getting centered again

 

From time to time I need something to really grab my attention, to get me back on track. I was lucky enough this past weekend to experience one of those great Ahhh moments, when I went to an Acts 29 conference.  An Acts 29 conference is where a couple thousand pastors and others that have an interest in rebuilding the church for God’s kingdom – come together to here some terrific speakers talk about theology and the church.  Neither of which is what made me experience the Ahhh moment.  Instead, it was the underlining theme to make preaching once again Christ centered, instead of this self-help crap we hear some much in our pulpits. 

 

This got me to thinking whether or not I’ve really been centering my life on Christ, or have I been trying to make Christ fit around my life?  If I’m honest with myself it has been the later for some while now.  But to be a Christian, a Christ follower, I need to make my life revolve around the teaching and life of Christ.  I am a fool, because I now when I have done this in the past, my life seems to go a lot better.  I don’t seem so overwhelmed with life in general, but it is easy to get off track, isn’t it?  I’m sure I will veer off course sometime in the near future.  Although for now I have a new fervor for my Savior and I am taking steps to help keep it around a bit longer than usual. 

·      Reading my Bible 1^st thing in the morning

·      Praying right after my Bible reading

·      Doing an in depth study on 1 Timothy

·      Trying to look at people & things with the eyes of Christ

 

I know this is like a schedule.  But we’ve got to start somewhere, until the heart desires more than anything to follow after – no viciously pressure Christ and His teachings.  Then once we have the heart felt desire we do it out of love, we do it because we truly want to be more like Christ!  I thank God that in my older years I have experienced more up times in my relationship with Him than the down times.  I believe it is partly to do with all those years of following Him and with each attempt to follow Christ more closely – it seems to become more natural.    

What Jesus will look like

I read about the 2^nd coming and I, like most evangelicals, think of a big to do!  I imagine Jesus riding a white stallion with clouds rolling behind him as He comes down to earth, like the pictures I see.  I also imagine everyone waking up to angles playing trumpets. 

 

But what if my view like many other evangelicals in America is wrong.  What if instead of angles playing trumpets, it’s a couple of homeless guys in New York playing. Instead of a great white stallion it is a donkey?  Then what if after Jesus got here He first visited the homeless shelters and bars and drank and ate with the kinds of people evangelicals have declared war against?  And when it says in the Bible that He comes like a thief in the night it means that He did not make a big deal of his return, that He kept it on the down low.  Now to top it off, what if He did not have long waive hair and a good complexion, but was just average or below average looking.  And what would we think if he talked with a hick accent and spoke in parables all the time. 

 

I think if He comes back like this not many will believe He really is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.  Those that did follow Him would probably be the poor and marginalized.  I can’t help but wonder if the ugly Jesus came to America if we would fulfill the Isaiah 53:3 prophecy once again, where it says He that was rejected by men. 

 

It’s probably easier for you and me to believe Jesus is now in Heaven with God in all his splendor and glory.  I feel this way because I’m afraid the Jesus that exists in most of our minds is hardly the real Jesus at all.  The Jesus that sells books, that is on TBN, the Jesus of many evangelical Americans, is a lot of times the Jesus of the suburbs.  A Jesus that wants you to be a better person, a Jesus who supports your political party, a Jesus who dresses in a suit, who speaks eloquently and says what we want to hear and above all does not rock the boat in our lives. 

 

I think some people live in a fantasy world where Jesus is holding our hand telling us we are the ones that are right and some day soon all the other idiots will pay.  And we are going to make it because we are Pentecostal, Calvinists, Catholics, and Armenians; because we attend the right church and support the right political party.  Or is Jesus actively pulling our heartstrings to feed the hungry, help the marginalized, and the desperate.  Is He the Jesus that is telling you to reach out of your comfort zone to eat and fellowship with those you would not normally talk to?  The Jesus that compels us to pray for our enemies instead of talking about them – the Jesus that says put others before ourselves, the Jesus that said to model our lives like him.  The latter of these is the Jesus of the Scripture, the ugly one.  The first one is definitely more popular in evangelical America, but is a myth, a make believe Jesus sharing a genre with Harry Potter.

I’ve got God all figured out

I have been involved or been to a lot of different churches in my life.  I guess you could say I’ve been around the block as far as seeing how different churches operate and the one thing they all have in common is they think they are right in their view of God.  I’ve been a Baptist as a young boy and teen, I went to a Church of Christ college for two years, preached at Church of England church for a summer, spoke at a Presbyterian Church, and I now belong to the Church of God domination.  And you know what each one of them will promise you that they have the inside track with God and that their views and beliefs are correct.  All these different views on God, this “religion” is enough to make one an agnostic. 

 

Then you have these fanatics about their domination that will argue with you that what you believe is wrong and some are so bold as to say that you are going to hell, because you do not believe the way they do.  I guess if you have a room full of fanatics each of a different domination, they will all damn themselves to hell. 

 

But what is really scary to me is the average person who on some level actually believes, that God is who they think He is.  Meaning they have Him all figured out, mapped out, dissected and neatly put into their little box.  I can’t help to wonder if God actually created us in his image or if we created God in our image.  For instance, I know a very conservative guy who is very opinionated, who at the drop of a hat, will tell you his beliefs on God and why God agrees with his view on political ideas and why his political ideas are right.  While he is ranting and raving I am think about the third world countries I’ve been to and was feeling like this guy with his opinions was presenting a kind of Jesus who would not even exist outside of America.  This guy’s Jesus was just an invention of his imagination, someone who just justified his potions and concerns.   Listening to these types of people rant is tiring to me.  People like that should have their own little island to live on.

 

The truth is God cannot fit in a nice little box that we or a domination makes for him, He is just too big for that.  So why do we try so hard to force Him in there?  God just can’t be totally figured out, that’s why He is God and we are not.  Once I believe I know all there is to know about God, I read something in the Bible or hear a speaker talking about God – that messes up some of what I believe God to be.  I believe this to be a good thing, because it makes me want to all the more seek God out for myself to learn more about Him and what He has in store for my life.  Not having all the answers is a good thing.  It makes us question our beliefs and it should challenge us to wrestle within ourselves why we believe what we believe.  So I guess we will all have to wait until we get to heaven to figure out God, I doubt even then we will have all the answers about who God is.

Learning from the silence

 

 

My day for the most part begins like everyone else.  A very loud alarm clock screaming in my ear that it is time to get up awakens me.  Then once I am up and moving around I get into my truck and head to the gym.  On my way to the gym I listen to the radio to see what the days weather looks like.  Then I hop on a treadmill trying to make myself feel better about eating that big bowl of ice cream I had the night before and I catch myself humming to the song that they have playing over the speakers at the gym.  Then it’s back into my truck with the radio on heading back to my house to take a shower and grab some breakfast.  While I am eating my breakfast I can hear in the background my son’s cartoons playing on the living room’s TV.  Then I’m once again in my truck this time listening to a podcast as I make my way to the office.  Where I am bombarded with emails and phone calls throughout the day. 

 

I take a break at lunch to clear my head sometimes I eat with a friend and just chat about the weekend or I’ll pick something up at Subway and head back to my office where I shut the door and listen to another podcast.  Then believe it or not I hope back into my truck, to go home for the day, listening to the radio while talking to my wife on the phone. 

 

Once I’m home I watch a little bit of TV talk to my wife and kids and then go to bed, ready to do it all over again the next morning.  But something seems very odd as I lay there in my bed, I don’t hear any noise and it kind of bothers me at times.  I have grown use to hear some type of noise all the time. 

 

One night last week in particular it hit me, I had not had one moment of silence all day in who knows how long.  As I lay there in bed I was convinced that I was addicted to noise.  That I had to have something on all the time, white noise if you will to drown out the silence in my life.  The silence that I should be giving to God, for the opportunities to hear from Him. 

 

Would Jesus, if He lived in today’s culture, be listing to his iPod all the time, checking his emails on His “crackberry” every few minutes?  Would He have left His phone on while He preformed miracles, to catch needless phone calls?  If I were truthful with myself I’d have to say “No, He would not.”  Jesus made time for silence in His life, so much so that He would stop preaching and healing the multitudes to seek the silence.       

 

The silence was a place for Jesus to seek out from God what was His true purpose here on earth.  If you think about it, we have it all backwards. We try to cram as much as possible into a day as we can.  Thinking that it will make us more productive in the end, but in reality we produce very little when it is all said and done.  While Jesus, on the other hand, spent a considerable amount of time being silent before the Father to receive from Him, I’m sure he had accomplished more in His three years of ministry than what we can do in a life time. 

 

The Bible talks quite a bit on waiting in silence for the Lord like:

•    1 Kings 19:11-13 (hearing from God)
•    Lamentations 3:25-28 (waiting patiently)
•    Habakkuk 2:20 (worshiping God)
•    Psalm 46:10 (knowing God)
•    Luke 5:16 (praying effectively)

 

Since God convicted me of all the noise in my life I am going to try starting this week to have at least one full day of meaningful silence.  Now I know that I can’t stop talking to my wife, kids, or boss, but I can turn off the radio, put down the iPod, and turn off the TV to be silent before the Lord. 

 

It is my prayer for those that are reading this that are guilty of being addicted to noise that you join with me in one day a week of silence before the Lord so that you might hear from Him as well.

James chapter 5

 

As I finish my reading of the book of James I am left wondering, do I have all the qualities that James says a Christian should have?  Is it really possible to live the way James calls us to live?  It is difficult, but the answer is yes, I can live a life worthy of the calling of a disciple.  Because God has given me the Holy Spirit, who is part of the Godhead, it is He that lives inside of me that makes me worthy to be called a follower of Christ. 

 

With this in mind, I want to be used of God in a mighty way, doing the things that Christ has called me to do.  One of these things is found in chapter 5:15-16  “15 And the prayer offered in faith will make them well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” (TNIV) 

 

I can always give a seed of prayer, a seed of love, joy, and a seed of forgiveness.  Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to give to God.  Then I see a verse like verse 15 and think I can pray and I can pray on someone else’s behalf in faith and the Lord will meet whatever their need my be.  I can always plant a seed of faith, believing, and love motivated prayer in someone’s life.  My prayers can make a difference in someone’s life, that’s great news!  A prayer spoken in faith start to work to do good in the area of life that has gone bad for someone. 

 

So when I pray like this, people begin to be healed.  An awesome thing takes place as well when I begin to experience love as I give love away.  I begin to be blessed, as I begin to bless others and God gives to me as I give to others!  This is great news, it makes me want to pray for people all the more.  

 

Anyone can plant a faith believing prayer in the life of another.  But we have to remember to do it with love, with joy, and with the spirit of forgiveness.  Because God has done the same for us through Jesus Christ when He gave him up on the cross for us.

James chapter 4

 

As if James hadn’t beat us up enough in the previous chapters with how we should act as a Christian, he really lets us have it in chapter 4.  In the beginning of the chapter he talks about pride, followed by worldliness, then judging a brother, followed up with boasting.  Man, can James sock it to us or what?  But what I really find interesting is verses 7 & 8.  7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. In verse 7, James is telling us to forsake rebellion.  Submit yourself to your Lord.  Forsake the Devil & refuse all his temptations.  Then in verse 8 James tells us to quickly confess our sins.  Nothing more effectively humbles a person than to admit that they are a sinner. 

These two verses show that faith is humbling and that humility is the total opposite of being proud.  Selfishness and self-centered goals show us the present evil age.  When we are self-centered we are being full of worldliness.  So to be self-centered is to be hostile with God.

James chapter 3

 

O that wicked and untamable tongue, how I wish it didn’t ramble on so and get me into so much trouble at times!  If you are like me, you have probably said something that as soon as you said it, you wish you could grab it in mid air and take it back, before it touches the ears of a friend or loved one. 

 

Is it not odd that at one moment we can be singing sweet praises to our Lord, then within minutes spew vile words of hatred to someone?  And all of this before we even leave the church parking lot on Sundays.  Our tongue, to be so small, sure can do a lot of slicing and dicing can’t it? 

 

In James chapter 3, the writer goes into great detail on how our tongue can get us into trouble and warns us to keep a close watch on what it says.  As believers we must learn to bridle our tongues — to control what it speaks.  Verse 2 speaks of this very thing to bridle our tongue.  Monitoring every word we speak, this may seem burdensome at first, even unnatural – but it will serve to our benefit and to God’s. 

 

Then in verses 9-12, James tells us to speak well of others.  Criticism, slander, backbiting, & gossip are “bitter waters,” which are subject to, believe it or not, demonic, worldly wisdom.   I don’t know about you, but this makes me want to make sure I guard my tongue!  Verses 9-12 address serious issues! 

 

Like my grandmother would always tell me it is better to keep quite and listen rather than speak foolish talk.

James chapter 2

 

James chapter 2 is a very insightful chapter on how a Christian should act and how not to act. In verses 1-13, James tells us not to exalt some higher than others, namely the rich and the poor.  This is true in every area of our life, but we need to especially make sure that everyone is looked upon as equals in the church.  It’s easy though isn’t it to make more of a fuss when a important person in the community walks through the door, compared to the average Joe that walks in.  Our culture has taught us to give special treatment to those that our society deems important.  We do this I believe because we think that these “special” people can do something for us, or make us look good being in our presence.  But God doesn’t care about status, who’s a big shoot and who’s not.  And to act like one is more important than and another in church is, just plain stupid.  By shunning one we could be playing with someone’s salvation and I don’t want to be that person on the day of judgment.     

Then in verses 14-26 the remaining verses, James dives into some sticky theology for many, faith and works.  Right out of the gate James says, “faith without works is dead”.  This can be scary ground for some people.  James is telling us that as a Christian our faith needs to be working for God, put into action, doing the Lords work.  Many people see these passages and believe that James is almost at odds with Paul, because of what Paul said in Eph. 2:8-9; “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast.”

However read James 2:14 & 24 again and you’ll see what James is trying to get across to us. “14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”  James is plainly telling us that the kind of faith that saves will be obvious by the good works we produces for the kingdom of God.  Paul, himself who would never suggest that we are saved by our works, did say that we are saved for good works.  Check out Ephesians 2:8-10 to see for yourself. So if faith is salvation’s foundation, works are its gauge.

The Problem Of PRIDE In The Age Of Facebook

Can anyone remember the 80’s?  Yes there were big hair bands, skating rings, mall hair, & no Internet.  How did we ever live?  These were the days when people actually communicated with people face to face.  It never crossed our minds that we would want to call someone while we where driving, but in hindsight they were such archaic days.  We were all bound by landlines and worst of all we were deprived of the play by play, minute by minute action or lack there of, of seeing our friends lives on Facebook.

 

The invention of the Internet started us on the fast track to getting information fast, whenever we want it; all we have to do is click on Wikipedia.  We’ve become addicted to knowing large amounts of useless information, just because we can.

 

I ashamed to ask this question, because I know I am just as guilty as the next person.  How self-absorbed have we become?  We have our Facebook account, our I-phones, blogs, personal ringtones, our own video on YouTube, and the list goes on and on and on.  We can be a superstar in the world of screens, in fact it seems like our world is made of nothing but screens. 

 

Don’t get me wrong I love all these great technologies.  I’m just thinking out loud here, that we are changing the way we see ourselves: as a twitter, AIM, text-messaging, HTML bodies, and if we don’t like something about ourselves all we have to do is cut, paste, copy, or delete ourselves into who we want to be.  Then just post it on e-harmony. 

 

We’ve become obsessed with community driven “status”.  The communication we have become so passionate about is what we are doing right now whither it’s interesting or not.  We no longer want to communicate to learn from others or hear about a persons unique experiences, instead it’s about how they are feeling and what type of coffee they are going to get once they get to Starbucks. 

 

Have are lives become that important that everyone in the world needs to know about it?  Or is it that we have become so isolated from one another that we desperately long to have meaningful relationships – that we will just take a cheap (or not so cheap) substitute relationship with a screen. 

 

This generation that we find our self in seems empty and lonely at times.  We long to get into some of the action, love, and adventure we see in the movies, television shows, and video games.  The media tells us life is an adventure and only a few people that are pretty enough, lucky enough, or rich enough get to experience this type of life.  But that’s just not true we all can experience a life like this all we have to do is turn off the screen and actually do life! We need a life that is filled with meaning and purpose.

 

Our generation has become exhausted by consumerism and sadly it is all we know.  There are some people in this generation though that see this and are getting out there to be different.  They are tired of just taking from our culture and wanting to give something back no matter how small it may be. 

 

These wonderful technologies such as blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and the rest – suddenly give us platforms to say something meaningful, life changing even and people are listening.  Millions of people listening to what we have to say, we have a chance to actually make a difference in peoples lives.  Let’s not just use these outlets for the norm mind numbing crap that so many are already putting out there.  Let’s stop trying to feel important, validated, and interesting, because let’s face it do your friends really care that you are watching Survivor, while typing on your hip trendy pink MacBook. 

 

Life was meant to live and I don’t know about you but looking at a screen all the time is not really living to me.  Instead let’s get out there in the world and experience what God has made for us and maybe along the way we might find a worthy cause to be a voice for – an injustice’s that we want to take a stand against. Wouldn’t that be crazy to actually do what God has created us to do!

James chapter 1

In order to understand the book of James, we have to understand the
author and his purpose for writing the book.  First off, it is written
by James, brother of Jesus, and the purpose for his writing is to
encourage his readers that they must be both practical and ethical – in
their Christian walk.  He was tired of how many Christians were
performing their Christian duties out of mindless obligations vs. a love
for Christ.  James wanted his readers to examine their faith to see if
it was genuine or not.  He saw the Gospel as being practical — that we
should take it at face value and not dissect it theologically.  James
wanted his readers to be pure and undefiled in their religion.  The two
main themes coming out of the Gospels:  to seek out personal growth in
Christ and be sensitive to social relationships.  James saw the majority
of Christians as a group of people that try to talk their way into
heaven versus acting as Christians on their way to heaven – being “doers
of the Word”.  

With that background in mind, let’s dive into chapter one.  I want to
spend the majority of my ramblings of chapter one on verses 13-15.  In
verse 13 we see James telling us that we cannot blame God for the
temptation that we encounter.  He tells us that God is not tempted by
evil, so why in the world would He in return try to tempt us if it is
not in His nature.  Then, in verse 14, James says it is by our own
heart’s desires that we respond to the outward enticements of this world
and are tempted.  It is very interesting to note that nowhere in these
verses does he mention or allude to Satan as the one who tempts us.  I
believe it is not James’ intention to explain the origin of sin, but
rather get the point across that it is not God who is enticing us to do
evil.  James’ approach is showing us that temptation is spawned from our
own internal evil desires.  We all know that Satan is the external
source of temptation, but we cannot blame him for the stronghold of
sinful deeds, which lie deep within each individual.  Jesus states in
Mark 7:1-23 that defilement comes from within.  This is heavy stuff I
know, but stuff we all need to know.

In closing we see James’ social part of Christianity in verse 22, where
he says; “…be doers of the word, and not hearers only…”  His point -
that salvation leads to service.  We fool ourselves if we believe that
church attendance is simply to hear the Word and do nothing with it.
Rather, we need to convert what we’ve heard into a real ministry of
action.