They're Watching

I was recently sent via email a link to a website that provides resources for teaching students. One of the links on the site took me to a video called "An Uphill Battle". The video shows a student walking down a typical school hallway. Every other student is going one way while he is walking the other, literally walking against the tide. The other students are bumping and jostling him and he has a look of dejection - a look that says he's tired of going it alone. As this is going on, the voice-over on the video talks about how we can and do get tired of going against the flow. How that sometime we come to a point where we feel that it would be easier to just give up, turn around and start walking the same direction as everyone else. As one student finally jostles him hard enough to knock his books out of his hand, he finally stops in his tracks. You can tell that he's had enough.

But then he turns his head around and looks back down the hallway. And there behind him are several other students who have been following him the entire time. He was never alone. There were always other people watching him, looking up to him and following in his footsteps. It's a powerful video with a powerful message. The funny thing is though that even though it's geared toward encouraging students not to give up on the Christian life, it spoke to me as a man.

When I watched that video, I didn't see a teenager walking down a hallway - I saw a man, a husband, a father. When he looked behind him I didn't see other students, I saw a family - a wife and children. We as men need to understand that our families are looking to us to be the spiritual leaders in our homes. They are looking to follow behind us as we navigate through the turbulent waters of this world. They are looking to us to be the leaders that God has called us to be.

Lately I'm around a lot of teenagers, both through time spent with my son's friends and through working with the youth at church. The damage done to these kids through divorce or through the actions of an absent father is a terrible thing, something that they will have to carry through their entire lives. Kids at that age shouldn't have to deal with bitterness and unforgiveness, but they are. They hide it well, but if you get them to open up you see the turmoil that lies just underneath the surface.

I'm sure the damage is done to both boys and girls, but maybe because I deal more with boys it seems the damage done there is more profound. They should have had a guide that they could walk behind until they were able to lead a family for themselves, but not only have they lost their leader but they've lost the one who was to teach them how to lead. These kids thought they had someone to follow, but have been left in a sea of turbulence to fend for themselves.

Men, when you are thinking about quitting - on Christ, on your marriage, on your family - please look behind you! Understand that your decisions don't just affect you. The decisions we make as men have long lasting effects on our children, so much so that those decisions will carry down to even our grandchildren and subsequent generations. We have a calling on our lives, to love our wives and children even as Christ loves the Church. It's not about why I want, what I need, what I desire. I am to give my life for my family.

Let us be like Paul, in that we can say to our wives and children ...

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:1

The Church (cont.)

Over the many years that I've attended church I've seen people come and go. The Parable of the Sower describes many of these - they spring up for a little while but then fade away. I understand that - I wish it were different but I understand it. However, I've also seen many true Christians leave a church over what seems like petty disagreements. That I've never understood. Why is that? Why do so many Christians seem to have the attitude of "I'll take my ball and go play elsewhere if you don't want to do it my way"? I believe the answer lies in the fact that a lot of us have a misconception of what church is all about.

Before going any further, I need to make something clear. When I speak of the church, I'm speaking of a local body of believers who congregate together. I am NOT speaking of a building - the building is where the church congregrates, but it is not the church.

Why do we attend a church? Before we answer that question let's look at what a true church really is. The purpose of a true church is five-fold:

Worship - This is our first responsibility. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Instruction - We are to preach, teach and disciple one another in order to grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

Fellowship - We are to fellowship and break bread with one another. We are instructed in Hebrews 10:25 to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Evangelism - We are to spread the Gospel, fulfilling the Great Commission.

Outreach - We are to reach out to and love our neighbors by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned.

Seems pretty basic, right? I'm sure if we thought it about it long enough we could possibly fine-tune the list and add or modify a couple of things, but for the sake of discussion let's agree on those five as basically covering the purpose of the local church.

I mentioned earlier that it seems a lot of people have a misconception of what church is all about. I believe this misconception lies in the fact that people think that church is about meeting their needs. So when disagreements arise in the body they leave because their 'needs' are not being met. But that's not what it's about at all.

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all." - 1 Corinthians 12:7

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God - 1 Peter 4:10

The Scriptures are clear - each one of us have been given spiritual gifts that are to be used for the benefit of others in the church. Let me repeat that - not some of us, not a few of us, but ALL of us have received gifts that are to be used for the benefit of others. Through these gifts the Holy Spirit manifests Himself and ministers to the body to strengthen and build it up. So in effect it's not about me and my needs at all - it's about me doing my part in the body.

Are you using your gift? Let me ask a tougher question - do you know what your gift is? If you don't, let me encourage you to find out. There is nothing more fulfilling in this life than to know what your gift is and to use it for the benefit of the body.

The Church

In our Sunday School class we have been going through the book of Acts. I like history, so the book of Acts has always held a particular interest for me. It just so happens that I've also been listening to some theology classes on Ecclisiology - the branch of theology that is concerned with the nature, constitution and functions of a church. So naturally these two have intersected and gotten me thinking about the church.

I've always gone to church. I was taken to church from the time I was born and to me it's just a natural thing to do. In fact, I've never even considered not going to church. But as I've been thinking about the church and it's role and purpose I've had to stop and ask myself a rather simple question - Why do I go to church? It seemed like such a simple question, but the answer didn't come quite as easily as I thought it would.

Have you ever asked yourself that question? If you would, I'd like you to ask yourself that same question and then comment. I'm really interested to see what types of answers we get.

Our Daily Bread

Some of you may have noticed that I have not blogged much lately. In fact, I've only written once since August 26th (I went back and checked). I would like to blame this on being too busy, but I can't. The real reason is that I just haven't had anything on my mind to write about, and for me that is not normal. For whatever reason, I've always got several things going on that I could write about. Some I choose to put down in words and others I choose not to, but there is normally no shortage of material. As I thought about it, I just realized that I was very 'dry' spiritually. But how did I get that way? I'm in the Scriptures every day - how did that happen?

It just so happened that I went to a short men's retreat over the weekend at St. George's Island. One of the things that was mentioned by the speaker was a man's "daily communion". Once he said that, I immediately knew what my problem was. Although I read my Bible every day, I haven't been having my 'Daily Bread'. Let me explain what I mean.

I teach a Sunday School class on Sunday morning, the church Youth Group on Sunday night and a Middle School class on Wednesday night. In order to do that, I have to organize my time. So here's what I do.

Monday morning - Sunday School preparation

Tuesday morning - Sunday School preparation

Wednesday morning - Middle School class preparation

Thursday morning - Sunday School preparation

Friday morning - Youth Group preparation

Sunday morning - Sunday School review

Sunday afternoon - Youth Group review

Most of that time is spent in the Word, so I should have a million things going on in my mind and heart that the Lord is working on. But I don't. How can that be?

What I realized is this - all of that time is for someone else. I'm digging in the Word to prepare Bread for others, not to feed myself. You see, there is no replacement for our Daily Communion with the Lord. We need that quiet time with Him . Without it, we become dry and empty on the inside. So this morning I got up and read my Bible - not to prepare a message or a lesson , but just to spend time with Him and His Word.

My Struggle with Suffering

Periodically - usually about once a year - I read through the book of Job. Like most people, I struggle with the reality of suffering in this world. I try to placate my struggles with the idea that suffering is good for a person. I think we all know and believe that going through hard times can make you a better person. There is a wonderful scripture in Ecclesiastes that teaches this:

"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." - Ecclesiastes 7:3-4

I know that the suffering that I've gone through in my life has made me a better person - more mature, wiser and more trusting in God. But there are other types of suffering in this world that have no explanation, like the suffering of children for example. Try as I might, I just cannot come up with any good reason or explanation for it. So back I go to the book of Job.

Job was able to put a voice to the very question that I have - Why? And God answered him in three of the most amazing chapters in the Scriptures, chapters 38-41. And in those chapters I realize that if I were able to voice my questions to Almighty God even today, that He would answer me the same as he did to Job those many ages ago:

"Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined it's measurements? Surely you know!"

"Would you indeed annul My judgement? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?"

And Job's reply says it all for me:

"I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

And in those chapters my soul is satisfied - satisfied in the magnificent wisdom of God. Satisfied that He is good and just and merciful. Satisfied for another year or so - until the struggle builds up again and I return again to the book of Job.

Has Judgement Come?

A couple of weeks ago I was in Omaha on a business trip. I was meeting two colleagues for breakfast downstairs at the hotel. One man I have worked with for years but the other was a woman that works in another state and I had never met her before. She came downstairs for breakfast with another woman, walked up to the table where my male colleague and I were sitting and proceeded to introduce us to her 'wife'. This wasn't a woman who was ashamed or trying to hide anything. It was a person who was proud of her perversion.

This really got me thinking over the next couple of days about Romans 1.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. - Romans 1:24-31

You'll notice that 3 times it says that God 'gave them up' or 'gave them over'. The Greek word used here is 'paradidomi' - which means to 'commit' or 'cast in prison'. I've heard a couple of messages on this over the last year or so stating the fact that the verses here carry the idea of judgement - that when a person, people or nation engage in the sin of homosexuality that judgement has already come.

So what do you think - has judgement come? Is there still hope for this nation to repent and turn back to God or do you believe the acceptance of our nation of the sin of homosexuality is a sign that judgement has already come?

I look forward to your comments.

Leaving the Nest

I just passed another milestone in life - my oldest son just recently moved to Virginia to go to school. That reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend a couple of years ago. I had heard that his son had moved out so I asked him about it to see how he was doing. He said "the two saddest days of my life were when my son moved out and then when he moved back in". I don't think he was serious :)

A lot of people have been asking my wife and I the same question: "How are you doing?". The funny thing is that we really haven't been that sad about it. Do we miss him? Terribly. But we're proud of the young man that he's become. We have enjoyed seeing him grow and mature and now it's time for him to make his own life. That shouldn't be a time of sadness, but of celebration. Obviously I'd like him to be right next door where I could just pick him up and go fishing anytime I want - but it's more important to me that God works His plan in Joshua's life. And I believe with all my heart that is exactly what He is doing.

His moving out has caused me to think about our Heavenly Father and what He expects from us, His children. C.S. Lewis has a wonderful quote concerning this subject in "Mere Christianity".

“Every father is pleased at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm, free, manly walk in a grown-up son. In the same way, God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy.”

Just like we expect our children to grow and mature, God expects the same thing from His children. He is pleased with our feeblest attempts to serve Him and to keep His commandments. But He is never satisfied. He expects us to continue to grow and mature in Him and in His Word - to continue to be conformed to the image of His Son.

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So Joshua - this last part is for you.

I love you and I am proud to be your Dad. Whatever life brings for you, please always remember that there is one thing that matters, and you have to keep that one thing primary in your life. That one thing I want for you is this - that you will one day hear these words:

‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Now go make your Heavenly Father proud.

Acts 17:11

I'm sure that many of you who have been around the church for any length of time at all have heard the song "Thank You". It's a great song. When you hear it you cannot help but be moved emotionally. You know the one I'm talking about - the chorus goes like this:

Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave.

The author of the song, Ray Boltz, was a Christian musician who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring several years ago. And one more thing - he came out last September and declared he was a homosexual. If you want all the details, you can Google his name and you can read all about it, but I've got another point to make here.

Discernment takes work. You can't just flip on the Christian radio station and say "I'm safe. I know this is good teaching because it's on Christian radio." You can't just pick up the book in the Christian bookstore and assume that it contains sound doctrine because it's sold in a Christian bookstore. You can't assume that just because a person is a skilled song writer or author that they are going to lead you down the right path.

Many influential Christian artists and authors are very good at writing songs and books that speak directly to our emotions. They are very good at describing problems in our lives and in the church. It seems that they can write in such a way that your heart really resonates with what they are saying because they are describing your life, your exact feelings and emotions and even the questions that you have.

But just because they describe all that so well does not mean that the solution that they give you is going to be a right one. Just because they can seemingly walk through your life and describe all that you've been through does not mean that you can turn off your discernment and just blindly accept what they say. You can't assume that the prescription that they give you will be true to God's Word.

We must be like the Bereans in Acts 17. We are told that they searched the Scriptures daily to make sure that what Paul said was true. If they would verify the words spoken by Paul, how much more should we verify the things we hear?

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. - Acts 17:11.

Walk it Out

How do you become what you really want to be? Is it a matter of faith or a matter of action? If you listen to the Word of Faith peddlers they will tell you that you just need to believe it and speak it.

No matter what you need today, find a promise from God’s Word and believe it. Put it in your heart and in your mouth, and it will begin to work for you—that’s faith. There’s no getting around that process. Why? Because faith is a law. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you”. So start calling things that be not as though they were. What are you calling your body? Your family? Your bank account? Say what God says about those things. Speak the answer you desire. - Gloria Copeland

In fact, this is nothing but New Age confession and visualization techniques. Kenneth Copeland has even admitted as much, although stating that the New Age is copying the Bible and not the other way around.

"Words create pictures, and pictures in your mind create words. And then the words come back out your mouth ... And when that spiritual force comes out it is going to give substance to the image that's on the inside of you. Aw, that's that visualization stuff! Aw, that's that New Age! No, New Age is trying to do this; and they'd get somewhat results out of it because this is spiritual law, brother." - Kenneth Copeland

So let's take a look at what the Bible says. We know from Galatians 5:22-23 that the 'fruit' of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self control. These are attributes that a Christian should exhibit. So how do we obtain these? The Bible tells us what to do in the next verses.

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. - Galatians 5:24-25

So exactly what does it mean to 'walk in the Spirit'? You'll notice that those three words shown in bold above are verbs. They denote action on the part of the believer. Let me give you an example.

Let's say you want to be a more generous person. So what do you do? The first thing you do is you pray and ask God to change your heart and make you a generous person. The next thing you do is believe - believe that God is going to do it. Then do you just sit back and wait for it to happen? Of course not! You begin to live and walk like you are a generous person. You can start simply by tipping your waiters and waitresses more than the recommended 15%. It won't be easy at first and you'll have to think about it every time you do it. But after awhile an amazing thing will happen. As you 'walk it out', the Holy Spirit begins to produce the real thing inside of you. It becomes more than an action on your part - it becomes part of you.

My point is this - obviously faith is extremely important. Without faith it's impossible to please God. We should believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him. We should speak positive words, because the Bible teaches that life and death is in the power of the tongue. But what we have to understand is that to place all the responsibility on faith and the power of the spoken word is bad doctrine - it negates the responsibility of the believer to walk out their faith which is clearly taught in Scripture.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. - James 1:22

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." - Matthew 7:21

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock." - Matthew 7:24

What do you need in your life?

Do you need to be a person of the Word? Walk it out. Start reading your Bible daily and asking God to make you a student of His Word. You'll be amazed what will happen.

Do you need to forgive? Ask God to help you and then start living like you are a forgiver. You know what I mean. You can't say you've forgiven and then get up everyday and talk and walk as though you haven't forgiven. You have to walk it out.

Do you need self-control? Ask God for strength and then start practicing it. If you struggle with lust and pornography it's not going to magically disappear if you keep going to those same website on that same computer late at night. Get rid of it! Do what you have to do to walk it out!

Let us have faith, of course. But if it stops there our faith is dead, no matter how much we 'speak' it out. We have to walk it out.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. - James 2:17

Lovers of Pleasure

Just recently I was asked to take on some additional responsibilities in my local church. I hesitated to accept, because I knew these responsibilities would take up a lot of my time and would also be a long term commitment. I would venture to guess that most people would completely understand that hesitation. However, as I thought and prayed about whether I should do it something odd happened. I began to focus not on the time and effort and commitment required, but I began to focus on something else - what was the real reason behind my hesitation?

We all say that we want to make a difference in other people's lives. In theory, we all agree that we should give of ourselves and our time in order to make that difference, but most of us never really do it. Sure, we're ok with a short commitment here or there - but don't ask us to do anything long term. Why is that? What is it that prevents us from doing what we know we should? What is it that prevents us from giving our time - our free time - to do His work? For me, the answer was found in this verse:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. - 2 Timothy 3:1-5

We live in a society that loves it pleasure. We love to vacation, read books, watch TV, hunt and fish, play sports, shop and just hang out doing nothing. Don't get me wrong - there is nothing inherently wrong in any of those activities. But when we hesitate to do His work because of a love of our own pleasures then we have a problem. We work - not so that we have to give to others (as the Bible commands) - but to give more to ourselves. I hear people (myself included) saying "I just don't have time right now". Is that really true? Is every hour and minute of our day literally packed with activities that we just have to do? Of course not. What we are really saying when we make those statements is "I've got other things I'd rather do".

So I repented of my hesitation (or I should probably say I repented of my reason for hesitating). I decided to go ahead and make that commitment. I find myself pretty busy these days, but I find myself pretty fulfilled as well. As I write this, I hope I'm not putting any condemnation on anyone. That is certainly not my reason for writing. But as I get older I just realize more and more that our time is limited. We only have a short season to labor - to live our lives for the One that gave His life for us. Let's not waste it.