples how to pray and that prayer wouldn't have been recorded for us.  But to whom we pray is of upmost importance.

Remember the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal?  In 1 King 18:16-39 Elijah had a competition with the prophets of Baal.  They both put a bull on the altar and prayed for fire to come from Heaven and consume their bull.  The prophets of Baal went first and they yelled and prayed and danced from morning to noon.  Nothing happened and Elijah taunted them by saying maybe Baal was busy or sleeping or something else.  So the prophets shouted louder and cut themselves with spears and swords until the afternoon and even into the evening.  Nothing happened.  Then Elijah's turn was up and he made the competition harder on himself by dumping water on his bull. 

Then Elijah prayed one short prayer and fire from God fell from the sky and burned up the bull, the wood, the stones, the soil and evaporated the water that was drenched on all of it.

See, long prayers and fastings and dancing and even hurting oneself did nothing for the prophets of Baal.  The most powerful part of prayer is the one to whom we pray.

So, who does Jesus say that we pray to?

"Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,"

Jesus says that the God of Heaven, the one true God is to whom we pray.  The most excellent part of any prayer is the destination of the prayer, the one on the other side of the line not the words said or the length of the prayer.

Also, Jesus teaches us that God, the One we pray to, is both hallowed and Father.

God is hallowed.  He is holy, holy, holy.  God is so other from us and all that exists in the universe.  There is an immense gap between all that we add up to and the infinitude of all that is good that is our great God.  Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge."  We must always begin with the fear of the Lord.  The prayer that Jesus taught us forces us to reckon with and remember the holiness of God.  When we pray we must have a magnified view of God.

God is Father.  This hallowed being is our Father.  God is not simply great, and He is beyond great; He is someone with whom we can have a Father-son or Father-daughter relationship.  We can approach God in prayer like we would approach the best of earthly dads.  We can come to God the way that my son comes to me with arms up begging to be held.  We can come to God without fear of harm knowing that He, as a good Father, wants what is best for us.

Our Holy Awesome Father is both capable to do what we need and willing to do what we need.  Good fathers don't always give what we ask for but good fathers have their child's best interest at heart. 

It is easy to get lost on either side of this coin.  We can be so struck by the holiness of God that we disbelieve a personal, intimate relationship with Him is possible or we can be so focused on the accessibility we have to our Father that we forget the magnitude of His holiness.  We must do neither and that, at least in part, is why Jesus teaches us to pray like this.

"Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one" today.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

"When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.'  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."  James 1:13-15

"And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."  Matthew 6:13

Why on earth does Jesus teach us to pray about a situation that James tells us is impossible?  Why, if God cannot tempt, does Jesus teach us to pray that God not lead us into temptation?  Is Pope Francis right in saying that this prayer's wording should be changed?

Well, Matthew records that Jesus was lead into the wilderness to be tempted.

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil."  Matthew 4:1

I don't believe that the Bible can contradict itself and I don't believe that is happening here.  There is some nuance in this passage, I believe.  God may lead us into places of testing where tempting may be present but He Himself is not the tempter.

"Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me."  Psalm 23:4

Following God closely may illicit a war of temptation from the evil one.  The Devil will not like it if you are following God closely.  My football coach used to say, "If you ain't getting blocked you're going the wrong way."

When we are the Shepherd's sheep the Wolf will come looking for us, especially if we are making a difference for the Kingdom.  What we pray is that God will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the perils of sinful temptation and not let us go into temptation.

In the war for the Kingdom we may need to go through enemy lines.  Our prayer is that temptation would not grip us, but that instead we would pass through.  This is not license to live foolishly and rush into tempting situations claiming that God will keep you from temptation.  No, this is an invitation to follow Jesus even into hard places where the temptation to quit, the temptation to abandon the faith is shot at you like a fiery dart by Satan and to keep following King Jesus all while praying that He delivers you from Satan and all his doomed schemes.

Following Christ is not an easy task.  We must pray for the protection and the ability to pass through seasons and situations where temptation rears its head.

"And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one" today.

So Will I (100 Billion X)

On Sundays during Lent I want to share a worship song that has made me worship.  Many times these songs come from my Sunday worship at Grace Baptist but this one today doesn't.  Today I want to share "So Will I (100 Billion X)" as performed by Tori Kelly.  The lyrics are fantastic and call to mind so many Biblical passages including the two below.  Take time to listen to this awesome song today.

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world." Psalm 19:1-4a

"O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set into place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you can for him?"  Psalm 8:1-4

Debt Forgiveness

"Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors."  Matthew 6:12

We've been thinking a bit about the Lord's Prayer this week.  Today is what I think may be the most sobering part of the Lord's Prayer.  This is not simply the part of the prayer that sounds like a jumbled mess at services when local churches get together.  You know what I mean, the debts and trespasses mixed together until we finally align on the next part.  No, this section of the prayer sobers us because of what we pray.

"Forgive us our debts,
AS we also have forgiven our debtors."  (emphasis added)

"As" is such a frightening two letter word.  What if I don't forgive?  Is God's forgiveness for me contingent upon my forgiving others?

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, you Father will not forgive your sins."  Matthew 6:14-15

Who else wants to pray a different prayer instead of this one that Jesus teaches?  Who else want to pray "forgive us our debts or trespasses" and leave out what follows the comma?  Well, you might not have your hand raised, but I have it waving like Horshack to Mr. Kotter.

In Matthew 18:23-35 Jesus tells a story to further teach His point about forgiveness.

In the story the king was settling debts with people and a man owed him 10,000 talents which is equivalent to millions of dollars if the story was told in the U.S. today.  It was a debt that the man could never pay so the man was going to be sold as a slave in order to get something for the king.  But the man begged for the debt to be forgiven and the king forgave the debt.  However, that same man found a guy who owed him a hundred denari which is a small amount of money.  That same man chocked the man and demanded the money and threw that other debtor into debtors prison.  Word got back to the king and the king in anger sent the original man in the story to prison to be tormented until he could pay back what he owed, which obviously could never be repaid in a prison.

Jesus ends the story with this line,

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."  Matthew 18:35

Forgiveness is a HUGE deal to Jesus and therefore to us.  Forgiveness isn't optional for the believer.  Now, this is not to say that our salvation is earned, because it isn't.  Jesus initiates His love, His sacrifice and His forgiveness to us while we are still sinners.  But this means that those who are Christians must be forgiving.

Forgiveness is fundamental to the Gospel.  Those who are forgiven much must forgive much.  The key to forgiveness is to remember that we've been forgiven.  The Lord's Prayer stings us when it comes to the subject of forgiveness and we must let God's Word sting where it stings.  Let the sharp, double-edged sword of the Word strike you.  Let it change you like a surgeons scalpel, but never forget the cross because the key to being forgiving is being forgiven.

Who do you need to forgive?  The Lord taught us to pray in a way that calls to mind the issue of forgiveness.  He taught us a prayer that won't let us ignore forgiveness.  So, who do you need to forgive?

If you don't forgive you aren't simply carrying the weight of unforgiveness, which you are.  If you don't forgive it isn't simply bad for your mental and physical health, which it is.  If you don't forgive you aren't simply denying them forgiveness for their sake, which you are.  When you don't forgive you are saying to Christ that His death on the cross didn't mean that much to you.  We can't read the parable of the unforgiving debtor in Matthew 18 and see it any other way.  When we don't forgive we slap our Savior in the face.  We announce that our debt wasn't that large; that what He paid wasn't that significant.

But when we do forgive we get the sweet reminder of His grace.  When we forgive we participate in Christ's reconciliation campaign on this earth.  When we forgive we announce that we love what Jesus did on the cross.

Who do you need to forgive?  Whether their debt is rather large or small it does not compare with the debt the King of kings forgave you of.

"Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors" today.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Nine months ago my son Joshua was born.  Before he was born we needed to pick out a name.  Now, naming a human being is a big deal.  We thought about what sounded nice, what nicknames might come from it, what his initials might spell and what it meant.  The meaning of his name was very important to us.

Joshua means the same as Jesus: "God saves".  We pray every night that God would make his name true for him.  So, Joshua means "God saves", Matthew means "Gift of God" and Christine means "follower of Christ".

One man in the Bible with an interesting name is the Apostle Paul.  Paul is the Greek name for the Hebrew name Saul and Saul/Paul was a man of importance in the world of Judaism.  As you can read in Acts chapter 9 and in some of Paul's letters he had a dramatic conversion experience.  Saul the Christian killer is Paul the Christian martyr.  Saul did not exactly have his name changed but God made him use a name that would forever teach him about grace.

The name Paul in Greek means "small".

God, through the naming by his parents and the use of language gave him a name that would remind him and announce to all he met that he was small.  The great church planter of the Greek speaking world introduced himself to Greek speakers by saying, "Hi, I'm small."  The greatest evangelist in the Bible's name means small and I think that tells us something about the Gospel.  Prideful Sauls need to be reminded they are small Pauls. 

Christians must be people that remember their personal smallness and announce it to all they meet.  Christians are small people with a BIG God.  This isn't about self-esteem; this is about the Gospel.  The Gospel tells us we are small but God loves us anyway, we are unimportant but God lavishes us with love anyway, we are sinful yet Jesus died for us.  We aren't saved because we're worth it, but we're saved because God wanted to save us.

Oftentimes we forget our petite nature and magnify ourselves and forget the majesty of our eternal, infinite, all-powerful, Triune God.  This self-over-evaluation  keeps us from enjoying more fully our salvation.

"Give us this day our daily bread" Matthew 6:11

Jesus taught us to pray for our most basic needs.  He taught us to pray for what we need to sustain us today.  Many of us never think about whether we have bread for today.  Many of us worry about the distant future but hardly ever today.  Most of us feel pretty confident about our own ability to take care of ourselves today.

We need to remember how small we are and in the Lord's prayer Jesus helps remind us of that.  Jesus instructs us to ask God for the very thing that we may have already bought ourselves.  Jesus instructs us to pray in a way that makes us announce our smallness to our BIG God.

This reliance on God.  This recognition of the infinite difference in size and ability between us and God is necessary daily.

"... give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:8b-9

Sustained but not fat.  This must be the spiritual condition of the believer.  Saul was capable of being a "great man" in his "own right" and Jesus sent him to the Gentiles a people group with which he'd be wildly successful and yet always reminded of his size relative to God's.

Humility is a beautiful gift.  Learn humility and put it into practice.  Remember that we need God for everything from our breath to our bread. 

Jesus, give us our daily bread today.



 

Thy Kingdom Come

The unthinkable happened again yesterday.  17 people killed in a high school by a young man with
an evil heart and a powerful weapon.

Yesterday I got on my computer and saw a headline about a school shooting so I turned on my TV.  There I listened to parents talking who were waiting for a text from their child to find out if they were okay.  I listened to parents who were texting with their teen who was hiding in the school.  As a parent and a youth leader and a fellow human being my heart broke.  I envisioned each one of the kids in the church youth group in a similar situation.  I flashed back to holding my son for the first time.  I remember him looking up at me with wide eyes as I fell madly in love with him.  Then I thought about waiting for a text from Joshua to see if he was still alive after a school shooting.

As I watched the all too familiar drama play out on my TV screen I desperately desired the New Heaven and New Earth.  As I played the sounds of the gun shots and screaming this morning on our show I begged for a New Heaven and New Earth full of love and devoid of fear and death and hate and bloodshed and tears.

The heartaches of this life must give us Christians a deep homesickness.  We are citizens of Jesus' Kingdom and we should want to be home.

But at no point should this holy homesickness make us less likely to make peace happen here on earth. 

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought the most about the next. ... It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.  Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."  C. S. Lewis Mere Christianity

When Italian immigrants were homesick for Italy they formed Little Italy in New York.  Cuban immigrants missing the beautiful parts of Cuba gave us Little Havana.  Christians, our homesickness must make us desire to make our current homes a little more like our future home.

"Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven."  Matthew 6:9b-10

When Jesus taught us to pray He taught us to pray for earth to look more like Heaven.  Jesus taught us to desire that the Kingdom of Heaven would come.

Many say they are sick of "thoughts and prayers".  Well, thoughts don't do a whole lot but prayer does.  But prayer should motivate us to act when we are able.  Pray aligns our loves with God's.  As our interim pastor Scott says, "to love what God loves, to hate what God hates and to do what God says". 

I'm heartbroken over this new normal.  I'm homesick for a world where people aren't killed.

"Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it."  Psalm 34:14

When we get on our knees are we seeking peace and pursuing it?  When we pray for wisdom on how to help get peace do we act when God answers our prayers?  Do we want His Kingdom to come so much that we want it to come, in part, now?  Are we homesick enough to try and make this place feel more like home or are we content to sit with our chairs facing east waiting for Christ to come back?  Will our Lord find His servants busy pursuing peace (shalom) and justice or burying their talents in the ground?

I'm sick of covering stories of mass killings.  I'm tired of my heart aching for those who had loved ones stolen from them by murder.

Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven today.

Lent Challenge 2018

On Ash Wednesday 2011 I started a traditional Lenten discipline for myself of blogging every day during Lent.  Each year I've done this has helped grow me as a follower of Christ and as a writer.  Writing every day forces me to make time every single day to think critically about God.  Writing every day helps sharpen my ability to think critically and clearly about what I read in the Scriptures.  Writing every day also helps me to keep my Biblical perspective glasses on because I often need to use the world in front of my face to get topics to write about and since this blog is 99.9% about Christian topics that means I have to see the world from a Biblical perspective.

Through the years this discipline has been good for me and I hope that it has in some small way perhaps been good for you.

This year I almost decided not to do it. 

Last year I was awaiting the birth of my little boy.  This year my wife and I are chasing a little boy and tossing him in the air and playing peek-a-boo a lot of the day.  On top of that, Joshua can't stand to see us on the computer because he thinks he should get to play with it instead.  So, I considered not doing my annual Lent Challenge, but I am going to do it.

Lent isn't supposed to be about finding what is simple and doing it.  So, out of pure principle and the desire to be faithful I'm blogging daily again this year. 

Today there are plenty of topics to write about: Valentine's Day, Ash Wednesday and Joshua is nine months old today.  But I'll save some of that for another day.

Today I want to challenge you to join me in adding a discipline during the season of Lent.  Be it writing, Bible reading, prayer time, deliberate acts of service, quiet time, fasting... whatever it is you choose to do.  I also ask you to keep me honest on this challenge.

Join me this year in the sanctifying season known as Lent.  From now until Easter let us train our minds and bodies to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).  I pray you decide to be an active participant in Lent today.

Valentine's Ash Wednesday Day

This year Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday are the same day.  I think that is about perfect. 

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning to the church season known as Lent.  Lent is the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter for fasting as a way to prepare our souls to celebrate all that Easter is.  Growing up I didn't do Lent.  I watched in college as friends gave up candy and meat on Fridays for this season, but I never did it.

Several years back I decided to change that and I'm so glad I did.  I am a Baptist and didn't celebrate Lent simply due to pride and ignorance.  I thought I didn't have to celebrate Lent, I'm saved by the grace of God alone and not by works so why would I follow some man-made season of fasting?  Well, I was missing out on this man-made yet God-honoring sanctification and worship tool for a long time because of my pride and ignorance.

Christians do not have to celebrate Lent or Advent or any other date on the church calendar.  However, I think we can grow a lot from following the example of our more liturgical brothers and sisters.  For those of you that have never observed the Lenten season or haven't for a long time, I challenge you to do it this year.

Here are some ideas for observing Lent based on the remove and replace theory that I've seen a lot of wisdom in following.  See, I've found in my life that if I remove one vice or luxury I will replace it with another.  Therefore, when you fast from a vice or luxury fill that space with something good.

Without further ado here are ten ideas for Lent:

1) Remove a social media app from your phone and look at a Bible app whenever you feel the urge to look at Snap Chat, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

2) Remove all TV time or a specific TV time and replace it with a personal or group Bible study time.

3) Cut out beverages or a beverage other than water (pop, coffee, beer, tea, etc) and donate the money you would have spent on that to an organization that digs wells for those who need access to clean water.

4) Turn off the radio on your daily commute (as a DJ it kills me to this) and replace it with a time of prayer or a sermon podcast.

5) Remove a night out on the town and replace it with a visit to your local nursing home to spend time with some of our most forgotten brothers and sisters.

6) Fast for lunch one day a week and replace it with eating the Bread of Life from the Scriptures.

7) Give up criticism of coworkers and replace it with a concerted effort at giving them compliments.

8) Replace idle time with daily Bible journaling.

9) Take out a mirror that you often use and replace it in that same spot with a verse that you will look at and memorize.

10) Fast from sweets and desserts and donate the money you would have spent on that to an organization that feeds the hungry.

We don't have to do Lent, but we can observe Lent this year.  Lent begins on Valentine's Day and that is so fitting because it is a great tool to help us organize our loves in a way that honors Christ. 

You can and should observe Lent.  Think of a way that works for you today.

What Randall Margraves Reminded Me

Larry Nassar has been sentenced to more years in prison that he will live, and that is justice.  Nassar is convicted of child molestation, sexual abuse and more of the disgusting like and has been accused of the same by hundreds of women who were girls at the time. 

During his sentencing a man named Randall Margraves, whose daughters were abused by Nassar, spoke.  Margraves in pure anger rushed at Nassar to attack him and was stopped by bailiffs.  Margraves was in the wrong to lose self-control in the courtroom.  He was wrong to try and exercise vigilante justice.  But as I watched the video I cried because I understand his anger. 

                                                 (Warning: crude language in video)

"The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference."  Elie Wiesel

"Anger is actually a form of love." Tim Keller

Anger is not the opposite of love; rather it is love in motion.  The reason that father lashed out like that is because of an intense love for his daughters.  Love can breed hate and it can create anger when what we love is threatened or hurt.

As I watched that video I hoped that I would have more self-control than Randall Margraves and the same passionate love for my children as he obviously does.  His daughters may feel love and embarrassment mixed together, but boy did he show them that he loves them deeply and will literally fight for them.  He was wrong in doing what he did but he displayed love for them and despite his wrong approach his love moved me to tears and has moved me to tears each time I've watched the video.

But here's what I thought soon after seeing that clip:

It is a lot easier to kill for someone than to die for them.

Jesus hates our sin because He loves us.  God's love for us would not allow Him to be indifferent (not that any force or emotion has reign over Him).  God's love brewed up into righteous anger multiple times in the Bible.  God's love for us is like King David's love for his sheep for which he fought the bear and the lion.

It is a lot easier to kill for someone than to die for them.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-8

Christ's love brewed up into an anger, a hatred of sin.  Jesus' loving anger brought Him to die for you, while you were still His enemy (Romans 5:10).  It is a lot easier to kill for someone than to die for them and Jesus died for you and me while we were undeserving, and we will never be deserving of it.  In fact, Jesus was willing to die for Larry Nassar and if Nassar would only cry out in repentance Jesus would show, even a man so obviously evil as that, the full extent of His infinite love.

Being a husband and father has given me a few people I could kill for or even die for.  I understand the depths of the well of love a little more, but Jesus gets to a depth that is unfathomable.  Jesus' list of those He did die for includes those that you and I would rather kill than hug.

Jesus' love for you is SO great.  I pray that "you, being rooted and established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge... that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17b-19)

Mediate on that sacrificial love today.