Precious Possession

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article published by a local news site informing the public about the opening of a new campus for the already largest church in the state.  The article was very informative and written in a way that gave just the details, nothing more. I shouldn’t have done it, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to scroll down to the bottom of the page and read the comments left by previous readers.  After reading about 6 or 7 comments, I had to stop and close out of the article because I found myself getting really angry about the things that people were saying.  They were saying things like “this church is a cult” and “all we need is another traffic inconvenience on an already busy highway.”  Every comment I read was something negative about this church.  As I read those comments my attitude toward them was definitely not very welcoming.  I found myself being just as judgmental and wanting to comment, “you should come give it a try” or “don’t judge a book by its cover” but as soon as I had those feelings, I started to feel convicted. I felt as if God was reminding me that the way I was presently looking at these people was not the way that he looks at them.

With that thought floating around in my mind, I felt guilty.  The Church, not just the church I attend, but every church, exists to reach those who have yet experienced a life giving relationship with Christ.  These people are the very people that the Church exists to reach.  Some of those people who like to express their opinion may already be churchgoers, but many of them probably are not.  Some of them may have been hurt by a church or turned off due to some preconceived notion about what the church stands for.  They may be basing their opinion on what someone else has said, but regardless these people matter to God.  These people should matter to us as well.

I find it to be no coincidence that a few weeks before this in my freedom group (a small group I am part of), we were talking about living in the tree of life versus living in the tree of good and evil. One of the characteristics of living in the tree of life is that we see the world through the eyes of God.  In order for us to get to that point, we have to come to a realization of how God views us. Until we see a clear picture of his view of us, we will always have a distorted view of others. We will always operate from the mindset of good and evil, and when someone doesn’t agree with us, we paint them out to be bad.  We have to remind ourselves that God sees us through a different set of lenses.  He sees us through lenses that are filtered by love. 

Two of my favorite verses in scripture are Romans 5:8, “ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” and 1 John 4:10, ^“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  It reminds me of something that Eli Gold, the famous play-by-play radio announcer for Alabama football, often says.  When there is a controversial penalty on the field he’ll say “I didn’t see it through my crimson colored lenses like the ref sees it.”  He saw the play the way he wanted to see it, which was to benefit the “good guys.”  There is easy to do with sports but life is different.  When a person’s eternity is at stake, the way we view them matters.  We see the world through the lens of our heart.  If our heart is clouded by sin, we can easily judge others, but if we have a heart that has been forgiven and is consumed by God, we start to see the world through his eyes.

Our ability to see the world through the eyes of God is rooted in creation theology in Genesis 1; “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” That doesn’t mean that we were created to be Godlike but rather we were created to receive and give love and, most importantly, to have relationships.  When God created humans, he said that we are good and he gave us dominion over the earth.  He entrusted much to us because we were created in his image.  Every day he would walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  This is a picture of what I envision heaven will be like.  They had constant communion with God. Things changed in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of good and evil.  God warned them not to but they did anyway after Satan encouraged them to.  It is important to look at what God says in Gen. 3:9, “Where are you?”  God came looking for Adam and Eve just like he did every day prior to this moment.  When he called out to them, his tone was not like one of an angry father.  He came looking for them because he cared about them.  He knew they sinned but his heart was broken for them.  They just gave up the greatest thing they had, which was an uninterrupted relationship with the father.  After this God did banish them from the Garden but not before providing for them.  Verse 21 says,” The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”  I think it is important to realize that he didn’t condemn them but rather he convicted them.

To condemn means “express complete disapproval of” according to Webster’s dictionary. There was never any indication in this story that God was condemning Adam and Eve. He never turned nasty toward them or raging mad. He could have destroyed them for disobeying him, but that is not the nature of God. He never pushed them so far away that they could never come back to him. He knew the flaw wasn’t in their DNA but rather in their perception of Him. The fact that Adam and Eve felt ashamed in front of God meant they felt convicted. That is what God does when we have done wrong.  He wants us to realize that we have went astray. Our hearts were created to connect with his heart at a level we won’t always understand. That is what being created in the image of God is about. Solomon understood this very well. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 he says, “He (God) has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” 

Because our hearts were created to connect to His heart, God has taken the first step toward forgiving our wrongs by sending his son Jesus to us.  It shows just how much love he has for us. I’m humbled by the thought that God would send his most precious possession to this earth because he loves me that much. Even though I’m not perfect and I mess up daily, he still loves me. He still wants me to have a seat at his dinner table because I was created to dine with the King. To demonstrate his jealous love for us, I’m reminded of something that the writer of Hebrews says in Chapter 13.  Starting in verse 11 and going verse 14 it says, “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.”

Jesus went outside the city gate to demonstrate his love for those who seemed unlovable.  He suffered with the outcast because he cared about them.  He suffered with those that we don’t normally think about.  That is true love- and since we’ve been recipients of that love, we ought to pass it along to others.

Faith unlocks Prayer

For the second year in a row, I have been participating in 21 days of prayer during the month of January at Church of the Highlands.  I’ve really enjoyed this season of prayer and fasting as there is no greater way to begin the year than seeking the heart of God.  The more you seek God in prayer, the more you find that God wants to teach and encourage you, and I’ve experienced that during this season. The theme that has been on my heart throughout these 21 days has been “Faith.”  That word may seem elementary, since it is one of the first words that a believer understands, but just like scripture, it is a word that is alive and active. I love it when God gives us fresh perspective on subjects we think we know so well.

The writer of Hebrews gives a great definition of faith in chapter 11: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The word ‘assurance’ can be defined as “a strong and definite statement that something will happen or that something is true.”  What a great picture of faith.  Putting that definition to practice, however, can often be hard because Satan wants to rob us of the promise that comes with having faith.

There is this great story in Mark 8 that gives an example of what we as believers go through. Jesus is feeding four thousand people with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish. After he performs this great miracle, He has to deal with his disciples’ doubts.  They were crossing by boat to the other side of the region, and the disciples realized that they only had one loaf of bread for the journey.  Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?” (Mark 8:17-18).  Upon reading this, I immediately am reminded how we, as believers, get near sighted and fail to remember what God has done for us.  The disciples are on the journey of a lifetime following Jesus, and right after they see this great miracle, do they think that Jesus can’t do it again?  Feeding 12 compared to 4,000 is a much easier task.

I’m the same way in my faith. God has been so gracious to me and has done so much for me in my life but there are times that I lose track of that.  It is easy to do when you have been praying for something for a long time, but have yet to receive an answer.  As I’ve grown in my faith I’ve come to realize that doubt is the greatest enemy to prayer. The moment I doubt is the moment I believe that God can’t do it, which is far from the truth. Faith is what makes prayer possible. When I go to God in prayer, I go in assurance that He hears my prayer and that He will respond.  He might not respond right away, but I have to trust that His timing is perfect.  Though the waiting challenges my faithfulness, I know it is by faith that He will answer. 

When God asks an awful lot of you

January 14, 2004 is a day that I will never forget.  I was a sophomore in college at the time and the day began like most.  I went to class and then to work not expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen.  Later that day, I received news that rocked my world and forever changed me.  My dad was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma lung cancer.  His life expectancy: not long.  

Two and half years before this, my dad had heart surgery and then ten days later, he had a stroke.  The stroke initially left him paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak.  After a few days in ICU, he began to regain movement in his foot and then eventually the movement spread up his leg and into his arm.  After receiving therapy at the hospital, he was able to walk again but with a very noticeable limp.  It took longer for his speech to come back but thankfully it did.  He started off with some low sounds and eventually was able to speak a few words.  After weeks of speech therapy, he was finally able to speak sentences but he was never able to have conversations like he did before he had a stroke.

The next two and half years were filled with a lot of frustration for him and our family.  He was used to always being on-the-go.  Working hard to make a living to support his family was at the core of his being and it was eating at him to not be able to do anything.  We were thankful that God spared him because, as bad as the stroke was, the issue with his heart was considered worse.  In May of 2001 he began having symptoms of heart trouble.  Shortness of breath, pain in his arm, and mild pain in his chest.  The doctor told him that he had pneumonia and that the symptoms should pass.  In the back of my dad’s mind, he was concerned.  Heart trouble ran on his mother’s side of the family.  His mom at age 70 had open heart surgery to correct an issue with some blockages.  She had a brother who, in his 40’s, died of a sudden heart attack.  Then just seven years before my dad started experiencing heart trouble, his own brother had a severe heart attack that almost killed him at age 49.  My dad had a hunch that something wasn’t right.  

His symptoms continued on for another week so he visited his doctor again.  The doctor assured him again that his symptoms were the result of pneumonia that my dad was having trouble getting rid of.  So he continued to take his medicine like the doctor prescribed in hopes that these symptoms would cease.  Another week passed and my still was not better.  Another visit to the doctor confirmed that the pneumonia had cleared up but that the symptoms were the result of something else.  My dad visited a heart specialist and he had an arteriogram, it was revealed that he had major blockages at his heart.  His left main artery had a 95% blockage and one of the arteries on the backside of his heart had a 70% blockage.  He was a heart attack waiting to happen.  He was rushed into open heart surgery the next morning.  After four hours in the operating room, he emerged with a good report that the blockages had been bypassed and he should make a full recovery in 6-8 weeks.  We were relieved that he had escaped death.

Sometimes in life, it feels like God is asking an awful lot of you.  At that moment it felt like God was asking more of me than I could handle.  In just three short years, I lost both grandfathers and now my dad was clinging to life.  It felt like God had put more on my plate to deal with than the average person.  Life was becoming a struggle because every step seemed harder to take.  In my heart I knew that God loved me but I started to question what the meaning of Matthew 11:28-30 was when Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  I wanted rest but it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to find it, something else happened to make me more weary.  I went from being tired, to exhausted.  

In January 2004, that is where my family and I found ourselves.  When my dad was diagnosed with cancer, it was a punch to the gut.  He had suffered enough and now the grand finale was going to deliver the knockout blow.  Over the next week, I saw my dad slip away.  We were told that doing chemo or radiation would never push his cancer into remission.  It might prolong his life by a few days or weeks but at best he would be a vegetable during that time.  The doctor felt the best way for my dad to spend his last few days would be at home with hospice care.  I remember my dad lying in bed and every hour seemed like he was slipping further and further away.  He eventually quit talking to us even though he was still alive.  One of the hardest moments of my life was the evening of January 21st.  My dad had developed what is known as the “death rattle” in which every breath he took, you could hear his lungs rattle due to the amount of fluid that had built up in them.  I knew that it was only a matter of hours before he passed.  My mom asked me if I wanted to have one last conversation with him before he died.  I said that I did because I thought it would be easy, but I soon learned that it would be hard.

As I walked into that room, I was immediately overcome with emotion.  I stood there next to my dad and I struggled to know what to talk to him about.  I knew my dad’s body was shutting down because all he wanted to do was sleep.  I knew that he could still hear me so I wanted to push ahead and tell him my thoughts.  I just started sharing with him how thankful I was to have him as my dad.  I thanked him for teaching me so much and helping me become a man.  It was hard but I knew I needed to do it.  Soon after I left that room, my dad passed away.  

I’ve often wondered if that conversation, even as painful as it was, did more good than I could even imagine.  There have been many times since that night that I wondered if I released my dad from his suffering and allowed him to experience joy.  Did my conversation confirm to him that I was ready to be a man?  To lead our family in his place?  I’ll never know the answers but I do know that when he passed, I felt peace.  A peace that I didn’t feel leading up to that moment.  I felt like it prepared me to be there for my mom and sister as they grieved.  It was a strange feeling for me but something happened that night in that room that changed me and my outlook.  I went from feeling weary to feeling alive.  I felt like I had a wind in my sails that I could carry on even though the circumstances around me seemed like my world should be falling apart.  

Even though there are times when it feels like God is asking more of you than you can handle, he hasn’t left you stranded.  One of my favorite quotes on dealing with adversity is something Andy Stanley said in one of his sermons a few years ago; “The presence of adversity does not equate to the absence of God.”  I love that saying so much that I have posted it next to my work computer as a reminder that no matter what I may be face throughout the day, I’m not alone.  Just because the situation I find myself in seems to be filled with adversity, I know God hasn’t left me to drown.  He doesn’t want me to be overwhelmed but rather wants me to overcome.  God asked an awful lot of his Son so that I can overcome.  Because Jesus willingly went to the cross for me, “we have this hope as anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” (Hebrews 6:19).

Endurance

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;  (Hebrews 10:23 NASB)

When I was 14, I made up my mind to lose weight. I wasn’t happy with how I looked so I decided to drop some pounds and get in shape. I adopted a home workout routine that I read about in a magazine. I did 18 jumping jacks, squats, and sprints everyday.  Rain or shine, I was committed.  I began to lose weight fast, and within a year, I lost 90 pounds.  I was happy with how I looked but I quickly realized that there were problems.  I begin developing terrible heartburn; it was so bad that, at one point, I thought I had an ulcer.  Even though I was working out regularly, my diet didn’t really change.  My food portions were smaller but the quality of food I was eating was still bad. I still ate biscuits for breakfast and ice cream for dessert every day.  Once I started college, I began gaining the weight back; not quickly but little by little.  Within a few years I had gained about 20 pounds back.  My workout routine faded and my goal of staying thin was starting to vanish.  I failed to learn endurance.

When I think about the Christian journey, I think of a marathon runner who has to have endurance to finish the race.  I’ve never ran in one, but I can imagine some of the preparation that goes into it. You have to start training months in advance to build up stamina in order to complete the 26 miles that make up the race. You adopt a diet of fruits, vegetables, & protein to give yourself strength. Whatever practices you take up, you are striving for endurance. The goal is to finish the race; anything less would be considered a failure.

In order to achieve endurance, you must persevere in spite of obstacles. No matter how hard one trains, there will be obstacles. I can remember a few times when I would be working out and feel a twinge in my leg or arm. Most likely I was pushing my body too hard so it was giving me a warning sign to slow down. If you are competitive like I am, you don’t want to slow down. All I could think of was achieving the goal that I set for myself, but I knew that if I took a break to rest, I would give myself a chance to persevere for the long run.  It would allow me to avoid an injury that would sideline me for weeks or months. Even as hard as it was to take a break and wait, I knew it would be the key to be able to persevere for the long haul.

As a Christian, I’ve had seasons where it seemed like there would never be an end to obstacles. I’ve been in seasons where God seemed very distant no matter how hard or long I prayed.  I’ve had a season where a loved one passed away, and a season where I lost a job. It felt like I was getting up on the wrong side of the bed everyday. There seemed to be no end sight of my trials. Even though I felt weary, I found comfort in Hebrews 10:23 which says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”  It reminds me to hold fast to what I believe.  To stay strong no matter what because God is faithful. In moments when I couldn’t feel His presence, I had to remind myself that He is near.  He is unchanging and unwavering, I just need to have faith.

One of my favorite examples of faith in the midst of obstacles is found in Lamentations 3, where the prophet Jeremiah is lamenting about Israel’s affliction. He spends the first 18 verses sharing about how he has seen affliction and how his strength and hope have perished. In verse 19, his outlook changes and this beautiful picture of God’s faithfulness is remembered. I love verses 20-26 that say,

20 Surely my soul remembers

And is bowed down within me.

21 This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

22 The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I have hope in Him.”

25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,

To the person who seeks Him.

26 It is good that he waits silently

For the salvation of the Lord.

Verses 24-26 are so beautiful.  It is such a great feeling to know that God is good to His people, we just have to wait.  I know waiting is not something that I enjoy doing but as I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve come to understand that waiting can be good. There are times I wonder why God is making me wait a long time for something, but I have to keep telling myself to have faith. He has never let me down and I know He is not about to start. Even when I do feel like He has turned a blind eye, it ends up serving as a teaching moment in faith.

Those times when I felt like God was trying to teach me something have been some of the most vulnerable moments for me.  I’ve felt weak because I knew I was waiting for something I believed in but didn’t have a time table for.  It pushed me to rely on Him and let His strength carry me because I was becoming weary.  It reminds me of a verse found in a song titled, “Ever Be” by Bethel Church.  It goes like this,

You Father the orphan

Your kindness makes us whole

You shoulder our weakness

And Your strength becomes our own

You’re making me like you

Clothing me in white

Bringing beauty from ashes

For You will have Your bride

I love the line that says, “You shoulder our weakness, and Your strength becomes our own.You’re making me like you…”  God is reaching down to help us up, giving us a chance to finish strong.

Prayer and Petition

This past week, I began the 21 days of prayer with the Church of the Highlands.  Dedicated times of prayer is nothing new to me; from Jan 2009-May 2013, I was part of the Storehouse House of Prayer in Huntsville, AL.  Multiple times a week, we would gather for prayer and worship.  We studied prayer inside and out with the desire to grow deeper in our relationship with God.  Prayer was a lifestyle that we attempted to live out daily as we sought after the Lord, but as I’ve often experienced, sometimes something old can seem new when you’ve been away from it for awhile. 

After my time with the Storehouse, prayer started to become a repetitive practice.  I would pray but my prayers seemed somewhat stoic.  I would tend to say the same things over and over again without much emotion.  There was no deep pleading with God that I once had in my prayer life.  Its like I accepted life “as is” without thinking that there could be something more.  My prayer started to look like a shell of its former self. Thankfully, I feel like I’ve turned the corner and re-gained a new perspective on prayer this week.

On Monday, Pastor Chris Hodges shared from Philippians 4:6-7. Paul tells the believers in Philippi “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Thursday the speaker shared from Daniel 9:3 where Daniel says “So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” That word, petition, just keeps coming up. Phil 4:6-7 is my life verse, but the word has taken on a new meaning this week.  In our culture, it seems unnatural to petition a king, especially if you are just the average person.  Throughout history, a peasant would never be granted access to a King.  Only the royal family and other leaders could enter his presence.  But God is a different type of King.  He is a King who has created the heavens and the Earth and everything that inhabits it.  Most importantly he has created us. Genesis 1:27 says that he created us, man and woman, in his image. We see this beautiful picture of a God creating humanity and desiring to have a relationship with it.  Unlike an earthly King who identifies you by your socioeconomic status, God sees you as one of his own.  He sees you as a person of worth no matter what your economic status is. He created you and he loves you.

That love is demonstrated through his son Jesus and the cross. In John 15:13-15 we see this picture of God’s love for humanity when Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”  When we understand this connection that God has with humanity, the word petition starts to make sense.  God knows our hearts but I truly believe he wants us to come before him and share with him.  He wants us to be real because he has been real with us.  When you look at what he has done for us, we see that God was passionately concerned about our eternity.  Who else would send his son to come and die for us so that we would have a way back to the King? That bold passionate love has opened up a line of free communication with the King.

Jesus says in Luke 11:9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  We are to knock until God opens the door and answers us.  He’s not going to be that annoying neighbor who ignores us even though he has the shades open and you can see him inside.  God will answer us. It may not always be the answer we want or he may not answer us quickly but I believe he will answer us. 

I don’t know how this season of prayer will ultimately play out for me.  My hope is that I will continue to find prayer refreshing and, most importantly, life giving.  When it comes to petitioning God, I’m not sure if he’ll answer my prayers the way I want them.  I have a list of specifics that I’m pleading with him about right now.  Selfishly, I hope he answers them the way I want.  I know that he may not answer them that way, which is a hard reality to accept.  Regardless, my faith tells me that His answer will be good for me no matter what the outcome will be.

Reflections from Philippians 1:27-32

“27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

In the South we love football.  It is our escape from the realities of life that might be weighing us down.  We can seemingly find a way to talk about football, especially college football 365 days a year no matter what else might be going on.  It dominates the water cooler talk at work and there are countless radio talk shows in every city that evolves around college football.  It is a way of life in the South.  There is one thing we can learn from football though, and that is that it takes a team effort to succeed at what ever you are doing.  Take for example the offensive line, the left tackle has to trust that the left guard, he has to trust the center, the center has to trust the right guard, and the right guard has to trust the right tackle.  This can go in the revers order as well.  The quarterback if he is right-handed has to trust the left tackle because when he takes five steps back to prepare to throw the ball to a receiver he hopes he has the time to do so.  Same goes for a running back, he is only going to be able to make positive yards if his offensive line works together as a group to block the right guys. No matter how talented you are, if you don’t work together as a team, you are not going to go very far.

Paul alludes to that same idea in this passage in Philippians chapter one.  He is challenging the believers there to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.  To live their lives in a way that whether Paul is with them or not, their lives are focused on living out the gospel message in word and deed.  Paul has indicated earlier in this letter to the Philippians how encouraged he has been by the continued spread of the gospel.  Remember, Paul is in jail in Rome but the news of his arrest is spreading and is serving as encouragement for the believers.  Paul had to fear that believers in Philippi would retreat just as Peter did when Jesus was arrested. The believers in Philippi though are still doing the work that Paul challenged them to do.  Paul knows that this work is hard and over time the believers might start to get weary so he turns his attention to being a cheerleader, attempting to cheer them on or motivate them.

He challenges them to stand firm with one spirit and one mind.  Standing firm can be a challenge in its own self.  There are things in our lives that we are adamant about that no matter what happens we are not budging.  Getting back to the football analogy, we stand firm in our support of our beloved team.  Our favorite team might go 1-11 or 0-12 and we will still support them because we believe them.  Just because things might not be going our way doesn’t mean we will stop supporting them.  It goes back to the idea of teamwork.  If we don’t work together as a team, we will not succeed.  That is the simple truth.  A person might have all the talent in the world but that will only go so far, you have work with others to make progress, to achieve your goal.  Paul understands that very well in regards to the church.  He knows that there are believers in the church at Philippi who have the gift of teaching, the gift of servanthood, the gift of evangelism, the gift of hospitality, but unless all of these work together in one mind and one spirit, they will never make progress.

It is like a football team preparing for an upcoming season.  As fans, we only see what they do on Saturday afternoons on the playing field but that is only a small part of what the team does as a whole.  We have to remember that these guys put in a lot of hours in the weight room during the offseason.  They had a series of practices and a game during the spring, they did summer workouts, plus all the film study leading up to each game.  These guys had to their homework and lots of it to even come close to doing well on Saturday.  When you have a team that has say 100 or so players, if only 75 of them are doing their homework while the other 25 are goofing off, then the team will not be efficient at all.  We can’t have a “meism” attitude, we have to have a “weism” attitude.  That applies for the church as well.

When we develop a “meism” attitude, Satan begins to weave in and out of our lives.  He begins to plant seeds of deception and sin and before we know it we have lost track of where we are going.  It is like we were driving down the road one day and all the sudden we took a wrong turn and began tracking in the wrong direction.  We are not making progress and the venom of Satan is poisoning our lives and relationships.  When we work together, we have the ability to not be frightened as Paul says in verse 28.  This is a clear sign to our enemies of their destruction and of our salvation.  We are working together for the cause of the gospel.  

Paul’s next comment might make some believers uncomfortable.  He says in verse    29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”  This idea of suffering probably made some of the believers in Philippi cringe a little.  The thought of suffering was not something that they got all excited about or at least I don’t think they did.  Following Jesus as Paul found out is not easy because you will face hardships in life.  We have to see these moments as opportunities to cultivate our faith and grow stronger in our relationship with Jesus.  Because when everything fades away, He is all that we have.  He is our hope and joy in the midst of trails and tribulation.  For the believer we have to guard ourselves against accepting the comfortable because that could be a direct invitation from Satan that leads to a path of “meism.”  We have to guard ourselves against that.  We have to work together with our brothers and sisters in Christ and have a one spirit and one mind attitude.  That has to be our goal.  

Questions to ponder:

Do you have a “meism” or a “wesim” attitude?  If so, what is the root of that?  

How can we stay focused on the cause of the gospel even if it means suffering?

Identified by our location

“12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 14 and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.” (Phil. 1:12-14)

It so great to read scripture with a fresh set of lenses and have it impact you in a greater way than you could have ever imagined.  I’ve read through Philippians many times over the years, taken tests on the text, and wrote papers but it is so easy to miss the deeper truth that is embedded in the text.

To understand Paul’s letter to the Philippians is to understand two things:  The first one is that Paul is in prison back in Rome for the cause of the gospel and the second is that he dearly loves the believers in Philippi.  He does sugarcoat that fact at all and constantly makes that known all throughout this letter.

It’s amazing to read this letter and see the optimism that Paul has.  It would be easy for him to fall into a state of depression.  At one time he was revered as a great religious leader and had everything going for him.  He had it all but the moment he decided to follow this man named Jesus, he lost it all.  Because of his allegiance to Jesus, Paul finds himself in prison.  I’m sure that prison for Paul is way different than the type of prison that we see here in America.  I’m sure Paul was given food to eat but the prison he was in was more like a torture camp.  There were probably rats and other rodents running around, disease was rampant, and the water was polluted.  You know it had to be eating at him that he was not able to be out in the field working for the cause of the gospel.  

Paul had given his life for this good news but now he finds himself in prison.  This had to be very demeaning for Paul and I’m sure he feared that the advancement of the gospel might slow down rapidly since he was not able to be out in the field.  His fear turns into joy because he realizes his misfortune has really turned into greater success for the gospel.  He notes that his imprisonment for the Gospel has become well known and is serving as courage for the believers to speak the Word of God without fear.  What could have been a bad situation actually is turning out to be better than Paul could have ever imagined.

I’m reminded about something that one of my seminary professors said one time, “he said don’t be identified by your condition but be identified by your location.”  If we are in located in Christ, then we have nothing to fear. So often we let our circumstances and our condition cripple us.  I know I’m guilty of that and have in some ways been battling that over the last few months.  One thing that I’ve found to be true is that when we are in the valley our relationship with Christ becomes more real.  We have to learn to trust him in the valley because He is all that we have.  Paul knew this because while he was sitting in prison and all that He had was Christ but as Paul found out that was all that he needed.  Christ is all that we need in our lives.  No matter the circumstances that we may find ourselves in.  It is important to be reminded that we need to be identified by our location in Christ.  

For Paul he knew that some people would love to heap more insult and pain on him and take advantage of his circumstances.  He says in verses 15-17, “15 Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.”  We find that in our own lives as well.  People sometimes want to kick us when we are down or we find that bad things tend to just keep happening with no end in sight.  

Paul has a word of encouragement for us though in light of these circumstances in verses 18-20, “ 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”  

Finding a way to rejoice in the valley is hard but when our focus is on how we can best glorify Christ is our goal, it becomes easy because He is our strength when we our weak. 

Pouring Out

These last six months have been extremely hard for me and my wife.  It all started at the end of 2012 when she found out that her full-time job would be coming to an end very soon.  We had dealt with the same issue concerning my last job just a year earlier and we feared the worst since the economy hasn’t fully recovered from the great recession.  She immediately began applying for any job that she could possibly be a fit for.  In the meantime I felt God leading me to pursue pastoral ministry.  I had felt these feelings back in 2005 but I opted to go to seminary instead.  Once I finished seminary I decided to do youth ministry full-time.  About a year and a half into youth ministry I felt God nudging me to be open to pastoral ministry.  Being obedient I asked my district superintendent to assign me a mentor.  I began meeting with my mentor in January 2011 but I was in no hurry so it took us about a year-and-a-half to finish a book that should only take 6-10months to complete.  Once I completed the book I still wasn’t sure if pastoral ministry was my calling.

 As I was wrestling with that, I decided to pursue college ministry.  I had a number of conversations that were very promising but in the end, there were not enough resources to pull anything off.  As the fall of 2012 rolled around I had no clue what was next or where God was leading me.  As I continued to be prayerful about my next steps I was asked to go on a trip to South Korea with a team of people including my wife to teach and share about the Storehouse.  The Storehouse is a prayer ministry with the vision of having night and day, continual prayer that would be 24/7 one day.  

 As we were preparing to go to South Korea, we were all assigned a topic that we would be teaching/preaching on while we were there.  I have to admit I was excited.  I love preaching and teaching the word.  When we got to South Korea I was so excited to be surrounded by so many who were hungry for teaching on prayer.  Prayer is not a foreign concept in their culture.  Many of the believers there pray daily and often.  This kind of intimidated me but I was ready for the challenge.  I knew that prayer was going to be the only way I could prepare myself properly for such an opportunity.

 After the trip was over and we were getting re-adjusted to our lives back in the states, I started feeling that nudging from God to consider pastoral ministry again.  This time unlike the others I felt like I was truly ready.  So I had a great conversation with my district superintendent who was very optimistic about me receiving an appointment come June 2013 to serve as a pastor.  I knew that the next few months would be filled with a lot of paperwork and meetings but I was ready.  The first wave of paperwork and meetings went well.  It seemed like everything was falling into place for me to receive an appointment until February 28, 2013.

 That day will be in my mind for a long time.  I was working out at the local YMCA when I got a phone call from my district superintendent saying that there was a problem and that my appointment process would have to be put on hold.  He wasn’t able to tell me what the problem was but he told me who I needed to talk to.   So I immediately attempted to contact this person in hopes of setting up a meeting.  After a couple of days passed with no return call or email I was getting worried so I attempted to call this person again.  This time I was informed by his secretary that he was out of the country on a mission trip and would not be back until the following week.  

 I patiently waited, praying earnestly that this issue could be cleared up in a meeting but in the back of mind I feared that it was a much bigger problem.  The following week I was able to meet with this person who informed me of the problem and true to my fears, it was much more complicated.  I was informed that I would have to wait a year before I would be eligible for an appointment.  While I waited I needed to complete some homework and only if I complete at a satisfactory level would I be considered for an appointment.  

 I remember feeling rejected, hurt, and downcast that day.  In my mind I knew what they were asking me to do was doable but yet I didn’t understand why.  It all boiled down to a bad reference that altered my current situation.  Combine that with all that my wife was having to deal with concerning her job loss and we felt dejected.  Did anybody want us?  Are we good enough?  Why is God allowing this to happen?  It was tough to accept that what we thought was going to happen had just vanished in a split second and we were left with no answers as to what would be next.

 After having a conversation with my mentor he suggested that I apply to be a substitute bus driver for the local school system.  At first I was not too sure I wanted to do that but after thinking about for a few days I thought, “what do I have to lose.”  So I contacted the transportation director and inquired about subbing for his system.  I thought I would be hired immediately given that I already had a Class B CDL with the air brakes and passenger endorsement.  I was informed that you also have to have a state issued certification card indicating that you have received training from the state board of education.

 I decided to proceed and go to this class.  It felt like a driver’s ed refresher course with the exception of training on how to do a proper student pick-up/drop-off while driving a school bus.  Thankfully I was able to pass all the tests and became eligible to drive.  Madison City Schools put me to work immediately which I was thankful for but let’s just say I’ll have to blog another day about all of my experiences.

 Starting to drive a school bus at first wasn’t too bad but it quickly became a humbling experience.  I felt a range of emotions as I began driving on a normal basis.  Part of me was happy to just have a job and feel like someone wanted me while part of me felt bitter about my current state of affairs.  I had to remind myself on many occasions that things work for those who love God.  Sometimes we don’t understand why we have to go through the fire to get somewhere but we have to know that he is walking with us every step of the way.

 As time went on I really started battling those feelings of being bitter.  I probably was also battling a sense of pride too.  I’ve thought to myself many times why doesn’t someone want an experienced, seminary trained person who has a passion for ministry?  Where did I go wrong?  I’m capable of leading a ministry.  I have the gift to preach/teach the word.  Why is no one calling.  I tried reminding my self of something Craig Grochel said last year at a leadership conference.  He was sharing with everyone about his journey to starting Lifechurch.  He had been an associate pastor in a well-known denomination when his request to start a church was denied.  I don’t remember what he said he was told by the higher ups but he shared with us that night that he “felt called but no one was calling.”  Of course things worked out great for him.  He followed the call God had on his life and he started a church that is reaching many people with the good news.

 I also kept reminding myself of something my preaching professor Dr. Robert Smith said once during a sermon.  He said, “don’t let anyone put a period where God has put a comma, because God can use you.”  I find great comfort in that comment because deep down in my heart I know that to be true but in my flesh I struggle to accept that.  I feel like an athlete who is on the bench ready to go.  He is just waiting on his number to be called but when is my number going to be called?  I’ve asked that question many times especially over the last month.  

 Earlier today my wife shared with me a quote from Priscilla Shriver that says, “Give back to the Lord the desires and gifts He has given you and then trust Him to use them when and how He chooses.”  When she shared this with me it was like the Holy Spirit was convicting my heart.  It felt like he was telling me that I need to give it all over to God and trust Him.  Trust that he is preparing me for my next assignment.  Learn as much as I can from what I’m going through right now.  As Dr. Smith would say, “learn to trust God in the valley.”  That is hard because when we are in the valley or the ditch it doesn’t feel good.  

 My wife shared another quote from Shriver that says, “The best use of our gifts is seldom what we imagined.  If we’ll put them down and pour them out, we’ll be surprised at God’s unconventional ways of using them.”  Maybe that is where I’m missing it.  Honestly I’m guilty of not thinking outside the box when it comes to how I can answer God’s call on my life.  I’m guilty of thinking that the conventional way is the best way to use my gifts.  Maybe God is teaching me a lesson about not putting Him in a box.  Maybe He is teaching me that in order for me to be relevant in an every changing culture is let God use me in unconventional ways.  In order for me to do that, I have to be like Gideon in Judges 6:19-20 and put down and pour out my gifts so God can use them.  I have to let go of my conventional way of thinking and embrace that God is not normal.  He can’t be contained.  He is a free spirit that moves freely and looks for us to do the same.  He wants us to pour ourselves out to be freely used by Him.

Deeper kind of love

This has been a very busy spring for weddings.  So far me and my wife have attended or have been invited to six weddings and I’m sure there will be more as summer is almost here. When people go to weddings, there is usually some aspect of the wedding that they really focus on.  For some it might be flowers, for others it might be the colors that the bride has chosen, for others it might be the music, and the list could go on and on.  For me, I really focus on the service itself.  I guess you could call me a geek but I really like to see what the couple wants to have in the wedding ceremony itself.  What other elements do they want to have in the service other than exchanging vows and rings.  Do they want to celebrate holy communion?  Do they want to have a special prayer time?  Do they want to have some poetry read?  A marriage homily preached? What passage did they have read?  

 

These things fascinate me for some reason.  I guess you could say that it gives me some insight into the spiritualness of the couple.  I really like it when a couple decides to go against the norm and really make the ceremony special.  

 

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of officiating my sister-in-law and her now husband’s wedding.  It was a very beautiful ceremony.  It was held outdoors and the yellow flowers in the field that filled the backdrop of where the ceremony was held, was just gorgeous.  The weather had been stormy the day before but the clouds and the rain gave way to sun and you couldn’t have asked for better weather.  It was just a beautiful day all the way around.

 

A few weeks before the ceremony itself, the couple asked for Colossians 3:12-17 to read instead of the traditional 1 Corinthians 13.  Not that there is anything wrong with 1 Corinthians 13 but I really like it when couples choose another passage especially one that means something to them.  One that speaks life into their marriage and one that as a couple they will use as a model for this new life together.  I’m sure many couples over the years have chosen Colossians 3 as the passage for their wedding ceremony because it has the word “love” in it but if you read the passage closely it depicts a beautiful lifestyle that all of us should strive to live.

 

It says: “12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

 

Anytime Paul begins a passage with the word “so” or “therefore” you know he is about to make a very important statement.  In this passage he begins by reminding the believers that they are holy and beloved.  The word “holy” is not a word that you use very loosely when referring to somebody.  To be “holy” means to be set apart which means not of this world.  For a believer when you have been redeemed and brought into the family of God, you are no longer part of this world but you are an agent of the Kingdom of God.  Just like anything else in life, if we want to remain in something we have to work to stay there.  To stay in Christ, we have to daily die to self and follow him which is not easy but is what he is calling us to do.  The beauty of it all is that God has created a way for us to stay there.

 

This holy lifestyle is not completely foreign to humanity.  If we look back to Genesis 1:26-27 we see this beautiful picture of God creating us in his image and calling that good.  It’s important to realize that we were not created to be like God but we have holiness DNA in us that we can be holy in our lifestyle but we realize.

 

In order for us to fully live out a life where compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness are evident there has to be something that is fueling that lifestyle.  In the world none of these virtues are natural but when we are in the family of God, it is a natural outflow of holiness.  

 

Paul reminds the believers that there is something much higher than these virtues that actually make living out these virtues possible.  That higher source is love.  Now the word love probably means something different to every person in the world.  For some it is expression of two hearts coming together.  For example when a  man and a woman began to have feelings for each other and they fall madly in love and get married.  For some, love is seen through the eyes of a brotherly or sisterly love.  You may not be related by blood but you are you related because of a close connection shared through membership in a group.

 

There is a love that goes much deeper than either one of these.  This love only makes sense if your heart has experienced it because otherwise it would sound crazy.  This love is a selfless love, a love that is not self-seeking, a love that is not boasting but one that has no strings attached.  It is the purest love possible and this is the love that fuels our ability to live out these virtues that Paul is encouraging the believers to live out.

 

When we experience this love, our hearts leap for joy because it is the love that our hearts were created to experience.  This is the love that allows our hearts to be connected to its creator.  This allows us to live out forgiveness, patience, gentleness, kindness, and humility.  This love allows your heart to find its home.

Childlike Faith

The other day I had a conversation with a friend about Luke 18:17. This one verse has given a lot of people trouble. What does Jesus mean when he says, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Right before this verse Jesus has just told a parable about a Pharisee and a Publican (Tax Collector) who both were praying to God. In the story the Pharisee says a very selfish prayer exalting himself over others because he thinks he is righteous because he doesn’t sin and he pays his tithes. The tax collector has a very different prayer where he asks God to be merciful on him because he is a sinner. Now Jesus told his hearers that the Tax Collector was justified that day because of his humbleness.

Humbleness is something that so many of us struggle with. We live in a culture where the pursuit of knowledge is everything. We like to have a handle on what is going on in our world. We don’t like to be caught off guard. We are taught that knowledge is power and the more knowledge we have, the more power have.

In theory that makes perfect sense but Jesus’ saw things through a different set of lens. This idea of having child-like faith for me anyway centers around the idea of fascination. When I was a child I was fascinated by a lot of things. I remember my grandfather was amazed at my fascination with car door handles. I could tell him what type of handles my dad’s truck had, my mom’s car had, and even what type of door handles my other grandparent’s cars had. For some odd reason I was just fascinated with door handles.

Eventually my fascination with door handles faded because I discovered everything I needed to know about door handles so I moved on to something else. That is true for most of us. When we feel we have mastered something we move on. We wait for another challenge, something that fascinates us.

Jesus knew that to be true in his day as well. With Jesus there is so much more to him than anyone person we will ever meet. Sure there are people in this world today that we are fascinated with. Whether it be how they dress, their athletic ability, or how they run a company there is something that interests us about them but eventually that interest will fade. When they die, what they accomplished in this life will be just a memory and generations that follow will probably know very little about them.

Jesus is different because he has left such a lasting impact on our World. I recently started reading a book titled, “Who is This Man?” by John Ortberg. Ortberg goes into great detail about the lasting impact that Jesus had on our world and how this impact is still going some 2000 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is just something about Jesus that just fascinates me. As soon as I feel like I understand him I read the gospels again and I’m completely blown away because I realize that there is just so much more to him that I realized.

This has fueled my fascination with him. It has kept me desiring to want to know more about him but it has rocked my world as well in how he teaches me to live. His way doesn’t always make sense in view of how our world wants us to live but Jesus did warn those who believe in him that this would be the case.