DO Good

How have we come to the point where the world identifies Christians by what they are against? The number one thing non-church goers think of when they think of us is that we are anti-gay. As I read 3 John I was once again reminded that YOU called us to be FOR something, not against stuff.

Verse 11 says “…do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God…” YOU didn’t tell us to protest, picket, scream at, judge, or kill evil. YOU just said, don’t imitate it. Our job is simply to imitate good: to do good. YOU taught us to DO to others would we would have them do to us (Mt. 7:12). We are supposed to be proactive in living and doing good.

The evil in this world will not change because we attack it and complain about it. If we would just go out and live YOUR love, then the world will change. Evil will not be defeated by being attacked. It will be defeated because the virtue of good will outshine it. You can’t change darkness by attacking it, you just turn on the light and it goes away. LORD, help me to live FOR YOU not against everything else!

Go After Jesus

Hey, for anyone who is interested, there is a new video of a talk I did recently on this blog page. Click on the video window in the right sidebar and check it out. It is about how one person can accomplish so much more than they ever thought possible if they will just worry about pursuing Jesus.

What Are YOU Waiting For?

It is funny to read in 2 Peter that people were already questioning YOUR return to earth way back then. They were saying, “where is the promise of HIS coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were before from the beginning of creation…” (3:4). If the first generation of the church was asking what was taking so long, how much more those of us waiting 2,000 years later! The interesting thing is that YOU answered the question all the way back then. We spend so much time trying to prove that such and such prophesy has to be fulfilled before YOU can return but in this passage, YOU told us what YOU are waiting for.

Peter writes that (YOU are) not slow in keeping (YOUR) promises as some count slowness, but (are) patient toward (us). Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (9). YOUR patience and mercy are holding YOU back from returning before more people have the chance to know YOU. It is not about prophesy and history. It is all about YOUR wanting to see less people spend their eternity apart from YOU.

That means that if I want to move things along, I need to lead more people toward YOU. There is nothing I can do about the mark of the beast or the antichrist. But I can help bring about the culmination of history by partnering with YOU to help people know YOU.

Effective and Fruitful

For many years I have taught that there are two reasons for our existence. More specifically, there is a reason for our existence and a reason that we continue to live on this earth. We exist to know and love YOU, LORD. But we are still here on earth to lead others toward knowing YOU. If the only purpose was to know YOU, why don’t we immediately go to be with YOU when we get saved? Why leave us here? As I was reading 2 Pet 1:8 today, I saw these two parts or purposes clearly. Peter tells us, “If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peter is saying that there is still a reason for us to be here once we know YOU. While we are still here, we are expected to be effective and fruitful.

So what kind of fruit are we to bear? Is Peter talking about spiritual fruit? No, he just listed the qualities we normally associate with spiritual fruit (Vv. 5-7) and told us that those qualities are to keep us from being ineffective and unfruitful. So this fruit must be leading more people toward YOU. Once we come to know YOU, it is no longer just about YOU and us. It is about YOU, us, and everyone else.

Of course to lead others toward knowing YOU, we must develop the qualities that Peter listed. We need faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (Vv. 5-7). If we focus on knowing You. Your Holy Spirit will produce these qualities in us. And the natural outgrowth of knowing You and growing in these qualities is bearing fruit, leading others toward YOU. Lord, I want to fulfill both my purposes. I want to be effective and fruitful.

Unjust Suffering

There is a very interesting passage in 1 Peter 2 :19-20 “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly…when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called…” You just can’t get any more countercultural than that. We are raised to look out for number one. We are supposed to stand up for our rights and make sure no one takes advantage of us. Suffering unjustly is the worst possible thing in our culture. But it is gracious in the sight of God. So who am I trying to impress? Those I want to think I am tough or the creator of the universe? Who do I trust? My ability to defend myself or God’s ability to redeem even unjust suffering? Who am I trying to imitate, The rich, tough, and powerful, or Jesus who suffered unjustly for me?

This is really hard. I am all about what I deserve. I know how much money I think I should make. I know how much respect I think others should show me. But if I really want abundant life, I have to lay that all down, take up my cross and follow Jesus. Even when my flesh is screaming that this makes no sense. After all, flesh screams when it is being crucified. Lord, give me the strength to endure and walk in YOUR victory.

Flee Forward

As I continue to study the book of Acts slowly, I continue to be struck by certain things. Right now I am studying Paul’s second missionary journey and two things keep happening in every city he visits. First, he is faced with opposition, usually from religious people: And second, Paul flees for his life; but he always flees forward.

I am not so much amazed that Paul faced opposition in every city he visited as I am amazed at how we can read about it and then be shocked when we face opposition. It seems that we are shocked that people would be mean to us when we are trying to serve God. Everyone was mean to Paul, not to mention how they treated Jesus. But we think God doesn’t love us anymore if we have any conflict whatsoever. Who are we following? If the One we are following was killed, should we be surprised that everyone does not just agree with us and behave properly. How can we think we should not be treated badly because we are children of God when the SON OF GOD was crucified?

The kicker is that whenever Paul faced opposition, which usually involved mobs attacking him and sometimes throwing large rocks at his head, he always ran forward. He would flee the city but he would not go home. He always went deeper into the enemy’s territory. When someone is mean to me, I usually shrink back to a place of safety. Paul did not shrink back, he went forward. Trouble in Phillipi, go 100 miles further away from home and safety and start preaching again. Mobs in Thessolonica, go another 60 miles further to Berea. Persecution there, go on to Athens. It is almost as if Paul knows that the enemy’s real purpose is to turn him back, so he goes forward. Whenever the enemy attacks us, it is to make us turn back. If we really want to rub his nose in it, we should press further into the things of God. We need to be the kind of people who flee from opposition. Only let us flee forward into the enemy’s territory. No turning back.

My Brother’s Slave

I am amazed at the way James, the brother of Jesus opens his letter. If I was writing to a bunch of people and I wanted them to listen to what I had to say, I would open with something like, “James the brother of God, the one who knows Him better than anyone, acknowledged leader of the church in Jerusalem…” Instead, James simply says, “James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The only title he claims is servant. Actually, he calls himself a slave. There was no such thing as a hired servant in those days, you bought your “servants” at the slave market. So James is calling himself his brother’s slave. Talk about humility!

This attitude seems to differ with much of the teaching I hear these days. We are always trying to talk about who we are in Christ. It doesn’t matter who I am in Christ. What matters is who Christ is in me! I am a slave, He is everything. I don’t need to pump myself up with pop-psychology, self esteem building words. I choose the words of James, I am a slave. This doesn’t mean I walk around with a woe is me attitude. It is better to be slave to the king than to be owner of nothing. He is the best master in the universe. He cares for His slaves!

Lord, help me find myself in You. Help me humble myself and trust You. Simply being Your slave is better than anything this world has to offer.

Believing For Dead Stuff

Faith is an interesting thing. The moment we have what we had faith for, it is no longer faith. It does not take faith to call God our provider when we do not have any unpaid bills. It does not take faith to call Him our healer when we are healthy. It takes faith to rely on God when things do not appear to be under control. In Heb. 11:19 it says that Abraham had faith when he offered up Isaac because “he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead…” In other words, Abraham had faith when circumstances seemed to be going against the promise and vision that God had put in his heart. He had faith that even if the vision died, God could raise it back from the dead. Faith is believing that even if it looks like everything is falling apart, God is still in control and there is nothing, not even death, that can put the final nail in the coffin of His promises for His people. I have had some promises and visions that seem to have died but I believe that God can raise them from the dead. Again I am haunted by the words of Erwin McManus who said, “If the cross teaches us anything, it teaches us that sometimes God comes through after we’ve been killed.”

Lord, give me the kind of faith to believe even when everything seems to be dead. Nothing, not even death, can make things too hard for YOU. I trust that YOU are in control even when I can’t see it.

Two For One

Everyone likes to get two for one. Buy one, get one free… That’s good stuff! The problem is when we get two for one in theology. We want to know what THE ONE point of the gospel is but God gives us two equally important points to hold in balance. I have been thinking about this lately because I have been studying the book of Acts for the past year and a half. I have noticed that almost every time the apostles preach they preach about the cross AND the resurrection.

For many years I was taught that the Catholics have Jesus still on the cross but we Protestants have empty crosses emphasizing the resurrection. We are supposed to pick one and focus on it right? Then why do the apostles dwell on both the cross AND the resurrection? Are the Catholics or the Protestants right? Maybe we are both wrong…

There is danger in only emphasizing the cross OR the resurrection. If we only dwell on the cross, we become very depressing people. We become all about suffering and hardship. We become judgmental of those who are not suffering as much as we are. We also live our lives with an overwhelming sense of guilt. After all, we crucified Him. If we sin again, we crucify Him all over again.

If we dwell on only the resurrection, we become quite self-centered. It is all about victory and success and overcoming. We begin to judge those who have struggles. We think that the gospel is all about what we can get from God. After all Jesus became poor so we can be rich…

This is why God always seems to combine the message of the cross AND the resurrection. Life is not all struggle and it is not all victory. We need both aspects of Christ’s work to balance this. Sometimes, as Erwin McManus says, “If the cross teaches us anything, it teaches us that sometimes God comes through after we’ve been killed.” The cross tells us that we follow the One Who suffered and gave His life for others. The resurrection tells us that no matter what we are facing, it is not the end. There is hope.

Lord, help me keep both aspects of Your work in mind in everything I do. Don’t let me get out of balance. Help me filter everything through this theological twofer.