Bright Spot on the Horizon

I love to come across articles like the one I found on CNN's Belief blog. It is called, "Rabbi: Why evangelical Christians give millions to Israel". It is completely refreshing to hear a Rabbi state that the main reason he sees Christians reaching out to Israel is because of their genuine love for them. WOW!!! What a great testimony to the power of our Lord Jesus to change lives (1 John 3:10). Join me in thanking God for the work He is doing. Pray that it will continue until we are known by our love by everyone in the world.

Where are you?

Tonight we read through a passage with our kids where Adam and Eve sinned and God came calling to them. I love the part where God comes calling (Genesis 3:8-9). Adam and Eve attempt to hide but of course no one can hide from God (Psalm 139:7). God knows all things (John 16:30). He knew they had sinned and eaten of the tree. He knew where they were. God shows us a remarkable and important aspect of Himself. He could have come in judgment only and squashed the beginnings of the rebellion. No! God comes calling not accusing. Where are you? What kind of a question is that? It is a question loaded with acceptance where Adam probably expected condemnation. Our all knowing all powerful God came to Adam and Eve in their rebellion and extended the call. Where are you? Implied in a call like this is an expected response. Over here hiding because I'm ashamed of what I have become. God knew what Adam had become but He came calling anyway. He came calling because that is what God does to those that He has set His love upon. He comes calling. How do we respond. Like Adam -- accusing God of giving him a wife that led him astray. Or more like Peter -- going to God walking on water when Jesus calls him. Instead of making accusations he calls out Lord save me (Matthew 14:28-30). What do we do when God comes calling? Strive to live a God focused life because God is always there calling us to step forward and meet Him.

Middle finger musings

Several times over the years I have witnessed someone cutting someone off with their car and receiving the reaction of a hand extended with only the middle finger pointing upwards. I have seen the same reaction when bikes cut off cars or when cars cut dangerously close to pedestrians. This gesture is used with the intention of causing great emotional stress in retaliation for the stress that someone else's actions have caused. 
What makes a person think that flipping someone off is going to elicit any sort of agitating feelings in the object of the gesture? Further what causes the person who is flipped off to take offense at the gesture? There is no animal that takes offense at the motions of other animals. If we are nothing more than higher animals you would think that we would surely have evolved past this silly self destructive behavior. Survival of the fittest would require it. But for some reason we seem offended by this waving of a limb in a mean spirited manner perhaps accompanied by an expletive or two. Why? I believe that this action and response is an assault on man's dignity. Which begs the question where does this dignity come from? It assumes that man has intrinsic value. But if he is just another animal why does he have intrinsic value? Why does the individual matter? I believe that without realizing it that every time man makes an assault on another persons dignity they are giving an acknowledgment that man has dignity and value. I believe that if you look hard you will be hard pressed to find a reference point for man's dignity and value in nature. Certainly the animals do not exhibit anything even close to this. So where does it come from except God. I believe that the fact that God created man in His own image is the answer and true reference point for man's dignity and why he has dignity at all. Ultimately when you see someone flipping someone off remember that unintentionally they are acknowledging that man has dignity derived from His creator that he can effectively assault. Once again we see that pagan man cannot get away from admitting he has a creator no matter how much he may want to. As we seek to live a God focused life things like this should strike us more and more with the constant reality that God truly is with us (Romans 1:20). Every day all men every where live before His face. Sometimes pagans end up pointing to God in a way that they never intended.

The importance of corporate prayer

At our church we have a prayer meeting every week. Without fail the night of the week that has the most problems and delays is that night. The one thing that has the lowest attendance that our church does is our prayer night. Yet this night is perhaps the most important thing that we do in terms of the kingdom of God. It is during our prayer time that we consistently seek God's hand of blessing on the work that we seek to do for the sake of His kingdom. Without His blessing all that we do is as nothing. It is during this time as well that we lay requests of all sorts at His feet. We do not think that we are changing the mind of God, but rather that when we pray we are simply laying requests at His feet. He may answer no and He may answer yes. When God does answer yes we rejoice because this simply means that we were praying in accordance with His will. When God answers a prayer we realize that He ordained that we pray for those things so that when He answered it we would know that He ordained our prayers as well as His answer. When He answers in a positive manner we know that He has seen fit to ordain our prayers and use them as a means by which He has chosen to overcome the kingdom of darkness and bring glory to His marvelous name. But more than anything else the most important thing about corporate prayer is it brings all of our hearts to a place of focusing entirely on God. There is nothing more important than that. Prayer is one more means God uses to develop within us a God focus and longing. If your church has a corporate prayer time make a point to go and join them. Consistency at this meeting will help to cultivate a deeper embrace of your savior in your heart because it is here that you will see Him responding to those that seek Him (Luke 11:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Sleep...to the glory of God?

With newborn twins my wife and I have had an increased lack of sleep. The sleep deprivation reminds me of how much sleep brings glory to God. God does not sleep (Psalm 121:3-4). He has no need of it. He never grows weary (Isaiah 40:28). The way that sleep brings glory to God is that it demonstrates physically our own inability to be completely self-sufficient. We physically need a break. We are dependent upon sleep to help us function properly. It is a reminder every day that we are not God. For the Christian it is a means of committing our way to God and physically demonstrating our utter need by entering into sleep meditating on Him. We commit our way to Him and trust that He will bring it pass. As a matter of fact our weariness should be a thing that drives us to greater dependence upon God. Isaiah 40:31 promises that if we wait on the Lord we will find Him renewing our strength. By focusing our minds and hearts on Him in the midst of weariness He promises to strengthen us so that we make it through. Join me in embracing our blessed rest in God to the glory of His name.

Taking God for granted

I am sitting here in my living room with my wife. We had twins a little over three weeks ago. It's late and as I sit here it suddenly struck me how much of God's grace has been poured out on us that we take for granted. We are not wealthy by the world's standards but we have a comfrotable couch and a recliner that would have been the envy of the wealthy 100 years ago. A color TV hangs on my wall and 100 years ago that sort of thing was not even thought of. Electricity powers lights that let me see what I type. A fish aquarium churnes away in the corner maintaining a fish habitat for our viewing pleasure. Color photographs in frames crowd the top of our piano. Some of them were captured with a digital camera. Our newborn daughters rest comfortably in warm clothes that were acquired from virtually limitless choices at an abundance of stores. What we experience is truly amazing, and especially so when we remember John 1:3, "All things were made by Him (Jesus...God)." That puts an amazing perspective on it all. There is not one thing that we have that is not derived from something that God made. The life that we experience comes from God and all that we have comes from God. All the things that I see in my home exist because God allowed someone somewhere to have the mental capacity to figure out how to make it. 1 Corinthians 8:6 reminds us that all things are God's. All the things we take for granted are actually little signpost that should cause our hearts to cry out to God in wonder at His mercy and grace. We really deserve God's wrath because of our corruption and sinfulness. What we have received even in the common things of life is truly astounding. Because of Jesus one day I will dwell in Heaven with my God. But on the journey to that celestial city God has surrounded me and you with signpost to point out His abundant mercy and grace. So whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do we could do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). May God grant us the grace to not take Him for granted but to live a more God focused life than ever.

A lot can happen in a couple of days...

For those who may read on a regular basis. Sorry for the hiatus. My wife gave birth to twins and we were at the hospital from Wednesday until Friday. The birth went really well and we have two beautiful baby girls now in our family. Something happened on Wednesday that I thought would be relevant to the blog. For the last two months every sonogram has shown the twins to be transverse (That means that they were laying across my wife's abdomen). The problem with this is that the babies are considered undeliverable and it is an automatic c-section. We have been praying for some time that the babies would turn head down so that they could be delivered normally. We have also been facing a gradually increasing blood pressure problem for my wife. I am personally not sure what problem this poses but it is something the doctor did not like. So Wednesday a week ago because the babies were transverse and because my wife's blood pressure was continuing to rise the doctor scheduled her for a c-section for this last Thursday May 20th. With one week left we began asking a lot of additional people to pray that God would cause the babies to turn head down. Well when we went in to have the pre-op sonogram the first or presenting baby was bottom down and completely breach. We then headed over to the doctor's office for our pre-op visit and to get blood work done. The doc was not anxious to do a c-section on my wife because this was her eleventh pregnancy. So when he saw that the baby was breach he canceled the c-section and started some natural things that might throw her into labor (Her blood pressure was still high and he felt it best for the babies to get this done if possible). Her labor started and 3.5 hours later we had two new babies in our arms. I am convinced that God caused the presenting baby to turn. God caused my wife to choose a doctor years ago that would be willing to deliver a baby breach. God protected the second child from suffering any major problems even though she did end up with a little extra fluid in her lungs. What should have happened to us as a people who are sinners and have nothing about us that deserves God's favor? What should have happened I shudder to think about. What did happen was an abundance of God's grace was poured out into our lives. It happened not because we deserved it or because we did something right or because we merited God's favor somehow. It happened because God in His grace looked down through time and set His love upon me and my wife because of the work of Jesus on the cross. His death on my behalf is why God looks at my wife and I and delights in us (Isaiah 62:4, Jeremiah 9:24). He makes us righteous. He makes us steadfast. He sees us through Christ and so in us He delights. It is a work of His grace. His mercy pours out. He pours out grace in abundance (Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 1:5). We receive that abundant unfettered grace every time we receive something that we do not deserve. Which, when it comes to God is all the time. This is not a prosperity gospel. This is not a looking for more things but merely looking for more of God's hand of mercy and grace to be manifest on our behalf. An abundance of God (John 10:10) is what I have had a chance to see this last week and I thought I might share it with you. Then you can rejoice with me in the pursuit of a more God focused life.

Contemplating the incomprehensible

Tonight we had a prayer meeting during which we focused on the massive power and greatness of God. The topic was brought up because of the popularity of super hero movies. Movies with heros that defy the odds have always been popular. The super hero movies of today are about characters that have great powers. We find these powers exciting and intriguing. I think that one of the reasons these powerful beings resonate with us so well is that they represent a longing our flesh has for god like powers. We like to imagine what we might do if we were endowed in such a way (at least I do). But this kind of musing is physical and degrading because it causes one to desire autonomy or power apart from God. The better thing to do is to redirect our thinking to God (Philippians 4:8). After all the characters in the movies are not real anyway. God is though. All the thing that we like in these movies are merely poor shadows and dust falling from the great power and reality of God. Think of His awesome power. He called all that we see into existence with the word of His power. He breathed life into man and made him a living soul. While on earth as God in the flesh Jesus walked on water. He calmed the storm. After the resurrection He ascended into heaven. Think about it the disciples watched Jesus fly away. He really flew. Remember they weren't even sure that He wasn't just doing a demo for them because some angel showed up to tell them that He was gone for now but would come again (Acts 1:11). This is the God that we serve. The real hero. The truly unstoppable one. He will come again with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30). This is why a life focused on our great God and Savior Jesus Christ is the only life worth living.

The real question God or chance

An article featuring Stephen Hawking called, "Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans: Hawking" explores the idea that Aliens if they do exist and do show up on our doorstep are probably looking for lunch. The reason that they would be here, according to hawking's discovery channel show, is to hunt for resources after draining their planet dry. From a God focused perspective my question is, "Where is God in this?" Of course I expect a resounding round of silence because there is no God in any of these conversations. The reason that aliens exist and might happen upon our planet is purely chance. What is chance anyway? Outside of a description for mathematical probability it is nothing. It is not a force any more than luck or the easter bunny. But supposedly against all odds everything has happened by chance. Hawking a brilliant man calls the statistical odds that aliens exist rational. It is just as rational when looking at the irreducible complexity of simple cells to statistically assume a designer of much higher intelligence than us created life as it is and put it in motion. This is the assumption behind all of the inspired writing in the Bible. Instead of looking at the vast expanse of the heavens and assuming aliens, David the Psalmist assumed God. Psalm 19 begins with “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Did God create the heavens so that we might fear an invasion of resource hungry aliens? No! God created the heavens to cause us to stand in awe and wonder in a way that only the heavens can make us do that. So if you get a chance wherever you happen to live go outside tonight and look at the heavens and ponder the vast greatness and grandeur of our Lord Jesus Christ the creator of Heaven and Earth (Genesis 14:19).

Longings to be part of something significant

There is an article in the New York Post today titled NYC's own superheros. The article is highlighting real people who are donning costumes and taking it to the streets just like the average joes in a new movie that recently came out. This whole super hero thing is fascinating. The rise in the number of super hero movies over the last ten years is also significant. Why are these movies successful? Why was the whole hero comic book industry successful? Why would someone don a costume and take to the streets of New York to help other people? All of these things are happening because they resonate with something inside of a lot of the population. First I believe that we all sense that things are not the way we would like for them to be. There is a longing almost an ache for the world to be better than what it is.
Romans 8:19-23 tells us, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Secondly there is a hunger for significance inside of man. Unfortunately this significance if found outside of Jesus Christ is usually a desire for significance in the eyes of man. This is usually driven by pride and really a capitulation to the desire born in the garden of eden to be like god (Genesis 3:1-6).
What's the answer? According to Romans 12:1-3 it starts with becoming a living sacrifice and not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. It is really accomplished in Christ, because it is in Christ that we are made truly alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). You see Jesus truly is a real hero. He has conquered death and hell. He will rescue any that come to Him, repent of their rebellion and take Him as their Lord. So rather than feeding a usually man centered hunger for significance, I think I will instead seek to cultivate a Jesus focused life that I hope will glorify the only truly great hero that has ever lived. My Lord Jesus.

The Purpose of Suffering - Part 4 Future Praise

Lets look at one final reason of how pain is a tool that God introduced into a fallen world for the sake of man. We have looked at three parts of suffering in the previous posts. I am looking at this to seek to address some of the issues raised by Sam Harris. See the previous post for more details. The fourth main reason that God introduced pain into a fallen world has to do with the glory of Jesus. God had determined in eternity past to send His only begotten Son Jesus, the second person of the trinity, to take the penalty for our sins and become the mediator between God and man. This is how God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Now think about eternity. What has Jesus promised? Revelation 21:4 tells us, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” Jesus promises us that there will be no more pain anymore. The depths of God's love for us is demonstrated by the great pain and sacrifice that Jesus endured on our behalf. The pain that we experience now will be the only reference point we will have for understanding the pain of Jesus suffering in order to remember the depths of His love for us. When we see the nail prints in His hands we will praise Him because of the pain we have as a reference point for understanding His pain. While our understanding is stunted in comparison to the infinite pain He endured for us it is never the less an important reference point we take with us into eternity. When Christians endure pain and suffering here we are storing up future praise for our Lord Jesus. The pain we experience will be a vast reservoir we will draw from to praise Him for His glorious work on the cross for us. Living a God focused life will help me to look past the pain to the great God and Savior that I serve. It will help me to embrace the pain He sets before me. The pain becomes a grace by which Jesus will be valued more fully by me in all of eternity.