Honor Thy Father and Mother

I've read the passage below many times over the course of my life, but for some reason I was fascinated this time with Jesus' interaction with his mother.

"The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.  The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told him, 'They have no more wine.'
'Dear woman, that's not our problem,' Jesus replied. 'My time has not yet come.'
But his mother told the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'
Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons.  Jesus told the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.' When the jars had been filled, he said, 'Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.' So the servants followed his instructions."  John 2:1-8  NLT

Here is the Son of God, a grown man, having a "Yes, Mom" moment.  He actually objects briefly.  Clearly he doesn't want to do it, but Mary doesn't even respond to him.  She simply ignores the protest and goes to chat with the servants to get the ball rolling.  So, with nothing more to say, Jesus promptly turns water into wine.  He submitted Himself to her and He honored her.  He didn't have to, obviously.  I'm sure He had plenty of things He could have said to justify not doing what she asked Him to do.  It wasn't exactly in line with His mission statement.  And yet He chose to honor this request anyway.

When I consider that, it seems clear that how we treat our parents (even as adults) is very important to God.  They deserve our honor and respect.  If your parents are still living, what does honoring them as an adult look like?  It's true that we could never repay them for all of the sacrifices they made on our behalf.  But honoring them?  That we can do.

Leading or Following

Matthew 14 contains one of my favorite stories in the entire Bible.  Jesus tells the disciples to feed five thousand men--an impossible task for them.  


"They said to him, 'We have only five loaves here and two fish.'  And he said, 'Bring them here to me.'" (Matthew 14:17-18)


He gives them instructions, they follow them, a miracle happens.

He then performs what amounts to a practical joke, immediately sending them across the lake in a boat without Him.  Their trip was a disaster.  They rowed and rowed all night and couldn't make any progress because of the wind blowing against them.  It turned out to be a second impossible task.  Finally in the middle of the night, as they rowed and rowed they suddenly see Jesus walking (not toward them, but past them) on the lake (Mark 6:48)!  In my head, I picture him whistling to himself as he strolled by.

Then Peter makes an incredible request.  "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."  He didn't say "Look out Jesus, here I come."  He didn't decide for Jesus what miracle he was to perform.  He wanted the command to come from Him, knowing that if Jesus asked then He would provide the power.

Don't we sometimes run on ahead of Jesus and then look around wondering why He's not empowering us to do what we've decided we want to do?  Are we sure that what we're doing is what God has asked us to do?  He is with us, if we have accepted His forgiveness.  We're not out in the boat rowing by ourselves anymore.  That much is settled.  So now the question is, whose idea was this anyway?  Is it me, saying like a child "Daddy, watch me!"  Or is it God lovingly providing the light for our path?

Compelled to Love

"...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43-44

Jesus lived that, didn't he?  The Son of God Himself put our needs ahead of his own.  He submitted Himself and became a servant, when He, more than anyone, had the right to get His own way.  His entire life and ministry was characterized by three words: "You then me."  He shredded the standard and then wrote a new one.  For the first time in history, the world was able to see what perfection looked like.  The view was intimidating.  He loved intensely, he spoke truthfully, he served freely, he forgave completely, he accepted unconditionally.  Like the pharisees, we may be tempted to get Him out of the way so we can continue on as we are, unchallenged.  But He didn't do those things for other people.  He loved us; he accepted us.  His love compels us to love.  His acceptance compels us to treat prodigal children with acceptance even before they've turned around fully.  We humble ourselves because He did.  We are compelled to say "you don't owe me", because He did.

The bottom line is that I don't forgive you because of you.  You really don't have very much to do with it.  I forgive you because of Him.  How could I do anything less?

Promises, Promises

Desperate for relief, Paul repeatedly pleaded with God to heal him. God's response wasn't "I'd love to but your faith is just too weak." And, it wasn't "You forgot to spin around and click your heels together three times." There was no "If you... then I..." Instead, God's response was no. Our Heavenly Father looked at Paul, the man He called to carry His message to the gentiles, and refused to heal him.

"So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10

God's promise to Paul was the same as it is for us today. He doesn't promise to change our circumstances. In fact, He may be planning to use those circumstances for good in our lives or the lives of those around us. Instead, he promises that His grace is sufficient--that He will be with us in the middle of those circumstances. God is not our cosmic vending machine. He doesn't do what we tell him. It's actually supposed to be the other way around. But He does love us, and He is with us every step of the way. Even Jesus, His own son, pleaded with Him to change His circumstances on His way to the cross.

Thank you, God, for saying no.

The Key To Christianity

Isn't it true that all of Christianity hinges not on the Bible itself but rather on one specific event in history? Without the resurrection, Christianity falls apart. Christianity is really very different from any other world religion. Every other world religion is wrapped around a set of teachings or a message that was given. When the teacher died, the message was free to live on. But, the message of Jesus was in fact Jesus. He had backed his own message into a corner so that it really couldn't survive without him. When he died, there was really nowhere for Christianity to go.

He said things like "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father but through me." "The father and I are one." "Upon this rock I will build my church." When he was killed, it was clear that he wasn't building anything.

So how did the early church actually get started after he died? Anyone who denies the resurrection would have to answer this question and the answer can't be "the same way all of the other religions did it". His message simply doesn't allow for that. Did twelve guys make up a story about the resurrection and people all over Judea who wanted Jesus dead and/or watched him die suddenly buy it and hop on the bandwagon? Possible, yes... but not really probable. Bringing the dead back to life would have sounded just as crazy back then as it does today, right?

Or... did people really see a dead man walking?

Let There Be Light

Why do Christians get in a tizzy about people outside the church who are misbehaving? Who cares? For those outside the church, only one thing matters: getting them to Jesus. If they will come to Him, He will work on their behavior as a natural outcome of being in a relationship with Him. If we actually succeed in getting them to stop whatever it is they shouldn't be doing, they are no closer to salvation than they were before. In fact, we've accomplished nothing from an eternal perspective. Trying to get the lost world to conform to God's standard of holiness is a backward implementation of what we were called to do.

Jesus is the light of the world. Christians try desperately to get those in this dark world to act as if they’ve found the light even though they haven’t. We want them to be able to navigate correctly but they can’t because they’re still in the dark. So our solution is to become the “seeing eye dog”. We try to lead them where we want them to go without bothering to turn the light on for them. Maybe it makes more sense to give them light so they can actually see where they're going.

Debunking the Legend

It seems that athiests are fond of saying that the gospels are not reliable because they were written in the early 2nd century by people who were not eye witnesses (not the guys the books were named after). So, generally it's believed that the story of the resurrection surfaced as legend at some point after years of oral communication and eventually made it into the gospels well after the actual events. The problem is that the resurrection of Christ is referenced throughout Paul's letters which are widely accepted to have been written in the 50s (first century, obviously). So if the gospels were written later and these late breaking documents introduced the concept of the resurrection, how did Paul find out about it 20 years after Jesus' death? Clearly the "legend" of the resurrection was widely in circulation at the time of Paul's writings and was not introduced in the second century at all. Also, it was in circulation while eye witnesses were still alive to dispute it.

Poem: Freedom to Soar

This poem is about a bird who struggles with doubt.  Do I dare to try to leave the nest?  Will my wings carry me?  Can the wind really be trusted?  For many of us, this was the crux of our struggle with whether or not to follow Jesus.  Does God exist?  Does He know my name?  Can the God of the Bible be trusted?  All of the arguments people have made against the validity of Christianity over the years live or die with the answer to this one question:  Is there a God?  People love to use the laws of nature to show that the Biblical account is inaccurate, despite the fact that the Bible clearly shows that God is able and willing to bend and even break those laws periodically on a whim.  In the end, it still boils down to one thing.  Do I believe, and can God be trusted?

http://sonfollowers.hubpages.com/hub/Poem-Wings-of-Doubt

How to be Saved According to the Bible

There has certainly been controversy over the years concerning the nature of salvation. Some may assume that salvation is based on church membership or affiliation. Some believe that its entirely based on our ability to follow either the Mosaic law, the teachings of Jesus, or both. Some believe that you can simply pray a prayer to get in, while others believe that no one goes to heaven without baptism. Some are even so specific that it must be baptism by immersion or the salvation experience was not genuine. So many different beliefs, all from people who use the Bible to find and define truth. So what does the Bible actually say about all this? Is it really that confusing?

How to be Saved According to the Bible

Is Jesus Who He Claims To Be?

It's easy to think of Christianity as a deep, dark hole that requires you to jump in without being able to see the bottom. But, there is in fact evidence to support the Christian faith if we are willing to look at it with open eyes. This article describes some of that evidence and makes a case that Jesus is in fact the Son of God.

Is Jesus Who He Claims To Be?

"Act More Like Dogs"

Prepare to be amazed at this heartwarming story about a cat who was so desperate to make a difference in people’s lives that he infiltrated the home of a football coach and gave that coach the words he needed to motivate his team.  Hold on to your Kleenex as this heartwarming story turns tragic as Coastal Carolina loses to the Georgia Bulldogs 59 to 0, thereby completely wasting the efforts of this poor cat.  It is a very sad story indeed.

Poem: Abandoned

The Reason Why

What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you?  You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.  And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.  (James 4:1-3)  NLT

Have you ever wondered why things happen the way they do?  Many people walk around frustrated about the fact that this world is so unfair.  This one seems to have everything going their way while this other one can’t seem to get a break.  For some people, it seems that everyone is out to get them (including the IRS).  It’s easy to blame people around us or find twenty reasons for our mess that have nothing to do with us.  Circumstances can be complex and there are often several contributing factors.  This one should and that one didn’t and I wish they would have….  But, how much time do we spend actually looking at ourselves? 

If you’ve been through a divorce or a breakup in the last few years, in what ways did you contribute to the demise of that relationship?  You might be drawing a blank.  Most of us could talk at length about the ways in which the other party helped steer us toward the cliff relationally.  In fact maybe in your mind that person is completely at fault.  This mindset is very easy to understand in cases of abuse, infidelity, neglect, etc.  They crossed the line, you didn’t; case closed.  And while that may make us feel better about ourselves right now, we actually hurt ourselves long term going down that path.  This doesn’t just apply to romantic relationships.  This same principle applies to struggles wiith friendships, relationships at work, etc.

In this passage, James is asking us to take a good hard look at the underlying reason for our circumstances and how we’ve contributed to it (even in a small way).  In fact, he actually wants us to look deep within and understand what core issue within us causes us to act the way we act.  It doesn’t help us to live as if we bear no responsibility.  Whatever Fred’s failures were in his past relationship, he is doomed to repeat them in the next one if he doesn’t look honestly and see them for what they are.  Denial gets in the way of God’s agenda to make you the person he desires you to be.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.  (James 4:7-8)  NLT

James says we need to humble ourselves before God.  Another way of saying “lack of humility” is “pride”, and we know pride is a sin that keeps us stuck.  Pride needs repentance so we can “purify our hearts” before God.  God loves us and wants us to grow, but we can’t do that as long as we refuse to acknowledge our failures and our faults.  When we see them for what they are, then we can take them to God and He will bring healing for our hearts.  Long before Michael Jackson showed up, James asked us to start with the “man in the mirror.”  If you can’t see clearly, go to a few people you trust and ask for wise counsel.  Let them be your mirror.  If you seek healing and growth rather than guilt and self condemnation then you will be on the right path. And God will come close to you as you draw near to Him.   

Walking In the Light

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.  But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.  (1 John 1:5-7)  NLT

We have so many examples of people who did their best to keep things in the dark.  President Clinton was able to hide his indiscretions for a while but eventually darkness was overtaken by the glaring light of impeachment.  College football coaches are losing jobs, players are losing trophies, and schools are losing post-season eligibility and scholarships due to previously hidden dishonest practices and NCAA violations.  Numerous congressmen have gotten in trouble for sexual misconduct including harassment, groping, and explicit interactions with pages and other staff members.  We may be tempted to try it as well.  Many of us probably are doing things today we they don’t want someone to know about.  And yet Jesus calls us out of that life for our own good.

It’s not that we’re expected to never sin again.  John makes it clear a couple verses later that this isn’t the case.  God knows we will sin occasionally.  But we are expected to live a life that involves confession and repentance.  Confession keeps our sin in the light where it can be dealt with properly.  Not confessing (ie. hiding it) is in fact living in darkness.  The darkness seems to provide enough cover for us to be able to not only protect ourselves from being caught but to actually protect our sin.  Think about why we hide our sin.  Isn’t it often so we can keep on doing it?  We’re attached to our sin and we don’t want to let go of it.  If it hits the light of day, changes will have to be made somewhere.  But God knows that sin is bad for us and he wants to eradicate it.

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.  (1 John 1:8-10)  NLT

Ultimately, being in the light boils down to our relationship with God.  If we are actively following, worshiping, and praying, then we will naturally gravitate to the light as part of that relationship.  It’s being with God relationally that gives us the desire and ability to stay away from the dark places.  God’s love in us drowns out the darkness.  Even strife within the church is an indicator that something is wrong with that relationship.

If anyone claims, "I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister,* that person is still living in darkness.  (1 John 2:9)  NLT

So for those of us who are following, it’s time to do a self diagnostic check.  Are you experiencing much darkness in your life?  Hint: if you are actively hiding something, it’s probably sitting in some dark place awaiting your return.  All of these dark corners just need you to pull the little string attached to the overhead light.  Just turn on the light and leave it there.  Our goal here is not energy conservation.  It’s important to have accountability of some sort so someone can partner with you as you work to break the hold these things have on your life.  For you, who is it that you trust as an accountability partner?  Who will support you, encourage you, and whack you over the head sometimes if you need it to get back on track? 

The good news is that when light meets darkness, the light always wins.  Light is where the power is.  Light is to darkness as Raid is to roaches.  And when the darkness dies, it takes with it the fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame the darkness created.  What can you do today to make light in your life a reality?  What long term changes are needed to make this a long term reality?

My Comfortable Boat

At our church, we have community groups where around 8 people (or 6 couples) commit to meeting together on a regular basis (usually weekly) to study the Bible and build relationships.  Even the children’s ministry has adopted this model.  My son started kindergarten last year and was placed with a small group leader who will follow him as he moves from grade to grade until he enters middle school.  He’s really gotten attached to his small group leader, and he really takes it hard when she’s not there.  Today we went to church and we walked him to his room like we do every week.  When we got there, they said that his group leader wasn’t there and that he would be in a different group today.  He completely flipped out.  You’d think they were about to haul him off to prison. 

Do you do that sometimes?  How do you respond when it becomes clear that you are going to have to leave your place of comfort and meet new people, go to a new environment, etc.?  Do you throw a tantrum?  Do you ignore it for as long as you possibly can and hope it goes away?  I’m embarrassed to say that in my younger years I did that for a while about the dentist.  I hate cleanings.  I especially hate the thing where they polish your teeth afterwards with that spinning, vibrating thing.  My teeth are very sensitive and it drives me crazy.  So in my infinite wisdom I just stopped going when I graduated from college… for 4 years.  7 cavities and a root canal later, I understood the value of dental cleanings.

We just don’t want to be inconvenienced or uncomfortable, and we often don’t want to take risks.  This is especially true when God is calling us out of our comfort zones.  And if you haven’t noticed, God has a tendency to do that.  The best way to test and strengthen our faith is to ask us to get out of the boat, step into the unknown, and trust Him. 

Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.  About three o'clock in the morning* Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.  When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, "It's a ghost!"

But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!"

Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water."

"Yes, come," Jesus said.

Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  (Matthew 14:24-29)  NLT

Following Jesus can be uncomfortable, even a little scary at times.  It’s supposed to be.  That’s how we grow.  But we can trust Him to meet our needs and take care of us in the uncertainty.  Is Jesus calling you to do something you don’t really want to do?  The God of the universe wants you to trust Him… and He wants to have an opportunity to come through for you and show you how invested He is in your life and how much he wants what’s best for you.  He wants to show you how real He really is.  If you never step out of the boat, you’ll never know.

The Harvest

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall.  People who wink at wrong cause trouble, but a bold reproof promotes peace.  (Proverbs 10:9-10)  NLT

As you look back on your life, isn’t it true that much of the pain you’ve experienced in your life has been self inflicted?  Obviously this doesn’t apply to things like your parents’ divorce, abuse you may have experienced as a child, etc.  But I’m sure most of us can look back on our lives and see how our own sin (lust, selfishness, pride, etc.) has caused pain and suffering not only for us but in many cases for those around us.  Even if we can’t see it in ourselves, we can certainly see it in the lives of people we know.  What we do matters.  In fact, who we are matters—our character, our integrity, our capacity for self control. 

Don't be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. (Galatians 6:7)  NLT

In other words, you reap what you sow.  A pornography addiction can derail a marriage.  A sex addiction while you’re single can actually derail your future marriage (not intuitive, I know).  A gambling addiction can derail your finances.  A drug addiction can derail your entire life.  Worse than that, you don’t even have to sow for a long time to experience the consequences.  One night of indiscretion can get a 15 year old girl pregnant (or worse).  Fifteen drunk minutes behind the wheel can end somebody’s life.  Sometimes a single seed is all it takes.

The outcome of our lives depends not only on our general wisdom in the various areas of life (ex. should I buy a new or used car?) but it depends even more so on how closely we are following our Savior.  When we have a relationship with God, He leads us toward things like honesty, integrity, purity, holiness...  These things are the foundation for living a life that avoids pitfalls and avoids being on the receiving end of punishment and justice.  God honors and blesses us as we strive to be who He wants us to be.  When we choose the wrong paths, we are wise to expect correction in one form or another.

The Bible is full of passages that make it clear that what we do will catch up to us.  Here are a couple more:

Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers. (Proverbs 21:15) NLT

Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?  Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?  So it is with the man who sleeps with another man's wife.  He who embraces her will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 6:28-29) NLT

Are you doing something that, if you were caught, would likely create serious difficulty in your life?  What is it in your life you least want someone to know about?  Examine the risk associated with being found out.  If you assume that what scripture says is true (ie. you will be found out eventually), is it worth it? 

My Kind Of People

For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.  If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor"—well, doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?  (James 2:2-4)  NLT

When I was just out of college, I went to a small town church in rural Mississippi.  It was a growing church that loved Jesus and was incredibly focused on outreach, moreso than any other church I had been to.  One Sunday night, I was sitting with the choir when I noticed a black family had chosen to attend.  They were sitting about halfway back on the right side.  They had the entire row to themselves, ignored even through the “fellowship hymn”.  At the end of the service the church joined hands across the aisle to sing a last chorus, and that’s when it dawned on me why no one sat in their row. 

What kind of person would you rather not sit next to “on the pew”?  Who is it that, having run into them on the street, you would have difficulty inviting them to church?  For some of us it’s porn stars or strippers.  For some it’s homosexuals.  Maybe for you it’s rich people.  Or poor people.  Maybe it’s based on the way she dresses, a tattoo on his arm, or how long his hair is.  For some it’s the fact that they’re Missionary Baptists instead of Southern Baptist.  Isn’t it easy to want to help God determine which people belong in “His house” and which seem to fit in better “out in the world”?

But we know Jesus didn’t do that.  He was constantly being berated by people around Him for socializing with tax collectors and sinners (ie. the proverbial bottom of the barrel).  Remember the story of Zacchaeus? 

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. "Zacchaeus!" he said. "Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today."  Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

But the people were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled.

Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!"

Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost."  (Luke 19:5-10)

If we truly follow Jesus, we’ll realize that God has called us to reach those who desperately need His love—who desperately need salvation.  As it turns out, this would be everyone.  The business man, the stay at home mom, the ex-marine, the homosexual, the porn star.  Everyone.  God loves all of us, calls all of us, desires to have a relationship with… all of us. 

Father Knows Best

One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat.  But the Pharisees said to Jesus, "Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?"

Jesus said to them, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions."

Then Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath...”  (Mark 2:23-27)  NLT

Many people I’ve talked to about Christianity over the years believed Christianity is primarily about rules—“Do”s and “Don’t”s.  God is viewed as the heartless, controlling parent who is hiding something good behind his back and controls his children with fear and anxiety.  The world sees Christianity as a collection of prudish rules (about sex in particular).  This isn’t terribly surprising since Christians often make the mistake of representing Christianity that way themselves.  Just within the church, we can sometimes become legalistic and wrap our lives around the rules we find in the scripture.  After all, rules we can see and hold on to.  Rules give us a measuring stick, which means we can compare ourselves to those around us and feel better about how we’re doing.  But if we are wise, we’ll realize that the rules found in scripture don’t work in our favor at all.  We can’t be good enough to satisfy the standard (which, it turns out, is perfection).

Jesus certainly didn’t come to create rules.  He came to create relationship.  He died to clear a path between us and God, to pave the way for us to receive the most incredible gift we could have been given:  to be adopted into the family as heirs to the kingdom.  He died to put our focus on Him rather than on a set of rules or those around us.  And he wants us to know Him.  In fact, our salvation hinges not on how well we follow the rules but rather on the presence of an actual relationship--whether or not we know Him and He in turn knows us.

"Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.  On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.'  But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.'  (Matthew 7:21-23)  NLT

As part of that relationship, God wants us to follow His will for our lives and to trust Him with everything that we are.  Is that to control us or put us under his thumb?  Of course not.  Do factories ask people to wear hard hats to control them?  The correct answer would be no.  We know we are no longer slaves to the law (just ask Paul) and we know that God chose to do that for us.  God wants us to be free--free from the law's condemning nature, free from sin, free from regret, etc.  At the end of the day, God wants what's best for us.  The rules he put in place (the law) are now a guide, meant to protect us from our own stupidity, our own nature, and the fallen nature of this world we live in.  

So now let’s consider the Sabbath.  Jesus said that we weren’t made to benefit the Sabbath; the Sabbath was made to benefit us.  The Sabbath is not simply another part of the measuring stick.  Instead, it’s for our benefit because God made us and he knows what we need (in this case, rest).  God knows that our spouses need us to rest, our children need us to rest… We need us to rest too.  The Sabbath honors God whom we love and it also puts work in its proper perspective, helping us to create the right balance for our lives.  Work is something we do, not who we are.  I do not belong to my employer; I belong to God.  I do not trust my employer to meet my needs.  I trust God to do that. 

So how will you honor God this week on your day of rest?  Any ideas?

Choosing a Path

In life, how do we get where we ultimately want to go?  10-20 years ago, where did you see yourself ending up at this point in your life?  Are you close financially?  Are you close with your relationships?  Is there something you can do to have influence over where you end up 10-20 years from now?  In this message, Andy Stanley unpacks a principle that may change your life if you choose to heed its advice.  It may explain why you are where you are and may guide you as you try to reach your goals for the future.

Princes From Paupers

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.  (Ephesians 1:4-5)  NLT

The path I went down in order to bring home my six year old was a difficult one.  Ten years of trying to have a child the old fashioned way (amidst my then wife’s infertility treatments, injections, and charting temperatures) ultimately bore no fruit.  IVF was an option but the idea of freezing “embryos” was not something I personally could sign up for.  So finally we looked at adoption.  We looked at different options, but were surprised and excited to learn from a friend that there was a woman in my old home town of Hattiesburg, MS who was pregnant and looking for options to give up her baby.  We contacted her and eventually drove to Hattiesburg to meet her.  It turned out that she was actually related to me since she had been adopted by a relative on my father’s side!  You can imagine our excitement.  She agreed that we should adopt her baby, and we impatiently waited for the day when this little one would arrive.

Finally the day came and we were there in the hospital for two days, allowed to spend time with this little baby we were so excited to take home.  On the third day, we woke up at my grandmother’s house and drove to the hospital to take the baby home.  On the way, our attorney called and told us that the birth mother had changed her mind and was keeping her baby girl after all.  We had no choice but to drive home empty handed to our house in Atlanta and start over.  Four months later we found out through the same friend that the baby had died due to negligent behavior of the mother.  And once again, God made absolutely no sense.  After ten years of infertility, how could this possibly make sense in His grand design?

Many long talks with God later, we adopted Caleb (which is an adventure story all its own).  We ultimately drove to Savannah, GA and met a 4 lb. 7 oz. premie who was 6 days old.  He and I have had many little conversations talking about his adoption, what it means, etc.  It was important to me that he would never have the earth shattering “I’m adopted???” moment when he gets older.  He has just always known he was adopted.  We read him children’s books about being adopted even before he could talk.  I love that he will grow up knowing that we pursued him—that we went looking for him and didn’t stop until we found him. 

The verse above from Ephesians chapter 1 is very important to me.  It’s a reminder to me about how deep God’s love goes.  He doesn’t love us because we love Him back.  He in fact loves us whether we return that love or not.  And he doesn’t love us based on our performance, inherent goodness, or perceived return on investment.  Somehow he sees past our performance, our lack of goodness, and utter lack of return on investment and he chooses to love us anyway.  He chooses to love us and to pursue us—to reach out to us with an offer as great as any man or woman has ever heard.  The offer:  to be made princes from paupers—to be given freely the right to  be called children of the Most High God.  It is an opportunity to be adopted by the King of the Universe with all the love and acceptance that comes with that.  My pursuit and adoption of this little boy is a reminder to me of what Jesus went through in order to bring me (and you) home.  It is an adoption certificate signed in blood and a gift none of us could ever hope to earn or repay.

Choosing to Follow

When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.  Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man* has no place even to lay his head.”

Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”  But Jesus told him, ”Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.”.  (Matthew 8:18-22)  NLT

There are many who are still trying to figure out the whole Jesus thing.  Maybe you’re in that camp, trying to make sense of the claim that a man went walking around after he died and later just floated on up to heaven.  We want to figure it out intellectually before we can follow and be engaged at the heart level.   Others of us aren’t ready to follow Jesus because there’s still too much fun to be had.  “I don’t have time to follow Jesus.  Spring break is coming up.”  We build timelines in our head about when an appropriate time would be to follow Jesus.  Maybe you want to follow Jesus after you’ve reached a certain age or stage of life.  All the while, Jesus continues to knock and wait… knock and wait…

In this passage from Matthew, we get two insights from Jesus about choosing to be a follower of Christ.  The first one I would paraphrase as “don’t choose lightly.”  We forget sometimes that followers of Jesus are not promised an easy road here in this life.  In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.  Jesus told us pretty clearly that we would be despised by the world.  Because they persecuted him, they will persecute us as well.  We will suffer sometimes because God disciplines those he loves when they do things they shouldn’t.  We suffer other times because God wants to show up and shine through us during our suffering and to produce a dependency on Him (1 Corinthians 11:24-32).  We should not look to follow Jesus with the expectation that our lives will be easier here in this life.  Our reward is not here in this life but in what’s after all this.  We need to understand what we’re signing up for so that our faith will not be shaken later on. 

The second insight is “don’t delay.”  When Jesus said “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead”, this was not a reply born out of sensitivity training.  Jesus looked at these men and communicated great urgency.  Don’t wait until after you’ve gotten your personal affairs together.  Even a funeral should not be important enough to prevent you from following Jesus right now.  When we look at that, we might think He is being incredibly insensitive until we stop and consider that this was God talking.  Jesus saw things from an eternal perspective that we often fail to see.  Our eternal future literally hangs in the balance of our decision to follow.  We know instinctively (though we don’t like to think about it) that we aren’t guaranteed to be alive in a week.  Every time we get behind the wheel of the car, we are at some level at the mercy of the people who are driving around us.  Jesus’ sense of urgency should be ours as well. 

If we truly realize what our predicament would be without the cross, we will recognize that we are fully indebted to Him and could never repay that debt in a thousand lifetimes.  If we truly understand how narrowly we escaped disaster, we will make it our mission to do our best to lead those around us to Jesus.  The persecution we receive for being a Jesus follower is nothing compared to the love and compassion He has shown us.  In light of His love and mercy and in light of the potential consequence of delay, we should run (not walk) into the open arms of our savior.  With every day that we wait, it's like the door to heaven closes a little further.  Every day that we wait, the odds of our choosing to follow becomes more and more slim.  Do you hear Him knocking?  Why not answer the door?