A Good Place to Start

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 17-19

I think this passage is a great reminder of the needs that Jesus met. He just spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan and the next thing we see him do is show up the Temple to bring the word. And the word was not “Well done good and faithful Pharisee!” The word was “I am here to help those in need!” Now spiritually speaking we know that is all of us, but Jesus is also talking about meeting physical needs.

Do you want to be used by God, but don’t know what to do? Maybe we should follow Jesus’ example and reach out to those in need. Reach out to the poor, those in prison, the sick, the oppressed, and proclaim the favor of God to all those you can.

The Gospel Can Shake Some Sense Into You

This year has been a significant year for Sarah Grace and me, spiritually speaking. We have been reading challenging books, listening to challenging sermons, and discussing these topics with ourselves and with others. We have been reading the Bible more and praying more. In all of this we have been seeing the spirit of God work in our lives. The Word of God has been revealing changes that we need to make in the way we live. The Spirit of God is showing things He wants us to do with our lives. If I pause to think about it I ask myself “What is going on?” The only answer that I can give is that the Gospel is starting to shake some sense into us. And it is exciting!

Jared Wilson has a post titled Hijacked by the Gospel. I love that title! It really expresses what has started to happen in our lives. Here is a statement from the blog that I liked.

I have been laid hold of. I've been apprehended. I was writing my own life story, and it was a tragedy despite my own best efforts. But my life story got hijacked by the good news. –Jared Wilson

He also includes this quote from Michael Horton’s book The Gospel Driven Life.

"The Gospel is not just a series of facts to which we yield our assent but a dramatic narrative that re-plots our identity." - Michael Horton

Click here to read the full post. Wilson challenges me when I read what he has to say about the Gospel and what it should be doing in our lives.

Amazed

We just finished reading the book of John in our reading of the New Testament and are now on to Acts. It was awesome to read through the 4 gospels over the last month. It is exciting to see the different styles of the 4 authors and how they recorded the events of Jesus’ life. It is also amazing to see all that Jesus did and makes me wonder how people chose not to believe. When we see all that Christ did, it should fill us with a since of awe and wonder. We should be amazed by Him. We should be like Job when God shows up in a whirlwind to confront the questions. Job chapter 38-39 is a barrage of questions hurled at Job which Job could not answer.

“Then the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.” Job 40:1-5

I was reminded of that passage from a book I am currently reading. The book is titled The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani. In the chapter that he mentions this passage, he is discussing the fact that we have worked so hard at trying to perfect our knowledge of God that we have lost the awe and wonder we should experience when we think of God. He had this to say about it.

With our endless and unqualified words about God, the awe-inspiring Lord that Job encountered in the whirlwind looks today like a tempest in a teacup—a containable, practical, and manageable deity. –Skye Jethani from The Divine Commodity

Now this is not to say that we shouldn’t study the word and try to dig deeper into what God has to say. It means that we need to make sure that we don’t get so wrapped up in our knowledge of God that we forget the mystery of God. So the next time you open up the word, be amazed by it. The next time you look up at the stars or stare out at the ocean be amazed by the one who created it all. Consider your life and where it would be without Him, and Be Amazed!

Sweet as Honey

The voice said to me, “Son of man, eat what I am giving you—eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Eat it all,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey. Ezekiel 3: 1-3

I have mentioned before the fact that Sarah Grace and I are reading through the New Testament right now. We decided we would start with the New Testament and once we finish that we will move on to the fun stuff like Leviticus. We have been reading together at night before we go to bed. Two weeks ago I read this blog post about a family tradition of reading the bible together after a meal. The post is awesome. Click here to read the post. It is beautifully written as are all of her other posts. Here is a small segment of the post but I really recommend you read the whole post.

It's the way he was raised, the way his parents had been raised back in the homeland. You never leave the table without chewing the Real Bread. Even if there were cows to milk and you had to run, or you were late for prayer meeting at the church, or you had company for dinner. If you sat down to eat, you never left the table without eating Words. –Ann Voskamp

Then last night when I pulled up Jared Wilson’s blog he had posted a video that is titled What is the bible basically about, that comes from a message from Tim Keller. I thought it is another good way to approach the bible as we read it.



I wanted to share these two things and encourage you to spend some time in the Word today. It truly is “as sweet as honey!”

Point of Convergence

This guy rocked my world at Men at the Cross this last weekend. He is awesome! I found this video and wanted to share it.

My Only Hope

The Psalmist in Psalm 119 discusses the hope that he has in God's word and some of the truths about the word. It is filled with beautiful statements. Please take 5-10 minutes to sit down and read through this Psalm.

One of the things that is important about this passage is that the writer is not only praising the promises of God. He does praise God for His promises, but he also praises God about His laws and commands. This is something that I think many Christians have gotten away from. We like the promises of God. We like the hope that we have because of those promises. But we don't treasure the law of God like the author does. At least I don't. Check out this quote from Matt Chandler about this issue.

The law is a shadow of the Kingdom to come. God says in the law, "This is how I have designed things to work. Live in accordance with how I have designed things to work." The Law, although our generation talks about it as it is a dirty word, they don't talk about the law as if its a dirty word in the Old Testament. David Praises it "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Because the law lines us up with how the universe is supposed to work. --Matt Chandler from the Right Now Conference 2009

Here are some of the truths about the word of God that come from Psalm 119.

The Word of God revives us(vs 25)
The Word of God encourages us(vs 28)
The Word of God gives life(vs 37)
The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path(vs 105)
The Word of God is our only source of hope(vs 114

Hebrews 4:12 tells us the "Word of God is living and active." But for that to be true in our lives we have to know it. We have to cling to it as the Psalmist does. And we have to cling to all of it, not just the parts that make us feel good.

This last week while I was reading through a passage that I have read before, the Spirit of God showed me what was meant by this familiar passage. It was like a light was turned on. I thought "How in the world did I not realize this is what that passage was about?" It is amazing when God reveals to you something from His word. No matter how big or how small the message is, the fact that our God, opens our eyes to the truths in His word, is awesome.

Does your life need to be revived? Do you need encouragement? Do you need to know what direction God wants you to go? Do you need the hope that can come only from God? Then there is only one thing to do.

Open up His word!

(note: The painting used at the top of this post is titled Still Life of Bible. It was painted by Vincent Van Gogh)

Prayer by Saint Patrick

I came across this prayer on the website/blog of Eric Sandras. Sandras is the author of Plastic Jesus and two other books. This is a prayer from Saint Patrick from during the 4th or 5th century. As you read it, meditate on what each statement is asking and recognize your need for each of these items in your life.

May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God, preserve us.
May the wisdom of God, instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us.
May the shield of God defend us
May the host of God guard us against the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us.
Christ before us.
Christ in us.
Christ over us.
May Thy salvation, O Lord, be always ours this day and forevermore.
--Saint Patrick

Thorny Ground

Last night while reading in Luke I read the parable of the four soils. Here is Jesus' words explaining the parable:

"This is the meaning of the story: The seed is God's Message." The seed that fell on the hard path represents those who hear the message, but then the Devil comes and steals it away and prevents them from believing and being saved. The rocky soil represents those who hear the message with joy. But like young plants in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. They believe for a while, but they wilt when the hot winds of testing blow. The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God's message, cling to it and steadily produce a huge harvest." Luke 8: 11-15

When I read the passage the Thorny ground really stuck out to me. It just seems like so many believers fall into this category. Especially American believers. And don't take this as a finger pointing post about how everyone else has it wrong and I have it right. I fully admit that I have been in this category for extended periods of time.

Let's take a look at verse 14. Those in thorny ground hear and accept. They believe what they have heard to be true. Then something happens. They start worrying about things in this life. They start focusing on money and on enjoyable things. When I read the that I get the image of most Americans whether they are believers or not. The truth is crowded out by worry, desire of money, and the desire to have a good time. I think this is a problem even in many people's lives even in the believers who are in church each Sunday. Do you see this in churches? More importantly do you see it in your life? Is your life filled more with worry or consumed with the American Dream? Are you constantly seeking bigger and better pleasures in life? Are you stuck because of those things and unable to spiritually mature? If so maybe we need to ask ourselves if Jesus was talking about us when he told about the thorny ground.

Now let's take a look at verse 15. This is where we need to be. Good soil represents honest and good-hearted people who hear God's word and cling to its truths. All of the truths, not half of the truths. They cling to both the good news and to the commands. His way becomes their way of life and good works are constantly producing a spiritual harvest.

God, I pray my life will always represent the good soil in this passage, and always for your glory.

Do Something If You Can

I wonder how much of God's work has been interrupted by doubt. Now of course I know that God is supreme and can do whatever He chooses to bring glory to himself even if people doubt. We see stories in the New Testament where people doubt but Jesus still performs the miracle to bring glory to the father. But Jesus does say how if we have faith, we could move the mountains. So if we believe the word of God, why don't we move the mountains that our in our lives and in others lives? We don't move mountains for one reason: Doubt.

Jesus says to the disciples on several occasions that they need to stop doubting. Doubt has been an epidemic since Christ started his ministry. Some of his family doubted who he was, some of his disciples doubted His abilities. What is really crazy is when his disciples doubt the abilities of Christ after they have already seen him take care of a problem before. Example: Jesus feeds five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fish and it is amazing. Just a little while later there is a crowd of four thousand and the disciples say "How are we supposed to find enough food for them here in the wilderness?" I don't know why Jesus didn't say "Ok guys, pack it up. You can go home."

My wife and I just started reading through the New Testament recently. We came to this passage and I thought, "This is our problem!" By "our problem", I mean the churches problem.

"How long has this been happening?" Jesus asked the boy's father. He replied, "Since he was very small. The evil spirit often makes him fall into he fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can." "What do you mean 'If I can!?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!" --Mark 9: 21-24

Did this guy seriously just have this conversation with Jesus? "Do something if you can" and "I believe but help me not doubt." He just told Jesus, The Son of God, God himself, "Do something if you can." Why didn't Jesus say "Dude! I was there in the beginning. I was involved with making all of creation. Just ask my disciples what they have seen me do in the last year. And in a couple of days when they finish telling you about half the stories, come back and see me."

Of course this guy isn't the only person with this problem. I feel like this mind set is running rampant in the church today. We believe in the Power of God. We have heard the stories of His awesome power, probably even seen His power in our own lives, but we still doubt. We take our prayers to God with a heart of "Do something if you can." We believe but we still have doubts. What kind of faith is that?

I want us all to be encouraged to believe God without doubt. Mark 6: 1-6 shares a tragic story that I don't want to happen to any of us. Jesus goes to his hometown and the people don't believe. Verses 5 & 6 say "And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any mighty miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief." Don't let Christ look at your life and say, "I can't do anything here because they won't believe!"

Just Believe!

Open up

A while back I posted on my blog: They Will Know We Are Christians by our...T-Shirts One of the points of it being that we needed to use our words. We need to tell people about Jesus. We can't just be good and expect people to understand the gospel and accept Christ. We have to open up our mouths and share the Good News.

Jared Wilson posted this video of John Piper titled Telling People the Gospel from a Heart of Love and a Life of Service. Piper is awesome! Watch what he has to say about the importance of words and actions.



One of the reasons this really caught my attention was our joining with Compassion United to feed the homeless in our area. It is easy to cook some food and show up serve it with a smile. But if that is all that we do all we have given them a full stomach, which is temporary, with out meeting any spiritual needs, which is eternal.

Forget the "Yeah, But..."

I finished reading Radical by David Platt a couple of weeks ago, and now I have listened to over half of the Radical sermon series that Platt did at his church(Thank You Jeff & Jessica!) Let me start with WOW!!! I highly recommend both the book and the sermons. As far as listening to the sermons you can listen to them or watch them online, or you can download them from ITunes for free and put them on your ipod.

Radical challenges us to consider the true implications of claiming to be a Christian while looking at some of the tough passages in the New Testament. The one thing that I would recommend while reading and listening to the sermons is that you fight the urge to say "Yeah, but..." Many believers have gotten to a comfortable spot, myself included, and we don't want to consider how some of these passages apply to us. We try to say, "Yeah, but Jesus didn't really mean it that way." Or we say "Yeah, but Jesus didn't say that to all followers just to some." And we assume that these verses don't really apply to us for one reason or another.

If you can avoid the urge to dismiss the verses, you are likely to be challenged to examine your life in a way that you never have before. It will also challenge you to examine the gospel in ways that you never have before.

If you have read the book or listened to the sermons, please share your thoughts and experiences connected with it. I can't express enough how God is using these sermons and this book to open my eyes to what He is calling me to.

God, I pray that you give us strength to fight the urge to downplay your words and instructions for our lives. Change our hearts so we can see the ways we are disobeying your instructions. Forgive our disobedience and guide us into a life dedicated to bringing you Glory. I ask this in the name of Jesus.