Day 3! Hopefully you are still reading along in the Gospels and considering what you are going to do differently for the remainder of the Lent season.
Today's reading is Matthew 5 thru 7. There is to much to talk about in this text,there is no way to do it justice in a few paragraphs. Here we have the greatest sermon ever preached! At this point Jesus has called His disciples and has been teaching, healing, and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom and great crowds are now following Him. Chapter 5 picks up with Him seated on a mountain and beginning to teach.
Matthew 5
The sermon starts with 9 statements known as the Beatitudes. These short statements really summarize the nature of everything Jesus is going to say in the coming message. These statements would be similar to church handouts or bulletins. They highlight the heart behind the words that are going to follow.
Verses 13-16- Jesus refers to His followers as salt and light. For time sake I am not going to explain, but do a study on both salt and light. It is amazing what they do! They both literally change environments! We are not called to an existence of survival! We are to be vessels representing Christ's glory that can not help but change the environments around us!
Matthew 6
We see Jesus calling out the same cultural Christianity issues as John the Baptist. "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from you Father who is in heaven." Don't give to the needy in order to be seen, don't pray in order to be seen or heard by others. Righteousness occurs when you come into the presence of the Father, not through anything that man can offer!
We also get introduced to something Jesus will expound upon many times in future teachings and conversations! We see we can not be a slave to anything but Jesus, not money, not worry, nor anything else. Our heart will be where our treasure is found!
Matthew 7
Unfortunately it seems that Christians would just prefer to forget this text or use it way out of context! It seems we either want to have strong opinions about everything and judge everyone according to our standards. Or we want to say that we are not ever to evaluate or judge others and we defend ourselves with that. WHAT JESUS IS RULING OUT IS PRIDE, WE ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT VIEW OURSELVES AS BETTER THAN OTHERS!
And this sermon ends with a call that cultural Christianity and lip service are not what offers salvation! A verbal confession of Jesus as Lord does not always indicate a repentant heart! We need to be doers of the WORD!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Day 2...Outcast...Savior
Day 2 of our Lenten reading through the Gospels in 40 days. Hopefully today you joined me in reading Matthew 3&4. One of my favorite men in the Bible is introduced in Matthew 3.
Matthew 3
In chapter 1 we saw that God uses the unlikely for His purposes. Again in chapter 3 we see God's handiwork in the life of an outcast, a rebel, simply put John the Baptist was one strange dude! He was all around eccentric. John wore the cloths of an outcast from a poor nomadic tribe. He rocked his camel hair clock and leather belt, and dined on such delicacies as locusts and honey! Here's the deal John was the man chosen by God to usher in the Messiah, and he fit none of the standards of society! John was not a deacon, an elder, an usher, or any other pew filler. John didn't own Sunday bests nor was he poetic and politically correct with his words.
In fact John called out cultural Christianity! He called those associated with the temple children of serpents! He drilled in on the fact that being a member of church meant nothing and attending church to be pleasing to God so you could avoid the coming wrath was asinine. John represented what Christ would call His followers to do, break free from humanity's call to comfort and status quo! John prepares the way for Jesus to challenge those who wanted to follow Him to confront their expectations and assumptions! It's a radical call!
Matthew 4
First of all we see Jesus fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. This corresponds with Israels experience of 40 years of testing in the wilderness. The difference Jesus endured His testing triumphantly and obediently. Here's the deal. How many times have you known where you needed to be, you knew what the future was going to hold and you looked for every short cut possible to get there? We are trained early on to take the path of least resistance and to pursue instant gratification. Look what Satan does in his last ditch effort to make the Messiah stumble, "the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Satan tries to give Jesus a shortcut to His future reign. This shortcut would allow Jesus to avoid all that would come on the cross. All He had to do was exchange the love of the father for the worship of Satan. All these I will give you was a lie. Often we want the shortcut or the easier path but it's all a lie. The only plan the will get us to our final destination is the plan laid out by the Creator of the Universe!
Also, Jesus can not simply be a good teacher, a good communicator, a prophet, or any other title that those who don't acknowledge Him as the ONLY WAY give! If He was just another religious man who walked the earth and did some pretty impressive teaching then He is also a liar. Jesus can not be both! He either was and is the one true God or He was a liar. Look what He says in Matthew 4:17 "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
God and the entire kingdom of heaven enters humanity in the person of Jesus! This is His first public proclamation of His identity and if it is not true than nothing that follows has any significance.
Matthew 3
In chapter 1 we saw that God uses the unlikely for His purposes. Again in chapter 3 we see God's handiwork in the life of an outcast, a rebel, simply put John the Baptist was one strange dude! He was all around eccentric. John wore the cloths of an outcast from a poor nomadic tribe. He rocked his camel hair clock and leather belt, and dined on such delicacies as locusts and honey! Here's the deal John was the man chosen by God to usher in the Messiah, and he fit none of the standards of society! John was not a deacon, an elder, an usher, or any other pew filler. John didn't own Sunday bests nor was he poetic and politically correct with his words.
In fact John called out cultural Christianity! He called those associated with the temple children of serpents! He drilled in on the fact that being a member of church meant nothing and attending church to be pleasing to God so you could avoid the coming wrath was asinine. John represented what Christ would call His followers to do, break free from humanity's call to comfort and status quo! John prepares the way for Jesus to challenge those who wanted to follow Him to confront their expectations and assumptions! It's a radical call!
Matthew 4
First of all we see Jesus fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. This corresponds with Israels experience of 40 years of testing in the wilderness. The difference Jesus endured His testing triumphantly and obediently. Here's the deal. How many times have you known where you needed to be, you knew what the future was going to hold and you looked for every short cut possible to get there? We are trained early on to take the path of least resistance and to pursue instant gratification. Look what Satan does in his last ditch effort to make the Messiah stumble, "the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Satan tries to give Jesus a shortcut to His future reign. This shortcut would allow Jesus to avoid all that would come on the cross. All He had to do was exchange the love of the father for the worship of Satan. All these I will give you was a lie. Often we want the shortcut or the easier path but it's all a lie. The only plan the will get us to our final destination is the plan laid out by the Creator of the Universe!
Also, Jesus can not simply be a good teacher, a good communicator, a prophet, or any other title that those who don't acknowledge Him as the ONLY WAY give! If He was just another religious man who walked the earth and did some pretty impressive teaching then He is also a liar. Jesus can not be both! He either was and is the one true God or He was a liar. Look what He says in Matthew 4:17 "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
God and the entire kingdom of heaven enters humanity in the person of Jesus! This is His first public proclamation of His identity and if it is not true than nothing that follows has any significance.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Lent...Facebook...Time
Hello Everyone!
As many of you know I have decided to give up Facebook during this Lent season. I did this to allow more time for things I feel really important! Jesus, family, and now writing! Starting today I am also reading through the Gospel's in 40 days. I believe for me and those who are partnering with me this will be an incredible season capped off by the remembrance of the death and burial of Christ! And then ultimately celebrating the resurrection! It's going to be epic!
So with all this free time, I plan one writing each day some of the things that I have learned or been fascinated by in the day's reading. They will be thoughts that have made me say WOW and hopefully they will do the same! Here we go;
Today's reading Matthew 1&2
Matthew 1
The beginning of this text is loaded with genealogy. While it may seem boring and the temptation is to just blow through it, it is utterly rich in giving us a glimpse at what Jesus is going to be about in His life. If you study some of the names here you will find adulterers, prostitutes, incest, and all kinds of other crazy stories. Many of the people listed here would make most church congregations highly uncomfortable if they decided to attend church and bless the pastor by sitting in the front row. And fascinating enough it's who God uses for the lineage of the Messiah! From the very beginning it was about the broken and messy!
Matthew 2
THE BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR! What an incredible story! Not much recap needed here, however I was reminded about all the prophecies and intricacies that exist in the Bible! It's absolutely amazing, it really is ALIVE! Today it was the gifts of the wise men that jumped out at me. We know they are good gifts but they are far more than that, they identify Jesus. Gold is what was given to kings; Jesus was the King of Kings, incense was what you would give to a priest, and Jesus was the High Priest of all high priest; myrrh ointment is used to heal, and Jesus is a healer. Myrrh was also used to embalm corpses- and Jesus was born to die!
And yet another fascinating fact. Jesus ended up in Nazareth being called a Nazarene. Nazarene means, "tender, green, or living branch." Jesus is the living Branch, the branch from David that extends the reach of the tree of Israel to us, foreigners and outsiders!
Hopefully you join me on this journey! I pray that the incredible stories come to life in your heart and that you become fascinated by the WORD!
As many of you know I have decided to give up Facebook during this Lent season. I did this to allow more time for things I feel really important! Jesus, family, and now writing! Starting today I am also reading through the Gospel's in 40 days. I believe for me and those who are partnering with me this will be an incredible season capped off by the remembrance of the death and burial of Christ! And then ultimately celebrating the resurrection! It's going to be epic!
So with all this free time, I plan one writing each day some of the things that I have learned or been fascinated by in the day's reading. They will be thoughts that have made me say WOW and hopefully they will do the same! Here we go;
Today's reading Matthew 1&2
Matthew 1
The beginning of this text is loaded with genealogy. While it may seem boring and the temptation is to just blow through it, it is utterly rich in giving us a glimpse at what Jesus is going to be about in His life. If you study some of the names here you will find adulterers, prostitutes, incest, and all kinds of other crazy stories. Many of the people listed here would make most church congregations highly uncomfortable if they decided to attend church and bless the pastor by sitting in the front row. And fascinating enough it's who God uses for the lineage of the Messiah! From the very beginning it was about the broken and messy!
Matthew 2
THE BIRTH OF THE SAVIOR! What an incredible story! Not much recap needed here, however I was reminded about all the prophecies and intricacies that exist in the Bible! It's absolutely amazing, it really is ALIVE! Today it was the gifts of the wise men that jumped out at me. We know they are good gifts but they are far more than that, they identify Jesus. Gold is what was given to kings; Jesus was the King of Kings, incense was what you would give to a priest, and Jesus was the High Priest of all high priest; myrrh ointment is used to heal, and Jesus is a healer. Myrrh was also used to embalm corpses- and Jesus was born to die!
And yet another fascinating fact. Jesus ended up in Nazareth being called a Nazarene. Nazarene means, "tender, green, or living branch." Jesus is the living Branch, the branch from David that extends the reach of the tree of Israel to us, foreigners and outsiders!
Hopefully you join me on this journey! I pray that the incredible stories come to life in your heart and that you become fascinated by the WORD!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Dictionaries, Babies, Wisdom
I have always been the kind of person who desired more knowledge. I have a fascination with information. I love to read, and make every effort to be a good student of life. Unfortunately this mentality didn't really surface until I graduated high school! I embraced the idea that the more information I pumped into my brain the more wisdom I would obtain.
This mentality is not evil in design, but I believe has become a giant stumbling block. Especially for those attempting to follow Christ and live lives that bring Glory to Jesus. We believe that we need to pump information from a pastor, a book, or other sources. We call it "getting feed" and we think through that we will obtain more wisdom that it will help us to be pure and holy. And for many this can lead to frustration with others especially the church, because that preacher isn't deep enough. This small group doesn't dig into and embrace theology. They don't even know what the word exegesis means!
Again, I am not advocating that we do not need to study and grow . But I would suggest we pause for a moment and really think about wisdom. Let's illustrate it this way. How does a baby learn to walk? Does he or she learn by studying adults? Or maybe by watching movies where the physics of motion are explained? NO, they start by rolling over, and then sitting up, and then crawling, and then falling. They start with one muscle group and then gradually add another until they have all the motions and strengths needed to walk.
So maybe one of the neglected keys to obtaining wisdom is simply being obedient to what we already know! Strengthening one muscle group at a time until we can add another and another. OBEDIENCE=WISDOM! So if you are a student, growing in wisdom could look as simple as respecting your parents today. Adults maybe it is respecting your spouse, our giving God control of your finances, or developing a daily prayer life.
Don't miss the blessing of simple obedience! It really is the foundation of growth.
This mentality is not evil in design, but I believe has become a giant stumbling block. Especially for those attempting to follow Christ and live lives that bring Glory to Jesus. We believe that we need to pump information from a pastor, a book, or other sources. We call it "getting feed" and we think through that we will obtain more wisdom that it will help us to be pure and holy. And for many this can lead to frustration with others especially the church, because that preacher isn't deep enough. This small group doesn't dig into and embrace theology. They don't even know what the word exegesis means!
Again, I am not advocating that we do not need to study and grow . But I would suggest we pause for a moment and really think about wisdom. Let's illustrate it this way. How does a baby learn to walk? Does he or she learn by studying adults? Or maybe by watching movies where the physics of motion are explained? NO, they start by rolling over, and then sitting up, and then crawling, and then falling. They start with one muscle group and then gradually add another until they have all the motions and strengths needed to walk.
So maybe one of the neglected keys to obtaining wisdom is simply being obedient to what we already know! Strengthening one muscle group at a time until we can add another and another. OBEDIENCE=WISDOM! So if you are a student, growing in wisdom could look as simple as respecting your parents today. Adults maybe it is respecting your spouse, our giving God control of your finances, or developing a daily prayer life.
Don't miss the blessing of simple obedience! It really is the foundation of growth.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Complainers, Blamers, and Sloths!
Wow, weeks since a post! I trust your holidays went well, and hopefully you have eluded the crazy flu that has been going around! Our holidays were busy, and then our family was decommissioned for a few weeks as we all got punched in the face with sickness! We are back on track now and posts will become consistent as I have lots of ramblings in my head and this helps.
Many of the posts to follow in the near future will have to do with a common theme I will introduce today. I can't tell you how many conversations I have with people regarding churches some pertaining to church culture, others focusing on church growth, and others that are just flat out disgruntled with anything resembling the institution of church. I personally have said and also have heard others say things that are just flat out crazy talk!
It seems like everyone has an opinion of what should be different, how it could be better, what's wrong, we need bigger, we need smaller, we need more songs, we need less songs, we need better preaching, shorter preaching, relevant preaching, it's a big ship...change takes time, its a little ship we can change tomorrow, and on and on goes the list. I have concluded that at least for me those comments, some of which I have said tend to be based on my personal preferences or experiences. And I don't consider myself a highly intelligent individual, so I have deduced that for me to base what church should or should not be on myself is reckless at best. So as I hit this hot topic during the next couple of weeks, I am going to try to avoid personal preference and ideas. I also don't want to point fingers or suggest that others are doing it wrong.
The bottom line is this, CHURCH CULTURE NEEDS TO CHANGE. People are leaving the church at a staggering rate, churches are closing daily, the church has lost its voice in the public realm, and on and on goes the list. I have not found to many people that disagree with the above statement. Many agree but don't know what can be done, others claim that that state of the church is directly related to the end times. While I don't fully disagree with the later, I don't ever want to become complacent because I have put an excuse in place.
So what do we do? Where do we look for an example? The answer...JESUS! Jesus changed the culture, Jesus is still changing the culture, I mean Jesus has been on the cover of Newsweek and Time magazine and we don't even have a picture of Him. And you say well Jesus was the Messiah of course He was able to change the culture and society. Didn't He empower the disciples to change current church culture in the book of Acts? Didn't Paul also tell us that the same power the raised Christ from the dead lives in us? If that's true we need to quit complaining about the way things are and start changing to be more like Christ!
In the posts that follow I will share some key characteristics of Jesus that I think are vital in understanding who He was and how He influenced society. The importance of these is crucial since we are commanded to be like minded with Christ. It's going to be a ride, I have been challenged and know that the beatings will continue and I hope you decide to regularly join in so we can grow together!And for those of you that are grammatically minded, see I told you I was not very intelligent!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Jesus...Vocabulary...Change?
Has Jesus changed His vocabulary? Is that possible?
As Christians we are supposed to have Christ living in us, speaking through us. So does our vocabulary match what we see Him using in the Bible?
Approximate # of time these words appear in the KJV Bible. (and to dismiss the complaints now, I used the KJV because those numbers are the easiest to access.)
LORD- 7,946
GOD- 4,444
JESUS- 983
LOVE- 551
ANOINTED- 98 - Do an interesting word study, study all words with the root anoint, after the age of the prophets, priests, and kings.
ANOINTING- 28
REVIVE- 8
REVIVAL- 0
In no way am I saying that the words on the bottom are wrong and should never be used. I do question looking at many main stream ministries and listening to brothers and sisters who are learning from these teachers, it would appear that Jesus has changed His vocab. Is that possible? Hebrews 13:8?
If His passions and vocab were going to change, why didn't He give us the appropriate "new" vocab, before He completed His word?
As Christians we are supposed to have Christ living in us, speaking through us. So does our vocabulary match what we see Him using in the Bible?
Approximate # of time these words appear in the KJV Bible. (and to dismiss the complaints now, I used the KJV because those numbers are the easiest to access.)
LORD- 7,946
GOD- 4,444
JESUS- 983
LOVE- 551
ANOINTED- 98 - Do an interesting word study, study all words with the root anoint, after the age of the prophets, priests, and kings.
ANOINTING- 28
REVIVE- 8
REVIVAL- 0
In no way am I saying that the words on the bottom are wrong and should never be used. I do question looking at many main stream ministries and listening to brothers and sisters who are learning from these teachers, it would appear that Jesus has changed His vocab. Is that possible? Hebrews 13:8?
If His passions and vocab were going to change, why didn't He give us the appropriate "new" vocab, before He completed His word?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Scissors, Bangs, and Grace...
So if you are like me, from time to time you have struggled with understanding grace. It is foreign that we would receive something that we do not deserve and we can't earn no matter how hard we try.
Through the antics of my ever entertaining 4 year old, God again showed me what a beautiful thing His grace is and how much He loves us as sons and daughters!
Recently my wife was doing some work while Gabby(our 4 year old) was working on some craft projects of her own. The projects involved cutting, pasting, coloring, all the normal stuff. At some point she became bored and scampered off to the play room, somehow managing to escape with the scissors!
Not to long later Alyson overheard my 10 year old daughter Haly enter the room and ask "why are you doing that Gabby?" The response given was "I wanted to cut bangs, don't tell mommy!" Haly responded as any great older sibling would "I think we have to tell mommy."
So as the two of them came into the room Alyson could no doubt see the look of fear in Gabby's eyes and Gabby responded "don't be mad mommy." To which, Alyson responded "I am not mad, but I am going to need to fix it." Gabby knowing that she was unable to fix her hair herself willing let Alyson finish cutting her bangs.
Alyson did instruct Gabby that she shouldn't cut her hair again, and the response was classic..."but mommy what if I forget?" My wife being an awesome mother some how was able to keep it together and responded, if you forget we will fix it again.
What an awesome picture of how Jesus loves us even when we make messes of our lives. He says to us I am not mad but you can't fix your life. Only I can because of the work that I did for you on the cross. We don't deserve it but we are His sons and daughters and He loves us. And when we forget and do it again, He still loves us!
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