Reflecting on a Tragedy

Words cannot even begin to express the heartbreak that is gripping our country right now.  As I read the news report today, I broke down.  I shed tears for the families who dropped their innocent children off at school like it was just another day and then had to scramble to the school in hopes that one of their kids was not one of the twenty who were shot.  I cannot even imagine the heartache those families are going through right now as I type this.  I'm sure their houses are decorated for Christmas and they have their presents bought for the children that will never receive them. 
I was at the gym this evening and the news coverage was on several of the televisions.  As I was working out, I watched the news report and read the words on the screen because the sound was off.  A man was being interviewed about his assessment of the shooter.  He talked about how the shooter had a learning disability and probably grew up very frustrated and eventually exploded on this day.  I can see where this is going.  So-called experts are going to try to spin this where the shooter was not totally at fault in all of this.  He had issues and because those issues may have never been properly addressed in his life, the volcano erupted. 
At times like this, we need to call a spade a spade.  The man was evil.  Period.  This is not judgmental or intolerant.  It is the truth.  But, if we are going to call him evil, we need to call ourselves evil as well because that is just what we are.  We are all evil from birth.  David says in Psalm 51:5, "Surely I was sinful from birth..."  We need to start realizing the problem with humanity, we are evil from birth.  There is a nature about us that wants to do what we want to do at the expense of everyone else.  We have a propensity for things like what happened today.  We can look at this man and say we would never do anything like that, but how do we know that?  How do we know that we would never lose it one day?  Left to our own devices, we don't know for certain that we would never do that. 
But, then there is grace.  At times like this, people want to blame God for this.  He is supposed to save us all from every tragedy that could be possible because He is all knowing and powerful.  Isn't that what the Bible says?  Jesus told his disciples that in this world we would have trouble.  Paul writes to the Romans in Romans 8:22, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."  We live in a fallen, broken world.  The only cure for it is Jesus.  The only cure for propensity for evil is Jesus.  The only cure for broken hearts in the midst of tragedy like this is Jesus.  There is no other cure.  We think that if we medicate the problem it will go away, but all that does is mask the problem.  It's like sticking a cork on an erupting volcano, eventually it's going to blow it's top.  We need a new life in Jesus.  Why do you think Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that we must be born again?  We have to leave behind our old life of doing things our way and embrace the life that Jesus offers.  Paul says in II Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come." 
So, this shooter gave in to his evil desires.  He chose to do things his way and conquer his world the way he wanted to.  He wanted to be the king of his universe.  I'm sure there were plenty of people in his life that tried to help him, but imperfect people trying to solve a problem perfectly is like the blind leading the blind.  This was a man in need of a Savior.  This was a man in need of a new life.  This was a man who needed to be changed in a drastic way with the radical love of Jesus and this is the only way our world will get better. 

What does he mean to you?

Recently I received an email update on what is going on within my denomination.  It focused mainly on our churches in Gautemala, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Columbia.  It showed statistics from this past year of the growth of these churches in these areas.  Every area showed growth!  This is was definitely a moment to praise God.  Then it showed the stats of the churches in America within this denomination.  It showed -2.5% growth.  If you did not catch what that means, it means that the American churches declined by two and a half percent. 
After I read these stats, I did not get depressed about it.  They got me thinking.  Why are these churches in these other countries growing and the churches in America are not?  After all, we were the birth mother of these other churches.  If it were not for the work of American missionaries, there would be no churches there.  I think the reason is that Jesus means so much more to them than he does to us.  Not to say that Jesus means nothing to us or our churches.  But, if Jesus meant as much as we think he does, wouldn't we be pouring everything we have into the work of the kingdom?  We always joke that 10% of the people in our churches do all of the work, but why is that?  Why is that a reality all across the board?  That is not what Scripture teaches us about the way the church should function.  Paul teaches us that every part is held together for the good of the whole.  The spiritual gifts that are given to us are used for the mutual building up of each other within the church so that we can be the most effective for the kingdom of God. 
The churches down in these countries are working together for the kingdom of God because the King means everything to them.  This is the same in other countries as well that do not have free access to Jesus.  They cherish one page of the Bible because that is all they have of it and they will read it over and over.  We get bored with books like Leviticus and Numbers, but imagine if that was the only book of the Bible that you had?  Would you still get bored with it? 
Christmas is upon us and we start going into panic mode trying to get our Christmas cards out, getting presents for everyone, and parties planned.  But, how much does the reason for Christmas mean to us?  If he meant more to us, then maybe our churches would not be seeing a decline.  I know these stats were only for my denomination, but I think other denominations have similar stats as well.  We need to reevaluate how much Jesus means to us.  We spend more time talking about things that don't matter and pouring energy into the latest program when we should be pouring ourselves out for our King and his kingdom. 
I challenge myself from this day forward to make much of Jesus everyday.  I have been getting distracted by life myself and not putting as much effort into knowing Jesus, but that needs to stop.  I want to follow the example of my brothers and sisters in Latin America.  I want Jesus to mean the most to me.

A poor reflection

There is no such thing as a fake reflection.  The reflections we see in the mirror are what we truly look like, whether we like it or not.  There are definitely good and bad reflections.  A good reflection would be when we are awake, showered, made-up, dressed, and ready for the day.  A bad reflection would be one that we see when we are sick or have just woken up.  As Christians, we are supposed to be reflecting Jesus on a daily basis.  We have good days and we have bad days.  We have days where we do a great job in reflecting Jesus and we have days where we fail miserably.  Thankfully there is grace to forgive us and help us face a new day. 
Yesterday was Chick Fil A appreciation day as declared by Mike Huckabee on facebook.  Thousands of people around the country came out to support the fast food restaurant amid a media storm over CEO Dan Cathy's comments about his support of traditional marriage.  It seemed like a great day for evangelical Christians to support what they believe in.  But, the mirror reflects a harsh reality. 
The Huffington Post published an article that showed another side to this controversial event (you can read the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/chick-fil-a-anti-gay-controversy-employees-speak-out_n_1729968.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=080212&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeaturePhoto&utm_term=Daily+Brief&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=2540044,b=facebook).  The Huffington Post interviewed some workers of Chick Fil A who happen to be homosexual.  Obviously they did not agree with the CEO's comments, but that was not the bigger issue.  The bigger issue was what these employees had to listen to from the mouths of the supposed, passionate followers of Christ.  For example, one employee had to hear this: "I support your company because your company hates the gays."  It was not specified who said this quote to this particular employer, but I don't think that matters.  This was supposed to be a rallying cry for the evangelical right, so it is probably safe to assume that the person who said this goes to a church with his or her family and probably claims to be an evangelical Christian. 
Have we forgotten who Jesus was and what he did?  Have we gone so far away from the Biblical Jesus?  Whenever controversies like this one arise, we Christians pull out our swords like Peter in the garden and start cutting off every ear we can reach, defending our King (at least that's what we think we are doing).  We fight for our rights and we fight to be right.  We go to church on Sunday and read our Bibles, looking down on the Pharisees who just didn't get it.  My question is, "Are we looking in the mirror?" 
We look down on the Pharisees and religious leaders because we think that we are more righteous than they are and we know better.  However, we are acting just like them!  We are creating enemies out of our neighbors and Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors.  If Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan today, I would not be surprised if he used a homosexual in the place of the Samaritan.  If he did this, would we be shocked?  Would we label Jesus as a heretic?  if so, then we are showing our true reflection. 
i am not saying that I have changed my stance on homosexuality and am embracing the lifestyle.  I still hold to the Biblical view of marriage and I always will.  I still know that the Bible speaks against the homosexual lifestyle as a sin just like it does lying, cheating, stealing, drunkenness, idolatry, lust, adultery, etc.  What I am saying is that we need to understand who our enemies are, Satan and sin.  Those are our enemies not other human beings.  Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, period!
I was planning on eating at Chick Fil A yesterday and I am thankful that I did not.  I want to lead people to Jesus not repel them.  I want to love people because they are people not because they are like me.  As Christians in this country we need to take a long hard look in the mirror because I think we will be surprised at what we see.  We may think we are reflecting Jesus, but in reality we might be reflecting the Pharisees that we like to look down upon. 
Jesus was passionate about people.  The Pharisees were passionate about their religion.  Jesus drew people near; the Pharisees burdened people.  Homosexuals are not the enemy.  They do not need our self-righteousness; they need Jesus.  They need the new life that is found only in Jesus.  They need to be loved and treated like human beings. 

I love chicken!

The biggest news of the week is obviously Chick-fil-A.  It is amazing the attention this business has received over the last few days.  They have had at least two cities vow to never have their restaurants in their town again.  Really?  Have these people never eaten the sweet goodness of Chick-fil-A chicken?  It's heavenly.
In all seriousness, many people have drawn battle lines over the comments of the CEO of this company.  Christians are flocking (pun intended) to the side of Chick-Fil-A as though it were the new headquarters of evangelical Christianity.  But, should we be surprised by this?  Didn't Jesus say that the world will hate us?  Didn't Paul tell Timothy that there will come a day when men will only hear what their itching ears want to hear?
As Christians, we have to be careful to not get caught up in the political battle that has arisen out these innocent comments (nowhere did he say in the interview that he was anti-gay).  This man was giving an opinion.  He holds to the Biblical view of marriage.  Our country is going down a dangerous path.  Morality is a thin piece of glass that is threatening to break at a given moment.  The values that we once held dear are being replaced by new values.  Values at one time were universal.  For the most part, the country valued the same things.  However, over the last few years, values have shifted from universal to individualistic.  The same values are no longer universally held by all.  The problems that will soon arise out of this will be vast and difficult to overcome.  So, what is the Christian response to this?
We respond just like Dan Cathy did when he was asked his opinion on marriage.  We respond with boldness, courage, and sincerity.  We need to know what we believe first and that is becoming more and more difficult even under the umbrella of Christianity.  We respond with the Gospel.  We respond with the truth of God's Word.  We look at the way the world is going and see it as a bad omen or a pit of despair.  But, have we thought that it may be exactly the way God wants it to go?
Think about it this way: if values become more and more subjective, meaning the individual person defines what their values are, then no one particular group can be prosecuted for their individual beliefs.  This can be dangerous, but it can present opportunities for the spread of the Gospel like never before.  Dan Cathy took advantage of an opportunity that was presented to him.  He and his company are facing a lot of heat for it, but the old saying is true, "There is no such thing as bad publicity."  The Gospel is becoming national news.  Everyone knows that Chick-Fil-A is a company that was founded by a Christian.  The more this story goes to press, the more exposure the Gospel gets, directly or indirectly. 
So, instead of getting upset and drawing the battle lines, let us pray for opportunities that God may give us through this story.  You may read this and think this is overly optimistic and you would be right.  The reason I am overly optimistic is because I believe in a big God who is bigger than this.  I believe in a big God who is bigger than the marriage debate.  I believe in a big God who knows exactly what he is doing and His plan will not be stopped by anything or anyone.  So, while we wait for His plan to fully unfold, let us speak the Gospel boldly and courageously.  Let us pray for and take advantage of opportunities God may give us.  Let us express how much we love Chick-Fil-A chicken and see where the conversation goes. 

Global thinking versus local focus

Last night I watched the 20/20 special on heaven.  It was interesting to see the many different perspectives on the afterlife.  But, that is not the focus of this blog.  The last few specials like this I have watched have always included Joel Osteen as the face of evangelical Christianity today.  Barbara Walters talked to him about heaven and he did a pretty good job of laying out what the Scriptures say about getting to heaven and that it is only through Jesus Christ.  However, one of the things he said that I had a problem with is that God wants us to experience heaven on this earth now.  That is the whole basis of his teaching and preaching.  He teaches that God wants the best for us and that he is on our side.  He avoids the topics of sin, suffering, sacrifice, etc.  I wonder what he would say to Pastor Nadarkhani who has been in prison for over 1,000 days and faces the death penalty for having faith in and preaching Christ.  Would he still have the same message to Christians in Africa who have their churches burned?  Would he still teach that message to Christians in India who are attacked by Hindu extremists?  Now, I am not trying to bad mouth Joel Osteen.  He is obviously having an effect on a lot of people's lives around this world.  But, his message is a reflection of American Christianity's view.  We have a tendency to think that God is on our side and He wants the best for us.  He wants to give us so many things.  There are people who go to church every Sunday expecting things from God.  Our focus needs to change.  We need to start thinking more globally with our message rather than having just a local focus. 
We live in a bubble.  Our country has so many great things about it, one of those being freedom.  We have so many freedoms.  We have the freedom to go to our local church every Sunday, worship God through Jesus Christ, and leave to go back to our homes without the threat of being arrested or killed.  Sure, our church buildings may get vandalized every now and then, but rarely are they burned to the ground.  Sure, we may have someone playing a tambourine too wildly, but rarely do we have extremists walk in with machine guns, opening fire on the congregation.  We need to start rethinking the message we preach and teach because we are only a small part of the Church.  We are not the end-all-be-all of Christianity in this world.  Our brothers and sisters around this world face death for following Christ.  So, to say that God wants us to experience heaven on this earth is really not that accurate and is not an accurate picture of the Church today.  If that were true, then I would not want to go to heaven because heaven would include shootings, church burnings, persecution, death, etc. 
In our adult Sunday School this past year, we did a study by Ray Vanderlan.  In this study he was talking about the Church and Paul's view of it.  Paul had a global view of the Church, just like all the apostles did.  Ray was teaching about suffering and he said that when Paul said that when a part suffered, the whole body suffered.  In America, I think we read this verse with our local congregation in mind and that's it.  We need to expand our horizons and perspectives.  Ray viewed Paul's teaching globally.  He taught that when a brother or sister in Christ suffered in Africa, we should be suffering with him or her.  We should feel it because he or she is part of the Body of Christ. 
We need to move away from the feel-good Christianity that is being taught too much.  Not to say that God does not want to bless and will not bless us; the Bible clearly teaches that He does and will.  However, we need to think about the message we are proclaiming.  Jesus said that we would have trouble in this world.  This is not our home; we are just passing through.  As we are passing through, we will go through hardships and pain.  We are called to sacrifice and even to suffer for the sake of Jesus (II Timothy 2:3; 3:12). 
Our message needs to keep in mind our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ.  To teach that we have our best life now is forgetting those who suffer for the sake of the Gospel.  Jesus came to give us life and life to the full, but not to experience heaven on earth.  We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering for the name of Jesus; let us not forget their sacrifice by thinking locally. 

Conformed or transformed?

Next week our country celebrates the fourth of July.  It is our Independence Day.  This is the day we celebrate our forefathers taking the initiative to fight for our country's freedom.  This is the day when our country was completely transformed.  We went from 13 colonies that submitted to the royal crown to 13 independent states that were transformed to start a new journey of freedom and independence. 
Living in Massachusetts, I have gained a greater appreciation of this because I live in one of the birthplaces of independence.  It makes me stop and reflect on the country as we know it today and the church's place in that free country.  We still enjoy our freedoms; sometimes I think we enjoy them a little too much and those freedoms are taken advantage of.  The church has certainly enjoyed the freedom independence has brought it over the last 230+ years.  The church has played a vital role in the shaping of our country.  But, as I look at the church and its place in this independent nation today, does it look transformed? 
We live in a very skeptical culture.  The younger generations are asking more questions about things that were supposed to be set in stone for ages.  People want to see tangible evidence that something is real.  Faith is hard to believe anymore.  We are products of the Enlightenment and the scientific revolution; therefore, we want evidence before we declare something real.  This is where I think the church is failing.  For too long we have taken for granted the fact that people are growing up with an inherent knowledge of the things of God, the Bible, and the Church.  We have assumed for too long that people are born into a Christian home and raised according to the Bible.  This is a failure because we have ceased to show the transforming power of Jesus.  We have started to conform to the ways of the world.  Didn't Paul warn us about this in Romans 12:2? 
People today need to see transformation not conformity.  They don't want to see another institution that looks just like all the others.  They want to see an institution that is made up of people who have been transformed by the living God. 
Most of our time is spent focusing on Sunday morning.  That is what we build towards throughout the week.  We do our things during the week, barely survive, and hope to get refilled Sunday morning so that we can do the same routine all over again on Monday.  Is this what Jesus suffered and died on the cross for?  Is this why he rose from the dead?  So that we could go through the same routines, empty ourselves from stress, and go to the religious gas station on Sunday because our gas light came on Saturday night?  
Paul says in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."  Do you hear the words of Paul screaming at us from centuries ago?  We are a new creation!  We have been transformed through Christ.  This is what people need to see.  They don't want to see a bunch of Christians dragging themselves to church on Sunday because they feel obligated to go.  They want to see the transforming work of Jesus in our lives on a DAILY basis!  They need to see this.  They need to know that Jesus is real and is still transforming lives today.  They need to know that he is not a religious relic.  They need to know that he is the living God who is seated on his throne waiting for his time to return. 
Our colonial ancestors won independence.  People could not touch independence, but they could see independence because they saw the transformation in their new country.  People cannot touch Jesus, but they can see him through his transformed followers.  Let us celebrate our independence this week by showing we have been changed, the old has gone and the new has come.

Remembering

In lieu of Memorial Day, I am dedicating this blog entry to those who have given their lives for the sake of my freedom. 

Recently, I traveled to Maryland for our annual conference of the Primitive Methodist Church.  While on the plane, I sat next to an older gentlemen.  I finally broke the ice and started a conversation with him mid-flight.  His name was Charlie and he was a Vietnam veteran.  It was interesting because my history class had just covered the Vietnam War in class the week previous.  He told me a few stories of his time over there.  One of the most interesting ones was the day President Johnson ordered a cease fire on North Vietnam.  He was in South Vietnam when this happened and he told me that the South Vietnamese looked at them and said, "Why would your president do this to us?"  It was heartbreaking to hear the story and you could tell it still affected him. 

In my church is a man named Everett Smith.  He served in World War II as a ball turret gunner for the Flying Fortresses.  He flew six missions and the life expectancy for these gunners on mission was 25 minutes!  He served towards the end of the war and served faithfully for our country. 

The one thing that binds Charlie and Everett together is Jesus.  These men sacrificed for our country I think in large part because they understood the sacrifice Jesus made for them.  These men were devoted to their country, but more importantly they were devoted to their Savior.  We don't understand sacrifice apart from the cross.  The cross is the ultimate sacrifice because Jesus goes to war against sin, death, and Satan even though we did not act like they were our enemies.  Jesus gave his life for his enemies.  We all were his enemies and Jesus loved us too much to not die for us on the cross.  He embraced the cross so that we could be free.

Thank you men and women for what you have done for our country and the freedom of others.  This day is for you.   Thank you Jesus for setting us free; may everyday be for you.

How do we respond?

This week North Carolina voted to ban same-sex marriages in their state.  This has sparked a lot of response even from the top two leaders of our country who have publicly stated their support for same-sex marriages.  Homosexual marriage is such a polarizing issue and it seems to be our civil rights issue of the 21st century.  It is even causing division within the church.  Churches across the country are expressing their support of same-sex couples and their desire to wed while other churches are expressing their views against it.  So, what is the right response as Christians? 
I brought this issue up at Bible study last night and we had an interesting discussion.  The one thing I noticed about the discussion is that it is very stressful and wearing on people, at least those in my church.  There are so many different views on it, some are very informed views while others not so much.  In our Bible study we are studying the book Master Plan of Evangelism to see how the Master evangelized his world.  The one thing that is becoming more and more apparent for our present situation and time period is that we need to look more to how Jesus reached people. 
We live in a day and age where absolute truth is absolutely obsolete.  Morality is determined by the individual and sin is something that is outdated.  Thirty years ago, even twenty years ago, this would not be the case.  The first problem that the church is running into is that we have failed to address the issue of homosexuality in a correct way.  We have deemed homosexuals as the enemy that needs to be conquered in order that they submit to the ways of the church.  However, this is not how Jesus did things. A woman was caught in adultery as recorded in John's Gospel (John 8:1-11).  The teachers of the law bring her to Jesus in order to trap him.  They want to see what he will do with her.  If he stones her, then he is condemning her and violating Roman law which did not allow the Jews to execute anyone and if he does not stone her, then he is violating God's law which stated that someone caught in adultery should be stoned.  Jesus takes the third option: he does not condemn her at all.  He looks at the teachers and says that if any one of them has not sinned then they can cast the first stone.  In order to carry out the law, one must be clean.  What these people had done was set this woman up.  The Law says that both people involved must be stone (Leviticus 20:10), but they did not bring the man because they probably knew him.  So, one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, they dropped their stones and left.  Jesus looks at the woman, does not condemn her, and tells her to leave her life of sin.  This is the way the church should be approaching anyone, not just homosexuals.  For too long, we have condemned first and tried to give grace later.  The problem with that approach is that people will not feel worthy of grace.  Jesus did the opposite.  He showed grace first and then helped them see their sin.  In order for grace to make sense, sin needs to be realized.  Jesus was quick to love and slow to condemn.  He even says in John 3:17, "He did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." 
As the church, we have to stop labeling people.  People are people.  We are all in the same boat.  We are all created in God's image no matter what lifestyle we are embracing.  This is not to say that we condone our lifestyles that are against what God wants for us.  This is to say that we should be quick to show love and grace and slow to condemn.  As a pastor, I will continue to preach and teach against sin.  That includes all sin from a white lie to any kind of sexual immorality whether it be heterosexual or homosexual.  We live in a different world, but the one thing that never changes is that people want and need to be loved.  This is how the Master did and this is how I want to do it. 

Book Review of Think Christianly

Think Christianly by Jonathan Morrow is an a concise and insightful look at how to think and act like Christ in a culture that is constantly changing around us.  In the first few chapters of the book, Morrow gives the context to why he wrote this book.  We are at a crossroads with Christianity on one side and culture on the other, and as Christians, we have a choice to engage that culture or not.  Morrow stresses that it is time to engage our culture because if we do not, then we will be serving ourselves into obscurity. 
One interesting point he makes about engaging the culture focuses on the next generation and how to engage them.  He identifies that the problems with the next generation are boredom and apathy, relational disconnection, and intellectual disengagement.  The interesting point he makes to correct this is mentoring.  Young people need mentoring.  They need to have not just one person, but several people around them to help them grow in Christ.  This is what engaging is all about.  We have spent far too long focusing on the right programs and curriculum to drastically change America's youth for Christ.  What we need to do is engage this culture.  They are tired of curriculum and programs.  They want person, one-on-one time with someone who has experienced life a little longer than they have. 

The next part of the book focuses on preparing ourselves to engage the culture.  He stresses that we need to be the Jesus the world needs us to be.  This is a powerful message to the Church in America today because as a whole, we are not being the Jesus the world needs.  We are being a Jesus that we want to be rather than what the world needs.  Morrow stresses that we need to get ourselves right before God and make sure that we are walking consistently with Jesus.  We need to be practicing spiritual disciplines not for the sake of being holier than thou, but for the sake of not compromising our witness for Christ and His kingdom.  We need to be communicating a message to a lost world that the kingdom of God is here and now. 

The next section of the book focuses on apologetics which is something that Christians in our country are desperately lacking skills in.  Apologetics is simply giving an answer.  It is a way to think logically and critically about the Christian faith in order that we may have an answer for the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15).  He covers topics from the accuracy and validity of Scripture to homosexuality and even modern day research in genetics.  Morrow does a great job with concisely presenting the issues and helping us think Christianly about them.  He steers away from being religious by stressing that we need to stop getting made whenever we hear something negative about Jesus in the media.  We need to take a deep breath and understand where the culture is coming from.  We have to think differently about how we present the Gospel in a 21st century world.  We are living in a time where truth is relative rather than absolute.  We are living in a time where people are very bitter towards the church and have some very strong opinions towards it.  We are living in a time where people are desperately searching for the truth, but all they are getting are more questions.  Morrow says it's going to take time to evangelize in a 21st century world because we live in a world of skeptics.  We need to take the time to be Jesus by being relational.  We think that we can stay in our Christian bubble, do a few big events, sing our old hymns with our organ (not saying the organ is bad), preach the Gospel every Sunday, and people will flock to our buildings.  This is how it may have worked 50 years ago, but this is not the way it will work today.  Morrow stresses that we have to think deeply and apologetically about our faith so that we can better engage our skeptical, but truth-seeking culture.

Jonathan Morrow does an excellent job in this book.  He keeps his topics short and concise to the point that anyone from a pastor to a lay person can pick this book up and glean from it.  His writing style is very to the point and easy to read and understand.  His work is scholarly without being over anyone's head.  He gives great insight on being a Christian in all walks of life that you may encounter.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to Think Christianly.

Mission Accepted

In my Scripture reading time, I have been reading through the Gospels.  I started with Matthew and read section by section until I finished it.  While I was reading, I started keeping a journal again for the first time in years.  I wrote my thoughts down on the passages that I read to glean more from God's Word and be challenged by it.  Now I am reading through Mark and tonight I read the story of the demon possessed man that Jesus came across in the land of the Gerasenes.  This man was possessed by many demons who called themselves Legion.  If you have gone to church for a while, you are probably familiar with this story.  The part that hit me tonight was not the casting out of the demons (which is pretty amazing and powerful), but rather the interaction of Jesus and the newly freed man.  The man wanted to come with Jesus, but Jesus refused the man.  This seems uncharacteristic of the Rabbi who went and called his disciples to follow him.  But, if you pay attention, Jesus had a mission for this man.  Jesus said to him in verse 19, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."  Jesus gave him the mission of evangelizing that area for the kingdom of God. 
This challenged me tonight because this is the mission is still giving us today.  We are set free by the Son of God from sin and death and the power of Satan in order to be his witnesses in a world that is in desperate need of him.  Jesus died for us so that we could live for him.  This is something that I keep coming back to lately.  I talk about it at church and I talk about it online.  We are Christ's ambassadors on this earth.  This man who was set free from these demons accepted the mission and went to proclaim what God had done for him.  This is the power and evidence of a changed life.  The way this challenged me is that I had to ask myself, "Am I showing the power and evidence of a changed life in Christ?  Am I witnessing like I should or am I acting and speaking as though I am ashamed of the Gospel?" 
One time I was at a church planting conference and I was listening to a church planter tell a story of an encounter with a businessman.  He was trying to relay a point that in order to be an effective church planter you have to make a lot of contacts.  In order to make contacts as a pastor (according to him), you had to do so in creative ways.  So, he introduced himself to this businessman as an entrepreneur.  At the time, I thought this was genius and creative.  However, as I have grown older, I began to realize what this actually was.  This was a bait and switch tactic.  The pastor was baiting the man in by saying he was entrepreneur like him, but then switching eventually by revealing he was a pastor.  It was not technically a lie, but it was little deceitful.  I have thought about this story lately and wondered when did I find "creative" ways to say I was a pastor when I should have been very upfront about my calling in life because I was not ashamed of the mission my Father had given me. 
So, let us not be ashamed of the Gospel.  Let us know that Jesus is giving us a mission to evangelize a lost and fallen world.  The man who was freed by Jesus accepted the mission wholeheartedly.  Are you willing to accept it?  Am I?  Well, with nervousness and doubt in my own abilities, tonight I honestly said to Him, "Mission accepted, my King." 

Taking the time

Time is a precious commodity these days.  It is something that we cannot get back.  When we waste it, it's gone.  When we use it to get as much done as possible, it's still gone.  There is nothing we can do to get time back.  Time is constantly ticking down to the end of all things and sometimes that makes me stop and think about the time I have spent on this earth.  Have I wasted my time or have I taken advantage of the time God has given me.  I would say a little of both.  But, one thing that God challenged me with last night during our Bible study was taking the time to interact with humanity.  You might be reading this and think, "Well, that's a silly statement.  You must interact with humanity on a daily basis."  I do, but do I really interact with humanity?

Jesus spent 33 years of his life interacting with humanity.  This is the God of the universe in human flesh coming down to be like us and to be with us.  He experienced what we experience.  He tasted the food we taste.  He laughed at things we laugh at (well maybe not everything we laugh at).  He was hungry and thirsty like we are hungry and thirsty.  He experienced humanity and he also interacted with humanity on a very intimate level.  Take for instance the 12 apostles.  He chose these men to follow him.  These were the Rabbi school rejects.  They probably went to their rabbis and asked them if they could be their disciples.  The rabbis rejected them because they weren't good enough.  But, Jesus, the greatest Rabbi of all, told them to follow him.  This was unheard of for a Rabbi to do in first century Israel.  But, Jesus wanted to interact with humanity.  He spent countless hours with these men, training them to carry on his work.  Along the way, he interacted with the outcasts of society like prostitutes and tax collectors.  He went to Zacchaeus' house to eat with him and he was a tax collector.  He touched lepers to heal them.  He touched the lame and sick so that they would be free from their diseases and their handicaps.  Those who follow Jesus want to be like him.  I want to be like him, and, yet, I can't find the time to talk to someone that I see at the grocery store or any where else I may go.  Sometimes I feel like I don't have enough time, but is that the way of the Master?

This is what we talked about in Bible study last night.  We talked about building relationships with people.  It takes effort.  It takes courage at times.  But, most of all, it takes time.  I was really challenged by God to take the time to meet people and to remember their names so that next time, I can get to know them a little bit better.  This is what our society wants from the Church.  They want the followers of Jesus to rise up and be like him.  They want the followers of Jesus to interact with humanity and not just stay behind our stained glass windows and be the moral police of society.  They don't want us to tell them how to vote.  They don't want to know what we are against.  They need to see who we are for.  They need to see the Gospel before they listen to the Gospel.  They need to see that we follow the Master.  The way we are going to do this is to do it like the Master did, take the time.

Pointless Persistence

This week is Holy Week.  Churches all over the world are gearing up for services throughout the week.  Some start on Wednesday and some start on Thursday.  People will come especially on Easter Sunday as the family tradition or because someone invited them, they were curious, or they genuinely want to be there.  I have started working on my messages for this week's services.  One of the hardest things to do is work on Easter messages as a stay-at-home dad of two boys who are four and 18 months.  It is especially hard when the youngest one is not feeling well.  As I was reflecting on the day, I realized that Satan is being pointlessly persistent in his attempts to distract me and I'm sure other church leaders around the world from the meaning of this week.  Something else that happened today is that our church received news that our burner for our heat is done.  That is a cost that we did not expect and it is a rather large cost I might add.  It's a cost that we don't really need right now considering we have to tie into the town sewerage system this year which is going to cost a lot of money as well.
A few years ago this would have left me stressed to the max.  I still get a little stressed, but this is what I have learned as I have grown older and maybe a little wiser: Satan is defeated!  Holy Week should remind us of this fact more than any other time.  Satan pulled out all the stops to thwart God's plan to save His people from our sins.  He tempted one of his closest followers to betray him.  He incited his own people to shout crucify him.  He used the Romans to nail him to a tree and die a horrible death.  But, the story doesn't end there.  Three days later Jesus walked out of that tomb, ALIVE!!!  We should never grow tired of that story.  That is the Gospel and it is beautiful!  Jesus is alive!  Satan constantly tries to throw a wrench in the plans of God, but that does not mean that Jesus did not rise from that grave.
One of my favorite praise songs is called "Sing to the King."  The reason I love it is because of the line that reads, "Satan is vanquished and now Jesus is King!"  Let this truth sink in.  Do not let Satan and the world defeat you because your King has already defeated them.  Jesus sits at the right hand of God because the work is finished.  Satan is done.  His persistence is pointless.  So, let's sing to the king who is victorious and reigns over Satan no matter what he tries.

Just give me Jesus

I have been in the ministry for about 12 years now in different capacities.  I have gone to seminars, sat through seminary classes, and read countless books on the subject of church.  I have read a lot of books on how to grow your church.  Pretty much all of those books contain a chapter or blurb about a vision statement.  Coming up with a vision statement has been ingrained in my mind and it got to the point that I felt inadequate as a pastor if I did not have a cool vision statement that no other church had.  Do you know how hard it is to come up with a vision statement?  I have spent hours praying and even fasting over a vision statement, thinking that a vision statement would instantly grow my church.
Just recently I have come to a realization: the only vision the church needs is Jesus!  I am not saying that it is not necessary to be organized and know what direction God wants your church to go.  But, do we really need fancy vision statements that essentially say we are a church that follows the teachings, practices, and the person of Jesus Christ?  No wonder people are so confused as to which church is the right church.
The consumer driven society we live in has made its way into the church.  People want more than the Gospel.  They want more than Jesus.  They want a thriving youth ministry.  They want great worship music (I will confess that I am one of those people).  They want a great children's ministry.  But, what would happen if you simply offered people Jesus?  Would he be enough?
An old hymn that I like is "Be Thou My Vision."  This hymn is a prayer asking the Lord of our hearts to be our vision not some fancy statement.  If we are going to be the Church that Christ died for, He needs to be the vision of our churches.  We have to stop catering to consumers and start following the Savior.  We should never grow tired of the Gospel.  We should never grow tired of hearing what Christ has done for us.  We should be hungry and thirsty for more of Jesus.  We should never push away from the table and tell him, "I'm full."  Jesus himself said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).  But, the thing about being filled is that it is not a sense of fulness that is permanent.  Jesus fills that empty void in our souls, but he leaves us wanting and craving more of him.  This is how growth in our churches is going to happen.  If we become more consumed with Jesus and less consumed with consumerism, then people will respond to that.  We will be compelled to be involved in our churches.  We will be compelled to take the Gospel to our neighborhoods.  We will be compelled to be more like Jesus. 

So, what's my excuse?

In my devotional time tonight I read when Jesus predicted the disciples betrayal in Matthew 26:30-35.  We read this account and wonder what the disciples were thinking.  We think to ourselves, "How could you abandon and deny Christ?  You walked with him for 3 years!  Wake up!"  However, something hit me tonight.  To their credit, I don't think they really knew what they were getting into.  Jesus was about to die a horrible and painful death.  They didn't think this was going to happen.  They never thought about the Messiah dying on the cross.  They thought of the Messiah as a great conqueror of their enemies.  They would never have envisioned their King arrested, tried, sentenced, and crucified.  Fear overtook them.  But, one thing to keep in mind is that the Holy Spirit had not come upon them yet (see Acts 2).  This does not mean that the Holy Spirit never worked in the disciples lives before this.  He obviously did, but He had not come to dwell inside of them in order to transform them from men overcome by fear to men who overcame their fear. 
This is where I was challenged.  I asked myself, "So, what's my excuse?"  There are times where I deny Christ, whether it's through my actions, my words, my lack of words, etc.  There are times where I ignore opportunities to show the love of Christ or tell someone about His great love and grace.  I know I should find comfort and encouragement in the fact that the disciples did the same thing, but they did not have the life-transforming power of the third person of the Trinity known as the Holy Spirit living inside of them.  I am a new creation in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17).  I am transformed and should no longer conform (Romans 12:2).  I am going to fear, but I do not have a spirit of fear that lives inside of me.  I have a spirit of power!  Paul writes to Timothy in II Timothy 1:7, "...for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power, love, and self control."  I no longer what to excuse myself from doing the Lord's work on a daily basis.  I no longer want to use fear as an excuse for not opening my mouth and proclaiming the Gospel with boldness and passion.  I no longer want to make excuses period. 

Seasons of Change

Last night as the snow was falling, I started to think about shoveling it the next day.  That is not something I like to think about, but that was not always the case.  Growing up in Arkansas, I saw snow maybe once or twice in my life.  When I moved to New England, my eyes were opened to a whole new world of white, fluffy, cold snow.  I remember my first major snow storm in New England.  It snowed 15 inches.  I remember walking out in it and sinking up to my knee!  I could not help, but laugh.  I had never seen so much snow in my life.  Now, almost seven years later, the allure has worn off.  I hate going out and shoveling the snow. 
So, last night as I was thinking about shoveling the dreaded white stuff, my mind shifted to thinking about the beauty that snow brings to God's creation.  Winter is so cold and harsh, but when the snow falls, it brings with it a calming peace.  It also brings beauty and perfection.  Sometimes I don't want to move any of the new fallen snow because it is so beautiful and perfect.  There are no seams or cracks.  It lays on the ground in a perfect covering of white. 
Then I began to think about the seasons and how they can teach us some spiritual truths.  When fall comes, fall brings a beautiful array of colors.  But, these colors do not come without a price.  The leaves change colors because they are in the process of dying.  This may seem morbid, but there is beauty in this death just like there is beauty in the death to our old sinful selves.  We need to die to our selves so that we may be united with Christ in his beautiful death on the cross brings us the forgiveness of our sins through his blood.  That forgiveness of sins through his shed blood led me to think of the snow that winter brings.  Snow is so perfectly white (before all the cars start splashing mud and other things onto it) and that is how God sees us through the shed blood of Christ.  Isaiah 1:18 says, "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."  This is the beauty of the shed blood of Jesus.  If we believe in him and embrace him as our Savior, God washes our sins away and sees us like snow, perfectly white.  This led me to spring.  Spring brings new life.  It is time for new leaves to replace the old ones.  It is time for new buds to spring up.  It is time for a new creation to replace the old through Jesus Christ.  II Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away, behold the new has come."  Notice how Paul says the old has "passed away."  The old leaves and buds pass away during the fall.  Our old selves died in the fall of man; our new selves are raised with Christ a new creation.  Romans 5:17 says, "For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ."  Finally, we get to summer.  Summer is a time to take a break from all of our hard work throughout the rest of the year.  Summer is all about relaxing and enjoying time with friends.  This what the new earth will be like.  We will be able to rest from the years of work that we put in on this earth.  A new earth will replace the old one and we will have one big party with God and all our brothers and sisters in Christ.   Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 

Who's our Interpreter?

When I was on a mission trip to Nicaragua in 1998, there was only one person in our group who spoke Spanish.  Anytime any of us would be having a conversation with someone, we would constantly be calling for him to interpret for us and the person we were talking to.  After a while, I felt bad for him because he looked so tired of running back and forth between conversations.  But, he was a very valued member of our group because we never had to question who our interpreter was.  He was the man and he did an excellent job of it. 
The reason I tell that story is because in the Church today, it seems like there is uncertainty about who our interpreter of Scripture is.  Jesus said in John 16:13-14, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."  Jesus teaches the disciples that the work of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth.  Our world claims to have many truths.  All the religions claim to be true.  The Holy Spirit is here to guide us in all truth found the Scriptures because those contain the true words of God.  However, something I have noticed lately is that so-called Christians are not allowing the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth.  Christians are turning to another interpreter to "illuminate" the Scriptures for them, the philosophies of this world.  In our goal to become more relevant, the Church in some parts of our country are becoming too relevant by allowing worldly philosophies that come and go to interpret the timeless and unchangeable Word of God.  Rather than calling on the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth of a difficult passage of Scripture, we are running to all the worldly philosophies that are out there to give us "wisdom."  It makes me question whether some in the Church have had their minds renewed by the Holy Spirit of God.  Paul says in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you will be test and approve what God's will is; his good, pleasing, and perfect will."  Paul warns against conforming to the pattern of this world and I don't think some Christians are heeding that warning. 
I have talked with those who profess Christ through Facebook and through other conversations about their views of Scripture and the Bible.  It breaks my heart to see those who are supposedly transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit interpret Scripture to conform with the world's ideas of what is right and wrong.  The Bible is our standard for what is right and wrong and when the Bible is black and white over an issue, then as followers of Christ, we need believe that and adhere to it.  Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."  This echoes what God told the Israelites through Moses before they entered the Promised Land.  And, if Jesus is the same God who spoke to the Israelites about keeping the commandments then we need to do the same if we are to confess our love for Christ.  Christ did not set us free so that we could have the freedom to follow what we wanted to.  He set us free so that we would be unhindered in our devotion and service to Him. 
So, who is your interpreter of the Scriptures?  Do you let the philosophies of this world interpret the Scriptures for you and if so, what do you think of Jesus' statement in John 14:15?  This world needs those who are devoted to Christ wholeheartedly.  The more we look like the world, the more Jesus will look less and less necessary for people's lives.  People need a Savior not another worldly philosopher.  Christians, we need to be courageous enough to stand for the truth and we need the Holy Spirit, not the world, to guide us into all truth. 

Desire versus obligation

Today is Valentine's Day.  This is the day where millions of men all over this country are frantically scrambling to find flowers at the last minute for their wives, girlfriends, or fiancees so they won't be upset with them.  I can be right there with them some years, so I know the feeling of sheer panic that I almost forgot to send my lovely wife flowers or planned a romantic evening for just the two of us.  Observing this trend in our country, it makes me wonder if we are doing this for our wives out of a desire to show them how much we love them or do we feel obligated to check this day off the yearly husband check list.  I think Valentine's Day should be a wake up call for the men of our society, especially those who follow Christ.  We are commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the Church, which means sacrificially.  If we are showing love to our wives on Valentine's Day only then we are not fulfilling the God-given command as husbands and men.  What our society is missing is real men who are not afraid to show that they desire their wives above all other people in their lives.  Our society says the mark of a man is one who does not show emotion.  Men are supposed to be stone-cold and tough.  However, the greatest man who ever lived, Jesus Christ, was not emotionless or stone-cold towards women.  His society treated women as less than human.  They were supposed to keep quiet and stay in the house while the men went out to work and socialize.  Jesus ignored this cultural stigma towards women.  He spoke with a Samaritan woman in public (John 4) which a Jewish man just did not do in his time.  Women followed him around (Mary Magdalene) and women were the ones who found his tomb empty while the rough and tough men who were the closest to him were hiding out behind locked doors.  As men, if we are afraid to show emotion and let those around us know how much we love our wives, then we need to ask ourselves how much we really love them.  I would not be the man I am today if it were not for my wife.  She is everything to me.  Besides Jesus (who is number 1 by far) she is the next most important person in my life.  She helps me in so many ways.  She is loving and considerate.  She is thoughtful and her attitude towards life is challenging and infectious.  I am not afraid to let the world know how much she means to me everyday because I see her as a gift from God that is to be treasured and cherished above all other treasures this world has to offer. 
The standard of a real man is found in Jesus.  He was not afraid to show his emotions.  He was not afraid to exalt women to a higher standing in society.  He was not afraid to show love to his closest male friends.  Sometimes men are uncomfortable to show love towards some of their closest guy friends, but this is what Jesus did.  Men need love too.  Love is not a weakness; it is the greatest strength we could have.  Paul says that faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13).  God was not afraid to show people everywhere how much He loved all of us by sending Jesus to die in our place.  Therefore, real men should not be afraid to let their guard down, get emotional, and show love because our wives/fiancees/girlfriends need it, our kids need it, our friends need it, and our society needs it.  Rise up men of God and love!

Fearless Living

Fearless has been a word on my mind lately.  I used to be very afraid to speak in public.  Oral presentations in high school were the bane of my existence.  I hated talking in front of people because I was so afraid of what people thought of me.  Now, I get in front of people and talk almost everyday of the week.  It's amazing what God can do in a person's life. 
However, I would not say that I'm fearless.  I still have fears about what people think of me.  When I first came to the church I'm a pastor of now, I was afraid of upsetting anyone or doing anything wrong.  So, lately fearless has been at the forefront of my mind.  I have been praying for boldness and courage lately because I have looked at my everyday routine and wondered to myself, "Is this what living for the kingdom looks like?" 
Biographies have captured my attention lately.  I have read one on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and am currently reading one on William Wilberforce, the man who took a stand against slavery in Britain in the late 1700s.  It is amazing the courage these men had in the face of dire circumstances.  Also, I have been thinking about the life of Paul as well.  This was a man who faced the most extreme circumstances, but kept going till the end of his life, spreading the message of the kingdom of God wherever God took him.  These are the kind of men I aspire to be.  I aspire to be a man who is fearless in spreading the Gospel.  I also want to fearlessly live the great adventure of following Jesus.  I don't want to be satisfied with a normal existence.  I don't want to be satisfied with a life that is lived good enough.  I want to live a life that is full of days ( a phrase used to describe Job at the end of the book of Job).  I want to live a life that is fearless not in the sense of doing daring deeds, but in the sense of boldly, passionately, and fearlessly spreading the story of the King I love and live for.  I want to live the words of Paul when he said "I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).  In the words of Casting Crowns, "We were made to be courageous."  The world needs courageous people who are not afraid to share the message of hope.  Families need courageous men who are not afraid to be the husbands and fathers their wives and children need them to be.  Families need courageous women who will not be afraid to stand against the women's liberation movement and be the wives and mothers their husbands and children so desperately need. Churches need courageous leaders who are not afraid to speak the truth in love, never compromising for the sake of worldly acceptance.  Teenagers need courageous peers who will not be afraid to stand out from the crowd and be different for the sake of holiness.  Lord, make us courageous!

The provision of God

Today was a day full of provision.  We celebrated my wife's 29th birthday.  The verse of Scripture that is our verse for each other is Philippians 1:3, "I thank my God every time I remember you."  I truly thank my God every day for my wife.  I prayed for so long that God would send me the right one.  There were wrong ones along the way.  One day God spoke to me and said she was coming and that I just had to wait.  A month (that is a rough estimate because my memory is terrible) later I met Allie and we have been together ever since.  She is such a joy to my life.  She does so much for me and I would truly be lost without her.  Whenever we celebrate her birthday, I feel like I'm celebrating mine because she is the greatest gift I have ever received.  She challenges me and encourages me.  She puts me in my place and holds me when life is beating on me.  I love her and I look forward to the next 29 years with her by the grace of God.
God also provided in another big way today.  As many people know we are expecting our third child in the midst of owning a small SUV and a four door sedan.  Needless to say the car space we have is not going to be enough to hold three car seats at a time.  So, we started our search for a mini van and since I am the stay at home parent, I will be driving the aforementioned van.  I have come to grips with this reality and I refuse to let it take away my cool points (if I even had any to begin with).  The boys were being a little wild today and we both felt like we needed a little break and had time to kill, so we got a last minute babysitter to watch them for a couple of hours so we could go look for a van.  After getting some frozen yogurt (which was awesome!), we headed to the dealership with the intent of inquiring and not buying.  Maybe it was the yogurt, but 2 hours later, we had just traded in our sedan for a minivan.  I was nervous about the purchase, but my amazing wife was convinced that this was God providing for our family.  We got what we wanted on the trade-in and our monthly payments will actually be less for the van than they were for the car.  God is so amazing how He knows exactly what we need and leads us to the right places to provide it for us. 
The last way God provided was in the form of opportunity.  The salesman was very helpful and nice.  Through our conversation, I learned that he was a musician who plays many instruments (27 to be exact).  So, I invited him to our church coffeehouse.  He said he hadn't been to church in a while and hinted that it was not a big priority.  I will be praying for more opportunities with him and praying that God will lead him to our coffeehouse so that he may hear the beautiful story of Jesus.
The last way God provided was a teaching moment.  I felt like I could have taken more advantage of the opportunity He provided with the salesman, but I still get nervous at times when talking about things of faith.  It does not happen all the time, but there are times when it does.  I used to be very shy and that shyness still lingers.  As I rocked my youngest son to sleep tonight, I prayed that God would give me boldness.  I want to stop caring about what people are thinking of me and serve my Lord with all my heart and soul.  I want my passion for Him to pour out of me and my conversations and words to be seasoned with salt and full of grace. 
So, what I will take away from today is that there is no better place to be than living under God's provision whether it comes materially or in a time of teaching.  I love how He provides and know that it is only by His grace that I have what I have. 

Are we getting it wrong?

This question hit me yesterday in regards to the Gospel.  I grew up in a solid Southern Baptist church, being taught that I must turn to Jesus in order to escape hell and get to heaven to live with him forever.  That message has been the crux of the Gospel preached in churches for decades in this country.  However, is this the message Jesus proclaimed?  Are we leaving something out? 

The more I read the Gospels and the more I read books about Jesus the more I think that we are leaving out a big part of the Gospel message, if not the main part.  One major part is eternal salvation, i.e. getting to be with Jesus forever.  But, I have come to realize that part of the message is more of a benefit of the Gospel rather than the main focus of the Gospel.  The apostle John in the first chapter of his Gospel said that Jesus (the Word) came that we might have life.  Was John merely talking about an eternal life that awaits us in the future after we die or Jesus comes back?  I don't think so.  I think the apostle was teaching that Jesus came to give us a new life on this earth in the here and now with the ultimate benefit of this new life being eternal life with him one day.  Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  The ESV text note says this about verse 10, "Jesus calls his followers, not to a dour, lifeless, miserable existence that squashes human potential, but to a rich, full, joyful life, one overflowing with meaningful activities under the personal favor and blessing of God and in continual fellowship with his people."  This is the message Jesus died for.  He died so that we might live, not just eternally up in the sky one day, but live a full, new life here on this earth.  He died so that we might live the life we were created and meant to live.  To preach the Gospel in the light of just heaven and hell is to cheapen the Gospel.  We are leaving out the best part.  Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven in John 3.  This concept of born again points to a new life here and now. 
When God led his people out of Egypt and slavery, he led them to the Promised Land.  This was the land he promised to give to Abraham's descendants.  This was a land flowing with milk and honey.  The Promised Land for us is heaven.  We aren't there yet.  We have to go through the wilderness of this earth in order to get there, but the best part about that journey is that God has set us free from slavery to sin so that we may live a new life as free men and women for his glory and kingdom.  The benefit of this new life is the Promised Land of eternal rest and life with Jesus Christ our Savior forever. 

I believe this is one of the reasons why people are rejecting Christianity in our society today.  Most people have no problem with Jesus; they have a problem with the church.  If we are the Body of Christ and they have no problem with Christ, then they should have no problem with us.  There is a disconnect somewhere and I believe it's found within the Gospel we are preaching.  We need to get back to the Gospel Jesus preached.  He preached a Gospel of freedom for the prisoners and a new life for those who would follow him.  He preached about heaven and hell, but only as a benefit for accepting his offer of a new life or rejecting it.  Luke 4:16-21 says this, "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.  And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture is has been fulfilled in your hearing.'"  This is the message Jesus came to proclaim, a message of freedom and life.  This new life does not promise to be worry-free, pain-free, or problem-free.  But, this new life does promise one who will take our worries, our pain, and our problems and give us a burden that is light and give us peace.  This is the message the world needs to hear.  This is the Jesus people need us to introduce them to.