August 13, 2010

Todays Reading:  Nehemiah 5:14-7:60, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Psalms 33:1-12, Proverbs 21:8-10

Scripture:  ”Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.  For he spoke, and it came to be;  he commanded, and it stood firm.  The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Psalms 33:8-12

Observation:  There were a few things I wanted to write about today from these scriptures; however, this psalm stands out to me most in my walk with Christ.  What are my plans?  What are your plans?  What are the church’s plans?  What are the plans of the pastor God has ordained for us?  I believe the problem with me and everyone I have ever known is that most of our lives we make our own plans.  I made a plan after graduating college that I would be a businessman and make a good living, live in a nice house, drive a nice car, etc, etc.  I lived out my plan to find that I was absolutely miserable doing what I thought would make me happy.  God’s plan and my plan were very different.  This passage says “the Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.”  God’s plans and purposes stand firm and do not change.

Application:  So how do we apply this?  I believe most of us are living a life that is very self-centered.  We have tainted the Word of God to the point that most of us believe that God’s desire is to make us happy.  Therefore, we have lived our lives trying to buy enough stuff to make ourselves happy, and in turn, we have created lives of insurmountable debts, fractured families and churches of little to no significance in the community in which they exist.  Verse 12 says “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”  What I am saying is we have too many things in our lives for God to be Lord.  The reason churches have removed Wednesday night and Sunday night services is because nobody comes.  Sunday is now a “family day”.  Wednesday nights are now spent at the ballpark or dance rehearsals.  Children’s programs are non-existent because parents don’t want to be here, not because the children don’t want to be here.  Prayer meetings are empty because we are surviving on our own.  Why would we need God to intervene?  The harsh reality is that we don’t really want to know what God’s plan is unless it makes us comfortable.  The other side of this reality is that when we do this we are saying that we don’t belong to God–our lives are our own.  It is imperative that we define God’s role in our lives as the master and authority over all that we do.  How can a church change without it’s people giving their lives completely over to the plan and purpose of God?  How can a community change without a church giving it’s existence completely over to the plan and purpose of God?  If we give God control our focus will no longer be on how to make ourselves happy.  It will be how can we give God glory.

August 12, 2010

Todays Reading:  Nehemiah 3:15-5:13, 1 Corinthians 7:25-40, Psalms 32:1-11, Proverbs 21:5-7

Scripture (not from today’s reading):  ”Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  for I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law–A man’s enemies will be the member of his own household.  Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;  anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”   Matthew 10:34-39

We are about to, as a church body, go through a Wednesday night study together based on the book “Radical” by David Platt.  I have read the book and I am excited that we will read it together as a church.  What this study will involve is us studying the Bible to determine what it means to be a Radical Christian and a radical church.  One of the hardest parts for me to grasp is the idea of radical abandonment.  What does it even mean?  Based upon Matthew 10:38-39 we see that Jesus’ words are very direct about what He demands of us as followers and believers of Him.  We are to take up our cross, an instrument of torture, and follow Him.  Any of us who does not do this is not worthy of Christ.  We must lose our lives in order to find our lives.

Certainly Jesus isn’t speaking in a literal sense.  He really doesn’t mean what He’s saying, does He?  Here’s a passage from “Radical” that I believe the American church needs to hear today:

“And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor.  But we don’t want to believe it.  We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives.  So we rationalize these passages away.  ”Jesus wouldn’t really tell us to bury our father or say goodbye to our family.  Jesus didn’t literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor.  What Jesus really meant was….’

And this is where we need to pause.  Because we are starting to redefine Christianity.  We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with.  A

A nice, middle-class, American Jesus.  A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have.  A Jesus who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that he receives all our affection.  A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are.  A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether.  A Jesus who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.

But do you and I realize what we are doing at this point?  We are molding Jesus into our image.  He is beginning to look a lot like us because, after all, that is whom we are most comfortable with.  And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshipping the Jesus of the Bible.  Instead we may be worshipping ourselves.”

Is that a bit harsh?  I’m not sure it is.  I believe the American church has molded Jesus to be something very different than what the Bible actually says He is.  I believe we have taken the parts of scripture out that are most difficult to us and instead we focus on the parts that make us feel good about ourselves.  We serve a master who demands radical obedience.  I’m not sure how many of us are willing to live the life that God is truly calling us to; however, I believe it is our duty to search scripture and define Christianity Biblically, not traditionally.  If we can all begin living radically for Christ we will see our lives change, this church change, this community change and God glorified.

August 9, 2010

Todays Reading:  Ezra 8:21-9:15, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Psalms 31:1-8, Proverbs 21:1-2

Scripture:  ”What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?  Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside.  ”Expel the wicked man from among you.”  1 Corinthians 5:12-13

Observation:  This is the letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.  To give a little background on Corinth, it was a wealthy trading center during this time.  It was also a city known throughout the Roman world for it’s wickedness.  At this time, the church in Corinth was new and it was difficult for the Christians to not act like the world they lived in; consequently the church was having its share of problems.  So here are new believers having problems living differently than the world.  The only difference that I see in Corinth and the church in America today is that we are not a new church.  We are not new believers.  In the “Bible belt”  we have been raised in the church our entire existence.  With that being so, why in the world are no different than the church of Corinth?  Is it because we are without a pastor?  Is it because we have had some staff eliminations?  Is it because of our outstanding debt?  I would beg to say that it’s none of these issues.  We are no different than the church of Corinth because true, sincere heart change has never taken place in our lives.  Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  When we allow God into our lives he gives us a new heart.  Our desires become His desires.  But we are all sinful people, right?  That is right.  We will fall and stumble in our walk with God; however, a person with a changed heart does not live a life of sin.  When they fall they grieve in their failure and experience true repentance.

Application:  I chose this passage for us to think about what Paul is talking about here.  We can absolutely judge right and wrong when it comes to those of us who call ourselves Christ Followers.  Paul’s version of “tough love” is the epitome of tough.  I don’t think most churches in America today practice discipline the way the Bible defines it.  We have lost the meaning of accountability, and therefore, we are now no different than the world that exists around us.  Maybe it’s time we ask ourselves if we ever experienced a true heart change when we accepted Christ in our lives.  Maybe it’s time we become accountable to one another when see other professing brothers and sisters living a life that is sinful.  With that being said, I also believe that we have to start discipling new believers.  We have a tendency to let people go as soon as they dry off from their baptism.  One of the reasons we look like the world is because most of us were never discipled.  We have a duty to walk with new believers.  Unfortunately, we have lost sight on what it means to disciple.

We are experiencing a wake-up call as a church.  We need reside in God’s Word in order to know what His desires are for us.  We also need to live out the words found in scripture.  We need to teach the gospel, we need to disciple new believers, and we need to hold each other accountable.

July 6, 2010

Todays Reading:  1 Chronicles 2:18-4:8, Acts 24:1-27, Psalms 4:1-8, Proverbs 18:16-18

Scripture:  Act 24:1-27

Coming off a long Fourth of July weekend I read this chapter in Acts with a little different vantage point.  Here’s Paul pleading his case before Felix.  Paul isn’t pleading for his life or even that they not throw him jail.  All he’s pleading is that he is being falsely accused.  He pleads his case and then says, “However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect.  I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”  How does that have anything to do with our Independence Day?  This is what it means to me.  Here’s Paul, a true follower of Christ, a man who endured much persecution for his faith in Christ, a man who ultimately died for his faith, had very little religious freedom.  Then there’s me.  I have all the religious freedom that can be offered to someone, yet I rarely use my freedom to spread the gospel.  Paul has little freedom and faces persecution, but none if it stops him from spreading the gospel.  I have all the freedom and I’m too lazy to do anything with it.

It’s a shame that we have lived a life of such prosperity that we have forgotten what it feels like to need something.  It’s a shame that we feel such a sense of entitlement that we even believe we’re entitled to eternity.  The truth of the matter is the things that we are enjoying so much here on this earth may also be the things that cause us to take our eyes off of Christ.  We live in the greatest country in the world, but we have forgotten God because we no longer need Him.  We believe we have it all.

Application: My application is simple.  Utilize the freedom I have to spread the name of Jesus.  Stop focusing on myself and what I don’t have (because I have everything) and use the body, the voice, the possessions to grow God’s Kingdom.  We still need God.  Our earthly prosperity will not win us eternity with Him.

Prayer: God forgive me for being so self-righteous.  Forgive me for taking my freedom for granted.  God deliver me from my sense of entitlement.  Create in me a heart to reach the lost and dying world right here around me.  Give me energy to carry out your purpose.

July 2, 2010

Todays Reading:  2 Kings 20:1-22:2, Acts 21:15-36, Psalms 150:1-6, Proverbs 18:9-10

Scripture: “He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.”  Proverbs 18:9

I have been going back and forth trying to decide whether I should write on the scripture in Acts about Paul or this one here in Proverbs.  Needless to say, I came up with my decision.  This passage is written in the Message to say: “Slack habits and sloppy work are as bad as vandalism.”  I am part of a generation that seems to have a pretty poor work ethic, yet a great sense of entitlement.  Unfortunately my generation is giving birth to children and teaching by this example.  However, God requires diligence and hard work from those of us who call ourselves followers.  Proverbs 14:23 says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”  So, what am I talking about?  Am I referring to working hard in our place of employment?  Yes!  However, that is not all I’m talking about.  We should work hard at our jobs.  We should work hard as spouses.  We should work hard as parents.  We should work hard as followers of Christ.  If Jesus is our example, and He is our model for how we live our lives then we must be hard workers.

Why would I write about this at this time when the story of Paul may seem so much more dynamic?  I believe that this is more relevant to us today at Grace.  This is a time where we must work hard.  This is a time where we roll up our sleeves and stop blaming others for things not getting done and we do it.  This is the time that we allow God to work through us.  We have many areas that are in need of people.  You have to be willing to get out of your seat on Sunday mornings and do something different.  I have had numerous people step up to start our new format for children’s worship.  We have met and brainstormed all the possibilities of what can be done with our children.  We have had financial gifts and donations made to us to allow us to do something big here at Grace through children’s worship.  We had close to 30 adults assisting me at my site for VBS this year (that’s not counting our other 2 sites).  We were off campus and doing something different, but the people of Grace stepped up to make our backyard Bible clubs a success.

We have made church more about meeting our needs and less about meeting others needs.  It’s time to face the reality that our work has been sloppy.  We haven’t worked hard.  It’s time that we do so, and we do it for the glory of God.  When we go to bed at night let’s be exhausted from working hard at our jobs, working hard as a spouse, working hard as a parent and working hard to spread the name of Jesus.

June 25, 2010

I have taken this month and stopped publishing my writings because I have chosen to keep my thoughts private this month.  There has been so much going on here that I felt it was best to not say anything.  Maybe that was good, maybe it was bad.  Either way that’s what I have done.  I just don’t want my journal being misinterpreted.  So, where does that leave me right now?  I will start back next month with my journal blog.  I hope you all come back then.  Thanks!

June 1, 2010

Todays Reading:  2 Samuel 18:1-19:8, John 20:1-31, Psalms 119:153-176, Proverbs 16:14-15

Yesterday was Memorial Day.  Today is election day.  We heard a message from Derek this weekend that talked about “Standing Up”, “Speaking Up”, and “Speaking Out”.  He spoke about this because of the freedom we have because of our soldiers who fight for our rights to do these things.  We honored those soldiers this weekend, but I wonder how many of us will honor them today by voting.  It may seem to many of us that voting is not a spiritual practice; therefore, what’s the problem if I don’t vote.   The problem is this–If we don’t vote then we have dishonored the soldiers who have died for us to have that freedom.  If we don’t vote we allow whomever to run this state and this country.  If we don’t vote, we are saying that our morals as Christians don’t matter.

This didn’t come from our reading today, but I urge all of us to vote.  It is our time to “stand up, speak up, and speak out”.