It’s Real Love
Last week a local newspaper headline began with the words “Bible Thumping Pastor…” A friend posted a status saying to call them and complain over the attack on Christians. Curious, I did a little searching and was able to find the article online and read it. After reading it, it didn’t seem so bad so I asked what was bad and if he had read it. His response: He hadn’t even read the article.
Proverbs 21:23 says “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” I have always read that and thought, “don’t call people jerks” or “don’t swear”, but this situation made me realize it also includes speaking inaccurately, and swaying peoples opinions on things I don’t know or fully understand. The comment itself wasn’t bad but swaying someone into believing a lie is, and brings that person to a point of hatred towards another that was unjust.
We don’t need to just watch what we say that is negative but also what we say without factual information. No wonder so many are quick to throw off Christianity as a religion hell bent on attacking anyone who doesn’t share their viewpoints. My goal is to show you what I have is real and true, but not by ramming it down your through and spouting off that all you believe in is wrong. And yet that is how I operated my Christianity for most of my life, and perhaps that is how you have done it, or maybe how you have witnessed Christianity. I’m hear telling you thats not how it’s suppose to be.
My friend often wears a shirt that reads “Love is the Movement”. It’s from a song played by Switchfoot, a mainstream, yet Christian band. It strikes me that love is the way to share Christianity and yet it is the hardest thing to do. Jesus never crammed it down anyones throat, He offered it, as a gift. Today we talk to people like it’s government mandated healthcare and if they don’t take it we’re going to penalize them for it. But if that same person were offered free medicine and a doctor when they were sick, wouldn’t they take it? The words aren’t any different, it’s the approach that needs to change.
I noticed an interesting corallary today when reading. I was reading James 5 and then 1 Peter. James 5:20 says “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the way of error will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” Later in 1 Peter 4:8 Peter writes: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” It was sort of shocking to me, i had never read them back to back. The verse in James begs the question, How? And Peter gives us the answer, love. Love turns the sinner. Love sets them free. Love breaks bonds thought to be unbreakable. The love of Jesus is so deep and so wide, it immerses us, covers us, drowns out ourselves and leaves only Him to be seen. Doesn’t that sound more appealing?
“I am no better. Show grace, compassion and mercy”. It sits in the margin of my Bible jotted down in blue ink next to the following passage:
Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister
or judges them speaks against the law and
judges it. When you judge the law, you are
not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on
it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the
one who is able to save and destroy. But you -
who are you to judge your neighbor? – James 5:11-12
I judge before I know the full story, take action before hearing the facts. I make assumptions based on passed experiences and rush to judgement on those who don’t share my views. I’m not being like Jesus, I’m being human. I’m not showing love, but a disdain for humanity, and the seething hate that boils to the surface isn’t going to save any sinner from death but only quicken their pace away from Christianity. Love is the movement, and I need to hop on board.
Your religion teaches that?
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” ~Matthew 12:2
I’ve been having some great challenging conversations with my new boss over the last several months. She’s Jewish and only believes the Old Testament but even from there her viewpoint is really of a secular nature. Our talks, during work no less, have covered sin, the flood, creation, Jesus’s life, and most recently Christians in general.
Each time I have been challenged, stumped, and enlightened in some way and while I wasn’t shocked by the last one, it still sort of sat in my stomach for a while with a sickening feeling like eating a bad burrito.
We started talking about illegal immigration, similar to my story several weeks ago about the immigration bill. I really don’t need to rehash the whole story, being that it was so similar but what really came out of it was two comments from her: “I always ask people when they say stuff(about violence), ‘Really, your religion teaches that?’” and “Religion just allows people to mask their racism.”
You know…I couldn’t disagree with her.
The Pharisees in the story were just looking for anything to catch Jesus in a sin to bring charges against him. Yet every time they tried Jesus saw through their schemes. They totally said one thing but did another when it was convenient. And that is what Christianity has turned it to.
We ignore the parts where Jesus ate with sinners and prostitutes, and loved murderers. We gloss over where he told us to love our enemies. Out of our mouths we say “love them” but in our actions we hate them. We are so friggin backwards. And I use that word to express the anger I feel about it.
In my flesh I totally side with most people on this, “you shouldn’t be illegal, you should do it the right way, you shouldn’t come here”. But if you step outside yourself and you really look at the bigger picture Jesus would NEVER do that. He would love them, he would have compassion for them and help them. But we lash out and say, “get out of my country!” Aren’t we supposed to be different from the world? John 15:19: “As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” Somehow we’ve twisted the Word of God to fit our lifestyles instead of letting the Word twist our lives.
The worst part is because we look like the world we become hypocrites. What do we have to offer to non-believers if we have the same beliefs and values? If we appear the same as them why do they need to change? They are “good people”…
John 1:10: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” The world shouldn’t recognize you and me. We should stick out like sore thumbs. We should be making people uncomfortable and awkward. Really, we should.
I could do nothing but agree with her. “How could anyone want to listen to what I have to say when there’s Christians running around preaching violence?” I said to her. She just looked at me and shrugged. She sees I’m different, and that’s a good start for me. If you want to make waves, stand up and be more like Jesus. Stick out as one who is not a hypocrite. Who follows Christ in a way honoring Him, who loves others and sacrifices for them.
Revival at what cost?
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. ~Ephesians 4:4
I had been thinking about this over the last few weeks, how desperately we were all seeking revival and a change of heart. Not only in this country but around the world. My conversation last week with Christians about immigration(see here) spurred me to really think about it more.
My conclusion is the Lord is moving…despite Christians.
We can’t get out of our own way. It’s ridiculous. There is so much in-fighting. So much he-said / she-said bickering that the Lord is forced to use others in our place. You’re church is not “the body”, my church is not “the body”. We are ALL the body. Knock it off. Without a doubt, God is up there saying Knock it off.
There is a lot of prayer going on around the country and world for revival. It certainly is a great prayer to have but we can not all just sit on our laurals and hope to all hope that someone else is going to do the dirty work for us. God called us to get our hands dirty. To reach out to sinners and prostitutes, to the desolate and broken hearted.
Revival needs to start in the hearts of you and me but we can not continue to preach it in to a lifeless congregation and hope that one day they’ll “get it”. Someone needs to decide to step up to the plate and take action. Is it you?
Are you willing to sacrifice? To be chastized, perhaps even by Christians, for the sake of what you believe is the true way of Jesus? Will you lose your grip on the things that are holding you back in this life? Will you give the Lord your anger, your fear? Will you put your life in His hands and make the cross your only defense?
I’ll be honest, those last words scare the crap out of me. And for a long long time I let that fear control my actions. It’s not that I was doing wrong, it was that I was doing nothing. I was sitting there waiting to join the bandwagon. Like the old saying “if you want it done right do it yourself”, I realized I could start my own bandwagon.
There is no one on this earth who can tell you what your called to do for Christ. You need to ask Him. And if there is someone trying to tell you what you can or can’t do for Jesus, or someone who is putting rules and limitations on your actions you need to figure out why and ask the Lord what He would have you do. Because you will only answer to God when the time comes and not any authority here on earth.
This all seems good on paper but maybe you’re someone out there only 16 years old and feel helpless to make a difference. I’m sharing something I figured out way to late in life; It doesn’t take much. Bring an extra sandwich and hand it to someone who needs it on your way to work, help someone out in school, hold the door for someone. Kindness spreads like wildfire. Try it and watch the doors open to share Jesus. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me. If we want revival, it starts with us, and it starts with the little things. How can we expect the Lord to entrust us with large undertakings when we aren’t willing to accept the little challenges of our day?
About
He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. ~Matthew 21:44
Would you rather be broken and molded into a bigger and better version of yourself or crushed under the weight of problems and circumstances which you have no control over?
That is the question I was posed with several years ago as I struggled to make my way in a world destined to destroy me.
I chose to be broken and made some drastic changes in my life. I didn’t want to live the same way, or make the same mistakes over and over. The Bible tells us not to be surprised at the painful trials we will face but to count it all joy to be suffering for the sake of Christ(1 Peter 4:12-13). I began to look at the situations I faced in a different light. Rather than moping around depressed at my situation I began trying to look forward to a reward greater than anything I could find on this earth.
My life isn’t near perfect and I continue to struggle with many things I thought would be far in my past. And that’s the point. Life is a daily struggle with which we all wrestle. I hope the vision God has given me for this site and movement among His people helps someone along the way, even if it’s just one.
We are all being built into temples of God. He molds us and shapes us and makes us bigger and better.
What better way, then to come together as Christians. Not different denominations, but ONE church, united to make a difference
As you come to him, the living Stone – rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5
Let the horse do the work
“I want you to take your hands off the reigns and trot over the bars without holding on.” The instructor said.
“You want me to do what?” I looked down at her perplexed from atop a beautiful, large horse. I hadn’t ridden on a horse in over 20 years and I had only been on this one for about 15 minutes.
“You’re leaning forward with your shoulders, using your own power to keep you up.” She replied. “You need to sit back more and allow the horse to do the work.”
I’m a sports guy, I’ve played them my entire life. The instructor went on to explain that in sports you are trained to lead with your shoulder and in horseback riding it’s the complete opposite. There’s this large, powerful horse underneath you, and if you try to hard to control him you never end up going the right way.
Reluctantly I let go, and went trotting over the bars laid out on the ground. My arms stretched out wide, I felt so unstable and was terrified I was going to go flying off.
“Go again.” She said.
Sometimes we feel like we are so wrapped up in sin that there is no way out. I’m in to deep we say. And we start pulling on the reigns in panic. We pull and we tug, and we twist, and when we look up we realize we aren’t where we wanted to be.
In John 8 the Pharisees bring a women caught in the act of adultery and throw her at Jesus feet. We all know the story, Jesus stoops down and writes in the sand and says “if any of you are without sin, cast the first stone”.
There’s a disappointing point in this story: “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time”. Who knows what Jesus wrote in the sand, maybe He was pointing out their sins. But don’t you wish that verse said “At this, they were grieved, and repented and they wept with Jesus”?
We are so conditioned to not want to hear the truth and we fight it when we are (Galatians 4:16). We argue, “I can do what I want, God forgives all sins.” While that is true, God’s grace is not permission to live like the world. If we continue to keep pulling the reigns we’re not going to head down the path the Lord has for us.
Just like my instructor, Jesus didn’t say hey go work on that, fix your life, come back and then we can talk. No! He talked to her right then and there, broken and naked, full of sin. My instructor didn’t condemn me but correct me and guide me. In the same way, Jesus did not come to condemn, but convict(John 3). Satan is the one in your ear condemning you, mocking you, and making you feel like you can’t get out.
As the Pharisees all walked away they left her in the best place she could be: alone with Jesus. And at that moment, alone with the Lord, is where He gives us direction. “Go and sin no more” He said.
I was left alone with my instructor. I could have chosen to keep my hands on the reigns and try to ride it out but she was only trying to allow me to grow and learn. And as I let go and allowed that strong horse to carry me I was a little terrified but when it was over I was proud of my accomplishment and stronger than before.
1 Peter 5:10 says “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you”. You may be going through a trial right now. Maybe you are terrified to let go. But know that as Peter says, after you suffer the Lord will perfect you, establish you, strengthen you, and settle you.
Rely on the grace of the Lord. It’s not because we deserve it, it’s because He loves us and wants to give it to us. His grace is sufficient because His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we learn to let go and expose our weakness the Lord shows us His power to get us through what we thought was impossible.
As I rounded the circle and trotted back towards the bars for the second time, I spread my arms outstretched and let go. My mind raced with fear of falling but I pressed on, trusting the horse to do what he does time and time again, and when it was over I was strengthened.
As Christians we sit on the back of Jesus, the most powerful place we could be, but we don’t trust Him when we get in difficult situations. We pull and tug and try to use our own power but it just sends us in circles. When we finally let go and let Him lead us He delivers us from our trials and takes us to greener pastures(Psalm 23).
the hardest way to live
hey everyone,
thanks so much for all of your fantastic insight into this issue. i resonate with everything that was written and struggle with the implications of being a peacemaker in this world of violence. it is quite simply the most difficult way to live.
i have questioned, for quite some time, why it seems to be true that Christians (more than other people i speak with) have a hard time accepting that God asks us to love (and do good) to our enemies, to bless those who curse us and to turn the other cheek. not only does he ask us to live this way, but God himself lived this way through Jesus Christ.
why is it that we praise the martyrs of 1st and 2nd century christianity, but we are now baffled by those who would rather die and kill?
why do we continue to pluck out our brother’s and sister’s eyes for the wrongs they have committed against us?
why do we battle other christians, showing no love or compassion in our words, over trivial matters of theology?
why do we believe we can be pacifists by abstaining from physical violence, while neglecting to be peacemakers with our words?
the answer to all of these questions really is very simple…it’s not easy. Christ showed us the beautiful and selfless way of the cross, but we will always prefer the quick and easy way of the sword.
we still desire that which is the easiest and least costly.
if only we really believed what our Savior did and said.
peace
-dave-
Get off your butt
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ~2 Corinthians 12:9
Any one who’s ever been in a relationship long enough or who is married has seen this scenario. You both are exhausted, you can barely keep your eyes open. Maybe you’re lounging on the couch or falling asleep in bed. And then men, you hear “Honey, could you get me a glass of water?”
Perhaps if your relationship is young you jump up and grab that glass of water or whatever she asked for. But the day comes later on when you’ve been together so long that the voice in your head wants to tell her “Your legs aren’t broken, I’m tired.”
See, the Bible tells us to die to self(1 Peter 2:24) but inevitable our selfish nature creeps back in. When we started out as new Christians with our baby relationship we wanted nothing more than to please the Lord. ‘Yes Lord!’ ‘What now Lord?’
We eventually hit that brick wall of Satan. We’re tired and down-trodden. We just need to rest, we want to close our eyes for just a minute and recover. And we look up and say “I’m thirsty”. Jesus said ‘whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst’(John 4:14)
While I might selfishly make my girlfriend or wife get her own glass of water, as Jesus bride he never will say ‘Nah, I’m tired too man. I’m helping 6 billion people here. Get your own water.’ What an amazing revelation! I wanted to quickly look at two things to ponder as we go about our day. One for men in particular and one for us all.
Ephesians 5:25 says ‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her’. I love this because you know what? It means I need to get off my lazy butt and get that glass of water. It means surrendering my life for the sake of my wife. It means loving when I don’t want to love, it means striving when I want to give up, and it means sacrificing when I want something else. Because if we look at the love of Christ for the church we need look no further than the foot of the cross. Where he bled and died and gave up his spirit for each and every one of us.
Romans 8:28 – 39. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him(28)… If God is for us, who can be against us?(31)… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(39). Read those 11 verses and tell me you aren’t amazed at the love of Christ.
We can hit that brick wall. We can be broken, tattered, left for dead and know that ALL things work together for good. We know that God is for us. We know that Jesus is at the right hand of the father interceding for us. We know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And we can get back up and fight with him right along side us.
We’re all searching
For in the image of God has God made man. – Genesis 9:6
Our DNA is hard coded to worship Jesus. For any of us who follow Christ daily this fact is undeniable. When we worship it stirs up emotions we don’t feel at any other time. At points it drives us to tears of repentance, sometimes tears of joy, and other times tears of shear awe.
For those who don’t serve this God, who have doubt, who have questions, this seems perplexing. How can worshiping something no one can see help me? How can it possible change my life? How do I know it’s even real?
John 16:13 says “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.” When Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven God sent His Spirit as our guide.(John 16:5-11) In worshiping God and surrendering your all to him you allow His Spirit to come and guide you.
A young boy and his father were hiding in a church during the Revolutionary War as British troops marched on their town. The march of footsteps drew them to the window. As they peered out the window the young boy exclaimed “Dad! minutemen! We’re saved!” No son, those are redcoats. The dad explained. “No, look dad! They’re wearing white coats.” The dad, perplexed, and a bit concerned looked down at his son and realized what had happened. Being so small, his son was looking through a piece of red stained glass at the bottom of the window. You see, if you look through red glass at red all you see is white.
We are gross and grimy; covered in sin. Yet Jesus shed his blood for us. When we accept Him we are covered by the blood of the Lamb. God takes one look at us and all He sees is His son, as white as snow. You are gonna make mistakes, even through His Spirit guides you but God’s grace will always be greater than any sin.
When something bad happens to you how do you feel? As a Christian I’ll tell you how I feel. I feel upset, disappointed, angry. But shortly thereafter I remember how big my God is and remember that He has a plan for my life. He also promised to protect me. I’ve seen non-Christians experience bad things. Cancer, death, and even small things have caused people to ‘give up’. They have no hope. When someone asks me, I point to 1 Peter 3:15 which says always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. People think I’m crazy for being upbeat when something bad happens. If I told you that whenever something bad happened to you you would be happy and that it would turn out okay every time wouldn’t you take it? That is what Jesus is offering you! This is your life changing moment.
Finally, how do you know it’s real? Before you were even in your mom’s womb, He knew you(Jeremiah 1:5). So what you say. You’re just quoting from the Bible and I don’t believe that. Ok, listen to the lyrics of some of the music you listen to. Listen to famous actors and athletes. They all have everything this world has to offer and are still searching for something. Searching in this world drives them crazy, leads them to drugs and to do crazy things.
Listen to these lyrics: “Check your pulse it’s proof that you’re not listening to The call your life’s been issuing you“. Sounds like something in a Christian song right? It’s John Mayer.
Each one of us has a hole in our heart and it’s deadly. We search high and low trying to fill it with anything we can think of but nothing in this world can fill it. The only thing that fills this hole is Jesus and He’ll fill it perfectly, satisfying all your needs.
We are hard coded to worship the Lord, our maker. And when we choose to reject Him we search endlessly for an answer that isn’t attainable, leading to death. “Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”(Matthew 7:7) People who choose to follow the world may get all the material blessings they search out. People who choose to follow God get eternal life with all the blessings thrown in.
Devastated
The elements will be destroyed by fire. – 2 Peter 3:10
The smell of smoke and ash filled the air, choking out the breath in my lungs. But that wasn’t why my eyes began to water. Sitting on the cold, wet pavement just up the road was a young woman, wailing and sobbing.
My brother came rushing in the door moments before. “Get out here, QUICK!” Confused and seeing the obvious excited panic in his eyes and went to the door in my socks. Not 500ft from my house flames licked the cold night sky. They stretched far out the top of the roof in the front, smoke billowing out from underneath the shingles in the back.
It’s a sickening feeling knowing your helpless. I had heard the fire horn about 30 minutes before but thought nothing of it until now. As I walked down towards my neighbors house I was struck by two things, the crying and the massive amount of help that had been called in. Blocking off the main road through town were 7 fire engines from 4 towns.
After much discussion with a few neighbors we thought maybe they could use some help. It was December 22, 2 days before Christmas, and they had lost everything. I walked over to ask if they could use some blankets or jackets. A young man refused, you could see the hurt in his eyes. I went back to my house and sat on the steps outside watching the firefighters put out the flames feeling very helpless. Fighting the idea in my mind I trudged upstairs and started pilfering through my closet. I found a few fleece sweatshirts and a jacket and made my way back downstairs. The walk back to the end of the road was a long one. I fought the voices in my head, “Don’t do it, you look like an idiot. He already said no. Everyone will see.” I remembered a verse: Sell your possessions and give to the poor.(Matthew 19:21). I walked on, handing him the jackets. He said thanks as he passed them out to his family and I went home.
It was the only thing I could do. There wasn’t any words to say that would make everything better. I prayed for them as I drove over to my parents house later that night.
There are no firefighters in hell. The fire never goes out, the crying never stops. It’s devastating losing your home and all of your possessions I’m sure. How much more to lose your life for eternity? We are called to be fishers of men, not reclusive Christians. I struggle every day with sharing my faith and helping others. It was in that moment though that I realized I would have given them anything I had if they asked. Then it struck me, Jesus gave them His life.
If my house had burnt down I may have cried a little but it wouldn’t have been so bad because I have Jesus. Everything is under control with Him and I have hope always regardless of the situation. It’s in stark contrast to what an unbeliever goes through when bad things happen. Always be prepared to give an answer for the hope you have(1 Peter 3:15).
This fire made me appreciate the material things I have, the God I serve, and the blessings and protections He’s given me through the years. It also made me think about what others don’t have and the hope that is lost without Jesus Christ.
There are no firefighters in hell, but we should all be preventative firefighters on earth. Only you, knowing the truth, can prevent fires. God ultimately puts the fire out, by cleansing us of our sins and saving us from hell. As Christians we can do our part here on earth. Give those who don’t know the truth a smoke alarm. Share with them, give them a glass of water, give them your bible…pray for them. In these small things you may unknowingly prevent a massive wildfire.
