Be Glorified

I was making a delivery for work earlier and was exiting off the highway and pulled behind one of those seven or eleven passenger vans. You see them a lot, the kind that belong to churches or large families. Anyway, across the back door of this van was approximately a two foot by two foot decal that said "The vehicle donated by Ministries." On the drivers side of the vehicle was the same decal in the same size. I was not able to catch the passenger side of the vehicle, but I can assume it was there as well. 


When I saw this, I didn't know quite what to think. After the event had some time to sink into my head, I came to the conclusion that the reason for this donation was to make the ministry look good. People will no doubt drive by this vehicle numerous times, and some will think 'how nice it was of this church to donate this vehicle.' The church has put its' name out, and has gotten the attention that they think they deserve. They want people to see what they are doing for charity, and maybe then drop on by the church, or send a donation.


I thought about this for a while and Matthew 6:1-4 came to mind. Jesus says:
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites to in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."  (Emphasis added)


There is an even greater principle at work here. This passage does not just apply to how we give, but how we live. If you haven't noticed before, I can get on a tangent about the way people worship. So here I go again. When I get on the topic, I say that it is not so much about the what but about the why.The what can be pretty much anything: When to stand, sit or kneel, what to say, how to dress, etc. The question needs to be why? You need to ask yourself: Is this for the glory of God, or is this for the glory of man? 


Practical example #1: Habitat for Humanity is a very well known charity that helps provide housing for lower income families. They rely mainly on volunteers for labor and donations for materials. To this end, a church group decides they are going to help Habitat for Humanity build a house or two in the community that the church serves. They all agree that Christ says that we need to help the needy and the homeless. They show up with matching T-Shirts that say "First Church of Marketing: Habitat for Humanity Project." They decide to put up a banner with their church logo on it.


Practical example #2: In the past two years, Unassuming Local Church has grown from an average Sunday attendance of 150 to 500. It has gotten to the point of having two services to five every weekend. The only problem is that the sanctuary is not large enough to grow the membership any further, and people are actually reluctant to attend regularly because they feel crammed. The leadership of the church has decided it needs to expand, but doesn't have the funds to do so. They get some bids, and figure they need $100,000 to build a larger sanctuary and expand the parking lot. The church goes on a fundraising campaign, including asking for special donations during church services, and even holding a barbecue in the parking lot with signs saying "proceeds will help benefit our new sanctuary and parking lot." After the $100,000 is raised, the fundraising stops, and the building begins.


Now, which one of these situations is for the glory of God? The first one helped out the community at large, while the second one seemed to help the church. The first one built homes for low income families, and the second one raised money for their own church. With this all being said, It is the second congregation that showed glory to God. It is true that the first church helped others and the second church helped themselves, we need to not only remember the what, but the why. The first church helped out with the intention of getting their name out there, much like the ministry mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog. You might even say 'they announced it with trumpets'. The second church expanded their own building to suit the needs of the community. Yes, it dealt with a touchy subject for churches, raising money, but did it tastefully and without overdoing it. 


Now, the question I leave you with: What are you doing? And are you doing it to glorify God, or glorify yourself?


Amen.

So what are you doing for Lent?

Well, it's Lent. For those that don't know, Lent is the forty days from Ash Wednesday, leading up to Easter. It is a time of personal reflection, and remembering the sacrifice that Christ made for you, and for all. 

Traditionally, people have sacrificed something from their daily lives in order to remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. Because Christ was beaten, bruised, cut, whipped, and executed so that we may have the promise of eternal life, we give up things like coffee, soda, cigarettes, alcohol, Facebook and other internet things, and meat on Fridays. Last year, I gave up soda. It was the longest and most tiring forty days of my life.


All things aside, no sacrifice we make will ever amount to the sacrifice that Christ made, and no one in Heaven or on Earth has a reasonable expectation that you do so. What we need to do is give up the things that separate us from God. All the things listed above have the capacity to do that, but we need to keep the focus on God.


So the first question would be: Do I need to sacrifice something for Lent in order to be a good Christian. The answer is no. However, as I will demonstrate in future posts (so stay tuned for those), there is a spiritual benefit to doing so, even if it is not explicitly Biblically required. What I suggest we all do for Lent is not give something up per se, but to do something that will bring us closer to God.


Confusing? I'll give an example. A certain blog writer who shall remain nameless (me) has a very hectic life. Between working forty plus hours a week, helping raise a three year old son and a five month old daughter, trying his best to make a weekly blog post (sorry about last week by the way), attend worship services, attend mentoring sessions, lead a youth group, and spend what little time I have left with my family, my days are booked solid from when I wake up at around 5:45 - 6:00, until I go to bed about twenty minutes after my daughter does. Notice anything missing? I did: prayer. I need that one on one time with God. Prayer is important, even Jesus prayed here, here, here, and here. So what I'm doing is finding time for intentional prayer. 


To avoid just laying down in bed about to go to sleep and saying "oh yeah, and God I pray for...." I have decided to follow a format that can be found here. I usually only do either the morning or evening prayer, but am working towards doing both. What these formats allow me to do is intentionally pray for protection throughout the day, pray for others, pray for myself, and especially pray that I am given the words to speak in order to minister to others. Also, it gives me the opportunity to ask the inevitable forgiveness for when I mess all that up, along with many other sins. 


But that's just an idea, you don't have to use it. If you choose to steal it, that's cool too. As always, I'll end by saying keep your head in the word. I'll also end with this: What are you doing for Lent? But more importantly, Why are you doing it for Lent? Feel free to leave a comment so other people can get other ideas. I'm also kinda curious.


Amen

Does Anybody Hear Her?

Yes, it's another music inspired post. Like the first one, this one deals with a Casting Crowns song. Before I give the link, I would like everyone to watch it, even if you have heard the song or seen the video before. When you do, I want you to be thinking about the following points:


1) Do I know of anyone who fits the description of the woman in the video? It doesn't have to be a physical description, just similar behaviors. 


2) What are my reactions toward these behaviors? For example: Do you feel sorry for this person? Are you disgusted? Do you wonder why they do these things? Do you hate this person?


Now, with those thoughts in mind, watch the official video: Casting Crowns: Does Anybody Hear Her?  


Casting Crowns is one of my favorite bands (I go back and forth between them and Third Day for who has the number one spot). A great deal of the Christian bands out there paint a picture of a perfect relationship between you and God. While this is good, and that music needs to be out there, Casting Crowns goes further by pointing out that there are people out there searching for something greater than themselves, and the people that have this knowledge already aren't always very good about showing it.


True confessions time. I am one of these Christians that aren't very good about spreading the gospel. Sure I take time out of my schedule to write these blogs every week, but I have a feeling that the people who read them are very similar to me. To demonstrate, I will answer the questions I have posed.


1) Do I know of anyone who fits the description of the woman in the video? Absolutely. In fact, I know of more than one person. People fighting addictions, people who have addictions who have stopped fighting. People who have been left behind by someone along in their lives and try to fill the void with things like alcohol, sex, and drugs.


2) What are my reactions towards these behaviors? For the most part I am disgusted. I look at these behaviors and think to myself "What are they doing to themselves! Can't they see that they are ruining their lives! Are they so blind that they can't see that they are taking others down with them!


I am a Christian. Like every other Christian, I am not perfect. I have practiced what I preached and have tried to share what I know with them. But I get so much tunnel vision that I expect for them to have some Aha! moment where they turn from what they are doing and follow Christ, and when they don't I get frustrated and give up. That's when I go into critical mode. I've been told in the past that if I don't have anything nice to say, to say nothing at all. So I give up even trying to talk to these people.


I've learned something from this video, and would like to pass this on to you. Christians do a lot of stupid things in the name of spreading the gospel. One of the things we do is leave little cards and comic books on tables, under windshield wipers, or thrown on the ground in the hopes that someone will pick them up, read them, and then fall on their knees and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. While it may happen this way, I have yet to meet anyone who found God from a comic book they found laying on the ground in a grocery store. 


Another thing we do is form groups and isolate ourselves to just people in that group. It's sometimes a church small group that got the wrong idea. For those that don't have a lot of experience with small groups, I'll explain. Sometimes a congregation will form little clubs called small groups with the idea that people with like interests (the over 60 group, the single women group, the men's group, etc.) will meet outside of church for a Bible study, coffee, a baseball game, whatever. There are two ideas for these groups: The first is that it brings people within a congregation together, which is good. The second idea is that it may be easier for someone who doesn't know God to attend a men's group than make the leap into attending church every Sunday. Also good.


I's like to say that I am in favor of the small groups, however, we often forget about that second part. What happens sometimes is that the small group becomes the only group worth worrying about. We've got the right amount that the pastor says we need for our small group, so we're done trying to get more people. If the isolation gets bad enough, all these small groups will stick together in the worship service, not even talking with the people outside of their small group. 


What we need to do as Christians is to quit isolating ourselves. It will be uncomfortable at times, but just imagine the alternative. I'm not telling you to shove the gospel down people's throats, because all that does is make them choke. The things that should be done are:


1) Pray: Ask God to give you the words to speak and the strength to speak them, as well as the knowledge of when to speak them.

2) Live a Christian life publicly and privately. Your private life affects your public life, and vice versa. Make sure God is at the center in both circumstances.


3) Talk to people. It doesn't have to be about anything specific. If you don't know when to start talking about Jesus, the opportunity will arise when you least expect it, and the words will come to you. Especially if you follow step one.


Amen.

What Love Really Means

What Love Really Means - J.J. Heller


Have you ever heard anyone ask if it was too late for them to go to Heaven? Have you ever asked that question yourself? Do you think that you have past the point of no return? J.J. Heller in the above song gave the answer to that question, although I admit that it may have not been the aim or motivation for writing her song. For those who have never heard the song, or just don't wanna click the provided link, I'll explain. This song is about people who are left behind, abandoned, or forgotten, who are searching for true love. The first one a child, the second one a wife who's husband has left her, and the third an inmate on death row awaiting his execution. The death row inmate in this song does as follows:


He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
'Oh Lord forgive me! I wanna go home!'


The song then continues on


The he heard a voice, somewhere deep inside.
It said: 'I know you've murdered, and I know you've lied.
I've watched you suffer all of your life.
And now that you'll listen, I'll tell you that I...
I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become.
I will love you for you
I will give you the love,
The love that you never knew.


Heller demonstrates here what is essentially a deathbed conversion. This is where someone accepts Jesus Christ either at the point of death, or faced with the serious possibility of death. Believe me, I am not under the impression that what is said in music, even Christian music, is necessarily true. The Bible tells us to check the claims of others against what is in the scripture.


When Jesus was crucified, he was crucified with two robbers, one on each side (Luke 23:32). When they were at the point of death, one of the robbers shouted at Christ saying "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us" (Luke 23:39). The other one responded telling him that they were criminals being punished as they deserved. However, Christ was being executed and He had done nothing wrong. At this point, the second robber looks over at Christ and says "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." To which Christ replies "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:40-43).


The man next to Jesus who turned to Him (both literally and spiritually) was a robber, and the man in the song was a murderer. Both of them at the point of execution. Both of them living a life without Christ. Both of them saved by Christ in the last minutes of their lives. However, they had an advantage over the rest of us. They knew they were about to die. For those of you not reading this blog from a cell on death row, you are probably sitting in a comfy chair at home or at work in relative safety with no rational fear of immediate death. In other words, you don't know when or how you will die. Most people hang on to the fact that they will die peacefully at a ripe old age surrounded by loved ones. While death may happen then, it didn't happen like that for my 17 year old brother who got into a car accident on his way home with dinner. It didn't happen that way for my 19 year old neighbor who was the target of a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. 


The point of it all is this: It is not too late for you. You can accept Christ at any point of your life and be saved. Be you a death row inmate, or sitting in your kitchen, or even at your office. If you have a genuine conversion, you are saved.


Amen.

Obligatory Valentine's Day Post

This past week, our deacon/soon to be priest gave the sermon. He was talking about the relationship between husband and wife as it applies in Ephesians 5:21-32. He did a very good job, and I thought I would add my own little comments.

Ever since this was written, it has been hotly debated. If I had it my way, there would be view after view and comment after comment on this blog about it. Well, one can only dream. Anyway, I digress.

Part of the first section (22-24) deals with how wives should treat their husbands. It says that wives should submit to their husbands, just as they would to Christ, because the husband is the head of the wife. This passage has been used to justify many different things. I get the image in my head of the guy sitting in a recliner, drinking a beer, watching football, and demanding that his wife make him a sandwich. This is not what the passage is instructing us (husbands) to do. 

Some people use this passage to say that wives should blindly follow their husbands, as in get them the sandwich without any delay. This would only be true if we were to blindly follow Christ, which we are not. We're not? You ask. We are not called to blindly follow Christ, in a sense that we are slaves. Slaves, by definition, serve and Christ did not come to be served, but to serve. What Christ did for us, was out of love, and not a desire for us to blindly serve Him.

Funny I should say that. The people that use the above passage to justify clearly unbiblical actions did not read on. Verse 25 says that we (husbands) are to love our wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Verse 28 goes on to say that husbands are to love their wives, and that he who loves his wife, loves himself. In the same manner, it could also be said that he who disrespects, mistreats, abuses, or otherwise neglects his wife, does the same to himself. Verses 29 and 30 go on to say that a man feeds and cares for himself, just as Christ does for the church (church meaning us, as in people, not just husbands), for we are part of his body. Meaning, if husbands disrespect their wives, then we too are disrespecting Christ.

Ephesians goes even further saying that when two people are married, they are no longer two people, but one. Verse 31 says "a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This means that what was said in verse 28, that he who loves his wife, loves himself, is not meant to be taken figuratively, but literally.

What does all this boil down to? People are only reading certain parts of this passage, and justifying their actions based on that. What is truly being said is that we, as husbands and wives, are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. This is verse 21, the first verse of this passage. Kind of hard to ignore the truth of this passage, when you read other parts of the Bible as well.

Amen.

Immitiation is the Highest Form Of Flattery (More Learning From Ethan)

That up there is me and Ethan. I'm the taller one on the right. Other than that I have a goatee now, we both look pretty much the same. This is a common occurrence at our house, the two of us doing the exact same thing. If I sit, Ethan has to sit next to me. He follows me wherever I go.

A side story is that I always have five items on my person: A watch, my wallet, my keys, my cell phone, and a cross and chain my wife gave me as a wedding gift that I wear around my neck. I now have no excuse to forget my anniversary, or my initials for that matter.

The other day I was playing around with Ethan, and all these items were sitting on the footstool in our living room. He takes my necklace, puts it around his neck, and tucks it into his shirt just like I do. He took my watch, handed it to me, said "Help!" and held out his wrist. Because I love him dearly, I put my watch on him. I also clipped my wallet, keys, and cell phone to the elastic band of his pajama pants. (Side note: Yes, he did make a phone call on my cell phone, to his mommy.)

I automatically assumed that he does this because he wants to be just like his daddy, which is true. But the reason that he wants to be just like me is because he loves me. If you have been reading my posts, most notably Like A Child, you will know that Ethan has everything figured out, and that I have a lot to learn from him. From his example, I have learned a little bit more about how I should imitate my Heavenly Father.

It says in Ephesians 5:1-2 for us to "be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us." No, that doesn't mean we go around making commandments and turning water into wine. We are here to spread the message of the Gospel, just as the life of Jesus IS the gospel. In fact, one of the last things Jesus says before his ascension is telling us to spread the gospel, teaching all the world to obey what he has commanded us. Some people can do this globally. For the rest of us, it might just be a local thing.

My son imitates me, and someday his children will imitate him, and their children will imitate them. If I imitate Christ, then Ethan will grow up to imitate Christ as well. If you imitate Christ, and teach others to do the same, then they will learn to imitate Christ as well. In turn, they will teach others, who will teach others, and so on. The little local thing can turn into something larger pretty quickly.

So I leave you with this question: Who, or what, are you imitating?

Amen

The End Is Near

Well, if you live in the Midwestern United States like I do, then the apocalypse is upon you. The sky is falling, the streets are empty, and the stores have had record sales on bread, milk, and eggs. I too visited the local grocery store Sunday evening to get the essentials for surviving the storm of the century, which is a bold statement to make considering that the we are only eleven years into this century.

For those of you that don't live in the Saint Louis metropolitan area, I will explain what happens before a snow storm. Some weather person on the radio or TV says the word snow. At that time, the city goes into a panic and descends upon the local grocery stores to stock up for the end of the world. It doesn't matter how much snow is predicted, could be a foot, could be an inch. When snow falls, we prepare to be shut in for weeks.

Well, right now, the weather people have predicted two and a half inches of ice, and up to 20 inches of snow on top of that (I'll leave a comment with the actual totals, seeing as how this should post before all the snow falls). With this forecast, the good and bad people of Saint Louis have emptied the grocery stores, Home Depots, gas stations, and Wal-Marts, of bread, milk, eggs, salt, gasoline, and various odds and ends. The blizzard that is coming has been dubbed as the snowpocalypse, or snowmageddon. 

Fun names aside, what people are doing is just preparing themselves. Getting the things they need in case they can't get to the store, or anywhere else. We have been told pretty clearly that something is going to happen. 

Imagine constantly preparing for a snowstorm when you don't have any idea when the snowstorm is coming. Make sure you keep enough milk, eggs, bread, or whatever on hand. Don't stockpile, but have enough to last you for a while. Don't be like everyone else who tries to grab up all they can at the last minute. You never know, the stores may run out of what you need before you can get it, and it will be too late for you.

This reminds me of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. This is a cautionary story about not being prepared. It tells of ten women waiting for a groom during the night, and have lamps to light the way. Five of them race off with not enough oil, and the other five had plenty of oil. When the time came for the groom to arrive, the five who didn't bring enough oil asked the other five for some of theirs. They didn't get any because they're wasn't enough to go around. So they left and found more oil. While they were gone, the groom arrived, they went into the wedding feast, and the doors were locked. When the women arrived, they were not allowed into the feast.

The parable ends with Jesus warning "keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." We have been told that Jesus will come again. The problem is, that we don't know when He's coming. It could be tonight, could be next week, could be 500 years from now. We just don't know. If Jesus comes 500 years from now, the death of those living will come long before that, but we still don't know when our time on Earth will expire.

I know I've talked on this topic before, but it is not beneath me to make constant reminders. The fact is we need to keep prepared. If you don't know how to do this, please let me know. On top of that, please read your Bible. If you don't have one, Biblegateway.com, which is where I link all my scriptural references to, had the complete Bible online, in various different English and foreign language translations. Some things might not make sense, so ask about them. Keep going, I urge you. 

Make sure to pray constantly. Keep yourself in the Word.

Amen.