Opened Eyes

There were some books that became popular when I was a child called Magic Eye.  They were these books full of colorful images that when you looked at them a certain way—crossing your eyes, or blurring your vision—a hidden image seemingly floating before your eyes would magically appear, springing forth from the once flat and meaningless page.  The mystery was contagious.  What images of depth and dimension awaited on the next pages my fingers would eagerly flip to?  It would take a while to train your eyes to see the hidden pictures, but once you did you couldn’t help but want more.

Right now I feel God is giving me new eyes—training me to see the hidden opportunities full of unexpected wonder and excitement all around me.  What once seemed flat and bleak now springs forth with beauty, depth and dimension, wonder and new life!  Growing up in the church, I learned how to say the right things, think the right thoughts, and grind out the same behaviors to scrape by in my “Christian duty.”  It’s not all that hard for a church kid to look and act “churchy.”  Yet when I look at God’s word, and see that Jesus spent his time with the down and out, that he loved those on the fringes of society, that he brought healing and love to the impoverished—the  poor of means, heart and mind, and that he calls us to love and care for these people as well—carrying out his great commission to make disciples, and his great commandment to love him and others with hearts full of abandon…I have begun to see the disconnect in my life.  My Midwest, Minnesota nice (which in my case was a whole lot of nice…minus any real love), conservative, Scandinavian, keep-it-to-yourself, Christian culture has not always lined up with my claims of a transformed heart.  I’ve been staring at the flat page without experiencing the joyous wonder of the hidden gems that await the hearts of those who embrace the new eyes of Jesus Christ!  2^nd Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”  Sometimes it’s hard to look past our own fear…and place of comfort to see the adventure that awaits.

A few months ago, I found myself and a few other friends sitting around a table with someone who was down and out, someone searching for the hope found only in Jesus Christ.  This guy wasn’t the type of person I would normally associate with.  In the past, I would have justified my avoidance on our different backgrounds or personalities, or that I had other things to be doing for God, but this day I decided to test the waters, and I jumped full-fledge into my fears, and embraced a friendship with someone who like me, was broken and in need of God’s amazing grace.  That first day we met together, we all had tears as our new friend asked God to forgive him and lead his life down a new path.  There has been no looking back in this new journey—for him or for me.  Where I once saw a man worth avoiding—I now see a dear friend—and a new brother in Christ!  As I hopped in my car after that first meeting together, I asked myself, “Is this what I’ve been missing?  Is this the joy my fears have kept me from?  I don’t want to miss this ever again!”  Like the hidden pictures of a Magic Eye, my eyes have now seen the wonder…and I want more!

"The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields." Matthew 10:38.  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to put my gardening gloves on.  I don’t want to miss out in participating in the joy of the harvest!

  

Not what you would expect

We all have those moments when what we expect is not what we get.  One of my friends once surprised her dad with a glass of “Mountain Dew” that turned out to be an ice cold glass of pickle juice.  April fools! 

Amplify that sour taste a million times.  That must have been the shock the disciples faced as Jesus was arrested and taken to be hung on a cross.  This was not what they expected.

Skeptics of the resurrection of Jesus often say that the disciples must have stolen the body of Jesus, and lied about seeing the resurrected Christ.  Could this be the case?  Over 500 witnesses to the resurrected Christ—would they lie as well?  Would so many of the disciples—at least 10, if not all of them—willingly die for an elaborate hoax?  Would so many willingly face persecution—men and women who had ran in fear, boldly claiming the risen Lord?

It is important to recognize that no one, not even Jesus’ closest friends, expected Jesus to rise from the dead.  These 12 men who had devoted three years of their lives to following Jesus’ every move, going where he went, teaching what he taught, doing what he did—they thought everything had come to an end with Jesus hanging on the cross.  This one they believed to be the Messiah…was now dying the death of a criminal.  The one they believed would bring revolution; establish a new kingdom, save their people, now hung helplessly on a blood-stained cross, struggling for breath and slowly dying.  How confused they must have been!  How heartbroken!  How desperately afraid!  So afraid, in fact, that they scattered and hid.  Peter even denied knowing the one he had called Lord!  To them, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.  This wasn’t what was supposed to happen!  They never expected this. 

                Jesus cried out with his last breath, “It is finished!”  To the disciples, did those words seem to be the death of hope?

                There was another who received that day a gift that he couldn’t have expected.  A criminal, with crimes so heinous his punishment was death on a cross.  Amidst the barrage of hateful mockery flung at Jesus, and the cowering fear of fleeing disciples, this one man recognized the truth.  “Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom.”  The commentary in my bible draws this phenomenal contrast.  After Jesus death, one of his followers said to the yet unrecognized Christ on the road to Emmaus, “We had thought he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel.”  Christ’s followers thought the hope for a kingdom was over, while the thief recognized the hope for the Kingdom had come!  A dying criminal became the first person to receive new life in the sacrifice of Christ.  …not what you’d expect.

“It is finished.”  This was not the death of hope.  This was the death…of DEATH!  Hell was conquered on the cross!  Jesus planted his kingdom through his ministry, watered it with his shed blood, and it blossomed with beauty and might as he rose from the grave—Jesus, the conqueror of death—the first fruit of a great harvest!  As we place our faith in Christ, and make him Lord of our lives, we each are invited into his kingdom, into new life, into resurrection. 

What a beautiful gift; a gift like nothing we could have ever expected!

Integrity part 3: Lessons from the life of David

King David’s life slipped into territory reserved strictly for weekday soap operas pretty quick. Ironic since the whole incident started with a bath gone horribly wrong (get it…soap opera, bath…soap…bath…funny, right?). Equally ironic since the lady bathing was named Bathsheba…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at David’s blunder, and the how he responded to the confrontation of his sin.  2 Samuel 11 says,

1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.


There is a bit of a conflict in that first verse. It was the time of year when kings go out to war, yet David was bumming at the palace. David was not where he was supposed to be. There was a battle for him to be fighting
Like David, we too have been given a war to fight. Ours is a spiritual battle. We have been called to make disciples, to share the gospel of Christ. To do this effectively, we also have to battle our own sinful desires. But doing both of these things works best with a team of warriors fighting beside us. 4th lesson in integrity: Are you fighting your battle with a team of soldiers?


God has graciously given me a group of guys who I meet with regularly. They are my fellow warriors. Like David’s army, they are mighty men. Friends, we need brothers and sisters in arms fighting the spiritual battle with us—fighting our own sin and temptation to maintain integrity, and fighting to win souls. What is church if not that? I want to be a battleship—not a cruise line. When Christ returns what do you want to say to him—I sought souls for your kingdom, or I spent my years warming a pew?

2nd Samuel 11 goes on to say,

2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace.


Let’s just stop there, shall we? What was David up to? Napping mid-day, taking strolls on the roof…there is no problem with finding rest every now and then—in fact God asks us to, but this was not the right time for it, not when his men are out fighting his battles. He is not using this time wisely. Chances are if you got a bunch of free time with nothing constructive to fill it with, you also have a lot of sin issues that need dealing with. Idle time is the breeding ground of all sorts of evil. 5th Lesson in integrity: Don’t be idle?


…As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.

David was in the danger zone. He saw a beautiful woman and instead of fleeing temptation he lingered. Jesus says in Matthew 5:28 that if you look at a woman with lust in your eye, you have already committed adultery with her in your heart.  6th Lesson in integrity: Flee the danger zone.


What temptations do you need to flee from? Gossip, alcohol, anger, sex? We all have our sins of choice—let’s not give ourselves an opportunity to choose. When temptation attacks, run for your life!

3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her…


And that dirty slushy ball of sin grew as it snowballed down the hill. Unrepentant sin tends to breed new sin. David got Bathsheba pregnant, and attempted to cover it up through deceiving her husband; inviting him home from the battlefield, with the hope that he would sleep with his wife. Because Uriah is an honorable man, he refuses to face the comforts and pleasures of his wife’s company while so many others were suffering out on the battlefield. Since Uriah doesn’t bite the bait, David conceives a plan to have him killed.

David the king  royally messed up!

So, how does David’s response to confrontation compare with Saul’s? Let’s read it:

2 Samuel 12: 1-13,

1 So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. 2 The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. 3 The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.”


5 David was furious. “As surely as the LORD lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! 6 He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”


7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the LORD and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.


11 “This is what the LORD says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”


David Confesses His Guilt


13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”


7th Lesson in integrity: Do you have a Nathan in your life? Are you willing to listen to him or her? I have a friend who really cares about me. He asks me the tough questions. When I fall short, he calls me on it, and helps me get my feet walking in the right direction again. We all need a Nathan in our life.

When looking at Saul and David and comparing their two mistakes, if you were to ask me, it appears that David’s was a little bit more extreme. Yet, David was the one who was made right again. Why is that?

What sets Saul and David apart in their responses to the criticism from the Lord they received through two godly prophets? Like Saul, David confessed his sin, but unlike Saul, David admitted his sin right away without any justification. Why was David’s confession more favorable to God then Saul’s? We are not told, and can only guess. God does not look to our outward actions, but the motives of the heart. David was truly repentant, when it appears Saul was not. David cared about what God thought, while it appears Saul was concerned with the opinions of others.

David wrote a Psalm in response to his sin. I will share a few verses with you. Notice how similar his words are to the response given to Saul after he fell from grace.

Psalm 51:10-12, 16-17

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit[d] from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you...


...16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.


May we walk in companionship with the Lord our God with repentant hearts, and offering our obedience through a spirit broken for his Glory.

Integrity part 2: Lessons from the life of Saul

We all have moments in life when we forget that God is with us behind our closed doors. Instead of boldly proclaiming “I will not be shaken”, we stumble and fall. Let’s look at two men who took some pretty significant spills in their lives: Saul and David. Both men were anointed by God to be king of Israel. But only one was called a man after God’s own heart.

In both instances, these men were confronted by Godly men. What can we learn from these men’s mistakes, and how they respond to confrontation? First, we will look at Saul. In our next post we will look at David’s great stumble found in 2 Samuel 11.

We read in 1 Samuel 15 that God commanded Saul to wipe out the entire Amalekite nation—all the people, and even their animals. It is hard for us to grasp how a loving and gracious God could command such a thing, but we must remember that God’s mind is much bigger than our own. He is just, righteous, and cannot sin. Israel were his chosen people, and he did not want them intermarrying with people who would bring their false gods into the lives of his people, robbing them of the joy they could find in him. The Amalekites were also a very violent people group who could harm Israel…and had done so in the past. God’s extreme response was to wipe them out—completely.

1st Lesson in integrity: What are the Amalekites in our lives—those things that desire to pull us from God and harm us? We all have things in our lives we need to kill off. Is it an unhealthy relationship that needs to end? Sever the ties. Temptations online? Get rid of the Internet in your home. Debt on a card? Fast from needless spending. Are these extreme responses? Yes—but so was Gods. Jesus says in Matthew 5, if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out, and if your hand causes you to sin cut it off—it is better for these parts to parish then for the whole body to be thrown to Hell!

Saul failed to obey the task God gave him, leaving the king alive, and taking the best of the livestock. Deuteronomy 25:18 tells us that the Amalekites did not fear the Lord. Saul’s disobedience shows that neither did he.

When confronted by the prophet Samuel, Saul justified his disobedience saying the plunder of the battle was to be sacrificed to the Lord. But God desired obedience over sacrifice. 2nd Lesson in integrity: We too must ask ourselves, what sin are we justifying in our lives? Justifying sin reveals the true nature of our heart before God.

Samuel responds to Saul’s justifications in verses 22-23

22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the LORD:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”


In verse 24 of 1 Samuel 15, we see Saul finally admit his sin, and plead for forgiveness. Next week, we will see that David too admitted his sin to the Lord. Yet, God’s response to these men is strikingly different. The Lord does not forgive Saul like he does to David. Why is this? We are not told directly, we could only guess. But I think the passage gives us hints.

Verse 12 tells us that after fighting the Amalekites, Saul set up a monument to himself. Only a man very full of himself would do such a thing, right? Yet, verse 17 reveals that God knew how little Saul actually thought of himself. When Saul confesses in verse 24, he admits that he was afraid of his people and did what they demanded—this is why he disobeyed the Lord. After confessing, he begged Samuel to honor him before the people by going to the temple to worship the Lord with him.

It appears that Saul’s heart found its value in what his people thought of him. He was more concerned in pleasing others than in pleasing the Lord. 3rd Lesson in integrity: Who are our hearts set to please?

Integrity part 1: God behind our closed doors

I look forward to being a father one day. In all honesty, I shouldn’t. I know what kind of child I was. I am the reason patience is also called “long-suffering”. I have put my parents through a lot! Many of you have an idea of the different uses of a spatula—flipping pancakes, lifting fresh cookies from a hot tray. When I was a child, I had a very different understanding of the spatula. The spatula was a tool of discipline…one which paid me a visit quite often!

I bear no ill will towards my parents for my many spankings, in fact, I am grateful. They always came from a place of love; wanting to see me learn to walk in right behavior. They were always partnered with a “this is what you did wrong, this is how we can make it right, and here is the game plan to keep from making this mistake again.”

Part of growing up is learning through discipline, maturing, and putting childish behaviors behind us.

This is true in our Spiritual maturity as well. But sadly, as a pastor friend put it, there are many white-haired spiritual babies; grown men and women who have never grown in spiritual maturity; never learned to walk with the Lord in integrity.

I’d like to look at two men: Saul and David, and what their lives can teach us about integrity. Both men were anointed by God. Both were given the responsibility of ruling the nation of Israel. Yet, only one was called a man after God’s own heart.

1 Samuel 24 reveals an incident that was significant to both Saul and David’s lives. At the time, Saul held the thrown of Israel, but because of his disobedience, he’d already been told that God had found a man after his own heart who would rule the thrown. David was that man; he had already been anointed as the next king.

Saul wanted to see David dead. David hid with his soldiers in the wilderness of En-gedi, and Saul came with 3000 men to hunt him down. It just so happened by divine providence that Saul stepped into the very cave David and his men were hiding in to “relieve” himself. David literally caught Saul with his pants down—he was completely helpless! David’s men encouraged him, “now is your chance!” David snuck up behind the king, and snipped off a piece of his robe…and that’s when his conscience got the best of him.

I love this—David was so in tune with God, his conscience troubled him for damaging the clothing of the man who came to murder him in cold blood! Saul on the other hand, had closed God off so much that not only did he want to kill David—he dragged 3000 other men into sin with him.

There couldn’t be a greater contrast between David and Saul here. What sets them apart? The most simple, basic answer is that one recognized the presence of God while the other didn’t.

David listened to his conscience—Saul had shut his off.

Huddled in a room, there we sat— a group of friends confessing our trials; opening up behind a closed door in our chaotic college dorm. Many of us admitted the deep struggle it was to keep our minds and eyes pure behind the closed doors of our dorm rooms. “I don’t have a roommate…there’s no one to see what I do! How can I remain pure?” After a pause, one of my best friends thoughtfully spoke. “I’ve been thinking…what if we really…I mean really…believed that God is always with us—that he is there behind those closed doors. That he sees what we do. How would that change the way we live?

That question stuck with me and has formed the way I understand integrity. Integrity is recognizing that God is always with us, and living as such.

If we are honest, there are many times that we perhaps don’t want God to be with us. In those moments, it is only because we hold a skewed view of God. It is easy to slip into seeing God as a cosmic referee—he’s just waiting to blow the whistle when we mess up! You can’t do this, you can’t do that—can’t, can’t, can’t! In our skewed perception, God looks like a major killjoy. But how could the author and creator of joy kill it? No! God wants to bring us true joy, and let us experience it to the fullest! He’s like the father of a toddler who reaches down to grab the dog food, worm, or pine cone from his child’s hand before the tot’s pudgy fingers plop it in his mouth. “No! You don’t want to eat that! I have something better—much, much better for you.” False joys leave a bad taste in our mouth. Our greatest joy is found in walking with God.

David writes in Psalm 16 about the joy found living one’s life in companionship with God. Here are a couple verses…

… 8 I know the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.


... 11 You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.


As we continue this blog series on integrity, we will look at those moments when the “I will not be shaken” becomes the stumbling and falling down that we all do. Both Saul and David had some significant slip ups. Both were confronted by godly men for their sin. What can we learn from their mistakes, and the way they responded?

The Lord's Prayer

One of the most beautiful things about becoming a Christian is that as the Holy Spirit transforms our lives, He begins to align our desires with those of the Father so that as we mature in our prayer life, we begin to pray not for the desires of our flesh, but for the desires of the Father.  Our desires become one and the same with His.

I love to look at the Lord’s Prayer in light of that truth.  Matthew 6: 9-13 says,

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

Right before these verses, Jesus warns his followers not to babble on like the pagans when they pray.  The sad irony is that the words of the Lord’s Prayer have become so familiar to us that it is easy not to really think of what it is we are saying.  What I love about this prayer is that it’s active—it is a prayer we participate with the Spirit of God in answering as we align ourselves with Him.  What do I mean by that?  Look at this:  How is it that our Father’s name is hallowed?  We lift up his name!  It is our privilege and responsibility to lift up our Father’s holy name and proclaim it to those who are lost.  How is it that the Father’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven?  We do his will!  It is our privilege and responsibility to follow the Spirit’s leading, and to obey God in carrying out the Great Commission He has given to us in going and making disciples.  How is it that God provides us with our daily sustenance?  It is not through our slothfulness that God provides for us, but we can praise Him for giving us the ability and opportunity to be able to work hard in order to provide food for our tables.  We can thank Him that we live in a place where hard work can provide food.

A foolish man prays for God to open locked doors…and then never reaches out to turn the knob himself!  James 2:16-17 says,

¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

How important that our prayer life is accompanied by action.  After all, God is not our servant—we are His!  That we participate in answering our own prayers does not make the answers any less amazing—if anything, the answers are all the more amazing as they reveal our transformed hearts.

                There is one part of the Lord ’s Prayer we cannot participate in.  We cannot forgive our own debts.  Only the blood of Christ can forgive us our debts, and deliver us from evil.  We, however, are given the responsibility and the power to forgive the debts others have against us.  What a beautiful opportunity to mirror our heavenly Father—to live in his transforming power. 

                Matthew 6: 14-15 says,

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

                This is a verse that should cause each of us to pause.  Some pains are hard to let go.  It’s easy to cling to a grudge, massaging it in the palm of our hand.  But what this reveals is that we don’t truly recognize what it is that Christ did in forgiving us.  We become no less foolish than the servant who demanded his payment of a few coins when the king had released him his debt of thousands (Matt 18:21-35)!  When we refuse to forgive, we reveal the true heart within us.  Is yours a prayerful heart transformed by the King, or a demanding heart convinced that it is king?  Align your heart with the Fathers—let your prayers be active, and your forgiveness mirroring the likeness of Christ’s.

You are more like a pickle than you think

Yesterday, I was reading the book of James and eating a pickle.  Good combo.  I really love this book.  Written by Jesus' half brother, this book really gets down to the nitty gritty of what it looks like to be a Christian.  Sure, we know what we believe, but how do the things we believe transform who we are?  If there is a guy who can talk about a transformed life, James is it.  He spent all of his growing up years with Jesus, never believing his older brother's claims.  Yet, when James encountered the ressurected Jesus, Jesus wasn't just his half brother any more--Jesus was his Lord and Savior!  James' life showed this to be true.

James writes to encourage Jewish Christians who are facing persecution for their faith.  In the midst of persecution, it would be easy to take a couple steps back and shy away from boldly lived faith...it would be easy to neuter it down to a list of beliefs--head knowledge.  But what James shows us is that isn't true Christianity.

We can have all the right head knowledge, yet never live a transformed life.  We can know all the right stuff...and still look just like everyone else.

So, back to that pickle.  That pickle bcame a delicious, juicy, garlic-ladened epiphany in my mind.  Every pickle starts out as a cucumber (no, that is not the entire epiphany...read on).  Nothing against cucumbers, but they don't have a whole lot of flavor...at least not when you compare them to a pickle.  But when you pickle a cucumber it takes on the flavors of whatever you are saturating it in.  There are some really good pickles, and some really bad pickles...they may look the same, but what's their flavor?

You are more like a pickle than you think.

What things are you saturating your life in?  We naturally start taking on the flavor of the people, media, culture, and worldviews we surround ourselves with.  For many of us...that should make us a bit nervous...we may just be bad pickles.

But, if our lives are saturated by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, if we are being led by him in all the choices we make, if we are producing the fruit that naturally flows from a transformed life--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control, and if we are fellowshiping with a body of believers that challenge us to live bold, transformed lives--well...thats one tasty pickle!

Here are a couple verses that I will now continually remember as the pickle verses:

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. --Romans 12:1-2

Valentine's Day observation

On Valentine's day, Cupid running around with his arrows of love is considered quite romantic. During the other 364 days of the year, however, small naked children running around with deadly weapons is not very romantic at all.

Standing Out

Most of us don’t really like standing out…even when it is standing out for what is right.  I think of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.  Here are three guys who, along with all the leaders of Babylon, are asked to bow down to an idol.  King Nebuchadnezzar made it pretty clear that whoever didn’t bow down to the statue when the music started playing would be burned alive in the furnace.  These guys knew the consequences, but as everyone around them fell to their faces before the statue, they quite literally stood out!  I think it would have been easy to justify bowing down in my mind—everyone else is doing it…I don’t have to really mean it in my heart…what good am I for the kingdom of God if I’m dead!—but they didn’t.   Can you imagine saying this to anyone, much less the insane, self-absorbed King who holds your life in his hands?

 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.  He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

                Now, there’s some boldness!  God rewarded them for standing out by sparing their lives, and raising them to even higher positions of prominence in the Kingdom.

Someone had this picture posted on Facebook today.

This picture was taken in Hamburg in 1936.  The guy’s name is August Landmesser.  When everyone else was giving the Nazi salute, he refused.  He was married to a Jewish woman.  How easy it would have been to fit in to the crowd.  Yet he chose to stand out.  It was the right thing to do.

Submission is not a dirty word.  All men submit.  We do have the opportunity to choose who we submit to though: will we submit to the negative influence of peers and corrupt leaders or to the authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  I pray that your life will be so aligned with the Holy Spirit’s leading that people won’t be able to help but wonder what makes you different!  I pray that when the temptations of peer pressure come along, you will think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…and August Landmesser.  Let God steer your ship, don’t hand the wheel over to anyone else!

picture and accompanying story are taken via senri no michi facebook page

Relationship Advice

I had a couple married friends who were trying to set me up with a girl they knew, thinking we would make a good match.  This was a beautiful, godly woman; so pretty, so talented, and so interesting, I was flattered that my friends would even consider her and I  together.  So, one night the four of us all went out to a local coffee shop.  Thats when I told this angelicly beautiful girl that I enjoy green tea lattes...because they look like pond scum.

Some things you shouldn't share until the second date.  

A father's blessing

I'm excited for the Courageous movie and bible study we will be beginning at our church Feb 12th. For those not familiar with the movie, the premise is a challenge to fathers to step into the role God has called them to in courageously leading their families.  It thrills me to think that this challenge will be raised to so many fathers in our community.  I am not yet a father myself, but one thing I am…is a statistic—a statistic that continues to become more and more rare.

I am a son that grew up in a home with a father who was present and active.  I have a father who loves me, and tells me he loves me.  I have a father who encourages me in my decisions, and is supportive of what I do.  I have a father who affirmed my talents, and provided for me opportunities to use them.  I have a father who loves the Lord, and raised me up in His truth.  I have a father who read to me God’s word EVERY night throughout my childhood!  My father walks by the leading of the Spirit so that he can lead by example.  I am an advocate for courageous fatherhood, because my life is a testimony of the impact of courageous fatherhood!  If it weren’t for my dad’s leadership and the leadership of other godly men in my life, I most likely wouldn’t be walking with the Lord the way I am today. 

I want to share with you one of the most valued gifts I’ve ever been given.  My dad and I went to Men’s retreat at Trout Lake camp one fall.  That year the speaker was sharing on the value of a father blessing his children.  The blessings of Fathers are prominent throughout scripture.  Isaac blessed his sons, Jacob and Esau, and his blessings were prophetic to the lives they lived (Genesis 27).  Jacob blessed all twelve of his sons (Genesis 49:28), and his grandsons (Genesis 48:9).  King David, on the day the Ark of the Covenant was restored to the tabernacle, blessed his entire household (2nd Samuel 6:18, 20).  The Heavenly Father himself, on the day Jesus was baptized into his ministry, spoke his own affirming blessing upon his son (Matthew 3:16-17).  My dad decided that he too would write for me a blessing.  For a day or so, he worked out what he wanted to say, and then one afternoon he handed me these thoughtful words written out on the back of an old bulletin he had in his bible.

“Heavenly Father, may Tyler become a man after your heart.  May he live out the values of creativity and integrity in boldness.  May he motivate others to Godliness through his gifts of art and proclamation.  May he never grow weary of serving you.  May he always reflect your glory.  May his life be a pleasing act of worship to you.  Amen.”

And then he left me with these words from  Jeremiah.

²³ This is what the LORD says:

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
²⁴ but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

When I finished reading what my dad wrote for me, he said.  “You should give that back.  I’ll type it up at home; we can make it look nice and frame it for you.”  But already, that old bulletin scribbled upon with carefully planned out words had become precious to me, I didn’t want it any other way!  I took it and cherished it.

Fathers, your words are powerful.  They have the power to literally shape the future of your children.  As I look at the words my father wrote and my heavenly father inspired, there is nothing I desire more greatly than to honor both my fathers in developing into the man described in my blessing.

Be strong and courageous fathers!  Bless your children!  Here is a great place to begin. 

www.fathersblessing.com

This site pointed me to the scriptures I shared as well as many others.  It also has testimonies of the impact of blessings.  Be encouraged and inspired!

Meeting God's Glory

We all have those moments when gravity seems to pull a little stronger; when a weight presses down upon our shoulders and we are left weary.   Christ’s words in Matthew 11:28 bring us great peace.   “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “  How comforting to know that our savior and creator desires for us to find rest in his arms!  If we want to experience the full joy of this promise, it is important to recognize the context in which these words were spoken.  In Matthew 11:20, Jesus denounces the cities in which he had performed his miracles—he revealed His glory—and yet they did not respond.  They saw the glory of Christ…and chose to continue sinning rather then follow him.  The burden Jesus has come to relieve us from…is our sin.

I desire to show this to be true: it‘s when we recognize the devastation of our sin in the light of Christ’s glory that Jesus relieves our burden…and invites us to participate in His mission.

As Jesus continues to speak in verses 21-24, he mentions the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom—cities of intense wickedness.  Tyre was so wicked, the prophet Ezekiel used the king of Tyre as an analogy for Satan!  Sidon so evil, God refers to them as his enemy (Ezekiel 28).   Both these cities where destroyed by their enemies.  Sodom was such a corrupt city that God wiped it off the face of the earth with fire and brimstone from heaven!  And yet, he said these cities would be better off than Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum on the day of judgment.  Why?  The later had witnessed the works of Jesus…and didn’t respond.

In verses 25-27 Jesus prays.

^… “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

   ²⁷ “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

I wonder if these cities refused to lay down their sin, because they couldn’t see it as the burden it truly was.  Children willingly share their burdens…they have no choice—so much reliance and trust in their parents!  But as we grow older, we become a bit more independent; we like to try to handle things on our own.  We even try to handle our own sin; managing our burdens rather than releasing them.  Does this sound familiar?  “I know I shouldn’t do this….I know this is wrong…but no one has to know.  I can manage this.  I can keep this hidden.”  Or how about, “It’s not gossip if it’s true…my tongue is burning, I just have to share this!”  Or maybe, “She makes me SO ANGRY!  I refuse to talk to her…it’s her fault, not mine anyway!”

The burdens Christ invites us to lay at the cross, we instead hoist to our shoulders.  We have no comprehension of the burden we carry and the freedom we lack!  Who does Jesus choose to reveal himself to?  To childlike hearts willingly dropping their burdens at the foot of the cross.

           And so, verse 28: “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”  No longer do we have to hold on to these weights that wear us down.  We can be free!

There are two lies I tend to buy into when it comes to my sin: either that it’s not that big of a deal, or that I’m damaged goods…God couldn’t possibly want or use someone like me.   God’s word addresses both these mindsets.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah witnesses the glory of God in a fantastic way— He sees the Lord, the train of his robe filling the temple.  There are awesome heavenly creatures singing praise with such power the ground shakes.  Smoke fills the temple.  It is in this place Isaiah has a “Woe is me” moment! 

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5

Have you ever had a “Woe is me moment?”  It’s like a car accident that can’t be prevented.  Isaiah, clothed in sin, was on a crash course into the blazing glory of God.  He sees his sin in the light of God, and knows he’s a dead man.  And yet, Isaiah’s lips are touched with a coal from the altar—his guilt is taken away, and his sins are atoned for.  He is made right!  God says, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go?”  

It’s in this place that Isaiah says, “Here I am!  Send me.”

I have begun meeting with a few guys weekly for prayer, encouragement and accountability.  They have become a reminder of God’s glorious presence in my life.  He is watching me.   I may quickly forget God’s watching eye, but it’s much harder to forget that my brothers are going to ask me how my week has been.   Sin I brushed off before, I now see in the light of Christ’s glory.  I rejoice in the freedom of laying down those burdens so that I can respond to God, “Here I am!  Send me!”

Perhaps you are in a place where you recognize the seriousness of your sin.   Words like “fake” and “hypocrite” constantly ring in the back of your mind.  You wonder how God could ever use someone like you.  I think Peter may have wondered the same thing.

Jesus asked Peter to drop his nets on the other side of the boat one morning, but Peter was a bit hesitant.  He was a professional.  He’d been out all night and hadn’t caught a thing…what pointers could this rabbi give him?  But he did anyway—and so many fish filled the nets they began to break, and two boats were filled with enough fish that they were on the verge of sinking!

^“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8.  Peter saw his sin in light of the glory of Christ.  Maybe he remembered  a coarse joke he shared with the other fishermen the night before.  Perhaps he remembered the face of a person he had cheated in business.  Maybe he thought of the temper that sometimes got the best of him.  All we know, is Peter recognized that he was in the presence of overwhelming glory.  Jesus met Peter where he was at…and called him.  “Don’t be afraid!  From now on, you will be a fisher of men.”  Peter found the glory of God while sitting on his knees amongst a bunch of slimy, flopping fish.  Jesus will meet each  of us wherever we are at too.

I love that Jesus doesn’t end with, “Come to me all who are weary and carry burdens, and I will give you rest.”  He goes on to say, “Take my yoke upon you.”  That’s an instrument of work!  God has a duty for us to do.  But it’s not a burden…the burden has been taken away—it’s a joy! 

When we recognize our sin in the light of Christ’s glory, we see ourselves for who we are…and God for who he is.  We begin to see the depths Christ stooped to make us holy in the eyes of the Father, and our only natural response is to cry out, “Here I am! Send Me!” 

God with us

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  God with us.

“God with us”—is there any three words that hold greater grace and power?  Jesus saw fit to identify with us as man; facing human temptations, trials and pain, so that he could be one with those he came to save.  But if Jesus was simply a man he would have no power to save.  And so Jesus became a holy enigma—both wholly man, and wholly God for our sake.  “God with us.”  In those three words is wrapped the beauty, mystery and splendor of the incarnation—a love that extends infinitely beyond our comprehension.

Anyone who has ever sat on the bench, stood on the starting block, or peeked from behind the curtain before a show, knows that feeling of excitement and anticipation when you are about to fulfill a purpose.  I wonder if that was what Jesus felt like before entering the realm of humanity through the womb of a virgin girl.  Leaving the glory and splendor of Heaven; the eternal Son willingly left his Father and thrown to be born as a humble baby boy.  He replaced heavenly robes with strips of swaddling clothes, a majestic thrown with a feeding trough, and the company of angels for that of cattle.  How peculiar that the creator of the universe would choose to make his debut appearance displayed helplessly in a bed of hay.  Immanuel—“God with us.”  It’s as if God were saying, "I’m serious about this!"  Look how far I’m willing to go just to be with you—to be one of you.  And he would reach lower still.

It is hard to clearly grasp the concept of Jesus being both God and man…to really wrap our minds around “God with us.”  It’s far easier to lean to one side or the other.  But Jesus was a man—he bled, cried, hurt, and hungered.  He was God—he cast out demons, healed the sick, walked on water, and spoke with ultimate authority.  The book of John illustrates Jesus dual nature well.   When Judas brings a battalion of Roman soldiers along with the religious leaders to betray and arrest Jesus, he asks them, “Who are you looking for?” 

“Jesus of Nazareth,” They reply.

“I am he.

In this three word sentence, Jesus reveals his divinity.  “I Am”—the name of God first spoken to Moses in Genesis, and now as Jesus utters it—those who came in force to arrest him…stumble backwards and fall to the ground!  Such amazing authority!  Then, Peter hacks off a soldier’s ear, and Jesus simply picks it up, dusts it off, and hits the divine “edit undo” button.  Jesus scolds Peter, reminding him he could ask the Father for twelve legions of angels to protect him if he so desired.   And yet, he chose to hang on the cross instead.  Authority so great that the mouth that once spoke creation into existence now knocked men to their feet.   Humility so great, that he humbled himself to the point of handing over his life.  Humanity so real that when his heart stopped beating, he died.  Divinity so real, that three days later he conquered the grave and rose again!  What beautiful humility. 

Immanuel.  God with us.  There is no question of God with us, but rather us with God.  Jesus stooped as low as he could possibly go—the depths of Hell—in order to be with us—to save us.  If we desire to be with God we must humble ourselves as well, because that’s where Jesus is at. 

oneness

Visiting a new church can be exciting and intimidating.  In my own experiences with other churches, I have found that in some, the visit becomes nothing more than sitting in a pew, one stranger lost in a sea of others.  Sadly, some churches are as cold and hard as their pews.  I have visited other churches however, where though I’m among strangers, there is the overwhelming warmness and reality of worshipping with family—these are my brothers and sisters in Christ.  The Holy Spirit that lives in and works through them is divinely evident, shining brightly.  As a congregation invites strangers in with warmth and welcome, the stranger experiences God in a very real way, because it’s the Spirit of God working through the church to touch the life of the person who has walked through their door.  I tell you, with that kind of love a stranger won’t remain a stranger much longer.   When the Holy Spirit is alive and moving within a church, there is no sense of strangers amongst strangers, but rather the beauty of oneness in Christ Jesus.

I had a friend in college who conducted a social experiment that every church should hear about.  He grew a scraggly beard, disheveled his hair, wore dirty, worn out clothing, and did not bathe.  Yeah, I know—isn’t that what most college guys do?  Well maybe, but the next part is not.  He went to several of the most influential churches in the city looking like a homeless man to see how they might respond.

One church greeted him warmly at the door, but didn’t do much beyond that.  In two others he was not spoken to at all; only met with confused and bewildered glances in one, and cold darting glances accompanied with whispers of “…who is that….what’s he doing here…he doesn’t belong here…” in the other.  In the last church, he was warmly welcomed, even being offered some money and an invitation to someone’s home for a warm meal following the service!  I know which church I would return to.

I wonder what I would have done.  How would I have responded?  Would I have squelched the Spirit within me and missed my opportunity?  How are we perceived to those who visit us as a church?  Do they see oneness and love, or strangers amongst strangers?  How will we respond to those who come through our door?

Jesus, the night he was arrested, after praying for his disciples…prayed for us.  “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23   

                 

His Story

History.  What images does that word conjure up for you?  For some it brings up images of sleepy afternoons spent drooling on gratified school desks, staring blankly at a dusty chalk board, the dull hum of a dry lecture from a monotone teacher sneaking in their inattentive ears.  For others, the word summons movie screens of adventure projected on the wall of the mind; decisions—both good and bad—made by strangers of the past that directly affect their present.   For them, history is the earlier pages of a script they have a part in, a story still being told.

Do you see the big picture—that this life you live, this world you experience is part of a grand piece of art?  We are just single brush strokes on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel!  Being one brush stroke doesn’t make us insignificant, no, quite the contrary—this is where we find our significance—we are part of something bigger than ourselves, something beautiful!  Our lives have purpose; one scene in the ultimate story written by our creator. 

The great temptation is to let our eyes role back in their sockets so that we are inward focused, spending all our time centering on ourselves and concentrating on our own little stories; refusing to acknowledge the great story that God has invited us into.

Our church has been participating in the video series The Truth Project these last couple months.  A recurring theme continues to appear.  Man chooses to ignore the truth, instead governing himself by lies—he becomes his own authority; because to walk in truth means there is a higher authority than one’s own desires and opinions—the authority of God.  We are not in charge.  In our self-focus, we forget the Sovereignty of God—His ultimate authority.  He is the author of history.  He is in control.  Isaiah 46: 9-11 illustrates this point well.

⁹ Remember the former things, those of long ago;
   I am God, and there is no other;
   I am God, and there is none like me.
¹⁰ I make known the end from the beginning,
   from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
   and I will do all that I please.’
¹¹ From the east I summon a bird of prey;
   from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
   what I have planned, that I will do.

To deny God and his hand in history draws our focus onto ourselves.  If there is no God, then there is no purpose to life beyond what we individually desire to make of it.  “We live. We die. We become worm food. Game over. The end.”  There is no greater cause we are accountable to then our own pleasure, “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die!”  If there is no personal God to hold us accountable for our actions, we can manipulate history to tell us what we want to hear; rewrite it to teach others what we want them to believe.  Dr. Tackett, the tour guide through the truth project, uses the example of the Mayflower Compact.  Most of us in our History classes read the opening lines to be something to the effect of, “We whose names are underwritten…having undertaken, a voyage to plant the first colony…” but there are some key phrases missing.  “In the name of God, Amen.  We whose names are underwritten…having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith…, a voyage to plant the first colony.”  The whole story is not told.  It is left devoid of the true purpose…devoid of God.  What we are left with is an incomplete story, or in other words, a lie.  This is nothing new; the serpent in the garden hissed, “Did God really say you could not eat from any fruit in the garden?”  Satan revised history right from the beginning in order to convince Adam and Eve to believe what he wanted them to.

The Roman Guards who stood watch at the tomb of Jesus at the time of his resurrection were likewise encouraged to revise the history of the event.

¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ Matthew 28:12-13

These are the two most significant moments in history.  One is a lie—bringing about sin and death—and the other is attacked by a lie—deceiving people from believing upon the Lord—the only one who saves them from sin and death! 

History is important to God.  Throughout scripture God continually tells his people to Remember!  When Israel forgot the things God had done, they began to walk their own paths, living out their own selfish stories, forgetting their purpose as the chosen people of God.  Their gratitude and obedience to God vanish with their dissipating memories of him.   Whether we actively revise history or passively forget what God has done, either way, we will begin to believe the lie that this life is about us. 

Pastor Skip has a question he continually asks us every Sunday: “So What?”  Why does this all matter?   Dr. Tackett states, we tend to forget the things we should remember…and remember the things we should forget!!!  When we make history into a little story about ourselves, neglecting to see God’s full picture, we tend to focus on the petty things—personal annoyances, personal injustices, personal preferences, personal privileges—these become the things of utmost importance.  This is unfortunate…because these are not the things of utmost importance to God.  God has a much bigger vision for us—to love God and love people (God’s greatest command) and to go and make disciples (the great commission).  How unfortunate when we allow little things to derail the train from pressing onward in the will of God.  The lost must be found, the blind must see, the deaf must hear.  Only when we look at life through Christ’s eyes (seeing the bigger picture) and not our own (self-focused as we are), will we begin to discover…and fulfill…our role in history—His Story.

Shape your culture

After standing at the base of that significant tree, I am sure those sweet, juicy bites of fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil sat like cement in the stomachs of Adam and Eve, sending up bile of bitter regret.  The irony of Satan’s lie is that he told them eating the fruit would make them just like God, yet they—the crown of creation—were already created in the image of God!  It is our sin that pulls us further from God and his image, further from what he intended us to be.  Satan’s lies will always pull us in the exact opposite direction of God’s intentions for us, yet his lies are enticing; so much so, that they often become the cultural norm.  The sweet fragrance of the vile fruit stills lingers in the air, and oh, how quickly we grasp for it!

Speaking with a high school student recently, it was obvious how great this cultural pressure weighs on him.  He feels desperately alone as he strives to live a life pleasing to God, and often wonders how he could ever make a difference in this overwhelmingly evil culture.

I’m encouraged that Jesus has used individuals to drastically change culture, pulling people back to the ways of the one whose image they bear.  Jesus tells us that just a little yeast can permeate the whole dough.  Throughout history, we have seen a few people change their world.

I have been reading an excellent book, Why not Women, by Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth with a Mission.  It’s a book that examines God’s word, and history to see how God has used women in ministry, and examines difficult texts concerning women in roles of leadership in the church.  In it, Loren shares some examples of men and women who have transformed their culture.  Here are some examples.

William Wilberforce pursued the cause of abolishing slavery in England for thirty years in parliament.  The law passed the year after he passed away. 

Though the image is absurd to us now, the pubs of England used to have stepping stools for children to order their gin!  General William Booth and the Salvation Army fought against this cultural norm.  It was Christians who spoke out against the atrocity of child labor as well.  In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, children were used in Britain’s mines to do long hours of intense work.   The reason being, if a mine collapsed, children were the cheaper beast of burden—much less expensive than a valuable horse.  Christian’s refused to allow the image of God to be stripped from these children, standing against this inhuman treatment. 

In 1819, after a Spiritual awakening in Geneva, Switzerland, Henry Dunant and some people from his church formed a group to actively serve those dying on the battlefield of war.  Before this point, wounded soldiers were left to die.  This group is what we now call the International Red Cross.

Even within the church, there have been cultural norms that needed to be changed.  A man named William Carey became convinced that God was calling him to bring the Gospel to India, yet this was not something that was done in his day.  When he told the leaders of his denomination his desire, one replied, “…When God pleases to convert the heathen, He’ll do it without consulting you or me.”  William did go to India, and others followed suit, bringing the Gospel message to many other nations as well.

As we look back over history, it is enraging to see the state of what was culturally normal.  Yet, a few people following the Spirit of God transformed their culture.  At times, we may feel we are in the minority as we stand for the Truth, but one person walking with God will always outnumber a thousand walking with lies.

Prayer

The last two weeks of August, I spent camping along the North shore of Lake Superior.  Excitement filled me like a natural helium…I’m sure I was floating two feet off the ground.  But my balloons quickly popped.  Very rarely is there a convenient time to lock your keys in your car.    The first evening I stopped to buy some groceries in Two Harbors.  When I got back to my car and reached for the door handle, the door didn’t respond the way I expected it to.  No squeaky hinges opening.  It was locked—as were the other doors.  They were still locked when I walked around the car another five times to check each door again.  The simple truth is I could jiggle the handle all I wanted, but without the key, I wasn’t getting in.

Many times in life we rush towards our big decisions, but we are destined to crash into a closed door because we forgot the key.  Prayer is our spiritual key.  Perhaps we see no better example of this then in Mark 9 starting at verse 14.

Jesus was walking and in the distance he saw a large crowd.  In the middle of the crowd were some of his disciples, and the religious leaders were arguing with them.  When the people see Jesus in the distance they run to him.

“What are you arguing with them about?” he asks.

A man answers Jesus, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.  Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”


“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me” (vs. 17-19).


When the demon sees Jesus, it becomes violent; throwing the boy to the ground…he is convulsing, rolling around, and foaming at the mouth.  When Jesus asks how long this has been happening, we learn that this is a normal day in the life of the boy—he has been tormented by this demon since he was a young child.  It is such a serious situation that the demon has actually attempted taking the boy’s life by throwing him in fire and water.  The father’s plea is desperate,


“…if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (vs. 22).

Do you find yourself approaching Jesus the same way?  “Jesus, if you can, could you help me?”  Do we attempt to limit God-sized answers with human sized expectation?  Do we really believe that God can answer our prayers?

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus responds.  “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

I think there is a lot we can learn about belief in the father’s response.

“I do believe, but help me not to doubt.”

We often associate belief with our heads—beliefs are something we think.  But our actions, behaviors and choices show our true beliefs.  Though it was hard for this man’s head to ‘believe’ that Jesus could help, he chose to trust.

After Jesus drives out the demon his disciples ask him why they could not.  They have driven out others, so why not this one?  This demon was different—it was deaf and mute.  Jesus said that this kind can only be cast out by prayer.

Just as this boy was held captive by this deaf and mute demon, Satan holds the world captive to his lies, deafening their ears to truth.  We can be captive to the lies as well.  Sometimes we choose not to listen to truth.  It's easier to believe the lies.  Prayer is the key to freedom.

Follow me

The theme at New Life bible camp this summer came from Isaiah 43:19, which says,

¹⁹ For I am about to do a brand new thing.
      See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
   I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
      I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

In this passage God is speaking to his chosen people, Israel.  The people were in captivity, bound from the freedom they once knew. These were the consequences for their idolatry, but God chose to save them, showing them his greatness and love, something their idols could never do.  Not only did they face physical captivity, but God was showing them that idols bring spiritual bondage and that only he could break their chains and set them free.

Though our idols may not be made of wood or stone, we’ve all turned to idols and felt the sting of its consequence.   We’re all in desperate need of the living God who can do a new thing in our lives.  We all need the freedom that only he can bring.

Idolatry comes in many shapes.  I think of the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18.  Here is a young man who wants to experience something new!  He asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

Jesus’ response is not what I would expect.  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good.  But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’”

What is in this response?  First he says that only God is good.  And then he lists off a few commandments—laws that if we could obey, would make us good.  It is interesting that Jesus chose to use the commandments that deal with relating to other people.

The young man believed that he had kept all these commands his whole life.  But didn’t Jesus also say that if you look at a woman with lust, you commit adultery?  If you have anger in your heart, you are guilty of murder?  Sin is not just the things we do; it’s the condition of the heart.  Jesus had to help this young man see that.

Jesus said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

After telling the young man to obey the commandments to treat others right, Jesus strikes to the core with an impossible challenge—sell all you have and give it to the poor.  The mask is off, the condition of the young man’s heart is revealed.  He could believe that he was doing pretty well—on the surface he was keeping the commandments and living a holy life, but when he had to give something up for the sake of others…well, that was something else completely.  The idol of his heart was revealed.  Leaving his treasures behind was a challenge too great.

Why would Jesus respond in these ways—asking this young man to do the impossible?  This reveals a truth to us all.  We’re all in the same spot as that rich young man.  The young man asked what he must do to receive eternal life, and by naming the impossible, Jesus made it clear that there was nothing he could do.  None of us can do anything to earn eternal life—we just can’t be good enough.  But Jesus said to this young man that only God is good…and we know that Jesus is God!

After challenging with the impossible, Jesus offers a simple invitation.  Follow me.  Because it’s impossible for us to be good, we must follow the only one who is.  We are utterly dependent on him “What is impossible for man, is possible for God.”

This person is left with the same decision all people must face.  Whom will I follow?  To what will I cling?  Will I lord my life, and bow to my wealth and idols, or will I will I recognize true faith as dependence on the only one who brings eternal, life--starting now.    

Jesus says, "Follow me."  the story ends with the young man's head drooped in sadness as he walked away.  Which direction does the story go for you?  For me?  

Who will you follow today?