My faith is a mess!

     I grew up in Sunday School and was taught that every question had a neat and clean answer.  The answers normally including the following: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Pray, Read Your Bible, and Witness.  I then went away to Bible College and was taught the same principle on even deeper issues.  We were given erudite tomes to answer all of our questions.  (Your probably wondering what in the world an erudite tome is, aren't you?  Well, if you would have went to college you would know!  Hah! Just playing.)
     The underlying assumption was that if you studied long enough, got the degrees and the letters after your name, then all the deep theological questions could be answered and placed into nice neat little compartments.  We were given the illustration of an egg to teach the Trinity.  We were given neat and clean answers to questions such as: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" , "Is homosexuality a sin?" and "What will happen in the end times?"
     The problem is that I memorized all of their answers, got straight A's, made the Dean's List, even graduated Summa Cum Laude (whatever that means), but as I got out into the real world things didn't seem to be so neat and clean.  Life was down right messy!
     When you are trying to help a young man whose marriage is falling apart, the neat and clean answer to "Why do bad things happen to good people?" seems to fall flat.  When you are sitting across the table from a good friend who confesses his struggle with homosexuality, the old line of "God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve." just feels insanely foolish. What I have learned the hard way is that:

 Issues change when you put a face to them.

     I believe that "Abortion is Murder" but everything changes when you are trying to counsel a young girl who is wrestling with what she should do.  Please don't misunderstand me.  I am in no way suggesting that we should get wishy-washy about the truth.  Philippians 1:9 says "I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding."  I believe that the only possible way to reach someone with love is to be standing on the foundation of truth.
     What I am suggesting is that Christians should stop pretending that everything has a nice, neat, clean and brightly packaged answer.  Let's stop offering band-aids to people who are bleeding to death.  Let's not be afraid to get down in the muck and mire of someone's pain.  What if we were OK with saying "I don't know" and "I don't understand" instead of thinking that we had to have all of the answers.
     I leave you with a quote from my profoundly wise wife.  "Faith is rarely a neatly organized cupboard, but more often a journey through a wilderness."  I will be the first to admit that my faith is not neat and organized, but it is a mess.  I challenge my fellow Christians to give yourself and those around you the freedom to make the same discovery.  

Maybe God IS mad at you!

     Yesterday my daughter came in from outside and informed me that her and my son had been playing with a Frisbee and it had landed in the middle of the street.  I walked out the front door and saw my son standing at the edge of the street waiting to run out and get the Frisbee.  I yelled at him to stop and ran out to the edge of the street with him.  You see we live on an extremely busy street on top of a hill.  As I stood there, even I was a little intimidated to run out into the street to pick up the Frisbee.  My son kept jumping forward like he was about to run out into the street to get it as he yelled, "I can get Dad!  I can get it Dad!"  I keep telling him "No, I will get it."  After several exchanges, I yelled at him, "Stop talking back to me and get into the house."
     Anyone driving by at that specific moment may have thought that I was a terribly angry and abusive father.  What they wouldn't have understood was the cause of my anger.  I kept visualizing my son running out into the street and getting killed by a car.  What made me so angry was the thought of the pain that my son would suffer because of his foolish defiance of my commands.
     "God isn't mad at you!" is something I have heard as sermon titles and book titles.  It seems to be popular these days to paint God as this cosmic hippie singing "all we need is love."  All we talk about is God's love, grace and forgiveness.  Those things are truly amazing and should be celebrated, but the issue is that you cannot talk about love without talking about hate.  I don't truly love my children, if I don't hate the things that will harm them.
     Ephesians 5 says "Don't be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him."  God being angry at people who disobey him isn't something we like to think about much or talk about much in our messages.  It isn't the type of message that will become a best selling book at Wal-Mart.
     It is so important that we understand this aspect of God's word.  God does get angry at us.  Whether we are Christians are not, whether we go to church or not, whether we read are Bible or not, God gets angry when we disobey him.  Why?  Is it because he is a cosmic kill joy that only cares about people following the rules?  NO!  It is because he is a loving heavenly father.  He gets angry when you sin, because sin causes death.  He wants you to experience life!
     It is so important that we have an accurate view of what God thinks about sin.  He doesn't have a "who cares, it's no big deal" attitude.  His word tells us that we are fools if we try to convince ourselves or anyone else that sin really isn't a big deal.
     As a follower of Christ I strive to love the things God loves and hate the things God hates.  God hates sin.  It makes him very angry, because of the physical, emotional and relational death it brings to his kids who he loves so much.  If you are trapped in sin, God is angry.  It isn't because he hates you.  Quite the contrary, it is because he loves you so much.
     Maybe it is time to stop trying to run off and do our own thing but to truly trust the voice of our heavenly father.        

I am sick of pretending to be a Christian!

     I feel like for the past several years I have been guilty of pretending to be a Christian.  The interesting thing is that this revelation came to me through a box of "Milk Duds!"  Yes, a box of Milk Duds.  Today, I was at Wal-Mart picking up some pet food with my daughter, when all of a sudden I saw one of those giant tubs of $1 theatre size boxes of candy in the center isle.  The Milk Duds were calling my name.  So I thought "Hey its only a buck, why not."  As I was walking out of the store with my pet food and box of candy, I began to feel quite proud of myself that the Milk Duds were the only thing that I bought that I would consider to be "wasteful."  I mean who can go into Wal-Mart and not come out with something that you don't really need anyway?
     I then had the craziest thought hit me.  "What if before I ever spent a dollar on anything I asked myself the question, "Is this how Christ would want me to spend my money?"  I thought, "Wow, that would really take a lot of discipline."  I then thought, "What if before I did anything I asked myself the question, 'Is this how Christ would want me to spend my time.'"  Once again my response was, "Wow, that would really take a lot of discipline."  
     My struggle with these questions is why I feel like I have been pretending to be a Christian.  The term "Christian" literally means "little Christ."  Obviously, I fall short of being like Christ in so many ways, but today what I am specifically feeling a heavy heart about is Christ's submission to the Father.
     Listen to how he describes his submission to the Father in John 5:19-20 "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself.  He does only what he sees the Father doing.  Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing."
     There is no way I could honestly describe my life as "I only do what Christ tells me to do."  I live a good life.  I live a Godly life.  When Christ tells me to do something, I try my best to follow his instructions.  But the reality is, for the most part I typically do whatever I want.  Obviously, not in a way that God's word says is sinful, but I am still in the driver's seat.
     When I was five I "asked Jesus into my heart."  I lived a good Godly life, but when I was a teenager I feel like I really submitted to the "Lordship" of Jesus Christ.  Or in other words, I made Jesus the Boss or Master over my life.  I became his slave.  I consistently prayed "God whatever you want me to do, I will do it.  Wherever you want me to go, I will go."
     If I am really honest with myself, I don't want to pray that prayer any more because it seems too dangerous.  What if he tells me to do something that I don't want to, or something I deem as to risky or costly.  I would much rather pray, "God bless me today as I live my life in a way that I hope your OK with."
      But there is a part of me that is tired of this safe predictable way of living.  Also I feel like a hypocrite for preaching to others that to come to Christ you have to make him the master of your life, when I am not really doing that myself.
     There is this old school bumper sticker that says "God is my co-pilot."  That bumper sticker always made me mad, but I realize that I am guilty of that same way of thinking.  I don't want God to be the pilot, I want him to be the co-pilot, giving me suggestions here and there to keep me from crashing.  Making God the pilot means I lose control.
     I am convinced that to really be a "Christian" means to become a slave of Christ.  I haven't always been willing to be Christ's slave, but I choose again to make him my master.  Yes, this may seem "radical"  but that is the gospel.  I refuse to live some watered down version of pretending to be a Christian.  That means I take the time to ask the hard questions such as: Is this how Christ want's me to spend my time?  Is this how Christ wants me to spend my money?    
     I conclude with asking you the craziest question you may have ever heard: "Would you consider becoming a slave with me?"  
       

Round #3 - The Knock-out Punch!

     The knock-out punch is another one of those gruesome. gory and yet glorious moments to watch.  Those reading who lack the testosterone pumping through their veins of their male counterparts may be missing the glorious part of the equation.  It is glorious because it is the ultimate sign of victory.  Their is no doubt who is the winner when a knock-out punch is thrown.  The winner throws up his hands in victory and walks away knowing the fight is over.
     So many times in my journey with Christ, I have looked for that "knock-out punch"  when it comes to certain sins that I find myself consistently struggling with.  I think that there must be a certain fervent prayer that I can pray, a book I can read, a class I can attend, or a magic scripture verse that I can quote over my life that will forever settle the struggle.  The problem is that those things seemed to be effective punches but not the "end the fight, knock-out punch" I was looking for.  Because after each punch, my sinful nature continues to fight me and dog me at every step.
     GREAT NEWS!!! I found the secret knock-out punch in Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them their."  For those of you reading who are followers of Jesus Christ, the moment you placed your faith in Jesus and gave him control of your life the knock-out punch was thrown.  Your sinful nature was nailed to Christ's cross.  The problem with our sinful nature is that it is extremely stubborn and will try to get back up off the mat if you let it.
     When you commit your life to Christ he gives you a new identity and a new spirit.  The struggle comes in the fact that we still have the same old desires, old mind, and old habits.  Those are changed over time.  This is where are faith is totally different than a cage fight.  The only way you will win this fight is to give up, surrender, or "tap out."  The only way God can change your old desires, habits, and ways of thinking is continual surrender to his will, his ways, and his word.
     This is why prayer, reading the word, hearing the word, and quoting the word are so important in our lives, but ultimately they are not the knock-out punch.  They are just reminding ourselves of the knock-out punch that Jesus threw when he died on the cross in our place.  Our sinful natures died with him.  But here is the rest of the good news, Jesus didn't just die for us.  Anyone could have done that.  No, he was raised back to life, symbolic of how we can be brought back to life through the power of his Spirit.
     So I challenge you today, whenever your sinful nature tries to get back off the mat, remind it "you were nailed to Christ's cross and crucified with him there."  Maybe you have never surrendered control of your life to Jesus.  If not I challenge you today to "tap out."  You will never win without Jesus.  It is only through the power of the Spirit that anyone of us can become the Champion God created us to become.             

Round #2 - Becoming a cage fighter!

     One of the things about being in a cage fight is that there are obvious signs as to whether you are winning or losing.  Are you landing more punches than the other fighter? YES! . . . DUH!  WINNING!  Is the other fighter laying on the mat and you are still standing?  YES! . . . DUH!  WINNING!  (sorry for the charlie sheen reference, just couldn't resist)  

     You don't get points in a fight for how hard you trained before hand.  You don't win the fight based on how stylish your kicks look.  And you definitely don't win a fight over how well you look in red shorts.  The only way you lose a fight is whether you get knocked out or if you "tap out."  It isn't any more complicated than that.

     Do you ever get frustrated with wondering if you are really getting anywhere in your faith?  Sometimes, I wonder if I am really growing, maturing, or taking steps forward in my relationship with Jesus.  The big question is: Are we winning or losing this fight?

     Yesterday I shared how cage fighting is much like our spiritual struggle with our old sinful nature.  This is where the comparison continues.  Just like cage fighting, Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that there are obvious signs as to whether or not you are winning the fight with your sinful nature.  "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.  Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God."

     I know this is quite a list, but lets not skim over it.  It is tempting for me to pick out things out of this list that I don't struggle with and focus on them.  For example, sorcery. Well I know I haven't cast any spells lately.  So I must be good there.  But, I would really like to ignore the whole "outbursts of anger" thing.  That one hits too close to home.  God says when I lose my temper and yell at my kids, it is an obvious sign that my sinful nature is winning.  I don't like that.  I would much rather chalk it up to a bad day or I am in a bad mood, etc.. 

     Look at what Paul says are the signs of us winning against the sinful nature.  "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."  When I respond to a frustrating situation with patience, I know the Spirit is working in my life. Because, that is not my natural response.

     Finally, notice what is absent from Paul's list of "signs of victory over our sinful nature."  He doesn't list church attendance, bible knowledge, or whether or not you pay your tithes.  Obviously, we should do those things but we cannot be deceived into thinking those define victory.  Winning this fight is much more messy than showing up to church once a week and dropping some money into the offering plate.  

     I challenge you to join me tomorrow for Round #3.  I will be talking about what God describes as the "knock out" blow in this cage match against our sinful nature.   

I am going to become a cage fighter!

     Watching a cage fighting match is like watching a car crash.  It is graphic, brutal, and sometimes gory but yet you can't seem to look away.  I have been asked before if I am a cage fighter.  That question always makes me laugh.  Mainly, because I am wimp when it comes to real pain.  But then again maybe I should become a cage fighter.  Could their be a more masculine to prove your manhood than getting locked in a cage with another man who literally wants to kill you.  You only come out of the cage for 3 reasons: You win, You lose, or You give up.  

     I was reading Paul's description in Galatians 5 (the Message) about a different yet similar struggle that many of us find ourselves in.  "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.  Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.  The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry our your good intentions." 

     Just like a cage fight the stakes of this spiritual fight are high.  We are talking about your eternal soul.  We may be tempted to think that the more mature we become in our faith the less conflict we will face in life.  As I read the Bible it seems to reveal to me quite the opposite.  Many times the closer we follow Jesus the more intense the conflicts become.  I can't find in the Bible any examples of great men or women of God who achieved "spiritual retirement" and set around doing nothing "because they deserved it."  I see men like Abraham, Moses, Joshua and Caleb fighting the enemy till the day they died.  

     Just like a cage fight the only way you leave this spiritual fight is to Win, Lose, or Quit.  The last 2 options don't sound acceptable to me.  I refuse to lose my fight with the sinful nature.  I have fought to many battles to lose now.  I refuse to "tap out" because the fight is brutal.  The stakes are too high!  We are talking about my eternal soul, but also the legacy I have the potential of leaving in my friends, family and anyone else God has given me influence over.

     So I challenge you to refuse to lose or give up in your battle against "what your sinful nature craves."  You know what those things are for you: Greed, Lust, Selfishness, Rage, Depression, etc.  Never ever ever give up.  I close with the words of the great philosopher Red Green: "Remember, we are all in this thing together."            

What I learned while cleaning out my fridge!

     I know it sounds like a crazy place to have an AHA moment, but it truly was a revealing experience for me.  As if it isn't repulsive enough to dump out container after container of moldy food, I found myself being repulsed on an even deeper level.    
     This lesson God is trying to teach me goes back to a conversation I was having the night before with some people at a party.  We were talking about the things we see in our children that we don't like: such as their laziness, selfishness, and spoiled attitudes.  My personal take away from that conversation was simply this: my children our a reflection of me.  If they are lazy, selfish, or spoiled it is because I haven't trained it out of them yet.  Even more repulsive is to think that they have learned those character traits from me.
     What I hated most about cleaning out my fridge is to see how wasteful I am.  There are thousands of people around the world literally starving to death and I have a fridge overflowing with rotting food.  This problem I have actually comes from a blessing.  I have more than enough!
     I can afford to be wasteful with my food because I have more than enough.  I wish my wasteful ways stopped there but they don't.  I am wasteful with my time, because I have more than enough.  I am wasteful with my money, because I have more than enough.  Obviously I don't want to become poor in those things, so that out of necessity I would better use my resources.  No, I am very thankful to have more than enough.
     I want to live a grateful, generous, resourceful life.  I want to train my children to live likewise, but I find it so challenging in our American culture.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7 (the Message) "Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you.  This world as you see is on its way out."
     Everywhere you turn this world is trying to thrust wasteful ways upon us.  We tend to buy into the lie that having more stuff will make us happy.  Solomon is such a great example of the faultiness of this way of thinking.  He had everything a man could ever wish for but was still empty.
     In about 6 weeks I get to go to El Salvador on a missions trip.  I am so excited, because leaving America is such a stark reminder of the mountain of blessings that I live on.  It is such a wake call to me of how numb I have become to being surrounded by "more than enough."
     This lesson I am learning is challenging me to do several things: (which I would challenge you to consider)
        To constantly tell God and others how grateful I am for my blessed life
        To ask myself before I buy anything, "Do I really need this?"
        To consistently look for ways to take the extra I have to bless someone else
        To look for practical ways to live out Paul's challenge to "live as free of complications as possible."          

For Christ's sake!

     Last night I saw this beautiful sight: about 100 students came forward to give up their lives for Christ's sake.  The best part for me was that I felt like I didn't pull any punches when I preached the Message.  I started off by telling the students that they were evil!  Not a great to way to win friends, trust me.  I then told them that they deserved to die for how evil they were.  Not politically correct I know.  Finally, I said that Jesus Christ was the only way that they could be forgiven for their sin.  
     The reason why I share this with you is because sometimes I wonder if I have been guilty of sugar-coating the Message of Jesus Christ!  I have talked a lot about how Jesus came to give you meaning and purpose in life, which is true.  I have talked a lot about his forgiveness, which is amazing!  I have emphasized praying a prayer so you can know your going to heaven.  I have talked a lot about having faith in Jesus, which is crucial.  
     At times I am afraid that I have not taken the time to explain the cost.  Romans 10:9-10 says "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Paul states the surrender before the belief.  Why is this so important?  Because belief is easy compared to surrender.  Gallup tells us that 90% of Americans believe in God.  Does America look like a nation where 90% of our lives are surrendered to God?
     I had a young man come into my office two nights ago who was desperately searching for truth.  I spoke with him for over an hour.  There was a time in my life when I would have tried to convince him to believe and would have felt like my job was accomplished.  Well this time I talked all about surrendering his life for Christ's sake.  I gave him a Bible, my cell number, prayed with him and offered to talk with him again whenever he wanted to.  When we walked out of the church he said, "Something you said really stuck with me.  You said up to this point in my life I have been in control, and now that I am out of control I don't know what to do.  You said that now was the time to give control to God.  I am going to think about that."
     I am no different than anyone else.  I wish it was all about my belief.  I believe all the right things down to my core, but God's word says that if that belief doesn't result in my surrender to him, it is empty.  That is what was so refreshing about seeing the bleachers of students empty as they came forward last night, students are tired of empty belief.  They want something that is worth giving their life to.  My daily struggle is to stop living my life for my own sake but to surrender it for Christ's sake!        

I am not as strong as I look!

     Yes, I like to flip 1,000 tires, pull fire trucks, pick up 300 lb rocks and press 200 lb logs over my head, but it is true I am not as strong as I look.  I hate to admit it, but it is sometimes strange to be me.  When you meet someone for the first time and all they have to say is "dude you are huge, are you a cage fighter or something?"  My reply is always the same, "Hah, are you kidding me.  My muscles are just for looks.  I wouldn't last a second in a cage match.  I would be tapping out as soon as the bell rang."  Yes, I am not as strong as I look and I am not afraid to admit it.  
     Have you ever been around someone who talked a big game but you couldn't help but be disappointed when their life didn't back up their talk?  People who over promise and under deliver drive me crazy.  People who readily admit their weaknesses are my kind of people.  
     I absolutely love what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:6 "I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message."  Paul was the kind of guy who would under promise and over deliver.  He was the exact opposite of what we see in most Christians.  Most Christians are constantly posturing, trying to spin their lives to look more spiritual and Godly than they really are.
     I had a young Christian recently say to me that he finds himself "jealous" as he hears other Christians describe their walk with God.  He wondered if I ever felt that way.  I told him that I could definitely relate to his feelings, but most the way most Christians describe their spiritual lives and the way they live their lives rarely add up.
     I strive to be like Paul.  Don't give me more credit than I deserve.   If you don't see Godly character coming out of my life, don't assume I have it.  I want to under promise and over deliver. Listen to what else Paul says, "So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me."  When we try to present ourselves as stronger than we really are we limit the power of Christ in our lives.    
     Talk about being counter-cultural.  Who readily admits their weaknesses.  We are taught to hide our weaknesses and display our strengths.  Have you ever been asked that silly job interview question, "What would you say are your greatest weaknesses?"  How do we respond?  "Well I tend to be a perfectionist and some people say that I work too hard."  WHAT?  We actually try to make our weaknesses sound like strengths.  
     Paul says "I take pleasure in my weaknesses,... For when I am weak, then I am strong."  That one is tough to swallow.  Who wants to be weak?  But Paul says that if we are willing to admit that we are not as strong as we pretend to be that we can have access to true strength that is only found in Christ.

Am I wasting my life?

     Most mornings as I am laying in my bed trying to motivate myself to get up, I say a prayer that sounds something like this: "God I will never get the opportunity to live this day over again, please don't let me waste it!" This prayer reminds me of Paul's encouragement in 2 Corinthians 6 (the Message) "we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."
     I used to think that the answer to that prayer was me becoming more productive.  I needed to work harder and smarter.  It was all about how much I accomplished each day.  How much on my To-do-list did I get accomplished?  The problems with that approach were: 1. I usually had more "To-do-list" than I had time in the day and 2. I always had this nagging suspicion that I didn't have the right things on my list.
     I heard a minister ask a "profound yet troubling" question in a message once.  "At the end of the day the question isn't "What did I accomplish today, but who did I disciple today?"  I had a big problem with that one, because discipling people wasn't on my list.  His words reminded me of 1 Corinthians 10 (the Message) "We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well."
     I have had some amazing opportunities in the past couple of days to be used by God "to help others live well" and I promise you those experiences have made me feel better than my most "productive" days in the office.  God help me not to focus on the urgent at the expense of the critically important.  Help me to strive for "significant" days not just "successful."
     I challenge you to start your day off with a prayer to God to help you focus each day on what truly matters.  Life is short.  Let's not "squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."  

Will anyone remember me when I am dead?

     On some level I think that we all long for immortality.  That is why we take vitamins, exercise, and do crazy diets.  We all want to live forever.  We all want to make an impact on our world.  We want to make a difference.  Why else would we recycle, drive a Prius, or put eco-friendly light bulbs in our house?  We want to make the world a "better place."  We all long to be remembered when we are gone.  We all long for significance.
     The adults among us have probably long since given up on teenage dreams of success such as being a professional athlete, becoming the next american idol, or President of the United States, but we all still long for significance.
     Psalm 112:9 (NLT) says, "They share freely and give generously to those in need.  Their good deeds will be remembered forever.  They will have influence and honor."
     My family had multiple opportunities to give generously today.  I was able to give a stranded friend a ride, my wife was able to bless a family who was in desperate need, and my youth group was able to bless a missionary who longs to get back on the mission field.  Every time I am presented with an opportunity such as this my selfish nature is tempted to hold on tightly to what I have.  With each opportunity the Holy Spirit reminded me of this truth; "good deeds will be remembered forever."
     I cannot tell you who the last superbowl champion was or who was the last american idol, but I certainly can tell you about people who blessed Dianne and I when we were in desperate need.  That is why we give generously.  Not because we are such great people, but because someone blessed us in our time of need.  Also because I am convinced that God's word is true.  That those who give generously will be remembered forever.  I want to be remembered after I am gone as someone who approached God with open hands not clenched fists.        

The painful "Thank You"

     I have been taught by my parents that when anyone does anything for you, you always say "Thank You."  So saying "Thank You" comes naturally to me.  It is something I am trying so hard to train my children to do, but what I realize about humanity is that it is often difficult for us to be grateful.
     We have this inborn tendency to focus on what we don't have instead of on what we do.  Psalm 50:23 says "But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me."  I find it interesting that he refers to giving thanks as a sacrifice. How is giving thanks a sacrifice?  One of the definitions of sacrifice is "surrender of something for the sake of something else."  What am I surrendering when I give thanks?  I am giving up striving for something else.  I am giving up complaining about what I don't have.  I am giving up arguing with God about my current station in life.
     When I surrender my striving, complaining, and arguing through the sacrifice of giving thanks, God gives me something so much greater in return.  He gives me contentment!  No longer do I stand on this mountain of blessings God has giving me and complain that my mountain isn't more like that guy's over there.  Through the sacrifice of giving thanks, I can stand on my mountain of blessings look up to heaven and give glory to my creator.
     I get the privilege of going on a missions trip to El Salvador at the end of next month.  I can't wait because every time I go to another country to give of myself, I always feel like I receive more than I give away.  Every time I leave the United States I realize that it is the greatest country on earth.  I also realize how obnoxiously wealthy I am.  Final thing that always blows me away about missions trips is that I often find that the believers there have more joy and contentment than I do.  They obviously have learned this sacrifice of giving thanks.
     I leave you today with these challenging questions:
       In what areas of your life do you find yourself focusing on what you don't have instead of on what you do?
       How could you pause today and give God honor through a sacrifice of giving thanks?         

Reading the Bible can be so depressing!

     Do you ever struggle with this misconception that reading the Bible is supposed to be like drinking a spiritual Red Bull?  I often think that it is supposed to encourage me, pump me up, and get me excited about living the Christian life.  When that doesn't happen, I may be tempted to think either I am doing something wrong or worse the Bible isn't all its cracked up to be.
     I just finished reading the book of Ecclesiastes.  Man talk about depressing! The book is written by King Solomon who literally had everything.  He was one of the wisest men who ever lived.  Royalty came from all over the world to hear him speak.  He was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived.  He made Donald Trump look like a poor pathetic punk. The Bible says he made gold as plentiful as stones!  Solomon says about himself, "I had everything a man could desire!  Anything I wanted, I would take.  I denied myself no pleasure."  He had 700 wives and 300 mistresses, for crying out loud!  
     Listen to his conclusion about such things, "Everything is meaningless!"  He takes a baseball bat to this crazy myth that we all are tempted to believe: "More will make me happy."  Solomon's life and word's say basically this, having more money, possessions, power, knowledge, sex, popularity, or accomplishments will never make you truly happy.
     Why is it depressing to hear this?  Because I think deep down we still want to believe that having more of those things will make us happy.  If not why do we spend most of our lives on getting more of those list of things?  Listen to the words of Solomon again, "Those who love money will never have money enough.  How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness."
     So reading Ecclesiastes definitely isn't that spiritual pick-me-up that I was looking for, but I think it is something even better.  Listen to how Solomon describes it, "The words of the wise are like cattle prods--painful but helpful. . . like a nail-studded stick which a shepherd drives the sheep."
     Solomon is saying that God's word is like a trip to the dentist office, "painful but helpful."  No one likes going to the dentist, but without it we all would have a head full of rotten teeth.  Without God's word we will all have rotten lives.
     Just like I have concluded that my teeth are worth regular appointments to the dentist office, I have also decided that my soul is worth regular appointments with God and his word.  I may not walk away hyped up, but I will walk away built up.
     Final challenge from Solomon: "Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone's duty."      

What my 5 year old keeps teaching me!

     Tonight as my daughter Lydia was going to bed she came running to me with this look of pain on her face.  She had bumped her head.  I did the usual dad thing of hugging her and "kissing the owie" to make her feel better.  She then ran off to bed.  That moment made me realize how much compassion I feel for my children.  When they hurt, I hurt.
     I also thought about earlier that night we went out to eat as a family.  I felt so much joy eating with my kids.  Something about just being with them and reaching over and hugging them while we ate brought so much joy to my heart.  Lydia looked at me and said, "Dad this was an awesome meal."
     As a father when my children hurt, I hurt and when they experience joy, so do I.  Being a father has revealed so much to me about my relationship with God.  I just read in 2 Corinthians 6 (the Message) "I'll live in them, move into them; I'll be their God and they'll be my people."  Although I love that part, it doesn't surprise me for some reason.  I have become very comfortable with God being my God.  What I read next did surprise me.  "I'll be a Father to you; you'll be sons and daughters to me."  I know the concept of God being my father shouldn't surprise me, but as I think about how much I love my kids and how close they are to my heart, being that close to God is refreshingly shocking!  
     I began to think about how much God's heart must hurt because of the pain his children experience.  We sometimes have this false idea of God that he is far off watching from a distance, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Other verses say things such as "I will walk among them" and "I will make my home among them."
     God the father has always desired to "walk among us."  He did this unhindered by sin in the garden of Eden and will do it again in heaven.  Because of sin we lost this connection with God, but God forever re-established it through Jesus Christ.  God the son literally did walk among us and made his home among us.
     I have heard it preached so many times that "when we hurt, God hurts."  It almost sounds cliché to say it.  Being a Father is a daily reminder of this profound truth.  We really are that close to our heavenly Father's heart.  He does hurt when we hurt.  He experiences joy when we experience joy.  I find this kind of love and connection with the Creator of the universe refreshingly shocking!
     In light of this truth, I want to stay close to the Father's heart.  I want to love the things he loves.  I want to hate the things he hates. As Paul says "I don't want to squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."   

I am going to beat up Mark Anthony!

     Just watched an interview with Mark Anthony about his divorce with Jennifer Lopez and I really want to punch him in the face.  You can watch the whole interview here if you like http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/
     I realize that this doesn't seem to be a Christ-like response but hear me out.  Here we have one of the most famous, beautiful, successful, wealthy couples in America and yet they "come to a realization that their marriage just didn't work."  Ok here comes my right jab!
     DISCLAIMER: Obviously, I do not condone any senseless violence towards bilingual pop-stars just to prove a point, but I would like to punch some holes in Mark's way of thinking, that is more prevalent than you might realize.
     When asked if he still loved Jennifer he said, "I will always love Jennifer.  It is important that she knows that."  Right cross to the forehead - THEN WHY ARE YOU GETTING DIVORCED?
     When asked about their future he said. "We are going to be in each other's lives for many, many years and I am glad the friendship is that strong."  Left jab!  THEN WHY ARE YOU GETTING DIVORCED?
     When asked how they could work together on upcoming projects he said, "What would be difficult is if we didn't get along. We will still work together.  We are partners for life."  Right hook to the temple!  THEN WHY ARE YOU GETTING DIVORCED?
     Final pearl of wisdom from the golden voiced Latino pop star.  "This wasn't shocking to us.  It is sad, but these things happen.  It isn't a funeral.  It isn't a burial.  It is simply two people who came together and realized that it wasn't sustainable the way it was."  Knockout punch at his nose.  YES IT IS A FUNERAL!  IT IS A BURIAL!   IT IS A DIVORCE: A DEATH OF A MARRIAGE!
     Mark Anthony spent the entire interview telling us how nothing was really wrong between him and his former spouse and that their divorce wasn't really a big deal after all.  He said "You have one life to live.  Live it to the fullest.  Whether that is together or separate doesn't really matter."
     I hate it when we use "nice" words to describe evil things.  Here are a few examples: Affair - It isn't an affair.  It is adultery.  Moral failure.  It isn't moral failure.  It is SIN!
     Mark kept referring to divorce like it was a high school break up and they could even "still be friends."  Jennifer Lopez said that since her divorce, "for the first time she loves herself."
     I realize that Mark and Jennifer are not Christians, but my heart is broken for anyone who believes that you must pursue your best possible life even if it means that your marriage vows have to be broken to get it.
     Anyone reading this who has experienced the pain of divorce, may understand why this flippant attitude in our culture towards marriage and divorce makes me so frustrated.  I have experienced the joy and blessing of grandparents and parents who fought tooth and nail for "till death do us part."  That is why my wife and I fight for our marriage.
     I leave you with the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 6 (the Message) "we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us."  In an effort to find a better life, Mark and Jennifer are actually squandering their life.  They seem like they have everything but they are missing out on experiencing True Life!  Sometimes you have to fight for the marvelous life God has given you.
     The question for today:
         Where in your life have you taken lightly something God meant for us to take very seriously?