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)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
