Latest Message Is Up on Site

Check out part 4 of the Identity Theft series at Real Life - we address the lie, I am what I do.

http://rlccmsgs.blogspot.com/2012/05/identity-theft-part-4.html

He's God-For-Us!

Unfortunately many people today know what it's like to feel like those around them are out to get them, instead of cheering them on.  Every generation thinks the one before it was too dull and old fashioned and the one after it is too careless and selfish.  You see it on Facebook all the time.  Something bad happens to someone and they complain as though every bad thing that happens is done to them on purpose.  Like everybody is out to get everybody else. I met a man just today who said, "the first time I trust someone and I get abandoned."

It's no wonder that so many have a negative view of God.  If everybody is out to get me it would stand to reason that God was somehow behind it.

It's easy to get mad at God because, well, He's God.  And I realize that if you are not a Christian none of this makes any difference to you at all.  An atheist CAN'T blame God because God doesn't exist.  An agnostic is just confused.  So if you don't believe the Bible or that there is a God you just go on thinking that the world is out to get you or that Karma is a good plan for your life.

But if you understand that there is a God you will appreciate the following.

God is on your side.  He is God-for-us!  He is the God-who-serves-us!

The truth is that God cares deeply for what happens to us!  He is troubled by the things that trouble us.  His desire is that we would never suffer, but the reality of the world we live in is that many have rejected God and so live for the only other thing there is, themselves.  When a person or society or world lives only for the pleasures of the individual there is bound to be trouble.

We just celebrated Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who gave their lives for someone else.  The police don't always do what I want them to.  I have gotten a ticket before and that wasn't fun.  But I didn't get mad at the police officer for doing his job.  He wasn't "out to get me," in fact, I believe I thanked him when we were done.  Not for the ticket, but for being willing to do a job I don't want to do.  For being willing to put his life on the line for me when I have a problem.  Like the officer who came to my house and told me he arrested a drunk driver who pulled into my driveway, hitting my car, and was trying to get the front door open when he was taken into custody.

I don't always like my interactions with the police but I know that they are there to help me, not to harm me. And if I obey the laws I have little fear of being stopped.

God is for us.  He is on our side.  He serves us and even in the midst of our trouble He is there to do good to us.  So, take comfort in the fact that the God of the universe cares about you.  Your trouble will never be too bad for God to rescue you from it.  Take heart!  He's for you!

Did You Have to get Cleaned Up for Church?

I remember as a kid having to put on my "Sunday Best" for church.  And if you got dirty before church, watch out!  I once spilled milk on my clothes before church and did I get it!  But as I think back on those days, fancy clothes never made me behave any better on Sundays.  I still went and played in the grass and talked out of turn.  They say, "clothes make the man."  But what do they make the man?  A rapist in a suit is still a rapist.  An addict wearing a tie is still and addict.  An adulterer fully clothed is still an adulterer.  Sin can't be covered up by nice clothes like dirt on your knee.

People often try to put on a smile when life is difficult.  Or pretend like everything is okay.  When I fall and fail spiritually I may look good on the outside but inside my shame is laid bare before my Creator and Savior.  What we have done isn't covered up by what we wear, not before God.  This is part of the reason we don't require any special dress code at Real Life.  The Bible is pretty clear that God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.  Outward appearances (how we dress) are for others, not for God.  God is a whole lot more concerned about what is going on with your heart, not your wardrobe.

That's why our faith doesn't start on the outside and work its way in, it starts on the inside and works its way out.  So many other, so-called, religions focus on what you do: meditate, do good deeds, spend time doing, doing, doing.  But faith in Jesus is about relationship with Him that starts in the heart and works its way outward affecting how you think and then how you act.

Here's how it's put in Acts 15:8,9 (MSG) - God, who can't be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person's thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him.


You may think your level of faith is tied to how well you dress or behave on Sunday.  But true faith comes from the heart - the center - and is revealed by increasing levels of trust which is shown in a fruitful life.

I'm not saying that dressing up for church is bad or that not dressing up is somehow more spiritual.  I'm saying don't get caught up in how you look and forget that what you wear on the outside is not what God is looking at anyway.  Dress for Christ everyday by believing in Him, trusting Him, bearing fruit for Him, loving Him and seeking to impress Him with your heart, not your hairdo.

Does God Care How You Get Home?

After dropping my son off at school this morning in Wichita I had to stop at the local lumber yard for some supplies to continue working on the privacy fence I am building.  I had about 400 pounds of concrete in the trunk of my little Honda so instead of taking the road I ALWAYS take, I decided to drive the straightest route instead of the fastest.

As I turned onto the my road I noticed a guy I know in his truck with the biggest cheesy grin on his face I've ever seen.  Apparently, seconds before I arrived he was turning onto my road heading the opposite direction when his truck ran completely out of gas.  As he was coasting to the side of the road he sees me.

With that cheesy grin he asks if I can go get him some gas - which I quickly and cheerfully do.

On my way back to his thirsty truck I was thinking about this incident.  There are hundreds of roads in El Dorado.  There are multiple options for getting to my house from the West end of town.   My friend had multiple options as well.  It was a one in a million chance that we would both be at the same spot on the same road at the same time - when neither one of us normally take that route.

In my book that's a God thing.  So I got him some gas, thanked God that I was there at the right time to help and that He used me to bless my friend.  I'm not sure if there was any more significant reason then doing something nice for someone because of Christ.

Does God care how you get home?  No, not really... but He does care whether or not you take advantage of the opportunities He provides you to bless someone else on the way there.  So the next time you take a different road home be on the lookout, God may just be planning to use you as a blessing.

Getting God's Stamp of Approval

We often think that when things are going good for us (bills paid, cars running, family healthy, etc.) that God must be happy with how we're living.  That is WRONG... just so we're clear.  Your circumstances are not good indicators of God's approval of your lifestyle or choices.

Getting God's stamp means a little more than money in the bank or even your health.  We're talking about the God of the universe here who has a love for each person that is so incredible we can't begin to fully comprehend it.

So Luke tells us in Acts 11 (MSG) that some of the Jewish Christians had pleased God through their lives and His pleasure was seen not in material increase but in the number of people who came to faith.  That's right, God's pleasure was displayed through more changed lives.

If you want to know if you're pleasing God in by your life, begin looking at the measure that is important to Him - lives changed forever.  If there are no changed lives around you then it's time to ask how you might begin to please God.

God's stamp of approval is seen through fruit bearing - changed lives are the number one indicator of God's pleasure with your life.

Locked Out

Have you ever been locked out?
I remember as a kid being locked out of the house a few times.  I would climb a tree close to the house.  Jump onto the roof and then twist the screen out of a little window in the upstairs bathroom.  I had to go through the window head first because it was small and so would end up with my feet out the window and my head on the toilet. Fun.  I've also locked my keys in my car.  That is such a sinking feeling.  I took a group of the Elders from my last church to meet with a pastor of another church.  It was a great day and everything was going well.  Until we went out to my Suburban.  I stuck my hand in my pocket to get my keys and couldn't find them.  There they were, in the ignition, with the doors all locked.  I was so embarrassed and felt so stupid.  Such a helpless feeling trying to get your keys.  I actually locked them in that same vehicle three years ago while my wife and I were out Christmas shopping in a near blizzard.  There I was, just a light jacket (I don't like coats), snow dumping from the sky trying to stick a coat-hanger through the window to open the doors.

This last Easter, moments before our Sunday service began I got a call from my wife who had run home for something, locked her car in the driveway (habit) and then unlocked the house to get whatever I had left there.  It wasn't until after she locked and closed the house door that she realized she had locked her car and locked the house with her keys still on the kitchen counter.

Being locked out is no fun.  No matter what it's from.  I was at a business just this morning and two employees near me were whispering in each others ears.  Or maybe you've been unable to join others in a game because of your ability or disability.  Being locked out stinks, whether it's a conversation, a game or your home.

For years the world was locked out of salvation.  The Jews had the corner market on God and they weren't gonna let anyone else have any.  They thought God was their prize.  That His love was ONLY for them (though Abraham was a man from the lineage or every other man when God called him and singled him out).  So they locked everyone else out. Which was cool with Satan, that's what he wanted the whole time.  Division. Seclusion.

But in Acts 11 Peter breaks the barrier between Jew and non-Jew when he preaches Jesus to the houshold of Cornelius.  While he is speaking to them the Holy Spirit comes on these non-Jews just like it did on the day of Pentecost to the 12 Apostles (all Jews) and Peter ends up baptizing this family into Jesus Christ as the first non-Jew converts to Christianity ever!

And when Peter is asked to explain his actions to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem (who were VERY concerned about this leap from the norm) their reaction is not what you'd expect.  They say this (from The Message version) "God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to life!"  How wonderful!  After thousands of years of religious snobbery the love of Christ has broken through and now even non-Jews can come to Christ and experience the hope and joy of a relationship with Him.  And that is what God had desired all along.

But sometimes what God wants from us and what He gets are not quite the same.  Perhaps you've tried to attend a church, to find some hope or healing or help and instead of finding a place of welcome you felt like you were on the outside looking in.  Locked out of what they were all experiencing.  Like standing in the cold trying to figure out the right way to walk, talk or stand so that the door would be opened to you and you could join in on the conversation.  Like you had to force yourself in as unwanted only to feel like, once you made it in, that you were standing on your head - uncomfortable and unwelcome.

In some cases the church today often acts like the Jewish Nation we put up roadblocks and barriers and detours to faith instead of marking the path clearly and putting up signs to point the way.  The reality is that sometimes believers themselves lock the door to faith for others by the way we act, treat the guests the Holy Spirit brings to our churches and even the way we talk - all super-spiritual so that even Paul would have a hard time interpreting what we were saying.

God thank you for breaking through.  For breaking through in my life and the life of so many here at Real Life and in churches around the world.  Help us to make sure that the door is always unlocked and the keys always handy because you want us to always be ready to open up to Life!

Is Thor a God?

Had this interesting conversation with my youngest son yesterday (after seeing The Avengers a couple times over the weekend) about Thor.  If you've seen the Marvel comics movies or you remember the comic books about this character you'll know more information than the average person about this character, but to make it easy for everybody lets just boil it down to the basics.

• Thor is from a "realm" called Asgard
• Thor is very powerful
• Thor is called the "god of thunder"
• Thor is a big guy with an even bigger hammer
• There is debate as to whether Thor (and others from his realm) are immortal

So we have this "god" who comes to earth to help us defeat bad guys.  He joins with The Hulk, Captain America, The Hawk, Iron-man and The Black Widow to defeat Loki and the aliens.

When Thor finally shows up in The Avengers movie he takes his brother Loki from The Avengers custody.  Iron-man immediately follows the two and as Captain America prepares to jump out of the plane (he's the only one of the three that can't fly) The Black Widow tells him, "you better sit this one out... because they are gods."  To which Captain America replies, "There is only One God, Ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that."

You can see why this would be my favorite quote of the movie!  

Anyway, after seeing the movie my son asks me, "is Thor a god?"  He surely was trying to reconcile God with god.  So my first answer was, "Thor is made up character for comic books and the movies.  He's not real, so it doesn't matter."  But if you know my son, you know that answer didn't fly.  So I thought of another approach.  I asked him, "Did Thor get hurt in the movie?"   I then asked him some things like, didn't Hulk beat up Loki (another god/Thor's brother)... The Hulk and Thor fight each other and pretty much neither one wins, each doing damage to the other but pretty equally matched... Thor and Loki are both injured in the movie, scraps and cuts, etc.  

We talked through these things and then I asked him the most important question.  "Do you think anybody can stand up to God?"  He replied, "No."  That's right, I said, God is so big and so powerful that no one can harm him or hurt him.  No matter how big and strong someone might be they can never hope to even lay a scratch on God.  

Then, as I told him to go to bed for the 100th time, I asked him the question he asked me.  "Do YOU think Thor is a god?"  He said, "Nope."  And headed to bed.

Thor is a make believe character that entertains us on the weekends.  Never confuse a god with God.  Read the second half of the book of Job if you'd like to know a little bit of the power of God.  When God begins to ask Job if he knows where the snow is kept or the lightning stored.  If he can tame the leviathan  or put a hook in his nose... pretty impressive.  To quote a fairly famous song, "There is NO ONE like our God."

Timing is Everything

How well do you wait?
Me neither.

Waiting is just one of those things that very few of us do well.  Maybe that is why we fill the waiting with all sorts of distractions.  Usually those distractions make things worse instead of better.

The Bible teaches that we should not be anxious about anything but most of us consider that the unreachable ideal of the Gospel.  I mean, there are so many things for us to be anxious about in the real world!  We're anxious about our kids, anxious about our jobs, anxious about finances, cars, vacations, our marriages, we're even anxious about matters of faith!

We've all heard that God's timing is perfect, I even blogged about this not too long ago with a reference from Gandalf in the first Lord of the Rings movie (I should have known).  Timing is important.  I remember that I was so mad at my parents for making me move 1/2 way across the U.S., so they could go back to school, during the second half of my Sophomore year of High School.  But it was while I was there that I was accepted in a singing group and while walking up the stairs one afternoon after lunch someone invited me to play a game and I got to stand next to this stunningly beautiful blonde.  I married her less than four years later after knowing her only a little over a week before I went home to Oregon and she to Kansas for the next 2.5 years.

There are things that I have prayed diligently for over my five years here with Real Life that I waited not-so-patiently for only to say once again that God's timing was perfect.  But I didn't feel that way until He finally brought what I had been praying for about.  No.  The sad reality is that in the middle of my waiting I was anxious, angry and maybe a bit abusive in my dealings with God.  Only AFTER God shows up are we able to see what needed to be in place before He would deliver.

God has better eyes than me.  He sees what I can't, what is hidden to me.  He sees how every thought, action and word ripples through the present moments of my life to change the future and how I see the past. And He isn't only looking at my life.  He's watching your life too!  God knew before I was born how that moment that my life intersected with Andrea's was going to impact not only out lives but create ripples that would change the world as we knew it.  The four lives that would be brought into existence because our eyes met and in a moment the circles of our individual lives began to move out together.

Like a grand composer who sees the entire score of every human life, He moves the parts so that even before you get to the end of the chart He knows how perfectly it will resolve.  He sees the future.  He knows the past and He is involved in the present.

In The Message version of Acts 1 Jesus is talking with His disciples before he makes ascends to heaven and sends the promised Holy Spirit.  The disciples, still thinking Jesus life and ministry was about the Jewish Nation (they could see the whole score yet) ask Him if it's time for Him to restore the kingdom back to Israel.  I love the way verse sever reads, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business..."

Timing is God's business.

And I'm so glad!  God is in control of timing because He can see what's coming, we can't.  We are limited by our physical sight, He is not.  He can see what will be and He knows what really is.

What are you anxious about?
Here's a few things to remember.
God is.
He loves you more than you can imagine.
He sees more than you can fathom.
He's working on your behalf as well as everyone else.
What you can't now see, God has already determined for you.

So in every anxious moment of your life, through prayer, make your requests known to God.  But trust His Timing.

When did you trust God's timing and see Him come through?

Going Back to the Beginning is Not the Best Option

One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride.  In one scene Inigo Montoya is waiting at the village for his "boss" to come back.  He tells those trying to get him to move, I was told if we ever got split up to go back to the beginning.  Well this is where we got the job so this is the beginning...

When life get's hard or you don't know where to go or what to do next do you ever just go back to the beginning?  Back to what you used to know?  Back to what you were doing before?  What is comfortable... or at least recognizable?

Even if where we came from was not good, an abusive relationship, a co-dependent lifestyle,  parents basement, or that person we used to be - that we still hate, we will still gravitate back to that because it is what we know.  We know what to expect.  What is coming next.  Where we stand with others, or even in our own mind.

No matter how good what we have now is, or could be, there is still a tug to go back.

Jesus disciples struggled with this.  In John 21 this is exactly what happens.  Jesus has fulfilled his mission to live, die and be raised to life to the glory of the Father and for the salvation of the human race.  He's even shown Himself to be alive by talking to and eating with the disciples on several occasions.  And still, Peter and some others say, "let's go fishing."

Fishing is what they were doing in the beginning.  They had just come in from a catch of fish when Jesus said, "Follow Me."  And they did.  But now things are different.  He's there with them, but not really there with them.  They are still a little confused as to what is going to happen next.  And certainly all they had hoped would happen is now done and gone.  So they go back to what they know.  Fishing.  You don't have to worry when you're fishing.  They could tell when a squall was going to be likely so they could avoid those.  They knew what to watch for with the nets breaking so they could avoid that too.  You go out, you fish, you come back, you fix nets, you do it again tomorrow.  Consistent that is what it was.  And nothing in their lives had been very consistent since they left the beak nearly four years earlier.

The easy thing is to go back.  Going back means giving up.  Giving up means you don't have to try so hard anymore or worry so much.  Going back means the familiar.  But going back also means missing out.  If you go back you may know what your life will be like, but you won't know what it could be.  You may not have to worry about what's next, but you will still worry.  You may not have to work so hard, but very few things that have worth come free or easy.

Jesus disciples weren't sure what to do so they went back.  Let me encourage you to keep moving forward. If you don't know where to go or what to do next use that time to take a break and pray for guidance and wisdom.  The life of faith is not about going back, it's about moving closer.  Closer to God through His Son Jesus Christ.  Closer to each other through community and relationships.  Closer to the heart of God in loving Him and loving others.

Satan wants you to go back.  Back to your old habits, hang-ups, addictions, abuses and vices.  Christ is calling you to keep walking forward with Him.  There may be new challenges but there will also be new life, new strength and new hope.