A Bonfire

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Fact #1 We are called to be the light to the world. We are told by Jesus that we are to let our light shine so that the world can see the light. What is the light we are to be shining? The power of the gospel in the lives of His people. 

Fact #2 We the church were designed by God and started by Jesus for a purpose. Jesus tells His disciples that when He leaves He is going to send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to empower the mission that He will leave with them. What is the mission? Go and make disciples, teaching them the truths of Jesus. Put simply, the missions was to multiply themselves.

Fact #3 The church was designed with the community and family feel for a reason. Paul continually speaks of the church and family of Jesus as a body or a whole group of people with many parts unified for one purpose. Both diversity in unity and unity in diversity, is what the church should be. But why should I be a part of this community or family? Because a group of people unified for one goal and mission can do so much more for Jesus than one simple lonely person.

So what happens if we combine all 3 facts into one simple noun? We get a bonfire for Jesus. Take one flame and then add another flame to it and then another and another and keeping multiplying the flames and all of a sudden you get one big fire or simply called a bonfire. So if a single lover of Jesus shines His light and shows the power of the gospel in his or her life and then adds many other Jesus lovers around him or her in a particular location and all of a sudden you get a bright light in one location that first will bring others into the light with them and second the light will beat back the darkness. A community of lights and flames for Jesus will spread and multiple and the mission of Matthew 28 is accomplished.

Are you creating a bonfire for Jesus with others in your area of impact?

Friends with benefits part 3

Having your spouse as your best friend is an amazing gift to have. And here is another reason why. Can you guess it after these 3 stories?

Story #1
So we had only been married for 3 weeks. We had just celebrated our first Christmas together in our small 1 bedroom apartment. This first apartment was small, very quaint, and yet very homey. The only problem was the bathroom was right across a small hallway from the bedroom. Well a few days after Christmas I got the stomach flu and for 12 hours could not stop throwing up. My beloved had to listen to me very loudly be sick in only the first month we were together stuck inside. And she is still with me today.

Story #2
So my son was very young still and did not understand germs yet. And he was still young enough that he had a nuk and would carry it every where. I had a bad habit as a dad that when I found it on the floor, I would just clean it off with my mouth before I would give it back to him. My beloved always warned me about putting his nuk in my mouth because of germs. But I would never listen. Well you guess it he got the stomach flu one time and was sick for a few days. But I did not know he had the germs for a day or 2 so I was sticking his nuk in my mouth with his germs. Guess what? I got the stomach flu and was down for the count for a few days myself. She still reminds me of that story and putting the nuk in my mouth 8 years later.

Story #3
My beloved is out at a doctors visit and I am home alone with all 4 kids. When all of a sudden the baby in the group starts to projectile vomit and letting it fly. I start to run around and try and help her while the other 3 kids first stare at me and the baby and then run for the stairs and getting away. So now I have a sick kid throwing up with no help and vomit all over the place. My wife walks through the door a little later and jumps right in and helps start the laundry, and keep the crying baby happy and get the other 3 kids in order. My beloved came home and help set things back in place and made my life plain and simple again.

So what is the benefit of having our spouse as our best friend? They help us with the vomit when no one else will. Yes that is true but more importantly the benefit of having them as our best friend is they get to see us in the hardest moments and darkest and smelliest times and will still love us no matter what. God has given us a truly great blessing in our spouse and the benefit they can be as we deal with sickness, stupidity, and the challenging moments in life. Thank God for His great gift and then thank you spouse for being your best friend. Just don't vomit on them:)

"Be Holy" revisited

Last Saturday I posted a simple verse because after a long day I did not much energy to write. Today in my ABF class we took a look at that verse and the bigger paragraph that the verse is in.

1 Peter 1:15-16
"But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'."

These verses are commanding us to live lives that are holy. I could also put it another way and state that we are to live our lives in a way that is worthy of our calling by God. God is holy and He is calling His children who He spilled the precious blood of His son for, to live lives worthy of Him.

But what does a life that is holy and pleasing to God look like. Here are a few ideas and actions that I think could be considered ways of living lives that are holy.

1) A few verses before in verse 13 it talks about preparing our minds for actions. So a holy life is one spent in the word of God preparing our minds for His service.

2) Verse 13 also talk about self control so a life of holiness is one of self control and abstaining from evil or wrong distractions and actions.

3) A holy life is one bearing fruit and evidence of salvation.

4) A holy life is one that manifests a thankfulness for what God has done for us.

5) A holy life is a life that is encouraging to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

6) A holy life is one that magnifies the power of the gospel.

7) A holy life is one that silences the adversaries of the church and God.

8) A holy life is one that glorifies God.

9) A holy life is one that leads others to eternal life.

10) A holy life is one that lives in community with other holy lives.

These are a few traits and descriptions that I came up with as I have been studying and thinking about what it means to be holy and pleasing to God. As the Old Testament talks about frequently, we need to be a sweet and pleasing aroma to God.

"Be holy because I am Holy"

Learning when to judge others

1 Peter 1:22
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart".

I recently read an interesting blog recommended by my beloved to me. http://manuelluz.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/the-issue-of-age-in-modern-worship/

This blog talks about the epidemic that seems to be happening in the church today with the worship leader going the way of the young people. And how the older folks are being pushed out and not considered for leading worship anymore. The article never mentions judging the older folks and their ability to lead meaningful worship in church but it hints at it continually. While I was reading it though I began to think about how the church and the members in it are great at judging each other for who they think people really are and not getting to know them for who God made them to be or the struggles they might be having.

First I will say that I have dealt with this in my own life as I have pursued Pastoral ministry in churches full time. Churches I have applied to have seen my age, or lack of degrees, or even lack of formal paid experience and then judged me based upon those qualifications. I have discovered this is normal. But praise God a church did get past all the things I mentioned and sat me down and got to meet me and learn first hand how God has made me and what He is doing in my life. I am not sure yet what God is going to do in this relationship but I know it was amazing and was truly a blessings not to be judged for what I appeared to be like on paper and rather who I am as a person.

But the church does this type of thing ever day with each other in the pews. Maybe it is the man who is quiet, introverted, and not a social person that we think is not spiritual enough or not a leader. Maybe it is the person who is not outspoken and uses their actions to teach rather than words who we feel is not a true teacher. Maybe it is the stay at home mom who spends hours working for her family and is not involved with the church as much that we think is not spiritual or has a problem. We as a church judge each other daily and it can hurt each other as well as the reputation of Jesus and His children. Judging one another is a sin and wrong. We need to get to know people and see how God created them and what passions He has given them before we judge them.

Next, I will say though there is a time when we need to look and judge others in our church family because of sin. Maybe someone is sinning against us and we need to open up and let them know they are hurting us. Maybe that person is hurting others because of their sin and we need to help them realize what they are doing is wrong. Possibly the sin is ruining the reputation of God and we need to let them know they are destroying the name of Jesus. Finally maybe someone has an idol in their heart that has misplaced God and we need to help them realize that they have misplaced God in their lives. So there are times I believe that the Bible allows the faith family to "judge" what another family member is dealing with or what they have become. This "judging" though is meant to deal with sin and not how the person is created by God.

But most importantly in both of these good judging times and sinful judging times we need to realize that love must be the foundation and first step. We are called many times throughout the New Testament to love one another in the church. Love must be at the root of what we say and do. We must love our brothers and sisters in Christ and get to know who they are and how God has created them for His glory. Then we will learn not to judge them in a sinful way or love them in a helpful way and work through sin.  Loving one another will also help us learn how to interact with each other and make us a unified body working for the glory of Jesus and the spread of His gospel. Loving each other in the church also shows the world what an extraordinary bond that the Christians have for each other and they will want to be a part of that loving relationship that glorifies our Savior.

So there are times to judge each other and there are times when judging is a sin. But love must be the root of any judging we do with each other. Actions with genuine love will always allow us to glorify God in what we say and do.

*As a side note, I do not think churches judging me for the person I am on paper is a sin, just not the way to always do things or discover how God is working.*

Grace vs Glory

Another benefit to having your best friend be your spouse is the fact you can enjoy a great book together. My beloved and I recently started a book together entitled, "The Good New We Almost Forgot" by Kevin DeYoung. The book is a study of the Heidelberg Catechism. The reason I bring this up is because in the opening of the first chapter he talks about how the the Heidelberg starts off talking about grace where as the more famous brother catechism, the Westminster starts off by talking about God's glory first.

I think this is an interesting idea to think about. Both grace and glory are important topics from the Bible to think, talk, and pray about. Each topic has it's place in Christian doctrine and even in the every day life of a lover of Jesus. So lets take a look at each word and see how it fits into the life of a Christian.

The Westminster catechism starts off by talking about the chief end of man, which is to give God glory and praise Him. God created for His own good pleasure. So the natural response by creation should be to give the Creator glory and show off the mighty works of our Creator. A reading of the book of psalms cannot go more than a few verses and you will find that glory is due God. Giving God glory is also called worship. Again, the Bible continually speaks volumes of the act of worshiping God. We are called to worship God as Creator, Savior, Provider, Ruler, King, and many other titles because that is the reason humans exist. God ultimately provided salvation for humanity because of His glory and so that He will be praised and worshiped. Everything we do should be worshiping God. Everything we say and how we respond should be to the praise and worship of God. God's glory is the heart beat of the church and should be at the root of everything done by those who love Him.

But grace is also just as important in its place in the mouth of Christians. Grace is the root of salvation. God chose in His free will to give us something He did not have to, salvation. If the grace of God was never shown to humanity in Jesus, then all humans will spend eternity in Hell and have no hope for anything. The grace of God is a topic that the Bible also speaks volumes about and is brought up almost as much as glory. Without the grace of God we would have no reason to worship and give God glory. The grace of God in salvation and also the grace in the daily moments should be driving us to our knees in worship. The glory of God has its foundation in the grace bestowed on us by God. As Ephesians 2: 6 reminds us, "it is by grace you have been saved". Without grace in our life we would be walking around as dead men with no hope and our lives would look totally different. Even the common grace of God in the small things is important to have. God in His amazing love is continually giving us amazing gifts out of His grace towards us. Grace is the bedrock of the Christian life.

So which word should we start with? Well, if I was talking to a non-christian, I would probably start by talking about grace because after their state of sin is pointed out grace must come next. The person who needs to know Jesus needs to know of God's grace and the act of Jesus in that grace. But if I was talking to a member of my church, I might start at glory. Continually giving God worship and praise in our lives is vital for Jesus' church. If we as Christians are not worshiping God then we probably have an idol in our hearts in place of God. So glory must be a first word in the church.

So each has it place and importance in our lives. I say we cannot separate them because they are too interconnected and they are both at the root of the gospel. So we should not chose one word over the other but instead work them together hand in hand. They both shout, JESUS GRACEFULLY DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WE SHOULD GIVE HIM THE GLORY AND PRAISE FOR RESCUING US WHEN HE DID NOT HAVE TO. Amen

Friends with benefits/zombies- humor

On Monday I posted about the topic of marriage and having our spouse as our best friends. Then yesterday I posted about zombies and the fact we as lovers of Jesus have the cure for what ails them. Here is a humorous video that deals with both posts.





As husbands we need to be patient and always compassionate and not always try and fix the problem. But as believers that have the knowledge of God and His path to salvation we need to make sure that if we are talking with someone who does not know and has the death problem, we need to tell them and show them how God can fix the problem. I pray as you laugh you will remember these 2 important truths as husbands and more importantly as Christians.

Zombies

Ephesians 2:1-2
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."

So I will be honest, I do not know much about zombies at all. I think the only zombie movie I have ever seen is "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. But I do know one thing about zombies though and that is that they are dead. Zombies are always dead and they always seem to want to eat those who are alive because they can never seem to find a cure for themselves. That is why I watched "I Am Legend" because in the end Will Smith finds the cure for the zombies so that they will not be dead anymore but be alive.

Did you know that all of humanity are zombies for real. The human race are spiritual zombies who are dead and have no hope in finding a cure. I was a zombie at one point in my life. Billy Graham, Mark Driscoll, John Calvin, and the Apostle Paul were all zombies at one point. Our neighbors, our co-workers, some of our family, and even some people in the church we attend are zombies. As Ephesians reminds us we were all zombies, being dead in our sins and the state we were in without a cure. We were all dead, destined for destruction and the eternal place of hell.

But God gave us a cure, JESUS. Amen. Jesus is the cure for all the zombies; us, our neighbors, people we like and people we do not like. God gave us the biggest cure for death. The cure is Jesus blood and a simple act of believing in Jesus and his death to take on our sins in our place. Then a turn of repentance and a life of faith and action in response to our love of Jesus for His cure for our zombie state. Amen. We have the cure for the state of spiritual zombies. Did you know that? We have the cure for death and all we have to do is tell those in our life who are still zombies and then they can have the cure to. God is the Doctor who has given us the cure and now asks us to share His cure with others. Wouldn't you tell someone if you knew they had cancer and did not know it? If someone had a nail in their forehead and did not know it would't you tell them and show them the cure for their problems. The spiritual zombie state is just the same. We have the cure for spiritual death and damnation, so go tell as many as possible and give the zombies you know the cure for their state and lead them to the Doctor.