A New Set of Tracks

What's your Deal?

For many years I have been thinking about the difference between sharing my faith by some program, like DE or EE, using a bunch of verses and a canned script, or by telling my own personal story of how God grabbed ahold of me and changed me. There are differences of opinion on this subject and some say that you need to give a chain of verses and get people to recite a prayer, while others say that this kind of thing should be much more relational and less Bible verses.

In reading Acts 22 this morning Paul asked to tell his conversion story and it wasn't well received. I don't see any verses in the passage, I know that now it is all verses, but no OT verses, and all he did was tell about who he was before, what he was doing and what happened that made him so different today; his story.

There was something different about Paul now that was very irritating to many around him, not because he was being a jerk, I mean he was killing people before and he was well received so maybe that's one clue, or because he was constantly reciting OT passages to them but because he was different than he was before. Paul was often in the Synagogue and in houses talking about Scripture, explaining to others what a certain passage meant, but when asked "What's your deal?" he gave his testimony instead of a long list of verses. Why do you suppose that is?

A Changed life is Hopeful

I don't have all the answers to all the questions that people have about the Bible; Paul was obviously in a much better place to refute objections than I am. I can't explain every question that the Bible raises, but I can tell of the hope that is in me. I can tell you that God did something in me and it's made me look at life much differently today than I did some years ago.

Everyone has something that they are looking forward to, maybe you want to call them goals and maybe you don't; some call it a "bucket list" and others are not that organized, but we all have something that causes us to get up in the morning and keeps us up later at night. God can change your bucket list and take everything that has no meaning and replace it with very meaningful things; things that have purpose. Paul understood this and so do I.

Who's the Hero?

In Paul's recounting of why he was different than before, there is only one "hero" in the story and it wasn't Paul. All Paul could say was that before God got ahold of his life, he was on one track and then, by no intention in himself, he was on a completely different track and the One who changed his course of direction was God.

It seems that people often want to point back to things that we have done in our conversion but if it were up to me, dependent on me, I would still be on the old track. God not only took me off that track but made it so that the new track is a much more enjoyable track to be on than was the old.

How does something like that happen? If my desires were the same as they were previously then everyday I would wake up and be miserable on the new tracks, but God changed my heart and that is why life is worth living and that is why life is full of hope. I no longer have my hope centered around things on earth and my hope is in what is to come.

Sure I have things I would like to accomplish today and tomorrow and this year, but if I don't see them accomplished my life in not wasted, because that is not why I live and breath any more. I don't know how that all happened but I know that God did something specific to and in me and HE changed my life and I never want to go back to the way it was before.

That's not a verse and I am not the "hero" of the story but God changed ME and I am glad He did even though I am not sure of all He did or even exactly when He did it all, but He did change me and that gives me hope, because if He can change me I know He can change you.

A Father's Care in View

As a dad it is my job to provide for the family that God has given me. As dads we should take that responsibility seriously while yet understanding clearly that it is God that gives the means for us to provide. Often we get these 2 things out of perspective and think it is us, the dads, who are doing the providing; that is until the means we are given to provide is diminished or taken away completely.

So as I sit here are write and pray for the kids who are all the way across the continent I am reminded that it is not I who am the sole provider, it is not Ian who is not in charge of what happens, it is not required of us to be able to keep vehicles running on a shoe string budget, but rather it is God Who keeps things running, or NOT, and it is He Who alone is the provider of all we need.

So what kind of lessons does God teach us in times when we are not really able to provide for ourselves? What kinds of things do He want us to get?

I think, first off, that He is interested in us getting this idea- like the children of Israel in the wilderness. They actually had money and yet God placed them where the money was useless to provide for their daily needs. The ONLY thing they could do was to follow God's plan and receive what He gave.

The second thing is that we should be watching for what He does. I want to help the kids but at this time I really don't have the menas to do that and it doesn't matter bc God does have the means. He not only has the means but He is eager to give and wants to be recognized and thanked for His provision.

So today, as I pray from the other side of the US, I am humbled that God can provide much better than I and that He WILL provide in His time and perfectly for the needs of those that I love so much.

What an awesome God we serve and it is amazing to watch Him work in ways that only He can. Wait but get ready to worship because He provides more than we can ask or imagine and I have a pretty big imagination.

Leadership Expose'- Where's Nathan?

Massive Leadership Issues

As I watch the news, read some blogs, see some FB posts, follow some Twitter feeds and live life it seems there is an epic leadership disconnect going on today and the Church is not exempt, in fact maybe the Church is leading this decline.

Where are the Nathans in the world today who will stand up to these men and say, "Enough is enough. Either you do what is right or you will need to step down"?

Today our positions of leadership are filled from the inside, bottom up, so that every leader seems to have a bunch of dirt on the people below him and is willing to use that dirt to remain at the level he has attained no matter how ugly it might get; no matter who he needs to throw under the bus.

Biblical Model

Matthew 18:15-17 clearly defines how we are to deal with sin in the Church and it is not talking about just the pew sitters; it is SIN in the Church.
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

So, if I see someone do something that looks like sin to me, I am to go to that person, by myself, and in the spirit of Gal. 6:1, a spirit of meekness because it could be me next time, I am to confront them on this issue or concern. If they blow me off and say I am wrong and recriminate me, then I am to take 2 or 3 others with me and attempt to win the brother again; again, in the spirit of Gal. 6. If after this is done and there is still no repentance or humility, then I am to take it to the church, whether that be the leadership of the church as a whole is part of this question.

Today's Model

What it seems like is happening all too frequently in the Church today is that maybe the first to steps of Matt. 18 are being done but as soon as there is no repentance the playing field gets really messy. The "officials" come in to the aid of their favorite "players" and change the rules, don't make them play by the same rules that the Bible outlines and then even start to lobby penalties against those who were originally following the Biblical model.

How can this be? Where are the leaders who require leaders to be REAL leaders? Where are the men who will not turn their backs and say "I didn't see anything wrong", when in fact they absolutely know something is wrong but they are afraid of losing something and so rather than risk losing a position or a paycheck they look the other way, or even cover up the sin by lying? Where are they I ask?

Nathan's Example

Nathan was in a pretty tough spot. Nathan had to go tell the most beloved king of his country "You are that man." Do you think that is what Nathan was wanting to do when he got up that morning? Do you think he was thinking "This will be easy"? Do you think that maybe he was thinking he might lose his HEAD?

It doesn't matter what we might lose. If we know what the right thing to do is and we don't do it, that in itself is sin. Many leaders today know exactly what the right thing to do is and yet they look the other way. Many sheep will leave the Church and never look back because of how they have been treated by leadership.

It's interesting to me that early in Matt 18 there is a section on causing "little ones" to stumble. There is a "Woe to you" for causing others to stumble and do you suppose it could be directed at leadership? The Pharisees were pretty good at changing the rules, causing people to stumble and elevating themselves and their associates and Jesus called them a brood of vipers.

The Goal

The goal of Matt 18 is to win the brother. "Winning" takes on many forms and winning them might come in the form of them seeing their sin, repenting from that sin, losing their job and having an amazing impact on the Church for many generations in a different capacity. Winning is not letting their sin go on and on, never saying anything about it and hoping that someday God sends someone to say something. He already did and when you look in the mirror you're looking at him.

Nathan wasn't looking around for someone to do his job; he went and did it. In meekness and humility we are to go to our leaders and try to win them towards becoming more like Christ, to be better leaders and better sheep.

I am concerned for those leaders today that are not willing to lose something here on earth to do the right thing because God will always make it right! Be a friend and a brother to your leaders and do what God has called you to do; with respect, honor and meekness, but go do it.

Fighting Christians

"Fight the good fight of faith." 1 Timothy 6:12

True Christianity is a fight!

True Christianity! Let us mind that word "true." There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a "profession" of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die.

But you never see any "fight" about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self-denial and watching and warring--they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is "a fight!"

The principal fight of the Christian is with . . .
the world,
the flesh, and
the devil.
These are his never-dying foes! These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. With a corrupt heart, a busy devil and an ensnaring world--he must either "fight" or be lost!

To be at peace with the world, the flesh and the devil--is to be at enmity with God and in the broad way that leads to destruction! We have no choice or option. We must either fight--or be lost!

It is a fight of universal necessity. No rank or class or age can plead exemption, or escape the battle--all alike must carry arms and go to war.
All have by nature a heart full of pride, unbelief, sloth, worldliness and sin!
All are living in a world beset with snares, traps and pitfalls for the soul.
All have near them a busy, restless, malicious devil.
All, from the queen in her palace down to the pauper in the workhouse--all must fight, if they would be saved.

We may take comfort about our souls, if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness.

The saddest symptom about many so-called Christians, is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once or twice every week. But of the great spiritual warfare--its watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests--of all this they appear to know nothing at all."
(J.C. Ryle, "The Fight!")

This is very true and I would like to just add that there is a fight for joy in all this. We are fighting all these things every minute of every day, but we also must have joy in this fight or what unbeliever would want to join the fight?

I also didn't like the term "Never-dying foes" because these all will die and we are more than conquerors of all these things, which should help us in our fight for joy. But I did like his overall idea behind the post.

Danger, Danger

Danger Ahead
Reading the Exodus narrative is an amazing journey if you take your time and let your mind imagine all the things that were happening along the way. It is also a terrifying reminder of how wicked the heart can be.

God's Patience

It is strange to me that Moses argues with God and yet God still uses him and even gives him a provision for his weakness in being the spokes person. I'm not really sure why God listens to whiny/complaining people but He has a plan and it obviously included Moses in all his weakness and trepidation.

I love that God tells Moses what to say and actually what Pharaoh is going to say and do in response to what Moses says. We have God's Word to go back to and see His faithfulness through previous generations, Moses could look back on his own history of how he was saved from an early death and yet God knew that he needed the extra measure of grace in this time.

God is Serious

Hardness of heart; what a terrible place to be found. As I read through the narrative and God says that Pharaoh hardened his heart and then God hardens his heart I was struck with the realization that I know people like this today. Certainly God is not showing His power after the morning message by swarming our city with gnats, flies, frogs or boils but He does send people into our lives to shake us up and cause us to listen.

God doesn't send a Moses to each of us today but we have His Word and we should have godly people around us that can hold us accountable. If someone comes to us and tells us they are concerned about something in our lives, we should consider it. Since God isn't giving the plagues to us anymore maybe the "plague" is more than one person making the same or similar statements. If we ignore God's use of people and His Spirit our hearts are becoming hard just like Pharaoh's.

God is the Provider

The Jews were the slaves to the Egyptians and it was only 1 generation ago that Joseph had been 2nd in command to Pharaoh and provided for the entire Egyptian and Jewish nation. In one generation the whole thing came tumbling down and yet God allowed the Jews to leave Egypt far richer than they had entered.

They came in on wagons and carts with no food. Many had given everything they had just to get the food they needed to live and while they were leaving Egypt the Egyptians gave them loads of treasures- they held them up without a gun or sword.

That gold would skip a generation in its usefulness because they were in the wilderness for 40 more years and that entire generation was not allowed to go to a place where the money was needed, but rather God would provide for them all they needed in the wilderness. But before they got there God had one more serious miracle to show them His power as well as to show Pharaoh what a hard heart will get you.

God always Wins

Chasing them into the wilderness after he had let them go is a good sign of a very hard heart, I mean he had just seen every first born of everything be killed in one night. Really do you think you're gonna win this one? He's mad and he's gonna prove his point to those wicked Jews. We've seen this in history since.

So if all that is not enough here's the proverbial straw. Pharaoh no doubt had seen the Red Sea in it's normal state; the way you can see it today and every other body of water on the planet. He had just seen God clean his clock in 10 different ways plus the plundering that the Jews had done without lifting a finger and yet when he comes to the edge of the sea that is parted shouldn't there have been a really large warning sign there?

Again, the hardness of ones heart is so evident. God plans things in our lives for a purpose and we can either learn and grow from them or we can harden our hearts and push forward no matter the warnings we are given. May that never be me and may that never be you.

A Snake in the Grass

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Set Up
I have a friend who for years has been telling me and many other that he is a Christian. So if we use the criteria above how would others know whether what he is saying is true or not? Jesus drops the analogy of fruit and words into the same paragraph, so I am taking this to mean that they are somehow linked. Jesus- talking to Jews in front of their very religious leaders is making a very poignant statement and you probably could have heard a pin drop in the dust until the "vipers" started hissing.

Good and Bad Trees and Fruit
If you have a tree that is diseased sometimes the only way you can deal with it is to tear it out and start over again. Sometimes you can treat it for a few seasons and bring it around. A good gardner or orchardist would know which trees have issues and be watching them. It goes without saying that a gardner is not thinking about ripping out a tree because it is producing good fruit though.

Evil People Exude Venom
It is also interesting to me that Jesus immediately goes from good and bad to words."How can you speak good, when you are evil?" Jesus was not looking for an answer here. So, think again whom He is talking to. These were men who quoted Scripture, were in church all the time, looked very religious and prayed in front of the masses anytime they had opportunity. Was Jesus saying that Scripture was bad? No. Was Jesus saying that going to church was evil? No. He must have been giving the idea that those "good things" coming from their mouths were tainted with venom- like they shouldn't be trusted.

Over Flowing
Jesus' next words are "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." He is wrapping a lot of things into one paragraph; fruit, words and the heart. So, trees are known by their fruit, words and fruit are linked and both of those are linked to the heart. If the tree is bad it produces bad fruit, no matter what words are coming from it. Bad trees, no matter what they say can't produce "good" words. Jesus has to be telling us to watch out for people who look good, say things that appear to be good and yet are really snakes.

There is abundance in all our hearts. We become like what we love or Who we love and this fills up our hearts. If I love American muscle cars and I read about them all the time and go to car shows and have a couple in my garage, guess what, I am going to be talking about them a lot. Those cars are filling up my heart and out of the abundance of my heart I want to speak. It is not work for me to speak about those cars- it flows out of me. You can insert whatever is your fight; sports, food, sewing, books, movies, work or God.

Unrestricted Flow
A person who is truly a "good tree" will have abundance flowing out from their heart to others. The Word implanted and watered will be growing up into a fountain of living water and the outflow will be psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as they are making melody in their hearts towards God. This is not work or effort- it just will come out. When something comes up it will often be directed back to God and His attributes and Word.

I digress for a moment- This is not some kind of manufactured love for God followed by religious pride, like the Pharisees and a quick way to tell is by where is the focus of the story. Is it "God did this even when I was not trusting" or "I had so much faith and I prayed for the last 20 years about this and finally I got what I asked God for"? Look at these 2 statements. "God is faithful" and "I just had to have faith".

Inspecting Fruit
We hear all the time- "Don't judge me"- but isn't this what Jesus is calling attention to right here in this paragraph? Wasn't He telling others to watch out for the "vipers" around them that said one thing and must have been doing another? Wasn't He calling them to be very careful around the snakes? He was saying all that as well as telling us to examine our own lives, hearts, fruit and words.
If "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" then shouldn't it be that if we are "good trees" bearing "Good fruit" that there should often be spiritual abundance coming from our lives and mouths?

Back to my friend. Saying you're a Christian without ever talking about spiritual things should be a red flag. If our hearts are to be overflowing and there is seldom overflow in spiritual things then I think we are getting the answer as to whether the tree is good or bad- no matter what the tree is claiming.

What's your Stinking Deal?

Get out of the Game
This year we are hearing so much about the amazing selflessness of a guy named Tim Tebow. Here's a guy who could have been aborted but he wasn't. He could have listened to the press that he was never going to amount to much and certainly wouldn't make it in the NFL because "He doesn't throw well" or "He's the wrong size". Who's that talking anyway? Wh's trying to take him out of the game?

He could choose to listen to all the critics but thus far he is not interested in coming out of the game or the spotlight either on the field or off. He's got a platform and he's gonna stay on it and use it as much as is possible.

What about you?
I think that there are many who think that they don't have that kind of platform so what's the use? Maybe you want to have a huge influence/audience and if God doesn't give that to you then you are fine not doing really anything. Really? Wouldn't that be similar to saying "I never am going to make a million dollars in a year so what's the point of working and providing"?

Doing What Tebow Can't!
So, let's say that I can encourage you to get up out of our funk and connect with some people and do something that Tim Tebow can't do- influence your friends personally. Just think about the influence that you have on others. Are you waiting for someone else to come and do your "work" for you? When you are hanging out with your friends and family, when you're talking about spiritual things and encouraging spiritual growth in others and asking for accountability from others you will start to gain influence and really start to make an impact. A knife actually needs a steel and a steel has little use if there is no knife. Which are you?

A New Year
We have a new year and so how about trying to really engage others that are already in your life? One at a time, one hour or day at a time you can make a difference in someone who might be waiting for your encouraging words or actions and you just never know- you might have a life long relationship that starts from just that.

Ready, Set, GO!