Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Breathe

For the last few days I've had trouble breathing. I've had a pain on the right side of my body every time I take a deeper breath. It's been constant since Saturday evening. Last night I hardly slept due to the pain, and my gasping breaths kept my wife up all night. Out of concern she made me go to the doctor today.

After he poked different parts of my torso and listened to my breathing and heart beat he came to the conclusion that there is inflammation around my ribs. Not sure how that has happened since wrestling season is over, and I'm not doing any heavy weight training right now. But that's his assessment, and he's been my doctor for 25 years, so I'm pretty sure he's right.

The last few days have been rough because of this. I haven't been able to take a deep breath without being in pain. Yawning, coughing, and laughing all hurt. At times bending to pick something up is very uncomfortable. Over the last few days I have really missed just being able to breathe. And I realized how much I have taken it for granted. I've done it every day of my life for the past 25 years without giving it a thought, until now. I'm painfully aware of almost every breath I take right now, and according to my doctor will be for the next few days. It's been a struggle to breathe, it's been even worse when I've had to do something physically demanding. Catching my breath has been almost impossible. It's been miserable just to do something I do automatically without thinking about it, something I have to do to stay alive.

Good Friday is coming up in about a week and a half. On that day we remember the death of Christ on the cross. Crucifixion is death by suffocation. In order to breath you have to pull up with your arms that have been stretched out and nailed to a beam, and push up with your feet that have been nailed to a pole. Aside from His beating, the crown of thorns beaten onto His head, and the nails driven through His feet and hands, Christ suffered agony each time He took a breath. And for six hours He hung there, taking the punishment of my sins and yours. Pulling Himself up for another breath as His shoulders ached for relief, He took our punishment. Christ was painfully aware of every breath He took.

I remember being in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional place of the crucifixion. There is an altar built over the rock that is believed by many to be where Christ was crucified. Under the altar there is a hole cut that you can reach down and touch the rock. We got there early, before any other group was there, but as our group approached the place hundreds of people began to arrive. We were told to hurry and not kneel for too long. I had planned to pray there for a few seconds, wasn't sure what I would say, but when my turn came and I knelt, all I could do was breathe and say a simply, "Thank you."

Breathing isn't something we think about until our ability to do it has been hindered. But each breath we take is a gift. Each breath is life to be lived. Each breath is a chance to praise God. Casting Crowns has a song that begins, "If all I had was one last breath I'd spend it just to sing You praise, just to say Your name." Jesus, for the last six hours of His earthly life, took each breath in agony to set us free. The very least we can do is use all of ours to sing Him praise. The greatest use of our lives is praising God. I've talked before about how God must be praised, how God is the only one worthy of praise, and He has given us breath so that we can praise Him.

In Genesis 2.7 it says, "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." There is a Jewish thought that Rob Bell talks about in Nooma video 14, Breathe, which says that breathing is saying the name of God. When we breathe, when we say the name of God we have life, and when we no longer can say His name we no longer have life.

God has given us breath, He has given us life, He has given us the ability to praise Him. It's an incredible thing, I just wish it hadn't taken me the difficulty and pain I've experienced these last few days to really think about it this way. Let us use each breath to praise God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Monday, March 26, 2012

Seven Year Journey

In 2005 I graduated from high school and entered college, begining the course of study for ministry preparation. In four years I completed the academic requirements for ordination in the Church of the Nazarene. And since the middle of my freshman year of college I have been serving in churches in some capacity to work on completing the experience requirements for ordination. And today everything comes down to the interview. My application has been submitted, reviewed, and found to be satisfactory. This afternoon I will sit, with my wife, before a board of ordained elders in the church.

When I got the email last week that I was being invited to interview, I got butterflies in my stomach. Not the nervous/anxious kind, but the nervous/excited kind, like what I used to get before going into a wrestling match. And while part of me feels that it has taken a long time to get to this point, I can't believe that today is already the day.

As I look back over the last seven years that have brought me specifically to this point, I am humble by all that God has done in my life. As I look back to my freshman year I was a cocky little kid who thought he knew everything about ministry and how to transform the church. Fortunately, God was able to work in the life of that kid, and through incredible professors, Godly mentors, awesome friends, God transformed me during four years of school, and began to show me His plan. When I graduated I realized how much I didn't know, how much I still had to learn, and that God had called me to His purpose, for the work of His Kingdom.

As college ended and I graduated the course of study I began to specifically serve in ministry, working to build the Kingdom and transform lives. I tried to communicate to people what God had, and was, revealing to me about His plan for the lives of His people, and the goal He had for His church. As I studied Scripture God helped me to see what it was He intended for His church and His people to be. And as I continued to learn God continued to transform and mold me into the image of His Son. As I continue to become more like Christ, God continues to increase the burden I have to communicate the need of Christlikeness to others.

I am more like Christ today than I was seven years ago. This journey of preparation has been one of trials, suffering, and hardships, but also of joy, peace and blessings. God has brought about suffering, because suffering is part of the process of becoming like Christ (Philippians 1.19). But God is faithful, and the blessings He pours out for faithfulness during the sufferings are so much greater than the hard times ever could have been.

I know that ordination will not end the hardships. If anything it makes me a more intentional target for Satan, but I know that God has called me to this, and that He will be faithful and walk with me. As He said in Joshua 1.9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." And I know that I am not alone. Ordination is confirmation from others that have been through this, it is joining the ranks of other servants of God who will stand by me. I have my Proverbs 18.24 brothers who I know have my back at all times. I have my family, who has supported (emotionally, spiritually, and financially) my journey to this point. God has blessed me with an incredible wife, who willingly chose to join me in this journey, who will stand by my side and support me; I am so grateful for you, and I love you so much. And most importantly I have the same promise from God that He made to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

I know that ordination will not mark the end of my journey to Christlikeness. As Paul said in Philippians 3.12-14, "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Father, thank you for this call, this opportunity to serve you in this capacity. Thank you for the people you have blessed me with along the way that have helped me get to this point. Father, today let your will be done, and glorify yourself through everything that happens.

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Killing Time

I've thought about that phrase a lot in the last fifteen hours. My wife and I went to meet a pastor friend yesterday afternoon, and Tuesday night is our date night, so rather than driving back to come back later that evening we just stayed in the area. We go out to Robek's for smoothies, but at the time neither of us was hungry. And so to save money on gas, we walked around the mall, just killing time.

Now I was spending time with my wife, so I wasn't really wasting time. It was time spent just being together, and talking about thoughts and dreams for the future. It wasn't wasted time because we were deepening our relationship and strengthening our marriage. But I used the phrase killing time as we walked. And then it hit me, what right do I have just to kill time?

I've used that phrase a lot in my twenty-five years, but until yesterday I had never given it any thought. I've finally figured out how to read books in the midst of all the busyness of life, and my goal is to read two books a month. Monday I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan, chapter 2 of the book is entitled, "You Might Not Finish this Chapter." It talks about how we could die at any moment. He quotes Frederick Buchner, "Intellectually we all know that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge becomes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever." When we just kill time, that's exactly the attitude we have.

Life really is short. Already I'm twenty-five, a quarter of a century old. Taking the current average life expectancy of a United States male, 75.6 years, one third of my life is over. Without even thinking about it a significant chunk of my life has passed. And how much of that time have I killed?

As I've been a senior pastor for almost a year, some of my thoughts on church have been refined. Many of my thoughts about God have been changed due to new realizations and revelations found in Scripture. Ultimately I've come to see that my life has been given to me so that I can glorify God. Your life has been given to you so that you can glorify God. All of our lives are meant to come together as The Church, as we work together to build the Kingdom and glorify God. And how many of us fail to do that by killing time?

Time is short, and I don't want to waste any more of it doing things that don't matter. I want all that I do to give glory to God and help build the Kingdom. Jesus said in John 9.4, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work." Day refers to our lives, while we are alive, ALL of us are called to do the work of God. Night is the time for resting. One of the euphemisms for dying is, "Entered into rest", but I think that's exactly it. When the servants of Christ die, they are welcomed into His presence. Jesus told the thief on the cross who called out to Him for forgiveness, that he would be with Him in Paradise (Luke 23.42-43). The faithful servant of Christ will be given rest. While it is day, let us work faithfully for the Kingdom.

God, I do not want to waste another precious moment of life. I want to live each moment to the fullest; as Paul said in Philippians 3, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Father forgive me for the time I have killed, the moments for service and growing into Christlikeness that I have let slip away. Help me to have the discipline to seize each moment and live fully for your glory.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Holiness Expected, Holiness Possible

Holiness is expected. Leviticus 19.2b says, "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy." God calls us to be like Him. He has extended grace to His people and once that grace is received the expectation is be dead to sin. Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery in John 8, "Go. From now on sin no more." In John 5 He tells the man who has been healed from thirty-eight years of lameness, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore,”

Paul said in Romans 6.11-14, "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." and then again in Galatians 5.1, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

God has freed us from sin through the blood of Christ, and through the Holy Spirit offer cleansing from the desire to sin, and empowerment to live above sin. As God's people we are called to live as God would live; Jesus came to show us how. God didn't create us for sin, but for holiness. Jesus came and lived the life that we were all created to live. And we see God's expectation for holiness in the book of Leviticus. Yes, that statement, "Be holy for I am Holy" is there in chapter nineteen, but the theme of holiness is seen much earlier in the book.

In chapter four the heading is "The Law of Sin Offerings." In this we see the grace and mercy of God. We are sinful, but God refuses to abandon His people to sin, and offers them a way to be forgiven. Sin is serious, and to pay for sin, death is required as Romans 6.23 tells us. God made a way for an animal to be sacrificed for the sins of the people. A pure, spotless, perfect animal could be killed to make atonement for sin. And in Jesus, the perfect, spotless, Lamb of God, the final offering for sin was paid.

Sin is part of our world, and God has arranged for atonement to be made, but once atonement has happened, God's desire is holiness. If you look at Leviticus 4 you'll notice that is says, "if... sins,” That word "if" is used, not "when" but "if". IF it happens, IF you sin, then this is how you make atonement for it. But the word used is "if". We do not have to sin. We, once forgiven, are expected to live in holiness.
Holiness is expected, and therefore holiness is possible.

Jesus came to offer the final sacrifice of Himself for the sins of the world. Once we accept His salvation the journey to holiness begins. Holiness is not absolute perfection. Holiness is not the loss of our ability to sin. Holiness is not anything we do for ourselves.

Holiness is accomplished by embracing God. Holiness is done through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we live our lives as forgiven people we grow closer to God. And as we seek to know God more He reveals Himself to us. He pours out His Holy Spirit on His people. And as we are filled with the Holy Spirit our desire for God and the things of God, overpowers our desire for sin. We always have the choice to sin, we always have the ability to do what is contrary to God, but as we are filled with the Holy Spirit our desire is to please God and to live for God. Our desire is to be holy as He is holy.

God calls us to be holy, because He is and we are His people. And anything God calls us to, He will empower us to do. In Philippians 2.13 it says, "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 1.6 states, "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." and in 1 Thessalonians 5.23-24 declares, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."

Holiness is expected. Holiness is possible. Be holy as the Lord your God is holy.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Monday, March 19, 2012

Leviticus, Where Bible Reading Plans End

One book of the Bible that is frequently neglected is Leviticus. It's a book full of lists and instructions about sacrifices, cleansing from skin diseases, and purification after a variety of circumstances. Many who start a one year Bible reading plan often stop here due to the content that seems dry and pointless to our lives in the twenty-first century. So why is it included in Scripture?

In college I took a class called Worship in the Christian Tradition. It was a lot of work, a lot of reading, note taking, long essay tests, but it was one of the most rewarding classes of my collegiate career. The first day of class the professor told us one of the only things I remember word for word from school, "Worship is a trusting, obedient, response to the word of God." So often we put worship into the box of singing, praying, Bible reading, and church attendance. We often refer to the person leading music on Sunday morning as the worship leader. We've compartmentalized "worship" into the spiritual actions we perform on Sunday morning, or maybe if we've become a little more open minded, to our personal quiet time with God. But worship is so much more than that.

If worship is a response to the word of God, then everything in life is an opportunity to worship. Every choice made in life is either a decision to worship or failure to. Worship is so much more than singing in church. A life that is formed into Christlikeness and lives for the glory of God is a life of worship. Worship is an essential part of life.

And so we come back to Leviticus. The book takes place after the nation of Israel has been released from slavery in Egypt. God sent Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and bring them to worship God as He led them to the Promised Land. At one point in the conversations with Pharaoh he gives permission for the people to go but there is this contingent in Exodus 10. "Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, 'Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.' But Moses said, 'You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the LORD our God. Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD.'"

Pharaoh says "Go, but your animals must stay." And Moses responds, "We need them all in order to serve God. We don't know what He requires." At this point, the people had been enslaved for over 400 years. They knew of God and that they were children of Abraham, but they no longer knew how to worship God. They had passed down the stories of Abraham, and all that God had done for him and promised him, but they hadn't worshiped Him as Abraham had in over four centuries. They don't know how to worship God, and so they need to have all of their animals in order to be prepared to worship God.

The book of Leviticus is God teaching His people how to worship Him. It is God showing His people what He requires. We see something incredible about God in this. He must be worshiped because He is Holy and He alone is worthy to be worshiped. We are unworthy to worship God because of sin, but God invites us to worship Him, and delights in the worship we give Him. And God teaches us how to worship Him. He doesn't leave the Israelites to figure it out, He doesn't make them wonder, "Are we doing this right? Is God pleased?" He directly tells the people what to offer and how to offer it for each occasion.

But Leviticus isn't just an irrelevant book of sacrificial ritual instructions. It is a book the foreshadows Jesus, and the final sacrifice He offered on the cross. My professor said frequently, "The New [Testament] is in the Old [Testament] concealed; the Old is in the New revealed." In every book of the Bible there is a for shadowing of Jesus, and the salvation He brings. In Genesis it is Issac, the son of promise, and Joseph the savior of Egypt and His family. In Exodus it is Moses, the deliverer; and here it Leviticus Jesus is seen in the sacrificial rituals.

Dr. Larry Crabb came out with a book a few years ago called, 66 Love Letters. He sees each book of the Bible as a letter from God to us, and the book is written out of his conversations with God about the stories found in each of the sixty-six books of the Bible.
In the chapter on Leviticus it says this,

"All twenty-seven chapters of Leviticus are written to let you know that relationship with Me [God] is always the issue that trumps every other concern, and that relating to Me will always, always, be on My terms. So many people miss that- they identify their needs, then wive Me as a God who wants them satisfied and happy before I deal with their unholiness. But because I love them- and you -I've made a way for you to revolve your life around Me as your first thing. Everything else- your marriage, your checkbook, your self-esteem, your cancer- is a second thing. When the first thing (namely, Me) is in first place in your life, every second thing will be yours to enjoy... I have a plan to get you there, to make you holy. And that's what Leviticus is all about: the requirement that you be holy in order to be close to Me."

He says, "The toughest part of My plan, the part that's costliest to Me, is to make you holy...You don't yet realize that distance from Me is the most lethal problem you have."

God wants us to be Holy. God wants us to be like Him. In worship we draw close to Him, and the closer we are to Him the more we know Him and can become like Him. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and to show us how God would live. In Jesus we have a life of worship modeled, and we are called to become like Christ.

The book of Leviticus shows us Jesus, the perfect sacrifice that makes the sacrificial laws of Leviticus obsolete. But the sacrifice of Jesus calls us a life of holiness, that is fully focused on God and our relationship with Him. Leviticus is a book of worship.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Are We Any Different?

I have this Sunday off, and so I'm trying to take advantage of it and get a week ahead on sermon writing. My week just feels strange, and so needless to say I'm having a bit of trouble staying focused and on task. This past Sunday I preached on John 9.1-12, and in two weeks the text is John 9.13-25. In this story Jesus gives sight to a man who was born blind.

He had never seen anything, not the faces of his parents, not the beauty of nature, not color, or even light. His world was blank until Jesus made mud with spit and told the man to wash his face in the pool of Siloam. When the man trusted and obeyed Jesus, he was given the gift of sight for the first time. I searched through pictures from my time in Israel and found the ones I had taken from the ruins of Siloam. It hit me as I was looking at it, that was the first thing this man had ever seen. Jesus did an incredible thing for this man, and of course the Pharisees have issue with it because it took place on the Sabbath.

I've been amazed as I'm studied the Gospels over the past few years how they continuously miss, or refuse to accept the truth about Jesus. I honestly don't get how they could continuously live hearing about all that Jesus did, and still refuse to believe His claims of divinity. Even after His resurrection, and they knew He was alive look at Matthew 28.11-15, they still deny His deity. I don't understand how they could continuously deny the truth when it is constantly in your face.

In the middle of John 9 the blind man's parents confirm that he is there son and that he was born blind. There are two credible witnesses and by Jewish law the testimony they give is valid. The man was blind, and proclaims that because of Jesus he can now see, and they still refuse to believe. I read in a commentary, "The Pharisees are typical of the people in every generation who condemn anyone whose idea of religion is not theirs. They thought that theirs was the only way of serving God." They had fallen so in love with their Law that they were blind to God even when He stood before them speaking directly to them. Even when the fruit of His work stood as evidence to His claims along with the Law and Scriptures they clung desperately to, they label Him as a sinner and a heretic.

My mind goes back to two things one of my college professors said, "All churches, all denominations, tend to fall in love with themselves, and that can become a substitute for God." and "Protestants should always protest against idolatry. The worship of religion is the most dangerous idol for Christians."

Religious people fall zealously in love with their belief es and traditions to the point of division with people who claim the same central belief. How many denominations of Christianity are there? The community I currently pastor in has seven different church denominations, and I've been told that this fall an eighth church is coming. Have our denominations become the thing we live for? If you ask someone what they believe they would probably tell you their denomination before they would tell you they are a Christ follower.

I think we have lost sight of the truth of Christianity, just as the first century Jews had lost sight of God. Christianity is not a religion based around traditions, creeds, hymns, and prayers. It is a living vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus never intended for us to get caught up in the traditions and doctrinal beliefs and be divided. Christ came to show us what God is like, and how God would live life. Jesus came to unite those who claim to believe in God. He has set an example for all of us to follow, and by following His example we become Christlike and give glory to God.

That is what God desires, Romans 8 tells us that it is God's plan for us to become like Christ. 1 Corinthians 10 tells us to do all for the glory of God. Jesus told us in Matthew 22 to love God and others. Our purpose is simply, love God, love others, become like Christ, give glory to God. And really it all comes down to loving God. If I love God I will strive to do what pleases Him. It pleases Him for me to become like Christ because that is the plan He has for my life. As I become like Christ I will love others because the is what Jesus did. And as I live life that way, I give glory to God. Why have we complicated something so simple?

Have all of our different traditions and denominations brought unity? Have the divisions helped us become more like Christ? Or have they made us closed minded to everything but the sect we have been brought up in? Are we so in love with our denomination that it has become a substitute for God? Are we so in love with our doctrine that we worship it instead of the God that it was created to glorify? If Jesus walked the earth today, what would He say to the church? Would it be praise or correction? How would the church respond to Jesus? Would we welcome Him as God, or condemn Him as a demon possessed heretic?

My friend the local School Superintendent just got back from a mission's trip to Trinidad. While there he had the privilege to attend a local church service and sit in a Sunday school class. The teacher was a blind man in his eighties who just quoted scripture after scripture giving thoughts as he taught. He said that the man mad the statement, "We don't need more Christians, we need better Christians." In college I had to interview people for a paper, and one of the responses people gave me to the question, "The World would be a better place..." was "...if Christians would be more like Jesus."

Over the last few years I've thought a lot about my calling in life. My personal mission statement for life is "Live in the Spirit, Preach the Gospel of Jesus, Glorify God, Love God and others." God has called me to serve Him as the pastor of a church, and I've thought a lot about that recently. I want to be like Christ. I want everything I do to be done for the glory of God. I don't want to waste time with things that don't build the Kingdom. I want to be a leader who fulfills the Great Commission of making disciples of all the nations. When I'm gone I want people to remember me simply as a servant of God.

I want to be different than the Pharisees.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Two Men Called to Lead

Aaron was set apart by God to serve as the high priest for Israel. It was his privilege to represent the people before God and offer the sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people. But when his first opportunity to lead the people away from idolatry and paganism comes, He fails miserably. In Exodus 32 Moses has been on the Mountain with God for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24.18). In his absence the people probably grew restless and begin to think he might not be coming back.

They go to Aaron and ask him to make them a god to go before them. And Aaron makes them a golden calf. And it doesn't end there. He declares the calf to be God, and then organizes a feast and then offers sacrifices to the idol. Aaron, the man chosen by God to serve as the nations first high priest, begins his career by leading the people into sin and idolatry. And when Moses confronts him about it, he lies and makes excuses for his actions.

I wonder at Aaron's relationship with God. He had been sent by God in the beginning to be the spokesman in Egypt (Exodus 4.14-16). He had seen the power of God first hand. He had proclaimed each plague to Pharaoh, and had stood next to Moses during all of it. And yet in Moses' absence he leads the people away from God. Had it been the pressure of the people? There were over a million of them. Was he just not bold enough to stand up to them on his own? He had stood up before Pharaoh, one of the most powerful men in the world, and told him that God commanded the people to be let go. Or maybe he was living off of Moses' faith, and didn't know what to do without Him there.

I think the last one is correct. It is impossible to lead people to God without a relationship with God. It is crucial to develop a personal relationship with God, because "Moses" won't always be there. If our faith in God is not our own, then we can't stand up to the pressure that calls us into idolatry. Faith is personal or its fake. And without it, it's impossible to lead.

Enter Joshua. In Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, he is acting as Moses' servant. He is the general who leads the people in battle, and he is one of the spies sent into the Promised Land, and one of two that has the faith in God to take the land. The sixth book of the Bible is named for him, and after his death in Judges 2, he largely disappears from Scripture. I have only found four more times in the Bible where his name is mentioned.

Joshua was the man chosen by God to follow Moses as the leader of Israel. He is the one who lead the conquest of Canaan and took it back for Israel. In the beginning God made Him a promise,

"Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1.2-9).

Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. He is commanded to be strong and courageous, to follow God and meditate on the words of God. And God promises to be with him wherever he goes. God could be because Joshua knew God. In Exodus 33.11 it says this, "Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent." When Moses left the tent of meeting with God Joshua stayed. More than forty years before he would lead Israel he is spending one-on-one time in the presence of God.

Joshua didn't live or lead off of Moses' faith or Moses' relationship with God, he had his own. Joshua knew God, he had spent time with Him. Joshua faithfully lead the people and at the end of his life declared "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24.14-15). He tells the people that they must decide who they will follow. Each of us must make a decision who we will follow.

Joshua could make that declaration because he had made a practice of it for his whole life. Joshua could lead like Moses because he knew the God Moses knew. Joshua had a personal relationship with God that came from knowing God, from spending time with God.

To all men, we are called to lead. What kind of leader will you be? Aaron, who lead off of the strength and name of another; or Joshua, who lead from a relationship with the same God as a great leader? Will you be a leader who when alone caves under pressure and demands, or who can lead an army and take possession of God's promise? To be the leader your heart desires to be, you must know God. He must be a priority in your life. We must devote ourselves to time with Him. We must make the declaration that we, and those we lead, will serve the Lord.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Do You Trust Me?

This year has been an emotional roller coaster, and it's only the beginning of March! January felt like I was taking one beating after another, like things were going from worse to impossible. February seemed to bring a break, things were going really well. Some problems were positively resolved, my wife and I celebrated our six month anniversary and had really been growing closer and really beginning to figure out how to work together in marriage. And then at the end of February I got some news that a crucial couple at church is moving to take a new assignment. At first I was ok, but in the last week things have started to get complicated again.

They aren't leaving with anger or on a disagreement. It hasn't been an easy decision for them, but it's a decision they've had to make. God is calling them to another service. As my mentor told me when we talked "God is reallocating His resources, the Kingdom is not being slowed down."

For the first week I handled the situation really well. I had moments of uncertainty about the future, but there was trust behind all of the uncertainty. And then yesterday happened. I won't lie, for the last few days I've wasted a lot of time, and haven't spent the one on one time with God that I really need. That's a big reason why I've reacted as I have.

Yesterday, for some reason, I just wasn't feeling that great. I got some news about a project that has slightly changed, and it was frustrating and a little disheartening. Then I was reminded about the big gap that was going to be at church, and finally, the Colts released Peyton Manning. I can't believe that messed with me, but it did. (I only watch professional sports because I like Peyton Manning; I really believe he's the greatest quarterback ever to play the game.)

I was just down yesterday, and it carried over into last night and even this morning. I look at the situation I'm in, and I see things seeming to fall apart. For one reason or another people are leaving the church here. None of it has been anything personal, it's just been people's life situations, but it's still discouraging. I look at it, and it worries me, at times, for the future.

And then this morning, I'm lying in bed, not wanting to get up (a rarity for me, I'm a morning person), and my wife who is well aware of all of my frustrations says she hates it when I don't trust. She reminds me of how great my attitude was last month when I just trusted God totally. She reminds me of how content I was with life last month when I just trusted God completely.

As she says this she reminds me of the young couple that has been faithfully attending since the beginning of the year. With this I've been thinking about the different things that I'm getting the opportunity to do in the community. I was able to help with the varsity wrestling team at the local high school, and got to begin to build relationships with the athletes and a few parents. I'm getting to put together a community prayer event for the National Day of Prayer on May 3. I've gotten to build relationships with the school superintendent, the owners of the local coffee shop, and the doors are being opened to build relationships with other leaders in the community.

With this I'm reminded of something my District Superintendent told me, "You are hear because this is where God has placed you for now." I think back over the things I've read and preached this year: God owes me nothing, I exist to give Him glory; I must suffer for Christ's sake, and the suffering might last a while; The results are up to God all I'm responsible for is to be faithful to Him; God honors those who are faithful to Him.

God is at work here, not in the way I thought He would be, but God is at work. And so the question is, do I trust God? More, do I choose to trust God? Do I believe the things that I've proclaimed to others? Do I believe what men who have walked with God for decades are telling me and encouraging me with?

I want to trust. God forgive me for my failure in this area. Let my first response always be to come to You in prayer, not to panic. Through these different trials strengthen my faith in You. May I always live solely for Your glory, use my life to build Your Kingdom.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

God Cares about the Little Things

Back when I was in high school I was sitting in my collapsible hunting blind watching a beautiful ten point white tail walk closer and closer to me. He started up at the top of the hill, and made his way to the bottom until he was standing about fifty feet from me presenting me with a beautiful chest shot. I raised my muzzle loader and centered the cross hairs of my scope on his chest. I exhaled slowly, and then pulled the trigger. I saw the smoke from my shot and part of my blind fly up in front of me, and when it all cleared I saw the deer limping very slowly back up the hill.

Very excited about the biggest deer I'd ever gotten a shot at, I decided to climb through the front window of my blind instead of taking time to unzip the door in the back. And as I did, I noticed a hole in the wall. When I had taken aim I hadn't paid attention to the barrel of my gun. I had simply focused on the big picture of my scope. I had been sitting back in my blind so that my outline would be broken up and I wouldn't be seen, but it had caused my gun to be below the window.

At that time I was using bullets that had a plastic jacket called a sabot. It is designed to grip the rifling in the barrel when the gun is fired and help the bullet fly straight. But when it was fired through the fabric of my hunting blind the sabot was stripped off of the bullet and it threw it off target. Instead of hitting the deer in the center of his chest, it struck him in his left shoulder. My dad, cousin, and I tracked it for more than an hour, but never could find it. I felt really bad; a little for me, but a lot for the deer. I had injured an animal but hadn't killed it, all because I didn't pay attention to the details.

I share this story to remind us that the details are important. I've heard a lot in my life that I need to focus on the big picture. I personally have said I can only see a little portion of the painting, but God sees it all. We're told not to worry about the little stuff, like it doesn't matter over all. But the details are important to God. He cares about the little things.

In the book of Exodus when God is giving the instructions for building the Tabernacle, we see this aspect of God. Every detail is planned out. Everything. In Exodus 26 He gives instructions about the hooks for the curtains. He talks about the sockets and claps for the walls. He gives instructions about where items are to placed inside of the tabernacle, and the direction it is to face. In Exodus 27 He gives instructions about the pails and shovels used to clean the bronze altar, and the other elements used in the sacrifices for it. There are instructions for the priests. Every detail is taken care of by God, because God cares about the little things.

We see in the New Testament that Jesus is as well. He invites little children to come to Him in Luke 18.16. Over and over He goes to the least of these, the outcast, and the broken. On every occasion that I'm thinking of right now He meets the physical needs of the person who came to Him before He talks about Spiritual matters. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and God cares about the little things. God cares about the details.

It doesn't matter what your going through, it matters to God. It could be something as big as cancer, or as small as a pop quiz you weren't prepared for; God cares. God cares about the needs of Christians who worship Him illegally, and the four year old who kneels by her bed each night to pray. There is no need too small or insignificant to bring to God. There is no detail of your life He doesn't want you to share with Him. And there is no detail that it is too specific for Him to handle. God cares about the little things, God cares about the details.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Monday, March 5, 2012

Our Best Isn't Good Enough

In Exodus 25.8 God says, "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them." God desires to dwell among His people. He wants to be present with them and fellowship with them. He wants them to be able to worship Him, and be reminded that He is with them. And so for the next five chapters God gives instructions about the Tabernacle.

It is going to be the earthly dwelling for God, and so it must be worthy of Him. God gives instructions that the items inside are either to be covered in gold or made out of pure gold. The curtains are to be of linen, goat hair with bronze clasps, and blue, purple, and scarlet material. The pillars are to be covered with gold. The altar of sacrifice is to be made out of wood and covered in bronze. The outer court is to have pillars with silver and bronze on them. The priests, ministers in the Tabernacle, are to have precious stones and other costly garments as they stand before God. Everything is to be the best. It is for God.

Gold is the most precious thing we have. It is the medal that represents first place. It is something that armies have marched for. Entire nations have been wiped out for it. Gold is precious and valuable. But even gold isn't good enough for God.

Recently I talked to a dying man about Heaven. I spoke with my mentor while I was on my way to his house, and he pointed out something to me that I had never really thought of before. In Revelation 21 there is a description of Heaven. Part of verse 21 says, "And the street of the city was pure gold". Here on earth our streets are paved with asphalt or concrete. It is worthless material because it exists in abundance. People aren't out in the road with a pickax breaking up asphalt and putting it in a lock box. It is so common place that it has no value. We pave our streets with a worthless material. In Heaven the street is made of gold. The thing that is most valuable here on earth is so common place in heaven that it has no value. The thing that men have been killed over is what the streets are made out of.

Gold is of little value in heaven. And yet that is what God has His dwelling place made of here on earth. Something that is common place and worthless is what He has His dwelling place made of, and it doesn't even come close to what He is worthy of. Our best isn't even good enough to give to God. And the amazing thing, is God accepts it from us. Even though He deserves far more than we would ever be able to give Him, He desires and delights in our offering to Him. It was God who instructed the Tabernacle to be built so He could dwell among His people.

God loves us so much, He wants to be with us so much, that He will dwell in a house made of something worthless. God loves us so much, that even though He deserves so much better than our best, gladly accepts it, and welcomes our offerings. God deserves for better than the best we could ever offer to Him, and yet He gladly accepts it from us.

Think of what God has done. He dwelt in a tent, unworthy of Him, as His disobedient people camped in the desert. He later came to earth as a man to die on a cross for the Sin of the world. He died for people who would deny His existence, for people who would say that He was a good man but not God. He died and rose again for people that would offer Him their best that wasn't close to good enough, and also for those who would give Him their left overs if they happened to feel like it. Our God truly is amazing.

Let us give our best to God. Even though He is worthy of so much more, He gladly welcomes it because it is from His children. Like the father who proudly displays the indistinguishable scribble of his two year old, God gladly and proudly accepts the gifts of His children, and longs to dwell with them.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

Saturday, March 3, 2012

God, Just and Justifier

As I'm working through the Bible looking for the characteristics of God I noticed something in Exodus 19, 20, and 21.

In Exodus 19 the people have arrived at Sinai, and God tells Moses that the people need to prepare for His visit. Moses gives them God's instructions for preparing themselves to meet God, and when they are ready God descends on the mountain.

Exodus 19.18-19 says, "Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder."

God is fierce and dangerous. God is to be feared and respected. God spoke the universe into creation, He sustains it, and He has the power to destroy it. God comes in fire, the mountain quakes, He speaks in thunder. God is powerful. God is to be obeyed. He gives Moses instructions for himself and the people to follow for their own good. He gives them boundaries so that they will not die. when the people obey, they live and are able to behold God.

Exodus 19 tells us that God is to be obeyed.

Exodus 20 is the giving of the Law, the 10 Commandments. God is to be obeyed, and here He tells us what to obey. He lays out His standards for Holiness. He alone is God, and must be worshiped and revered as God. God created us for relationships and He lays out how we can exist together in harmony. He shows His desire for life, for purity, for honesty, and contentment. His standards are perfect, they are the foundation that society is to stand upon.

Exodus 20 shows us what God requires. His standards are to be obeyed.

Exodus 21 (to 23) show God's justice. When wrongs are committed, when God's standards aren't broken then there must be justice. For God to be a holy and righteous God He must be a God of justice. He cannot allow people to slide by and act as if nothing happened when His standard isn't kept. If He did, He wouldn't be God. God's laws must be followed, His standard must be kept.

Exodus 21 tells us that God is a God of justice.

So we have a God who must be obeyed, He then tells us what we are to obey, and then we see that He gives justice when wrong things are done.

We're in trouble. We have failed over and over to obey God. We have failed over and over to keep His standards, and we deserve His justice to be enforced. And God would be fully justified in punishing us. We know that He is to be obeyed, and we know what we are to obey, and we deliberately choose not to. God is just and we deserve justice.

But greater than God's justice, is His love. God, knowing that we justly deserve death for breaking His law, makes a way for us to be justified. He sends His Son, Jesus, God made man, the only one capable of perfectly keeping the law, to die in our place. Jesus the perfect lamb, came and took the punishment for breaking the law, in order for us to be justified. The God of justice is God the justifier. We truly do worship an awesome God.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you