Preventative Measure

So this past Sunday I spent some time talking about the issue of lust - specifically gluttony and sexual immorality.  I spent a bunch of time talking about how we should run away.  How when we are presented with a temptation to sin our first inclination should be to run as fast as we can from the very thing that is tempting us.  We shouldn't delay.  We shouldn't doddle.  We should run.  Run fast.  Run far.

Although I believe that this is great advice (advice that I give myself often) I realize that it is incomplete.  There are times where we are in it too deep - addicted to something that feel we can't get out of.  We feel hopeless and lost.  Is there steps we can take, measures that we can put in place to help us deal with our feelings of lust and become the people that God desires for us to be?  I believe the answer is a resounding "YES!"

There are some of you that are being mastered by a form of gluttony or lust.  The best things for you to do is quit cold turkey!  You know that if you don't do this you will continually be mastered by it.  Alcohol is a good example.  There are people who can drink with moderation, but there are those who cannot.  Those who cannot drink with moderation need to quit cold turkey. Those who are dealing with sin and you know it  need to quit cold turkey.  You need to run away from it and never look back!  But how do we not look back?  How do we exercise the will-power God gives us to make sure we don't go back down this road again?

#1- You need to avoid putting yourself in surroundings that will tempt you to sin.
If you have issues with alcohol you need to stay away from bars, restaurants with bars, grocery stores that sell alcohol, etc.  If you struggle with internet pornography you need to stop using the computer.  If you still need to use a computer then you need to set up parameters so that you are unable to look at porn such as only being on the computer when someone else is with you or moving your computer to a public place in your house. If your temptation is food then you refrain from going to buffets and allow other people to order for you.

#2 - You need to get people around you who will hold you accountable.
Alcoholics need support groups.  They go to AA meetings and have sponsors.  The same should be true for all of us.  We need to get a group of people around us that will call us on the carpet and look out for us.  We need a spiritual mentor, someone who has been through what we are going through, who can impart wisdom on how they have handled their particular situation.  We also need a group of people who we can walk through life with.  A support group of sorts who can loving correct, encourage, and rebuke where needed.

#3 - You need to replace your sin with something righteous.
It is very important to replace your sin with something else - something righteous!  You cannot quit cold turkey without replacing it with something.  Let me say this - you need to make sure you do not replace your sin with another "lesser" sin.  That does nothing for your relationship with God.  You need to replace it with prayer, God's Word, service - something that God suggest we do.

#4 - Pray.
I cannot say this enough.  When you are replacing sin that has a hold onto your life you not only will need will-power, you will need, at times, supernatural power!  There will be times where the temptation feels to strong or where you will find yourself in the wrong situation.  If you can't run - pray!  If you can run, run fast while praying hard!

These are only a few steps to take, but they have worked for me.  I know from experience that if you can run away and put these habits/disciplines in your life you will have success!  Will you be perfect?  Well, we all fail, but don't use that as an excuse.  Pick yourself up, place yourself in the hands of God, find forgiveness, and start again!

Disposable Time: Today's Hot Commodity!

    I remember the good ole days when disposable income was something that most of us longed for.  The ability to have the money to do what we wanted to.  Oh, to travel to far, exotic places.  To buy a truck to replace the old beater that had far outlived its usefulness.  To get the new outfit that we saw in the department store window.  Those were the days!  When everything seemed to be slower.  Where a good conversation was as sweet as any dessert and where sundown brought a reprieve from the work of the day! Man, am I waxing nostalgic!
     The reality, to most, is that those days are long gone!  The hot commodity of the day is no longer disposable income, but disposable time!  With global transportation, government subsidized credit offers, and the presence of faster, easier technology we have entered to time of speed and constant change.  Good conversation are not spoken but texted and sundown is not a reprieve but an invitation to start the second part of our day!  We are able to do far more with far less time and, thus, invited to fill up every ounce of our time with the "stuff" of life!
     Some of you who are reading this have no problem with the last paragraph I just shared, but many of you are probably waxing nostalgic just like me.  You long for the slower pace of life where your options never outweighed your time and where you could have just as much fun laughing with your friends underneath the tree in your front yard then playing X-Box against some unknown player a half a world away! Can this ever happen again?  Is it possible to live in a slower society where we can claim our lives back from the hectic pace this world is constantly trying to spoon feed us?
     I believe the answer is "Yes!"  But before I get to that I need to say a few more things.  First, do I believe that it is possible to reclaim the slowness of the "Walton's" type of lifestyle?  No - not really!  I guess you can move to a very small community or to another sparsely populated country (something I find myself longing to do periodically!), but with technology and the speed this world is changing it is pretty close to impossible to get back to those times.  Second, I don't dislike technology.  I am using it even as you read this.  I have a laptop, an iPad, an iPod, a Wii, and a TV with HD.  I do put my foot down on a smartphone, though.  I have a basic flip phone and that is good enough for me!
      With this in mind, I do believe we can regain the commodity of time back into our lives!  The reason I believe thisis because I do not believe technology or the pace of our culture forces us to live unbalanced, fast-paced lifestyles - I believe it is our inability to say, "No" to the myriad of opportunities that surround us. It is our inability to choose what is important and our ability to hold true to those choices.
      I believe there are a number of ways we can reclaim disposable time back into our lives:

1. Take stock.  Many of us go through life making decision after decision without ever asking if the decision is the right one to be made.  When you want to get control of your money what is the first thing experts tell you to do?  They tell you that for the next 30 days keep a journal of how you spend your money. Then, at the end of the month, categorize your expenses - mortgage and housing, food, debt, entertainment, etc.  I believe we should do the same thing with our time.  If you are feeling stressed and over-committed take some time (yes, you may need to make time) and take stock in what you are doing.  Then after you do this categorize it - family, work, children, spouse, church, God, leisure, etc.  Hopefully this will give you an overall picture of what you have said "Yes" to in your life - good or bad!
2. Scrutinize your schedule.  This is where complete honesty comes into play.  You need to stop rationalizing your decisions and be very blunt about what you are deciding to do and not do.  There are categories that I have found in my life that help me in this exercise:
• "Should Not Do's".  There are things you do that you know beyond a shadow of doubt you should not be doing.  They are not good for you to do, not good for your family, and not good for the kingdom of God.
• "Don't Need to Do's".  These are things that I do because I like doing them but are not necessary for me to do to fulfill what God has put me on this earth to accomplish.  This is the hardest one to come to grips with because, many times, we like doing them.  But you can really identify these when they start affecting the really important areas of your life.
• "I Need to Do's".  These are things that you may not like to do but line up with where you are at in the stage God has put you in your life so you need to do them.
• "I Have to Do's".  These are non-negotiable's.  A perfect example is work.  Hopefully you love your job as much as I do but there are days where you go to work because you have to not because you want to.  I also pray that if you believe in Jesus you have things like church, daily scripture and prayer, etc. as have to's as well.
3. Be strategic with your schedule.  This is like setting a budget.  When you set a budget you allocate certain funds toward certain categories.  Once those monies have been spent in those areas you don't spend any more.  There is also room in budget where you set aside money to save for particular things - vacation, new car, etc.  All this to say you should budget your schedule.  You only have 24 hours in a day and we should budget our schedule accordingly.  A big majority of your schedule is for work.  Then you will need to budget some for family, spouse, children, solitude, fun, etc.  Make sure you do this diligently and stick to it.

     I want to conclude with two more thoughts.  When you are creating a schedule make sure it lines up with the Bible and what God says should be a part of your schedule.  Scripture talks about work and family as well as time for enjoyment and rest.  So make sure you are being obedient to what God desires of you.  It is important to understand that there is nothing Godly about being too busy and over-committed.  As a matter of fact, they fly contrary to what God's word says!

     Lastly, I believe our society needs to learn to say "No!"  Some of us look at this word as being evil or selfish.  On the contrary.  When you say "No" strategically in your life it is the most freeing word that you will ever say!  If you want to get back disposable time you need to learn how to say "No".  It will be uncomfortable at first and some people may not understand, but endure.  God will bless you for it!

     My wife and I are raising 6 children!  Is it insane at times?  You better believe it!  But we have found the blessings of disposable income in our lives as we spend time together as a family and with our church!  My prayer is that you will experience these same blessings in your life as well!

Bye-Bye Bin-Laden

So I have had a number of people ask me of my opinion about the death of Osama Bin-Laden. I guess when you are a spiritual leader (of sorts) other people want to know what you think about the rises and falls of other spiritual leaders.

Actually, I think they ask me what I think because they want permission to feel however they are feeling. Some are really happy that he is dead. Some are shocked that anyone is happy that someone has been killed. And there are a whole bunch of you in between who feel happy but then feel guilty for feeling happy. So here is my take...

Am I happy that Osama is dead? Yea, I am. I feel a sense of happiness that the man who has been the spiritual and tactical leader of Islamic extremists which have killed thousands of people out of hate and blind religious fervor is dead. Now, it is not wave-my-flag-outside-my-house-high-five-the-nearest-military-personnel happy, but is happy nonetheless. Now, if his actions had a more personal impact I am sure my fervor would be escalated. But for now I am happy. I am happy Osama is dead!

There are other things I am happy about. I am happy that my dog knows to go to the bathroom in the yard and not in the house. I am happy that my kids get good grades. I am happy that the sun is shining and it is 68 degrees outside. I don't say this to state that I equate Bin-Laden's death to my dogs bowel movements. I have too much respect for our military and for human life to do that. What I am getting at is that happiness if fleeting. Is it allowable to be happy when evil is extinguished? I believe there were a number of people who were happy when Hitler died. But the evil they stood for is still among us. There are still people who believe in what Hitler believed in just as there are still racists, bigots, hate-mongers, and the like. Osama is dead and I am happy because it may mean that innocent people may be saved, but I am not naive. I know that his life and his teachings will still poison the minds of young men and women who are looking for a reason, a purpose, to live. So my happiness is fleeting because I know that although he is dead what he stood for is not.

Now, here is the million dollar question: Is it okay with God that I am happy that Osama is dead? Well, that is a mixed bag. The NT talks about "loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). Many people have used this scripture to defend their way of thinking. As if it is a blanket statement, that this encompasses all enemies. As I look at these scripture, I am having a hard time putting Bin-Laden in the same definition of "enemy" as scripture is defining. The "enemy" Jesus is talking about is a personal persecutor. Someone who does bad to you specifically because of your faith. I believe Bin-Laden is a different kind of "enemy".

I believe, we do a disservice to Christianity when we regurgitate the theology of love without framing it within other characteristics of God. God is love and his love permeates every part of Him. And on this occasion - Love is permeating justice. I believe a just God looked down upon a humanity that he loves and saw an injustice that could not be rectified (that is a benefit of being God - omniscience!) And because of his love for the innocent, allowed justice to be handed out by our government on behalf of Him. This may make you uncomfortable, but I do believe that God's justice is demonstrated in ways that we don't necessarily like or understand. If Osama would've died by a massive coronary or a giant lightening bolt in the sky what would you say? You would think "Well, God gave him what he deserved!" If God can use doctor's to be his healing hand for the sick why can't he use the military to be his hand of justice for the inhumane and murderous?

Maybe I am not as happy as I thought because I don't think God was happy in killing him. I do believe that, in the end, his love for humanity as a whole won out and caused him to eliminate someone who didn't care - and I am going to have to be okay with that.

Is Forgiveness Unconditional?

This past weekend I challenged my church with a very simple, yet (what I thought) profound question - Is God's forgiveness unconditional? I think scripture is very clear that His love is unconditional, but is his forgiveness unconditional? Or to put it in another way is there something we can do that would cause God not to forgive us? These are all pretty loaded thoughts and really hard questions. I do not claim to be an incredible theologian but I will try to answer this question the best way I can.
Lets first look at the scripture in question - MT 6:14 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." The first place my eye goes to is to the word "For". For means that this statement is building upon something else and that something else is the rest of the verses in chapter six.

Chapter six is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. At this point Jesus is talking about 'acts of righteousness'. He talks about giving to the needy and praying and how we need to do this in a way that glorifies God and not ourselves. He then discusses the Lord's prayer. Verse 14 is stated upon the shoulders of the rest of the chapter. It also rests on the shoulders of other scriptures as well. Especially the ones that deal with 'acts of righteousness'.

In Matthew 18, Peter has a discussion with Jesus about forgiveness. It is pretty familiar to us all. Peter asks how many times should he forgive someone and he answers his own question by saying 7 times. Jesus then changes everything and says seventy-seven times. Was Jesus saying that we should keep score on how many times we forgive someone. Not at all. He is actually confronting another 'act of righteousness'. The Pharisees and the law basically said that they were obligated up to three times to forgive someone for an offence and the fourth time they did it they no longer were required to forgive. Peter was actually trying to show Jesus (can someone say "kiss up") his generosity by suggesting seven when the Jewish law only stated three. Then Jesus turned the table and basically said - "You forgive however many times they need to be forgiven!"

As Christians, we need to get away from the legality of the law. I remember talking to teenagers when I was youth pastor and they would always ask the question when we talked about sex and dating "How far is too far?" Listen friends. If your desire is to please the Lord you won't be asking questions like that. You won't be asking questions like "how many times we should forgive someone" or "Is a tithe on the net or the gross?" Those are legalities and we sound like little children seeing how close to the fire we can get before we actually burn ourselves.

I am preaching through the Beatitudes right now and I am amazed of how much Jesus asks of us. He is not asking us to toe the line or fulfill some law. He is asking us to go so far as to follow him no matter the cost. He wants us to give our hearts to him so that we can see, feel, and hear the world the way he does. Forgiveness has to do with Jesus and his desire for us to live a life of meekness. Forgiveness is about meekness. Meekness implies freedom. Freedom from malice, selfish anger, and vengeance. Meekness causes us to have a true view of ourselves and how poor and broken we truly are without Jesus. Once we can embrace that then the question of forgiveness is easily answered. We forgive others because Jesus forgave us! Period!

Is God's forgiveness unconditional? If you ask God to break you, to make you desperate for him, to make your heart break for the things that break His heart, to live in utter humility before him and to hunger and thirst for things that are right and true then you will know the answer.

I know this is not the answer many of you wanted - you wanted a yes or a no. Well, I guess when it comes to the act of forgiveness it probably coincides with acts of righteousness. It is the attitude we must be more worried about. Do we have the attitude of forgiveness? Did Jesus have the attitude of forgiveness? Philippians 2:5 says "Our attitudes should be the same as Christ Jesus! 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Where is the balance?

It all started when I went to Zambia. I was mesmerized by the people - how little they had and how big their faith was compared to mine. It started me thinking. It forced me to look at my own life and ask the hard questions about my faith and my love for God. I am afraid God has spoken to me like he spoke to Belshazzar in the book of Daniel, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting". (NIV)

DL Moody said something that has rocked my life for years. Actually, it was something Harry Varley said to him that spurred on this thought. Anyway, Moody said, "The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man." I don't do well memorizing quotes but I had no problem remembering that one! It has been so profound and convicting in my life that, at times, it also drives me crazy. So what do I do with it? God must be nudging me toward something if it keeps popping up in my mind.

There was another quote that has had pretty much the same effect on my life. It is a quote by Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision. Appalled by the suffering he saw in his travels overseas he wrote on the inside of his Bible, "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." I wrote this down as being my New Years resolution (if it can be defined as a resolution) and am finding that fulfilling this resolution is very difficult. I am having a hard time finding the balance between embracing the things that break the heart of God and dealing with people who don't have this same passion. I guess, those are the people that break the heart of God.

• How do I deal with my willingness to abandon everything for Jesus and, yet, embrace the responsibility of caring for my family, my friends, and His church?
• How do I live a life of passion for the poor and needy when I am surrounded by the apathy of believers?
• How do I have patience for people who don't share my same desires?
• How do I raise children who love God so much that they would be willing to bypass on the luxuries their friends have to help someone who struggles to meet just their needs?
• How do I inject the passion of DL Moody and Bob Pierce into an American Church that fights over the color of their carpet and whether they sing too many or not enough hymns?
• How do I do this without becoming misunderstood or getting people mad?

The answers (or the lack thereof) paralyze me. Why is that? Shouldn't it burn inside of me so hot that I am misunderstood? Shouldn't my passion (I am checking to make sure it is God's passion) get people mad? Especially if it causes them incredible discomfort and conflict in their own hearts? I want to have a faith that is desperate. I want to have a life that is consecrated. I want to have a heart that breaks when God's heart breaks. Is there a balance? I don't know if you can be these things and use the term balance. Maybe the church needs some "imbalanced" people because I don't know if the balanced ones have done anything of significance lately!

Well, enough looking at the man in the mirror. What about you?

Are We "Under the Law"

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”  - Albert Camus

Someone asked me this week if we are still "under the law". This is my brief reaction to this statement. I would appreciate feedback if you would like. Thanks for reading!

Dear ????,

Unfortunately this is a hard argument. There are right and wrong views on both sides. Most people who say that they are not “under the law” point to Jesus death and resurrection as being a turning point – that we are under a “new” law of sorts that centers on Jesus so-called redefinition of the law (ie – the antithesis in the Sermon on The Mount: “You heard it said… but I say!”)

It is also hard because if we say that we are still “under the law” but have, let’s say a tattoo (Lev. 19:28), then we are picking and choosing what laws we are following and which ones we choose not to follow. We end up being hypocritical in many people’s eyes!

Here is my take – right or wrong.

1) Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17-20)

This verse suggests that the law points to Jesus and is fulfilled in Jesus. This verse also goes onto to talk about how man’s righteousness is defined by his obedience (James 2:18-26). The verses that proceed Matthew 5:17-20 (oh, by the way this is part of the Sermon on the Mount) deals with being the light of the world and we know that we cannot be God’s light unless we are emulating God – how do we do that? We must obey His word! Also, when I read Jesus teachings I don’t ever find that his words contradicting the Law – if anything He raises the bar considerably. He ends up focusing on man’s heart. The Law can be fulfilled without the heart and Jesus knows this. So much so He says that he focuses on the heart by focusing on our love for Him. He says that our love for Him should be so strong that our love for others (our wife and family) looks like hate and we are love Him to the extent that we are willing to take up our cross and follow Him. (Luke 14:25-27).

2) As powerful as God’s word is at face value, we must still understand context.

If we are “under the law” then we must obey every law. Well, no necessarily. There are some laws that were given to define and seperate who they were to be as a nation – that differentiated them from other nations around them. Many of the verses people pull out have to do with pagan religious rituals that were practiced by people who lived around them. Tattoos, cooking a kid in it’s mothers milk, etc. Also, the concept of not eating pork had more to do with hygiene then anything. The Israelites were commanded to eat ruminant animals. These type of animals that eat plant based food and can regurgitate from their first stomach and re-chew it (cud) to break down more plant matter and aid digestion.

3) Just because it is stated in black and white in the NT doesn’t mean that it is not applicable to our lives today.

Since we have been talking about tithing let’s look at it more closely. Many people say that Jesus and NT don’t talk about tithing and that it just talks about giving. Let’s look at Jesus says about this. In Matthew 12, Jesus highlighted the giving of the women at the temple who gave over and above what was expected of her. Jesus endured his disciples to do the same. Jesus also had an interaction with the Pharisees concerning their lack of mercy, justice and faithfulness -

MT 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Although the emphasis of this scripture is to not be hypocritical by doing one thing and neglecting another we see Jesus actually stating that we should not neglect the tithe (tenth) while we are practicing justice, mercy and faithfulness. The reversal can be assumed. We cannot neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness while practicing our tithe. Unfortunately, when people talk about tithing they end up using scripture that is talking about sacrificial, generous giving instead of understanding that tithing isn’t talked about a lot because it was a given to most of the people in the NT.

To conclude, we are “under the law” but we need to understand the context of the law. Casual Christianity lends itself to embrace what someone says that scratches our spiritual itch instead of studying it ourselves. Maybe if Christians would take more time trying to understand God’s word and less time defending their own personal feelings about the subject then maybe we might be a little more cohesive in our thoughts.

I applaud you for wanting to study this more and I hope I have helped in some small way!

Hey, Christian! Get your foot out of your mouth!

I know that Christians aren't perfect. I know firsthand because I AM a Christian and I am not even close to being perfect. What drives me nuts and makes me extremely angry (Godly anger, I hope) is when Christians say things and do things without thinking about the repercussions of their words or their actions (or "Putting your foot in your mouth!"). I am not talking about accidentally speaking out of turn or even saying things in jest. I am talking about Christian leaders who have an enormous amount of influence making purposeful statements about world events that are inflammatory enough to drive people away from God.

Have you been listening to Pat Robertson lately? I listened to his statements about the people of Haiti and I believe that he is true in doing something for the suffering of the people in Haiti, but what good does it do for anyone for him to bring up this so called "pact with the Devil" the Haitians made to free themselves from the oppression of the French? I don't know whether they actually had made such a pact, but I do know that someone needs to pull Pat Robertson aside and inform him that he is not helping Christianity out by recalling such things. Really Pat? Did you really have to say that? Now all of the news agencies are taking your words and plastering them all over the TV, the radio, and the internet quoting you correctly but misconstruing your intentions. What you have done was create one more hill for us to climb. One more hill for those of us who are trying to show people that Christianity is the best way to live.

This is not the first time Mr. Robertson has done this. Remember the terrorist attacks of 9/11? He and Jerry Falwell decided that it was all the ACLU's fault and the "pagan's, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians" fault that terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center towers.

My friends, evil is all around us. We live in evil times. Evil things happen because we have made historically wrong choices. Everyone. It started with Adam and Eve and it continues in us to this very day. If God is punishing the world it is not about a handful of outright groups that promote sinful agendas. It is about our apathy, our slothfulness, our gluttony, our selfishness, our spiritual farsightedness that can only see the sliver in our neighbors eye while we have a log protruding out of our own. The blame for the unchristian character of our nation (or any other nation for that matter) does not lie on the shoulders of the unchristian - it lies on the Christian shoulders. It is our fault we are where we are today. We should not be surprised when bad things happen. Our selfishness allows them to happen. Maybe we need to stop trying to thrust our spiritual morals onto our government. Instead of trying to get Roe v. Wade reversed why don't we fulfill the Great Commission and shower individuals with so much love that abortion wouldn't even be an option. Instead of trying to write that marriage is between a man and a woman in our constitution maybe us Christians should have marriages that show the passionate and selfless love between Christ and his church (his bride)! Maybe Christians should stop getting divorces at the same rate as non-christians.

Maybe if we would just get back to the basics of loving God, loving our neighbors, and loving our enemies - maybe, just maybe, some of this evil will go away. So instead of pronouncing judgment, Christian, let us be agents of compassion and sincere love. It is time to shut up and be the church instead opening up our mouths and saying things that cause division and distrust among those who don't know Jesus.

So Mr. Robertson and my fellow Christian lets get our foot out of our mouth and be what God has called us to be!