Church

What is it about church that jumps in my heart and doesn’t let go? Why do I care so much? I suppose when you realize something saves you it becomes really personal to you and whatever instinct you have to protect it kicks in really good. I can say I would not be the person I am today if it were not for a community of people gathered together to share the gospel.

I think about that first church community I was a part of a lot. There are several things about them that strike me:

First, is that they a passion for youth. The church itself was dedicated to serving the children in the body and the community. I have been a part of many churches split on one out of two of these directions. Some want to focus on bringing in the lost at the sake of the body while others want to keep out the lost to protect the body. The gospel message of Christ doesn’t choose between the two. As difficult as it may be the body of Christ must take care of itself through putting itself out into the community in meaningful ways.

Second, they loved to teach about Jesus. One funny thing for me is that I have ended up in a different place theologically than the church of my youth, but not my passion to teach the love of Christ. I have no doubt in my mind and heart that those who formed the core of that church loved Jesus with every ounce of their potential. They were not perfect but they served the perfect one. It showed in their constant attention to my life, their desire to see me thrive, the celebration of events in my life, the way they cared for my friends, their love of teaching the Bible, their passion to drive core theological truths in my mind and heart. I never doubted their center was Jesus.

Third, they loved to have fun. Oh how many churches fail to make this simple leap. It is a sadness in my heart that people would not see the great joy in living the Christian life. Our Savior is the inventor of exciting, thriving, thrilling, demanding, and experienced life. He wants us to live fully. He wants us in the course of striving after Him to learn how completely fulfilling he can be. He wants us to enjoy the life as we live it towards Him.

The church is our gift from Christ. It is not meant to be our punishment. If you make it punishment stop. If you make it about you stop. Instead be one who seeks to make it a deeply passionate love affair with the Savior of your soul.

A Different Kind of Excess

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:20

“You are not being very Christian.” Have these words been spoken to you? They normally come at the moments where you really need God the most, instead people you love are charging that He has abandoned you and you have abandoned Him. Surly, they will remind you that he waits patiently for those that come to him, put away this double life. But really, what makes this any different than trying to earn your way to God? It seems the message is “Do good stuff and God will love you, do bad stuff and he won’t.”

What does it mean to “exceed” the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? At first glance you might think the moralists have some power in this verse, but what is Jesus really saying?

First, Jesus is the only righteous one. Jesus main point was to reveal that even the most holy rollers in the world couldn’t make the cut. They were in trouble just like the rest of the people in the world. The moral leaders of society were just as lost without Jesus as the down and outers.

Second, Jesus wants to give his righteousness to you. Jesus wants your righteousness to exceed moralism. He wants it to exceed indifference. He wants it exceed anything else of importance in your life. He wants so much more from you than a failed attempt at “doing life right”. He knows, you know, and I know that failure at life is a daily occurrence. I can go from having a great time with my kids in one breath to yelling at them in the next. We fail, we are broken and Jesus cleans the slate daily, hourly, and by the second.

Third, Jesus wants us to be empowered. The excess in righteousness comes from getting out there and attempting to be Christ like. Through the Holy Spirit we can attempt to be patient, kind, loving, humble, self-sacrificing, and all of those great attributes important to building community between one another. However, when we fail, which we will, Jesus will be there to wipe the slate clean, pick us up, and send us back out.

The greatest gift Jesus imposes on us moment by moment is grace empowering us to move forward in his Spirit.

The Better David

I have long held to the view that I am David in the David and Goliath story. I believed it because I experienced it. I often felt that I had to fight for everything that I accomplished. Almost as though the world's situations were a Goliath against me. I failed to understand what Paul was writing about when he said that his life counted as nothing compared to Christ. I never thought to put these two stories together until one day I realized Goliath beat me.

Facing moments in life where life goals die causes spiritual angst. Much like the angst caused Saul in 1 Sam. 18. It says the spirit of the Lord departed him and he was tormented with a harmful spirit. I know that harmful spirit and its desire to settle into the broken heart. David never provided me with victory over the life defeats.

It was at this point that I had to learn that Jesus was my better David. Jesus not only experienced great victory, but he did it through the greatest curse. He faced defeat and victory and because both were his path, both could help me in my path. In the moments of my great victory I can understand David, and I can identify with Jesus. However, in my moments of darkness it is only Jesus that reveals my ultimate victory. David can encourage me to buck up and try again, but Jesus says rest in me and I will heal you.

My encouragement is to live life with the Better David. Don't fall into the trap of proving to Jesus your worth and value. Instead embrace your worth and value because the Better David had redeemed you. He had fought the fight and won over death and invited you to partake, celebrate and rejoice with him.

Reason for God DVD

It is coming out. I am hoping we will have a study on this very soon at Canyon Creek.

Another Reason I love Tim Keller

Simple answer bathed in brilliance.

Turning Boys into Men

One of my favorite men got married this weekend. From my seat in the wedding (it was a shared officiating ceremony) I watched the stage with great pride. I was proud of the man that Chris had become but I was also proud of the other five men that stood up on that stage with him. Each of them grew up together and leaned into each other constantly to become the men that God called them to be.

It made me think: What did God do in their lives to make them men? As we grow in community together and shape each other what are the key factors that drive our desire to be more than dudes, or guys, but really become men?

1. Dedication to the core truth of the gospel.

These men are dedicated to the Truth of the world. They have chosen the ultimate man to follow and pursue. The one who said that He would lay down his life for his friends. The one who honored women just as much as he honored men. The one who obeyed his father even though he made the most difficult requests. The one who invited all who would call upon his name into his kingdom and family.

2. Dedication to being in relationship with other men.

The distractions of this world lead most boys into becoming guys. They don’t want to be chiseled into men; they want to follow their own path and follow their own pursuits. True men honor each other. True men pursue one another even during the most difficult of times. True men push each other to honor the women in their lives. True men confront each other with the sins in their life. True men celebrate and mourn the ups and downs of life. True men stand by one another through thick and thin.

3. Dedication to finding a Godly woman or at least the pursuit of a Godly woman.

One of the most precious gifts God has given man is woman. When God saw that Adam was alone he knew that he could not be complete without Eve. A man aspiring to live his life as a Godly man will find the greatest fulfillment in marriage. Marriage is one of the main vehicles used to drive a deeper understanding of our relationship to Christ (not the only one, just a powerful one.)

I have enjoyed watching these young men pursue their girlfriends/ wives. They seek to honor them. They seek to present them before Christ, exalted above themselves. They seek to know their wife and through that knowing, grow in their knowledge of Christ. They seek to work through the sin in their relationship that threatens to tear it apart. They seek to mentor other boys around them in how to honor a woman. They desire to create spiritual houses where men honor women, women honor men, and Christ is glorified.

4. Dedication to making decisions and standing by those decisions.

Godly men make decisions even when it is difficult. Godly men own the decisions that they make. Godly men do not let their wives face all of the decision making alone. Godly men do not dictate decisions made in singularity. Godly men make decisions in unison with their wives. Godly men sacrifice by working hard to accomplish the decisions made. Godly men never blame shift when decisions do not work out as planned. Godly men sacrifice by taking the consequences of bad decisions. Godly men always sacrifice to present their wives before Christ blameless.

These things do not happen in perfection. These do not always show themselves each day or week. Instead, these are attitudes, convictions. They are directional. They are the desire of the heart. This is a calling from God to men to be the same as Christ and treat the world as Christ treated the world (Eph. 5:22-33).

I suppose I knew that Facebook had a lot of power, but this really drives the point home well. What does it look like to spread the gospel in a world that is communicating differently than ever before? It is hard to believe the church can ignore this major communication shift. Our whole point is to communicate the one truth so it rises above the noise. Well the world has gotten a lot noisier.

Keep Me

Doxology

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

When I was in college I got to lead a high school Bible study at my church. I remember I was challenged by someone with this stirring question: "How do you know that once you are saved you are always saved?"

To be honest that question has never left me. It is a great question that determines so much of how you live your life. If you believe that you are always in a mode of questioning God's love for you then our faith become a scary work. You will always be wondering, much like John Wesley, if you are truly going to be with Jesus forever?

The other side are those who take advantage of the answer. "Of Course they say, Jesus doesn't want anything from us." This is a gross lie. It fails to recognize the change of heart we are to experience as lovers of Jesus. This is what was so frustrating for Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he watched his fellow ministers fail in WWII.

So I love this passage because it makes me want to fall in love with Jesus all over again. It moves me to action because he is so active in my life everyday. I am going to stumble and I am going to be blameworthy, but the presence of my Lord, the great joy of the universe, my savior will never let those things overtake me. He will be my victory.

The Depth of Sin

11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason;

First: Sin attacks our thought process.

Sin is the lack of rationality. It creates the defeating phrases that roll through the mind. Sin allows us to accept less than what we were created for. It is the force leading away from prayer, reading the Word of God, or meditating on the gospel.

The gospel makes us rational. It calls us to experience a renewing of the mind. The Gospel says that we are precious because every moment can be used to glorify God. Furthermore, it calls us to prayer, reading of Scripture, and meditation on Christ. The Gospel calls us to pursue one another in genuine love. It is the hope that we can achieve what was lost in the fall.

12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit

Second: Sin seeks compete ownership.

Sin's goal is idolatry. It's goal is to distract every thought towards itself. It wants to become the god of our heart. It's goal is not only to preoccupy us, but to own us, and then destroy us. Sin is relentless in its pursuit of itself. It traps us into believing that we should only pursue ourselves and no other.

Jesus is our true owner. He is the one who bought us from sin. His goal for us is complete humanness; not a half-baked, sub-human existence. His ultimate goal for us is eternal community.

13we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder;

Third: Sin offers empty promises.

Oh the joys that sin promises all of us that seek after its fruit. We believe that we are seeking after pure things but in the end it is really just a chasing after our own heart. Sin loves to convince us that we have what we need. Sin loves to convince that it can provide what we long for, yet takes great delight in leaving us bankrupt.

The gospel of our savior fulfills every promise. There is no lacking in the body of Christ. Every tear will be wiped, and every wound will be healed. Death will reign no more, and life will ring eternal.

14 throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—

Fourth: Sin loves community.

Sin desires community to replace the gospel. Sin doesn't care what we rally around as long as we do not rally around the gospel. Community is a tool that can be used for evil as much as it can be used for good. Community can even design itself to look like good, when it is completely engulfed by sin. Community can be a destructive force used by sin to separate us from Christ.

The Gospel calls us to center ourselves on Jesus Christ and him alone. Jesus provides us with wonderful gifts like community so that we can know Him more. Let us not fall into the trap of loving community, for community sake, lest we turn it into its own idol. Community is so much more powerful when it is rooted in the work of Christ.

Redeeming Stuff

The soccer flyer came, a conversation pursued, and decisions need to be made. Will we join the masses and become parents living out of control? Soccer is just the beginning for our twin boys and we know it will take off from there. The goal, not to let the next fifteen years disappear before the blink of an eye.

Everyone fills their life up with stuff. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, we need to do something. Some people find lots of different stuff to involve their families and themselves in while others choose one thing and place all of their energy towards it.

For a long time I have allowed my judgmental nature to criticize those who filled there lives with non-church stuff, or non-religious stuff. I would preach and teach they should eliminate their ungodly stuff, and instead fill their lives with godly stuff, specifically my programs, at my church because this would equate to being with God, having a relationship with Jesus.

In the parable of the Prodigal Sons, the younger builds a life on stuff and then loses all of it. Strife enters his life when a famine sweeps the land. You can see his friends dropping away one at a time, as his funds dry up and he can’t keep up with the neighbors across the street anymore.

The older son also fills his life up with stuff. It leaves him just as starved for the Father as the younger he just hasn't realized it yet.

When the younger son finally wakes up, and goes home, what do we expect the Father to do? Remind him of his iniquities, ask him his future plans, tell him to rethink the stuff he is doing in his life so he can change. Nope!

He runs. Right towards him. No regard for anything but his son. He plows into his son, dives straight for his heart and tattoos it with his signet ring. Game over, he belongs to the Father, what was lost is found!

From this point forward the stuff that the son does is not important, what the son has learned is that stuff itself is not the most important thing, but it is the heart behind the stuff. It is doing the stuff with the Father’s heart. This is gospel living.

So today and everyday I need to evaluate my stuff and remember how is my stuff opening my eyes to a deeper understanding of Jesus.

Infertility, Leukemia, & Jesus (Part 1)

I got to my blog reading yesterday and found several people posting on an article about infertility. Every time I see something or read something on infertility it is like a little slap in the face reminding me of the blows that life has dealt. I forged ahead however and decided to read the article. A few things jumped out at me that I would like to share over a few blog posts ..

Infertility shatters your identity. You have a picture in your mind. You are married. You have a house with a white picket fence. You have a minivan and a big dog. But where are the children? Infertility shatters this rosy picture. Infertility is often misunderstood. People take it lightly. A person with a chronic disease or terminal illness gets support from all those around them. But to a couple struggling with infertility, these same people offer platitudes. “Count all your blessings.” If one couple says they want kids, another says, “Take mine!”

This is so true. There is nothing like the mental and spiritual domination of infertility. To this very day I read articles like this looking for the author to say when their little miracle came and how it really helped them appreciate the baby all the more and how they realized God's providence in their life. Those articles I quickly put aside and the silent resentment that never leaves attempts to rekindle the embers of anger in my heart.

Infertility has taught me how to be careful of using words like devastating. Infertility has humbled me to the point of learning the definition of devastating. I never knew what devastation really was until infertility visited my family doorstep. Devastation is that place where hope is crushed but time still exists to experience it.

This is where my relationship with Christ needed to change. My concept of God was bound up in do's and don't, but those where insufficient to carry my wife and I through the devastation. This is where we needed to learn to live in grace, in that space that operates within the confines of grace while not bouncing our heads against the wall with requirements of the faith. We needed to understand the relational aspects of Christ versus the commands of Christ.

Please don't get me wrong, the commands of Christ form the pathway that allows us to walk in grace, to know him, but they are not the journey itself. The journey is walking in the promise of hope; namely that Jesus will redeem me from all devastation. That devastation will be no more.

The Big Three

I was listening to a lecture given by my friend Jeff Louie on the Gospel and Community. In this lecture he mentions that when we think through our choices about how to handle controversial issues between culture and faith we should consider them in light of the "big three". He basically asks how would you have handled the issue of Slavery, the Rise of Hitler, and the Civil Rights Movement.

On the issue of Slavery we can read in Scripture that it was illegal, at least the form that America practiced, but would we have said anything? Or would we have said that the church should not get involved in social issues. On the issue of Hitler, would we have opposed him and taken the punishment (most likely imprisonment or death or one after the other) or would we have said the church should not get involved in politics. You get the idea.

I think today the big two that face the church is homosexuality and abortion. These two issues are so tough to look at from a cultural perspective in light of what Scripture teaches. It almost demands us to be on the other end of culturally accepted practice. I feel that abortion may be turning the tide as more people are made aware of the horrific experience an individual life experiences as it is being ripped out of mom, but people so desperately want the ability to control each aspect of their life that I do not think the issue will ever go away.

Gospel and Community is a nice phrase with profound implications if you truly are in love with the word of God.

The Gospel spoken to Abraham

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” Gal. 3:8

God's provision for his people never ceases. Christ reveals himself throughout the ages to all nations so they may be blessed. We are all covered under the blessings of God through his presentation of the son. Praise be to God.

CS Lewis on the Moral Gospel

I have been rereading The Great Divorce and came upon this passage about the moral man and his need to claim a sense of justice for his good work and a need to look down upon those who did not achieve moral success.

'That may do very well for you, I daresay. If they choose to let in a bloody murderer all because he makes a poor mouth at the last moment, that's their look out. But I don't see myself going in the same boat as you, see? Why should I? I don't want charity. I'm a decent man and if I had my rights I'd have been here long ago and you can tell them I said so.' ~ CS Lewis, Great Divorce

Mark Driscoll at the Crystal Cathedral

Click here to see Pastor Mark from Mars Hill Church in Seattle preach during the Hour of Power.

How dedicated?

I appreciate the ministry of Francis Chan not so much because of who he is as a speaker, or pastor, but because you see the struggle he has with himself and this makes complete sense to me as I live day by day holding back.

What is the Gospel? -- RC Sproul

I was reading through some sites trying to get a clear simple articulation of the Gospel and was encouraged by these words from RC Sproul.