So that you may know Him

A Light in the Darkness

2011-08-31T12:53:00.000-04:00

When I was in college there were a series of tunnels that ran underneath the campus. These tunnels carried steam to heat the buildings and supply hot water. Although it was against school policy there were many times when I used these tunnels to get from one place to another especially if it was very cold. The real danger in using the tunnels was that it was often dark and you could easily stumble while walking and accidentally reach out and touch one of the steam pipes. Touching the pipes would result in severe burns as I learned on more than one occasion. The key while walking in the dark was not to stumble or else you would get zapped.

As a general rule in Old Testament times, the same held true for the Israelites and their relationship with God. If they stumbled they got zapped. A good example of this can be found in Joshua Chapter 7 where we learn about Achan. Achan coveted and stole a few items from Jericho that were supposed to be consecrated to God. For this he was stoned.

This happened shortly after the Israelites had spent 40 years wandering in the desert. The doubters of Moses’ generation had all died in the desert prior to them entering the Promised Land. The people that were left had all been provided for by God. He had been their pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to guide their every step. He had provided them with the manna and guided their decisions. If ever there was a time when people were going to trust in God this was the time; and yet Achan failed. Unfortunately for the Israelites this was not an isolated incident but the beginning of a trend. God would forgive them and provide and they would turn away and fail and get zapped.

I guess there are a couple of ways that you could read these passages and unfortunately many people today have not learned from the Israelites and Achan. They read this passage and see the need for us to be perfect. We must do better than Achan or God will zap us. Don’t get me wrong- there is a definite call to holiness and I am not making light of that but counting on our own perfection will only lead to death. We can not obtain the perfection that we aspire to or that we need to be righteous on our own. We need a guide.

On one particularly cold night at college when I was returning from the other side of campus I went through the tunnels with a friend of mine that used them all the time. He knew the tunnels better than anybody I knew. We came up to an extended passage where the lights had been knocked out and it was pitch black. I did not see how I could make it through the passage without getting burned and then my friend turned to me and told me to hold on to him. He knew the way through the dark and as long as I held on to him I would be fine.

Often when we read a passage like the one in Joshua we are left with a feeling of hopelessness. There is no way we can make it through life without stumbling. The passage is long and dark and there are many obstacles along the way that can trip us up. One misstep and we will fall. However we still have hope even in the darkness. John tells us that Jesus is the true light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness has not overcome this light. In our darkest times our hope is not going to be found in our own righteousness but in holding on to the one who knows the way. As long as we hold on to Him we will be fine.

Chains, blood, death, and unworthiness

2011-08-22T13:50:00.002-04:00

Perhaps we have lost our way…

I was reading Mark Chapter 5 the other day and I made what seemed to me to be an unusual discovery. Maybe I am mistaken. Perhaps there is nothing at all unusual about it.

When I left home and went to college when I was 18 I was looking for acceptance. In the world of an 18 year old there may be nothing that is more important than that. What I found when I got there was rejection in many forms. The fraternities were not that impressed by me. For the most part they found me to be unworthy of their approval. There was one that wanted me to join but for the most part I did not know the right people, make enough money, or have the right parents. I had a hard time making friends. It seemed that the same qualities that made me desirable (or not) to fraternities were in demand for friendship as well. I did not like my classes either. It seems that I chose poorly and did not realize it until it was too late. Everywhere I turned I found that I was unfit, unworthy, not desired, and not wanted. I was crushed.

This was not my first experience with being rejected. There were girls that I had asked out that had politely refused. There were sports teams that had declined to pick up my option. There were jobs that had found better applicants. Rejection was not an every day experience for me but I was certainly used to it by the time I went to college. Why did my college experience cause me so much more distress than the other rejections?

In retrospect, I think that I had unrealistic expectations of what life would be like when I was in college. I had wanted to go to the school of my choice for a long time before I was accepted there. I had idealized what it would be like and I was (quite simply) wrong. Looking back now it is easy for me to think that I should have adjusted my expectations. It would not have been what I wanted but I could have made due with what it was and got along OK. Rather than doing that I left- never to return and totally disillusioned with the whole experience. The real question is this: should I have had to readjust my expectations at all?

So what does this have to do with Mark Chapter 5?

There is a picture that is painted by the whole chapter that is not evident at first glance. We have the man possessed by demons roaming amongst the dead, the woman plagued by bleeding, and the dead girl. In each case Jesus stepped in and healed someone in a miraculous way. Each one of these people though would have been seen by the first century Jew as unworthy, unfit, unwanted, and unclean. Indeed, perhaps the central message of the Gospel is that each one of us is in our own way much like the central characters in this chapter. We are all unfit but Jesus has reached out to us and made us fit. We are all unwanted but Jesus desires us anyway.

I guess the question I have is why are so many of our churches today so ready to declare people unworthy and unfit and unwanted? This seems more in line with the message of the Pharisees that it does with the message of Christ. It seems to me that today we are still looking for reasons to exclude people from the good news rather than letting Jesus make them worthy. He does not make enough money. She is a liberal. He is a Jeff Gordon fan (joking). He drinks. She smokes. He cusses. Unclean, unfit, unworthy.

I heard a really good message the other day that included an allusion to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a crippled man that nevertheless was an heir to the throne of Saul. When David took over as king he called for Mephibosheth and told him that he was always welcome at the King’s table. Here is the reply:

And he paid homage and said, "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?"
2 Samuel 9:8

Perhaps this is the response of every lost soul who has been found by the King. I know that it captures my sentiments pretty well. How can we so quickly turn from this wonder and astonishment to locking the doors to prevent any other dead dogs from wandering in? I imagine that many people today have an ideal of church that is not unlike my view of college. They would see church as a place where they could be accepted regardless of their flaws. My guess is that many who find this not to be true will likely leave- never to return. Can you imagine the demon possessed man returning to wander amongst the tombs once he had been healed? Somehow I don’t think that happened and yet people today are leaving churches to return the tombs they had escaped. We need to fix this.

What I found unusual about Mark Chapter 5 is that Jesus went to the unclean and made them clean. This was a scandal that eventually got Him killed yet He did it anyway. The church should be doing the same.

The "Good" Son

2011-07-26T22:55:00.003-04:00

"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'
(Luke 15:25-30)

I am not sure how many times I have read this parable and focused on the younger son. The one that was lost. I saw so much of him in my earlier life and was thankful to have a Father that had welcomed me back in spite of my failings. I am not proud of my time in a far off land but it is a part of my past.

As I grew in faith I wanted to be more like the Father in the parable. I wanted to demonstrate grace to others in my life even when they wished me dead. I wanted to be able to forgive no matter what they had done. I am afraid that I have fallen far short of the Father. It is not as easy to say all is forgiven as I had imagined. I pray when the time comes that I have the grace within me to say just that.

The “good” son is often overlooked in this parable. He comes across as ungrateful and I often associated him with people that I knew that looked down on others that were not as righteous as they were. He did not understand how the Father could forgive the “lost” son for the crimes that he had committed when he had been so faithful. He appears to believe that he has earned some part of his inheritance for his behavior.

When I look at this parable from a perspective of God’s grace I get a different picture than I used to. I now see that the “good” son was missing more than the gracious act of his father (toward the younger son). He was spending so much time and energy trying to earn the Father’s grace that he did not realize that he was walking in it all along.

It appears to me that I have become the “good” son of late and it breaks my heart that I have not appreciated the love the Father has for me. I have been stuck in a rut of self-righteousness where I have tried my best to justify why I deserve better than I have been getting. I am thankful for Godly advice from a great friend that has given me a time of refreshment.

And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luke 15:31-32)

There is great comfort in these words for me. Despite all my failings of late, the Father still has great love for me. What I love best about this parable is how I can so often find myself somewhere in it. Now that I have recognized my own issues with self-righteousness I find that I have wandered to the point where I need to return back to my Father. In becoming the older “good” son it seems that I have realized that I actually need to be more like the younger “lost” son and return to my Father’s house. I still strive to be like the Father. I want to be able to demonstrate grace in all seasons. There is far too much ungrace in this world for me to contribute to it. I ask forgiveness from any that I may have hurt and pray for healing. Pray with me.

Love and peace-
Bruce

P.S. So now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

What do I need to do to be saved?

2011-04-13T15:43:00.001-04:00

Please God, I am begging you, just tell me what I need to do. Just tell me what box to check so I can check it. I want to check the box. I want to make sure that I have done everything that I can so that I can be with you when I die. I want to be sure and lately I have not been so sure.

Some have told me that I do not spend enough time reading your word. How much time is enough God? Is one hour a day enough or will thirty minutes be okay? Should I spend every waking hour that I am not at work or spending time with my family reading the Bible? Is reading Christian literature about the Bible and about you okay to read or should I only read your word? Just tell me how much so I can check off this box. I want to check the box but I am not sure if I have done enough.

Others have told me that reading is not enough. I must study your word as well. I need to learn the native languages so I can understand the verses in their proper context. Do I need to be fluent in these languages or is it enough that I look up the Greek or Hebrew for confusing passages? How much study is enough? I need to know so that I can check the box God, but I am unsure if I have done enough.

Some have told me that I must give of my finances in order to be saved. How much do I have to give? Is a tithe sufficient? Is that before or after taxes? Does all the money have to go to my local church or can I use some of it to support missionaries? Does giving money to the widow and the orphan directly count or must it go through my local church body? Does my time that I spend serving count? How can I know when I have given enough? I want to make sure that I have done enough so that I can check the box? Please God, can you help me?

Yet others have told me that I must share your word with others in order to show that I am saved. Does leading by example count or must I actually share the Gospel with words? Does it count if I share the word with those in the church so that I am making disciples or must I go to the unchurched as well? How about apologetics? Does refuting the arguments of those that oppose you and giving them a reason for the hope that is in me count? Please tell me how much I need to do so I can check the box.

And then there are the commandments. Must I keep them all or do I only need to keep the big ten? Can I still check the box if I repent of my sins when I am made aware of them or must I be perfect? What if I sin and die before repenting? Am I lost with no hope or does my previous confessions and repentance count?

When Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land he was very prophetic. He told them to choose that day whom they would serve. They chose to serve the Lord and Joshua replied:

But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good."
(Joshua 24:19-20)

In looking at my partial list above I realize that I am unable to serve the Lord. At various times in my life I have tried very hard and ended up feeling as if I was further in debt than when I started. I can not do what is necessary to check the box. Even in those moments when I come close I tarnish my efforts with my pride. It appears that there is no hope for me ever doing enough to be saved.

Strangely, at the end of my efforts when all hope in self is lost, faith can be found. Faith in the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Faith in the words of the Son of Man. Faith that when He said “It is finished” that he meant it. Faith that His death on the cross was sufficient to overcome my shortcomings. Faith that His resurrection guaranteed victory over death.

It is here that the humble realization takes place that there is nothing you can ever do that will be enough. It is here that you turn to God again and whisper your plea- I can not do this, please help me. If I am ever going to be saved Lord it is up to you and you alone for I am incapable. Here you understand the meaning of “It is finished” and realize that He already has helped you. It is here that your faith in self is transformed into faith in God.

Every once in a while we need a reminder of this. In spite of the efforts and the tears I am thankful for the reminder. My hope is in you God for all hope is lost if it is up to my efforts.

Peace.

A Graveyard Visit

2011-03-29T09:23:00.002-04:00

I stopped at the graveyard on the way home from picking her up from school. We were looking for a grave marker. Something that would tell us who was buried there. We wanted to find one that included the name Joseph. We took separate paths and looked for about ten minutes before finding it. A clear marker letting all know that Joseph was buried here. It is certain that those who knew Joseph well also knew where this marker was. They knew where the tomb was because they knew who Joseph was.

Sometimes when we are reading scripture we overlook simple details that are rather mundane. Below is one example of such a mundane detail:

Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

(Mark 15:43-47)

There are a few things that we can note about this simple burial story. First to note is that Joseph was a member of the Council. This means that he was a member of the group that helped to send Jesus to His death. It is not likely that Joseph would have been a Christian invention. The resurrection claims could have been refuted quite simply with claims from the Jewish leaders that there was no such person. We do not have any records of such claims from the Jewish leaders.

In fact, we can go further to say that there are actually no competing burial stories at all. The silence of the Jews on this matter speaks loudly to the truth of the Gospel narrative. If Jesus were not buried in the tomb of Joseph then we would know. There would be some record claiming that He had been buried elsewhere but there are none. This may seem like a rather mundane detail but why is it important?

The earliest records we have are claims from the Jewish leaders that the disciples stole the body. Why would they make this claim? There was something that they were trying to explain. Something that they refused to believe but has given people hope for 2000 years. Think back to my trip to the graveyard. If the friends and relatives of that Joseph knew where he was buried, then how many more people would know where the tomb of a member of the Council would be? How many of them do you think went and checked the claims of the women and the disciples? How many of them were at a loss to explain how the body of a dead man could go missing? So they make up a story to try to keep the masses quiet.

Their story gives us a certain fact about the resurrection account. The lack of a competing burial story testifies to its truth. The standing of Joseph in the community completes our knowledge of one thing with certainty on that Sunday morning 2000 years ago.

The tomb was empty. Praise God, He is risen!

The Problem with Rob Bell

2011-03-25T16:45:00.002-04:00

The Problem with Rob Bell

Don’t get me wrong. I actually like Rob Bell and I have no intention of bashing him in this blog. He is a truly gifted storyteller that comes across as being genuinely passionate for the lost. I do not think that he has written his latest book simply to make money or to lead people astray. In fact, I would go further to say that Rob Bell has at least done modern Christianity a favor by bringing a discussion to the table that most people are afraid to speak about.

I have participated in discussions with atheists and agnostics for a good number of years now. It is often easy to dismiss the questions and objections of both of these groups without giving it some serious thought. Serious thought leads to serious questions and apparently Rob Bell has at least been listening to this group. The first chapter in his new book is really not much more than a summation of arguments of an atheist acquaintance of mine.

These are serious questions. They are questions that should be addressed. I applaud Rob for bringing them to light. However, the wording of a question can often lead one to an emotional response. Rob has phrased these questions in such a manner as to create an emotional response in the reader. As a pastor and a voice in Christianity that many listen to, Rob should make his case from scripture for whatever point he would like to argue in favor of without manipulating the reader by emotional pleas. However, this is a minor complaint. He is not the only one to use such methods for persuasive purposes.

My real problem is actually the underlying message in the book. Believe it or not I am not talking about the universalism that is throughout the book. No, there is something else at heart here that needs to be addressed and universalism is merely a symptom.

Perhaps Rob has seen too much of Fred Phelps in the news and it has caused him to question the God of the Fred Phelps of the world. Perhaps this is what led him to write Love Wins. Surely God does not hate everyone that Fred Phelps hates, right? A God like that is not just. A God like that is not love. A God like that is not merciful. You see what really irritates people about Fred Phelps is that he judges everyone and it is not his place to say who gets to heaven and who does not.

Nor is it Rob Bell’s place to judge everyone and that is really the underlying problem for both Rob Bell and Fred Phelps (and ironically everyone who rushes to condemn either of them). You don’t see the similarity? Fred sees judgment and condemns. Rob sees love and pardons. Each is sitting in a place that is not theirs. It is God’s to forgive and to condemn and not ours and sometimes in the heat of the debate we forget this. Perhaps the largest component of faith in God is trust. Both Fred and Rob have assumed the role of judge and in doing so have abandoned trust in God.

There are questions about hell that should be addressed. It should not be a topic that is avoided like the plague. Rob actually asks some of the questions in his chapter on hell. However, he has also assumed his conclusions and then chosen scripture to support this conclusion. Once again, this shows (at least in my eyes) an underlying lack of trust in God.

I trust that whatever happens to me when I die that it will be a perfect display of God’s love and justice. I think that most people who have faith in God could agree with that statement. The great temptation for all of us is to assume that the same will not be true for everyone else. We see the tremendous acts of love in a friend and we have a hard time seeing how God could condemn anything that they do. We see an awful display of sin in someone and have a hard time seeing how God could possibly love such a person. This is because we are not God.

I imagine that this book will sell a lot of copies. If you are interested in reading it, I would recommend going to Barnes and Noble for a couple hours. It really is light material for the most part and an easy read. I hope that it fosters discussion rather than acrimony but I doubt that it will.

A Challenge

2011-03-02T13:37:00.001-05:00

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
(Luke 10:33)

It was a brutally hot Atlanta day when we knocked on the door of the apartment building in the projects. It was only ten o’clock but I was already covered in sweat when the young mother answered the door. Unlike many of the other doors we had knocked on, this woman seemed happy to see us and gladly accepted our meager food supplies that we offered her. Much like at many of the other homes we asked if there was anything that we could do for her. She asked for me to pray for her that day and I had compassion on her.

We entered her tiny apartment and were immediately struck by the odor of rotting meat. The heat outside paled in comparison to the stifling, stale apartment. I saw her small children in their dirty clothes and unwashed faces. I saw the dirt and trash that littered her floor. I also saw in her face expectancy- a hope that did not belong there and a tear in her eye. I began to pray for her and I had compassion on her.

We completed our rounds through the other buildings and spent some time playing with the neighborhood kids prior to heading home that day. My favorite part was always playing with the children. They are easy to love and they return the love without question. One of the kids had part of a pop tart stuck in his shirt and grape juice stains on his face. As he extended his arms for me to pick him up I could not help but have compassion for him.

Today I am still troubled by that day. What has become of us that we can keep this clean and send a check to someone overseas and call it compassion? Should we sleep comfortable at night because we know there is a 6 year old in Uganda that has it better than her peers because we sacrificed a few pennies? Is this really what Jesus meant when he talked about loving our neighbor?

If we look at the text that leads up to the Parable of the Good Samaritan we see that the question being asked of Jesus is pretty straight forward:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."
(Luke 10:25-28)

This seems to me to be a fairly important question and answer session with very simple answers. Love God and your neighbor and you shall live. The only real question I have is how do I know if I love God and how do I know if I love my neighbor? Fortunately we have the answers in scripture so we do not need to guess. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our love of theology that we can miss some very simple concepts. Jesus tells us that if we love him then we will do what he commands. This is a stumbling block for many- for our pride does not want to submit to the authority of God in our lives. However if we first examine what Jesus has commanded us to do, perhaps our pride will not get in the way.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
(John 15:10-14)

Now if you have read up to this point you may have come to the conclusion that all you really need to do is love your neighbor in a sacrificial way to fulfill the commandment of Christ. Could it really be that simple? Paul seems to think so:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(Galatians 5:14)

So now we have come to the point in the story where we all find ourselves at some point. We are like the lawyer before Jesus looking for some way out of loving our neighbor. Even when the law is simplified to this degree we look for a way out. We wish to redefine it so it need not be messy and dirty. We wish to remove the compassion from the equation and replace it with legal requirements met on paper. Jesus did not really leave us that as an option though did he? The definition of love has not really changed as much as some people would like to have you think. So, back to our Samaritan…

As he journeyed
The Samaritan did not even need to go out of his way to love his neighbor. The opportunity will present itself as we journey. There will be occasions where we come to where people are in need and we will have a choice. We can meet them in judgment as did the Levite and the priest or we can meet them in compassion as the one who was praised by Jesus did. Seems like a pretty simple choice to me but yet I still choose to be like the priest and the Levite more often than not. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more like the Samaritan this year.

He had compassion
There was recently an opportunity at my church to meet a need of someone who had been left for dead by the side of the road. A request was made by the pastor and the people had compassion and responded like the Samaritan. There was a physical need that we could meet or we could choose to judge. This day we chose to meet the need and it was met with enough left over to meet the need of another couple who had also been left for dead. To have compassion for someone means to suffer with them. We all have opportunities every day where we can choose to suffer with someone or we can choose to let them suffer alone. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more compassionate this year.

The one who showed him mercy
There is a tendency today to redefine love in such a way so that it removes mercy from the equation. It tends to sterilize the word and make it mean something that it does not. There has been much backlash against any type of social gospel where the goal is to meet the physical needs of the people. This runs contrary to what Jesus taught. In this passage there is no conversation to convict the poor beaten man of his sins. There is no gospel tract left to make sure that the man knows he is deserving of the punishment he received. Instead there is a man that meets the physical needs of someone that is in need and as a result he is lifted up as an example of how we should act. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can show mercy to others.

You go, and do likewise
So there it is in red letters for you. The words of our master commanding our obedience. Do you love him? Scripture is pretty clear that if we do love him then we will do as he commands us. His commands are not burdensome although they may lead us to sweat or to get dirty. As I was swinging my pop tart young friend around in circles I was not thinking about how hot it was or how hard it was. I was not concerned with how dirty he was or what a fool I might look like. Instead, I was sharing the love of God with him. The challenge before me is to go and do likewise more frequently.

"With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8)

My Non-Resolution for the New Year

2011-01-01T10:37:00.002-05:00

So 2011 is now here and with it comes all kinds of resolutions. I have a few but I have become more realistic as I have aged. Rather than resolving, I have downgraded these to "hopes" for the new year. A lot of these are the same typical ones that most people have. I hope to spend more time with family. I hope to lose a few pounds and get in better shape. I hope to visit friends that I have not seen in a while. Perhaps I will look back at the end of the year and see how I did, but probably not. I will probably have the same resolutions again next year and the same disappointment at the end of the year. That is- I will not have lost as much weight or spent enough time or visited enough friends. Perhaps you can relate for maybe you have been through the same thing.

I have also at various times in the past made the commitment to grow closer to God and to "do" more for Him. I am not going to make this commitment this year. It seems that in the past any time I have made such commitments that I have had one of two results. If I managed to be successful, then my pride got the best of me as I proudly puffed my chest and said "look at me". Pride is not the best attribute for those that are pursuing God so I do not think that outcome is desirable.

So if success leads to pride, where does failure lead to? What happens to me if I do not live up to my "commitments"? Guilt. Fear. Condemnation. This does not seem like the proper result either for one who is walking with God (or at least trying to). Guilt and fear are the things that drive people away from God and the goal is to grow closer. So if success leads to exalting myself and failure leads to avoiding God, I do not think that I should be making a resolution this year to grow closer to God.

So what should I do if that is actually my desired goal? If I want to grow closer to God, is there anything that I can do to give that possibility a better chance?

Surrender. I think that in America this is indeed a large problem. we love our independence and our self reliance. I think that plays a large part in our New Year's resolutions. Resolutions are all about us and what we can do to make ourselves better. We do not like to submit to others yet this is where the key lies. You see our relationship with God is less dependent upon our abilities and our commitments and much more dependent upon our submission. It is about submitting our will to His so how can we possibly think that we can impose our will and grow closer to God?

Surrender is an act that leads to our following the direction of another. If someone were to pull a gun on you in a dark alley, you would not ramble on about how you are committed to raising your hands or how you resolve to give him your wallet. No, instead you would simply submit to what he says. This is how we should act in our relationship with God. So in actuality there are some things you can do to help the situation.

First we can learn what it is that God would have us do. I would suggest that if you desire to know what God would have you do that you start by examining His word and how His son fulfilled it. However, it may be a tad too difficult to follow directly in the steps of Jesus so maybe you should start small and work your way up. A good place to start is by loving God and loving your neighbor. Some of the other commandments seem to have a way of tempting us into disobedience. However, loving God and others seems to come with a built in reward system that allows us to sometimes come close to following the command. So to put it simple, find out what you are supposed to be doing and do it. That is what surrender is about really.

So this year I do not resolve to grow closer to God. I am not going to commit to doing anything for Him. Instead I hope to humbly submit and pray that He helps me when I fail. Happy New Year and may God bless you, keep you, and direct you.

Drawn to the Father

2010-11-22T20:48:00.002-05:00

So I have still been reflecting upon the parable of the prodigal son. Recently I have been contemplating what led the son to return to his father. What about the father's character drew the lost son back home? Am I growing more into the type of person who draws people to God as the father in the parable did, or am I still more like the other brother? I can not help but think as well about two references to drawing in the New Testament that come to mind.

The first is in John 6:44. Jesus is speaking with the crowds after feeding the five thousand and they are asking for a sign. It always confounds me how the crowds could be so enthralled with Jesus one minute and so stupid the next minute. They are quick to point out that manna had been provided for the Israelites while they wandered in the desert. Yet, being just as blind to the works of God as their fathers, they fail to recognise what had been done already. Their fathers had rejected the manna and they would all too soon reject the real bread of heaven.

There seems to be a general presumption here of pride and entitlement. Show me and I will believe. Do something for me and I will follow. Yet in both cases of the Jews in the desert and the crowd present with Christ, they fail to see that something has already been done. The provision has been made.

It is interesting at this point to return to the parable of the prodigal son and see what it was that drew the son back.

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!"
Luke 15:17

Here we have Jesus telling us once again that the provision of bread is sufficient. The prodigal son was drawn back because the father had provided. Notice that the son did not have any grand thoughts of himself or any sense of entitlement. Maybe my father will allow me to be treated as a lowly servant. This is quite the humble approach compared to "show me a sign".

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
(John 12:32)

Here we have the second occurrence of the term drawing that I wanted to look at. Here it is Jesus, as an extension of the will of the Father, that is doing the drawing. What amazes me about this passage is the simplicity and the depth of it at the same time. One can easily relate this passage to John 3:14. Jesus must be lifted up. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert (Numbers 21:8-9) and in doing so provided a way for the sting of death to be removed, so the Son of Man would place Himself on the pole to remove the sting permanently for those that would turn and look upon Him.

Why was the bronze snake necessary? The Jews had rejected the manna and because of their rejection (of God ultimately), judgment had fallen upon them. Even while they had rejected Him, God had provided a way. So it was then, so it is now. God has provided a way.

For many, they will still look to the heavens and say "show me a sign". This is not the way. The way is found in humbling yourself and trusting in the one who has provided. Much like the son on the road, we must turn and come to our senses and see what has already been provided and trust that the Father will allow us to serve in His household. Perhaps He will even meet us partway on the road and clothe us in the best robe.

It is here that I must look at what I am doing to be more like the father in the parable. Am I providing for others? Am I showing mercy even when none is deserved? I am afraid when I look at my own life I see more accuser than Father. This needs to change.

What love is this?

2010-11-17T19:59:00.000-05:00

I have been reflecting on two passages in the Book of Luke recently. I would like to share some reflections from one of these passages with you today. First the passage:

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luke 15:11-32)

In this passage there are three central characters. It is often said that we are moving toward being one of these characters at any point in our lives. I am not sure how true that is but I do see that there would be some great improvement in my general character if I emulated the father more.

The common belief about this parable is that the father represents God the Father. Why is it that so many of us are more like the other brother? For ourselves we want mercy, but for others we desire nothing but justice. We are quick to point out our brother’s flaws and slow to notice the mercy we have already been given and the feast and joy that is available to us. We resent those that are not like “us” and are quick to label them as lost. Yet, we remain ungrateful for the treasure we already have and do not even take the time to enjoy it.

There is a passage in scripture that has often given me pause for I do not know how I can do what it says. It is during the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus tells us to “be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” I have often thought that this means that I must “do” more. I need to pray more, read more, study more, etc. I have to follow the Law better, I need to witness better, and I need to give more. But maybe I have been reading this verse wrong and out of context, after all Paul tells us “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations(?)”(Col 2:20)

Let me give you the preceding verse in Matthew so you will have the general context of being perfect:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48)

When I look at this passage after reading the parable of the prodigal son, it reads a little different. Maybe I have been going about this wrong. Maybe instead of beating my brother down, I should be helping him up. Of course true love for my brother cannot allow me to look the other way while he steps in front of a truck, but maybe it would be better if I took the time to attempt to pull him back from the traffic. After all- no greater love has a man than this, that he be willing to lay down his life for his friends.

Memories of Katrina

2010-08-28T12:31:00.002-04:00

5 Years ago Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast causing the deaths of many people. I remember it well. We did some mission work here in Acworth collecting clothes and passing them out to refugees. But I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to help those that were hit the hardest. Those in New Orleans. My work offered a program where you could take a week off to work with any of the non-profit groups that were working in New Orleans. I was about to approach my boss about getting the time off when he called me into his office. He wanted me to go to New Orleans to get the trains back moving. I wanted to make a difference and use what I considered my gifts to reach people personally and instead I got to help thousands that I would never see by simply doing my job. What a strange feeling it was.

I have many memories from the days that I spent there. I remember the debris piled 20 feet high lining the streets of Slidell. I remember boats in trees and beside interstate. I remember returning to New Orleans just before Rita when the city had been evacuated again. We were the only cars on the road and I saw ducks in the middle of interstate along with a Rottweiler that was going the wrong way. I remember the warning given to me by the National Guard that we could go in but if we got stuck then we were on our own. I remember crossing back over the 11 bridge while a tornado was hitting the North Shore and being slightly terrified by not being able to see 20 feet in front of me.

I remember the 98 degree days with no relief except to get in my vehicle. I remember working 18 hours a day only to return to a camp that did not have a place for me to sit down and being thankful that I had a place to sleep. I remember being escorted into the city the first time by NS police and wondering if we were truly in danger. I remember getting stuck in the city one night past curfew and having to sleep at Oliver Yard.

However, among all these memories there is one that stands out above them. I remember the first house that I saw that did not have a zero in the fatalities part of the circle and x that marked the search efforts. In that house someone had died. I wondered if they had contemplated their death ahead of time and I wondered if they were surprised by it. I am guessing the latter. It is odd that we are all going to die- nobody gets out alive- and yet none of us really think about it.

So many of us ignore the warnings thinking that we will be the exceptions. We will live forever. We will not be affected by disease. We will never be in an accident that will claim our lives. It only happens to other people right? I am afraid to tell you that like it or not sooner or later death will claim you. Have you planned for this event?

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."

(Rom 10:9-11)

Radical Review- Chapter 9 (Conclusion)

2010-07-10T08:44:00.000-04:00

I am concluding my review of David Platt’s new book Radical today with my review of the final chapter. The last chapter is entitled “The Radical Experiment”. One could make a good argument that the entire book is building the case for the final chapter. The experiment is summed up in five separate challenges.

The Radical Experiment

The first challenge is to pray for the entire world. This seems simple enough at first, but interestingly Dr. Platt chose a title for this section that does not really match with what he is suggesting. What he really wants is for you to pray that God will send workers to the harvest. This is not praying for the lost, but praying for the ones that are already saved to get out there and share the gospel. I found this to be a most effective challenge and who knows, the Lord of the harvest may even send me. Of course it would not hurt to pray for the lost as well, but let’s face it when the Word of God is preached people get saved. So what we really need is more people preaching the Word of God.

The second challenge is to read through the entire Bible in a year. I have done this challenge several times in the past and it is definitely a way to become more familiar with what the Bible actually teaches. Too many of us have substituted reading what others have written about the word for the actual word. As Dr. Platt notes, we are content for our Sunday sermon or a daily two minute devotional when we should be hungering to be filled with His word every day. Set time aside to do this. It will make a difference in your life and have an effect on those around you.

The third challenge is to sacrifice a portion of your income for a specific purpose. This is not simple giving but going beyond what you can part with into actual sacrifice. This is a hard one for Americans to swallow. We typically do not want to make any sacrifices and money may be the most difficult sacrifice for us to make. I am honest enough to say that I am not there yet on this one. I have specific needs that I give to with faces attached to them, so it means more than a deduction on my income tax statement, but it does not hurt. I do actually make sacrifices of my money that do hurt but they have only been for my family. Perhaps that tells me something.

The fourth challenge is to serve in another context. As Dr. Platt states, it is even more important for us to be radical in our going. I do not necessarily agree with him that we have to go somewhere far away in order for this to make a difference in our lives. I have been serving in downtown Atlanta recently and I can drive down there in 30 minutes and it has made a difference. The more important thing is to get off your chair and go. Serve in a different capacity than you have before. Feed the hungry, or help clothe the poor- and share the Gospel with them as you do. I had the great joy a couple of weeks ago of being invited into a young lady’s house to pray for her after I helped deliver food to her. I pray that Angela has trusted my savior and His grace. It can be uncomfortable at times but at the end of the day you have a good feeling inside that God maybe used you for something outside of taking up space for a day.

The fifth challenge is to commit your life to a multiplying community. The important thing here is to remember how this was defined earlier in the book. This is not just committing to attend some mega-church but instead finding a body of believers where disciples are being made. This is the fount from which the other four challenges will flow. If you are not currently plugged into a local church you will have a difficult time meeting the challenges alone. Find a place where you can serve and get yourself plugged in.

I enjoyed this chapter very much and I hope to complete all of the challenges within a year. Not because it is some new thing or because Dr. Platt says that I should but because these are all things that we as Christians should be doing already. I will also say that overall I enjoyed this book both the first time and the second. I am sorry it took me so long to write a review but I wanted to be thorough. I will say that I do not agree with everything Dr. Platt says in the book but I definitely found some things in it that were of benefit to me. I hope that you do the same if you read it. If anyone would like to read my copy, let me know and I will get it to you.

Blessings, Bruce

Radical Review- Chapter 8

2010-06-28T09:29:00.000-04:00

I am slowly moving toward the conclusion of my review of David Platt’s new book Radical. Chapter 8 sees Dr. Platt attempting to motivate us to go to the nations. This was not my favorite chapter in the book but it did have some nice points in it.

Living When Dying is Gain

The first suggestion in this chapter is to go where there is need. This is an excellent suggestion and I could not agree more. A great example of this locally is in downtown Atlanta. There are many needs and there are not enough workers. So many times we overlook what we can do right where we in favor of something more exotic or appealing. Knocking on doors and passing out food in the projects does not sound quite as appealing as going on a mission trip overseas and yet the need is right there. We should be going, but we should also be looking for needs to be met where we are as well. I do not have to focus my entire year on a one week trip 3000 miles away when I can focus 40 weeks locally at 1/10 the cost.

The second suggestion is that we should go into danger. I believe this is a bit misguided in its representation of scripture here. Dr. Platt is right to question that safety is exactly where God wants us, but suggesting that we intentionally seek out danger is flat out wrong. In fact later in the next section Dr. Platt quotes Jesus as saying “when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another”. Yet here he is suggesting that we intentionally seek out danger. Perhaps it could be better stated that our “going” could very well lead us into danger.

Dr. Platt is correct again in stating that we will not be loved for being radical followers of Christ. I have heard many people state that if more people were like Jesus then more people would come to Christ. Please remember that the 1st century Jews liked Jesus so much that they plotted to kill Him. There is a balance somewhere here and I am not sure where it is. The message of the cross is offensive but that does not mean that we must be as well. Truth in love requires tact that many of us are lacking and I am not immune to being tactless at times. Perhaps it is best stated that we should not be surprised to be persecuted but we should not intentionally be seeking out persecution either.

This chapter concludes with stories of heroes of the faith. People that have gone and paid heavy prices for their faith (Paton, Elliot, Studd) to make sure that some who had not heard of Christ would have the opportunity. Dr. Platt then relates the story of a modern martyr who died while she was in the mission field. This section is inspirational and leaves me questioning how much I would willingly lay down for Him. It is a good question to ask.

I have to be honest and say that I was a bit disappointed in this chapter overall although there were some high points that were worth reading. Most of this stemmed from the section “Go to Danger” and the reasons for this were mentioned above.

Radical Review- Chapter 7

2010-06-23T10:20:00.001-04:00

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s new book Radical. In chapter 7 he takes on why we should feel a sense of urgency in taking the Gospel to the nations. I found this to be the most difficult chapter to review and I apologize if I am not as clear as I would like to be in putting my reasoning onto paper.

There is No Plan B

4.5 billion people. It is a staggering number. Dr. Platt appeals to this number of lost people in an attempt to motivate us to go to the nations and proclaim the Gospel. He uses 6 Biblical truths to illustrate his point:

1. All people have knowledge of God
2. All people reject God
3. All people are guilty before God
4. All people are condemned for rejecting God
5. God has made a way of salvation for the lost
6. People cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ

In light of these 6 truths, the message of Paul becomes clearer and the urgency more apparent:

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
(Romans 10:13-15)

Dr. Platt points out that although God could have chosen another path for the redemption of believers, He did not. He chose the path that commands us to go and make disciples of all men. What a joy and privilege it is to be able to serve God in bringing the Gospel to the nations! As the chapter is aptly titled, there is no Plan B. If we have a desire for the salvation of the lost then we must take the message that can save them, to them.

There is a large part of me that would like to simply give a large thumbs up to this chapter at this point and move on. Unfortunately for me, I could not simply read this chapter and treat it as if I have never heard David Platt preach before. He often preaches about the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. One good way of looking at is that salvation is all of God and sin is all of man. I am a firm believer that this is the correct starting point in theology. The problem in formulating a belief system beyond these two truths is maintaining both truths without sacrificing one at the expense of the other.

Perhaps the more common way this is done today is by emphasizing the responsibility of man too heavily. The end result of this is a theology that has man at its center and not God. It is quite possible that this chapter will be viewed by many as along these lines. Dr. Platt repeatedly emphasizes that we should go so that people can hear the Gospel and as a result, be saved. This would give you the impression that he believes that more people might get saved if the Gospel is preached to all nations but this is simply not so. Dr. Platt subscribes to a definite (limited) atonement and to irresistible grace. So why the sense of urgency? If it is really because we are being obedient in extending God’s glory then why appeal to the number of lost at all?

It appears to me that Dr. Platt would like to apply a Great Commission hermeneutic to his radical concept of taking the Gospel to the nations. I am fine with that. I just think that he needs to be consistent in his application. If he truly believes that there will be no impact on the number of those that are saved as a result of the Gospel being preached then don’t use the numbers to justify taking the Gospel to the world. However, if he believes that the Gospel can make a difference in people’s lives then he needs to clarify how this can be so in light of his beliefs in irresistible grace and limited atonement.

On the other extreme, some people emphasize the sovereignty of God to the point of removing the responsibility from man to respond to the Gospel call. The end result of this is causal determinism. For my friends that subscribe to this view I have a simple question. Do you think that you can argue effectively to the point of convincing me that you are correct in your beliefs? If so, is it because your arguments are logically coherent or is it because it has been determined that I will believe you? If it is the former then my believing you is based on logic and not determinism. If it is the latter then truth is defeated and has no real meaning.

Of course at the root of causal determinism is the problem of evil. If God is the ultimate cause of everything then He is ultimately the cause of the fall and sin as well. Some (Vincent Cheung, R. C. Sproul Jr.) have embraced this but I can not help but ask how this can be. This line of thinking leads to questions about the meaning of justice in relation to God and this is a major stumbling block for me. However, the larger problem here is the effect that it has on scripture. If God is the cause of sin then how can we have faith in the words of the Bible? If we must redefine just and impartial then I am left to wonder what other words we must redefine as well. A good friend of mine likes to say the Bible means what it says. If it says that God is just and impartial then I see no reason to redefine those terms.

So how do we maintain a balance between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man? It is a difficult question to address. I think there are a great number of people that desire to err on the side of caution today and as a result unwittingly remove the responsibility from man. I would say to these people that if we truly wish to extend the glory of God then we must be faithful to His words. If the exaltation of one of God’s attributes leads to the denigration of others then perhaps we need to reexamine what we believe. What I find most interesting is that it seems to me that when we try to exalt God’s sovereignty to the exclusion of His other attributes we actually place a limit on what God can do. Is it not possible that God accomplishes all that He desires and still allows for permissive acts? Better still, isn’t that what scripture affirms?

At this point you may be asking yourself how this can be. Although I do have an opinion on the matter, I will leave that for another day and a separate blog dedicated to that purpose. For now I would simply encourage you to affirm all that scripture teaches and not try to make scripture fit your presuppositions.

Radical Review- Chapter 6

2010-06-21T13:23:00.002-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 6

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s new book Radical. Today we turn our attention somewhat to the American dream and the pursuit of stuff.

How Much is Enough?

At the root of the chapter is the question that we must ask ourselves. How much material wealth is enough? This is a tricky question. Too many Christians today have been taught that material blessings follow faith. This is explicitly taught by many prosperity preachers but Dr. Platt is quick to point out that it may underlie our own faith as well. After all, if I am following Jesus and doing what I am supposed to do doesn’t He want to reward my obedience? This is simply bad theology at best and borderline heresy at worst.

The question becomes tricky in its application. Does every follower of Christ need to sell everything to follow Him? Maybe not, but how do we know? Unfortunately this question is not addressed as well as it could be.

For most of the chapter Dr. Platt focuses on the abundance that we have as Americans and the lack of basic needs that so many are suffering from. I must say that I agree with Dr. Platt that there are needs and that we can not simply sit on our hands while the world is starving. The danger here though is to act out of compassion for the physical needs and export the same theology that has led to the American church losing her way. The focus should not be on feeding and clothing the poor but on bringing them the Gospel. Of course we must also be addressing their physical needs as well, but this is secondary to the message of the cross.

I will add that I think that the church needs to lead the way in taking up this challenge. It is no wonder that we have churchgoers that are focused on their bottom line when they attend churches that are more concerned with how much you give than they are with meeting your spiritual needs. We want bigger buildings and better productions and I must ask myself the same question for the church that I do of myself- how much is enough? If our primary outreach teaches the community how to balance their checkbook and not how to follow Christ, then what have we accomplished? Certainly not making disciples.

The past two weeks I have been participating in an outreach in inner-city Atlanta that seems to be on the right track. We have been going into poor neighborhoods and delivering food to people that need it and also praying with them and offering them love without judgment. The idea is to make disciples. There are many approaches but if we are not striving toward that, then we will not have the multiplying community that was the focus of the previous chapter.

What I found to be most interesting about this chapter is that Dr. Platt seemed to focus on our emotions when making his appeal for us to ask ourselves how much is enough. This appeal seems to be rooted in our humanistic tendencies. However, when we get to how his church has applied this thinking to their ministry I see nothing but Biblical responses. They have adopted within their community and sponsored churches overseas out of their abundance. This is the Biblical picture of using our abundance to extend God’s glory. I am not sure how he could have made his argument better but it seems that he could have. Especially considering how his church applied it to the needs that they saw.

Radical Review- Chapter 5

2010-06-18T09:28:00.001-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 5

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s book Radical. In the fifth chapter he takes on how to extend God’s glory.

The Multiplying Community

One might expect a radical plan in a book called Radical for fulfilling God’s plan to extend His glory. Perhaps we need to have bigger churches or have bigger shows to attract more people? Maybe we need to be more in tune with what is current and relevant? Thankfully, Dr. Platt does not suggest any of these options. Instead he recommends that we follow the example of Christ and simply make disciples.

Dr. Platt then turns his attention to problems with this plan for a multiplying community. The first problem is that most people do not know what it means to make disciples. When we look at what Jesus did it is not that difficult to see. He walked with His disciples. He prayed with them. He instructed and corrected them. It was a slow and tedious process, but in the end, it is what He thanked His Father for prior to going to the cross.

The second problem, although touched on only very briefly by Platt, is that we are a results driven country. We want the quick and easy way. We are constantly looking for ways to streamline processes and make them more efficient. Making disciples the way that Jesus did is a messy slow process and it may take a while to see results.

However, it is easy to contrast the way that we operate today vs. the disciple making process in the Bible and see the differences. Great shows with great speakers entertain us and leave us with a desire to be entertained again. This fills church pews and keeps the congregation happy. I must ask though, how many of those that are being entertained on Sunday are looking for ways to bring others to Christ? The vast majority are looking for their spiritual entertainment for the week so that they can feel good about being pious.

The slow process of making disciples has different results. It results in followers who are hungry for righteousness and eager for others to share their knowledge and love of God. I have been blessed to be part of such a small group where disciples were made. My good friend Dave Snyder started a Bible study in his house a few years ago and I think that this is exactly the type of process that Dr. Platt has in mind when he uses the example of the Cuban house churches.

Dr. Platt also related a story of him being a disciple of Jim Shaddix. He enjoyed following Jim to the point of actually going running with him despite not being a runner. I personally would have enjoyed the story more if Dr. Platt had been the runner and the one discipling him had been the one to go out of his comfort zone. As Paul states:

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
(1Corinthians 9:20-23)

There is nothing wrong with the story that Dr. Platt relates but I would suggest that if we want to make disciples of others then we must be willing to find common interests with them.

Overall, I enjoyed this chapter and I appreciate the underlying math involved. If we have large congregations where nobody is being discipled then what are we really accomplishing? However, if one person can disciple two other people and those people learn from that and pass it on then we are quickly moving into exponential growth. This is what Jesus did and to think that we can improve on the model is not Biblical.

Radical Review- Chapter 4

2010-06-17T12:10:00.001-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 4

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s book Radical. As part of my review I am actually reading through the book a second time. The chapter I am reviewing today was not one of my favorites the first time I read the book. Perhaps there is a good reason for that.

The Great Why of God

The beginning of chapter 4 is somewhat shocking to me. The first time I read it I was appalled. Dr. Platt relates how while meeting with some church leaders and sharing some of his mission work, they related that they wished God would just annihilate the people. Surely there can not be people in the church that have such an attitude? A second reading of this chapter forced me to examine my own attitude concerning the lost (especially later in the chapter). Perhaps being appalled is the appropriate first step that leads to conviction.

Dr. Platt attempts in this chapter to explain why God has created us. He believes that there is a two fold purpose and that is to enjoy His grace and to extend His glory. He then goes on to examine what most Americans believe and contrast it with what we should believe. This is brought home by transforming the sentence “God loves me.” into “God loves me so that I might make Him known.” By doing so, we have changed the focus of the Gospel from ourselves to God. I would also add that focusing only on “God loves me” would be only enjoying God’s grace and not extending His glory.

The next section of the chapter focuses on the excuses people make to not take the Gospel to the nations. This ranges from “I’m not called to missions” to “I only feel called to local missions.” I have to admit that a second reading here led me to reexamine myself a bit. I have used the excuse that I have never felt God calling me to foreign missions before and yet His word plainly and clearly calls me. I am sure that I am not the only one who has been waiting for a special invitation and who has felt that missions in the US was more than adequate (a prideful I am doing more than most perhaps?), but the clear message is that we are to make His name known to all the nations. Local stuff is great- don’t stop doing that. Supporting those who are going is great as well- don’t’ stop doing that either. But still I am left with “How will they know unless someone tells them?” Perhaps it would be wise to join the list of someones.

Enjoy His grace. Extend His glory. I would be cautious to affirm that these are the sole reasons that God has created us, but I can certainly affirm that there is overwhelming Biblical support that these are at least among the reasons that He did. A second reading of this chapter convicted me more than the first time that my lack of action is no better than the words of the people the people that appalled me. Call it virtual atheism if you will. Perhaps this is why I did not like this chapter the first time around. It is easy to sit back and attempt to defend your actions. I love God; see how my actions here (locally) demonstrate my trust in Him? This is all well and good but our lack of action elsewhere shows us to be no better than the church leaders Dr. Platt met with. Perhaps we are even in a worse position for these leaders at least were honest about how they felt. It is something to think about.

This chapter also included (IMO) two of my friend Canyon’s objections. The first is the semi-appeal to a sort of social Gospel by working on our emotions and perhaps even guilting us into action. The reference to a poor woman in Honduras who was 8 months pregnant and living in a dump does tend to make us think about her physical needs. However, Platt clearly states that our purpose is to enjoy God’s grace and extend His glory. Our primary goal should be to make Him known to this woman but if we neglect her physical needs then what good is our faith?

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
(James 2:15-17)

The second objection is the appeals found in this chapter to “God told me to do this”. I have to question whether the mentions of this type of scenario are actual verbal communications with God or merely a way of communicating the conviction of the Holy Spirit that a person feels. I would also state that any conviction one feels should be weighed against scripture to see if it is Biblical. I must say that when reading this the first time, I took these references to mean the latter. A second reading has not convinced me otherwise. I certainly agree that one must be careful in telling others that God has told you to do something. Perhaps better phrasing could have been chosen that would have left little doubt in the reader’s mind. For example “When confronted with this abject poverty and in light of James 2:15-17 I could not help but feel convicted that I could be doing more with what God has given me.”

Overall I felt more convicted by this chapter when I read it again.

Radical Review- Chapter 3

2010-06-16T13:19:00.002-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 3

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s book Radical. This is part 3 in a 9 part series where I am giving a recap of the chapter and my thoughts on what Dr. Platt relates. One thing that I have begun to notice is that Dr. Platt may have been better served to use the subtitles as the actual titles for each chapter

The Importance of Relying on God’s Power

Dr. Platt begins this chapter by telling two stories of people relying upon the power of God rather than their own power. The first relates to a missionary who was in an unreached area and was called out by a witch doctor. The missionary could have used his physical powers to take care of the witch doctor but instead called upon God to be his defender and the man was struck dead. This may not have been the most radical response ever (to rely upon God) but it sure was a radical display of the power of God in the life of one of His believers. Imagine the witnessing opportunity- Let me tell you about the God who can provide breath for life and take it away as well!

The second example is Jericho from the Book of Joshua. Now if ever there was a case of radical obedience, this was it. Imagine what our reaction might be- “you want me to walk around in circles and blow some horns- then what? Are you serious?” Fortunately for us Joshua had a trust in God that allowed him to be obedient and to rely upon the power of God in this situation.

Chapter 3 is also where we are first introduced to the “American Dream” in the book. Dr. Platt shows how we as a country value our independence and success. He also explains how we can easily build a church that is successful by our standards and totally lacking in desperation for the power of God that was prevalent in the early church. As a nice touch, he also humbly admits how when he first took over the Church at Brook Hills he applied the “American Dream” philosophy to it. He wondered at all that could be accomplished by the power and talent assembled there rather than simply waiting on the Lord to provide the power. He then relates the story of George Muller and how much he accomplished by trusting in God and His power fully.

Dr. Platt then proceeds to talk about the power of prayer and uses the illustration of a father and child. I found this section to be very effective and I often return to the words of Christ telling me that I must have “the faith of a child”. I think many people think this is an innocent faith without knowledge, but I do not think that is what Jesus meant. Instead, when a child asks for something from his father, he trusts that his father will provide for him. To me this embodies the faith of a child. I also like the way that Dr. Platt summarized the gifts that the Father gives us:

This is the great promise of God in prayer. We ask God for gifts in prayer, and He gives us the Giver. We ask God for supply, and He gives us the Source. We ask God for money, and he doesn’t give us cash; instead, so to speak, He gives us the bank!

I thought this chapter did a nice job of showing the disconnect between worldly success and kingdom success. We often think that by being more committed or more diligent we can do more for God. The reality is we can do more for God by relying on Him to do the work and surrendering to His will. Below is an excerpt by Adrian Rogers in his book The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority of a conversation with Josef T’son that seems to capture the heart of the matter concerning the “American Dream”:

“Josef,” I asked, “What is the difference between commitment and surrender?”
He said, “When you make a commitment, you are still in control, no matter how noble the thing that you commit to. One can commit to pray, to study the Bible, to give his money, or to commit to automobile payments, or to lose weight. Whatever he chooses to do, he commits to. But surrender is different. If someone holds a gun and asks you to lift your hands in the air as a token of surrender, you don’t tell that person what you are committed to. You simply surrender and do as you are told.”
He said. “Americans love commitment because they are still in control. But the key word is surrender. We are to be slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I would give a cautionary warning that committing to radical obedience is not quite the same thing as surrender.

Radical Review- Chapter 2

2010-06-16T06:56:00.001-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 2

I am continuing my review of David Platt’s new book Radical subtitled “Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream”. In chapter 2 Dr. Platt turns his attention to the Gospel message.

Discovering the Truth and Beauty of the Gospel

Dr. Platt begins chapter 2 by explaining how he first came up with the idea for Secret Church. It arose from the desire of members of a real underground house church to have a better understanding of the Bible. This led to almost non-stop teaching by Dr. Platt through the Old Testament and eventually through the New Testament as well. Platt then relates how he has incorporated this practice into his own church. Six hours of no flash Bible study on a Friday night may seem like it would not go over well, but these events sell out well in advance.

The next sections of this chapter focus on who God is, who we are, and how we should respond. Platt does not dwell as long on who God is as I would like but he does a nice job of summarizing how we have minimized some of God’s attributes that may cause us discomfort. If you have never read Your God is too Small by J. B. Phillips, I would suggest that it does a more thorough treatment of the subject.

Dr. Platt is solid in his description of who we are and how we have fallen short although this is also briefer than it might have been. I will add that his story of the preaching professor that would take his students to the cemetery and implore them to try to raise the dead was a sober reminder that only the words of God can bring a man back to life. All of us need God to bring us to life and it is only through His words that this can be accomplished.

How should we respond to the news that God both loves us and is angry because we have offended Him? Dr. Platt takes the time to hammer home the warning in Matthew 7- not everyone who professes to be saved will be saved. This is a sobering passage. I agree that we should examine ourselves and make our calling and election sure, but I am a bit unsure of Dr. Platt’s recommendations after this.

Overall, I enjoyed chapter 2. However, there were a couple of sticking points for me that I would like to point out. I am afraid that in our rush to rid our church of “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your lives” that we will actually stop telling people that God does love them and focus only on His wrath. Clearly this would be wrong and if you need an example just Google Fred Phelps. The second is one that I found prevalent throughout the book and I will touch on more later. Dr. Platt seems to want to apply a Great Commission hermeneutic to scripture and I do not take exception to this. The problem is that Dr. Platt struggles with it and you end up with a mixed message. This is highlighted in the section on how we should respond (subtitled Radical Revelation to be Radically Received). The message seems to be that the Gospel requires a radical response and we are incapable of making that response but we better do it.

Radical Review- Chapter 1

2010-06-15T07:22:00.001-04:00

Radical Review- Chapter 1

My good friend Canyon posted a review of David Platt’s book Radical on his blog and asked for my comments. Rather than responding to each of his points, I am simply going to provide a summary of each chapter and my brief thoughts on Dr. Platt’s work. Be warned ahead of time that I will be providing a summary that may spoil some of the book for you if you have not read it. I am not as eloquent a speaker or writer as Dr. Platt though, so I am sure that I will not ruin it too much.

What Radical Abandonment to Jesus Really Means

Dr. Platt spends much of the first chapter contrasting the call of Jesus during His ministry with our commitment to Him today. To emphasize his point, Dr. Platt appeals to some of the more outrageous statements that Jesus made during His ministry.

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
(Luke 9:23)

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
(John 6:53-54)

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." And Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:57-62)

Each of these statements stands in stark contrast with the modern message that Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Take up your instrument of torture and follow me. Drink my blood and feed off of my flesh. Abandon your life and let the dead bury their own. If nothing else, Dr. Platt does a good job of getting our attention in the first chapter. However he does not stop there.

Dr. Platt also gives several examples of churches in other countries where people have given up everything to follow Christ. He is quick to point out that these people have done so gladly. They take joy in their persecution and consider themselves blessed just to be able to hear the Gospel. When one contrasts this with the church in America it is not too difficult to see that our idea of persecution and suffering is not the same as the rest of the world.

There are two contrasting points that I took out of the first chapter. The first is quite simple: am I really ready to abandon my own desires and pursuits to follow Christ? Or as the first chapter is aptly titled (slightly paraphrased) is Jesus someone worth losing everything for? While it is quite easy to answer this question yes, it is far more difficult to show by our actions that we believe what we are affirming.

The second point is how do I respond to this call to follow Christ without tying myself to some sort of legalistic obligation? Am I being radical enough? Dr. Platt addresses this some in an online conversation with Kevin DeYoung. We should not be responding to the call out of fear or obligation but out of our love to Christ and His call to obedience. The trick is to figure out if you are really following Jesus or merely paying Him lip service.

What I see in the first chapter is a simple call. Jesus said “Follow me.” Are you following Him? Are you really ready to give up anything to follow Him? I can certainly understand why this chapter was chosen to be the booklet entitled “The Radical Question”. It gets your attention and challenges you (the reader) to examine yourself. The call to examine yourself is Biblical and we should constantly be on guard against becoming complacent. I will leave you today with Paul’s words:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
(2Corinthians 13:5)

Praying For You

2010-05-02T08:34:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about you a lot today. I hope that you do not mind. It has been odd to not see you as much recently. I want you to know that you are continually in my prayers. This sometimes sounds trite and I will have to admit that I have used that phrase lightly in the past. This time the phrase actually has a new meaning for me. I have not been able to stop thinking about you since the day I departed from you. I would like to share my prayers with you if you do not mind.

I pray for you to have assurance. This might seem like an odd thing to pray for but the last thing I would ever want is to be an instigator of doubt. Instead I would rather encourage you to have confidence in the one who has called you. He is able to save to the utmost those that repent and believe in Him. Remember that and trust in that. All the rest is fluff and window dressing that can distract us from the true prize that we have in Christ Jesus.

I pray for you to have joy. This prayer is that you find the true joy that Paul speaks of and not this temporal pleasure that we have in stuff. The temporal comes and goes with the rising and setting of the sun but the joy we have in Him continually renews itself and rises up in us refreshing us daily. This is the joy that I want for you. The joy in knowing Him and being His.

I pray that you remain humble. There is a balance here somewhere that we should strive for that allows us to be confident without falling into pride. I pray that you find and maintain that balance. Consider others better than yourself and actually treat them that way everyday and you should be fine. I pray that you discover this.

I pray that you love. Let no anger or discouragement enter into your heart but rather continually reach out to others in the manner that God has reached out to us. It is often an overdone analogy but if you accept others with the open arms that Jesus embraced the cross with then you should be fine. If you sow in love you will be guaranteed a harvest that will not disappoint that will increase 30 or 50 or even 100 fold. Practice this daily.

I pray that your faith increases daily. Since we are using the farming analogies I would encourage you to get out and work the field. The way to grow your faith is to exercise it. Train it daily by study and practice. We must not be content to simply know the Word but we must also live the Word. I pray that you hitch your yoke up to Christ Himself and begin working the field.

I have been praying for you quite a bit recently and I wanted to encourage you to do the same for others. Lift them up and love them. Let them know that you are thinking about them. I have been praying for you almost continually and I hope you don’t mind. I love you my friends.

Bruce

Jesus and the Accounting Cycle

2010-02-06T08:08:00.002-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted to the blog. As many of you know I am going to school full time now. One of the classes that I am taking is accounting. I had not been very happy with the class until the last couple of days. At times accounting is confusing and at other times it is about as exciting as watching paint dry. One thing became obvious to me as I was lying in bed this morning. There are some similarities between faith in Jesus and the accounting cycle. Let me explain.

*Note this is not intended to be a very deep analytical blog. This is more of a hey, that's kind of cool realization blog. Any analogies should not be drawn out beyond the scope of the blog.

At the end of each accounting cycle you total up all of your assets and liabilities. After you have done this, you close out the accounts so that you begin a new accounting period. All of your revenues get credited (added) to the owner's (capital) account and all of your expenses get debited (taken away) to the same account. Think of your expenses as investments that are made in order to try to increase your assets. Sometimes you will make mistakes in your investment and you will lose money.

So far, so good? Now what does that have to do with my relationship with Christ?

Think of it as an encouragement toward unlimited investment. A Pascal's wager for living rather than for believing. You see there is a slight difference in the accounting cycle for us when we face judgment. All of our revenue (works) will be credited to our account and we will be rewarded according to what we have done. However, all of our expenses (sins) that we have incurred will be applied to Jesus' account. This is provided that you have a non zero balance in your faith account.

Don't take this too seriously, but do invest in others without worry for your expenses are covered.

Grace and peace until the next accounting cycle.

My First Love

2009-10-19T14:45:00.002-04:00

"'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
(Rev 2:2-4)

Okay, so I took just a little liberty with the title of this blog. Perhaps it caught your eye. One can not help but think of fairy tale endings and Hollywood movies when you mention your first love. But what about your everyday walk with the one who created you? How exactly does your first love come into play there?

While I was preparing for our upcoming D-Now sessions, I was captured by the verses above. I found myself described more by the first couple of verses than someone who had been captivated and was enthralled by my first love. I have to wonder how many people today are caught in the same situation. Maybe I need an attitude adjustment.

You see, I find myself toiling for Christ all the time. I am constantly reading and studying His word, hoping to find myself as one approved for every good work. But why? I am afraid that this is where I have slipped recently. Could it be that I have allowed a sense of obligation to creep into my walk? I think I have and I need to get rid of it.

Scripture has an amazing quality about it. It is able to capture three or more different concepts within one set of words and convey it to the reader at different times when needed. When I read the above passage I can not help but think that I have been toiling patiently hoping to endure until the end. Please note that the church of Ephesus was not condemned for their work. All of the things that they were doing were good things.

No, it was their attitude that was wrong. The words capture it perfectly as I illustrated above. All the theology and study is meaningless if we have forgotten the reason behind it. Our first love. If we remember that love then we will not find oursleves toiling anymore. Nor will we be patiently enduring.

If we love Him, we will expectantly be looking for Him in all that we do. We will want to learn more about Him at every chance we can get. We will fill our conversations with Him because we are in love. Our goal will become to try and please Him because we love Him, not simple obedience out of fear and reverence. We will want to share our days with Him and confide in Him all of our hopes and fears. I have been lacking this of late.

Do me a favor if you see me slipping. If you see me weary and heavy laden, remind me of my first love.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
(Mat 11:28-30)

Joy in the Journey

2009-09-29T10:54:00.002-04:00

This is a bit of a departure for me from my normal blogging. I hope to return to it soon, but this has to be said.

This past week I had my 25 year class reunion. It was amazing to get back together with people that I shared a common bond with in my former life. Many of my classmates I had known since 6th grade. Now that the weekend is over I am left with an ache and a longing that I have not experienced in prior reunions. I have been trying to put my finger on exactly what the problem is but I am not sure if I have or not.

I feel like I did a poor job this past weekend of showing my friends that I love them. Maybe that is a problem we have every day that only surfaces when we are around people we do not see very often. There is no anger over the past, no envy of others successes, but how do you communicate that without sounding like you are apologizing for a crime you may not have committed? I am just happy to see you. I am glad that you are around and that we have this common bond.

When I was in high school, I was very insecure in who I was. I was constantly looking and searching for approval from others. It is part of me that still has not died completely but at least now I am comfortable with who I am. Life has humbled me. I know now that I am not as good as I had hoped to be but I am content with who I am.

So what? This is probably what you are wondering about now. Maybe I can tie everything together so I can get my point across and end the ache in my chest (although compassion is a good thing). It was truly my joy to see each and every one of you this weekend. I love you guys and look forward to the next time we see each other. I wish I could be as bold in person as I am on my laptop, but unfortunately I am still pretty retarded socially around those that knew me before.

There are many of you that I spoke with this weekend that have left an indelible mark in my life. That may sound laughable from a few hours on a Friday and Saturday but it is true. Trust that you are one of them. I am glad to know you. Until next time.

Bruce

Can you Hear Him Now?

2009-06-22T15:51:00.002-04:00

1 Kings 19:11 ...Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

I love going to youth camp every year. It is truly a time of refreshment where we draw nearer to God. We engage in Biblical practices that are designed to draw us close to God and I love the way the students respond to His Glory. One of my favorite memories from camp this year was the quiet time that I had with several of the adult leaders and students each morning. I took this time to focus on the message for the day and how to best relay it to the students in a manner that they could understand.

As I return to work from camp, I can't help but think about the above passage. Am I going to only look for God in the disasters of life or am I going to be constantly listening for the gentle whisper to guide me from day to day? Don't get me wrong- His presence was there throughout all of the activities that we did at camp. I just want to make sure that I continue to listen every day when there are no earthquakes and no fires.

My prayer for you is that you can incoporate what you learned at camp into your daily life. Spend time reading His Word. Meditate on it. Study it to understand the full meaning. Fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ- let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Spend time daily in worship of the King and be rewarded with the gentle whispers that prod us on toward the glory to which we have been called.

Hopefully six months from now, you will be able to answer that yes; you can still hear Him now.

Peace, Bruce

The Problem of Evil- Part Five

2009-06-11T10:33:00.001-04:00

Be My Everything

2009-06-09T10:27:00.002-04:00

A short prayer for today and everyday. Everything by Tim Hughes.

God in my living
There in my breathing
God in my waking
God in my sleeping
God in my resting
There in my working
God in my thinking
God in my speaking
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
Be my everything
God in my hoping
There in my dreaming
God in my wathcing
God in my waiting
God in my laughing
'There in my weeping
God in my hurting
God in my healing
Christ in me
Christ in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
You are everything
Christ in meChrist in me
Christ in me the hope of glory
Be my everything
You are everything
Jesus, Everything

Back to blogging tomorrow.

P.S.- Watch the video

The Problem of Evil- Part Four

2009-06-04T14:05:00.000-04:00

Romans 8:12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

You look man, "Some people say that God ain't real 'cause they don't see how a good God can exist with all this evil in the world. If God is real then He should stop all this evil, 'cause He's all-powerful right? What is evil though man? It's anything that's against God. It's anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating. But if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about our evil thoughts? I mean, where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we want Him to stop evil, we gotta be consistent, we can't just pick and choose. That means you and I would be eliminated right? Because we think evil stuff. If that's true, we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Repent, turn to Jesus man! " Lecrae- Truth

This my friends, is the Gospel. The Good News. Too many people think that turning to God is a way to better stuff or to a better more comfortable life. This is not what the Gospel teaches. The law is there to show us that we have fallen short of God’s perfection. The history of the Jewish people shows us that even with God walking amongst us we would still choose not God. The prophets point to a day when all will be made right, when God will heal His people and make them righteous. The New Testament proclaims what was promised in the prophets and hinted at in the books of the law and history.

What has God done about evil? He has paid the price for it for all who would believe. He sent His Son so that we might know that He is just. He sent His Son so that we might know that all can be forgiven. He sent His Son so that we might know that He is faithful in His promises. He sent His Son so that we might know that He is holy. His justice is not the same as ours you see. While we were deserving of punishment, He sent Someone who was undeserving to take our place.

A price needed to be paid for all evil. The unbeliever is correct that evil should not go unchecked. But it has not. It has been paid in full on the one who deserved it least. The entire measure of God’s wrath was poured out on His Son so that we could be made right. So that we might have a chance to know Him.

Perhaps it is best summed up in the following scripture. I invite you to read the whole thing. It is Hebrews Chapter 10.

Hebrews 10
(Christ's Sacrifice Once for All)
1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7Then I said, 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' " 8First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." 17Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Christ willingly chose to do what His Father requested. 'Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' For those that choose to believe there is hope, there is peace, there is reconciliation. We can, we have, and we shall be made right before God. He has paid the price for evil for you so that you do not have to pay the price yourself. I hope that you can realize that. For those that choose other, there is nothing left but judgment and a reckoning for your sins. Think about it.

And now to the text…

The Problem of Evil- Part Three

2009-05-29T09:51:00.000-04:00

The Problem of Evil- Part Two

2009-05-28T08:41:00.000-04:00

The Problem of Evil- Part One

2009-05-26T12:21:00.004-04:00

A Challenge or Two

2009-05-14T13:32:00.002-04:00

For the past couple of months I have been working with my former classmates from high school to organize our upcoming 25th reunion. There is a great temptation when you are thrown back together with old friends to fall into old habits. One of the temptations is obvious. There may have been old habits that your friends associate with the old you. Maybe you were prone to swearing or gossiping or drinking, but whatever it was the temptation is obvious.

It is also easy enough to overcome when you have been removed from these friends for a long time. You have new habits with your new self that have taken the place of the old habits and just because you are around your old friends that does not mean you have to give in to the old temptations. So you refrain from gossiping, swearing, and drinking and you feel quite proud of yourself and all the while you have neglected the greater command that you have not seen as a temptation.

The Bible it up nicely here in Luke Chapter 10:
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

Just who is my neighbor (hint: read the rest of Luke 10)? And what is the temptation that I am referring to that I have to be careful of? One of the easiest things to do when you are with a group of friends is to exclude others. To not show them the love that you so easily show to your friends. So my challenge when I return for my 25th reunion is to not exclude anyone and to show the love of God to all that I meet as equally as I can. This will be far more difficult than refraining from the "obvious" sins.

How about you? Did you see anyone at church recently that you did not know already? Did you make the effort to make them feel welcome? Or did they leave wondering why they bothered to make the effort? My challenge to you is to seek out those that don't already belong more frequently and to make them feel welcome. It is not really that difficult. You can start like this: Hi, my name is _________. I am happy you joined us tonight. Let me know if I can do anything to make your visit more enjoyable.

We are great at hugging our friends, but how about our neighbors?

The pure in heart

2009-02-07T18:15:00.002-05:00

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I have recently enrolled in college and I apologize for not updating my blog sooner. It is no excuse, but I allowed it to become an excuse. I have been struggling a bit with the topic as well. What exactly does it mean to be pure in heart? How will we see God if we are pure in heart? Is there a method by which we can become pure in heart?

Interestingly there are several definitions for the word translated here as pure and some of our answers can be found there. First of all there are a couple of ways that we can be made pure. The first is by fire. This is how metals are purified. They are superheated and all the impurities get burned off. The second way to be made pure is by pruning. The gardener comes along and trims away the dead branches and we become more suitable for bearing fruit. If I were to be given the choice between the two, I think I would choose the pruning rather than the fire. Of course during the actual pruning, I am sure that I will not be so happy about it. Both of these definitions are pertinent to being clean in the physical sense.

The word could also be used to indicate clean in the levitical sense. This would be doing things that are not forbidden or things that impart no un-clean-ness to us. This would be a bit problematic for me if I were to attempt to become clean in this manner. I do not know the levitical law well enough to know how many of the laws I have broken, but I do know it well enough to know that if I were depending on my own adherence to the law for being clean, I would be in big trouble.

The third way that the word is used is similar to above but from the ethical perspective rather than a legal one. This would mean that we were blameless, innocent, free from sin, and unstained by the guilt of anything. Once again, this is a bit problematic if I look at my own self for satisfying the criteria of being clean.

Ultimately I know that I can only become clean because of Christ and even then it is not me that is clean but Christ's clean-ness is transferred to me. And the master gardener has occasionally pruned some dead branches from my life. However, one of my favorite passages is:

Philippians 4:8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Interesting that Paul here tells us that when we put into practice what he has taught us and when we think about the things that are pure and noble and right, that God will be with us. Perhaps, with God's help, this is something that I can do.

Everyone needs compassion...

2009-01-01T13:57:00.003-05:00

Hillsong United- Mighty to Save
Everyone needs compassion,Love that's never failing;Let mercy fall on me.Everyone needs forgiveness,The kindness of a Saviour;The Hope of nations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE92VCpTDWg

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I hope that the New Year has dawned on you with hope for tomorrow. I pray that your hope is grounded in Christ and that you are trusting in Him.

The verse that I am looking at today can seem very simple. Everyone needs some mercy thrown their way and we are all in favor of that right? I think most of us want mercy for ourselves and are not quite so quick to grant it to others. Why is that? Why is it that we are so willing to condemn others when we ourselves are pretty worthy of condemnation? I must look at myself first.

I have two cyber friends that I have known for quite some time. One of these friends is not a believer. They are however, very loving and I am particularly fond of the occasion when they came to my defense much to my surprise when I was in the midst of a debate with an atheist. The other friend is a believer and quick to condemn any behavior that does not suit him. I know that he is correct in his orthodoxy but I have doubts about his orthopraxy. How do I balance teaching the word without coming across as condemning?

Luke 10:29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

The first thing you notice here is that the expert in the law wanted to justify himself. I see this desire in myself and I know that it is wrong. It is a constant struggle to remind myself that I can not justify myself and that I am only justified through Christ. The question that you have to ask yourself is what is the secondary motive for asking the question of Jesus? Could it be because he only wanted to show mercy to those that were deserving of mercy? Could it be because he did not really want to show mercy to anyone?

30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

The solution here is to show mercy to everyone. Jesus does not define who the neighbor is but how to be a neighbor and that is by showing mercy. I said earlier that I have to look at myself first and the reason is pretty simple. I often feel that my friend who is so quick to condemn is very wrong and could use a good smackdown. But then that puts me right there with him doesn't it? My challenge is to learn how to balance sharing the correct belief (orthodoxy) while showing the correct actions (orthopraxy) out of love in both cases. I pray that God gives me the strength, wisdom, and guidance to do exactly that in the year to come.

Peace, Bruce

I am hungry

2008-12-23T14:37:00.003-05:00

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

On Saturday night we had our work Christmas party. We went to an exclusive restaurant in Buckhead and I was very much looking forward to it. I was very excited about the meal that I was going to have and curious as to what they would serve us. I was not disappointed. The food was excellent. They had various appetizers including shrimp cocktail that was my favorite. For the meal, we started with a crabcake that was perhaps the highlight of the evening. This was followed by a salad that was topped with some fried goat cheese. This was a very interesting concept, but not quite as good as the crabcake. For the main course, I had chicken and filet mignon with potatoes and asparagus all of which were cooked perfectly. Finally for dessert I had a chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream on the side. When I was done, I was stuffed. I could not even quite finish my dessert because I was so full of the meal that they had prepared for me.

Now, I enjoyed this meal very much. How strange it would have been if I had not waited for the meal and instead tried to fill myself beforehand. I would have missed out on all of the food prepared for me and I have no doubt that it would not have been anywhere near as good. The very concept is somewhat laughable. Why would I eat before I was going out to eat?

I know that the analogy is not perfect, but don't we do exactly that in our walk with Christ? We try to make ourselves righteous instead of waiting on God to fill us. Wouldn't it be much better to wait to be filled with the only one who can provide us with righteousness? The only one who can satisfy our soul? My prayer for you today is that you can become like Paul who prayed this prayer in his letter to the Philippians:

Philippians 1:9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Note that it is through Christ that we can obtain righteousness to the glory and praise of God. This passage says nothing about any acts that we do that might fill ourselves with righteousness. Yet every day we get up and try to "do" something to earn God's good favor so that He might be pleased with us. But we should be doing something shouldn't we? Well, yes. We should be growing in the knowledge of Christ so that we can discern His will and then we will know what it is that we should be doing.

Paul prays in his letter to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This is what I hunger for: to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. I need to get myself out of the way though. In order to be full to the measure with God, I can't have any other stuff already filling me up. That is why I should not eat before I go out to eat.

Peace, Bruce

Meekness anyone?

2008-12-18T19:09:00.003-05:00

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

There is a certain progression in the Sermon on the Mount as I am reading it. The first two verses I discussed were more internal on the part of the believer. The believer first recognizes his spiritual poverty before God, or his lack of righteousness. He then contemplates the meaning of this and mourns over the sins that he has committed, others have committed, and that will be committed. We now get to a verse that is more of an external action on the part of the believer. It is a verse that seems to be contradicted in every day life and is the exact opposite of what is expected of you in the secular world.

To get ahead in this life here on earth today, you are expected to be forceful and proud and to toot your own horn. Jesus here is telling us that to be blessed, we need to be the opposite of that. We need to be meek or mild or humble if you will. These are not the qualities that the average employer is looking for. However, I would suggest that there is at least one job that these would be ideal qualifications for:

John 13: 2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Perhaps the best illustration of meekness is a willingness to serve others. First to serve God, then to serve your neighbors. I remember when I first came to know Christ and before I was born again, that my greatest fear was submitting to God. I did not want to lose my "self" by becoming a follower of Christ. This was part of the reason that it took me a year or so to come to the decision after affirming belief in Him. However, what I did not know then and have realized since, is that I am never more the "me" I was intended to be than when I am serving God and others. What a joy it is to serve!

God does not want half hearted commitment either. If you read the passage in John 13 very carefully you will notice something. Or perhaps it is better phrased by saying you will not notice something. You will not notice it saying "and when Jesus came to Judas, he refused to wash his feet." Jesus washed the feet of the one who betrayed him right along with the rest of the disciples. I do not think I have reached that level of servanthood yet. I do not think my heart would be in the right place if I was serving someone who I knew hated me, but I am still pressing on toward that goal.

I want to close tonight by reflecting on what Jesus says after washing the feet of His disciples:

John 13:12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Peace, Bruce

Blessed are those who mourn?

2008-12-08T20:34:00.002-05:00

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I used to be confused about this verse. I used to think that we were blessed when we mourned because it meant that we had loved someone enough to mourn for them. This may be a secondary meaning for the verse but the primary meaning is something else. The primary meaning relates directly to the previous verse that we examined. If you remember our tax collector from Luke 18, he had sensibly come to the conclusion that he was a sinner. You have some options when you come to the conclusion that you are a sinner. My suggestion tonight is that the appropriate response is not to wallow in your sin; nor is it to be nonchalant about it. The appropriate response is to mourn over your sin.

When I first came to the realization that there was a God and that we could know Him I began to feel what could be best described as unease. This was probably not the typical reaction, but I could not help but feel uneasy at the idea of someone else other than myself knowing all of the really bad things that I had done in my life. As I learned more about God and His expectations for me and His holy nature, this unease grew to concern. I don't think that it ever quite got to outright terror, but that was probably because I was learning about God's mercy and love at the same time. As I learned more about God's love and mercy, my unease was transformed to shame.

I still had much to learn at this time (and still do), and one thing I definitely did not understand was that salvation was available to me. Strangely, this misconception was very beneficial to me. You see, I thought to be saved, that I had to be perfect. So I tried. Really Hard. Needless to say, I did not attain perfection. But as I pursued perfection I felt a longing for a relationship with Christ and I became more and more sorrowful over my past (and current) life of sin. Sorrow because I had offended a holy God. Sorrow because I had separated myself from Him. Sorrow because it was my sin that caused Him to die. Curiously, it was at this time that the thought of Christ's righteousness being sufficient to cover over my sins was made manifest in me. Perhaps some other time I will share the whole story here, but for now I will leave it at this: I have trusted that Christ is sufficient and I have been comforted.

I want to ask you tonight if you have come to the sensible conclusion that you are a sinner. I want to ask you if this realization has caused you to reflect on the nature of God. Do you know Him? Once you do know Him, I hope that you reflect on the effects of your sins. I hope that you do not simply ignore them or wallow them. I hope that you too can join me in mourning and perhaps you too can be comforted.

Poor in Spirit

2008-12-04T08:18:00.003-05:00

Matthew 5:1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So what does it mean to be poor in spirit and just how are we blessed if we are poor in spirit? I think that we can see this illustrated in a parable of Jesus told here in Luke 18:

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The tax collector here was poor in spirit because he realized that standing before God, he was not a righteous man. He had sensibly come to the conclusion that he was a sinner. He did not have an overinflated opinion of his own worth and knew that he was dependent upon God's mercy.

When I was in college, I took calculus and struggled at first. I knew that I was not good at calculus or you could say I was poor in calculus. Because I was willing to admit this, I was able to do something very important. I was able to get help from someone who was rich in calculus. If I had not been willing to admit my "poorness" then I would not have sought help and I would have failed the class. I sought out a tutor and they helped me to learn what it was that I needed to know to be rich in calculus. The next year a friend of mine was struggling with calculus and I was able to help him because I had previously sought out help for myself.

This is why it is a blessing to be poor in spirit. When you realize this (that you are not righteous before God), it puts you in a position where you know that you need help. When you know you need help, you are much more likely to ask for help. You will realize that there is only one that can put you in a right standing before God and you will call out to Him. This is a blessing because it is the first step to salvation. I don't think it is possible to be saved until you realize that you, in fact, do need saving.

The really cool part is that once you have recognized this in yourself, you will be able to recognize it in others as well and you will be able to point them in the right direction so that they too can be saved. I thank God that He has humbled me and allowed me to have a low opinion of myself so that I could reach out to Him.

Peace, Bruce

Can you give me directions?

2008-11-28T10:50:00.003-05:00

A while back I was on a run and I had a car stop and ask me directions. The directions were quite elaborate and I made sure that the girl understood what I was telling her. There had been some recent construction in downtown so I wanted to make sure that she understood why I was telling her to go the way that I was telling her. If she had gone the way she had wanted to, she would not have gotten to where she wanted to go. She actually took notes and I feel quite confident that she ended up where she wanted to be. This reminded me of another time when someone had stopped and asked me directions while I was out running and I would like to share what I learned that day with you today.

Ask someone who knows
If you are not sure about how to get somewhere, the best way to find out is to ask someone who knows. A few years back, I had a car with out of state plates ask me how to get somewhere while I was on a run. They followed the first step very well, for if I was running in an area, I was probably familiar with it. I knew exactly where they wanted to go, so I gave them directions. They then proceeded to drive off in the opposite direction of what I had told them. This left me dumbfounded. Why had they not turned around? Did they not believe me? Did they not listen? Were they just unwilling to turn around? Or maybe they decided that they weren't lost after all and they knew a better way than I did.

Be willing to turn around
One of the hardest things to do in life is to admit that you have made a mistake. But once in a while it becomes obvious to everyone includin yourself that you are on the wrong path. Are you willing to admit that you are wrong and if necessary to turn around? If you ever want to arrive at your destination and you are lost, you must be willing to turn around.

Listen
It is very important to listen to directions if you ask someone who knows. Otherwise what was the point of asking the directions? Take notes if you need to, but make sure that you clearly understand what they say. You may even have to ask a question or two to make sure that you understand them. Stopping to ask for directions while you are lost and not listening is no better than not stopping at all.

And Believe
I went running in Detroit one time and decide to run around a lake. I thought I could see the other side of the lake and the streets appeared to be in squares so what harm would a few left turns be? About an hour into the run, I met some people standing in their front yards and asked them how to get back to my motel. When they told me to turn around I did not believe them. I thought I knew better than them even though I had never been on that road before. A couple of hours later when I got back to my motel, I was wondering why I had not believed what the people had told me. Did I have too much pride? I am not sure, but if you stop and ask someone who knows and they tell you something that you do not want to hear, you should probably believe them anyway. Especially when you do not know the way.

No other way
In the case of the lost out of state driver, he could not get where he wanted to go unless he followed the directions that I gave him. I wonder how long he drove in the wrong direction before he turned around. You see, I was familiar with the area and I knew that he must turn around to get where he wanted to go. There was no other way. I do hope he figured it out before he hit Canada.

I was tempted to stand by the road and wait for him, but I realized that it took 27 years for me to figure out that I was on the wrong road and I would be pretty hungry long before that. Do you know that you are on the right road? I hope that you are not too proud to stop and ask directions if you are lost. I know a pretty good map if you need one.

Peace, Bruce

What are you thankful for?

2008-11-27T09:00:00.002-05:00

As we celebrate Thanksgiving today with friends I can't help but think of what I am thankful for. Usually, for me at least, my list is mostly things like family, friends, health, my job, etc. I am very often superficial in my thankfulness on this day. In other words, I say a prayer thanking God for these things in my life without giving it too much thought. I want to today to be different.

I want to truly appreciate my family and be thankful and deeply grateful to them. For they know me better than anyone else and yet they love me anyway with all my warts and everything. I want to be thankful that I have been blessed to have this family and not focus on our disagreements or differences. I want to thank God for my wife and my kids not just today but every day.

I want to be more thankful and appreciative of my friends. I am not the most considerate person that I know. Yet, I still have some friends that can put up with my silliness. These people are true saints and I want to be appreciative of this. I want to thank God for bringing them into my life and allowing me to know them.

I want to be thankful for my health. I often complain that I am sore or broken down or getting old, but I am really in great shape compared to so many other people and I take that for granted every day. I want to thank God for my health and give Him the praise for it. I want to be truly appreciative for the health that I do have.

I want to be more thankful for my job. I don't want to have to wait for when we are in economic meltdown to be appreciative of my employer or the blessings that I have been given to have the job I do. I want to thank God for gracing me with the wisdom I needed at the right time to end up where I am today.

More importantly though, I want to thank God for his grace. Without Him in my life, I do not know where or what I would be today. I know that it would not be good and I am thankful that He saved me before I went too far from home to be called back.

I have been blessed too many times to count by the riches of God's mercy. I love you Lord and I lift my song to worship you my King. Lord, let me be thankful.

Acorns anyone?

2008-11-24T06:50:00.003-05:00

In my front yard, I have two very large oak trees. Every two years they drop thousands of acorns in my front yard. There are so many acorns in my front yard every other fall, that it is difficult to walk in my yard without slipping on the acorns. Not only that, but if I do not remove the acorns from my lawn, thousands of little oak trees will begin to take root and grow choking out my lawn. If I do not care about my lawn or about slipping on the acorns, then I can just leave them there. But if I want my lawn to be healthy and I do not want to slip up every time I walk out my door, then I must go through the process of removing the acorns.

This is a tedious process. Mowing the acorns does not work and using a normal rake only scatters the acorns around. I have found that if I use a rake that is only about eight inches wide with teeth that are very close together, I can get all of the acorns raked to the bottom of my yard. Once they are all raked down to the street, then I must pick them all up and put them in the trash to be carted away.

I have a problem though. If I wait until all of the acorns have fallen, then some of them may begin to take root. But if I rake as soon as they begin to fall, then more acorns will fall in their place and I will have to rake again. The only good way to get rid of the acorns is to check every so often during the fall and get rid of what is there. If more acorns fall later, then I need to go back and remove them again. It is almost a continual process. Every time that I think that I have them all, more acorns fall and I am out there again, removing them.

And so it is with sin in my life. If the Word has truly taken root in my life, I must be willing to check every so often to make sure that there is nothing that might be preventing the Word from flourishing. Sin can creep into our lives and create pitfalls that can trip us up if we are not careful. If we do not examine ourselves frequently, this sin could take root and choke out what God has intended to grow there.

If we claim that we have not sinned, we are like the man that is oblivious to the acorns falling in his yard. He has no care for his lawn and no care for the potential dangers of tripping on the acorns. This man will not have a lawn but his yard will be full of trees and he will not even know it.

Okay, so let me speak plainly. If we claim that we have not sinned, then the Word of God has not truly taken root in our lives. We are not yet walking with Christ and sin (even though we claim otherwise) is what we have chosen to worship. I urge you today to examine your life for sin. It is a tedious process. You will have to repeat it often. Once you have removed the sins, throw them away and don't look back. This will allow God's Word to grow you into the person that God has always intended for you to be.

Peace, Bruce

It Is Well With My Soul

2008-11-21T07:19:00.002-05:00

1 John 1:5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

When I was 27 I decide that I wanted to follow Christ after certain events took place in my life that convinced me of the truth of scripture. I had a problem though. I recognized the perfection of God and the demands that He made of me to be perfect. So I tried to rid myself of all sin in my life. As each temptation arose in my life, I would sometimes have success only to find two or three more temptations that had taken the place of the previous one. After a couple of months of genuine effort, I came to realize that my efforts were futile. I could not do it.

As I examined scripture, I found more and more ways in which I fell short. I longed to be made right with God, but I could not find a way to cover over my sins that I had already committed and I could not overcome many of the sins that I was struggling with. It was then when I was at my most broken that I read something in scripture that captivated me:

Romans 3: 21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

You see, I was trying to make myself righteous through the law. But the law was the very thing that was condemning me. How could that thing which was condemning me possibly ever justify me? But what if the law was there to point me to Christ? What if it was there to convict me of my sins so that I would know that I was a sinner and that I needed a savior? It was then at my lowest that the message above was made clear to me as if directly from God in answer to my very prayers. The righteousness that I could never attain by works was available to me through the redeeming blood of Christ. His righteousness could be credited to my account and I could be made clean if only I would trust in the sufficiency of His grace.

Oh, what a savior to come and rescue me when I was condemned in my sins! Have you trusted in His promise? Have you nailed your sins to the cross? Can you join me in singing this verse from the beautiful hymn It is Well With My Soul?

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Peace, Bruce

Compassion anyone?

2008-11-19T11:30:00.003-05:00

1 John 1:5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

I think that there is a common misconception amongst non-Christians that the Christian thinks that he is perfect. We have in scripture here a verse that tells us quite the opposite. The Christian has not been made perfect and will continue to sin until he makes it home to glory. There should be a difference though. We should be humbly striving toward the goal of becoming more Chist like every day. We should be desiring Christ and pursuing Him every day. We will still slip up, but we need to make sure that we recognize when we have slipped and turn away from that behavior.

The problem

I think that the biggest problem we have in reaching out to the lost is our attitudes. The reflection of our attitudes can be seen in the misconception I noted above. How did the non-Christian come to the conclusion that the Christian thinks he is perfect unless he was led to believe that by the Christian? Have you ever led someone to believe that you are above temptation? That maybe sinning was beneath you? Do we not still struggle with many of the same issues that others struggle with? Certainly through Christ we can overcome temptation, but we should not be looking down our nose at it as if we have never had the same problems.

The solution

We should be reaching out to the lost with compassion. This means that we should be suffering with them. Do you have sorrow over your own sins? Then why would you not also grieve over the sins of your brother? Do not pretend to be above it all. Reach out to them in compassion and understanding and they will recognize the love within you and get a glimpse of the love of the Father.

Our attitude should be like David in Psalm 51:

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts ;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

If we took this attitude perhaps more people would understand that we are not condemning them. Or maybe you are condemning them? Think about it.

Peace, Bruce

As you are in the light

2008-11-17T11:18:00.003-05:00

My dad likes to take pictures of lighthouses. The one above is on Bodie Island in the Outer Banks. The purpose of a lighthouse is to guide the traveller and to keep him safe from any perils. However, in order for a lighthouse to work, the light must be present and the traveller must pay attention to the light. If the light is not there, the ship is sure to crash and death and destruction are likely to follow. The same is true for the traveller who ignores the light, for he does so at his own peril because the light is evident even in the darkest of nights.

The psalmist in Psalm 104 tells us about God: 2He wraps himself in light as with a garment. Light is an essential part of God's nature, in fact the apostle tells us that there is no darkness at all in God. In the Old testament during the Exodus, God appeared as a pillar of fire to guide the Israelites. It was always before them when it was dark so that they would always know which way to go. The light represented God and His nature, the Israelites were instructed to follow the light, and they would be safe if they did exactly that. This is a beautiful picture of salvation that we can compare to what the apostle is telling us in the verse today.

The heavens declare the glory of God

It is in fact from the heavens that we get the light by which we can see. This light allows us to discern the perfection of God that is revealed in creation. It is interesting to note that without the light, we would be lost and unable to discern anything. The apostle in his Gospel referred to Jesus as the "logos" which is often translated as the "word". This same word is often used for logic and Heraclitus established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. It is only by Him that we can know anything. This light has been given to every man, as Paul tells us: 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. This is how God has revealed Himself to us, in the light by which all other things can be revealed.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

It is by the light of God that has been revealed to us in scripture that we can know the path on which to walk. It is through Jesus Christ, the word made flesh, that we can understand what it means to walk along the path that the light shines upon. His ordinances or divine commands have been laid out in scripture. They are the moral guidelines that we are to walk according to and that we are to follow. It is interesting to note that when something is brought into the light the imperfections are revealed. The same is true for us. When we examine ourselves according to God's Word, our imperfections come to light.

The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear?

This same light that reveals our imperfections leads us eventually to the cross. It is there that all the darkness of humanity has been crushed. It is there that the true light of God has been revealed in His Son Jesus Christ. It is only there in the true light of the cross that we can confess our sins and have them forgiven. For all has been laid bare at the cross. God's holy nature has been revealed in the wrath poured out on His Son. His intolerance for darkness has been confirmed once and for all.

My hope for you is that you recognize the light that is God. My hope is that you will investigate the claims of scripture so that you might see the paths in which you are to walk. But most of all, my hope is that you will allow yourself to be laid bare at the cross and that you will trust in the one in whom God has shown His approval by raising Him from the dead. My hope is that you will trust in Christ for the payment for your sins, for in God there is no darkness at all. I don't know about you, but I need someone else to provide me with light for I am covered in darkness.

Peace, Bruce

I wanna be in the light...

2008-11-15T09:50:00.003-05:00

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

I was riding back from Pennsylvania this week with a good friend of mine. We got to discussing church and my friend shared with me that he did not go to church because of the hypocrites. I thought about this some and I think that most people are hypocrites. I even shared with my friend that I was not perfect and did not claim to be. I don't think that is what he meant though. I think what bothers him (about church) is not so much that I go to church and fall short, but that some people go there and think that they do not fall short or at least pretend that they are perfect.

When I read the verse above, I can read it in several ways. It is difficult to analyze standing by itself because it is so tightly related to the verses that follow it. I am going to suggest for today as a stand alone verse that we can read it as my friend reads Christians. Thou shalt not be a hypocrite and claim otherwise. Do not muddy the name of Christ by claiming you have been made perfect, but fully admit that you are still seeking after Him.

I am reminded that our attitude in this should be like that of Paul. In Philippians 3 Paul tells the reader of his desire to be more like Christ:

Philippians 3:7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

If the apostle had stopped here, perhaps some would be justified in their behavior in following Christ, however Paul did not stop here, he went on to say this:

12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

As the song goes, "We are not home yet". We need to keep this attitude in mind. We have not attained the goal to which we have been called, yet we should be persistent in pursuing it. We should desire Christ and should be pursuing after Him, not focusing on the mistakes that we have made, but only on the future glory we will share with Him.

So to be clear, the Christian should be wanting holiness, but he should not be claiming it because he has not attained it yet. He should be pursuing it without looking back, but I want to close with the next verses in Philippians because I think this is what my friend was talking about. Paul writes:

15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

My friends, this is my prayer for you and for me. Let us live up to what we have already attained while we are pressing forward.

Divisive Words

2008-11-12T18:11:00.002-05:00

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

I thank any of you who may have read my previous posts and I hope that I may have at least got you to think. Tonight I am going to be looking at the next verse. My message will be a bit more divisive than prior messages. Especially in today's relativistic world where truth has a different meaning for each person. Tonight I am going to talk just a bit about the nature of God and why the words above are divisive. They may not seem so at first, but I hope that I can communicate with you why these words are at the base of the most divisive verses in the Bible.

I was listening to Sean Hannity tonight and I was stunned to hear him have to argue several points with different listeners. I don't normally listen to conservative talk radio, but travelling through southwestern Pennsylvania has left me with few options.

The first caller was arguing in favor of the "Fairness Doctrine" and claiming that Obama was the second coming of Abraham Lincoln. This scared me, but I will stick to the listener's point which was this: Obama should have the right to silence his critics if they were creating division within the US. Hannity asked the caller if he believed in the 1st amendment and the caller said yes, but not in the case where it causes division. Well, do you believe in it or not? If you think that censorship is fine, then you do not believe in it. If you do believe in it, then you are not okay with censorship. These are black and white views, but today's world sees in gray.

The second caller felt that the government somehow owed people that had taken on mortgages that they could not afford. He felt that these people were tricked or misled and it was not their fault that they had to default. He compared it to buying a car from a used car salesman and went on to say that he felt if the buyer got a bad car it was the dealer's fault. Thankfully, by the end of the discussion, the caller seemed to understand the concept of accountablility. This brings us to the second question: are you responsible for your actions or not? This is yes or no, not yes but... I am not arguing that the car sellers or mortgage lenders had no part, but ultimately we are the ones who are responsible for the decisions that we make. Today's world does not undertand this. Everything is somebody else's fault and nobody is ever accountable.

Now before you think that I am going to spend my blog talking politics, I want to assure you that I am not. I merely wanted to set the stage for the divisive words that we will be discussing tonight. I wanted you to realize why this message is going to be divisive. You see the Bible speaks in black and white, not shades of gray. The Bible says that all men will be held accountable for their actions. These are not popular beliefs to be holding today.

John 14:6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
These may actually be the most divisive words ever spoken. Jesus does not say that he is a way or one of many ways. He says He is the way. This would indicate that if the statement were true, then it would be an exclusive claim. By an exclusive claim, I mean that it excudes other claims to other ways. However, we also have the words of Oprah "There couldn't possibly be only one way to get to Heaven." Why not Oprah? Why must your exclusive claim be true and not those of the creator of the universe? We can't both be right. I see this opinion becoming more and more popular on the internet all the time. There is an underlying assumption that is easy to miss and I will point it out for you. When you make a statement such as Oprah's, you are saying that you know better than God. That you are capable of judging your own creator and His actions and His decisions. Seems a little less than humble to me.

The problem with what Oprah said is that it fails to ask the essential question. Why is Jesus the only way to Heaven? Why will no one come to the Father except through Him? I will give you a hint: it is in the topic verse of the night: God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. I hate to tell you but gray is a shade of darkness. Just because you have done some good things, that does not mean you are worthy of Heaven. That does not eliminate the bad things you have done. This is why Jesus came. Because God is light and in Him there is no darkness, we can not be with God for we are not children of light. However, there is one who can make you clean, who can make you a child of light, who can bring you into the presence of His Father. That one is Jesus Christ, who died on the cross so that you could be with Him and with the Father.

I am afraid my friends that this truth will not be tolerated much longer by a world that loves the gray.

Peace, Bruce

WARNING! EPIC FAIL AHEAD!

2008-11-11T17:34:00.003-05:00

1 John 1:1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete

Over the past week, I have been looking forward to this verse more than any other. I want to warn you in advance that the more that I thought about it, the more I realized that I would not be able to do the verse justice. I simply do not have the writing skills necessary to convey the power in that one simple sentence. Unfortunately for you (the reader) I am going to try anyway. Be aware as well that this post will probably be lengthy, for if I can not find the correct words, then I will throw as many words as possible at the subject in a meager hope that you might get a glimpse of the joy that I am going to speak of tonight.

The joy of the father

Luke 15:20 ..."But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

I do not wish to bend the text in 1 John to fit this verse and claim that John was necessarily including God the Father in the "our". However, I would like to claim the joy of the father (small f) as one of the joys I look forward to when proclaiming Christ. I long to see you still a long way off but heading home. I long to recognize that you have indeed chosen your heavenly Father. Do you know that the word compassion means to suffer with someone? I long to suffer for your salvation, to agonize over your decision. I want to cry with you as a father cries with his children. I want to hold you close so that maybe I can protect you. I want to tell you that everything will be alright. All is forgiven. The picture I have from the passage above is of an elderly man running down a dusty lane with his robes flowing behind him. Not caring about etiquette or what the elders at the church might think. With his arms out before him and a wide grin on his face and yes, even tears in his eyes. Oh, the joy he must have felt to see his once dead son returning home to him. I long to someday have the boldness to be this father, to run to meet with open arms a new child of God. To welcome him in and to throw my arms around him without a single concern for my own reputation. This is the joy of the father that I speak of but somehow can never manage to display. You see, I already have all of those feelings but I am reluctant to act on them. But the joy, the joy is real. And the reason I write this is to make our joy complete.

The joy of the son
Romans 8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

I hope that you realize that I am attempting to tie this all together. To back scripture with scripture. I pray that you remain patient with me. Imagine the look on the face of the prodigal son as his father came running down the dusty lane with robes flowing behind him. I wonder what was going through his mind at that time. I have some ideas that may be close from my own walk with God and my return to Him from a far off place. I imagine there was quite a bit of trepidation. Fear of punishment and judgment must have been in there as well. If we actually return to Luke we can get an idea from the son's prepared speech:
15:21...'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
Notice how the son felt that condemnation was both coming and deserved. He knew that he had done wrong and that his father had every right to reject him. Yet the embrace and the kiss and the banquet in his honor told him that in spite of all his shortcomings, in spite of wishing his own father dead, in spite of squandering his inheritance, in spite of all of this: his father loved him. Imagine the joy at that moment. When we recognize the truth of the passage in Romans above, the joy is overwhelming. We are no longer condemned for we are in Christ Jesus. This my friends, is the joy of the son. This is the joy I get to claim every day for I no longer stand condemned before my Father. This is why I proclaim Christ Jesus, to make our joy complete.

The joy of the brother
Philippians 2:1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

The brother in the story of the prodigal son got it wrong. This was why he became angry and refused to go in. He refused to enter his father's house because he was jealous of the way the father had treated his brother. He thought he knew better than the father. Think about this for a while.

I noticed something strange a while back. I began to suffer with the teens at my church. When they hurt, I hurt. This is the meaning of compassion. I had not had this happen to me outside of best friends and immediate family before. It gets even stranger. I soon began to desire to have this compassion more and more. I had no desire that any of them hurt or go through difficult times, heavens no. But what I found was I wanted to care enough about them and be close enough with them that we were of the same mind. When they were happy, I was happy. When they were sad, I was sad. This my friends is the joy of the brother. When we walk together with Christ, we are of the same mind so of course your joy makes me happy and adds to my joy. It completes it. We should be there for each other and ready to bear each other's burdens. That is what a brother should do, not stand in condemnation. This is why I proclaim this message so that you may also know the joy of the fellowship of walking with your brother. This is why I proclaim Jesus to you, so that our joy may be complete.

We write this to make our joy complete.

I hope that you understand now. There is a very profound word in this verse that you may not have noticed. The word is our. The KJV actually uses the word your. Perhaps that clarifies it for you some. My desire for you is that you know the joy of the father. That you will desire the salvation of others and join our Father in calling those who would believe. My desire is that you would know the joy of the son and know that you are no longer condemned, that you will recognize that your Father loves you in spite of all your faults. My desire is that you will know the joy of the brother, walking in oneness of spirit and purpose and sharing in the compassion that comes with the love of a brother. I write this so that you may know this joy, so that your joy may be complete. And if somehow possible, perhaps my joy may be made more complete as well.

Peace, Bruce

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