Build Your Kingdom Here

I absolutely love the chorus to Rend Collective Experiment's song titled "Build Your Kingdom Here."

Build Your kingdom here.

Let the darkness fear.

Show Your mighty hand.

Heal our streets and land.

Set Your church on fire.

Win this nation back.

Change the atmosphere.

Build Your kingdom here.

We pray.

What if we could say these words and MEAN them?

"BUILD YOUR KINGDOM HERE"

This first line is PACKED with challenges for the church.

It's a prayer for God to advance HIS kingdom, not ours. How often do we aspire to advance our own ideas, our own agendas, our own philosophies, our own methodologies, our own personal preferences. We want to build a kingdom of our own liking. One that we're familiar with. One that we're comfortable with. Lord, build YOUR kingdom here, not our own.

It's a prayer for God to build His kingdom, RIGHT HERE where we are now. Right in the middle of the mess in which we find ourselves. In the middle of the mess in our homes, in our communities, in our churches. There is no ideal place for God to build His kingdom except the place in which we find ourselves right now. Jesus, build your kingdom HERE, right where we find ourselves. We're not looking for an easy way out. We're not looking for you to move us to a place where things are more comfortable. Build your kingdom right where we are today.

It's a prayer for GOD to build. It's a surrender to the fact that God is the builder; without His handiwork, we won't accomplish a thing. It's a prayer of dependence on Him. Lord, we need YOU to do the work that only you can do. We recognize that you are in the construction business as you alone can build your church (Matthew 16:18). We are willing servants ready to take hear your directions as you work through us to do your construction work.

Lord, build your kingdom here.

Dying Before Trying

There are two paths in Christian living that lead to frustration, exhaustion, failure, and resignation. The first will have us wearing ourselves down only to find that our own strength is not enough; the second will result in an apathetic of stagnant faith. Many of us find ourselves on one of these two paths--or perhaps even alternating back and forth between the two. On both of these paths the focus is on trying. We think, "to try or not to try--that is the question."

The one whose answer is trying feels a lot of pressure to "do devotionals," attend church every week, pray "x" times a day, go on mission trips, etc. We try-ers are determined to grow, and we'll make it happen by sheer willpower... until one day we find that all of our busyness, all of our trying, isn't enough to catalyze the growth we long for. That's a frustrating, discouraging, humbling day for the try-er. For many that day of realization leads to the conclusion, "If trying isn't the answer, then I'm just done trying."

We not-try-ers have learned to lean on Scripture like Paul's message to the Corinthians: "Only God can make my faith grow." We've finally "realized" that we can rest in Jesus, and we long for the easy yoke of Jesus... except after a while, our resting isn't "in Jesus" at all; it's a decision to manipulate and ignore Scripture  that calls us to commitment in order to excuse a new found laziness that stagnates our growth all together.

So what is the answer then? If the answer isn't trying, and the answer isn't not trying, then what else is there? Perhaps we should look for a middle ground? Maybe we can find a "balance" between trying and not trying? OR maybe we started with the wrong question.

The problem isn't the trying; the problem is that we've started with the wrong question.

When Jesus asks us to follow him, he doesn't call us to a life of trying. Jesus calls us to dying.

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

The cross is a symbol of death. When we put trying before dying, we start down a path that inevitably leads us away from the life Jesus calls us to. When we put dying before trying, Jesus doesn't promise we'll have the nice little life we always dreamed of, but he does promise to give us life to the fullest degree (Ro. 5:17).

Of course, dying without trying is not dying at all. Paul exemplifies this.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20)

Having died to self, Paul no longer places any confidence in the flesh. His righteousness comes from God, and His desire is to know Jesus, but that doesn't mean putting his life on auto-pilot and coasting to the end of his life. No, he strains and presses on, he tries with everything he has, to follow Jesus (Phil. 3). Paul is a slave of Jesus Christ who compares his efforts to those of an athlete in training (1 Cor. 9:24-27). So trying is the answer, but not before dying. Without dying, trying is useless. Until we fully submit ourselves to Christ, no amount of trying will save us, nor will it sanctify us. Grace precedes works. It's dying before trying. Trying isn't an option, but it's also not the beginning of Christian living. We begin with dying.

"To die or not to die. That is the question."

The Church Is the Enemy When...

John Eldridge did it to me again with his book Beautiful Outlaw.

I've spent the last several weeks brewing, festering, boiling over this. Do we really need "the church." I'm not talking about the the body of Christ--of course we need each other. I'm talking about the man-made institution and all of its traditions.

The buildings. The programs. The organization. The structure.

Do we really need it?

Like so many other things, it's not the vehicle that is evil. "Church" is not evil. God has worked through "church" to accomplish His work, but it becomes the enemy when godless, spiritless men and women grab hold of it and leverage it for their own purposes.

The church is the enemy when...

• Developing programs becomes more important than teaching, challenging, and inspiring people to follow Jesus
• Building a tight-knit, comfortable, happy group becomes more important than leading people to follow Christ
• Appeasing pharisees or seekers becomes more important than loving and following Jesus
• Achieving excellence becomes more important than making disciples of Jesus
• Maintaining the image of an active, loving church becomes more important than walking in the footsteps of Jesus
• Performing tasks efficiently becomes more important than showing people what it means to be Christ-followers
• Establishing and upholding man-made rules, standards, and expectations becomes more important than being in love with Jesus

The church exists for the purpose of facilitating the process of making disciples of Jesus. If it is not leveraging its resources to this end, it has become the enemy of Christ's mission.

Let's not sugar-coat it. Many churches have become the enemy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that these godforsaken, human-operated establishments are shattered by the love of Christ. Pray that we have the strength, courage, and stamina it takes to be friends of Jesus and facilitators of his mission.

How to Love

For the last few weeks, I've been thinking about what it means to truly love. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus is confronted by a scholar with the question, "What do I have to do to have eternal life?" After Jesus turns the question back on him, the scholar references the Great Commandment: love God, love others. Then he follows with the question, "But who do I have to love?" In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus essentially says, "You're asking the wrong question. I'll answer the right one. Love others by observing and meeting needs."

For the last couple years, my wife and I have been trying to teach Kaden how to love. We often show an example, then say, "Now that's a good way to show love." Any time we catch him doing something that fits the bill, we remind him, "That's a great way to show love, Kaden!"

Last night Kaden found me lying in bed way before bed time. When he found out that I was sick, he sat there thinking for a minute, then he said, "Daddy, what is your favorite animal?" I told him, "Probably dogs." He said, "No! I'm talking about MY animals. Real animals." The giraffe. And the zebra. And the lizard. He walked out of the room and returned a minute later with the stuffed animals of my choice for me to snuggle with while I rested. After taking care to place them all around me, he began heading back out of the room, but then he stopped. "Daddy, remember not to cough on them so when I take them back tonight I won't get sick, okay?"

Last night Kaden showed me how to love. Daddy is proud! I have the best 3-year-old in the world!

Hunger Games Thoughts

As I watched the movie, I was most disturbed not by the violence, but by the grotesques who lived in the Capitol. To them, the events taking place were nothing more than a game, mere amusement, entertainment. They were so concerned with putting on a good show, so as to create the best possible story line, that they were completely unaware of what was really happening. Children were dying. Loved ones mourning. Their lack of compassion and awareness was disgusting. It's like they were numb to reality.

Then I began thinking....

How often do we as Christians concern ourselves more with saying "the right thing" or putting on a good Christian show, all the while going along completely unaware of the reality and the depth of the pain of those hurting around us? How often do we settle for throwing out a cliche Bible verse instead of truly entering into a sufferer's pain? "You know, all things work together for good. God has a plan for your life." I'm not questioning the truth and the power of the Scripture referenced. I'm questioning my heart and your heart as we treat others' sufferings as if it weren't real. As if it were a game. Maybe it's time to look in the mirror and recognize the grotesque looking back, hiding behind the make-up.

Refinished

I spent the last few days refinishing a couple pieces of furniture. Thankfully, I had a friend around who had some experience; he taught me a lot through the process. First, we stripped and re-stained a cedar trunk. My idea was to paint it, but my friend agreed with my wife: you don’t paint cedar. The wood is too nice to cover up! And whaddya know they were right. It’s beautiful!

Now I’m painting a pine bookshelf. Pine is one of those woods that often looks better when it’s covered up. So now it’s white.

This afternoon I started thinking about a parallel. Jesus talks about white-washed tombs…

Matthew 23:27-28

New International Version (NIV)

   ²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

A white-washed tomb is a lot like my pine bookshelf. You can put a little paint on the surface, and you don’t notice the blemishes. In fact, a painted pine bookshelf wouldn’t look any different than a painted cedar trunk. But when you strip away the paint, what’s underneath the two provides a sharp contrast. The cedar is so beautiful on the “inside” that you put stain on it, which soaks deep into the wood, and rather than hiding what’s under the surface, it draws it out. And the finished product boasts about its grain.

We all know how to put on a nice finish coat of white paint. We know how to make it look like we have it all together. But what would happen if you stripped away the cover-up? What would be revealed? Are you just a white-washed tomb, or are the grains of your character worth exposing… even highlighting?

Are We Getting It Wrong?

Last fall I watched a documentary on youth ministry called "Divided." It rocked me... made me ask some tough questions. Questions whose answers could potentially shake my future dramatically.



If filmmaker Philip Leclerc is right, I've spent the last 10 years working with students with unbiblical methods, and the last 2 years of studying youth ministry have been wasted. So I went back to Deuteronomy 6 to take a closer look and to see what I had missed.

The premise is that in Deut. 6:4-9 Moses is teaching that it is the parents responsibility to disciple their children,  not an age-segregated youth ministry! Back in October of last year, Greg Stier posted his response to the movie, and a lot of youth ministry advocates loved watching him stand up for his "little brother." The article is worth the read because Stier makes a great case against the movie. But he misses on one point. Stier writes, "Deuteronomy 6:4-9 was written to dads and moms, not youth leaders and sponsors. The gravity of God’s command through Moses to the people of Israel still reverberates for parents today."


Read the passage yourself.

 ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Who exactly is Moses addressing here? Is he instructing the parents of individual family units on how to disciple their children?  "Hear, O [individual families of] Israel..." The Israelites were about to enter the promised land, so maybe Moses assumed that each individual family would be abundantly blessed with multiple houses and gates. I seriously doubt it. I hear Moses challenging a nation, an entire community of believers, to raise up a new generation that would love God. Israel was a community, and they raised their young as a community. Youth ministries are a part of that community as are institutions such as families and schools. Whether or not you agree with her politics, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton got this one right: it takes a village to raise our youth.

Glad to know I'm not working against God as I seek to love students and their families.

"I'll Have a Number One with a Side of Pain Please"

Not many of us are looking for a side order of pain in our lives. I'll have all the good things this life has to offer, but none of that other stuff please. Wouldn't it be great if life was just kisses and hugs, smiles and laughter, thrills and highs. Wouldn't it be awesome if life always worked out the way you wanted it to: if you always succeeded at work, your doctor called back with good news, you got the grade/car/house/boyfriend/girlfriend you wanted? What's up with all this guilt, and failure, and disappointment, and pain?

This is the point when most marketers will jump in and tell you how to avoid all that. "You know there's a pill/thrill/vacation/upgrade/hobby/book/technique that will fix that for you... a little money can buy you anything, my friend."

Most of us think of life this way:

There you are standing on the peak. You're goal is to make sure you're always moving toward the right and away from the left. You fix your gaze on pleasure and curse pain as you look back in your rear view mirror.

In his research in leprosy, the late Dr. Paul Brand saw what life was without pain. Don't get too excited, unless you're up for a side order of leprosy. After watching thousands of lepers  become completely debilitated, Brand discovered that these men and women were losing hands, feet, eyes, and more not because of a disease, but because they didn't sense pain; their warning system wasn't functioning. These lepers, and Dr. Brand, see the value of pain. They've learned that pain and pleasure are necessary and beneficial parts of life. Like love and marriage, you can't have one without the other. To cut either out would mean sleep, apathy, or death.

As long as we're on this plateau called life, we may as well embrace both. As strange as it sounds, let's thank God for both the pain and pleasure He allows in our lives.

"Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

The Perfect Christmas

If you could hire a "Christmas designer" to design the perfect Christmas, what would it look like? White snow? Glowing friends and family filling a large room with love and laughter? A tasty, juicy ham injected with pineapple or coke? Loved ones praising you for picking the perfect gift? A black Lexus with a big red ribbon wrapped around it? What does your perfect Christmas look like?

Actually, there was only one perfect Christmas, and it took God (not a "Christmas designer" or "super-mom") to pull it off. And even still, the perfect Christmas wasn't so perfect by our standards. Actually the perfect Christmas sounds a lot more like a typical Christmas for busy moms and dads. Travel through not-so-perfect weather and a day refusing to go according to the ideal plan. Exhaustion, frustration, and messiness. And THIS was the perfect Christmas. And I don't know for sure, but I think Mary would have agreed. Why? Because she wasn't aiming for just the right present for Joseph. She wasn't aiming for the perfect meal or a spotlessly clean home. She wasn't aiming for anything but the presence of Jesus.

By those standards, maybe you've had a lot more close-to-perfect Christmases than you think. Sure the green bean casserole didn't turn out just like you planned; no, you didn't get that gift you were hoping for; and yes, you're absolutely worn out by all the busyness. But when all the excessive expectations are stripped away, and when squint your eyes and look beyond the dense forest of commercialism, you'll find that this Christmas, like every other Christmas is one more reminder of that one perfect Christmas celebrated by Mary, Joseph, and a few strangers so long ago. A day to remember that day in history when God humbly invaded our story.

So raise the bar for your expectations this Christmas. Snow, family, smiles, gifts, love, laughter, and good cooking may be a part of it too, but I hope that you're expecting more. I hope you're expecting an awareness God's presence and gifts like peace, love, and hope that He brings each year as you remember Jesus.

Merry Christmas!

Only for a Season

It's only for a season. That's what I told myself while I was in the midst of my third all-nighter in two weeks to finish another paper for school.

It's only for a season. That's what came to mind when I discovered my truck had been broken into again.

It's only for a season. That's what I reminded myself every time I sat at the traffic lights for ten minutes in front of Kohl's in Highland.


It's only for a season. That's what I thought when I had to turn down yet another invitation to hang out with the guys on campus at Moody.

It's only for a season. It's only for a season. It's only for a season. I kept reminding myself. I never let myself forget. It's only for a season.

The season I've been referring to for the last two years is coming to an abrupt end. And I'm terribly sad about it. The season I just couldn't wait to get through, the season I was just praying to survive, has turned out to be the best yet. As I look back at the last two years, I have so much to thank and praise God for.

The season of worshiping with what has become my family at Crossroads is coming to an end. Thank You God for placing these wonderful people in my life! Thank You especially for the leadership and wisdom Drew Brown has poured into my life. Thank You for the opportunity Kris Vos and Road Crew gave me to serve at Crossroads. Thank You for placing caring people like Joan Buss and Tiffany Nottingham in my path. Thank You for this season at Crossroads. I wish it didn't have to end.

The season of ministering to and with the awesome students of Brickhouse is coming to an end. Thank You God for showing me what it means to simply love You and love students. Thank You for an endless list of great memories with students. Thank You for allowing me to watch you change students' lives. Thank You for allowing me to see such an amazing team of volunteer adult leaders who give their time, talents, and energy every week in Your name. Thank You for the Fight Club guys, for the fun we had and the challenges we overcame. Thank You for showing me You can use a quiet, thoughtful, and just-plain-weird guy like myself. Thank You for this season at Brickhouse. I wish it didn't have to end.

The season of studying at Moody Bible Institute is coming to an end. Thank You God for teaching me more about You! Thank You for allowing me to explore my gifts in ministry, especially writing and counseling. Thank You for placing Mitch Tabla in my path at orientation and for the friendship we developed over two years. Thank You for bringing Matt Seaver into my life... chainsaw, beard, and all! Thank You for Ian Stewart and the time we were able to spend getting to know each other and praying for each other this past semester. Thank You for exposing me to great professors like Dr. Finkbeiner and Mrs. Smith, who humbly and lovingly teach with excellence. Thank You for revealing Yourself to me in real, tangible ways every day as You coordinated my studies with my experiences.

It was only for a season. Praise GOD for this season of my life!

Moody, Crossroads, and Brickhouse, you made this a season I'll never forget!

Providence and Prayer

When God moved my family to Chicago, I wasn't sure what He had in store for me. I guessed, "Maybe He's bringing me here to fill the Bible gaps in my brain. Or maybe He's planning to give me a little better theoretical understanding of what ministry is all about. Or it could be that He just wants me to learn something more about myself." In my time up north, He has accomplished all of these things, but I'm convinced He had a broader purpose in bringing me here. In the months and years prior to moving from that small, rural community in East Central Indiana, this was a regular prayer of mine: "Father, open my eyes, and help me to see your hand at work in my life and in the world around me."

Divine providence. That's what they call it in the classroom where I read all about it and wrote essays on it. Having a little book knowledge about providence is helpful, but God allowing me to witness it and experience it is what has really shaped me and my view of Him. Seeing Him work has softened me. Seeing Him work has created in me a spirit of humility, thanksgiving, and praise. God is more active in our lives and in the world than we will ever know. In His divine providence, God has spent the last 20 months teaching me about... His providence. And about prayer.

Bible knowledge is pretty important for a pastor. We get that. Of course it is! There's nothing more important, right? We have to be prepared to handle the Word of God with care, accuracy, and reverence. Preaching and teaching is what pastors do. At least that's the thing we see them doing every week when the spotlight is shining brightly on him and his mic is amped up. What we don't see are the hours of prayer for the needs of the congregation. The prayers asking for guidance. The prayers seeking wisdom. The prayers just resting in His presence and nurturing a love relationship. Prayer is what shapes the pastor's heart and vision. Without prayer, the Bible feels stale. And so does the pastor's teaching. So it shouldn't be any surprise to me that God has taught me as much about prayer in the last 20 months as He has about the Bible.

It has been interesting how providence and prayer have intersected and interacted in my life. I'm currently reading Richard Foster's Prayer. Yesterday, I sat down to read a chapter and thought, "This has been one of the most relaxing, restful days I've had in several months." I sat for a few minutes watching a storm roll in and listening to the rain. Ahhhhh. When I opened my book to chapter 9 and read the title "The Prayer of Rest," I wasn't surprised that God, in His providence, had me reading about this topic on this day at this time. God's divine fingerprints were all over this one.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, 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." (Matt. 11:28-29)

I'm so thankful for what God is teaching me, and I'm eager to see what He does next. What is He going to teach me? How is He going to shape me? Whose heart is He preparing to hear the Gospel? What is He doing in the hearts and minds of this generation of believers? Where is He taking us?

God is good.

Entertaining Burnette

I wasn't planning on taking the 2:35 train out of Millennium Station today, but I forgot my study materials, so there was no reason for me to stay on campus. As I entered the first car, I performed my usual ritual of perusing the passengers to determine who I should sit next to in order to maximize my study time. In other words, who is least likely to BUG me?

Oooohh... this one looks promising. A middle-aged African American woman was already engaged in reading what appeared to be a work-related memo. I settled down, turned my Bible to the third chapter in Hosea, and tried to begin meditating on this remarkable picture of God's love. But my brain wasn't cooperating. "You know, it's no coincidence you're sitting here on this train at this time in this seat by this woman," my brain randomly communicated. "Maybe you should try talking to her." Maybe I should. I wonder what she's reading. That's always a good conversation starter. I glanced over and saw the Salvation Army logo at the top of her document. Hmmm. It would be pretty easy to strike up a conversation about that... but I have so much reading to get done. And Hosea is one of my favorite books. It's only a 50-minute train ride. Maybe I can get through all 14 chapters. I refocused.

Then a nudge came from the woman sitting next to me. "Excuse me. What are you reading?"
"Hosea," I said.
"What's that? What do you mean 'Hosea?'"
"It's my Bible. I'm reading Hosea."
"And what's that mean to you?"
"It's a love story. It's a story about God's relationship with Israel, but even more, it's a story about me. It's a story about my relationship with God, my unfaithfulness, and his loving kindness to forgive and bring me back to him."

And that was how my conversation with Burnette began. For the next 40 minutes, she spoke passionately and eloquently of the loving God whom we both serve. At one point during our conversation, I literally thought to myself, "Is it possible that this beautiful Christian woman is actually an angel from God?" I struggled to recall the verse that speaks about "entertaining angels" (then my ADD mind took me to a DC Talk song titled after this verse before bringing me back to my original thought... what is that verse... Hmmm... anyway...). Burnette's joy, humility, passion, and love were infectious. She was a light. She recalled Scripture like no one I've met, and she naturally wove it into the conversation. By themselves, these things were very impressive. Coupled with her circumstances they were awe-inspiring.

Burnette never took the 2:35 train before today. She couldn't. She worked until 3. Today was different though. Today Burnette was informed that it was her last day at work. She was dismissed after lunch. With the loss of her job still fresh in her mind and with an acute awareness of her husband's present unemployment, Burnette took 40 minutes to encourage me that GOD IS FAITHFUL. She's not worried about paying the bills because God blesses her every time as long as she stays in His will. During the course of our conversation, she paused several times to thank and praise God that He already had her next "assignment" lined up. "He's come through for me every time in the past, and this time will be no different," she said enthusiastically. "And He'll do the same for you! He's so faithful!" And this wonderful conversation continued...

There is so much more I could share with you about my encounter with Burnette. What a beautiful, inspiring woman! When I stepped on that train, I was looking forward to meditating on one of the great books of the Bible, but God had something even better lined up for me. Burnette brought me a message from God today:

"God is faithful! You can trust Him to come through for you!"
"No matter where you are, job or no job, you are ALWAYS on assignment for the Lord!"

I won't forget the message she carried, and I won't forget her.

Thank you Burnette for turning an ordinary commute into a heart-softening encounter with God. May God continue to bless you and your husband. And may He continue to show Himself so powerfully in your life as you witness about His greatness. I'm grateful He put you on assignment on Eastbound Train 109 this Tuesday at 2:35pm. Love, peace, and blessings!


"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)

YOU ARE A SOMEBODY

Satan: You're worthless
God: I stamped you with MY image
Satan: You're a nobody
God: You're my child
Satan: You can't do it
God: Do it
Satan: You're all alone
God: I am with you
Satan: You're unlovable
God: I love you

YOU ARE A SOMEBODY

Suffering or Redemption?

Enemies. Would you rather watch them suffer or watch God redeem them?

“A new thought occurred to [Mrs. May]: suppose Mr. Greenleaf had aroused the bull chunking stones at him and the animal had turned on him and run him up against a tree and gored him? The irony of it deepened: O.T. and E.T. would then get a shyster lawyer and sue her. It would be the fitting end to her fifteen years with the Greenleafs. She thought of it almost with pleasure as if she had hit on the perfect ending for a story she was telling her friends.”

-Flannery O'Connor's "Greenleaf"

People with excessive self-pity and victim thinking expose the end of my grace and mercy. I know people who take this sort of pleasure in misery, and they drain every ounce of love and patience out of me. Before I understood that the bull in O’Connor’s “Greenleaf” was a Christ-type wooing Mrs. May, I was actually pleased when the it charged at her and gored her through the heart. The fact that I was disappointed at the notion that the bull may have been a form of salvation for her made me realize my sinful attitude: I had more satisfaction in the thought of her suffering than the thought of her redemption. I’m ashamed by my heart condition, but I’m glad that I am now aware of this weakness. I’m thankful that “He’s still workin’ on me” because there is a lot of work to do.

Faking Righteousness

This post is the first of a series of journal annotations from this past spring that I will be posting on my blog.

“Hadleyburg was the most honest and upright town in all the region round about. . . . throughout the formative years temptations were kept out of the way of the young people, so that their honesty could have every chance to harden and solidify, and become a part of their very bone” -Mark Twain: “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg”

Hadleyburg is a town to which many Christians in the “Bible Belt” can probably relate. They had all the outward appearances of righteousness, and they sounded their trumpets so that everyone would know just how holy they were. Like the whitewashed tombs of the Pharisees (cf. Matt. 23:27), this town was truly a wreck on the inside. It was not at all their honesty that was hardening and solidifying, but their pride and hypocrisy. The cause of the problem was the town's refusal to let any temptations or trials through its fortified gates. While they thought they were making righteousness, in reality they were only faking righteousness. As James says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Without the testing of their virtues, the town of Hadleyburg was lacking quite a bit, especially in what they took most pride: honesty.

So how about you? Where are you at? Are you open to being tested and stretched? Or are you content faking righteousness?

No Darkness AT ALL

"God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all."

1 John 1:5

No darkness AT ALL... in contrast to men in whom both darkness and light, both good and evil cohabitate. We are images of God marred by the fall. Author Cornelius Plantinga writes, "Creation speaks out of both sides of its mouth now." Reading through the adjectives Plantinga uses to describe mankind reminds us who we are: half-ruined, twisted, polluted, divided, double-minded, split, spoiled, contaminated, shipwrecked, fallen. Our hearts are both "this and that" where good and evil are intertwined and light is overshadowed.

With all of this mess in our hearts and in our world, we can be grateful that there is One who has retained His pure, uncontaminated holiness.

"God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all."1 John 1:5

Separated?

Lately I've felt convicted about the lack of intimacy I've had with God. Tonight as I was getting ready to go to sleep, I began to repent for the lack of effort on my part. I confessed that I was causing the distance I felt between myself and God. Then I felt led to grab my Bible. "Pick up and read." Hmm... what should I read? "Romans... 8... verse 38." I'm pretty bad with Scripture memory, so I didn't know where God was leading me; I just knew it was a familiar passage. As I reached for my teshuva duck tape Bible, this thought came to me: "No. Grab the Study Bible. You'll want to read the study note."

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

study note on 8:39...

"nor anything else in all creation. Nothing
in the universe is outside God's control; therefore, nothing (including
ourselves) can separate us from His eternal love."

We serve a PERSONAL God! The Holy Spirit counsels us and comforts us according to our personal needs. My lack of effort may have created a feeling of distance between me and God, but NOTHING can separate me from His love. God knows me. He knows my thoughts. He knows my circumstances. He knows what I need to hear. I need to listen. Praise God!

God is 100%

God is 100%...

• God is 100% Holy... He's not mostly holy. He's holy holy holy!!!! (with an infinite number of "holys" and an infinite number of exclamation points!)
• God is 100% Wrathful... He's not bothered by our sin. It's not a nuisance or an irritant. He HATES it!
• God is 100% Patient... He's not kinda patient. He's INCOMPREHENSIBLY patient!
• God is 100% Kind... He's not eh... pretty kind. He's kind beyond measure!
• God is 100% Forgiving... He's not mostly forgiving. He's TOTALLY forgiving!
• God is 100% Faithful... He's not usually mostly faithful. He's ALWAYS TOTALLY faithful!
• God is 100% Loving... He doesn't tell us, "Love ya." He tell us, "I LOVE YOU!!!!!!" (with any infinite amount of exclamation points!)
• God is 100% Joyful... He's not sort of glad to have us around. He's utterly THRILLED that we are His children! (to the point that HE dances over US!)

God is 100%...

Maybe that's why He hates it when we're sort of holy, sort of upset by sin, sort of patient, sort of kind, sort of forgiving, sort of faithful, sort of loving, sort of joyful. Maybe that's why our lukewarmness makes Him sick.

God is 100%.

Let Him work in your life. Walk with Him. He's taking you on a journey toward 100%. And the work will be 100% complete when Christ returns! That's 100% flippin sweet!

From the Inside out

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

Hillsong United. United We Stand. From the Inside Out. 2006

Am I Working or Worshiping?

"God is definitely more concerned that He has worshipers than that He has workers. Unfortunately, most evangelicals do not share this concern. For the most part, evangelicals have been reduced to the position where God is a supervisor desperately seeking help. Standing at the wayside, He tries to find how many helpers will come to His rescue and bail Him out of a tight spot. We mistakenly believe that God needs workers, and so we cheerfully say, ‘I’ll go to work for the Lord.’ If we could only remember that as far as His plans are concerned, God does not need us."
-A.W. Tozer

This isn't a "build you up" post. It's a "build God up" post. It's a "tear you down" post. It's a "He must increase I must decrease" post. God does not need you. He does not need me. He does not need workers. Worship God. Then He'll work through you.