Faithfulness

Over the last few weeks I have had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Missional Living class at Asbury’s academy.  It has been such a great blessing to hear the thoughts and opinions of this current generation of college students as we discuss the hope of the church in an era of decline.  A few weeks ago we were studying a chapter in Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost’s book titled, The Shaping of Things to Come in which the authors were discussing the difference between a hebraic faith and a hellenistic faith.  As I was preparing to teach this lesson, I found myself feeling convicted as I was reading over the material and the biblical text that they were using to support their convictions about the topic of faith.  

 For most of us, our definition of faith, would be modeled after the hellenistic or greek view of faith.  This faith is all about the pursuit of knowledge.  Throughout the history of the church, this has been the driving force.  We have isolated ourselves from the reality of the world in pursuit of knowledge. We feel that the more we knew, the better off we will be.  I must admit, I have gotten myself caught up in that trap.  I had the privilege of going to seminary and completing a degree.  While I was there, I took a number of classes that could be viewed as giving me the “tools” that I needed in order to do effective ministry.  I left seminary knowing how to not only read a greek or hebrew bible but parse verbs and get the deeper meaning of each word, understanding doctrine and the importance of creeds, knowing how to preach a powerful sermon, how to grow spiritually, and how to read scripture properly.  Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful that I was able to learn about all of those things, because they are helpful but they are not the end all be all of ministry or for that matter faith.

 Hirsch and Frost challenge their readers to consider the faith that Jesus modeled.  His faith was centered around not only believing but also doing.  I know it is important to point out that good works don’t save us but rather good works flow out of having a saving faith in Christ.  When you look at Jesus, he didn’t wait for people to come to him, he was always on the go.  He was always visiting people whether he was healing them, teaching them, or rebuking them, he was on the go.  Think of Paul, he didn’t sit around and wait on people to come to him, he got in a boat and sailed to other places.  Proclaiming the good news of Jesus and living out his faith in the risen savior was his mission.  When we live out our faith, there is something very powerful about that.  It puts into action what we believe in the depths of our soul.  If we are going to take a stand against the decline of Christianity, then we must wake up and realize that just memorizing bible verses is not going to cut it.  We must put the truth of those verses into action.

 Putting the truth of those verses into action is not always easy.  When it involves transforming your way of thinking, that is not an easy sale.  Following Jesus is not an easy task.  He calls us to give up much if we are going to follow after him.  In John 8: 31 Jesus as he was talking with a group of Jews who believed in him says this, “…..If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;.”   He clearly states for them that they must continue or live out his word if they want to be a disciple of his. This word disciple is a word that we so easily gloss over in the church.  If we are going to have an active faith, then it will involve continuing in the word of Jesus, being faithful, and displaying faithfulness.  Later on in this passage in verse 51 Jesus refers to his word again when he says, “51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”  When you read that verse, it brings great comfort in knowing his word will never lead to death but keeping his word, living it out, and truly knowing his word is vitally important to the spiritual health of a believer.  

 Living this out, gets back to the hebrew view of faith.  One of the words used for faith in the Hebrew language is the word Emunah which means firm action.  So simply put, to have faith in God is not knowing that God exists or knowing that he will act, rather it is that the one with emunah will act with firmness toward God’s will. 

 So having knowledge is not bad as long as that knowledge is put to use and lived out.  The prophet Habakkuk uses the word emunah when he says, “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” May our faith be defined as faithfulness!

Fascination

 

Holy Week.  A week that begins with Jesus’ triumphal procession into Jerusalem and ends with him being crucified on a cross, put in a tomb, and being raised to life.  I look forward to Holy Week every year but I have to admit that there is a part of my heart that is saddened as well.  As Christians, we get excited about Holy Week because it is in a sense the celebration of our faith.  We are fascinated by Jesus and what he has done for us.  This week defines us because of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Without his sacrifice, there would be no salvation. 

The part that saddens me is what happens the day after Easter.  It is like we all of the sudden lose our fascination with Jesus.  We tend to treat him like just some other person that has lived before us.  If we can find a few minutes we will dust off our bibles and read a scripture, maybe say a short prayer, or if we can spare an hour on a Sunday morning we might go to church.  It is like we just tend to treat him as a God who lived, died, rose to life, and move on to some distant place leaving us to just remember his past works instead of acknowledging his presence among us.

Over the last few weeks I have been journeying back through the gospels again.  I go in cycles when it comes to which books of the bible I tend to focus my time on.  Last fall I taught a bible study on the book of Hebrews and I loved it but in the midst of teaching that study, my heart was leaping with fascination about Jesus.  It isn’t that I have ever lost my fascination with him but I found myself craving his word. Not the words of Paul, Peter, James, Moses, or the prophets but Jesus’ words alone.  There is just something more powerful when we read the red letters of the bible instead of letting Paul interrupt them for us.

If you have ever been around me much, you  know that my favorite gospel is the gospel of Luke.  Luke just resonates with me for a couple of reasons.  The first one is that he was a historian which is what my undergrad degree is in. I love it when someone gives me the full details of story or an event. Luke does just that with each parable and teaching of Jesus which I love.  I feel like he gives us a fuller picture of what was happening.  The second reason that I love Luke is that he writes his gospel in order to appeal to every person no matter what ethnicity, educational background, economic status,  or social standing that one might be identified with.  Luke is saying that ‘Salvation is for all.”  Not just a few who call themselves the “elect” but every person who professes faith in Christ will be saved.  For Luke, this was important because he was writing as one who had been adopted into the family of God himself.

A few weeks ago I decided that for my Thursday night bible study that I would teach from Luke 4:16-30.  This is considered by many to be one of Jesus’ earliest sermons so I thought to myself “this would be great place for us to start.”  This is what the passage says.

 “16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”   17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

   18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.

As he stood up to read, he read from maybe the most recognizable prophet the Jews had.  The words that Jesus read no doubt resonated with the people who heard them. When he says, 

“18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” 

Jesus is making his intentions known to the people that these words describe what the next three years are going to look like.  Shane Claiborne in his book Jesus for President says that this passage is Jesus’ inauguration address. Jesus is making it clear that he has been anointed by God, that he has a heart for the poor, he is going to release us from the captivity of sin, open our eyes to see him clearly, give us freedom that is found only in him, and show us what a true celebration in the Lord is all about.

As I read this passage, I wonder what the people must have been thinking when Jesus stood up and read those words from the prophet Isaiah.  He was from Nazareth and no doubt had attended that synagogue there many Sabbaths but the gospels do not tell us much about his life from the age of 12-30.  We know from an earlier passage in Luke, that Jesus was found at the synagogue probably this very one as a young boy talking with the religious leaders. So at an early age they suspected something was unique about him but what happened after that is one of the greatest mysteries with Jesus.  We know that Jesus was a carpenter which is a very noble trade and one can imagine that Jesus’ appearance was not very appealing.  He probably had cuts and calluses on his hands, maybe a bruised thumb nail where he accidentally hit it with his hammer. Then there was the whole controversy surrounding his birth.  I’m sure that there were some religious leaders who were convinced that Joseph and Mary had done something before marriage that was considered forbidden.  Jesus didn’t let that stop him from doing what he came to do.  He was a determined individual and no man was going to stop him.

It is fascinating to me how he goes about this.  It was custom for a teacher to stand up and read the text then sit down to teach and that is what Jesus does.  In verse 20 it says, “And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.”  Jesus was a master at getting there attention.    What he says next is priceless, “21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” Jesus could have easily said that this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing before he sat down but the fact that he has already sat down to take the position of teacher, was a way to get the direct attention to the religious leaders which was dangerous but very fascinating. Jesus knew that the Pharisees would be upset, but he was going to make a point that day in the synagogue and he was not going to let them derail his plan. 

What he says next strikes right to the heart.  “23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

Word had spread in Nazareth about something that he had done in Capernaum so many of the people, probably the poor, were anticipating a mass physical healing.  So there was much celebrating going on.  What Jesus does next is fascinating.  He could have performed a miraculous healing right there among the people and gained many followers that day.  He decides to bring up something from their past that upsets the people.  The mood of the people goes from celebration, to one where they are plotting Jesus’ murder.  Sort of a sign of what is going to happen to Jesus three years later when he goes to Jerusalem.  Jesus knew he had work to do, so he just passes on through their midst on to the next town to turn things upside down.  

It is fascinating that he would pick his hometown to cause such an uproar.  One might think that Nazareth would be the last place he would cause such an uproar especially this early in his ministry.  I know for myself personally, that my hometown is a place that I would turn to, to find comfort because there are familiar faces there.  Jesus isn’t concerned about comfort, he is concerned about people.  Maybe picking his hometown to cause such an uproar at the beginning of his ministry was a sign that he cares deeply about those whom he grew up with.  He wants them to know his Father and he is willing to risk it all so that they would be saved.  Whatever his reason was for starting in Nazareth, it is a great reminder that nothing will ever hinder God’s redemptive plan.  God desires for all people to know him.  That is evident by what he did in Nazareth by going to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon and to Naaman the Syrian.

My prayer this Holy Week is that we would never lose our fascination with Jesus but rather we would be so fascinated with him that we would desire to draw closer to him every day.  To see his heart for us and the world and give ourselves to him to be used for his glory.

Our Need is HIS desire

Christmas has finally arrived!  For the last month we have attended Christmas parties, visited with family, looked at Christmas lights, exchanged gifts, enjoyed time off from work, and indulged in some wonderful food.  As we continue to sort through all the gifts that we received we have begin the countdown to Christmas 2012.  We are eagerly awaiting its return to do it all over again with all the pageantry that surrounds it.

 

One the favorite parts of the Christmas season for me in the church is the signing of hymns in contemporary service.  There is just something about hymns at this time of the year that are really special.  They are theologically rich and so powerful as they tell of a God who loves his people so much that he would send his only begotten Son.  This Christmas season though there has been one hymn that appears to have been sung more than in recent years.  The hymn “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” seems to be popping up everywhere.  It is such a good hymn.  Here are the words:

 

Come thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a Child and yet a King.
Born to reign in us for ever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

For the Israelites, they had been longing for God to just speak to them since 400 years had passed since they had last heard from him.  At the pronouncement of the birth of Jesus, there is now hope that God is going to move amidst his people and the coming of God in the flesh is going to mark the beginning of something extremely special.  

It is always neat to take a look at the story of Mary in the book of Luke during this time of the year.  If you just pause and take a minute to put yourself in her shoes, it is hard to fathom what must have been going through her mind.  She is engaged to be married to Joseph and now she is pregnant with the son of God.  She knows that people are going to talk and that her reputation is in jeopardy.  I like what Mary says in Luke 1:46-55, “46 And Mary said “My soul exalts the Lord,  47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.  49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;  And holy is His name.  50 “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION  TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. 51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. 52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble.
53 “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS;  And sent away the rich empty-handed.
54 “He has given help to Israel His servant,  In remembrance of His mercy,  55 As He spoke to our fathers,  To Abraham and his descendants forever.”  Instead of showing bitterness about the situation she chooses to praise God knowing that he is doing something far more than she can fathom. 

I like what Martin Luther said one time that every Sunday should be a little Easter.  It is appropriate to also talk about the Cross at Christmas.  The reality of Christmas is that this child who was born in a manger was born to die; born to set the people free; born to reign forever more.  Our need is his desire.  Our need for a Savior is his desire and his passion and in his death we see the love of God displayed in such a gruesome yet beautiful way.  This Christmas, my prayer is that as we enjoy our new gifts that we will take time to worship God, to give him thanks for what he has done, and live our lives in such a way that God will be glorified in all that we do.

Joy that never let’s go

This past week I went home for a few days to see my mom and while I was there we went to Momma Goldberg’s for lunch. As we went in we ordered and as soon as we went done the line to pick up our food the guy making the sandwiches says, “Go Blazers.” My first thought was “this is not an everyday occurrence in Alabama.” I wouldn’t have thought much about it if he had said “Roll Tide” or “War Eagle” but to say “Go Blazers” was a bit different but it was nice to hear that someone was showing support for my alma mater (UAB class of 2006).

As we celebrate this third Sunday of Advent which is focused on Joy, our response to someone who expresses verbally that they have such joy in the Lord is often very much like my response to the man in Momma Goldberg’s. We tend to pause and realize that to hear that expressed verbally is not an everyday occurrence but we are glad to hear it because it brings us a sense of comfort to know that we are in the company of a fellow believer.

What is joy? It seems like so many people think that they have found it only to lose it a short time later while others have found a joy that never lets go. I recently heard that a magazine did some research to find out which cities are the most depressed in America. When I heard the results I was a bit surprised. The most depressed city in the United States is St. Petersburg, Florida, followed by Detroit, Michigan, and Memphis, Tennessee. I could understand Detroit being in the top three but not St. Petersburg. When I think of St. Petersburg I think sun, beach, seafood, and retirement. People who work hard all their lives get to a point that they are able to retire and they pick up their belongings and move to sunny Florida in pursuit of the joys that come with retirement. So many though are finding out that what they thought would bring them joy is actually bringing them misery. This misery that they are experiencing is sadly not only affecting them but so many people, Christians and non-Christians alike.

As we celebrate this Sunday of Joy during this season of advent I can’t help but think of what Mary must have been feeling. Here she was celebrating her engagement to Joseph, planning out her wedding and all of the sudden God sends an angel to inform her that she is a favored one and the Lord is with her. To top it all off she is about to conceive a son who will be called Jesus. To take things a step further, not only is she a virgin who is going to give birth to a son named Jesus and this man named Jesus is not just another man. As Luke 1:32-33 says, “32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Not only will his reign never end, he will become the Savior of the world who will bring us a joy that will never end.

This joy is not tied to some momentary happiness found in the world but rather a relationship with the creator of the universe who loves us so much that he would come to the earth and die for us. His death has paid our debt in full and has made a way for us to come into the presence of God. Being in the presence of God brings us joy because we were made to enjoy God’s presence. In his presence we experience true joy, that never let’s go.

Art of Editing

Anybody who has ever read any of my writings very closely can tell that I am not very good with grammar. During my junior year in college one of my professors wrote a comment on a research paper that said “you write like a robot, try to be smoother next time.” When I read that comment I thought “Well, my mind thinks faster than my hand can write because in my opinion I have clear and concise thoughts.” No matter what I think, the truth is my writing style is not as polished as I would like it to be.

Yesterday afternoon as my beautiful girlfriend was doing some last minute prep for a bible study that me and her attend we started talking about 2 Peter chapter 3. This was the text that she was preparing to teach on for the study. In her research she had come across some comments from some scholars that said Peter may not have been the one who wrote 2 Peter. The controversy centers around the fact that 2 Peter does not match up grammatically with 1 Peter. 1 Peter appears to be very smooth and grammatically sound where 2 Peter in the eyes of scholars appears to be an example of “poor Greek.” In 1 Peter 5:12 Peter mentions that he has a scribe that wrote 1 Peter for him. He says, “Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you.” Peter did the smart thing in this instance and got a scribe to edit or write down his thoughts so that they would be smooth and readable for his audience. Most likely what happened in 2 Peter though was that Peter was in jail in Rome waiting to be crucified so he quickly wrote out his last words before he departed this life and by doing so there was no time for him to get Silvanus to edit his thoughts. Over time scholars figured this out and 2 Peter became part of the Holy Bible.

This idea of editing is kind of like what God does in our lives. None of us are perfect no matter how hard we try, we all as Paul reminds in in Romans 3:23 “fall short of the glory of God.” In Romans 6:23 Paul reminds that because of our sinfulness, the wages of that sin is death. Paul doesn’t leave us hanging though with this doom and gloom language because the second part of Romans 6:23 says, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s desire through his son Jesus, is to edit our life. To put us back on track so that our lives will reflect who God is. The beauty of it all is that this editing is a free gift to us. All God asks of us is to surrender ourselves to him so that we may have life, true life that has been edited and become this beautifully written book.

When we reflect on the story of our lives, there is no author can ever duplicate this type of work.

God is the master editor, the one who desires to edit us and make us into this beautiful piece of work!
All glory belongs to him!

No Growth in Comfort

This morning in Church our pastor during his sermon said that “there is no growth in comfort” as he was referring to the story of the spies in Numbers 13. That statement is so true in so many ways. As individuals when we get comfortable, we are not growing and when we aren’t growing we aren’t advancing forward.

As you look at the story of Moses and the people of Israel, they tended to want to retreat and not grow. They wanted comfort but God wanted them to grow in their relationship with him which meant that they had to step out of their comfort zone and trust him, something that they were retreating from doing. In the book of Exodus God heard the cry of his people as they were in slavery to the Egyptians. He raised up the most unlikely of leaders in Moses and used him as a vessel to lead the Israelites out of Egypt as God parted the Red Sea. With the promised land in sight, the Israelites developed near-sided vision. In Numbers 13:25-28 as the spies returned from scoping out the promised land they gave this report to Moses, “25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large…” They acknowledged that the land was indeed flowing with Milk and Honey but instead of focusing on the promises of God they focused on how strong the Canaanites were and how fortified the city was. They let what they saw paralyze them instead of looking at what God was orchestrating in their lives.

Then Caleb a man who had far-sided hope stood up and said to the people in Numbers 13:30, “30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” He remembered what God had done for them back in Egypt and he was willing step out in faith and trust that God had not brought them this far to just leave them hanging at the hands of the Canaanites but rather God had a plan for the Israelites if they would just trust him. Instead of trusting God the people in Numbers 14:1, threw a pity party for themselves “1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.” They let what they saw in front of them be the determining factor in their attitude and how they dealt with the situation. They lived in fear instead of developing a faith that could move mountains. So often in our lives we do the same thing. We tend to retreat and think the worse and live in fear instead of trusting God and developing a spirit of hope.

This past Wednesday night I had the opportunity to preach in chapel over at the downtown rescue mission and I shared with them the story of the Road to Emmaus from Luke 24. I challenged them to not have a short-sided vision that limits them in what they think they can do but rather have a far-sided hope that God will do what he says he will do. God has always delivered on his promises. If he says he will do it, he will but we have to trust him.

No doubt it is easy to live in fear or let circumstances cripple us but I’m always humbled by the testimony of the apostle Paul in his ministry. This man found that suffering for the sake of the gospel was pure joy and he was willing to endure it for the sake of Christ. He knew that if he was suffering then the gospel must be advancing. It would have been easy for Paul to avoid suffering by just being comfortable but he knew if he took that route then he was retreating from the mission that God gave had given him. Sadly so many of us have chosen that route. We have opted for the route of comfort which leads to no growth.

Do It

Have you ever done something before that you had been intending to do but for whatever reason you just never did it until one day you got up the courage to breakthrough the self-imposed barrier?

Last night I finally broke through that barrier and did it. I didn’t let anything stop me from doing what I have for 7 years been intending to do and that is ask a waiter or waitress if I could pray for him or her. This might not seem like a momentous occasion but sometimes the little things we do can go a long way.

I remember one Sunday morning back in 2004 I was channel surfing as I was waiting to go to Church when I stopped on one of the local channels that was showing a service from Gardendale Baptist Church. I never have been one to make a habit out of watching Worship services on TV but I had heard a lot of great things about Gardendale Baptist Church and their preacher who at that time was Steve Gaines. I don’t remember what the topic of his sermon was or even the scripture he was preaching from but I do remember a story that he was sharing in the midst of his sermon. He was sharing with his congregation about having stopped at this restaurant for Breakfast that morning and a conversation he would later have with the waitress. He said that after she had brought him his food, he informed her that he was going pray before he ate and was wondering if there might be anything he could pray for her about. The waitress was somewhat stunned that someone would want to pray for her and as it turns out she had been going through a tough time in her life. As I heard this story I thought “Wow, that is really a neat thing to do.”

Since that time I’ve thought to myself I should look for opportunities to pray for people like that. What if someone we encounter is really struggling with junk in his or her life and is looking for something positive like a random act of kindness. So last night as I was having dinner with two friends I just randomly asked our waitress as she was setting our food down on the table if there was anything I could pray for her about. She was stunned by my question but she quickly was like yeah, I could use prayer. She didn’t go into any details but I could tell just the thought that someone cared enough about her as a person meant a lot. I don’t know where she is spiritually but my prayer is that maybe a seed was planted.

I often think of how Jesus treated people. I imagine that he often just randomly asked people if he could pray for them as he was journeying along. He knew their needs and as we know from John 4 with the story of the woman at the well he was not shy about telling people their life story which might seem a little creepy but Jesus was in the business of transforming peoples lives. Not only did Jesus want to transform the lives of the people he encountered as he walked along the roads of Israel he wants to transform us as well.

Even though asking a waiter or waitress if you can pray for him or her might not seem like a big deal, it really is. That one act of kindness can go a long way in planting a seed that might lead to them trusting in Jesus as their Savior.

Ramblings on Suffering

Recently it seems that wherever I turn in scripture I come across the theme of suffering and sanctification. It seems the two are somewhat linked together which seems unlikely on the surface but the deeper you dig into scripture, there is something to be learned. A few weeks I was reading in Acts chapter 5 when I came across verse 41 where the disciples thought that it was honorable for them to be considered worthy to suffer for Christ. The idea of suffering and actually getting joy out of it seemed somewhat crazy but in their suffering they learned dependence on Christ. They knew that the only way they could overcome any persecution was to trust in Christ and let him strengthen them.

A few weeks ago I had a chance to study Philippians 3 with some friends in our Thursday night bible study. Philippians 3 is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture to study. In my opinion it is one of Paul’s most personal moments with the early believers. He warns the Philippians, a group of people he dearly loves to watch out for evil workers or as he calls them the dogs. Paul knew that there were people out there that were teaching and preaching a gospel that was not the gospel of the cross. He actually calls these people enemies of the cross because they had diluted the message of Christ so much and he was hoping that the Philippians would not follow their lead. Paul knew that these enemies of the cross were teaching a faith that focused on the self instead of faith in Christ. Paul even goes into a moment of sharing his testimony in how he came to realize that everything he had ever gained in the flesh was worthless. It did not compare to knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.

In the midst of giving his testimony he says something that really stuck out to me in verses 9-11, where he says, “9)… may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10)that I may know him Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11)in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” For Paul to be found in Christ was a big deal and something that only happens by faith. This faith in Christ for Paul went further. It was one thing to just believe in Christ and his resurrection but Paul wanted to know Christ in the fellowship of His sufferings and death so he could attain life through the resurrection. Paul knew that truly knowing Christ meant dying to self and letting Christ live in him and for Paul if that meant suffering for Christ, his motto was BRING IT ON!

No doubt Paul knew suffering throughout his ministry. He was shipwrecked, beaten with rods, stoned, you name it, he probably had endured it but he knew the life that was in him was not his own. When he suffered he felt a mysterious closeness to Christ that he couldn’t explain but he knew Christ was near. Paul knew that this closeness to Christ would lead onward toward sanctification or a state of Christ-likeness. That state of Christ-likeness was something that Paul wanted the Philippians and all Christians to strive for even it meant suffering for Christ. Later in Chapter 3 Paul tells the Philippians that their citizenship is in Heaven, not here on earth. Living as a citizen of heaven would call them to live here on earth like they were in the presence of the Lord. If you think about it, Jesus references this in the Lord’s prayer when he says, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus is calling us to live our lives as if we were in heaven but yet with a mission of reflecting Christ to the world.

If we lived everyday like we were standing in the presence of God knowing that our mission was to reflect his love to the world how radically different would our faith look like?

Acts 5:41

I recently started reading through the book of Acts again and this morning’s reading was of Chapter 5. I was reading it when I got to verse 41 that says, “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” it reminded me that being a Christian is not what we often make it out to be. Who in their right mind wants to suffer? I honestly don’t know of anyone who has made it known that they enjoy suffering. These disciples though were honored that they were considered worthy to suffer for Christ. If it meant being beaten with rods, flogged, spit on, put in prison, stoned, breaking a bone, loosing a tooth, bring it on was their battle cry. Their desire was to advance the Kingdom at all cost which they did. They wanted to see Christ glorified throughout the earth and were dedicated to that mission.

How often though have we retreated from that mission? At the mention of suffering we get tense and retreat because it makes us uncomfortable. We often don’t do good with change because it means we have to change how we have always done things and adopt or accept a new method or style. The adaptation process can be painful especially if we aren’t willingly looking to change. If in our minds we accepted the call of Christ, and trusted that his leading and guidance would show us the way through even the most severe pain would that change us? Would it change our view point of what suffering was all about? In the time of these disciples they lived in a world that was dominated by ungodliness or in some cases extreme religious fanaticism from the teachers of the law. At the mention of preaching a message about a man named Jesus who hung on a tree for the sins of the world and was raised from the dead, sent shock waves went throughout the region. It upset the standard of living because it brought change and the people resisted. These disciples pressed on because they believed in this message and thought it was worth suffering for.

Having majored in History for my bachelor’s degree, I heard a saying that is worth repeating even if it gets old. History tends to repeat itself and when you look at the world today, we see ungodliness and religious fanaticism happening. The question that I’ve been wrestling with is what would prompt us to want to suffer for the glory of Christ and the advancement of his Kingdom? How do we lead ministries with the mindset of glorifying Christ even if we have to suffer to do so? If we are striving for popularity in what we are doing then we have no chance of winning but if we are striving for a Kingdom mindset, we have a chance to succeed if we are willing to suffer.

When I think of missionaries who have suffered for Christ it humbles me to think of their servant heart and makes me challenge myself to be more open to what a true servant looks like. They were willing to risk it all for the sake of Christ but we tend to get defensive at the mention of risking it all. What would drive us to the point of desiring to be honored to suffer for Christ and the advancement of his kingdom?

Journey through Hebrews pt. 7, Easter Edition

So the anticipation of the week has come to a climax with the celebration of Easter. The tomb is empty and Christ has over come death and life eternal is offered to anyone who believes in Christ. Many questions though remain for many people. Questions like what do I do next? Can someone really be raised from the dead? This morning in Sunday School I was talking with my students about the question of Christ’s resurrection. We talked about the questions that surround his resurrection. One of the questions was how can we tell about the resurrection of Christ considering how mangled his body was. That is a question that honestly I’ve never dealt with before but it opened up a great discussion. During Jesus’ public ministry he raised Lazarus up from the dead. With Lazarus, we see that he died from what can be assumed was natural causes. He was sick and his body could not overcome the sickness so he died. Even though seeing someone resurrected was not the norm, as Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave he came back to life. His body wasn’t necessarily changed because he wasn’t mangled but rather he just had life breathed back into him. The story of Jairus’ daughter is very similar. In both cases there were witnesses to the resurrection and the body’s of both weren’t altered. The story of Jesus is different.

As the ladies went to the tomb seeing it empty was the last thing they expected. Of course they may have thought that it was possible that Jesus could have been resurrected since they had seen two resurrections during his ministry. The problem now was that the one who had been doing the resurrecting is now dead. On top of that his body is mangled, something that made a resurrection that much more unlikely. The unlikely turned into not only a possibility but a reality as they encountered the angel who sent them on to Galilee to meet the resurrected Christ. As they encountered Jesus, he would give them the great commission to go into all the world with the good news of his resurrection.

This good news leads me to a passage in Hebrews 13:12-14 that says, “12) Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13) So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing the reproach. 14) For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.” Every time I read this passage I can’t help but think of how Jesus is calling us to go outside of our comfort zones to the places that we would never consider going. Jesus went outside the camp for us. He was willing to die a painful death that left his body mangled. He was willing to take on himself the sins of the world so that he could justify us before the father and give us his righteousness that would sanctify us. He went against the norm in order to establish a new covenant. His resurrection may be a mystery in how his mangled body could be resurrected but the reality is that it was and he has conquered death and given us life. In that Holy Moment on that Sunday Morning over 2,000 years ago as the ladies who came to the tomb stood in awe of what was happening, Jesus was commanding us to go outside the camps that we often decided to cling to. He is asking us to risk it all for his glory and his renown. He is asking us to go to all nations and make disciples in his name. Even though questions may still linger over what exactly happened, we know that he was raised to life. That is good news that we are commanded to go and tell to the nations. Whether it is locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally, we have been commanded. Let us go outside the camp for his glory.