“Do you know Jesus?” Or “Have you found Jesus?”
These type of lead in questions in sharing our faith can be so confusing for folks. Heck, I’m a pastor and much of the Christian jargon that is used is confusing to me because many Christians don’t use Biblical phrases but rather “churchy” phrases. Many folks are simply turned off of this kind of talk.
What Christians need to do more than anything to have an effective witness to the world is to learn to have authentic conversations. Conversations that are real and honest and share the heart. The world has too many fake conversations and sadly many of these take place where truth is celebrated. We must return to allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and share what is on our heart and mind. When we don’t have it all together we mustn’t be afraid to say so because none of us do. We are all a work in progress. As evangelist David Ring used to say, “I’m not okay, and that’s okay.”
As a follower of Jesus I’m simply a work in progress putting one foot down in front of the other. My life is about allowing Jesus to take over my existence and be the Captain. It is about me letting go of control and allowing Christ to not only save me from myself and sins, but allow Him to redeem and transform me into the person He created me to be. This transformation can be messy which sadly many of us aren’t comfortable in talking about. The only way people are going to see what the grace of Jesus can do for a messy life is to reveal the work He is doing in you and me. Pray that these are the conversations that we get to have with people not just simple, short religious phrases that to the majority of the world make absolutely no sense.
Recently, I’ve been reading through Genesis again. It must be said there is a certain shock value to reading the Old Testament. Mainly, I believe it is because there is so much cultural difference between then and now, but also the grim reminder that the people in Scripture weren’t the Super Saints like we suppose they would be. What I am reminded of whether it is Abraham or Lot in Genesis, or King David sometime later, God chose some pretty messy people to tell his story through the ages.
Consider that Noah was a drunk, Abraham was a liar, Lot was willing to give his daughters away to the sexually immoral, Moses murdered, Rahab (the umpteenth grandmother of Jesus) was a prostitute, King David was a murderer and adulterer to say the least, Simon, who was an Apostle, (the Zealot) would have been considered a terrorist in our day, and Paul (when he was Saul) murdered Christians. Could you imagine Paul at a Celebrate Recovery or AA meeting? “Hi, I’m Paul. I’m a recovering Christian killer.” Yet, Paul specifically was ordained to write most of what is known as the New Testament. Every man or woman God ever used in Scripture could have gone to prison or rehab.
Many people will read this and question God because of the people he used, but when I read this, I see what a glorious and gracious God He really is. He used the people that sinful society would consider their outcast to tell the most important story of all, HIS! I get excited when I think that God really is like this, in that, He uses the broken things to do His business. We are all broken, therefore, we are all by default candidates for God to use.
Hebrews 11:1 NLT
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Have you ever had a question about life and someone responded, “just have faith”? In the angst of having a question it can be quite discouraging when someone gives you such a pat answer. So what does it mean to have faith?
There are two types of faith that we can discuss: Blind Faith & Evidential Faith. Blind faith is how many describe their faith. Sadly, many believers, give this definition which is having no reason to believe something, but believing it anyway. It’s almost like a badge of honor to some. This understanding of faith is absurd, furthermore dangerous, and why people do crazy things in the name of religion!
The Biblical understanding of faith is one of evidence. It is not faith or reason, but rather faith and reason. Reason reveals the breadcrumbs to follow, and faith sees the inference. We have all watched the CSI shows where one rationally finds the evidence, and then can infer the most probable outcome. It is the same way with faith according to Scripture. As Ravi Zacharias once put it, “God has placed enough evidence before us to make Christianity a rational endeavor but left enough out to make it a relational experience.” There are in fact reasons for faith such as the reliability of the Bible, existence of God, the person of Christ, and ultimately His resurrection.
1/10/22
1 Peter 5:8–9
Does anyone ever get tired of doing the Lord’s work? You’ve been at it for years, see little change or impact, and discouragement takes over? I think we have all been there. This may be a result of becoming spiritually asleep. This reminds me of the passage when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane right before He was arrested and taken to trial. He asked his friends to go with Him and pray with Him. Jesus, the man, needed the company and encouragement of those who said they loved Him most, but when He came back to them after praying, He found them asleep. Peter, who just declared he was willing to die for Jesus, couldn’t stay awake with Him in prayer for just one hour.
Here are three things that we can take away when we the sheep succumb to spiritual slumber. First, we are poor companions to our Savior. The fact that Jesus calls us friends as He did in John 15 is amazing, but we become worthless friends when we are more consumed about our own self-interest. Second, it is easier for us to fall into temptation when we become spiritually asleep. Jesus told His disciples to pray with Him lest they fall into temptation. It is easier for us to fall into temptation when we are in this spiritual condition because when asleep it is hard to see the enemy coming. Third, we fail at defending the Savior very well. Jesus said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, you also love one another for this is how all people will know you are my disciples in the way in which you love one another.” Yet knowing this truth Peter fell back on old ways when the arresting party arrived because he pulled out his sword to defend Jesus. Jesus told him to put it away, and then healed the injured party who came to arrest Him. Jesus’ healing actions was the best defense of the kind of man He was.
We must remember what Peter later wrote and learn from him, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.”[1] Stay awake dear sheep and be of service to your King!
[1] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Pe 5:8–9). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
NOVEMBER 11, 2021
Romans 12:21
Have you thought about how good we have it to be Christians in America? Yes, we may experience push back here and there and be antagonized for our faith, but nothing like many in other countries. Even with how our cultural horizon has changed over the last few years, we still have it so good and many of us as Christians have failed to appreciate this fact.
How many churches have split over silly things such as the color of the carpet or people gripe about how long they have to sit in church? Or who gets recognized for what? Its all meaningless because there is only one reason to go to church and that is for Jesus. When compared to the early church where they were getting beheaded, burned at the stake or thrown to lions in the colosseum we have it so good. This past Sunday, we at Bull Creek Cowboy Church watched the movie, Paul, the Apostle of Christ, and it is so impactful as it takes you back to the life of Paul and even Luke and the conditions they were in to spread the Gospel. Christianity is a dangerous faith because it shouts truth and love in the face of evil. If you are a believer don’t wear your feelings on your sleeve, but rather let the fire of faith burn within your hearts to share the love of God to all people no matter how good or bad we have it.
Romans 12:17-18 NLT Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
The other day I referred in a talk which I was giving that the mission of the Christian is to stop evil with love through the gateway of forgiveness. I tried to make the point using the illustration of dominoes lined up in a row, and that when tipped over each domino takes out the next innocent one next to it not the domino that initiated the fall.
We as sinful people often do the very same thing. When someone does us wrong we often take it out on innocent ones around us, then they do the same, then others do the same, and so falls the dominoes of life except they are not dominoes but people. Evil works in this way. The only way to stop the dominoes from being tipped over is if either they were far enough apart that the one falling couldn’t touch the next one or to have a domino with enough strength to withstand the attack from the previous domino. In regards to people, no one can isolate themselves never to be hurt from people because the fact is so many of us hurt ourselves, and the only way to withstand the attacks of evil from others is through love and forgiveness. Now some may say, what about retaliation? That only means you would start your own evil “domino fall” in a new direction, but wouldn’t actually stop the dominoes from falling. The only way we can stop the dominoes of evil from falling forward beyond our lives are to forgive the ones in love who in our past. To let go and let God handle all that, and by doing so stop the forward motion of evil so that freedom is the result.
Proverbs 13:10
Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.
Arrogant people are hard to deal with and especially to get along with. It takes a lot of patient endurance to deal with someone who thinks more highly of themselves than they should. The truth is we are all arrogant at some level over something. If we are honest within ourselves we all struggle with thinking too much of ourselves or our self-importance. Let me first begin with a few questions for us to ask ourselves:
Am I an open person?
Do I get defensive easily?
Can I take constructive correction?
Are I willing to listen to advice?
Do I ever seek out advice from a trusted friend?
Am I a “know it all” person?
These are only a few questions, but important questions that may help us become introspective enough to see our own arrogance. Arrogance is a sinful spiritual disease where we try to take over the role of God in our lives. Humility is the crown of honor and no matter how high we are in the eyes of man, we still find ourselves below the nature of God.
For many of us the reason our lives stay in such constant turmoil with others around us is reflective of the pride we may struggle with deep within. We all have to admit that sometime we are simply the problem and the quickest fix to that is seeking humility and apologizing. Owning our own prideful ways and asking God and others that we have impacted by our arrogance to forgive us, and then seek to be under the control of wisdom which is only found in the Lord Himself.
Romans 12:17-18 NLTNever pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
The other day I referred in a talk which I was giving that the mission of the Christian is to stop evil with love through the gateway of forgiveness. I tried to make the point using the illustration of dominoes lined up in a row, and that when tipped over each domino takes out the next innocent one next to it not the domino that initiated the fall.
We as sinful people often do the very same thing. When someone does us wrong we often take it out on innocent ones around us, then they do the same, then others do the same, and so falls the dominoes of life except they are not dominoes but people. Evil works in this way. The only way to stop the dominoes from being tipped over is if either they were far enough apart that the one falling couldn’t touch the next one or to have a domino with enough strength to withstand the attack from the previous domino. In regards to people, no one can isolate themselves never to be hurt from people because the fact is so many of us hurt ourselves, and the only way to withstand the attacks of evil from others is through love and forgiveness. Now some may say, what about retaliation? That only means you would start your own evil “domino fall” in a new direction, but wouldn’t actually stop the dominoes from falling. The only way we can stop the dominoes of evil from falling forward beyond our lives are to forgive the ones in love who in our past. To let go and let God handle all that, and by doing so stop the forward motion of evil so that freedom is the result.
James 3:9-12 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers,
this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
Have you ever seen a snake poke it’s tongue out? They are hideous creatures with forked tongues. You know who else has a forked tongue? Humans do! We often, as the old saying goes, ‘speak out of both sides of our mouth.’ We, to put it bluntly, have all been two-faced or as Scripture puts it, double-tongued.
As believers, we are to seek authenticity in our lives. We are to let our “yes be yes” and our “no be no.” We are to be people of our word like God is a God of His Word. Yet, how can we be so guilty at using our tongue to praise the Lord one moment and curse the world the next? This reveals an issue of the heart. This reveals where the person is in their integrity. We must walk as Jesus did seeking to be authentic right down to the smallest word we say because we must all give an account not just of our actions but of our words as well. “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36) How are you at using your tongue? May we use our words to build up, not tear down this week!
Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
So let’s begin with a few questions…What or who is guiding your life today in this very moment? Who are you taking advice from? Are they qualified to give advice? Who should we turn to for help?
As a person going through life there are many things that compete to guide our lives. The problem is that only One Person is qualified and that is not even ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit of God. God knows our lives from beginning to end and only He is qualified to be the captain of the ship of life. When I lived in Nashville and was pursuing music, the drive for my career in music and what pleased me was the guide of my life. I was the “god” of my life, yet so very unqualified. I often found myself shipwrecked with despair and discouragement feeding desires that I had often said I would stay away from. We go to a mechanic to ask advice for our car, a doctor for our body, an attorney for legal matters, so why do we turn to ourselves for the greater questions regarding life? This makes absolutely no sense, but we are all guilty of it. Let God, who is life, guide your life so that you can miss some of the bumps in the road that maybe awaiting you up ahead.