It has been a while since I have had the time write. I guess that marriage does that to you. I have been extremely busy in recent months, moving to a new city, building an apartment, looking for places to do ministry, and last but not least, getting married. It has been a busy few months!
Many of you came to our wedding. That was such a fun time of fellowship. The goal of our wedding was to present the Gospel in a very clear manner, so hopefully you came away understanding that. So many of you have done so much for us during this time. You have expressed your love, overwhelmed us with gifts, and covered us in prayers. We cannot express how thankful we are for you.
There is one story, however, that many of you do not know in relation to our wedding day. That story was going to remain to myself, but due to recent events and the stirring in my heart, I feel like I need to share the story. It is somewhat hard to write but I ask that you bear with me and hear me out during this long post.
Over the past couple of years, Erin and I have met some incredible people. If you are reading this blog, you are probably one of those people. But one individual that we met, and one that we became close friends with, was Don.
Don is not the typical person that you call a close friend. We never had class together, we didn't have much in common, and we never lived together. In fact, Don hasn't really lived much with anyone. He was often seen wandering the streets at night collecting cans and trading them in for a little change. During the day, you could find Don at his camp down the road sleeping in a shack made of milk crates and tarps. Such is the life of a homeless person.
Don was 56 years old and a retired war veteran. He drank, he smoked, but deep in his heart he made a great friend. When I lived in Huntington, you could often find Don at the dumpster behind my apartment every night around 10 pm. If I or my roommates were around, we would go out and spend an hour or two with him. We built a great relationship with him and knew him well. I even had the privilege of going dumpster diving for cans with him a few times. I learned all about his life.
Don came to church with me once. The Gospel was preached in a very clear manner that Sunday, as it always was at River Cities Community Church. I also had several other opportunities to preach the Gospel to Don and even invited him to church several more times. But usually he patted the dumpster and responded, "This is my church. I communicate to God right here."
Over time, Don became a great friend. We laughed, we joked, and we prayed. I prayed for that man a lot.
When Erin and I began creating our wedding list, Don was one of the first individuals that came to mind. In fact, several months before Erin and I started dating, he requested that we invite him to our wedding. His dream was to catch the garter. The only problem with the invitation was that he had no mailbox. So instead, we told him of the date. And another problem was that he had no car, so again we offered a solution.
Saturday morning (the morning of the wedding), my brother Brian and I went to look for Don. We drove to his camp only to find it resided by someone else. I asked the man where Don was and the man responded that he was going to some wedding feast. Of course, that was mine, but how would he get there?
Brian and I drove around Huntington for hours, maybe 3 in total. I had traveled with Don so much that I knew all his routes, so that is where we looked. We drove down every alley, we passed every dumpster, and we looked on every block. Don was nowhere to be found.
The wedding day was incredible! But it saddened me the Don wasn't there. He was such a close friend and I very much wanted him with me. I was unsure of his eternal destination, and I knew the Gospel would go out that day, so I would have done anything for him to hear it one more time. Plus I didn't want him to miss the wedding feast.
...
More than a month had past, but still my prayers continued. I had been back to Huntington a few times, but still never ran into Don. I assumed that sooner or later I would cross his path.
This morning, however, things changed dramatically. I received a text message from my friend Luke to check the news, and then I confirmed it later myself: my friend Don was no longer around. He had passed away the day before.
"The body of Donald Barry Harrison, 56, was found Monday morning at a recycling center in Ironton, OH. The cause of his death is still undetermined, but it appears that no foul play was involved."
My heart was crushed at the sound of the news. The pain did not come from the death of my friend, but it came from the uncertainty surrounding his salvation. I had preached the Gospel to him so many times, I had labored with him and for him in prayer, yet I never knew how close he was to my LORD. There was nothing else that I could have done.
The Word says that God's word does not return to him void without accomplishing what it was sent to do(Isaiah 55), which of course I believe. But what was His word sent out to do in Don's life? I saw some signs of fruit, though he still continued in much of his sin, so was that supposed to indicate salvation? Was that supposed to indicate a relationship with our Creator?
I am not looking for answers, nor am I looking for comfort, but rather I am in anguish over the fact that I do not know his eternal state. Not because I felt like I should have done more, but because a friend of mine died and I was not certain of his salvation. I am not sure if he will be at the greater Wedding Feast. Do you catch my drift?
Anguish comes when you don't know someones eternal resting place. And greater anguish comes when you do know, and you know it's not good. God desires all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), and that is my desire as well, but there comes a point where men have to choose; when they have to decide whether or not they will worship the King.
Matthew 22 talks about the great wedding feast of the lamb. It talks of men rejecting the King's invitation, and it talks of others being rejected by the King. They were not rejected due to a lack of love on behalf of the King, but rather they were rejected because they had no relationship with Him; they did not know who He was.
This parable isn't really about a feast, but rather it is about heaven, and the King is God. There will come a day when all of us will die and will have to stand before the Mighty King. Our merits will never get us in, because one wrong thing makes us guilty. No, the only thing that we can rest on on that day is whether or not we know the King; whether or not we have a relationship with Him.
I loved celebrating with all of you at our wedding feast, but I desire even more to celebrate with you at the final wedding feast: the one that exists in heaven. I have anguish over Don because I do not know where he is, but please don't bring me more anguish by leaving me opportunity to wonder about your salvation. I love you. I desire to be with you. And I long to stand around the throne with you in heaven, worshiping our Mighty God for the salvation that He brought about in our lives.
...
Thank you Don for your friendship. And thank you for all of the great lessons that you taught me. I hope to run into you again someday, and of course I hope you are in heaven. However, I cannot know for sure, and so that brings me sorrow, but I promise to use your story as a way to point others to Christ and to bring God glory. I know that you would not have it any other way.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Fulfilling the Great Commission in Charleston
If you have attended church at any point during your lifetime, or even if you haven't, you are probably pretty familiar with the passage that we label "The Great Commission". It is found in Matthew 28:18-20 and are the last recorded words by Christ in Matthew's Gospel. Other gospels have similar accounts, with similar wording, but for some reason Matthew is the one most associated with this commission. It says:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
As most of you know, God has given both Erin and me a strong desire to serve Christ in the Middle East. We both have had the wonderful pleasure of traveling to Beirut, Lebanon for several weeks, and in that, God has given us a strong passion to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission in that area of the world. As we recently graduated from Marshall and are pursuing marriage (July 16, 2011), we both have been in constant prayer about where the LORD would take us. We both carry some school loans that need to be taken care of and we both thoroughly enjoy ministry, so where is it that the LORD would call us?
One of the wisest pieces of advice handed to me over the past year was, "Pursue all doors and let God be the one that closes them." This was quoted in the context of a conversation discussing how there are so many individuals who "determine God's will for their lives", and they, themselves, begin shutting doors and pursuing just one, only to find out that door was not the one they were supposed to enter. That isn't to say that God did not want them to serve in that area, or that they misunderstood God's calling, but rather it just was not the correct time for them to travel down that road.
A similar experience has happened with us as we pursue God's calling. Both Erin and I have the strong desire to serve God among the unreached people, but He has called us to Charleston, WV. That isn't to say that we are not supposed to go someday to the unreached people or that we have settled for something short of our calling, but for some reason, God has told us to go here first.
I, personally, interviewed with several companies around the nation, while also pursuing seminary as well. My continuous prayer was that God would provide a job that made it clear where we were supposed to be right away. I consistently reminded Him of our desire to serve Him, as well as our passion for the unreached people, and He responded in a way that far exceeded my expectations (Ephesians 3:20).
A company in Charleston, WV made an offer that I knew right away was from the LORD. The salary was high enough to where Erin and I could pay off loans in just a couple of years, which would drastically accelerate our ability to head overseas. Even when we began to weigh the pros and cons of this offer, the list of pros far outweighed the list of cons, more than we ever even imagined. It is not the $100,000 part-time job that I had dreamed of, but in reality, it was the best door for us, and it was a door that I had never ever considered.
Besides the lesson I learned in following God's call, there are two other things to be added to this post:
1. God is sovereign in His plans and perfect in His wisdom.
Erin and I both have the desire to serve abroad, but what an opportunity Charleston presents us! We already know how this decision will provide for us financially, but only God knows what other opportunities we will have and lessons we will learn. If you read any of Paul's letters in the New Testament, you often read the words of how he longs to be with the church, but is prevented at that time. If you do a deeper study of what is preventing Paul, it always turns out to be God, Himself. God does not prohibit Paul from going to the church, but rather He takes him on a course that will be prepare Paul for the challenges he will face and He teaches Paul lessons that He will then be able to teach and encourage the church with. He is simply just enhancing his ministry!
When I think about our calling to Charleston, I cannot help but wonder what the LORD is going to teach us there. I can testify not only with the life of Paul, but also from personal experience, that God often takes us places first so that we can meet certain individuals, or start certain ministries, or learn certain lessons. Our call to Charleston far exceeds just financial implications, but I believe that it also carries several opportunities to become better equipped for God's next call for our lives.
2. The Great Commission is not for the future, it is for the present
So many individuals that I know, who have the desire to serve in ministry, completely misunderstand the Great Commission. They see the command to "go and make disciples" as a command to go to a certain location, and they see it as a future event. But if you were to read the statement as Jesus intended, that word "go" acts as a present participle. Now you may not have studied present participles since early middle school, but what a present participle does to that statement is it makes it not only a future tense, but also a present tense. Another way you could read that statement with the present participle in mind is: "Go, and as you are going, make disciples along the way."
That completely changes the meaning of that passage for me, and it helps me see how going to Charleston is fulfilling the Great Commission. God has given Erin and I a desire to serve among the unreached people, and I believe that we will one day do that. But for us to pass the time and wait for that opportunity to go would be to completely miss the point of the Great Commission. In that command, and in our situation, God is calling us to go to the unreached people, and as we go through Charleston on the way, we are to make disciples.
So now, let's shift from my story to your story. What are some application points for you? Let me leave you with a few tips:
1. Are you still young and pursuing God's call for your life? Let me challenge you to pursue all opportunities, both in secular and sacred. Maybe you have already identified what that calling is, but let God reaffirm you in that by closing all other doors and leaving that one open.
2. Are you still trying to figure out what God is calling you to do with your life? Dig deep in Scripture and do not come out until you have your answer. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." If you delight yourself in Him and dig deep into His Word, I promise that He will reveal to you what it is that you are truly made to do. For me, it was found in Romans 15:20 (I will let you look that one up to get you started in His Word).
3. Are you currently serving in the location that God has called you? And can you relate to what I have expressed in this post? I challenge you to share your story with others. Reply to this blog, or share your story with a friend or co-worker. Mutual encouragement is needed in building up the kingdom, and if I had not received that advice nearly a year ago, I might currently be sitting in front of a closed door.
I love you all! Thank you all for your prayers.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
As most of you know, God has given both Erin and me a strong desire to serve Christ in the Middle East. We both have had the wonderful pleasure of traveling to Beirut, Lebanon for several weeks, and in that, God has given us a strong passion to see the fulfillment of the Great Commission in that area of the world. As we recently graduated from Marshall and are pursuing marriage (July 16, 2011), we both have been in constant prayer about where the LORD would take us. We both carry some school loans that need to be taken care of and we both thoroughly enjoy ministry, so where is it that the LORD would call us?
One of the wisest pieces of advice handed to me over the past year was, "Pursue all doors and let God be the one that closes them." This was quoted in the context of a conversation discussing how there are so many individuals who "determine God's will for their lives", and they, themselves, begin shutting doors and pursuing just one, only to find out that door was not the one they were supposed to enter. That isn't to say that God did not want them to serve in that area, or that they misunderstood God's calling, but rather it just was not the correct time for them to travel down that road.
A similar experience has happened with us as we pursue God's calling. Both Erin and I have the strong desire to serve God among the unreached people, but He has called us to Charleston, WV. That isn't to say that we are not supposed to go someday to the unreached people or that we have settled for something short of our calling, but for some reason, God has told us to go here first.
I, personally, interviewed with several companies around the nation, while also pursuing seminary as well. My continuous prayer was that God would provide a job that made it clear where we were supposed to be right away. I consistently reminded Him of our desire to serve Him, as well as our passion for the unreached people, and He responded in a way that far exceeded my expectations (Ephesians 3:20).
A company in Charleston, WV made an offer that I knew right away was from the LORD. The salary was high enough to where Erin and I could pay off loans in just a couple of years, which would drastically accelerate our ability to head overseas. Even when we began to weigh the pros and cons of this offer, the list of pros far outweighed the list of cons, more than we ever even imagined. It is not the $100,000 part-time job that I had dreamed of, but in reality, it was the best door for us, and it was a door that I had never ever considered.
Besides the lesson I learned in following God's call, there are two other things to be added to this post:
1. God is sovereign in His plans and perfect in His wisdom.
Erin and I both have the desire to serve abroad, but what an opportunity Charleston presents us! We already know how this decision will provide for us financially, but only God knows what other opportunities we will have and lessons we will learn. If you read any of Paul's letters in the New Testament, you often read the words of how he longs to be with the church, but is prevented at that time. If you do a deeper study of what is preventing Paul, it always turns out to be God, Himself. God does not prohibit Paul from going to the church, but rather He takes him on a course that will be prepare Paul for the challenges he will face and He teaches Paul lessons that He will then be able to teach and encourage the church with. He is simply just enhancing his ministry!
When I think about our calling to Charleston, I cannot help but wonder what the LORD is going to teach us there. I can testify not only with the life of Paul, but also from personal experience, that God often takes us places first so that we can meet certain individuals, or start certain ministries, or learn certain lessons. Our call to Charleston far exceeds just financial implications, but I believe that it also carries several opportunities to become better equipped for God's next call for our lives.
2. The Great Commission is not for the future, it is for the present
So many individuals that I know, who have the desire to serve in ministry, completely misunderstand the Great Commission. They see the command to "go and make disciples" as a command to go to a certain location, and they see it as a future event. But if you were to read the statement as Jesus intended, that word "go" acts as a present participle. Now you may not have studied present participles since early middle school, but what a present participle does to that statement is it makes it not only a future tense, but also a present tense. Another way you could read that statement with the present participle in mind is: "Go, and as you are going, make disciples along the way."
That completely changes the meaning of that passage for me, and it helps me see how going to Charleston is fulfilling the Great Commission. God has given Erin and I a desire to serve among the unreached people, and I believe that we will one day do that. But for us to pass the time and wait for that opportunity to go would be to completely miss the point of the Great Commission. In that command, and in our situation, God is calling us to go to the unreached people, and as we go through Charleston on the way, we are to make disciples.
So now, let's shift from my story to your story. What are some application points for you? Let me leave you with a few tips:
1. Are you still young and pursuing God's call for your life? Let me challenge you to pursue all opportunities, both in secular and sacred. Maybe you have already identified what that calling is, but let God reaffirm you in that by closing all other doors and leaving that one open.
2. Are you still trying to figure out what God is calling you to do with your life? Dig deep in Scripture and do not come out until you have your answer. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." If you delight yourself in Him and dig deep into His Word, I promise that He will reveal to you what it is that you are truly made to do. For me, it was found in Romans 15:20 (I will let you look that one up to get you started in His Word).
3. Are you currently serving in the location that God has called you? And can you relate to what I have expressed in this post? I challenge you to share your story with others. Reply to this blog, or share your story with a friend or co-worker. Mutual encouragement is needed in building up the kingdom, and if I had not received that advice nearly a year ago, I might currently be sitting in front of a closed door.
I love you all! Thank you all for your prayers.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Justification - The Easter Story
"Justification". Quite possibly the single most important word for those who follow Christ. It carries the idea of being in right position or right standing before God. In the Christian faith, justification is not by works, but by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is what makes Christianity unique, as all other religions are work-based. It is said that no man can be justified through the works of the law, but rather the law came to expose how sinful we are (Romans 3:20).
Easter messages often celebrate the story of the cross, but this story is not complete without the resurrection. Many individuals have claimed deity and died, but only One has had the power to actually conquer death. The death of Christ on the cross was essential for satisfying God's punishment for sin, but it was not adequate to justify us. The justification came in the fact that He conquered death and rose from the dead, giving us the opportunity to join Him in His glory (Romans 6:5). Romans 4:25 explains this, when it says, "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification."
When I consider justification, it blows my mind! The idea of forgiveness, I can somewhat wrap my mind around. I can somewhat comprehend God looking down upon me, a sinner, and forgiving me, but it blows my mind to think of God looking down upon me and declaring me righteous. It is just like the church of Corinth, probably the most sinful church in the entire New Testament, and God looks down upon them declaring them saints (1 Cor. 1:2). Of course this is not by their own doing, because they are full of sin, but rather because God chose to appoint them as saints.
In the same way, God appoints those who trust in His Son as being justified. It is not of our own doing, but rather it is completely of the doing of Christ in His death, burial, and especially His resurrection.
I have been studying Romans lately, and justification by faith is all throughout that book. The more I study, the more magnified God becomes in my mind. And the more He is magnified, the more sinful, and distant, I feel. But with this gulf being so big, thankfully I do not have to depend upon my works to bridge that gulf. Instead, being a son of God, and I can trust in my justification that came through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As you reflect on God during this Easter season, I challenge you to consider the theme of justification. Read Romans, or read any New Testament book and see how Christ has justified us through His blood. It is the single more important act in all of history, and without it, we are still infinitely separated from our almighty God.
Easter messages often celebrate the story of the cross, but this story is not complete without the resurrection. Many individuals have claimed deity and died, but only One has had the power to actually conquer death. The death of Christ on the cross was essential for satisfying God's punishment for sin, but it was not adequate to justify us. The justification came in the fact that He conquered death and rose from the dead, giving us the opportunity to join Him in His glory (Romans 6:5). Romans 4:25 explains this, when it says, "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification."
When I consider justification, it blows my mind! The idea of forgiveness, I can somewhat wrap my mind around. I can somewhat comprehend God looking down upon me, a sinner, and forgiving me, but it blows my mind to think of God looking down upon me and declaring me righteous. It is just like the church of Corinth, probably the most sinful church in the entire New Testament, and God looks down upon them declaring them saints (1 Cor. 1:2). Of course this is not by their own doing, because they are full of sin, but rather because God chose to appoint them as saints.
In the same way, God appoints those who trust in His Son as being justified. It is not of our own doing, but rather it is completely of the doing of Christ in His death, burial, and especially His resurrection.
I have been studying Romans lately, and justification by faith is all throughout that book. The more I study, the more magnified God becomes in my mind. And the more He is magnified, the more sinful, and distant, I feel. But with this gulf being so big, thankfully I do not have to depend upon my works to bridge that gulf. Instead, being a son of God, and I can trust in my justification that came through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As you reflect on God during this Easter season, I challenge you to consider the theme of justification. Read Romans, or read any New Testament book and see how Christ has justified us through His blood. It is the single more important act in all of history, and without it, we are still infinitely separated from our almighty God.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
One Body, Many Parts
I saw a beautiful example this morning of the church that I wanted to share with all...
This morning during worship, a young girl in front of me sat down fairly abruptly and then began having seizures. The woman next to me quickly grabbed her and began calling for help, while my friend Chris immediately called 9-11. Her brother quickly hopped the pews and returned with a glass of water for the girl, and the band continued playing lightly to ease the calm of the rest of the congregation. Thankfully a few doctors were in attendance, as they quickly rushed to the aid of this girl, taking her out of the sanctuary in a wheel chair. I, like many others, simply just sat down and began interceding for the girl.
While this is quite a graphic image, I cannot help but think what the situation would have been like if one of those individuals had not done their part. If the woman had not signaled for help, how long would that girl have been there before someone noticed? If the doctors had not rushed over, who would have known what to do? If the congregation would not have begun praying for the girl, what would have been the end result? Thankfully I attend a church that loves and cares for one another, and each individual did exactly what they needed to do to ensure the girl's safety.
Is this not the same illustration that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 12? In that passage, he starts by stating in verses 4-7:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
In this passage we see that different gifts are given to different individuals for the common good of the overall body (the church). Paul then continues in the rest of this passage by discussing some of the different gifts that individuals may have, as well as declaring none to be superior. What benefit would the doctors have been had not the woman cried for help? What benefit would the prayer warriors have been had not someone informed them of how to pray? What benefit would any of these people have been had not the others done their part?
The human body is uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. No part is superior, as all parts are necessary in carrying out the overall function of the body. No foot can say to a hand, "I have no need of you", just like no eye can say to an ear, "I have no need of you" (vss. 15-16). "But now God has placed the members, each of them, in the body, just as He desired" (vs. 18).
Now if I can, I want to step out of the context of the beautiful image that I saw this morning and step into the application of the overall, universal church. What role have you been given in the overall mission? What gifts has God given you to advance His kingdom and bring Him glory?
Just like the human body, the church body is also uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. It is designed in such a way that if one member fails to do his job, the entire body collapses. Are you doing your part, performing the duties that God has given you? Or are you neglecting them, not only effecting yourself but also the entire church?
In closing, I want to reflect on a story that I heard a couple of years ago that I find extremely applicable:
There was a young, mentally-challenged boy who was entered into 50 meter dash at the Special Olympics. His parents were in attendance and watched in anticipation as their son approached the starting line. As the gun went off, all the other boys and girls took off, leaving this young boy way behind. It took him nearly double the amount of time to finish the race as the other children.
When the results came in, the parents were shocked to hear that the boy was being awarded a top three medal. After all, he had finished way behind everyone else. As the ceremony went on, they found out that he had not only finished in the top three, but he had actually won the gold medal! Confused, the parents approached the judge to ask how this could be. How was it that their son had won the gold despite finishing so far behind? The judge responded, "Well he is the only one who stayed in his lane."
It is so easy to look into the other lanes and compare ourselves to the other people. "That person has the gift of evangelism, and that person has the gift of teaching. I could never live up to that." But we are not called to compare ourselves to others, nor are we called to live up to the roles of other individuals. We are just called to do our part.
God has given you, as an individual, a unique role that is essential to the Christian body. No one else can play your part. Without you, the church will not be able to run as it intends to run. Without you, it will not be as effective. Will you do your part in sustaining the body of Christ? Will you stop looking in other peoples' lanes and just start running in the lane that God has put you in?
I want to thank River Cities Community Church for the way that they illustrated this to me this morning. There are also dozens of other churches that I have been to that have illustrated this, as well, over the past many years. But let not this one instance be an excuse for not illustrating the body of Christ every other time. And let not this message slip by without you examining your gifts and the ways in which you can serve the church.
This morning during worship, a young girl in front of me sat down fairly abruptly and then began having seizures. The woman next to me quickly grabbed her and began calling for help, while my friend Chris immediately called 9-11. Her brother quickly hopped the pews and returned with a glass of water for the girl, and the band continued playing lightly to ease the calm of the rest of the congregation. Thankfully a few doctors were in attendance, as they quickly rushed to the aid of this girl, taking her out of the sanctuary in a wheel chair. I, like many others, simply just sat down and began interceding for the girl.
While this is quite a graphic image, I cannot help but think what the situation would have been like if one of those individuals had not done their part. If the woman had not signaled for help, how long would that girl have been there before someone noticed? If the doctors had not rushed over, who would have known what to do? If the congregation would not have begun praying for the girl, what would have been the end result? Thankfully I attend a church that loves and cares for one another, and each individual did exactly what they needed to do to ensure the girl's safety.
Is this not the same illustration that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 12? In that passage, he starts by stating in verses 4-7:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
In this passage we see that different gifts are given to different individuals for the common good of the overall body (the church). Paul then continues in the rest of this passage by discussing some of the different gifts that individuals may have, as well as declaring none to be superior. What benefit would the doctors have been had not the woman cried for help? What benefit would the prayer warriors have been had not someone informed them of how to pray? What benefit would any of these people have been had not the others done their part?
The human body is uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. No part is superior, as all parts are necessary in carrying out the overall function of the body. No foot can say to a hand, "I have no need of you", just like no eye can say to an ear, "I have no need of you" (vss. 15-16). "But now God has placed the members, each of them, in the body, just as He desired" (vs. 18).
Now if I can, I want to step out of the context of the beautiful image that I saw this morning and step into the application of the overall, universal church. What role have you been given in the overall mission? What gifts has God given you to advance His kingdom and bring Him glory?
Just like the human body, the church body is also uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. It is designed in such a way that if one member fails to do his job, the entire body collapses. Are you doing your part, performing the duties that God has given you? Or are you neglecting them, not only effecting yourself but also the entire church?
In closing, I want to reflect on a story that I heard a couple of years ago that I find extremely applicable:
There was a young, mentally-challenged boy who was entered into 50 meter dash at the Special Olympics. His parents were in attendance and watched in anticipation as their son approached the starting line. As the gun went off, all the other boys and girls took off, leaving this young boy way behind. It took him nearly double the amount of time to finish the race as the other children.
When the results came in, the parents were shocked to hear that the boy was being awarded a top three medal. After all, he had finished way behind everyone else. As the ceremony went on, they found out that he had not only finished in the top three, but he had actually won the gold medal! Confused, the parents approached the judge to ask how this could be. How was it that their son had won the gold despite finishing so far behind? The judge responded, "Well he is the only one who stayed in his lane."
It is so easy to look into the other lanes and compare ourselves to the other people. "That person has the gift of evangelism, and that person has the gift of teaching. I could never live up to that." But we are not called to compare ourselves to others, nor are we called to live up to the roles of other individuals. We are just called to do our part.
God has given you, as an individual, a unique role that is essential to the Christian body. No one else can play your part. Without you, the church will not be able to run as it intends to run. Without you, it will not be as effective. Will you do your part in sustaining the body of Christ? Will you stop looking in other peoples' lanes and just start running in the lane that God has put you in?
I want to thank River Cities Community Church for the way that they illustrated this to me this morning. There are also dozens of other churches that I have been to that have illustrated this, as well, over the past many years. But let not this one instance be an excuse for not illustrating the body of Christ every other time. And let not this message slip by without you examining your gifts and the ways in which you can serve the church.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Living a Life Worthy of the Gospel
There is a reoccurring theme in my studies over the past couple of days that I feel like I need to share. I don't think that this is a message simply for me, but I feel like it is a message for all who claim to follow Christ...
This morning in Sunday School we were studying Ephesians 4, where Paul opens by imploring the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." I found this quite ironic since just a day ago I was listening to a sermon on Philippians 1:27 which talks of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel. What does this mean to walk in a worthy manner? How does this apply to our lives?
This idea of being worthy is illustrated by one of those old justice scales. To live in a way worthy of the Gospel means that if you were to put the Gospel, or God's word, on one side of the scale and our lives on the other side, they would balance out. But how many of us can actually say this about our life? How many of us truly walk in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel?
I came across an article that was written by an anonymous Christian author in Germany, who witnessed the Holocaust. He writes:
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars! Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."
Now looking back at that story, I find it easy to judge. It is easy to criticize that church for not stepping in and for simply just singing louder. But could the same not be said of us? Look at all the pain in the world; look at all the poverty. Just look at the events in the Middle East over the past week and you can see how desperate the world is for a Savior. They are desperate for someone to intervene. But what are we doing about it?
I don't want to be in a situation years from now where I am writing an article about how I didn't step in to help someone or how my church just looked the other way. And so with that said, I am asking us now to take a stand and start being that light to the world that we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:14).
But what will be our response? Are we going to step in and actually make an impact on the world or are we just going to sing louder? Are we just going to continue on with the mindset that the church was made for us or are we going to understand that the church was made for the world?
I admit that there are many areas of my life that are worthy of the Gospel, but there is so much more that is unworthy. It is my goal to make my life match up with Scripture. I want that scale to balance. I know that it is a tough task but I want to challenge you to join me in this mission of walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. Are you with me?
I would love to get some comments about how God is challenging you to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. You can either email them to me at r9tmac@gmail.com, or you can simply just reply to this post for all to see. Let's join in praying for one another as well.
This morning in Sunday School we were studying Ephesians 4, where Paul opens by imploring the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." I found this quite ironic since just a day ago I was listening to a sermon on Philippians 1:27 which talks of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel. What does this mean to walk in a worthy manner? How does this apply to our lives?
This idea of being worthy is illustrated by one of those old justice scales. To live in a way worthy of the Gospel means that if you were to put the Gospel, or God's word, on one side of the scale and our lives on the other side, they would balance out. But how many of us can actually say this about our life? How many of us truly walk in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel?
I came across an article that was written by an anonymous Christian author in Germany, who witnessed the Holocaust. He writes:
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars! Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."
Now looking back at that story, I find it easy to judge. It is easy to criticize that church for not stepping in and for simply just singing louder. But could the same not be said of us? Look at all the pain in the world; look at all the poverty. Just look at the events in the Middle East over the past week and you can see how desperate the world is for a Savior. They are desperate for someone to intervene. But what are we doing about it?
I don't want to be in a situation years from now where I am writing an article about how I didn't step in to help someone or how my church just looked the other way. And so with that said, I am asking us now to take a stand and start being that light to the world that we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:14).
But what will be our response? Are we going to step in and actually make an impact on the world or are we just going to sing louder? Are we just going to continue on with the mindset that the church was made for us or are we going to understand that the church was made for the world?
I admit that there are many areas of my life that are worthy of the Gospel, but there is so much more that is unworthy. It is my goal to make my life match up with Scripture. I want that scale to balance. I know that it is a tough task but I want to challenge you to join me in this mission of walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. Are you with me?
I would love to get some comments about how God is challenging you to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. You can either email them to me at r9tmac@gmail.com, or you can simply just reply to this post for all to see. Let's join in praying for one another as well.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
God With Us
Let's forget about the traditions, the lights, the carols, the presents. Let's forget about Santa, and about the reindeer, and the elves. Let's forget about all of these things for just a moment to consider what really happened that morning when Christ was born...
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel, literally "God with us". Have you ever thought about that concept? The God of Moses, and of Abraham, and of David, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who lead the Israelites out of bondage, and the One whose glory could not be seen. That very same God, more than 2000 years ago embodied Himself, "making Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He came in the form of an infant, being born of a virgin so that He could escape being born into sin. He came, not to be served, "but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came as a infant; He came as a lamb; He came as a sacrifice.
It is so tempting today to separate the birth of Jesus from the cross of Jesus. We get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget about the purpose of Christmas. Jesus did not come simply so that wisemen would bring gifts to Him; rather He came so that He might bridge the gulf between God and man that was created by man's failure to live up to God's glory (Romans 3:23-26).
See, because of our sin, we were at opposition to God. God was holy and perfect, and man was not. We were therefore unable to plead our case before God. We needed someone to mediate between us, someone who could represent both parties. We needed someone who was fully God, to represent God, but fully man, to represent man. There could be no other solution. Who was to do this?
This is the story of Christmas, that on that blessed day, and in that manger, our Mediator, our Saviour, our Redeemer, came in the form of a child. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"But why, we may ask, would He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency be so deeply concerned with our lost, forlorn condition? What moved Him to show us compassion and pity? Why did He delight to be our Saviour? Did He see something wonderful in us? No. It was merely the infinite love and goodness of His own nature and not anything in us or of us that moved Him to such compassion and pity for us (Titus 3:5)...
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body, or human nature, which He made His own He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love."
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ
The story of Christmas is not that a baby was born. The story of Christmas is that the Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It is a story of God stepping out of His glory and stepping into time, stepping into a world that esteemed Him not, stepping onto an alter to die. It is a story of an incredible act of love and of grace. It is a story that brings about our salvation.
This Christmas, I challenge you to step away from the traditions for a moment and to consider the true meaning of Christmas. Reflect on what it would be like had Jesus not come. Don't get so caught up in the business that you miss the worship. Don't get so caught up in yourself that you miss His coming.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel, literally "God with us". Have you ever thought about that concept? The God of Moses, and of Abraham, and of David, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who lead the Israelites out of bondage, and the One whose glory could not be seen. That very same God, more than 2000 years ago embodied Himself, "making Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He came in the form of an infant, being born of a virgin so that He could escape being born into sin. He came, not to be served, "but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came as a infant; He came as a lamb; He came as a sacrifice.
It is so tempting today to separate the birth of Jesus from the cross of Jesus. We get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget about the purpose of Christmas. Jesus did not come simply so that wisemen would bring gifts to Him; rather He came so that He might bridge the gulf between God and man that was created by man's failure to live up to God's glory (Romans 3:23-26).
See, because of our sin, we were at opposition to God. God was holy and perfect, and man was not. We were therefore unable to plead our case before God. We needed someone to mediate between us, someone who could represent both parties. We needed someone who was fully God, to represent God, but fully man, to represent man. There could be no other solution. Who was to do this?
This is the story of Christmas, that on that blessed day, and in that manger, our Mediator, our Saviour, our Redeemer, came in the form of a child. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"But why, we may ask, would He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency be so deeply concerned with our lost, forlorn condition? What moved Him to show us compassion and pity? Why did He delight to be our Saviour? Did He see something wonderful in us? No. It was merely the infinite love and goodness of His own nature and not anything in us or of us that moved Him to such compassion and pity for us (Titus 3:5)...
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body, or human nature, which He made His own He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love."
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ
The story of Christmas is not that a baby was born. The story of Christmas is that the Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It is a story of God stepping out of His glory and stepping into time, stepping into a world that esteemed Him not, stepping onto an alter to die. It is a story of an incredible act of love and of grace. It is a story that brings about our salvation.
This Christmas, I challenge you to step away from the traditions for a moment and to consider the true meaning of Christmas. Reflect on what it would be like had Jesus not come. Don't get so caught up in the business that you miss the worship. Don't get so caught up in yourself that you miss His coming.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Do What It Says!
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Have You Left Your First Love?
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.'"
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Vision from God
It isn't a strange thing to hear about someone having a vision from God when you are overseas. In fact, being in Lebanon the past couple of summers, I have actually met a lot of people who have had some sort of vision. Most of the time, the person that I met had once been an unbeliever, or even opposed to God, and then they saw Jesus Christ in a dream and it forever changed their life. But on other occassions, and this is much more frequent, God speaks to someone through a dream, giving them a solution to a problem or giving them a vision for what He is going to do.
Many of you know that I am a computer science major and that this is my final year of school. In order to graduate, we have to do a senior project, displaying all of the knowledge that we have learned over our years at Marshall. The way that we do this is by partnering with an individual or a company and creating some sort of software for them to meet the needs of something that they are currently unable to do. Many people in my class partnered with local businesses or professors, but I got the great pleasure of partnering with Rick and Anita Gutierrez, the two missionaries that I met this summer in South Africa.
Patrick, my partner, and I have been hard at work this semester, developing software that analyzes the data that they currently collect when test the thickness of the carotid artery. (More information can be found on this by visiting my website at users.marshall.edu/~mcclure53).
Rick was at my house this past weekend, as he has come in for a couple of months to work on support raising. His wife and two boys will join him in a few weeks. Our goal was to have Release 1 done for Rick in time for this weekend so that he could test it on some patients in Michigan before heading back to South Africa. Release 1 simply just contains a way of calculating and analyzing the data and Release 2 will consist of a database and any other features that Rick decides will enhance his ministry.
Well of course whenever you start inputting real data, that is when all of the bugs come out. When the program crashes or when it calculates something wrong, that is usually an indication that there is an error in your code. With my hopes being able to give Rick the program on Friday night slowly growing dim, I knew that I had to start planning for many hours of work on it that weekend.
In total, probably an additional 10-15 hours were spent, fixing errors and making corrections to the design of the software to better fit Rick's liking. But there was one error that I came to that I just could not fix. I looked through the code over and over again (which takes a while when you have 10,000 lines of code), but I just could not seem to come up with the solution. That is when, on Saturday night, I told Rick that I would just have to concede and talk to Patrick or my professor the following week and just mail him a copy.
Saturday night I went to bed, and that is when I found out God knew Java programming language. I laid there in my bed having a dream where I was programming the software that I had been working on all semester. Please know that I do not dream about programming that often. In fact, I never had. But as I got to the point in my dream where the program usually crashed, that is when a solution was revealed to me. When I awoke, I immediately wrote down what I had seen, so as not to forget it while waking up. And then I went ahead and got ready for Sunday morning church.
Before church, I talked to my dad and shared with him what had happened that night. The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I thought about how much sense it made. I had yet to implement the line of code into my program, but the more I thought, the more I was certain that it was going to work.
During the afternoon, I finally got around to sitting down at my laptop and inserting the line of code, exactly as I had seen it in my dream, and then I clicked the Start button. Up popped the program and everything was running perfectly! It was absolutely incredible!
A couple of hours later, Rick showed up and I was able to tell him about what happened and give him a working program. He joined me in praising God for what He had done during the night. No longer will Rick have to wait on the software, but now he can take it to Michigan and test it on patients to ensure that it works.
I so often think about Psalm 67, where it says that God blesses us so that we can bless the nations, who in turn worship God. Then when they worship God, God blesses them and they use those blessings to bless the nations. So the cycle continues. But that revelation that came to me that night was a way of God blessing me with the answer so that I could bless the nations. This software is more than just a tool to calculate and analyze data, it is a tool that will speed up the process of their calculations so that Rick and Anita can spend less time doing math and more time doing ministry.
If the cycle continues as it does in Psalm 67, and as I am confident that it will, this product that God has blessed us with will be a great tool in helping Rick and Anita reach the people of South Africa for Christ. It is such an incredible thing to be a part of His plan in this way.
My challenge to you, now, is to consider the ways that God has blessed you. What skills, knowledge, resources, or even dreams, has God given you that you can use to bless the nations. It is such a joy to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and in reality, that is the only thing that matters. How cool is it to think that what I am currently doing, or what you are currently doing, can help advance the kingdom of God around the world?
God speaks to us, and He blesses us, so that in turn we can share His name and spread His glory around the world.
Many of you know that I am a computer science major and that this is my final year of school. In order to graduate, we have to do a senior project, displaying all of the knowledge that we have learned over our years at Marshall. The way that we do this is by partnering with an individual or a company and creating some sort of software for them to meet the needs of something that they are currently unable to do. Many people in my class partnered with local businesses or professors, but I got the great pleasure of partnering with Rick and Anita Gutierrez, the two missionaries that I met this summer in South Africa.
Patrick, my partner, and I have been hard at work this semester, developing software that analyzes the data that they currently collect when test the thickness of the carotid artery. (More information can be found on this by visiting my website at users.marshall.edu/~mcclure53).
Rick was at my house this past weekend, as he has come in for a couple of months to work on support raising. His wife and two boys will join him in a few weeks. Our goal was to have Release 1 done for Rick in time for this weekend so that he could test it on some patients in Michigan before heading back to South Africa. Release 1 simply just contains a way of calculating and analyzing the data and Release 2 will consist of a database and any other features that Rick decides will enhance his ministry.
Well of course whenever you start inputting real data, that is when all of the bugs come out. When the program crashes or when it calculates something wrong, that is usually an indication that there is an error in your code. With my hopes being able to give Rick the program on Friday night slowly growing dim, I knew that I had to start planning for many hours of work on it that weekend.
In total, probably an additional 10-15 hours were spent, fixing errors and making corrections to the design of the software to better fit Rick's liking. But there was one error that I came to that I just could not fix. I looked through the code over and over again (which takes a while when you have 10,000 lines of code), but I just could not seem to come up with the solution. That is when, on Saturday night, I told Rick that I would just have to concede and talk to Patrick or my professor the following week and just mail him a copy.
Saturday night I went to bed, and that is when I found out God knew Java programming language. I laid there in my bed having a dream where I was programming the software that I had been working on all semester. Please know that I do not dream about programming that often. In fact, I never had. But as I got to the point in my dream where the program usually crashed, that is when a solution was revealed to me. When I awoke, I immediately wrote down what I had seen, so as not to forget it while waking up. And then I went ahead and got ready for Sunday morning church.
Before church, I talked to my dad and shared with him what had happened that night. The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I thought about how much sense it made. I had yet to implement the line of code into my program, but the more I thought, the more I was certain that it was going to work.
During the afternoon, I finally got around to sitting down at my laptop and inserting the line of code, exactly as I had seen it in my dream, and then I clicked the Start button. Up popped the program and everything was running perfectly! It was absolutely incredible!
A couple of hours later, Rick showed up and I was able to tell him about what happened and give him a working program. He joined me in praising God for what He had done during the night. No longer will Rick have to wait on the software, but now he can take it to Michigan and test it on patients to ensure that it works.
I so often think about Psalm 67, where it says that God blesses us so that we can bless the nations, who in turn worship God. Then when they worship God, God blesses them and they use those blessings to bless the nations. So the cycle continues. But that revelation that came to me that night was a way of God blessing me with the answer so that I could bless the nations. This software is more than just a tool to calculate and analyze data, it is a tool that will speed up the process of their calculations so that Rick and Anita can spend less time doing math and more time doing ministry.
If the cycle continues as it does in Psalm 67, and as I am confident that it will, this product that God has blessed us with will be a great tool in helping Rick and Anita reach the people of South Africa for Christ. It is such an incredible thing to be a part of His plan in this way.
My challenge to you, now, is to consider the ways that God has blessed you. What skills, knowledge, resources, or even dreams, has God given you that you can use to bless the nations. It is such a joy to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and in reality, that is the only thing that matters. How cool is it to think that what I am currently doing, or what you are currently doing, can help advance the kingdom of God around the world?
God speaks to us, and He blesses us, so that in turn we can share His name and spread His glory around the world.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Exceeding the Limits of Love
One of the things people often share whenever they return home from another country is, "You really appreciate the things you have here at home." You return home from places like Africa, or Central America, or even other parts of this country, and you feel so blessed to have the gifts that you have. We don't have to live off a dollar a day. We don't have to go days without food or water. We are not exposed to some of the medical conditions that other places are exposed to. We truly are a blessed people.
But what do we do about those places that we visited? What do we do about the places that we hear about on the news or see pictures of? How quickly these images escape our minds whenever we get back into the routines of American life. We get busy and, well, we forget about them.
I have been wrestling in Scripture lately, wondering where to draw the line. As I turn the pages, I can't help but find verses regarding loving people and serving them. You have passages such as loving your enemies (Lk. 6:27) or loving the lepers (Mt. 8:1-3). You have passages talking about speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Pr. 31:8) and passages about loving widows and orphans (Ja. 1:27). You have God, Himself, who so loved the world (Jn. 3:16), and you have His Son telling us that we would be recognized as His disciples by our love (Jn. 13:35). All over the place, all you can see is love!
But where do you draw the line? I am not talking about drawing the line as to who we should love and when we should love. But I am asking how much should we love? To what extremity should we love?
Each time I read Scripture, I feel convicted because I recognize that my love is not at the level of God's love. He loved the world in such a way that He gave everything He had, namely Himself, and He went to the cross to die for us. That brings us to another love passage (Jn. 15:13). But are we really supposed to go to that length? Are we really supposed to love people to that extremity?
I recently read a book called "Radical" which has the theme of "taking back your faith from the American dream". In the book, author David Platt presents many different challenges, but one of the chapters that got me the most was labeled "American Wealth and a World of Poverty." I am not sure that anything was said in that chapter that necessarily stood out to me, other than the fact that I felt like I was looking at this list of all these people we are called to love and saw that I was doing a pretty poor job. I have been ministering among college students and athletes for a while. I have served among the homeless and I have even stepped out of my comfort zone to obey the Great Commission and go overseas a few times. But what about the other people we are called to love? Are we supposed to just fulfill a few of our duties and then let someone else love the rest? Or are we supposed to radically love everyone?
One Sunday morning as I was pondering this in my mind, I began thinking about the orphans of the world. Millions of kids all over the globe are orphans and many live off less than a dollar a day. As I quoted earlier, James 1:27 specifically talks about loving the orphans. What are we supposed to do with that passage? Are we supposed to obey it or should we just glance over it and hope someone else comes behind us and obeys it?
I wrestled with the thought of, "Are we supposed to love the world as a church, with each of us loving a particular people and then in whole, we love everyone?" or "Are we just commanded to love everyone individually and then as a church it is just intense love all the time?" I think that when you look at those two ideas, it is easy to identify the latter as correct.
That morning, I found that one way we can love the orphans and serve them is through supporting a kid through Compassion International. But as I recognized that, I began trying to justify myself. In my mind, I began wrestling with the idea, telling God, "I want to support a kid, but I really don't have money for that." He responded by implanting the thought, "It only takes 6 hours a week at minimum wage to support a kid for a month." (That is after taxes by the way). I then responded with the thought, "But I don't have a job. And nobody will hire me around my busy schedule. There is no way that is possible."
That was Sunday. Three days later, on Wednesday, it was possible. I passed by the student-athlete department and lo and behold, they are hiring tutors. After talking with them for just a few minutes, a schedule was made and work began on Friday, working around my schedule perfectly. This time I couldn't justify myself. God had put it on my heart to love and He had provided me the means to do so, now I had to obey.
Earlier this week I filled out the form, submitted the payment, and was given a 10 year-old boy from Indonesia named Kevin. More details will follow in the upcoming weeks and his information packet and contact information will come in the mail.
I guess the lesson I learned is that there is no limits to love. We are called to love everyone and if we don't have the means to love a certain person or a certain group, ask the LORD and He will provide it. I want to not just be a hearer of the Word, when I pass over passages on love, but I also want to be a doer. I want to be one characterized by love and I want people to recognize me as His disciple because of my love, rather, His love shining through me.
In closing, I want to challenge you to exceed your limits of love. Maybe God is calling you to join me in loving the orphans. Or maybe He is calling you to love someone else. But I want to share one line with you that appears on page 123 in the book Radical:
"I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise (about my money and possessions). But then I realize that there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.' I'm confident that God will take care of me."
But what do we do about those places that we visited? What do we do about the places that we hear about on the news or see pictures of? How quickly these images escape our minds whenever we get back into the routines of American life. We get busy and, well, we forget about them.
I have been wrestling in Scripture lately, wondering where to draw the line. As I turn the pages, I can't help but find verses regarding loving people and serving them. You have passages such as loving your enemies (Lk. 6:27) or loving the lepers (Mt. 8:1-3). You have passages talking about speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Pr. 31:8) and passages about loving widows and orphans (Ja. 1:27). You have God, Himself, who so loved the world (Jn. 3:16), and you have His Son telling us that we would be recognized as His disciples by our love (Jn. 13:35). All over the place, all you can see is love!
But where do you draw the line? I am not talking about drawing the line as to who we should love and when we should love. But I am asking how much should we love? To what extremity should we love?
Each time I read Scripture, I feel convicted because I recognize that my love is not at the level of God's love. He loved the world in such a way that He gave everything He had, namely Himself, and He went to the cross to die for us. That brings us to another love passage (Jn. 15:13). But are we really supposed to go to that length? Are we really supposed to love people to that extremity?
I recently read a book called "Radical" which has the theme of "taking back your faith from the American dream". In the book, author David Platt presents many different challenges, but one of the chapters that got me the most was labeled "American Wealth and a World of Poverty." I am not sure that anything was said in that chapter that necessarily stood out to me, other than the fact that I felt like I was looking at this list of all these people we are called to love and saw that I was doing a pretty poor job. I have been ministering among college students and athletes for a while. I have served among the homeless and I have even stepped out of my comfort zone to obey the Great Commission and go overseas a few times. But what about the other people we are called to love? Are we supposed to just fulfill a few of our duties and then let someone else love the rest? Or are we supposed to radically love everyone?
One Sunday morning as I was pondering this in my mind, I began thinking about the orphans of the world. Millions of kids all over the globe are orphans and many live off less than a dollar a day. As I quoted earlier, James 1:27 specifically talks about loving the orphans. What are we supposed to do with that passage? Are we supposed to obey it or should we just glance over it and hope someone else comes behind us and obeys it?
I wrestled with the thought of, "Are we supposed to love the world as a church, with each of us loving a particular people and then in whole, we love everyone?" or "Are we just commanded to love everyone individually and then as a church it is just intense love all the time?" I think that when you look at those two ideas, it is easy to identify the latter as correct.
That morning, I found that one way we can love the orphans and serve them is through supporting a kid through Compassion International. But as I recognized that, I began trying to justify myself. In my mind, I began wrestling with the idea, telling God, "I want to support a kid, but I really don't have money for that." He responded by implanting the thought, "It only takes 6 hours a week at minimum wage to support a kid for a month." (That is after taxes by the way). I then responded with the thought, "But I don't have a job. And nobody will hire me around my busy schedule. There is no way that is possible."
That was Sunday. Three days later, on Wednesday, it was possible. I passed by the student-athlete department and lo and behold, they are hiring tutors. After talking with them for just a few minutes, a schedule was made and work began on Friday, working around my schedule perfectly. This time I couldn't justify myself. God had put it on my heart to love and He had provided me the means to do so, now I had to obey.
Earlier this week I filled out the form, submitted the payment, and was given a 10 year-old boy from Indonesia named Kevin. More details will follow in the upcoming weeks and his information packet and contact information will come in the mail.
I guess the lesson I learned is that there is no limits to love. We are called to love everyone and if we don't have the means to love a certain person or a certain group, ask the LORD and He will provide it. I want to not just be a hearer of the Word, when I pass over passages on love, but I also want to be a doer. I want to be one characterized by love and I want people to recognize me as His disciple because of my love, rather, His love shining through me.
In closing, I want to challenge you to exceed your limits of love. Maybe God is calling you to join me in loving the orphans. Or maybe He is calling you to love someone else. But I want to share one line with you that appears on page 123 in the book Radical:
"I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise (about my money and possessions). But then I realize that there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.' I'm confident that God will take care of me."
Friday, August 13, 2010
DWYL (Lessons from painting)
This past week I have had the responsibility of painting our carport. If you have ever painted anything like this, you know that first you have to scrape off the old paint, then you add the primer, and then you are able to paint. Well with the size of our carport, this is a pretty big job and each of those tasks take at least a full day.
Day one for me consisted of scraping off the old paint. Nearly 8 hours were spent scraping, and scraping, and scraping, with the sun getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter. By the end of the day, I was dripping with sweat and my arms were exhausted. I went inside to shower and cool off and then I waited for my father to come home to ask him if my work was sufficient enough. Much to my surprise, he told me that it wasn't. It wasn't that my work didn't live up to his standards, but rather I had used the wrong scraper. There was a another scraper in the toolbox that was actually a lot more efficient in taking off the paint. When I had to repeat my task of scraping the next day, I understood this to be true.
So day two of the job was almost like deja vu. I continued over the same spots, scraping away for hours. Much more paint came off with this scraper, and the carport did look a lot better. While I didn't mind doing the labor, I was somewhat frustrated with myself that I had pretty much wasted the day before, performing a task that turned out to be useless.
Do you ever wonder if our tasks in life are this way? People are so busy these days, involved in so many activities that we barely have time to sit down. I am not saying that being busy is a bad thing, but what is it that is keeping you busy? One day we will have to stand before our heavenly Father and give an accounting of the work that we have done. 1 Corinthians 3 talks of how the reward will only be given to him who has done good work, not to him who has wasted his time on a meaningless task.
Now obviously, this reward is not the reward of salvation. Salvation is not something that is earned through works, but rather it is something acquired through a relationship with Christ. But I love this idea of seeing my Father look at my work and saying, "Well done, Todd! The work that you have done is sufficient. It is exactly what I wanted you to do."
The positive to my mistake on painting was that I was given another day. But in life, we get only one chance. We have only one life to live. And as Moses states in Psalm 90, the time of that life quickly passes so we need to learn to number our days. What sort of things are you going to be remembered for? When you stand before God and he asks you what you did with the majority of your time, what are you going to say? Will the things that you have done actually matter? Will they have made an impact on the world? Or will all of your time been spent in vein?
This theme of not wasting my life has become a motto for me this past year. I have tried to apply it to my day, to my hour, and to my minute (ex. "Don't waste your minute"). This conscious effort to live every breath to the glory of God is one that is hard to attain, but I feel is necessary in checking our works. One of my biggest fears in life is to have spent all my time doing something that doesn't really matter. So this thought helps me in deciding whether or not something is worth pursuing.
What is it that you are wasting your time on? Are you seeking treasures that will never last? What could you be doing with that time that helps in furthering God's Kingdom? You have but one life to live. Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.
Day one for me consisted of scraping off the old paint. Nearly 8 hours were spent scraping, and scraping, and scraping, with the sun getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter. By the end of the day, I was dripping with sweat and my arms were exhausted. I went inside to shower and cool off and then I waited for my father to come home to ask him if my work was sufficient enough. Much to my surprise, he told me that it wasn't. It wasn't that my work didn't live up to his standards, but rather I had used the wrong scraper. There was a another scraper in the toolbox that was actually a lot more efficient in taking off the paint. When I had to repeat my task of scraping the next day, I understood this to be true.
So day two of the job was almost like deja vu. I continued over the same spots, scraping away for hours. Much more paint came off with this scraper, and the carport did look a lot better. While I didn't mind doing the labor, I was somewhat frustrated with myself that I had pretty much wasted the day before, performing a task that turned out to be useless.
Do you ever wonder if our tasks in life are this way? People are so busy these days, involved in so many activities that we barely have time to sit down. I am not saying that being busy is a bad thing, but what is it that is keeping you busy? One day we will have to stand before our heavenly Father and give an accounting of the work that we have done. 1 Corinthians 3 talks of how the reward will only be given to him who has done good work, not to him who has wasted his time on a meaningless task.
Now obviously, this reward is not the reward of salvation. Salvation is not something that is earned through works, but rather it is something acquired through a relationship with Christ. But I love this idea of seeing my Father look at my work and saying, "Well done, Todd! The work that you have done is sufficient. It is exactly what I wanted you to do."
The positive to my mistake on painting was that I was given another day. But in life, we get only one chance. We have only one life to live. And as Moses states in Psalm 90, the time of that life quickly passes so we need to learn to number our days. What sort of things are you going to be remembered for? When you stand before God and he asks you what you did with the majority of your time, what are you going to say? Will the things that you have done actually matter? Will they have made an impact on the world? Or will all of your time been spent in vein?
This theme of not wasting my life has become a motto for me this past year. I have tried to apply it to my day, to my hour, and to my minute (ex. "Don't waste your minute"). This conscious effort to live every breath to the glory of God is one that is hard to attain, but I feel is necessary in checking our works. One of my biggest fears in life is to have spent all my time doing something that doesn't really matter. So this thought helps me in deciding whether or not something is worth pursuing.
What is it that you are wasting your time on? Are you seeking treasures that will never last? What could you be doing with that time that helps in furthering God's Kingdom? You have but one life to live. Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Whatever happened to the Church?
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."
- Acts 2:42-47
Whatever happened to the church? Whatever happened to the fellowship, and the continuous prayers, and the selfless giving? Whatever happened to the commitment to the Word of God? Whatever happened to the church having favor with all people and the LORD adding to their number daily?
Today the church is described as a building, not as a people. It is seen to be a Sunday tradition, not a continuous fellowship. It is split into nearly 38,000 denominations, definitely not "continuing with one mind". And why don't you just ask people in the community whether or not the church is finding favor with men?
When I see the church today, people are more concerned about getting home in time to watch football than they are in discovering the application of God's Word. They are more concerned about music conforming to their interests than they are about the words that are being sung. They are more concerned about getting the same seat every Sunday than they are about seeing new people reached. And then we wonder why the LORD isn't adding to our number daily!?
I have met some incredible men and women of God in the church, but I find it sad when they are labeled as "radical" or "super Christians". When you compare these people to Scripture, they aren't radical at all; they are simply just following in the footsteps of their Savior and following the model of this first church.
The members of the Church were first called Christian in Acts 11:26. When studying the commentary of this passage, it explains that "Christian" literally means "partisans of Christ." The commentary goes on to explain that the Christian label was given to individuals who evangelized and taught the Gospel and who "demonstrated orthopraxy (meaning: correct action) by meeting physical needs."
Is this the church today? Are we committed to evangelism like the early church was? Are we committed to meeting physical needs like the early church was? One has to only open their eyes to find people who are in need of physical help and who are in need of hearing the Gospel. Many would claim that they don't feel called to do this, but let me correct you: you just haven't heard your call to do it. Just put your ear to the Bible and you will hear over and over again, God calling you to "preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners" (Isaiah 61). To be honest, you could probably turn to just about any page in Scripture and find a call similar to this. When we don't answer these calls, it is no wonder why we are called hypocrites.
As a Church, it is about time that we wake up! The world is in desperate need of a Savior and if we don't help them, who will? Just turn on the news and you can see that the world, and our country, are in a downward spiral. But while this is going on, we are keeping our mouths closed because we don't want to suffer any persecution or be labeled as "politically incorrect". We complain so much about the government and other organizations taking too much control, but that is only because the Church is not stepping in and helping. Imagine what the world would be like today if we would continue to spread the love of God as fervently as that first church.
Why is it that a commission by a king is considered an honor, but a commission by God is considered a sacrifice? It is time to step up, Church. It is time to put on the full armor of God and to advance His Kingdom like we have been given such an honor of doing. It is time to get back to the basics of Christianity and to become one again. We often sing, "They'll know we are Christians by our love", but I will be the first to confess that's not true. The only difference today between Christians and non-Christians is that Christians go to church occasionally.
As Francis Chan often asks, "If you were to read Scripture, is this what you would picture the Church to look like?" I want to encourage you to re-read the book of Acts. As I have been studying it over the past month, I have been amazed at some of the truths that God has shown me. But simple head knowledge isn't enough. It is time to put these truths to action. Men and women, let's start being the Church.
I feel that there is no better way than to close with a segment of the Jesus's prayer for us in John 17:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Amen.
- Acts 2:42-47
Whatever happened to the church? Whatever happened to the fellowship, and the continuous prayers, and the selfless giving? Whatever happened to the commitment to the Word of God? Whatever happened to the church having favor with all people and the LORD adding to their number daily?
Today the church is described as a building, not as a people. It is seen to be a Sunday tradition, not a continuous fellowship. It is split into nearly 38,000 denominations, definitely not "continuing with one mind". And why don't you just ask people in the community whether or not the church is finding favor with men?
When I see the church today, people are more concerned about getting home in time to watch football than they are in discovering the application of God's Word. They are more concerned about music conforming to their interests than they are about the words that are being sung. They are more concerned about getting the same seat every Sunday than they are about seeing new people reached. And then we wonder why the LORD isn't adding to our number daily!?
I have met some incredible men and women of God in the church, but I find it sad when they are labeled as "radical" or "super Christians". When you compare these people to Scripture, they aren't radical at all; they are simply just following in the footsteps of their Savior and following the model of this first church.
The members of the Church were first called Christian in Acts 11:26. When studying the commentary of this passage, it explains that "Christian" literally means "partisans of Christ." The commentary goes on to explain that the Christian label was given to individuals who evangelized and taught the Gospel and who "demonstrated orthopraxy (meaning: correct action) by meeting physical needs."
Is this the church today? Are we committed to evangelism like the early church was? Are we committed to meeting physical needs like the early church was? One has to only open their eyes to find people who are in need of physical help and who are in need of hearing the Gospel. Many would claim that they don't feel called to do this, but let me correct you: you just haven't heard your call to do it. Just put your ear to the Bible and you will hear over and over again, God calling you to "preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners" (Isaiah 61). To be honest, you could probably turn to just about any page in Scripture and find a call similar to this. When we don't answer these calls, it is no wonder why we are called hypocrites.
As a Church, it is about time that we wake up! The world is in desperate need of a Savior and if we don't help them, who will? Just turn on the news and you can see that the world, and our country, are in a downward spiral. But while this is going on, we are keeping our mouths closed because we don't want to suffer any persecution or be labeled as "politically incorrect". We complain so much about the government and other organizations taking too much control, but that is only because the Church is not stepping in and helping. Imagine what the world would be like today if we would continue to spread the love of God as fervently as that first church.
Why is it that a commission by a king is considered an honor, but a commission by God is considered a sacrifice? It is time to step up, Church. It is time to put on the full armor of God and to advance His Kingdom like we have been given such an honor of doing. It is time to get back to the basics of Christianity and to become one again. We often sing, "They'll know we are Christians by our love", but I will be the first to confess that's not true. The only difference today between Christians and non-Christians is that Christians go to church occasionally.
As Francis Chan often asks, "If you were to read Scripture, is this what you would picture the Church to look like?" I want to encourage you to re-read the book of Acts. As I have been studying it over the past month, I have been amazed at some of the truths that God has shown me. But simple head knowledge isn't enough. It is time to put these truths to action. Men and women, let's start being the Church.
I feel that there is no better way than to close with a segment of the Jesus's prayer for us in John 17:
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Amen.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Point them to the Cross
Wow! It has been about two and half months since I last wrote a post. In the meantime, I have been on four different continents, so please excuse my delay. From May 15 through June 23, I was in Beirut, Lebanon (flying through Germany), and from July 11 through July 25, I was in Empanganee, South Africa. If you are trying to figure out how that totals to four, make sure to factor in North America as well.
A lot of things have happened this summer. God has shown me a lot, and I have had some incredible conversations with people. As time goes on, I will try to post some of these stories on here to share them with you, but I will avoid posting them all at once.
So for story number one, let me start in South Africa...
South Africa lies in the southern hemisphere. Because the earth is tilted, the southern hemisphere has a different set of constellations than the northern hemisphere. One of the most famous constellations in the southern hemisphere, and the one that I was most excited to see, was the Southern Cross.
One night, my dad, my brother Scott, and I were standing outside and my dad and I spotted the Southern Cross. Immediately Scott wanted to know where it was located and we tried pointing it out to him, but he stood there several minutes without ever being able to see it. Even though it was so clear to us, and even though we were telling him the exact location of it, he just could not see it. (To his credit, he did finally find it later on that evening).
That night my dad led us in a devotional and Acts 26:12-18 was our passage. Verses 12-15 were the focus, as it was supposed to lead us in discussing our "Damascus road experience", but verses 16-18 are what grabbed my attention:
"But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."
First off, what a great commission this is from God! But the thing about that passage that caught my attention the most was the command to 'open their eyes'. Nowhere in there does it command us to win people to Christ, or to perform some supernatural conversion experience, as if it all depended on us. All that God commands us to do is to open their eyes, and from that God can bring about the forgiveness, and the inheritance, and the sanctification that follows in that passage.
Immediately I thought about how Scott could not see the Southern Cross, even with us clearly explaining it to him. Really there was nothing more that we could have said or done to help him see it. All that we could do was to point the way and hope that his eyes would be open to seeing it.
But isn't it the same when we are talking to people about Christ? To us who have seen "the Cross", it is so clear to us. But when we tell others about Him, their eyes are blinded and no matter how well we word things or how hard we try to get them to see Him, they just cannot see Him.
I cannot tell you many times I have had conversations with people, whether it be this summer in South Africa or Lebanon, or whether it be at Marshall University, or whether it just be in the community, where I have laid out the Gospel so clearly, but the individual just could not see the Cross. They could not see their need for a Savior.
I long so hard for these people to understand Christ the way that I do, and to see Him the way that I see Him. I recognize, as 2 Corinthians 4 states, that the god of this world (Satan) has blinded those that do not believe, so that they 'cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.' And knowing that I have no sovereign control to make these individuals see Christ for who He really is, all that I can do is to keep praying for them and to keep pointing towards the cross.
To those who know people who do not yet know Christ, I want to echo God's words to you: Get up and stand on your feet. Go to those people and open their eyes. Keep pointing the way towards the cross and keep interceding for them in prayer, begging for God to have mercy on them and grant them salvation.
To those who are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about, or maybe you do know what I am talking about but you know that you do not have a relationship with Christ, I want to speak to you as well: Satan has blinded your eyes. He is keeping you from seeing Christ for who He really is. He really is there and He is holding out His hand, desiring a relationship with you. Do not give up hope! Keep looking. Keep asking questions. Keep seeking, for the Bible says that those who seek Him with all their heart will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
I praise God for the blessings He has poured out on me, especially this summer. Not many people are given the opportunities that I have been given, and I am so thankful for those who have helped give me these opportunities. Luke 12:48 says that "to whom much is given, much is expected", and so for that reason, I will continue to proclaim Christ wherever I go. I pray that eyes would be open and that people would see the hope that exists in Christ alone. In Christ, you can be forgiven of your sins, you can experience true life, and you can have a sure hope of salvation. Oh, if only everyone could experience this freedom!
A lot of things have happened this summer. God has shown me a lot, and I have had some incredible conversations with people. As time goes on, I will try to post some of these stories on here to share them with you, but I will avoid posting them all at once.
So for story number one, let me start in South Africa...
South Africa lies in the southern hemisphere. Because the earth is tilted, the southern hemisphere has a different set of constellations than the northern hemisphere. One of the most famous constellations in the southern hemisphere, and the one that I was most excited to see, was the Southern Cross.
One night, my dad, my brother Scott, and I were standing outside and my dad and I spotted the Southern Cross. Immediately Scott wanted to know where it was located and we tried pointing it out to him, but he stood there several minutes without ever being able to see it. Even though it was so clear to us, and even though we were telling him the exact location of it, he just could not see it. (To his credit, he did finally find it later on that evening).
That night my dad led us in a devotional and Acts 26:12-18 was our passage. Verses 12-15 were the focus, as it was supposed to lead us in discussing our "Damascus road experience", but verses 16-18 are what grabbed my attention:
"But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."
First off, what a great commission this is from God! But the thing about that passage that caught my attention the most was the command to 'open their eyes'. Nowhere in there does it command us to win people to Christ, or to perform some supernatural conversion experience, as if it all depended on us. All that God commands us to do is to open their eyes, and from that God can bring about the forgiveness, and the inheritance, and the sanctification that follows in that passage.
Immediately I thought about how Scott could not see the Southern Cross, even with us clearly explaining it to him. Really there was nothing more that we could have said or done to help him see it. All that we could do was to point the way and hope that his eyes would be open to seeing it.
But isn't it the same when we are talking to people about Christ? To us who have seen "the Cross", it is so clear to us. But when we tell others about Him, their eyes are blinded and no matter how well we word things or how hard we try to get them to see Him, they just cannot see Him.
I cannot tell you many times I have had conversations with people, whether it be this summer in South Africa or Lebanon, or whether it be at Marshall University, or whether it just be in the community, where I have laid out the Gospel so clearly, but the individual just could not see the Cross. They could not see their need for a Savior.
I long so hard for these people to understand Christ the way that I do, and to see Him the way that I see Him. I recognize, as 2 Corinthians 4 states, that the god of this world (Satan) has blinded those that do not believe, so that they 'cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.' And knowing that I have no sovereign control to make these individuals see Christ for who He really is, all that I can do is to keep praying for them and to keep pointing towards the cross.
To those who know people who do not yet know Christ, I want to echo God's words to you: Get up and stand on your feet. Go to those people and open their eyes. Keep pointing the way towards the cross and keep interceding for them in prayer, begging for God to have mercy on them and grant them salvation.
To those who are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about, or maybe you do know what I am talking about but you know that you do not have a relationship with Christ, I want to speak to you as well: Satan has blinded your eyes. He is keeping you from seeing Christ for who He really is. He really is there and He is holding out His hand, desiring a relationship with you. Do not give up hope! Keep looking. Keep asking questions. Keep seeking, for the Bible says that those who seek Him with all their heart will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
I praise God for the blessings He has poured out on me, especially this summer. Not many people are given the opportunities that I have been given, and I am so thankful for those who have helped give me these opportunities. Luke 12:48 says that "to whom much is given, much is expected", and so for that reason, I will continue to proclaim Christ wherever I go. I pray that eyes would be open and that people would see the hope that exists in Christ alone. In Christ, you can be forgiven of your sins, you can experience true life, and you can have a sure hope of salvation. Oh, if only everyone could experience this freedom!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Help!
Hillsong United produced a film that was shown in theaters nationwide on November 4, 2009. The plan was to release the film on DVD in March, but plans changed when countries from around the world also began to request that the film be shown in their country. Now the tentative release date is August of 2010.
Before going further in this blog, I ask that you take a look at a short clip from that film. It will set the precedence for the thought in the rest of this post:
Hillsong United Clip
As I was watching that film in theaters, I remember feeling anguish over all the needs across the globe. Just barely open your eyes and you see millions who are homeless, starving, sick, or oppressed. Turn to CNN or Fox News and see the disasters that have struck Haiti, or see all of the orphans that are in Honduras, or see the AIDS problems that are in Africa. I feel like you can't really look anywhere without seeing needs that are demanding attention. And no matter who you are, or what beliefs you have, you can't help but feel for those people.
A lot of times, it is easy to see those things and feel like the problem is too big for us, and so we change the channel. Or we examine our own lives and realize that we, too, have problems, and even though they are much smaller, they are more demanding of our attention. And so whatever mindset we fall into, we always end up ignoring the the cause of those that are dying abroad and thanking God for "blessing us".
Part of me wants to veer off and address that last statement about being blessed, but hopefully your own Spirit will convict you of what is wrong about those thoughts. So for now, I am simply just going to stay on track with where I am going...
I don't know if you have seen the news this past week, but disaster has struck our own soil. There was an attempted terrorist attack in New York, a huge oil leakage in Louisiana, and massive flooding in Nashville. The latter of the three hits home with me the most due to my friends and family that live down there. As I have been in touch with them and following the news, here are some of the things that I have found:
Thousands of houses have been completely destroyed, and most homeowners did not own any sort of flood insurance (Nashville never floods). More than 7,000 people have been declared to be officially homeless, in addition to those that already were. The death tally expects to be in the hundreds, as water has still not even gone down far enough to check in all parts of the city. Schools have been destroyed and many are cancelled for the remainder of the year. Hotels, restaurants, and businesses have lost everything. Crime rates have soared as homes are being broken into and items are being stolen. The city is in desperate need of millions of dollars to help rebuild what is one of the most popular cities in all of America.
Ok, so now we reach that point when we see how you respond. Do you simply just turn the channel again, or go on to your next website? Or do you actually stop and pray over the ways that you can get involved? If you are reading this and are part of the Christian body, then I exhort you even more to consider this. Read Matthew 25:31-46 as you do so.
God calls His church to rise up in times like this to help those that are in need. One of His promises is that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but how will others realize that if we leave them and forsake them? What an opportunity this is to show the world the love of Jesus Christ by helping those that are in desperate need! Help is needed all over the globe and if you are able to help them out in any way, then do it. Do you think that you have been blessed to simply just hang on to that? No, rather you have been blessed so that you can bless others.
If you have been blessed, like I have, then join me in reaching out to those that need help. You may have other projects or other causes to help with, but I want you to know that my dollars are going to Nashville. I don't say that boastfully, but I say that to present a challenge for you to join me in that. I have other projects and causes to also think about, but I simply cannot continue to turn the channel and move on with my life. This is what God has called us to do.
If you want to get involved, then I am going to get you in touch with Celia Quin. Celia is a teacher in Nashville and is part of First Baptist Church of Pegram. She is currently assisting in running a shelter out of her school, as they are the only school in the area that still has electricity. She also currently has connections with the American Red Cross and some other organizations because they are also running out of their school right now. Celia has said that some of the major needs right now are clothes and household items for those that have lost everything, and they are also in need of Bibles. Maybe the best way to go about giving is to send money and let her spend it accordingly.
To send a letter or money to Celia, you can do so through the following postal address:
Celia Quin
10 Erin Lane
Nashville, TN 37221
If you want to first communicate with her via email, her address is:
Celiajane03@hotmail.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and thank you in advance for getting involved in this ministry. I want to leave you with one final quote, and then this post will be done.
"Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say 'I did not know'."
- William Wilberforce
Before going further in this blog, I ask that you take a look at a short clip from that film. It will set the precedence for the thought in the rest of this post:
Hillsong United Clip
As I was watching that film in theaters, I remember feeling anguish over all the needs across the globe. Just barely open your eyes and you see millions who are homeless, starving, sick, or oppressed. Turn to CNN or Fox News and see the disasters that have struck Haiti, or see all of the orphans that are in Honduras, or see the AIDS problems that are in Africa. I feel like you can't really look anywhere without seeing needs that are demanding attention. And no matter who you are, or what beliefs you have, you can't help but feel for those people.
A lot of times, it is easy to see those things and feel like the problem is too big for us, and so we change the channel. Or we examine our own lives and realize that we, too, have problems, and even though they are much smaller, they are more demanding of our attention. And so whatever mindset we fall into, we always end up ignoring the the cause of those that are dying abroad and thanking God for "blessing us".
Part of me wants to veer off and address that last statement about being blessed, but hopefully your own Spirit will convict you of what is wrong about those thoughts. So for now, I am simply just going to stay on track with where I am going...
I don't know if you have seen the news this past week, but disaster has struck our own soil. There was an attempted terrorist attack in New York, a huge oil leakage in Louisiana, and massive flooding in Nashville. The latter of the three hits home with me the most due to my friends and family that live down there. As I have been in touch with them and following the news, here are some of the things that I have found:
Thousands of houses have been completely destroyed, and most homeowners did not own any sort of flood insurance (Nashville never floods). More than 7,000 people have been declared to be officially homeless, in addition to those that already were. The death tally expects to be in the hundreds, as water has still not even gone down far enough to check in all parts of the city. Schools have been destroyed and many are cancelled for the remainder of the year. Hotels, restaurants, and businesses have lost everything. Crime rates have soared as homes are being broken into and items are being stolen. The city is in desperate need of millions of dollars to help rebuild what is one of the most popular cities in all of America.
Ok, so now we reach that point when we see how you respond. Do you simply just turn the channel again, or go on to your next website? Or do you actually stop and pray over the ways that you can get involved? If you are reading this and are part of the Christian body, then I exhort you even more to consider this. Read Matthew 25:31-46 as you do so.
God calls His church to rise up in times like this to help those that are in need. One of His promises is that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but how will others realize that if we leave them and forsake them? What an opportunity this is to show the world the love of Jesus Christ by helping those that are in desperate need! Help is needed all over the globe and if you are able to help them out in any way, then do it. Do you think that you have been blessed to simply just hang on to that? No, rather you have been blessed so that you can bless others.
If you have been blessed, like I have, then join me in reaching out to those that need help. You may have other projects or other causes to help with, but I want you to know that my dollars are going to Nashville. I don't say that boastfully, but I say that to present a challenge for you to join me in that. I have other projects and causes to also think about, but I simply cannot continue to turn the channel and move on with my life. This is what God has called us to do.
If you want to get involved, then I am going to get you in touch with Celia Quin. Celia is a teacher in Nashville and is part of First Baptist Church of Pegram. She is currently assisting in running a shelter out of her school, as they are the only school in the area that still has electricity. She also currently has connections with the American Red Cross and some other organizations because they are also running out of their school right now. Celia has said that some of the major needs right now are clothes and household items for those that have lost everything, and they are also in need of Bibles. Maybe the best way to go about giving is to send money and let her spend it accordingly.
To send a letter or money to Celia, you can do so through the following postal address:
Celia Quin
10 Erin Lane
Nashville, TN 37221
If you want to first communicate with her via email, her address is:
Celiajane03@hotmail.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and thank you in advance for getting involved in this ministry. I want to leave you with one final quote, and then this post will be done.
"Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say 'I did not know'."
- William Wilberforce
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Crossing the Finish Line
In November of 2008, I had the privilege of running in the Huntington Half-Marathon. I had trained for several months leading up to it and felt like I was prepared when race day finally rolled around. In training, I had discovered what I felt to be a good pace for myself, though I wasn't sure how the adrenaline of race day would change that. However, I decided to take a watch with me and try to stay on pace for an 8 minute mile, and then when I hit mile marker 11, I would take off for the final two miles.
As the race progressed, I stayed consistently around 8 minutes per mile. Some miles were a little quicker and some were a little slower, depending on who was around me. One man that I ran with for a while was wearing a shirt that displayed the verse 1 Corinthians 9:27, which talks of beating your body into submission. I felt that was a great verse for such a long race.
After passing mile 10, I began looking for 11, which was where I was going to pick up the pace a bit. However, after 8 minutes on my watch had gone by, mile marker 11 was nowhere to be found. I continued running and 9 minutes, then 10 minutes went by and I still hadn't seen it. I began to ask the judges if they knew which mile I was at and none of them were completely sure. Yet through all of this, I continue to run.
A couple of minutes later, I passed a sign indicating mile 12, meaning I had one mile to go. I picked up my pace a lot for that final distance, confused as to why I never saw mile marker 11. But in that final mile, I was able to pass a few people and cross the finish line in a sprint, getting a time of 1:46:20.
I was standing around after the race and watching others who had crossed before me laying on the ground completely worn out. Others were eating, trying to replace all of the energy that they had just lost. However for me, I felt as if I had a lot of energy left in me. This was not because I was in phenomenal shape (given, there were dozens of people who beat me), but I felt as if I could have run harder or picked up the pace sooner. One fellow runner reminded me that, being my first race, I should take joy in just completing it. But the competitive person in me kept thinking, "I could have run harder. I could have picked up the pace a long time ago."
I think that is one of the worst feelings in the world: to think that you could have done more. This emotion is often felt in sports as there have been many times that I felt like I could have tried harder or given more effort. I have felt similar things even in school after turning in a project that I know that I could have done better on. For me, completion alone has never been enough. I must know that I gave everything I had, no matter what is at stake.
Do you think that this feeling exists in Heaven? I mean, I know that Heaven will be all about the glory of God and worshiping Him with all that we have. But I think that my biggest fear in life is to one day get to Heaven, crossing that finish line of life, and still have energy. I fear getting there feeling as if I could have done more, or that I could have talked to more people. I don't want to be one of those people who simply just floats there way into eternity. I want to be the one who crosses that finish line in a full sprint, and then be able to look Jesus in the eyes and say, "I gave everything I had for you. I did it all for your glory!"
When I view the world today, I see so much suffering, so much pain, so much brokenness. I know that I have talked about these things in previous posts, but this is still what I see! And then my eyes shift back to the church where I see many members saving up for retirement so that they can move to the beach and play shuffleboard for the rest of their lives. Is that the way you want to enter Heaven? Is that the way that you want to cross the finish line?
Several individuals stick out to me as people who are running hard at all times. I won't take the time right now to recognize you on this post but you should know who you are. If you have to question it, well then most likely you are not one of those people and maybe you need to pick up the pace a little bit. But if you are one of those individuals, then I thank you for the ways in which you have paced me and encouraged me to keep running. Let's continue on as hard as we can until we cross that finish line of life and enter into eternity.
Please, examine your life and check how hard you are running. What else can you be doing to advance God's kingdom on this earth? Who else can you tell and what else can you do to get closer to Him? Be one of those individuals who collapses at the finish line knowing that you have given everything that you could have possibly given. Make Colossians 1:29 your life verse, striving with all of HIS energy. He will carry you until the end.
"To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me."
-Colossians 1:29
As the race progressed, I stayed consistently around 8 minutes per mile. Some miles were a little quicker and some were a little slower, depending on who was around me. One man that I ran with for a while was wearing a shirt that displayed the verse 1 Corinthians 9:27, which talks of beating your body into submission. I felt that was a great verse for such a long race.
After passing mile 10, I began looking for 11, which was where I was going to pick up the pace a bit. However, after 8 minutes on my watch had gone by, mile marker 11 was nowhere to be found. I continued running and 9 minutes, then 10 minutes went by and I still hadn't seen it. I began to ask the judges if they knew which mile I was at and none of them were completely sure. Yet through all of this, I continue to run.
A couple of minutes later, I passed a sign indicating mile 12, meaning I had one mile to go. I picked up my pace a lot for that final distance, confused as to why I never saw mile marker 11. But in that final mile, I was able to pass a few people and cross the finish line in a sprint, getting a time of 1:46:20.
I was standing around after the race and watching others who had crossed before me laying on the ground completely worn out. Others were eating, trying to replace all of the energy that they had just lost. However for me, I felt as if I had a lot of energy left in me. This was not because I was in phenomenal shape (given, there were dozens of people who beat me), but I felt as if I could have run harder or picked up the pace sooner. One fellow runner reminded me that, being my first race, I should take joy in just completing it. But the competitive person in me kept thinking, "I could have run harder. I could have picked up the pace a long time ago."
I think that is one of the worst feelings in the world: to think that you could have done more. This emotion is often felt in sports as there have been many times that I felt like I could have tried harder or given more effort. I have felt similar things even in school after turning in a project that I know that I could have done better on. For me, completion alone has never been enough. I must know that I gave everything I had, no matter what is at stake.
Do you think that this feeling exists in Heaven? I mean, I know that Heaven will be all about the glory of God and worshiping Him with all that we have. But I think that my biggest fear in life is to one day get to Heaven, crossing that finish line of life, and still have energy. I fear getting there feeling as if I could have done more, or that I could have talked to more people. I don't want to be one of those people who simply just floats there way into eternity. I want to be the one who crosses that finish line in a full sprint, and then be able to look Jesus in the eyes and say, "I gave everything I had for you. I did it all for your glory!"
When I view the world today, I see so much suffering, so much pain, so much brokenness. I know that I have talked about these things in previous posts, but this is still what I see! And then my eyes shift back to the church where I see many members saving up for retirement so that they can move to the beach and play shuffleboard for the rest of their lives. Is that the way you want to enter Heaven? Is that the way that you want to cross the finish line?
Several individuals stick out to me as people who are running hard at all times. I won't take the time right now to recognize you on this post but you should know who you are. If you have to question it, well then most likely you are not one of those people and maybe you need to pick up the pace a little bit. But if you are one of those individuals, then I thank you for the ways in which you have paced me and encouraged me to keep running. Let's continue on as hard as we can until we cross that finish line of life and enter into eternity.
Please, examine your life and check how hard you are running. What else can you be doing to advance God's kingdom on this earth? Who else can you tell and what else can you do to get closer to Him? Be one of those individuals who collapses at the finish line knowing that you have given everything that you could have possibly given. Make Colossians 1:29 your life verse, striving with all of HIS energy. He will carry you until the end.
"To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me."
-Colossians 1:29
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Don't Waste Your Life - Acts 20:24
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."
Welcome to the Todd McClure story. Some of you may know these details and some of you may not. But I am going to fast-forward through my life to get to my main point. I have no intentions of dwelling on my past or even bringing attention to myself, but rather my goal is to show what the LORD has truly done in my life...
Growing up, soccer was my dream. I even remember coloring a picture in kindergarten and telling my teacher that it was my dream to play professional soccer. God and family were always a big part as well, but soccer was my passion.
In high school, I won two state championships. I also received numerous awards and as a result, I was contacted by many different schools, some offering scholarships and others offering the opportunity to play Division 1. The latter was too good to pass up. After visiting Marshall University and speaking with the head coach, I knew this is where I was supposed to be.
I often look back and wonder what it was that drew me to Marshall. To be honest, soccer is the only reason I came here and well, that hasn't exactly flourished. I guess I could go into more details with that. I had aspirations of being the star, but coach never put me on the roster. I had dreams of being the leading goal scorer, but really, I was never given a chance. I wanted to have my jersey retired one day, but instead, I have bounced around from number to number, depending on who was injured. Ironically, the one thing that brought me to this school hasn't exactly worked out. There are a lot of other things that have happened, many of them illegal, and so I cannot post that sort of material on this site. Point being, however, soccer really wasn't all that I had hoped it would be.
Following each semester, players had individual meetings with the coaching staff. Mine always consisted of coach suggesting that I transfer and me simply just turning that talk into motivation. However, no matter how hard I worked, or how hard I tried, I felt as if I was invisible. And if you looked at the Marshall record books, I was invisible.
In the meantime, I was a part of Campus Crusade for Christ and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was growing daily in my walk with the LORD. But one day in particular struck me more than any other day. It was at the 2008 Campus Crusade Winter Conference and Chad Young was speaking on going to the "deepest, darkest parts of campus to share the love of Jesus." He suggested scenarios such as going to the the fraternities or the sororities, but for me, I knew that it was a call to go to my teammates and to the rest of the athletic teams on campus. For the first time, a vision was implanted in me and I knew that I had to go.
That spring, several of my teammates came to Christ. This was not because of my own doing but it was because the LORD was simply just answering prayers and allowing me to be a part of it. In addition to this, several football players, including a former roommate of mine, also made professions of faith. What a miraculous event all of this was! We were seeing the athletic department won to Christ!
A lot of times, people have stories of the past, but mine is still present. You may notice that we are now more than a year from that original event, but God is still leading people to Christ throughout the whole athletic department. In fact, we have seen our FCA grow from about 6-7 people my freshman year to more than 50 people this year! God really is at work.
However, over the past year, I have known that my main mission is to share Christ with my teammates and my coaches. My teammates were easy, as those that had come to faith were also assisting me in that mission. However, the coaching staff was a different story. I had tried to talk to the coaches, particularly the head coach, multiple times a year. But the more and more that I tried, the higher and higher the barricade went. Multiple times I was asked to leave his office or he simply just walked away as I was trying to share the love of Christ with him. But I knew that I had to keep trying. He was the last one on my mission.
I knew going into this spring that it would be my final semester on the team. The coaching staff had made that very clear and offered me the opportunity to quit right away, but I told them I didn't want to do that. After another semester of trials and hardship, I was finally given another opportunity to meet with the coaching staff, this being my final meeting.
When I was praying before my the meeting, I thought back to Esther 4:14 when Mordecai suggests that Esther was raised up for "such a times as this." Again, I often look back to my reasons for coming to Marshall and I knew that it felt so right. So could it be that I had come for such a time as this as well?
The meeting started and, as predicted, I was told that my career was done. But (prayers answered) he then asked if I had anything to add, which I did...
"Coach, looking back over the years, I haven't really moved anywhere on the depth chart. And each time that we have met, you have suggested transferring or quitting, but I have continued to ignore you. And so with that, I must be extremely stupid, or extremely determined..."
With that, he made his point as to why I appeared to be determined, shown by my motivation on the field. However, I responded...
"You see my motivation on a really shallow level. If you don't mind, I would like to introduce you to a deeper level of my life, and this is where my motivation lies. As you know, I am a member of FCA and am a follower of Christ, and the only reason that I have stuck around this long is because sports gives you a platform. With that platform, you are surrounded by 25-30 guys every day, a coaching staff, and a community that looks up to you. Now you can either use that platform to glorify yourself or you can use it to glorify something greater. And I use it to glorify Christ. You see it as me sticking around simply just to try to earn playing time. But I want you to know that the only reason that I have stuck around for so long, despite all the opposition, is to show my teammates the love of Christ, to show you all the love of Christ, and to show the community the love of Christ."
He responded a lot better than expected, "Todd, I have noticed that you have always been on a mission...And whether you know it or not, you really have had a great impact on the lives of your teammates, and, I say this humbly, you have made a great impact on my life as well..."
Much more took place in that meeting and much more was said, but that is a conversation that must be shared with you in person. However, I left that office feeling like I had accomplished something. I left with all weight removed from my chest. And I left without any regrets.
I came to Marshall with the goal of playing soccer, but God took that and literally made me one of "the least of these" (1 Cor. 1:27). From that position, He gave me the mission of proclaiming Christ to my teammates and to my coaching staff and for the first time in my life, I can finally say that I have completed that task. I don't say that boastfully because the majority of times in my life, I fail in carrying out the mission that God gives me. However in this situation, I can say that I have done it. And that does not mean that my ministry is done. Rather, the door has actually been opened to a lot more Gospel conversation with many individuals, including my coach.
If I can end on one final point, this is it. John Piper has written a book, "Don't Waste Your Life," and that theme has just really stuck with me ever since I read the book. It was the theme of FCA this year, it is a title of an often-played Lecrae song, and it also shows up on many of my shirts. But if we could scale that down a little bit, I would encourage you to not waste your day, or not waste your hour. In my situation, I knew that I had one last meeting with coach, and I don't know how I could have handled it if I had wasted it. I guess I did have a slight advantage knowing that it was my last one. But maybe you have an opportunity at school, or at work, or in the Kroger checkout line. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. Maybe this is your last encounter with this person. My prayer is that you won't look back on that situation one day with regrets, but rather you will look back praising God that He gave you that opportunity and you made the most of it. In this life, nothing else matters. If only we can just finish the course that God has set out for us. We have one life to live. Let's not waste it.
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."
Welcome to the Todd McClure story. Some of you may know these details and some of you may not. But I am going to fast-forward through my life to get to my main point. I have no intentions of dwelling on my past or even bringing attention to myself, but rather my goal is to show what the LORD has truly done in my life...
Growing up, soccer was my dream. I even remember coloring a picture in kindergarten and telling my teacher that it was my dream to play professional soccer. God and family were always a big part as well, but soccer was my passion.
In high school, I won two state championships. I also received numerous awards and as a result, I was contacted by many different schools, some offering scholarships and others offering the opportunity to play Division 1. The latter was too good to pass up. After visiting Marshall University and speaking with the head coach, I knew this is where I was supposed to be.
I often look back and wonder what it was that drew me to Marshall. To be honest, soccer is the only reason I came here and well, that hasn't exactly flourished. I guess I could go into more details with that. I had aspirations of being the star, but coach never put me on the roster. I had dreams of being the leading goal scorer, but really, I was never given a chance. I wanted to have my jersey retired one day, but instead, I have bounced around from number to number, depending on who was injured. Ironically, the one thing that brought me to this school hasn't exactly worked out. There are a lot of other things that have happened, many of them illegal, and so I cannot post that sort of material on this site. Point being, however, soccer really wasn't all that I had hoped it would be.
Following each semester, players had individual meetings with the coaching staff. Mine always consisted of coach suggesting that I transfer and me simply just turning that talk into motivation. However, no matter how hard I worked, or how hard I tried, I felt as if I was invisible. And if you looked at the Marshall record books, I was invisible.
In the meantime, I was a part of Campus Crusade for Christ and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and was growing daily in my walk with the LORD. But one day in particular struck me more than any other day. It was at the 2008 Campus Crusade Winter Conference and Chad Young was speaking on going to the "deepest, darkest parts of campus to share the love of Jesus." He suggested scenarios such as going to the the fraternities or the sororities, but for me, I knew that it was a call to go to my teammates and to the rest of the athletic teams on campus. For the first time, a vision was implanted in me and I knew that I had to go.
That spring, several of my teammates came to Christ. This was not because of my own doing but it was because the LORD was simply just answering prayers and allowing me to be a part of it. In addition to this, several football players, including a former roommate of mine, also made professions of faith. What a miraculous event all of this was! We were seeing the athletic department won to Christ!
A lot of times, people have stories of the past, but mine is still present. You may notice that we are now more than a year from that original event, but God is still leading people to Christ throughout the whole athletic department. In fact, we have seen our FCA grow from about 6-7 people my freshman year to more than 50 people this year! God really is at work.
However, over the past year, I have known that my main mission is to share Christ with my teammates and my coaches. My teammates were easy, as those that had come to faith were also assisting me in that mission. However, the coaching staff was a different story. I had tried to talk to the coaches, particularly the head coach, multiple times a year. But the more and more that I tried, the higher and higher the barricade went. Multiple times I was asked to leave his office or he simply just walked away as I was trying to share the love of Christ with him. But I knew that I had to keep trying. He was the last one on my mission.
I knew going into this spring that it would be my final semester on the team. The coaching staff had made that very clear and offered me the opportunity to quit right away, but I told them I didn't want to do that. After another semester of trials and hardship, I was finally given another opportunity to meet with the coaching staff, this being my final meeting.
When I was praying before my the meeting, I thought back to Esther 4:14 when Mordecai suggests that Esther was raised up for "such a times as this." Again, I often look back to my reasons for coming to Marshall and I knew that it felt so right. So could it be that I had come for such a time as this as well?
The meeting started and, as predicted, I was told that my career was done. But (prayers answered) he then asked if I had anything to add, which I did...
"Coach, looking back over the years, I haven't really moved anywhere on the depth chart. And each time that we have met, you have suggested transferring or quitting, but I have continued to ignore you. And so with that, I must be extremely stupid, or extremely determined..."
With that, he made his point as to why I appeared to be determined, shown by my motivation on the field. However, I responded...
"You see my motivation on a really shallow level. If you don't mind, I would like to introduce you to a deeper level of my life, and this is where my motivation lies. As you know, I am a member of FCA and am a follower of Christ, and the only reason that I have stuck around this long is because sports gives you a platform. With that platform, you are surrounded by 25-30 guys every day, a coaching staff, and a community that looks up to you. Now you can either use that platform to glorify yourself or you can use it to glorify something greater. And I use it to glorify Christ. You see it as me sticking around simply just to try to earn playing time. But I want you to know that the only reason that I have stuck around for so long, despite all the opposition, is to show my teammates the love of Christ, to show you all the love of Christ, and to show the community the love of Christ."
He responded a lot better than expected, "Todd, I have noticed that you have always been on a mission...And whether you know it or not, you really have had a great impact on the lives of your teammates, and, I say this humbly, you have made a great impact on my life as well..."
Much more took place in that meeting and much more was said, but that is a conversation that must be shared with you in person. However, I left that office feeling like I had accomplished something. I left with all weight removed from my chest. And I left without any regrets.
I came to Marshall with the goal of playing soccer, but God took that and literally made me one of "the least of these" (1 Cor. 1:27). From that position, He gave me the mission of proclaiming Christ to my teammates and to my coaching staff and for the first time in my life, I can finally say that I have completed that task. I don't say that boastfully because the majority of times in my life, I fail in carrying out the mission that God gives me. However in this situation, I can say that I have done it. And that does not mean that my ministry is done. Rather, the door has actually been opened to a lot more Gospel conversation with many individuals, including my coach.
If I can end on one final point, this is it. John Piper has written a book, "Don't Waste Your Life," and that theme has just really stuck with me ever since I read the book. It was the theme of FCA this year, it is a title of an often-played Lecrae song, and it also shows up on many of my shirts. But if we could scale that down a little bit, I would encourage you to not waste your day, or not waste your hour. In my situation, I knew that I had one last meeting with coach, and I don't know how I could have handled it if I had wasted it. I guess I did have a slight advantage knowing that it was my last one. But maybe you have an opportunity at school, or at work, or in the Kroger checkout line. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. Maybe this is your last encounter with this person. My prayer is that you won't look back on that situation one day with regrets, but rather you will look back praising God that He gave you that opportunity and you made the most of it. In this life, nothing else matters. If only we can just finish the course that God has set out for us. We have one life to live. Let's not waste it.
"But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Ministry of Reconciliation
Many of you may remember my post from awhile ago titled, "A Message of Love." It was all about how I was given a message from Colonel's mom to pass on to him. The message was, "I love you." Given such an incredible message to share, I couldn't wait to find him. I ended up passing on that message and I feel like so many doors were opened in my relationship with Colonel. Well this past Wednesday, another incredible event took place.
I saw Colonel on Tuesday night after coming home from FCA. Luke, Chris and I stood out by the dumpster and visited with him for a little bit. I shared with him that his mom had called me a couple of days ago to just ask how he was doing. I then asked him if he wanted to talk to her. He immediately responded yes. It was sort of too late to call at that time, so we planned to meet the following evening at 8:30 pm, sharp.
I walked out of my apartment at 8:29, and there was Colonel, leaning on his can-filled buggy, waiting for me. He complained that I was a minute late, but I explained that his watch was actually two minutes fast. We quickly got through that dispute and he asked, "Can I call my mom?" I grabbed my cell phone and dialed her number and it rang a few times before the answering machine picked up. I hung up and kept trying over and over for the next fifteen minutes until his mom finally answered the phone.
I then passed off the phone to Colonel and he got to talk to his mom for about 25 minutes, the first time they had talked in nearly 2 years. You could see the joy on his face! He asked her all about his sisters, and nieces, and cousins. He found out a lot about how everything back home had developed in the last 30 years and how he had kind of missed out on all of it. He got to tell his mom all about Huntington, WV and about the "scrap metal business that he runs". And with each exchange of words, you could see how welcomed he felt by his mom.
Afterward, Bobby (one of his partners) asked if he, too, could use my phone. He preceded in calling his uncle and talking to him for the first time in nearly two years as well. I have no idea how he remembered the phone number. But in both conversations you could see how delighted they were to get in touch with their family. Especially in Colonel's eyes, you could see how he went from a feeling of anxiousness and fear (not knowing how he would be accepted, or even if he would be accepted) to a feeling of love, knowing that he was accepted by his mom.
In the last blog post about this topic, I talked about how it reminded me of how God, also, has given us a message of love. He has given us the Gospel to take to all the nations. Well this night reminded me even more of it...
Before my eyes, I witnessed two men who were being reconciled to their family. They had left under harsh circumstances and hadn't talked to their families in many years (Colonel hasn't seen his mom in over 30 years). They were once extremely close, yet now they have been separated from their family. But we were given the opportunity to reconcile them.
The same is also true with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Paul writes of how we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. He writes in verse 16 that we are to "regard no one from a wordly point of view," but rather we are to see everyone as Christ sees them. I think often of how we are so moved by seeing the reconciliation of families, but rarely are we moved when we see a sinner reconciled to Christ. We are moved by the fact that Colonel has been reconciled to his mom, but in reality, it doesn't matter unless he also becomes reconciled to Christ (which is a daily prayer from his mom).
I share this post for three reasons:
1) I wanted to update you on what has happened in that story. It truly has been incredible to witness. And please understand that it is nothing by my own doing, but rather, it is God at work. So give Him all the glory!
2) I want you to pray for him. Pray for his reconciliation to the true Father. Join his mother in praying for him daily.
3) I want you to think about how you can reconcile others to God. You have been given the ministry of reconciliation. And when I saw how welcoming Colonel's mom was, I couldn't help but think about how much greater the welcome from God will be (just read the story of the prodigal son).
Maybe it is you who needs to be reconciled to God. Maybe you are the one who has left God and are now digging in the "trash" of this world. If so, please get in touch with me. I would love to talk more with you about how to get things right with God. Or even if you don't need my words, please just let me know how I can pray for you. God is waiting patiently for you to come home, ready to welcome you with open arms.
I want to leave you with the final verse of the 2 Corinthians passage to just meditate on for a little while. It truly is incredible:
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
I saw Colonel on Tuesday night after coming home from FCA. Luke, Chris and I stood out by the dumpster and visited with him for a little bit. I shared with him that his mom had called me a couple of days ago to just ask how he was doing. I then asked him if he wanted to talk to her. He immediately responded yes. It was sort of too late to call at that time, so we planned to meet the following evening at 8:30 pm, sharp.
I walked out of my apartment at 8:29, and there was Colonel, leaning on his can-filled buggy, waiting for me. He complained that I was a minute late, but I explained that his watch was actually two minutes fast. We quickly got through that dispute and he asked, "Can I call my mom?" I grabbed my cell phone and dialed her number and it rang a few times before the answering machine picked up. I hung up and kept trying over and over for the next fifteen minutes until his mom finally answered the phone.
I then passed off the phone to Colonel and he got to talk to his mom for about 25 minutes, the first time they had talked in nearly 2 years. You could see the joy on his face! He asked her all about his sisters, and nieces, and cousins. He found out a lot about how everything back home had developed in the last 30 years and how he had kind of missed out on all of it. He got to tell his mom all about Huntington, WV and about the "scrap metal business that he runs". And with each exchange of words, you could see how welcomed he felt by his mom.
Afterward, Bobby (one of his partners) asked if he, too, could use my phone. He preceded in calling his uncle and talking to him for the first time in nearly two years as well. I have no idea how he remembered the phone number. But in both conversations you could see how delighted they were to get in touch with their family. Especially in Colonel's eyes, you could see how he went from a feeling of anxiousness and fear (not knowing how he would be accepted, or even if he would be accepted) to a feeling of love, knowing that he was accepted by his mom.
In the last blog post about this topic, I talked about how it reminded me of how God, also, has given us a message of love. He has given us the Gospel to take to all the nations. Well this night reminded me even more of it...
Before my eyes, I witnessed two men who were being reconciled to their family. They had left under harsh circumstances and hadn't talked to their families in many years (Colonel hasn't seen his mom in over 30 years). They were once extremely close, yet now they have been separated from their family. But we were given the opportunity to reconcile them.
The same is also true with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Paul writes of how we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. He writes in verse 16 that we are to "regard no one from a wordly point of view," but rather we are to see everyone as Christ sees them. I think often of how we are so moved by seeing the reconciliation of families, but rarely are we moved when we see a sinner reconciled to Christ. We are moved by the fact that Colonel has been reconciled to his mom, but in reality, it doesn't matter unless he also becomes reconciled to Christ (which is a daily prayer from his mom).
I share this post for three reasons:
1) I wanted to update you on what has happened in that story. It truly has been incredible to witness. And please understand that it is nothing by my own doing, but rather, it is God at work. So give Him all the glory!
2) I want you to pray for him. Pray for his reconciliation to the true Father. Join his mother in praying for him daily.
3) I want you to think about how you can reconcile others to God. You have been given the ministry of reconciliation. And when I saw how welcoming Colonel's mom was, I couldn't help but think about how much greater the welcome from God will be (just read the story of the prodigal son).
Maybe it is you who needs to be reconciled to God. Maybe you are the one who has left God and are now digging in the "trash" of this world. If so, please get in touch with me. I would love to talk more with you about how to get things right with God. Or even if you don't need my words, please just let me know how I can pray for you. God is waiting patiently for you to come home, ready to welcome you with open arms.
I want to leave you with the final verse of the 2 Corinthians passage to just meditate on for a little while. It truly is incredible:
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Don't Be Normal
In the first paragraph of the final chapter of the book, "Forgotten God" (which I highly recommend), Francis Chan writes:
"My hope and prayer for you, the reader, is that church people don't try to normalize you. What I mean is that we often try to calm people down who are just too passionate or too sacrificial and radical..."
Possibly, a situation is already coming to mind. Maybe you were the one living passionately and your church tried to calm you down, or even worse, they did calm you down. Or maybe you were on the other side of the situation, and you were the one trying to calm someone else down. This is quite a contradiction to the early church (found in Acts 4). Peter and John were living radical lives and were preaching with boldness, even under arrest. Those around them were astonished because they could see so much of Jesus in their lives (4:13). Right after their release, they returned to the other believers and prayed for even more boldness (4:29), and the church joined them in that. THE CHURCH JOINED THEM IN PRAYER. THEY DID NOT TRY TO CALM THEM DOWN!
What is going on with the church today? I have had several experiences where I have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried to live passionately and some church people have tried to pull me back. Thankfully I also have a lot that are encouraging me to press forward and are promising to pray for me. But I can't help but to think of those who try to pull me back or calm me down. I have also seen this happen with many other people. How dare we try to destroy the passion that God has given them! Who are we? What authority do we have?
The most common excuse that people give is that you need to start thinking about your future. But what about those who don't have a future? What about those in Cambodia who will die of starvation unless we help them? What about the orphans of Haiti who aren't even old enough to fend for themselves? What about the young girls in Poland who will be sold into prostitution? Or what about the little boys in India who will be forced into child trafficking? Or let us not forget about the homeless in the very streets of America who aren't even promised a meal tomorrow. Who will offer them a future? Who will fight for their rights? Who will give up their future so that others can have one?
I know a few people who barely live above the poverty rate, yet they still give everything they have to the poor. Some declare them to be irresponsible with the gifts that God has given them. But why do you think that God has given them those gifts? To buy a new TV? To get a new car? If you are one who lives this way, keep doing it! Don't let the church normalize you. Be like the widow, in Luke 21, who gave all that she had. Your money has been given to you for that very purpose: to give to others. If we were to go back to the model of that first church, we would see that everyone shared everything they owned (Acts 4:32). Live this way! Live radically!
A personal one that struck me the hardest was this, "Why risk your life in going overseas? Can't we just let the locals do that?" Do you realize that there are still 6,642 unreached people groups in the world that have practically zero access to the Gospel!? What local is going to tell them? Most of those countries won't even permit a Bible in their country, nor will they allow you to view any Christian material online. The only way to get the Gospel to them is to take it to them yourself. And if I may backtrack a bit, what sort of message would it be if we simply just sent a message to them and weren't even bold enough to show our faces. Is the Gospel not worth it? Personally, I would gladly die for just one unreached person to hear the Gospel for the first time.
And this last one is probably the most pathetic: "You are making us look bad." Well who's fault is that? I once heard someone say, "I want to live a life the makes other Christians feel intimidated." Oh, how I love that statement! I don't think that person meant that his goal was to simply intimidate others, but rather his goal was to magnify Christ so much in his life that others would feel convicted and be urged on to do the same. So what if you suffer persecution? So what if you sometimes you are the only one standing? So what if you are mocked? I want to be like David who responded to critics in 2 Samuel 6 that one day he would be "even more undignified than this."
Have you ever performed on stage before? If so, you may remember what it is like to have the spotlight on you. You have no idea whether that theater is empty or full, because all that you can see is the spotlight. Well the goal of my life is to live in the spotlight. By that statement, I don't mean that I want others to see me (that would be the perspective of the audience). But rather, I want to be so focused on that spotlight that I can't see anything else (the perspective of the performer). I want to be so focused on God and so passionate about living for His glory, that I wouldn't even see what the rest of the world is doing.
I wish I was a better writer, or that I could convey this message better. But it is what it is. My prayer is that this message would connect with you where ever you are. If God has given you a passion, run with it! Never let the flame die! Surround yourself with people who will support you in prayer and in whatever other means you need support in. Live a life that is radical. Live a life that is passionate. Be who God has called you to be. And lastly, don't be normal.
"My hope and prayer for you, the reader, is that church people don't try to normalize you. What I mean is that we often try to calm people down who are just too passionate or too sacrificial and radical..."
Possibly, a situation is already coming to mind. Maybe you were the one living passionately and your church tried to calm you down, or even worse, they did calm you down. Or maybe you were on the other side of the situation, and you were the one trying to calm someone else down. This is quite a contradiction to the early church (found in Acts 4). Peter and John were living radical lives and were preaching with boldness, even under arrest. Those around them were astonished because they could see so much of Jesus in their lives (4:13). Right after their release, they returned to the other believers and prayed for even more boldness (4:29), and the church joined them in that. THE CHURCH JOINED THEM IN PRAYER. THEY DID NOT TRY TO CALM THEM DOWN!
What is going on with the church today? I have had several experiences where I have stepped out of my comfort zone and tried to live passionately and some church people have tried to pull me back. Thankfully I also have a lot that are encouraging me to press forward and are promising to pray for me. But I can't help but to think of those who try to pull me back or calm me down. I have also seen this happen with many other people. How dare we try to destroy the passion that God has given them! Who are we? What authority do we have?
The most common excuse that people give is that you need to start thinking about your future. But what about those who don't have a future? What about those in Cambodia who will die of starvation unless we help them? What about the orphans of Haiti who aren't even old enough to fend for themselves? What about the young girls in Poland who will be sold into prostitution? Or what about the little boys in India who will be forced into child trafficking? Or let us not forget about the homeless in the very streets of America who aren't even promised a meal tomorrow. Who will offer them a future? Who will fight for their rights? Who will give up their future so that others can have one?
I know a few people who barely live above the poverty rate, yet they still give everything they have to the poor. Some declare them to be irresponsible with the gifts that God has given them. But why do you think that God has given them those gifts? To buy a new TV? To get a new car? If you are one who lives this way, keep doing it! Don't let the church normalize you. Be like the widow, in Luke 21, who gave all that she had. Your money has been given to you for that very purpose: to give to others. If we were to go back to the model of that first church, we would see that everyone shared everything they owned (Acts 4:32). Live this way! Live radically!
A personal one that struck me the hardest was this, "Why risk your life in going overseas? Can't we just let the locals do that?" Do you realize that there are still 6,642 unreached people groups in the world that have practically zero access to the Gospel!? What local is going to tell them? Most of those countries won't even permit a Bible in their country, nor will they allow you to view any Christian material online. The only way to get the Gospel to them is to take it to them yourself. And if I may backtrack a bit, what sort of message would it be if we simply just sent a message to them and weren't even bold enough to show our faces. Is the Gospel not worth it? Personally, I would gladly die for just one unreached person to hear the Gospel for the first time.
And this last one is probably the most pathetic: "You are making us look bad." Well who's fault is that? I once heard someone say, "I want to live a life the makes other Christians feel intimidated." Oh, how I love that statement! I don't think that person meant that his goal was to simply intimidate others, but rather his goal was to magnify Christ so much in his life that others would feel convicted and be urged on to do the same. So what if you suffer persecution? So what if you sometimes you are the only one standing? So what if you are mocked? I want to be like David who responded to critics in 2 Samuel 6 that one day he would be "even more undignified than this."
Have you ever performed on stage before? If so, you may remember what it is like to have the spotlight on you. You have no idea whether that theater is empty or full, because all that you can see is the spotlight. Well the goal of my life is to live in the spotlight. By that statement, I don't mean that I want others to see me (that would be the perspective of the audience). But rather, I want to be so focused on that spotlight that I can't see anything else (the perspective of the performer). I want to be so focused on God and so passionate about living for His glory, that I wouldn't even see what the rest of the world is doing.
I wish I was a better writer, or that I could convey this message better. But it is what it is. My prayer is that this message would connect with you where ever you are. If God has given you a passion, run with it! Never let the flame die! Surround yourself with people who will support you in prayer and in whatever other means you need support in. Live a life that is radical. Live a life that is passionate. Be who God has called you to be. And lastly, don't be normal.
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