It’s All His
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Psalm 24
1 The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein
I’ve been meditating on this passage of scripture last night and this morning. If we don’t meditate on the scripture, we can lose a lot of meaning from God’s Word.
We say “Yeah, the Earth is the Lord’s. That’s kind of a given isn’t it”? Not really.
If we start looking at our lives in relation to the Gospel, we don’t live like the Earth is the Lord’s. If we are honest, we live like our lives our ours to choose to live how we want, we spend our money like it is ours and we can do what we want, and we pick scripture that we choose to follow and others we choose to “not listen to”.
That phrase “and the fullness thereof ” accentuates the fact that everything truly belongs to Him and Him alone. From the oxygen you breath, your family, to the things that you worship and give a greater place to than Him. It is all His!
Do we (includes me) act like our lives are truly His? Do our actions reflect a life submitted to Christ? I’m sure everyone can say there is something they are struggling to trust and give God control of. This is why we need His grace so terribly. Our need reflects our inadequacy. Our struggle for control reveals our powerlessness.
Jesus does allow us to experience failure, loss, hunger, frustration, poverty. It is not out of anger that God does this because has already paid the full penalty for our sins and transgressions. He took the consequenses for disobedience, the shame of our failures, and the punishment for our transgressions. What didn’t God do that allows me to go through these things? Why do we suffer? We suffer to bring Him glory, that in these weak, disobedient, wicked shells that will one day pass away, His glory can be made manifest. I am no longer being punished for my sin. I may be disciplined, but I am never rejected. We are His children, and the Father disciplines those He loves. I may go through difficult times but the Father will never leave or forsake us. EVER. We experience suffering because our hearts wander, we lack trust in Him, or we try to find our needs met outside of Christ.
Why do we struggle financially? It is because we do not trust God to provide so we strive, stress, and look for any other way under the sun to find security and sustenance. He will allow us to continue to struggle financially not as a punishment, but that we may through that suffering come to the understanding that He is our provider. Why do people struggle to find peace and turn to drugs and alcohol? It is because they do not find peace in the cross of Christ and do not allow God to bear the weight of our cares. God allows us to experience this lack of peace till we understand where we are to find true peace.
The Lord contends for our hearts. His Spirit works in our lives to make us aware of our need for Him, and reminds us that everything belongs to Him.
Kevin
Walking in Truth
My writing has been a lot more sporadic lately. I’ve gone weeks without a post. For those of you who keep checking in, I am so very grateful for it. There is definitely a method to my madness which I kind of hope to explain. Not to explain why in an apologetic slant, but in a way to make you step back and think about motives and condition of the heart.
God has revealed Himself to me in so many ways I don’t know if this blog could hold them all. He is so good and the depth and breadth of who is cannot be measured. He has opened up scriptures to me and shown me that there is so much depth to them that you could spend a lifetime reading them and still find something new that you have never seen before.
Something He has shown me is that some truths can’t be explained or taught, some have to be walked out. We can speak the truth, but are we walking in the truth? Are we walking in the truth that God has revealed to us or are we learning about the truth for sake of saying we know it?
James 1:26-27 (English Standard Version)
26)If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27) Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I think we can be a lot better at telling people how to live than living the Truth and we need to shut up and live it. That’s what I get from this scripture. That’s my message to you and me.
Some truth is meant to be revealed, some is meant to be walked through, wrestled with, and toiled in.
Are you walking in the Truth?
Kevin
Lost Touch?
Everyone has people that they knew for a long time and have lost touch. We were close to know thier quirks, habits, likes and dislikes. We remember the good and bad times shared together. We were close to those people, but somehow, we just lost touch.
I wonder as Christ-Followers if we have lost touch with our “old-selves” or the person we were before Christ found us. I think it is critical to ”keep in touch”. You may wonder why we should want to remember our “old-selves”. Let me ask you a few questions:
Are you moved to compassion when you hear someone else’s struggles?
Do you feel empathy or disgust when someone shares a weakness you once posessed in your “old life”?
Is your first reaction when someone confesses a hidden sin to you that you are glad “you don’t have that problem”?
When someone asks you for help is the first thing you do is figure out how you can pawn it off on someone else?
Are you emotionally unavailable to those closest to you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have lost touch.
What you have gone through, where you have failed, the pain you suffered, the wounds you have received, the wounds you are still healing from, are not a thing of just the past.
God allowed you and I to experience these things for a purpose. Not as things we need to forget, or hide, or as a self-righteous “before and after” picture. Just as we are healed by the wounds Christ bore upon His body, so our wounds are ordained for the healing of others. Our failures should help keep us and others from slipping into self-righteousness. The pain we suffered should move us to compassion to show the love and mercy of Christ. They were not meant to be discarded or concealed.
We are broken people who have been drawn to the arms of love, healing, and mercy. We have the ability, with one decision, to wreck our whole lives! We are not so righteous that we can forget that we have an old nature that is at constant war the nature of Christ that compels us to sin?
We can hide our weaknesses, we can cover our wounds with religion. We can cover those things with a number of things that may seem good, admirable, even righteous, but in doing so, we cut off those things that drove us into His arms to begin with and into the bed of self-righteousness and cold dead religion.
Have you lost touch?
Does it matter to you?
Kevin
Almost Saved?
In my life I wrestled with this, and sometimes still do to an extent. Being raised in the church, I learned a lot about “what not to do”.
Don’t drink
Don’t smoke
Don’t do drugs
Don’t have sex (ever)
Don’t ever mess up, cause “you never know when Christ will return and you will be left behind”.
Don’t see “R” movies
I also learned about the things I “should do”.
Read your bible
Pray
Go to church
Give your tithe
Serve in some area of the church
I lived a miserable life. If I wasn’t happy cause I couldn’t do anything “cause I was a Christian”, I was unhappy cause I struggled constantly with the things I was supposed to do that I was not doing. I didn’t make a good sinner or saint! That depressed me too!!
It finally sank in my thick skull that I was totally guilty (100% sinner) and totally lost, no matter how much “good” I did, and I realized Christ received the punishment for every sin, every hurt I caused someone, every time I disobeyed Him, every time I fell short of what I or anyone else thought I “should” be doing, that I was able to experience the freedom and the joy that I longed for so much!
The idea of being loved with no stipulations, no catches, no God waiting to zap me if I fail, still boggles my fallen fleshly brain. It fills me with so much peace to know that I am saved, not “almost saved” depending on certain conditions that I must fulfill. His grace was freely given before I had a clue about what grace even was!
That love is so powerful, it compels us to do even greater things than we tried to do in our own strength to gain His approval! His radical love compells us to action for the sake of love, not obligation or religion. It goes beyond our “self” to the end that we lay down our lives if necessary.
That is the gospel for church folk like me. It is even more amazing than the day I accepted Him into my heart.
Kevin
Controlled by His Love
1 Corinthians 5:13) For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
This passage of scripture has challenged me a lot in the past few days. I was getting ready to leave the house on Sunday to go to pre-service practice, and God brought me to this scripture.
God asked me “are you controlled by My love this morning, or are you going through “the motions”.
Are your motivations pure?
Do you love Me so much that you are truly willing to do anything I may ask you to do today?
You don’t have to preach, or lead worship, or teach a Sunday school class to answer this question. We face it everyday. In our cars, our jobs, our homes we have the opportunity to surrender our lives to Him. The opportunity to have His life pour in us, and through us, till it overflows and touches the lives of others.
I know more often than not we choose the latter, but I’m not here today to beat you up. I am here to show you the opportunity that God has placed before all of us today. We have the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Christ to others. We may not stand on a street corner and preach, but our actions will preach more to people than anything.
Even if you answered “no” to all the questions, grace gives us the opportunity to change. We no longer have to live for ourselves. We are free to live the life that God has given us to the fullest for Him. His death gave us a life that all the pleasures of this life couldn’t hold a candle to.
Let His love come into your hearts and fill you till you are so consumed by His love, you are forced to do something about it.
Kevin
Afraid of Worship?
I have had the privilige of leading worship for Journey Church (www.journeychurchnow.com) for the past few months. It has been an incredible experience so far. It had been a very, very long time since I had done so, but when we are obedient to God He equips and qualifies us for what He has called us to do. I never cease to be amazed at how He uses the weak things of this world to glorify Himself and make His name great!
When I made a decision that I was going to serve God, I had a really hard time worshipping God. I think I need to define that for everyone. I used to love singing fast, loud, songs about His goodness, His power to save, how He set me free and so on. There were songs that were great talking ABOUT Jesus but when it came to singing songs TO Him, it felt kinda weird and uncomfortable.
Some of this is because of the songs we sing. I have heard some songs that would still make me feel uncomfortable. We are not taking Jesus on a date, ok? Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother, and God is our Father, but I am not putting on a dress and kissing Him like I’m going on a prom date. When you are looking at a song, sometimes you need to see who wrote it. God is many things to many people. People who write songs write from their perception of God. If the song is written by a woman, they may see Jesus as a father, husband, or mysterious love interest. Men can tend to see Him as a father, king, or a mighty warrior. Perception can fuel our views of how see Him.
The problem is when our perceptions have been tainted or twisted by past hurts, abusive parents, betrayal, or a perceived “lack of interest” on God’s part to intervene in certain times of our lives when we feel like He should have.
In the next few posts, I would like to address some of these perceptions and give some practical things you can do to break through these perceptions and gain some freedom in your worship. Things may not change overnight for you, freedom from a lifetime of mispreceptions of God can be, but are not always conquered in a day. We will also look at some other things to help you in your worship experience as well. So stay tuned!
Kevin
Jonah VII (Asleep)
5) Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
There are as many reactions to disaster and devastations and hard times as there are people. People react in so many different ways. We can see in recent events with the terrible earthquake that has just devastated the island of Haiti, the different reactions to this cataclysmic event. We see pictures of people crying out to God,pleading for help. We see thugs and criminals trying to take and control the tiny amount of food and resources that can be found by force and sheer inhumanity, committing muderous acts against innocent men, women, and children. We see those whom despite the lack of tools or equipment, digging with their hands, holding on to some hope of finding their lost relatives that are buried under tons of rubble.
In the case of the text from which we are reading today, we shall see something just as devastating on the spiritual landscape of America. There are no dramatic pictures to reveal the destruction. There’s no CNN reporters doing exclusives on what exactly is going on. They may report on the aftershocks, but the underlying problem is much, much deeper than some news agency could percieve or report.
These are days of great uncertainty. Fear permeates our televisions with stories of terrorist plots, soaring energy prices, a dwindling economy, and not a lot of answers on how to fix it. We have seen great political swings in the past couple of years. People desperately turning to anyone who might show the leadership that will solve their problems and calm their fears.
Just like the mariners, people are turning to their gods to find some refuge or escape from the mounting pressures around them. For some it’s alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex, anger, and all sorts of other things that people use to medicate the turmoil that is not just on the outside but on the inside. I have never seen so many drugs advertised for depression and all kinds of other “conditions” that we never realized were “conditions”. Many would risk the side affects of these drugs that are unimaginable to find some happiness, solace, or peace.
In hopes that the government will save them, people are tossing freedoms and liberties that our forefathers of our country, fought and died for, for the hope of security and safety. This is not a political statement, as much as it reveals a condition of the heart. Just like the men on that boat were willing to throw away cargo that could have been worth a fortune, possibly priceless items, for the slight opportunity of safety, security, and self-preservation.
In the midst of this storm, tempest, fear and anxiety that our world faces, the answer to the problem, the hope for humanity, the one who can do something about what is happening in our world today……………………………sleeps.
To Be Continued.
Kevin
Loved by God II
As I began to read His Word and ask Him to reveal Himself to me, He began to reveal to me His purpose for why we were here. I realized according to the scriptures, that God’s plan was not some cosmic chaotic mess that it seemed. God is the master planner. His will cannot be denied. He is All Soveriegn and All-Powerful! For God to be these things, He would have to have a plan so detailed it could not be comprehended totally by our natural understanding! Jesus tried to reveal some of that plan to Nicodemus:
John 3
3)Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4)Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5)Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. 7) Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Verse 8 really stands out here (not just because I underlined it). Jesus compares the process that God chooses those to whom He has decided to the moving of the wind. I like to take this scripture and transpose “the Spirit of God” into where you see “the wind” cause He is describing the Spirit of God as “the wind”.
Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the waters of the deep in Genesis 1, even today, He moves across this world drawing those to Himself that He has chosen before the foundations of the Earth were laid!
Ephesians 1
3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8)which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9) making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10)as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
There are so many more scriptures I could share about this, but back to my story.
I began to realize that God’s love was not determined upon whether or not I did certain things, but was given freely because I was chosen by God. I was taught for a long time that salvation was based on my actions (not that we have a free license to go out and do whatever we want with no consequence). I had to a pray a prayer to get saved, had to not drink or smoke, read my bible, pray regularly, give my tithe, and I was good to go. I did good on the smoking and drinking stuff cause I had no desire to do either, but I struggled with prayer,reading, and still have some attitudes and things I have to work on. Many well intentioned men would use condemnation to get me back in line which only really worked for short periods of time.
What I have come to learn is that I am free and you are free to seek Him! There is no long list of prerequisites to be saved or be in right standing with Him! Jesus already did everything that was required and we have an opportunity to experience the love of the God of the universe with no restrictions, no bounderies, no limits! Is that not incredible?! The burden of your salvation was carried on that cross and we are free!! Free to love Him and be loved with no strings attached! It’s this love that moves me to read so we can know Him better. It’s this love that should move us to spend time in prayer, fellowship, and worship!
Hebrews 10:21-23
21)and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22)let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
We are so loved by Him! I hope you get a revelation of what He has done for you!. Thanks for reading.
Kevin
That I May Decrease….
I was reading this passage from a book called “The Inner life” by Francois Fenelon (1651-1715) and it really ministered to me this morning. I thought about how we try so hard to “protect” ourselves from God. We have such a difficult time embracing the change that God wants to do in our hearts. We are afraid of correction, accountability, and exposure. It’s almost like we are afraid that if we cooperate with these things, we will lose our own identity, our individuality,and our own life. This could not be closer to the truth! This is why Christ died, so we can have His life! The scriptures say that anyone who tries to save their life will lose it, but anyone who loses their life for my name sake will find it! (Matt(16:25) Check out what Fenelon had to say:
Let us compare our lives with that of Jesus Christ, reflecting that he was the Master and that we are the servants; that He was all-powerful, and that we are but weakness; that he was abased and that we are exalted. Let us so constantly bear our wretchedness in mind, that we may have nothing but contempt for ourselves. With what face can we despise others, and dwell upon their faults, when we ourselves are filled with nothing else? Let us begin to walk in the path which our Saviour has marked out, for it is the only one that can lead us to Him.
And how can we expect to find Jesus if we do not seek Him in the states of his earthly life, in loneliness and silence, in poverty and suffering, in persecution and contempt, in annihilation and the cross? The saints find him in heaven, in the splendors of glory and in unspeakable pleasures; but it is only after having dwelt with Him on earth in reproaches, in pain and in humiliation. To be a Christian is to be an imitator of Jesus Christ. In what can we imitate Him if not in his humiliation? Nothing else can bring us near to Him. We may adore him as Omnipotent, fear him as just, love him with all our heart as good and merciful,—but we can only imitate him as humble, submissive, poor and despised.
Let us not imagine that we can do this by our own efforts; everything that is within is opposed to it; but we may rejoice in the presence of God. Jesus has chosen to be made partaker of all our weaknesses; He is a compassionate high-priest who has voluntarily submitted to be tempted in all points like as we are; let us, then, have all our strength in Him who became weak that he might strengthen us; let us enrich ourselves out of his poverty, confidently exclaiming, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philip. iv. 13.)
Let me follow in thy footsteps, O Jesus! I would imitate Thee, but cannot without the aid of thy grace! O humble and lowly Saviour, grant me the knowledge of the true Christian, and that I may willingly despise myself; let me learn the lesson, so incomprehensible to the mind of man, that I must die to myself by an abandonment that shall produce true humility.
May I decrease so you can increase in me God.
Kevin
True Abundance
Ephesians 3 (English Standard Version)
20) Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21) to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I think sometimes that this is a tough pill to swallow. You look at your checkbook and it’s empty. You look at the calendar and there’s way too much time between now and the next paycheck. You look at the state of your marriage and there seems to be no hope. You see your kids acting as if they were spawned from Satan himself. The car is broken and you have no idea how you are going to get it fixed.
It’s times like these that make it hard to have faith. It’s times like these that make you throw up your hands in surrender. Your done. You quit. It’s over. Finished. “Take me home God, I’m of no use to You here!”
I know, I’ve said and done all these at one point or another, and on more than one occasion. There are times I am still tempted. I would be a liar if I said otherwise, but at some point something has to change on the inside of us. Something on the inside of us has to say “enough”!
Let me give you an example. I have seen zero in my checking more than once in my lifetime. One day, I was school shopping, cause kids need clothes for school. I knew that it was going to put us close to zero. Well, I saw this shirt that I liked and God told me he wanted me to get the shirt and give it to someone else! My first thought, naturally, is that if I’m going to spend my last few bucks getting a shirt I liked, it was going to be for me! My second was that I need to hold on to that money cause I was going to need it. God wanted to teach me a principle. This was a test, a test of the “are you going to be obedient and trust God system.” I decided to obey God. I felt like something changed inside of me. I felt defiant. I felt like I just walked up to the bully on the playground and spit in his face, and knocked his lights out! I felt like I gave the spirit of lack a superman punch to the temple. It felt good.
Let me just say it didn’t change the fact that I was broke, but it did change my mind-set, and that was worth more than it’s weight in gold! The freedom I felt didn’t fill my tummy much the rest of the week, but something very powerful happened that day. I’m sure some of you thought I was going to say that someone gave me money, or someone handed me the keys to a Rolls Royce or something. (Haha) I got something far more important; abundantly above what I would have thought to ask for! If I would have had a choice, I would have asked for money. What was imparted was better!
according to the power at work within us
God is trying to do a deeper work in us than money, or wealth, or cars could ever do. He is imparting His very nature inside of us. Things that neither moth, or rust, or decay could ever destroy. Things that are eternal, incorruptable, and immovable.
Romans 8:20-22
20) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21) that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22) For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
God is trying to birth something in you greater than anything you can measure by weights and rulers. He is transforming our corrupted ways and thinking into the likeness of His Son Jesus. He wants to pour out His gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control in you and through you. Let His Spirit lead you into true abundance that only comes from an obedient and willing heart.
Kevin
Is It I?
Matthew 26
20) When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21) And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22) And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23) He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24) The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25) Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”
I’ve always found it interesting that Judas asks this question, considering Jesus knew it was him. Besides it being God’s will, and that Jesus had to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament before He died, it blows my mind that someone who lived with Jesus and followed Him for the last 3 years would betray Him. We look at Judas as the ultimate betrayer. His name is cursed even to this day. Do you know anyone named Judas? There is no greater name that stirs up thoughts of betrayal than his. Even as Christ- Followers we look upon him with contempt and disgust.
Then I look in the mirror……….
I look at a guy who has failed him so many times, and so many ways. I may not have sold my Savior out for silver, but how many times have betrayed Him in my heart and turned away and did my own thing? How many times have I made other things God instead of Him? How many bad decisions have I made that has made Him look so much less than who He truly and rightfully is? How arrogant are you to think we have right to place judgement on Judas? The Bible says to remove the log from our own eye so we may be able to remove the speck from our brother’s. (Matt 7:5)
It is by His divine love and grace that we can live in forgiveness and mercy. Without the sacrifice that Jesus paid, we are all Judas; no hope, no forgiveness, no Savior. We remain our own god in which we have no power to deliver ourselves from our sins, our fears, and our past. We are doomed to live a life of regret of what could have been and the reality of what it truly is.
Is it I?
Yes.
Kevin
The Pitfall of a Non-Missional Mindset
I have been in church since I was a kid. I saw the same people every Sunday. The same people came to the church events. The same people came to home group. Every so often, a new family would come. Depending on how they looked, would most likely determine whether they were welcomed in to the church, with the same people, who went to the same groups, and the same events.
As a kid, I didn’t understand this mind-set. It went against what I was being taught in children’s church. They taught us about Jesus and the disciples who went out and preached about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins. I was always telling my schoolmates what I learned in children’s church and tried to get them to ask Jesus in their hearts. At some point I realized that the adults weren’t doing this. At least, I never heard anyone talk about it.
Now as an adult, I am once again confronted with this issue. I am no longer the cute little kid asking the adults why we don’t talk to people about Jesus. I am adult, looking into the faces of other adults, including my own sometimes, and asking a question that hasn’t changed a whole lot since I was a kid: “Why don’t you care about those who are far from God?!!!”
Matthew 18 (English Standard Version)
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13)And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14)So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
I have heard a million excuses about why people don’t share Jesus with others and used about half of them at one point or another. When people think of missions, they think of going to the jungles of Africa, preaching to half naked people. That is only a part of what it is. Jesus declared in Acts Chapter 1:
8 ) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The first place Jesus mentioned was Jerusalem. Right where they were staying. Right where they were living! You may not be called to the end of the Earth, but we are all called to Jerusalem. We are called to share Christ to our friends, coworkers, neighbors, and relatives.
You might not be able to explain the fine doctrinal points of salvation from the fall of man in Genesis to the resurrection of Christ, but you can invite your friends to go with you to a source group, or church, or mountain biking. There are ways of getting those you know in an enviornment where they can hear the gospel of Jesus. That is what being missional is all about. It’s not about standing on a street corner with a sign that says “turn or burn”. That’s just a stupid waste of time.( it is, and it makes Christians look like idiots) How bout inviting someone over and grill some burgers and watch a football game, or do something nice for someone (preferably someone who doesn’t know Christ)else to show them the love of Christ.
There are endless ways to be missional. The first thing we must do is shake this deadly mindset that it is someone else’s job to tell people about Christ. It is deadly cause that is the way a church, even one that may be doing well right now, will eventually become a country club for Christians, and not a refuge for the repentant. If we are truly Christ-Followers how can we ignore the last words of Jesus Christ before He ascended? How can we be so comfortable with people dying without the opportunity to hear the gospel? How can we say we are too scared to tell our loved ones or friends? How can we not invite them to church, or source group, or a men’s breakfast?
Dear God, please forgive us for not being Christ-Followers. Break our hearts for the souls of those who are far from you. Help us to take advantage of the opportunites you give us to share Jesus with others. Break mindsets that make it feel ok to not do whatever we can to show your love for others. Help us to not grow complacent, but fan the fire of passion for reaching those far from Christ. Amen
Kevin
The Pitfall of Self-Righteousness
Matthew 26 (English Standard Version)
30) And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31) Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32) But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33) Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34) Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35) Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.
In one ear, out the other. I find it interesting that they had been with Jesus long enough to know that everything He said would take place, would take place. They all said ” Listen Jesus, I know you’re the Son of God, but we think we know better in this case! There’s just no way we are going to betray you!” Of course, if you read on, you see that the disciples scattered like sand on the beach, and Peter, the one who so boldy proclaimed his loyalty, denied Him three times.
I find it funny how we find so many ways to fool ourselves into believing how righteous we are.
” I go to church”.
” I tithe.”
” I don’t drink”.
” I don’t smoke”.
” I don’t do what that person does”.
” I would never say that!”.
Those are some of the more common statements I have heard, and used at one point or another. There are millions more I’m sure. If you don’t do these things or do the things you are supposed to do, that is great. The pitfall we get into is when we think that what we do or don’t do determines if we are in right standing with God or not. We can do the right things and our hearts can be far from Him. We can do the wrong things and be closer to God than those who are doing the right things. The determining factor is the attitude of our heart. Check this out:
Luke 18
9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10) “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11) The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12) I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
My church background taught me that I was righteous because of what Jesus did on the cross, but not so much that I was a sinner in need of a savior. I think it is folly to teach others about how “we have become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21), before we grasp the corruptable, fallible, lost, utterly wicked state that we are in, without His mercy and grace! How can we understand and appreciate what He has done for us, or the mercy He has bestowed, until we truly understand what He has done for us? This righteousness is not from our right actions, but the indescribable, unfathomable love He has shown us!
Let us ever be on our guard from thinking that we are all that and a bag of chips. Be aware that there is no good in you but His righteousness moving in and through your life. Even the apostle Paul said this:
Romans 3:9-13
9) What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10) as it is written:
11no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
”The venom of asps is under their lips.”
Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Let us remember from where He has brought us, so we may remain humble in His sight and not fall into the trap that we did something to deserve His love and salvation. Let us operate from a stance of humility, so we don’t fall into pride and self-exhaltation.
Kevin
Wait
Wait……………………………………………………………..
We have all heard this word before. It is one of the most hated words in the dictionary. Colonoscopy is a more positive word than “wait” in many people’s minds. It is related with denial, rejection , injustice, delayed gratification, hatred, cruelty, and sadism. For a child, this word stings more than the word “no”. They know whatever it is, is going to happen, but they have no idea when. If we have to wait too long for our food at a restaurant, we feel like we have suffered a great offense. For many this word is to blame for us not fulfilling our hopes and dreams.
I know so many people waiting for so many things. People waiting for their dream jobs, their dream spouse, some people are waiting till they are a certain age, some are waiting for different circumstances in their lives to change. The things that people are waiting for are absolutely endless! At any given time in our lives, we are waiting for something.
I doubt this one blog post will change your mind about the word “wait”. The point of this post is to drag your mind, if only for a brief moment, out of now, and bring it into place of perspective for but a moment. I don’t promise that you will like it. I honestly don’t believe you will, but truth combined with the power of the Holy Spirit will bring revelation and change. I just want to share a few points about the positive side of the word “wait”, and we will both try to convince ourselves that it is a good thing. :)
Waiting can bring maturity.- If God had fulfilled His calling on my life when He called me, I would have blown it so big. I had things I needed to learn and attitudes worked out of me that would have hurt me and others. Time is agreater test of your character than any written assessment. Life will reveal what kind of person you really are. If you think you are spiritually mature, you probably aren’t. You probably need to repent of pride and wear your hats a little looser. (Just sayin)
Waiting makes you appreciate what you have achieved. – Rome wasn’t built in a day. All good things come to him who waits. You’ve heard the cliches. I always encourage my children to save their money to get the things they want. It makes them vlaue what they bought. It cost them more than money. It cost them time. I remember when I was a kid. I would get a toy that I really wanted. I was so excited! Then, a friend of mine on the same street would see that I had toy he didn’t and would go and ask his grandmother to get him the toy and she would. It cost him nothing so he never valued what he had. No amount of toys was ever enough. I valued what I had cause I could not get it right away. Time is a precious commodity because we are here on this planet for a brief time. Instant gratification feeds selfishness, imparts a spirit of entitlement, and leads to unhealthy stewardship and poverty in lots of cases.
Waiting reveals a life submitted to God.-
Psalm 39:6-8 (English Standard Version)
6Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!
7“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in you.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!
Psalm 62:1-2 (English Standard Version)
1For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken
Waiting on God shows our submissiveness to God. We are declaring that His will is supreme when we stop complaining, fretting, worrying about what God said He would do. This is not easy always. I have failed this test many times. There are times when God will reveal to you just a glimpse of what He wants to do in your life. It is just enough to drive you nuts sometimes! It is not to torture those He loves. It is to provoke you, to stir your faith, to raise your level of thinking. It is to provoke us to seek Him all the more, to desire to be near Him more. There is a purpose in everything He does, even if we don’t understand. What He wants to know is if we will trust Him with the desires of our heart. He never disappoints if we will wait.
I pray that God would lift our way of thinking higher than our circumstances dictate. I pray that the word wait would take on a new meaning for you.
Kevin
Relentless
It is a great truth, wonderful as it is undeniable, that all our happiness–temporal, spiritual and eternal–consists in one thing; namely, in resigning ourselves to God, and in leaving ourselves with Him, to do with us and in us just as He pleases. – Madame Guyon
Something God has been showing me is that He is relentless. He is not satisfied until the smallest piece of our heart that we try to withhold from Him is His. If there is one area that He is not Lord in our lives, He will not rest till it surrendered to Him. He is a jealous God.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
6)Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
jealousy is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very flame of the LORD.
7Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it………
He will not share your heart with other gods. He will not be a passing thought in your mind! He will not settle for being an “important part of your life”! He wants to be your life! He wants to be the center of your universe! He will not be your co-pilot! He will be Lord of every area of your heart and your life and He will not stop till He is!
This is all driven by a love that we can scarce understand. This comes from a love that was willing to lay down His own life that we may have relationship with our Heavenly Father. This love is not requited by half-hearted worship or lives that are not fully devoted to Him. He will go after those areas in our lives that we refuse to give to Him, not because He is some control freak! He is our loving Heavenly Father! How many times have we accused our own parents of trying to control our lives, when the whole basis of that control was love?
God, please help us to give those things that we have put in front of You to You. Help us to know and understand that Your ways are so much better and higher than anything we can fathom. Help us to love You with a fully devoted heart!
Kevin
Though You Have Not Seen Him, You Love Him!
1 Peter 1:
8 ) Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9)obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I can just sense the joy in Peter’s heart as he is writing these passages of scripture! Here is Peter, a man who physically walked with Jesus, who was personally taught by Jesus, watched Jesus die, and saw Him risen from the dead! This man who had the privalege to know Him personally, yet he is hearing about people from all around the known world, coming to know Christ by the preaching of the gospel, and the power of the Holy Spirit!
I’m sure his thoughts go back to a sun-drenched beach on the Sea of Gallilee. He and his brother Andrew were fishing when this man came and told them “Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men!” I’m sure throughout his time with Christ, Peter was trying to figure out in his head “How am I going to be a fisher of men?” “Why is anyone going to listen to me? I’m just a fisherman!” ” I have never preached anything!” ” How am I going to do this?”
Sitting there, writing that letter, had to be such a humbling, awe-inspiring thing. It should inspire us to dream big! It should inspire us to believe big! If God used these men that noone, including themselves, believed could do anything of worth, could truly impact their world(literally), how much more you and I, we who have not seen Him with our physical eyes, lovers of Christ, cleansed by His blood, filled with His Holy Spirit can make a difference in the world today!! We who were not worthy of His grace. Dirty and depraved we were lost in our sins, but now we rejoice because we are truly alive!!!
We love Him for what He has done for us despite the fact we cannot see Him with our eyes! We have experienced His love in a powerful way, by faith in Him. We live for Him, becaused He first loved us! We know one day we will see Him. Face to face. What a day that will be!!!
Kevin
Genuine Faith
1 Peter 1:
6) In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7) so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
This scripture really pumped me up this morning! The Bible says to rejoice when you are grieved by various trials. I don’t know about you, but I don’t normally rejoice when all hell breaks loose. As a matter of fact, I would rather jump in bed and sleep through it, but the scriptures say to rejoice!
It goes against every fiber of our being to rejoice but look at the scripture again. When you face these trials, the genuiness of your faith is being tested! I know there have been many times when I have despaired, and allowed the devil to get the best of me, but there have been times when I have stood firm in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by God’s strength and power and He has shown up mightily on my behalf!! It’s those times when we overcome that we realize how incredibly awesome that faith is! It is at those times He reveals Himself to us in ways we never seen Him before!
Are struggling against overwhelming odds today? Rejoice, for your faith is being tested by fire, a fire that will burn away the things that we thought were so important and leave a pure, genuine, faith that will stand forever if we will only believe!
Kevin
Focus
I don’t know about you, but I am a multi-tasker. I can do 3 to 5 different things at one time. I can talk on the phone, I can search for information on my computer, listen to music in the other ear, and check my blackberry email, all at the same time! It is a skill I have had to learn due to the demands of my job, which can go from slow to off the chain busy in a matter of seconds!
I don’t recommend doing too many things at one time. The quality of what you do can be adversely affected by how many things you are trying to do at one time. Some of the best ideas, innovations, and improvements have come when I could focus my attention on one thing. On the other hand, some of my worst mistakes have occured when I tried to do too many things at one time, or I got distracted by something while doing something that was very important.
It can be so easy to lose our focus. We can be in one place, and before we know it, we are somewhere and we don’t know how we even got there. This happens in many different areas in life. Our marriage, and our kids are areas that if we lose focus, it can have terrible ramifications involved.
Jesus must be in the center of our focus. If we make Him the center of our marriage, and our families, we will make decisions based upon what Christ would do if He was facing this or that situation. The whole “What Would Jesus Do” idea was an awesome concept, the problem is that we are fallible. We make mistakes and blow it all the time due to our sinful, corrupted nature. We are going to mess up, but if Christ is our focus, He is there to help us get up and keep going, not keep us in the same ole mess! Our problems come when we take our focus off of Him and focus on our problems.
Don’t lose your focus. Keep your focus on Christ.
Kevin
To the One I Love
How could I go without talking about the sexiest mom out there! She is a good mom, a great woman of God, and my best friend. Yes, I am talking about my wife. You are an amazing person for loving me and my 3 girls. You took me and my girls into your heart and words can’t express how much that means to me.
I love you so much Dawn!!!
Happy Mother’s Day!!
Kevin
To My Mom
It’s so weird. When we are younger, it seems like our mothers are immortal. They will always be there to love on us, be a shoulder to cry on, and make us that lasagne that tasted sooo good. The one that will tell you like it is no matter what, but you know that they really love you no matter what an idiot you act like.
We get older and we realize that they aren’t perfect (although some of you probably knew that at a young age! Lol!). We find out that they have issues that they deal with just like you. But you know what? They are still mom. You can never take that away from them. They still hold a place in your heart that noone could ever fill.
My mom went to be with the Lord, but I still honor and love her on Mother’s Day. She deserves it.
Till we meet again
Happy Mother’s Day Mom
Kevin
Don’t Waste Your Voice
As I am getting ready for Men’s Retreat coming up in a few weeks, the importance of this event is on my mind quite a bit. Moreover, the importance of what will be communicated and how it is communicated is one of my greatest concerns.
One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the ability to communicate, to speak. We use our voice for many purposes, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
Can you imagine if we truly realized the power of our voice?
If we understood that our voice is the most powerful and useful gift that God has given us?
How would that look?
How much would it change what we say and how we say it?
How would it change the way we share our faith in Christ?
Don’t waste your voice. Use it to glorify God. You only have one. use it wisely.
Kevin
Even the Little Ones Need to Know that Jesus Loves Them
This story has messed me up today. I pray for this little guy’s family. I also pray for the boys who were so brutal and cruel to this young man. I hope they find Christ’s forgiveness and peace for what they have done, before the hate they showed this little boy destroys them too.
I don’t understand how an 11 y/o even formulates or comes to a decision to end their life. My kids are thinking of airsoft guns and Webkins. I know we as parents don’t think that they are thinking of these type things but we need to wake up and realize that these issues are being dealt with by our children at a younger and younger age. They need to know they are loved and valued and that Jesus loves them too.
Rest in Peace little guy.
Kevin
Just Enough? (Questions I Am Asking Myself)
Here are some questions I have been asking myself lately:
1) Am I doing just enough in my areas of ministry to keep others from noticing the areas that they need a lot of improvement?
2) Am I doing just enough to fool myself into thinking my relationship with God is where it should be?
3) Am I doing just enough to help meet my spouses’ heart-felt needs that she isn’t totally miserable being with me?
4) Am I doing just enough to make sure that my children know I exist?
5) Am I doing just enough on my job to make sure i don’t get fired?
6) Am I giving just enough to look generous or sacrificially giving?
Just enough is not good enough in any of these areas when we look at what Christ did for us. Are we fooling ourselves? Are we taking things we shouldn’t for granted?
Food for thought
Kevin
If You are a Communicator of the Gospel…
I just got through reading this post by David Foster.
It is a challenge to all who share Jesus Christ. Whether you are a preacher or someone who is trying to reach others for Christ. We must communicate with not just our words but our actions! If we do not communicate God’s Word with passion and conviction, then we need to take a looooong look into our hearts. God’s Word is powerful and life-changing and we need to start believing and acting like it!
Kevin
