How can a sinful cultures fascination with zombies point us to God?

At church we are currently in a series on Romans. In Romans 11:33-36 Paul talks about how all things are from Jesus and through Jesus and to Jesus. Which makes me ask "all things?" Now I am not a fan of horror movies or books or anything of that genre. As a Christian I think I can justify that by pointing to God's call for us to dwell on things that are beautiful in Philippians 4:8. But I can't help but think that even in the culture's fascination with zombies there is a great reminder for us. I don't know much about zombies but I do know they are the living dead. How can that point us to God. We live among a people that the Bible tells us is spiritually dead (Rom. 8:10, Eph. 2:1). Even though they are spiritually dead they continue to live physically in this world. If nothing else I believe the world embraces the idea of zombies because they are in a spiritual sense like them. And like zombies moving together, they serve their father the devil without even being conscious of it. Rather than simply being repelled by the things in our world perhaps we should ask if the base things we see are perhaps a reflection of what is already in the heart of men. This should make us grateful that we have been made alive in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:11). Perhaps even this could be an entry into a conversation that could help someone come to new life in Christ. This is one more backhanded way our sinful culture can remind us to live a life focused on God. What are some other ways our culture's fascinations point out their fallen state and remind us to look to God?

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.

Why no peace for followers of God

There is an article on Foxnews.com titled, "Obama Condemns 'Senseless Slaughter' of Israelis, Vows to Sustain Peace Talks". There have been almost countless attempts at peace in the middle east. Go back to the Romans in the time of Christ for the first versions, or perhaps we need to go back earlier then that. But the fact remains that there is no peace in the middle east. Why? Fundamentally the issue is spiritual in nature. The Jews claim a divine right to the land that they believe was granted to them by God. There is language that supports this view in the Old Testament. But even Jeremiah talked about how there would be no peace (Jeremiah 8:11). There will not be peace in this world until the Prince of Peace finally sets up His Kingdom here on Earth.

I bring this issue up because tonight while out street witnessing we encountered some opposition. Some people did not want to hear the truth about the pending judgment we all face if we do not know and accept Jesus as our Lord. Jesus knew that when we took a stand in the public square for Him we would no doubt face opposition (Matthew 5:11). The unsaved man has no interest in spiritual things because he is spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). We all were before we were made alive in Christ. If we realize what a great gift we have been given in Christ then we will begin to see the dilemma that faces all of those who do not know Jesus. This eternal damnation that awaits them should burden our hearts for them. We must realize that the utter terribleness of a never ending eternity suffering God's wrath is what awaits all unbelievers. Do we care? Is there a burden in our hearts for their salvation. If there is you will soon begin to see the persecution and reviling that comes to those who stand for Christ and reach out in love to the lost and dying world. May God grant us all a clearer vision of that which is coming so that we will be more diligent to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:9-10).

God's pours out grace in abundance

Tonight we were able to share our faith for several hours at a local street fair where God has graciously allowed us to have a booth. Our goal in going there is to simply spread the seed of the gospel and pray that the Lord of the harvest will cause it to take root and bring souls to Him. God was abundantly gracious to us. A great group of like minded people joined us as we proceeded to share the gospel through tracts and personal evangelism. God brought many to hear. The number of people coming to us was so many and so continuous that we were looking at 9PM and tear down time and it really seemed like almost no time at all had past. I am amazed at the overwhelming number of people that He brought to us tonight. We did nothing to deserve this or merit it. We did nothing clever. There was no advertising gimmick. We simply have set up a booth at the street fair like we have for the last four years. God sent the people. All I can say is the we serve a God who does so much more than we could ever ask or think. He is magnificent and merciful. Pray for the many people who heard the gospel tonight. Pray that God will bring a great harvest to Himself for His glory. Pray that God will protect our souls from pride. That He will help us to keep our eyes on Him the author and finisher of our faith. Pray that He would be the apple of our eye and that we would remain focused on Him and His glory.

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.

When religious faith enters politics

There is an article on FOX news today about an Alabama candidate running for governor of the state. The ad titled, "Ad Questioning Candidate's Faith Jolts Alabama Governor Contest" deals with some comments that are apparently taken out of context. The candidate is really upset by this because he is a really committed Christian and takes his faith very seriously. As the story unravels through the article it begins to point out that there may be some collusion between this republican candidate's republican opponent and the democratic opponent. Of the two republicans apparently the democrats want this guy the least. What do we say about something like this? Well I for one would rejoice over the fact that my faith is so apparent that it matters. It would be great to know that Jesus has so affected my life that the unsaved world rejects me. In Matthew 10:37-38 Jesus talked about how people who claim to follow Him are not worthy of Him if they do not love Him more than all others. He then goes on to call His followers to take up their cross daily and follow Him. The question I see in the midst of this is: If we are living a God focused life, has it so affected our attitudes and actions that the world finds love flowing out of us, but rejects us because that love is so clearly rooted in Jesus Christ?

Evangelism confusion

Tonight we were out sharing our faith at a local street fair. We have a booth that our church pays for and the reason that we are there is to share the gospel. I thought I would relate one instance in particular. I shared the gospel with three young men. I use a very interactive question and answer type of dialog in order to engage them and walk them through the gospel. There was a young man who would come up from time to time and then he would go away. After sharing the gospel with them and making sure that they were clear on the salvation that has been offered to them in Jesus Christ I sent them on their way. The thing that makes me pause is that within a few minutes the guy from the edges of the conversation comes up to me almost crying in gratitude for me sharing the gospel with his friends. He was so glad that I had given his friends the gospel message. Now don't get me wrong. I am excited to be able to share the gospel. But there is nothing special or magical about me or my words. This young man who was so grateful could have been the one to share the gospel with these guys. I bet if I had pressed the issue I would have found out that he really did not understand how to share the gospel. Oh I am sure he could give his testimony. I do not doubt his genuine gratefulness. To be honest I do not think that the problem really is his.
What I have found is that there is an overwhelming rejection of personal evangelism among most people that call themselves evangelicals. This rejection has been initiated and fostered by pastors. Dozens of pastors have asked me with an air of incredulity, "Does that really work?!?" The resounding answer is yes it does. The other common thing is that people are claiming to go out to do evangelism but what they are really doing is name it and claim it theology on the street. They go out and pray for healing of headaches and backaches etc. So they spend a lot of time looking for just the right person and are not really equipped to share the gospel message. They may not even know how to share the gospel message. When you live a God focused life you are going to come to understand that healing evangelism and lifestyle evangelism are poor substitutes for evangelism. The God focused life causes us to realize that we have met and know the most incredible being that has ever existed. Why would I want to share anything less than the way to know Him. The gospel message in a nutshell is this: In order to know Jesus people must recognize that they have sinned against God and are in a desperate situation without hope apart from Jesus. People need to know that they must repent and believe on the Lord Jesus. People will not get this from watching us or having us pray for healing. Anyone can do it, you just have to have the reality of how magnificent Christ is burned into your heart by constantly gazing at Him. People really do need to hear this message and someone really does need to tell them. Who will tell your friends? Will it be you? Or will you wait for someone else and be really grateful that your friends finally heard? Will they ever hear? What's it going to be?

Does what we do matter?

Perhaps a better question is, "Does Jesus matter to you?" In the early church Justin Martyr talked about how the lives of Christians were remarkably different than their neighbors and accusers lives. He pointed out that they were different because of Jesus Christ. Why is it that Christians that you see during the week very often do not look any different from the world. What have we lost as Jesus bride. Do we feel like Christianity is binding and restricting? I can't count the number of times I have heard some version of the following phrase, "We live under grace not under the law!" What is that supposed to mean? I really do not get it. Which of the laws in the moral law is such a bad and restricting thing? Don't kill seems like a good idea. Don't steal is one I like. Not lying makes for better relationships. No adultery is a good one too. Honoring your parents is a good idea and a good example. Not coveting would help us all to be more content so I'm not sure that ones a bad one either. I guess when we really look at it, the laws of God that everyone hates are the first ones. We all want to nurture our own little god's. We want to be able to bow down and worship them on our weekends and our vacations. You know what they are. You want to feel like you can have them and Jesus too. You don't want to set one whole day a week aside to honor God in your life. You see we don't have a problem with the law. We have a problem with God. We want the idols of money, sex, power, porn, drugs, position, etc. We sense innately that those things and Jesus are incompatible. We sense that God is going to ask us to give them up. Your right! Once you give them up you will find that you do not miss them. You will look back on what you thought was freedom and see that it was empty and unfulfilling. You will never regret pursuing Jesus with all that you are. When you start to pursue knowing God you will find real fulfillment and satisfaction. You will find your actions changing because you will see the law, not as a restriction or a performance ladder to climb, you will see it as a means by which you might embrace pleasing the one you have come to love (Psalm 19:7-11). You see it is never a burden to please the ones that we love. So you see what we do does matter. It tells everyone around us what and who we love. May God fill our hearts with a passion for Him so that we might be more faithful in pursuing a life focused on Him.

The Purpose of Suffering - Part 2 The Restrainer

Yesterday I started to explain how pain is a tool that God introduced into a fallen world for the sake of man. We looked at one part of suffering. I am seeking to address some of the issues raised by Sam Harris and qouted by John D. Sutter in an article on CNN.com called, "Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion." In the article Sam makes some comments related to suffering. These are recaps from his 20+ minute video presentation on the TED web site. (There is a link to it in the link above if you want to see it.) Sam's case is an emotionally charged one. He is passionate about the need to combat repression and pain wherever it exist. I pointed out how in many ways Sam seems to see repression and pain as the highest moral tragedy. Since this appears to be key to his discussion on science determining what is morally right and wrong without the need for religion I thought I should address it. Today we will look briefly at how pain is a tool of God to restrain mankind. Pain was introduced as a result of the fall of man (See yesterday's post). In the new heaven and earth it will not exist. So God introduced it into a fallen world for a good purpose. Imagine a fallen world in which there is no pain. On a purely physical level I could steal from you because I wanted to and be sent to prison for the crime. Would prison without pain have a reforming effect on me? No! Would there be any real reason for you to want me to go to prison since you do not feel pain either. We would be constantly cutting ourselves and burning ourselves because there would be no pain to restrain us. Pain in this regard is a grace because it makes reform possible and it provides protection. Certainly there are areas of our world where pain and suffering proliferate because the world is fallen. One of the reasons for this is so that we as followers of Jesus will reach out and help the sufferers. Mark 14:5-9 almost cast it as a forgone conclusion that we would be helping the less fortunate. Jesus calls us to help those in need. To comfort them with the comfort we have received from Christ. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 Paul makes it clear that suffering is a means by which we might bring comfort to the sufferer. In verse six Paul sees it functioning for the sake of not just comfort but for salvation. In the light of the gospel it becomes clear that pain and suffering is ultimately for the glory of God. He uses it to restrain what would be rampant sin and He uses us to bring comfort and salvation to those who are suffering. The truth of God's work through pain can only be realized as we live a God focused life.

Christian consumers

Last week I talked briefly about Christian businesses. Let's discuss the issue of Christian consumers. Forget the fact that some people are just simply never satisfied with anything. That is a different issue for a different topic. Today I would like us to consider how we represent Jesus when we go out into the world. For instance if you have a fish logo or other Christian items affixed to the rear of your vehicle that's great. My question for you is does your driving show a respect and high regard for the authority that God has placed over you. Do you normally speed down the road and cut people off? Those items on the back of your car are telling the world your allegiance. What about when you go out to eat. If your waiter or waitress see you pray before you eat do they get a good tip for a job well done? Or do they walk away grumbling because you give them a skimpy tip? You see when we go out into the world we might be the only representation of Jesus that these people ever see. It is becoming more and more common for me to find people who do not even know why Jesus came when I go out and street witness. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” This is just a gentle reminder that we are ambassadors of the King of kings. Do people see our lives reflecting a focus on God?