Thinking Out Loud

10 Rules for a Better Life (#10)

2009-12-02T09:39:00.006-06:00

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17

This commandment shows us that God is not merely concerned with out outward behavior. If that were true, this list of commandments would have stopped at "Thou shalt not steal." This final step demonstrates God's interest in the condition of your heart.

Obviously, other people are affected by murder, adultery, lying, and stealing. But what is the harm in coveting things that belong to other people as long as we dong lie, steal or kill to get it?

Well, we should start by being clear about meaning of the word "covet." If you look it up in a dictionary you will probably find a definition that sounds something like this: "to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others."

That last part, "without due regard for the rights of others," sounds rather familiar. If you go back and look at the discussion on stealing (Rule #8), you'll see that I talked about the attitude a thief must have toward other people when he steals from them. Basically, anyone who steals thinks that he or she is better in some way than other people. Therefore these people think they are more deserving of certain things and take them.

Clearly this is not how God wants us to view others since He tells us things like "love one another" and "love your neighbor as yourself." Furthermore, to covet something is to be dissatisfied with what God has given you. If you are consumed by a desire for something that isn't yours, you break commandment #10 and #1 at the same time because you have removed God from the center of your life and replaced Him with something else.

Actually, coveting leads to breaking all kinds of commandments. Take, for example, King David. His troubles started when he saw Bathsheba and wanted her (#10). His coveting lead to adultery (#7) which he tried to cover up (#9). When his deception didn't work, he resorted to murdering her husband (#6). Then he took Bathsheba as his own wife (#8).

Most of our sins spring out of our lack of contentment with God's plan for our lives. David was a shepherd boy whom God took and made him Israel's champion and ultimately their King. Thanks to God, David had success in battle, a large and prosperous kingdom, and popularity. David also lived in a palace and had multiple wives (which I am not condoning). But all of that still wasn't enough; he still wanted more.

Every time you search for happiness, joy, satisfaction, etc. apart from God's will, you will always come up empty. Even worse, you will likely find yourself with problems and issues you never wanted.

Do you really think more money, or more possessions, or a prettier/more handsome girlfriend or boyfriend will make you happier than you already are?

Rather than end up like David, consider the attitude of the apostle Paul: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

Have you learned the secret to being content in every situation? Live your life according to God's will and you will learn it quickly. He is the only one will fill you with a joy that never fades away.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#9)

2009-11-24T16:02:00.006-06:00

"You shall not give false witness against your neighbor." Exodus 20:16

Usually we think the ninth commandment says, "Thou shalt not lie," but that's not exactly what it says. It basically says that we should not lie about each other, particularly in a court of law.

Now before we make the mistake of thinking it might be ok to lie in other situations, let's not ignore what the rest of the Bible says. For example:

"Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive each other." Leviticus 19:11

So what's the big deal, why does God have such a problem with lying? I think we can all admit that sometimes it's just easier to tell a little fib and move on.

The "problem" is that our God is a God of truth. And when we lie and deceive others, we are hiding the truth.

We all have our various reasons for hiding the truth. Perhaps we want to hide our faults from others, or cover up something we've done, or maybe we just like to tell people what they want to hear.

Whatever your reasons may be for twisting, disguising or masking the truth, all of our lies come down to one basic principle: we are all afraid of something. Every time we tell a lie, it's because we are too scared to deal with the truth.

So not only are liars untrustworthy, they are also cowards. When we lie about ourselves to other people, it's because we are afraid of being seen for who we really are. When we lie about the things we've done, it's because we're afraid of being caught and dealing with the consequences. Even when we tell white lies to our friends to make them feel better, it's because we're afraid of dealing with their reaction to the truth.

Think about the situations in which you lie. They might be tough to pinpoint because we typically get so used to lying in situations that make us scared or nervous that we don't even realize our own efforts to hide the truth. But see if you can figure out what sort of things you hide. Why do you keep those things hidden? Is it because you don't think people will accept you if they know who you really are or the things you've done?

Well, God is the only one who knows EVERYTHING about you, but He is also the one who will ALWAYS accept you. And that is where our courage to face the truth comes from. If it weren't for God's forgiveness, we would have little to no reason to deal with the difficult truths in our lives. It's no wonder so many people live a lie these days. They don't know the hope and freedom that the truth brings.

Even though there may be parts of your life that you don't like and you would prefer to ignore, you no longer need to hide because the God of truth is on your side. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. And that is a very wonderful truth.

But in order to receive God's forgiveness, we need to repent and confess our sins. It's time to be big boys and girls and face the truth head on. As the apostle Paul says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Our God is not a god of fear and shame. And He does not want these things to be a part of our lives. When we feel like we have to tell lies to get through life, we let our fear rule our lives. God wants to give you the courage to be honest with yourself and with others so that He can work in you.

So how do you want to live the rest of your life? Do you want to spend it hiding because you're too ashamed and afraid of the truth? Or do you want to be free and have the courage to live in God's truth without the fear of what people will think of you?

10 Rules for a Better Life (#8)

2009-11-03T14:10:00.006-06:00

“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15

This is just one of those straightforward rules. You know what stealing is and you know that God doesn't want you to do it. It should be that simple, end of story.

But we like to complicate things with a lot of excuses like, "They'll never miss it." or "It's ok if I take from this person. They mistreat people all the time."

Do you really think God is going to hear those lame excuses and say, "Well, in that case, go right ahead and help yourself."? Am I the only one who thinks that sounds ridiculous?

Nevertheless, we make these dumb excuses because deep down we believe that we either know better than God, or what we want is more important than what God has told us. I know that sounds a little harsh, but we drastically underestimate our own selfishness even when it's staring us right in the face.

Think about it, when was the last time you put your own wants and desires above what God said? If you're honest with yourself, you probably don't have to think very far. Maybe you took something in a store or at someone's house (maybe your own house), or perhaps you lied on your time-card and accepted something you didn't earn.

Let me stress again the simplicity of this command. It's only four words, but the point can be compressed into two: "Don't steal." There is no room for exceptions or excuses. God wants His people to give to others, not take from them. If you're the one who needs something, do you trust that God will provide?

"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28

Furthermore, can you trust someone who has a reputation for taking things that don’t belong to them? God doesn't want His people to be known as untrustworthy thieves. And just because nobody catches you does not mean that God doesn't see it.

Our actions often reflect our attitudes. Think about someone who steals. What kind of attitude must a thief have to take from others? Probably something like this: "My own wants needs are more important than others' wants and needs." Is that the kind of attitude God wants us to have toward people?

“The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:9-10Again, this principle is not complicated: God wants us to love Him and love others. We can't very well love those around us if we're stealing from them. So whether it's shoplifting, taking money from your mom's purse, or "borrowing" from your brother or sister without asking them, cut it out! God hates all of it no matter how bad or not-so-bad you think it is.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#7)

2009-10-27T12:10:00.006-05:00

"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14

Before you make the mistake of thinking that God only cares about your sex life after you are married, let me give you another verse:

"Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." Hebrews 13:4

Whether you are married or not, God demands that we respect the marriage relationship that He initiated. And what you do before you find a husband or wife is just as important as what you do afterward.

Perhaps you are someone who does not like to be told what to do or not do with your own body. Perhaps you think, "It's my body; I can do whatever I want with it!" If not, you are probably surrounded by people at your school or your community who think this way.

Well, in a way, we can do whatever we want. We all make choices and God has shown that He does not stop us from making the stupid choice even if we're directly disobeying Him. However, just because we may want to do certain things, doesn't mean we'll be happier if we go through with them.
Think of your life as one long road. Time is always passing, so you are always moving along the road. And every time you have to make a decision, you come to a fork in the road or an intersection (usually there are more than two options). Almost 100% of the time we try to pick the road that will lead us to the most joy or happiness or away from the most pain or discomfort.

Now stop and think for a moment. So far, how well do you think you've done at choosing the road that leads to the most happiness and away from the most pain? Probably not as well as you would like. We don't always know where our decisions will lead, but we do know that we can't ever go back and fix our mistakes. We have to live with the consequences of our actions, whether good or bad.

But God knows every single outcome for every decision we make. And guess what, He WANTS good things for you. In fact, God wants the BEST things for you. He wants you to grow up to have a job doing something you enjoy. He wants you to have a great marriage and a caring family (yes, some Christians never get married and that's fine, too).

So when God says not to have sex outside of marriage, remember that He is trying to help us stay on the road that leads to more happiness and joy. Again, God knows where all the roads lead. And the road of sexual purity leads people to strong relationships, marriages, and families characterized by trust, mutual respect, and genuine love and appreciation for each other.

The alternative is sexual immorality or promiscuity. That road may feel easy now as you just do whatever feels good with whomever you want whenever you want. But God knows where that one leads, too. It leads to broken relationships riddled with guilt, jealousy, and disrespect. It also leads to STDs, unplanned pregnancies, abortions, single parents, dropping out of school, and basically a ruined life.

There are basically two roads here and God is trying to tell you through His Word, "Take the first road, it's better. Trust me, I know."

Yeah, the road of sexual purity goes uphill and it's harder to climb, but the reward at the top is definitely worth it.

However, the road of sexual immorality may start easy enough, but it goes downhill fast until you lose control and slide down to a dark, depressing place where I guarantee nobody wants to be.Even if you think you can "be careful" and avoid contracting a disease or getting pregnant: 1.) Is it really worth the risk of giving up the plans you have for the rest of your life? 2.) Do you really think you'll be able to have a good marriage with someone when both of you have already given your bodies to several other people?

And for those of you who have been reading along and think that you have fully kept this commandment, remember Jesus' words:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Mathew 5:27-28

What we look at and what we think about are just as important as what we do with our bodies. God is not just interested in our outward actions, but He cares about our thoughts and attitudes even more. In order to remain faithful to your current or future spouse (and to God), you must be sexually pure inside and out.

And nothing cleanses better than than the blood of Jesus Christ. It's true, we all make mistakes. Even though we'll have to live with the consequences of our decisions, there is still forgiveness for any sin we have committed through the death and resurrection of God's Son.

Whatever road you're on now, Jesus can guide you back to the one that leads to the joy and fulfillment that can only be found in the One who created you in the first place.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#6)

2009-10-20T13:43:00.007-05:00

"You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13

Many people come to the sixth commandment and go, "Ah-ha! I know I've kept this one! I can honestly say that I've never killed another person in my life." But before you start patting yourself on the back, remember what Jesus had to say about this topic:

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." Matthew 5:21-22

Was Jesus changing the rules on us? No. Just a few verses before this, Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17) Jesus is simply giving us a deeper understanding of what the original commandment was supposed to mean in the first place.

Do ever remember your parents telling you to apologize to your brother or sister? You might have blurted out a quick "Sorry," but you and everyone else knew you didn't mean it. Or maybe you were supposed to do a chore like sweep the floor. So you took the broom and swept it across the floor, but didn't leave it very clean when you were done.

Sometimes we obey God the same way we "obey" our parents, teachers, etc. We take the instructions they give us and we look for loopholes. Whether it's because we're lazy or we just want our own way, we look at God's law and try to find ways to get away with as much as we can without "technically" breaking the rules.

Therefore, some people think, "As long as I'm not killing somebody I can treat others however I want." Then Jesus comes along to tell us, "That's not what I meant and you know it!" Jesus came to show us that God isn't just concerned about our actions and the appearance we give on the outside. He also judges our thoughts, attitudes, and the other areas of our lives that nobody else sees.

In the end, obeying God's law comes down to trust. Do you trust that what God wants (and knows) what is good for your life? If not then I don't know why you're still reading. But if you say you trust God with your life, then stop looking at God's laws trying to find ways to keep some control over your life. Instead, search God's Word for ways you can put your life in His hands.

As Jesus continues to teach in Matthew chapter 5, He gives us some practical advice. He basically says that calling people names and treating them with contempt is as offensive to God as murder. He also tells us that if we leave things unresolved with another person that it will negatively affect our relationship with Him. It's difficult to have open, honest communication with God when you feel like strangling one of His children.So if you're like me you probably haven't killed anybody, but you still need to rethink how you view the sixth commandment. I've never taken anyone's life, but I've lashed out in anger (physically and verbally), I've held a grudge, I've sought to get revenge, and I'm sure much more. All of these things violate the sixth commandment because this is not how God wants me to treat others. Even the things I've wanted to do or say but never went through with still hurt God because He knows my heart.

I'm not going to pretend that following God's law or Jesus' teaching (basically the same thing) is easy. So don't pretend to follow God through your actions when your heart is not in it. It would be better if you would just admit to yourself that you don't trust God and go from there than to continue fooling yourself and everyone else into thinking you do. Just remember that God is never fooled. He knows the state of your heart even if you don't.

If you aren't sure about the condition of your heart, bring it before God. He can fix any attitude and show you how to match your thoughts and desires with the kind of life you want to live.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#5)

2009-10-13T14:01:00.006-05:00

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

In the stand-up comedy routine, "Bill Cosby Himself," Cosby comments a lot on the relationship between parents and their kids. At one point, he relates a time when he comes home and finds his wife in a sour mood. All she says is, "I want you to go upstairs . . . and kill that boy."

So Cosby goes up to his son's room and finds him looking "pitful." This reminds Cosby of the many times his own mother had told him, "When your father comes home, he's going to shoot you in the face with a bazooka . . . and I am not going to stop him this time either! You know, he's always wanted to kill you!"Many people point to Exodus 20:12 as the "first commandment with a promise" since the second part of the verse reads: "so that you may live long . . ." While that may be the case, I think this commandment is also one of those rules that you follow for your own good!

Just like the odds of living a long life are better when you don't play in busy streets and such, you're more likely to live a long life if you're not ticking off your parents all the time. Even though Bill Cosby is exaggerating when he says to his son, "I brought you into this world and I'll take you out!" his material is funny because parents can relate to that feeling of getting so angry with their kids that they feel like resorting to violence.

So it makes perfect sense that God would tell the children of Israel, "Look, if you want to live a while longer, make sure you respect the parents I've put over you . . . you know, they've always wanted to kill you."

I realize that things are a bit different today than they were during the time of Moses. Back then, children who blatantly disrespected their parents in public could receive capital punishment. Today, people are offended by the notion of parents spanking their kids. Nevertheless, God does not say, "Honor your father and mother only if they deserve it or because you're afraid they might kill you otherwise."

We should honor, respect, and obey our parents because they are the ones God has put over us. And if you do that, life at home will be a lot better. Think about it, wouldn't things be a lot easier around the house if the kids and the parents were able to get along instead of yelling at each other all the time?

Furthermore, kids who have a good relationship with their parents are less likely to try drugs/alcohol, get involved in gangs, wind up in prison, etc. And people who don't get mixed up in stuff like that typically live longer lives. So the next time someone is making fun of you for obeying your parents, think about where they might be in the next 5-10 years: Rehab? Prison? Maybe even a coffin?Colossians 3:18-21 gives us a picture of what a Godly household looks like:
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
This is how God wants us to live: in a caring family where people respect one another and treat each other unselfishly.

Are you always going to get along with your parents? Probably not. But if you stop worrying about being cool for a moment and think about it, you'll realize that your life will be better (and probably longer) if you learn to respect and honor them like God says.

And that's the bottom line, what God says is always right. If you still have a problem with the idea of honoring your parents, take it up with Him and tell me how that works out for you.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#4)

2009-10-05T09:26:00.005-05:00

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

Have you ever had to put a 2-year-old down for a nap? Or better yet, can you remember what it was like to have your parents tell YOU to take a nap? If not, then perhaps you know what it's like to stay up well past your bedtime.

The point is most of us (if not all of us) have difficulty admitting when we need to rest. Oh sure, we'll gladly take a nap when it's time for school, work, etc. But we rarely cut time out of our busy schedules simply to rest.

Usually, we think that as long as we go to church on Sunday then we've properly "remembered the Sabbath." But once the service lets out, we go right back to our busy schedule. Sunday is just another day to get last week's stuff done before Monday comes again.

Now I don't want us to get confused about which day is considered the "Sabbath." Originally it was (and still is) Saturday for the Jews, now many Christians observe it on Sunday. Today, some people have to work on Sundays because they work in a hospital or something like that. But what's important is that you have that one day of the week somewhere in there that is dedicated to remembering and resting.
God knows exactly how busy and forgetful we are. He knew we would need a day to rest just like anyone knows a young child needs a nap. He also knows that humans tend to get so busy that they forget about Him. So He intentionally put the Sabbath day into our schedules and commanded us to observe it because it's so good for us!

Like all the rules God gives us, the fourth commandment is mostly for our benefit rather than God's. He does not need us to remember Him to keep His self-esteem up; He is fully sufficient within Himself. Rather, God tells us to remember to come to Him because He knows we need Him. Just as Jesus said in Mark 2:27 "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

So this week, make sure there's one day dedicated to resting and remembering your Creator. And remember this as well: God is about relationship, not performance. He is not impressed with how much you can get done. If God was interested in our efficiency He would not have created us to need seven to eight hours of sleep every day! But He is interested in spending time with us.

Since time is our most valuable commodity, you might hesitate to give God an entire day out of your week, but time spent with God is never wasted.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#3)

2009-09-17T12:59:00.008-05:00

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7

Imagine you are holding an American flag. Yes, in the end it's just a piece of cloth, but it represents far more than that. It's a symbol, an emblem of your country. It stands for things like liberty, freedom, independence, and the sacrifice that makes these things possible.

There is a reason we have a certain code of conduct for our flag. We don't let the flag touch the ground, we fold it a special way, display it only in certain ways, we even have rules for "retiring" a flag. Some of the rules in the code may sound picky, but they are there to make sure we give the flag proper respect.

Now imagine you're holding that flag in front of a squad of Navy SEALs or Army Rangers or Marines or (insert your chosen section of the military here). How careful are you going to be with the flag now? With all those soldiers watching you, would you be so bold as to use the flag to blow your nose or wipe off your sweat?You never know these days, maybe you really would do those disrespectful things. But political correctness or not, each one of those soldiers would be tempted to shoot you on site (or at least give you a beating you'd never forget). When you disrespect the flag, you fail to recognize what it means to the country as well as the ones who fight to protect it.

In the same way, when you disrespect the name of God, you fail to recognize the power and holiness of the One who created the universe, including you. Not only is it just stupid to mock the God who has your life in His hands, but the name of God has incredible power and significance because of what it represents.

God's name, Yahweh, means "I am." While we humans have not always existed, God always was, is, and will always be God. And He has never been less than everything we need. Through God's very name He tells us that He is sufficient for us. God is . . . fill in the blank. He is our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior, our Protector, the list could go on and on. But one of God's most important attributes is that He is holy.

God is set apart. He is not like humans. He is not common. Therefore, His name should not be used lightly. Just like there are rules for how we treat the flag, God has given us the third commandment to tell us how we should regard His name. If you say that you want to honor God, make sure your give His name the proper respect: Don't use it unless you've really thought about who you are talking about.

10 Rules for a Better Life (#1 and #2)

2009-09-15T14:33:00.006-05:00

As I explained in the last post, the rules and laws that God gives us help us live the best life possible. Laws have this bad reputation of ruining our fun, but if God's rules can drastically improve our lives if we are willing to follow them.

Following rules isn't easy. Anyone who has tried to get into better shape knows that eating healthy foods and exercising regularly is easier said than done. We know these are good things to do and we know that our lives are improved when our bodies are in better shape. But we still get distracted by unhealthy foods and lazy behavior.

In the same way, God's laws are good for us and we will feel better about life if we actually follow them. In each of the 10 Commandments, God shows that He is looking out for our best interests. If you follow them, I guarantee you'll live a more productive life with fewer regrets than if you simply ignored them.

#1: "You shall not have any other gods before me." Exodus 20:3

Some of you might think that God just made up this rule because He is insecure and He needs you to make Him the most important thing in your life. While it's true that God is pleased when we put Him first in our lives, we are actually the ones who need Him. Sure, you can make other things number one in your life such as sports, music, entertainment, success, relationships, etc. But sooner or later all of these things will fail you. God, Himself, is the only thing in the universe that will never let you down and He lasts forever.
God knows that if you build your life on any other foundation, eventually it is going to crumble. You can save yourself a lot of grief and pain by simply making God your number one priority. It doesn't mean that you can't ever do things you enjoy. But following God still has to come before anything else. This might mean you pass up on things you think are fun, but in the end it will be better for you. If you don't trust that God knows what is good and what is bad for you, then things won't work out very well.

#2: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:4-6

The second commandment goes right along with the first. The first rule basically says, "Don't make anything in your life more important than me." And the second rule says, "Don't worship anything else besides me."

So this rule goes beyond just making idols out of wood, stone, gold, etc. Today, we don't really worship statues, but we do idolize public icons, prioritize entertainment, and emphasize our "right" to do whatever we want.Having a role model is great, but idolizing your favorite athlete, performer, or politician is something else. We might not make physical idols, but we create shrines to "important" public figures. We might not worship pagan gods, but we still call our favorite singer a "rock god" (we have a show called American Idol for crying out loud!). And at the end of the day no athlete is super-human, but we still want to make legends out of men who make a living by playing a game.

We might not have a temple to the gods of entertainment or laziness, but we do have stadiums and concert halls and nearly all of us have a place in our homes where we sit down and pay these gods homage for hours on end. You might actually be able to find some shrines to the goddess of pleasure, but even people who don't frequent nightclubs and other shady establishments still follow her one and only commandment: "You shall do what feels good . . . now!"

The point is, there are still all sorts of things in our society that can easily interfere with rule number one. God is sufficient for you. You don't need to worship Him and something else. Once you build up something up in your mind so much that you think you NEED it to feel normal, then you now have another "god" in your life.

These first two rules establish a foundation for everything else God commands us to do or not do: 1.) Put Him first and 2.) Stay away from anything that gets in the way of rule No. 1. Just those two rules cover a lot and the rest of the 10 commandments (as well as the rest of the Bible) help to point out more specifics.

Freedom Through Law

2009-09-08T13:03:00.004-05:00

Tuesday Night Truth (T.N.T.) starts up tonight at Campus Life (7:00 - 8:30 pm). Throughout this fall we will be exploring the truth about God's law and the freedom we can experience through it.

Some might say, "'Freedom' and 'Law' don't go together! 'Freedom' means I get to do what I want and rules just get in the way of that." I'm not going to say that following God's law is always easy (actually, it's rarely easy), but let me ask this question: which is better, life with rules or life without rules?

But before anyone says, "I would much rather live without any rules holding me back," stop and think for a moment. If there are no rules, who is to say what is right and what is wrong? For instance, who's to say that it's wrong for someone to take something that's yours? Who is going to stop someone else from beating you up (or worse) just because they don't like you?

How much fun would it be to live in fear of what someone else might do to you? Yeah, you will be able to do whatever you want . . . as long as someone bigger and stronger doesn't come along and do whatever he wants to you.

That's why we don't live in anarchy. We make rules and laws and assign people to enforce them so we can sleep at night knowing that there is some sense of justice in the society.

I would also add that God doesn't really stop people from doing what they want. Obviously, if God immediately punished everyone who broke one of His commandments, none of us would probably be around anymore. God may give us laws, but we always have a choice about whether we'll follow them or not. So if you want to go and do your own thing, you have that option . . . but there will be consequences.

Just like parents give their kids rules to guide them, God's law is meant to guide us away from things that can hurt us. However, the guide can always be ignored. Parents tell their kids not to eat too much junk food, but they do it anyway and get a stomach ache. Some continue to do it their whole lives and have heart attacks or other health problems. Or parents may say not to play in the street, but kids do it anyway and get hit by cars.In the same way, God tells us not to lie. But people do it anyway and wonder why nobody trusts them. He tells us not to covet or steal. But people do it anyway and wonder why they always want more. He tells us not to have sex outside of marriage. But people do it anyway and wonder why they have dysfunctional families.

As C. S. Lewis puts it, "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right then, have it your way.'" While "bad" things still happen to "good" people, there are all kinds of problems that can be avoided in life by simply following God's commands.

If you look closely at God's laws, you'll see that He's simply telling us the best possible way to live while protecting us from a life that we really don't want. If you don't believe me, let me ask you another question: how are things working out for you doing things your way?

Ask, Seek, Knock

2009-07-28T15:32:00.005-05:00

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

Do you want answers? Do you want the Truth? Well, perhaps you can't handle the truth. You say you want to be closer to God, to know Him better, but how much effort do you put into seeking Him?

I believe that God could simply grant us wisdom and knowledge and make us understand how much He loves us and what He wants for our lives. But I also think that the reason He doesn't do that is because He wants us to seek Him out. So the real question is: How hard are you willing to look to find God?

Most people don't look very hard at all and then complain that God doesn't reveal Himself anymore. The problem is we've gotten lazy. I know people who complain about the effort it takes to get up and walk to the other side of a room. How are they going to put forward the effort to read their Bibles, pray, and seek after God day after day?

If you have experienced frustration in your spiritual life, don't lose hope. Matthew 7:7-8 tells us that those who continue to ask, seek, and knock will eventually be rewarded. If it seems like you're not growing even when you read your Bible and pray every day, it might be a test of your desire. God may be waiting to see how badly you want Him in your life.

Those who give up reading their Bibles after a week don't get much out of it. God reveals Himself to those who REALLY try to find Him. How hard are you trying?
If you would rather be lazy and just slide through life, God won't stop you. But you will never find Him that way. However, if you take the time seek God and get to know Him, you will never regret it. Nothing else could be a better use of your time.

God is waiting for you to find Him. He WANTS you to find Him. But how hard will you look?

Attitude Problem

2009-07-07T11:21:00.006-05:00

I've never really considered myself to be someone with a "bad attitude." I try to cooperate with people and usually avoid causing problems with others. Even when I have to do something I don't enjoy, I stay pretty upbeat and positive. My wife tells me that I'm one of the most patient people she knows. But despite all this, I have a major attitude problem . . . it's one we all share.

While being cooperative and easygoing might help me in my relationships with other people, God's standard is much higher. As soon as we think we are "good enough" in some way, that is the time to watch out. Get into God's Word to see what He really asks of us.

Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Sure, I get along with other people, but do I consider them better than myself? Even when I am nice and polite to someone, I might be thinking in the back of my mind, "I'm smarter than this person," or "My manners are better than his/hers," or "This person isn't as humble as I am," or "I'm right, he/she is wrong."
And when do I NOT act out of selfish ambition?! Sure, I can be kind to others and I can work hard at my job, but when I'm on my own time, my choices almost always reflect my own interests. I choose to do things that will bring ME joy: I watch TV shows that I like, I play sports because I enjoy it, I read a book because I find it interesting. One could even argue that I am nice to others because it's easier for me to deal with people if I can get them to like me. And almost everyone who works hard at their job hopes to get at least some kind of reward or recognition for it (never mind that it's how they earn money).

This is the problem with reading the Bible . . . it tells us to do things that seem impossible. How am I supposed to do nothing out of selfish ambition? Every time we make a choice we choose what will be best for us. Even our decision to follow Jesus is made because we would rather go to heaven than hell. We would rather have God's love and truth than the corruption and lies of this world.

And how do I consider someone better than me if I know I'm smarter, faster, stronger, etc.? Sure, I think some people are better than I am: like police officers, firemen, soldiers, and other courageous people I could mention. But then again, I bet most of them curse, smoke, and/or drink and I don't do any of that so maybe . . . Oops, there I go again.

Perhaps if we read a little further in Philippians we can understand this problem better. Verses 5-8 say this:

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

The world says that as long as you're not bothering others, then what you choose to do is your own business. But that is not what God says. It's not enough to just live and let live. It's not enough for me to be nice to other people; I need to look out for their interests! It's not enough for me to make sure I don't do "bad" things; I need to make sure I act out of humility 24/7 and that my actions glorify God.

This takes a huge attitude adjustment! "Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus." He was God come in the form of a man; He was definitely better than everyone else. But He became a servant, which means His purpose was not to enjoy Himself. His purpose was to serve (and ultimately die for) others.Here is our attitude problem: we think our purpose is to be entertained. We go through life trying to have fun. If it's fun, if it's funny or entertaining, then it's good. But this is not the attitude God wants us to have because this is not our purpose. Our purpose to serve God and others! The sooner we get that through our minds, the sooner we will be able to live the way the Bible tells us.

The next time you are bored, don't think, "How can I have more fun?" Instead, remember that your purpose is to serve and find a way to serve someone. Do a chore that you weren't told to do. Make something for someone else, perhaps a meal. Help someone with their homework. Agree to do something with your family cheerfully even when you'd rather do something else. There are a million ways you can serve; if you try to find them, you will.

If you find yourself asking, "What's in it for me?" that's the old attitude talking. If you truly consider others better than yourself, then what you want isn't as important as what they want. Remember, your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus. He never said, "I'm God, I don't have to serve these people! They don't even appreciate what I do!" This adjustment is hard, but if you ask God to help you, He will.

In the end the choice is yours, though. Will you let go of your pride and accept your purpose to serve others no matter what? I'll tell you a little secret: there's a reward for your service when this life is over.

How to be Saved

2009-06-30T16:30:00.000-05:00

Maybe you've heard about Jesus and Christianity, but no one has ever really explained to you how to become a Christian and be saved from your sin. Perhaps you think you are a Christian, but if anyone ever asked you what that means you would get tongue-tied. Either way, I would encourage you to keep reading.

First of all, I want to make it clear that there are no magic words or secret formulas to be saved and go to heaven. Becoming a Christian is a matter of the heart; saying words you don't mean is useless. That being said, many people do use a method called the Romans Road to Salvation as a way to explain the process of salvation to others. It's not the only way to explain how to become a Christian, but it is helpful, clear, and fairly simple.The book of Romans is the sixth book of the New Testament (the second part of the Bible). Paul, the author of this book, talks a lot about sin, salvation, and living a new life as Christians. While the Romans Road focuses on key verses, I would suggest reading the entire book to gain the full meaning.The first stop on the Romans Road is in chapter three, where Paul reminds us that we are all sinners and separated from God. Part of being saved is repenting from sin and asking God for forgiveness. This means you will have to admit to God you have done wrong and can't fix it.

Romans 3:10-12 – “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”

And in Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”Paul is saying that we as humans are not good by nature. We have all done wrong in our lives and we have separated ourselves from God who is perfectly good and the only source of life. Therefore, our sin leads to death.

Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is death;"
Even though God is a loving God, He is also just and can't simply let us off the hook for sinning. He may be all-powerful, but He is also perfect and holy and will not break His own rules. There are consequences for our sin and God must punish all sin. However, the rest of Romans 6:23 has good news for us.

Romans 6:23b – "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Where does this gift of eternal life come from? This is the second stop on the Romans Road. We must understand how God made a way for us to be with Him. He had to punish our sin, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take it on Himself. The penalty for sin is death, so Jesus died for our sin so that we would not have to.

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Now our lives on earth will still come to an end. But when we die, we can either have life in heaven with God or we will spend eternity apart from Him in hell, which is the worst form of death: existence apart from God who is the source of all life, hope, goodness, love, etc.

The third step is to accept the gift that God offers us. Even though Jesus died for everyone's sin, we can still choose to reject Him. He will only save those who want to be saved. So if you are not willing to admit you need His help, you will not be saved. Please, don't slap away the hand that God has offered to pull you to safety.Romans 10:9-10 tells us “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

And Romans 10:13 says, “for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

All you have to do is believe in your heart that 1.) Jesus was who He said He was: the Son of God and 2.) that His sacrifice paid for your sin. If you believe that His death on the cross and resurrection is what saves you from sin rather than your own good works, then call out to Jesus to save you and He will. Put your faith in His ability to save you rather than your own.

Once you have done this, your new life has already begun. Now comes step four: assurance of salvation.

Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

These verses tell us that we don't have to worry about what will happen to us. Even though we have sinned, if we have put our faith in Christ we are now justified and God will not condemn us. And nothing anyone does or says, no matter what happens in this life, you can be sure that you will go to be with God forever when this life is over.

Furthermore, you no longer have to live a life of sin like the rest of the world. Those who do not understand what God has done for them still live according to their own sinful desires and try everything they can to find happiness. But once we have received God's forgiveness and the assurance of our salvation. Thus, step five is to live a life of obedience and holiness. Even though we usually do not like people telling us how to live, God will only tell us to do what is best for us. Obeying God will always work out well for you in the end.
Romans 6:20-22 – “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

No matter who you are, where you are, where you come from, or what you have done you can always be saved. There is nowhere you can go where God cannot reach you. Don't even think that there is any sin you could have committed that He cannot forgive. Your sin is not stronger than His grace; do not insult His ability to save.

Do not underestimate the power of Jesus, but do not overestimate your own ability either. Do not assume that everything will work out for you if you have not put your life in His hands. Nothing you do will impress God and He will not make exceptions. One way or another, your sin will be punished. Do you want to pay for it or will you let Jesus handle it for you?

The Contagious Christian

2009-06-16T15:48:00.008-05:00

How does a fire spread? What makes the flame pass from one thing to the next? The simple answer: heat. If you get something hot enough, it will usually burst into flame. Once the fire is started, it will spread to virtually anything it touches.

Christianity is like a fire. As long as the Gospel of Jesus Christ touches unbelievers, it will continue to spread throughout the world. The fire started in Israel with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and it spread as His disciples took His story all over the world, telling everyone who would listen. This process has continued for 2000 years and it's still burning and spreading today.

So how can you spread the Gospel like a wildfire? Well, first of all, you need to be hot enough. How do you get hot? You need to be in the fire. The Bible describes God as a consuming fire (Exod. 24:17; Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29). He burns bright and hot; He shows us the truth and consumes our impurities. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. If we do not stay close to God, any flame we have will go out.

As Jesus tells us in John 15:4, "Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." You cannot effectively share the truth, love, and power of Jesus Christ if you do not remain in Him. You don't have what it takes by yourself; His flame needs to be in you and it needs to be fed every day. So the first step to being a contagious Christian is to have a saving faith in Jesus Christ that is actively growing every day.

Secondly, once you have that flame burning within you, you need to take it to others. This may sound simple, but it means that you have to get close enough for those around you to see the light and feel the heat inside you. Just because you sit next to someone every day in school does not mean that you are "close." In order to be close to someone, you have to know each other on a personal level. Usually this means being friends.Yes, I am implying that you become friends with people who are not Christians. Otherwise, they likely won't see the depth of your faith in God. If you keep people at a distance, the flame that God has sparked in you will not pass to them. You may be wondering, "Won't non-Christians have a bad influence on me?" It's certainly possible, but if you remain in Jesus, He will keep your paths straight and the evil in the world will not lead you astray.

As the song says, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." If we are going to let our lights shine, we have to make sure they stay lit. We need to stay connected to God. And if we are going to pass our light on to others, we need to hold it close them. The world may not like our light, our flame may singe and burn, but they need it to be saved. Don't keep your light from them.

The Fight of Your Life

2009-06-08T13:34:00.007-05:00

“[F]aith will fight anything that gets between it and Christ. The distinguishing mark of saving faith is not perfection. The mark of faith is not that I never sin . . . The mark of faith is that I fight. I fight anything that dims my sight of Jesus as my glorious Savior. I fight anything that diminishes the fullness of the lordship of Jesus in my life. I fight anything that threatens to replace Jesus as the supreme Treasure of my life. Anything that stands between me and receiving Jesus faith fights – not with fists or knives or guns or bombs, but with the truth of Christ.” - John Piper

Do you have a survivor's instinct? If you are like a lot of people, you probably don't know because you have never been tested. For the most part, we lead pretty safe lives. Some of us might live a little more dangerously than others, but we typically don't go through our days fearing for our lives.

Perhaps you wrestled or boxed or you have been in a fight with a bully. But consider trying to fight off something or someone that has every intention of killing you? If you have never faced something like that, it's difficult to imagine because we aren't used to our lives being threatened in this country.
Maybe you've been rock climbing and you know what it's like to hang off a cliff 40+ feet in the air. But what if you had no rope or harness? It's no longer just a sport, it's a do-or-die situation.

As long as there are rules, safety measures, referees, etc., it's just a challenge. But once your life is put on the line everything changes . . . you are in a fight to the death. There are no rules; there are no style points; there is no second place; there is no such thing as fighting fair or fighting dirty. Adrenaline and panic set in as you go into survival mode. Your Fight-or-Flight response is preparing you fight harder, run faster, or hold tighter than you ever thought you could . . . because if you don't, you're dead.

What if you didn't realize the danger? What if your Fight-or-Flight mechanism never got a chance to kick in? That's where the phrase, "Like a lamb to the slaughter," comes from. Everyday, your faith, your spiritual life, is threatened and you probably don't even know it!
If God is the air that your faith needs to breathe, then Satan is the assassin holding you under water to drown you. He will do anything he can to keep you cut off from your life support. As long as Satan can keep you separated from God, you are not a threat to him because your faith will be dead.

If you don't fight, if you don't resist, your faith will shrivel up and die. Are you going to just lie there and let Satan suffocate you? Or are you going to kick, bite, scratch, and scream out to God for help? I encourage you today to choose to fight! Fight against temptation, laziness, deception, and anything else that separates you from the love and grace of God. Read His Word everyday so that you will be equipped with His truth and pray for God's Holy Spirit to empower you to do what is right. And never give up! Never stop fighting!

Read, Pray, Grow!

2009-05-29T15:59:00.004-05:00

Whether you call it Quiet Time or Daily Devotions, I'm sure many of you have heard about the importance of praying and reading your Bible everyday. Most Christians know that these two things are really important for growing in their faith and in their relationship with God. But if we know these things are such a big deal, why do so many of us find it difficult to pray and read our Bibles each day?

Usually we say we are too busy, but that has to be the lamest excuse in the world! I know because I have hidden behind it myself. The truth is that we all make time for what is important to us. Of course there are days when school or work gets so out of hand that we hardly have time to eat or sleep, but those are usually rare and can be prevented if we manage our time well. On an average day, we all have time to crack open a Bible and read a few verses. We also have time to talk to a God who is always with us. All you have to do is start talking wherever you are!

These are two very simple things! And that might be part of the problem. They're so simple that we don't believe it actually makes a difference whether we do them or not. I can relate to that. Perhaps you've tried to read a chapter of the Bible each day and yet you continue to struggle with the same sins over and over. Maybe you've prayed for God to heal someone and he or she never got better. But we need to understand that reading our Bibles and praying to God are not supposed to be the means to get what we want.

God has given us His Word so that we can know who He is and do what He has called us to do. Like James says, we shouldn't just read the word; we should also do what it says (James 1:22). And it's not like we have to read for an hour every day. Some times reading just a few verses is plenty of instruction for one day. But don't stop there! Read a few more the next day, and the day after that, etc. You don't have to master the whole Bible in a month or a year! Obeying the Lord is a lifetime commitment; it's ok to take things one step at a time.

The same thing is true for when you pray. Jesus told us not to worry about using a lot of words when we talk to God; (Matthew 6:7) we certainly aren't going to impress Him with any fancy words. Yes, He is the all-powerful God who created the universe and He deserves the utmost respect. But He is also your friend who loves you and wants to hear from you. Talk to Him throughout the day. Tell Him what you are worried about and ask Him for help; tell Him what you are happy about and thank Him for the many ways He has blessed you. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray continually." That doesn't mean you have to stay on your knees all day with your hands folded and your eyes tightly shut. But know that God is always with you, wherever you go, and you can talk to Him throughout the day.

So I challenge you to make Scripture and Prayer part of your daily lifestyle. It won't work you just try it out for a little while. You need to make a commitment and actually live this way for the rest of your life. That kind of change isn't easy. But if you stick with it and continually ask God to work in you, I guarantee He will change your life in ways you never thought possible.

You can start now! Just pick a book of the Bible (like Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Matthew, John, Romans, etc.) and read the first few verses. Don't do it to check it off your to-do list. Find out how God wants you to live and do it! And start making a habit of talking to God throughout the day. He can be your closest friend if you let Him.

The Greatest Love Story

2008-10-24T12:21:00.008-05:00

"As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'" 2 Corinthians 6:16b

Do you know what the Bible is? Yeah, it's an old book, but how would you describe it? What is this book about? Do you think you know? Are you willing to take a guess?

Many different people will give many different answers to this question, some of them true and some of them false. Some think the Bible is just a book of rules; a simple list of Do's and Don'ts. Others think its just a historical artifact. And many Christians will give you the Sunday School answer and say, "It's the inerrant Word of God."

Now I'm certainly not going to argue with that last one. The Bible really is the true, inspired Word of God, written through people who walked closely with Him. But have you ever thought of the Bible as an epic love story? Try not to think of cheesy romance novels or romantic comedies. They barely have anything to do with actual love and they certainly are not epic. I'm talking about the greatest love the world has ever known. The love between God and His people. A love that spans thousands of years.
If you don't quite see it, just look at the key events in the Bible: God makes people to be in relationship with Him. They sin against Him, severing that relationship. And the rest of the Bible is about how God saves His people from their sin so that He can restore that deep relationship. This story is both tragic and epic. Over and over God tries to draw near to His people and over and over, for centuries, the people reject Him and turn away.

Just look at all the times in the Bible where God says, "I will be their God and they will be my people." It begins when God establishes His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17: “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” (v. 7).

Many years later, God refers to His covenant and uses similar words when He talks to Moses through the burning bush in Exodus 6: “Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.’” (v. 5-7a).

Then God establishes the nation of Israel and dwells among them through the tabernacle/temple and the ministry of the priesthood: "So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God." (Exodus 29:44-46).

But even after being delivered from Egypt as well as many other enemies afterward, the nation of Israel continually turns away from God in favor of false gods and wicked practices. God sent prophets like Jeremiah to remind His people of what He had done for them and what He had promised: “For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrificed, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” (Jeremiah 7:22-24).

And so the people suffered the consequences for turning away from God. Israel was divided and conquered by other civilizations. And the temple, God's dwelling among His people, was destroyed. But even then, God did not give up on them or stop loving them. Even when the people were captives in a foreign land, God sent prophets such as Ezekiel to tell them that a new covenant was coming: "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever." (Ezekiel 37:26-28).*

Then, after years of waiting, that new covenant was made through the sacrifice of God's own Son, sent in the form of a man to die for humanity: "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28).**

But the story does not end with Christ's death. He rose again after three days, ascended back up into heaven. (Matthew 28 and Acts 1) Now that Jesus has died for our sins, God has made is dwelling within His people; we are now the temple and God lives in us (1 Corinthians 3:16 and Ephesians 2:21-22).

Today, the story still has not quite ended, but the book of Revelation tells us that it will be a very happy ending indeed: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'" (Revelation 21:3-4).

This goes far beyond those stories where we hope the guy gets the girl in the end. At the end of this story, the God of the universe finally "gets" His people back after thousands of years of separation by sin. Their relationship is fully healed and restored and will never be threatened again.

That (in a nutshell) is what the Bible is all about. And the best part is that it's a true story!

*See also Jeremiah 31:31-34
**See also John 3:16-17

Identity Crisis

2008-09-16T09:54:00.008-05:00

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." 1 John 3:1

These days we seem to hear a lot about Identity Theft. We see commercials about it all the time on TV: "Do you have Identity Theft protection?" "If your identity is stolen it can be difficult to get back." And on and on, but can anyone "steal" who you are?
You are not your Social Security number, credit card number, bank account number, driver's license number, etc. Identity theft is just a matter of information; it has absolutely nothing to do with identity.

Here are just a couple of definitions about identity: 1.) "the state or fact of remaining the same one, as under varying aspects or conditions" 2.) "the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another." I am who I am and nobody can change that. There are far worse things than having someone "steal my identity" like not knowing who I am in the first place.

That might sound ridiculous to some people, but when you really think about it, how do you really know WHO you are? We've already pointed out that things like Social Security numbers and other forms of documented identification can be stolen, forged, and whatnot so we can't rely on a piece of paper or plastic to tell us who we are.You have your name, but how many other people have the same name? If you have your name legally changed, does that mean you're a different person? No, your identity goes deeper than just your name.

"Well," you say, "there's my unique personality." Yes, there is that, but even our personality changes over time. As we get older we change the way we think, the way we act (some more than others), but just because my personality changes over time, does that mean I've become a different person?

Some people (especially girls) think their identity is connected to their body. But I can assure you that your identity is not skin-deep. No matter how good anyone looks now, everyone gets old, everyone's body changes and everyone's body eventually decomposes and fades away.

Other people try to answer the question of "Who am I?" with their social status or with what they do. "I'm a businessman," "I'm a doctor," "I'm a police officer," "I'm a baseball player," but what you do does not change who you are. What people say about you does not change who you are. What if an athlete has a career-ending injury? What if a world class singer loses her voice? What if you get fired from your job and end up doing something completely different for a living? Are they no longer the same person if they can't play football, sing an opera, or run the company? No, they remain the same person, they just do different things now.

If our identities are permanent, then in order to find out who we are, we have to look to the one thing in the universe that does not change: God. God made me. I am His child. The world can say whatever it wants about me (good or bad), but no one can change the fact that I am His. The world may not think much of me, but God finds me valuable because I AM HIS CHILD. I should never take that lightly because God certainly doesn't. He loves me because I am His, period. End of story. Nothing else matters.

You too can find your identity in Him. You are also His creation, His child. It's only a matter of whether you are willing to be identified with Him. Are you going to be the teenage daughter who is constantly embarrassed by the things her father does and says, "I'm not with him; that is so not my dad." Or will you be the young child who is so proud of his father that he goes up to everyone saying, "That's my daddy!"

No matter what you say or do, you will always be a child of God, uniquely created by Him for a special purpose. Whether you embrace that identity or reject it is up to you. But if you don't want to be considered among God's children, what alternative do you have left? Who ARE you?

Living Water

2008-05-13T10:40:00.009-05:00

Many Christians are probably fairly comfortable with Jesus. We know much of the world rejects Him and His claim to be the Son of God, but we Christians believe in Him. We know about His story and His teaching and, for the most part, we have a pretty good understanding of Jesus . . . or at least we think we do.Read John 4:7-26 and you'll see that people (Christian or not) really don't know how to handle Jesus because they want Him to fit their own expectations. In the first two verses, Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for a drink. Right away she's thrown for a loop because 1.) He's a Jew and 2.) He's a man. A Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman is already pushing it, but a Jew would never eat or drink from something a Samaritan had used. Jesus disregards the silly limitations humans put on themselves and each other.

When the woman asks Jesus how He could ask her for a drink, Jesus responds by telling her that if she knew who He was, she would be asking Him for "living water." Of course, He is using an illustration, but she takes Him literally. Noticing that He has no bucket or pitcher of any kind, she asks where He's going to get this water. Rather than pointing out her error directly, Jesus simply continues with the illustration saying that whoever drinks the "water" He gives will never thirst again and the "water" will become a spring "welling up to eternal life."The woman replies by telling Jesus to give her some of this water so she won't have to keep drawing water from the well for the rest of her life. She still doesn't get it. Now Jesus becomes very direct with her. He tells her to get her husband and come back. When she tells him she has no husband, Jesus says she's right and that in fact she's had five husbands and the man she is now with is not her husband. This woman would probably be considered "loose" in our culture today, but in that day and age, her lifestyle was beyond scandalous. One can only imagine the look on her face at this point or how long she stood there speechless before changing the subject.

And that's exactly what she does. She brings up and age-old disagreement between the Jews and Samaritans about the proper location to worship God. Jesus tells her that this dispute will soon be a mute point. Still not quite understanding Him, the woman says the Messiah is coming and he will explain everything. Again, it's up to our imagination to determine how she must have reacted when Jesus followed with "I who speak to you am he."Now some of us might make the mistake of looking at the Samaritan woman and thinking, "Boy, was she dense!" as if we're somehow better than she is. But how many of us continue to be limited by the ways of the world today. Jesus says love your neighbors and love your enemies, but in our hearts we say "He can't expect me to love so-and-so" and whether because of fear or pride or both we fail to obey Christ.

Thus, our sin blinds us to His teaching. Even pastors and scholars have argued and disputed for centuries about various theological issues that are essentially mute points and ignore the sin in their own lives. Jesus is willing the point it out to us, but we would rather change the subject because it isn't comfortable. The time to address it is not tomorrow. Jesus is here NOW! And He's speaking to you.

The Kingdom

2008-03-03T08:58:00.007-06:00

Here's a question for you: What is THE most important thing going on in the world right now? If you think about it, there must be something going on right now that has more significance than everything else. But what might it be? The war in Iraq? The presidential election campaigns? Perhaps, somewhere in the world, an inventor is working on some new, revolutionary product that will drastically change some aspect of the world as we know it today.
While all of these things have significance, I don't believe any of them are even close to the most important thing going on in the world right now. No, the most important thing happening right now is something most people can't even see: it's the advancement of God's Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. I would challenge anyone to come up with something more significant than that.

Now I would guess that most people are kind of vague on the whole notion of "The Kingdom of Heaven" and I must admit that I am no expert myself. But we can look and see what Jesus said about it. One of the points that Jesus preached was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matt. 4:17 NIV). Other translations read, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Either way, there is great urgency in this statement.

The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah to usher in God's kingdom, but they thought it would be a physical one that would dethrone the Roman Empire. Instead, Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. It starts out very small, but grows into this large plant (Matt. 13:31-32). The Kingdom isn't just coming sometime in the future at the end of the world, it's coming now and has been coming for the past 2000 years. Jesus started it with His ministry here on earth and has been continuing the process through the disciples and the Church.

Over the past two millennia, history has seen the rise and fall of many kingdoms, empires and nations. But God's Kingdom has steadily continued to grow and expand and it will never be overthrown. The message of the Gospel continues to travel throughout the world as it reaches the most remote peoples and, after 2000 years, still has the power to change hearts. Year after year more and more followers have put their faith in Jesus Christ and devoted themselves to advancing his Kingdom here on earth.

If Jesus' earthly ministry had taken Him to the Swiss Alps, He might have told this parable to the local residents: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like an avalanche. It begins with a small vibration, but builds to an unstoppable force."

The Kingdom is coming even now. Even though it is a process, eventually it will be complete. Where do you want to be standing when all is said and done? Do you want to be one of those who was advancing the Kingdom of Heaven? Or do you want to be known as one who was standing its way? Remember, in a spiritual battle there are no civilians.

Walk the Walk . . . or Just Ride!

2008-02-11T09:57:00.000-06:00

I am going to discuss a couple questions at once. Again, these are questions I've received from students and both deal with Christian behavior. The first student asks, "Where am I in Jesus? For instance, do I have to stop everything God doesn't like or just try not to do bad things?" The second questions is as follows: "If you have Christ in your heart but you don't do the most Godly things will you go to heaven?"

Both students seem to be wrestling with the role of good works in the Christian faith. Now the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Just so we're clear, it is God who saves us through the blood of Jesus. And this gift of salvation is offered to everyone who would put their faith in Christ.

But does merely saying a prayer mean you have the kind of faith Paul is talking about? James, another New Testament writer, asks this question: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?" (James 2:14). Paul specifically says that we're saved by grace through faith and NOT by our good works. But James seems to be saying that good deeds have some role. Who is right?

Well, first of all, James is not disagreeing with Paul. He clarifies his point in verse 17 when he says, "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James would say that if a person says he or she has faith in something but is unwilling to act on it, then they likely do not have any real faith at all.There is a famous story about French daredevil, Jean Francois Gravelet a.k.a. Charles Blondin that illustrates James' point. Imagine a tightrope stretched over Niagara Falls. This Blondin is entertaining a crowd by walking from one side to the other pushing a wheelbarrow. The crowd applauds the man's skill and bravery. Then Blondin says to the viewers, "Do you believe I can do it again?" The crowd shouts their agreement. He then asks, "Do you believe I could do it with a man sitting in the wheelbarrow?" Again, the crowd gives their affirmation. Finally he challenges them, "Then who will come and ride in the wheelbarrow?" This last statement silences the crowd.

Blondin touches on the same theme James is trying to address: evidence of faith is displayed in action. God asks for the same kind of faith that would cause a person to step inside the wheelbarrow; He wants us to put our lives in His infinitely capable hands. When we listen to His word and obey His commands we show our faith in Him.

James uses the example of Abraham in the Old Testament. God told him to offer his one and only son as a sacrifice on an altar. Abraham did not understand why God would have him do that, but he obeyed. Even though God stopped him at the last moment, I think Abraham would have rather gone across a tightrope in a wheelbarrow than endure that experience.

James explains that Abraham's "faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did." (James 2:22). If you are wondering what you must do to prove your faith in God, just read your Bible and pray to Him. God has given us His Word to tell us how He wants us to live and He allows us to come before Him in prayer whenever we want.

Serving One Master

2008-01-24T15:51:00.000-06:00

I've recently asked my students to write down questions they have about God, Christianity or just life in general. The first question I will address is "How far is too far?" or more specifically in this case, "How can I not be too worldly, but still be 'cool'?"

As I consider this question the first thing that comes to my mind is a verse from the book of Matthew. In chapter 6 verse 24 Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

Now I realize that the question deals with being "cool" and this verse is talking about money, but I think the principle still applies here. In the very next sentence Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and Money." Whether you are talking about money, popularity, success or whatever God must be second to nothing in a Christian's life. If you don't think you struggle with money then look at the verse this way: "You cannot serve both God and . . ." and you fill in the blank.

Now what does this have to do with being cool? Well it's very simple, all one must do is ask himself or herself which is more important: following God or being cool? Ultimately you can't even completely control if you're "cool" or not because you can't control what people think. But you can, with God's help, follow Christ regardless of what people think of you.

Basically, the mindset of "how far is too far" just is not Godly. If you are asking how far is too far, then you are trying to make room for something besides God. If following Christ is really the most important in your life, then spend time every day finding out how you can better do it because I guarantee you that none of us have it down perfectly.

If people think you're cool for following God's commandments then so be it. But if not, are you really going to let what people think keep you from obeying the One you claim to love with your whole heart, mind and strength?

Following Christ

2008-01-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Luke 9:23-26.

Jesus isn't really all that vague when he tells people what it takes to follow Him; He just asks a lot. He says very clearly that those who want to follow Him must 1.) deny themselves 2.) take up their cross and 3.) follow Him.There is nothing complicated about what Jesus is saying, it's just hard for us to do. To deny oneself is to disregard his or her selfish wants and desires. I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, sleep often seems more appealing than reading my Bible and praying to God. It doesn't get any easier in the afternoon or evening either. It seems I can always come up with something I should do or want to do that will keep me from spending time with God. We all guard our "free" time or "personal" time so closely that we usually leave no room for following Christ.

Jesus is not looking for casual followers. He wants those who will give up everything to follow Him, even their own lives. This is why He uses the powerful image of taking up one's cross. For a person to carry their own cross was the ultimate act of submission. Imagine being forced to participate in your own execution. But think about it, if we are going to identify with Christ and not forsake Him, we must also identify with His death.

While there are many Christians who are persecuted and face hardship and death for their faith, most of us in America don't know the first thing about suffering for Christ . . . myself included. Nevertheless, we are all called to die to ourselves. Making the decision to follow Jesus means forfeiting your entire life to Him without reservations.
When we die, we leave everything in this world behind. Likewise, when we die to ourselves we let go of all our wants, desires, ambitions, etc. and turn them over to God. I'm not saying that as Christians we aren't allowed to do any of the things that we like to do because we're supposed to "die to ourselves." But be honest with yourself think about the one thing that you want most.

I mean it, really take the time to reflect on your life and try to figure out the one thing you go after in life. If you're stuck, consider your thoughts and actions; they will usually point to what your heart really wants. If you can't narrow it down to one thing or if your one thing isn't following/loving Jesus Christ then you are holding too tightly to your life and you will eventually lose it. Those who feel they have much to lose in this life will have the most difficulty following Jesus because they are afraid of letting go.

Jesus is still calling to us: "Leave everything behind and follow me." He has far more to offer than anything we can find in this life.

Assurance of Faith

2008-01-04T13:17:00.000-06:00

How do you know you’re a Christian?

So many times I've heard Christians wonder if they are really saved. Then they wonder if simply questioning their salvation means they were never saved to begin with. I admit, there have been times when I, myself, have wondered if I've taken my own salvation for granted. And I'm pretty sure I have.

I can't think of a scarier place to be than to "think" you've been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but in actuality be destined for eternal separation from God. At least if someone openly rejects God and the work of His Son Jesus Christ he or she knows where they stand. To those who think it's impossible to say "I believe in Jesus" and still go to hell Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers!'" Matthew 7:21-23.

Words by themselves are not enough to save. Jesus didn't come and tell his disciples "Just say that you believe in me and go live however you see fit." He said, "unless you repent, you too will all perish." Luke 13:3. People are quick to accept a gospel of peace, love, forgiveness, mercy and I am very thankful that God is a good and loving God and that He is patient with me and willing to show His mercy and forgive my terrible, awful sins. But not as many people are willing to accept a gospel of repentance.

People do not want to think that there is anything wrong with them and they really don't like to be told what to do. They reject the counsel of health professionals who tell them they are overweight or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, etc. and that they will die soon if they do not change their lifestyles. It only makes sense that they also reject the message of one who tells them that they are sinners and will go to hell if they do not repent and follow Jesus.

It's no wonder that our sugar-coated gospel of "All you have to do is ask Jesus Christ into your heart" leaves so many American Christians feeling empty and wondering if they really are saved. But when you try to help them dismiss that fabrication and get them back to the truth, they cling to their old ideas like a security blanket. The problem is that people will go to great lengths to believe that they are ok without actually changing who they are or what they do. They don't want to hear the truth; they want to hear that they are going to be fine.

And when I say "people" dear Lord do not let me forget to include myself in that category. For I have lived the lie of thinking that I am better than some and therefore worthy of heaven. Only men such as myself are foolish enough to believe that measuring ourselves against worldly standards will tell me whether or not I am saved.

God knows better than that. He doesn't look at humanity and choose those who call themselves Christians and never murdered or robbed or raped or cheated or used foul language or had sex before marriage etc. He chooses those who repent from their old ways and follow Jesus.

Becoming a Christian is not simply a mental adjustment. It's also a behavioral adjustment. The Bible says this over and over again, but somehow we miss it. It doesn't get much clearer than in James 1:22 - "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS." (emphasis added). James really hits the nail on the head: we are indeed deceived and don't know it. I can't believe how far off I have been. I've thought that just because I go to church every Sunday and read my Bible everyday it means that I am following God the right way. Not that there's anything wrong with any of these practices (I wish I actually read the Bible every day) but that's not what God's asked of me.If you're wondering whether or not you're really saved all you have to do is take the Word of God and examine yourself. 1 John 1:8-10 says that "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
So when Jesus says, "Repent" He is not talking about a one-time thing. We are to live lives of constant repentance. God has given us His Spirit to convict us of our sin (John 16:7-11). If we take time to listen, He will tell us where we have gone astray so that we can confess our sin and continue to repent and follow.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Not only is the gate narrow, but the path thereafter is also narrow. Our conversion is not a license to live our lives the way we want because God will forgive every sin anyway. It is the beginning of a life given wholly and entirely over to Him.

Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13,"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

Do you want to know if you're saved? Ask yourself what you do when no one else is looking. If God is in you, He will work through you. I must ask myself, too: Am I bearing good fruit, or on Judgment Day will Jesus say "Away from me, I never knew you."

What an utterly devastating thing to hear at the end on that day of days: to live your entire life thinking that you're a "good Christian" and going to heaven only discover that the only one you were pleasing was yourself. Please, Lord let it not be so with me!