Now I Know Why!

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. - John 3:20-21

We seem to always find ourselves surprised when good people who know what is right and wrong and are doing wrong do not run back.  I have been confounded by this, both from the inside of myself and on the outside towards another.  Here Jesus tells us plainly why.  "Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light".  There it is, it is the way people doing evil will act or perform.  They don't want the good and avoid it.  Why do they not go to do the right things?  "For fear that their deeds will be exposed."  This is an intently selfish purpose.  When doing the wrong thing, neither I nor the one doing wrong wants others or even God to know that: 1) I (they) desired something evil, 2) I (they) am capable of something that evil, 3) I (they) participated in the evil thing, 4) The evil thing grew as a part of my (their) life.  There's an awful lot of self in those items.  It truly is all about "me" or "them".

The person doing the evil thing doesn't want the conflict of facing their wrong, which was born of their own desire.  The person doing the evil thing simply doesn't want to be responsible for their actions.  The person doing evil simply doesn't want to be accountable for their actions.  This person doesn't want to bury their pride and be content to know they are a sinner capable of terrible sins, that they are not capable of living the way they know is right without Christ.

Why did the Hebrews have the Law of God?  So, they could read it and have their sins exposed to truth.  Then they could change their attitudes, speech, and actions and reflect God's truth.  In so doing their lives would be blessed because His ways are greater than our ways.  Sinless ways are greater than sinful ways.  One way leads to life and one leads to death.  Why did Jesus, the Christ, come to the world for all people?  For the exact same reason. 

The contrast to the evil one who doesn't go to the light is "whoever lives by the truth comes into the light".  They go willingly and want to be there.  They do the good and live in the truth " so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God".  They want the confrontation with God and seek it at all times.  They want God's eyes and ears to be on their actions for clarification, edification, purpose, and correction.  They want what is good to be drawn out and presented and all evil immediately observed, repented, and forgiven.  They are humble before God and men acknowledging all that they are at all times.

Motivation Matters

John 5:19

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

 

Why do we do what we do?  Almost always there's something in it for me.  I work to make money to buy stuff because deep down I think stuff will make me happy.  Often I go to church because I need a pick-me-up or I feel like I have to or that somehow the church needs me.  I do things around the house so I can enjoy them like clean the pool or clean the garage or wash my car.  I... well you get the picture.  Did you see the focus - me!  (and the sooner you all recognize this the better off we'll all be!). 

Agape is not a me-focused love, it is always focused on others - either people or God.  I've been focusing on the evidence of God in our lives and concluded that since God is agape, that agape is the evidence of God and to grow in faith and demonstrate faith is to show agape.  How do we do that?

So often in church we press to hard to demonstrate agape and miss the whole point.  I recall the Rose Bowl where Jameis Winston ended up looking like a complete fool by the middle of the third quarter because he tried too hard to make something happen for FSU.  Coaches always say "take what the defense gives you," but he got too impatient with high percentage, short yardage plays and ended up giving up a fumble for a score while looking like a total buffoon.  We often do the same in church.  We've accepted Christ who died a horrible death for us and we are compelled to do something in return.  That drive is evidence of agape in and of itself, but we often play like Jameis, and leap out to do something big, grand, and glorious for the creator. What is it that compels us to make a big play?  Often it is pride. 

We have visioning conferences, brainstorming sessions, committee meetings, focus groups, staff meetings, and commission special studies.  We draft mission and vision statements, draw up budgets and finance plans, develop long-term strategies, and write committee reports all the while praying that God will bless OUR efforts.  Often we are simply serving ourselves verses seeking a revelation or calling from God.  Don't get me wrong, the deep-rooted motivation is correct, but the method is all screwed up!

In Job beginning in Ch 38, God goes on a rant for about 4 chapters beginning in vs 4 with the question "where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"  In essence, what is that man can do for the creator of the universe?  The answer is only to love and obey him!  Even Jesus said he could do NOTHING by himself.  So where does that leave us in the church?

How we make decisions matters.  When we decide what we're going to do for God and ask Him to bless it, we've put ourselves on the throne and demanded that God honor us.  I don't think most people intend to do so, we simply do it out of ignorance as to how to discover God's will or even ignorance that we need to do so. 

There are recent examples of people clearly answering a call from God:  The forthcoming Tuesday morning breakfast seems to be coming from the heart of a good many folks in our church.  How do I know?  Because these people begin meetings with statements like "I'm not sure how this is going to work, but I feel an overwhelming call to do it.  Another example is our Stevens Ministry wherein Margaret Nordlie shared that she wasn't comfortable with it and couldn't afford the training for it, but felt called by God to initiate the ministry in our church.  Both of these examples clearly follow the scriptural pattern that when God was about to move, he raised up a leader, shared the next few steps that leader was to do and didn't share the complete story (after all, God's word is a lamp illuminating our next few steps - who could handle the whole story?). 

There are other examples of activity in our church that have begun with "I think this church needs to..." and now that I'm older I've seen many of these activities fail.  I guess with age comes experience and I can clearly see two definitive patterns emerging:  evidence of people answering a clear call from God and evidence of well-intentioned people trying to do something for God.  The former has always brought glory to God.  The latter has always resulted in at least division in our church - a clear sign Satan was involved. 

Why do you do what you do?  Are you trying to do something big for God's team or are you patiently waiting for God's call?  Do you even care about a call from God? 

Don't just like this - give me a comment and let me know you at least read it!

 

She Was

This is from missionary to Haiti Matt Ayer's (Tea in Solitude) wife’s blog that she published on the 18th and that he shared on his blog. Well worth sharing. 

What a Sabbath!

This is one of those stories. 

Right before Matt headed to Port-au-Prince and the Heckmans headed to the airport to get their mothers, we 15 piled into two pick-ups and headed for Flavil, the tiny community where Belony is pastor. 

Just to remind you, Belo graduated in 2010 (11?), works full-time at the Seminary, works more than full-time at his church and community in Flavil and is, whatever you call him, an evangelist. 

The Flavil area is deeply engrained in an awful lot of lostness, which in Haiti, involves a lot of Voodoo tradition and mindedness.  Belo works hard in the area of discipleship out there, little by little, training and forming away from a lifetime of voodoo mindset into a Biblical worldview.  It is no small challenge, and he has no small courage.

This past week an issue came up here at Emmaus involving a cow, an evil spirit, a cup of diesel fuel and a lot of confusion.  To keep that whole thing short and as North American understandable as possible, a member–a Christian member–of the community whose cow is physically sick knows that it is because his cow walked the path of an evil spirit, who has now possessed it and is making it ill.  In an effort to free/heal the cow, he is ‘obliged’ to try a voodoo custom of making some potion with diesel fuel (which he wanted the seminary to give him) to then rub on the cow to force the evil spirit to flee.

Frustrated that this was a conversation with a church-going member of the Saccanville community, (ie…the “Christian” response), Phil wisely found Belo and asked him WHAT the church in Saccanville is teaching about spiritual warfare if THIS is the only solution people in the church are seeing.

Turns out it wasn’t Belo’s first frustration with the Christian response to the vooodoo-mindset in Haiti this week. 

When we filed into the church this morning, Belo already had a fire raging in his soul…one you could see.  As soon as the announcements and worship time was over, he called up a rather rough young man and woman-staring-at-the-floor, and their 3 year old daughter for what seemed like a child dedication or something.  Belo, with great boldness and also care with his words, explained why they were there.

“As you know, this is the mother and father of this child.  And they are afraid.  When this woman was not in Christ, she carried this child for nine months.  Nine months came and went, and the child could not be delivered. After much suffering, this mother, instead of coming to the church or heading to the hospital, as should have been done, called for a man in voodoo to come and make the baby come.  He did his process, and the baby was born.  However, before he left, he said to this woman, ‘This child is mine, do not forget.'”

“Since then, of course, you know that this man and this woman have turned from that life and come to Christ.  They are in this church and have raised their daughter in this church.  I did not know about what happened before.  However, 2 weeks ago, this woman had a vision.  In that vision, she saw that same man and an evil spirit, and he/they said again, “Remember, this child is mine.  She belongs to me.”

“This is when she came to me, afraid, and explained what had happened, and asked if there is any hope.  If there is any way that this can not be true, now that she is in Christ.”

You could have heard a pin drop, of course, and Belo did not pass by this teaching opportunity for EVERYONE in the church, once in Voodoo (perhaps still), once owing something (and perhaps thinking they still do), or wondering the same thing.  THIS IS A HUGE QUESTION.  The answer to the cow question.  The answer to MOST questions.

Does it really MATTER, day to day, if we are in Christ? Or does tradition, does superstition, does Voodoo, does what always has been TRUMP ALL?  Does this baby, once given to Satan, mean that she if forever Satan’s?  Is there ANY hope in the face of darkness and voodoo?

I LOVE that Belo addressed it head on, addressed it publicly, addressed it bold and with TRUTH and made it about EVERY SINGLE ONE of us, not just this child.

“IF you are in Christ, you are a new creation.  If you deny yourself and follow Him, you are HIS.  This is not IN ADDITION to anything.  This is not now working along with your old life in darkness.  THIS IS NEW, THIS IS FREE, this is HOPE, and He is ALL powerful.”

“We are going to do two things, and I want everyone to watch this and pray through this and go DO THIS in your life.  If we are in Christ, we are to be entirely and permanently and drastically and completely DIVORCED from our old self, from Satan, from darkness.  There is no place for the old mind, no place for the old life, no place for the old fear, no place for old debts that JESUS has paid.”

“We’re going to pray for this girl and her mother and father, and we are going to pray that the curse that ties her to darkness be broken even now and we are going to give her to God.”

My heart cried out loudly in my chest as I stared at the little girl dressed in white in the front, Sofie’s age.  She belongs to God.  He made her.  We each and every ONE belong to Him.

“Then,” Belony continued with great boldness and passion, suggesting something I have NEVER heard ANYONE suggest, nor ever even thought of suggesting.  “We are going to pray for great courage and boldness for this father and mother, and they are going to go to that man of satan and they are going to tell him.”

“They will stand in his face and they will say, ‘We were in what you are in, and when we were in it, we did what we did.  But we are NOT any more.  We are now in Christ, and what you are in holds NO power over those who are in Christ.  We are free from your curse and we are free from those you serve and we are free from any debt and we are here today to tell you that we are done, the curse is broken and we are children of the Almighty God, and our daughter is HIS.”

“WE WILL NOT,” Belo professed, “Continue to think that we owe what we owed when we were in Voodoo, when we were in darkness.  We will NOT live in ways of voodoo and superstition and darkness while we are claiming to be in the Light.  The Light has overcome the darkness we continue to choose to live in, and WE WILL NOT.”

“We are going to pray for this girl, now!”

Any good prayer time in Haiti starts with song, and before the song even began, God broke my heart and moved my butt. 

I do NOT go up front in church and I do not get involved in things that missiologically, my brain knows is not of my culture and best done by those in relationship with the family, those of the same culture, etc.

But God doesn’t always (ever) care about my grand missiology or what I’ve read and learned and decided, and darn it, I do a lot of things wrong, but the ONLY great regrets of my life are the times God has clearly told me to GO, DO, SPEAK and I have cowered and refused.  Jonah moments. 

And usually, when He has pushed my heart to GO or DO or SPEAK, it has been NOW and the window is NOW or never.

With unexpected tears on my face, I went and grabbed that girly’s hand and I prayed like all of life depended on it, because it does.

ALL OF LIFE depends on this truth, and I’m not just talking about in Haiti.

Does it REALLY MATTER if we are in Christ?  

Yes and yes and a thousand times yes. 

It’s ALL that matters.  And it HAS TO AFFECT EVERYTHING we do, say, believe, every habit, every superstition, every response.

We prayed over that little girl throughout the song and into powerful prayer time.

I prayed her mom and dad would give God every inch.  I prayed God would redeem.  I prayed there would be NOTHING kept from Him.  I prayed that this little one He knows intimately and created carefully and loves dearly would grow up in the freedom and love that ONLY HE OFFERS to Haiti, to her, to me, to the world. 

I didn’t tell God about what Satan thought or what Satan had or anything about his defeated enemy.  I’m sick to death of what we let him do, and I’m not too concerned about who he is.

I’m concerned solely with who HE is.  And God filling what is already His and always has been is not much of a challenge. 

But neither God nor Satan take what they are not GIVEN.  God doesn’t force our love, doesn’t force our commitment, doesn’t force our decisions, doesn’t make us _______.  Satan doesn’t take what we’re not making room for him to, doesn’t step where there is no place for his foot, doesn’t make us sin any more than he made Eve eat.

So I was praying for that family, and I am praying again tonight.  That they would give HIM all, that He would fill them with Himself, that they would close EVERY door and shed EVERY fear and break EVERY bond with darkness, by His mighty power and grace, and that the testimony of the LIFE GOD is offering Belo offered today becomes that little girls LIFE.

We all finished by the blood of Jesus, and then the actual sermon, just as powerful, naturally began as Belo poured through the Word’s support of suffering being a part of taking up our cross and following Him.

I couldn’t have been prouder of Belony, humbly and boldly confessing, reconfessing, re-re-confessing the truth again and again and again to the many young men and women who call him pastor and brother and friend, engraining, little by little, a NEW old reality…patiently persevering despite discouragement after setback, in a NEW worldview for a very long lost world.

I couldn’t have been prouder of him, after confessing it over and over, for the way he DOES and LIVES and TESTIMONIES the truths he is confessing.  The confidence the whole church had that when they GO to that man of darkness, Belony will have a hand on their shoulders.  The way that instead of holding on to the truth and light that he has, he boldly APPLIES it to EVERY situation, not shrugging it off as “Haitian” or “human” as “how it is” but FIGHTING it with every fiber of his being…Haitian, once, but now SOLEY HIS.

He was a drummer, Belo.  He doesn’t let us forget it any more than Paul let others forget that he was once Saul. Beating the drums all through the night at voodoo sacrifice events.  Lived by it, known for it.  He beat the drums.

And she was Satan’s.

http://mshaiti.blogspot.com/2015/01/she-was.html

3:16 - "For God"

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16

"For God".  This is a very important phrase in this verse and one that is too easily missed.  Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God".  In other words, before there was a beginning to anything we are familiar with, there was God.  Simply put, God is.  There is no timeline that can be applied to God.  God is.  When Moses asked how to answer those who would ask "What is His name?", God replied, "I AM WHO I AM.  You shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"  Jesus commented in John 8:58, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  There is no timeline than can be applied to God.  God is.  This phrase make it clear from the beginning that God did this.  God and only God did the work.  No one helped, man was not involved, nor was any other power or thing or spiritual being.  God did this and God is.

While we may decide that this verse contains God's intent in a very condensed manner, many people will refuse to hear it simply because of this very first phrase.  If you don't believe that God exists then why would you read or listen to this verse?  You would immediately turn it off or tune it out upon hearing this first phrase.  Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'"  But, asking someone to believe the Bible to prove to them that God exists, the same God who wrote the Bible is counter-productive.  This is circular reasoning.

If I tell my kids to listen to what I say and believe in me, that I only have their best interest in mind because I love them, do they always believe me?  Not at all.  Why not?  I have never done anything against them, but have only tried to help them.  Yet they don't always trust me.  In order for them to trust me regarding something they have no knowledge, they will have to have faith in my words. 

The same is true with God.  In order for us to trust Him regarding something that we have no knowledge, we will have to have faith in His Word.  This is the first choice.  And so there is our heavenly Father, who only has our best interest in mind and who loves us perfectly, has never done a single thing against us, and has only tried to help us, yet, we don't always trust Him.  We turn to our self.  We don't always listen or follow His directions. 

Here at the beginning of this verse, God forces a choice by refusing to sit quietly in the back and try to lure the reader, the hearer, or the recipient of this Message through camouflage.  Today, I think we spend way too much effort trying to not look like Christians and hoping people will see who we are and ask us about us.  How cowardly!  This is not the way of God.  He has never not been who He is.  "I AM WHO I AM."  There is no need for Him to hide Himself or His ways.  There is no wrong in them and everything about Him will only help whomever looks upon Him.  If they would only look!  There is no need for us to hide who we are since what we know will only help everyone who might ask to become whole again.  Why do we doubt that the God in us is insufficient for those that might see it?  

God Sightings

1 John 3: ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.

Yesterday I talked about the importance of seeing evidence of God not just in nature, but more importantly in our lives.  1 John 3:14 tells us in so many words that love (agape) is the evidence of faith.  So when I look around for agape, I see our church reaching out to those in need "under the shadow of our steeple" in so many ways.  For years now, since stopping at the "Coffee Shop" looking for breakfast and finding a homeless ministry, Bill Todd has been relentlessly following a clear call from God to minister to those who for whatever reason find themselves homeless.  He has become integrally involved in the homeless programs of the county, initiated a sub-committee in our church, and focused not on meeting, but on real action with an impact on people.  He hasn't announced his plans for God nor did he wait on funding or a major program of the church.  He stopped to buy breakfast, met people who had none, and rolled his sleeves up and got involved.  That answer to a call has pulled others into the mix.  We help with Trinity UMC's outreach with a long running Soup Kitchen Ministry.  We're now launching a breakfast ministry and when we meet to discuss it, it's genesis is from a heart for people in need as a opposed to trying to do something for ourselves or God.  This defines agape.  Agape is evidence of faith.  This is clear evidence of a vibrant faith in a living God that can motivate people to answer His command to love others.  People in our church are clearly motivated and aren't asking questions about where the money will come from or how to plan a program or what the tag line will be or how to advertise.  These are people with a singular motivation to reach out to a clearly hurting and potentially lost world of real people.  People like Bill have followed the example of Peter and stepped out of the boat without question expecting God to equip the call.  In Bill's case, he stepped out without a clear understanding of the call.  These are examples of faith in action.  Jesus' half-brother James would be impressed. 
Contrast those acts of agape for a minute with our current focus on building an assisted living facility.  What's the focus?  First it is on self-preservation.  I hear things like "studies show that churches must augment their offering plate with sound investments or they will die."  We've had meetings, poured over data, and pondered how quickly we'll see a positive return on our investment.  Clearly this could be an opportunity presented by God to provide for his people.  Yet, I don't hear this project presented in this way.  I hear "this is what we can do to help ourselves."  Where is the evidence of faith?  Where is the evidence of God at work? 
To be clear, I'm neither for, nor against the assisted living facility project.  I have no discernment from God on this (and I'm frustrated as to why God remains silent on this to me - apparently I'm not to be involved).  I'm simply comparing and contrasting two things going on in church on pointing out how easy it is to see God motivating his people to love others (where else does agape come from except God?) vs what appears to be a complex business deal focused on self-preservation.  The former stems from and provides clear testimony to God while the latter seems to lack a requirement for faith in God.  I look forward to your thoughts as to why I'm off base here. 

Is God a Reality in Your Life?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)

Where is the evidence?  How do I know God is real?  Usually when I ask for people to tell me where they have last seen evidence of God, I get a story involving nature of some kind if I get anything at all.  I like to hear how people see God in nature.  In fact, I have my own story during a recent deer hunt of not only seeing evidence of God, but perhaps more importantly how He clearly answered a prayer to help me find a dead deer hopelessly lost in thick underbrush.  To me it was an awesome experience.  But if that is the only recent story of God's activity, do I have a compelling story for those skeptics who don't believe?  Where is the convincing evidence to a lost world that there really is a God who loves us?  How are we to present a persuasive argument for Christ if we have no personal proof of his very existence? 
I think we lack both the skill as well as the proper forum to share such evidence of a living God who desires and cultivates a relationship with us.  Admittedly there a clearly instances where God has been at work that we simply cannot know.  Did God's protective angels miraculously deliver me from a disastrous wreck yesterday on my way home from church?  One simply cannot know sometimes.  Yet there are other times where God is at work that we should recognize and acknowledge.  For many years, for instance, I've had the privilege of teaching Sunday School.  First, this is out of my introverted comfort zone.  Many have expressed disbelief in my deep rooted introversion, but I function as an extrovert when I have to and then retreat to my "cave" of isolation to recharge before emerging again.  Teaching is out of character for me and is evidence of God motivating me and providing the energy to represent Him before others.  More importantly, a lesson seems to come literally to life during the Sunday School hour at least to me.  Often God takes these lessons in a totally different direction than what originally came to mind during my (admittedly minimal) preparation.  This is God speaking through me, at least on those occasions where I successfully remove myself and my own agenda and allow Him to do so. 
Fortunately, we have a pastor who has the courage to be transparent and live into his sermons with personal experience.  Expository preaching is useful to expand our Biblical knowledge which in and of itself bring us closer to God, but nothing presents a more compelling argument for the reality of God than someone who can apply it and provide an example of the reality of the text in their own life.  I'm thankful for Dave Barkalow and his courage to preach in a very personal fashion that clearly provides evidence that God is truly real.  We need a forum, however, to share our own testimonies.  I hear briefly in church that we are to share our "God Sightings," but I couldn't find directions on how to do so in the bulletin or the website.  Help?
How has God been made real to you?  Jesus said that if He and His disciples were to be quiet, the very rocks would cry out (Luke 19:40).  Are you advancing the cause of Christ with a recent, real personal testimony of the reality of God or are is nature having to carry your share of the burden?

"In" and "Of" Christ

^{The pastor went over this on Wednesday night and I am not sure I understood it all.  But, I am attempting to put it down in my own words and understanding and any discernment is appreciated.}

We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. – Galatians 2:15-16

I’m going to try to get this organized in my thoughts.  God creates man, man does what God asks him not to do and sins.  Man gets more and more evil being consumed by his own desires and God destroys him but leaves one family.  Man repeats but God chooses a people who have a tendency to be willing to follow Him.  God creates the law for these people.  The law is God’s gift to bless man.  The law is not a “to-do” list of requirements so man can get to God.  Man can believe that God gave the Word and follow it out of a love for God.  In so doing man will also be blessed.  The Word was “Of” God. 

Man does what man does.  He corrupts the Word to be to his benefit wherever he can.  God sees that man is unable to put aside his desires so God makes His Word to become flesh.  Jesus comes “Of” God for man so man can find God and be blessed.

That said, “man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith IN Jesus Christ”.  This is also interpreted to be, “man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith OF Jesus Christ”.  The works of the law, or man doing what the Word instructed, would not save man.  Man believing in the Word and having faith in it as his way to God would save him.   We are saved because we believe in God’s Word that Jesus came.  I have never physically seen Jesus, yet I will honestly tell you I know Him and He knows me intimately.  It is faith.  Our one single requirement to live with God is to believe Him; to know He is real; to depend upon Him for every single thing, every single moment, every single breath and heartbeat.

It is important to note that my justification is not because of my faith “In” Jesus, but because of the work “Of” Jesus.  If my salvation is dependent upon my faith only, then doesn’t that become a work of mine?  Yes, undoubtedly.    It is imperative for me that my salvation to God not depend upon me because I am a sinner and my sin will destroy it.  My salvation, my justification, is dependent upon the work, the Word, “Of” Jesus.

“In” and “Of”, I think I am confusing.  I believe “In” Jesus, “In” His Word that “whoever believes in Me will have eternal life”.  What is He?  He is the Son of the one true living God.  He came and lived physically and killed Himself who had no reason to die as He had no sin.  Yes, He killed Himself by allowing Himself to be killed by those who had no power over Him.  He became a sacrifice as a service to every one of us so we can be saved.  This is the gift “Of” Him to anyone who will believe “In” Him.  

Should I Only Imagine?

This morning as I was driving back home after dropping off the kids at school the song "I Can Only Imagine" came on the radio.  As I was getting lost into the essence of the mental image that song presents and tears started welling up in my eyes, I wondered why I don't feel that way every morning, every day.  Seems like I should.

Every day should be a moment where I acknowledge that I am in the presence, no, I have the presence of God with my spirit.  How do I reconcile that?  How often do I dance in celebration that God has embraced me?  How often am I unable to speak in His presence with in me?  Is this something I should have to "imagine" at all?  The reality is just a little outside of my reach.

Now, I know there will be a difference between heaven and here, but still, I think I take it too lightly almost all the time.

Then my mind wandered into how much this song has to mean to Russ.  I remember it being played at his Dad's funeral and I remember Ryan bursting into tears upon hearing it at a theme park.

It's so awesome to have such emotionally charging moments.  I think God lives in these moments.

This Little Light of Mine

This Little Light of Mine

Perhaps since the fall of man, we've struggled to prove God's existence. By extraordinary design, however, the existence of God cannot be proven.  I believe God designed it that way so that we must make a very real and high-stakes choice.  If God's existence was a matter of scientifically verifiable fact, we really wouldn't have much of a choice to make about him. So to believe in God requires faith and that is how God designed this love relationship to work. After all, it wouldn't require much love to acknowledge and believe in a simple, verifiable fact.

What is faith?  Heb 11:1 defines it as "the substance of things hoped for" and "the evidence of things not seen" (KJV).  Where is this evidence?  The daily testimony of nature cries out to not only the reality of God, but to his infinite wisdom and love.  My day last Saturday, for instance started before sunrise in the deer woods.  What a magnificent sunrise!  No one saw it from my exact perspective, so this was a gift crafted uniquely for me at that time and place. God created us in His image and we are awed by his creation.  God wired us to "hear" the testimony about himself from his inanimate creation so that we would be blessed and by seeing His evidence, our faith would be increased.  After all, who is it that doesn't appreciate a colorful sunrise or sunset?  So, the nearly universal appreciation of a sunrise or sunset provides evidence of a devine creator who created us to see Him in his created world. Had we simply evolved, who would appreciate the beauty of creation?  We simply wouldn't care.  God wired us to see Him, appreciate Him, and know Him, and to love Him in His created order. 

The tragedy herein is that when I ask Christian adults and youth alike where they have seen God lately, I almost always get a nature story if I get an answer at all.  What's so tragic about a nature story? Nothing if there are other stories to go with it.  Jesus said that if his disciples were to remain silent, the very rocks would cry out in testimony to God (Luke 19:40).  The tragedy is that we can't supply any evidence of God at work in our lives. By analogy if there is no testimony, there is no faith!

I'll be the first to tell you that in the excess of America, I really don't need much faith to get through a day.  I get up, go to work, apply myself, come home and do the same, and go to bed.  What did I depend on God to do today?  I have food, I have a steady paying job, I don't really have any real need of God to meet my needs and so very many of my wants.  Listen to the prayer requests at church - they only really involve the things we can't control ourselves: health and death.  I'll just come out and say it right here.  The problem with the church in America including FUMC in FWB is lack of powerful evidence of God!  We have no faith!  (Bring on the comments - show me where I'm wrong and I'll publicly repent!). We don't set faith based budgets or programs. We use logic and data to figure out what we can do for God.  Here's a clue: the creator of the universe doesn't need you to do anything, but love and obey Him! 

So the answer is to be a bold witness for Christ and tell everyone we know about Him, right?  Why would you expect the world to believe words if there is no evidence to support the foundation - evidence of God?  If we can't provide a sound answer to the question of exactly what difference God has made in our lives and why anyone who is not in relationship with Him should be, are our words persuasive?  I suggest not.  So what then?  St. Francis of Assisi said it so well: "Preach the Gospel always.  If necessary, use words." 

Our actions, then should be a beacon of light for Christ. The only thing that is keeping me from being more concrete evidence of God than that spectacular sunrise last Saturday is a lack of faith.  I simply don't believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.  Otherwise I would exude the gifts of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) in everything I do and others would immediately recognize it.  I would also immediately recognize and give thanks for the constant work of God all around me.  I would be able to bear witness to His work and have a constant testimony of His work in me and in the lives around me. 

In fairness, there are many things we can never know.  Did God miraculously prevent a lethal wreck on my way home yesterday?  I may never know if so.  I should, however, be able to clearly recognize those things he does do.  There are some things to celebrate.  Our church, for instance, is launching a community breakfast out of deep desire by many to bear witness "under the shadow of our steeple" without clear knowledge of just how we will man or fund such an initiative.  Clearly we're boldly stepping out in faith and I applaud that initiative.  It is anecdotal, however, and not a way of life for every program and initiative of our church.  We pray quickly that God will guide us and bless our efforts, then spend hours and sometimes days and weeks talking, gathering and analyzing data, pouring over results by others, and then move cautiously in some small direction based on our best and most logical deductuion from all we learned.  What if we've got it backwards?  What if we spent a few quick minutes analyzing data and hours in prayer?  What would data analysis and logic have revealed to Daniel about being thrown into a den of lions?  Or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednogo about being thrown into fire?  Wouldn't the analysis show certain death?  Reliance on human experience misses the most important point: only God know the future.  I'm sure that all four didn't need extensive analysis and multiple brainstorming sessions to deduce almost certain death, so they opted to make a stand on principle - one that was supported by unwavering faith that regardless of the outcome, they could trust and rely on God. 

Another reason that we don't see God at work besides not expecting to, is our own self centeredness.  My observation is that many Christians are so simply for what's in it for them. It's a me-focused faith.  We hear that message and build mega-churches around it all the time with messages about God saving us, prospering us, comforting us, forgiving us, and so on.  All true, but the focus is on what's in it for me.  I believe this kind of faith is what Paul was talking about when we referred to thinking and acting like a child (1 Cor 13:11)).  Faith that is focused on me is minimal if not outright idolatry.  It is this childlike faith that leads otherwise apparently mature Christians to behave like a two year old throwing a nonsensical self-centered tantrum and simply decide they don't have to accept the totality of scripture because God wants them to do whatever makes them happy.  So we see apparently mature Christian men abandon their commitments to their wives and children and pursue sexual satisfaction elsewhere.  Christians are divorcing at record rates, going into unprecedented debt, buying into all sorts of lies by satan, and absolutely refusing to accept or even believe they need any kind of accountability because of a lack of faith.  It's a self-centered attitude that says "God is just that savior who will take care of me when I'm really sick and after I'm dead."  So we add Him to our long list of priorities, take him out of the box once a week or less, give Him an hour or so of divided attention and once in a while when there's nothing more important to do we volunteer for some minimally impactful project just so we feel better about ourselves. Evidence of an unseen God?  I don't think so.  The evidence is plain.  We have made ourselves into gods and we're reaping our reward!  Our churches are shrinking, our families are splitting, and our morals are decaying, in the meantime, the rocks are crying out.

So does First Church need to build a hot fire and throw me in?  Perhaps so, especially after this rant. However, if we desire to provide evidence of God that demands a verdict from those around us in our community, we need to have a more meaningful testimony than nature.  We need to be able to cry out ourselves and we need a forum to do so!  We need to learn how to more readily recognize God at work, more clearly hear him speak and give testimony to those events and messages.  We will never see Him at work, however, if we don't expect it and don't have the skill of recognizing it as God when we see it.  How do we do so?  I think it has to start with priorities.  A life that truly places God in the first priority will truly look different.  Our choices will be guided by God and we won't move until we've clearly heard from Him.

What difference has God made in your life - ever?  Last year?  Last week? Yesterday?  Maybe we're not seeing God because we don't expect to do so.  Maybe we are like the Jews and simply don't recognize him at work all around us.  Perhaps we believe we must do for ourselves before God will assist us, so we're wrapped up in self service and simply don't want or worse don't think we need God.   So where does this leave us?  Does the pattern of my life and your life, our choices, our actions, our friends provide evidence of God or are the rocks having to carry our share of His message? We are either witnessing for or against Christ (Matt 6:24).  So what is the evidence of things not seen in your life. How has God been made real to you such that your faith has been increased?  Where should one even begin looking?

The answer is love.  1 John 4:16 states that God is Love.  1 John 3:14 states that Love is the proof of faith.  Love is action  - Agape and the subject of another rant.   

Confrontation

"Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body." - Ephesians 4:25

Why, good Christian, is it wrong to confront your brothers and sisters with the truth of God's Word?  While any Christian not around another friend or family who is in an obvious sin will say it isn't, the truth of societal living is when you try to confront someone they will beat you up as a judgmental "Christian" and you are just creating division in their perspective.  My experience is the person who is in sin and refusing to confront themselves will wage a propaganda war against you for trying to confront them about their sin.  You, who are only doing what the Bible says to do, something they claim to believe in; you, the one not living a lie or having brought the sin into everyone's lives, is blamed as the divisor and looked down upon.

Sounds eerily familiar doesn't it?  Jesus confronted everyone with their sin.  The majority took major offense to it.  The holier they thought they were, the more offense they took.  They waged a propaganda war against Him.  They claimed He was a divisor of their "religion".  Ultimately, they murdered Him for simply confronting them with the truth of who they were. 

Why should we expect less?  Jesus said in John 15:18-19, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you."  Why would we expect not be hated by those who are living in the world, even if they claim to be Christian or are Christian?  You do not have the same perspective, therefore it is impossible for either of you to understand the other's viewpoint.

However, there is also a different response.  I have confronted others and they have responded with pain over their recognition of this wrong in their life.  They may not be able to get it out of their life at that time because they are enjoying it too much or just aren't strong enough, but they recognized it and did not hate at all.  With a desire to help a brother through time listening, finding accountability, strong encouragement and just loving them in their trial, when they had losing battles and winning battles, it was possible to minister to them.  The conflict stayed rightfully with them and their sin. 

What is the difference?  The difference is that if a person is confronted by their sin and they turn on you, that person has not confronted the reality of who they really are versus who they think they are.  They are still living in their own authority of what is right and wrong and their own justification and refuse to live under the authority of God and His justification.  Even if they claim to believe in Him.  It is quite the paradox.  The person who is confronted by their sin and they respond with pain, that person is still living under the authority of God and they acknowledge their sin.  Even if they are struggling mightily in it.

“No clever arrangement of rotten eggs will make a good omelet.” – C.S. Lewis

As Paul indicates in his letter to Ephesus, we are to speak to our "Christian" brothers about the sin in their life, no matter how they respond.  If we do not, we are just another rotten egg in their omelet.  Our bowing down to their lack of comfort over their conflict is not going to help them, they will end up with a rotten omelet just as well.  Besides, how can we, who know the answer for life, which is located in His Truth, not offer it to someone who is in need?  Jesus did, and so He should continue to do, through us.

Quote for Our Generation

Our generation's biggest danger is love with no truth.  Love everybody and be tolerant is our generation, there is no tolerance for you if you proclaim an absolute truth.  Love without truth is dangerous because there is no substance. - Author Unknown (at least I couldn't find it)

The Word

Sometimes, all you need is the Word.  It says enough.

There is no one righteous, not even one. - Romans 3:10

I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. - Psalms 51:5

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come - Mark 7:21

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. - Romans 1:21

Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  - John 3:18

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. - James 1:5

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. - Psalms 118:8

“Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” - Luke 23:42

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when He found him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is He, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in Him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him. - John 9:35-38

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. - 1 Peter 1:23

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.  After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. - Hebrews 1:3

Hot or Cold?

In Revelation 3:16 Jesus comments regarding the church of Laodicea that they are lukewarm and He is about to spit them from His mouth.  He would rather they be hot or cold.  This middle ground of being lukewarm is emphasized in Luke 20:1-8.  Jesus has made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  He has run the money-changers out of the temple, and now He is teaching in the temple courts.

¹ One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to Him. ² “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave You this authority?”

³ He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: ⁴ John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

⁵ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

⁷ So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸ Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

These religious leaders were trying desperately to find a way to kill Jesus as is told in Luke 19:47-48.  By asking this question they were hoping that Jesus would say that God gave Him authority and then have Him killed for blasphemy.  Jesus knew what they were trying to do.  But He does not waste even their own evil plans to teach and ask for a response.

By asking this question, he is providing them a way to be hot or cold with regards to their belief in God's prophet John and Jesus Himself.  They have the option at that moment to say John's baptism was from heaven and he was a prophet of God who led people to repentance.  That they should have followed him but were not certain.  This would show a response to His call.  This would indicate a heart hearing the Word of God and putting itself behind.  This would be "hot" using the analogy of Revelations.

Or, they could say John's baptism was of human origin and defend their belief to the people.  They would have to take a stand and address their conflict with the people.  This would have been a "cold" response.

Either of these two are definitive responses and address conflict in their heart, with the people whether it is the crowd or their fellow religious leaders, and with Jesus.  Either is a proper response.  Believe what you believe, declare it, deal with the consequences, but don't say you believe it and be unwilling to stand on it.  I think this is what Jesus is declaring for in His desire in Revelation for them to be hot or cold.  Yet, the religious leaders do the most lukewarm thing possible.  They let fear and an absence of courage allow them to answer "We don't know".  The real unsaid answer is, "We are unwilling to say.  We are too scared to really believe and too scared to stand on our actual belief."  Is there anything more wimpy?

If someone chooses not to believe in Jesus, then don't believe.  I hope until the day I go to meet God that you change your mind, but don't pretend for my sake.  If someone chooses to believe in Jesus, then praise God in heaven and may the heavens sing!  I hope until the day you go to meet God that you are ever growing in closeness to Him and You see His work in your life every day.  But don't say you believe and have a heart of stone and do whatever you want to do, don't pretend for my sake. 

Just as important is for me to take a daily account of my thoughts and actions and ask: "Am I pretending?  Do my thoughts and actions reflect a person who says he believes in Jesus and claims to be saved?  Is what I think I am reflected in what I say and do?  How is my faith today?  Does my day depend upon Jesus and no other?"  In asking these questions, I can hope to keep myself from pretending and be "hot" in the eyes of my Christ. 

Believe in Who?

I was reading a writing by a fitness junkie who also seems to train incessantly.  I am not against such a person and actually think it is awesome how people can find time to do something they love.  I just hope the exercise is their hobby and not their addiction.  The author is trying to convince others to believe in themselves.  I, too, believe this to be important, but I also believe there is a line where you are worshipping yourself and not God.  I feel compelled to comment on the following as it was written in their blog:

"Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth.  Now Jesus has been all through the country teaching, prophesying and performing amazing miracles- healing the sick, making the blind to see, causing the lame to walk.  ...  He isn’t able to do much at all in Nazareth- no great miracles at all.  He’s proven he can do these.  He’s done them before.  Why can’t he do them in His hometown? The answer - "because of their unbelief". The Word says, "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" and again "Now He could do no mighty work there ... and He marveled because of their unbelief."

"The 'belief' that we’re talking about here was a belief in Him.  However, the concept is the same [as believing in yourself].  Without belief it cannot be done.  It’s certainly a theme repeated in other parts of the Bible as well, “Without  faith it’s impossible to please Him.”

"You may want to think about this, if the Son of God requires belief in order to achieve His goals, make no mistake, YOU are going to require belief in order to reach your goals!!!

"Find a way to believe in yourself. You can do all things.

"Believe in you!!" 

I find it imperative to point out that the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, does not need anything from any human to achieve His goals.  Anyone who elevates themselves to a thought process that believes that the Jesus "needs" something from them is worshipping something and it isn't the Son of God.  Jesus came to serve and He served all of mankind by offering Himself as a sacrifice.  We have the opportunity of choosing.  We can choose to accept it or turn it down.  If everyone refused Him, He has still achieved His goal, which is to provide a way for man to know and reach God.

In this example, Jesus does not do great miracles because the people choose not to have them done.  The sense of this writing is that He purposely chose not to do the miracles because He was aware of how the people did not believe in Him.  They had refused Him.  We find a similar time when Jesus was on the cross.  The religious leaders say for Him to come down from the cross and heal Himself if He is the Messiah.  Jesus does not.  He cannot come down because if He does He will be unable to save those very ones mocking Him who do not believe in Him and this will negate His goal.  But He also will not come down in a miraculous manner because they do not believe.  That is, they do not believe His Word, and if they don't believe what He says then they will only believe in His works. 

Believing in works and not words is not faith.  All we get are His Words and we choose to believe His Words or we don't.  It's called faith.  We either believe what He says or we don't.  This has absolutely nothing to do with belief in ourselves.  Jesus prays to the Father in John 17:8 referring to the disciples, "I gave them the words You gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me."  That is faith - believing the words of God in who Christ is and Who He came from. 

I also have some terrible news for this person.  You can NOT do all things.  That is a lie from Satan himself.  This is the same lie he told Eve.  We cannot do all things.  We do not have the ultimate authority.  We get to do what God allows us to do.  We have the abilities He provided to us when He created us and no more.  Does anyone know how many hairs we have?  Yet God has them numbered.  No one knows us more intimately than our Creator does.  Why would anyone consider that they have more authority than God and can do anything?  It is quite preposterous!  The verse in Philippians is very clear, "You can do all things IN CHRIST".  Why was this portion of the verse left out - intentional deception?  The only way to do all things is in the power of the Creator who has all authority in heaven and over the earth.

I would declare to this person to believe in Christ.  Accept His belief in you.  Let your belief in yourself be only through Him.  Do not see yourself apart from how Christ values you.  You will find that you are much more valuable than you thought you were or could have imagined apart from Christ. 

Hypocrisy

There is an old story about a beautiful peasant girl named Layla, who was passing through a farmland while going to another village. There was a man offering his prayers out in the open. The custom was that no one should cross in front of the place where anyone was praying. When the girl returned from the village, this man was still sitting there.

He voiced, “O girl, what terrible sin have you committed earlier!”

“What did I do?” she asked, puzzled.

“I was offering prayers here, and you passed over this place.”

“What do you mean by offering prayers?”

“Thinking of God,” he replied.

“Really?  Were you thinking of God?  I was thinking of my young man whom I was going to meet, and I did not see you.  So how did you see me while you were thinking of God?”

...

This thinking of oneself while purporting to be thinking about God is exactly why Jesus was so directly accusatory towards the Pharisee's.  He charged them as hypocrites in their tithing, being so concerned to get their tithe perfectly correct but unable to manifest grace and mercy.  He charged them as hypocrites in that they were actors and pretenders; they cleaned the outside of the cup and the platter but the inside was dirty; they were as clean white graves (sepulchres) but were full of dead men's bones. He charged them as hypocrites who make long loud prayers to be seen by others as holy.  He pointed out that they enlarged the borders on their garments, the tassels, so people could see they were holy men and they would write the phylacteries (Scripture which is customarily bound to their forehead) large so they could be seen by others.  Most of these are recorded in Matthew 23. 

Jesus presents seven "woes" to these people.  He charges them boldly at least seven times as "hypocrites".  He also uses the phrases "blind guides", "blind fools", "blind men", and finally as "snakes", "a brood of vipers".  I find those terms and Jesus' language frightening.  I certainly do not want to be as one of those and under the woe of God.  His final accusation and reference of comparison to snakes is most definitely a reference to satan.  He is declaring that their hearts are from hell itself. 

Hypocrisy is an obvious big deal to Jesus.  It refers to a heart not centered on God, but insists that it is centered on God.  This heart serves itself and doesn't serve those whom God loves.  The greatest hypocrisy is serving oneself under the disguise of serving God.  In "serving the people" they had found ways to manipulate circumstances and the interpretation of God's Word so that they were exalted in indirect ways.  They fed their egos and pride by enjoying their standing in society, by having people see how holy they were, by being seen as better than the "sinners", and by being lifted up as if they were closer to God.   

Jesus pauses in verses 11-12 to say, "The greatest among you will be your servant.  For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." 

I find that sometimes this happens almost unawares.  It seems to creep in and I don't even realize it.  It is very important for us to be on the constant lookout for this snake in our life.  There are other times when I see this in other people.  My experience is that it is very difficult to make someone aware of this who isn't looking for it.  They simply are aghast at the thought and cannot see what you are saying.  It is beyond their understanding in their state of mind.  The Pharisees responded in this way.

I pray that we are always receptive to our Christian brothers and sisters who are willing to point this out in our lives.  I pray that I will resist all hypocrisy.  I pray that I would be humble and seek to serve others, even those who are promoting themselves.  I pray that I will not be subject to one of the "woes" of Jesus.   I pray that I will always be covered by His love and His blessing.