I Need to TESTIFYYYYY!

So if you know me, you know that I try to live consistently what I believe and preach.  One of those things is trusting God no matter what...particularly in the area of finances. (Because if there's one area that competes with God for our trust it is our trust and dependence upon money)  As such I am a big believer in tithing.  Long before I was in ministry I gave my tithe (10%) of my (gross) income to the Lord via my local church.  I also have always given extra in offerings for special projects, guest speakers, missions giving, etc.  Since getting married Susi and I have given anywhere from 25-40% of our income to the Kingdom of God (again...through our local church as is Biblical)  God has invited us into a covenant relationship with Him and invites us to test Him in the area of money. (Read Malachi 3)

Anywayyyyy, I resigned from my position as Lead Pastor back in the beginning of October at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, plus we face my wife's impending layoff of her job. (details here) So my salary and income ceased mid-October.  Since then the only income I have had has been from a few speaking invitations at other churches and working at UPS in December (part-time for minimum wage).  All of that totaling about 15% of  of my previous income while factoring in the extra money needed for Christmas gifts, travel and other holiday related expenses.  We have always lived a very non-extravagant lifestyle and also lived within our means.  We have not made many cuts in lifestyle living since my resignation, because there weren't a whole lot of areas to cut.  


The testimony part comes in the fact that since my resignation, not only has our savings remain untouched, but every time I go to pay the our tithes and the bills (in that order) I notice our checking account balance keeps INCREASING!  


I wonder what would happen if we as the Church (and as a nation!) began trusting God and obeying Him again in the area of finances...


The point in all this is not the FORMULA of tithing, but rather the loving God behind the promises.  He is our Father and will provide for us as we seek Him and His Kingdom first in our lives.  But don't take my word for it...(http://bible.us/Matt6.19-34.NIV and http://bible.us/Mal3.6-12.NIV)

   ““Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal."

““No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. " (Matthew 6:19, 24–34, NIV)

The Christmas story if Facebook would have been around...

The Christmas story if Facebook would have been around...

Get Over Yourself and GO TO CHURCH!

Feeling a little feisty due to two recent events.  One, I read an article in the paper this morning about a 16 year old teen who is charged with murder via Craigslist.  I won't go into the details of the case, but this "alleged" (so sick of that term) killer wrote a letter to his dad that was in the paper and it said "There's a chance I might be out by the time I'm 42,' the boy wrote.  'I know there is no way in hell that any kind of God would do that to me."  Seriously??  People are so messed up and confused right now.

Secondly, I started working for UPS for the month of December while I am interviewing with churches. (the 4am-9am shift...UGH!)  I spent the majority of the other night (morning??) trying to talk to a guy about Jesus.  Now apart from getting in trouble because I wasn't moving as fast as I should have due to some serious sharing o' Jesus, I discovered this guy has done what so many others have done these days.  You know...they've made a Mr. Potato Head Jesus.  They pick different parts that they have heard and like and put that on the potato.  But the parts they don't like they cast to the side.  And much like I did growing up when I stuck anything and everything (Q-tips, forks, thumb tacks, etc.) into those holes apart from the standard issue Mr. Potato Head accessories, this guy had thrown in reincarnation, karma and "virtuous living."  Though I was direct with him I didn't preach at him (as much as I was tempted). Rather I tried to coach him in seeing the holes in his way of thinking. He was completely making up his own god.

Bottom line in all this?  People are not going to church, they are not reading their Bibles, and are only listening to the likes of Joel Osteen on tv on occasion. (Not bashing, but come on!)  The result?  In this pluralistic society people are crafting their own view of God and banking their eternity on it.  Again I ask... Seriously??  If I have told you my name, that I live in Ohio (O-H!), and am married to the most wonderful woman for almost 17 years and have two great kids, but you insist that I am a single guy named "Joe Bob" who lives in the back country of Louisiana does that in fact change who I am?  God has revealed Himself and everyone will be held accountable to that, otherwise Christ died for nothing.  

How do you get to know this self-revealing God?  Well of course the first step is to invite Jesus into your heart as you confess and repent of your sin.  You enter into a relationship with Him.  He connects you to Himself...but He doesn't stop there.  He then connects you to His people where you continue to learn.  I'm so tired of those that are saved trying to tell me they don't need to go to church to be a Christian.  You don't need to go to church to make it to Heaven, but if you want to be a "Follower of Christ" (Christian) then actually, yes you do, because He will lead you into deep and regular community with other Christians.  Apart from this community, chances are great that you will live a weak and powerless life and risk very easily being swept away by the deceit of the Enemy.  Some might rebuff with various verses about their strength in Christ, their beliefs are right, etc, etc., ad nauseum. The fact is that you were created for community and that Jesus died to create the Church, the Body and that is expressed in local bodies of believers gathering to worship, to receive God's Word together, to serve side by side in various ways. 

Does simply being in church fix everything? OF COURSE NOT!  I am not suggesting that if this 16 year old was a regular attender at church that nothing like this could have happened. (although statistics show that it would have been highly unlikely!)  
But alone:

You are weak

You live a really small self-centered life

You can easily start lying to yourself. (compromise, blind spots)

You stunt your growth

You rob people of the gifts and calling that God has put in you to bless others.

You can easily get confused and fall into sin and error ("Did God really say???" Genesis 3:1)

You wind up living like an orphan when you have been adopted as a Child of the Most High God

You develop a cheap grace view like the 16 year old "alleged" murderer.

You slowly begin to remake God into your own image rather than who He has revealed Himself to be.

In my ranting, I do realize that there are a lot of people who have been hurt by past experiences in churches.  I also realize there is a lot of work to do in restoring health to many of our churches.  But don't take the 'Bait of Satan' (see John Bevere's book) and give up on God's plan for your life.  These are not the days to be going it solo.  

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

http://bible.us/Heb10.23.NLT

/rant

Grace as an Active Force

So I've been meditating upon God's grace lately. A revelation of God's grace was so instrumental in allowing me to feel God's love early in my relationship with Him. I remember when I was in college, I had just given my life to the Lord and decided that I was truly going to follow Jesus not just pay Him lip service. Though I had been dragged to church growing up (a good thing!) it had never truly sunk in. I had some genuine "God moments" here and there, but my life was still my own...which of course meant that I was utterly broken. I made so many mistakes, chose to rebel against God hurting God, myself and others with my choices. Then it all changed when I met Jesus! I was free from all that...or so I thought. Certainly Jesus made me new when I surrendered to Him. I knew it, I felt it, I was different. However, though I longed for more of Christ and to grow in Him, I also longed for the stuff of sin. Not all of it. It was amazing that some of the things I used to crave were instantly gone the moment I was born again. Other things...not so gone.

I remember struggling with God in prayer over this. Pouring my heart out to Him.
"Why can't I get free of (this)?"
"What is my problem??"
"I thought you would deliver me from this stuff!"

I started getting angry and began to blame God. Of course it was His fault that I still wanted to sin, right? It is obviously due to a lack of love, power, interest on His part...right?

Obviously I didn't know my Bible yet. (Where those answers are found). One of those answers was about God's grace. I didn't yet understand the power and depth of what God was offering me. The New Testament talks so much about grace, but I didn't get it. It wasn't until I had blown it again in a certain area of my life that actually resulted in me being disciplined by my church. (thank God for great godly leadership!) I wound up having to sit out on a missions trip overseas and was stuck working in a factory in my hometown all summer. Thankfully, I was reading my Bible and as I read a verse that I had read or heard many times God opened up the eyes of my heart.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. " (2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV84)

Often I saw God's grace as a one time extension of mercy. It was like a finger pointing to the historical fact of the cross...like a neon sign flashing "JESUS TOOK YOUR PUNISHMENT UPON THE CROSS." I had heard pastors preaching about grace and using words like "unmerited favor" ...but really, what does that even mean? And is that the extent of what grace is...the transfer of my punishment to Jesus? The fact that I am not getting what I deserve? Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for that!! But this verse seems to suggest something more than that. According to this verse (and others) grace is not simply a one time act, nor is it simply a characteristic of the personality of God. It is an active force in my life that God is causing. God is causing His grace to abound in my life so that in every way He is covering me, filling in my gaps, correcting my course, using me despite myself. It was like my eyes had been opened again (similar to salvation).

He understands that I am going to continue to blow it.
He understands that I have a traitorous, adulterous heart that will stray at times.
He understands that though I am saved, I am still a mess in many ways.

BUT, He has provided every ounce of grace that I will ever need. He continues to cause His grace to abound in my life all these years later. I may not struggle with all the things that I used to, but I am still a work in progress. I don't foresee a day this side of Heaven where I will not be in need of my Savior and the grace that He causes to abound to me.

It's funny, but when God opened my eyes toward His grace those many years ago, I was immediately delivered from some sin-stuff that had been clinging to me. The revelation of His love and grace for me was what delivered me, not the knowing that it was wrong.

1 Thessalonians 2

You ever had things not turn out like you thought they would? Like you prayed they would? Like you were sure they would? Ever begin a new endeavor with full confidence and faith in what God was going to accomplish through you only to experience hardship and frustration?

Read 2 Thessalonians 2

“For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain." (1 Thessalonians 2:1, ESV)

Sometimes you need a little distance to gain perspective on events in your life. If you go back and read Acts 17:1-9 you will read the story of what happened when Paul, Silas and Timothy came to the city of Thessalonica. After some initial fruitfulness, the city turned against them and the people who had responded to the Gospel and Paul and the boys were shipped off to another city.

I know that I would have felt some discouragement after that. You? Maybe reeling from dashed hopes and expectations of what was to come. Crashing after an initial excitement over what God seemed to be starting there. Not only that but Paul says in verse 2:

“But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. " (1 Thessalonians 2:2, ESV)

They had just come from another place where things seemed to have gone "badly." But the perspective often comes in our lives when we gain some distance from the events. Yesterday we read in 1 Thess 1:9 that:

“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, " (1 Thessalonians 1:9, ESV)

Even though they were forced to leave in a hurry, the seed of the Kingdom of God had been firmly planted in the lives of the people who had called on the Name of Jesus.

If we pray, commit our ways to Him and live boldly we will always be used in ways that we do not know. The power at work within you will go far beyond what you can see or think or imagine.

In verses 3-12, we see how the integrity of the messenger impacts the message. You cannot separate the message from the messenger. The man behind the message matters. Not only that but in verse 8 we read this:

“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." (1 Thessalonians 2:8, ESV)

The Gospel was never meant to be just preached to someone, but rather shared through the giving of our lives. And if that life is different from the words, then the message is polluted and Jesus is obscured.

Sometimes things don't work out the way we thought. But sometimes we just can't see in the moment what God is accomplishing on a much grander scale. And often are most precious moments, our most valuable Kingdom moments happen when through adversity.

In verses 17-20 we see Paul's great affection for the people. We see his pride (good kind!) in what has been accomplished there. We see his confidence that what the Lord established will be carried to completion until the Day of Christ Jesus is revealed.

“But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. " (1 Thessalonians 2:17–20, ESV)

I know that I resonate with certain elements of this as I transition in ministry. A little distance from it has given me better perspective. I did not see everything happen that I was hoping before God to see happen. And yet...what an incredible (most said impossible!) thing happened. I leave behind a precious community of people determined to to see God glorified in their community though it be with opposition, hindrances from Satan, and many more challenges ahead. I am confident that God has been at work and will continue to work in ways that are unseen to accomplish His purposes for the surrounding community.

He's cool like that.

1 Thessalonians 1

I'm going to try something out for the next few days. I want to go through sections of Scripture and provide commentary/thoughts/questions on what I read. Perhaps it will be useful to more than just me? If so, holla at me and let me know.

First read this: (1 Thessalonians chapter 1)

http://bible.us/1Thess1.ESV

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, " (1 Thessalonians 1:2, ESV)

How often do we simply think about people rather than including them in our prayers and petitions to the Lord? (See Romans 1:9)

“remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. " (1 Thessalonians 1:3, ESV)

Three marks of true believers:

1. Works of faith- Their faith produced action in their lives. They did not simply have a belief but rather actions that flowed from their relationship with the Living God. They had not merely adopted a belief system, but a way of life
2. Labors of Love- These actions produced by faith were prompted by love. They did not serve people out of obligation or because it was what they were supposed to do. They had fallen in love. What kinds of crazy things have you done because you were in love with someone? The motives behind those actions matter! It makes all the difference!
3. Steadfastness (Enduring) Hope- Believers endure hardship because they have a hope deep down in their gut that won't go away. A trust born of experiencing Jesus firsthand, of experiencing His love and feeling His embrace through the Spirit of God coming to live inside them, that just won't quit. Verse 6 mentions that they experienced great persecution because of their decision to turn away from their former religion (idols) and follow Jesus. That just doesn't happen because of a switch in doctrine.

“because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. " (1 Thessalonians 1:5, ESV)

Not just words... So many people want to engage in religious debate. They want to understand God intellectually before ever considering giving Him their heart. I don't mean to downplay intellect. I am not advocating a stupid Christianity. Some of the most brilliant minds in history have devoted followers of Jesus Christ. However, in 21st century America we have attempted to divorce head and heart. Paul used words and power. They experienced the Gospel through their thoughts and through feelings. I long for the days of another Great Awakening where God sovereignly, by His grace, pours out His Spirit again through men and women hungry to see others know the fullness of God in both mind and spirit. This is my prayer and passion.

“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, " (1 Thessalonians 1:6, ESV)

Lone Ranger, Rambo, John McClane (Die Hard), Jack Bauer we celebrate the individual. We love the singular hero who saves the day. Many of us try to emulate that by pretending we don't need anyone. We declare we don't need anyone's help. We were not created to go it alone. Here we see how the people of the church in Thessalonica started in their faith by emulating Paul and the other missionaries. They studied them and assimilated practices and behaviors into their own unique lives. But they didn't stop there. As their understanding grew they went on to emulate Jesus ("and of the Lord"). This is the natural growth pattern of Christians. Imitate your spiritual parents and as you grow and understand build on that to emulate Jesus as the Spirit leads and as you see Him revealed in Scripture.

“and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. " (1 Thessalonians 1:10, ESV)

Jesus has delivered all Christians from all wrath of God. Not only are we saved/rescued/delivered from the torment and punishment in Hell, but the Lord will rescue us from the Great Tribulation that will soon hit the earth. You think the world is a crazy messed up place now? Wait until the 'salt of the earth,' the Christians, are removed from it. Judgment will be unleashed as we read in the Revelation of John.

Daddy Fail!

Daddy Fail! My son was in the fourth grade dance recital thingy today that all fourth graders do. It was at 2pm,...and I missed it! I totally forgot! I have all kinds of reasons...Since resigning my schedule is erratic. It was in my calendar on my phone but I did not set the alarm with the event. I was filling out a questionnaire for a church interested in me to be their pastor. Roofers were here. I was working on a message that I will be speaking in Copley, OH this Sunday. I went grocery shopping for like an hour!

And somehow none of that makes up for my son coming home and asking me first thing, "Where were you?" I scrambled for half a second trying to figure out what he was referring to before remembering. Ack! Stab in the heart at his little face. I apologized profusely, but still feel horrible.

I guess if I was being rational, I would know that this will not be the only time I fail my son nor was it the first time. Good thing I am trying to teach him about the Lord so that he knows there is a Father in Heaven who will never fail him.

Well, blogging helps me feel better a little. I wonder if he does? If not, looks like it's a McDonald's night!...and ice cream! (That's right. I'm not above buying forgiveness!!)