To Be Or Not To Be...Content

Sunday our pastor continued working his way through 1 Timothy, specifically 6:3-10, and the main point he was making was that people will either try to use God for personal gain or they will be content simply to worship God. This started my wheels turning because it forced me to think about my own motives in pursuing a life of godliness. I started asking myself some questions, and honestly I think they are questions that we must all answer when it comes to God and our motives.

Am I trying by my own effort to earn a salvation that has already been freely given?

Am I trying to be more godly so that God will give me the things that I want?

Am I content simply to rest in the hope that I have in Christ, knowing that no matter what comes my way or crosses my path, God works for the good of those who love Him?

If I am not content, if there is always something more that I need to be happy, then what does that say about my walk with Christ and the authenticity of my faith?

If my identity is found in money and power, have I not forgotten that God owns it all anyway?

If my satisfaction is found in sex, have I not forgotten that there is no greater pleasure than to know God?

If my self-worth is found in knowledge, have I not forgotten the infinite depths of knowledge which belongs to God alone?

Maybe this whole montage of questions is just a means for me to think out loud a bit, to process what the Lord is teaching me through His Word and the men who are faithful to preach it week in and week out. But perhaps it is something that we all need to think through.

Each day when we wake up, what is the dominant thought in our minds? Is it all the things we have to do...or the disappointments we have felt...or even guilt because of our own sin and failure? Or are we confidently approaching the throne of grace to worship the only God who saves and sustains, who redeems and restores? I genuinely pray it is the latter. I also know myself and my own sin nature and I realize that we probably all wake up, more often than not, overwhelmed or defeated by the former.

And so I am purposing, I am setting my mind and heart, to pray each day:

Father, you are the Author of Life and the Hope of Salvation. You are Today, will You fill me with the contentment that can only be found in You. Today, in trial or comfort, success or failure, I will be content to know Christ and Him crucified. Today, rich or poor, happy or sad, I will be completely satisfied to rest in the hope that is Christ's blood shed for me and proclaim Your Gospel to the nations. Amen.

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That you might know Christ,

Why We Obey

Here's something about parenting that you might not have realized:

The most heart-breaking thing about a child disobeying is not the first time they do it.

It's the second,

                         and the third,

                                               and the twentieth times.

Why is that?

Because every parent, deep down in their heart, hopes that after the first time their child gets in trouble for something then the child will permanently realize the error of their way and never commit another wrong the rest of their life.

If only it were that easy...

This seems like such a random topic to write about, but it's not coming from nowhere. It's coming from my few years of being a dad up to this point. Tonight, as I sat and talked with Isabella for what seemed like the hundredth (and most certainly not the last) time about disobedience, I found myself saying something to her that I think has been brewing inside of me for quite some time.

"What happens when we disobey?"
(sniff sniff) "A spanking..."
"So do we get a spanking if we obey?"
(sniff) "No."
"How do you show Daddy you love him?"
"Hugs and kisses."
"That's right. And we don't just obey to not get a spanking. When you obey Daddy, you're showing him that you love him. Does disobeying show Daddy love?"
"No."
"What's it show him?"
"Not love."

Every time I have a conversation with Isabella about something discipline related, especially disobedience, I feel like I'm having the same conversation with God - except in reverse. He's using parenting to convict and discipline me. Maybe I'm just late to the game, but it's finally settling deep in my heart that my obedience to God should not be from fear of punishment.

Could God choose to smite me at any moment? Yes. He is God and He has that option.

But God gives me chance after chance, even though I fail miserably time and again.

Why?

Because God loves His creation, especially His human creation. We are the only created thing with His very image stamped into us. As image-bearers of God, we were made to do one thing: worship. Ideally, sin excluded, we would all worship God. We would love Him as perfectly as we were made. Our relationship would be unbroken.

And God wants us to love Him back. He wants us to obey Him, not because He'll punish us if we don't but because we love Him more than anything else in this whole world, even ourselves. Just as much as He wants us to tell Him we love Him with our words, He wants our actions to reveal the same heart of love for our Father.

But sin messed all that up. Sin broke our relationship and distorted our love. Now, we seek to worship anything and everything we can get our hands on. We worship money, sex, and power. We worship people. Most of all, we worship ourselves.

Anything but God.

Sin caused that rift in us. "And it's a void only He can fill."

And so God filled it. In the form of a baby, fully God and fully man, born to walk this earth in perfect relationship with the Father, Jesus Christ did what we could never do. On a cruel, rugged cross, dying a death He did not deserve, stepping into punishment in our place, Jesus Christ made a way where there was no way.

Why?

Because God loves us. And He wants us to love Him in return. He wants us to live for Him, to serve Him, to worship Him as He rightly deserves.

Will we continue to mess up? Of course. But we will not be repentant primarily because we fear punishment, though that is a valid concern (just because we are God's children doesn't mean that He never disciplines us).

Rather, we repent with deep mourning over our sin because we understand the depth of the punishment that Christ took on our behalf and the disappointment and hurt that God feels, just as a parent does with a child, each time we choose to make something else more important that obeying, loving, and worshipping Him.

It's important that Isabella obeys us as her parents. We have her best in mind. We're trying to help her understand not just that she should obey, but why she should obey - out of love for us, and we hope one day out of love for her Heavenly Father.

It's even more important for us to obey God. He has our best in mind, too. Better than we could ever imagine. But perhaps it's just as important for us to remember not only that we are to obey God, but why we ought to obey Him.

---

That you might know Christ,

Brushing Teeth

Sometimes I don't brush my teeth very well.

Admit it - sometimes you don't either. You know that day, the one where you're in a hurry to get out the door, kid or dog or coffee in one arm, bag or trash or computer in the other, fifty things on the to-do list for the day, and you're just glad that your head is physically attached to your body or you'd forget that too!

Surely that's not just me?

...

Anyone?

Okay, regardless of how busy (or not) your life gets, I was driving down the road the other day and I realized as I swiped my tongue across my newly brushed teeth that I had missed a substantial amount of...well, junk. They felt clean all along the front. But the backside of my teeth, the hidden places, felt as dirty as if I hadn't brushed. I honestly thought, "Wow, I might as well not have brushed my teeth..."

It's funny, though. Even on the days when it is obvious how poorly you've brushed, you still can't know exactly how well you clean your teeth until you actually go to the dentist. Then, to your horror and surprise, as the hygienist picks and digs and flosses all the areas you've been missing since your last visit, you realize that what you thought was a good overall attempt at keeping your teeth clean was really amateurish at best.

And then what happens? Your dentist tells you to do a better job, to actually floss (because it's obvious you haven't been...), and "We'll see you again in six months!" Right? Or is that just me?

It occurred to me as I pondered the whole process of dental hygiene that brushing teeth is like trying to be righteous apart from Christ.

Think about it. Justification is being declared righteous, spotless, clean before God. We all do our best to clean ourselves up. We dress it up nicely. We make excuses to justify the things we know are wrong but don't want to admit to. Sometimes we're even blinded to obvious sin because of our bias in our own favor. The average person would never see the sin that we commit on a daily basis. They would never notice just how bad of a job we do at making our lives pure.

But God sees.

He sees the sin and the brokenness. He sees the hurt and the pain. He sees our attempts at doing good things and how we hide it all behind a mask of personal strength or holiness or whatever else we put up to hide just how broken we really are. The problem is that anything "good" that we do is like filthy rags compared to the perfect righteousness of God. Within that problem lies yet another problem: because of how sinful we are, righteousness based on anything that we do apart from Christ is impossible.

No matter how hard I try I will never clean out all the nasty sin that is hidden away in the crevices of my heart. But God, like dentist does with our teeth, comes in and cleans house. I am so thankful for the work that God does! And I will praise God for the rest of my days because Jesus stepped in and made a way where there was no way. He gave up His life so that we could live. He became our righteousness for us.

I know the analogy isn't perfect, but I couldn't help being reminded as I thought about my dirty teeth that no matter how morally I try to live, no matter how strong I try to be, nothing will ever measure up to the standard of perfection that God's holiness requires. It's an endless cycle of cleanliness and filth - an impossible task for us as humans on this earth.

And that's okay. Because Jesus stepped in and did it for me.

Does it mean I'm perfect and I'll never do anything wrong the rest of my life? No! Does it mean that I can live however I want? Absolutely not. But it does mean that we can have a restored relationship with God. It means that as we grow in our walk with Him that God will continually make us more holy as He Himself is holy. And it means that we can rest in the joy of abundant life with Him and hope of the future in heaven.

---

That you might know Christ,

The Conviction to Parent

Parenting is incredibly convicting.

Seriously.

Try disobeying God in an area of your life while explaining the necessity of obedience to a child. It's doable, but it certainly isn't comfortable. I sat down with Isabella today, for what seems like the millionth time, to talk about obedience and what it means.

I feel like I'm on repeat sometimes as I listen to myself talk about the same thing over and over again...

But every time I have that discussion I am reminded of some area of my life that is not rightly aligned to God's standard for me as a Christian. I am convicted of just how guilty I am of disobeying my heavenly Father, even in the midst of discussion that is centered on the disobedience of a child toward her earthly father.

Discussions about

    obedience,

        patience,

            attitude,

                discipline,

                    consequences

then drive me to humbly and honestly consider my own relationship with God.

Discipline is then infinitely harder because I feel as though I am disciplining myself in some vicarious way. That's probably a skewed understanding of discipline, but I can't help thinking that sometimes God uses that conviction to lead me to repentance and thus draw me closer in relationship to Himself.

Just as I have found that conviction within me grows as I walk through life as a parent, so also is grace all the more real to me. I think this is because in spite of my frustration over yet another blunder on the part of my child, I constantly feel the overwhelming desire to extend grace and show mercy for her error based on the very grace and mercy which were shown to me at the cross. This doesn't mean that my wife and I don't discipline her, but it does mean that we are honest with her about the grace that we have experienced in Christ. She gets her fair share of spankings. But she also gets her fair share of second chances. We want her to know as she grows in understanding that discipline is both external and internal. It is the external ordering of our behavior to line up with God's standard for holiness. But, more importantly, it is the internal change of heart that comes with conviction of sin and repentance before a holy God. Without both, it's guilt at best and hypocrisy at worst.

---

That you might know Christ,

What is the Gospel?

I recently posted this on Twitter and Facebook:

“I need the Gospel more every day.”

That statement prompted an insightful response from a friend of mine. She’s the kind of person that challenges me to say exactly what I intend to say, to think outside the box a little, and to appreciate the value of a dissenting opinion. I would have responded on Facebook, but I didn’t want to be that guy that responds to an honest question with a dissertation that analyzes the argument but never actually gets around to answering the question. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this was a great topic to blog about. This is what Margie said:

“What do you mean when you say Gospel? No, I’m not being a jerk. I’ve had a few conversations in the last few days of what the word means to people. Gospel as in Jesus is savior/lord…crucified…resurrected? Or do you mean the gospel as in the Good News that the savior came into the world? Or gospel as in the teachings of Jesus to the world or Gospel as in All of it…everything?? Why can a simple little word be so complicated in Christianity?”

It’s a very good question – or series of questions – and it’s well worth an honest answer.

The best standard by which I could answer is with the words of Jesus himself. I love what Mark records, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” [Mark 10:45]. Another great answer comes from Paul, who is typically quite wordy but is piercingly concise when he says, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” [1 Corinthians 2:2].

So, to answer the question, the Gospel is God’s solution to man’s problem. The problem is this: God is holy and I am not. I am sinful and my sinfulness is an affront to God’s holiness. And at the end of my life, God will judge me based on His standard for a holy life – perfect, sinless righteousness. Hence, the problem: I’ve failed before I’ve even begun.

But, God provided the solution: Jesus came and fulfilled God’s standard. He lived a perfect, sinless life. He lived in perfect righteousness and obedience before God. And He didn’t do it for Himself – He did for you and me what we could never have done on our own. Even more, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for all of my sins, for all of your sins. He satisfied God’s righteous anger against sin by laying down His life for the sins of man.

This was not an easy thing to do. It cost God immeasurably to sacrifice His Son on the cross. So, God raised Jesus from the dead and in doing so God declared that Jesus’ sacrifice was enough. We are justified before God because of Christ’s death and resurrection. But we must respond. The Bible is very clear that this is an act of faith in Christ’s work on our behalf. There is no work that we can do to earn this, it is "the gift of God...so that no one may boast." Paul says further, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” [Romans 10:9].

As a result, we are adopted into the family of God, forgiven of all our sins, and have the blessed hope of growing in relationship with God here on earth while anticipating an eternity spent worshiping at the throne of God.

That is what I mean when I say "Gospel." Thank you, Margie, for pushing me to explicitly declare the salvation that I cherish and the hope that I have. May we all be so bold.

---

That you might know Christ,

Bloody Hands

"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

~ Acts 20:26-27

---

Have you ever gotten the impression that someone was telling you something that sounded like you had heard it before?

Well, that was this passage for me just recently. I knew what Paul was saying sounded familiar, it really resonated in my heart like something I had even felt conviction about before. But I just couldn't place it. So I went searching. I probably went the long way about it (manually flipping through passages rather than consulting a reference source) but I finally found the reference - Ezekiel 33, where God places Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel.

So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. {Ezekiel 33:7-9}

This is probably one of the most frightening passages to me in all of the Bible.

It is true that this passage applied directly to Ezekiel. But Paul shows here that it applies to him and by extension it also applies to the modern follower of Jesus. It is saddening to think about people who are confronted with the truth of the gospel, yet still reject it for some reason or another. I find myself praying often for people in that category. But it is also incredibly convicting to think about the times I could have spoken the truth and shared my faith, my reason for living and hoping, but didn't. Aside from the fact that I disobeyed God by not responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, their condemnation before God is at least in part laid at my feet. If they never believe in Jesus for salvation, at the judgment day God will look to them and ask, "Did you not observe my creation? Did you not see evidence of me there?"

But He will also look to me and say, "Weren't you my watchman? Why did you say nothing?"

Of course, the Holy Spirit works in the heart and draws people to salvation - you won't be held responsible for something that's not even your responsibility in the first place. But we must preach. We must share. We must call people out of the darkness and into the light. It's the very DNA of who we are as Christians.

The last words (and last words are so important, aren't they?) of the Lord Jesus before He left this earth were that we were to be His witnesses throughout the entire earth.

And if we don't?

Their blood is on our hands.

Teachable

I am astounded sometimes at the pride I often have in my own knowledge. I think, "What can this person really teach me? I already know all about this passage of Scripture." Perhaps we all have that tendency? Perhaps we all want to know what we know, without any help from anyone else?

Regardless, I was reminded the other day (yet again) of the sinfulness of that kind of attitude. Pride, it seems, is how we got into this predicament in the first place. And I still struggle with the mindset and heart attitude of pride in my own accomplishment, that I can do things on my own and don't need God or anyone else to help me.

Enter the account of Apollos in Acts 18. The great example of teachability. Here is a man well educated in the Scriptures, eloquent in his speech, and fervent in the spirit.

But apparently he didn't know it all. There was something he got wrong because he simply didn't know. It seems unintentional, but he was preaching the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist had preached and did not know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit that came through Christ. An honest mistake - if only Twitter existed back then!

So Priscilla and Aquila corrected him.

Now what would your attitude be in that moment? There are times in my life where something similar has happened to me and I know exactly how I've reacted.

Defensive.

Offended.

Reasserting my position.

Mean-spirited.

While his reaction is not recorded in Scripture, we know the result. He wanted to continue in the work, even to the point of being a better defender of the faith as he continued to preach in another city! That certainly does not sound defensive and mean-spirited to me. It sounds like Apollos understood what it truly meant to have a malleable heart before the Lord.

And so I ask you (and myself) what is your heart more like: stone or clay? Are you staunch in your opinion, even in the face of rebuke, knowing you're wrong yet not wanting to admit it? Or are you like Apollos, teachable and ready to respond to what God is teaching you through His Word and through others?

It is absolutely important to hold to nonnegotiable Truth, those things that are essential to the gospel and not up for question or debate. But it is also important to have a teachable spirit. Some things are negotiable, some things are debatable, some things we just get plain wrong. And we must be ready to learn from those that the Lord puts in our path to show us the truth.

Clay is firm yet moldable.

Put enough pressure on a stone, though, and it will break.

Which will you be?

His Time

Driving home tonight a song came on the radio that I'm quite familiar with. I know the words. I love the words. But do you ever find yourself caught by some aspect of a song you didn't realize or recognize was there?


The song is "What Life Would Be Like" by Big Daddy Weave. If you aren't familiar, you can listen here.


Anyway, I was just driving along, listening and singing, and a phrase struck me: "He opened blinded eyes to see that the sun rises on His time, yet He knows our deepest desperate need."


What awesome truth is captured in those words! I paused for a moment to savor it. How often, in the midst of life, through joy and sorrow, in laughter and tears, do we lose sight of the fact that this life is not our own? Time is not ours to plan down to the very minutiae of the day. Rather, each day is a gift, each moment a treasure. God is gracious to us not only to give us this life but to give us the opportunity to glorify Him with all that we are, including the time that He has blessed us with.

I don't ever want to forget the implications of that simple phrase:


"The sun rises on His time."


Time is His to give and His to take away. Who am I to question God's plan? Does He not know infinitely better than I do? Can He not see all of time and, regardless of my extremely short sighted ideas, choose the best course for me? All I have to do is trust! And in return, I am to glorify the Father with all that I do and say.


I don't know about you, but apart from salvation that is one of the most comforting and reassuring truths I could ever attempt to wrap my heart and mind around.


Does it seem like everything is going wrong with your life? Does it seem like everything you try to do fails? God knows. God sees. And He sees how those disappointments and failures are going to eventually bring about His own glory. All you have to do is trust Him.


Does it seem like everything in your life is perfect? Maybe all the pieces have fallen into place without you even trying? Good. God sees and knows that too. But in the midst of that blessing don't forget that God is due the glory and praise. And He will get it, even at the expense of your pride.


You see, it's His time. It's His plan. It's His will. And I am reminded tonight that nothing happens in this world that is not first sifted through His hands. So, in my valleys I will praise Him. And on the mountain top, I will glorify His name. Because His is the name that is above every name. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


Paul says it best, "Indeed, to me living is Christ, and dying gain."


What better way to live than in the shadow of the cross?

Desperate

Often when I'm getting dressed in the morning I turn on Pandora. Most of those occasions I pick a station that has Kari Jobe, Mandi Mapes, Meredith Andrews, Shane and Shane or ... (there are so many to choose from...) - the point is that I gravitate toward artists whose focus is intentional worship. It helps me start my day with the right mindset...anyway, for some reason I changed it up the other morning and started my Grits/Lecrae station. (Maybe I was feeling tired and needed some beats to perk me up a bit?)


One of the first songs that came up was 'Desperate' by Lecrae. Have you heard it? No? Okay, even if you've heard it before, watch the video below.

I had never heard that song before. Man, did it strike a chord in me! I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel exactly the way that Lecrae describes. I feel the deep shame that only sin can bring. My sins feel like a burden. They slow me down and discourage me. I get paranoid thinking other people know what I've done and are secretly condemning me for it.


We all feel that way at times in our lives, don't we? We're human and therefore sinful by nature.


I'll be honest (as I'm prone to do here) - if the song stopped at 1:00 or so, I don't know what I'd do. It's depressing to think about having no rescue from this world of sin and shame. All doubts aside, even if you don't believe in God or accept the Bible as Truth or want anything to do with 'that religious stuff,' we all have to admit that we know when we've done wrong. Even if we want to deny or justify the wrong we do in some way, we still know it's wrong. Because God made us in His image. And anything we do that doesn't fit that image is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. We know there's an edge or corner that doesn't belong, even if we don't know (or want to admit) exactly why.


Thankfully, however, the song doesn't end after a minute. Lecrae so poetically echoes the voices of David and Paul from Psalm 51 and Romans 7, respectively.


So many times since then I have been reminded of that song and encouraged at the thought of the cross, of Christ and his sacrifice for me. Sometimes I just sit in awe of the grace that God has shown. Some people say that God is mean for punishing sin - what kind of loving God would do that kind of thing? My answer is two-fold. First, God is justified in treating sin the way that he does because he is holy. Second (perhaps more importantly?), God is, in fact, extremely kind and loving. Need proof?


He made a way where there was no way.


Not only does he have wrath against sin that must be satisfied, but he poured out that wrath on himself in order to be satisfied.


The Judge stepped down from the bench and took our place as the defendant.


Praise God! He has shown us grace so that when we sin against him, it doesn't have to be counted against us! He has shown us mercy so that when we sin against him, it's already paid for!


Don't live in sin. That says the cross doesn't matter.
But don't live in shame, either. That says the cross wasn't enough.

Hearing Voices

A while back Isabella went to a birthday party for one of her babysitter's friends. After class I went to pick her up. When I walked in the door, I greeted everyone and Isabella said, "Daddy!" and immediately ran to me.


Now, that wouldn't normally strike me as blog-worthy except for the fact that she had not seen me come in. It could have been anyone arriving at their apartment and greeting everyone, let alone me. One of the girls there said something, however, that has resonated with me ever since:


"Aw! She recognizes her daddy's voice."


It's true. She does. Out of a crowd, she would know my voice over anyone else's. Were she blindfolded and forced to choose between multiple dads all calling for her to "Come here, darlin'! Come to Daddy!", she would choose correctly every time. Why is that?


Because she knows my voice.


Taken a step further, we also know the voice of our Father, don't we? We know His call like my daughter knows mine. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." The question is, and this is the hard part, do we listen? Do we answer? Do we come when He calls?


Here is the rest of that verse in its context:

Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

Obviously Jesus is speaking about His followers - they know Him, they hear His voice, they answer Him and they follow Him. The implication of these verses though, that is what convicts me more than anything. Verse 26 says it all, and it just grabs at me: "but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep."


What do sheep do? They listen to their shepherd. They follow his voice.


So, if I am not listening to and following the voice of my Good Shepherd, then doesn't that mean that I am not behaving as one of His sheep? If I am not listening to His voice, then whose voice am I listening to? What shepherd am I putting in place of Him?


In short, what I'm trying to say is this: The voice that you listen to is what you have made god over your life, whether you realize it or not. The voice that you follow is the one you have allowed to reign on the throne of your life.


What is it? Is it your image or your reputation or your peers or yourself? Does the identity you find in your skills and abilities hold more sway than the identity you have in Christ? Honestly, most of the time what sits on the throne of my life is me. I sit there, all high and mighty, looking down on the people around me. I condescendingly peer down and judge people for all the sins I can see (or even think I can see) in their life, completely ignoring the trash in my own life...or even worse - justifying it.


The very heart of my sin, of anyone's sin, is pride. It's the control that I try to assert in place of submitting to God. It's the self-justification I try to apply instead of being justified by God. And those are just the things that I battle with. I'm sure you have your own.


Ultimately, I have to ask: what do I do with this kind of thought? Do I walk away from a passage like this questioning my salvation, worried that I won't be allowed into heaven because I listen to myself more than God? No, the end of the passage makes it clear - His sheep can never be snatched from His hand. Once we are a part of God's flock, we are permanently a part of God's flock. This is not a passage that should produce doubt.


No, the take away is this - do I have the eternal life that Jesus offers? Once I have it, how do I know, listen to, and follow the Good Shepherd's voice?


Getting the eternal life that Jesus offers - that's the easy part.


The hard part is answering the other question. That's the part that takes a lifetime. How do I learn to hear my Shepherd's voice? And once I know what it sounds like, how do I train my ear to listen to it and my feet to follow? In a word, the Bible. God has spoken, extensively. He inspired godly men to write the words that we now have today and which we call the Bible. Is it a how-to manual? No. Is it a self-help book? Not at all. Will it answer every question you ever have about life and faith? Not explicitly.


But it is trustworthy. It is without error. It is authoritative.


So, open up the Word. Get in the habit of reading it consistently. Write down your thoughts and questions as you read. Find someone that you trust who is a step ahead of you in life and ask them to help you in the process, ask them questions about what you read, ask them to help you figure out how it applies to your life. It's difficult and it's work, but in the end you'll find yourself recognizing more easily, listening more closely, and following more quickly the voice of your Father in heaven.


And even better, you'll find that you run into His arms every chance that you get.

But God

Perhaps my two favorite words in the whole Bible are "But God."


These two words are used together hundreds of times throughout the Bible, but I was reminded of one of my favorite passages in Scripture while working on another post. For this entry, however, I just want to post the passage Scripture. It's a little bit lengthy as far as quoted passages go, but...well, here. I'll let the passage speak for itself.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our traspasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph. 2:1-9

Just a reminder today of the power and sufficiency of the gospel.


Live and trust in Christ alone.


He is our only hope.

Mandates

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Exodus 20:8


I learned recently that there are two kinds of command, a mandate and a prohibition. Mandates are the "do's". Prohibitions are the "don'ts". The fourth commandment, the Sabbath one quoted, is a mandate. In fact, with the fifth commandment (honor your father and mother), there are only two mandates in all ten of the Commandments.


I was thinking about that idea, of mandates and such, and something occurred to me. Prohibitions are easy to follow.
Don't murder.
Don't give false testimony.
Don't rollerblade without pads and a helmet.
I tend to gravitate toward them because it is easier to gauge whether I have measured up to the task. If I'm really honest, I must admit it's also easier to judge whether other people have lived up to it, too. Maybe that's why the Pharisees liked the rules so much?


Mandates, however, are much harder to follow because I never know how much is enough. The person who gives the mandate could always require more of me, could always decide there are further expectations of the previously mentioned mandate.


Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
I think, "But how much loving do they really need? Can I love them once and be finished? Maybe twice? Just in case the first time wasn't loving enough?"
The disciples asked the same thing. You probably do, too.


I realized something else, though, and herein lies the key to figuring out mandates. Maybe all ten of the commandments are mandates at their core. I mean, prohibitions really just keep us from doing things. They alter our external behavior. But mandates, those are the ones that really get at the heart of the issue - namely, our hearts. They alter our internal attitude. When viewed that way, it's easy to say don't commit murder. But Jesus was right, hating your brother is the same thing because the attitude is the same in both scenarios.


So often I tend toward the legalistic approach of doing, doing, doing. The problem is, these Ten Commandments are merely the minimum. They could all be rewritten in the form of a mandate, specifically a mandate that is of such a high standard that I could never do enough. I can never live up to the expectation that God has for holiness.


It's crucial then to remember two things - futility and grace. Futility looks at the commands of God and honestly says, "I have no chance." The mature Christian must realize the gripping reality of his hopelessness before God. But grace! Grace allows us the freedom to follow the mandates of God and offers us the forgiveness to fail. And fail we will.


That's why Jesus came. Because it was such a futile effort to live up to the standard which God has set for us. Jesus lived a holy life, according to all the "law" of God, not just because we couldn't but so that we didn't have to. Not only did He live the life we couldn't live but He died the death that we deserved. All so that we could be brought back to a right relationship with God.


This grace truly is amazing. This grace is so overwhelming, so lavish, so above and beyond anything we could have hoped or expected that the only response is worship.


How could it lead to anything else?

Awkward

A couple of weeks ago I went to Starbucks to study for a Greek midterm. This is a story from that night (and no, it's not a lengthy tale of Greek verbs and grammar rules :)


I had a lot to study, so I came prepared - headphones in, flashcards prepped, hot coffee at my side. A little while after I had been sitting there, two high school age girls came in, got some coffee, and sat down right in my line of sight. A few minutes later, a boy came in (also about high school age) meandered around for a bit, saw these two girls, and proceeded to talk to them. A few things were obvious from my point of view: they all knew each other, he wanted to talk and be friendly, and the girls did not. The problem is - the boy had no idea that they they were giving every non verbal cue possible to hint at their non-interest in the conversation.

So, as I watched, I began to feel judgment rise up in my heart. Briefly, I sided with the boy, quickly coming to the conclusion that these girls needed to be more welcoming, more friendly, less obvious in their disdain for him. But a curious thing happened, something that I think happened because of the true depth of sin in my heart. I started to resent the boy, too. I started to think, judgmentally and wrongly, that he just needed to give it up. He's awkward, I reasoned. He needs to go spend time with people who are more like him, I thought.


Pretty soon thereafter, the girls made up some excuse to leave and the boy was left there sitting. He seemed to be waiting on someone.


A couple of minutes passed and a guy about my age walked in and let me tell you, this boy's face lit up. It was clear that the person he was expecting had arrived. They got coffee. They sat down (thank you Lord) right in my line of sight. And they began to talk.


After a few prompting questions, the boy starts telling his story - you know, how he got to where he is today. I'll be honest, I love those kind of stories. So, I popped out a headphone to hear it all. I'm glad I did, too, because it truly blessed, challenged, and convicted me. 


I heard the story of a boy who, admittedly, struggled with social interactions and finding his place in a high school world where awkward kids don't really "fit" into the social hierarchy. He became depressed to the point of preparing to commit suicide. His only real friend, in an effort to share the Gospel with him, introduced him to a band, Skillet. She thought maybe their songs could have an effect. She was right. There was a song that really struck a chord with him, particularly because it talked about suicide and purpose in life. He'd never heard before that his life could have purpose. Meaning. Hope.


And there I sat, listening to his story of how Jesus found him and pulled him out of the "miry clay." I was pierced to the core at how quick I was to pass judgment earlier. I was convicted as I was reminded of my own story of redemption and how often I don't share it. And I was encouraged as I heard yet another story of how Christ can radically alter a person's life. You see, you cannot truly meet Christ and walk away unchanged.


So I ask you - how judgmental are you of other people? You never know where a person is coming from and the very thing you judge them for could be what God uses to teach a you lesson in humility. I seem to keep learning that the hard way...


Also - how often do you share your story with people you come into contact with? Or better yet, how often do you ask someone to tell their story to you? You never know the impact you could have on someone, whether you lead them to meet Christ for the first time or remind them of when they did.


Our worship pastor said a couple months ago, "The Gospel isn't just for saving folks. It sustains us, too." He's right. There is no greater gift you could give a person than the Truth of the Gospel.

The Shortest Sentence

I literally heard myself having this conversation earlier tonight with our little girl. It was like some strange third person experience, but I knew I would need to share. It went like this:

Isabella: Daddy, can I have that?
Me: No, baby.
Isabella: But I want it!
Me: I know, baby, but sometimes we want things we can't have. That's why we have parents - so we know what those things are.

Even as I said those words to her, I thought, "There's a lesson in this." I guess I'll always be a teacher to some extent or another.

After further reflection, this is what occurs to me: While it's not the entirety of parenting, sometimes "No" is the best thing we can tell our kids because it's a lesson in so many things. To name a few:

Patience - sometimes you have to wait for things or people. We have to wait all the time on God's timing, too.

Selflessness - sometimes they need a solid reminder that the world doesn't revolve around them. (In fact, it doesn't revolve around us either. It's a good lesson for us all.)

Trust - in you as a parent to know what's best for them. Ultimately, they need to see us trusting God daily for our needs, as well, and that will in turn bolster their confidence in you as a parent.

As I said, that's just a sample. There are many more lessons out there that "No," the shortest, yet sometimes most effective, sentence can teach.

And so I urge you. Please. Be actively involved in parenting your children. Being a parent is more than just blood or birth certificates. You have more than just a duty or responsibility to keep them alive for 18 years. You have a God-given mandate to shepherd their hearts, to teach them the right that will wage war against the wrong already deeply implanted into their hearts by sin, and to point them to the only eternal satisfaction that can be found - that which is found in Jesus Christ.

Pride

What do you take pride in? Where are you the strongest? The nations of the ancient Middle East, the ones prophesied against and about in the Old Testament, found their strength in sea and sword, trade and religion, even personal beauty.


I suppose its not any different today. Perhaps the most prevalent and debilitating vice, at the heart of every war, sex scandal, or child abuse story, is the issue of pride. Mankind is so proud. We think we're better than everyone else, even God, and we attempt to assert that power over countries, cities, people and even ourselves. Even at the heart of the fall of Satan and man was a pride which said, "I can be god of my own life." I know I think that way sometimes...


It seems there really is "nothing new under the sun," as Solomon puts it...


So, I was reading through Ezekiel and all of his prophecies against the many nations surrounding Israel (and even Israel themselves at times), and all of the sudden it hits me. The picture that Ezekiel describes, the reason why the nations are to be held accountable to God, is not really any different than the world today. It's old news, so to speak.


Here's what rings true over and above everything else. God is better. And stronger. And truer. God is all, and no matter how much we may think we have under control, we don't. And we never will. If anything, Ezekiel should put us in our place, the whole book should humble us quite a bit.


Over and over God says to Ezekiel, "Then they will know that I am the Lord God." (There are more references than I can list here. Go read the book and underline every time that phrase comes up. It's overwhelming!)


But why? Why does God say that so much? Because Ezekiel didn't get it the first time? No, I don't think so. I think God is extremely emphasizing (though maybe not so extremely considering how slow I am to understand this) that He is God! Over all! And we are not! Over anything!


So, what do you take pride in?


Is it your physical beauty?
Is it your personal strength?
Is it your religious piety?
Is it your skills and abilities?


I've heard it referred to as time, talents, and treasures. Or passion, possession, position, and power. Whatever you want to call it, the question is this:

What is taking priority in your life and in your heart over and above God?

More importantly, how are you using the gifts of God to further His kingdom and spread His gospel?


You can be a great singer, or athlete, or educator, or photographer, or preacher, or actor, or student, or businessperson, or whatever it is that you do. You can be passionate about things that are in this world, things that bring joy and excitement to people.


But the gifts of God should not result in pride in our accomplishment alone. Rather, they should produce humility before an awesome God. When we come to realize that rather than destroy us in our sin He made a way for us to be rescued from our sin, it brings humility of the deepest kind. When we truly grasp the depth of our sin and trespass against the Holy God, it brings gut-wrenching conviction. When we really get a hold of that idea, it radically changes how we think so that instead of seeking stuff from God we seek out what we can give back to God. 


So, this thing you're proud of? Is it something that you use to glorify God and proclaim His Truth to the world? Or are you using it to glorify yourself instead, to be the god of your own life?


God gave each of us good gifts to glorify Himself and I'd say it's high time we started living that way.

A Resolution

This year, after reading the entire Bible last year, I decided to go more slowly and try to dig in more to what I'm reading. I'll read a Proverb or Psalm a day in addition to a chapter from the New Testament each day. Where else is there for me to start than Matthew, right? So, reading in my quiet time this morning, these verses stood out to me in a way I hadn't thought about before:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:36-38

I am convicted, while thinking about these verses in particular, that I must figure out a way to live out my faith on a daily basis. It is such a waste if I don't apply the lessons I learn as God leads me through life. I also thought I would do well to share them. We all need accountability to hold us to the task, even when it gets tough. That said, maybe these thoughts can "spur you on" or maybe you can just hold me accountable. Either way...


The first thing that hit me in this passage is that, just like Jesus, I must have compassion for the crowds. I must care deeply (in the gut, as the Greek refers to it) for them and their eternal security. This is the motivation which will drive me to do whatever it takes to be sure they know the Truth of God's good news. As Jesus saw them, so must I also see them - with love, as lost sheep without a shepherd, in desperate need for a Savior.


Second, I must labor. Jesus said the laborers are few, but he also said to go make disciples. The reason there are so few laborers is that there are so few willing to actually go and labor. I must fulfill this commission from my Lord for it is the primary task which I have been given. Whether that takes place in my city, my state, my nation or the world - this is my goal: that all men might know that Jesus Christ is Lord and glorify the Father in heaven.


Finally, I must pray. I must pray for the strength to fulfill the task. I must pray for fertile ground when I share. I must pray for other laborers in the fields alongside me. I must pray - for without it I have no strength. Prayer for the Christian is as bread for the body, without it we starve. It is as fresh wind on a hot day, without it we are stifled. It is essential to the Christian's walk with Christ. I must not neglect the discipline of prayer.


What are some areas you could work on? Are you like me and need a swift kick in the tail to keep working to fulfill the Great Commission? How can I hold you accountable?

Colors

Have you ever been somewhere when someone said something absolutely awkward and unexpected?




I know I have.  And a couple of times that person was me, so I know all too well what that is like.  I don't know what's more painful - having to suffer through the awkwardness of the moment or realizing you're the person who caused it all in the first place.


This very thing happened to me the other day, though (thankfully) it was while I was driving with Isabella.  In fact, we were the only people who present.


I was scanning through radio stations and stopped on a station playing "Someone Like You" by Adele.  I commented to Isabella that it was a really good song (her voice is incredible!) and we continued driving, listening all the while. About halfway through the first chorus Isabella asked a question that (insert awkward moment here) blew me away,

"Is she black?"

Umm...what??  Where did she learn that?  I can promise it's not from me and Beth - we love people of all races and proudly have friends from all over the spectrum of race, nationality, and culture.  Regardless, this is what I (and countless others, I'm sure) refer to as a "teachable moment."


So, we talked.  For a long time.  About how there are all varieties of people, from all over the world.  They have different skin color, language, culture, personal experiences.  All things that make them unique and beautiful and wonderful.


But they all have one thing in common.


God loves them.
He made them in His image.
He sent His beloved Son to die for them.
He wants them to worship Him with all of their lives.
And He commissioned us to tell them.


I don't know about you, but talking with my daughter about the gospel was even better than the song playing in the background.  I hope we have many more like it.




Starting a new thing on this post - question of the day. Leave your comments in the space below!


QOTD: What interesting or deep questions have your children asked you?  How did you respond? If you don't have kids, what questions did you ask your parents?  How did they respond?

Satisfaction

There's a verse that's been bouncing around in my head lately, so much so that it's taken over a good portion of my thoughts.  Let me share it with you and expand a little about what the Lord has been teaching me through this verse.

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8

Basically, I've been asking myself the question, "What is my satisfaction based upon?"


Some days I feel like I've learned so much during my time with the Lord that my heart will burst for want of sharing it with someone.  I get this feeling inside that everything is okay because God is vibrantly showing me Truth in His Word.  I feel truly satisfied in my relationship with God.  I feel like I really do "taste and see that the Lord is good."


Some days, however, it's all I can do to read my Bible.  Those days I feel like I've let sin get between me and God, that my relationship with Him is hindered because I didn't "get" as much out of my time with Him, and I don't feel satisfied in my relationship with God.  Basically, I'm not tasting or seeing much of anything at all.


The problem is, my relationship with God is not based on my effort...
or how much I'm learning...
or how good I feel like I'm doing...


Jesus already perfectly paid the price that God required on the cross.  I can't add anything to His sacrifice to make it any more complete.  No matter how satisfied (or not) that I feel about my walk with the Lord, God is satisfied with me.  In His eyes I'm redeemed.  My relationship with God is no longer as a hopeless sinner before a righteous judge but as an heir and a son before a gracious Father.


I guess what I'm trying to preach to myself is this:


Quit trying to do what Christ has already done.  No work (regardless of intention) can make God any more or less satisfied with you than He is already.  Don't measure your walk with the Lord by how well you've done. Instead, honestly seek to "taste and see that the Lord is good" and follow where He leads.


And if you have a "bad day" (I know I will), well...isn't that what faith in Christ is all about?  Rest in God's grace and praise Him for second chances.

Full

For almost a week now I've been reading through the book of Acts (continuing the L3 Journal Bible reading plan that my church provides) and I've been struck over and over by the example of the early Church.  Their effectiveness, boldness, faith, passion - basically, everything they did - is exciting to read about!


Even more than exciting, it's convicting to read as well.  Seriously.  When's the last time you saw a miracle?  Not that they don't happen - I believe they still do - but it's not an every day occurrence like seems to be the case in Acts.  So while the passionate, Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching side of me loves to read the book of Acts, at the same time my complacent, comfortable-where-I-am, safety-seeking side doesn't like to read it at all.  Conflict of interests...


Stephen is the man I encountered in today's reading.  If there was ever a person to make me feel convicted about how I currently live my life, it's Stephen.  He was "full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people."  He was called to the synagogue for a little argument and "they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking."  Talk about a man who is on fire for Christ!  He so frustrated the Hellenistic Jews who confronted him that they had to call in people to give false testimony about him just so that they could have something to hold against him.  As sad as it makes me to see people so against this man, it is absolutely an example worth living up to.  I  hope all believers today come to the point where they would be a modern day Stephen in the face of persecution.


One thing I noticed about Stephen that I just had to write down (before I forget!) - he is described as "full of grace and power."  Not "half full".  Not "half empty".  Not "a few little drops at the bottom of the cup that's mostly backwash anyway".  FULL.  As in, "if you touch this cup water is spilling out" full.  If I were writing the book of Acts, this is how I would have phrased it:

"Stephen was so full of the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no room left inside of him for petty personal preferences or selfish ambitions or any desires that might take him away from the work that the Lord had for him to do here on this earth."

It took me reading this passage a couple of times before I got it, but once I did...well, let's just say I have a lot of work to do.  Let me rephrase, God has a lot of work left to do in me.  There's no way I can do this on my own.  There's no way I can fill myself with the power of God to the point of overflowing.  That's a work only He can do.  But it's a work that I desperately need Him to do.


Father, fill me up.  To overflowing.  Fill up the Church.  Help us spill out all over the world so that people will know and worship the name of Christ.