June 1, 2009

These days it seems fashionable to be identified as an atheist. Atheism has gained an exalted place in our modern culture because it is portayed as an intellectually superior philosophy. But is it really?

Here's what the Bible says,

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

I Corinthians 1:18-22

The great British preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said, "There are no atheists anywhere but on earth. There are none in heaven, and there are none in hell. Atheism is a strange thing. Even the devils never fell into that vice, for 'the devils also believe and tremble' (James 2:19). And there are some of the devil's children that have gone beyond their father in sin. But when God's foot crushes them, they will not be able doubt His existence. When He tears them in pieces and there is none to deliver, then their empty logic and their bravados will be of no avail."

So, what do we need to understand about these who arrogantly deny the existence of God and who demean those who believe in Him?

1) Most of them carry spiritual and emotional baggage that are the real reasons behind their refusal to believe. Unfortunately, their reasons for not believing have little to do with God and much to do with misperceptions about Him. Perhaps they have been disappointed by faith or by a person of faith. Maybe they were hurt by a church or damaged by a parent who used faith to shield their abusive behavior. They project their disillusions onto God.

2) Atheism is often portrayed as the modern and trendy way to think and people of faith are belittled as archaic and backward in their thinking. The truth is that people have been rebelling against God and trying to rationalize Him away since the Garden of Eden. Unbelief is nearly as old as belief.

3) An atheist's claim that there is no God is intellectually dishonest for this reason, it is an attempt to make humans into gods. That, in a way, is the ultimate irony: atheists in their denial of God, cannot help but replace the truly omniscient God with a cheap imitation - themselves.

4) Also, his claim that God doesn't exist is intellectually inconsistent because the only way that could be true is if the atheist knew everything it is possible to know. Otherwise, it would be possible for God to exist but that He existed outside of his knowledge or beyond his ability to know. Since there has never been an oniscient human being, there has never been an honest atheist.

5) God believes in atheists even if they don't believe in Him and He sent His Son to die for them. So we should pray for them and reach out to them in love. We should live our lives in ways that make God seem real.

Lest we be too negative toward atheists, let me remind you that at times each of us behave as practical atheists. How is that? When we know what the Bible says and we fail to obey it, we are acting as though there is no God - or as if we are gods. Before we criticize or condemn them, let's repent of our own disbelief and rebellion. God help us, so we can help them.

May 31, 2009

What does love look like from Jesus' perspective?

How can I show my love for Him in a way that makes Him feel loved? What is His "love language"?

In John 12, He gives us some insights into that important question.

First, love is extravagant.

On Jesus' next trip to Bethany He attended a dinner in His honor to celebrate the miracle of Lazarus. It was a grand occasion! All of their friends were there, the ones who had shared the incredible event that snatched joy from the jaws of sorrow. All were reclined at the table, including Lazarus. Martha, of course, was busy serving them. What grand fellowship!

Amid the celebration, the other sister, Mary, entered the roon bearing something in her hands. Hardly anyone noticed until she approached Jesus, knelt before Him. At that point she held out an alabaster box filled with an expensive perfume. She broke the box and poured the fragrant offering over His feet and washed His feet with her hair.

Ironically, we only know the extravagant value of the gift because of the calculations of the greedy Judas, who bemoaned the fact that the gift could have been given to feed the poor. Afterall, it was the equivalent of a year's income.

What a contrast between someone who loved unconditionally and one who was calculated in His giving! There may be no clearer picture of extravagant love in the Bible.

Mary gave the best she had to demonstrate the highest love she possessed. Everyone in that room knew the cost of that offering and immediately grasped the depth of her love.

Jesus was moved. He was ministered to at a critical moment in His life.

Do you love Jesus? How would He know? When was the last time you offered your most treasured possession to express your highest love?

Second, love is expectant.

The next day, word got around that Jesus would be entering Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover celebration. Those who had followed His ministry knew that when Jesus showed up exciting things happened. Some had seen Him raise Lazarus. A few had been at the feast. Perhaps the blind and the lame and the possessed people that he had healed and delivered were all there. They came with great joy and expectation, grateful for what He had done and anxious to see the next great thing He would do.

Isn't that the way we are toward people we love? We can't wait to see them again! We get excited as their arrival draws near. We run to meet them when they arrive.

What are you expecting from Jesus today? Are you running to meet Him? Are you excited by His presence? That is how love behaves.

Finally, love is expressive.

Jesus was about to offer the ultimate expression of love, Himself. He tells a His disciples and a small group surrounding them that love is expressed in sacrificial service. Like the alabaster box, His body was about to be broken as an extravagant expression of love.

He explains that His earthly body must die and be buried so that His eternal life can spring forth. And through His sacrificial act of service, we will also live.

In the currency of God's Kingdom, a life spent in sacrificial love is accounted as an investment of love.

How have you expressed your love for God lately? Have you served Him? Have you given your life to something that He loves? How will sacrifice today?

Love that blesses Jesus is extravagant, expectant, and expressive.

May 30, 2009

What is worse than being dead? Being real dead.

The highlight of John 11 is when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Many were amazed, a few were thrilled, and some believed in Him.

Unfortunately, there were those who were not impressed. There were those who were deader than dead. Not even Jesus could raise them.

What does it mean to be deader than dead? It means to be spiritually insensitive to God's truth. It means to be so committed to your own agenda that you are indifferent to the will of God. It means being so controlled by sin that you are dead to the Spirit of God. It mostly means trouble. Big trouble.

Raising Lazarus from the dead was not a hard thing for Jesus. Afterall, He IS the Resurrection and the Life. Lazarus had been dead for four days. He was sealed in a tomb. But that meant nothing to Jesus. He spoke and death fled.

But for those who were deader than dead, Jesus couldn't touch them. Jesus, who can do anything could do nothing for them. Their stubborn wills were beyond the reach of His sovereign will.

So, Lazarus lived again. He lived until he died. And then he lived forever!

Not so for these who were deader than dead. They never knew life - and then they died.

How ironic that at the same moment that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, there were those who chose death over life. They were dead wrong.

May 29, 2009

Jesus did a lot in His brief three-year ministry. Do you want to know one think He never did? He never did a funeral!

As I am reading through John I am blessed as I am reminded of Who Jesus is! He is revealing Himself to His disciples and others who are paying attention. While they are hearing it for the first time, it is still good news of great joy as I reflect on it again. Thanks for joining me in this journey. I hope I have thrown a few blessings your way, too.

In Chapter 6 He fed the thousands with just a few loaves and a couple of fish and then revealed Himself as "The Bread of Life" and invites us to feed on Him!

In Chapter 9 He healed a blind man and introduces Himself as the "Light of the World".

Yesterday we reflected on the great truth of Jesus as our "Good Shepherd". We are well cared for! I quoted a friend who said, "When the Lord is your Shepherd the future is your friend!"

Each of those manifestations of His nature is significant. If only one of those was true it would be sufficient - BUT JESUS IS ALL OF THOSE! And more! Check out Chapter 11!

Jesus got one of those 9-1-1 calls. "Come quickly! Our brother Lazarus is deathly ill!" This plea came from His best friends, Mary and Martha. They lived in Bethany and it was a safe place where He could go and get ministered to. But He did something interesting - He headed the other way.

When I get one of those calls in the middle of the night I rush to the hospital or the home to bring comfort and support. Jesus didn't do that. He went back to Judea where He had just been rejected.

By the time He arrives in Bethany He is greeted by two grieving and disillusioned sisters. Martha greets Him with an accusation, "If you would have been here my brother would not have died!"

That certainly was true. But she was underestimating Jesus. Mary, Martha and Lazarus knew Jesus better than anyone and yet they underestimated Him. I have to admit that makes me feel better, because I am guilty of that.

Just when you think you know Jesus, He reveals something new about His nature. That is what He is about to do here. Mary and Martha knew what Jesus HAD done and defined Him in those terms. They were sure He could have healed Lazarus but they didn't reason that He could also resurrect him. How many times do I limit Jesus by expecting Him to respond in a predictable way? He is anything but predictble!

So, Jesus asked to be taken to the tomb. Mary and Martha are concerned because of the stench - he had been dead four days. They are thinking funeral, He doesn't do funerals. When He ordered the tomb to be open, they have "grave reservations". They are thinking about rotten odors He is thinking about resurrection! The tomb is opened and Lazarus is called forth. Since Jesus is Life, death has to obey! Lazarus comes walking out of the tomb! Jesus commands the grave clothes to be removed - Jesus is God of the living not the dead!

When He claimed that He is the "Resurrection and the Life" He meant it! Now we know for sure! As the Good Shepherd He give us "abundant life"! As the Resurrection He gives us eternal life!

So, what does this tell us about Jesus? He is bigger than life but also BIGGER THAN DEATH! He raised Lazarus from the dead (and others) before He submitted Himself to death on the cross. And when He rose from the dead, He conquered death for us! He truly became the "Resurrection and the Life"! Wow! What a Savior!

As one who still has to do funerals, I am thankful for the knowledge that Jesus is the "Resurrection and the Life". As one who has stood beside too many caskets and gravesides, I am glad I can point people to the hope of the "Resurrection and the Life".

Have you recently lost a dear one? Have you been overcome by the reality of death? Are you staring death in the face today?

I have good news of great joy! Jesus is the God of the living! There is no death in Him. When you live in Him you live in life! While in this life you live "abundant life" and then you simple move to REAL LIFE - eternal life!

So, welcome to life in a dying world! As you celebrate abundant life, breathe in a deep breath of His Life and live in hope of a life to come! Life is good! And it only gets better!

May 28, 2009

The word for today is "preparation". Are you preparing? Are you prepared?

Reading this morning in II Chronicles and in John 10 the importance of preparation became obvious. Preparation for what? Preparation for the presence of God.

Solomon is fulfilling his destiny and the dream of his father, David, by building the Temple of the Lord. The first five chapters of this book go into great detail - painstaking detail of all the people, the plans, the contributions, the materials, and the procedures that went into preparing for the building of God's Temple. Why all the attention to detail? Because they were preparing for the presence of God!

When the building was done and the details completed, the significant moment arrived when the Ark of the Covenant was carried into the beautiful new Temple. With great joy and ceremony it was placed in it's specially prepared place. Here is the dramatic moment:

 

"The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and covered the ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends, extending from the ark, could be seen from in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt. The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. II Chronicles 5:7-14
 

Wow! What a moment! How would you have liked to been there for that! All the hard work and planning paid off! It was well worth it!

 

In the second half of John 10, Jesus is being hassled by the religious elite questioning His miracles and his claims of being the Son of God. Despite ample evidence to the claims He was making, they refused to believe and continually challenged Him. Once they picked up stones to stone Him but He avoided them and later they tried to seize Him but He slipped away and got out of town.

 

The change of scenary made a significant difference. Here's the story:

 

"Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus." John 10:40-42

 

In one place Jesus had nothing but resistance, but in this place He had nothing but results. What was that about?

 

Simple, it's that "P" word again - "preparation" ! John the Baptist had preached and taught and ministered in that area and prepared the way for Jesus.

 

It seems obvious to me that God honors prepartion.

 

We crave the presence of God but we don't like the hard work involved in the preparation. 

 

We show up at worship or LIFE group and expect the leaders to produce the presence of God. While it is their responsibility to adequately prepare, it is incumbant on each of us to show up prepared.

 

Preparation is hard and tedious - but the payoff is well worth it! What are you doing to prepare for God's presence?

May 27, 2009

What a Savior we have!

In John Chapter 6 we see Him as the Bread of Life! He bids us to feed on Him.

In John 8 He identifies Himself as great than Abraham.

In Chapter 9 he presents Himself as the Light of the World and illustrates it by healing a blind man!

Wow! What a Savior!

Moving on to Chapter 10 he refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd. His description sounds a lot like Psalm 23!

As a pastor friend of mine once declared, "When the Lord is your Shepherd - the future is your friend!" Here's why:

He Leads Us!

A hireling or a sheep rustler drives the sheep, but the Good Shepherd leads us. He leads us into the safety of His presence! He leads us into the security of His pasture! He leads us into the abundance of His truth. He speaks gently to us and calls us by name as He leads us. Think of that, the Good Shepherd knows your name!

He Loves Us!

A hireling or a rustler has no regard for the sheep. They mean nothing to them. To them the sheep are a necessary inconvenience. They lead the flock only for their own personal benfit. So when the sheep are threatened, they will flee to protect themselves. But the Good Shepherd loves His sheep. He provides for them. He protects them. He prays for them. He will give His life to save them. Think about that! You are loved by the Good Shepherd!

He leads us. He loves us. And, He layed down His live for us. Verse 10 sums up the desire of the Good Shepherd and the destiny of His sheep:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full!"

To quote my friend - "When the Lord is your Shepherd, the future is your friend!"

May 26, 2009

I am still in John 9 thinking about the blind man that Jesus touched. This guy impresses me as I think how he stood toe to toe with these Jewish religious leaders who were trying to bully him. They were relentless but he was rock solid. They demeaned him. They doubted him. They disrespected Jesus. They doubted Jesus. But nothing phased this fellow? Why was that?

What are we to take from this encounter?

Here's what I am taking away from it - the power of a personal testimony. This man had been blind all of his life. Then Jesus touched him and his eyesight is fully restored. The first face he ever saw was the face of Jesus. Not bad!

This newly sighted man didn't know much about spiritual doctrines. He had not been formally trained in matters of faith and was no match for these well educated religious professionals. He had never been to a Bible study or a preaching service. He had no formal evangelism training. All he had was his testimony. All he knew was that for his entire life he had been blind and this morning he had an encounter with Jesus and now he could see. It was a fact! A strange, powerful, wonderful fact!

Apparently, the Pharisees and other religious leaders didn't have a testimony and they obviously didn't want this man to have one either. But their empty accusations were far overwhelmed by the fervor of this fellow.

Never underestimate the power of your testimony. Be sure of what God has done for you and have it memorized in a short and compelling form - ready to share it at a moments notice. Take joy in telling what Jesus has done for you! That's what he did - and it is still being shared!

Not only did his testimony impact some of the religious leaders, but as he repeated what God had done for him in the face of opposition and skepticism, he blessed himself with the recounting of the miracle God had given him.

Even when the Jewish leaders cursed him and kicked him out of their church, they could not discredit the wonderful work that God had done for him.

What life-changing work has God done for you? Who are you telling about it? Believe in the power of your testimony!