World Changers Day Three

Day three was very much a success.  Today is exactly what these students came here for.  From a productivity standpoint, today was incredible.  To hear each participant speak of the volume of work completed today was very encouraging.

Our evangelistic job today had a very specific goal.  Each night we have a worship service and a message from the project coordinator, Ricky Young.  The worship is simple and intimate…one guy with his acoustic guitar.  It’s a dramatic change for our students but a very important one.  It serves as a reminder that worship is not about style, but about heart.

Back to our goal for the day…tonight’s worship service was open to the public.  Our job was to beat the streets of Tupelo inviting residents.  Specifically, we were to reach the neighborhoods where we worked.  Our teams worked hard and had some in attendance.  It was wonderful to worship alongside the people we get to serve this week.

It was hot and humid today.  Fortunately, everyone stayed hydrated.  The teams that had roofing jobs were definitely the biggest concern but they did very well.  The team I am on drove by a team at 3:00 as they were on the roof.  I was grateful for their hearts and God’s mercy that he kept me off those teams…

Tomorrow most teams will finish their labor work.  We then begin to bless the school that allows 260 teenagers to sleep on its floors for a week by painting around here.

Tomorrow night should be very special…please pray.  We will have what World Changers call a “concert of prayer.”  During our trip to Dallas last Summer, this night changed the lives of several of our students.  If what happens here has just a fraction of the heart that one had, lives will again be changed.

Students have the opportunity to give financially tomorrow, too.  The offering taken will go to 10 church plants across North America.  Specifically, it will go to help them begin a student ministry.  Students here pouring into students in a future youth group…I love World Changers!

These next two days are vital for the accomplishment of our greater purpose…glorifying Jesus and helping bring people to Him.  Please plead with God to draw people.  Please pray for God to use these students.  Please pray in faith.  Our mission depends on it…

Temptations

Sometimes the bible can be frustrating. 

Seriously…

There are times when we read it, seeking the “nugget” that is really going to make the trial we are currently struggling through easy and manageable.  It seems that those are the times that we, like Jesus’ own disciples, have no ability to understand his parables or any other part of the scriptures.

But…

From time to time the bible is so painstakingly clear that we CANNOT miss the point. 

I don’t know about you, but those are my favorite parts…they kind of make me feel…not so dumb. 

Take Matthew 4 and Luke 4, for example. 

These are the records of Jesus’ temptation at the end of His 40 day fast and journey through the desert.  After 40 days without food, Jesus faces off with the greatest tempter the world will ever know, the devil himself. 

Starving, weak, thirsty, and hot Jesus begins what would equate to a seven second knockout in an MMA fight of today…against, by the way, the toughest opponent this world has to offer…what a MAN!!!

Three different temptations are thrown at Jesus; three temptations that, especially in the moment, would easily trap most of us. 

What’s the miracle cure for overcoming temptation in the most dire of circumstances?

The Word…

That’s it…the bible.

Our constant internalizing of God’s Holy, divinely inspired and recorded word. 

Jesus (who the apostle John refers to as the Word), uses scripture all three times to overcome the temptation of the prince of darkness himself. 

Why is it that it was so natural and seemingly easy for Jesus to overcome using scripture and so HARD for you and I to do the same?

Simple…Jesus was 100% completely sold out to God and God’s divinely inspired word.  Scripture wasn’t a segment of Jesus’ life that was there to be studied at certain times of the week.  Scripture was who Jesus was.  He WAS the Word. 

The closer you and I can get to becoming a walking model of scripture and seek to internalize the Word and project the Word through our lives, the sooner we are ready to face the devil and hand him the same humiliating defeat. 

What temptation do have a specific verse you use to help you overcome?

What a command…

“Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn, and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” James 4:8-9 (NIV)

Context is ALWAYS key when trying to understand scripture, and NEVER is it more important than here. 

The book of James is, primarily, a book written to believers imploring them to sharpen up their faith.  However, in this short little section, he takes a break and addresses non-believers with a plea that many Christians today need to re-visit. 

A command like “grieve, mourn, and wail” is not exactly uplifting.  It really seems odd in the greater message of the gospel. 

Here’s the deal, though.  There was a moment in most believers lives when we felt the shame and sorrow of all our sins and short-comings.  That was a seminal moment for me, the first time I recognized the ugliness of my sin compared to the holiness of a perfect, just God. 

From time to time, we need to re-visit that moment.  For some reason we seem to become less sensitive to very real consequence of sin the longer we know Christ.  He paid a price I cannot even begin to grasp for the junk I HAVE done and WILL do. 

How do I so easily forget? 

Why do we so quickly get over it?

Grieve, mourn and wail. 

James gives us a clear reminder that we should still feel broken and miserable when we sin.  By the grace and blood of our Savior we are forgiven for that sin. 

But why does it not impact us like it used to? 

My hope is that our heart gets so in-tune with God’s that we FEEL it when we sin against a Holy God.  My prayer is that we are so walking in the Spirit that we weep when we commit a sin against God. 

Can you imagine the impact we could have on the world around us if our walk with Christ were this intimate?  Consider the pain you feel when you hurt your spouse, child, or parent.  The disappointment weighs heavily on us.  Why does that same pain not come when I mess up against my Jesus? 

My Savior paid a much higher price for my screw-ups than my wife or parents did. 

It’s high time I begin recognizing the seriousness of my sin and setting my sights on honoring Him just a little better…

When did you first recognize the seriousness of your sin and how did it impact you?

You Might Be Surprised

Recently my study time and personal challenges have been revealing some disappointing problems in my life.  The more I study and understand scripture, the more I determine that I am an idolator.  For real, a real life idolator. 

Idolatry in the book of Exodus (chapter 32) took the shape of a golden calf and a false god.  Idolatry today takes many, many different forms.  For some it is your love of money.  For some, you talk and text on it all day, insisting on having the newest and greatest.  For some, it takes the shape of a job title.  For some, the altar is their children.  Mine is different and probably more common that we know.  Mine comes in different tastes, flavors, textures, and temperatures.

This week it has become crystal clear that food is an idol in my life.  Before you laugh, consider with me.  When you are reading, studying, or worshiping, do you find yourself unable to focus?  Does the strong desire of some scrumtious food dominate your thoughts?  I, personally, cannot work effectively when hungry or craving something.

To compound things even further, the things I crave DO NOT honor the temple that is this body.  What I put in my body is the equivolant of walking in to a local church and spraying graffiti on the walls, tearing up the floors, and breaking all the windows.  I would never dream of doing that, so why in the world do I do this much damage to what the bible calls the “temple of Holy Spirit?”

I am doing some serious business with God this week…asking Him to help me get things back in order.  I ask that you join me in praying that God would reveal what you have placed on His throne.  Pray that He gives you the strength and fortitude to overcome that idol and focus all that energy on knowing HIM better. 

Thanks for listening to my confession…what is it in your life that takes the place of God in His throne?

Reasons we say no to God (Part 4)

A time is coming in all of our lives when we are truly going to have to trust that God will do what He promises to do.  In the gospel of Matthew, as Jesus prepares his apostles for their first “mission” trip, if you will, He warns them of impending dangers, including arrest.  Chapter 10:19-20 reads like this:

“¹⁹But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (NIV)

While we do not face the fear of arrest for our faith in most areas today, we seem to be just as frightened to speak of it.  Admittedly, some have not been given the gift of oration. 

One thing I know positively is this.  There will come a time when you are going to have to trust God’s promise and allow Him to speak through you.  All you have to do is make yourself available for HIS use. 

The other side of this that I am beginning to realize is that the closer I walk in the Spirit EVERYDAY, the easier it is to surrender to these kinds of moments.  Likewise, the less time I spend with my Father, the harder it is to make myself available to Him in these key moments. 

We should strive daily to walk with Christ so closely that, at any moment, we are prepared, like the apostles, to have the Spirit of God speak through us to a certain someone who needs to hear it.  Our lack of focus on the relationship we have with God may be the reason we say no to God in this event. 

Father, help us all walk daily so as to be prepared for this moment in our lives…

Why can’t I just hurry and be patient???

Why is it so hard to be “just right” when it comes to patience?

It seems that I am always either way too fast or way too slow when it comes to patience.

I set my mind on something before really filtering it through God’s lens.  I act before I really let God’s timing and plan reveal itself.

OR

I set my mind on waiting patiently for God’s timing.  And I wait, and wait, and wait.  I wait myself into inaction.  God gives me clear direction to move and I continue to wait.  I wait.  But for what?  I don’t act in spite of God’s clear plan.

ARGH! It shouldn’t be this hard!

I read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 through 51 and wonder how he made it look so easy.  In circumstances much more difficult than mine, he was right in step with GOD’S timing seemingly every time.  Why can’t I just hurry up and be patient like him?

I have begun to recognize the issues that keep me from this.  For me, it is generally selfishness and fear.  What are some things that keep you from seeking God’s timing on things rather than your own flawed timing?

Self Test?

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Message

How do we do this?  I read this chapter this morning and began to ponder “how do I test my faith?” 

Is it changed lives around me?  Is it my life being transformed?  What if my life is not being transformed currently? 

It would be so much easier if God would send down a standardized test three times a year. 

While I cannot measure the movements of Christ in my life, I can tell if they are happening.  I can tell if the distance between him and me is growing or shrinking.  I can tell feel and see if his will in my life is trumping my will in my life. 

What are some ways we can self test to see if our relationship with Christ is flourishing or in trouble?

Wrestling with God?

Yesterday I read through Genesis 32.  The story recorded from verses 22 through 32 really have me thinking.  This is the story where Jacob spends the entire night physically wrestling with God.  God allows Jacob to contend just well enough that he continues to wrestle all night.  As morning approaches God “wrenches” Jacob’s hip and he KEEPS wrestling.  I’m not sure, but I bet that when God himself touches the socket of your hip to wrench it, it hurts, bad.

Jacob wrestles all night demanding that God bless him before he lets go of the “man” God.  It is then that he recognizes the blessing of simply being alive, having actually SEEN God’s face.

How many times do I do this?  I wrestle with God praying for this or that, all the while forgetting the countless blessings I am surrounded by.

God wants us to pray to Him for our needs.  I know and believe this.  But there are times when God wants us take a moment and recognize the incredible blessings right in front of us.  I just hope He doesn’t wreck my hip to remind me…

Glory to God for countless blessings I experience EVERY DAY.

Inspirational words from a soldier

I received a letter from a soldier friend who has just completed basic training in the United States Army.  He is currently in AIT and will be a member of the infantry upon completion.  Let the words of his letter speak for themselves…wow

“If I make it through this very stressful and challenging environment, I’ll join the ranks of men that stand for and defend something much bigger than themselves.  What an awesome parallel this creates for being a Christian.  Both of these duties as  a U.S. soldier and a soldier of God call for loyalty, steadfastness and endurance, a willingness to sacrifice personal benefits for a community gain.  On the one hand I am called to serve my country and, if necessary, give my life in the liberation and perseverance of freedom and democracy.  On the other hand, I am called to serve my God and devote my life to the liberation of the lost and (to) bring them to know the Father who has so blessed me by giving me this dual servanthood and each hand possessing the tools God has given to me to build the legacy and continue the freedom of nation and of lost souls.  And between these hands, a heart filled with the Savior that will carry me when I fall, push me when I can go no farther, protect me from the evils with which man will attack.”

When he approves, I will tell you who penned this letter.  Thank you, God, for people like this in our lives.

Compassion

I posted this thought on FB/twitter last week:  “It’s when we are most justified being selfish that we should strive to be the most selfLESS.”

I would love to tell you that this is my idea that I created in a moment of incredible philosophical brilliance.  But, alas, there truly is nothing new under the sun.  In preparing for a sermon I re-read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in a new light.  In the gospel of Mark (6:31), Jesus says to his disciples “come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”  The disciples and Jesus had been tirelessly serving the needs of people and teaching the truths of Jesus.  After days of this, they were exhausted and hungry.  They were very well justified in finding a hole to crawl in and just relax.

The problem arose, though, that there were thousands of people following them who were also hungry and tired.  Jesus took compassion on the people and ordered the disciples to feed all the people.

The miracle we usually focus on is that more than 5,000 people were fed with five loaves of bread and two small fish.  I think the bigger miracle here is the simple fact that Jesus and the disciples stopped to aid and teach these people.  For days, they had been pouring themselves into the needs of other people.  They were tired, hungry, and probably cranky.  I would be.

But in that moment, when all signs pointed to them bailing out on the needs of others, they displayed the ultimate compassion and put the needs of others above their own.  I long to live that out in my own life.  I am currently reading “Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller.  One of the main themes of the book is our inability to focus on anyone but ourselves.  Even when we try, it seems, we turn the focus back on us.

I pray that we become a church who turns the focus back to those in need; and to the degree that Jesus and the disciples did in this story.  The hard part is that this has to begin with me, and it has to begin with you.