living for eternity today
In a recent podcast I was listening to, the topic of Sabbath came up. It was actually an interesting talk and it made me think a little about my definition of this very churchy word. At the outset of the podcast I started to think that I was pretty terrible at this whole “sabbath” thing. And I’m still not convinced I have it nailed but I do feel a tad less horrible about it! Continue reading
Saturday started like every other day for two men in Westerville. They put on their uniforms. I’m not sure what their morning looked like but I’m sure they each kissed their wife and children. Then left for work. After getting settled in their morning routine a call came through and without a second thought, they responded. It’s what they do. They didn’t second guess the call. They didn’t think twice for their own safety. They just went. Continue reading
A few years ago a movie was released titled Wreck It Ralph. The movie was set inside of a video game with two main characters. The first was Ralph. He was the larger than normal villain in the game. His job was to destroy everything he saw. Ralph would tear apart buildings and destroy things down to rubble. Then the good guy Fix It Felix would come along and try to put everything back together. Continue reading
Have you ever been struck with the funny, almost scary feeling that life is just way out of focus? I mean like you’re just going through the motions or that you’re having a hard time finding where you are in this big thing we call life? In a few recent conversations with several people, it sounds like I’m not the only one who has struggled with this! Wow is that ever refreshing! Continue reading
Christmas is one of those times of year when a few extra things tend to pile on our schedules. With the Christmas parties, school activities, additional worship times, and all of the other things added to our calendars – it’s easy to not know if we’re coming or going! Our lives are like candles and the more things that are added to our calendars the lower the candle burns and the less we have left to give. But what do you do when your candle all but burns out? How do you handle life when you are so overwhelmed that you don’t know which end is up anymore? Continue reading
Well it happened again. This time worse than the last. Another senseless act of violence. Another mass killing. Another group of innocent lives ripped from their friends and families in a timeframe we call too soon. The details are still rolling out. The motive, if there is one, is yet to be determined. There are so many questions that our heads are spinning! But as many questions as exist, there seems to be even more blame. So whose fault is it anyway? Continue reading
I’m a fixer. By nature, I want to fix every problem that comes across my desk and when I can’t find a good solution it often causes me to feel like, well a failure. For some reason, I think that I have to be able to offer help, real – tangible help in each and every situation. But that’s just not true! Sometimes the best help is just be there. Continue reading
I believe the one largest question I receive as a pastor is why is God doing this to me? Another form of this question is what did I do wrong? Why is God punishing me? I get it. I’ll admit sometimes it’s easy to view some of life’s less happy moments as punishment. It’s easy to see the illness, marital struggle, rebellious children, job struggles, financial crises or whatever your personal storm as a punishment from God for something we did wrong. But quite frankly this just isn’t how God operates and to be totally honest it goes completely contrary to the message of who God is. Continue reading
Each week during Lent, the weeks leading up to Easter, I composed a special poem just for that worship event. Well, on Easter morning I busted out a poem I wrote a few months ago. This poem is by far one of my favorites, perhaps I’m a little biased.
I used this poem on Sunday as the lead-in to my message. You can hear it here. But I’ve had a few requests asking if I’d publish it on this site, so here it is. I hope you enjoy!
These days are getting rougher
The challenges seem tougher
The world is filled with danger
In this place I am the stranger.
Nation rises against nation to fight
Everything seems dark as night
This world is being torn apart
It seems from us God did depart.
Not just the nations are at war
but in my home and school and more
I see someone who’s not like me
I raise my fist and show no mercy.
When through the doors of life I walk
It’s names and evil things I talk
We seek to do each other harm
And no longer does it cause alarm.
Now fear and terror rule the world
Anger and hatred around are hurled
Of what’s important we’ve lost sight
And it all was started with just one bite.
What Satan did was give us doubt
And from the garden we were kicked out.
The bite, that doubt, we call that sin
And in that moment evil did win.
But not for long was my God’s cry
He’d give up his Son to bleed and die
His back was ripped and beat and torn
For us God did his own Son scorn
For my sin, my fear, my shame
That at his Son God did take aim
God’s judgement on His shoulders lay
Yet ever faithful did my Jesus stay.
With nails and spikes they put him there
His clothes they tore so they could share
They mocked, they spit right in his face
Yet all he did was show them grace.
Tetelestai was his final word
It is finished is what his Father heard
And then he sighed and breathed his last
The deed was done the judgement past
Upon himself my sin he took
Now at the cross when I do look
Myself in him is all I see
Because Jesus gave his all for me.
If you know anything about photography, then you’ll know that a filter is a cover or lens through which you see things. A filter can be used to make a picture have a desired warmth, color hue, or tone. Filters can alter the way we see things. Filters can be used to make differences appear, well more different.
Our daily lives have filters as well. Often we use filters and don’t even know it. Unlike camera filters, the ones we use in our day-to-day lives aren’t as easily removed. All too often we use them and we don’t even understand what purpose they serve. Filters can be good but, if we don’t know their purpose, they can be useless at best and harmful at worst.
And if this wasn’t bad enough, we tend to pull out these filters in the church as well. The church however is a place where these filters really should not be present. The Apostle Paul teaches in Galatians 3:27-28,
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
You see it’s easy for us to point out our differences. It’s easy to see someone who looks different and focus on that. Our world is riddled with division and difference. But not just the world, the same division is also finding its way into the church. We focus on things like color, gender, nation of origin just to name a few. We bite and pick each other apart just because we’re not all exactly the same.
But the message of the gospel is that no matter our starting point the end can be the same in Christ. When we surrender our lives to the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection, then all of those colors – genders – nationalities – and other things that divide us fade away. You see the gospel isn’t about where you start but who gets you to the end. Salvation isn’t dependent on what you bring to the table but it’s dependent on what Jesus did for you. A life that’s completely surrendered to Jesus knows little of these divisions because, as Paul says, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
The point of our lives is the person and work of Christ. When we clothe ourselves in the life of Jesus that’s what people see in us and that’s what we see in others. To be a follower of Jesus in a way means that we live a life with #nofilters.
Today try to look around you with clear eyes. Lose the filter of racial divisions. Lose the filter of prejudice and injustice. Lose the filter of hatred and disgust. It’s when these filters are gone that we can see with the eyes of love that God placed in our heads. No this doesn’t mean that we are all physically the same. Nor does it mean that all of our decisions are ok. It just means that when it comes to salvation and the message of the gospel there’s no room for these ridiculous filters.
So let’s live the life of grace that Jesus lived for us. Let’s live a life of #nofilters.
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