Seventy-five years ago today, a strange visitor from another planet made his debut in the pages of Action Comics #1. That visitor looked like a man, but he had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. He could leap tall buildings in a single bound (he didn't fly till a little later), he was faster than a speeding bullet, bullets bounced off of his chest, etc. His name was Superman and he has become an American icon over the last 75 years of his existence. The Superman "S" is one of the most recognizable symbols in pop culture today. And, this is who I idolized when I was a kid.
I loved Superman. I don't remember the first time I saw him, but whenever it was I was mesmerized. I loved his costume and his cape. I remember putting on a red towel when I was a kid and running around the house, pretending I could fly. I grew up watching Christopher Reeve dawn the blue suit with the red "s" and save the world time and again. I even watched George Reeves in the classic Superman television show. Anything that was Superman, I wanted. Superman was the character that hooked me on comic books, which I still collect today.
Two days ago, Boston (my adopted hometown) was rocked by two explosions set off by a madman. Chaos ensued at the Boston Marathon which is supposed to be a great time celebrating runners and their accomplishments. As I watched the news, I could not help but think, "I wish Superman were here. He would find the person responsible and bring him to justice." You see, when I was a kid, Superman was a hero. As I have grown older I have realized what mesmerized me about Superman. It wasn't his costume. It wasn't his powers. It was his heart to always do what is right. He pursued justice. He wanted to do right by everyone and that was why he was always known as the "Boy Scout."
We still need heroes today. None of us are strange visitors from another planet (although some of us might be strange). But, that does not mean that we cannot be heroes. Most of us may not find ourselves in situations where we will have to save somebody's life. But, most of us are in situations where we can lead them to the One who can save them. For too long, we have sat idly by and let the institutional church handle all of the spiritual matters. We take our kids to Sunday School and trust the teachers to teach them about God and following him. We take them to church and hope they don't make too much of a scene while the preacher is delivering the message. Then, throughout the week, we get back to our daily routine. We don't give them an example to follow. We spend time with people outside of the church with no intention of leading them to Christ. We get so caught up in our routine that we forget that we were saved to be Christ's ambassadors.
People are losing hope in our country. People are losing hope in our world. I remember when Superman died. He died in Superman #75. He was killed fighting the monster Doomsday who wanted to destroy anything in his path. Superman sacrificed himself for everyone else. When he died, the other heroes did their best to take his place, but it wasn't the same. People were losing hope. But, suddenly, Superman returned. He returned triumphantly and instilled hope in the people of Metropolis once again.
We read these stories and are amazed by them. We forget that a story very similar happened in our history and reality. Superman is a fictional character who rose from the dead; Jesus was a real person who died on a cross and rose from the dead. People compare Superman to Jesus and call Jesus their superhero. But, Jesus is greater than Superman. Jesus is God himself. Jesus was not defeated by some monster. He willingly gave up his life for us on the cross and then triumphantly rose from the dead. This is the message of true hope. We can hope beyond hope that an alien from Krypton will be rocketed to our world to be our Savior or we can trust in a real Savior who came to give us hope. He came to give us a new life.
In the wake of tragedy, this is the message we need to be teaching and LIVING! You see, it's not enough to talk about it. Talk is cheap. We need to live our lives for Christ. This means, every day and not just on Sundays. We need to step up and lead people who are looking for answers to a true hero who rose from the dead. We need to lead them to a strange visitor from another place who became like one of us in order to die for us.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
T-ball, here I come!
Recently, I became a manager. I became the manager of the Instructional League Red Sox. My son, Caedmon, is playing this year for the first time. I have worked with him in the yard for the past couple of years. He does pretty well hitting the ball and I am excited to see him on the field for the first time.
I grew up with a love for the game. My dad instilled that love into me. He always loved baseball and he passed that love down to me. I played all my life and was blessed enough to play through college. I always said that I would never coach my kids' baseball teams. I would rather sit back and watch. However, while talking with my best friend about this subject, my perspective changed. He used to share the same perspective on coaching his kids, but he realized that if God has blessed us with the knowledge, experience, and talent to play the game, it would be dishonoring to him to not share that with young, aspiring ball players.
So, I decided to volunteer to be the manager for Caedmon's team. We have not started yet, but we will soon and I feel a little overwhelmed at times about it. But, at the same time, I am excited to pass down what I know to a new generation of ball players.
There is another, deeper element to all of this as well. These kids are at an impressionable young age. They are growing up in a world that is constantly changing and not necessarily for the better. We live in a world where there is no guarantee that young boys will grow up with a great fatherly example. There are young men who are growing up not knowing how to be men. We live in an age where the age of adulthood is becoming older and older. We are seeing young men who are having a hard time launching into independence because they don't know how. We are seeing young men who are living like children rather than adults.
I think one of the reasons for this is because fathers have either been absent, indifferent, or lazy. We have fathers who are pouring themselves into their jobs to the point that they are neglecting their families. I have seen men in church who are sitting back and letting their wives be the spiritual leaders of their families. Men, we are making the same mistake that Adam did. We are sitting back and letting Satan grab a hold of our families. This needs to stop.
Recently, for Valentine's Day, my wife bought me a piece of wall art. It is black with three phrases written in white: Seek Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with your God. She bought this for me because she said this is the kind of guy I am. Wow! I was humbled by this because all I can see our my mistakes. This is the kind of man I am striving to be and this is the kind of man that God wants his male followers to be.
We live in a society where the differences between men and women are more blurred than ever in our country. We need men who are willing to be all about truth and justice. We need men who are not going to sit idly by and let the world raise their kids for them. We need men who will humble themselves before God and be the spiritual leaders that they have been saved to be. We need to grow up, men. We need to grow up in the Lord and start being an example of what it means to be a godly man. We need to start passing down what we know to the younger generations. We need to invest our time in our kids and other kids so that we can show them how to follow Jesus.
I grew up with a love for the game. My dad instilled that love into me. He always loved baseball and he passed that love down to me. I played all my life and was blessed enough to play through college. I always said that I would never coach my kids' baseball teams. I would rather sit back and watch. However, while talking with my best friend about this subject, my perspective changed. He used to share the same perspective on coaching his kids, but he realized that if God has blessed us with the knowledge, experience, and talent to play the game, it would be dishonoring to him to not share that with young, aspiring ball players.
So, I decided to volunteer to be the manager for Caedmon's team. We have not started yet, but we will soon and I feel a little overwhelmed at times about it. But, at the same time, I am excited to pass down what I know to a new generation of ball players.
There is another, deeper element to all of this as well. These kids are at an impressionable young age. They are growing up in a world that is constantly changing and not necessarily for the better. We live in a world where there is no guarantee that young boys will grow up with a great fatherly example. There are young men who are growing up not knowing how to be men. We live in an age where the age of adulthood is becoming older and older. We are seeing young men who are having a hard time launching into independence because they don't know how. We are seeing young men who are living like children rather than adults.
I think one of the reasons for this is because fathers have either been absent, indifferent, or lazy. We have fathers who are pouring themselves into their jobs to the point that they are neglecting their families. I have seen men in church who are sitting back and letting their wives be the spiritual leaders of their families. Men, we are making the same mistake that Adam did. We are sitting back and letting Satan grab a hold of our families. This needs to stop.
Recently, for Valentine's Day, my wife bought me a piece of wall art. It is black with three phrases written in white: Seek Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with your God. She bought this for me because she said this is the kind of guy I am. Wow! I was humbled by this because all I can see our my mistakes. This is the kind of man I am striving to be and this is the kind of man that God wants his male followers to be.
We live in a society where the differences between men and women are more blurred than ever in our country. We need men who are willing to be all about truth and justice. We need men who are not going to sit idly by and let the world raise their kids for them. We need men who will humble themselves before God and be the spiritual leaders that they have been saved to be. We need to grow up, men. We need to grow up in the Lord and start being an example of what it means to be a godly man. We need to start passing down what we know to the younger generations. We need to invest our time in our kids and other kids so that we can show them how to follow Jesus.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Why do we pursue the substitute when we can have the real thing?
Idolatry is still such a problem. We provoke the Lord to jealousy when
we go after idols. They do nothing for us, yet we still go to them as
though they have power to help us. We act like they have power to
overcome our lives for us. We worship them as though they are going to
reciprocate somehow. We thank them as though they provided for us. We
serve them as though they were our masters. But, all this does is lead
us further and further away from the One who has the power to overcome
our situations. It takes worship from the One who will respond to that
worship with loving kindness. It takes our energy to serve from the One
who first served us by dying for us and is are true Master. The
Corinthians were coming from a background of idolatry. Paul was trying
to show them the freedom they now had in Christ. They did not have to
go after worthless idols anymore. They now served the Living God who is
real and is powerful. No longer did they need to go to the table of
demons because they could go to the table of the Lord. Why do we choose
the garbage when we could have a feast? Why do we take the substitute
when we could have the real thing? This is the human condition. We are
so prone to turning to the tangible because we think the tangible
things of this world have power. But, the only power they have is the
power that we give them. The power that God has was given to Him by no
one. He is all-powerful and always has been. He is the One that can
overcome our human condition and make us new. He is the One that can
deliver us from our tendency to turn to the idols of this world. We
were prone to wander, but He is prone to deliver. We are prone to turn,
but He is prone to pursue. One of the greatest truths about God that
is often overlooked is that He is a God who pursues us. He does not
leave us alone. He pursues us with a passion because He wants to
deliver us from a life of idolatry. He wants to deliver us from the
lives of substitutes. He wants to give us the real thing; Himself.
This is true love. This is a love that conquers all. This is a love
that never fails. This is a love that we and the world desperately
needs.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Just a prayer away?
Growing up Southern Baptist in Arkansas, I became accustomed to altar calls. I grew up with them every Sunday that I was in church. I grew up singing "Just As I Am" while people made their way down to the altar to commit their lives to Christ or rededicate their lives to Christ. I would see the pastor and deacons pray with these people and then they would be ushered off into another room with one of the leaders of the church. Then they would be brought out and everyone would be told what decision they had made. Most of the time it was to join the church, but there were times when someone would make a decision for Christ and the whole church would clap. But, then when the service was over, everyone would go get some lunch and go home. End of story.
As I have grown older, I have reflected a lot on this time of my life. I have wondered to myself, "Is this how one follows Christ? Is this what the Bible commands us to do? Is this how Jesus did it?" To be a Christian, is it really as simple as saying a "sinner's prayer" and then joining a church? I almost feel like a heretic to even question this. I have been to countless evangelism events and services and seen the speaker have everyone close their eyes, bow their heads, and raise their hands if they want to accept Jesus. I have always wondered why it had to be private? Aren't we taught in Scripture to not be ashamed of Christ or the Gospel? Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow him while he was at his tax collector's booth in the middle of everyone. I have led people in the sinner's prayer in order to be saved. But, is this it? Is this what the Gospel teaches us? Is this the Gospel?
It seems anti-climactic. It seems like a cheap way out. It doesn't quite live up to the call of Jesus found in the Gospels. Jesus called people to follow him. Not one time does Jesus lead someone in a prayer. I had a student ask me one time where the sinner's prayer was found in the Bible. I had to tell him the truth: it's not. The sinner's prayer is something we came up with to make it easy for someone to accept Jesus into their hearts. I think we are missing something.
For too long, we have been teaching a Gospel that is a little watered down. The gift of grace through Jesus Christ is easy. I don't want to make it seem like it's not. However, it's not just about saying a prayer or even accepting Jesus into our hearts that makes us a Christian. If you read the Gospels closely and even the letters of Paul, Peter, and John, there is never a time where any of them lead someone in a prayer or tell people to accept Jesus into their hearts. The only statement that alludes to accepting Jesus into our hearts is found in Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." I can see where maybe we got the idea of a sinner's prayer and accepting Jesus into our hearts from this verse. However, Paul is not leading a prayer where someone accepts Jesus into their hearts. Like Jesus, Paul did not preach a Gospel where one could simply say a prayer to be saved. Paul preached a Gospel that was all about denying ourselves. He preached a Gospel that was all about considering our old life rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus preached and taught of a better life for all who would believe. When a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, he looked at those who brought her and said that if any of them that had not sinned could cast the first stone. All of them left and Jesus looked at the woman without condemnation. He told her to leave her life of sin. He did not lead her into a prayer. He did not demand she ask him for forgiveness. He saved her because he knew she had faith in him.
This is the Gospel that needs to be preached today. This is the Gospel that is going to lead people from a life of darkness and destruction to a life of light and life. This is the Gospel the world needs. We don't need another prayer that will promise us the world. We need a Gospel that gives us a Savior who wants to save us and give us a new life. We need a Gospel that gives us a Lord who wants to be in control of our lives because, let's be honest, we make a train wreck of our lives. We need the Jesus of the Gospels not the Jesus of the altar calls. We need the King of Kings who is passionate about us. We need the Love of our Souls who wants to rejoice over us with singing. We need the Lion of Judah who will ferociously protect from and attack anything that is harmful to us, including our sin. This is the Jesus I want to follow and this is the Jesus I want to preach.
As I have grown older, I have reflected a lot on this time of my life. I have wondered to myself, "Is this how one follows Christ? Is this what the Bible commands us to do? Is this how Jesus did it?" To be a Christian, is it really as simple as saying a "sinner's prayer" and then joining a church? I almost feel like a heretic to even question this. I have been to countless evangelism events and services and seen the speaker have everyone close their eyes, bow their heads, and raise their hands if they want to accept Jesus. I have always wondered why it had to be private? Aren't we taught in Scripture to not be ashamed of Christ or the Gospel? Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow him while he was at his tax collector's booth in the middle of everyone. I have led people in the sinner's prayer in order to be saved. But, is this it? Is this what the Gospel teaches us? Is this the Gospel?
It seems anti-climactic. It seems like a cheap way out. It doesn't quite live up to the call of Jesus found in the Gospels. Jesus called people to follow him. Not one time does Jesus lead someone in a prayer. I had a student ask me one time where the sinner's prayer was found in the Bible. I had to tell him the truth: it's not. The sinner's prayer is something we came up with to make it easy for someone to accept Jesus into their hearts. I think we are missing something.
For too long, we have been teaching a Gospel that is a little watered down. The gift of grace through Jesus Christ is easy. I don't want to make it seem like it's not. However, it's not just about saying a prayer or even accepting Jesus into our hearts that makes us a Christian. If you read the Gospels closely and even the letters of Paul, Peter, and John, there is never a time where any of them lead someone in a prayer or tell people to accept Jesus into their hearts. The only statement that alludes to accepting Jesus into our hearts is found in Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." I can see where maybe we got the idea of a sinner's prayer and accepting Jesus into our hearts from this verse. However, Paul is not leading a prayer where someone accepts Jesus into their hearts. Like Jesus, Paul did not preach a Gospel where one could simply say a prayer to be saved. Paul preached a Gospel that was all about denying ourselves. He preached a Gospel that was all about considering our old life rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus preached and taught of a better life for all who would believe. When a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, he looked at those who brought her and said that if any of them that had not sinned could cast the first stone. All of them left and Jesus looked at the woman without condemnation. He told her to leave her life of sin. He did not lead her into a prayer. He did not demand she ask him for forgiveness. He saved her because he knew she had faith in him.
This is the Gospel that needs to be preached today. This is the Gospel that is going to lead people from a life of darkness and destruction to a life of light and life. This is the Gospel the world needs. We don't need another prayer that will promise us the world. We need a Gospel that gives us a Savior who wants to save us and give us a new life. We need a Gospel that gives us a Lord who wants to be in control of our lives because, let's be honest, we make a train wreck of our lives. We need the Jesus of the Gospels not the Jesus of the altar calls. We need the King of Kings who is passionate about us. We need the Love of our Souls who wants to rejoice over us with singing. We need the Lion of Judah who will ferociously protect from and attack anything that is harmful to us, including our sin. This is the Jesus I want to follow and this is the Jesus I want to preach.
Friday, December 14, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
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.
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.
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