CLOCKS ONLY GO ONE WAY

A month ago I had my 64th birthday. Given that the months are now flying past at an astonishing speed it will be no time at all before I reach the magic age someone defined as the start of the "senior" years. I'm pretty sure I was 18 just last week. How did this happen?

Approaching the magic age is not all bad I suppose. Being a senior comes with restaurant discounts, great tax breaks, and an "old age" pension. Those are definitely some things to look forward to while struggling to get out of the rocking chair. 

I really don't mind so much that within another year I'll get the senior designation, but I do have a problem with the "old age" label. Just a few days ago I was watching a newscast and they referred to a man not much older than me as "elderly". I'm sure it was written by some wet-behind-the-ears 30 year old who thinks anyone past 40 should be set adrift on an ice floe. He obviously hasn't realized yet that he will turn around twice and suddenly be as elderly as, well, me.

One thing younger people like to deride us older folks for (I know this, because I have three sons) is the tendency to tell stories from the past. Yes, we almost seniors are guilty and getting worse as we age, but what choice do we have? Since the number of years behind is certainly more than the ones ahead, the look in the rear view mirror is pretty attractive. Besides, when I am with my grandchildren how can I not look back wistfully to the time when I could run and climb and play all day without having to bathe in Voltarin all of the next week?

Anyway, us baby boomers (I think I squeezed in to the low end of that designation) have a lot to look back on. In our lifetime we may possibly have witnessed more change than any previous generation. Throughout most of history a person would die in a world that looked pretty much like the one they were born into. Of course there were wars and changes of leadership and so on, but until the last century or two the way of life for most people just didn't change that much. For anyone like me born in the middle of the 20th century, our experience has been the total opposite. 

In the early 1970's I started my career operating a computer that filled a whole environmentally controlled room. I figured out one time that the phone I carry in my pocket has 100,000 times the memory of that monster computer that was as high and wide as a desk and about 25 feet long. Changes in computing have been dramatic, but hardly more so than the transformation in communications, transportation, medicine, and a raft of other scientific fields. Politics and government are hardly recognizable. Religion and faith? Well to borrow an overused movie reference, we aren't in Kansas anymore.

Here are a few of the things that typified religion and church in Canada when I first started attending church as a child in the early 60's.

• almost all of my friends either went to church or could identify some church as where they had a family connection
• prayers, Gideon Bibles, and Christian observances were an accepted part of our public school experience - the same was true in government, the military, and most other public institutions
• we weren't really much aware of other faiths in our culture - they were there of course, but in small numbers, and having a Muslim or Buddhist child in class would have been a rarity
• we weren't strangers to sin, but we understood what the Bible taught about right and wrong, and accepted it
• Canadian politicians weren't afraid to identify with Christian teaching or principles

Of course, all of those things have turned 180 degrees. From a faith perspective, Canada is totally unrecognizable from where it was just 50 years ago.

About now you are thinking, "here's one more internet rant about how we are being abused as Christians, Islam is taking over, and we need to get back to the good ole' days". While there may be a kernel of truth in some of those rants at least, this is not about one more Christian boomer stirring the pot in the hopes governments will pass some laws and return us to the 1960's. 

Don't get me wrong; I'm as nostalgic as the next person. I do look fondly on the days when Canada was more comfortable for those of us who identify as Christ followers. But do I think all the rants and petitions and demonstrations we can muster are going to take us back there? No, we aren't going back. 

Things are unfolding as God knew they would. One day He will reassert His control and restore His perfect world. While for many of us that time could not come too soon, the question facing Christians in the meantime is not how do we return to the way things used to be, but how do we live effectively today as God's children, as representatives of Jesus Christ? How do we live faithful Christian lives and work to accomplish God's purposes in a world that is radically different from the one we were born into? How do we have an impact for Jesus in a culture where the influence of other faiths seems to be surpassing our own, where it seems like right is wrong, and where the Bible is seen as irrelevant or even harmful?

Those are all very hard questions, and even if I had the answers they wouldn't fit in this blog. My point for now is very simple. We can't live in the past and we aren't going back there. The world has changed. We can commit our time and emotions to futile attempts to turn back the clock, or we can seek God for wisdom to know how to be and live in the midst of this new reality. I believe at times that might include a petition or some action to take a stand for what's right. But whatever we do let it be out of our desire to be the most faithful and effective representatives of Jesus we can possibly be in this fallen world, rather than out of some vain attempt to get back to a time that felt "comfy" and where there were less threats to our comfortable Christian existence.  

I'm not suggesting we water down God's principles. I'm not saying we should cozy up to the world's new morals. I'm not throwing out John 14:6 where Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life. I'm not advocating any kind of compromise to what Jesus demands of us as His followers. 

I'm saying let's be all that God wants us to be, and let's faithfully be that in a midst of a world that no longer knows Him. Let's love God and our neighbour as Jesus commanded. Let's live a Christ-like life in a world that has turned away from Him. If there was ever a time when the world was dark and needed God's light, it's now. Let's be that light.  

The answer is... "God said"

In Matthew 4 we read the very dramatic account of Satan appearing before Jesus at the end of His 40 day fast. Jesus had been spending an intense time with God, fasting and praying in preparation for the launch of His 3 year ministry. Satan obviously arrived on the scene with a very clear objective, to destroy Jesus and His ministry before He could really even get started.

There have been countless insightful sermons taught on what happened in Matthew 4. Today something particular is standing out to me and I thought it would be useful to bring it to your attention. Satan made three attempts to entrap Jesus. In the first two he leads off with these words, "If you are the Son of God...". 

I don't know how or at what time of life Jesus came to the awareness of who He was, but in some way at some time He came to understand that He wasn't like everyone else, that He was actually the Son of God. Did He have a sudden revelation, or did He gradually begin to have memories of His eternal existence, of the glories of heaven, and of His purpose in coming to earth. I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us us how any of that realization came to Jesus, but it's clear by the time He fasted in the wilderness He knew who He was and what He was here for. 

After 40 days of fasting He was undoubtedly in a very weakened state. His human body required nourishment. Just like us when we are fatigued and weakened in body, I'm quite sure there was an impact on His emotions, His confidence, and His ability to stand fast. No doubt that's why Satan chose that moment to go on the attack. And he did it by trying to get Jesus in that weakened state to question who He was. "If you are the Son of God". In other words, maybe you've been imagining all this. Maybe you aren't really who you think you are. Maybe you're just the ordinary son of a carpenter. Maybe you should be in the carpenter shop right now, instead of fantasizing about this crazy quest to save the world. Who do you think you are anyway?

As Christians we have a status we often don't fully appreciate. The Bible says we have been adopted into God's family. We are children of the Almighty God. Our sins are forgiven. The Holy Spirit of God lives inside us. We are destined for an eternal home in heaven. We have the assurance of all of these things because the Bible tells us so, and because the Spirit confirms it within us. We have no reason to doubt. But we doubt anyway, and that's where Satan will attack us just like he did with Jesus.

The questions for us will be a bit different. It won't be "If you are the Son of God". Instead it will be something like "Do you really think God could love you?", or "Are you really saved?", or "Is this whole thing with God and Jesus and the Gospel really real?"  You can probably write in the particular doubts that attack you.

Satan seems to be very good at knowing just where our greatest doubts and insecurities lie. He is also good at knowing when we are vulnerable, at a point of weakness. He attacks when our emotions are out of whack and our confidence is weak and our ability to remain steadfast is at a low point. 

Jesus responded to each of Satan's attacks with these words "It is written". If I can paraphrase, He said, "God said". That's really important. What that means is that the way I feel while being tempted to doubt in a time of weakness is not what really counts. What counts is what God said! God said I'm forgiven. God said I'm His child. God said I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. God said He will provide if we trust Him. God said. God said. GOD SAID!

When Satan attacks, as he often will, we have a choice to make. The choice is, who are we going to believe? Will we believe the father of lies whose greatest goal in life is to destroy us, or will we believe the faithful God who loves us more than we can even imagine? 

Unfortunately, Christians spend far too much time being discouraged and downtrodden. We allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness and rejection when the truth is we are children of the King. We have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus, and are on our way to an eternal existence beyond anything we can imagine in our wildest dreams. That's who we are!

So next time Satan or his minions attack with doubts and discouragements, try out Jesus' strategy. It goes something like this. "Oh yeah? Well, God said                                 , and He's a lot more trustworthy than you. You're wasting your time here, so go try out your lies on someone else."

There will be times of weakness. There will be times of temptation. There will be times of doubts. We can't control any of that. But we can control how we will respond. We can control who we will believe. 

With My Whole Heart

Have you ever thought you understood a verse in the Bible, then you look at it again and suddenly you are filled with questions? That happened to me recently with a well known verse in Jeremiah, one that I have seen many times. I am feeling particularly challenged by the profound implications of what looks like a rather simple verse.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13

This is one of a number of verses in the Bible that use the phrase "with all your heart". Seek Him with all your heart. Love Him with all your heart. Serve Him with all your heart. Trust Him with all your heart. In the NLT it usually translates the phrase as "wholeheartedly". In other words, do these things with everything in you. Don't hold anything back. God says, when that's the way you seek me, then you will find me.

It kind of makes me think of a person receiving an Olympic gold medal. That medal represents a level of commitment and sacrifice and discipline most of us have never experienced. The gold medalist has pursued their sport and their goal with their whole heart.

I think there have been times in my life when I have been wholehearted in my desire and devotion to God (beyond what's normal for me, at least). There have been times when I cried out to God, desperate to know Him and totally willing to trust Him. There have been seasons when I wanted nothing more in my life than to serve Him with my very best. Yes, I think there have been times I approached wholehearted devotion.

But to be honest, probably a lot more often my desire to know and love and serve God could more accurately be described as "halfhearted". Those are the times when other things cloud my priorities. They are the times when other things take most of my time and attention, and I am rather content to give God whatever is left over. 

I'm not talking about turning my back on God or falling into sin or anything quite as dramatic as that. I'm talking about the seasons when life just got in the way and I was more focused on "stuff" than on pursuing the Almighty God. The truth is it happens to me a lot and (if I can simply make an observation), I'm thinking it probably happens to other people a lot too. The problem is it's just so easy to get lazy about our devotion to God, and it's so easy to let other things crowd into our lives at the expense of serving God with our whole heart.

I said I have questions about the verse in Jeremiah. Maybe that surprises you. After all, the verse is really just a few words and it looks straightforward enough on the surface, but I'm finding myself pondering two things particularly.

• What does it really mean to SEEK Him with my whole heart?. After all, we're not talking about a game of hide and seek where wholehearted might mean I am absolutely determined to find someone who is just as determined to stay hidden. I don't think God is hiding, so the hide and seek analogy doesn't work. So what does it really mean to seek God, and to do it with my whole heart?

• If I really FIND God, what does that look like? This verse is sometimes used in reference to the unsaved person seeking for God, as the Holy Spirit draws Him. I think there is truth in that application, but I'm not convinced that's all the verse really means. Somehow I think it has to do with the quality of our relationship with God. I feel like part of the answer is that if I seek him as if nothing in the world is more important, the result will be a relationship with God that is far more than the superficial kind of "knowing God" we most often experience and are satisfied with. But if I reach that pinnacle, what will my relationship with God look like? What will that mean to my ability to understand God, love God, hear from God? 

I guess I have another question, but it's not about the verse itself so I won't put it in the list with the others. Here it is. If we ever at any time experience the kind of relationship with God that comes from truly seeking Him with our whole hearts, or even something close,how can we be satisfied with anything else? How can we live with the more halfhearted, watered down kind of relationship we normally seem content with? I am asking myself that question. Having at times drawn so very much closer to God, willing to love Him and serve Him and trust Him with my whole heart, why is it so easy to slip into a much more mediocre kind of Christianity and be okay with it?

This is a subject I need to put a lot more prayer and thought into. For now, I'm just introducing the topic. Do you have any insight into the questions I've asked? Any thoughts on the topic? I'd be so happy to hear from you. Please send in your response below in the "post a comment" section. Let's explore this together.

it begins in the heart

I have been captivated for a while with the teaching of Jesus in what we call The Sermon On The Mount. I wrote a blog entry back in March expressing some thoughts on one aspect of this teaching, but I feel like talking a bit again today about that amazing sermon.

I think what keeps me coming back to these chapters in Matthew (5 - 7) is that the teaching relates to our everyday lives in such simple and practical ways. I don't mean to suggest the things Jesus taught in those chapters are easy for us to live up to. Far from it. But it seems to me to be a pretty clear statement of what a Christ follower looks like. i.e. what our attitudes and actions are supposed to be if we call ourselves Christians. Jesus said, you want to be a follower of mine? Here's what that looks like.

I've been reading and studying and teaching from the Bible for a long time, and I think I am reasonably intelligent, but I am a long way from being a theologian. In fact to be honest I sometimes lose patience with theological hair splitting and endless discussions about things we will never have a definitive answer for. I think sometimes we have to just come to the point of saying "if God thought we needed a definitive answer on that issue, He would have told us more clearly". Sure, we can speculate and express different interpretations, as long as it doesn't lead to arguments or division or dogmatic stands that are based only on opinion.

That can certainly happen with any scripture, including the sermon on the mount. If we are prone to parsing words and dissecting expressions in an attempt to discover some hidden "truth", there is as much fodder in Mathew 5 and 6 as anywhere else, I suppose.

I prefer to take a more simple view of what Jesus taught. When he said don't hold on to anger and grudges, he meant don't hold on to anger and grudges. When he said love your enemies, he meant love your enemies. When he said to invest in heavenly priorities instead of earthly treasures, that's what he meant. When he said trust God and don't worry, well... you get the point.

When Jesus sat on the hillside and began to teach, he knew he had an audience of common people oppressed by the Pharisees, confused about what God really wanted, and feeling hopeless about their ability to measure up. Jesus taught them in a way they hadn't experienced before. He told them it really starts in the heart. If your heart is right then you will do the things that are pleasing to God. And you will treat other people the way God wants you to treat them. It's very similar to his teaching about the greatest commandment, the clear implication being that if you love God will all your heart you will do the things that please him, and there won't really be a need for a rule book.

The sermon on the mount is not a new set of rules. It's Jesus revealing to us what's in his own heart when it comes to priorities, relationships with people, and relationship with God. It's an invitation to look like Jesus in all these things, to truly be a Christ follower.

Many things about the Bible are complex and that doesn't mean we should ignore them. We should do our best to understand what God is trying to teach us in all these things, provided we don't fight with others who honestly come to different conclusions than ours. But I really like that Jesus sat down one day with a bunch of ordinary folk and in effect said "here's where the rubber meets the road. Let me give you a glimpse of what's in my heart. Let me change your heart so it's like mine, and then it will be natural for your life to be pleasing to God."

I'm still going to read the rest of scripture and do my best to come to a right understanding. I'm still going to read and listen to the opinions of people who are more learned or have insights I haven't thought of. I'm still going to do my best to correctly handle the word of truth and be a workman who doesn't need to be ashamed. (2 Timothy 2:15) But when I am looking for guidance on what kind of action or attitude is pleasing to God, I can't find anything better than the words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount. I know of no better source of instruction for my every day life.  

   

Spiritual Parenting

On the morning of June 3 I will be teaching three seminars for young parents. The theme is "Spiritual Parenting". I am looking forward to this so much, and feel in my heart it will be one of the most important things I have done or will do in my ministry at The Mission.

There is a spiritual crisis among young people today, and the children in Christian homes are far from immune. Statistics tell us that large numbers of young people who have grown up in Christian homes and attended solid Bible believing churches all their lives are putting faith on the shelf and abandoning what we have known as a Christian lifestyle. Some of these are turning from God altogether. The stats confirm this but we don't really need them. We see it all around us

Far greater minds than mine are striving to understand the causes and the solutions for this serious problem. It's evident that neither the causes nor the solutions are straightforward, so in my seminars I will not in any way be pretending to have all the answers. What I can offer are principles, which I believe if diligently applied in Christian homes can have a significant bearing on how children deal with matters of faith and Christian living as they get older. Doing the right things in our homes does not offer any guarantees, but it does improve our chances of seeing our children grow up to love God and live lives that are pleasing to Him.

I intend to share with young parents lessons I've learned from things I did right as a parent, and maybe more importantly things I didn't do right. I will also be drawing on the writing and research of some really excellent Christian leaders and Christian parents who have authored books on the subject.

One of the reasons I am passionate about this is that when I look back on my own family and my years of parenting young children, there are some important things I didn't get right. Don't get me wrong. Both my wife and I were committed to Jesus and we had a pretty solid Christian family. We didn't succumb to many of the pitfalls that entrap or destroy families. We had a strong commitment to serving God and participating in church, and that was our practice as a family. Still, there were some rather critical things I missed.  So among all the things we'll share in these seminars are some important recommendations I wish someone had made to my wife and I while we still had time to get it right.

For example, one of the things I hope to get across loud and clear to Christian parents is this. The spiritual development of your children is YOUR responsibility. You can't delegate or deputize anyone to take it on for you. That includes the great church you attend or the wonderful children's workers in that church. Whenever possible your home must be the primary place of ministry to your children.  While the church can and should play a supportive role, it can never take the place of quality ministry that takes place in the family. 

As young children neither my wife nor I grew up in Christian homes. Christianity was not modeled for us as children and we did not have the opportunity to experience what a truly healthy Christian home could look like. We wanted that for our children and we tried. But without any guidance or instruction, most of our trying meant making sure our kids were regularly in church and Sunday School and mid week programs where the children's ministry experts would teach them all they needed to know. It was a mistake we made in ignorance and with good intentions, yet I feel without excuse when I see other parents with similar backgrounds to ours who seemed to instinctively understand what we did not.

However, the point is not to beat ourselves up. The point is that large numbers of Christian parents, even many who were raised in solid Christian homes, are right now making similar mistakes. They have failed to understand or accept that they have a God given responsibility to teach their children (both by word and example) to love God and serve Him with all their hearts. For many, even the commitment to make sure the kids are in church regularly has been eroded by other influences and other priorities. I desperately want to warn these parents of the dangers before it's too late!

This is a very challenging time for families. Children are growing up in a world where the pressures pulling them away from God are intense. It has never been more important for Christian parents to teach and support and prepare their children for life in an ungodly world. It is not possible to insulate our kids from the world they live in, but it is essential that we prepare them so they can survive and thrive in spite of being immersed in a world designed to destroy their faith. God's word makes it clear that grace is the only real answer ("I have overcome the world"), but it also clearly tells parents that we have a responsibility in partnership with the work of God.

Though I have taught these seminars before I am seeking God for the right words and presentation for THIS group of parents. I would truly appreciate your prayers in that regard. Please pray not just for me, but for the parents God wants to be part of this time of learning and challenge. I am certain that some of those God wants to be there are already feeling the pressures of other things they need or want to do that day. 

In my heart I feel few things could be more important than the principles we will be discussing on that Saturday morning, so my prayer is that parents will resolve to make this their priority for that day. For the sake of their families and their precious children. 

GOD HAS THE BEST PLANS

It's quite common in the Gospels for Peter to act on impulse or to put his foot in his mouth. Sometimes we have good cause to shake our head, and say "Peter, maybe you should have thought that through first."

But there is an episode in Matthew where Peter ended up being rebuked rather harshly for what appears on the surface at least to be nothing more than speaking out of love and concern for Jesus. He was probably just saying what the rest of the disciples were thinking, but he was the one who spoke up. And he paid the price.

Here's the passage from the NLT (Matthew 16: 21 - 23)

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

I can only imagine the shock on Peter's face, being on the receiving end of this really stern response from Jesus, when I'm pretty sure he spoke out with only the best of intentions. I'm absolutely certain he had no idea he was falling into Satan's hands by trying to dissuade Jesus from the difficult path He had to take. What I hear in Jesus' words is "What I have to do is difficult enough for me already. Don't make it harder by trying to talk me out of it. That's what Satan wants, not God."

Two very important things are happening here.

1. Peter isn't trying to do or say something wrong. He means well and he's just saying what seems right to him. 
2. What seemed good and right to Peter, and absolutely could have been the right thing in other circumstances, was not consistent with what God wanted in this particular time and place. 

Clearly then it's possible for us to speak or act with right motives, doing what seems right to us, but be in opposition to what God wants in that situation. If it can happen to Peter, surely it can happen to us. 

The Bible addresses this issue in Isaiah 55: 8 - 9.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

This is a dilemma. If we can't trust ourselves to be right, even when we have good motives and a sincere desire to do the right thing, what do we do? The answer is simple, but not always easy. We need to ask the Holy Spirit of God, who lives within us, to bring our thoughts into line with His. We need to ask God to reveal His plans, His desires, His will.

If we can fault Peter for anything in this story, it's that he spoke what seemed good and right to him without first giving time and attention to discerning what was good and right to God. That's where we often fail as well. We can come down on the side of what seems good to us at the time. Our conclusions or decisions may be guided by love and by good moral thinking and by a righteous confidence. But if we haven't spent time waiting on God, to know His will, we can still be out of line with God's higher purpose or plan for a specific situation.  

I suppose my conclusion is that no matter how much we have grown in God, no matter how wise and well intentioned we are, we will never reach a point where we can presume to know God's will without asking. Moving ahead with the best intentions, without honestly and diligently consulting God, may result in us taking actions or speaking words that are out of line with what God wants at that moment or in that circumstance. Human wisdom and pure motives are never good substitutes for an understanding of God's will.

So next time you find yourself moving ahead in a way that is wise and moral and loving, and you have only the best in your heart, make sure you've hit the pause button long enough to consult with God and hear His voice. Better to be in tune with God's plan than to rely on our own wisdom and good intentions. 

GRACE - IT'S NOT THAT DIFFICULT

Grace. It's a concept that seems to be easily (sometimes deliberately?) misunderstood. It gave rise to some seriously false teaching in the early church, and 2000 years later it still presents some challenges.

The Jews in the early years of the church were used to a system of rigid laws and ceremonies. For many centuries they had learned the importance of following the rules. The Pharisees were so dedicated to rules that they even made up extra ones on their own. Given that culture it's not surprising that the idea of being accepted by God through grace, instead of by strictly adhering to the law, was hard for some people to accept. 

The problem is very evident in the discussions among early church leaders as to whether Gentile believers should be required to be circumcised. Some couldn't quite get their heads around the idea that God's grace could extend to people who hadn't followed this essential rule. It's quite understandable really. People who had been indoctrinated with the law throughout their lives were challenged by the idea of grace.

There was also the opposite problem. Some people welcomed the teaching of grace as if it were a day pass to Disney. For them grace was the golden ticket that gave them permission to do whatever they wanted. Anything goes, because God's grace will take care of it. 

We find Paul and other early church leaders repeatedly working to bring a balanced and correct understanding to the concept of grace. We come into relationship with God and receive His forgiveness through His gift of mercy, not by working really hard to be good enough, but as recipients of God's grace our overwhelming desire ought to be to please Him.

Grace is a free gift that costs us everything.

In my teaching and writing over the past year or so I have found myself emphasizing over and over again the amazing love of God. The more I understand scripture the more I am impressed with how much God loves us. I am astounded by the lengths He was willing to go because of that love. But there is another side of the story. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart and soul and strength.

The debates of the early church are alive and well today. While the Jews of the early church were struggling with what to do about the rules, in our culture we are struggling with the fact that there are none. The common question among Christians is what rules do I have to follow? What can I get away with and still be a Christian? 

Jesus avoided the arguments about rules and regulations. He talked about the heart, and when asked about rules said the most important thing is to love God with our whole heart. Clearly He was suggesting that if we love God wholeheartedly, all these other questions will take care of themselves. The question shifts from "what do I have to do" to "how can I please God even more"?

It's not really a hard concept to understand. It's not deep theology. When you love someone you want to please them. You don't want to do anything that will hurt them or make them sad.The greater the love the greater the desire to make sure you never disappoint that person.

Grace and love. If we really got it we would save ourselves a lot of grief arguing and fretting over what we can do or what we can't. The "legalists" wouldn't have to be bound up in onerous rules. The "grace means anything goes" people wouldn't be doing mental gymnastics to justify the things they're determined to hold on to. Instead we would be caught up in a desire to please the one we love, and the Holy Spirit would guide us into a life and lifestyle that would make that a reality more and more every day.

It's really simple. God loves us so much He gave His best. What He wants is for us to love Him back that much, so we will give our best. No wonder Jesus talked about the heart so much. That's where it all comes from. 

If you have found yourself recently arguing with God or with yourself or with someone else over whether it's okay for you to do something or hang on to something, you might want to check your heart. If you love Him with all your heart, the Holy Spirit will guide you and your desire to please Him will overwhelm all other motives. Colossians 3:15 says "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts". If you love God with all your heart, and the desire of your heart is to please Him, when you are doing that you will be at peace. When you are not, when you are displeasing the one you love, you will be robbed of peace. 

Jesus lived in a culture preoccupied with rules, but when asked about the greatest commandment, He didn't get drawn into a discussion about rules. He said to love God with your whole heart. Our culture is preoccupied with eliminating all the rules, and Jesus still gives the same answer.

Love God with all your heart, and the rest will follow.

Easter - the greatest love story.

During this Easter season there will be a wide variety of sermons preached in churches all over the world. Each one will emphasize a particular aspect of the Easter story, and no doubt a number of excellent insights will be expressed.

For me one truth stands out above the rest. It comes from one of the most poignant episodes in the Easter story. I believe it may just be the supreme message we can take away from all of the Easter events.

In Luke 2: 39 - 44 we find Jesus on the Mount of Olives. He has gone there to pray, following what we commonly refer to as the last supper. He leaves His disciples and goes on alone a bit further to pray by Himself. In verse 44 we find these powerfully moving words.

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

It is clear in this passage that Jesus, in anticipation of all that was going to happen in the next few hours, was terrified. Unlike a mere human He had the distinct disadvantage of knowing exactly what was coming. He knew the betrayal and humiliation He was about to experience. He knew the horrific physical torture He was about to endure. He who had never sinned knew He would soon be overwhelmed by taking on Himself the sin of the world. And perhaps worst of all, He knew taking on that sin, mine and yours, would cause Him to experience something He had never experienced ever in eternity past. He would be separated from God the Father. 

The weight of this knowledge proved to be almost more than He could bear. In anguish He sweat drops like blood. In a moment of desperation He asked the Father if there might be some other way, some other path that would not lead to the cross. An angel came to minister comfort and support. 

I absolutely believe that Jesus could have called a halt to everything at that point. On the brink of fulfilling the plan of salvation that had been in preparation ever since man's first sin, He could have said "no, I can't go through with it". He could have called a host of angels to His side, deciding it just wasn't worth it. But He didn't. He had another emotion that was even more overwhelming than the depths of fear and anguish He was experiencing there in the garden. Love.

It wasn't duty or responsibility that made Jesus persevere right to the cross. It wasn't the Father who compelled Him to go through with it. It was His love for you and for me.

The plan of salvation was born out of an indescribable love God has for His creation. It was a decision to pay the greatest price ever paid, to redeem mankind from the destructive power of sin. In the garden that night Jesus found Himself on the brink of fulfilling that plan. In that crucial hour His humanity caused Him to be filled with terror and anguish, and even fleetingly made Him wonder if there might be some other plan. But love was greater than fear.

This is astounding. The hymn writer put it this way. "Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God should die for me." I can't think of a better or more powerful way to express it. God Himself, my creator, loved me so much that He willingly and purposefully died for me. 

How can we make sense of a love like that? How can we begin to understand the depth of love that caused Jesus to willingly go through the torture and the separation from God caused by our sin, when He could have stopped it all with just a word. I can't grasp it and I can't describe it. I can only choose to accept it.

The tragedy is that even in the face of such unimaginable love and sacrifice, so many refuse to respond. And far too often, even among us who believe and accept the gift of salvation made possible by that sacrifice, our response is guarded and stingy. We should be saying, "God loved me enough to give everything for me. How can I not give everything back?" Instead we are prone to withhold our best and pursue our own priorities. God gave His best and we are prone to give so little.

The message of Easter has many nuances and no doubt preachers will explore every last one of them during this season. For me, one word stands out like a huge flashing neon sign on the top of the highest hill. "LOVE". Easter is about Jesus expressing the greatest love known to mankind. How will I respond?

Pick me! Please?

I want to share with you one of the most important lessons I have ever learned in the course of my Christian life. I was a young man with a wife, three kids, and a mortgage when God called me to leave a pretty successful secular career and go into ministry on a full time basis. He hadn’t revealed at that point what that ministry was going to be, and it was a pretty daunting challenge.

Just a few years before, my brother had gone through a similar process. He left a secular career and enrolled in Bible College on route to becoming a pastor. I helped him move his family from a nice home into a tiny basement apartment where they had to string a line across the corner of the bedroom to hang their clothes. I distinctly remember heading home at the end of that day thinking, “good for him – there’s no way I’m doing that”.  

So here I was, feeling God leading me toward who knows what, and I said something like this. “God, I will do whatever you want as long as I don’t have to go to Bible College and put my family through that.” I will do anything but…  Having put this condition on my obedience I went for months praying desperately but getting no clarification from God on just what I was supposed to do.  I was in turmoil and getting nowhere.

In the midst of this inner struggle we had moved to a new city, a new job, and a new church. One Sunday morning I sat in a Sunday School class. The teacher was Glenn Pitts. I didn’t know him at that time, though eventually he would play an important role in my life. He was teaching from Isaiah chapter 6. It’s the story of Isaiah’s vision, where he was standing in God’s throne room. In verse 8 God said “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah immediately shot up his hand and said “Send me!”

Now I’ve heard lots of sermons taken from this vision, and even from that verse, but Glen made a point I had never noticed or heard mentioned before. Notice that God hadn’t said yet what the job was and Isaiah didn’t ask. Isaiah was so captivated by God’s presence, and so overwhelmed with the desire to please Him, that without even thinking he said “whatever you want, I will do it. “

That hit me like a ton of bricks. It was one of several occasions in my life where I knew God placed me somewhere and guided the speaker’s words because He had a message for me. You see, while I was pleading with God to reveal His plan to me I still had a condition on my willingness. Anything you want, as long as it isn’t Bible College. And here was Isaiah, so excited about the idea of serving God that he was willing to do anything. He was willing to enthusiastically volunteer even though he didn’t even know what the job was.

I went home that day and prayed, “Okay God, even if it’s Bible College”. From that moment God began to clear things up. Before long I knew where He was leading. It didn’t involve Bible College, but it did take me and my family down a path of great sacrifice and great miracles and great joy.

I learned an important lesson that day and in the weeks that followed about the attitude God is looking for. He is looking for willing hearts, servants who are prepared to be obedient and trust Him without condition. 

I said this was a lesson learned, but if I’m honest it’s still difficult sometimes to put it into practice. I still have times when I really want to put conditions or boundaries on what I am willing to give or do for God. I still want to hold back and say, “Lord you can have this part of my life, but I think I’ll just keep this part for myself.”

We can do that if we choose. In fact we can go through our whole Christian lives giving God only a part and stubbornly keeping control of the rest. We might even feel like we have won in the struggle, being Christians but successfully holding on to that part of our lives we don’t want to give up. The reality is we lose. We lose the opportunity to see what God can do when we give him total control. We lose out on the blessings God has for those who are fully obedient. We lose in our Christian growth, because we are stunted when we refuse to let God be Lord of our lives.

Giving God full reign over our lives is a hard decision for some. It’s definitely a step not every Christian is willing to make. God’s call doesn’t usually involve a career change. It may mean serving God in a new way, or simply giving up control over some activity or priority we are determined to hold on to. Whatever it is, following God’s way sometimes seems like too great a cost. The reality is that the abundant life Jesus wants for us (rich and satisfying in the NLT) comes when we are willing to let Him have all of our lives, when we place ourselves in His hands to do as He will.

Does your trust and obedience come with conditions? Are you resisting God’s leading or holding on to parts of your life because you’re not sure God can be trusted with them? Then you’re missing out. It’s as simple as that.  The good life really begins when, like Isaiah, we are so overwhelmed with God’s presence we can’t help but enthusiastically blurt out “Lord, I’m yours. I’m all in.”

Rich and Satisfying

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon called “Rich and Satisfying”. I took the title from John 10:10 (NLT), where Jesus said that’s what He wants our life to be. I explored the idea that when God asks us to do things it’s because His goal is to make our lives rich and satisfying.

We often feel as if the Christian life involves a long list of stuff we are supposed to do for God. We have to volunteer in church. We have to do kind things for people. We have to give our time and money. We have to pray. We have to… have to… have to…

Of course God does encourage us to do certain things as His children, but the question is why. Is it because He has a lot to do and is short of workers? Is it because He’s poor and needs our money? Is it because He doesn’t know how to do something and really needs someone with our talents or experience?   

When we look at it that way, it seems pretty silly. God spoke the world into existence. Does He really need me to get things done? So then, why does He ask me to do things He could easily accomplish on His own or in some other way?

There is only one logical answer. If God’s instructions aren’t for His benefit, they must be for mine. He asks me to serve because it’s how I will grow. He asks me to help others because I will develop compassion and generosity and self worth. He asks me to give because I will develop a generous spirit and learn to trust him. He asks me to pray because I will grow in my relationship with him. Every single thing God asks of me, the things I often do grudgingly or not at all, are not for His benefit. They are for mine!

When I do what He says I will grow in all the ways that are really important. I will learn to trust God and grow in the peace that can only come from truly knowing Him. I will have the rich and satisfying life Jesus said He wants to give us.

Does that mean life becomes trouble free? Sorry, no. We live in a world where sickness and death and hurt and disappointment are part of life, Christian or not. As long as we are in this world we will not be free of problems, but Jesus’ plan is that we grow in our relationship with Him and become the kind of people who can rise above the struggle. He wants us to have a rich and satisfying life in spite of life’s circumstances.

The conclusion is inevitable. If we do what God says we will grow and mature and move ever closer to the rich and satisfying life Jesus wants us to have. If we refuse we rob ourselves of the amazing life that is available to us.

How ironic. So many Christians avoid doing what God asks because they think it’s going to keep them from what they really want.  They are busy pursuing what they are sure will bring “the good life”. They don’t want to serve God or others because it will cut into their time for doing the things that will make them happy. They don’t want to give to God because they need that money to do the things they are sure will bring joy and contentment. They want to be great parents and are convinced that means providing their kids with more sports, more lessons, and bigger and better vacations.

Even for many Christians life is about doggedly pursuing their own goals and priorities because their way seems better than God’s. What’s the result? Instead of finding the ever elusive “good life”, they end up robbing themselves of the rich and satisfying life only God can give. They have stress instead of God’s peace. They are always reaching for more instead of knowing God’s contentment. Their children end up pursuing what everyone else says is good rather than pursuing God. They are always busy but not achieving the things that are really important in life.

If we could only grasp that God loves us and knows what’s best for us. Every instruction He gives us is for our growth. Every priority He asks us to adopt is for our benefit. Everything He tells us in His word is designed to bring us to a life that is rich and satisfying!

Dr. Phil is famous for the statement, “how’s that working for you?” Take a look at your life. If you are stubbornly pursuing your own agenda and your own priorities instead of following God’s instructions for life, you might want to ask yourself that question. How’s that working for you? Is it bringing peace and contentment and allowing you to rise above life’s struggles? Jesus wants you to have a rich and satisfying life.

Responding to Jesus' Challenge

In our Grounded & Growing classes we are looking at some of the lessons Jesus taught us in the sermon on the mount. I have promoted the class as "Christianity According To Jesus", since this sermon really contains the essence of what Jesus said the Christian life is supposed to look like. 

The things Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount are totally counter cultural. In fact they

are counter to our human nature in many respects. Jesus makes it clear that we are not to be satisfied with accepting our natural tendencies or the cultural norms. As followers of Christ our lives and our attitudes should be distinctly different from what is generally accepted as the norm. That's what the salt and light lesson is about. We are supposed to be different, different enough that our lives make things taste better, and bring light to a dark world. 

While all of what Jesus taught in this sermon is challenging, some things seems to be virtually impossible. That became quite clear as we discussed what Jesus said about anger and revenge and loving our enemies. We did pretty well in the anger and revenge discussions, but it is obvious that loving our enemies is simply not a natural thing for most of us. 

So that means I can't retaliate when someone hurts me, or worse yet, hurts someone I care about? So I am supposed to love and pray for someone who continues to abuse me or my loved ones at every opportunity? Okay, this is hard.

Yes, this and some of Jesus' other teaching is very hard. It goes against our nature. I suppose that's really the point. It goes against OUR nature, but is absolutely consistent with GOD'S nature. Somehow God's nature has to become our nature. That's the spiritual journey He wants us to be on.

As we consider some of the really difficult challenges Jesus confronts us with, we have essentially two possible responses. We can say "Sorry, but I just can't go there. That person hurt me so badly and they don't even care, so there is no way I can love them or pray for them. And forgiveness is out of the question. I know what Jesus said, but I can't (or won't) do it!" 

The other possible response is to say "I'm not sure I can do that, but I know it's what Jesus wants and I really want to please him. I want to be obedient. So God you're really going to have to help me with this because it's not in me to do it on my own."

The first says I can't do it, and I'm not willing. The second says I can't do it, but I would like to with God's help.

I've used the "love your enemies" teaching as an example because it is one of the more challenging teachings and obviously a real stumbling block for many, but the principle applies to any of the things Jesus teaches us about Christian living. We have the choice to say "I'm not going there" or "I want to go there and I need your help". 

I believe this is a critical choice and that it has a profound impact on our growth as Christians. The first response says I am not willing to be obedient. What's the result of an attitude like that? In my understanding the result is a stunting of our spiritual growth. When we say to God that I don't care what you say, I am going my own way, we are putting up barriers to what God wants to accomplish in our lives. We can only grow in our spiritual lives when we are willing to let God shape us and change us, and bring us more and more into a likeness of Jesus. God can't (or won't) mold an unwilling vessel.

On the other hand, when our attitude is to acknowledge both our weakness and our desire for God to help us overcome that weakness, we are opening the door for all the wonderful things God wants to grow and develop in our lives. When our desire is that God take our imperfect nature and mold us so we become more and more like Jesus, that's exactly what will happen.

We are born with a sinful nature,and the world we live in is plagued with ungodly attitudes. The things Jesus teaches us are often contrary to our nature and to what is generally accepted by the people around us. He knows that. He knows the lifestyle He teaches is so challenging we won't be able to get there without His help. The decision we face is simply, are we willing? Are we willing to let God shape us or would we rather stubbornly hang on to our own way even if it is contrary to what Jesus wants. 

If I'm right in my thinking, refusal to allow God to work in our lives and help us conform to His will will stop our spiritual growth in it's tracks. That's a terrible price to pay for stubbornness. It's a terrible price to pay just so I can hang on to attitudes or behaviours that God wants to change. 

We all have some struggles in conforming to Jesus' instructions for Christian living. Being the perfect Christ follower is illusive and impossible for me to get to on my own. Yet if my desire is to be all that Jesus wants me to be, and I am willing to submit myself to the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I can daily grow more and more into the person He wants me to be. 

I want that.

A Matter Of Trust

I try to put a lot of myself into these blog entries, so to that extent they are all personal. This one is more personal than most.

It's been several weeks since my last posting. That's because on February 2 I had a car accident. It was a serious accident that could have easily taken my life, and the lives of others. Instead of that tragic outcome, I was the only one injured, and none of those injuries seem to be serious or permanent in nature. It has taken me a few weeks to get my head in gear enough to write to this blog. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm getting there.

It's not my intent to make this entry about the details of my accident. What I want to focus on and share with you are some things I am learning through this process. Perhaps they will be meaningful to you.

The hand of God in my accident is unmistakable. He clearly took a set of circumstances that could have been truly devastating, and reduced it something many times less severe. So if we were prone to question God, the obvious one would be "why didn't you just manipulate things to prevent this accident altogether?" In other words, why did you allow it to happen?

In all honesty I have not spent one second wrestling with that question. In fact, I only raise it now because I have a point to make. 

I have wondered what God is doing in all of this, and what He is going to do, but not from the point of view of "God, why did you allow this to happen to me?" My wondering is more out of a curiosity and could best be framed as this statement. "God, I see your hand in this and it makes me wonder what you are working out. Perhaps I'll never know, but I am definitely curious about what you are going to develop in me or in the lives of others as a result of these circumstances. If you choose to let me in on that some time, that would be great."  

Why am I so sure God is working something out? Three reasons.

• He didn't prevent the accident but certainly prevented it from being a serious tragedy. To me that clearly says He has something in mind.

• James 1 says to be joyful when trials come. Why? Because tests help us grow.

• Romans 8:28 teaches us that in all things God will work out something good for those who love Him. That good may be for us, or it may be for someone else.

James presents a real challenge. I find it as hard as anyone to be joyful when trials come. Right now I continue to have some pain, and that is limiting me in some ways. I tire more easily than normal and for now there are some things I simply can't do. I'm not happy about that. In fact I am impatient and frustrated at times, and generally less cheery than I would like. 

Yet under all of that I have a deep sense and trust that God knows what He is doing. He WILL turn this into something either for my benefit or the benefit of someone else. There is a small price to pay in the process, but I know this is simply an investment in the greater good that God is working out.  I am at peace knowing God is at work.

I have been very much aware during these past few weeks that some people as they go through life are required to make a substantially greater investment. Some have lost their lives. Some have suffered life altering injuries. Others struggle with pain that, aside from a miracle, is not going to go away. My relatively small problems have helped me be more mindful and more compassionate toward those who truly suffer. It has also left me so impressed with those who struggle daily without respite and continue to put their trust in God. In the midst of their own suffering, they say "God I am willing because I know you are working out something good, something important, something that makes this price all worthwhile."

Of course Jesus was the ultimate example of this. Knowing the pain and suffering He was about to experience, He submitted Himself to the will of God because of the greater good that was to be accomplished.

So here are a few things I am experiencing and learning in my own situation. I share them with you in the hope they will be of some help to you now or in the future.

First, I am grateful to God for sparing my life. I am far more grateful even for sparing the lives of others. This encourages me in my trust that God is going to use these circumstances for good, and I hope He might eventually allow me to see what that is. 

Second, I am growing in my ability to empathize with people who are hurting. 

Third, I am encouraged beyond measure by those saints of God who in spite of real suffering are unwavering in their faith and commitment toward God. They are willing to pay the price because they know in their hearts God has not left them but is still at work in and through their lives.

Are you struggling? Consider these amazing words from scripture.

"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen"  Jude 24 - 25