February 17, 2015

"I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

I was seven years old when I trusted Christ as my Savior.

I was eight years old when I first began to play organized baseball.

These two seemingly different pursuits became two of the great loves of my life. Each, in its own way has played a significant part in shaping my life.

One of these two came rather easily to me. The other has been a life-long challenge.

Hitting a baseball and catching a baseball and throwing a baseball just seemed to come naturally to me. Being a faithful follower of Christ was not nearly as natural. It has required energy, focus and effort for nearly six decades.

In baseball, if you get one hit in three times at bat during a game you will have a .333 batting average and that will get you labeled as a great hitter. There are a number of baseball players in the Hall of Fame who didn't have a .333 batting average for their career. If you live for Christ just one day out of three, you will be a poor Christian.

In baseball, if I made an error or struck out or grounded into a double play, when that game was over I could start with a fresh stat line in the next game! As a Christian, my sins and failures seemed to trouble me and haunt me despite God's grace.

Although I have often made analogies between baseball and faith, I never realized how closely they correlated until I discovered the book "Home Run" by Kevin Myers. Kevin is the Lead Pastor at 12Stone Church, a Wesleyan Church in the Atlanta area, which happens to be the fastest growing church in America. In his book, Kevin described spiritual development in the paradigm of the game of baseball. Being a follower of Christ and a fan of baseball I found many helpful applications from the comparisons.

I hope you will, too, as we study it together over the next forty days.

February 16, 2015

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not be conceited." Romans 12:16

You don't have to be an expert in music to appreciate the importance of harmony. Even an untrained ear can hear when the music doesn't mesh!

First of all, you wouldn't want to listen to an orchestra consisting entirely of one type of instruments. One violin is beautiful when played properly. Even several of them when played harmoniously. But an entire orchestra made up of violins would grow tedious rather quickly.

Even worse, would be an orchestra made up entirely of violins and everyone of them playing out of tune.

When you listen to an orchestra or a choral group you expect to hear instruments or voices lifted in harmony. All the instruments or all the voices meld into one glorious sound, full and rich. It is a thing of beauty! It touches the soul!

But when you go to a concert prepared to be inspired by the music you notice right away if one of the voices or one of the instruments is out of tune or off key. The fine music of the many is spoiled by the lack of harmony by one.

Harmony is many blending their talents together into one beautiful result. It is what a local church is supposed to be. When each member plays his part so as to blend with the parts of the others in harmony, you have an example of what God wants His Church to be like. When that happens those people make beautiful music that is like a masterpiece in God's ears.

Harmony is preserved and protected by humility.

How so?

Each member of the orchestra must agree to play his part and only his part, nothing more or less. Perhaps there is a brief solo piece somewhere in the score for the concert, but a the beautiful music is realized when each member plays his music in a way that blends with the other instruments.

That is how God designed His church. It is not a place for solos or for stars to perform. It is a fellowship of God-lovers presenting a concert of love in unity with His Spirit and one another. At the heart of the harmony is humility.

The Church of Jesus Christ is better when each of us blend with all of us! When I humbly honor you and merge my talents with yours we hit all the right notes for God and He is glorified!

February 15, 2015

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; those who follow His precepts have good understanding." Psalm 111:10

The word fear means more than being afraid or fearful. In fact, I have found that the negative fear is a result of not being submitted to the fear of the Lord.

Everyone fears something and you will submit to what you fear. So, choosing to fear the Lord is a proper and proactive step to avoiding the negative fear and anxiety that can make life miserable.

Fearing the Lord means to have a reverent respect that leads to submission to His Word, His will and His ways. Fearing the Lord is the result of deliberate and daily decision to put God first in everything. Fearing the Lord means you wake up everyday to declare, "You are God and I am not!" Fearing the Lord means the thought of living outside of His will is the thing you fear the most.

King David wrote these words and he chose to fear the Lord early in his life. His fear of the Lord was evident when he faced the giant, Goliath. David's fear for the honor and security of God's nation was great than his fear of confronting the giant warrior.

David's son, Solomon, also chose early in life to fear the Lord. That reverence for God led him to submit to God's wisdom as he assumed the throne from King David.

But David and Solomon also serve as examples of the need to continue to submit to God's wisdom at every impulse, every invitation and every opportunity. Later is life they both made a series of unwise decisions that changed the course of their lives AND the nation they ruled.

Fearing the Lord IS the beginning of wisdom but every day must be a new beginning! And each day will bring a series of choices and decisions points that will require you to ask, "what's the wise thing to do?" and act accordingly.

This question we have devoted the last six weeks to is crucial because life is lived one wise decision at a time. And as David and Solomon testify, one bad decision can significantly alter your life.

You are where you are at this moment in time due to the decisions you have made over your lifetime. Today will confront you with more decisions that will continue to shape your life.

That ought to sufficiently frighten you enough to cause you to ask, "In light of my past experience, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?"

Ask it, and then in reverence and respect to God, act wisely!

February 14, 2015

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

It is easy to say, "I love you." But how can you be sure if someone really does love you?

Let's learn from the original Lover, the best Lover, the source of all love - God.

God teaches us that love must be proved by a sacrificial demonstration of true commitment. And if love is anything, it is a commitment! One indication of commitment is cost. What are you willing to pay to prove your love? How did God demonstrate His?

First, through creation!

Can you view a stunning sunset and not see divine love?

Can you look at a Spring landscape and miss the message?

Can you hold a newborn and not appreciate what inspired such a miracle?

Can you stargaze into a moonlit sky and not recognize the love behind it?

Creation surely demonstrates a supernatural love. But while it is proof of His creativity it didn't cost Him anything.

Then, through Christ!

If you ever had a long-distance relationship you know it is hard to love that way. Love is better when it is up close and personal.

Through the creation of man, God demonstrated that He desired a personal relationship with him. And before that love was rejected by disobedience, Adam walked and talked with God and experienced the love of God up close and personal. But sin resulted in a long-distance relationship.

So, once again, God demonstrated His desire for a personal relationship by coming in person. Jesus, God's Son, the Word of God, put on flesh and came to dwell among us! He was "Emmanuel" - "God with us"!

Love was demonstrated by a precious gift. Jesus left the spender and security of Heaven and slipped into flesh and blood so He could get personally involved with loving us. During His brief visit to earth He demonstrated daily what the love of God looks like.

Then, Through the Cross!

The ultimate and undeniable proof of God's love was death on the cross. What higher commitment could you demonstrate than dying for one you love? What greater cost can you pay than substituting your life for the one you love?

And that is what Christ's death was! It was a substitutionary death for you! You were sentenced to die in the sin that separated you from a Holy God. But Jesus suffered death for you! Though He was innocent He assumed your guilt. He bore the guilt and the penalty for your sins. He took rejection so you could be accepted into a personal relationship with God!

There can be no doubt that God loves you! And, He loved you first! And He loved you when you were lost and unlovable!

God can do no more than He has done to demonstrate how much He loves you!

So, how can you demonstrate your love for Him?

Receive that love by faith! 

It is a gift purchased for you and offered to you. Jesus is God's valentine to you! 

How can you refuse His great gift?

February 13, 2015

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

God calls you to wisdom and promises to give it to anyone who will ask Him for it.

Wisdom is a decision.

The condition of your life is the sum total of your decisions. If you want your future to be better than your past or your present you will have to begin making better decisions.

Once you ask the question, "In light of my past experience, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams what is the WISE thing for me to do?" Then, you must decide if you will act on the answer.

Asking the question will bring you from the edge of confusion to the edge of clarity. But then you have to act wisely.

Once you know the wise thing to do but choose NOT to do the wise thing, the Bible says you are a "fool".

King David chose wisdom and became the first great king of God's people. Here's what he wrote: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise." Psalm 111:10

David's son, Solomon also faced the moment of choice when he was about to become the new king of Israel. God promised the young prince anything he wanted as he assumed the throne and Solomon asked for wisdom (very wise). We know how well that turned out!

Asking the question brings you to the edge of wisdom. Acting on it takes you across the line.

Kings choose wisdom. Fools don't.

What will you do?

Kings "fear the Lord" by giving Him reverence and submitting to His will.

Fools don't.

Will you "fear the Lord"?

February 12, 2015

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

I hope you have burned this question into you heart and mind because it is a question that answers just about everything. So, one more time for good measure let's review: "In light of my past experience, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams what is the wise thing for me to do."

Isn't that a great question? 

Doesn't it bring clarity to your decision? But it also only brings you to the edge of wisdom because wisdom requires a commitment to a course of action.

Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived except for Jesus, said that wisdom begins with a decision to fear God.

What I find interesting is the large number of people who don't profess to fearing God and have not submitted to Him, but they do submit to the laws of His universe every day!

If you catch a flight to Chicago, you are submitting to and leveraging God's laws in order to travel to your destination. All of the physics of flight are based on God's laws.

You plan your schedule according to the calendar. You have full confidence in the calendar because the earth spins on a consistent axis at a constant speed which makes time predictable. So, when you plan your schedule you are leveraging God's laws of time and space.

When you go to your Doctor for a check up he is able to measure your health because God designed you to have a heart that beats at a predictable rate and a body temperature that is the same for every healthy human.

These are but a few of many physical and natural laws God the Creator built into His creation that man  has learned to harness to make life safer, more secure, more comfortable, healthier and more productive.

In light of the fact you have depended on God's laws of nature to create a better life for your family what is the wise thing for you to do?

Solomon would say the wise thing for you to do is to submit yourself to God. It's especially wise in light of the fact you daily submit to his physical laws so why would you hesitate to submit to the God Who implemented it?

February 11, 2015

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10

The world of college basketball in particular and the world in general suffered a significant loss with the death of Coach Dean Smith.

At the time of his retirement in 1997 he had won more games that any other NCAA Division I basketball coach. The number of wins was impressive but what set him apart was how he built a winning tradition while developing scores of young men into outstanding basketball players and, more importantly, successful men beyond basketball.

Dean Smith built the North Carolina Tar Heels into a national dynasty through his system he dubbed the "Carolina Way". 

The "Carolina Way" wasn't a successful because it changed the rules of basketball or the size of the court or the height of the rim but because he was able to motivate his players to execute within the rules of the game more effectively than other coaches. Not only did he respect the rules of the game and taught his players to, as well, but he was also able to convince the best young basketball players in the country to join his team. Furthermore, Coach Smith understood and respected the fundamental of the game and taught them to his players better than most other college coaches. He innovated within the rules better than just about every other coach of his time.

So, the "Carolina Way" embraced and taught by Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith was so successful because it submitted to the rules of basketball, the fundamentals of basketball and the strategies of the game and he was able to convince talented players to come to Chapel Hill and submit to his system. He is respected by those within the game because of the way he respected the game!

That is essentially what Solomon says about wisdom. Wisdom begins when you stop believing you are the smartest guy in the room and submit to God's wisdom, God's will and God's way. 

Wisdom begins where your dependence on your own knowledge ends.