Do Something

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

James 2:14-17

I have a challenge for you.  Read through the gospels and see if you can find one single incident where a person came to Jesus with a need and he turned them away.  I’ve studied and studied and can’t come up with any, yet many people who call themselves Christians do it on a daily basis.

Let’s face it, sharing our faith was never meant to be cheap.  To follow in Jesus’ footsteps means that we sacrifice our time, our energy, our money, and sometimes, even our reputations.  Jesus was called “the friend of sinners,” yet He didn’t mind because He understood, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”  Where do you think James (who was the brother of Jesus) got it from.

I know it sounds cliche, but people truly don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Why do you think Jesus could call people out on their sin and yet they would still want to hang out with Him?  It’s because He had earned the right to speak into their life this way by showing them His love for them first.

It is always harder to judge someone harshly when you have invested so much of yourself into them.  When you take the time to pour your life into somebody else, you want to see them succeed.  Only when we are willing to do this will we see our faith come to life.  Until then, we are dead Christians walking.

 

Hungry?

“Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?’   They came out of the town and made their way toward Him.  Meanwhile His disciples urged Him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’  But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’  Then His disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought Him food?’  Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.  Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?  I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.  Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.  Thus the saying, ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.  I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.  Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.’ “

John 4:28-38

I hear people say all the time that they are hungry for God.  I think we know what it means to be hungry for God, but do we really understand HOW we get full?  I’ve heard preachers all my life say that if you’re hungry for God then you have to pray for Him to fill you.  I’m not sure how accurate that is.

Everything is backwards with God.  If you want to go higher you must humble yourself.  If you want to receive you must give.  If you want to keep something you must give it away.  So why would it be any different with hungering for more of God?

My physical body is hungriest when I’m working like a dog between meals.  My body is using more energy thus creating the hunger.  Jesus said that His food is to do the will of God.  If I want to get full of God then I must be about His business of bringing in the harvest.

So if we get full by doing the will of God, when do we empty ourselves?  I believe that comes in prayer.  Jesus prayed in the garden that God’s will be done, not His own.  Only in prayer do I decrease so that God may increase.

So how hungry are you?

 

A Sad Day for God

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.  And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.  He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’  So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  After he drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Genesis 3:21

I have the most amazing wife in the world.  Not only is she my wife, she’s also my best friend.  We’ve been married for almost ten years and there’s still nothing I’d rather do in this world than curl up with her and watch a movie or go to Barnes & Noble and sit and read, each of us with our different coffee drinks (she’ll have a peppermint mocha (or whatever fits her mood), I’ll have a caramel frappuccino).  She is the best friend I’ve ever had.  I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

I’ve often wondered how Adam and Eve felt when they were evicted from the Garden.  Tradition says they entered a deep depression and sadness (completely understandable seeing as how they are the only people in history who know what it’s like to have God physically come down and walk with them in the Garden)  to have a paradise specifically designed for them by the Creator of the Universe.  How many times did they play it over and over again in their heads?  How many times did they lie in bed at night wishing they could travel back in time and undo what they had done?  They had everything they wanted and lost it all with a split second bad decision.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’  So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1:26-27

Adam’s sin was so great that his once “best friend” relationship with God had to be severed by God, devastating Adam and Eve.  That I understand. But what about God?  How do you think HE felt?  We know that man’s sin didn’t catch God off guard, but if we are made in the image of God, wouldn’t that mean God would have been just as devastated as Adam?  God made man because He wanted a created being to not only have a relationship with, but also someone who loved God in return.

Adam and Eve sinned, thus creating a void between them and God that would not be repaired for several thousand years.  No longer could God walk with Adam in the Garden in the cool of the day.  No longer could He have contact with not only His best friend, but His children.  How it must have ripped God’s heart out.

Fast-forward to today and not much has changed.  There are still people living their everyday lives separated from God (of their own free will).  Does it hurt any less today than it did with Adam and Eve?  God designs every detail of every human being and millions of those beings choose to ignore and reject Him.  I imagine it hurts more today than it ever has because God has made provision–through His own Son–to re-establish the relationship and yet there are those who don’t seem to want to know Him.

Luke 15 tells us how God feels about those children that are far away from home.  Through three different stories we see an illustration of the anguish of our Heavenly Father as he is proactively seeking out those that are lost.  He is the Good Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to pursue the one.  He is the woman sweeping the entire house to find one lost coin.  He is the hopeful Father standing at the end of the driveway watching for the slightest glimpse of a lost son or daughter coming home.  And He is the One rejoicing when that which He is seeking and watching for, comes back to Him.

May we, His children, understand and live out the heartbeat of God and be instrumental in leading a lost world back to the Father that loves and misses them.

 

Friends

“The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.”

I’m mowing my lawn last night and as the dust was flying around my head I began to think about some of the more “ground-breaking” sitcoms that have been on in my lifetime (evidently mowing the lawn isn’t one of the more spiritual things you can do).  Here’s the list I came up with:

Friends

Frasier

Cheers

Seinfeld

All of these shows have related with a deep desire in most people to belong to a community of people who know everything about you and yet still accept you as one of their own.  It didn’t bother Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer to discuss self-gratification (a subject I didn’t hear preached about until I was almost eighteen).  Joey, Chandler, Phoebe, Rachel and Monica were still friends with Ross even though he was a geeky, dinosaur-loving professor whose ex-wife ended up being a lesbian.

All of us want to have a community that we can belong to going all the way back to Genesis when God created man so that he could have a friend to share life with.  We all want to have people in our lives who know everything about us and love us more for it.

I have a very good friend that I have known for about 16 years (when I say very good, I mean this friend has known me since before I truly gave my life to Christ).  Ever since I’ve known them, they seemed closed off to any idea of a relationship with God.  I’ve had countless conversations with my friend about God and church, all of them ending with us agreeing to disagree.  I’ve spent many nights praying for this person to come to know Christ.

A few months ago I noticed a change in my friend.  All of a sudden they’re showing up at church on Wednesday nights.  This continued for several weeks until they came on Sunday night.  I had a conversation with my friend and found out that God had been dealing with them.  Words cannot express to you how proud of my friend I am (I wish I knew how to do a cartwheel because I would).

Being friends with people who don’t believe, look, act, or even smell like you isn’t easy.  It will cost you time, money, and sometimes even your reputation.  But if Jesus wasn’t afraid to be called “the friend of sinners” but rather wore that nickname as a badge of honor, shouldn’t we do the same thing?

I wouldn’t trade my relationship with my friend for all the money in the world.  Was it always easy?  No.  Is it always worth it?  Abso-freaking-lutely!

 

thou shalt be approachable

“As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him.  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.  She came up behind him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.  ’Who touched me?’ Jesus asked.  When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.’  But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.’  Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet.  In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Him and how she had been instantly healed.  Then He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you, Go in peace.’ “

I have a confession to make.  I recently converted from PC’s to Macs.  My friend, Jason Rose, was always talking about how great Macs are so I finally decided it was time to take the plunge.  You know what?  I loved it!  My first time using a PC was just me using a computer.  My first time using a Mac was an experience.  Nothing against PC’s, but Macs seem much more user-friendly.  It seems like everything on a Mac is done on purpose, from the magnetic power cord to the software that comes standard.  Everything about a Mac screams, “Hello friend!”  When I see a PC I hear, “Stupid!  Stupid!  Stupid!”

I have to wonder which one I’m most like to others.  Am I user-friendly?  Am I intentional?  Do people like hanging out with me?  Or are they afraid that I might go viral on them?

Read the four gospels and you’ll see a common thread throughout each one… everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him.  Jesus was approachable.  No other story illustrates this better than the one in Luke Chapter eight.  This woman knew that the minute she touched Jesus she made him unclean, yet she did it anyways.

How do you react when you see someone who doesn’t smell like you?  How about when you hear someone has a different sexual orientation than you?  Do you react with disdain and disgust?  Or do you, like Jesus, look for opportunities to reach out to the hurting and disenfranchised among us?

I figured out a long time ago that reaching out to others meant getting dirty.  It’s okay, though, because I know of others that have lowered their standards to hang out with me.  What am I?  An ex-porn addict who is still working everyday to mold my relationship with Jesus into what He wants it to be.  So I figure as long as Christ is “lowering His standards” to hang out with someone like me,  I have no problem hanging with people who are just like me.

 

Just Curious

How many mistakes are too many?

“So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit.  They went down to the seaport of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus.  There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God.  John Mark went with them as their assistant.”

Acts 13:4-5

“Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga.  There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.  But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.”

Acts 13:13-14a

July 2, 1997 – I’ve just divided 30 sleeping pills into groups of ten.  In a matter of minutes I’ve swallowed all thirty, chased by half a bottle of nighttime cold medicine and a can of cream soda.  I laid down for what I hoped would be my last night on earth.  The next few hours are non-existent for me.  The first thing I remember is my pastor, Steve Rose, praying for me.  Next my adopted mom, Suzie, is standing next to my bed with my head on her shoulder.  She’s crying and, even though I’m still unconscious, so am I.  As I slowly drift back into a full state of consciousness, reality starts to set in.  Once again, I have failed.

Have you ever messed up so bad that you weren’t sure you would be able to recover from it?  I’m not talking about forgetting the words during the solo, or using salt instead of sugar in a recipe.  I’m talking about a public, life-changing failure.  How do you recover from that?

In Acts, Luke doesn’t tell us what happened to cause John Mark to turn around with his tail tucked between his legs and run home.  Was the trip too hard?  Did he not get along with Paul?  Was he not prepared for how hard missions work is?  What was it?

Whatever it was I can tell you one thing, Paul told John Mark how he felt about him quitting.  Mark then had a great distance to travel from Perga back to Jerusalem.  What kinds of questions went through his mind?  Did he feel like a failure?  What questions awaited him in Jerusalem from his Christian brothers and sisters who knew he was supposed to be with Paul and Barnabas?

So what do you do when you mess up?  I’m reminded of the time that Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother.  Jesus said seventy times seven.  Jesus didn’t mean He literally wanted us to forgive someone only 490 times in a day.  He was saying to forgive as many times as it takes.  If God expects that of us, how much more merciful do you think He is?  We serve a God who is not surprised by any decision I make, even the bad ones.  He knows when I’m going to mess up before I do and makes allowances for it in His plan for my life.  Does this give me license to do whatever I want?  No!  It just means that I serve a God who is not limited by my failures!

We don’t know what was going through Marks mind on the trip back to Jerusalem, but we do know that he eventually proved himself to Paul.  In II Timothy 4, Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark with him to see Paul because he is helpful in the ministry.  Thank God we serve a God who allows us to be human.

 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out!  Beware of destroying one another.”

Galatians 5:13-15

I love the 4th of July!  In fact, it’s my favorite holiday (It used to be Christmas but the commercialization of the day we celebrate as Christ’s birthday has made it one of the most stressful times of the year.  Kind of sad, huh?).  Besides, I think the 4th represents the spirit of Christ much more than Christmas.

Every year around this time my thoughts drift back to the birth of our nation.  The founding fathers risked EVERYTHING they had for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  If America had lost to the British, the signers of The Declaration of Independence would have been drawn and quartered for high treason.  They had to have considered all of this before they signed their names, but they saw something that was greater than themselves and worth the sacrifice.

I wonder sometimes how much we appreciate their sacrifice?  Do we really understand the road they paved for us?  Or do we take it for granted?  When we step into the voting booth and vote straight party instead of finding out our candidates stance on the issues are we doing a disservice to all those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom?  When we don’t care enough to pay attention to current events or know who our President or Vice President is are we making a wise use of the price that so many have paid?  (Don’t even get me started on those that don’t vote at all).

Imagine how Jesus must feel when He sees us abusing the freedom that we have in Him!  Christ didn’t die for us so that we could sit back and enjoy the freedom from sin!  He died for us for the same reason that our forefathers fought for this nation, so that we could make sure others are free!

As we celebrate this 4th of July, we celebrate not only our freedom as Americans, but also as Christians.  What we do with that freedom is up to us.

 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Acts 2:42-47

Ever had a verse jump out at you when you read it?  I have (almost every time I read the Bible).  So I’m reading and noticed that a couple of times Luke mentions in Acts that the church was well respected by everyone.  All of a sudden a question came to me: How many people respect me?  When I’m not around what is said about me?  Do people I work with respect me?  How about the waitress that just waited on me or the kid at the grocery store who carried out my groceries?

“The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their numbers.”

Acts 5:12-14

I think sometimes we think that in order for us to be doing our job as Christians we must be hated by anyone who isn’t like us.  Some people even use scripture to back up their thinking (“All who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted).  But in the mathematical Christian equation if hatred by pre-Christians = a good Christian, how do you explain the early church in Acts?  Remember, people can respect you without having to like you or agree with what you say (George S. Patton didn’t like Erwin Rommel but he respected his military skills).  Just because pre-Christians respect me doesn’t necessarily mean I have compromised my relationship with Christ.  On the other hand, I don’t have to live a compromising lifestyle so I can relate better to pre-Christians so they will respect me (when you do this it has the opposite effect).

Maybe people don’t respect the church because we aren’t following the pattern set forth for us in Acts.  The early church devoted themselves to:

1.     The apostles teaching – in other words, the Bible.  How good are we at following what it says?  Do we allow the Word to change us or do we dilute it and change it to fit what we want.

2.     The fellowship – how can we expect pre-Christians to respect us if we don’t respect each other?  How will we ever show the love of God to a lost world if we can’t even extend grace and mercy to those within our church family?

3.     To the breaking of bread – is this why we don’t get along as well?  Are we too “plugged in” to enjoy fellowship with one another?  We have television, internet, ipods, Wii’s, iphones, laptops, etc., etc., that we choose to fellowship with instead of each other.  I’ve learned that sometimes the more I know about a person the harder it is to criticize them.

4.     Prayer – I think this is the biggest thing we’re missing.  Do we know what it’s like to spend time talking to our Father.  Not just when we want something or when something is going wrong, but everyday!  Do we understand the power there is in prayer?  We have the ear of the most awesome figure in the history of mankind, but once again, we’re just too distracted.

The picture at the top of this page is of three people that I greatly love and respect.  The couple on the right is Gary and Wilma Davidson, missionaries to Ireland.  The guy on the left is my Pastor, Steve Rose.  I’ve been part of his church for more than half of my life.  We’ve had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together.  I’ve been on missions trips with him.  I’ve seen him interact with people inside and outside of the church and there is one thing I know … no matter where you go he is respected.  That’s what I want!

 

diverse city

“About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.  He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.  He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.  Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter.  Kill and eat.’  Peter replied, ‘Surely not, Lord.  I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’  The voice spoke to him a second time.  ’Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’  This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.”

Acts 10:9-16

I’ve heard a saying over the years that has really stuck in my craw (that was for you, Richard and Suzie).  Here it is: We are supposed to be in the world, not of the world.  It’s not so much that I disagree with this statement, but it’s usually being said in defense of totally removing yourself from any people who are not like you.

Is the church here to mass-produce little robot Christians that look, sound, smell, walk, and talk like us?  Or are we supposed to be teaching people how to nurture and grow their own relationship with God?  We like to tell people that to belong to us they must believe like us.  This is so totally backwards!  Pre-Christians should feel like they belong with us long before they ever believe God’s word.  Before you start thinking I’m being blasphemous, I’m not talking about the wishy-washy, churn my stomach, luke-warm gospel of inclusion that says all roads lead to God and we are all Christians.  I’m talking about everyone who comes in contact with us feeling like we love them for who they are, not for who we want them to be.

Growing up I heard lots of sermons that said that if you watch rated R movies then you must not be a Christian.  This sounded all well and good until The Passion of the Christ came out and all of a sudden it’s okay to watch this one rated R movie.  The hypocrisy of this made me realize that instead of teaching people what they should and should not do, we should be teaching them how to cultivate their own relationship with God.  If I teach someone the principles of God and teach them how to grow in their faith then they will, “work out their own salvation.”

Whether you realize it or not, Cornelius was a pioneer for all of us Gentiles (in case you didn’t know it, if you’re not a Jew then you’re a Gentile).  Out of curiosity I looked up some synonyms for the word Gentile and came up with the words pagan, infidel and heathen.  This is how the Jews viewed anyone who was not like them and is the very reason God gave the vision to Peter in Acts 10.

“Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.  He said to them: ‘You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him.  But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.  So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection.”

Acts 10:27-29