I'm percolating a thought... dangerous

Why are we so willing to excuse the past while being unwilling to deviate from it?
The religious leaders complained that the disciples were "working" by rubbing heads of wheat in their hands and eating it while walking through a wheat field. Jesus reminds them that King David actually went into the "house of God" and took the consecrated bread from the alter and ate it! So, the religious leaders had excused the acts of David while still enforcing the law of not working on the sabbath. They excused one act of lawlessness while upholding another law.

So I'm pondering and percolating this strange thing. Are there areas where we have excused the behaviors of certain people in the past, while at the same time holding others as law breakers in the present?

Not sure where this is going, maybe nowhere... help me out if you have a thought. Just seems strange to me. I think there might be a principle or an application here somewhere just not sure what it is, beyond the one plainly stated by Jesus - the law exists for people not people for the law...

behind the obvious, veiled perhaps...

Spirtual Espionage...

Reading Mark 1 today and I see something I've never noticed in all the times I have read it. And since I love a good action adventure flick... this intrigued me!

Jesus' ministry is just beginning, hasn't even called all the disciples to follow Him yet but He goes to the Synagogue in Capernaum (where they've been staying) and begins to teach the people. While Jesus is teaching and reading from the scrolls no doubt, a guy stands up in the crowd and shouts at Jesus, "Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!"

Pretty strange to have a dude stand up in church and begin to shout at you (though it has happened to me before!) but what makes this story so interesting is that in verse 23 the man is identified as, "a man... who was possessed by an evil spirit". Imagine! Having church and a guy stands up, demon possessed and begins to shout!

But here's where it gets really interesting to me! Didn't the people there know the guy? Wasn't he someones father, or brother, or husband? Wasn't he uncle Ben's best friends cousin? How did a demon possessed man get into church that day?!

And then I started thinking... if a demon possessed guy could waltz into church with Jesus, what's to keep them from coming into any church service? Who's to say that we don't have covert agents working for Satan infiltrating our services all around the world? Which begs the question, Why? Why would Satan care what goes on in church? And before you say something like, "the demon possessed couldn't possibly get through the doors of my church because (add whatever super theological argument you've got here)." Think for a minute. Satan is the master mind behind every evil, sinful, wrong thing that is done...correct? And you're gonna tell me that everyone in your church always and forever does the right thing all the time? You've had no affairs, divorces, offenses, etc. in your church? Come one now... it is Satan that can "look" like an angel of light.

Perhaps the same thing that is true about the angels in 1 Peter 1 is true about all spiritual beings, "they long to understand prophecy and the Word." Maybe there is spiritual espionage going on because Satan wants to know where to hit the church (where the weak links are) and find out if we know something spiritual that he hasn't figured out yet...

Maybe there are double agents, and war rooms, covert operations and black ops happening all time!

Perhaps this is why the disciples warned us to, watch ourselves, our doctrine, our friends, our lives, our relationship with our Savior, watch yourself or you may also be tempted...

Direction Motivation

Matthew 28:19-20 gives the marching order for the church from her captain, Jesus Christ. Jesus laid out the battle plan for the church to make a beachhead for inroads into the communities in which it exists.

Jesus said the job of the church was to:
1. Make Disciples. The word disciple means "learner" the 12 disciples were learners of Jesus, they were His students. Judas was one of those, though he didn't learn very well. We are to help people want to learn more about Jesus.
2. Baptize. Once a person becomes a learner they should learn about baptism and, if true learners, they will want to be baptized in obedience to Jesus. A learner wants to follow and obey his teacher.
3. Teach the new disciples the commands of Jesus. Baptism is not the graduation ceremony for the disciple (learner) it is the initiation into a new way of life. A new life that must be taught and caught. The church is to teach, those who follow, the whole counsel of God.

At Real Life we do a good job of creating an atmosphere and environment for making disciples and most of those respond in obedience to immersion. But I think we have failed in the "teach the new disciples God's commands" department. So I will talking and thinking about a way to remedy that situation.

I think it will begin with a greater push for Life Groups. That means we'll need people willing to host and lead these small home groups where we can facilitate the third part of our directive. I'm open to ideas and dialogue on this issue so if you've got a thought, please share it!

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The pebble problem.

Have you ever heard it said of someone that they were, "too big for their britches"? I'd like to put a new spin on that from the life of the Apostle Peter.

In Matthew 16:16-18 Jesus is talking with the disciples about who other's thought Jesus really was. Everybody had a different idea about but Jesus asks Peter directly, "who do you believe I am?" And Peter responds, "you are the Christ (means chosen one of God), the Son of the Living God." This was obvious the right answer because Jesus tells Peter that he should consider himself blessed, since "this was revealed not by men, but by my Father in heaven." In other words, God revealed this to you Peter, you ought to be happy about that.

Here's where the problem starts. Peter gets an "atta-boy" from Jesus. You're catching on Peter! You're growing up Peter! In fact, this is where Peter gets his new name. The name he was born with was Simon, but Jesus changed it to Peter right here after this key truth is revealed, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God! Way to go, Simon, your name is now going to be Peter - which most language people believe means, "stone" or "pebble".

So let's recap. Peter makes a great spiritual statement about who Jesus was - the Son of The God. Peter gets a pat on the back and a new name (Peter). Then something happens...

Jesus goes on to tell the rest of the disciples, who were all standing right there, that on the truth of Peter's statement Jesus would build His church. And that's just what happened! The church today is built on the foundational belief that the historical Jesus IS, WAS and ALWAYS WILL BE the Son of the LIVING God and the Savior o fall who believe in Him! Which is pretty cool. But right after that Jesus starts talking about Him impending death on the cross. At which point Peter (the pebble) takes Jesus aside and scolds Him, (like a child) saying (in his best big man voice), "this will never happen Lord," you're talking crazy! Why, I'd die before I'd let anyone harm you, after all, I'm a boulder - the guy who came up with the truth on which your church will be founded! (okay, okay, I know I took some liberties there with the text, but you get what I'm saying, right?!)

Did you see how Peter is given a truth from God, claims responsibility for it and in just a few moments goes from a little pebble to scolding Jesus like he was a big boulder? I think a lot of us do that still in our lives. We are given a few pats on the back. A few Atta-boys. And pretty soon we've gone from a little pebble who just wanted to serve and be involved and help however we could... to a boulder that is telling others what to do and bossing them around, etc. I see it all the time. The problem for many leaders with giving people pebble responsibilities is that they soon start acting like boulders, immovable, planted, sturdy.

I always try to look for leaders who have no problem being pebbles. Those are the ones who can roll with the flow. Who will help build the wall, knowing they can't do it themselves, instead of standing on the sidelines telling everyone else how it should be done.

If you read the rest of the story after Peter reprimands Jesus (I still can't believe he did that!) Jesus says, "get behind me Satan!" Wow! Peter goes from a pebble, to a boulder (in his own mind) to a grain of sand as he is called down by Christ.

When you get too big for your britches, the fall is often long and hard. Believe me, I know.

Are you stuck IN a trial or ON a trial?

I wonder how many opportunities I've missed in my life because I was too focused on the trial I was going through to see anything else. You may not know this but we (almost all of us) base decisions on what HAS been instead of what COULD be. What I mean is this. If you've been hurt in a relationship you are less likely to jump into another one because you will expect to be hurt again. So you're past experience may keep you from a future opportunity. I think we do that even "in the moment."

Matthew quotes Jesus as saying to the disciples, "you WILL stand trial...BECAUSE you are my followers, BUT this will be your OPPORTUNITY to tell...unbelievers about me." Jesus knew that His disciples would be punished and face trials for no other reason then their faith in Him. But, He also knew that the trials they faced would provide OPPORTUNITIES they might not otherwise have to share their faith.

You and I don't face judge and jury trials like the kind Jesus is talking about, but we do face hardships and temptations (we call them trials). In every trial we face there is opportunity. But these are so opposite from each other that we tend only focus on one or the other at a time. Like when Jesus said, "you can't serve two masters..." here, we tend to not see two sides.
Trials are difficult, opportunities exciting. Trials exhaust us, opportunities infuse us with energy. Trials take from us what we have, opportunities give us more. But when we focus on the trial we tend to forget about the opportunity! But don't lose hope! When we intentionally learn to focus on the opportunities, the trials begin to fade into the background.

I want to be more opportunity focused and less trial conscious. Let's face it, we could all benefit from that. I feel like we at Real Life are going through a "season of trials" - but I'm also beginning to see the many opportunities that exist, solely because of the trials! Let's take advantage of the OPPORTUNITIES for the glory of God and let Him worry about the trials!

character flaw...

I have this flaw in my character. If I decide to do something, let's say, exercise and lose some weight, and tell other people about it I am less likely to actually do it. But, if I don't say anything to anybody I am more likely to begin such a program. It's almost like just have the conversation gets me out of actually doing the thing I'm talking about! Stinks.

Jesus healed a man with leprosy in Matthew 8:1-3 but tells the man NOT to tell anyone. Instead he is to go show himself to the priest and offer the required sacrifice for being cleansed of leprosy (perhaps a thank or wave offering) and this action will be a public testimony that he had been cleansed.

Perhaps Jesus knew this guy had the same character flaw I do! Look at what might have happened. He is cleansed and runs through town telling everyone Jesus healed him. But, since he didn't go to the priest, he has no proof that he had leprosy and had been healed. And, he may have told a few people, been all excited and then went back to work, forgetting about it. By going to the priest he gets a record of his healing (because the priest would have had a record that he had leprosy and needed to be sent out of the community according to the law), he has the opportunity to offer a "thank you" sacrifice to God (according to the law) and everyone in the Temple would have seen it - a public testimony!

So, I'm exercising and trying not to talk about it too much. The public testimony comes when others notice the physical change in me and ask me what's up or tell me I look better. Then I can tell them what I am doing.

Maybe spiritually we ought to make those lifestyle changes first (instead of just talking about it) and then let people "see" it in our lives and ask, "what is different?" Then we can tell them, I've been cleansed. You've seen the proof.

God may have other plans... are you ready?

Every big thing in our lives certainly takes center stage in our thoughts and dreams. Marriage, the birth of your children, first job, etc. We've got it all worked out don't we.

I read a line in Matthew 1:18 the other day that got me thinking. Here's how it goes, "Mary was engaged, but before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin..."

One little sentence packed full of so many dreams and ambitions and interruptions and then a complete turn around...

Mary was engaged... Statement of fact. Her and Joseph were gonna get hitched. Surely she was dreaming about the wedding, their life, the children that would come. Joseph was a strong young man. Perhaps handsome. Maybe she considered herself lucky to have such a man. Well, one with a career any way. Everything was going great and moving, just as she dreamed it toward her ultimate marriage...

But before the marriage took place... something interrupted her dreams. Before she could get to that thing that had monopolized her thoughts for weeks, months, maybe even years, it all came crashing down. Surely you know what that's like. You've had unfulfilled dreams. Maybe it was while you were preparing to walk down the aisle when he or she bailed and left you standing there stunned. You found out your unborn child had a disability of some kind. Before you could really get your life going, something happened. You can relate to Mary.

While she was still a virgin... believe it or not this is my favorite part of this sentence! There is so much hope and faith and wonder tied up in this lost statement! Listen, if she was still a virgin then nothing that happened next should have happened! A virgin can't be pregnant. There was not way! How could the Savior of the universe be born to a virgin?! The only answer is God.

What is your obstacle to God birthing something wonderful in you? If a virgin girl can become the mother of His Son I can't see anything standing in His way! And while you go about making your life plans, completely incapable of accomplishing His will on your own, He is at work to bring about something incredible in your life! Something you can't possibly imagine!

So make your plans, but be ready, because God just may interrupt your life when you least expect and birth something incredible in you too.

Wait for the numbers.

Just a quick one today, but more to come! Lots of good stuff in Matthew 1 and 2!

Sometimes it is really hard to see how God could possibly be working in our lives (surely it's not just me). One thing after another happens and we seem to have no control and nothing is working right and we think God could not possibly be involved in our chaos.

While reading about all that happened to Joseph and Mary prior to and immediately after the birth of Jesus I am sure that they simply could not see the picture God had created for their lives. Just a bunch of random dots on one of God's activity pages. Then in Matthew 2:18 you read a prophecy from Jer 31:15 about death and mourning and weeping and Matthew says it was a prophecy about Herod killing all the baby boys while searching for Jesus.

Who would have thought or could have predicted that Jeremiah was talking about this event!? The readers in Jeremiah's day probably didn't even recognize that as a prophecy, but Matthew, through the Spirit saw it.

Here's my conclusion and then I've got to run; It's easier to connect the dots once they've been numbered. When you look at what God is doing all you may see is a random bunch of dots on a smudged piece of paper... wait for the numbers, then be amazed at how God has orchestrated the events of your life to reveal a beautiful picture you can not now see.

The POINT of prophecy.

I've been a little "off" lately in my blogging - no comments allowed.
Church life and ministry are often a blessing and often, nearly more than I think I can handle. The last few weeks have been some of the worst in my 15 years of ministry. Satan is certainly at work in the lives of people, relationships, marriages, etc. And we, by giving into our "desires" allow Satan to have victories that decay our spirit and tear down the Kingdom.

That being said, my Bible reading has been in the last book of the Bible and the most difficult to understand, Revelation. (if you comment and say you've got it figured out and it's easy to understand I just might call you a liar.)

But there have been some incredible passages in this letter that twists and turns and repeats and crosses stories. One of them I cam across today in Revelation 19.

John is in the midst of a bunch of symbolism here with animals and people representing a bunch of different things. It seems like there is prophecy within prophecy here - kind of a Matrix moment when your in the story your in... like when you look in a mirror that's reflected in another mirror and your image goes on and on. But in the midst of all this stuff the angel says something incredible to John.

It comes in verse 10 of chapter 19 and the angel says, "For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus." wow.

In the middle of the most prophetic book in the Bible with stuff happening all over the place the angel cuts right to the heart of it all! The point! The reason! The effort all finds it's purpose in focusing every one's attention on Jesus.

There are lots of people who claim to be prophetic or prophets today. Some of them may be legitimate but I fear most are phonies. How do you know? If they add anything to the ultimate prophecy found in the Words of the Bible they are fakes. There is no new prophecy. It begins and ends with Jesus.

But the point today is as strong as it was for John and as clear as it was to the angel. It's all about Jesus. There is no point in prophecy unless it points clearly to Christ.

So, I want to be more clear in my preaching so that people see Jesus. I want to be more honest in my life so that people see Jesus. I want to be more careful with my words so that people hear Jesus. I want to preach Jesus with laser accuracy so there is no doubt. No question. No mistaking who is the One who takes away sin and gives life. He is the only One that brings life change. Let's cut through the junk and be clear.