June 3, 2010

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds," James 1:2

One of the joys of the Summer season is road construction. There is nothing more thrilling than hurrying to an important appointment only to come upon a line of stalled traffic behind a sign that declares "men working". How inspiring to sit at the far end of a long line of vehicles in searing heat on steamy pavements while men who are allegedy working - aren't.

How can you count that as a joy?

I'll be honest that at the time it isn't easy to appreciate the inconvenience of the moment. But months later when that extra lane is open or those pot holes are filled or that smooth layer of new pavement is completed that is a different story. But you don't get the improvement without the interruption. That's life.

In James' Epistle he tells you that trials and testings are like a "God at work" sign set in front of your life. If you are a Christ-follower and times of difficulty come it indicates that God is at work in your life. It can be inconvenient. It can be an interruption. It can be downright painful! But it is also necessary.

How are you to respond? "Consider it pure joy" James says.

So, how does that work? How can you be joyful when you are going nowhere and taking the heat? It's not easy. But the same God Who is doing the construction offers to also give the joy but you are responsible to take charge of your attitude. If you will ask Him He will enable you to have the proper perspective on the situation. He can give you the patience to endure knowing that when He has completed His work it will be well worth it!

Everyone of us are a work in progress and God is always at work. However, there are some seasons where construction is more obvious and more extensive and more intrusive than at other times. When you see the "God at Work" sign look beyond it. Try to envision the finished product and be thankful that God is invested in your improvement. He is totally committed to shape you into the image of His Son.

Is it construction season in your life? Oh, joy!

June 2, 2010

"Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations." James 1:2

yesterday I put forth the premise that EITHER WE SUFFER FOR THE FAITH OR THE FAITH SUFFERS.

What do I mean by that?

To understand it you must have some insight into why these believers were suffering. They were being persecuted for their faith. Their choice was either suffer because they lived out their faith or deny their faith to avoid the pressure. This is why I say "either we suffer for the faith or the faith suffers."

The fact that they were being persecuted was evidence that their faith was being recognized by the non-believers. That was one of the reasons why they were to take joy in their suffering. Persecution was validation for their faith!

If you were arrested under suspicion of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? There was for these guys!

Much of the Book of James is written to encourage these believers to keep living out the faith despite the persecution it was bringing them.

Again, it is so hard for us to relate to suffering because we live in a culture that has the means and the motivation to avoid suffering at all costs. We value comfort and are able to protect our comfort at all costs. It doesn't make us bad people it just makes us very blessed people. But it does make it difficult for us to relate to the Book of James and the concept of taking joy in suffering when our quality of life is measured by our comfort level. These First Century Christians would have as much trouble relating to our level of freedom and financial security as we do to their persecution.

So, is God calling us to give up our comfort? Is being comfortable a sin? Should we feel guilty for our blessings? Only if our personal and material comfort gets between us and our faith. When being comfortable is more important than being committed. When pressure to comform to the world causes us to back away from our commitment to Christ - that is a problem.

Is God calling us to give up our comfort? No, but He is calling us to share some of our resources and to direct our freedom and our finances toward serving Him and building His Kingdom. Think how much more could be done for God if we valued commitment to Christ like we value comfort and convenience. How willing are you to do that? If you are more committed to your comfort or your convenience than you are to God - the Faith is suffering because of your unwillingness to suffer.

June 1, 2010

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow." James 1:2-3

Christians over the past 100 years in America have been exceptional.

How have we been exceptional?

In our evangelistic zeal? Not really.

In our holiness? Uh, no.

In the health and size of our churches? There have been some great ones!

In our impact on our culture? I am afraid not.

In the love and unity among believers across denominations? No.

By the quality of our music and our books and our media creations? Maybe, in the media aspect since we are the first generation to have those capabilities. But our music and our writings - don't think so.

How then are we exceptional in our faith?

We are the first generations of the Church who have not had to suffer for our faith. Now be sure that there have been plenty of believers who have suffered and been martyred - but not in the American Church. That is exceptional. We have had it exceptionally easy.

Knowing that helps explain why we struggle to relate to some of the things that James writes in his epistle. James was writing these words of encouragement and perspective to Christians who had scattered through the region because of persecution. Keep in mind as we study James that it is written to suffering Christians. When he writes, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...." they knew exactly what he meant.

But from our experience as Twenty-First Century American Christians we think. "Say what? Count it a joy to suffer? Are you kidding me? How does that work?" We are pretty clueless to get our minds around that one.

We will be examining that his month as we tackle the Book of James.

Let me give you the truth behind this thought that helps it make some sense. Here is what these First Century believers understood - "EITHER BELIEVERS SUFFER FOR THE FAITH OR THE FAITH SUFFERS BECAUSE OF BELIEVERS."

One of those two things will be true but both of them cannot be true. These believers James wrote to were taking joy in the knowledge that the things they were suffering because they stood true in their faith! The suffering they endured was advancing the faith they loved.

Since they were the first generation of Believers and the first demonstration of what the Church of Jesus Christ was supposed to look like, there was tremendous pressure for them to do it right! We are having this conversation this morning as a testimony that they did get it. Two thousand years later we stand on their sacrifices.

Let me ask you to think about a few things today. Is the faith suffering because of you? Is your unwillingness to suffer rejection or to live a disciplined life hurting the cause of Christ? Do you stand firm and take the heat in the face of rejection or persecution because you follow Christ? Or do you reject your faith when threatened with suffering?

The stakes were high for this First Generation of Christians at the beginning of the Church. It is very possible you could be in the last generation of Christians in the Church. How should you live in the light of that knowledge?

May 31, 2010

"Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place." Hebrews 10:17-20

"And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Hebrews 8:12

“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again." Isaiah 43:25

The first holiday of the Summer season, Memorial Day. Several things will be predictable, most people will over due it and most will get sunburned.

It is great that we have a holiday set aside to remind us of the cost of our freedom and to remember those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom. There have been a lot of wars and a lot of deaths. Just yesterday the 1,000th American soldier was killed.

Saturday night I went to a very moving ceremony at the Fredericksburg National Cemetery where 15,300 soldiers lie buried. It is a solemn place to visit any time of any day, but on Memorial Day moments after sunset with every grave marked by luminaries and a trumpeter playing taps - it was deeply emotional moment. That sight is etched on my memory forever.

You cannot drive past a cemetery this week-end without seeing decorated graves. It is important to remember.

Now that Memorial Day has come and is nearly gone I want to take a moment to comment not on what we should remember, but on something that has been forgotten. Not only do we focus on what has been forgotten but on Who has forgotten. God, Who is the all omniscient and everlasting God has chosen not to remember something - our sins. That is huge!

How can that be? How can God forget?

He has chosen to forget what is forgiven. Our Scriptures remind us that when we receive the forgiveness of sins through His Son Christ, He not only forgives those sins but He forgets about them!

So, during this week-end of remembering honor the memories of those who died for your freedom, also pause to be thankful for something that has been forgotten - your sins!

May 30, 2010

An eighty-year old couple were having problems remembering things, so they decided to go to their doctor to make sure nothing was wrong with them. When they arrived at the doctor's office, they explained to the doctor about the problems they were having with their memory.

After checking the couple out, the doctor told them that they were physically okay but might want to start writing things down, making notes to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.

Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife asked, "Where are you going?"

He replied, "To the kitchen."

She asked, "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?"

"Sure."

Then his wife asked him, "Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?"

"No, I can remember that."

"Well, I also would like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down cause I know you'll forget that," his wife said.

"I can remember that, you want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries."

She replied, "Well, I also would like whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that. You had better write it down."

With irritation in his voice, he said, "I don't need to write that down, I can remember that." He went into the kitchen.

After about 20 minutes, he returned from the kitchen and handed her a plate of bacon and eggs.

She stared at the plate for a moment and said, "You forgot my toast."




Does anyone here have trouble remembering things?


How many of you have to write yourselves notes and memos to jog your memory?

You owe a debt of thanks to Dr. Spencer Silver and Mr. Art Fry! Dr. Spencer and Mr. Fry are the inventors of the post-it notes. Dr. Silver accidentally invented the adhesive that makes it stick but also allows it to removed and reused. That happened way back in 1968. But it was Art Frey who figured out the possibilities for what was to become post-it notes. He first used it as a bookmark for his church hymnal.

Let’s pause for a moment to thank Dr. Silver and Mr. Frey and remember those who help us remember things.

“When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until it’s meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among you. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.” He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” Luke 22:14-20

REMEMBER HIS LIFE

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy eve, his wife was taking their children to a service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?"He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn--and one-by-one, the other geese followed it to safety.He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm.

God became like man in the Person of Jesus in order to show how to live and how to love. As John said, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

Remember God's love for you. Post that truth on your heart and you mind so you will alway remember His life.

REMEMBER HIS LOVE

One day the bridge tender takes his son to work with him. It's a nice day... the son is fishing on the bank of the river... and the father is checking on the machinery that runs the bridge. Everything is as it should be. But then the son notices the train is coming. It's early! The train has run through a red light and is heading toward the draw bridge and the bridge is open!

The son notices this and tries to pull the emergency switch. But he's too small and too weak and he loses his balance and he falls into the gears... just as the father looks out the window, seeing his son fall into the gears. The father must make a decision. Lower the bridge, saving the train but killing his son. Or run out to pull his son from gears allowing the train to plunge to the river below. In a matter of seconds he must act – save his son and allow a train filled with passengers to plunge to their deaths or close the bridge knowing he will crush the life out of his only son.

One life or many lives? What a dilemma! What should he do? He pulled the switch crushing his son and saving the train. Shaken in his grief he watched the train speed by looking in the window at passengers who were carrying on with life completely oblivious to the sacrifice that had just been made to save their lives.

This bridge tender showed an incredible love for those strangers on the train that day. He sactificed his son's life to save their lives.

That is precisely what God did in Jesus. He demonstrated His love for us by offering His only Son to provide for our salvation!

Remember that! Post it on your heart and your mind.

REMEMBER YOUR LOSTNESS

I hate to be lost. The feeling of being lost is one of the worst feelings in the world - but I dislike asking for directions even more!

There are few things worst than getting lost when you are trying to get to a certain place. With the rise of GPS availability you would think that getting lost would be a thing of the past. Not so.

In a lot of cases GPS has caused people to end up at the wrong address, or in some extreme cases even to drive off the road. Only a few days ago too much trust in GPS led to an even more extreme error: a company sent their workers to demolish a house not providing them with the address but only with GPS coordinates, and the workers ended up demolishing the wrong house.

CLOSING:

There once was a baby elephant and a baby turtle drinking from a river deep in the jungle. For no reason, the turtle reaches over and bites the elephant's tail, really hard. Years and years later, the same elephant, now grown up, is by the same river, having a drink with his giraffe buddy, when the same turtle that bit him on the tail all those years ago wanders up to the river. The elephant rears back a leg and kicks the turtle as hard as he can, sending him flying way off into the jungle. "Why did you do that? " the giraffe asks. "When we both were babies, that turtle bit my tail for no reason," the elephant replied. "Wow! You must have a good memory!" exclaimed the giraffe. "Yep!" said the elephant. "I've got Turtle-Recall. "When it comes to the great salvation that God has provided for us through the sacrifice of Jesus – we need to have “total-recall”.

When it comes to God's love for us, and when it comes to the life that He gave for us we must always remember!

May 29, 2010

"When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." I Samuel 17:28

Today's giant lesson is not as uplifting as most. It reflects an unfortunate attitude that manifests itself too often in fellowships. We see this expressed in our Scripture text for the day.

What is the attitude I am referring to? It is demonstrated by David's brother. Not only did he not want to fight the giant, he didn't want David to do it either. There are people like that. You have probably seen them. They are content being victims and they hang out with other victims who would rather complain about the giant than confront him. When someone else steps up to fight the giant that person becomes a threat to them. There are people, well-being as they may be, who don't want to fight giants and they don't want anyone else doing it either.

So, here we find David trying to defeat an enemy and deliver his people but finding opposition from the very people he wants to help. I have encountered that. Maybe you have, too.

You would think that everyone would be excited by someone daring enough to take on a giant. You would think they would want to encourage that. Not so. Unfortunately, victims become victims because they think like victims and get comfortable with victimhood. Before we get to critical of them, we have to honestly admit we all have our comfort zones and they are called comfort zones for a reason - they feel comfortable. It is hard to blast out of a comfort zone. Fortunately, David's comfort zone was fighting lions, and bears and giants.

As we see, those who get comfortable with losing are uncomfortable having a winner around. A winner exposes their losing. A victor casts a bad light on their victim-hood. It causes them to have to face their impotence. No one likes that.

Life is made up of winners and losers. Successful living is about hating to lose, learning to win, and resisting comfort zones. Losing is easier than winning but ultimately extracts a higher cost and the hardest part is not settling into comfort zones.

Like David, God calls His followers to fight giants. He expects us to be victors and not victims. One of the biggest giants each of us will fight is our comfort zones. Another word for comfort zones is "mediocrity". It is in our nature to do just enough to assure our basic comforts are met and then settle in and coast. When someone with a desire for excellence shows up it exposes our mediocrity and that is a threat.

David faced two giants that day. The Philistine giant and the mediocrity of his own people. One of the great purposes that a giant-killer serves is not only killing the giant but stirring up the saints. The latter may have been the biggest victory of that day - killing Goliath but pushing God's people out of their mediocrity. God had given David a holy discontent which derived from a holy hunger for God.

Are you stuck in a comfort zone? Are you settling for mediocrity? Have you lost your holy hunger? Have you quenched your holy discontent?

One of two things will happen. Either God will send a giant your way or He will send a David. Maybe He already has. If so, it is time to stop moaning and start moving. See them for what they are, God confronting the mediocrity in your spirit.

It happens to each of us and we have to be continually on guard against it. That is why I am asking the hard question today. How is your holy hunger? Have you lost your holy discontent? Do you need to reject your victimhood and repent of it? When was your last victory?

May 28, 2010

"For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army." I Samuel 17:16

Ready for another giant life lesson from David?

Let me ask you, "How do you measure yourself? How do you measure your problems? Do you ever measure yourself against your problems?"

Another big difference between David and the rest of this bunch - including the giant, was how they measured themselves and how they measured their problems. How about if we look at that this morning?

Goliath got in trouble because he overestimated himself. He overestimated himself because he measured himself against the other soldiers. For the most part, that was a good comparison because he was bigger and tougher and stronger than anyone else. He was a champion and he didn't inherit the title he earned it. Two errors here that eventually proved fatal. (1) He measured himself against men who were smaller and weaker than he. I see many people who do that. In order to feel good about themselves they find weaker, smaller, and less talented people and therefore arrive at an unrealistic value of themselves. It is not healthy to inflate your ego by measuring down. You may become a champion by defeating inferior opponents but you won't remain a champion that way. (2) He defied God and despised the man of God. Yes, he was big but not that big!

The Israelite soldiers measured themselves against the giant. They arrived an unrealistic view of themselves by measuring against an unrealistic standard. I know people like that who are always defeated because they set unrealistic standards for themselves. Somehow they have the knack for putting themselves in no-win situations. It is healthy to aspire to be like someone who may be bigger or stronger or more well-known than you but use that for motivation to get better. That is not what these guys did. They devalued themselves by overvaluing Goliath. Not good. Not healthy.

And then there was David! Let's learn from David! David didn't measure himself against the soldiers and he didn't measure himself against Goliath, he didn't measure himself at all! He just lived in the power and grace of God and let God handle the giants, and the lions and the bears in his life. The healthy approach to a self-esteem is not to measure ourselves against others but to lose ourselves in God! God has not called us to compare to others He has called us to complete others! David didn't compare he committed!

Are you struggling with self-esteem or self-worth issues? That is a common struggle. It is one we must each conquer and the sooner the better! But don't follow the lead of the giant and don't emulate the soldiers. Don't get into the measuring or the comparison trap. Do like David! To love yourself lose yourself in God. To find who you are and what you can do, find yourself in God.

There is a giant difference!