Grace and Truth

I was having a conversation with a gentleman that I have never met before over facebook this evening, I thought I would copy and paste one of my thoughts from that conversation here:

"Jesus was the perfect blend of "grace" and "truth" (John 1:14). He said what needed to be said, at the time it needed to be said, and in the way it needed to be said. Never skirting the issue or beating around the bush. Yet He did it with grace, never making it a personal attack against someone, only the sin or situation by which they were involved.

It seems to me that each of us find ourselves somewhere on the grace/truth spectrum. It is important that we identify where we stand on this spectrum and that we aim for the center, the perfect match of grace and truth, as Jesus was. When we find ourselves there (and we never will be perfect as Jesus was), then we will be able to answer critics as Jesus did."

A Blessing for Job

If you have been around the church for any period of time, or even if you haven't, you have probably heard the story of Job from the Old Testament. Job is the guy that in the period of a couple of days lost his oxen, his camels, his donkeys, his sheep, his servants, his daughters, his sons, and finally his health. This was a successive pattern, happening one after the other, through Satan, as God gave him permission to do so.

As we consider this account we often look at Job and think of the poor guy. Sometimes we might ask the question of how God would allow something so horrible to happen to a guy that was blameless. But, then, that is the point. Isn't it?

Job 1:8 reads; "Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 

It was because Job was blameless and upright, because he feared God and shunned evil that he was the target of these tests and the persecution that came at the hand of Satan. Not only that, it was because of his faith and the life that he lived that God pointed him out to Satan and encouraged him to examine him, to evaluate his life, and even allowed Satan to put him to the ultimate test. It was because of Job's strong faith that he was able to withstand the ploys of Satan and to combat the words of his closest friends and his wife and did not curse the God that gives and takes away.

When we consider all of this, we realize that this entire episode of testing and persecution from Satan, by the permission  of God, was the greatest compliment that could have ever been given.  When we consider Job 1:8 perhaps we should ask ourselves; What would God say if He were having a discussion with Satan about you and your life? Would God feel confident to send Satan your way and encourage him to examine you, to evaluate your life? Would God feel confident that you would stand strong in your faith if you were to lose all that you hold dear, if all that God has given to you were taken away?

Remembering and Rekindling the Relationship

For Valentine's Day my wife asked me not to buy her flowers. Due to the cost of cards these days we decided that we were not going to spend money on them when we can just as easily tell each other how we feel and the cards usually end up in the garbage within a couple of days. And due to our schedules and the inability to find a sitter for the kids (due a bit to laziness on my part) on Valentine's Day we were not able to enjoy a date or even dinner alone.

But, something needed to be done for my wife on Valentine's Day so I made some last minute preparations, put the kids to bed and presented my wife with a box of scrapbooks, pictures notes, letters, and cards from our dating years and early married life. Along with this box I gathered up some music from our past and we enjoyed sitting together and walking down memory lane and remembering our journey up to this point. It was quite nice and is something that we have not taken the time to do for some time.

As we looked through this box of memories and talked I came to several conclusions; (1) I love my wife, (2) I used to be much more romantic than I am today, (3) I used to take time to do the little and special things, and (4) I need to start honoring my wife the way I honored her while we were dating and during the "honey moon" stage.

These last few days this continues to run through my mind as I look to find ways to honor her more and show her just how much I do love her and I have found that it is a lot more difficult than it used to be and that I am out of practice in this area.

A gentleman came to me today and we got to talking about the way he used to feel when he came to Christ, the way he was "on fire" to learn about Christ, develop a relationship with Him, tell other people about Christ, and serve in the church. And he asked; "What happened?" He said that anymore he just doesn't have the drive to do any of these things and finds that it is difficult to even make it to church anymore. As we talked more I came to understand that; (1) this man still loves Christ, nothing has changed that, (2) he used to be more passionate and "on fire" in his relationship with Christ, (3) the time and energy he used to spend serving Christ was not thought of as a sacrifice, and (4) he desperately needs to get back to the habits that he used to have for loving Christ and serving Him.

 There is great danger when we neglect to be romantic and show the love for our spouses, the chemistry within a marriage decreases, our spouse begins to wonder if the love still exists, and soon we find that the marriage is hanging by a thin string. In the same way, when we neglect to love Christ and push through the wall that Satan and the world is constantly putting in front of us, we soon find that we that our relationship with Christ is hanging by a thin string.

If this is where you are I urge you to sit down with Christ, walk down memory lane, and remember your journey with Him up to this point. He will reveal memories to you and will rekindle the passion and the relationship that you have with Him.

Aaron Shust: Ever After

Great song by Aaron Shust from the standpoint of a parent speaking to a child. Breaking the news that this world is not what it is made out to be in Disney movies, that this life does not have a happy ending.

But, this is not the end, this is just the beginning.....

Cat, Dog, or Human Being

This past week I took a course through the Free Methodist Church, Christian Doctrine. One of the topics that came up during this course was that of humanity and the creation of man. Pastor Russ Veldman states that humanity is the pinnacle of creation and that we should be honored and humbled by the fact.

Recently we have seen a number of commercials put out by the ASPCA asking for sponsors for abused or abandoned animals.If you have not seen any of these commercials check out the one above. These commercials seem to treat these cats and dogs as if they deserve the same level of honor as human beings do. And what bothers me more is that people are being intentionally disregarded, murdered, and written off by us every day.

Psalm 8: 3-8 says: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor."

Humans are created in the image of our Holy God. Men and women, boy and girl, infant and elderly, we are all created in the image of God. And our lives should be honored as such. We are not and never will be on the same level as cats or dogs or any other creature. And our culture needs to realize this and begin acting accordingly.  

As long as orphans still remain, as long as people continue to starve, I will not sponsor a cat or dog. As long as children are being abused, as long as living babies are being aborted, I will not sponsor a cat or dog. As long as women are being raped, as long as girls are being sold into prostitution, I will not sponsor a cat or dog. As long as our elderly adults are being disregarded for convenience, I will not sponsor a cat or dog. As long as the mentally and physically handicapped lives are not highly valued, I will not sponsor a cat or dog.

If you want to make a REAL DIFFERENCE, click here.

A Game and Worship

Last week Kim and I thought it might be nice to take the kids to a basketball game at the local junior college. We looked at the schedule and determined that we would go to the women's basketball game and then possibly stay for the men's game depending on how the kids were.Our biggest fear was that if the kids acted up, we would have to leave.

Shortly after the game began we realized that it was going to be a long forty minutes. Not because of the way the kids were behaving but because of the way the team was playing. These girls seemed to either just be standing around as if their feet were stuck in concrete or they were running around wildly with no apparent play call or design. It was the worst game I have ever sat through and I have been to many sixth and seventh grade basketball games. The girls would stand on one side of the court, have the ball stolen from them run to the other end of the court and seem winded from the light jog, we watched as one girl bent down to tie her shoe in the middle of a play. It was comedic!

There had to be less than 50 fans that came out to watch this junior college match-up, many of whom were parents of the students and yet, for the longest time, there was no excitement or passion in the crowd, nothing really to cheer about. As we watched the coach of the team it was apparent why the girls were losing, and why this lack of passion existed. Not once did we see this coach get excited, not once did she call out a play, not once did she call a timeout to readjust or give rest to her players, not once did she offer any real coaching to the game. This lack of coaching, lack of passion and commitment on her part passed directly on to the girls that were playing the game, and this lack of passion on the court passed directly on to the crowd in the stands.

All this got me to thinking about worship in many churches today. The passion and commitment to worship is the most important thing. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! We have a great reason to worship the Creator of the universe, we have the ability to worship, and yet what seems to be lacking in many churches this passion, a fire, an excitement in the area of worship. And it is important that this passion begin with our church leaders, that the visible leaders exude this excitement, or else the worship of the body may die off.

Near the end of the game, when they were down by 45 points, some of the parents had finally had enough and they started talking. One father stood on the opposite side of the court and began to call out plays and coach the girls. He turned at one point and said "someone has to".


This concept too applies to worship. If our leaders in the church do not embrace the opportunity to worship with a drive and a passion than "someone has to". Perhaps that someone needs to be you.

WORSHIP IS IMPORTANT! Never lose hold of this truth. Worship is important. Never lose the passion for it.

State Farm Commercial

I'm sure you're all familiar with these State Farm commercials with that super-smug guy walking around telling us to contact an agent, BUT NOT YET, first talk to someone that already has a State Farm policy.



State Farm obviously knows that "word of mouth" is the best method of advertising and they are confident that their policy holders are pleased with their service and will give a good recommendation if asked. As I watch these commercials the thought comes to me; how am I suppose to find a "State Farm driver"? Does State Farm actually want us to try and search out one of these 40 million drivers that "trust" them or are they just trying to point out we have 40 million policy holders and no one else does. Basically, "we must be good if so many people use us".

As a Pastor, this commercial also got me thinking about evangelism, that is, spreading the message of Christ. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus gave us the call to GO and SPREAD the message. If followers of Christ were to put together a commercial it could look much like that of State Farm's; leading off with all the misconceptions and sounding something like this:

"The big bang theory, a big kill-joy in the sky, followers like a bunch of crazy fanatics. Come on! Isn't it time someone gave it to you straight? That's why you should talk to Jesus Christ. But not yet, first, talk to any one of the 2.1 billion who already trust Jesus Christ. 2.1 billion, yeah, that's more than John Smith or Buddha have combined. By a lot. 2.1 billion followers, hope for tomorrow, and eternal security. Where else can you find that? Talk to Jesus in prayer right now or open a Bible to read about Him."  

Notice, Christians could put a commercial together much like this, not that we should. The biggest problem I see with State Farm's commercial, as I said before, is trying to find one of these 40 million drivers to ask, it is not like these drivers walk around with sandwich boards on talking about their insurance coverage and/or agent. Likewise, not too many Christians walk around with sandwich boards (or even t-shirts) on talking about Jesus Christ and/or sharing their testimony.

State Farm customers have been trusted to spread the word about their coverage and about their agents. State Farm customers have been trusted to do this by their agents and by their super-smug spokesman.
Christians have been trusted to spread the word about Jesus Christ and the hope, joy, love, and salvation that He brings to life. Christians have been trusted to do this by Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 28:19).

So let us do it! By the way, I am both a follower of Christ and a State Farm policy holder, I can tell you about my experience with both.