Ruins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQfKu9ZoVZU&list=LLFGCE2OPPvjV6RnkAsPvxWw&index=988 I don’t vividly remember the first time I heard this song. All I remember was when its message came home to me. My acclimation to the power of Ruins…
Restoration – VOTD.06.26.18
Then Jesus asked him again, “Peter, son of John, do you have great affection for me—more than these?” Peter was saddened by being asked the third time and said, “My Lord, you know everything. You know that I burn with love for you!” John 21:17
You probably know the story… Jesus had been crucified, buried, and now had risen from the dead. Jesus’ trial had not been Peter’s finest hour. In the Upper Room, before Jesus’ arrest, Peter had made the grandiose statement of his commitment to Jesus: “Even if everyone else abandons you, you can count on me.” That hadn’t worked out so well.
In fact, reading of the post crucifixion gospels accounts, Peter isn’t mentioned all that much until John 21. When someone falls we tend to toss them under the bus and that seems to be going on with the other 10 disciples. In fact, Peter seems to have tossed himself under the bus. He says, “I’m going fishing,” and the others say, “We’ll go with you.”
Now we find Peter, Andrew, James & John—not out for a relaxing evening of rod & reel sports fishing, but literally back in their former employment, laboring through the back-breaking toil of nets and boats. After agonizing through a night of fishing with no fish to show for it, they recast their nets at the word of a stranger on shore, and then realized they were in the presence of Jesus. Soon they were enjoying the fellowship and nourishment of their Lord provided on shore.
Where did the boat and nets come from? There were no boat liveries where weekend sports fisherman could rent a dinghy and maybe some gear to do a little fishing. It’s most likely, Peter (who instigated this fishing excursion), still owned a boat or two and the nets to carry out his former employment. When he said, “I’m going fishing,” he had the equipment to carry out his plan—and enough for the others, as well. (more…)
Loving Us Loving Others – VOTD.05.29.18
For God proved his love for (each one of us) that he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift… John 3:16
For the Christian walking in God’s grace, our posture is always love. Jesus, Himself, never did a thing outside of love. Even when He rebuked the Pharisees, He did not mock them. Nor did He rant. Too many of His followers, however, prefer loud to loving; yelling to relating. It is much easier. And there are plenty of Christian speakers out there who cater to the ‘Christian’ thirst for put-downs and mockery that is so popular in the Kingdom of this world.
The Bible doesn’t leave the Love matter up to personal choice: I’ve never heard a Christian get up and propose that we behave unlovingly—at least not blatantly. I have heard many redefine love so that it includes unkindness, mockery, verbal slamming, and the list goes on. So I’m wondering: Are we who comprise the local churches so blind to the implications of our love theology that we can snooker ourselves into believing that we are loving when we’re really hating?
Our theology says that we each of us has sinned. We embrace the concept of the total fallenness of humanity, but do we conveniently forget that fallenness does not display itself the same way in everyone? Our theology says that all sins are the same; to commit one is to commit them all; and the penalty for any sin is death.
In Biblical love there is no wiggle room. Love does not allow us to decide who we will let off and who we will judge any more than it allows us to decide who we will love and who we will hate; who we will be in awe of and who we will mock.
If the love of God is not for people we fully disagree with; the person on the cover of all the supermarket tabloids, the politician who’s agenda is godless, the atheist… then it is for no one. The very essence of the Gospel is that no one is good enough to secure God’s love. And “no one” includes you and me and all those people we think we’re better than… why pretend that our hatred is ‘righteous indignation’ and as such, it’s acceptable?
God’s grace is not a bunch of theological platitudes, but it is God’s hand finding each one of us in the miry pit. The hand that becomes coated with grime to reach down into the sewer of sin and grab us sets us on a solid rock and establishes us in righteous ways.
So, theology aside, why do many (most?) Christians consider some sins worse than others? While many would correctly reason that we can’t expect lost people to act like they are saved, why do we expect them to, anyway? Paul certainly was explicit about this. He required some standards within the group of people who claimed to be Christians, but he calls it futile to expect Christian behavior from non-Christians. (more…)
Unity vs. Love – VOTD.05.28.18
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.
This way, even if a unity of beliefs/behavior is not possible, a unity of love is. Unity is not sameness. It is love lifting us above our differences in order to pursue our common goal, the glory of God. This is crucial: God loves us unconditionally, and He calls us to love our siblings in Christ unconditionally. This kind of love never demands the casting aside of convictions or truth. In fact, it leaves that sort of thing in the hands of the Holy Spirit who is the author of unity. (more…)
Our Harmonious Response to God’s Children – VOTD.05.22.18
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3
We’ve already seen that unity isn’t about identicality, it’s about like-heartedness. So how do we cooperate with God to live in unity and how is it maintained? It depends a lot on our character in Jesus. Paul lists 5 characteristics that Christian unity depends on: humility, gentleness, patience, mutual forbearance, and love.
No big surprise that he begins with humility. Humility is essential to unity. Pride almost always results in discord and discord is almost always the result of pride at some level. Humility is the attitude that Jesus displayed in becoming a human being in the first place (Phil 2:3-8). In fact the word Paul used here is actually “humility of mind”—Humble-minded. That it’s an attitude that recognizes the worth and value of other people and allows for their diverse opinions.
Think about it for a moment. The people we tend to like to be around are people who show us respect even though they may not agree with us in many areas. The ones we don’t like to be with are the ones we sense disrespect or feel smug superiority from. Rather than maneuvering for the respect or esteem of others (which is the nature of pride), if we give them our respect, because we recognize their inherent God-given worth (which is the nature of this humility of mind that Ephesians is talking about), then we’ll be promoting harmony in our relationships; and result will probably be that they’ll respond to us with the same respect they’ve received. (more…)
Affirming: Confidence and Self-Respect – VOTD.04.09.18
The Lord gives perfect peace to all who trust in him, all whose thoughts are fixed on him! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. Isaiah 26:3-4
Because all of us live in time and space—we live in relationships and responsibilities—our day-to-day circumstances can have a significant effect on how we feel about ourselves. That means it’s natural for our circumstances to influence how we feel, how we behave. How other people treat us—or not—influences who we feel we are in our lives. A lot of the time, these influences aren’t telling us the truth. Daily affirmations will help us remember the Truth.
Unless we are tied in to Jesus’ affirming love, we can come dangerously close to allowing our circumstances to dictate our worth… people’s disrespect or disregard will determine our self-respect and confidence… the events in our lives will overshadow His affirming Words in the Bible and in our lives. These temporal circumstances will short-circuit our trust in God’s promises if we don’t stay fixed on Him. (more…)
Affirming People – VOTD.04.02.18
Encourage each other and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
We live in a very pretty negative culture—in a society where put downs are the number one form of humor. People are marginalized, ostracized, and criticized in an attitude of elitism, where exclusiveness and snobbery seem like the only way to not get swept down the disapproval drain. And it happens in the world, it happens in our churches, it happens in our homes.
God calls us to do the exact opposite. He says, as believers, we are to value everybody. When we look around at people—even people who are insulting us and putting us down, denigrating values we hold dear—we must keep focused on the truth that Jesus died for them. They matter greatly to God.
And while this is true of our attitudes toward the obviously disenfranchised, the needy…those on the outside, it’s also true of those we interact with on a daily basis. We all need affirmation and encouragement.
Call it appreciation, affirmation, when we encourage others and build them up, we raise their value. We treat them as if they matter. We say nice things about them—both in their hearing and out of their hearing. So how can you and I affirm people? (more…)
The Power of the Resurrection – VOTD.03.27.18
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? John 11:23-26
Today’s verses expose a common limitation that we find even today about the resurrection of Jesus. When He said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” Martha immediately concluded that He was talking about heaven some day. And it wasn’t that she was wrong, but Jesus wanted to expand her understanding.
The Power of Jesus’ Resurrection is at work today: The Power of the Resurrection that is just as powerful now, as it was then, and when it will be through eternity. Yes, it’s what makes us Christians today. It’s the only reason that we can be Christians.
Power of the Resurrection is the SALVATION of Jesus.
· It’s the Power of the Resurrection that gives us Faith to call upon the name of Jesus.
· It’s the Power of the Resurrection that gives you and me the power to draw others into God’s Kingdom.
But what the Resurrection has given you and me is more than Salvation, as wonderful as that is. It’s more than the Saints being raised up in a cloud with Believers when the last trumpet sounds. The Power of the Resurrection isn’t a “thing” or a “force”. The power of Jesus’ resurrection is Love, Hope, Joy, Peace, Victory, and Freedom: (more…)
Hope – VOTD.02.20.18
We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people – the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven. Colossians 1:4,5
A couple of important points of today’s verse:
1) Our hope comes from Jesus (heaven), and that hope produces two essential Christian qualities: Faith and Love. That’s how essential hope is, and it’s why the enemy attacks hope far more often than faith or love, individually. It’s also why the enemy gets along just fine with optimism. It masks the need for faith-and-love-producing hope.
2) We need to take hold of hope: God gives hope and our hope is in Him. Hebrews tells us that “we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” (Heb 6:18-20)
Sure, hope encourages us – it’s where we find Jesus’ strength and comfort. But hope also empowers us to seize what God has already determined to give us. Hope is the anchor which holds us to Jesus and His power. And notice this: It is hope that enters in to the mercy seat where Jesus is.
Which brings us to the difference between hope, and what often masquerades for hope: optimism. As we saw last time, hope is not some optimism trip or a mind over matter self-influence. Optimism and hope are not the same thing. The difference is this: optimism is inside of us; it rises from within us. It’s an attitude toward life that we choose, or maybe one we’re just born with or nurtured with.
However it got into us, optimism is internal, a personal disposition, part of our make-up… or not. But more to the point, if it’s something that’s just “in me,” it can fade away when life gets really tough. Or to use another image, it’s something like fuel that I have in my car’s gas tank. I can eventually run out of it. (more…)
Fake News: Judgment vs. Love – VOTD.05.16.17
Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13
One of the issues of our day is Fake News. Now, there’s nothing new about fake news. It’s just exposed in our day that your fake news is interfering with my fake news. So the realization that there’s fake news out there becomes unavoidable.
Fake news annoys people because we want to believe that our positions and decisions are based on facts rather than hype and spin. When we’re forced to admit that any news we hear or see is possibly, even likely, to be fake at some level, it makes us uncomfortable. And that’s exactly why our judgments of each other are so dangerous.
Our judgments of others is based on fake news; incomplete information; spin and assumption based on biases that fit in with our preconceptions. We don’t know all the facts; we make assumptions about why people are behaving the way they are with unreliable and sketchy data. Therefore the one we judge can’t even get a fair trial in our minds or hearts/attitudes.
So it’s no wonder Jesus drew His followers’ attention away from judgment and toward love. You might think Love and Judgment don’t have much to do with each other, but they are close opposites, so they have more to do with each other than we might think. (more…)