I love milk. Actually...let me qualify that... I love to eat Oreo cookies and drink milk along with them. A great way to spend a Sunday afternoon: after a great post-church lunch, get a few Oreos and a big glass of milk and turn on the football game. Then, after you've munched the Oreos, and drank your milk, you can gently fall asleep on the couch to the football game. It's beautiful right?
Have you ever had a big ol' gulp of milk only to discover that it'd gone sour? It's pretty gnarly. Very unpleasant. It tastes like dirty gym socks from the local junior high locker room... gross.
The Apostle Paul had a great way with words, and he was really good at being very direct. In Galatians 6:7-8 he wrote, "Don't be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit."
These are sobering words to think about. If you leave the milk out on the counter, you're gonna be drinking sour milk later. Neglecting the care of the milk is bad news for your Sunday afternoon plans!
In the same way, neglecting our walk with Christ, or "sowing to the flesh", will result in a sour Christian life. We will not be refreshed or refreshing. In fact, we'll be like nasty ol' gym sock Christians. Of course there are many ways in which we can "sow to the flesh." Most of us are experts at it - after all, it is pretty easy to do. It's requires a bit more of me to sow to the Spirit, but isn't it worth it in the end?
Take some time today to sow to the Spirit. Open your Bible. You could start right here, with the book of Galatians if you want. It'll be worth it. I promise.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
More Than Conquerers
Last Sunday morning I watched as my father-in-law played bass guitar in our worship service. This, in itself, is not unusual. He's been leading in worship bands for years. What was unusual about this Sunday was that it was his first Sunday back in the band after his wife of nearly 4 decades died - suddenly, inexplicably, unexpectedly, devastatingly. He was leading worship in songs that declare that God can always be relied on, and that He loves us, and that He is an ever-present help - He never fails. And while my father-in-law was manipulating the strings of his bass in genuine worship of this God, he was weeping over the loss of his wife.
Not too long ago a massive tornado ripped through Moore, OK. Kids were crushed to death; some drowned in the basements in which they went to to seek shelter. Not too long before that bystanders to a marathon were shredded by shrapnel from backpack bombs. Not too long before that a madman reeked havoc in an elementary school in Newtown, CT, killing scores and scarring the hearts of hundreds for life.
Tragic natural disasters - tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis.
Horrific acts of violence - bombings, shootings, rapes, abductions, planes flown into buildings.
Deeply personal afflictions - disease, depression, death - quietly suffered, unnoticed by all but those intimately involved.
Everyday occurrences. These are not rare events that we are occasionally subjected to. These are integral pieces in the puzzles of our lives. Each puzzle piece is a different part of our picture - distinct from the others, but all a part of the whole. They fit together tightly, interlocking with the joys, triumphs, disappointments, and hardships. It is in these puzzle pieces that life is lived. Every single day we work, eat, talk with others, perform tasks, drive, do both the mundane and the fantastic, in, through, and informed by these puzzle pieces.
As Christians we have to ask, "Where is God in this puzzle? Where does He fit in these horrible moments? Is He absent from these puzzle pieces, withdrawing to allow this suffering? Is He not that God that we sing about who never fails?"
Why does He allow evil, horrible, difficult things? Sometimes we can grasp some understanding, but as a dear friend and pastor pointed out, there's not always a "why," sometimes there's just an "is." Sometimes horrible things just are. But God, who is rich in mercy and love, through His grace has provided a solution. He can move into a bad situation and bring good. He can move into death and bring life. And so if you live a life characterized by following after Him, you may not ever get a satisfactory answer to the "why", but He will be faithful to be an ever-present help, providing refuge and strength when the unthinkable happens.
If tragedy has not hit you yet, it will. Prepare now. Dig into His Word now. Study it. Know it. Understand it. In this way, when life's shrapnel shreds your soul, you will not falter and wither away. Instead you will stand firm in the midst of great suffering and pain in the knowledge of who God is, what He has done, and what He has promised He will do, and He will bring life and peace again.
Not too long ago a massive tornado ripped through Moore, OK. Kids were crushed to death; some drowned in the basements in which they went to to seek shelter. Not too long before that bystanders to a marathon were shredded by shrapnel from backpack bombs. Not too long before that a madman reeked havoc in an elementary school in Newtown, CT, killing scores and scarring the hearts of hundreds for life.
Tragic natural disasters - tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis.
Horrific acts of violence - bombings, shootings, rapes, abductions, planes flown into buildings.
Deeply personal afflictions - disease, depression, death - quietly suffered, unnoticed by all but those intimately involved.
Everyday occurrences. These are not rare events that we are occasionally subjected to. These are integral pieces in the puzzles of our lives. Each puzzle piece is a different part of our picture - distinct from the others, but all a part of the whole. They fit together tightly, interlocking with the joys, triumphs, disappointments, and hardships. It is in these puzzle pieces that life is lived. Every single day we work, eat, talk with others, perform tasks, drive, do both the mundane and the fantastic, in, through, and informed by these puzzle pieces.
As Christians we have to ask, "Where is God in this puzzle? Where does He fit in these horrible moments? Is He absent from these puzzle pieces, withdrawing to allow this suffering? Is He not that God that we sing about who never fails?"
No, He is not absent. He is very present. Psalm 46:1 says, "[He] is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."
Why does He allow evil, horrible, difficult things? Sometimes we can grasp some understanding, but as a dear friend and pastor pointed out, there's not always a "why," sometimes there's just an "is." Sometimes horrible things just are. But God, who is rich in mercy and love, through His grace has provided a solution. He can move into a bad situation and bring good. He can move into death and bring life. And so if you live a life characterized by following after Him, you may not ever get a satisfactory answer to the "why", but He will be faithful to be an ever-present help, providing refuge and strength when the unthinkable happens.
If tragedy has not hit you yet, it will. Prepare now. Dig into His Word now. Study it. Know it. Understand it. In this way, when life's shrapnel shreds your soul, you will not falter and wither away. Instead you will stand firm in the midst of great suffering and pain in the knowledge of who God is, what He has done, and what He has promised He will do, and He will bring life and peace again.
"Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness
or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -The Apostle Paul, Romans 8:35-39
"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:2-3
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Donuts and Dogma
So this morning I met with a couple of buddies over coffee and donuts just to hang out and invest in one another's lives and talk about the things of God. After the obligatory discussion on Apple products and other technology we began talking about Matthew 15:8-9.
According to Matthew, Jesus had recently walked on the water shortly after feeding 5,000+ people and they were hanging out healing sick people in a town called Gennesaret, when along come some Pharisees and scribes (read, "heavy duty religious leaders") from Jerusalem (Jerusalem is over 100 miles south of Gennesaret). Well, the Pharisees have a real problem with the way Jesus' disciples are doing something and they really wanna bring them down, so they ask Jesus this deep, probing question: "Why do your buddies break our traditions by not washing their hands before they eat?" Jesus is dumbfounded and flummoxed by their clever line of questioning. But He gathers Himself and responds by giving one example of how hypocritical they are because they use their beloved traditions to break the Word of God. Then He quotes Isaiah's prophecy regarding them in verses 8-9:
"These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”
My friends pointed out that Jesus was condemning them for their legalism, for their vain religious activity and they noted that we, in the context of our own church lives, have a tendancy toward legalism and vain religious activity too. Well, this concerns me.
What are the vain religious activities that we engage in? Or even more dangerous, what vain religious beliefs do we hold?
We talked about church history and how the errant views of a few in the past on matters that seem kinda minor resulted in the shackling of millions of people to certain false dogmas for centuries, binding people to beliefs, traditions, and fears that are unnecessary and damaging, and create false views of who God is.
Between bites of my French Cruller I realize that this is a very frightening thing to think about, because I wonder... We often feel like we've got it pretty much right; that we sorta have it figured out better than some of those guys in the past. But I wonder, do we hold any errant views today that maybe seem like no big deal, but that might result in shackling many to false dogmas in the generations to come? Are there religious ideas and views that we hold precious to us that could serve to bind people to beliefs and traditions that are unnecessary and damaging, creating false views of who God is?
I contend that we do... and I'll write more on that next time...
According to Matthew, Jesus had recently walked on the water shortly after feeding 5,000+ people and they were hanging out healing sick people in a town called Gennesaret, when along come some Pharisees and scribes (read, "heavy duty religious leaders") from Jerusalem (Jerusalem is over 100 miles south of Gennesaret). Well, the Pharisees have a real problem with the way Jesus' disciples are doing something and they really wanna bring them down, so they ask Jesus this deep, probing question: "Why do your buddies break our traditions by not washing their hands before they eat?" Jesus is dumbfounded and flummoxed by their clever line of questioning. But He gathers Himself and responds by giving one example of how hypocritical they are because they use their beloved traditions to break the Word of God. Then He quotes Isaiah's prophecy regarding them in verses 8-9:
"These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”
My friends pointed out that Jesus was condemning them for their legalism, for their vain religious activity and they noted that we, in the context of our own church lives, have a tendancy toward legalism and vain religious activity too. Well, this concerns me.
What are the vain religious activities that we engage in? Or even more dangerous, what vain religious beliefs do we hold?
We talked about church history and how the errant views of a few in the past on matters that seem kinda minor resulted in the shackling of millions of people to certain false dogmas for centuries, binding people to beliefs, traditions, and fears that are unnecessary and damaging, and create false views of who God is.
Between bites of my French Cruller I realize that this is a very frightening thing to think about, because I wonder... We often feel like we've got it pretty much right; that we sorta have it figured out better than some of those guys in the past. But I wonder, do we hold any errant views today that maybe seem like no big deal, but that might result in shackling many to false dogmas in the generations to come? Are there religious ideas and views that we hold precious to us that could serve to bind people to beliefs and traditions that are unnecessary and damaging, creating false views of who God is?
I contend that we do... and I'll write more on that next time...
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