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Did God Really Change Your Life?

July 7, 2009

We just attended the North American Christian Convention.  It was nice.  In April, we attended the Exponential Conference.  It was awesome.  Between the two conferences we worshipped with more than 10,000 Christian leaders.  The Music & Arts were great at both, particularly at Exponential.  The preaching and teaching were great at both.  People were enlightened, encouraged, and challenged.

No doubt, some considered their experiences at these conferences to be ”life-changing.”  At least, that’s what I’ve heard a few people say.

But i’m skeptical.  Maybe it’s just my nature.  Maybe it’s just my experience.  Or maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many people talk about having a “life-changing” encounter with God without making any tangible changes in their life. 

Honestly, can you have a “life-changing” experience, if nothing changes in your life?  You might say, “My mind changed.”  But doesn’t an authentic change of mind translate into a change in actions and patterns?  You might say, “My heart changed.”  But doesn’t an authentic change of heart translate into an exchange of treasure?  In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

At the NACC last week, pastor Wayne Smith mentioned how often people get this backward.  Most people think it means: “Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.”  But that’s not what Jesus says.  Jesus says: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  It’s a subtle but significant nuance.  It’s safe to say that one cannot have a change of “heart” without having a change of “treasure.”

It feels good, spiritually, to say “God has changed my life.”  But if nothing tangible (nothing in your treasure chest, in your habits, in your lifestyle) has changed, then it’s a lie.  One cannot have a change of mind and heart, without making tangible changes.

It reminds me of all the men who wanted to follow Jesus in Matthew 8:18-22.  They thought they wanted to follow Jesus.  The felt like they wanted to follow Jesus.  The believed they wanted to follow Jesus.  They might have even talked about having a ”life-changing” encounter with Jesus.  But Jesus sensed otherwise.  In fact, they were not willing to make tangible changes and sacrifices.  Thus Jesus rejected them as followers.  This might be Jesus’ thinking behind his statement in Matthew 22:14 that ”Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Before you start talking about how God has changed your life, you might start asking if your life is tangibly different than it was before.  If nothing has changed in your life since you encountered God, perhaps you have not actually encountered God.  It’s just a thought, but it might be worth considering.

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A Christian Response to Michael Jackson’s Death

June 26, 2009

By now you all know that Michael Jackson is dead.  Heart attack.  Maybe natural, maybe-stress induced, maybe drug-induced.  The autopsy will tell.  No need for conjecture.  Like everyone else, I’m stunned by the fact of his death but not at all surprised by the news.  What I am surprised by is the negative buzz from the Christian world on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Quote: “At least he’s not wasting our oxygen anymore.”

Quote: “Michael Jackson ruined my day.”

Quote: “One less child molester in the world.”

Quote: “The world is a much better place.”

Quote: “You have a responsibility to take this opportunity to condemn Jackson.”

Seriously?  Do you think you would ever hear such words coming from the mouth of Jesus?  You might hear these words: “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye,” (Matthew 7:5); “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven,” (Luke 6:37); and ”If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone,” (John 8:7).  But you will never see such quotes coming from Jesus as I’ve seen on social-networking sites.

But what about making judgment calls about people?  Is there a proper time and place to point out people’s sin?  Jesus also said, “By their fruit you will recognize them,” (Matthew 7:20).  Don’t we have an obligation to inspect people’s fruit, so to speak?  Yes and no.  Yes, we have an obligation to inspect the fruit of a believer, but it is not our business to judge an unbeliever.  “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?  Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside.  Expel the wicked man from among you,” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).  Therefore, we conclude that is is sometimes appropriate to judge a Christian, or a Christian leader, or a Christian who is a “false-teacher,” but it is completely inappropriate to judge an unbeliever.

Jesus Himself, while on planet earth, made it very clear in John 3:17 that he did not  come into the world “to condemn the world, but to save the world.”  And if we are going to be authentic followers of Jesus Christ then we must adopt the same spirit.  When we interact with the world, we should interact with mercy, grace, and compassion; and when speaking the truth we must do so “in love,” as Ephesians 4:15 says.  None of the social-networking quotes could even pretend to be “speaking the truth in love.”

I think the real problem is that even Christians fail to understand their own salvation.  “It is by grace you have been saved, through your faith.  This is not from yourselves.  It is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8).  They may say they believe that salvation is by grace not by works, but their attitude of judgment demonstrates that they know nothing of the sort.  If they are operating in judgment, then they are operating in “law,” thus nullifying their own salvation.  “With the measure you use it will be measured to you,” (Luke 6:38b).  Likewise, Galatians 3:10 says, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse.”

If Christians truly understood that their own sins are just as offensive to God as Jackson’s sins, they would be more careful in judging him.  In fact, an unbeliever who sins is less egregious to God than a believer who sins.  The reality is that my sins, as a Christian leader, are far more offensive to God and far more dangerous to our world than Michael Jackson’s sins (James 3:1).  Therefore, I have no right to judge him unless I myself want to stand in God’s judgment.  I do not!

Here’s the reality of it all: If Michael Jackson was not a Christian, then he does not have access to God (John 14:6).  Michael Jackson may have been a good and benevolent man, but being good and benevolent does not get you into heaven (Ephesians 2:9).  Michael Jackson may have been an evil, child-molester; we’ll never know so let’s not quibble over this one.  God gave Michael Jackson tremendous gifts and talents, and there’s nothing wrong with celebrating God-given gifts and talents.

God is likely grieved over the life and death of Michael Jackson because it is His desire for all people to be saved (1 Peter 3:9).  If we are true followers of God then we should be grieved as well.

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The Pains of Political/Societal Change

June 19, 2009

Change is never easy.  Most of the time it’s painful.  Our president, Barak Obama, promised change and (let there be no doubt) he is delivering it.  He is affecting change on a massive scale.  He’s empowering leaders (called Czars) who are accountable to him only, rather than to the traditional checks-and-balances afforded in the American system.  He is authorizing the government to be heavily involved in business, a radical shift from our present system (see: auto industry, banking industry, health-care industry).  And I must confess that I am anxious and a bit apprehensive to see the net result in the coming years.  Change is not easy.

Meanwhile, I am compelled to pray for our president and offer him my blessing; which for me is not easy.  I don’t hate him.  I don’t even dislike him.  I’m not a racist and this is not a racial issue.  Nor am I dis-compassionate to the downtrodden (in fact, I’m socially active in my community).  I wish our President the best and hope that what he’s doing works in the short and long term.  Being almost libertarian-conservative, however, I just don’t agree with his agenda.

I don’t want a bigger government.  I don’t want higher taxes.  I don’t want the government taking my money and blowing it on bureaucracy.  I don’t want the government distributing the money I earn to people and to social organizations—I give away well over 10% of my earnings and that’s a lot more than most government leaders give away.  I just don’t believe that a bigger government with a bigger budget is a better government; in fact, I believe just the opposite.

Likewise, I don’t need a government agency to tell me not to eat saturated fats, high-sugar foods; and not to smoke cigars.  If I want to do these things that’s my business—and my wife and I work hard to afford health care if the net-result of our choices is poor health.  Not that I’m endorsing poor health practices.  I’m just endorsing my Right-to-Choose what happens to my own body and my right to be responsible for my own health care.

As a Christian leader I often ask myself what my role and responsibility is to a government I don’t believe in, and to a president who’s values are so very different than my own.  And the answers that I see in Scripture continue, unchanged: (1) all authority figures are ordained by God; (2) render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s; (3) pray for kings and all those in authority; (4) remember that my citizenship is in Heaven; (5) preach what is true even if it’s not popular; and (6) prepare people to be faithful to Jesus, no matter the political environment.

Change is taking place all around us but God and His Truth remain the same, forever.

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National Man Day

June 15, 2009

For those of you don’t know, some people have declared today National Man Day.  It all started as a grassroots Facebook movement and has grown from there.  At least 260,000 men have pledged to do something manly on June 15.  I’m sure the fair-minded Federal Government will be making it official to promote gender equality (hear the sarcasm dripping from my keyboard).

Frankly, I think all of these ‘national’ days are stupid—when did we start celebrating mediocrity?  Let’s celebrate when people do exceptional things; but let’s just keep moving forward when people do what they’re created to do.  It’s like they say in football: “When you score a touchdown, act like you’ve done it before” (feel free to apply this metaphor to anything men like to do).

So how about we chuck this whole man-day thing and be manly everyday.  Contrary to what our culture tells us, it’s okay to be a man (just saw a Gillette commercial telling men how to shave their chest and armpit hair, no kidding!).  Can’t our manhood be the rule not the exception?  Can’t we be strong and courageous, adventurous and daring, direct and honest, everyday?

Let’s take our friends fishing, our sons hunting, and our bikes onto the open road on a regular basis!  Let’s get out of our boring basements and onto the battlefields of spiritual warfare—that’s something our wives would love to see!  Let’s get out of our 9-to-5’s and keep one eye in the moment and one eye on the future.  Let’s be proud of “the Grind,” so long as “the Grind” is an avenue to greatness for our families and our faith.  In short, let’s boldly be what God created us to be: Men.

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“Re: Dr. Tiller” (E-Mail from a Reader & Friend)

June 10, 2009

I received the following e-mail from a friend.  I share it with her permission.

I am pro-life. I abhor the work of Dr. Tiller. But even more than his grisly occupation, I detest his murder done in the name of “pro-life.”

I am a Christian. I am to love all people: born and pre-born. God loved the soul of Dr. Tiller so much that He sent His Son to die for him. I am to hate murder no matter who its victims are. Whether born or pre-born, innocent or guilty. While I was a sinner and an enemy of God, Christ died for me. I know these things and yet feel a kind of relief to know that Dr. Tiller will never kill again. I ought to feel more grieved than relieved.

His murder certainly didn’t help “The Pro-life Cause.” It certainly didn’t open doors for those of us who love Jesus to share the love of Jesus with those who are part of the pro-choice movement. How do we do that now? People are afraid to go to work because they think some pro-life wacko Christian is going to gun them down.

Last week as I was praying about this, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to buy a Panara gift card for the staff of our local Planned Parenthood office, deliver it in person letting them know that I am pro-life and how sorry I am for the family of Dr. Tiller and that his murderer does not represent the heart of the pro-life movement or of Christ — an apology of sorts.

I told my husband about it and he said I’d better do it.

So I did.

It was hard, Matt, to walk into that office. The waiting room was almost full of clients filling out paperwork. It sickened me to think of the process some of these families was putting into motion. But, with a quick ,”Help me, Lord!” I stepped up to the desk and very quietly (so as not to overheard by those in the waiting room) did as I felt the Lord had directed me.

The ladies seemed to understand and were appreciative. I was in and out in probably less than a couple of minutes — a bit shaken and praying that I’d done my appointed task exactly as God wanted me to. It’s nothing dramatic. Just a simple thing God asked me to do. But it was not easy to overcome the obstacles in my own heart to be kind to individuals who advance the pro-choice movement.

It made me appreciate the great heart of God and the grace He extends to me through Jesus.

Lots more thoughts on this, but I thought I’d share a bit of my story with you.

As hard as it may be for us to reach and and love those we see as unlovable, we are called to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ to them.  Sometimes it’s with words, other times it’s with actions, but rarely is it optional.  I’m humbled by Christian friends who embody the grace of God in such a manner.

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This Video Parallels our work at Crossroads

June 8, 2009

This video, which I discovered on the Leading Multi-Site website, is worth watching because it parallels what we’re doing at Crossroads in Joliet.  I hope you click the link and watch the video.

http://leadingmultisite.ning.com/video/restart-1

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If Truth Does Not Exist…

June 6, 2009

This week someone said to me: there is no right or wrong, you just do what’s best for your family.  While I agree that we must do what is best for our families, there is right and wrong (it’s called Truth); and doing what is right is always the best thing to do.  So I thought I’d share a couple application points from a recent sermon I preached called “Absolute Truth Exists, Absolutely.”  It’s just a couple of notes about the problem with thinking that truth does not exist.

First, if truth does not exist, then Might makes Right.  If there is no such thing as truth, then whoever is the most powerful gets to determine what is right.  The top of the food chain gets to decide what is right and moral.  If they determine that they need your land, they get to confiscate it.  If they determine they need your money, they get to tax it.  If they determine they need your service, they get to enslave you.  If there’s no absolute truth then there are no inalienable human rights.  Right and wrong are relative to whoever is making the decisions.  The people with the most power decide what is right because there’s no truth to contradict, to contain, or to expose them.  If there is no truth then there is only tyranny.

Second, if truth does not exist, then everyday living is impossible.  Think about it: If you can’t know anything for sure then you can’t do anything for sure.  Francis Schaeffer “cites the famous example of the composer John Cage, whose commitment to pure chance was so strong that he believed that no one musical note or sequence or combination of notes is better than any other.  Thus he chose his notes by pure chance.  However, as a mushroom connoisseur, he knew he might die if he picked and ate mushrooms at random, regardless of their shape, size, or color.  Hence, when he gathered mushrooms, he went strictly by the book, in contradiction to his asserted relativism.”[1] 

Relativism simply doesn’t work.  Think about it like this: If you can’t know anything for sure then you dare not get inside your car because you can’t know if it’s going to blow up when you turn the ignition, or just start the engine.  Nor can you know if it will stop when you hit the brakes if you can’t know truth.  Every single time we get out of bed we do so with a set of assumptions and truths that we live by!  If truth does not exist then everyday living is impossible.

Third, if truth does exist, then we need to abide by it.  If truth does exist, and if we can know truth, then we need to abide by it.  At previous times we’ve established the fact that truth does exist.  And we’ve asserted that truth is knowable and that it’s most reliable source is the Scriptures.  Therefore we have a responsibility to abide by the teachings of Scripture.

Most people reject the idea of truth, not because they don’t believe in truth per se, but because they don’t want to abide by God’s truths.  They’d rather have it their own way.  And rather than acknowledging their contempt for God’s ways they simply disallow the idea of truth altogether.  Even the Bible says: “Where there is no law there is no transgression.”[2]  In other words, if we can’t know the truth then we can’t be held accountable for our sin.  But if we can know the truth then we are not only accountable for our sin, but we are responsible for following the truth.

 [These ideas are adapted from Jack Cottrell's book Faith's Fundamentals: Seven Essentials of the Christian Faith.]

[1]Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (Inter-Varsity Press, 1968), p. 72-74.

[2] Romans 4:15

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Legacy

May 28, 2009

This morning I read Genesis 26 in my quiet time with God and this chapter is all about Legacy.  It’s about Abraham’s financial legacy of wealth, and spiritual legacy of blessing, being passed onto his son Isaac.  Sadly, its also about Abraham’s legacy of sin being passed to his son Isaac and his grandson Esau—specifically, his track-record with women.  Both Isaac and Esau commit the same sexual blunders as Abraham.

I think the point is that we as parents pass our success, as well as our failures, onto our children.  They will succeed in some of the areas we have succeeded.  But they will also fail in many of the areas where we have failed.  In many cases, our habits will become their habits and our addictions will become theirs.  Therefore we have a responsibility, not only as people not to harbor and hold onto bad habits, but as parents to ensure that the legacy passed onto our children is honorable and godly.

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Greater Things For Our City

May 23, 2009

As I listen to Kris Allen, winner of American Idol, sing my new favorite song “God of this City,” I am drawn to the three passages of Scripture in the Gospel of John where Jesus utters the phrase and promises “greater things.”  The first is in John 1:50 where a man named Nathaniel is willing to become a Christ-follower simply because of Jesus’ perception and discernment.  Jesus appreciates Nathaniel’s sentiment but promises, “You shall see greater things than that.”

The second time is in John 5:20 where Jesus heals a lame man and is questioned by the religious leaders who think Jesus is unorthodox for helping/healing someone on the Sabbath.  Almost tongue-in-cheek, Jesus says to His opposition: That’s nothing!  I will show you “even greater things than these…,” insinuating that he has not even begun to challenge their traditions yet, and predicting His death and resurrection.

The third time Jesus utters this phrase is in John 14:12, just moments before His arrest.  The Disciples know that something bad is about to happen and Jesus is trying to comfort them.  Knowing the end is near, He challenges them by saying, “I tell you the truth any one who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these.”  With these words He challenges His followers to continue His work—not just His first-century followers, but all followers throughout all time.

So what is the work we are to continue?  Isaiah 61 offers insight to His work saying it is “to preach good news to the poor; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor; and to comfort and bless those who grieve and to lift them from despair; and to display the splendor of God.”  Not only does Jesus tell us to continue to do this Gospel work, but to do it on a greater scale than even He was able—and He promises to enable us accomplish the task with the help of His Spirit.

So I’ve got to wonder: Am I doing greater things in my city?  What about you?

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The Gospel is “Fire”

May 22, 2009

Quote from Brennan Manning:

“Jesus Christ has irreparably changed the world.  When preached purely, His Word exalts, frightens, shocks, and forces us to reassess our whole life.  The gospel breaks our train of thought, shatters our comfortable piety, and cracks open our capsule truths.  The flashing spirit of Jesus Christ breaks new paths everywhere.  His sentences stand like quivering swords of flame because He did not come to bring peace, but a revolution.  The gospel is not a children’s fairy tale, but rater a cutting-edge, rolling-thunder, convulsive earthquake in the world of the human spirit.”

The Furious Longing of God (David C. Cook, Colorado Springs) p. 115.

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