Dad Said, "No"

Numbers 22:13 The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak's princes, "Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you."

It's time to settle the matter with what you believe - own it or let it go. If you don't own it, if you're only believing and obeying because you've been told to, then at the first sign of a true temptation, you will not have the strength to stand on your lack of conviction. As they saying goes, you will fold faster than Superman on wash day.

In Numbers 22, Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites. He sent men and money to convince him to do it. Balaam asked the men to stay through the night so he could get the answer. (Mistake #1). In the night, the Lord of course told Balaam that this was not an option, so the next morning Balaam gave the reply found in the above verse. He basically told the men, "God said I can't" The implication being that he wanted to. What happened next was inevitable - Balak sent more men and more money - he smelled blood and went in for the kill. God eventually told Balaam, "Go ahead - you're heart's set on it anyway." He will give us over to our bents if we push hard enough. (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)

That's the difference between a conviction and a compulsion. If you truly believe something, if you've evaluated it, prayed over it, and embraced it in your heart, you will stand firm. It's hard to pry a conviction out of someone's hand. The world knows this so they stop asking. If Balaam had said, "Never - no way," then Balak would not have come back. When I was in high school, the kids knew I wasn't going to give in to the party scene - so they stopped bugging me. If they thought it was because my parents wouldn't let me, they would come at me harder.

The problem is that too many of us are only doing things because "Dad said so." We only obey because we were taught to - not because we believe it and own it. They are compulsions - and Satan knows this. So he comes harder and harder at you, with greater 'rewards' if you will give in. Your lack of conviction has opened a door for him - and Satan always goes in for the kill when he smells blood.

Therefore . . . settle the matter now. If you're only 'pretty sure' you don't want to engage in pre-marital sex, then you're not going to make the decision at 1:00am in a dark room on a couch while you're making out. You have to have made the decision before that. If you're only 'pretty sure' that Jesus is the Way, that your faith is built on His finished work, then you're not going to make that decision when faced with a professor hammering the 'myths and contradictions' of the Bible down you're throat.

Please - turn these 'pretty sures' into convictions. It is the only way that you will stand and it is the only way that you can grow. Debating, mulling, wondering, studying - they're all great - but they will be a constant spinning of wheels . Anyone that's been stuck in the mud knows that spinning wheels only gets you deeper into the mud. So, again, make a decision, own your faith, own your convictions, so that you can stand on those days when the Balaks of the world come with their ever-increasing temptations.

As I said, the Lord will give you over to your bents, to your heart's true desires. On the positive side, however, He does promise to strengthen your convictions.

Hey Dad

The other day I was walking along a main street, just talking to God, thinking. I was pleading with Him about something and I said, "Come on, Dad!" It just came out, and I thought, "That's neat." He is my Abba Father - my Dad. To think that I blurted it out naturally in a conversation with Him was really cool.

How Is It That You Don't Understand!!!

I wish I lived in a more spiritual culture. Not religious, the Lord knows the American culture reeks of stale religiosity. I mean spiritual - where people respond to everything in a spiritual manner. Where thoughts are centered around God. When something happens, it is immediately brought to a spiritual foundation and then approached/solved in a spiritual manner.

I wish church really was a meeting of like-minded people seeking to worship God, open the Scriptures, sing songs of praise, encourage one another, talk through things, give testimonies of God's grace in their lives.

In Matthew 16 Jesus was crossing the Sea of Galilee with His disciples and He had a moment with them that makes me wonder how frustrated He was by their lack of spiritual thinking. Here was the exchange:

"When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

It's like He's saying, "Come on - stay with Me here. Every moment with you, every conversation, is spiritual. Get your minds off the bread of this world. Think with me."

We are so earth-bound and it is frustrating. Our lives are backward. We punch our time in at church so we can back to our lives. Every moment should be church. Every conversation spiritual, even if it's about the weather. Or bread.

The Lens of Mercy

Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy . . . "

In Romans 11, Paul lays out such a difficult (and somewhat harsh) treatise on the rejection of Israel, their remnant, return and the place of the Gentiles, that he closes it with an prayer acknowledging the depth of God's wisdom. It's almost like he understands how hard his previous teaching was and then needs to make sure the readers can take a breath.

Then he begins his next thought with the amazing phrase: " . . . in view of God's mercy . . ."

His filtering system, how he views even the most difficult passages, is awesome. He sees these difficult preceding chapters and finds MERCY in them. When I first read them, I found judgment and election - neither which cause me to dwell on the mercy of God.

I think I'm going to start asking the Holy Spirit to help me read with the same filtering system as Paul. I want the ability to dive into the deep things of God, digging through all the dirt and rocks, and swimming to the surface clinging only to the jewel of mercy that I found amidst all rubble at the bottom of the murky sea.

When all is said and done, that's the only thing worth holding onto, this pearl of great price. Through all of the Bible studies, classes, commentaries, discussions (arguments?), business meetings, etc - it would be so refreshing if we all stepped away from them and were able to say, "Therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercy .. . ."

I can imagine the response. "That's what you got out of this? Mercy?"

That's the lens I want on my heart and mind. The Lens of Mercy.

But The People Said Nothing

I Kings 18:21 "Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing."

Jonah 3:4 "On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth."

I give up. Not on preaching. Not on witnessing. Not on pouring my heart out to the lost. But I give up trying to figure out what method, what song, what sermon, what type of service, what impassioned plea will get people to listen, to care, to turn to God with all of their heart. It is one of the most frustrating aspects of ministering: The Sea of Blank Faces.

On Mt. Carmel, Elijah gave one of the most concise, challenging sermons recorded in Scripture. "Make a decision! Cross the line!" Who would not have been moved by the sight of this Spirit-filled holy man coming in from three years in the desert and laying out that challenge? He was a fellow Israelite - a brother - pouring his heart out for his people. He loved them and desperately wanted them to turn back to God.

Shhhhhh. . . . quiet . . . let's listen to the sound of the response. (Insert the sound of crickets.) Huh? I don't hear anything. Oh, that's right - the people said nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not one word of agreement or disagreement - the ultimate in apathy (or confusion). It was probably the most 'ineffective' sermon ever preached, in terms of salvations. (At least tied for first with all of mine.)

Man, it doesn't take long to be in the ministry to experience that response. It can send one home in deep despair. (see DCap's blog at this point.)

Now let's take a look at Jonah! Here was a man who didn't even want to preach to these Ninevites, lest they turn and be saved. After much prodding, God got him to go, and he went into the city preaching one line over and over. "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

"Wow! Gee thanks, stranger! What a heartfelt sermon. What love, what depth! I'm glad you went to the trouble to put so much time into your message. I can tell you really care about us."

He probably even said it more in derision than in love and urgency. Again, he didn't want them to believe it! So what happened? Only that 120,000 people repented and turned to God and were saved. It is without a doubt the most 'effective' sermon ever preached, if you go by the sheer number of salvations.

What's up with that?

Simply this: IT IS NOT IN MY HANDS.

If it were, then their belief, their fire, would depend on me. And God never puts that burden on any of His children. He simply tells us to live a life on fire and deliver the message without altering it to make it more palatable or exciting. It is His Word and His power that convict a person and change them. We think much too highly of ourselves when we think their salvations depend upon us.

I Corinthians 2:1 - 5 "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

Oh, by the way. Elijah's story didn't end there. God rained fire down from heaven and then they all turned to Him. It wasn't the sermon. It's never the sermon or the song. It is the power of God that changes an individual and shakes a nation. So don't grow weary in doing good - for in due time the harvest will be reaped.

Walkawayability

Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 9:14 "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God."

I John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

The purpose of the atonement is to give us 'walkawayability.'

Every other religion leaves you hanging, questioning, doubting. "Did I do enough?" There is always a lingering feeling that more is required, so the offerer lingers around whatever altar their religion sets up, wondering what else they need to do. They keep coming back to make increasingly severe sacrifices to meet the ever-escalating demands of their god. There is always more to do, more to maintain. Islam is notorious for this - do more to receive more - and we have seen the outcome of this mentality. The Catholic Mass makes this requirement - keep coming, keep partaking of Communion, to assure that you're still in. Even some of our Protestant denominations leave you with the uneasy feeling that there is more to do or you aren't all right.

But that is not the plan of God. He wants us to walk away in assurance, knowing that we have been cleansed and that no other offering is required or even acceptable. Christ offered Himself once for all. By His blood our consciences are cleansed. We can walk away.

That's the main point of the transition from Romans 7 to Romans 8. Paul was dying inside, his sin was killing him. He had an inner agony - feeling that he could never be made right. Then he came to the realization that there is "no condemnation" for those in Christ. He could walk away.

I see this as one of the biggest hurdles in church. People just don't get it - they don't understand what Christ has done, that it truly is 'finished.' There are no other sacrifices, and if they truly embrace this and look to Him, they will be completely forgiven. There is no lingering around, wondering what more can be done. It is freedom. Freedom to serve Him with a clear conscience. It is His greatest gift to us - the gift of "walkawayability."

Let "it" go - whatever the "it" is in your life. Whatever stupid, sinful things you have done - let them go. Don't let them hang on to you, and don't linger around them. Accept the gift of total cleansing, of a past that is truly past - and move on to serve Him in freedom. The clear conscience is given so that we may serve the living God. An unsure person is an ineffective witness.

Tolerance - A One-Way Street

Acts 13:9,10 "Then Saul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?"

I've always found the concept of 'tolerance' to be very interesting. As a teacher in the public school system, I was told over and over to make sure that tolerance was ingrained in every class, every conversation. Why? You're shooting awfully low! My concept of tolerance must not as high as theirs - tolerance simply means to put up with something you don't like. "I will tolerate you" is never complimentary. It's condescending and dismissive. Why do they cling to it and promote it? It's an insult!

In reality, they mean something deeper. They don't want us to merely tolerate their beliefs, but to embrace them as equally true. This makes sense on a human level. But the implication is that "all thoughts are created equal." And that simply is not true. There are right ways and there are wrong ways. The key question for a Christian is when do we stop 'tolerating' and confront the wrongness of their ways? I want to spend my life living out the Truth, not fighting the Untruth.

In my NT studies I have found one simply test for this problem: If their ways are interfering with a lost person finding the Truth in Christ, then you must come down hard. Jesus did it with the Temple - it had become a barrier instead of a beacon of light. What was meant to draw people to God was hindering them by making it harder to find Him, and Christ basically went Rambo on it.

• In Acts 8 we find Peter coming down with harsh words on Simon. "To hell with your thought!" (He was trying to make the Gospel something you could buy.)
  
• In Acts 13 we find Paul coming down with the hammer on Elymas. "You are a child of the devil." (He was trying to stop Sergius Paulus from hearing the Gospel.)
  
• In Galatians 2 Paul comes down severely with Peter, for separating from the Gentiles. (He was making the Gospel seem to be a combination of works and grace.)
  

Each case has one thing in common - it wasn't the person in sin that they were upset with, it was the fact that they were hindering others in their search for the Truth. If a person rejects the truth, that's one thing. Usually they are left alone with that decision. But if they come in the way of another lost sheep - then look out.

I've heard a lot of the young adults debate how severe to be in their witnessing and defense of the faith. My advice is to follow these examples. If you present the gospel to someone and they reject it - keep praying and look for more opportunities. Don't beat them to death. BUT if they fight it and then make it a goal to keep others from coming to Christ - when their 'tolerance' is a one-way street - we must go on the offensive. There is too much at stake at that point.

Ouch - This One Hurts

I'm sitting here reading a Spurgeon sermon on repentance and he asks the following question: "Suppose that there was no reward for virtue and no punishment for sin. Which would you choose?"

Everyone hates their sin when they're facing punishment. I see it in my kids. My students. People I counsel. Myself. It's easy to cry and wish we had never done something or even had the desire in our heart when we're facing the justice of God or the consequences of life.

Do I hate my sin because of how it offends God? Or do I hate it because of the potential problems it could cause me. The judgment, the separation, the embarrassment.

I think that the answer to this question reveals a lot about who we really are. When David was confronted with his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, he wrote Psalm 51. Within that great psalm he wrote: "Against You, You only, have I sinned." He was grief-stricken because he had sinned against God. Not because he had been caught or punished.

I think that I have to pray through this one, but I thought that I would throw it out there. The answer is the key to true repentance.

D-Cap-itated

This Sunday, at the 9am service, Dave Capozzi will be preaching. That's right - the 'blog' comes to life. Let's see if he's as impressive in person as he is in the written word. If you read this, and you have a chance, stop by.

This is part of the process of church. I believe we do a lot of it all wrong - structurally. The point of the local body is not to rely on one or several people, but to train up those who love the Lord to use their gifts - within and without the body of Christ. We tend to not allow this to happen. The pastor preaches. The singers sing. The mike-man mikes. Don't get me wrong, we should be plugged into our gifts. But we seem to stifle the young people as we cling to our 'ministries' and then we wonder why they aren't involved, why they don't feel ownership.

I feel that as a pastor, my job is to allow the young people to have avenues to use their gifts. They may fail, but that's part of the process.

So I look forward to what D-Cap has to say. He loves the Lord and wants to be used by Him for the good of the body. What more could you ask?

Tag - You're "IT"

Whatever "It" is - you're that. How do I know? Because I've 'tagged' you - slapped a nice label on your beliefs, your thought process, your movement. Now that you've been labeled you are much easier to deal with because I've defined you by this label. Once defined, you're easier to dismiss.

I've seen this so many times in the educational system. Kids are labeled, put in categories, groupings, classes - because otherwise we would have to deal with each one as an individual, and the work required in that would be overwhelming. So we label them and move them on - never giving them a chance to break free.

I'm writing this because I'm in the process of reading Brian McLaren's book "Everything Must Change." I intend on writing a couple of blogs along the way, but the first one is this: Why do people feel the need to label themselves right off the bat? He spends almost a whole chapter explaining the labels he has attached to the "Emergent Movement" and the terminology that goes along with it.

This has always puzzled me - because once labeled, you're defined, which is, by definition, boxed in and much, much easier to set aside or dismiss completely. The world does this with Christianity, they label us and then dismiss us. Why do we feel the need to do it to ourselves? Emerging, Traditional, Contemporary, etc. It's a self-defeating process, and has an underlying aspect of self-exaltation. You tend to define yourself for the purpose of separating yourself from "the pack" (which is only done if you feel that you are better - not simply different) - not realizing that as you do this, you're just creating your own pack.

Let the world throw the labels at us. Let us live such lives that they can't help but notice something powerfully different. Let us do as the early church did, simply call ourselves "disciples" or "believers" - humble terms that show complete submission to Christ. Anything else is giving them another excuse to dismiss us.

A Thistle and a Cedar: These Meddling Kids

II Chronicles 25:18 But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: " A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon . . . but stay at home! Why ask for trouble?"

This is just a quick word to those 'younger' adults who may read this - "Stay at home." There are things out there that aren't worth the dabbling in. You may have thought, as you were growing up, "Hey cool! I can't wait until I can do that, or go there!" But I want to give you one big spiritual Stay at Home!

In II Chronicles 25, King Amaziah of Judah was feeling all full of himself, so he decided to attack the much stronger nation of N. Israel. King Jehoash responded with the parable of a thistle trying to attack and cedar and warned him to stay at home. Don't meddle with things stronger than you. But of course he didn't listen, attacked and was humiliated. Jehoash came down to Jerusalem, knocked the walls down and ripped out his heart (as he plundered the Temple).

Please - you are a 'meddling' generation. You think that you can get involved in all of these things of the world and remain unscathed. Get out before your defenses are knocked down and your heart is ripped out.

The Bible is very clear about this. Resist the devil - but flee from the things that tempt you. The devil has been defeated and you can stand him down under the name of Christ and he will flee. But the things of this world that tempt you? Get away. Don't dabble, don't meddle - get out. Stay at home. Holiness is about a spiritual separation. It's one thing to have things thrust upon you that you will need to deal with, but as Jehoash said to Amaziah: "Why ask for trouble?"

I'll be honest - it's a decision that reveals a lot about your true intentions in this world.


James 4:7
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Timothy 2:22
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.