I have to tell you when I hear people that they’re in this whole living life thing to make themselves happy something inside me goes a little crazy. It’s like fingernails on a chalkboard. There are some people that want life their way. They want things handed to them on a silver platter. It just has to be about them.
Have you ever had that person who just likes to find problems in life? I mean you give them a compliment and they somehow turn it to a knock on you? You thank them and they tell you that you’re not doing enough? Or they just want everything to be done their way and if not they’ll let you know all about it?
Well selfishness and self aggrandizement is called out by Jesus in Mark 10. There were a couple of his close followers that wanted to get something from him. They asked Jesus to give them whatever they wanted. Pretty bold I know!
Hearing that passage it’s pretty easy to think well how dare they! I’d never do anything like that… But is that really true? Can you honestly say that personal happiness and having things done your way isn’t driving your decisions from time to time?
I think in the world today, we’re seeing a lot more prominently displayed a self-centered approach to life. We see people who want to be the center of attention and for life to revolve around them. We are seeing people take disagreements as personal attacks. There has to be a better way.
Yes there is. Jesus takes the whole selfish pride outlook on life and flips it on its head. He says that for you to be great you have to be willing to be least. To be first you should be last. To be best you need to be ok with serving other people instead of asking why you didn’t get picked first.
Jesus tells his followers that we need to look different than the world looks. Check out this message on struggling with pride and selfishness.
Not sure if you noticed or not but black is not white and white is not black. I know that sounds a bit simplistic but I’m not sure our culture gets that. The world today doesn’t want to do the hard things in life by living with difference. Instead we try our hardest to lose distinctions and blend everything into some form of mush. We love the gray area because it seems to offend the fewest people.
I don’t agree. As a matter of fact, when we draw a clear line of distinction and properly delineate between two sides of an issue or two ideologies, we are less likely to divide than if we try to appease everyone.
There is a push in our society to gray the lines of right and wrong, male and female, racial distinctions and even life and death. The only thing this is doing is creating a greater divide. One would think that an attempt to make everyone equal would make things better, but that’s not how this works.
The problem is when we force someone to lose what makes them unique in life, we devalue everyone. Now I do believe we need to do better at valuing our brothers and sisters despite our differences. You see there are so many things that make you who you are that are valuable and special. Trying to make you into someone else just isn’t right.
In our time together this past Sunday we focused on leaning into our distinct sides. We focused on not blending things together and creating a mess in the mushy middle. There is no gray area. There is a clear right and clear wrong. The more clear the distinctions in life, the easier it is to live with and value those distinctions.
Here’s this week’s message. Jesus didn’t dumb things down, so we probably shouldn’t either.
I’m always on the lookout for a new song for our Music Monday posts. Some days are harder to find one I haven’t done yet while other weeks there seems to be no trouble at all. Today we’re going to look at one that kind of jumped out in a quick search for top songs for 2021. It’s called Stayed on Him. The song is built around a passage from Isaiah 26:3.
You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Think about how different life would be if we just let peace reign in our lives. How much different would your outlook on life be if you stepped back from the worry and fear to trust in the one who has everything under control?
The issue we face often is that we let our minds wander to things that are not of God. We focus on the pain and the shame and the hurt and the fear and the anxiety. We let worry creep in and take over our thoughts.
Today’s MusicMonday is really calling us to stay on him. Focus on the promises of God. See his presence in your life today and always. So stop what you’re doing for the next 5 minutes and let this song help bring a smile to your face and comfort to your soul.
It’s no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor. That means that everyone thinks I work only on Sundays and I just basically get paid to talk a lot. Well truth be told, I do work on Sundays and Saturdays and just about every other day throughout the week in some capacity or another. And I do tend to talk…a lot…even when no one cares to listen! But there’s more than just that. It’s more than work and talking. It’s about a calling and a way of life for me.
The interesting thing however is that what I do for a living, God has called all of us to do in some form or fashion. We’re all called to be available to help those in times of need. We’re all supposed to be encouraging and uplifting, to challenge and strengthen. But there’s more to it. The heart of what we’re about as followers of Jesus is the message. We call it the gospel.
But the message of the gospel is not all that easy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s simple but not easy. It’s simple because the message is really all about what Jesus did for us. He did the work, we get the benefit. But that’s exactly what makes it hard! We like to do things ourselves. We like to know we’ve done enough or completed a task. We need to check the box when a to-do list item is finalized.
To say that the message of the gospel to some in our world is foolish is an understatement. The message of the gospel put as plainly and completely as possible is that Jesus is the Son of God who became a man at the time of his birth, what we call Christmas. Then he lived a pretty normal life for the first 30 years or so. The only thing was he didn’t sin. He did no wrong. He wasn’t some goody goody kind of character but he just legitimately did the right thing, like all the time! Then when he was about 30 years old he really came into his own. He gathered crowds. Taught messages. Did some pretty cool signs and miracle things. Then one day was accused of having the wrong intentions, which he didn’t. He ended up being tried, beaten adn killed for his way of life. Then after he was buried, he was raised up. Yep came to life again.
The message of the gospel is built on the belief that Jesus did all of this to show God’s love for you and me. He didn’t do it to get anything from us or make us go through some weird ritual of some sort. He did it so that one day you and I could see him for who he is and live with him forever in heaven. That may sound absurd to you. And if so, that’s ok. You’re not alone. The bible even warns about that one. But what might sound foolish to some is actually the source of all that we are as followers of Christ. Our identity is wrapped up in this very reality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
So there you have it. Foolish? Maybe but not for believing in Jesus. That’s the only wise thing about many of us, ok well about me anyway. Check out the full message on this topic in the video below.
Have you ever had one of those moments when you just wanted to throw in the towel? The moments when it felt like the weight of the world was on your shoulders? A moment when even the people closest to you, the ones supposedly in your corner, seemed to be against you? Those moments quite frankly suck.
But how do you react when the weight of the world is on your shoulders? What do you do when you have a burden to carry that is just simply too much for you?
I recently talked about something I call heart-felt prayer. Now if you’re not a Jesus person and don’t really get into the whole prayer thing I get it but there are some principles in here that are transferrable to a non prayer setting.
Many hands make light work
First we need to surround ourselves with people who can help us carry our burdens. These are our people of peace (more on that another time). The people that are willing to listen to us and carry those burdens with us are people that we need to lean into when times get tough. Jsut because they might say something that isn’t exactly what we want to hear doesn’t make them any less a person of peace. So don’t go it alone. Surround yourself with people who can carry you when you can’t do it anymore.
Jesus knew his friends couldn’t make his problem go away. He knew they wouldn’t be of any help whatsoever really. But he still chose to bring them along. They were there for comfort and peace in a pretty challenging time. Who are your people that you can bring along who will bring peace to you while you struggle? They may not help, but they will always be there.
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal
The second thing we need to do is be honest about our struggle. We tend to be a world of wannabe heroes. We think that sadness and struggle is a sign of weakness, but that’s just not true. Think of working out when you think of struggles. If you don’t push the muscle beyond what it’s capable of doing you won’t see any growth. The same is true for you and me in our struggles. If we don’t allow ourselves to be pushed beyond what we’re capable of handling alone, we’ll never see growth in our abilities.
Jesus did something similar when he was honest with his Father about not wanting to go through the events of holy week. He was sorrowful. Sad. Broken. Burdened. He collapsed on the ground and just prayed. Perhaps there are struggles in your life you’ve been hiding or burying. What do you need to be honest about and get a weight off your shoulders so you can be free for a new day?
Ask for help, not because you’re weak but because you want to remain strong.
The third part of this heartfelt prayer is simply but boldly asking for what we want. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t dance around the issue. Don’t get all shy. Just ask for help. Say what you need or want in a given situation. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness by any means. Asking for help is a way to stay strong.
Jesus did just this. He told his Father that he didn’t want to go through the events of the next 24 hours. He told him to let this cup pass. He wasn’t looking forward to being left alone by his Father. What do you need to ask God? What do you need to just get off your chest and have help with?
Submission is yielding my desires to his plan.
The final part of going through an honest assessment of struggles and pain is to be submissive. This doesn’t mean to let people walk all over you. It means that you’re ok with things not being ok for a time.
Jesus did this when after telling his Father he didn’t want to go through with the next 24 hours but ended with not my will but yours. That means I don’t want this but if it’s the best way then I’ll do it. What stands in front of you that you’re not all that excited about or that might make you uncomfortable that you might end up needing to do because it’s the best thing?
There you have it. Fall down with friends, admit problems, ask for help, then be ok with doing things in a way you’re not expecting.
It’s probably no secret that I’m a patriot. I value and defend the principles of the place where I choose to set up residence. But while my allegiance to a degree is very much in the defense of the country in which I live, there’s something far greater and more widespread that has my allegiance completely.
This past week it was made known that a pastor was arrested in Canada in part for holding a worship gathering. He was taken before the judiciary and was told that if he recanted and promised not to do this again he could go free. I don’t know many other details of the account. But what comforts me is that he’s still in prison.
Don’t get me wrong! I want him released to be certain! But I’m comforted to know that he didn’t back down. He didn’t recant for preaching and proclaiming the truth of Jesus. I am glad that he realize that his allegiance was more to the King of kings than the head of the state.
As Americans I fear we’ve mixed up our allegiance to kings. I think some have pledged a greater allegiance to political parties that divide than to the King who unites. In the message below we unpack a pledge of sorts found in the bible. It’s an oath we take that declares God as sovereign, holy and powerful.
It’s not just politicians that vie for our allegiance but we willingly bow to the latest fads, newest ideas, things that benefit us and make us feel better. We take a knee before our pet project or medical experiment. All of it simply distracts us from what is real and true and absolutely life changing.
I pray you defend what’s important to you. I pray you put your all into the cause or thought about which you feel passionate. But I caution you to never give your full allegiance to anything other than Christ.
On Ash Wednesday, we kicked off a new series titled One World, One King. The idea behind this series is that we’ve all at times bowed down to a king that we’ve made with our own hands. We bend our knee to our favorite political party, music artist or movie star. We worship finances, fame and even family. But the messages in this series are all about refocusing our worship on what really matters. The one true King of all is the only one deserving of our worship.
In the first message in this series we set the stage by looking into the book of Joel. This book is included in the Old Testament group of books known as the minor prophets. He wrote to the Northern Kingdom, known as Judah, about something he saw that was alarming to say the least.
An invasion of locusts was predicting an army that would soon obliterate the kingdom. But that wasn’t the end. The point of this whole book is the final moments of the world. The days we call the Day of the Lord.
Throughout this message we connect some dots to see how over every horizon of time there are gods we worship and divisions we form. But the goal and the obligation of every Christian is not to highlight the flaws in one another. Our call is to honestly, seriously and intentionally reflect on the gods we’ve formed with our own hands.
Tomorrow is a day in the church known as Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of the season of the church known as Lent. This season of Lent is about reflection and focus on getting ourselves ready for Easter. As followers of Jesus prepare for Easter they take time for a penitential (reflective) walk through the life of Jesus. This season is marked by confessing (admitting) sins, prayer, often fasting, and meditation.
I know that a lot of that might sound a tad too deep for many people or almost impossible for others, so we need not make this a hard and fast rule to follow. The idea behind the fasting and the prayer, the confession and the meditation is to draw us closer to Jesus. These actions serve as intentional ways in which we put off a little bit of ourselves and put on a little bit of Jesus in return.
Take for instance the fasting portion, which we’ll hit on more in a future post. The purpose of fasting in its simplest explanation is to replace a craving for one thing with a fulfillment in a relationship with Jesus. So in a sense it means we need to lose the sugar to help focus on the savior. The same can be true for the other things mentioned above. We use them as ways to more intentionally focus on who we are in this relationship with Jesus.
But what about the ashes and dust thing on Ash Wednesday? I mean that’s kind of odd if you really think about it.
What we may not realize is that Ash Wednesday and the pomp and circumstance that goes along with it didn’t really start until around the 11th century and wasn’t widely accepted among Christian traditions until the early 1970s. The Bible never talks about having ashes marked on our foreheads. There is no real rule saying that we have to do it this way. So if it’s not specifically Biblical (mandated by God) why do we do it and what does it mean?
Why ashes?
There is great symbolism in the ashes on Ash Wednesday of which many may not be aware. The ashes used to mark a cross on your forehead are made by burning the palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration. This means we’re taking the victorious welcome of Jesus as King and combining it with our humble approach to him as sinners.
Additionally, ashes in the Old Testament were a sign of humility and mourning. So when we receive the ashes on our heads formed in the shape of a cross, we’re essentially saying that we humble ourselves before the one is King of kings. Since Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, they also serve as a mark that we are mourning what this seasons brings – namely the suffering and death of Jesus.
The words spoken on Ash Wednesday are another reminder of why we do them. You are dust and to dust you shall return. This connects the ashes of victory with the dust of our beginnings. Where we have erred from God and wondered from His ways, the ashes are our humble journey back. We are reminded of our simple beginnings. Dust. Dirt clods formed in the hands of God. Breathed into with the very breath of the Father. The ashes connect us with Adam who is the symbol of our sinfulness. The cross connects us with the new man, Jesus who is the symbol of our forgiveness.
In a year that has been wrought with so much upheaval and turmoil and confusion, the normal Ash Wednesday might not be possible. So do we have to have ashes on Ash Wednesday? Simple answer is no. We don’t need ashes or fasting or any of the outward signs to connect us to the meaning and intent and purpose of this season as Christians. Whether you receive ashes or not this year, humble your heart and spirit. Remember your beginning as part of creation formed in the hands of the creator. Ponder the death and resurrection of Christ that promises bring new beginning to the old ways within us.
Whether you got ashes or you didn’t, if it wasn’t about Jesus you just got dirty.
The process of a caterpillar changing to a butterfly is pretty fantastic. We call that process a metamorphosis. It’s the undoing of one thing and the starting of a brand new thing. Well this word is actually used in the bible a few times. The most notable for many is when it is used of Jesus at the time called the transfiguration. But what we call transfiguration is really the word metamorphosis.
This metamorphosis happened at a time when his closest followers didn’t really understand who he was. They had seen him do some cool things. They were there when he was able to manipulate the physical world and walk on water. They even watched sick people completely healed. But they really didn’t get who he was or why he was there.
So he took these close followers with him up a high mountain and changed, transformed – metamorphosed in front of them. It’s like the cracking open of an egg and what’s inside that was hidden behind the shell is exposed. Behind the human exterior of Jesus’ body and clothing, buried inside him was the real and complete presence of God. At the transfiguration, it’s like Jesus’ human shell was cracked open and the Godness burst out of him for a small moment in time.
Take a listen to the following to see how this happened and better yet why it’s important to us today.
So there are certainly a few jokes we could throw around with this one but I’ll leave that up to another time and place. The point of this post is to take an unfortunate experience and see what might the learning moment be in a bad time such as imprisonment.
The audio clip below is from a message on the imprisonment of Peter in the book of Acts. While it would be great if you’d read Acts 12 and listen to the below podcast, I have the highlights below. There are three main principles we’ll cover.
The promises of the past give us peace in the present.
This first principle is a reminder that not all things that are bad in the moment really are all that bad when we step back and reevaluate. Peter is in prison after watching a friend an colleague killed in public. Kind of awful I know! But he’s in prison and the same thing is threatened of him. Instead of freaking out though, he remembers a promise Jesus gave him. Jesus told him that he would die as an old man and since he wasn’t old this moment was not going to be his end. So instead of freaking out, he slept!
God will do God’s work, but you have to do yours.
The second principle is found when Peter is told to get dressed and tie his shoes. This seems pretty unimportant at first glance, but there’s something powerful here. The angel will free Peter from the chains and from the prison but he won’t tie his shoes. Jesus will do all the work to save us and deliver us from evil and shower us with grace but he won’t believe for us. He still wants us to serve our neighbors. He still has stuff for us to do now that he’s done his work.
Pray expecting God’s answer.
This one is a pet peeve of mine but so often I hear so many prayers said as if we aren’t expecting God to answer them. I love the thy will be done section of the Lord’s Prayer to be sure! It reminds us that not all things happen the way we want. But it seems we like to hide behind this part of the prayer. We start our prayers bold and knowing exactly what we want then get to this part of the prayer and the wheels fall off. We use this phrase to erase our prayers altogether. Peter gets out of prison, exactly what his friends were praying would happen. Then he finds his friends and they didn’t even believe it was possible for Peter to be released! So why were they praying if they didn’t think God would answer?!
The long and short is we can learn from every situation in life, even the most challenging like wrongfully put in prison or insignificant like simply tying our shoes. God has a plan and that plan will happen. We just need to move forward in the faith of His past promises and in hopes of his future presence.
