Every Broken Road is Blessed

 When you read the first few chapters of the Gospel According to Matthew you can't escape one of his major points: Jesus' life fulfills prophesy.  It's inescapable.

Look at Matthew 4:12-16

"Now when He heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee.  And leaving Nazereth He went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles...

the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, 

on them a light has dawned."

Jesus once again fulfilled prophesy, but did you notice how?  Jesus was sent into the way of a 400 year-old prophesy by a modern problem: His cousin John was arrested.  When Jesus heard that John was arrested He withdrew... away from danger of arrest... to the very lands Isaiah foretold He would.  Pain, suffering and negative news drove Jesus into the way He should go with the Gospel.

Even the Son of God was sent where the Father wished Him to go via suffering.  How should we think we won't be?

God ordains, allows, uses, plans, causes the negative things in our lives to achieve His good.  For the Christian the bad news will always ultimately be good news.  For the Christian there is no seemingly broken road that isn't dripping with grace.

I meant to write this weeks ago, but I didn't.  Life has been busy at the Ray house.  I haven't had or made the time to sit and write and today I am glad for that.  

This morning I sat with a group of men and we talked about our past, both good and bad, and how that has affected our lives.  Some of the men spoke of incredibly bad circumstances and how they led them to salvation and into the life they now live.  This morning I heard testimonies confirming, once again, the truth I wished to write about.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." Genesis 50:20a

Christian, when you look at the circumstances of your life you can trust that God is loving you like He loved His Son.  When you encounter the news of the day you can know that God will ultimately and is currently working our His plan for the good.  

Trust in Him today.

Rejoice, Brother!

 Recently I watched parts of an interview with between Joe Rogan and Hulk Hogan.  I was never truly into WWF, WCW, WWE or any of that beyond having a basic understanding of it from all the boys my age having an obsession with it.  Though I rarely if ever watched it and only played a few video games featuring it I know Macho Man Randy Savage, the Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, Jake the Snake, Diamond Dallas Page, Sting and of course Hulk Hogan.  

Knowing the Hulkster from wrestling or from "Hogan Knows Best" wasn't primarily what drew me in.  It was Hogan's shirt.

Hulk Hogan wore a shirt (that he never ripped off) that said "John 3:16 devotional team" on it.

Is Hulk Hogan a believer?  That was the question that made me click play on the YouTube video.  

After hearing some wild stories about professional wrestling for a while Hulk started talking about his faith.  As he explained his faith I found myself vacillating between joy and sadness.  I was sad because his ideas of the faith, as he expressed them in the video, were off.  Hulk co-mingled faith in Jesus with the, so called, law of attraction.  He talked of the New Age book/movie "The Secret" which professes positive thinking and manifesting one's dreams through one's own thoughts.  He talked of praying to meet and meeting a pastor that also believes in the pseudoscientific law of attraction.  I was saddened thinking of this Oprah theology church being where he found himself.

Hogan said something else that made me sad.  He said someone invited him to church and no one had ever done this before.  This was in 2008.  The man was 55 years old and this was the first time, in his telling, that someone had ever invited him to church.  Hulk flew, not drove, not walked, from Tampa Florida to go to church the very next Sunday.  

Now for the joy.

Hulk called Jesus his Lord and Savior.

I'll be honest, the sorrow of Terry Bollea a.ka. Hulk Hogan finding himself in a church whose beliefs were worrisome landed on me harder than the joy.  I looked up the statement of faith for that church.  The statement of faith was pretty orthodox but, of course, the unbiblical stuff he spoke of stuck with me.

Then I read Luke 15 in my normal course of reading the Bible.  In Luke 15 Jesus spoke three parables to the Pharisees and the scribes who grumbled about tax collectors and sinners drawing near Him. He told the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son (prodigal son).  All three highlight rejoicing when the lost are found.

"Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." Luke 15:7

"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

"It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found." Luke 15:32

Do I focus on the Hulkster's very real theological flaws or do I rejoice that he calls on the name of Jesus?  

See, all Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents.  Every time a sinner repents the angels come before God saying something like, "You did it!  Jesus, you saved another soul!"  And every time one of my brothers goes from dead to alive and lost to found, I am invited to celebrate.  Don't be like the older brother in the Parable of the Lost/Prodigal Son.  Come to the party and rejoice!

Now, am I asking Hulk Hogan to teach Sunday School soon?  Nope.  Do I feel the need to pray that his faith be sincere and lasting? Yes. Do I hope more people look up John 3:16 from his shirt than the stupid book "The Secret"?  Yep.  Theological fidelity is important.  Understanding and believing the Bible and not mixing it with the Old or New Age is fundamental.  But so is rejoicing in the lost being found.

The story has been often recounted of the way my Grandpa Ray would watch a Billy Graham Crusade.  He would enjoy the preaching and the music, but he would watch with tears of joy streaming down his face when "Just As I Am" was sung and the camera panned back and the streams of people could be seen flooding to the middle of the stadium during the alter call.  Tom Ray understood Luke 15 in a way I, and we, need to.  

Join all of Heaven and rejoice when the lost are found, the blind see and the spiritually dead rise today.

10 Reasons I Love Marriage

 

10 years ago I married Christine Lind.  10 years ago we went from two people from different families to one flesh that were two atoms of a new family. 

Being married is many things and so many will say that being married is work or is hard or is sacrifice.  Those things are true, some days more true than others, but I hope that's not the first thing you think marriage is.  Marriage is so many things including a picture of Christ and the Church but I want to tell you that marriage is, in the words of the theologian Tony the Tiger, GRREEAT!

I love being married to Christine and I can't imagine my life without her.  I think those of us that love being married need to say so more often.  Marriage is not for wimps, but it is so good.  Marriage has had an awful P.R. campaign over the last many years and I just want to give you ten of the many reasons I love being married.

10 Awesome Benefits of Marriage

1) You Get Someone to Play With

Board games, inside jokes, goofy looks at supper... there is something so great about having a sleepover with your friend that goes on indefinitely.

2) Someone to Watch With

Movies are a shared experience and it's great getting to watch and discuss, watch and laugh along together, watch and look to see if they're tearing up.  I love when we sit side-by-side and watch a couple episodes of The Office together before bed.

3) Kids

Hopefully you get the chance to make babies or adopt kids into your family.  A marriage is the germ of a larger organism.  Some marriages don't expand into this larger unit but most get to and God designed marriage to do this.  One of my greatest joys is having kids with Christine.

4) You Get a Ministry Partner

Two equally yoked can pull so much more.  In marriage you get a partner to give you the power of synergy in your ministry.  My wife and I have been foster parents.  I could not and would not do that alone.  It's amazing that I have a partner who wants to take risks for the Kingdom with me.  She and I partner to accomplish.

5) Free Kisses

You get to kiss and be kissed by someone that digs you.  Marriage gives you someone that loves and desires to do what God has designed in the arena that God ordained it for.  You are free to express yourself physically with someone that wants you to.

6) You Get Support on Blah Days

There are days when life just doesn't fire on all cylinders.  There are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. In marriage you get someone to lean on and cry on.  My wife has been there for me on days when I just felt off, on days when my family has experienced death, on days when I just didn't feel good enough.  We all need that support and it's been indispensable.

7) You Get Someone to Say Things You Can't Say to Others

There are inside thoughts that feel the need to come out and just shouldn't.  Your spouse can hear those and not hate you.  There are thoughts you're working out that aren't yet for public consumption; your spouse can hear those unfiltered things.  This isn't encouragement to be gossiping or crude.  This is about having that safe person to speak to and say things that you need to say.

8) Consistency

Marriage is until death do us part.  That's consistency.  The world around you may change, you may move, the kids will move out, your job may go away, but he/she won't.  In a world of flux it's great to have a north star.

9) You Have Someone That Believes in You

Haters and doubters abound.  We all need someone that is on our team, in our cheering section and genuinely has a high view of us. We need someone that refuses to let us beat ourselves up and believe the lies we think about ourselves.  My wife believes more in me than I do in myself.

10) You Can Become a Patriarch and Matriarch 

This is one goal my wife and I talk about often.  We want to have grey heads and watch a bunch of cousins playing.  We want to be the patriarch and matriarch of a family.  We want our ideals to outlive us.  My family has a bi-annual reunion that features fun, enjoyment of one another and a time of worship together and I love it.  My other side doesn't have that.  The difference is that Grandma and Grandpa Ray stayed together through thick and thin.  We want this and only marriage can give this to us.

I love being married and especially love that I'm married to Christine.  Marriage deserves to be celebrated and I will do that today.

Small Church, Big Encouragement

 Have you ever envied the big church on the other side of town?  You know, the church in the suburb or the one in the big city?  The one with fifteen paid staff members, the one with the first-class tech team, the one with the huge youth group, the one with the coffee shop built into the lobby.  And here you are.  You're serving in a small church.  Your church building doesn't even have a lobby.  Your pastor is bi-vocational and you're the youth volunteer who works 50 hours week at your real job and has four kids at home.

There are times when we look at what the other congregation has and what we don't have and, quite frankly, we feel like quitting or at least like God's going to need to perform a miracle for your church's ministry to make a difference for the Kingdom.

In these moments we don't need a bigger budget or role of members.  In these moments we need good theology.

That might not sound encouraging, but let me assure you that it is.  Let me introduce you to the word "y'all".  Some of you even north of the Mason-Dixon don't need an introduction, but y'all is the great word that means "all of you guys" to you northern folks.  If there's one southern word that the NIV, ESV, NRSV or KJV could use it is "y'all".

In the passage below let me show you a taste of "Y'all Theology" that is sure to be a big encouragement to small churches.  I will simply replace a you (meant to be plural and not singular) with "y'all" to help you see something great.

"To the church of God that is in Corinth (or place your community here), to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Grace to y'all and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always for y'all because of the grace of God that was given y'all in Christ Jesus, that in every way y'all were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge--- even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among y'all --- so that y'all are not lacking in any gift, as y'all wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain y'all to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful, by who y'all were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 1:2-9. Matt's Southern English Standard Version

Did you catch the encouragement for your small church?

Verse 5 and 6 tell us that y'all in Janesville or Waverly or Holden or Smithtown or Springville or wherever you are, have all you need. "... in every way y'all were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge... so that y'll are not lacking in any gift..."

You personally do not have every spiritual gift you need to complete the task of converting dead souls and sustaining souls to the end guiltless.  But your local church body has all y'all need.

This is amazing!  God has given y'all every spiritual gift you need.  God gave the megachurch all the spiritual gifts they need, too.  Your church has the people in leadership, staff and volunteer roles that in the grace of God through Jesus Christ y'all need.  Read 1 Corinthians 1:2-9 again to see it for yourself.  Paul confirmed this truth to a rather messed up body of believers in Corinth and it is without a doubt true for your small church today.

This doesn't mean we aren't to grow and develop our gifts or to even hire more staff people.  No, this means that for the tasks your local church has in front of it today the grace to fulfill those tasks is right within y'all because of Christ.

So, the next time you're tempted, like I am, to envy the bigger church done the road remember this passage.  Thank God for the way He's enriched that big church.  Pray for their ministry to be even more fruitful and God-honoring.  Then thank God for all the ways He's blessed and enriched your local body and ask Him to reveal how y'all can use your perfectly placed gifts to serve, defend and expand the Kingdom of your God today.

Seek the Greater Glory

 Have you ever been a coward when it comes to proclaiming or even just claiming your faith?  I have.  Have you ever entertained the idea of what you might be like as a missionary in a foreign land, but then when someone asked you what you did this weekend you mention everything except for going to church and spending the afternoon with your church small group?  

We do these things often.  Most of us lack courage in the smallest of things.

Let's look at a couple of verses in John that pointed a mirror first at me and then helped me see Jesus more clearly.

"Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would no be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God." John 12:42-43

Can you see yourself in this?  I can clearly.  Many of the authorities in Israel believed in Jesus but would not confess faith in Him.  They didn't confess because they were afraid.  They were afraid to be cast out of the synagogue, which was to be cast out of their society.

Have you been afraid to confess Christ for fear of being ostracized from society?  What if following Jesus puts you on the outside of the cultural current?  What if being a Christian causes you to be excluded from your group at work?  What if you're a Jesus Freak in their eyes, and not in the cool 1970's sense?

We feel this fear and we, I included, give in.  We give in because we "love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."

Quick question: Would you venture to guess the authorities in this story, at this time in their lives, would be counted among the saved?  I know that we can't look into their hearts and know, and I know that John doesn't say, but would you guess you would find them in Heaven if they died that night?  I would guess, with hope that I'm wrong, no.

"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9

We must be courageous confessors of Jesus.  You know this, I know this.  So, how do we do this?  Does this passage simply contain a great guilt trip?  

Thankfully, no.  This passage is not a source, primarily, of guilt but of great motivation.

"... for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."

We all seek glory and that isn't necessarily wrong.  We are made to seek glory.  We are made to strive for glory and to want to view glory.  This is bound up in us. The trick to being a courageous confessor of Jesus is NOT to deny ourselves glory.  The life hack to this courage is to seek the greater glory.

What is glory?  I will say in this post that glory is a weight, a scope and amount.

The Weight of Glory:

Should we love the applause and atta boys of man more than that of God?  I was listening recently to an interview with the spectacular sports broadcaster Bob Costas.  Bob recounted a story in which he had been on a program talking about whether Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds was the true home run king in his eyes.  Bob said Aaron.  Some time after that TV appearance he received a call.  "Please hold for the president," said the caller.  In a few moments former U.S. President George H. W. Bush was on the line telling Costas what a marvelous job he did conveying what Mr. Bush felt was the correct position.  I ask you this: What opinion about Bob's work has more weight: The opinion of the Twitter mob or that of the former leader of the free world?  

How much more weight does the applause and atta boy from God Almighty carry than that of the created people of this world?  Chase the weightier glory.

The Scope of Glory:

How long will the best of the glory man has to offer last?  50 years?  60 years? How long does the glory God has to offer last?  In a word: Eternity.  

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-21

 

The Amount:

If I told you that you could have a gift from one of two houses, which would you choose: A gift from my house or a gift from the house of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos?  If you said mine, you're either very sentimental toward me or a suck up.  Only a fool would want a gift from my modest house and not a gift from Bezo's house (one of which he rents from Kenny G for $600,000/month).  

How much more should we want the glory that comes from the treasury of the owner of a cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:12)?  How much more wonderful and expansive is the glory that God can give than that men can?

Meditate on the greater glory.  Spend time thinking deeply about how much more God can offer you than a man or all men.  You are made to chase glory.  From whom will you get the most and see the most.  Think on this and act on your conclusions today.

Christ-Anchored Courage for Fathers in a Crisis

 On Father's Day I got the joy of team preaching with my friend Dan.  You can hear that sermon here or watch it here (click the highlighted words).

We preached through Psalm 11 and I hope it encourages you today.

"In the LORD I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul, 

'Flee like a bird to your mountain,

for behold the wicked bend the bow;

they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart,

if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?'

The LORD is in His holy temple;

the LORD's throne is in heaven;

His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of man.

The LORD tests the righteous,

but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let Him rain coals on the wicked;

fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the LORD is righteous;

He loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face."

Psalm 11 

Do You Love the Church?

 "John said to Him, 'Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.'  But Jesus said, 'Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one who is not against us is for us.  For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.'" Mark 9:38-41

Am I doing enough to be ecumenical?

Does my faith lie first in Jesus or denomination?

How can I cheer other churches on more?

As I reflected on this passage these were the questions I asked myself.  Some times, or sadly many times, we are like John in this passage.  We proudly tell Jesus how we stopped others who proclaim Him and do good works in His name.

I imagine that John expected an attaboy and not a lecture after his statement.  I suspect John really was concerned about the messengers having the right and best education before they went about the work of the Kingdom.  I honestly don't think John's motives were even mostly un-pure.

Aren't we often like John?  Don't we come to Jesus looking for approval after we spoke against the local charismatic or the TV preacher with different eschatology than our surely correct church has?  Don't we fight in the weeds when the world is white for the harvest?

Don't hear me wrong; good theology is important.  The seemingly little thing that divides our understanding really can be huge.  Yet, as my pastor once said: "God is often more okay with a needle of truth in a haystack of bad theology than we are."  

Who is an unsaved person you've prayed earnestly for?  Think of them now whether they be a son, a sister, a cousin, a college roommate, a husband, a co-worker.  Think of that individual and remember your fervent prayers for them.

Now imagine that person was reached for Jesus by someone that attends one of the denominations within orthodoxy yet a denomination that you could never, ever see yourself attending.  How do you feel about that?  Are your feelings more joyful or more concerned?  I'm willing to guess that if your feelings are more concerned for that person than joyful that you are in need of a lecture like John got from Jesus.

The field is ripe for the harvest, pray for laborers of many Jesus-loving denominations to work it (John 4:35-36).

"And He sat down and called the twelve.  And He said to them, 'If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."  Mark 9:35

Do I lower myself to serve the Church universal?  Do I humble myself to pray for a church that I wouldn't attend?  Do I have joy for those being saved for Jesus in all churches?

Pray that you might be more ecumenical today.