Football, the Bible, and following Jesus.

       This post is a result of questions I have had for a couple years now, and have once again been pushed to the forefront of my mind because of the events that have transpired in the past couple weeks involving professional football players.  The question is simply, how should we as Christians engage with football (and other violent sports).  Is it something that we should embrace, enjoy, participate in, support, as God given recreation and enjoyment that has simply been tainted by sinful creatures.  Is it something that we should be careful not to embrace, enjoy, participate in and support too much, but not lay it aside all-together?  Or is it something that we need to move away from, not support, enjoy, participate in or encourage?  Here is what has led to this question.
       First, football in a violent sport and it takes a toll on bodies in dangerous and life altering ways.  I don't need to elaborate on this one as it is common knowledge to all who follow football.  Yes, the NFL has made some great strides in the past couple years about dangerous hits, concussions, etc.  But what about the countless athletes whose bodies never get back to normal because of the violent nature of the game of football.
       Secondly, in most cases football seems to bring out the worst in people.  Fans, coaches, players.  I get that there are exceptions, and the reason we love hearing about those stories is because sadly they are the exception, not the norm.  I can safely say that I would not want any of my kids to be like the vast majority of football players both on and off the field.  I have been to a couple NFL games, and fans are pathetic.  I would not want to bring my son into the environment of a regular season football game simply because of how fans react.  Coaches from 5th grade to the NFL have also demonstrated how football tends to bring out the worst in people.
       Thirdly, somehow so many things that Scripture describes as sin is glorified in football.  Pride being the greatest of many examples.  Watch a football game and watch the pride of the players, fans, and coaches.  Rejoicing in the demoralizing defeat of the opponent.  Pridefully celebrating after making a play.  Rubbing their success in the face of the one that was just defeated, trash talking, and on and on I could go.  Yeah, we say it is a part of the game, but is that ok when what is just a part of the game in the Bible is clearly described as sin.
       Fourthly, is the attitude of ignoring huge character flaws in individuals as long as they perform and help us accomplish our goals.  This is an attitude of succeeding at all costs and that ultimately character doesn't matter as long as we produce results.  As the Bible makes abundantly clear it is the heart that matters, not what an individual is able to accomplish on the football field.
      I could go on but I won't.  As I stated at the beginning this is based on thoughts I have had for a couple years now.  I have not talked much about it with others, because I guess I am afraid of the conclusion that I might come to, because quite frankly I love football (and hockey).  However, I love Jesus and the Word more.  If you love football, and Jesus, I would love to hear your thoughts.  Have you wrestled through these issues?  What have you decided?  What Scripture has informed your decision?  Please respond, here or on Facebook.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Faith Like a Child: When life doesn't make sense.

       A little over a week ago Ty, our youngest child (10 months old), spent a little bit of time in the hospital because of an infection and an extremely high fever.  We are thankful to God that He is healthy and back to his normal self crawling all over the house getting himself into trouble!  If you have ever experienced being with a little one in the hospital it is hard.  The thing that, at least for me, made it so difficult was that it was impossible to explain to Ty what was going on, what was going to happen, and why they were doing everything they did.  I couldn't explain to him why I had to bear hug him and hold him down while they drew blood, and while they put his IV in.  I couldn't explain to him why he had this cord hooked to his foot that made it so he couldn't go wherever he wanted.  I couldn't explain why he felt so miserable.  I couldn't explain anything.  That is hard on a mommy and daddy and we hated it.  Even though we couldn't explain anything to him, there were things we could do; we could be with him, hold him, love him, sing to him, play with him, and wipe his tears away.  There were many things we couldn't do, but despite all of that what we could do seemed to be enough to get him through a very difficult and painful couple of days.  We didn't like what was happening to our little man, but we knew it needed to be done if he was going to get healthy.  We gave him everything we could, while the only thing he could do was lean into us and trust us, even though nothing made sense to him.
      This carries over to those of us who are children of God.  There are times when life flat out does not make sense.  What is going on seems to be the opposite of what desperately needs to be happening.  The pain seems pointless, confusion seems to dominate, and as much as we ask for an explanation we get nothing.  I believe it is difficult for God to watch His children go through pain, but in the midst of the pain and questions God offers us Himself.  All of Himself.  All of His love, comfort, peace, joy, and on and on I could go. God offers all of Himself, and asks us to lean into and trust.  Lean in and trust Him, trust that He knows what He is doing, and trust that everything will be ok.
       If you are in a place today where life does not make sense, lean in and trust God as He offers all of Himself to you.

Christian, don't forget your mission

       Christian, don’t forget your mission.  This post is less a response to the election results than it is a response to the reactions of some of my brothers and sisters in Christ are having to the election results.  Responses that at times have seemed almost hysterical and responses that have been predicting gloom and doom for the American nation.  Regardless of weather you are rejoicing or fearing gloom and doom this morning, I want to remind all of us about a couple of things.  

First, our hope cannot reside in a political party or a certain canidate.  Our hope rests in God.  What the people of this country need more than a balanced budget or a better economy is forgiveness of our sins and redemption of our lives.  That is the greatest need any person has, and the beauty of the Gospel is that it is available through Jesus Christ.  So our hope is not in politics, politicians, or legislation, it is in God and what is offered because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  So Christian, regardless of who you voted for, remind yourself where your hope needs to rest. 

Secondly, if what the people of this country need more than anything is forgiveness and redemption, than what this country needs is you, as a Christian, living out the mission God has given to all of us.  Christian, if the hope of the world rests in Jesus, you have way more to offer than any political party, politician, or legislation.  What people need is for Christians to live out their mission.  Our country needs Jesus followers who will faithfully and daily live out the great commission and the great commandment.  Christian if you truly grasp that the greatest problem humanity faces is sin, than you realize that you hold the ONLY thing that can deal with that problem.  YOU, not the government, not the president, YOU.  So the question is, what are you and I going to do?  

       So today let us focus on the great commission and the great commandment.  Let's make a commitment to live those out today and everyday.  That is after all the mission that God has put us on after he so graciously forgave our sins, and redeemed our lives.  That is what we have been called to do, and that is what a dying world desperately needs from us.  Christian, don't forget your mission.  

Entitlement kills our joy.

       This morning I was reading Mark 15 which gives the account of the trials, crucifixion, and death of Jesus.  Verses 16-20 stuck out to me, "The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (this is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.  They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.  And they began to call out to him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.  Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.  Then they led him out to crucify him."
        As I was reading those verses, and the verses that followed, I began to wonder what that must have been like for the God of the universe who created everything, and everything was created for, to be mocked.  The one who was perfect, the one who left the throne to come to earth for the very people who were at that moment mocking and ridiculing him.  As I was thinking about that it occurred to me that Jesus at that moment had every right to unleash terror and destruction upon those who were mocking Him.  He was entitled to it, it was his right to unleash terror and destruction.  If anyone ever had a claim to being entitled to something it was Jesus.  He had a right to be worshipped.  He had a right to be magnified.  He had a right to be praised.  He had a right to bring down justice on anyone who failed to live up to the standard of perfection.  It was His right, He was clearly entitled to it.
       However, he didn't demand his rights, instead He took upon Himself everything that I deserved.  The one who was entitled to everything, took the punishment of the one who was entitled and deserving nothing but hell.  Can you say amazing grace?!?!
      After reminding myself again of how amazing God's grace and love is for me, I began to feel convicted about how often I feel that I am entitled to so many things.  According to the Bible the only thing I deserve is hell.  That's it.  The moment I begin to think I am entitled to anything beyond that is the moment that the joy in my life is killed.  The opposite it also true.  The moment I realize that I am only entitled to hell, joy, overwhelming joy, begins to flow out of every fiber of my being.  When  I realize that everything I have from the breath I am taking as I write this, to having my sins forgiven and eternity secured and everything in between is an astounding gift from the God of the universe, is the moment joy overwhelms my life.  Take time today, and everyday, and preach the Gospel to yourself and be prepared to be overwhelmed with joy as you see gifts of grace everywhere and at every moment.  "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

Something is broken in our churches

       Over the summer I have spent a significant amount of time reading about statistical findings on youth and religion.  In addition to the books that were reporting these statistics, I spent time reading and interacting with books and articles that we attempting to interpret the statistics and offer possible solutions and remedies to the problem.  The "issues" that showed itself time and time again was the incredible rate by which young people leave the church just prior to, or just after high school graduation.  I knew the statistics were accurate as I recalled in my mind all the students that I have worked with over the years, and figuring out who was connected with a local church and who wasn't.  The statistics are depressing.
     One of the books that I read that was working on interpreting the findings suggested that one of the reasons young people are leaving the church as such alarming rates is because they do not feel that they are connected to the church body.  On Sunday morning at sunday school I was talking with a group of about 15 students.  We were talking about the body of Christ, and that we all have a role to play.  I asked the question, "Do you feel that you are a part of the body of Christ at NIBC (the church that I am currently at)?  After a lot of silence, one girl answered the question by saying, "No I don't feel like I am a part of the body of Christ here, because I feel that if I were I would be missed if I left, and I don't think any would miss me or care if I left."  As she answered the question I could see her answers resonating with everyone else in the room.  I asked who else felt the same.  Every single hand in the room went up.  It broke my heart, and opened my eyes wide to a massive problem that we have at NIBC and I would guess the vast majority of churches in America.
      THIS HAS TO CHANGE.

Fruit of the Spirit- FAIL

      It was a major FAIL.  It happened at the breakfast table as Anaya was eating breakfast.  My Bible was open to Galatians 5:22-26, and I was writing in my journal about how I was going to spend the upcoming weeks focusing on the fruits of the Spirit.  Spending a week focusing on each of the fruits of the Spirit, and I was kicking it off by beginning to focus on love.  As I was writing down the fruits of the Spirit in my journal Anaya, in typical two year old fashion, knocked her bowl of cereal off the table sending milk and Peanut Butter Crunch plummeting to the ground beneath.  In retrospect here was my first chance to respond in love.  To respond in a way that would be even remotely consistent to love and the fruits of the Spirit.  After all, I had just read, and was in the process of writing the verses down so it should have been easy to respond in love!  However, I FAILED.  I FAILED big time.  No I didn't scream and get really mad at Anaya, but love was absent from the way that I responded.  After I got the mess cleaned up (which consisted of getting our dog out of the bedroom) and got a new bowl of cereal poured, I sat back down before my Bible and journal and realized how badly I failed.
       My failure made me realize how desperately I need the Spirit of God to work in me and through me.  Galatians 5:17-18, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature."  I desperately need the Holy Spirit if I am going to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in my life.  I need to yield my life to the Holy Spirit, I need to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit, I need to spend more time in the Word, in prayer, in fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, in order that the desires of the Spirit would become stronger and stronger and the desires of the sinful nature would become weaker and weaker.

I talked too much

      I talked too much on Friday night.   For those of you who know me you might find this hard to believe (except when I preach :)) but it is the truth!  It seemed like I talked on and on and on and on and on.  My mouth was dry.  My throat hurt.  I talked too much!  Why?  I was trying to explain to my 6 year old son Ethan the game of football as I took him to his first vikings game on Friday!  Have you ever tried to explain football to someone who really has no idea about any of the rules of football?  It is exhausting!  I have watched, enjoyed, and played football for a good part of my life!  I love it!  I understand the game, the rules, and what both the offense and defense are trying to do.  When you know something really well, it can be hard to explain in such a way that someone who is clueless about it can understand.  One example of how this proved to be true at the vikings game!  It was a boring game, too many field goals and not enough touch downs!  Throughout the game I kept quizzing Ethan about how many points a team gets when the kicker kicks the ball between the uprights (the two yellow polls that are sticking up into the air).  He had it down, the answer was 3, he knew it!  However, near the end of the game the vikings scored a touchdown tying the game at 9-9!  After the touch-down we kicked the extra point!  To Ethan this seemed to be identical to a field-goal because the kicker kicked the ball between the two yellow polls sticking up in the air and he excitedly exclaimed, "Daddy, we now have 12 points!"  I then had to explain to him that when you kick the ball through the yellow things after you score a touchdown it is only worth 1 point, not 3.  In the midst of explaining field goals, how far a yard is, how you have four tries to get 10 yards, field position, penalties, punting, kicking off, offense, defense, and on and on, I was exhausted!  However, I think Ethan walked away with a much better understanding of the game of football as a result of the effort I put into explaining it in a way that would make sense to someone who was clueless about all the details of football.
      As we were driving home from the game (which in classic viking fashion we lost on a last second field goal, because surprise our prevent defense for the one millionth time did not work) I was thinking about how explaining Christianity to someone who has no knowledge of the Bible, Jesus, God, is very difficult and time consuming!  However, it is incredible important that we do it!  As fewer and fewer people have contact with the Church, and the Bible, the more important it will be for us to learn how to explain our faith in ways that make sense to people who don't understand the Biblical language.  We need to know how to explain extremely important concepts such as sin, repentance, salvation, redemption, propitiation, justification, sanctification, faith, grace, mercy, who God the Father is, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is, the trinity, and so forth!
       So how would you do, how would I do, in begin able to explain these concepts to someone to whom these concepts are completely foreign?  Do you know these concepts well enough to explain them to a four year old?  If you don't we need to keep working on your understanding of these concepts.  It is true that if you know something really well, you will be able to explain even really complicated ideas, in an easy to understand way.  Do you engage in theology?  Do you study the above concepts?  Do you discuss these with your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Do you ask questions about the above concepts?  It is easy when your life is surrounded with the above concepts that we assume everyone knows what we are talking about.  They don't, and we need to do the hard work of preparing ourselves to explain the vital concepts of the Christian faith to those who desperately need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!  Talking too much once in awhile might prove to make an eternal
difference!

Faith Like A Child- Big girl beds, sin, and the throne of grace!

        We recently made the big transition with our two year old getting her crib taken down and replacing in with "A big girl bed."  For those of you who have never gone through this transition, let me share with you a bit of the ramifications of moving from a crib to a "big girl bed."  A crib has four sides which confine the child.  Meaning:  when the child is in bed, they will stay in bed (unless they begin climbing out of the crib but that's a story for another day).  A big girl bed has..... no sides.  Meaning:  They can get out of bed whenever they want to.  The first several days of the switch were great and we had no issues of Anaya getting out of bed when she was supposed to be sleeping.  However, in recent days that initial success has come to a screeching halt.  It was a few minutes after putting her to bed and she came walking back out into the living room, so we calmly reminded her that it was bed time, and that she needed to stay in bed until morning.  A few minutes later she was back in the living room, and this time we were a bit more stern about reminding her that she needed to stay in bed.  A few minutes later, she was back again.  This time we were even more firm and stern with her as we picked her up and quickly deposited her back into her bed.  

      A few minutes later...... here she comes again!  However, this time it was different.  She was walking incredibly slow and she had covered her face with her blanket because she knew very well that she was doing something she was not supposed to be doing and she was hoping that if we did not see her that she would avoid getting in trouble.  You can probably guess how well that worked for her.... it didn't!  That was the last battle of the night.  Mom and Dad finally proved victorious as Anaya did not make another appearance until morning!  There is nothing quite like the calm and quiet of a house full of kids who are sound asleep!  

      The whole event got me thinking about sin.  We all sin, that is not a surprise to any of us!  We all have sin that we seem to struggle with more than others.  That one sin that we seem to commit time and time, and time, and time, again.  It is often with those repetitive ongoing sins that we attempt to hide them from God.  We no longer want God to see our sin, we no longer want to ask God for forgiveness for our sin because we have come to him time and time, and time, and time again with our sin and we are to the point where we just want hide our faces in hopes that God will no longer see our sin.  

      Friend, this brings us to the beauty of the Gospel message.  We can take the blanket off, we can stop trying to hide our sin from God (because it doesn't work), and we can allow Him through His spirit to transform us more into the likeness of Jesus.  If you have entered into a relationship with God, through Jesus, when God looks at you He no longer see's your sin, He see's the perfect righteousness of Jesus which has been imputed (placed) on you!  How incredible is that!  It is not because you deserved it, it is not because you only came out of your room 3 times last night, it is totally and completely the grace of God given to you, a sinner.  

       Hebrews 4:14-16 is the perfect description of what this looks like, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  Friend, approach the throne of grace with confidence, take the blanket off your face and go before God knowing that you will find the grace and help you need!   

Stop believing in yourself

WARNING:  I AM GOING ON A RANT

      If you are on facebook you are probably well aware of the current craze of posting quotes, often times containing an inspiring pictures in the background.  I have no idea where people are finding all these quotes and pictures, but they are everywhere!  Some I admit are funny.  A few are actually inspiring.  Many are annoying as I have to scroll pass them to see what is going on in the lives of family and friends.  And some of them just make me really mad.  They are the ones that either say, "Believe in yourself" or allude to this idea that we should trust and believe in ourselves and everything will be ok.  What makes matters worse if these are often times posted by well-meaning brothers and sisters in Christ.  The problem:  The idea of believing in yourself IS NOT BIBLICAL in anyway, shape, or form.  Believing in yourself is a terrible idea.  Here is the self that you are believing in according to Romans 3, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understand, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one one who does good, not even one.  Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.  There is no fear of God before their eyes."  A few verses in later in chapter 3, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  Friend, if you are believing in yourself, that is who you are believing in.  You are believing in a person who has been deeply and throughly affected by sin in every fiber of your body.  We need to stop pretending that we are pretty good people, when the Bible makes it abundantly clear that we are really wicked, sinful people, who have sinned against the God of the universe.
       Friend, the only hope for you, and the only hope for me, is Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ died in my place.  Jesus Christ took my punishment.  Jesus Christ took God's wrath against my sin, upon himself.  My hope is not in believing in myself, my hope is in believing in Jesus.  In believing what HE accomplished on the cross for me.  Believing in yourself will lead to an eternity apart from God, in hell, because you (just like me) have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.  Galatians 6:14, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  Stop believing in yourself.  Start believing in Jesus and what HE HAS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED ON YOUR BEHALF!

END RANT

A glimpse of Jesus at Walmart

       It was Friday evening and I was at Walmart getting groceries for the week.  It was the first time shopping since our family decided to go on the Feingold diet (a diet that eliminates preservatives,  artificial flavoring, colors, and other things) and after 1 1/2 hours of working my way through the busy isles checking every item to see if it was acceptable according to the Food list and shopping guide that I had with me, I was ready to be done, and go home.  I was waiting in line to check out and it was then that I caught a glimpse of Jesus.  I don't know about the Walmart that you typically visit, but at the Walmart I typical visit the workers are usually courteous and polite, but that is about it.  As soon as the cashier finished checking out the individual in front of me she turned her attention to me, and gave a warm greeting with a generous and sincere smile and asked me how I was doing in a tone that took me back because it sounded like she really cared.  I gave the common, "pretty good" which at that moment really meant I am crabby, tired, frustrated, stressed, and the faster you can get me out of this store the better.  After giving my answer I asked her how she was doing, and her answer was, "I am doing great, thank you so much for asking."  Her answer surprised me for several reasons.
       First, I am not sure that I have ever had a worker at Walmart respond by saying they are doing great, so that surprised me.   Second, I was surprised by how genuine she seemed in her answer.  As far as I can tell she wasn't just saying "great" when in reality she was miserable.  Third, I was surprised by how she genuinely seemed truly grateful that I took the time to ask how she was doing.  Had the conversation ended here, and nothing more but polite courtesies ensued until I was walking out of Walmart, I would have left surprised, encouraged, and wondering what made that woman so different than all the other workers I have encountered at Walmart.
      For the next 2-3 minutes as she scanned all my groceries we had a great conversation.  I  learned that she lost her husband four years ago to cancer, and after replying by saying I am so sorry to hear that she told me that I shouldn't be, and went on to tell me that had her husband never gotten cancer he would not have come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  We talked briefly, and than I was on my way.  As I was leaving the store I said a brief prayer of thanksgiving to God for my sister in Christ.  As I was driving home I reflected about all the people who go through her lane on a given day and leave the store encouraged, surprised, and wondering what made her so different.  Jesus living through her is what made her different, and every day people get to catch a glimpse of Jesus at Walmart in Cambridge, MN when my sister in Christ is working.  I believe that God will use many of those glimpses in his grand scheme of drawing people to Himself!
       At Walmart in Cambridge, MN I have a sister in Christ who offered me, and countless others, a glimpse of Jesus.  Thank you.  Now the question for you and me is simple?  Are we giving people glimpses of Jesus at work, at home, at the store, at sporting events or wherever life takes us?  We don't always have opportunities to sit down and share the Gospel message with every person that crosses our path in a given day, however we should always strive to give people a glimpse of Jesus.  A glimpse of His love, His grace, His patience, and His kindness that will help pave the way for the Gospel to be spoken and received by that person.  Maybe you will be the one who has the joy of speaking the Gospel message to that person, or maybe it will be someone else, but never forget how incredibly important a one minute encounter with a person might be.  Give people around you a glimpse of Jesus today.

Faith like a child- Saying Amen!

       Awhile back I was rocking Anaya (20 months old) as we always do for her bedtime routine.  After singing a couple songs it was time to pray.  We were praying for some friends, and after each phrase Anaya responded by saying "yeah."  She had never done this before, and has not done it since but it presented a beautiful picture of what we mean when we say the word amen.  Here is a little of the prayer from that night...
     Me:  God, we want to pray for _____________.                        Anaya:  yeah
     Me:  We ask that you would give her strength.                           Anaya:  yeah
     Me:  We ask that you would show grace to her body                 Anaya:  yeah
     Me:  We ask that you would help her to feel your presence       Anaya:  yeah

And that is how the prayer continued on until it was complete.  It was beautiful and precious, and something that I will likely not forget.  It also created a beautiful picture of the word amen, which essentially is a word we use to say that we agree.  Here is one definition that I found for the word amen.
"Amen is an exclamation expressing agreement with a statement. At the end of a prayer it expresses the genuineness or truth of the petition or praise."   


       Saying amen makes perfect sense at the end of the prayer, but that is not the only time when it is appropriate.  Anytime you read, or hear, about a truthful declaration being made about who God is, or what God is doing, saying amen would be an appropriate response demonstrating your agreement with the statement that has been made about God.  I think it would do us all good to be continually voicing our agreement as we hear and read declarations about who God is and what He is doing!  So, what do you have to say amen to today?  Or as Anaya so beautiful reminded me, what phrase do you simply want to respond to by saying, "YEAH!"  

Forgiveness: Part 5- What it is!

       Forgiveness is hard, but for the Jesus follower forgiveness is necessary.  We have spent time looking at the Gospel message to see why forgiveness is necessary, and also to gain the motivation we need to forgive others who have done the unthinkable to us and those we love.  Scripture makes it clear that we need to forgive others, so the last question to ask and answer is what does it mean to forgive others.
      The only logical place to look when asking the question what does it mean to forgive others, is looking at what it means that God has forgiven us.  In God forgiving us it means that He no longer holds our offenses against us.  God has released, removed, taken away our sins, our offenses against Him.  God no longer holds our sin over our heads saying, "I remember when you..... and because of that I am going to treat you this way."  Forgiving someone means that you no longer hold what that person did against them.  You let it go, you release it.  This does not necessarily mean that you forget, but when you do remember the offense you no longer hold it against the person.
       In God forgiving us, God was seeking our good.  So in forgiving others it means that we desire and seek the good of the person who has offended us, and if opportunity arrises to bless and bring something good into that persons life we will do it.  (Love your enemy).  After all, I was God's enemy and He sought my good, so we need to seek the good of those who have offended us.
       Forgiveness can be very painful.  It is not an easy, quick, painless, process to forgive someone in a Biblical manner.  It is painful to release someones offense(s) against you.  It is really hard too.  It is painful and costly to seek the good of someone who has hurt you in such deep ways, that is painful and costly.  Forgiveness was painful for God too, in having to send His son to die a horrific death in order to forgive you and me.  Forgiveness is never easy, and true Biblical forgiveness is costly, and painful.  However, once reaching the place of forgiveness you will find incredible peace, joy, relief, and grace fill your life.
       I feel like I need to add a disclaimer.  Forgiving someone, does not mean that you must continue to put yourself in a situation where you are being abused in any way.  Forgiveness does not mean that you do not take steps to distance and remove yourself (or others) from someone who is abusing and hurting others.
       So how has God been working in your life in the area of forgiveness?  I would love to hear your story!  In this blog series I have only been able to scratch the surface when it comes to forgiveness.  If you have further questions or concerns regarding this issue I would love to discuss those with you.  So feel free to contact me to share your story and God's work in your life, and/or to further discuss forgiveness.  You can contact me by e-mail-  joshrobertson52@gmail.com
       It is my prayer that God has used this as together we struggle and strive to forgive others as God has forgiven us.
      

Forgiveness: Part 4- God forgave us!!!

       Having looked at God's holiness and our sinfulness (read the last blog post if you haven't read that one yet) we realized how wretched and terrible our sin must look before a Holy God.  The absolutely amazing thing about it is that despite how wretched and terrible our sin is before Holy God, God desires to forgive us!  Scripture makes clear that the penalty, the punishment for our sin, is death.  Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death."  That penalty had to be paid.  It had to be dealt with if we were to be forgiven.  It was, in God coming in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, living a perfect live, and than taking the punishment that we deserved, dying on the cross in our place.  That was what was necessary for the forgiveness of our sins, and that is exactly what God did!  The one who was perfect, the one who created everything and the one whom everything was created for, took your place, took the punishment you deserved, so that you could be forgiven.  THAT'S INCREDIBLE!  If you have heard this a billion times, I hope it still amazes you that God took the punishment you deserved so that you could be forgiven!  He did it to show off His incredible love!  He did not forgive you because you deserve it, or you earned it, or because you can pay Him back some day.  You can't, you didn't deserve it, and you can't earn it.  God forgave you, because He loves you!  THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!!
      It is out of God's incredible forgiveness that we ought to forgive others.  It should seem ludicrous to us that we can accept and receive God's forgiveness, but be unwilling to forgive someone else.  If we truly grasp our sinfulness, and God's holiness, we will understand how much we have been forgiven.  When we understand how much we have been forgiven, we quickly realize that we will never even come close to having to forgive others as much as we have been forgiven.
       You have likely experienced some deep scars, wounds, and pain at the hands of others.  I don't know what your story is, and if you shared it with me my heart would break with yours.  I want to say this with as much sympathy, love, and compassion as I possible can, no matter what you have experienced, the offenses committed against you do not come close to the offenses you have committed against God, and GOD forgave you!  If Holy God, the one who created you and sustains you, can forgive you ALL of your numerous sins and offenses that you have committed against Him, you and I need to forgive others!  Grasping God's incredible forgiveness for us, frees us to offer that same forgiveness to anyone, and everyone!  Failure and refusal to forgive others means that we have not understood the Gospel message.  It means that we have not grasped how Amazing God's grace, love, and forgiveness is!  When we get it, we give it!  God forgave us, so we forgive others!

Forgiveness: Part 3- God's Holiness and our sinfulness.

       Our ability to forgive others is intricately tied to our understanding of God's holiness and our sinfulness.  The discussion of God's holiness, and our sinfulness, have filled up countless numbers of books and here we can only begin to scratch the surface of these incredibly important topics.  In my own journey with forgiveness coming to a better understanding of God's holiness and my sinfulness was a vital part of reaching the place of forgiveness.
       God is Holy.  That means God is totally and completely separate and set-apart.
Isaiah 46:5, "To whom will you compare me or count me equal?  To whom will you liken me that we may be compared"
Isaiah 46:9, "I am God, and there is no other.  I am God, and there is none like me."
Isaiah 40:18, "To whom, then, will you compare God?  What image will you compare him to?"
Isaiah 40:25, "To whom will you compare me?  Or who is my equal? says the Holy One."
      I could point to many other passages to demonstrate God's holiness.  God is totally and completely Holy.  God has no beginning or ending.  God is all-powerful, all knowing, all present.  Staying within His character, God is free and able to do whatever He desires.  He does not have to answer to anyone, or defend Himself before anyone.  Revelation 4 presents an incredible picture of God's throne room and what is taking place at this very moment as you read this.
       Revelation 4:3-11, "And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.  A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircles the throne.  Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders.  They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.  From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder.  Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.  These are the seven spirits of God.  Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.  In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.  The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.  Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings.  Day and night they never stop saying:  'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'  Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say, 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.'"  What an incredible picture of the throne room of God, and what is taking place right now.  It is that God who is constantly being praised, who created all, and whose will is fully carried out, who you and I offend and sin against.
      We need to remind ourselves of God's holiness time and time again, because as we see God's holiness we begin to come to grips with the magnitude of our sin.  Every-time you and I sin, it is Holy God that we are sinning against.  The one who created us, and sustains us, is the one that we are sinning against.  Every time we sin we are making the choice to put our selfish desires above Holy God, and that is crazy to think about based on the picture of God's throne room we just looked at.  That is the God that we sin against.  A God who hates sin, and rightfully has, and will continue to pour out his wrath against sinners.  To make matters even more stunning listen to what Isaiah 64:6 states, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."  In the presence of Holy God our righteous acts, the good deeds we do, are like filthy rags.  The literal translation of filthy rags in the Hebrew is menstrual cloth.  Grossed out by that?  Good!  Because even the good things we do in the sight of Holy God are like a menstrual cloth.  If that is how our goodness appears before God, think about what our sin must look like before Holy God.
       God is Holy.  We are sinful.  So how does all of this connect with forgiveness?  Until we understand who it is we have sinned against, and offended, it will be very difficult to forgive those who have sinned against and offended us.  However, once we grasp God's holiness, our sinfulness, and astonishingly God's forgiveness and love, we begin to move to a place where we can offer forgiveness to anyone for anything.  For the next part of this series we will look at God's grace and forgiveness offered to you and me, and by understanding that, how we will be able to forgive others!

Forgiveness: Part 2- My journey

       Forgiveness is really, really, hard, and as I discussed in my last post it is an area where many, many, followers of Jesus struggle.  However, Scripture is crystal clear that if we refuse to forgive others, we will not receive God's forgiveness.  It was those passages in Scripture (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:35, Mark 11:25, and others) that drove me to my need to pursue forgiveness.  In order to respect the privacy of the individual I cannot give details about the specific events that took place that led for my desperate need to seek forgiveness.  Suffice it to say that someone close to me was deeply wounded and violated, because of the actions of another individual who I knew, although not well.  It was years after the incident in which I found out about what happened.  My initial response was one of hatred and rage, truly desiring the death of the individual.  Those feelings never went away, even as time went on.  Granted the feelings of hatred and rage were not as frequent as time went on,  however anytime something happened that brought this individual to mind, hatred and rage, instantly boiled up anew in my mind and heart.
       It was in reading passages of Scripture about the necessity of Jesus followers to forgive others that convicted me and made me realize that I needed to begin to move in the direction of forgiveness.  It was not instantaneous, and at times when I thought I had reached the place of forgiveness, something would happen that made it clear that I had not yet reached forgiveness.  During this time in my life God taught me some incredible truths about what forgiveness is, and how we as Jesus followers can go about forgiving others, even those who have done the unthinkable and hurt you in ways you could have never imagined.  So where do we begin?  By looking at the God of the universe and what our sin must look like in His eyes.  It is only by understanding the Gospel message, that we can understand and move towards the place of true forgiveness!  Part 3 of this series will be looking at the holiness of God, and how our sin looks in the presences of Holy God.

Forgiveness: Part 1

       Over the past several years I have spoken on forgiveness multiple times to a variety of different groups of people.  Sermons, lessons for students, and talking one on one with multiple individuals.  Every-time I have spoken on forgiveness it has struck a nerve with many, many, people.  Something that we all face living in a fallen, broken, sin-satured world, is deep hurt and pain.  Sometimes these hurts are the result of our own choices that we have made.  Sometimes these hurts are just things that happen and no one is really at blame.  However, sometimes these deeps hurts and pains have been directly caused by another person.  Needless to say, we have all been hurt by people, and as a result we all need to forgive.  As I have been talking about forgiveness I have come to the realization that many people, followers of Jesus, have struggled deeply with forgiveness and many have not been able to get to the place of forgiving others.   
       A couple years ago I asked on facebook if people have had a situation happen to them where they have yet to grant forgiveness.  A number of people responded to me, sharing heartbreaking stories of deep pain and hurt, and also shared with me how long they have been unable to grant forgiveness.  Here are a few of the responses I got.  1 Year, 5 years, 9 years, 11 years, 13, years, 13, years, someone in their late twenties said a lifetime, and one individual shared that they had been struggling to forgive someone for 30 years.  It is safe to assume that many, many, follower of Jesus struggle with forgiving others.
       So why am I beginning a series on forgiveness?  For several reasons.  First, it has been an area of struggle and process for me.  Secondly, it is an area where many, many Jesus followers struggle.  Thirdly, there seems to be much confusion about what Biblical forgiveness is.  Fourthly, Scripture is extremely clear on the necessity for Jesus followers to forgive others.  Matthew 5:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."  Matthew 18:35, "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."  The need of Jesus followers to forgive is as clear as can be.
       I would love to hear your stories, and how God is working on you when it comes to forgiveness.  The next part of the series will share my struggles, failures, battles, and victories that have been ongoing when it comes to forgiveness.  Praying that God might use this to draw us all nearer to Him.

Faith Like A Child- With you I can.

       In the craziness of day to day life with four little one's running, pooping, peeing, laughing, dancing, playing, crying, eating, hugging, kissing, and loving it is easy to miss the lessons that God is trying to teach me through our kids!  In Matthew 18 Jesus tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
       Whenever Anaya (our 18 month old) is around a person she does not no very well, her first reaction is fear, even when they are down on their knees excitedly calling her to come and see them!  Often times she will purposely back away from the person, or take the long way around in order to avoid them, as she searches for someone familiar and safe.  Once she finds Heidi or I she comes over and puts her hands up and in the way only an adorable 18 month old can, she says, "up, up, up, up."  So we lift her up, and as we begin to walk with her towards the person while a little shyness might still exist, she is no longer backing up, and trying to get away from the new person.  While holding her we ask her to say hi to the person, and give a high five, and a fist bump, and as she is safely in our arms she excitedly engages with the person who originally made her run away in fear!  What an incredible picture that paints for us as followers of Jesus!
       Matthew 28:18-20 comes to mind, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."  What an incredible command and charge we have been given as followers of Jesus.  We have been commanded to make disciples as we are going about life.  At work, at home, at church, at the grocery store, on mission trips, in school, at the health club, in our clubs and committee's, we are called to make disciples! That is a big task, and if we are honest, often times a daunting task as we quickly begin to think of all of our inadequacies, doubts, fears, and insecurities.  However, if we remember the last part of Matthew 28:20 we should have the courage to go forth in doing what God has called us to do. "And surely I (the "I" referring to Jesus, the one who has ALL authority in heaven and on earth) am with you always, to the very end of the age."
       While living a life of Gospel intentionality focused on creating disciples as we go about is a daunting, and sometimes scary task, we can go forth in faith trusting the promise that the one who has ALL authority will be with us!  What an incredible promise.  So the next time we become fearful in doing what God has called us to do, may we remind ourselves who it is that is with us!  May we, like a child, overcome fear knowing that the one who is with us is trustworthy and faithful and go where God is leading us!

"Build your kingdom here" Great song, fantastic prayer.

Rend Collective Experiment is a worship band from Ireland.  They are not that well known in the US, but they should be!  A student who helps with worship for the youth group was the one who introduced me to Rend Collective Experiment.  Not to long ago I had the opportunity to see them in concert with a group from our church and it was an incredible night that was capped off with their song.  "Build Your Kingdom Here."  Great song, and a fantastic prayer for all of who claim to be followers of Jesus.  Check out the lyrics.

Lyrics: Come set Your rule and reign In our hearts again Increase in us we pray Unveil why we're made Come set our hearts ablaze with hope Like wildfire in our very souls Holy Spirit come invade us now We are Your Church We need Your power In us We seek Your kingdom first We hunger and we thirst Refuse to waste our lives For You're our joy and prize To see the captive hearts released The hurt; the sick; the poor at peace We lay down our lives for Heaven's cause We are Your church We pray revive This earth Build Your kingdom here Let the darkness fear Show Your mighty hand Heal our streets and land Set Your church on fire Win this nation back Change the atmosphere Build Your kingdom here We pray Unleash Your kingdom's power Reaching the near and far No force of hell can stop Your beauty changing hearts You made us for much more than this Awake the kingdom seed in us Fill us with the strength and love of Christ We are Your church We are the hope On earth May this be our prayer.  You can check out the song here....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcSWpVKKMcs&feature=related

I'm gonna lose: Quick, stop racing!

       Twice this week as I watched Ethan head to the bus stop I had the opportunity to watch a spectacular race!  Tuesday on the way to the school bus the neighbor boy came out, and having a slight edge on Ethan, took off in a mad-dash to win the much coveted status of being the first one to the bus stop.  Ethan got his legs moving as fast as possible, and with his backpack bouncing all around he darted to the bus stop, only to come to a complete halt about 25 yards shy of the bus stop.  Why?  Because he realized he was going to lose, so he quit!
       This morning I had the great privilege of seeing round two of the match up.  This time, however, Ethan is the one who had the slight edge and he took full advantage of it, dominating the competition and gaining the distinct honor of being the first one to the bus stop.  The neighbor boy, just like Ethan, took off in a mad dash only to come to a screeching halt 25 yards shy of the bus stop.  Why?  Like Ethan he realized he was going to lose, so he quit.
       So what do these early morning competitions mean for you and me as we strive to be followers of Jesus?  A lot!  I feel so many people live out this exact scenario when it comes to their Christian walk.  They have an absolutely incredible experience of receiving and experiencing the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ.  Many have dreams about how they want to live a life that counts.  How they want to live a life that will continually be used by God to bring Him glory, and to bring salvation to others.  Many have ideas to change the world.  Many have radical dreams and want to make some incredible sacrifices in order to follow Jesus.  They take off with so much excitement, energy, enthusiasm, determination, perseverance, and hope, only to quit short of the final destination?  Why?
       They believed they were gonna lose.  As they took off with all these lofty goals, dreams, and prayers they looked around to see a bunch of others who started with those same goals, dreams, and prayers living out a life that looks nothing like what they originally imagined.  A life where faith, Jesus, sacrifice, risk, and an amazing adventure, seemed to be replaced with church, routine, boredom, striving for wealth, and getting our life all wrapped up in someone else's adventure through books, television, and celebrity drama.  We quit.  We stopped.  We realized we were going to lose, because we see people all around us who began with the same dreams, desires, and adventures, as we had and somehow they didn't make it, so why should I think I will.  We quit. 
       Francis Chan in Crazy Love states, “I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity.  The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance.  Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered.  That’s for the radicals who are unbalanced and who go overboard.  Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering.”  
      I think Francis Chan is right.  It is difficult to follow Jesus in a church culture that seems to fit way better with the American dream than with the kingdom of God.  Here is my challenge to you and to me...  Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) asking the simple question based on the life and teachings of Jesus how did Jesus expect his followers to live.  After you finish the Gospels, read the remainder of the New Testament asking the same question.  When you have finished reading ask the question.  According to the new testament description of a follower of Jesus, am I a follower of Jesus?  As you are reading through the New Testament try your best to read them as if for the first time.  Try to forget about how the vast majority of Christians in North America live, and do "faith" and just read the Bible and than ask the question.  "According to the new testament description of a follower of Jesus, am I a follower of Jesus?"
       We might be surprised, and terrified, of what we find.  If you do this, I would love to hear what you discover, and I will be sharing with you what I discover.  Have we quit the race because we feared we would lose?  If we have, the only thing we can do is start running again!  Praying that God would make it abundantly clear to each of us what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and give us the grace, strength, and desire to change whatever needs to change in order to be followers of Jesus.