Recently, as I was going through some of my books, I ran across a book entitled C.S. Lewis, Letters to Children. Lewis had a belief that if anyone wrote to him regarding one of his books that he was obliged to reply. Lewis was most well-known for his Chronicle of Narnia series and many other books on the Christian faith such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, The Problem of Pain, etc. It was his custom throughout his entire life to write back those who took the time to write him. One of the last letters he wrote was to a young girl named Ruth. It was October 26, 1963, the last month of his life (as he died November 22, 1963 the same day as JFK’s assassination), and he gave her some of the best advice an older believer can give to a young believer. This was the legacy of Lewis. He said, “If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you may always do so.” Lewis was a man known to academics, skeptics, and to the broader Christian community around the world as one of the biggest Christian minds of the 20^th century, yet in his final days he shared something so simple yet profound to a young girl writing her literary hero. I wished more heroes today lead their followers to Jesus.

May we never forget that it’s not how much we know, but rather who we know. Lewis knew a lot, but his greatest reminder was not how much he knew, but rather that he knew Jesus, and at the end of his life it was in Jesus that he put all his hope and trust in. In a few short days after this letter was written he stepped into the presence of his Lord. I believe out of all of his writings it was this short letter that was some of his greatest content. 

If you desire to change the world you can’t simply complain or remain in secret. You have to step out of the shadows, and you at least have to respect those you disagree with who step out from behind their walls of comfort into the public square to challenge and be challenged. To change anything from the world all the way down to the individual self you cannot play it safe. Safe is not an option. You must be willing to risk everything, starting with your reputation in the public and the need to be liked by everyone. You must then outline intelligently the flaws of the opposing position all the while providing solutions to the problems you see, and be willing to take criticism on the chin for the sake of your cause. This must not be done absent of your character, values and integrity with a sense of passion and authentic purpose. Otherwise, others will not have an idea of who you are in regards to who is the champion of such a change. Jesus is the greatest example of this! It doesn’t mean others will follow, but it does mean you can live with yourself and die knowing you truly lived in your conviction, which is worldview dependent, instead of just surviving in a sense of status quo or even shameful cowardice.

What we need to learn more than just about anything in this country is how to have a civil disagreement and learn the art of debate again. We think too much with our emotions, and truth has become an antique on a shelf somewhere that not many find worth the effort to look for in our society. Yet, truth is the only way to freedom.

Do you ever think that God is mad at you no matter what the Bible says or how many Bible verses you have read to the contrary? God may be upset with our sinful behavior, but God loves us, but sometimes we become so familiar with the idea of God loving us that it loses its impact. We often disconnect from the idea of God’s love experientially. Many times we judge God’s reactions based on how others react to our mistakes, but these are only projections. We must always go back to the one event of human history that clarifies God’s reaction to our sinfulness, and that is the cross of Christ. Others may reject us because of our sins, or abandon us, or never believe in us again because of their lack of forgiveness, but God’s reaction is that He became one of us and took our sins upon Himself. That is how God reacted to your sin and my sin. He didn’t abandon us, He didn’t reject us, and He still believes in who He made us to be, and wants to redeem us to our created value. The only way we can be separated from God and His great love for us is if we reject such a great offer of salvation only found in Jesus.

Romans 8:35-39

Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

This past weekend I gave a talk on the difference between Pharisee and Follower. Sadly, many Christians look more like the ancient Pharisees than the early Followers. This is a sad thing because many are getting the wrong idea of Christianity.

 As a believer we must pause to consider what reflection of Christianity we are putting out into the world. We need to make sure it is an authentic reflection of Jesus. I want to mention one of the characteristics we must be aware of that reflect the Pharisees: Religious folk like works, true believers cling to the grace of God.

We often preach grace in church but many actuality live works. I remember as a child in Sunday School getting a little white envelope that gave me a grade as to how I did this week in being a “Good Christian.” It would give me a percentage if I read my Bible, prayed, shared my faith and gave a tithe which confused me because the preacher preached grace, but practically speaking it was works based everywhere else.  As a believer, I know I am not enough and will never be enough. There is no good in me apart from my Creator’s goodness as I bare His image. If God were to ask me why should I let you into my Heaven, it would be for no other reason than Jesus paid the price, and God has bestowed grace on a sinner.  It would not be on how many times I’ve read the Bible, prayed, shared my faith, etc. These are all wonderful endeavors for the believers, but they can’t be graded because I live now under the grace of Jesus.

There is a disease that everyone of us has, and it’s a struggle to overcome, and unfortunately there is no pill to cure it. It is the disease of pride. Pride is the disease to want to be God instead of letting God be God. The truth is you and I make a very poor “god” but sadly it takes us all awhile to figure that out sometimes. Many never figure it out and die in their attempts to stay in control, but death is the final and complete truth that none of us are in control.

Many of us fight control or have “control issues” because our trust has been broken, and then we project that onto future events. This is a state of pride as well because we believe that the world will not spin properly without us being at the helm of life’s ship.

The Bible says that pride comes before destruction which makes perfect logical sense because if I am not qualified to do God’s job, and I haven’t the ability to control things, then my attempts to do so will only bring futility and failure. Failure is a gift to us because it can be the fertile ground that grows the seeds of humility. It is the only cure for the disease of pride. Pride is not cured by a pill, but by the will. Humility is actually seeing reality as it actually is, not how we desire to be. So again, if we live in an illusion or delusion because of our pride no wonder we find ourselves at the end of our rope, and find our lives falling apart because we aren’t living in God’s reality. Humility sees life as it is, and allows God to be who He is in our life. We can never live right side up until we see life right side up. 

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Sometimes to learn something new we don’t realize how much there is to unlearn. We have grown up a certain way, say with believing a certain way or doing church a certain way, and that way becomes familiar. So to change our ways to become more Biblical may seem odd at first because the old way is what we are so familiar with.

One of those examples for me is grace. I have struggled with receiving God’s free gift of grace many times in my life. We are taught so much that we have to earn things to deserve them. Well, when it comes to God’s wonderful gift of salvation who could possibly deserve it because none of us has earned the right to receive it except Jesus. How many times in pulpits have I been taught God’s free grace but then in Sunday School were given white envelopes that you put your money in with a grade sheet on the front asking whether or not you read your Bible that week, prayed that week, shared your faith that week, etc., and then at the end you got a percentage grade. If that doesn’t teach works I don’t know what would. You see people put on moral fronts because that is what a “Good Christian” does. It’s hard to believe I don’t have to do anything but put my faith in Christ when all my life I’ve gotten mixed messages from Churches. The truth is I’m not a good Christian, I wreak with sin, and I’m only a “Grace Christian” borrowing totally from Jesus’ account because I realize I am not enough on my own, but He is. 

Ephesians 2:8-9

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.^[1]

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^[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Eph 2:8–9). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Happy New Year!! We are now in a new year and new decade with new opportunities. This morning I ask myself, as well as you the reader, what is your focus for this new year and new decade?

This time of year people are making new year resolutions, and sadly, many of those are thrown in the trash within the month. We can all take a personal inventory of our lives and see changes that we need to make. And I believe the reason many new year resolutions end up one more personal failure is that we try to bite off more than we can chew. I believe change is more in the details of life than the big decisions. We can choose to lose weight for instance, but losing weight doesn’t happen in one big swath, although we all wish it did. As a trainer once said, “It is not what you do in the gym for that hour a day, although important, that will turn your life around, it is as important or more important what you do the other 23 hours of the day such as eat right, get plenty of rest, etc.” We tend to focus on the wrong things and wonder why we don’t get right results. Just like a person whose prime focus is in being in the gym everyday but not getting plenty of sleep and eating junk food all the time. They won’t get the results they desire, and if they do it will be at a much slower pace.

So as we begin this new year let’s make our focus Jesus, and put Him in the details of our lives so that we obtain the results we want beginning spiritual and letting that permeate into the rest of our lives.

Ephesians 5:15-16 NIV

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

This week let us read Scripture of the prediction and the promise fulfilled that a Savior was born.

Isaiah 9:6-7 HCSB

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end.

He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.^[1]

Matthew 1:18-25 HCSB

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

See, the virgin will become pregnant

and give birth to a son,

and they will name Him Immanuel,

which is translated “God is with us.”

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus. ^[2]

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^[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Is 9:6–7). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

^[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Mt 1:18–25). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

In a world and society that seems so misguided and confused, this verse has a lot to say. Who would have ever thought that we would see a time when so much confusion ruled the day such as gender identity, to the debate about when life begins, to the question of marriage, etc.? I know these are hotly contested subjects, but they don’t have to be if we looked to the Author of Life for His answer to these questions. The problem lies in that mankind believes that we are the final authority omitting the real Authority on the matter, but this is not new because humans have been trying to play ‘god’ since the beginning.

What does this verse mean to us today? First of all, God’s Word invites us down a path where truth illuminates the way just like headlights on a vehicle. God’s Word gives us a sense of real direction when the cultural climate seems so tossed about like a ship on a tumultuous sea. It also gives us a declaration in which to follow. God’s Word does not question truth, but rather reveals and declares it. To add further, God’s Word makes certain demands on our life that many refuse to recognize, but logically makes sense. If there is a God who created the world, then He and only He, understands the innerworkings of it which we as humans often question. Humans can never see life until we surrender to the Authority of the Author of life. (See how the word ‘Author’ is inside the word ‘Authority’) God does not do this out of ego, but rather out of compassion. In the same way we are only guessing at the meaning of an artist’s work without the artist, and in the same way we are only guessing and making false claims to life without the Author or Artist of life. Without God we can’t understand the true meaning of life and His creation so we often find ourselves living in wrong opinions rather than in God’s truth that gives freedom.

This past weekend I addressed the letter to the Laodicean church from the book of Revelation in which Jesus confronts their apathy and being lukewarm. The text says:

 “¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. ¹⁵ “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I  will spit you out of my mouth.^[1]”

If you consider the gravity of this statement it can be a little scary to think that some of Christ’s followers at this church had taken up apathy and riding the fence regarding their faithfulness. Christ, without much help from Hallmark, straightforwardly states their kind of Christianity makes Him sick to His stomach. Not to gross us out, but this type of non-committal that Western Christianity has fallen into reminds me a lot of what makes the Lord want to vomit.

I’ve heard preachers in the past preach on this text and soften the blow of what Jesus is saying, but I think this is wrong to do. A ‘one foot in, one foot out’ type of Christian faith makes Christ sick to His stomach because His love for us made Him fully committed to doing for us what we couldn’t do on the cross. Kay Arthur says it best, “If you do not plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don’t begin, for this is what Christianity is all about. It is a change of citizenship, a change of governments, and a change of allegiance. If you have no intention of letting Christ rule your life, then forget Christianity; it is not for you.”

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^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Re 3:14–16). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.