Vacation

The Lord commanded His people to, every so often, take a break... that is what I am doing for the next week. I have hopefully gotten everything done that I need to so that I can step away for a week and just relax. 

Don't expect much in the way of updates on here because I am not even sure if I will look at a computer for a week. So, until I return be blessed.

Thank You Carson

I just listened to D. A. Carson address a group of graduating Bible students with a message called "The First Thing To Do in Your Ministry." Carson has been a recent God send for me. His books are extremely soaked in biblical wisdom. He knows his stuff and listening to and reading Carson's material has been good for my soul.

When I listened to this address available here I was so encouraged.  

The text he unfolds for the present graduates and future evangelicals is Deut. 17:14-20. It is God's command to the Israelites for choosing their leader once they enter the land that God will provide. Carson reasons that there are parallels from that text that can be applied to anyone going into a ministry leadership role. So I tuned in to see how many I actually line up with.

1. Make sure it the man that God chooses.

2. He must be an Israelite (I'm assuming this can mean born again Christian in our context)

The above two I added just by looking at the text. The points below are the ones that Carson presented.

3. Don't acquire horses.(hehehe)

The point behind the acquiring of horses was to show the power of the king. The more horses, the more power. God warns us against trying to leverage our position to gain more and more power or acclaim. This is a real tension in ministry. How do you keep yourself humble? It is  struggle that all leaders face. Even the disciples struggled with this. James and John's mother asked Jesus if one son could sit on His right and the other on His left when He came into His Kingdom. We need to follow the leadership of Jesus. With a servant leadership that humbly leads the people. Verse 20 of Deuteronomy 17 says it this way; "[do not] consider yourself better than your brothers." Serve with humility. Make it your ambition to humbly accept the position God has placed you in and don't try to climb the success ladder if that is not God's plan for you.

4. Don't take many wives

The concept here is that kings could network by marrying into different families. Avoid letting your allegiances spread too thin. (I couldn't hear this portion very well. The audio was pretty sketchy) I believe it is a good idea to let your commitment be to the Gospel alone. To let that be what you are wed to and avoid other passions that take your commitment away from the gospel. "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). Let your passion be singular; Jesus Christ.

5. Don't accumulate large amounts of silver or gold

This should be a given. Carson says,"your heart follows your treasure." Let your treasure be God and your portion Himself. Do not strive after what the world strives for.

6. Write for yourself on a scroll a copy of the law. Keep it close and read it all the days of your life so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of the Law and decrees. (This is my fave!)

Our job as pastor, leaders, teachers it be obedient to the Word. We need to take the Word and copy it. Take it in its original language and re write it. I don't know how literally to take this but the concept is obviously pure and good. Understand and know the Word of God. Keep it close and read and reread and read and reread. This is the role of the christian leader. To know the law. "Then,  he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel" (vs. 20b). God will bless those that keep near to Him and revere Him and obey Him. We are to be students of the Bible. Completely mastered by it. 

Wow! What a great message. It is encouraging and confirms the strategy that God has laid before me. 

God help me be faithful in leadership. Help me to be humble. Help me to have a singular passion for you and your fame. Help me to be faithful to the Word. Completely mastered by it and in complete submission to it. Help me to faithfully lead the students that you have blessed me with. Help me to be the leader you desire me to be. Amen

Acts 9- Tabitha Get Up

Isn't it cool that Peter raises a dead woman? In the story we are made aware of a disciple that dies... I am going to venture away from the text slightly to make a point about about evangelism. The text is not a story of evangelism in the sense that I will use it, but people did hear of this and believe (vs 42). 

What I want to point out is that we get this privilege too! By faith we can raise the dead. Physically, but also, in my estimation, more importantly the spiritually dead! We need to start trusting Jesus for a waking of the dead in our friends and neighbors that do not know Him. 

It is astonishing that Peter calls for Tabitha to "get up" but we with the same measure of faith need to start praying for our friends... I have friends right now that are spiritually dead. When they die it is over for them. They are seperated from God for forever. Instead of just taking it on the chin and writing off their spiritual deadness as 'the way it goes sometimes.' I need to get on my knees and beg God to give life. He can speak one Word to them, "LIVE," and they will come to life (Ezekiel 16:6). 

So, today, let us think of those we love and care for that are spiritual dead and let us bodly beg the Lord for Him to raise the dead. That is my strategy for evangelism. Trusting God to do what I can't do. Praying for the dead to be awakened to the majesty of Christ.

May The Lord Bless and Keep You

I am writing this because some Mondays I need to be encouraged... I am not fishing for words of affirmation (although that is my love language)... I really just want to find my encouragement in the Word. I want to hear on most Mondays, "well done my faithful servant." I want Jesus to whisper in my ear. Because most Mondays I am telling myself the complete opposite. I am telling myself that I didn't do that great of a job. I tell myself that I am not that great of a Gospel teller. I only live out portions of what I teach so I am hypocritical in my leadership. 

So, this morning I want to share with myself mainly (and you can tag along too) that God is for me (and you too). There is a prayer that is given in Numbers that my mind gravitated to this morning. Moses is telling Aaron and his sons how to bless the people. So, in the sixth chapter of numbers it says, "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

  " ' "The LORD bless you 
       and keep you;

  the LORD make his face shine upon you 
       and be gracious to you;

  the LORD turn his face toward you 
       and give you peace." '

  "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." (Numbers 6:23-27)

That is what I prayed this morning... "God bless me and keep me. Make your face shine on me and be gracious to me. Turn your face to me and give me peace. Let me bear your name." That is what I need. It is so refreshing to pray like that. It takes my focus off of my achievements or lack there of over the past week. It takes my focus off of the secondary issues and puts it back on what is truly important... Being right with God. Having peace with God and dwelling in His midst. 

I need to be faithful to Him and He determines the outcome. It is so hard to avoid 'selling out' in ministry. Every ounce of my flesh wants to see something measurable. Every ounce of my old man wants to do something that people look at and praise me for. But that is not the Gospel. That is not the new creature's design and function. It is actually my job to be obedient to Jesus even if 'results' are bleak. 

'God help me to be faithful. Don't let me sell out. Direct my steps. Allow me to be completely faithful to you, no matter the outcome. Let your face shine on me. Keep me. Turn your face to me and give me peace. Amen.'  

Knowing God- Review

I have recently ran into a couple other people as I was in the process of reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God. The response was the same on both occasions... "that is a heavy read." And I must admit it took some time and some slow pondering. But it was well worth it. I believe Packer admittedly set out for it to be a theological work, but it ended up being a contemporary classic Christian work that draws many closer to God. My favorite element of this book is how its whole aim is to keep the main thing at the center... knowing God.

Each chapter can stand alone as a theological piece but as each chapter unfolds a different element of God, they all work together to draw you nearer to the living God. I must say that this book challenged me. It humbled me and drew out my sins. It corrected a couple misconstrued notions, and ultimately helped me to know God better.

I highly recommend this book. Read it slowly. Get the journal. Devore this and let it change you.

Acts 9- Growing In Numbers, Living in the Fear of The Lord

Do you fear God? I would say that the majority of church goers would quickly answer "NO." And, their minds would race to thoughts like "God is love," Or "Jesus died for ME," or even get upset that a question like that would be proposed. 'Fearing God is a ridiculous idea. Don't you know that he loves me.'

We have a 'gentle Jesus' approach to our faith. We want to know the patient and loving and forgiving God. We do not want to 'Fear' God. That sounds primitive and wrong. 

But friends, the Bible could not be more opposed to our 'gentle Jesus.' Yes God is love. Yes God does forgive. Yes God is patient. But to truly appreciate those aspects of Him you must understand the stark contrast of His wrath, His demand for holiness, His zeal for His namesake, His supreme authority and power that could snuff out earth in a millisecond if his wrath was released in fullness. We must see the depths of grace as it is juxtaposed against God's divine holiness. 

When you see the majesty of God it will illicit fear. You do not presume God owes you love. You do not demand that He forgive you. You do not tell God to be patient with you as you continue to sin. In fact, it is quite the opposite when you experience the real God. You realize "who is man that you are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:4)" 

The problem with modern Christians is they are veiled to the reality of God. They either get a misconstrued picture of God from ill equipped pastors. Or maybe even they read their bibles into their comfy assumptions of what God is like. Highlighting favored verses that make them feel good and dismissing others as, 'not a complete picture of the New Testament God.' Ps. there is no new testament God, there is only God. The God of both testaments that never changes. But, if they took some time to think through the these thoughts; "if I had no presuppositions of what God is like, and I read the bible for myself, what would I think of God?" First off, you would be thinking correctly. God reveals Himself through his word. It is like me saying, "My name is Cory, I am 26 years old, I grew up in Rockton Illinois, I love to surf, I love coffee, and I don't like missing sleep." Then you look at me and say, "that's not really like you." That is absurd. I just told you about me and you arrogantly think that you could better describe me than I can describe myself!?  That, my friends, is what we do to God when we do not take Him at His Word. We make God out to be a liar. 

The early Christians knew better. They feared God. They knew that He is infinitely greater than them and it caused a deep respect, a reverence, and trembling worship (Psalm 2:11). I am implying these because in verse 31 of Acts it says, "living in the fear of the Lord." And because of that the church grew in numbers. God was pleased to add to them because they made efforts to know Him. Not to try to make God sound more appealing by scaling down His Might, and Sovereign control, and Wrath, and Holiness.

Let us open our Bibles and cry out, "God show us what you are really like!" And the result will definitely have an element of fear.

Acts 9- God Calling

Acts 9 is the story of Saul's conversion to Paul. It is a phenomenal story that shows how God works. Saul in the story was, "breathing out murderous threats against Lord and his disciples." 

Now before you write Saul off as a religious prude, we need to assess ourselves and see how much like him we actually are. Because we too can be a Saul even after our initial conversion... This is what we do; We constantly stiff-arm Jesus. We like to keep him at a safe distance that makes Him appear to be important to us but when it boils down to it we would rather advance ourselves by our religious actions. Saul was highly esteemed in his religious circles. He was a devout religious man. He, on his own ability, knew the Law and attended the temple and did things that would make others think he is a super godly man.

We do the same thing. We like to attend church. We like to talk about what we read in the bible. We like to go to retreats or worship services and display our christianity. But, the thing we do not want to do is submit. It is one thing to advance our 'faith' by our own religious actions, it is a whole separate thing to humbly come to the feet of Jesus and beg Him to make us look more like Him. That makes us feel stupid, like a petty beggar. It offends our pride. 

Thank God that he mobs us with His ways. Saul on the road to Damascus was overcome by the presence of Jesus. "Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4). Jesus pursues us and overtakes us at times. Let me explain. He does this to us at the time of our conversion. He shows us our sins and humbles us to show our desperate need of a savior. But, he continually does this too. He is sanctifying us so at times He overtakes us and reveals our pride and humbles us at the foot of the Cross. This is for our benefit. It is in those moments that we see Jesus as supremely precious. It is when you are humbled that it doesn't matter how much of the bible you know or if other people think you are some great Christian. All that matters is that Jesus loves you and you have been adopted into the Father's family. Obedience becomes your desire because you love deeply. Humility becomes your reality. You do not presume that God owes you any grace and you certainly would not offend Him by sinning so that grace may abound. You desire to have your entire life come in line with the gospel. Transformation happens. Saul becomes Paul. The greatest persecutor becomes the most passionate missionary. We get vamped from our casual half-hearted following to a relentless pursuit of Jesus and His ways.

So today, I challenge you to pray that God would overtake you. I challenge you to pray for a fresh experience of Jesus that breaks you of your plans and helps you to adopt His. You are on your road to Damascus. You have a plan for how you will accomplish your advancement of your faith through bible study, classes, sermons, etc... but what you really need is to meet Jesus today. You need to be mobbed by his glory and you need to be transformed. Humbling needs to take place and glorification of Jesus needs to be made. Pray that God would ransack you. Then brace yourself. 

Acts 8- Finding Jesus in Scripture

Philip runs up to a chariot as directed by God, and he hears a man reading the book of Isaiah. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.... Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (Acts 8:29-35)

Do you realize that when the apostles preached they preached Jesus from the old testament? They took all of the Scriptures that were available to them(Genesis- Malachi) and they showed how all those Scriptures pointed to a messiah (Jesus) that would be the ultimate sacrifice for mankind (Jesus dying on a cross) to bring us back into perfect fellowship with God.

That is what Philip did in our story. He met a man on the road and explained the Scripture to him about Jesus. When the man heard with spiritual ears he accepted Jesus as messiah and was baptized. 

Do you look for Jesus in the Old Testament? Many of us avoid the Old Testament books because they are a little weird and really hard to sift through. It seems like a bunch of random stories and poems and such and we have a hard time figuring out how to file them. I just want to remind us that the early believers only had these scriptures. They didn't have the masterpiece of Romans. They didn't have the joyful book of Philippians. They weren't reading the New Testament letters yet that explained Jesus. All they had was the Old Testament. But that was enough to convince them of Jesus.

When Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his day he said, "you diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:39). Jesus was telling them that the whole old testament was a testimony about the Son of God. Namely, Himself. Again, when Jesus had risen and returned he  "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24: 27).

So, this is my challenge to you. Be on the lookout for Jesus in Scripture. Even in the old testament. Jesus has been the focal point of the whole thing. 

Level Ground at the Foot of the Cross

So, why did John the baptist prepare the way? To make it a level playing field. It didn't matter what background an individual was from. All have sinned and need to repent. Anyone from pharisees to prostitutes. The super religious to those that are the polar opposite of religious, and everything inbetween. "God can raise up children for Abraham from these rocks," John said... And I am a rock. Praise God for His grace. 

As I was sitting at Beef-a-Roo eating my lunch today. Three college age kids were a few tables down and talking loud enough that I could clearly hear them. Their conversation had to do with dancing on the counter top at the bar recently and how cool it was that one particular place stayed open until 6am and then reopened at 10am. One of the guys said that he could function on only a few hours of sleep and head back to the bar.

Here is the reality of the situation... I am the same as them. A youth pastor and 3 college age people sitting at a restaurant. We all have sin. We all make mistakes that offend God and our only hope is a Roman tool of execution. I need the cross just like they do. I need it everyday including today. It doesn't matter that I wasn't at the bar with them dancing I still have sin and I still have no solution for it other that an old rugged cross. Jesus paid for my sin and he will pay for theirs too if they will accept it. 

It is level ground at the foot of the cross. At the foot of the cross you will find humble religious leaders and you will find drunks and prostitutes and tax collectors. You will find the down and out and you will find the well to do. But you will never find someone that has earned their favor with God with their own abilities. You might find people standing with their back to the cross scoffing at us lowly people kneeling but they hardly know Jesus. At least, not like they should. Jesus does not admire the proud. He knows we are fragile and sinful creatures and He is our remedy and our comforter.

No Stone Unturned- Justification and Glorification

Jesus has done an amazing work in those of us that He calls children of the light. He has been our penal substitution... He paid for what we deserve. Then also He has been our righteousness... He provides for us a holiness that we don't possess on our own. But in doing these things you must realize the cost.

When Jesus puts His stamp of approval on us, when He seeks us out to forgive us and redeem us, He is not lax in His dealings with you. Let me show you a string of thoughts from the apostle Paul about how God deals with us. "Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30) And I commend the whole chapter of Romans to you. Paul is saying that when you are adopted into the kingdom. The moment you make a decision for Christ there is a string of events that is put into play. Calling... justification... glorification. Jesus is putting His name at stake when He calls you. So, instead of just allowing you to casually walk through life He relentlessly pursues you. He freely justifies you. Meaning that by faith in Him you are vindicated and redeemed before God. You will stand before the Judge of Judges and plead Jesus. Jesus is your lawyer/mediator and He counsels you that the only shot of freedom is to claim Himself as a substitute for you. He takes the heat. You go free. It costs Him dearly but magnifies your love for Him... Then it goes on to say in that He glorifies you. Meaning He promises those that He calls that they will not only be justified but also that they will be glorified. Interesting concept, here is my take on it; We are not equipped to be in the presence of God without glorification. Our present creaturely bodies would be incinerated if we somehow were able to stroll in to the presence of the Glory of God. We have to be transformed. We have to be made completely holy. Without sin. Without corruption. God promises to do that for us through Jesus. We are glorified by the righteousness of Christ and one day, " We will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye" our glorification will be made complete (1 Cor 15:51,52). We will be fitted to be in the presence of God.

How does this work for us now? Right now we are going through a process of sanctification. Again, in Romans it says, "we are predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29). So while you are on the earth you are going through a process of transformation. Like a Caterpillar in a cocoon God is making you more like His Son, Jesus. He is transforming you into something you currently are not.

This is where it gets painful. Jesus when He gives you His name and promises you His inheritance it costs Him dearly and He is not lax about this gift giving. I am realizing recently that He relentlessly pursues our Sin. The Holy Spirit is given to convict the world of sin(John 16:8). Meaning that the Spirit is going through your life and turning over every stone to find the dark places of your life and expose them to the light. The transformation means that God is not pleased to leave any stone unturned. He wants to constantly expose new areas of your character and life that need transformation. It is a painful process because over and over again God finds you out and even breaks off portions of you that cannot remain. Like a potter finding inconsistencies in the clay and removing them... Or like a tree with dead branches, God prunes them.

The awesome part of this process is the fresh grace we experience. I am humiliated when my sin is exposed. I am ashamed that I call myself a Christian and still have so much sanctifying that needs to happen. But, every time I see an area that God is working on I am flooded by His grace. God knows your sin. And He still loves you. He knew every area of me that needed transforming (there are many... actually every area of my life before He began the process), and yet He was willing to die for me to make me His own. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8b). So, as God is transforming you from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor 3:18), let me give you a verse to be your staying power. In the cocoon it is dark. As stones are overturned it is humiliating. But Christ is changing you. And you are promised a future glorification and a current transformation. Here is a verse for while you are in the midst of that transforming process. 

Do not gloat over me my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness (Micah 7:8,9).

The Cross Again

I love the cross! It is central to my life... Even though it is a grotesque Roman tool of execution. It is through the execution of One man that life was given to many.... and that life was given to me! O that precious cross! 

Below I have begun to describe how to get to heaven. In a nut shell I tried to explain the gospel. But, there are so many elements to the gospel. So, it is not easy to pack it up and McDonnie it. (That is a term I just made up to help describe our culture's desire for quick and easy drive through style). Anyways, the gospel has so many different elements and Christ giving me His righteousness is the one that mobbed my heart this morning at church... 

Not only is Jesus our substitution but He is also our righteousness. God demands perfection. He is a perfectly holy God and cannot be in the presence of sin. So we are separated from Him. In order for us to be with Him for forever we have to change. I am so soiled and dirty that I can't make the dress code for this party. But, another truth about me is that I am so messed up that even my best efforts to clean up will not make me ready for the party. The bible says that our 'righteousness acts are like filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:6). 

So I have the wrath of God pointed at my head like a nuclear missile... and Jesus covers me like a bomb shelter. Then, after Jesus absorbs the whole wrath that is due to me. I put on His righteousness like a garment. I am given a royal robe. I am clothed with something that doesn't belong to me. Jesus' righteousness. You see I am inherently bad. I am selfish and arrogant. But, Jesus is in the business of crucifying those parts of me. And after He crucifies an area of selfishness He places in me His ability to be selfless. Not just in the area of selfishness, He places in me His ability in whatever area He is working on... In me there are many.

Let me try to illustrate a little more. Imagine I am standing in line for a concert. It is something that I have wanted to attend for years and now I have finally made my way to the event... As I get closer to the front of the line I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I start to think I might not be able to get in. As I get closer and closer the feeling gets stronger and stronger. In fact, I start to despair that I could ever go in. When I reach the front of the line my suspicions become reality. I am asked to present a ticket that I do not possess. My heart sinks. But, at that moment a man presents me with a ticket. His ticket.

That is how it is with righteousness. What you require to have to be in the presence of God you do not possess. But, out of the grace and mercy of Jesus He presents you with a ticket (His Righteousness). He grants admittance into the Kingdom. It is bizarre because really you did nothing to deserve your being there. That is what makes grace so weird and religion so easy to fall into. We know of nothing that insults our pride like grace. 'We need to be justified on our own account' according to our screaming egos. 'You better earn your keep.' Even after we have received grace we still struggle. We want to do something. We want to earn favor. The weird thing is we already have it we just have to believe. 

Believing that Jesus gives us His righteousness is another element in getting to heaven. Believing on Him for righteousness. This morning I thought about my failures this week and I thought about Jesus being for me. It wrecked me man. The God of the universe stoops down to me and provides what I can't for me. He loves me that much that He doesn't cast me out when I mess up but instead He provides a way for me to be right with Him. Isn't that phenomenal?! Doesn't that make you want to praise Him?

The Cross

Last night I asked some of my Jr high guys how to get to eternity... The answer was telling and heartbreaking. They said, "you have to be good" then another chimed in, "you have to 'not sin'," and yet another, "you have to read the bible," and "you have to teach others how to be good" My jaw dropped. Not that I should be surprised that some Jr high boys have a hard time with the gospel, the gospel is bizarre. But, I kind of felt stupid for not having made it very clear for them. 

So I told them graciously that they were wrong. And I asked if they would like to know how to get to eternity? It is a simple question and the answer is profoundly important. In fact, I am planning on spending a couple weeks at youth group explaining this now.

To get to heaven you don't have to be good. In fact you will not find any good people in Heaven, except one... The King. You do not have to read the bible in fact a good portion of the people there will have been illiterate when they were on earth. You don't have to be a great proclaim er of the truth helping others to be good. There is only one way that grants entrance to eternity. Jesus. 

More on Getting to Heaven

Here is a little more elaboration on the question, "how do you get to heaven?" 

Everyone of us is inherently bad. I know it sucks. You are bad. If you defend yourself right now you are only confirming your pride and displaying your anarchy towards the King and showing that you don't understand your state. You, me, your friends, our friends, coworkers, etc... we are all bad. In fact, we each have offended God. Today even. We have disobeyed Him, disrespected Him, belittled Him, ignored Him, and that is just some sins we have committed toward Him, not to mention sins we have committed against His people that He has made in His image. And this took place today. So, we have broken good laws that He put in effect. 

Now if He wants to dismiss offenses that is good and fine but it is not just. That would be like letting a criminal go free. If someone breaks laws and if the judge just says, 'I don't care you are dismissed' that is not justice. That is ignoring the issue that the law has been broke and there is a punishment due. If no one is punished then it is like saying the law really isn't that important. Let me just say it is. All God's law is important and life giving. Every last letter of the law that was drafted with complete knowledge of the world that He created and each part of the law is to preserve that which is good about creation. Let's illustrate this a little. Take the opposites of the law and apply them to yourself. Others steal from you, others cheat you, they lie to you, they hate you, etc... that is clearly bad so the law is good. We want the law. So, ignoring the punishment doesn't work because the law is good and should be upheld. 

That puts us in a predicament. We are saying that  we have broken the law and it would be non justice if punishment is dismissed. But, we are in real big trouble because we have broken the commands everyday. Let's look at a few laws, loving God, idolatry, and coveting. Ok, most of us have broken the first command everyday. We do not love God like we should in fact most days we don't even think about Him. We wake up and take a breath but we do not give thanks for the oxygen or the sun rising or that our hearts are still beating. In fact, we ignore Him completely on some days. We don't even entertain a single thought about Him. So, strike one. Then we can look at idolatry. Every day we commit idolatry. Sometimes it is with our food. We think that we get our life from our food. We think that without it we perish. We think about what we are going to have for lunch and how it will taste. We plan our days around our meals and idolize the food that we put in our bellies. Idolatry. Or maybe you aren't a food person but you enjoy your hobbies. Maybe your hobby is TV. You love your favorite TV program and you schedule your week around your show. You have to watch that show or DVR it so you can watch it later. You idolize the show. Or maybe you idolize something else, your popularity, your job, your car, your favorite sports team, etc... Strike two. How about coveting? Desiring what you don't have. The opposite of being content. Everyday I am sure you see something that you want. An advertisement or something that a friend has. Or something that you drive by. Most of us covet everyday. Strike three. There are three broken laws. Maybe we don't break those three specific laws every day but there are plenty more that we break so let's just say we break 3 a day. Now I am 26 years old and I will subtract 5 years that maybe I won't be morally responsible for. So, 21 years, 3 sins a day equals 22,995 sins. Imagine standing before a Judge with that many speeding violations. You would be in trouble.

Now God in His great love for you is not going to make you pay. He actually made His son pay for you. The judge, who with ample evidence shows your transgressions, then takes off His robe and steps from behind his bench and says, "I'll pay. I'll be the one that takes the punishment." Then invites you to believe. If you believe and trust then you get granted access to His kingdom.

Now what does He mean by "believe" because the bible says "even the demons believe and shudder" so what does Believe mean? It means that you actually completely trust. There was a silly pastor with a BB gun that asked who believes I can shoot this balloon with the BB gun? Most people raised their hands. Then he said, "who believes enough that they would hold the balloonwhile I shoot it?" Less hands on that one. Then finally he asked, "who believes enough to hold it in their teeth?" One guy kept his hand up so this pastor invited him on the stage and took aim.... He shot the balloon and nearly lost his job but the point is you can say that you believe without really being willing to make a change. It is easy to sit in a crowd and say "Jesus is my sacrifice. He paid for what I deserve." It is a completely different thing to 'hold it in your teeth.' 

Do you believe?

YWE Volunteer Feedback

Just sharing some feedback from our training so you can get a taste of what it was like to be there. 

"I am assuming that I, like most others, need to be reminded of our purpose and vision, a chance to cheer each other on. Saturday did that for me." -Ruth, high school small group leader

"I thought last Saturday was a huge blessing.  I know that I walked away blessed and encouraged.  I felt renewed with ideas and just a spirit of forwardness.  The one thing out of the whole seminar was prayer." -Eli, Jr high leader

"I thought it was GREAT!!! I really learned a lot on Sat. Thank you for having it."- Luke, CSM worship leader

What has been amazing to watch is two weeks out the way it has impacted leaders and specifically high school leaders. Watching some of the seniors put into practise the "atmosphere of love" got me super excited this past weekend. 

Acts 8- Preaching the Word Wherever

In this chapter the believers are scattered. But, wherever the believers go they preach. In fact, they preach and joy sweeps over a city (vs 8). 

For some reason in our individualistic culture we allow church to take place at church... That sentence doesn't even make sense. Church is a group not a location. But we want churchy stuff to stay at the building. So, when we scatter no body preaches. In fact we do the opposite of preach we conceal. Just the other day I was walking to a coffee shop with Ashley to read. I had my bible and J.I. Packer's Knowing God and I actually thought about turning my book around so the cover wasn't facing out.... I'm just being honest. I have a tendency even though I am a pastor to conceal my faith. 

The believers did the opposite in Chapter 8. They preached. I know that word has many connotations and not the least of which is pews, a lectern, a guy in a suit, proclaiming his notes that he has neatly tucked in his bible. That is not an accurate picture. They preached meaning they proclaimed the excellencies of Christ and the amazing grace that was displayed in the cross to rescue sinners of which I am the chief! They were so enamored by Jesus that they couldn't shut up about it.

Imagine a young boy gets a new video game and just jabbers about it nonstop. Even though the conversation might move away from the video game, when there is a moment of silence he interjects, "Oh yeah!? and when I was playing it..." The boy's mind keeps going back to the game. He can't stop talking about it. He is consumed. So it was with the early believers. I am sure conversations covered many topics but when given a moment of silence the believer's mind gravitated to the glorious gospel. 

Is Jesus a treasure to you? Do you talk about him? Do you 'preach' to your family and friends about him? That is what our evangelism should look like. An excitement that bubbles up in us and attracts others. A preaching with our lives.  

quote

Quotes can shape you... books can help you grasp a concept but sometimes it is just one line that rocks your world. It is a joy to find those lines. You read it and you almost have to set the book down and just soak for a moment. I enjoy sharing those finds even though sometimes others aren't effected the same way. I can't miss the opportunity to share anyways. Enjoy.

The goal is not to master the bible. The goal is to be mastered by the bible. 

-D.A. Carson

Acts 7- Table Waiter or Courageous Preacher

Acts 7 shows us the depth of the man who only sees a couple chapters in the new testament, Stephen. Stephen was selected to help with the distribution of the food to widows. A waiter if you will. His job was to make sure that no favorites were played when the food was being handed out. That every widow received, with equal opportunity, food to survive. When the selection of men was taking place the prerequisites were high but Stephen meet them with ease. He was a man full of the Spirit and filled with wisdom (6:3). 

Then in chapter 7 we see the character of the humble waiter unfold. Not only was he a servant and willing to distribute food. He also had an understanding of God's story in the scriptures. He begins to unfold how God acted throughout history but people were prone to forsake Him. But, Stephen wasn't preaching in the church, he was preaching to the high priest and religious leaders!? Talk about an intimidating audience. But, Stephen was not dismayed by their human standing because he cared more about pleasing God and not so much about pleasing men. 

He saw that these men were doing the same thing their forefathers had done and turned from God disobeying the prophets that God had sent and sinning against God. So he called them out, "you stiff necked people... you always resist the Holy Spirit!" (vs 51) When Stephen continues to point out their sinfulness the men covered their ears and ordered the stoning of Stephen.

What a man! What an amazing man of God! He was humble. The type of humble that could easily go unnoticed like the 6 other men chosen in chapter 6. But God chose to highlight this one's faith. He was courageous. He was committed to God. He was bold. And most importantly he had fellowship with God: "He was full of the Holy Spirit." 

What can we take away from this story? At least a couple things this morning. First, are you humble? Stephen was willing to do whatever would bless the body of believers. He was willing to 'wait tables,' as the apostles described it. He was humble. Are you? Do you have to have recognition? Do you gravitate to things that will highlight your abilities or do you humble yourself and do what is required no matter how boring or insignificant the task may seem? Secondly, do you have fellowship with God? I would say this is the most important element of the Christian faith. A right relationship with the Almighty. All other things are secondary. Are you enjoying the fellowship of God. Do you love your time with Him? Do you look forward to meeting Him in His Word? Or do you crowd that time out with other tasks? Lastly, do you know your stuff? Do you know your bible? Could you in the heat of a moment tell the story of God's people? Could you explain God's working throughout scripture and use it to convict? Do you have a right understanding of God as He reveals Himself to us through His holy Word? Or, are you a confused Christian. Matt Chandler, a pastor in Dallas, recently said of some men in his congregation pointing out the ridiculousness of not knowing the word, "they (some men in his church)  know every player on the Dallas Cowboys. They know where they played high school ball and their stats... but when it comes to their bibles!?! ...futility calls to futility and Deep calls to Deep." Do you know your Bible? Stephen knew scriptures and he wielded them mightily by the Holy Spirit.

Let us look to Stephen as a model believer. I'm sure he had flaws but God chose to highlight some strengths and it would do us well to follow in his footsteps. 

Acts 6- Exuding the Holy Spirit

I know it is a funny phrase. I heard it many moons ago when someone was talking about our Senior Pastor David Clark. This was when I was a little guy and had no clue that later I would be a youth pastor under his leadership. But, someone said that "David exudes the Holy Spirit." Well what does that mean? It means that he is a man of God and when you are around him he radiates godliness or he has such a presence of the Spirit about him that it is noticeable. This is clearly how Stephen was in our text. He was full of God's grace and power and he had wisdom when he spoke. He reflected the glory of God and that got him in heaps of trouble.  But when they looked intently at him he had the face of an angel. 

You read an account like that and you cannot help but feel like you miss that mark completely. Or maybe you haven't even been aiming at that target. But, we all should try to be more like Stephen. We all should try to have such a deep fellowship with God that people can sense the presence of God when they are around us. I like how Paul calls it an aroma of Christ. When people come around you are they keenly reminded by their sense of spiritual smell that Christ is near? Does your life have that sort of effect on people? A heightening of the awareness of God? To some it is a pleasant experience. To some it is the fragrance of death (2 Cor 2:15-16). So, some will be pleased by your godliness and the Spirit radiating from you but in some it will highlight their sin and be the stench of their death. That is how it was for Stephen. He was the stench of death to the Jews because they did not know Jesus like they should. So they despised Stephen.

Is your life anything like that? When you are at school or work do you exude the Holy Spirit? By being in your presence are people made more aware of eternity? If not the remedy is simple. Having the presence of God about you comes from having communion with Him. If you spend more time with God in the morning then the aroma of God sticks with you for the day. The presence of the Spirit is with you and you become more like Stephen. So, if you want to exude the Spirit you have to spend some time with God. Take time today to just sit with Him. Life is busy and we have a busybody mindset. That is why it is so hard for us to have fellowship with an invisible God. We have tasks and projects that we must get to. So, spending time with Jesus takes a backseat to other things. Friends, let that meeting be sacred. Do not let anything crowd out your time with Him. Then you will have the presence of God on you and you will exude the Spirit.

A Quote I Can Live By

When Charles Spurgeon was asked why so many people would come to his church he responded,

"I am a man on fire for God, and when I preach, people come to watch me burn."

That is my desire. To be so on fire for God that people want to be around to watch me burn. 

Homework

I forgot what it feels like to have homework due... I love to read and study. I don't like to do homework. I am taking classes at Moody Bible Institute and have my first two papers due this week... I am such a procrastinator. In fact, I am actively avoiding my homework. Even writing this article is another strategy to put off what I need to get done. Thanks for buying me a few moments while I think of other ways to stall.

Blogging- A Blessing and A Curse

I believe that blogging can be a blessing. In my short career (one year so far) of blogging I have seen it as a blessing in that it sharpens my ability to articulate a message. 'Practise makes perfect' as they say. So, writing on a somewhat regular basis helps me better my writing. And, consequently, makes me a better communicator.

Also, it has been helpful for me to have a running commentary going through the gospels and now through Acts because it makes me examine every chapter for a teachable truth. It makes reading the bible more about getting a life changing truth than just accomplishing finishing a chapter.

In those regards blogging is a huge advantage to me.

On the other hand blogging can be bad... Unlike the process of publishing, blogging has no strict process that writings go through. With a simple click of a button thoughts are placed digitally out there for the world to see. There is no editor checking grammar. There is no publisher checking content. So, blogging can be almost a fake form of communicating. It makes me think of texting or emailing. People use those forms of communication and are given a sense of boldness because they don't have to look someone in the face to say whatever they are thinking. 

In the blogsphere this happens often. Many bloggers can boldly proclaim from their comfortable desks or lazi-boys whatever they think. In my assessment, I talk more than I should on web... I write on things that I have no practical experience. When I did more hands on ministry I would often write less but I would have an experience backing whatever I was saying. Now I am venturing into the realm of speaking on things I am not an expert on. I believe that is a dangerous position to be in. What if people are actually listening to me 'rant?' I will be held accountable for the words I so freely give.

I am just sharing my thoughts.... see what I mean!? Not every thought should be posted on the web. I really am just sharing my conviction for the day. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19). Slow to speak, slow to proclaim 'I am an expert,' slow to lead other people when time hasn't tested and proven a strategy. 

A Challenge to Youth Workers

Here is a message from John Piper to people that work with students... we didn't have time to play this talk at Youth Worker Essentials but I recommend it highly to you!

Imparting a Passion: A Challenge to Youth Workers