Step Four: Make IT Personal -- Get in the Word

Psalm 119:9 - 11 "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. . . . .I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against You."

In the continuing saga of removing the IT in my life: IT has to get personal, and it is His living Word that makes it that way.

You have to recognize and be grieved by the fact that when you sin, you're sinning against God first and foremost. This is a huge step - too often we worry about how our sins affect the way other people see us. This is a very shallow response, one we're all guilty of. When you draw close to God, you are so in love with Him that when you sin, you ache because you've hurt Him, not your reputation, not your friends, not the world's view of you.

Think about what David said in Psalm 51:4 "Against You, You only have I sinned . . ." Oh, really, David? Well what about Bathsheba? One minute she's relaxing in the bath the next she's pregnant with your child and has a dead husband. And what about poor Uriah? He's out with his men, next thing his life is turned upside-down and he finds himself leading a charge against a city only to find that everyone has withdrawn and he's dead in a field. I think that somehow, David, your sin greatly affected these people. (Not to mention the child of this sin, who dies months after he is born, or his older children whose lives become ultra-messy.)

But what David is saying is true. The closer you get to God the more grieved you are that you have allowed sin into your life - because it breaks that fellowship with the One you love the most.

To combat this - you have to get into the Word. And I will say this as well: you have to believe that it's true and authoritative.

Therefore Step Four for me in my battle against the hindering sins in my life is this: Get into the Word and make it personal. We will fight for people more than we will fight for ideas, so our sin has to become about a Person, not a way of life, or else we will eventually stop fighting. Victory requires persistence. We are persistent about the people in our lives, not the ideas that come and go.

The change in my life occurred when I began to consume His Word. I love the Lord, but it was with a selfish love. Then some things occurred, of my own making and not, that forced me into a new job where all I had was God and the Bible. I began to read it every chance I had. I wore out three Bibles in three years. I can't overstate the importance of what happened during this time period. I fell in love with God. His Word, which so many of this generation struggle with, became consistent, beautiful, real, literal, authoritative - everything in your heart that you really want it to be.

And my sins - they became sins against God, not against my reputation. I attacked them with a vengeance, wanting them whittled out of me to the last sliver. My battle against the "ITS" of my life is now personal, because it affects my greatest desire: my relationship with God. The battle has become Personal.

If you are not in His Word, you will have a very difficult time taking out the IT that is killing your walk. It's the Word that makes it personal, that allows you see your sin in a way that's not just functional, but relational. So back to Psalm 119 - we have to hide His Word in our hearts so that like the psalmist, we will not want to sin against Him.

Step Three: Processing IT

I wish that God would simply act like He was pulling a thorn and do away with IT. I've often prayed this prayer: "God, You know I love You with all of my heart. I want nothing more than for You to do some Divine Emptying of all that is hindering me from following You without another thought getting in the way. I really believe my motives are pure. Reveal to me if I'm deluding myself. So - with all that in mind, why don't You just take IT away?"

Why doesn't He? Because the process matters. Understanding that is one of the most important parts to dealing with the things in your life that are haunting you and hurting you. But let's remember, not everything that you're dealing with is going to be removed, and the things that are removed may not be removed right away - for your benefit.

Let me give a personal example - one that hurts my memory, but if it helps someone, then that's the point of what I'm trying to say:

In Jr. High and early High School I had a serious skin problem. It was bad, to the point that my mother (bless her heart) spent many days bringing me to the dermatologist. Honestly, it was the worst thing in my life and I spent many nights wondering why I was going through this. But it did something for me, something extremely valuable to this day: It shut my mouth. I tended to have a quick response to people and a low tolerance for idiocy. But with this problem, it tempered me, I didn't want to draw any attention to myself so I kept quiet when my "natural" desire was to give a withering response to anyone who was saying or doing things that I found to be foolish, to put them in their place. It made me think twice before saying anything.

This change in my personality trait has served me well to this day. As a pastor, teacher, parent, I can't be blistering people at the first sign of something I disagree with. It allows me the time to look at both sides before speaking. It allows me to develop a much greater balance when thinking about issues instead of going with my first response. Simply put, I'm a more mature and effective Christian man because God didn't just take it away.

The process of dealing with this "IT" in my life also allowed God to develop in me a greater sensitivity to those who are dealing with things in their lives that are killing them. I know what I went through is not like cancer or anything like that - but believe me when I say in hindsight that going through that problem changed me for the better.

In Deuteronomy 7:22 God tells Israel that the land is theirs. The boundaries are already marked out, the enemies already have the target on their backs. Yet He says that they will grow into these pre-established boundaries because the process is matters. They won't have complete victory right away, it will take some time, for their own good. They need to go through the whole ordeal of small victory after small victory, as it will cause them to cling to God and knock out the things that have to be removed in their own hearts.

The prayer of Psalm 51 really matters here: "grant me a willing spirit to sustain me,"

We are directed to pray that we will have the will to sustain us while He works us through the process, instead of just quitting or settling for less. But as you work and pray to remove these things in your life that are killing you, you may need to think a little bit long-term and understand that God is preparing you and changing you and that this wouldn't happen if He simply blinked the IT out of your life.

Step Two: Shut Up And Sit Down

Joshua 24:19 "You are not able to serve the Lord, He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins."

No, Joshua isn't saying that God won't forgive rebellion, or won't forgive sins. What he is doing is a precursor to what the Ultimate Joshua always did - he is forcing the people to count the cost, to shut up and sit down and think about the decision they are making.

What was happening in this passage is that Joshua is dying and he knows it. He calls everyone together and gives an unbelievable charge, an emotional call to stay true to the Lord. It's such an awesome message that we still put it in our houses today. I mean, what Christian home doesn't have some form of Joshua 24:15 on their walls? "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Think about it - if we still get chills hearing those words, imagine what it must have been like when he was speaking them! So the people did what we do, they immediately shout out: ME TOO! (Joshua 24: 18 "We too will serve the Lord, because He is our God!")

Then Joshua throws verse 19 at them. He tells them that they better stop and think about what they're saying, because God is holy and He doesn't tolerate sin and rebellion. It can't simply be an emotional response, it has to be a well-considered, well-reasoned response because the consequences are immense. "Count the cost!" he says to them.

Jesus, the True Joshua, continually did the same thing. To everyone who came to Him, He would throw a "Stop and think" at them. A difficult parable, a hard teaching, a high calling. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor. I only have a rock for a pillow. Let your father die without you. Throw away your livelihood. You must eat My flesh. In other words, shut up and sit down and think about this decision, because it will affect and invade every area of your life.

Side thought: Sometimes I wish pastors today would do that. Instead of altar calls, they should shout out: Sit back down! I don't want you coming up here. Think before you take one more step! Imagine if they did that? Maybe the church would be a little more serious about their decisions. Maybe it would eliminate some of the casual, cultural, convenient, compromising Christianity that has infected the church.

Back to the story: When the Israelites say again to Joshua that they will do it, he replies, "Then throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." (v.23)

That's the challenge. It can't simply be an emotional response to a great sermon (or blog!) or even "life verse." You have to sit down, count the cost, and then when you make the decision it means you have to get rid of all the garbage you've been tolerating in your life, all of the gods, and yield your heart to God. You have to clean house. It's kind of contradictory to say to God that you want Him to rule out the garbage in your life, the IT, and then cling to it at the same time and allow other rulers to remain.

Step one: pray for the will, the desire to want it. Without that nothing else matters.
Step two: Shut your mouth, sit down and count the cost. See how badly you really do want it.

Step One: A Willing Spirit

Psalm 51: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."

I'm assuming that anyone who wants THAT removed is already under the salvation of God through Christ, which David acknowledges in this beautiful psalm. (And please note that it is HIS salvation, not ours that David is seeking.)

So what does he plead for? A willing spirit. This is the first step in removing whatever "Jericho" or big thing that is in your face. Something that has to come out for victory to be achieved. And whatever IT is really does have to go.

Here's an example why: Towards the end of WWII, the Allies were marching to Germany after the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. They approached a city called Aachen that was heavily fortified - to the point that they decided they would simply side-step it and keep moving forward instead of suffering the high cost of battle. It seemed like a good idea, engulf it and move on - until they found out that their supply lines were constantly under attack by the men of Aachen. The generals got together and made the decision: Aachen had to be destroyed. So at the cost of many lives they attacked and after brutal house-to-house combat they took it out and moved forward.

We try to sidestep deep problems in our lives and hope that we can keep marching forward. But our "supply lines" are under constant attack and we fail repeatedly. These big things, the IT in your life, have to come down or we will be stuck where we are.

Step one: Pray for a "willing spirit" to sustain you as you fight this thing. Pray for a deep desire to actually have victory and to keep pressing forward no matter the situation. A willingness to engage in a sustained battle. Without this desire, we cave in or try to ignore it and suffer defeat.

Philippians 2:12,13 "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." As we work out these things, as the IT is attacked and removed, we need to remember that God can actually work in us the will to have it done. Recognizing this changed the way I pray. I now implore God to work in me to will, not just to act - to give me the desire to want to have victory.

"Grant me a willing spirit to sustain me . . . . " as I work out the "Aachen" in my heart.

What Is THAT

There is a big difference between a burden that God is asking us to bear and something in our life that can and must be conquered for us to move forward in Christ. One of my pet peeves is when someone continues to live in a sinful way, or have a sinful thought process and claim that it's the "cross they must bear."

I also know that there are certain things God allows us to go through (or happen to us, depending on your theological viewpoint) and these are things we must work through to growth, not just try to have removed.

For example, my father has just found out that he has cancer. I pray and hope that he will be healed, but this may be something we all go through together as a family, and my father as an individual, that will not change regardless of my heart's desire. Our responsibility is to trust God and to lay it at His feet and allow Him to change us, not the circumstance. We must adapt to this situation, not vice versa.

But in my last posting, I was not talking about things like this. I was referring to sinful mindsets that we think can never be changed. Anxiety. Bitterness. Laziness. Lust. Coveting. Discontent. And some even deeper than these - core issues that are strangling the life out of us and we think that these are our "Burdens to Bear." I deal with these in my own life and as I wrote previously, I tend to be like the Samaritan woman. "This well is deep and You have nothing to draw with." I cave in to the thought that it will never change, and I adapt my life to it. But this is wrong and I have to come to the place where I go for broke.

In other words, I can't allow myself to accept this mindset. The well is deep, but He is deeper. He has the means to draw me out of this and into the living water.

How? I think we know how. We have to disengage from the destructive patterns. We have to immerse ourselves in the Word. When I allow myself to be filled with Him there is no room for this garbage.

Abraham sent Ishmael (the product of the flesh) out to the desert when Isaac (the spiritual) was born. We have to do the same thing with our fleshly thoughts. We have to send them out into the desert and stop feeding them and let them die there.

But Can You Change THAT?

John 4:11 "Sir," the woman replied, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep."

Many (if not all) of us struggle with certain things in our lives that we submit to Christ with little expectation that He can actually do something about it. Certain things we do achieve victory over, but there are areas in our lives where we often resign ourselves to continual failure. We are like the Samaritan woman, in effect saying to Christ: "This is a very deep matter in my life, and I fear that you do not have the means to accomplish victory for me."

Of course we would never actually say those words, but our lives and our attitudes reveal the truth in our hearts. We are resigned to carrying this burden. "You can change a lot of things, but can you really change that?"

Rest assured today - He can change that. Whatever your that is, submit it to Him and allow Him to work it out of your life.

Seven - Year Blessing

On this date, seven years ago, I went through one of the most life-changing days of my existence. Ruth was pregnant with our third child at the same time my sister-in-law Jan was dying of cancer. At the time we lived with my brother Rick and Jan and their two kids, and we were very close. The plan was for us to continue to grow together as two families in one house. When Jan found out that Ruth was pregnant she told her that she really wanted to be around when the baby was born. As the due date neared, Jan's condition worsened and we knew that it was not going to be much longer - unless God intervened miraculously (under our understanding of miraculous, because the death of one of His saints is a precious, miraculous thing in His sight).

Well, on this date, seven years ago, Ruth went into labor and my beautiful, red-headed boy Joshua was born (all 11 1/2 pounds of him). I got in my car and drove home as fast as I could from the hospital to bring the news, only to find as I was pulling up that my father and other siblings were at the house. I knew something was up and I rushed in to find that Jan had just passed. "Did she know about Josh?" They could only say that they were able to whisper into her ear that he had been born.

I went over to my side of the house and just sat on the back steps and cried - the most I've ever cried in my life. Just pouring out tears. My emotions were so mixed. I had a beautiful baby boy and Jan was gone - all at the same time - literally to the minute. It was an experience that ripped me to the core of my being and at the same time brought immense healing. I don't know how to explain it in any other way. God was so real to me at that time.

So every November 20th, when I look at my son, growing strong and healthy, I think of Jan, how awesome she was, how much I miss her. But I also think of God and how He is so far beyond what we can ever imagine. He is a real God, one that loves us, that we can personally experience and know intimately. He gave us this blessing in the middle of our darkest hour.

I don't want ever to put that burden upon Josh, like he has to live up to something like that, but he is special to our family in that sense. Rick was able to come and hold him while planning the burial of his wife. I was able to see new life in a room filled with death. Our family was able to celebrate in the depth of our mourning. Only God can do that. Only God can break open our hearts and fill them with His healing and grace, and then allow us to hold onto a constant reminder of His love.

Every time I hold Josh I am reminded of that special day when God brought me into a deeper place with Him. Where emotions are raw and real and God is within the entire experience. Man - I love Him. Now I get to go home from work today and have a birthday party for my son, to tuck him into bed and pray with him in his bedroom, the same room that Jan died in. To play Legos and Foosball in the exact same spot that Jan passed into God's presence. To laugh and wrestle and read silly books and play with his turtle - turning a death spot into holy ground.

To experience what God does best: taking death, removing all of its sting, and creating new life out of it.

Do you really understand what we have in our relationship with God? As we struggle with all the 'isms' and "ologies" in our journey to understand Him, sometimes we just need to embrace what He is offering us and dwell in the richness of His being. Sometimes we have to cast all of the trivialities aside and just let Him do what He does best - creating life out of death.

What It Is

"Abandon Hopelessness, All Ye Who Enter"

That's what I wrote on the front page of the Bible I had a long time ago. Why do I write it again now? Because there has been much (good) dialogue in Dave's blog about the inspiration/inerrancy/authority of Scripture. I believe it's a very healthy and useful exercise, but in opening the Word there is something that changes you forever, removing all of your hopelessness about yourself and this world.

So enough about what it isn't. What about what it is?

It is alive (Hebrews 4:12) and will cause serious damage to your old way of life. You will no longer be ignorant if you read it. You will no longer be without excuse. For example:

• If you read Genesis 1:1 you will no longer be able to say that you didn't know God created.
• If you read II Corinthians 10:5 you will no longer be able to say that your thoughts are uncontrollable.
• If you read Ephesians 4:29 you will no longer be able to say anything you feel like saying to anyone you feel like saying it to.
  
• If you read Philippians 4:8 you will no longer be able to say that you can think what you want.
• If you read Lamentations 3:22,23 you will no longer be able to say that it's 'too late' for mercy for the things you've done as His mercies are new every morning.
  
• If you read Matthew 27: 26 - 31 you will no longer be able to say that you didn't know how much Jesus loves you.
• If you read Proverbs 6:27,28 you will no longer be able to say that you can play with this world and remain untouched.
• If you read Daniel 1:8 you will no longer be able to say that you couldn't help but compromise with the things of the world.
• If you read Luke 24:6 you will no longer be able to say that He is not alive.
• If you read Romans 8:1 you will no longer be able to say that you can't escape the things of your past, that you are still under their condemnation.
• If you read Matthew 5:23, 24 you will no longer be able to say that it's okay to hold things against your brother.
  
• If you read John 14:6 you will no longer be able to say that there is another way than through Jesus Christ.
  

I think you get the drift - or better yet the rock - of my point.

You see - these other arguments, while valid, are because of some of the ambiguities we live under in our clouded thinking. It's nice to know that there are some things that are crystal clear, and finding them in His Word cuts through the ambiguities and removes all of our rationalizations or the reasonings of man. You can stake your life on them.

Innerentzee uv Skrypshur

John 6:19
"When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified."

The discussion of the inerrancy of Scripture versus the inspiration of Scripture is a fairly important topic. Is God's Word 100% true down to every last jot and tittle? Did each one of these stories actually happen? Or are they simply divinely inspired teachings, some true, some symbolic, to bring us into an understanding of Him?

I'll state right out front that I believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. But the funny thing is, it's not the 'weird' stories such as Jonah, Balaam, Samson, etc that made me question it at first, it was verses like John 6:19. I mean, look at it above. If the Holy Spirit is truly writing this passage, wouldn't He know if it was 3 or 3 1/2 miles? Why the hestitation? Also, referring to the title of this blog, what about spelling and grammar? If God's writing it, I'm going to assume that these are perfect as well! Where does each man who actually penned the words get in the way with his intellect or personality? These are interesting questions to ponder, but I believe that they can get us off task very easily as we debate jots and tittles.

Sometimes I think we look at things from the wrong side. Salvation for example: Why only one way? That's the argument of man that I hear all the time. But that's looking at it backwards. We're in terrible sin and God tells us that there is A WAY OUT! Through Christ and Christ alone. Man tend to look at things from his own perspective, not God's, so he doesn't look at the solution, he wonders why it IS the solution. THINK: God's on the outside saying you can get out of the crumbling house through THE DOOR and we're wondering why we can't use the window!! Can't there by another way, we yell as we die in the house?

I see the same thing with the 'incredible stories' of the OT. A seven day creation? A talking donkey? A fish and a man? A blind man sees? From my perspective, this is impossible to believe!!!!

Paul runs into this in Acts, when confronting the Jews about Jesus rising from the dead. In Acts 26:8 he says, "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?" I mean, He is God after all. If He couldn't do that, then what's the point of putting any hope in Him, is what Paul is in effect saying.

Replace that question with "Why should any of you consider it incredible that God __________________" - had a donkey talk? - kept a man alive in a fish? - walked on water? - raises the dead? - healed a sinful man to the core of his being 2000 years later? As Paul said, if He can't do these things, then what's the point? I'm not interested in a good teacher - I need salvation. When Christ looked upon the paralytic in Luke 5, He healed the man to prove that He could forgive sins, because forgiveness is infinitely more important. But if you read the story you see that He did the miraculous to show he had the authority to forgive. An incredibly true miracle happened so that God would show me a more important truth. But the miracle couldn't just be a story - it had to have actually occurred for this truth to have any real meaning. If it was just an inspired story to paint a picture - then where's the authority? Where's the power? WHERE IS MY SALVATION?

All I'm saying is that we shouldn't let the incredible stories throw us off and use them as a proof-text that the Bible is not inerrant. That's looking at things from man's point-of-view, an always dangerous proposition. I've been in education for over 20 years and I know firsthand how often man's thoughts on things change. They're always shifting. So to put any argument against inerrancy on this shifting ground is a little dangerous.

Holy Downer or Righteous Indignation

I had quite an interesting experience with the business of Christianity this past week. I was invited to a Christian warehouse sale, that is held every 3 months about an hour from my house. We got there early and there already was a line formed out the door and down the side of the building. When we finally got in, all I can say is "wow!" It was huge and there were large amounts of Christians of all ages. Tables and shelves were full of Christian items marked way down. I didn't know what to do or where to begin, it was like a feeding frenzy.

I noticed a very peculiar Christian trait - the ability to shove you aside while giving you the nice Christian smile. You know the smile: God loves you but get out of my way. We use it in our ministries all the time as we push through our agendas. I must admit, it is effectively disarming. I loved to be smiled at as I'm looking up at the bottom of your designer sneaker.

Anyway, I was supposed to meet my friend who brought me, so I finally made my way to our pre-arranged spot in the center of all the activity. As I waited for him, I started turning around (similar to Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music) soaking it all in. There were books, videos, dvds, calendars, stuffed animals, pictures - the old guy beside me even had a do-it-yourself Tabernacle kit under his arm - everything Christian you could imagine. There was even the smell of Christian sweat in the air - another oddly peculiar trait that we possess.

While spinning, with the mixture of awe, sweat, sound, frenzy and tabernacles surrounding me, I suddenly became overwhelmed with a feeling that I tried to liken to Jesus in the Temple, but that's not fair to Him or the Temple. It was more like, "I can't believe that Christianity is such a grotesquely self-perpetuating business!" I'm not against the books, I'd love to write one myself and sell many, many copies. I'm not against cds, DVDs, posters, calendars or even do-it-yourself Tabernacles. Honestly, I don't know what it was that bothered me. I was just bothered and so I thought I'd write it down. Something felt wrong. Write to me and tell me what it was - or if I'm just a holy downer. Seriously. The last thing I want to be is a cynic with a critical spirit snuffing all the fun out of Christianity.

If you want to purchase copies of this blog, please see me at the end of the service.

Other Than That Mrs Lincoln . . . . .

I'm not a political pastor, much to the chagrin of many of the people of my congregation. Though I can see the value of their beliefs on this, I just don't have it within me to be fighting political battles and I am not actively involved in any of the "lifestyle" agendas, for lack of a better term. I don't say this in a holier-than-thou way, honestly, but I feel that my main job as a shepherd is to be helping the hurting, not fighting the issues.

However, there is one thing I just have to get off my chest and then I'm sinking into the background again and it's this: I have a real problem with that one vote of Barack Obama that allows for babies that are alive after an abortion to die on the table. I know - we aren't supposed to focus on one issue, I've been told time and again all these things. I even agree to that argument to a point. I'm just having a real hard time making the separation of THAT VOTE and the man's inner understanding of life at its very basic and holy.

We've all heard the saying, "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" In other words, let's ignore the assassination and talk about the other minor points of the evening. I feel that's what I've done with Obama, and it's what I've heard from others. "Other than that, how is his character?"

Other than THAT? THAT is a pretty big THAT and not just because I keep writing it in capital letters. A leader is a shepherd, and a shepherd's main responsibility is to look out for the weak, the helpless, the least of his flock. (Ezekiel 34) Who in Obama's flock is weaker than the unborn? THAT reveals who he really is, and THAT will affect every decision in every issue.

I don't want to get into the abortion argument, it's all been said and done. Here's what I believe: Those fighting against abortion are fighting for a life. Those fighting for it are fighting for a lifestyle. Believe me, I'm pretty settled on the difference. And anyone who is pro-choice at least has to understand that anti-abortionists feel that the stakes are higher for them, because they feel like they're fighting for a life. People always fight harder for a life than a lifestyle.

Anyway, this is my only point: If my leader has within him the ability to make that vote on that issue, if he can search his heart before a vote and still make that decision, then it's really hard for me to say, "Other than that Mrs. America how is your president?"

Looking for Loopholes - part II

Matthew 18:21 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

When you're looking for a limit, like Peter was, you're really looking for a time when you can have your own way, no matter how noble your limit is. If you're looking for a time when you can have your own way, then you're still lost in your own thoughts, not in the thoughts of Christ.

Listen - when Christ makes the "demand" that you forgive indefinitely, with no limits, He is removing a burden from you, not adding one. When He tells you to pray for your enemies, to give an extra coat, walk an extra mile, He is releasing you. The rest is on Him. When a president is elected that many of you don't like (Washington, Lincoln, Bush, Obama, etc) and Jesus tells you to relax and seek His kingdom and His righteousness, He is releasing you. The removal of limits is His way of saying: "Think differently and walk in a higher way. This is not my kingdom."

The natural man wants to hate, wants to fight, wants to be bitter wants to divide into factions. According to Galatians 5, factions are a fruit of the flesh, on par with sexual immorality and witchcraft. If that's the case, then why do we actually look for ways to be mad, even to the point of creating factions out of the most minor points? We try to refine this nature by saying that we tried but we finally reached our limit - as if this makes it somehow noble - but it's still the low road.

If we're looking for limits then we're really still looking for loopholes that will allow us to feed these beasts of burden. We're still walking in the flesh. A more advanced and confined version of the flesh, but the flesh nonetheless. We're just animals, like Peter, who have been trained to count to seven instead of one. As usual, Christ blows this mentality completely out of the water.

If we're truly walking in the Spirit, we realize it's all on Him and we are freed to love and pray and forgive. There are no limits to that, so quit counting.

Born Again vs. Election

I read a quote recently from Malcolm Muggeridge, that said something to the effect that since man didn't crown Christ, they cannot take His crown away. I loved that thought. It made me think of all that's going in our society today with the economy and the election coming up.

They didn’t crown Him, so they can’t take His crown away! Think – make sure that the things you have are not given to you by man, therefore they cannot be taken away by man. The Election. The Economy. These are all man-made devices that are thrown into your arms and we tend to hold them tenderly, as if they can bring us real hope, as if they would break if we dropped them, and thus our hope would be shattered. They are things of the world!!! Pray for them, so that we can have peace to advance His Kingdom (though it can obviously still be advanced in times of darkness and depression). But don't embrace them.

Your first birth is from man, so he tries to take it away from you by pulling you into the thoughts and desires of the world. But your second birth is not given to you by man. It is of the Spirit. It is from above. Therefore it cannot be touched by man. It can never be taken away by man, since he did not give it to you. It is an eternal untouchable. It's between you and God, the One who did give it to you. Embrace it, hold fast to it, live it, love it. The things of that first birth? Let them go. You know: fear, death, sin, defeat, despair, worldly governments, the economy of man . . . . let them go.

Whatever happens with the current Triple-E Virus (economy, environment, election) that is raging through Christianity, do what you can in each area under the will of God, because they do have their value, but leave the Big Picture of each one in His hands. Bury yourself in Him and advance His Kingdom. All things will pass - except what is eternal.

Married With Children

A couple of positive movements have blossomed as a result of the Great Inoculaton (see previous post). In frustration over the form over substance emphasis of the church at that time, the Pentecostal church and the Social Gospel movement have grown enormously as people have sought to make their life in Christ meaningful beyond the business of church.

Each one had a beautiful and vital gift that they brought to the church. Pentecostalism brought the experience of God as a person into our lives. It wasn't just the 'sign the card and get on with your life' mentality - it was embrace God and be intimate with Him. The Social Gospel got us out of our churches and into the streets, where we were able to feel in a very real way what Christ meant when He said that we are His body, His ambassadors, that we are The Plan. Each of these 'felt' much better - and there's nothing wrong with bringing feelings, experiences and meaning into our relationship with God.

Both of these were born out of the frustrations of those "raised Christians" - those who knew (like me) that we were called to intimately know God through Christ and that we were to be a real factor in this world. What beautiful children are experience and ministry, and I would never want to lose them.

BUT - -- - both of these groups eventually became so infatuated with their 'children' that they ended up marrying them, in a spiritual sense.

For (most) Pentecostals, experience became the defining factor in a relationship with God and in church. How you 'feel' was placed on par with the Word. If you weren't 'feeling' Him, speaking in inexpressible (and unintelligible) ways with Him, then you were falling short in your relationship with God. These feelings were more important than what God actually had to say on the subject. I hate to sound harsh, but it's true. As a result, many people became discouraged because they weren't experiencing what those around them claimed to be experiencing, and instead of relying on God's truth ("I will never leave you nor forsake you") they felt lost and forsaken because they felt lost and forsaken. God's Word trumps feelings every time - or else we would never survive the day.

The Social Gospel also made this critical error. Of course, we're to be out in the streets, and it feels good to be actually out there doing things for the poor, the homeless, the down-trodden. But the Gospel is still the good news of a changed life, not just a helping hand. However eventually the "Helping Hand" became the gospel and the Word became secondary. A cup of water became more important than a changed heart. I know - a cup of water is a key first step and Christ honors that, but it must lead to the Word. Christ healed people so that they would know He had the power to forgive. Read Luke 5:17 - 26. It doesn't even appear as if Christ is going to heal the paralyzed man - that "all" He is going to do is forgive him. He only heals to prove to the unbelievers that He can forgive. Why? Because coats and cups of water are temporary and the Word of God is eternal. And you better believe that 2000 years later that paralyzed man is much happier that he was spiritually healed than that he was physically healed.

When you become infatuated with the 'children' you end up losing your true spouse. The Word is our true Spouse. He must always be first and foremost. Every experience and every charge into the streets must be weighed against the Word, not vice-versa. Only the Truth can set you free, and when Christ sets you free, you are free indeed.

There are laws against parents marrying their children - because we know what happens if they ever procreated: UGLY.

Let's not throw out these beautiful babies (experiencing God, hitting the streets) with the bathwater. But let's not marry them either.

So There Won't Be Any Misconceptions . . . .

John 3:3 "You must be born again."

I am a product of The Great Inoculation of the the 60's and 70's. This was when the "come forward and sign the card" stage of Christianity was at its peak, and conversions were counted in the millions each year. All we had to do was raise our hand (while no one else was looking, mind you - we would never want anyone to see us get saved!) and we could be counted by the pastor as having made "The Decision." Whew. That's a great load off of everyone's mind - now can we get on with the business of church?

I don't blame my parents, who are true Christians and deeply love the Lord. Having kids of my own, I know of no greater desire than to see them get under the umbrella. As a matter of fact, the other day my 5-year old daughter came running out to the back yard and yelled, "Daddy, I have Jesus in my heart!" Awesome. I just wish she knew what she was talking about.

Salvation is much deeper than raising a hand or signing a card. It's a radical intersection with the cross, the blood and the Person of Christ in a way that destroys your entire old way of life and thought and fills you with His divine presence. I guess a good way of putting it would be to say that you are born again. (Hmmm.. somebody write that down!) I know that we shrink back from that phrase because the world mocks it so much, but there really isn't a better explanation. It's not a heightening of who you are, an elevation of the old you, a missing puzzle piece to the rest of your life. It's a complete overhaul from the ground up. It's a divine eradication of the old life, not Tom 2.1 - a better version of the old Tom. It's a completely different entity altogether. It's a new conception!

But that's a hard message and even harder to follow up on because it requires working with the newly reborn who are still carrying the ugly residue of their old life. However - it's the only message we have and we must stop diluting or our churches will be littered with "misconceptions" - people who think that they have been saved when in reality they have never truly been born again. There has been no new conception or birth of the Spirit in their life and they are now just going through the motions.

I don't know all the ramifications of salvation, of what Christ has done for me and in me. But I do know it isn't accomplished by raising your hand when no one is looking and then getting on with your life. That's an inoculation, and now you're harder to reach than before, because you think you're okay.

Don't get me wrong - salvation is simple and free. It's just not simple and free! There is a complexity and a cost to it that is far beyond what many are preaching. My advice? Get into the Word, study it hard and long and deep, and what salvation really is will be revealed to you and it will blow your mind. Really - it will blow your mind and you will now have the mind of Christ. That's true salvation. Everything must go! To those who know our natural mind and where it can go when left to its own devices, this truly is good news.

Raised Christian

God is real. He is holy and loving, awesome and intimate, all-encompassing and all-indwelling. He is not a concept. He is not a method. He is not a religion. He is a person and a personality.

Being raised Christian often hinders young people from seeing this truth. Second generation Christians struggle with the "idea" of God versus the "person" of God. The idea sounds really good, but if they lack an encounter with Him, they walk away. If not in person, at least internally, going through the motions each week.

I feel that one of my main missions in life is to work with those who were "raised Christian." The ones whose parents were saved after they went through the struggles of life and can't seem to comprehend why their "Christian child" could ever doubt, ever fear, ever fall. "You have everything I wish I had at your age!" Maybe, maybe not. If you really wished you had it, you would have had it. Christ is within reach to all. It's unfair of these first generation Christians to put this burden upon their children. They need to allow those "raised Christians" to work through their questions, to fall and be lifted up, so that they truly can become "raised Christians."

I also feel that this is why so many second generation Christians seek what they call "The Second Blessing." They want an encounter, and since they feel that they're already "saved" they desire an experience to match it, like their parents had, so they seek something else beyond it. But this isn't scriptural - we have all we need upon salvation. (Ephesians 1:13,14, II Peter 2:3,4)

That's also why so many second-generation Christians start to depart from the Word of God and seek experiences, which leads to a dilution of the Word. I read blog after blog of these young people trying to manipulate the Word to match what they're feeling, applying all of their logic to argue into acceptability things that are sin. Let's be clear: There is no acceptable sin. But since this is what (and who) they are experiencing, they try to bring God and the sin to the same level. This simply cannot happen. Not because I don't want it to happen - it CAN'T happen. ("What fellowship can light have with darkness?")

What's the answer? A real encounter with Christ. This blows the flesh right out of the person. If all you're concerned about is a 'social gospel' (which every true believer should be concerned about) then you'll miss the real gospel - an invasion of Christ into your own heart. We've lost the sense of the "good news" because so many of our kids have simply been "raised Christian," - inoculated into the program, instructed in the religion - that they don't know what 'the Gospel' really means. So they scurry after experiences and into social programs that make them think they're bringing the gospel into the world, when all they're bringing is a helping hand. They are trying to create their own encounters, and in a sense, their own gospel.

Again - don't get me wrong. Every believer is empowered to be a helping hand in this world. But apart from Christ, that's all it is. With Christ - it's a healing hand, and there is a huge difference between the two. There is no true helping without a healing, and there is no true healing unless there is acknowledgment of sickness. That's why the standards cannot be adjusted to the experiences.

I fear that we're raising a generation with this mindset. However, one-by-one I've encountered some who want the Truth and they're coming, and they're coming hard. These are the ones who will be true "raised Christians," the ones who will find the true Gospel. These are the ones who will eventually become the true difference-makers in this world.

Looking For Loopholes

John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

I would love some loopholes. I search the NT and look for one place where I could find that those who don't believe in Christ and truly receive Him as their savior can still have eternal life, can still "come to the Father." But I can't find one. Not even close. I don't say this facetiously, I really do wish that I could find some "out" for my unsaved friends and loved ones. What a burden that would remove from me - the burden for their soul and the burden of having to confront them with this inescapable fact: No one comes to the Father except through Christ. He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life. You must be born again. To all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (these are all actual verses). I simply can't find that loophole.

There are other loopholes I wish I could find. Lifestyle loopholes. I really do wish that they were out there so that other people could have the "burden" of their natural desires rubber-stamped with a Divine "Okay." But let's face it, all the manipulating of Scriptures, the long essays of rationalization, the culturizing (?) of these difficult passages are really only tap-dances around the truth: these things are clearly stated as wrong and they are clearly seen from creation itself. There are rights and there are wrongs and we can do all the Scriptural dance moves we want, but it's just our natural man trying to justify something in our own life or in the life of someone we love.

I mean, really - who wants a loved one to be miserable in desires that are unscriptural? I certainly don't - I would love to find a loophole.

Read Romans 1 - the entire chapter, not just pulling out phrases. It can't be any clearer that ALL of these sins mentioned are sins. ALL of them - not just the ones we want for ourselves or our friends. Just because we can put a human face on them doesn't suddenly make them justifiable. Harder, yes. It's always harder when you put a human face on a scriptural admonition. But - it doesn't change the fact that these things are defined by God's creation, His word and the Spirit in our heart as sin.

Don't Mess With THE PLAN

You are The Plan. So get your act together.

It appears from the New Testament that there was really only one thing that truly upset Christ, and that was when the vessel for the message of God's salvation was messed with or compromised. That seemed to get Him mad - real mad. Mad enough to call Pharisees "white-washed tombs" full of "dead men's bones." Mad enough to fashion a whip and overturn some tables. Mad enough to say to one of His beloved disciples: "Get behind me, Satan!" Messing with The Plan is not a good idea.

In Isaiah 49:6 He says that the Israelites will be a "light for the Gentiles" and in 57:7 He says that the Temple will be called "a house of prayer for all nations." In other words, the Israelites and the Temple were The Plan to bring God's salvation to all people. He had plucked them out of Egypt, cleaned them off, gave them His holy Law, and then placed them down in the center of the world - at the very crossroads of all the major trade routes - so that they could be a light for the Gentiles and a house of prayer for all nations. If He had simply wanted a special people for Himself, He could have moved the entire Israelite nation to some island in the Pacific. But they were to be something greater - they were The Plan to the lost.

So when Christ came and saw the compromises and the heavy burdens placed upon these lost people by the religious leaders, He took offense and cleaned it out. Then He condemned it, saying that it would no longer be The Plan, that every stone would be knocked down before that generation had passed away.

He then took The Plan to the people: dying, rising, destroying sin's power and imparting His Spirit upon all who believe. To them who received Him, He gave the right to be called a son of God. These receivers are now The Plan. (I like the phrase "receiver" better than "believer.") The light to the world is now brought through individuals to the lost and dying. We are movable Temples - in the world, bringing that very same Light to the lost that the original Temple was meant to do.

So - get your act together. Any continued dysfunction in your life is messing with The Plan. We tend to think in a very self-centered way, moaning about our inability to have enough faith, to conquer sin, to reach the deeper place with God that we desire. In the meantime, people are dying because we've kept The Plan in check by this same inability to get our lives in order under the Spirit. It's not about us - it's about them. Our dysfunction only feeds the Great Beast of Inactivity.

Our "religion" tends to feed this self-centeredness. Every focus is on making the receiver/believer comfortable, having our best life now, yet not asking (demanding!) that we put off the old clothes, put on Christ, and get into the world in the way the original Temple was meant to be in the world. So don't be surprised if Christ takes the same action upon your heart that He took in that Temple. He doesn't seem to like it when you mess with The Plan.

Again - your dysfunction is not just about you - it's about others that need you to get your act together.

Big Game Fatigue

As Boston sports fan, I'm about to say something that could be construed as heretical: I'm ready for a break. You see, in Boston, every game over the past few years has been a Big Game. Stretch runs, playoffs, Yankees, Lakers, Super Bowls, World Series, NBA championships . . . . it's been seemingly endless and I'm pooped. We actually got rid of cable recently so I can't even watch them if I wanted to. I have Big Game Fatigue when it comes to sports.

Although this is an unprecedented stretch for any city, and every game has been a relatively big game sports-wise, I still somewhat blame the media. Sports have become a business, and to keep the "business" going, every game has to be an EVENT. The next game has to be the most important, can't-miss game of the year, the decade, the century! It's worn me out. I can't keep the emotions going and believe it or not, I'm not even watching the current Red Sox playoff series. (And I've been following them relentlessly my entire life.)

As a pastor, I fear that the same thing has happened in American Christianity. Since religion is now a multi-billion dollar business, pastors have to make sure that every meeting, every sermon, every get-together is an EVENT. Gotta keep the 'business' running, you know? We can't let the people lose the sense of urgency - this is the end! - so that they keep the money coming in. If you keep the people in fear, they'll keep writing checks and voting for your candidate and supporting your ministry.

This is a huge problem. How many "this is the final call" altar calls can we endure? How many "send in your seed money now or your life (and our ministry) will crumble" pleas can we handle? The church is starting to suffer from Big Game Fatigue and the cracks are beginning to appear in the foundation of the corporation. Good. I'm glad and I hope that it all comes apart. For us to be living out and accomplishing the true purpose of Christ, the Business of Church has to collapse and we have to get back to the real message. My brother is the real message - not the corporation.

I wish it would happen with sports - I wish that the curtain would be pulled back and every fan would realize that the constant drumbeat of "the next big game" is simply a corporation and media ploy to keep you tuned in, to keep you buying their product. I also wish that the curtain would be pulled back on the Corporation of Christianity that's going on in America today and the Christians would realize that they're being victimized by men simply trying to keep their "product" moving out the doors of the warehouse.

I'm going to take a deep breath and get out of the Big-Game mentality. It doesn't mean that I'm going to lose my urgency for the Kingdom, but I'm going to recognize that Christ expects us to live it out even in the monotony of daily life. Loving our brother, forgiving our enemy, reconciling the world to God through Christ - is awesome and exciting - and sometimes very, very slow work. It's not all about the "experience" but about quietly allowing Christ to do His work through us. Quietly, humbly, methodically and effectively.

I Thessalonians 4:11, 12 "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."

That doesn't sound like Big Game hunting, does it? A quiet life? Minding our own business? Working with our hands instead of gaining money off the business? Gaining the respect of the 'outsiders' instead of their hatred? Hmmmm.....

Here's a homework assignment for you: Read Ezekiel 34 and then tell me if it doesn't sound like today's Christian world. Then note carefully how God is going to deal with the situation.

The Value of Ropes

There is a value in ropes. (see previous post) I use them as a parent with my kids (not literally, but sometimes . . . . ) and with the students in my class. There is a value in restraining someone from going headlong down a road that you know will lead them to a possible life-affecting disability. In that sense, "ropes" can be of tremendous short-term value.

Also, if I'm struggling with something immediate, ropes can help me while I find the deeper victory. I don't want to give the impression that rules are never any good. God Himself established "rules" in the sense that He knew for a society to function in an orderly way then certain guidelines needed to be established. Yet He also knew that the ultimate plan is for this "LAW" to be written upon our hearts.

But if someone has a bent to something destructive - alcohol, drugs, sexual promiscuity, pornography, destructive relational behavior - then by all means we need to 'rope' them in so that we can help them before they hurt themselves. As long as we understand that these ropes are really only "temporary restraining orders" while the heart is brought to a place of healing and change.

David was condemned as a father in I Kings 1:5,6 for NOT interfering with his son's destructive decisions, for not tying some 'ropes' around him. This allowed him to become so rebellious that he ultimately tried to unseat his own father. We do have a responsibility with those around us (and with ourselves) to use whatever temporary means possible to gain control over a potentially fatal situation.

I hope I didn't give the wrong impression in my prior post, as "freedom-seekers" tend to blast "legalists" out of the water to the point that they have swung the pendulum too far and can't see how God uses the entire process to effect change in the life of the believer.

Strapped to the Mast

Sometimes I wonder if I'm simply strapped to the mast, and if someone undid the ropes, I would fall headlong into the song of the Sirens.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus was passing through the place where the Sirens would sing their beautiful songs and draw sailors to their death. He wanted to hear their song, but still maintain his life, so he had his sailors strap him to the mast and bind him with ropes. Then he put wax in their ears so that they would not be drawn to the Siren call. He writes:

"So they sang in lovely tones. From the bottom of my heart I longed to listen, and I ordered the men to set me free, nodding my head and working my brows; but they simply went on pulling with a good swing. Perimedes at once got up, and put more ropes round me and fastened me tighter."

Am I doing the same thing? Are the "ropes" that bind me merely the restraints of my upbringing? Are they the rules of a society that strains to have a semblance of morality? Am I self-bound by my own understanding or even wishful thinking on a life that I see lived out in Scripture? Are they the traditions and expectations of "two thousand years of Church"?? Am I getting deeper into God, or am I simply crying out for "more ropes!" ????

Again, sometimes I worry that if these ropes, self-imposed or church-imposed, were removed that I would run to the world and its desires, thus revealing the true bent of my heart. Honestly, this scares me. I don't want to be bound, I want to be free, so that I can truly serve and reach out to the hurting out of love, not duty. I want to give up things that are hindering me because I desire the Greater Love, not out of fear of losing something.

There is another part to the story that plays into this thought. Later, the Argonauts approached the same situation, but instead of binding themselves up in ropes so that they restrain their natural desires, they have their musician, Orpheus, play a sweeter song than the song of the Sirens. This song draws them in so that the call of the Sirens is not a temptation. It is a lesser call. Ropes are never needed against a lesser call.

I want to hear the better song, the sweeter sound. I don't want more ropes to bind me. I want to be free to follow Jesus, the one true Voice. I want to be so in love with Christ that the world holds no allure for me. I want to "get it."

I would like to lay these thoughts out there to think about:

• You cannot truly serve your fellow man if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly forgive a brother who hurt you if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly go the extra mile, seek peace and pursue it, be a spiritual pacifist, if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot truly worship the Lord in spirit and in truth if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot honestly say, "He must increase, I must decrease" if you are strapped to the mast.
• You cannot have true victory over your hindering sins if you are strapped to the mast.
• And you cannot get rid of all the other competing voices, if you are strapped to the mast.

Isaiah 30:21 " Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear A Voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Ropes can pull you in a direction, but the Voice of God can draw you into it, and there is a huge difference. It's called the HEART.

Set Free - With Our Arms Full

Deuteronomy 15:13 "And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress."

Every seventh year the Israelites were to release their brothers who had sold themselves into slavery because of some unpayable debt. But not only were they to release them, they were to set them free with their arms full so that they would have the means to start a new life. They were to give them 'liberally' from their own wealth. It was a true liberation, because it entailed victory upon the release.

This is a very powerful statement on the Christian life. When we are set free, our own unpayable debt canceled at the cross and under the blood of Christ, He sends us out into the world with our arms full. We are given everything we need to live a victorious life.

II Peter 1:3,4 "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

Wow. That's it - there's the victory. We have been set free with our arms full. There is nothing more coming, nothing more needed. Those crying out for the "Second Blessing" are either missing the point or making excuses. We have been sent back into this corrupt world liberally supplied with the riches from His treasures and we have everything we need to set up camp and expand His kingdom. Now, do I want deeper experiences with God? Of course, and if that's what they mean by a second blessing then I'll take seconds, minutes and hours of it. But if they mean some post-salvation empowerment for victory or service, then I don't think they realize that they've already been fully armed upon the initial release.

When the Israelites were set free from Egypt, they walked out with the treasures of Egypt in their camp. They were able to survive the desert! When Christ was born into Joseph and Mary's family, they were given the treasures of the Magi - they were able to survive Herod and life in Egypt on the run.

We have Herods in our lives - things too strong for us that try to kill us. We have deserts - times of dryness and silence. We have Egypts - time in the world that tries to suck the life out of us. But we have the resources - life in Him, participation in His divine nature - to not only survive these times, but have victory.

We have no excuse! If a slave walked out in that seventh year and was in poverty within a month - it was his own fault. Spiritually speaking, we have that same advantage. Quit waiting for that 'something extra' or that second blessing or a 'word'. It's a cop-out. You have everything you need right now.

Grow Into Your Boundaries

You have a greater capacity for spiritual life than you are currently experiencing.

I thought I was at the limit of my love when I was first married. Then, when my daughter Olivia was born, my capacity for love exploded. I had no idea that I was capable of this amount of love in my life. It shocked me. I felt that all my life up until that point was running on 2 cylinders. Then something even stranger happened. My son Luke was born and my capacity for love immediately doubled. I realized that love is not like a balloon, filled to a point and then that's it. It's limitless, as the birth of my next two children revealed even deeper.

That's why we can't settle for the spiritual state that we're in right now. Our capacity is far greater than we can imagine. God is willing and able to blow the doors off our expectations and experiences. Quite simply, there is more.

As Job says in 26:14 "And these are but the outer fringe of His works; how faint the whisper we hear of Him!"

Your capacity for spirituality is much greater than you are accepting in your life right now. Stop what you're doing and lay your life out before Him and open yourself up and let Him expand your boundaries. Or better yet, let Him grow you into the boundaries that He has already established for you. Quit settling for the whisper.

The Big 162

As a teacher, I often struggle with the whole concept of grades. I want everyone to know, master and love the material. I want all "A's" - I'm not one of those teachers who seem to revel in giving bad grades. But I do realize that there has to be some of separation for those who are really trying or are naturally gifted. So I give tests, quizzes, projects etc at an ever-escalating pace to try to find that separation. I do this more for their sake than my own. I want them to know.

Part of me, as a teacher, feels that this is somewhat unnecessary, because really - life will ultimately end up separating the pretenders from the contenders. It always does.

As a pastor, I often struggle with this concept as well. I want everyone to know, master and love the 'material' - and by that I mean the spiritual. But I wonder who's really doing their homework, who is truly interested in excelling. I want everyone to get "A's" but I do realize that there has to be some kind of positive separation for those who are really trying or are supernaturally gifted. Again, more for their sake. It would be a terrible thing to live under a delusion of some surface commitment and faith in Christ, thinking all is not lost, when in fact it is.

But life will sort that out. The threshing floor of life is unrelenting and impartial and it will ultimately end up separating the pretenders from the contenders. It always does.

They say that in baseball, 162 games is the ultimate separator. Any team can have a good or bad stretch, but over 162 games these will even out, and the best team will end up on top. The weak team simply cannot sustain excellence over a long period of time.

Life is like that. It will find out who is serious about moving hard into God and who is in it for the temporary fix. It's not my place to be the judge of that. Those who are truly in Christ will persevere and give thanks. Those who are not of Him will be revealed for who they really are - it's not on us.

Words - My Only Offering

Hosea 14:1 - 4

"Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!

Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
"Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.

Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount war-horses.
We will never again say 'Our gods'
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion."

I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.

There is a huge problem in America, and it's been created within the past 100 years. The problem is that we have a generation of people who think that they are "okay with God" because at some point in their life they 'prayed the prayer.' It's a difficult situation in the sense that no one really knows the heart, but one gets the sense that people are resting in that prayer.

As a person who was raised in this type of Christianity (not from my parents, thank the Lord!) I get concerned, because I don't see any change, any true repentance or humbly seeking hard after God.

BUT - I don't know what the solution is, or if there is one, because in Hosea we DO find a version of "the prayer." (I think you have to have been in Christian circles for a while to know what I mean by "the prayer.")

In Hosea 14, after years of backsliding, the people of Israel are encouraged to return to the Lord, stripped of everything but their words. We don't bring anything to the table of grace before the Lord except our offering of words - and even then only He knows the true intention of this offering.

It's a wonderful prayer, and I think I will use it when witnessing. The person comes to the Lord without anything in his hands, and simply prays: "Please receive me in your grace. I've tried to do it in the world (Assyria) but found that it cannot save me. I've tried to do it on my own but found that my hands cannot save me. I am Fatherless - and I desire to be Your son. Please have compassion on me."

That version of 'the prayer' is a pretty good one. If you're witnessing to someone, and struggling with how to actually lead them in prayer - this is an excellent starting point. Even the part where all they can bring is words.

I don't like the false security of 'the prayer' but what else can the sinner bring?

Self-Maintenance Man

I always wanted to be a superhero - and the other night, sitting in church listening to a visiting pastor from India, God revealed to me that I was. I'm Self-Maintenance Man.

Self-Maintenance Man is a little different than most superheros in that instead of looking to rescue others, he spends his entire life getting himself out of danger. He's kind of like a reverse superhero in that sense. The typical hero disguises himself and rescues others. Self-Maintenance Man disguises others and rescues himself. He uses all of his powers and energies on keeping his life in order, all the while telling himself that the others "aren't so bad" that they need his help.

In Deuteronomy 15, God commands that every seventh year the Israelites are to cancel all the debts of their fellow brothers. In verse 9 God says, "Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing."

God unmasks Self-Maintenance Man with this verse, as He commands him to stop rationalizing away his unwillingness to help the poor. "The 7th year is just around the corner - he can survive until then." "The 7th year (someone else) will take care of him!" "There are programs to help those in need." "I have to get my life in order and then I'll help."

These simply won't cut it. And the other night, as I sat listening to this small, humble preacher from India, an ordinary man who pulls in the children living off of the streets and feeds them and clothes them and loves them in the name of Jesus, I found myself distressingly humiliated. I was ripped open and embarrassed to the very core of my being as the facade of my "Christian Life" was torn off.

My entire life is centered around self-congratulatory self-maintenance. I take care of my ministry, my family, my church, my school and most importantly - myself. I do this under the disguise of spirituality, but when it's unmasked, I realize it's simply me taking care of my kingdom. Everything I do is really about keeping me in the best possible place, occasionally sticking out my hand from under the blankets with a morsel of bread for someone in need.

I need to be like my Savior. He was a sheep-seeking missile, coming into the dirt and muck of this world and pulling out the lost. He didn't simply stand there and say, "I'm here if you need me." That's what we do as churches. We open the doors and yell out, "We're here if you need us!" No - He put on the clothes of the lost and went in and found them and pulled them out of the fire. He wasn't into self-maintenance, He was into us. He got His feet and His hands dirty, yet kept His heart pure. He didn't try to rationalize it away, saying that the Year of Canceling Debts was right around the corner. He personally took on the Debt and canceled it out at the cross for us.

In Deuteronomy 15 it also says that every seventh year a servant could be set free. But if you read Exodus 21 you realize that if these servants were married, they couldn't take their wives out to freedom with them. However, they did have the option of going back to their masters and staying under them, so that they could remain with their wives and family. To do this, they had to place their ear against a door and have a nail pounded through the lobe. Bonded forever.

This is what Christ did for us - He came back for His bride. He didn't leave us in bondage. He was pierced for our transgressions and became one of us. He could have left us - Satan tried like crazy to get Him to come down from that cross - but He became one of us to save us all. Self-Maintenance Man would have never done that.

It's time to wake up.

Church Selection

Not too long ago, a very nice family visited our church and then asked to meet me with. I sat down with them for an hour, as they told me that they were leaving their present church and were in the process of selecting their new one. They took out a checklist and began going down each item (it was three pages long), checking things off as we spoke. It was a very interesting meeting to say the least.

I don't write this to put down this couple. They were very serious and sincere and were simply doing in a systematic way what most people do in their mind when they visit a church and make their decision on attending. What's the music like. What ministries do they have. Do they have pews or seats. Stained glass or clear. Does it feel like a church to me. What are the people like. Is the pastor a good preacher. (I thought I heard them chuckle to themselves over that one.)

Again - I'm not putting this well-intentioned couple down, although they did choose another church. (Though CBC made their top-three!!) What struck me is that we have this capability in America to even go through this process. Think about that: we can choose a church like it's a couch. No wonder pastors constantly feel like their under the pressure of being salesmen for their church instead of shepherds of a flock.

Imagine being in a place where you were just happy that you could get together. Anyone have a Bible? Anyone have a song? I think this would change our concept of "church" pretty quickly.

A Tale of Two Passovers: Passion and the Word

Note: I'm just working through some things with the Revival of Josiah (one of my favorite stories in the OT as it is so applicable to my life) and have some thoughts on his re-institution of the Passover celebration- so bear with this one. It's a work in progress.

In II Kings 23:21 – 23 we read that as part of his reformation, Josiah reestablished the celebration of the Passover. “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”

“Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.”

This Passover celebration took place in 622 B.C. and it appears that the situation in the Temple was so bad that the priest had to hide the Ark to protect it from being profaned along with all of the other apostasies taking place prior to Josiah's great reform. (II Chronicles 35:3) Josiah had them bring it out as there could be no true Passover without it.

(We need to understand the importance of the Passover – it is the one celebration that clearly foreshadows Jesus Christ. )

Key Thought: The revival of Josiah took worship to a higher level by taking the passion of Hezekiah’s Passover (II Chronicles 30) and celebrating it by aligning it in accordance to the Word of God. Passion in obedience to the Word is ultimately the highest form of worship.

Hezekiah’s Passover was an awesome first step. It had not been celebrated at all, apparently, since the division of the kingdom after Solomon’s death. They were so excited to be doing this that they unanimously added another week to the celebration. What a time that must have been – worship pouring out to such a degree that they didn’t want to leave! “Let’s play two!” I wish that we would have such a fervor for worship that after church was done we'd all say, "Let's do that again!"

But it’s also important to note that in their zeal, they sidestepped a couple of the ‘regulations.’ First of all, they held the celebration a month after they were supposed to because they didn’t have time to get their act together. (II Chronicles 30: 2) Then they allowed men who had not purified themselves to partake of the feast (II Chronicles 30:18). Yet through Hezekiah’s intercession (II Chronicles 30:18, 19) they were given a ‘pass’ so-to-speak from God.

The intent of their heart was to seek Him, which is always more important than the rules and regulations when you are first returning to Him. This is a very important point when we are bringing in the lost to hear about the salvation of Christ. But it is also important to note that it required an special, intercessory prayer by Hezekiah and a ‘healing’ by God to make up for these oversights. You can't simply side-step the "rules of the game" without some divine dispensation. And we certainly can't determine when and where the rules can be set aside. God allowed this for this specific occasion.

However- when Josiah, two generations later, found the Book of the Law and made the decree to celebrate the Passover, he combined the passion of Hezekiah’s feast with total obedience to the Word of God. Note the key phrase: "As it is written." That is the ultimate sign of maturity. Passion checked by complete adherence to God’s expressed will.

Christ brings a freedom borne out of passion, which rises above the rules and regulations, but ultimately leads you back to the perfect ways of God – not just total, unrestricted freedom. It is freedom, but it is a different kind than the world defines. It is freedom to love and serve God – but His way. It’s not legalism, because legalism drains out the heart and passion of a relationship with Christ.

This true celebration of the Passover was done because Josiah had found the Book of the Law. Once you know, you have no excuse anymore. A seeker or a new Christian is given some grace because he doesn’t know. He is coming to Christ as he is, not as he should be. We try to force people to be Christ-like before they even know Him! But the relationship must be established first. The excitement that tumbles over and around the ‘rules’ of Christianity must be allowed for - for a season. Just as the people in Hezekiah’s day were desperate for reestablishing a relationship with God by celebrating the Passover without being in accordance with the exact rules, there are people who need to come to Jesus just as they are.

But, as you mature as a child, as you get to know the Law – then you must become more like Him. The rules ARE adhered to, because they are His rules, and His rules are designed to bring you into greater fellowship and worship with Him, not more restrictive.

If you've been a Christian for awhile, you can't be hiding under the 'experiencing God' excuse for not bringing your life under His direction. We have to be growing, and this means coming more and more into line with His ways. "I just want to love God and be with Him" is a great thought, but it can become a lazy excuse for disobedience - and then you miss what you claim to be desiring, for only through obedience are we drawn deeper into Him. And let's face it: Many of us know better - we just want to hide under the guise of freedom.

The Divine Dispossession

Deuteronomy 11:22 "If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the "Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you , and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you."

"Dispossess" - I love that word. It's my new favorite Biblical term. I love everything about it - how God calls the nation of Israel to enter into the Land that He has already given them, knowing that the nations are stronger than them, but still telling them to trust Him - He will dispossess these nations from their authority over them.

Make no mistake - the things that bind you ARE stronger than you, or they would not bind you! They can't simply be 'ruled' out of your life. By that I mean, you can't simply get up in the morning and lay out all of these rules that will keep your mind and heart in check, with the hopes of bringing you victory. These strongholds are too powerful for that. (read Colossians 2:23 - a life-changing verse for me.)

The only thing that can bring you victory is when you bring in a greater authority who can dispossess these strongholds of their . . . . . well . . . strong hold on your life.

Let's face it - many of us are losing battles because we are facing a stronger enemy. Think of lust for example - men are dying under it. I've read where over 50% of the pastors in the US are under some kind of pornographic addiction. This is crazy - until you think about it. These men spend hours alone with their computer and Satan is hacking away at them. The power of lust that he uses is stronger than their self-constructed defense system. Rules won't work, so these precious ministers of the Lord are losing the battle of the mind and falling away! Think: for every dollar that we spend developing 'lust-control' filters, the porn sites spend at least ten on counteracting our defense systems. They are too strong and have too many resources for us to defeat on our own. Our strength is not sufficient!!!

God understands that. In Deuteronomy 11 He acknowledges that these nations are larger stronger than the Israelites. So they will need a greater authority, a stronger force, on their side. And that's where God comes in. He will dispossess these enemies of their authority and place in the lives of the Israelites.

It's the same for us - we need a Divine Dispossession of anything that has a foothold in our life. Depression. Covetousness. Anxiety. Lust. Despair. Discontent. Worldliness. Lack of Forgiveness. Lack of self-control. These are stronger than you - so you need an Authority in your life that can dispossess them. Get under His covering and let Him go to work. Raise your hands - right now - in submission to Him and let Him begin the process of unwrapping the tentacles of sin that are wrapped around you, choking the life out of you.

I JOHN 4:4 ( I call this: May the "Fours" be with you.) Repeat this to yourself, over and over.

GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD!!

Me and US: A Love-less Relationship

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

Listen - I love America. I really do. I deeply appreciate the fact that I live in this country, and having been to many other countries in the world (Canada, Mexico, Israel, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia -yes, I'm bragging) - I have come to realize that this really is a great place to live. However - it is imperative that this is a love-less relationship that I have with the US. Christ made it very clear that we are to "hate," or love-less, every person, every institution, every nation in comparison to our all-encompassing love for Him.

In Luke 14:26, Jesus is saying that we must be so into Him, that all other relationships must be placed beneath it. "Hate" in this sense means to "love-less" - not despise.

One of my favorite bands from the 80's was the Australian band Midnight Oil. Their song "Dead Heart," about the Aborigines right to the land, can also be aptly applied to the Christian and their relationship to the United States:

We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
Know your custom don't speak your tongue
White man came took everyone

We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
White man listen to the songs we sing
White man came took everything

We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken

We don't need protection
Don't need your land
Keep your promise on where we stand
We will listen well understand

We carry in our hearts the true country, our citizenship is forever planted in heaven, and our freedom in the US should be used as a means to advance that kingdom. Too many US Christians see that freedom as the end - God's blessing upon them - so that they can live happily ever after. The riches He has given us should be seen as resources, not as rewards.

The American tongue is not the same as the Christian tongue. The American way is not the same as the Christian way. American goals are not the same as the goals of Jesus Christ. And no - the American Kingdom is not the same as the Kingdom of Christ.

We have a unique language of true freedom of the heart. We are not seeking our own or trying to protect our own. We are laying down our lives, but for others to live free in a spiritual way, not on earth.

Too many American Christians have adopted the language of this country instead of the language of God. It's a terrible mistake, fatal in fact. It is an immersion into a culture of the world - for like it or not, America is not a separate nation, it is a nation of the world, lumped together with all of others.

When we fail to recognize this fact, our true faith can be taken from us, as we begin to lean on the things of the world. But as Peter Garrett sings: "We carry in our heart the true country - and that cannot be stolen." From a non-Christian group, that's a pretty good Christian message for the American church.

Like I said, I have a love-less relationship with America. I really do love "her" - just not nearly as much as I love Christ.

Your Best Ewe Now (or The Offal Truth)

Malachi

1:8 "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?"

1:10 "Oh that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on My altar! I am not please with you," says the Lord Almighty, and I will accept no offering from your hands."

Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen is an easy target. I go back and forth on him - sometimes I think it's not too bad, that many people are in such dire straits that the first thing they need to hear is that God loves them and had wonderful plans for them, and then they can start the process of getting it all back together. Other times, his message goes down like sour milk. It's lukewarm, tepid and without any lasting impact or value. The Christian life is not about our best life now, it's about surrendering everything we are and everything we value to the Lord and let Him use us or burn us out. When we make the message about how to enhance our life, then we lose the true message of Christ. He is not a life-enhancer, He obliterates the old life.

In the days of Malachi, the people were suffering from the same problem. They had come back from Babylon with dreams of Their Best Life Now, but it wasn't quite working out that way. So they decided to take matters into their own hands and withhold the best of the flocks, bringing in the sick and the old for the offerings to the Lord. They deserved the best, so they would supply themselves with the best. God got the leftovers and the lame - they withheld their best ewe. These offerings rose as a stench to the Lord and He told them to "shut the Temple doors."

But don't we do the same thing now? We offer up our best time, energy and money to our own personal pursuits, and whatever is left over, we offer to the Lord. The last minutes of the day. The time when we're least alert or effective. The remnants of our salaries after we've made sure the bills (and entertainment essentials) are taken care of.

We do it in our families as well. We give the outside world our best face, our kindest personality. We treat them with respect, and then we enter our own homes and offer up the "offal" parts ourselves. The leftover entrails of the sacrificial offerings that we've already given to ourselves and the world around us. Brothers - this should not be! Like the people in Malachi, we've got it upside-down. You know those tired devotions you're having? You are, in a sense, lighting "useless fires" before Him.

I am making a more concerted effort to give my best ewe now. I've sat down with my wife and reworked the budget so that God is first. I've tried to make sure that He gets my best time, not my I'm-about-to-fall-asleep time. I also want to make sure that my wife and family get the better part of me, not a cranky, short-tempered father sitting on the couch because he's had a tough day. The people of my church need a better me as well. You see, once you give God your best and start to actually trust Him, the dominoes start falling. You become better for those around you, working from the inside-out.

You want your best life now? Offer up your best you now.