The Desire of Aliens

What was your biggest dream growing up? What did you aspire to be? Who was it that you admired so much that you wanted to be just like them?  It seems natural for us to want to be known, or dream to one day see our name in lights. Our natural instinct wants self recognition, fame, and to be served by others. Besides, thats the example the world sets. Those who are rich and famous have all eyes on them and are served by the world. But have you ever heard of anyone who aspires to be a servant?

The people you admire tells alot about the condition of your heart. I know this because growing up the blueprint for my life was patterned to be self glorifying. Little did I know that i was being conformed to a world that was never intended to be my home. I was made in the image of my father in Heaven. But as the years of my life went by, I began to take on more attributes of the world. That image of Christ I bore as a child became hidden as I looked to other idols besides Christ. I said I was a Christian, but I would much rather read Sports Illustrated than the Bible. I said I was a Christian, but a muscle bound athlete or hollywood actor was much more of a draw for me than Jesus Christ.

I said that I was a Christian, but the desires of my heart betrayed my profession. Our faith goes much deeper than professing Christ with out tongues. It even goes deeper than our actions. If you want to see if you are truly in Christ, do as 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us. Examine yourself. Examine the deepest desires of your heart.

-Look at what drives you! Is it being popular or making millions of dollars? Or is it reaching others for Christ?

-What excites you? Is it the newest video games or the latest fashionable clothes? Or do you come alive and excited to learn the ways of God?

-What is your greatest fear? Is it being unpopular or not accepted by your peers? Or do you fear people dying without Christ?

Our desires stem from where we spend the most time. You may read this today and wish for Godly desires but in reality hunger for things of the flesh. You may ask yourself, “Why dont I have more of a hunger for God?” The answer comes in where you devote the majority of your time. Thats why it is so important to spend time in the word of God. Not just read the Bible like its a novel, but to digest what you are reading.

We live in an age where any information we need is at our fingertips within the internet. If we have a question, Google is just a few clicks away. Utilize this technology when studying the Bible! Look up commentary on scripture, study the history of the times online, do an online search on your favorite Bible story and go deeper than just skimming the surface.  God tells us that those who seek him with all of their heart will find him.

Have you ever played Hide and Go Seek? I remember as a child playing all the time. And there were times I was seeking to find the others for long lengths of time. Our neighborhood was big and I had to seek really hard to find my buddies. In the same manner we live in a big world. And there are so many things fighting for our attention to keep Christ hidden from us. To seek means to dig, and aspire to find him. Seeking is not just picking up the Bible and reading it for fifteen minutes a day so that we can say we spent time with God. Seeking God is desiring to know him. Seeking God is chasing after him. And the more you pursue God in this manner, the more your desires will begin to change from the things of this world to the things of God!

I claimed to be a Christian ever since I was twelve years old. And by the worlds standards I was. I had been baptised, I went to church, I said my prayers before bedtime and dinner, and I occasionally read my Bible so I could say I spent time with God. But it was all surface.

Three years ago I began seeking. Really seeking. And slowly a hunger grew inside me. An urgency filled my soul for those who didnt know Jesus. The famous men of this world that I once thought hung the moon began to pale in comparison to the man who created the Heavens. The more I learned about Jesus, the more I wanted to know about him. One of the first ways that I knew my heart was changing was that I had new role models in my life.

No longer did I pick up the latest people magazine and think how cool it would be to walk the red carpet. The men I wanted to be like now were different. They were unknown to worldly fame. They were not gracing the covers of the tabloids and the silver screen. They were not being served by the world. They were servants. Men like David Platt, Paul Washer, David Wilkerson, Leonard Ravenhill, Matt Chandler and so many more began to make such an impression on me. And they impressed me because they were on fire, unashamedly, sold out for Jesus Christ. And I wanted that. A Godly desire grew in me that was so much stronger than any selfish desire I had ever had. So much so that I began to seek on a daily basis.

Three years later God has led my family on an amazing adventure that is honestly just beginning. He led us out of our comforts into Central America to serve. And very recently, God answered a three year long prayer. That he would use me and my life in ministry to serve others for his kingdom. And this dream, this desire has been fulfilled in being led to serve along side the awesome people of Avon Park and Pastor Jon Beck. But this would have never been possible without me fully embracing the image of my father and casting aside the trifles of this world I once sought after.

There was a young man who grew up in northern China. His parents and family had very strong values and lived by traditional oriental ways. The men in his family kept their hair very short, they wore traditional Chinese clothing, and obeyed certain customs that had been in practice for many decades. This young man left his country as an exchange student when he was in his teens. When he arrived in the United States, he was an alien of sorts. The kids laughed at him for not wearing the named brand clothing they all had. Instead, he had his traditional Chinese clothing. People didnt accept him because of the way he spoke and the things he was interested in. They even ribbed him about his hair.

Slowly, this young man began to shed the traditions of his family. He became less and less of an alien. He let his hair grow long. He burned his traditional clothing and bought all the latest styles that were popular. He even abandoned his traditions because people thought they were weird and adopted American slang and customs in their place. After a few years he returned to his home country to visit his family. They were shocked at the man that had returned. He claimed to be a Chinaman, but no longer looked the part. He was now an unknown to his own family because he had abandoned their ways in exchange for a more acceptable lifestyle in the world.

Its not hard to see the correlation in this story. We are aliens in this world. This is not our home. But so many times, we abandon the ways of God in exchange for an acceptable lifestyle. We dont want to be different, we want to be like everyone else. But the truth is, if you are a true Christian, you are different. You are separate and set apart from the world. We can’t claim that we are followers of Christ if we look nothing like him and if we are more conformed to the world than to Jesus. Dont think that just because you said a prayer or have been baptised that you are a Christian. Dont think that just because you come to church you are saved. The Bible gives us a way to see if we are true in the faith. The apostle Paul tells us to examine ourselves. What are the desires of your heart? Seek them out and if they are worldly, cast them aside and seek Christ!! What do you look like in this world? Are you an alien in a strange land? Or have you blended in with your surroundings?

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” Hebrews 11:13.

“Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry;  hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.” Psalm 39:12.

Mud Pies and Monkey Gods

Since returning to the United States, my mind is constantly drawn back to our time in Panama. When I was in Panama, it was easy to fall into the habit of seeing the spiritual deception in the United States. It was easy to become critical of  American Christianity. And dont get me wrong, we are a spiritually deceived people in Northern America. That much is true. The American culture is one that, on a large degree, places so much of its identity in looks and the accumulation of stuff instead of Jesus Christ. We are deceived in the fact that we are quick to call ourselves Christians yet live a watered down version of our faith because our culture has influenced Christianity more than Christianity has influenced American culture.

But its wrong and even sinful to point a finger in judgement at America and praise other parts of the world because they dont have the temptation of consumerism. No matter where in this world we travel, one thing is constant. This world is fallen and broken and has the shattered, jagged fragments of sin everywhere. Panama and other parts of the world may not struggle with the same deceptions that America does, but none the less, deception is there.

Many differing tribes of indigenous indians and people groups around the world are without Christ in their own way. Many of them to this day, worship different idols. I recently listened to a missionary tell his story of visiting India and visiting a place called, “The Monkey Temple.” He said that the natives there were praying to a statue of a monkey. Praying for the healing of their land and for the well being of their people. And hearing this, I was overwhelmed with sorrow.  Because these natives in India are putting all of their hopes in a piece of stone that they made.

America is no different than these third world countries. We as American look at a scene like this and wonder how anyone could worship an inanimate object. Yet we do the same thing without even realizing it. We have our own version of monkey Gods. It happens in our fasination with materialism, pleasure, and even relationships. I read about a woman recently whose husband and six year old son were killed in a house fire while she was at work. This had to be devastating. But where was her hope.  If her family was the most important thing in her life…her idol…then when that is taken from her, her world is shattered. Her hope is shattered. There is nothing left for her. But if her hope is in Christ, no matter what life may throw at her, she knows that ultimately the pains of this world will give way to a better life in light of eternity.

If a man places all of his hopes and the most important thing in life is his wealth and money, what happens when the economy crashes? His hope is destroyed. His world…everything that he put his security in becomes desolate. And his life loses meaning because although he may have claimed the name of Christian, ultimately his hope was in materialism and not Jesus.

If you study the life of the apostle Paul, it is simply fascinating. He went through so many hardships. This man was ship wrecked while trying to proclaim the gospel, yet when this happened, instead of growing weary, he praised God in his trial. He was ship wrecked yet again and then after coming to shore, he was preaching the gospel and was bitten by a snake! He was trying to live for God yet bad things kept happening. Yet regardless, Paul kept praising Christ. Because he knew that nothing and no person on this earth would ever satisfy the longings of his heart like Christ.

If we only had the faith on the inside the we claim on the outside. And Im not saying that we should just suck it up and go through tough times with a smile. Its alright to grieve. Its ok to mourn. Its acceptable to cry out to God in a moment of weakness. The Bible says that Jesus is sympathetic to our plights. When we are in pain he rushes to be near.

“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18.

What is it that if taken from you, your hope would vanish? What is your monkey God? If our greatest hope is in anything other than Christ, there will come a day when we will be in need of a savior but have our sights focused in the wrong direction.

Our hearts were made with a void that was only meant to be filled by something eternal. Women, your man…no matter how romantic and great he is…will never fully satisfy you. Because he is not eternal. Men, your woman….no matter how much she strives to please you, will never fully satisfy. Because she is not eternal. Parents, your children, no matter how much joy they bring you, can never fully satisfy all of the longings of your heart. Because they are not eternal. And for any of us to place the expectation on our spouses or children to fill that gap of eternity is not only cruel and impossible, its blasphemous.  It is a weight that no mortal can carry.

The great Christian thinker, CS Lewis summed it up best……

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”- C.S. Lewis

We are like children who live in the ghetto. And our utmost joy in life is playing with mud pies. Because poverty is all we have ever known, and we cannot even fathom the joy of something like going on a cruise filled with good foods and beautiful sights. And if we knew of joys such as these, we would see the mud pies for what they are and set our hearts on a higher joy!

Its like a kid who plays with tinker toys and legos. If tinker toys and legos is all he has ever known, thats paradise to him! But give that kid a few ads of the latest video games and introduce him to a Playstation. Those tinker toys will soon look like garbage and he will be begging his parents for that joy which he now sees, but never really knew existed! (I speak on this from experience!)

Such is the kingdom of God. The joys of this earth are only the outer fringes of the infinite joys God has planned for his children. Humanity places its utmost joys in what are mud pies or packed dirt in Gods eyes. Sex, alcohol, drugs, fornication, and materialism. And yes, even relationships that are inherently good turn to mud pies when they become more of a draw than Christ.

We sing about the eternal joys of Christ in church. We quote them to friends and family. But do we truly believe them so whole heartedly, that Jesus is where our hope is? Do we believe in this greater hope so much, that no matter what pain this world throws at us, we remain steadfast and carry on through the ghetto because we know our future holds a holiday at the sea?

As Christians, our hope is to be in Christ. If Jesus is not our greatest hope, then can we really testify that we have faith? Where is your idol and what is it you simply would die if taken from you? Is it a mud pie? Surely not. As Paul said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Practice Makes Us Holy

I couldn’t stand the sound of a whistle blowing in high school. Because the majority of the time when a whistle blew, it was time for cardio drills at football practice. Sprints, tackle drills, bear crawls, and my personal favorite (not really), the dreaded up downs. Everyone of these methods of conditioning were, in my opinion, designed in cave man times as a form of torture. We would spend so much time doing these drills after practice. And if we were to lose a game, or just slack off in practice, then we had to do extra. Each time the whistle blew, our heart rates increased and our muscles screamed in agony at the cadence of the coach.

Most of our coaches were in great shape. But I remember we had one assistant coach who was in terrible shape. He wasnt our coach that long, because I believe he was filling in just to help out. He was a great coach. He knew the game of football like the back of his hand because he used to be a former player in his younger days. But it was obvious he had left the disciplines he had once learned on the grid iron in his past. He would preach to us the importance of staying in tip top shape. Yet I once saw him out in public smoking. He was coughing constantly. He would stress not only would it benefit us on the field, but also extend our life span.

And I remember getting so mad. Especially when he was the one blowing the whistle during conditioning, or screaming at me to suck it up and run an extra lap. He knew more than me when it came down to how to condition my body, but his poor health habits contradicted his message of the importance of physical fitness. He claimed to be such an advocate of physical fitness, but he didnt live the life.

Its easy for me to study the Bible. Its easy for me to type out a blog. And its easy for me to stand in front of a group of people and tell them that as Christians, their lives should image that of their maker. Its easy to tell someone what God says and how we are to live in light of Christ. But just speaking dead honestly, its hard to live it.

We are constantly fighting the sinful desires of the flesh. And we are so subtly enticed to betray our words as Christians by the things we fill our life with. One thing God taught me in Panama was how closely related our relationship with God is tied to activities that we do in our everyday lives. Things such as television, the local shopping mall, the internet, video games, cell phones, and the list goes on.  There is really no problem with having these things in our lives. But when these things begin to take on symptoms of an addiction, or more of a draw for us than time with Jesus, that’s when the water gets muddy. And that’s when its so easy to become hypocrites because we start being more influenced by modern day culture than Jesus Christ.

-We keep on telling people the commandments of God such as ‘Dont commit adultery’, but we saturate ourselves in reality shows and soap operas where the act of adultery is something we watch for entertainment. 

-We tell people the importance of giving to the poor and avoiding materialism, but we at times spend the majority of our money on ourselves rather than those in need.

-And we preach the importance of spending time with God daily. But when the rubber meets the road, God gets maybe fifteen minutes of our time and the internet gets hours. 

Our words dont show where God is on the scale of importance in our lives. But our lives tell the truth. And when we look at our relationship with Christ from this aspect, many times we realize how decieved and lukewarm we have been and we may not have even been aware of it! Thats how subtly Satan takes our eyes off of Jesus.

We didnt have the luxuries that the United States offers in Panama. We didnt watch television. We didnt have a shopping mall. And our cell phone use was very limited. But I have never grown closer to Christ in my life than when we were in Panama. The hunger for television was taken away. And a hunger for the gospel began to grow. My “need” for buying the newest clothes or electronics wasnt there because the store choices were limited. But in its place, we developed a love for ministering to  those in need. Its funny…the need to give to others actually became more of a draw in us than going to buy new stuff was in the United States!

Since returning to the United States, those old temptations have tried to creep back in. Getting sucked into a television show and forgetting that I had not cracked my Bible yet on a particular day is such a dangerous trap. The many consumers delights on every corner begging us to buy things fights to make us forget that there are those who are less fortunate that could use our help. But each time this happens, God ever so gentle whispers to me, “Remember what I have shown you.” And immediately, there is no competition. Jesus wins each time.

It is my daily prayer that the words I speak and write on the outside are an exact mirror image of what is on the inside. I pray that I practice living for Christ and making him first in my life just as much as preach about his love. I pray that when I blow the whistle telling someone how to live for Jesus, that I am not a hypocrite. And I pray the same desires for Christ be paramount in your lives. Dont let culture water down Jesus in your life. Dont let your words betray your life. Dont let your words be your only means of telling others about Christ. Let your life tell of your relationship with God. Thats the sign of a true Christian.

“The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” Isaiah 29:13.

Have You Opened The Letter?

There once was a little girl whose father had passed away shortly after she was born. When she reached her teen years, she found out through her foster parents that her father had written her a letter and had bound it in an envelope. The envelope was only to be opened by her. When she received this envelope, she put off opening it for a good while. She was in her teenage years, she was going to parties, dating boys, and just living her life. The envelope collected dust on top of her nightstand.

When it was time for her to begin thinking of college, her foster parents whom she was staying with fell on financial hardships and she wasnt able to pursue further schooling. One lonely night she decided to open her fathers envelope. It was a very long letter. She began to read.  The first line read, “My child….I love you so very much.” Angered at her situation, selfishly,  she thought to herself, “Loving me wont send me to college.” And she read no farther in the letter.

This young girl became a woman very fast. She bounced from hard job to dead end job. Eventually turning to a life on the streets to make a living. She lived in motel rooms and sometimes slept in abandon cars. And every so often, she would pull out her fathers love letter to her and begin to read. Only to stop angered that when her father died, he left her to fend through this awful life alone.

The years passed and soon this young lady became a hardened old woman. She spent her days begging on the side of the road and her nights in a local homeless shelter. And one night, as she reflected on her uneventful life, she pulled out her fathers love letter.  And for the first time, she read it all the way through.

Her father spent the majority of the first few pages telling her how special she was and how much he loved her. He said he only wanted the best for her. He went on in the letter to list certain contacts he had that would be able to assist her in getting in the finest schools. Her father had made business connections high up in the corporate world that he’d given her number to contact. They would be waiting to make sure she had a first class job.  Her father went on to say that he had worked hard all of his life and had saved all of his fortune in a savings account for his daughter. There was enough money in the account to ensure she would have a luxurious life. Her father closed out the letter apologising for his untimely death. But he went on to state his joy of knowing that his one and only daughter would live a comfortable life.

If only she would have taken the time to read her fathers love letter. She didnt know her father was a wealthy man. But her father told her about himself, and the awesome life he had planned for her. But she never took the time to read the letter. Does this story strike a cord with you as it did me? We can all relate to this woman. We all have a father whom we have yet to meet face to face. But he has given us his love letter.  In this letter he has told us of himself and of how our lives can be filled with joy. But we are too caught up in our own lives to take time to read this love letter. So as a result, we question when we go through hardships. And we doubt our Heavenly father. Ultimately, we end up living our lives missing out on the many blessings God so eagerly wants to give us because we dont see the urgency or importance in reading his love letter to his children. But the letter remains close to us. This letter has a name. It is the Holy Bible. And our father is Jesus Christ…Almighty God.

Is the Bible important in knowing Christ? If anything, I hope that through these posts I have stressed that importance. There is a method to my madness. I still consider myself new to this cyber world of blogging. Its been almost three years since I wrote my first post. And I dont know if I have ever really explained what motivates me. Im not talking about my own regeneration in Christ, which did occur three years ago. Im strictly speaking about my motivation. My motivation is first and foremost that God be glorified through the many ramblings that flow from my brain to my fingers as they peck away on the computer. But I have to be totally honest with you. This is confession time for me. My motivation is you.

Does that sound as corny to you as it does to me? Let me explain. Three years ago I was changed…..regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Ive told my story many times. The Cliff Notes version is that I was saved at a young age only to realize almost twenty years later that I really never had a real relationship with Christ. It is possible to walk the aisle and say a prayer of salvation in a moment of emotion and still walk away unsaved. It is possible to say the right words to God and the next day still have no desire for holiness. It is possible to deceive yourself into living a comfortable, conformative, spin on a Christianity that neatly fits into what the world would deem acceptable.

And Im not the only victim of this deception. Many people fall into this false salvation. Some may not even be aware of it. Because our culture has so much changed the Jesus of the Bible that the true Christ is not recognizable unless we are students of the Bible. Today the world would have Jesus be very politically correct. Its as if we have taken the real Jesus and given him a make over. We’ve made him a little whiter in completion and have turned a deaf ear to stories of the wrath of God and locked them away in exchange for painting a constant smile and demeanor of acceptance on Jesus. The stories of Jesus becoming angered at the church being mocked have been put away in order to create a Jesus that appears to be sad when we sin but continues to beg us to repent. We want to serve a Jesus that is accepting of our lifestyles regardless of how worldly they may be and a Jesus that owes us to answer our prayers. Basically the world has turned Jesus into a modern day Tinkerbell.

And thats the God the world wants to serve. Because he fits into life and requires no real change. But that is not the God of the Bible. In Matthew the Bible tells us that many will be turned away from the Kingdom of God because they never knew him. If someone has this tame image of Jesus, then they are in danger, because they dont know the God of the Bible. Yes God is loving, and God is kind, but God is also a just God. The God of the Bible is not tame. He is ferocious. He is love. He is grace. And he is terrifying. The Bible tells us that when God returns, men who are living in sin upon seeing his coming will cry out for mountains to fall on them. Thats terror.

My motivation is for the word of God to come to life right before your eyes each time you read a post from me. I want you to see the bible in a different light. Three years ago I believed in God, but reading the Bible was so not relevant to my life…or so I thought. But that was because I took the Bible at surface value. I cracked it open at church mainly to appear just so, but aside from that it never got opened. But when I let God changed my heart, I began to study the Bible. And it never ceases to amaze me how timeless the word of God is. Not only did it speak to generations before us, but it speaks directly to our culture!

I have made this statement before and Ill say it again. If anyone doubts the word of God, or is even a non believer all together, I believe it is because they have not truly sought God through scripture with all their hearts. The Bible tells us again that those who seek God with all their heart will find him. Look at the stanch atheists of past decades. CS Lewis was a scholar and magnificent intellect of the twentieth century. But he began to study Gods word, more to prove Christ wrong than to seek him. But in the process, he became a believer and one of the greatest Christian thinkers of our world. And there have been many more men like Lewis who have journeyed into the Bible a skeptic only to emerge a believer.

The Bible is not just random stories strung together with a bunch of moral points thrown in. It is not an episode of Diff’rent Strokes or GI Joe. The Bible was not written by God to be the instruction manual of our lives as many have described it. The Bible was written with one point. Jesus.  The Bible was written so that we may know God. So that we may know his unconditional love, his undeserved grace, and yes even his fiery wrath. And so many are living outside of a relationship with God and they dont even know it. And its because they do not know the word of God. How well can you know the details of the life of one of the former presidents of the United States if you dont read their biography. You may know they highlights of their life, but you dont really know the persona of that individual. You cannot know what drives them without studying them. The bible wasnt given to us by God as something to read if we got bored or if we had a question or problem in our lives. Yet many worldly Christians treat Gods word as leisure reading.

We serve such a big God. Can you imagine….we serve a God who tells mountains to be lifted and they obey. He told the planets to align and they obeyed. He told the sea that it could only come so far onto land and it obeyed. And then God looks at his most treasured creation, mankind, and asks us to love him and obey him and we say no. God love us! And he wants us to know him! And honestly, reading Gods word and studying the scriptures have opened my eyes to so much. Three years ago, it was literally as if a light came on and I was discovering the Bible for the very first time. And when we study Gods word constantly, it becomes less of a chore and more of something that we are excited about. Because it becomes apparent that He is speaking directly to us!

This has been sort of a soap box tangent so to speak. And I dont know if I have done justice to what is really on my heart. I just want to stress the importance of having a relationship with Christ. Baptism doesnt save. And repeating the right words followed by an “amen” doesnt save. If all it takes is uttering a prayer to be saved then its not Christianity, its witchcraft. A prayer may frame what has been done in a persons heart, but the Holy Spirit does the work. Salvation is no work on our part, but a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.  My question to you….have you opened your love letter from God? I want people to know Jesus. And the only way to know him is through a personal relationship. And what better way to know Christ than becoming a daily student of his word.

Are You Drinking The Wrong Water?

The bells are ringing, the tree is decorated, and the kids are counting down the hours until Christmas morning. Only two days remain until that holiday wrapping paper you worked so hard to find will be shredded all over the living room floor. Our kids hold nothing back when telling people each and everything they want to find underneath the Christmas tree. We adults are more subtle about it. Grown ups say we dont want anything and start dropping hints starting in July as to what is on our wish list.  And each year we are all ultimately in search of a feeling. That feeling is the pursuit of happiness.

How many times have you thought to yourself, “If I only had (fill in blank) I would be so happy!” We always want something different than what we currently have. And companies like Apple and Microsoft have capitalized on this human trait. Just as soon as you get the I Phone 3, the I Phone 4 comes out. You rush out to get the I Phone 4 only to realize that the next I Phone 5 is soon to arrive complete with a teleportation app!  Computers are no different. Even look at cars. You purchase a brand new car and a year later it is out dated. How many times have you picked out that perfect outfit at the mall and a month later, the style is no longer fashionable? Our children even deal with this problem in toys! If you get them a GI Joe that talks, shortly after there will be an improved version that talks while shooting a gun. If you buy a baby doll that your child can feed you can bet that there will be a doll coming out that can eat and then relieve themselves!

We are enamored constantly with the things of future garage sales. And we base our happiness on things we dont have. The world view is that the grass is always greener. We think things will be better if we only had “X”. But once we have “X” then its not long until our eyes begin to stray to the next new thing. So it becomes a cycle in our lives. And that well we drink from in hopes of eternally quenching that void in our lives only temporarily quenches our thirsts.

So my question to you this Christmas season is, are you happy? What is it that you may be trying to fill your life with in hopes that it will provide everlasting happiness? Is it a hobby you pursue? Is it the newest I Phone or Mac Computer? Is it a relationship? Everyone has a different well we go to for relief. But eventually, we will be left let down once again. Why is this? How can we put a stop to our constant searching and find that everlasting happiness in our lives? Jesus tells us the answer in John chapter 4.

“Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)”

Now lets stop right here in this story. Right away something is off here. Think about what is the hottest time of day? Like in the summer time if you see someone working or doing chores outside at high noon you would think they were crazy! If you have chores to do, you do them in the morning or the evening, but never at noon! I make this point because historically, back in the first century, women did not go to draw water from the well in the middle of the day. Drawing water was a chore that was done very early in the morning. Even in third world countries, like Panama where we are currently serving as missionaries, the Indians will draw water very early in the mornings and draw enough to get them through the day. Yet we see immediately that this woman is drawing water in the hottest part of the day. This is very strange, and we’ll see why she does this in the following verses. And Jesus sees this woman and asks her for a drink of water.

“The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Again, it is important to stop and break this down as to see how this story is full of surprising elements. To call the relationships between the Jews and the Samaritans one of racial tension would be a massive understatement. The level of hate these two races of people had for one another makes any race problems we have today pale in comparison.  So right away, this woman is almost at a loss for words that Jesus, a Jewish man, is actually talking to her.

“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answers her, basically saying if she only knew who he was and what he was offering her, she would be asking him for his water. And right here, Jesus begins to point out the source of the womans problems. Why she is unhappy. She is drinking from the wrong well. Yet this woman still doesnt realize that God himself is with her and is a bit confused. So paraphrasing, she is saying “How can you offer me water? You dont even have a cup? Are you too good to drink from this well? All the people that our nation was built on have drank from this well. So are you better than all of them? Are you too good for this water?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷“I have no husband,” she replied.

   Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

Jesus pinpointed her problem. Jesus asks her about her husband to get her to open up. And once she stated she didnt have a husband, Jesus responded to her, “You’re right, you dont have a husband. You have had five and the man you are sleeping with right now you are not even married too!” And this brings us full circle as to why this woman was drawing water at noon. In this time, adultery and sexual relations out of wed lock was a serious offense. So much so that if caught you could be killed for this sin. This woman was shamed and didnt go to draw water with the other women early in the morning. She avoided the towns people and went to the well at a time when no one would be there. She was living with unrepentant sin in her life and was carrying the burden and guilt of that daily. I love the next verse….verse 19……

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.”

This makes me laugh every time I read it.  Here Jesus has just reveled her secret sin to her and she just concludes that Jesus must be a prophet. But he’s much more than that. By the way, this shows us that the idea of a secret is a lie. Nothing is a secret from God.

 ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

   ²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

²⁸ Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” ³⁰ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.”

Did you catch this? This woman who was ashamed and afraid to go around the others in her town due to her sin, after meeting Jesus, was no longer wallowing in her sin. She was set free and her sin was used as a testimony of how Jesus changed her. If you continue reading the passage says that many people in the town went on to place their faith in Jesus due to this woman’s testimony. Whatever we have done in our past, God doesnt want us to cast our dark past into a closet and throw away the key. If we repent, we are to use our failures to show how great Christ is once we turn to him! And when this is done, as the passage point out, many people can be saved.

My point is that when we go to things other than our relationship with Christ to look for happiness, we will always leave thirsty. We all too often drink from the wrong well. And I want to highlight two different wells that we tend to drink from in our society and culture today.

1. Money and Comfort

Again, look no farther than your local mall to see this. We always have to have the newest of everything. In America we classify certain things as needs when the rest of the world would classify them as wants. Do we really need an I Pad 5 with an app that can wax our car for us? I remember back to when Lacy was pregnant with our first son Andy. We had to have the perfect baby room. We NEEDED this new model crib that would match our walls.  However, when visiting one of the remote Indian Villages in Panama recently, their baby bed was an old net hanging from the top of the house. But it functioned as their baby bed. It really put the term NEEDS and WANTS into perspective. And these NEEDS for comforts sake become more important than our relationships with Christ. Heres a question I was asked recently that will hit you hard as it sure did me……When you first wake in the morning, whats more important, immediately checking Facebook updates or opening up your bible?

2. Relationships and Sex

Hollywood has really warped us here. Women…..please hear me on this. There is no man that will, as Jerry Maguire will have you believe, that will ”Complete you”.  And men, there is no woman who will fulfill all of your wildest dreams. There is no perfect spouse. Yet our society trades in relationship like baseball cards as soon as they start to feel their needs are not being met! People look to sex before marriage and finding that perfect someone over God! And as a result, no man and no woman will ever fill their voids. They will constantly be search in the well of relationships to quench their thirsts. If only they would realize that they are drawing from the wrong well.

Are you constantly thirsting for a happiness that is quenched for a time, but leaves you returning to the same well for relief? When we put our trusts, our focus on Christ, everything comes into perspective. This holiday season, look past the presents and the new technology that will soon fill your life. It will bring happiness, but only for a short time. Are the trinkets and stuff in your life keeping you in a state of happiness? They sure didnt for the woman at the well. Start this coming new year off right and replace your old well with one of living waters. Merry Christmas!

Anticipating His Glory

There is such an enormous building of anticipation leading up to Christmas morning. We actually have “Christmas in July” promotions in the United States to kick start the excitement to December 25th. When I was a kid, I remember the most fun part of the season was getting the big Sears Catalog at my grandmothers house and flipping right to the toy section. My grandmother would then give my brother and I a pen and paper, and tell us to make a list of the toys we really wanted. Needless to say, making this list took a good bit of time. There was serious strategic planning involved in this delicate process. We didnt want to ask Santa for too much, but we wanted to make sure we picked the best of the best toys.

We would literally analyse the toys. Studying how they were put together by the pictures in the catalog. If a toy looked cheaply made, we would erase it from our list. We would also cross reference our study in the doctrine of toys with other children. If one of our friends happened to have a particular toy we were interested in, a special “play date” would be planned and we would invite them over asking them to bring the toy in question so we could feel things out.

Once we had our list finalized, grandmother would mail the list to the North Pole for us. And then the waiting began.

Finally Christmas day would arrive. My parents would torture my brother and I by making us wait in our rooms while they went downstairs and made coffee. They never seemed to be in any hurry, but we were like two rabid dogs behind our bedroom door just scratching to get out. And once that bedroom door was opened, it was a mad dash to the living room where Santa would always leave our holiday stash.

Each present we ripped into revealed a treasure that we marveled over. But only for a few seconds. We had to move on to the next gift. Then after all of our presents were opened, my brother and I would swap and I would check out his toys as he gave the same once over to mine. Not long after, it was time to clean up all the wrappings and throw the empty boxes away. And after the long build up of anticipation and the climax of opening the great gifts on Christmas morning, I was always left with the same thought…..

“This is it?”

It was like being famished for a big meal and then once finished realizing that I was still hungry.  And I believe many adults still have that same feeling after the Christmas season passes. Sort of an empty, “the good time is over” type of feeling. And I believe this is what happens any time we put our hopes and expectations in anything worldly. Everything and anything in this world will eventually leave you disappointed at some time or another. Even the Christmas season. That is, if you focus on the wrong things.

As I wrote in the last blog, I have been convicted this season as to where I place Jesus during Christmas. Is he just another holiday accessory like the Christmas tree, the mistle toe, egg nog, and Santa? Or is he made to be the primary reason for the season?

The Christmas story is told most every year and we hear it numerous times during the holidays. The story of the birth of Jesus. But the Christmas story started way before the virgin Mary gave birth to our Savior.

We can go all the way back to the garden of Eden. After the serpent Satan had caused Adam and Eve to fall into sin, God cursed the serpent and said to him…..

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15.

This was the foretelling of the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ right there in the Garden of Eden. God was telling Satan right here that he had crossed a big line, and that the one coming to crush sin and death would be born of a woman. Jesus would indeed have sin strike his feet when he bore the sins of the world on the cross. But through his sinless life, sacrificial death, and redeeming resurrection, Christ would deliver the crushing blow to Satan, sin and death.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,  for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” Isaiah 7:14-16.

Isaiah foretold many many years before Jesus was born of his coming. He told of the virgin birth and described him as the King who will eat curds and honey. Back in this day, curds and honey was a poor mans meal. The rich rulers would be dining on fine meats and the best wines. But Jesus was born into the most humble of settings. He was to be the king that would come to serve and save.

The coming of Christ continues to be told through the lineage of Abram, and through Abrams son Judah, which made its way through the blood line of King David. The entire bible is not just a collection of stories about different good men. If you pay attention to what these men are saying, the whole Bible is the Christmas story……the entire bible is about Jesus. It is simply impossible to talk about any story in the bible without talking about Jesus. The virgin birth was a magnificent part of the story, but its not complete unless we understand the big picture.

You see Christmas is takes on a whole different level of importance when we view Christ in the bigger scheme of things. For centuries the story of the coming Messiah was told starting from the beginning of time. And people Im sure hearing of these predictions wondered….even doubted when and if the savior would ever be born. Their may have been some that doubted the old testament scriptures speaking of the birth of Christ all together. Because generations would come and go and the prophecies were yet to be fulfilled until Mary gave birth to him.

Do you see the same pattern today? Just as many doubted that Christ would be born, many today doubt that he is coming again as is written in the new testament. Just as centuries had passed in the time between the old testament predictions and the birth of Christ, so have centuries passed since the new testament predictions of Christs return. We need not doubt God just because he doesnt operate on our time line. His word stands true, and the only reason He tarries in his return is because there are still many to be saved. In his grace, he is giving humanity time to repent. But just as he fulfilled his birth in scriptures, you can be sure he will hold true to his promise of returning for his people.

The Christmas story is more than just the story of our saviors birth. Its the story of our salvation. Its the story of Gods promises to his people. Christmas is not just a reminder of his beginnings. Its a reminder to humanity that he return is imminent. When Christ returns, he will not enter humanity again through the guise of a baby, coddled in a manger.  Jesus will return as a warrior with eyes of fire on a white horse. Christ will strike fear into those who have mocked him and lived their life apart from him. He will return seeking the blood of his enemies.

But to those who were faithful, he will return as a loving father. And the bible tells us he will bring with him their reward. I once heard a pastor that when Christ returns, he would much rather be looking at the back of Jesus instead of facing him eye to eye. Basically saying he wants to be one of the people following him instead of in his path as he declares war on the wicked.

This Christmas reevaluate just where Jesus is on the scale of importance. And let this holiday be a reminder of how very much he loves you and wants desperately to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants to be a part of your life, not just an accessory to be boxed up with the lights and the garland.

Christmas doesnt have to end with the feeling of emptiness. That feeling of anticipation should only be renewed this time of year. We have the joy of knowing the King of Kings who is returning sooner than we may think. And that joy is not just a once a year thing. Its a joy that should fill our hearts daily. A savior was born of a virgin. And a mighty warrior king is returning to establish his kingdom! That is a gift worth looking forward too! The final chapter has yet to be fulfilled. We are literally amidst eternity in the making. And we need stand in anticpation of his coming glory!

Jesus or Santa?

This most exciting time of year is upon us once again. Christmas is the one time of year I cant wait for it to get here and when it does, I dont want it to leave. I have the very best memories of Christmas growing up. Our house was always decorated with garland and a beautiful Christmas tree. And each year, my parents would always sit us down and tell us the story of Jesus birth. We knew that Christmas was about Jesus, but the focus for us wasnt on Jesus. In fact, it was on everything but Jesus. My brother and I were more excited about the idea that Santa was coming to town! We looked forward to decorating the tree more than going to church. We were more interested in writing out a long christmas list of toys we want for Santa rather than thanking Jesus for coming to save us. We knew the concept of Christmas and the birth of Jesus, but we just didnt fully get it.

And this was no fault of our parents. In fact, this is just how the world does Christmas! We allow ourselves to get so excited about the Christmas festivities and so excited about playing Santa to our kids that our focus has become a bit skewed. Lacy and I have recently noticed this in our own lives. Each Christmas we love to hype Santa coming to our kids. And there is nothing wrong with that, if its done in the right context. We as a people tend to put more of an emphasis on Santa Clause than we do Jesus Christ. And as a result to our kids, Christmas isnt about Jesus, its about Santa. Jesus ends up just playing a secondary role in Christmas.

Being here in Panama and serving the Guaymi indians with my family has been such an eye opening experience. These people dont have their children make Christmas list. Mostly because they dont have the means to buy tons of toys. I have heard that on Christmas, some of the very poor families will save up to give their kids a piece of meat with their rice and beans meal. The meat is the gift, because its something they rarely get. Good meat is expensive to them. And the children look forward to this just as much as many American children look forward to handing Santa a list of 100 plus toys they have picked out of the Macy’s Catalog.

Jesus speaks so much in the bible warning us not to fall into the trap of idolatry, which is putting anything in our lives before Christ. And unknowingly, some people have committed this sin each holiday season not even realizing it.  I asked my wife this question the other day….”What do I hear our kids talking more about this season, Jesus or Santa?” Our kids will talk more about what Lacy and I put an emphasis on.

Not only do we by putting Santa as the center piece to Christmas commit the sin of idolatry, but we also are misleading our children, teaching them by example that Christmas is about “you.” We teach them to put their wants and desires first above everything. We may tell the story of Jesus, but is that all it is during this season….just a story? Or is Christ made to be shown in your family and to your children as THE ONLY reason for the season?

A very close friend of ours back home has shared with us that each Christmas, after the presents are unwrapped, they load up their car and take their family down to the local homeless shelter and help provide a Christmas party with their children for the people that dont have anything.  I think this is awesome.

Lacy and I have been convicted about some of the ways we have celebrated Christmas in the past. Its been made into more of a worldly holiday instead of what it really is meant to celebrate. So we are beginning to change some things in the Parish household when it comes to the matter of Christmas. We start with the gifts.

Gifts become the center point of Christmas. And we are conditioned to view things this way from a young age. We are taught that we need to make a list of all the things we want and if we are good maybe Santa will bring all or most of them. However, on the night Jesus was born, he receives just three gifts from the wise men. Just three gifts. So this year, we have told our boys that they will get three gifts. Of course, we know they will receive more from family and friends. But from mom and dad, they can each choose three things the really want. And we share with them the reason for this is because the baby Jesus received just three gifts. This allows us to share not only the story of Jesus birth, but the story of the wise men.

This Christmas our boys also have to buy one toy of their choosing to give to a little boy or girl in one of the villages here who doesnt have as much. By no means do we have the market cornered on the right way to do Christmas. This is just what God has convicted our family of recently. The more I grow in my relationship with Christ, the more I find myself and our family being very different than the world.

Noted author and pastor John Piper wrote recently that his household doesnt even aknowledge Santa Clause. They have a christmas tree and decorate the house, but the focus is entirely on Jesus Christ. He made a very convicting point that has stuck with me. He pointed out that the bible tells us that it is a sin to lie. Yet we do this every time we make Santa seem real to our children and make the holidays about him instead of Jesus.

I tried at first after reading this to justify Santa by telling myself, “Telling my kids Santa is a real person that is going to make Christmas about toys is not really a lie…….”  Then I had to ask myself, “If its not a lie, then what is it?” No matter how I may try to bend Gods word, I have yet to find a loop hole in Pastor Pipers theory. And frankly, I dont want to get in the business myself of bending Gods word to fit my preferences. But just because its always been done that way doesnt mean its right. Again, we fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to the world and its standards instead of seeking to know what Christ would say.  He went on to point out that some people, even Christians, will try to justify this saying that he is being over the top and that Santa is the way Christmas has always been done.

I brought this issue up to a friend of mine and he made a good point that we could just tell the story of Saint Nick to our kids as being a good person who gave to the needy. But honestly, if we are going to tell our kids about a good person at Christmas time, why tell them about anyone else other than Jesus Christ?

I love to celebrate Christmas. But are we as a people celebrating it in the wrong way?  Where is our focus? What gets us excited about this holiday season? Is it the gifts? The egg nog and christmas parties? Is it decorating the tree and reading to our kids “The Night Before Christmas?” Or is it telling the story of a baby born of a virgin who grew up to save us from ourselves?  What is coming before Jesus this holiday season, and what is taking his place as the most precious gift ever given?

I know this issue is very controversial. And many who read it may think I am totally taking things too far. But if we are followers of Christ, shouldnt we be more concerned with what God thinks of us? I want God to be pleased and I sure dont want to one day stand before Jesus hiimself and have him tell me that I made a mockery of what Christmas was truely about. It may not be popular, but I want our family to be about the kingdom of God regardless of if it may fly in the face of worldly tradition.

Maybe you find yourself already making the holiday about Jesus. And if so I think thats wonderful that you didnt fall into the trap of consumerism that so embodies Christmas these days. Or maybe you find yourself a little like me. Realizing that the normal way of doing things in the worlds eyes may not be the way God had intended things to be. If so, maybe God is tugging at your heart like he did ours. Maybe he is turning your eyes from the worlds concept of Christmas and putting your focus one what really matters.  And if Christ is doing this for you as he has done for my family, aside from Christ dying for my sins…..its the greatest gift I could receive this season. Merry Christmas and Christ blessings to everyone!

A Banquet Worth Attending

One thing I have always enjoyed was getting together with friends. Growing up in a church where everyone was like family, I was always together with my friends. I would come home from school and friends would start showing up at our house just to hang out. We spent most of our time centered around the kitchen area of our house. The girls would come over and “girl time” talking with my mom while us guys stuffed our faces with potato chips and cookies as we talked about the girls. On weekends friends would come over to our house and we would rent movies, cook out, and feast on hamburgers or hot dogs. Our house growing up was like one consistent banquet of friends. If my friends were not over, then my brothers friends were over. You can imagine my parents grocery bill was pretty high. But they loved the company just as much as we did.

When I think back to my first days as a new college student at the University of Alabama, my fondest memories are spending time with my friends eating and being together. I can remember my very first night in Alabama as my parents drove away and I was for the first time in my life, independent and living away from them with my roommate. Both of us were new to living away from home, and it was actually dinner time when my parents left us in the apartment to start our new college lives.

So we decided to commemorate our new found independence with a feast of Oscar Meyer hot dogs and Dr. Pepper. To us, this was no ordinary meal. It was a milestone worthy of a mini banquet. We even took pictures of our first supper in our new apartment. We ate and laughed together anticipating our new life in Alabama as we sat on our balcony watching other students moving into their apartments as the sun began to set.

My favorite memories are centered around eating with friends and family. We were in Utah on a mission trip with our youth group at the time my brother Andy suffered a fatal injury in a skiing accident. The heart breaking events of that trip are a blur to me to this day. But I remember one part of that trip crystal clear. It was the morning before of my brothers accident. We all woke up in our hotel room very early in the morning as to get a jump start on skiing that day. And to start the day right, we decided we needed a balanced and nutritious breakfast…..at the golden arches of McDonalds.

I remember that breakfast, every detail, in extreme clarity. Like it happened yesterday. My brother and I sat at a table by the window with all of our friends surrounding us as we all feasted on hashbrowns, McGriddles, McMuffins, McPancakes, and shared with one another as we laughed and talked about who could ski down the mountain the fastest.

When Lacy and I went on our first date, we had planned to go to the Olive Garden. It was my intention to impress her with a feast of bread sticks and fettuccine alfredo. But when we arrived we realized the wait was so long that we would miss our movie if we stayed. So we ended up going to a lesser known restaurant by the name of Grady’s. I had never been there, and it sure wasnt my first choice. But it wasnt about the food. I was mesmerized by Lacy. I just wanted to spend time with her. I couldnt tell you what we had for dinner three days ago, but I remember that meal in perfect detail.

I ordered a seafood pasta dish and Lacy ordered the same thing. I was so nervous but I covered it well…or so I think I did. I would actually wait until she was looking down or not at me before I took a bite of my meal because I was afraid of how I would look slurping noodles in front of her. We talked about everything from our families to our hopes and dreams for the future. I had been learly of getting in a serious relationship prior to Lacy. I enjoyed my freedom and dating whoever I choose. But that night, I remember thinking that Lacy was going to be not only my girlfriend, but my future. Twelve years ago, that meal was the beginning of the rest of our lives together.

And now some of our best memories as a family are feasting and spending time with our families. Each time we go to Lacy’s parents house in Pelham Georgia, her father cooks the best ribs and chicken Ive ever tasted. When we go to my grandfathers house in Destin Florida, he never fails to treat us to a gourmet meal. And when we are in Marietta Georgia, Lacys Uncle John and Aunt Mona have us over for the best…..well when it comes to Uncle John and Aunt Mona, any meal is the best. But again, its not the food that makes the time special, its the people.

More recently, when my father was in Panama a few weeks ago with us, the best times I have had with my dad that I can remember to this day were going to breakfast with him each morning at Olga’s or Central Park Cafe in Boquete. We would drop my son off at school in town and then have breakfast together. We talked about everything. My dad I and have always been close, but our time spent over many breakfast together in Panama brought us so much closer. I began to see my dad not just as my father, but as a friend I really enjoy just hanging out with.

If you think about it, some of the most cherished times are spent with family and or friends feasting with each other. Today is Thanksgiving and many families world wide will create new memories as they fill their bellies with Turkey and dressing. And it was no different back in the times of Jesus. Jesus preformed one of his first miracles at the wedding banquet when he turned water into wine. (John 2:1-11). He then performed one of his greatest miracles when he fed the five thousand. (John 6:1-14). In Luke 22:1-23, Jesus dined with his disciples at what was to be the very first Lords Supper hours before he was to be crucified. After Jesus was resurrected and before he ascended into Heaven, he again dined with friends. (Luke 24:30; 24:42-43). And there are even more all examples of this throughout scripture.

In Luke 14:12-24, Jesus teaches us about what the kingdom of Heaven will be like by comparing it to a great banquet.

“Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

This parable speaks such a large truth to us today. Some of the guest that were invited accepted the invitation to this banquet. However, as time went on and it came down to making a commitment to attend, the guest began to make very lame excuses.

The first invited guest used the excuse of having just bought a piece of land and having to go see it. This is such a weak excuse. Has anyone ever fallen through on their commitment to you and it was apparent that they were lying to get out of their commitment? Thats what we see here. First of all, who buys a piece of land without first walking over every square inch to make sure its a good investment? No one. This guy is coming up with anything he can think of to get out of committing to the banquet.

The second guys gives the excuse of just having purchased five oxen and he says he needs to go inspect them. Again, we see yet another transparent lie of an excuse. A team of five oxen was a big investment back in those days. What kind of man would buy a team of oxen without first making sure that they were of the finest stock and strong enough to pull the work load? Again…no one of a sound mind would do this.

Keep in mind that these guest have previously been invited. And now that its time for the banquet, servants have been sent out to tell those invited, “Ok everything is ready! Come on over!” But those who had originally accepted have not made preparing for this banquet priority in their lives and are making excuses as to now get out of attending.

The last guy has one of the lamest excuses in my book. He claims he just got married, so he cant attend. First of all, what woman doesnt like to get dressed up, go and eat good food, and be around other people in time of fellowship? If given a choice to sit at home in front of the television eating Doritos or go out to hang out with friends over dinner, my wife will choose the latter any day. Another false excuse.

Why didnt these people want to attend the banquet? Perhaps some of them just didnt want to prepare. They thought at the time they would do what it took to get ready, but when it came down to it, they just couldnt commit.

We have all been invited to come to this huge banquet that is the Kingdom of Heaven. We have all been given the invitation. Some of us have even accepted the invitation by walking down the aisle or saying a prayer and accepting Jesus as our savior. But then as time goes on, we forget the commitment we made. We sink back into our old ways, and we begin putting anything we can before Christ. We make excuses as to why we need to sleep in on Sunday mornings. We make excuses as to why its ok for us to watch movies with slay the name of Jesus. We make excuses why its acceptable to say we are christians but love and live more like the world than Christ. In short….we dont want to do the things it takes to follow Christ. We may have accepted the invitation, but failed to prepare for his coming.

Jesus was dining with some of the pharisees at the time he told this parable. These were the religious people who eventually persecuted and crucified Jesus. Before he told this parable, he addressed the pharisees….

Luke 14: 7-15, “When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

“Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus has created a pretty awkward moment chastising these religious men. And notice what one of them does in an attempt to break the awkwardness…….”When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Basically this guy is saying that he and his religious buddies are blessed and will feast with God. But they dont follow Jesus. So Jesus tells this parable and this is his way of telling this guy…..you’re wrong, some of you wont be at my banquet.

The kingdom of Heaven is going to be filled with rejoicing and feasting. Its going to be like going to the best party of your entire life. Its going to be a place of dining and fellowship in worship to Jesus. Some people have a skewed view on what Heaven will be like. Some picture it being an eternal, boring worship service as they sit on a cloud strumming a harp with under sized wings. This is not true at all. Heaven is going to be like a major banquet. Its going to be a celebration. Imagine the best food you’ve ever tasted, the best time you have ever had with friends and family, and magnify that times infinity! Thats Heaven.

And we have all been invited! But the question is, will we make sure we are prepared, or will we make excuses as to why we cannot attend? The choice is ours. The host in the parable reached out to the rich who could afford teams of oxen and by lots of land. But he also gave the invitation to the poor. He gave the invitation to those who didnt think they were deserving to attend such a banquet. Jesus invites all to attend. And he is preparing a place at this feast for you. Dont make an excuse. You would be missing out on the greatest time of your life. Dont be like the religious rules. Follow Jesus and prepare for that which you have been invited to attend.

Jesus Wasn’t A Salesman

I am a people pleaser. Thats just my nature. Its not an easy thing for me to go against the grain. I like to make people happy. And I like people to like me. I think thats everyone to a certain extent. If we had a choice for people to like or dislike us, we would pick for them to like us. But I tend to be a people pleaser to a fault. I remember this was an apparent trait I had that was seen early on in my childhood. Especially during interactions between my brother Andy and myself.

Andy was more of antagonist. He enjoyed a good debate. And at times, he would debate with people even when he really knew he was wrong. If you said the sky was blue, he would argue that it was actually a shade of aqua. I remember when Andy would get in trouble with my parents, he would argue his innocence regardless of if he was right or wrong. I would always tell him to just shut his mouth and apologise. That way it would just blow over. But Andy would extend the conflict by defending himself anyway he could.

I was different. If I got into any kind of trouble, I would quickly apologise and admit my wrong doing. I would even do this if I knew I wasnt at fault as to avoid dragging it out and just end the discussion. I lived by three phrases when I was a kid, and I repeated them Im sure hundreds of times…

“You’re right.”

“Im wrong.”

“Im sorry.”

I used this formula to avoid conflict so many times as a kid my mom eventually caught on and coined a new word to define what I was doing. She called it “Face Time.” Eventually this backfired on me because if I argued with my parents, there was conflict. And if I told my mom what she wanted to hear, she would accuse me of giving her “face time” and not really being sincere of my wrong doing. There is a danger in not picking a side, because eventually, people can see that you are trying to please them instead of telling them the truth.

The most glamorized pastors in the world are the ones who are masters at giving “face time.” They are basically salesmen for Christ. They elaborate on all the benefits and “people pleasing” qualities of God like forgiveness and love while avoiding real issues such as the call to repentance in the life of believers.  These glamorized salesmen even go so far as to boil following Christ down to a simple formula of four steps.

1. Ask God into your heart.

2. Pray for forgiveness.

3. Welcome to the family of God.

4. Continue living however you want, because if you sin, just repeat steps one and two.

Now God is a forgiving God. And God will forgive. But people that are sold on this easy believism concept of Christianity have not been told about a key element in the salvation process. That being repentance. Again, repentance is a turning away from the person you were before Christ. As I tend to point out alot, 1 Corinthians tells us that when we come to Christ, we become a new person. So why do some pastors leave out repentance? Because they are people pleasers to a fault.

Recently we bought a used car here in Panama. We spent a few weeks making the decision and finally picked a nice looking SUV big enough to haul my family of six around Central America. The salesman was quick to fill me in on all the perks of the car.

“It was hardly ever driven by its previous owner.”

“The car is great for traversing the many unfinished roads that are normal here in Panama.”

“The gas mileage is great.”

It all sounded so great we made the purchase. And the car drove great for the first four weeks we had it. Then out of no where, the engine failed. The salesman failed to mention that the car had previous engine problems. He gave us the good points and avoided parts of the story that may detour us from buying the car. We couldnt fully count the costs of what we were getting into because we didnt get the whole story upfront. Luckily, we have some good friends here that are helping us get the problems fixed, but it would have been nice to get the real story on the car upfront.

And some will preach only the easy side to Christianity. Some even make overboard statements to lead people to make a committment.

“If you have Jesus, all of your relationships will be better!”

“If you accept Christ, you will be blessed financially.”

“To follow Christ, it only takes a second to pray a prayer and you dont have to give up anything!”

Making a committment is not a problem. But what is being committed to? A faith that lives by these standards is getting people to commit to a church, not to God. Many of the biggest churches in America are the ones that have master salesmen behind the pulpit, and are experts at face time.

Lets take a look at the pitch Jesus used to win people over into following him.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26.

“He (Jesus) said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-60.

“Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:61-62.

Jesus is not a salesman. He doesnt tell us what we want to hear, he tells us the truth. The words of Christ are hard, but not intended to promote insensitivity. The call to hate means to love less. We are to love our family, but when compared to our love for Christ it is to look like hate. Jesus is not telling us to avoid mourning a death. But when a death interferes with Gods will being done, Gods work comes as priority.

I heard a story of a missionary who was planting churches in another country. He received word that his mother had died back in the USA and was asked to come home for the burial by his family. A trip home would set back much of the work he was accomplishing for Christ, so he made the decision not to go to the funeral. Was the insensitive and cold on the part of this missionary? Many would say yes. How could he not drop everything and return home to see his mother buried? Or were his actions that of a devote follower of Christ?

You see, Jesus was not being insensitive to a loved one passing. But it boils down to a matter of beliefs and priorities. As Christians, Christ is to be our top priority over everything. And if we are true believers in what the bible tells us, we know that when death comes, the soul is gone. That person is now in one of two places depending on their faith while on earth, and all that is left is an empty shell. Christ is essentially saying, “If you are furthering Gods kingdom, dont stop working to watch an empty shell return to dirt, carry on with the mission, because we do not have a moment to waste!!”

Again, a man tells Jesus that he will follow but first he must return home and tell his family goodbye. Christ is not being insensitive, but merely showing us how much more of a priority following him should be in our lives. When Christ calls, nothing is more important. And with more and more people dying and going to Hell, many of which have been sold a false version of Christianity, there is not a second to waste. We are to have a sense of urgency. Christianity is not a laid back club of people who have fire insurance and can live life on their terms. We answer to a higher calling and are a part of a mission.

If a soldier refuses to participate in war, is he really a soldier? In the same manner, if a christian has no urgency in making Christ THE priority of life, is he or she really a Christian? The deeper I get into my faith, the more people have told me that some of the comments I make regarding the Bible tend to step on their toes. Honestly, some of the comments I make step on my own toes. Thats why I make them. We all…including myself…need to realize daily that following Christ is not an easy lifestyle, its one of intense committment. And when we witness to people, we dont need to be salesmen and present the gospel in the form of a no committment, easy to swallow pill that will make our lives perfect.

When we do this…..when we tell people becoming a Christian will make life easy, we leave out the most important part of Christianity….we leave out Christ. Because we cant say “I will follow Jesus, as long as I dont have to look like him.”

If Christianity ensures financial security, then why was Jesus poor?

If Christianity ensures great relationships, then why was Jesus rejected by his family and friends?

If Christianity is painless and without sacrifice, then why was Jesus beaten and tortured on the cross?”

The sales pitch for following Christ shouldnt be, “Follow Jesus and life will be great!” The sales pitch for Christianity should be, “You will be rejected, people may hate you, and you could possibly die for your beliefs.” But the good news is that for this level of committment, when God looks at us he doesnt see our sin, he sees the blood of his son covering us, and we are one of HIS!

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money tocomplete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Luke 14:28-30.

Jesus wants us to count the cost of being his disciple before we make the committment. He doesnt want partially committed Christians. Some may think that if they are partially committed to Jesus its better than no committment at all. Actually Jesus is saying partial committment is as good as no committment at all.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.” Luke 14:34-25.

As Christians we are to be salt to a lost world. But if we are salt that is not salty, then Jesus is saying essentially, “What good is that!” You cant claim to be salt if you are not salty! And we cant claim that we are Christians if we are not committed totally to the cause of Christ!

Before anyone decides to follow Christ, the costs must be counted. What good is it to start something as the parable of the builder pointed out, and not follow it through to completion? Its easy to think that coming to Christ is easy, and nothing has to really change. But according to Jesus, everything must change.  David Platt did a sermon on these very verses listed about. The title of his sermon was, “I Want to Talk You Out of Following Christ.” Now talking people out of salvation was really not the point of his sermon. Rather it was to point out that being a Christian is more of a committment than many people think these days.

These verses really caused me to reevaluate my walk with Christ. How closely are you walking with Jesus? Are you all in for Jesus, or are you committed as long as it doesnt inconvenience you? Human nature makes it easy for all of us to fall into the latter category. Thats why it is so important for us to be always constantly connected to God through the word. Otherwise, we conform our Christianity to what is deemed appropriate in the worlds eyes, not Gods. Ive learned you cant be a people pleaser and follow Christ. Committment in any form is tough. But the best things in life require work. Marriage is committment. Raising kids is committment. There is no compromise or partiality in either of these. You cant be a halfway committed husband or wife. You cant be a halfway committed parent. And commitment to Jesus requires an all in mentality. We live no longer for ourselves, but the one who redeemed us and saved us from ourselves!

Calvinism VS Arminianism…Who’s Opinion is Right?

Opinions are a dime a dozen. Everyone has their own outlooks as to how the world operates. In sports, there are different techniques that are recommended to better your batting average, strength, speed, vertical jump, and overall ability to win depending on who you talk to on a given day. Businessmen will tell you their recipe for earning more money or growing your company in a timely manner. If you are dieting, you can get endless amounts of the best weight loss plans and everyone has a different opinion as to how to best shed those unwanted pounds. And some people believe so strongly in their own interpretations of how to get things done that they will literally argue with anyone who believes differently from them.

And following Jesus is no different. There are so many different interpretations of the gospel. Scripture at times is twisted by man so it will be an easier pill to swallow. No one wants to hear that Christ is to be first in our lives above our wants and selfish pursuits. Basic human nature is one that looks out for number one. That number one being ourselves. No one wants to hear that as followers of Christ, we will face rejection and persecution for being bold in our family. We’d much rather have an “easy believism faith.” One where we walk the aisle, pray  a prayer and ask Christ into our hearts, and continue the same way we always have with no Change.

And just a side note to that comment…when we really come to a real relationship with Jesus, our lives CHANGE! If you have had an instance in your life where you have walked the aisle and made a committment for Christ, and afterwards you can continue watching the same movies and tv shows, listening to the same worldly, sin glorifying music, not praying daily, not reading your Bible daily, and no hunger to know Jesus more, then odds are it wasnt salvation that filled you…..it was a moment of emotion.

Back to the topic at hand, opinions are everywhere, even in how the gospel is interpreted. In the past year I have just broken the surface of learning about two opposing theological beliefs. Those being Calvinism and Arminianism. And Ill preface this by saying I am no expert on either belief. I just know the basic fundamentals of both. Some of my favorite preachers who are Godly men consider themselves Calvinists. I have many close, Godly friends who have had discussions with me over both doctrines, and have been confused as to what they should believe. I also have many preachers I love to listen to who consider themselves Arminianist.  Let break down what both of these theologies proclaim….

Calvinism

Basically Calvinism is known by the acronym, T.U.L.I.P

The doctrine of Total Depravity is derived from scriptures that reveal human character: Man’s heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and sick Jer. 17:9). Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20). He does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12). He cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). And, is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The Calvinist asks the question, “In light of the scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, how is it possible for anyone to choose or desire God?” The answer is, “He cannot. Therefore God must predestined.”

Calvinism also maintains that because of our fallen nature we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; 9:9-23).

Unconditional Election:
God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21).

Limited Atonement:
Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for ‘many’; John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33); John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world; Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that the Church was purchased by Christ, not all people; and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all).

Irresistible Grace:
When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God. Some of the verses used in support of this teaching are Romans 9:16 where it says that “it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy“; Philippians 2:12-13 where God is said to be the one working salvation in the individual; John 6:28-29 where faith is declared to be the work of God; Acts 13:48 where God appoints people to believe; and John 1:12-13 where being born again is not by man’s will, but by God’s.

Perseverance of the Saints:
You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ. Some of the verses for this position are John 10:27-28 where Jesus said His sheep will never perish; John 6:47 where salvation is described as everlasting life; Romans 8:1 where it is said we have passed out of judgment; 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises to never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle; and Phil. 1:6 where God is the one being faithful to perfect us until the day of Jesus’ return.

In a nutshell, Calvinist believe that God has predetermined just who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell. Those who are chosen to go to Heaven are called the Elect. If you are elect according to Calvinist, you have a point in your life where God becomes real to you in a sense. You see that your are in need of a relationship with Christ, and you turn to him giving your life completely over to Christ.

Those who are not the elect will never have that awakening. Its the unelect are basically someone who never really comes to a relationship with Christ. The unelect can be witnessed to, preached to, and reached out to and never feel an urgency or need to follow Jesus.

According to the Calvinist, salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.

Arminianism

Here are the basic five points of Arminianism…..

1. election (and condemnation on the day of judgment) was conditioned by the rational faith or non faith of man;
2. the Atonement, while qualitatively adequate for all men, was efficacious only for the man of faith;
3. unaided by the Holy Spirit, no person is able to respond to God’s will;
4. grace is not irresistible; and
5. believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace.

According to Arminianism, salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) – man’s response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, “choose” to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man’s will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation.  Basically there is no “election” by God. Every man has free will to chose.

Both theologies have their merits. Both have valid points. And both can be interpreted to have scriptural back up. I have been asked a few times which side of the line I fall on. And again, I have studied both doctrines. Calvinism makes some very strong points that are hard to deny. So does Arminianism. Many preachers will take their place in the pulpit and use their time in front of their congregations arguing why their theological belief is right.

And at the end of it all…..I dont know which one I believe. Frankly, I dont think anyone can be 100% sure that their doctrine is the right one. The doctrines of Calvinism and Arminianism have to do with how a persons heart is changed….by free will or election. And honestly, I think that these people who will take their time to persuade an audience to a certain theological side are missing the point.

Arminianism has its points. Calvinism has its points. And in the end, only God knows truly how a persons heart is changed. How a person comes to faith is not our concern as believers in Christ. Our mission is not to preach to the world how God works, but who God is.  Many preachers waste so much time on issues that are mysteries God never intended for us to concern ourselves with. Just my opinion…..and opinions are again, a dime a dozen….our job is not to persuade others into a certain theological belief system. Our job is to present the gospel of Jesus and plant the seeds of salvation in Christ.

I believe Satan has a way of stealing the focus of the solders of God. Is it ok to discuss Calvinism and Arminianism….yes! Debating and discussing these doctrines over a cup of coffee or reading about them will bring us to a deeper understanding of the things of God. But should it be the focus of our ministry…..NO.  The Bible tells us that there are some things hidden from us that will be revealed on the other side of this life.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29.

The revealed things this verse speaks of are the things we know of God. The gospel of Jesus. We are to focus not on things that are speculative at best, for they may be the very secret things God speaks of in scripture. We are to focus on Gods law and preaching the gospel to the nations so that all might be saved. That is the mission at hand. And that is the marching order which should define our lives.