Yearly Archives: 2017

Unity vs. Love – VOTD 03.06.17

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:13,14

I’ve watched churches and individuals struggle with the unity thing for most of my adult life. And I’ve watched the grapple to build unity. If I’ve learned one thing from all this observation, it’s that if our goal is unity, we’re doomed. But if our goal is love, unity will grow out of that.

The key to true unity is to make sure that unity isn’t the goal—love is the goal. So, rather than seeking unity, we should seek love, and then we can let love be the key to unity.

Love forgives when we are wronged. Love chooses to ignore differences of opinion. Love overlooks variations in behavior. When we truly love people, differing political opinions and theological persuasions become all part of the diversity of the Living Organism we call the Body of Christ, rather than opportunity for taking offense which leads to division and strife. (more…)

Continue ReadingUnity vs. Love – VOTD 03.06.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 12 (final) – VOTD.02.28.17

Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you, that I may find grace in your sight  Exodus 33:13

Have you ever read a Christian book on rekindling the spark of love in marriage? These books not only show how to diagnose the nature of marital problems, but also give specific, practical steps and activities to help correct the problems. All of this might be helpful, or it might be useless, depending on the readers and their problems.

The same goes for dieting books, exercise, and a myriad of other problem-fix books and programs out there. There is a market for a “simple formula” we can employ to fix our not-so-simple problems. That’s one of the reasons it’s difficult to give a one-size-fits all answer to solving the first-love dilemma.

I think this is what Jesus faced in writing to the Ephesians. He knew a 3-step process wasn’t going to be useful to them. So what does He do? He gives us some broad relationship-improvement ideas. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 12 (final) – VOTD.02.28.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 11 – VOTD.02.27.17

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance… Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Revelation 2:2,4

Last time we saw that while we might be doing ‘Christian things’ if we are still the center of our vision—if we’re still the definer of our dreams and goals—we are going to waste a lot of time, energy and emotion shackled to fruitless pursuits. We superglue ourselves to futility. We build an insurmountable wall between ourselves and our first love.

That’s because we’re giving Jesus competition in our focus and that’s idolatry. You see, the kind of idol that sidetracks us doesn’t matter; it’s that Jesus isn’t at the bullseye of our vision. Picture an archery target with all its concentric circles and in the center is the bullseye. That target represents all that God is doing.

People who are really not pursuing God at all are shooting off the target completely and we’re not talking about them. We’re looking at people like the Ephesians who Jesus is talking to. Today’s verses show that they’re really doing well, but they’ve got to return to their first love.

So in our analogy, they’re at least hitting the target. Jesus is telling them, that hitting the outer circle will get them some satisfaction, the acclaim of their church-mates, but it’s not where they could be. It’s not where He’s calling them.

You see, the outer circles are what God is doing. But Jesus wants us to get back to the bullseye where we started.

For many of us, our hopes and dreams are in the outer circles. We want to see Jesus’ Kingdom come and we want to be part of it like the Ephesians were. We might want to lead the charge. This is the place where we want to be for a lot of reasons some goodish (look at the needs), some selfish (this where it’s exciting, flashy, and fun). But this is not where we started, in the bullseye. It’s not where we abide in a first-love experience. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 11 – VOTD.02.27.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 10 – VOTD.02.21.17

They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially. [Jeremiah’s description of the false priests and prophets of his day.] Jeremiah 6:14

As we saw last time, we could talk about many symptoms of losing our first love—the presence or absence of dozens of things might indicate our first love is history. And this is where a lot of Christians and Christian teaching get it wrong. Just like an illness, treating the symptoms can bring some temporary relief, but it won’t cure the problem. The problem is much more complex.

The Message puts today’s verse this way: “My people are broken—shattered!—and they put on Band-Aids, saying, ‘It’s not so bad. You’ll be just fine.’ But they are not ‘just fine’!”

The Christian self-help bookshelves are full of books proclaiming the answer to all sorts of problems, when a lot of the symptoms really stem from a first-love problem. All they do is treat the symptoms. And it looks like it works until some new symptom pops up. So we go after that and think we’ve got it solved—it’s like trying to rid your yard of dandelions by cutting off the stems. They’ll keep popping up out of the turf because the root and seed in in the soil. Cutting off the symptom will never solve the problem. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 10 – VOTD.02.21.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 9 – VOTD.02.20.17

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Most of what we have talked about in our study of leaving our first love is how to identify that we already have left it. As Jesus’ words to the Ephesian church points out, they were unaware that there was even a problem. From their perspective, things were going great. Jesus commends them for several things before he drops the bomb: “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

I’ve looked through various lists of “signs” that we have left our first love and found that they usually fall into one of seven categories. I’ve tried to touch on those during this study:

Time:
Somehow time with Jesus is compromise either by ministry, other busy-ness/distractions.

Performance:
Christianity has become more of a checklist than a relationship with Jesus. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 9 – VOTD.02.20.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 8 – VOTD.02.14.17

We have the mind of Christ. Yet I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly, brothers and sisters. (1 Corinthians 2:16-3:1)

Another tell-tale sign that we have distance ourselves from our first love is what I call a “putting up with God” attitude. When the direction Jesus leads us in seem more like obstructions to our aspirations or restrictions to our happiness we’re well off the path of our first love.

It’s not like we’re disobedient. We may be the picture of submission and dutiful to whatever Jesus asks, but…our compliance isn’t exactly unstinting. Eagerness wouldn’t quite describe it. Perhaps resigned to our fate. Sometimes we’re downright fatalistic about Jesus’ path for us.

And this quickly develops into a bad case of legalism…doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Going through the motions. Following the map but unenthused by the route and disinterested in the destination.

Putting up with God and His plans for our lives is not loving the Lord. It’s not having the mind of Christ. We don’t have the heart of Christ.

It is telling that in today’s verse, Paul associates having the mind of Christ with living in the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps it’s the other way around: Living in the Holy Spirit is a prerequisite to having the mind of Christ.

First-love faith is characterized by being of one mind and heart with Jesus. It’s not that we won’t have doubts or reservations, but our reluctance is overcome by trust in Him; our fears are overcome by faith and openness with Jesus about what we’re feeling. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 8 – VOTD.02.14.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 7 – VOTD.02.13.17

Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do a new thing.  Isaiah 43:18,19

Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.  Revelation 2:5

True story: Three pastors were sharing lunch together the day before the church they all had served in celebrated a major anniversary. One was elderly and retired. Another was middle-aged and now serving in denominational leadership. The last was young, five-years-out-of seminary. The youngest remarked that it must have been amazing back in the day. To hear congregants tell it, the church was really on fire 25 years ago; three service, all so packed they had to set up folding chairs. The middle-aged pastor chuckled, “Is that what they’re talking about? Back in that day, all they could do was talk about how wonderful it was back when the church first began and there was such enthusiasm and team-spirit.” The elderly pastor practically choked on his sandwich. “Really!??!” he said. “Back when we first planted the church everyone was pining for the stability, programs, and budgets of the church we had broken off from.”

It’s easy to look back and conclude that things were better then. But nostalgia has its problems. For one thing, it simply makes us unhappy with the present. Living in what God did in the past can take our attention away from what God is doing today. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 7 – VOTD.02.13.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 6 – VOTD.02.07.17

Be diligent that none of you fails to take hold of the grace of God; for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself, but can also poison the lives of many others.  Hebrews 12:15

Returning to our first love. We’ve talked about loving the Lord with all our hearts and loving Him with all our souls, loving Him with all our mind and loving Him with our strength. But there are a few other areas that have Christians trapped in 2nd love experiences.

Firstly, bitterness. Christians are bitter because their trust has been betrayed, feeling cheated because their church hasn’t lived up to all the promises it makes; resentful because people with the “Christian” label don’t live like it; cynical because they know it should be better and it’s getting worse…

This is especially easy for people who have been in the faith a while. When everything was new, everyone seemed so godly, so fresh and loving. We were encouraged to follow the characteristics of these “super-Christians” to become a better Christian ourselves. It’s possible that that is reasonable short-term advice, but in the long run, it won’t last. As time goes on, we see kinks in the “super-Christians” and that can be pretty disheartening. Cynicism sets in…Bitterness isn’t far behind. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 6 – VOTD.02.07.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 5 – VOTD.02.06.17

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first (most important) commandment  Mark 12:30

Last time we talked about loving the Lord with all our hearts and loving Him with all our souls. Today I want to hit on loving Him with all our mind and strength.

“With all your mind.” When our minds, wills, and emotions wander from devotion to God, be careful. Our minds are so adept at hoodwinking ourselves with logic-plays that seem so air tight but miss the truth by miles.

As we saw last time, our relationship with God deepens as we spend time in communion with Him. But if we forsake this communion, our understanding of our true condition before God will grow dull, and often our minds will be the last to realize it. Our spirits are glum, we’re bored, we’re tread-milling through life and our minds are telling us that we’re OK, or that all we need is more discipline, a better job, an on-fire church… After all, maybe it’s normal to be bored in the Lord. Our minds rationalize right into a lost first-love and we never even know. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 5 – VOTD.02.06.17

Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 4 – VOTD.01.31.17

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first (most important) commandment  Mark 12:30

“With all your heart”. Several things can indicate that we’re wandering from our first love (Rev 2:4). But a dead give-away is our hearts: We delight in someone or something else more than we delight in the Lord.

Have you ever been around someone who is so intent on their new job or their favorite sports team, or a new relationship or hobby…that it seems like whenever you’re with them the subject always turns to whatever they’re obsessing on? That’s their delight.

The idea of our first love is that our delight is in the Lord (Ps 37:4). Taking delight in the Lord means that our hearts truly find fulfillment, satisfaction and worth in Jesus. He’s foremost in our hearts, exceeding the bond of any other relationship, activity or pastime. Jesus identified the greatest of all commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…”.

If we find ourselves obsessing over other things, we really need to get God’s perspective on their role in our lives. Note: that thing we delight in is not necessarily wrong. God may have brought those things into our lives. But we still need His perspective or it can “own” us. And He doesn’t want that. (more…)

Continue ReadingReturning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 4 – VOTD.01.31.17