One day we will all approve of God's performance!

       While scanning articles on CNN this morning I came across an article entitled, "Only 52% Approve of God's Job Performance."  After reading the short article I was saddened as I think about how flippant, and I would argue defiant, our culture has become towards the God of the universe.  How has the view of God, even among professing believers, become so small that we would tolerate the idea that we have the right and ability to judge God's performance.  Just like most things in American culture God has been set-up in such a way that it is expected that His sole purpose is to meet our every desire.  When something happens in our life that we don't like, we are quick to blame God and complain about it, we question his love and his goodness, and many people some day expect to stand before God and bring up their laundry list of all the "injustices" that have happened to them.
       We have lost sight of the magnitude of God.  We have done so many things to place God on our level that we no longer understand the transcendence of God.  We have come to the place where the creation feels comfortable to say to the creator, who do you think you are?  You can't do that?  I don't like that?  That was not my plan?  I want it this way?  We have the audacity to say to the one who created us, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT."  We need to get back to a place where we realize that God is God.  Let me remind all of us that some day when this life is over and we stand before God, no one will have the audacity to say, "You didn't do your job very well God.  I disapprove of you."  Instead our response will fall in line with what is revealed in Scripture.
In Isaiah's vision of God here was His response...
"Woe to me!  I cried.  "I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."  Isaiah 6:4
Peter, after being commanded by Jesus to put their nets down on the other side of the boat, and realizing who Jesus was responded by saying,
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man."  Luke 5:8
       One day when we stand before God we will respond with absolute awe, reverence, and amazement and fear.  We will never, ever, ever stand before God and tell him if we approved us His job.  As we stand before God His in all His magnitude,  and awesomeness, and Holiness, and Greatness, we will see God for who He truly is!  That day will either be most terrifying day a person will experience as their sins are laid bare before the God of the universe and eternal separation from God is pronounced, or it will be the most amazing, exhilarating moment a person will ever experience as the perfect righteousness of Jesus covers us, as sinners, and we will spend eternity in the presence of God who is so magnificent that we can't even begin  to comprehend.
       Praying for you and for me to gain a better perspective on who God is.  May we not find ourselves amongst those who believe that we have any right, and any basis, on which to disapprove of God's performance.  Instead may we daily strive to understand the greatness of God in all of life, and as a result live a life that reflects and demonstrates God's greatness to a watching world!  I recommend reading Job 38-41 today to remind us of the magnitude of who God is!!!

A toad, a lawnmower, and God's grace!

              Last night as I was mowing our lawn a little toad jumped out in front of me and quickly darted out of the way of the blades.  For the next several passes through that area the toad continually seemed to find itself in the exact place where I was trying to go.  As this was going on I reflected on how easily I could kill this Toad, and the Toad could do absolutely nothing to stop it from happening.  Don't worry, the toad is still alive and most likely happily jumping through my back yard as I write this!  After I moved beyond morbid thoughts of my ability to kill this Toad, my mind moved on to think about the grace of God. 
       I imagine that compared to God in his infinite power, glory, strength, greatness, and on and on, we kind of seem like Toads. God at any point could destroy us, and there is absolutely nothing we could do to stop God from doing that!  The verse that came to mind was Psalm 8:3-4.  "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have ordained: what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for Him."  When you think of the magnitude of God it is amazing that God is mindful of us, and that God cares about us!  
       As amazing as that is, it becomes even more amazing when we realize that the same amazing God, who is mindful of us, is also the God that you and I sin against on consistent basis.  Back to the Toad!  Let's pretend that the Toad was able to bite and annoy me like a mosquito!  If that were the case, that Toad would have been chopped up and sent sailing by the blades of my lawn mower in an instant!  Yet, even though compared to God we are like Toads (in reality an ant would create even a better picture) and even though we being so tiny continually sin against God, God did something absolutely amazing.  Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  AMAZING!  
       Even though compared to God we are nothing, and even though in our nothingness we continually sin against God, God loved us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die for us!  That is AMAZING!!!!!!  May you let that sink in today!  May you begin to comprehend how amazing and incredible God's love and grace for you is!  

You need to listen to this song!

       As I have begun working on my sermon for June 5th the song, Pray, by Kendall Payne came to mind. I am assuming that most of you have never heard of Kendall Payne, which is why I want to encourage you to listen to this song.  I had the opportunity to hear Kendall at National Youth Workers Convention and the lyrics to this song blew me away, and challenged my ideas of what we should be praying for.  It reminded me how often we pray for the American dream not the Biblical dream, and the two are vastly different dreams.  Here are the lyrics....

I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed
I couldn't not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strenght all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater each stride
May your company be of human insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride
What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through
May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could eever speak
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me

You can watch her perform this song here....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdrRSCL-EL4

You might not like this one...

      You might not like this post, but I am going to write it anyways.  When I turned on the news this morning, I quickly found out that Osama was killed.  The news talked about it, and it was even the leading story on ESPN this morning.  As I jumped on facebook I quickly noticed that the vast majority, though not all, of my friends who were commenting on the situation were rejoicing.  Sadly, I fear that many Christians in America will see this as God using his chosen nation, America, to purge the world of evil.  I struggle with the idea of rejoicing with the death of anyone.  Jesus said, we are to love our enemies, and love is not rejoicing in their death.  Love is actively desiring God's good for their life.  The ultimate good for Osama would have been a relationship with Jesus Christ and forgiveness of his sins (even though he would still have received many consequences on earth for his actions).  May we as believers be careful how we talk, think, and live during this time.  We as followers of Jesus are not to be like everyone else.  Maybe instead of rejoicing in the death of Osama, we should be mourning that in all likelihood, Osama has been ushered into an eternity without God.  Lastly, the thoughts of one of my seminary professors came to mind today,  "Osama has killed thousands, but we in America have killed over 35 million of the most innocent by abortion.  Maybe someone should attack us."  Food for thought.

A puking kind of hope

       Yesterday, as I was driving to church to Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ my heart was filled with joy, excitement, and thanksgiving!  I was excited to gather together with brothers and sisters in Christ as together we would proclaim, "HE IS RISEN."  I was excited to see how God was going to work in the lives of those who did not have a relationship with Him.  I was excited!  (and the sun and blue sky that finally decided to make an appearance in MN also added to the excitement of the day).  Shorty after leaving my house I noticed a car pulled off to the side of the road, and than also noticed the woman with her head hanging out the door puking.  In the midst of all my joy, and excitement, and anticipation, I see a woman on the side of the road puking.  What was her story I wondered?  Long night drinking?  Leaving work because she became sick?  Leaving church because she was sick?  Or many other options that ran through my head.  The truth is I don't really know, and probably never will know what her story is, but it made me think.  I was joyful, excited, thankful, and very hopeful as I was heading to church.  She, on the other-hand, was probably not in the same frame of mind.
       I asked myself the question, "what does the easter message offer to this woman puking on the side of the road?"  What does the easter message mean for all those who were not able, or willing, to join us in worship of Jesus Christ?  The answer that came rushing into my mind was, "hope."  The easter message means that as long as someone is still alive there is hope.  Hope that does not fade or disappoint, regardless of circumstances.  It is a puking kind of hope, because even if we find ourselves pulled over on the side of the road puking we still have hope.  Hope for this life and for eternity is found in Jesus Christ BECAUSE of His death and resurrection.  My mind was drawn to Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (including puking), WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JEUS OUR LORD."  Praying that wherever you find yourself today, and tomorrow, and everyday, you will realize that the hope we have is an everlasting hope BECAUSE of the Easter message!  May you allow that to fill you up, and may you have the opportunity to share that hope with those God places in your life today!

Waking the World One Cup at a Time!

As I drove by my favorite coffee shop this morning, Rendezvous Coffee shop in Isanti, MN, I noticed that they changed their sign to read, "Waking the World One Cup at a time!  While I am sure many of us appreciate coffee, and how it wakes us up, it also made me think about the mission that we as Christians have been given, which is to wake people up to the glorious truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  My question for you and for me is simply this?  How are you doing?  Are you living your life in such a way that God will be revealing Himself to others through you?  Do your actions reveal Jesus to others?  Do your words reveal Jesus to others?  Do your priorities reveal Jesus to others?  Do your attitudes reveal Jesus to others?  Does your parenting reveal Jesus to others (including your kids)?  Does your marriage reveal Jesus to others?  Do your friendships reveal Jesus to others?  If a coffee shop strives to wake the world up with their coffee, we as Christians should be striving so much more to wake the world up with Jesus Christ!  So, how are you doing?  Doing pretty good?  Awesome, keep it up!  Keep looking for ways to live in such a way that others will see Jesus through your actions AND your words!  Not doing very good?  Why not start today?  Just ask God to begin to use you to wake others up to the glorious truth of the Gospel, and be ready to follow His leading!  You will stand amazed at the ways God will use you to wake others up!  Waking the world up to the glorious truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!! Will you join me?

Staying focused in prayer.

       Do you ever struggle to stay focused in times of prayer?  I know I do!  Often times when I enter into a time of prayer it is not long before my mind begins to wander and begin to think on things that have nothing to do with what I was praying about it.  Over the years I have done several things that have helped me stay a little bit more focused.  I would have to say that one of the most helpful things that I do in regards to this has been using a journal in prayer.  It helps me to have items written down on a piece of paper that I am able to look at and recall.  It helps keep focused. 
       This morning I was reading, "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence.  In one of the letters that he wrote he specifically addressed the issue of wandering during prayer and had something very insightful to say.  "One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times."  It really is no surprise that so often I struggle with staying focused in prayer when the rest of my day has very few, if any, thoughts of God.  Too often we have moved God to a specific time each day, and that is "God's time."  When we get to that time we often leave feeling like it was wasted time, as we are unable to focus upon prayer, and the study of God's Word.  However, should we really expect anything different?  We spend all day, every day consumed with everything but God, and when we try to enter into our "God time" is should not be a surprise that we can't remove from our minds and hearts those things that consume our life.  I know that I need to spend a lot more time throughout my day focusing on God, praying to God, thinking about God, praising God.  If I do that, if we do that, I really believe that our "God time" will become so much more beneficial as it is not a break from the rest of our lives, but a continuation of the rest of our lives. 
       Brother Lawrence lived in a monastery, so you might think that all he had to do was pray, and read his Bible and think about God, but that was not the case.  While Brother Lawrence did have set times of worship, that was not all his life consisted of.  Brother Lawrence's primary duty at the monestary was to work in order to free up time for the monks to worship God.  He was a dishwasher, and it was through doing dishes day in and day out that He learned how to practice the presence of God continually.  So it doesn't matter if you are a stay at home mom, a youth pastor, a teacher, a plumber, or a CEO, you too can learn to always be about practicing the presecence of God, regardless of what you do.  My encouragement to me, and you, is that today we would think much, pray much, and praise much in whatever situation we find ourselves in.  Then the next time we enter into "God time" it won't seem so foreign, instead it will seem very common, we will feel at home.