Thursday, July 14, 2011
Who is your hero?
Try to sit still while listening to this song. I dare you. Oh, and the lyrics totally rock. Check it out.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Evangelicals and the gay moral revolution.
The Christian church has faced no shortage of challenges in its 2,000-year history. But now it's facing a challenge that is shaking its foundations: homosexuality.
To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can't Christians just join the revolution?
And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, "The Honor Code," moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we've witnessed on the question of homosexuality.
In less than a single generation, homosexuality has gone from something almost universally understood to be sinful, to something now declared to be the moral equivalent of heterosexuality—and deserving of both legal protection and public encouragement. Theo Hobson, a British theologian, has argued that this is not just the waning of a taboo. Instead, it is a moral inversion that has left those holding the old morality now accused of nothing less than "moral deficiency."
The liberal churches and denominations have an easy way out of this predicament. They simply accommodate themselves to the new moral reality. By now the pattern is clear: These churches debate the issue, with conservatives arguing to retain the older morality and liberals arguing that the church must adapt to the new one. Eventually, the liberals win and the conservatives lose. Next, the denomination ordains openly gay candidates or decides to bless same-sex unions.
This is a route that evangelical Christians committed to the full authority of the Bible cannot take. Since we believe that the Bible is God's revealed word, we cannot accommodate ourselves to this new morality. We cannot pretend as if we do not know that the Bible clearly teaches that all homosexual acts are sinful, as is all human sexual behavior outside the covenant of marriage. We believe that God has revealed a pattern for human sexuality that not only points the way to holiness, but to true happiness.
![[howmohler]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-OO045_howmoh_D_20110630194304.jpg)
Getty Images/Comstock Images
Thus we cannot accept the seductive arguments that the liberal churches so readily adopt. The fact that same-sex marriage is a now a legal reality in several states means that we must further stipulate that we are bound by scripture to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman—and nothing else.
We do so knowing that most Americans once shared the same moral assumptions, but that a new world is coming fast. We do not have to read the polls and surveys; all we need to do is to talk to our neighbors or listen to the cultural chatter.
In this most awkward cultural predicament, evangelicals must be excruciatingly clear that we do not speak about the sinfulness of homosexuality as if we have no sin. As a matter of fact, it is precisely because we have come to know ourselves as sinners and of our need for a savior that we have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Our greatest fear is not that homosexuality will be normalized and accepted, but that homosexuals will not come to know of their own need for Christ and the forgiveness of their sins.
This is not a concern that is easily expressed in sound bites. But it is what we truly believe.
It is now abundantly clear that evangelicals have failed in so many ways to meet this challenge. We have often spoken about homosexuality in ways that are crude and simplistic. We have failed to take account of how tenaciously sexuality comes to define us as human beings. We have failed to see the challenge of homosexuality as a Gospel issue. We are the ones, after all, who are supposed to know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only remedy for sin, starting with our own.
We have demonstrated our own form of homophobia—not in the way that activists have used that word, but in the sense that we have been afraid to face this issue where it is most difficult . . . face to face.
My hope is that evangelicals are ready now to take on this challenge in a new and more faithful way. We really have no choice, for we are talking about our own brothers and sisters, our own friends and neighbors, or maybe the young person in the next pew.
There is no escaping the fact that we are living in the midst of a moral revolution. And yet, it is not the world around us that is being tested, so much as the believing church. We are about to find out just how much we believe the Gospel we so eagerly preach.
Rev. Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584004576416284144069702.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
To many onlookers, this seems strange or even tragic. Why can't Christians just join the revolution?
And make no mistake, it is a moral revolution. As philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton University demonstrated in his recent book, "The Honor Code," moral revolutions generally happen over a long period of time. But this is hardly the case with the shift we've witnessed on the question of homosexuality.
In less than a single generation, homosexuality has gone from something almost universally understood to be sinful, to something now declared to be the moral equivalent of heterosexuality—and deserving of both legal protection and public encouragement. Theo Hobson, a British theologian, has argued that this is not just the waning of a taboo. Instead, it is a moral inversion that has left those holding the old morality now accused of nothing less than "moral deficiency."
The liberal churches and denominations have an easy way out of this predicament. They simply accommodate themselves to the new moral reality. By now the pattern is clear: These churches debate the issue, with conservatives arguing to retain the older morality and liberals arguing that the church must adapt to the new one. Eventually, the liberals win and the conservatives lose. Next, the denomination ordains openly gay candidates or decides to bless same-sex unions.
This is a route that evangelical Christians committed to the full authority of the Bible cannot take. Since we believe that the Bible is God's revealed word, we cannot accommodate ourselves to this new morality. We cannot pretend as if we do not know that the Bible clearly teaches that all homosexual acts are sinful, as is all human sexual behavior outside the covenant of marriage. We believe that God has revealed a pattern for human sexuality that not only points the way to holiness, but to true happiness.
Getty Images/Comstock Images Thus we cannot accept the seductive arguments that the liberal churches so readily adopt. The fact that same-sex marriage is a now a legal reality in several states means that we must further stipulate that we are bound by scripture to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman—and nothing else.
We do so knowing that most Americans once shared the same moral assumptions, but that a new world is coming fast. We do not have to read the polls and surveys; all we need to do is to talk to our neighbors or listen to the cultural chatter.
In this most awkward cultural predicament, evangelicals must be excruciatingly clear that we do not speak about the sinfulness of homosexuality as if we have no sin. As a matter of fact, it is precisely because we have come to know ourselves as sinners and of our need for a savior that we have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Our greatest fear is not that homosexuality will be normalized and accepted, but that homosexuals will not come to know of their own need for Christ and the forgiveness of their sins.
This is not a concern that is easily expressed in sound bites. But it is what we truly believe.
It is now abundantly clear that evangelicals have failed in so many ways to meet this challenge. We have often spoken about homosexuality in ways that are crude and simplistic. We have failed to take account of how tenaciously sexuality comes to define us as human beings. We have failed to see the challenge of homosexuality as a Gospel issue. We are the ones, after all, who are supposed to know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only remedy for sin, starting with our own.
We have demonstrated our own form of homophobia—not in the way that activists have used that word, but in the sense that we have been afraid to face this issue where it is most difficult . . . face to face.
My hope is that evangelicals are ready now to take on this challenge in a new and more faithful way. We really have no choice, for we are talking about our own brothers and sisters, our own friends and neighbors, or maybe the young person in the next pew.
There is no escaping the fact that we are living in the midst of a moral revolution. And yet, it is not the world around us that is being tested, so much as the believing church. We are about to find out just how much we believe the Gospel we so eagerly preach.
Rev. Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304584004576416284144069702.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
Thursday, June 30, 2011
How should Christians respond to the issue of homosexuality & so-called homosexual marriage?
"My Eyes Shed Streams of Tears"— Thoughts on the New Calamity by John Piper
Jesus died so that heterosexual and homosexual sinners might be saved. Jesus created sexuality, and has a clear will for how it is to be experienced in holiness and joy.
His will is that a man might leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and that the two become one flesh (Mark 10:6-9). In this union, sexuality finds its God-appointed meaning, whether in personal-physical unification, symbolic representation, sensual jubilation, or fruitful procreation.
For those who have forsaken God’s path of sexual fulfillment, and walked into homosexual intercourse or heterosexual extramarital fornication or adultery, Jesus offers astonishing mercy.
Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11).But last weekend this salvation from sinful sexual acts was not embraced. Instead there was massive celebration of sin.
One estimate said that 400,000 people celebrated gay pride in Minneapolis. That’s more than the population of the city. The number is probably inflated, but for the first time in history, it did include the governor of the state, Mark Dayton.
The Bible is not silent about such parades. Alongside its clearest explanation of the sin of homosexual intercourse (Romans 1:24-27) stands the indictment of the celebration of it. Though people know intuitively that homosexual acts (along with gossip, slander, insolence, haughtiness, boasting, faithlessness, heartlessness, ruthlessness) are sin, “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:29-32). “I tell you even with tears, that many glory in their shame” (Philippians 3:18–19).
This is what our governor was doing on Sunday along with millions of others across the country—knowing these deeds are wrong, “yet approving those who practice them.”
Not only that, we are moving from celebration to institutionalization. On June 24 the New York legislature approved a Marriage Equality Act. This makes New York the sixth state where so-called homosexual marriages will be institutionalized: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, (and the District of Columbia).
My sense is that we do not realize what a calamity is happening around us. The new thing—new for America, and new for history—is not homosexuality. That brokenness has been here since we were all broken in the fall of man. (And there is a great distinction between the orientation and the act—just like there is a great difference between my orientation to pride and the act of boasting.)
What’s new is not even the celebration of homosexual sin. Homosexual behavior has been exploited, and reveled in, and celebrated in art, for millennia. What’s new is normalization and institutionalization. This is the new calamity.
My main reason for writing is not to mount a political counter-assault. I don’t think that is the calling of the church as such. My reason for writing is to help the church feel the sorrow of these days. And the magnitude of the assault on God and his image in man.
Christians, more clearly than others can see the tidal wave of pain that is on the way. Sin carries in it its own misery: “Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27).
And on top of sin’s self-destructive power comes, eventually, the wrath of God: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5–6).
Christians know what is coming, not only because we see it in the Bible, but because we have tasted the sorrowful fruit of our own sins. We do not escape the truth that we reap what we sow. Our marriages, our children, our churches, our institutions—they are all troubled because of our sins.
The difference is: We weep over our sins. We don’t celebrate them. We turn to Jesus for forgiveness and help. We cry to Jesus, “who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
And in our best moments, we weep for the world. In the days of Ezekiel God put a mark of hope “on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 9:4).
This is what I am writing for. Not political action, but love for the name of God and compassion for the city of destruction.
“My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” (Psalm 119:136)
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/my-eyes-shed-streams-of-tears-thoughts-on-the-new-calamity?md5=42436ecd28f108024b7c68f554db19fe
Monday, June 20, 2011
Wait, who's the problem?
When we rightly identify the source of our problem, we are on our way to a solution that celebrates the grace of Christ. But we must first acknowledge that the problem is us! It is inside us, deep in the recesses of our hearts. How do you react to this news? Are you shocked? Disappointed? Offended? Angry? It's certainly not what we want to hear. When I am impatient with my parents, the last thing I want to admit is that it is my fault. I want to blame my mom or my dad and justify my sin! But if we don't face our own sins, we will never get to the real solution. We will minimize the redeeming love of the Father, Son, and Spirit, or bypass it completely. This is deadly. There is nothing more serious!
Taken from "How People Change" by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
Taken from "How People Change" by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
Got Acceptance?
Being accepted by others can be a lifelong painful journey with no end in sight. I'll pass. God already accepts me. - Lecrae
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Perfect Father
Some of us have been blessed with great dads, some of us have not. Because of this reality, we may not all look forward to fathers' day (this Sunday) with the same feelings.
But, regardless of what kind of dad you have (or don't have) here on earth, let me encourage you to focus this fathers' day on the kind of Dad you have in Heaven. For those of us who have been reconciled to our creator, through the death and resurrection of Jesus (If this is confusing or unfamiliar to you, check out Romans 5:6-11 or John 3:14-21 here: Online Bible) we are now the sons and daughters of the Perfect Father. Check out how Matthew describes just one aspect of our relationship with our heavenly Father.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6).
We have no reason to worry. God is sovereign (in control), he loves us, he provides for our needs, he gives us a mission, a purpose, for which to live ("seek first his kingdom and his righteousness) and as we are busy living out our mission, he takes care of us in amazing ways! In fact, people who don't know God as their father have to spend all their time worrying about and running after the things of life. Not so for us. Follow God with all that you have. Follow God with all that he has created you to be. Your perfect Father will see that your needs are met. Trust Him. There is no Father like Him.
But, regardless of what kind of dad you have (or don't have) here on earth, let me encourage you to focus this fathers' day on the kind of Dad you have in Heaven. For those of us who have been reconciled to our creator, through the death and resurrection of Jesus (If this is confusing or unfamiliar to you, check out Romans 5:6-11 or John 3:14-21 here: Online Bible) we are now the sons and daughters of the Perfect Father. Check out how Matthew describes just one aspect of our relationship with our heavenly Father.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6).
We have no reason to worry. God is sovereign (in control), he loves us, he provides for our needs, he gives us a mission, a purpose, for which to live ("seek first his kingdom and his righteousness) and as we are busy living out our mission, he takes care of us in amazing ways! In fact, people who don't know God as their father have to spend all their time worrying about and running after the things of life. Not so for us. Follow God with all that you have. Follow God with all that he has created you to be. Your perfect Father will see that your needs are met. Trust Him. There is no Father like Him.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A Time to Weep.
This is a season to weep. It is a time to mourn with the family of fallen Deputy, Kurt Wyman. Kurt leaves behind his wife, Lauren, an 18-month old son, and a daughter who was born just one day after her daddy died. It is a time to weep, a time to mourn. When words fail, and tears flow, pray for the family. Jesus is the only one that can give them the kind of comfort needed for such a time as this. The God we serve is the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). Weep, mourn, pray.
Video Report from the Memorial Service for Deputy Kurt Wyman
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Change or Rescue?
It is very tempting to work to convince yourself that what you really need is external change not internal rescue.
Monday, May 23, 2011
What are you doing this summer?
Learn to Lead. Develop your leadership skills and passions. Attend Teen Leadership Conference this summer!
Hey friends, what do you have planned for this summer? If you are like me, you may be excited about your upcoming break from school, but probably after about two or three weeks of free time or mowing the yard and taking care of other summer chores, you'll be ready for something more.
Let me encourage you to click on the link above, and check out one of your options for this summer. Teen Leadership Conference is a top notch week of programming designed to encourage and accelerate you in your walk with Jesus and your impact among your peers. You won't regret a week spent at TLC. It will impact you for life. I'm going, and I invite you to go along with me. Check it out!
Oh, and register by June 1 to save some of your hard earned cash.
Hey friends, what do you have planned for this summer? If you are like me, you may be excited about your upcoming break from school, but probably after about two or three weeks of free time or mowing the yard and taking care of other summer chores, you'll be ready for something more.
Let me encourage you to click on the link above, and check out one of your options for this summer. Teen Leadership Conference is a top notch week of programming designed to encourage and accelerate you in your walk with Jesus and your impact among your peers. You won't regret a week spent at TLC. It will impact you for life. I'm going, and I invite you to go along with me. Check it out!
Oh, and register by June 1 to save some of your hard earned cash.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Is it possible to know for sure when Jesus is going to return?
"May 21, 2011, according to loyal listeners of Family Radio, a Christian broadcasting network based in Oakland, California, will mark the Day of Rapture and the start of Judgment Day (which, they say, will last five months). Those who are saved will be taken up to heaven, and those who aren’t will endure unspeakable suffering. Dead bodies will be strewn about as earthquakes ravage the Earth, they say. And come October 21, they’ll tell you, the entire world will be kaput."
Wow! Is it really possible for people to know for sure when Jesus will return? We'll kee this answer short and simple, because that's exactly what Jesus did when He was teaching about this topic. In fact, His teaching on this matter was so straightforward, so clear, that I'm just going to share His words with you. Here is what Jesus said about His future return:
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Wow! Is it really possible for people to know for sure when Jesus will return? We'll kee this answer short and simple, because that's exactly what Jesus did when He was teaching about this topic. In fact, His teaching on this matter was so straightforward, so clear, that I'm just going to share His words with you. Here is what Jesus said about His future return:
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Matthew 24:36-44)
So, lets recap. Jesus made it clear that NO ONE knows when He is going to return. NO ONE. That includes this group which claims they know. They may have cool t-shirts, crazy billboards, and awesome RV's (I want to take a vacation with one of those RV's!) but they don't know. In fact, Jesus doesn't make a big deal about the WHEN, He makes a big deal about being ready! So, that begs the question: Are you ready for Jesus to return? He is coming.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Tired of the Guilt?
Linkin Park is right...we all need mercy. The question is, where is that kind of mercy available. Who is willing and able to offer what we so desperately need? Their song reminds me of this prayer found in the Psalms:
"May your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
Help us, O God our Savior,
...for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake." (Psalm 79:8-9)
Here is the awesome reality for those who turn to God for mercy…
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord”—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.” – Psalm 32:5
Have you turned to God for mercy? You know, you don't have to carry around the guilt of your sin, not even for one more second. Turn to Jesus...he is ready, willing, and able (the only one by the way) to forgive.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Speak Truth With Love.
“If truth isn't undergirded by love, it makes the possessor of that truth obnoxious & the truth repulsive” - Ravi Zacharias
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” -Ephesians 4:14-16
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Does Jesus want your words or your heart?
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - John Bunyan
Does God owe me anything?
“If I know God owes me nothing but punishment, I should never get in his face about anything.” – John Piper
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“God saved you by His grace (gift) when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Sunday, April 24, 2011
You gotta check out this site!
If you are like me, there is no doubt you have tough questions about Christianity, church, Jesus, and well everything really. If you want to hear some really good answers, from real people, then you gotta check out this site!
http://www.christianityexplored.org/
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Are you free?
The gospel is the only power that can set us free because the gospel keeps our focus on what Jesus has already done, not what we must do. -Tullian Tchividjian
What are you chasing?
Whatever you're chasing, if it isn't Jesus, when you catch it you still won't be satisfied. -Lecrae
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Ready for a challenge?
Would you like to do something more than mow lawns, play video games, and sit around this summer? Would you like to be part of a high energy, high impact Teen Leadership Conference that will equip and motivate you to be the person of influence (leader) that God wants you to be? If you answered ‘yes’, then I encourage you to check out this link: http://www.bbc.edu/tlc/ and let me know you would like to attend!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Stop picking on others, and pay attention to yourself!
Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, and you and me
Tuesday April 19th, 2011 – Permalink| Spiritual Growth
From: http://www.stevenfurtick.com/
I always used to associate the expression, “falling from grace,” with major acts of sin. Enormous failures. Significant falls.
People who fell from grace were people like Ted Haggard who lost his church and nearly lost his family after admitting to a homosexual affair after years of speaking out against homosexuality.
Or Tiger Woods who had an affair that cost him his family and tens of millions of dollars.
Or Charlie Sheen who…well, pulled a Charlie Sheen.
So falling from grace was where you had an affair. Cheated people. Engaged in an addictive behavior. Melted down in public. In general, had some kind of an enormous moral failure and lost everything. Your reputation. Your family. Your livelihood. In the case of Charlie Sheen, your sanity.
That’s what I used to think. And if you were honest, it’s probably what you associate falling from grace with as well.
But we’re both wrong. That’s not what it means. The true definition is astonishing. And infinitely more threatening, convicting, and relevant to most Christians than the stories of the men above.
If you go back to where the phrase comes from in the Bible, here’s what you read:
You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4).
Crap. Ted, Tiger, and Charlie can no longer be our punching bags.
I understand why they are. After all, they’re easy targets. They warn us of the danger of falling into sin and ruining our lives. And if we’re honest, they make us feel better about ourselves. But here’s the truth: Most Christians aren’t in danger of pulling a Charlie Sheen or a Tiger Woods or a Ted Haggard. We’re in danger of something far more deceptive and equally offensive to God.
And that’s living as if we have no need of His grace. It’s assuming that because we’re not Charlie, Tiger, or Ted, we’re closer to God, even if only by an inch.
Let me be clear: this isn’t one of those “we’re no better than Charlie Sheen” posts. I hope to God your life is better than Charlie Sheen’s.
It’s more of a reminder that even if you read your Bible everyday and now have it memorized in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and the 1611 KJV.
Even if you never have an affair.
Even if you live a life that makes the Pharisees look like cat-strangling, coke-snorting, Wiccan worshippers.
When Jesus comes back and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord, your head won’t be one centimeter higher than Charlie’s. Or Tiger’s. Or Ted’s. Or anyone else’s.
The quickest way to fall from grace is to think that there is an ounce of your life that isn’t dependent on it. Every step that you take to be acceptable to God in your own effort apart from Jesus and the cross is actually a step away from God.
Don’t fall away from grace. Ted needs it. Tiger needs it. Charlie needs it.
But so do you. And so do I.
Do Christians have to have it all together?
I'm not a Christian because I'm strong and have it all together. I'm a Christian because I'm weak and admit I need a Savior. - Lecrae
Grace
You can't live life as per God's design without grace any more than you can choose to defy gravity or decide to live underwater. – Paul Tripp
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Awesome online tool for Bible study!
Hey friends, you gotta check this out! Online Bible Study
This online resource has the potential to help you in so many ways as you work to dig in to your Bible. Remember those helpful steps we talked about?
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
If you get stuck working through these steps, if you have questions about certain verses, if you want to know more about the context, or whatever, this online tool can help you! If you need help figuring out how to use this online resource just let me know, we'll go to lunch and figure things out!
Please check it out, punch in a certain book of the Bible, along with a chapter and verse and check out all that you can do with your Bible study on the internet!
This online resource has the potential to help you in so many ways as you work to dig in to your Bible. Remember those helpful steps we talked about?
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
If you get stuck working through these steps, if you have questions about certain verses, if you want to know more about the context, or whatever, this online tool can help you! If you need help figuring out how to use this online resource just let me know, we'll go to lunch and figure things out!
Please check it out, punch in a certain book of the Bible, along with a chapter and verse and check out all that you can do with your Bible study on the internet!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! I need help understanding & applying the Bible to my life!!
Do you have trouble developing a good, consistent way to study the Bible for yourself? Here is a simple, yet effective approach to help you grow in this important area of your life. It has three basic steps. They are:
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
Here is how it works: Pick a passage, begin with prayer, asking God to help you understand and apply His Word, and then work to answer these three questions:
1. Observation - What do these verses say?
2. Interpretation - What do these verses mean?
3. Application - Based upon what these verses say and mean, what do I need to do or stop doing?
A great book of the Bible to help you learn this method is Proverbs. Start out by picking small groups of verses...there is nothing wrong with starting small. Go ahead, give it a try next time you spend time in the Word. You can rock it! Go for it!
1. Observation
2. Interpretation
3. Application
Here is how it works: Pick a passage, begin with prayer, asking God to help you understand and apply His Word, and then work to answer these three questions:
1. Observation - What do these verses say?
2. Interpretation - What do these verses mean?
3. Application - Based upon what these verses say and mean, what do I need to do or stop doing?
A great book of the Bible to help you learn this method is Proverbs. Start out by picking small groups of verses...there is nothing wrong with starting small. Go ahead, give it a try next time you spend time in the Word. You can rock it! Go for it!
I am sick of falling to the same sinful choices, HELP!
Are you sick of trying to conquer that sinful habit in your life, only to be met once again by bitter defeat? I am. But here is a big part of the problem. Too many of us have been taught that all we need to do in order to overcome that sinful habit in our lives is regular church attendance, or self-discipline, or accountability, or devotions with breakfast, or strong desire, or cold showers, or...ah, never mind, you get the idea. All of those things may be helpful, and do indeed serve a purpose, but they all miss the mark. They all fall short. You know why? Because they all have to do with ME. When I am in trouble, when I am trying to overcome that sin that is just so powerful and pervasive in my life, the last thing I need is more of me. In fact, the Bible is clear, no man goes toe to toe with sin, in his own strength, and survives. We lose. Check out Joseph's example in Genesis 39. You know what he did? He ran. Yeah, so the last thing we need in those moments where we feel our defenses falling and that temptation rushing in like an unstoppable force is more of ME. We need less of me and more of God. That is the only way to experience victory over sin. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16 - "So, I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." You can experience freedom from that sin. You don't have to be it's slave. Paul also wrote in Galatians 5..."It is for freedom that Christ has set us free!" So, how do should I seek to live with less of me and more of God every day and every moment?
1. Confess all known sin to God (1 John 1:9) We can't experience the power of God in our lives if we harbor unconfessed sin...God doesn't play second to anyone or anything.
2. Ask God to fill you (Luke 11:11-13) He promises He will! Live life under His influence and power, not your own!
3. Believe that He has filled you (Mark 11:24) Live in confidence man! God's power is at work in you! If you ask for something that God is willing and please to give you, He will give it to you. And believe me, He wants you to have His power at work in your life, especially as you desire to overcome your sin!
1. Confess all known sin to God (1 John 1:9) We can't experience the power of God in our lives if we harbor unconfessed sin...God doesn't play second to anyone or anything.
2. Ask God to fill you (Luke 11:11-13) He promises He will! Live life under His influence and power, not your own!
3. Believe that He has filled you (Mark 11:24) Live in confidence man! God's power is at work in you! If you ask for something that God is willing and please to give you, He will give it to you. And believe me, He wants you to have His power at work in your life, especially as you desire to overcome your sin!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Be Killing Sin or Sin Will Be Killing You
@desiringgod Desiring God
John Piper: "I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle." (blog post) http://dsr.gd/ejgVWy - Follow this link to listen to the audio from this sermon.
When it comes to killing my sin I don’t wait for the miracle, I Act the Miracle.
Acting a miracle is different from working a miracle. If Jesus tells a paralyzed man to get up, and he gets up, Jesus works a miracle. But if I am the paralyzed man and Jesus tells me to get up, and I obey and get up, I act the miracle. If I am dead Lazarus and Jesus commands me to get up, and I obey, Jesus works the miracle, I act the miracle.
So when it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle.
For example, Paul says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13).
I invite you to listen or watch “I Act the Miracle.”
Acting a miracle is different from working a miracle. If Jesus tells a paralyzed man to get up, and he gets up, Jesus works a miracle. But if I am the paralyzed man and Jesus tells me to get up, and I obey and get up, I act the miracle. If I am dead Lazarus and Jesus commands me to get up, and I obey, Jesus works the miracle, I act the miracle.
So when it comes to killing my sin, I don’t wait passively for the miracle of sin-killing to be worked on me, I act the miracle.
For example, Paul says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13).
So he tells me to put my sin to death. I should not wait for God to kill it while I remain passive. But he tells me to kill it “by the Spirit." Sin-killing is a miracle of the Spirit. But I do not wait passively, I act the miracle.Again Paul says, “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).
So Paul works hard to kill the sins of lethargy and distraction in his ministry. “I worked harder than any of them.” But the decisive animation of that work is the grace of God. It is a miracle. But Paul does not wait passively, he acts the miracle.Or consider Philippians 2:12-13, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13).
Paul commands me to work out my salvation, because God is the one who works this in me. My willing and working is God’s willing and working. It is a miracle. But I do not wait passively, I act the miracle.I spoke to the Bethlehem College and Seminary Chapel about this crucial act of miraculous sin-killing in my own life. These are lessons I learned afresh on my leave of absence. They feel very fresh, very important and very powerful in my life right now. It is a very personal message.
I invite you to listen or watch “I Act the Miracle.”
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Braes 2011 - "Downpour"
"God wants to revive our relationship with Him. Revival is renewed interest after a period of indifference or decline. He wants to wake us up, to refresh our faith, to fire us up again." - James MacDonald
Do you need revival. I do. Does your faith need to be refreshed? Mine does. Do you need to be fired up again? I do. It's not too late to change your plans for this weekend. If you want to join us for this powerful weekend at the Braes, let me know by midnight tonight...we'll make it happen!
Do you need revival. I do. Does your faith need to be refreshed? Mine does. Do you need to be fired up again? I do. It's not too late to change your plans for this weekend. If you want to join us for this powerful weekend at the Braes, let me know by midnight tonight...we'll make it happen!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Jonathan Ransom (jj_ransom) on Twitter
"With his life Jesus bore your guilt and shame so that in your life you would be defeated by neither." - Paul Tripp
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
Friday, February 25, 2011
It's not about being strong enough, moral enough, or disciplined enough...we need Jesus.
"Today you will be faced with choice points. Will you give way to what Christ has already defeated or will you resist in his power? You are never called to battle with sin in your own strength. The One who defeated sin on the cross now lives inside you!" -Paul Tripp
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Repent & Press On
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:13-14
None of us are perfect. In fact, none of us are even close! Wow, I could tell you some stories. That is exactly why we (especially me) need Jesus. And since none of us are perfect, we all tend to be held back by mistakes and failures from our past. It is easy to be consumed by guilt or fear. But, in this letter Paul is reminding us that we can not allow our present or our future to be sabotaged by the shortcomings of our past. In Christ you are forgiven and you are free from the guilt and shame of your past (yes, that includes yesterday, and last night). Repent and press on. God's grace is always enough.
Philippians 3:13-14
None of us are perfect. In fact, none of us are even close! Wow, I could tell you some stories. That is exactly why we (especially me) need Jesus. And since none of us are perfect, we all tend to be held back by mistakes and failures from our past. It is easy to be consumed by guilt or fear. But, in this letter Paul is reminding us that we can not allow our present or our future to be sabotaged by the shortcomings of our past. In Christ you are forgiven and you are free from the guilt and shame of your past (yes, that includes yesterday, and last night). Repent and press on. God's grace is always enough.
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