The Center of Preaching: God

From Byran Chappell, in his book…Christ Centered Preaching:

“the power to do what God requires, resides in God…a sermon with out practical/proper instruction is like yelling to a drowning person, ‘Swim!! Swim!!!’ While the advice is correct, it’s not very helpful…it simply tells someone in their situation what to do, with no means to accomplish it” (paraphrase)

And that means is only found in the Cross of Jesus Christ. Praise Christ for making us new. Amen!

Become a better you….how?

If you don’t know Joel Osteen’s new book is coming out this week….which is terribly exciting (in the negatvie sense). Joel is a very influential person, he is able to communicate to millions of people. I don’t have time to go on and critique and show what worries me about Mr. Osteen. But I plead with you to be discerning, and ask where he gets his authority from…The Bible, or himself witih support from the Bible. Or is it…The Bible and then that forms his thoughts or does he operate the other way around.

Discernment is not telling the difference from what is obviously right from wrong (Jesus is God and Jesus is a monkey). Discernment is telling what is right from what is almost right (Joel Osteen)

I will show you a quote from his new book and give you a link to where you can read a review of this book as well…

From…Tim Challies at www.challies.com
“We’ve all sinned, failed, and made mistakes,” he says, “But many people don’t know they can receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.” That sounds fair, but he goes on to say, “As long as you’re doing your best and desire to do what’s right according to God’s Word, you can be assured God is pleased with you.”

No Jesus there, no repentance, wrath. THIS IS ALL WORKS. I wonder if Joel even understands the Gospel. I pray that he does.

Here are some videos for you also. Pray for this man, and the people that listen to him. God be gracious.

On the Gospel….

Weak on the Gospel…

Jesus’ Resurrection is about giving us temporal hope, not freedom from Sin. All about giving us things, not destroying sin.

Ok with not using much Scripture..

Were back…

Hey guys,

Man! Things have been crazy for us around here. I have been really busy with ministry stuff…as I ought to be. Working with the STIR Conference, laboring for The Station and the teaching and leading responsibility there….and great thing happened also…..I QUIT STARBUCKS!!!! Yay!!!!! And now I am working full time at CrossPoint Community Church to help equip people more in what the know in live from the Scriptures.

And I know Justin (other writer here) has been very busy also. As he also leads a bible study in the woodlands and helps pastor a church….he gets busy…and the dude was in an Opera!!!! That is awesome!!!!!!!!!

So….we are here to let you know, that we will have some more updates coming up here pretty soon…especially some writings on dating. Justin and I both have a lot of materials that we think will be great for you guys to dive into, as we both have done sermon series on how our relationships are to be about glorifying Christ.

So keep your eyes open, as we will be posting more resources for you on that topic.

Thanks guys, have a good day!

In Thailand…

Hey guys…

This is a little bit of a different post..because…

I am sitting in a villiage in Northern Thailand. I have been here on a mission trip for about a week now and I have two more weeks to go. God has been doing some cool things up here in our hearts and in the hearts of the people we are coming in contact with. We have had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people, from the pastor and elder of a local church, to some of the villagers and some of the buddhist monks.

We have found that it is very important that the Thai believers really grow in their faith and get the boldness to declare the Gospel unashamedly!! And to really begin to live for Christ and no longer be concerned with what others will think, but to be centered on the Gospel alone. (sounds a lot like the States!).

We are working with a missionary couple from Pennsylvania (probably spelled that wrong, but its ok, Im speaking a lot of Thai around here!!), Greg and Corinne Hortman. They are a really awesome couple who have a passion to see God worshipped all around the Globe and in this people group they are living with. We are writing a 30 day prayer guide that will be published in november for them and OMF (overseas missionary fellowship) concerning how people should be praying (specifically for the Tai Yuan people, which is one of the people groups in northern Thailand).

This people group is important because they live in Laos (which we went to the other day), Burma, China and Vietnam. And if they were to be equipped and sent out to proclaim the news of Jesus Christ, they would have such a glorious impact by the Grace of God to point others to Him.

The Buddhist worldview is very hard to pin…there are so many differenct sects and combinations of other religions in this part of the world, and they are a very stubborn people. May God break through their wicked hearts and rock them with the Gospel, as He has ours, Praise Christ!!!!

I will try and keep you updated. I better head out…I am sitting in one of the elders house from the church here in the village, we just ate dinner together…a dish made with meat, pig skin, cilantro, rice and blood as the sauce…pretty good though.

Please Pray for our team, their are 5 of us, including my wife. That we would always look to Christ while we are here and remain as humble servants and love the missionarys and strenghten their hands in the Lord so they can be force here in this dark part of the world.

For the Glory of Christ!!!

Jeff

Don’t Waste It

If you have never heard of John Piper, man…let me encourage you to read something of his…anything!! He has been a blessing to many of my friends and myself, in challenging us to live for the Glory of God and nothing else, cause that is what really brings happiness, that is what really honors the Lord.

I had the honor and privilege to speak at a small ceremony at Tomball High School, in Tomball, TX, called a baccalaureate ( I probably spelled that wrong). I had 15 – 20 minutes to get up there and exhort the kids to no waste thier summer, to not waste the years ahead of them. That college is not the most important thing…its vanity. That a good job is not the most important thing….its vanity. Whoever they marry is not the most important thing…it is vanity. What toys we can acquire in this life and no longer serve Christ but die with a lot of stuff and become a memory to our families..its vanity…its madness for us to be consumed with anything other…than Christ. Our life is so short. Reality…death is coming. And the only things that we can take with us or will exist after our death are the thigns that have been done for Christ, nothing else. nothing.

So what am I consumed with?? That is the question. What do I get angry about?? When we get angry, it reveals what idols are in our lives, whether it be our own comfort, our pride, arrogance or plain ol’ selfishness. Cause if your life is anything like mine, my anger is not only about God’s Glory. It can be about my selfish desires not being fulfilled.

I have the great honor of speaking to college students every monday night (stationtomball.com) and we have been going through the book of Ecclesiastes. I have never been so challenged. We must not be focused, whole heartedly, on what happens here under the sun (key phrase in the book), but focus on what is beyond the sun. Every week, we have been encouraged, to not waste our lives. To not spend our affections on anything else other than Christ and to seize what we have, and make the most of the time because the days are evil. (Ecclesiastes and Ephesians are very similar)

Begin this train of thought…”I will not waste _______ ” and fill it with whatever situation. “I will not waste my job” “my car” “my house” “my money” “my friends and family” “my injury” “my marriage” “my food” etc….etc..etc…BUT to take all of those and think hard about how to give God the glory. God is not one to have a two bit part in our lives, by our ritualistic quick read, “quiet time”, but He is one who is the subject of all things, the sustatiner of all things, and requires that He is acknowledged in all things. 1 Cor. 10:31.

May this video bless you…

blessings, Jeff.

I’ll die (kill) for that…

That phrase and idea just gets my mind going. “I’ll die for that.” Along with other phrases like “I’ll die on that hill”, “I’d give up my child for that”, etc..etc.. But what are the things that we are willing to die for?

Now we could go on and on, “I’d die for my family, my wife, kids, friends etc…etc..” While those can be noble things that are worth dieing for and allowing yourself to be slain for the sake of others. But specifically..what in Christianity would you be willing to die for???

We could be speaking literally here, but my idea is this. What are you willing to die, or even kill for in Christianity, metaphorically.

There are so so so so so so many things that we can argue about as a group of Christ followers, such as: music, lights, volume, translation, Calvinism, sovereignty, free will, cheesy t shirts, carpet, fundraisers, drinking, gifts of the spirit, end times, rapture, dispensationalism, covenant theology etc..on and on we could go.

So the question is…which topics/belief are we willing to die for and get upset about or even which ones are we willing to even kill (metaphorically) for those who are oppose to the way you lean on a belief. The reason I tie in, kill, is this. While it appears we are willing to go up to the hill and claim what we believe and allow ourselves to be berated and hated and slandered for our belief, there are other times that we do the very same thing to someone else. They will march up to their hill and we will bust out an arsenal of arguments against them to prove them wrong, prove us right (boosting our pride and arrogance) all under the veil of spirituality. And it appears, we are trying to kill any influence they have and any credibility they have.

I want to be clear also that this is a conversation amongst family. Christian to Christian. Is there really anything that is worth dismantling another believer, assaulting them and their belief??? Now, don’t get me wrong. I value theology. I think it to be of utmost importance. I am big fan of people studying God and knowing everything we can about God’s character and attribues and the Doctrine of Christ and the Bible, so on and so forth. I am biblical studies major…I love to think in these ways…my mind is just bent towards theological matters..but….but….lately, they have shifted for me. They haven’t lost importance to me, but its not the most important thing. The most important thing is not another believer either (meaning, their feelings, or beliefs that are grey matters). Niether one of those can be our chief end, our main goal, our thing we value most.

The main thing, simply put is, the Gospel. Jesus. His Life. His Death. His Resurrection. The Gospel is the main thing. Christ Crucified to redeem a people (bride) for their good and His glory. The more and more I think on the Gospel and its importance the more and more I am drawn to the cross. The more I am drawn to the Gospel. The more I am drawn to Jesus. By cause and effect it means, that I am drawn less to debates on Predestination, speaking in tongues, prophecy, alcohol, dancing, covenant theology etc… to prove my agenda and why I am on this side and why I am right and you are wrong. You begin to not be so concerned about where people land on issues, but where people land with Jesus and His redemptive work.

The only thing worth fighting over within the family is the Gospel. The only thing worth breaking fellowship for is the Gospel, the only thing worth dieing for is the Gospel, the only thing worth anything is the Gospel. Jesus and alone Jesus. Because Jesus is the Gospel. Yes the Gospel is the Good News. And Jesus is the Good News. He is the Good Shepherd, He is the truth, life, light. Jesus is the Gospel.

Am I not called to pick up my cross for debates over theological distinctives…only for Christ. And we must be careful to not exalt our love and passion for theology and study of the scriptures (which are great things!!!) over the joyful pursuit of following Christ. We are off if we do and we are no longer following Christ, but our own agenda and our own desires for knowledge, prominence and our Spiritual Ego and reputation among our friends and even people we minister to.

But…that doesn’t mean we don’t dialogue about things. Oh, how we should!! It’s challenging, it’s love, it’s being a family, being the body of Christ, that we challenge each other and teach and shape/spur one another to be more like Christ…(key is, more like Christ, not more like ourselves and what we believe). We must always have open, loving, honest communication about the things of God. But, we must be humble enough to back away when we disagree and love each other they way we are called to. And if someone hasn’t grasped our beliefs on a certain issue…praise Christ…because they are His. Praise Christ, because we are His. Praise Christ, because we will all be with Him forever.

The thief on the cross is a great example of this. The thief on the cross next to Jesus, placed is faith and hope in Christ moments before he died. He had no time to study the OT or the NT (it wasn’t written yet, hehe), no time to go to seminary, no time to study Calvinism, no time to debate over dancing or gifts of the spirit. He had only placed is faith in Christ and believed upon the Gospel!!! That was it!!!! That was all that mattered!!!! And Jesus tells him “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Oh!!!!! How awesome and comforting is that!!! Jesus telling this new convert, “I will see you in paradise, you are coming home with Me.” Praise Christ!!!!!! No time for anything else, and he gets the same eternal reward that we all do. Christ. “Today, (time frame), you will be with ME (the reward) in paradise (the location).” He gets Jesus. He gets to behold the glory of God.

The most important thing…is Jesus. The Gospel. Everything is important, but not of first importance. Christ Alone.

May your affections be stirred for Christ,

Jeff

Cost of Christ and Ministry

Cost of Christ??? No no…I did not come up with that clever phrase. And no, Jesus is not for sale…He is free to all men. This is not what that means. Historically it gives the meaning of what it means (costs) to follow Christ. But what does it costs??

For us in the United States of America…it doesn’t really seem to cost that much, maybe giving up R rated movies and our music that is categorized as ‘non-christian’ cause it hasn’t accepted Jesus as it’s personal Lord and Savior, but that is another entry (I don’t have time to think about those two…and yes…I said two…consider what they may be).

In reality, we may get made fun of, or lose some friends be the weirdo in our family…but nothing in comparison to what our brothers and sisters are facing all around the globe…we must keep/begin to pray for our brothers and sisters as they are suffering and dieing for the Kingdom and that they will continue to love Him though they have not seen Him…and that by their joyful devotion, our affections will be stirred even more for Christ.

So..in view of what it costs to follow Christ..I am reminded of the story of ‘the rich young ruler’

18And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” 28And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Basically..guy rolls up to Jesus and wants to have eternal life. Not that new of an idea. Someone wanting eternal life. But what is his desire???? Eternal Life. Not Christ. Now this is highly dangerous for us as believers. We must always be on guard and keep watch over our souls that we are never loving the blessings of God more than God. We cannot treat God that way. He doesn’t want to be assumed or considered in passing when it comes to anything…WHY did He make the universe? To declare His Glory!!! God is not one to be in the background…He is the subject. So..This was the Ruler’s first problem.

Now their are many other things that we could look at in this texts…but that is not why I am writing, to exegete this passage. To explain some of these verses and breakdown what they are saying.

The part we are focusing on is this…”sell everything you have, give it to the poor and follow me.”

Interesting what Jesus just told him to do. This guy is rich, and Jesus said, everything!!! That means…Everything!!! Don’t let that glaze over you..think about what is sitting around you right now that is yours…and you would be asked to sell it all!!!!! How much is the kingdom worth…Jesus is saying a lot!!! Sell..cars, house, table, chairs, wedding ring, guitars, xbox, laptop, books, shoes, purses, appliances, movies, games, EVERYTHING!!!

And here is the kicker..you don’t keep any of the money!!! You give it all to the poor!!! WOW. Talk about finding our where your heart is to the needy!! We want to sell our stuff and then go buy other stuff with it, that we wil, one day, sell again or we will die and others will sell it for us. Jesus says “ok..good, You did that. Now take all of that money and go and just give it to the poor. Just give it to them…and follow me.”

Jesus doesn’t ask for that money. Jesus is not a consumer. Too many ministires beg for money. Yes, we need suppot sometimes…(I work at a Church, I live off of your gracious obeidence to give to the church). But that’s not what I am talking about. I’m talking about those who are asking for ungodly amounts of money from you. Asking you to ‘sow a seed’ and give a love gift (sizeable amount of $$$). To sell some of your stuff if you need to and give it ____ & _____ Ministry.

Now what strikes me a little different about Jesus is that he says…”yes, sell your stuff and give it to the poor.” He doesn’t ask for it, hint at it or anything…give it to the poor. Follow me…and lets get to work.

Which leads to the last thought and to the guys original question and Jesus’ answer. Follow Me. Probably not exactly what the ruler was looking for. He may have been thinking “I wanted eternal life and you are telling me to follow you around?? This seems a little weird.” The key to finding what you are looking for is in following Christ. It seems to be the exact opposite of what the ruler was looking for. It is all found in following Christ man born in a barn like area.

I love the old Rabbinic idea of following your teacher so much that his dust may be upon you. It means that you are following him so close that even as he walks, you are right in step, imitating everything he does, that even the dust that he kicks up as he walks is on you. Oh, how we need to follow Christ!!!! And this leads me think about Missions.

Go. Go. Speak. Love. Give. Serve. Begin to see the need around the world, in your home, in your class, at your job, with your friends…begin to have an effect for the Kingdom. We have been bought with a price and our lives are not our own, we no longer have spare time, it all belongs to Christ and we are to work for Him in spreading the Gospel for His glory and the joy of all people. When considering telling your neighbor or co-worker, or going overseas, or driving down to Mexico…remember what it means to follow Christ. A wreckless abandonment of anything that offers less joy and satisfaction than that of communion in worship and in service with God.

Be ready to sell all that you have in pursuit of the treasure found in the field, in the glorious find in a pawn shop (modern day version I guess). Be ready to give all for the sake of Christ. He is worth it.

may your affections be stirred for Christ,

Jeff

ESV or NASB Agenda?

For Starters…I am a fan of both Translations. I have been using the New American Standard Bible (NASB) for quite sometime now. Then with the introduction of the English Standard Version (ESV), I was very intrigued and began to see a lot of other people begin to make the switch. I think for some good reasons…It tends to be a a little more readable than the NASB, while still being a word for word translation, as opposed to a thought for thought (NIV) or paraphrase (The Message). Now…I’m not one of those guys who says…you are of the devil if you use the NIV or The Message…I think they still have some value. NIV is great for getting the gist of a passage and The Message is almost like a commentary, which is what I use it for sometimes…but yes..we still need to be discerning.

Discernment is of utmost importance when it comes to any area of Christianity. There are teachers who are famous in some circles and have a mass of followers…who would have been burned alive 200 years ago if they were teaching the same thing as they are now…but that is another conversation.

I have had a problem with the ESV lately. Mainly this. Look at your Bible. Whatever translation you have go grab it and I’ll post the verses here for you as well.

Look at Genesis 17. A very important chapter in the book, as this is the beginning of circumcision and some other details for the Abrahamic Covenant, that are mentioned earlier in the book. Look at verses 1 – 2. I’ll put it here first in the NASB, then ESV and a few others for you.

17:1 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2″I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”(NASB)

17: 1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” (ESV)

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” (NIV)

17: 1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, “I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.” (THE MESSAGE)

17: 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” (TNIV)

Go back and read those passage and notice what has been put in bold and see the differences between the verses.

I really want to draw your attention to the first two verses that were posted and the difference between the NASB and the ESV rendering of that verse.

The NASB says…that God told Abraham to be blameless. Verse 2 then says “I WILL”. Meaning plainly, that God is going to establish His covenant with Abraham. Not a lot of fancy interpretation is needed.

Now..the ESV says in verse 1 the same, a call for Abraham to be blameless. Verse 2, however picks up with a clausal phrase, “that I may.” Very different from the NASB. This rendering brings a totally different meaning to the passage.

The ESV is saying, that God is telling Abraham to live his life a certain way and He has to do it, so God can establish His covenant with Abraham (The Abrahamic Covenant, which consists of Land (Promised Land), Seed (Isaac, eventually Christ), Blessing (Be a blessing to the Nations by Christ, and he will be blessed). By the ESV putting a clausal phrase on the verse, they allowed for some implications. Specifically for a bent towards a certain Theology.

Reformed Theology has many facets to it. I love reformed Theology, I love the Doctrines of Grace…but, I have some issues with Covenant Theology. If you want to know more about Covenant Theology go to monergism.com and begin a search. I don’t have the time to get into it or Dispensational Theology. Basically, Covenant Theology will say that all of the promises to Israel and all of their blessings have been Transferred over to the Church and they are no longer for Israel but the Church. Dispensational Theology says that is not true. Now why is this important you might be thinking??? Well..

Typically reformed theology folks will have a bent towards covenant theology. And I have heard and seen that most of the guys who helped translate the ESV are…reformed.

So as I read the rendering of Genesis 17 in the ESV, I am a little surprised. Because it is an overwhelming difference than that of the NASB…they (ESV translators) have put their theology/belief system/hermeneutic into their translation of that passage.

Which may not seem like a big deal…but as I sat in a bible study that discussed whether or not the Abrhamic Covenant is conditional (able to be broken) or unconditional (nothing can change it)…a lot of the argument came out of this passage…translated by the ESV. And people will point to this passage saying that since Abraham didn’t walk blamelessly before God, these promises to him and the nation of Israel have been transferred to the bride of Christ, the Church.  I believe…that is not true, the Church has been grafted into the promise and has been adopted as sons and brought near to the covenants of the promise by the blood of Chirst, and we are going to make the Jews jealous and they will eventually turn their affections to the one whom they piereced (summary of the end times).

God makes a promise and He doesn’t break it. Ever. The Abrahamic Covenant is of utmost importance in the Bible, it is the main covenant and all of the other covenants are just falling under this one! If the Abrahamic Covenant falls down, they all do. I have heard it be described as the lynch pin for the Old Testament.

I would say that, verse one of Genesis 17 is an exhortation to Abraham to ‘be holy, to live right, to be blameless, to begin to walk as one who is following the one true God..YAHWEH.’ Then verse two follows with God saying, “I am going to keep my promise!” Because back when God made the covenant with Abraham, God put him to sleep and walked through the torn pieces of an animal, a symbol of a covenant of blood. Normally both parties in the agreement would walk through it together, to share the responsibility, but God…walked it by Himself. Declaring that it is He who is upholding this promise/arrangement and now one else. And if the Covenant was up the Abrahams (or our) ability to live a good life that would leave room for bragging or holding hands with God and being able to say, “Look what we did!!” When the reality is…Look what God did.

So all of that to say, that we must always be careful when we are reading and teaching scripture. And to not ever have an agenda. I pray that was not their motive in how they translated this passage, but that they honestly thought that is what the original text looked like. We must never begin to read our beliefs into Scripture, but always let Scripture mold and break what we believe. Even if we don’t like what we see. Let Scripture speak.

I am a little disappointed with the ESV. What do you think????

Gravity of Sin and the Glory of God

“Oh oh….Gravity is working against me…Gravity it wants to bring me down….Gravity….Stay the hell away from me!”

Sin.

I have a good friend named Tim, I love Tim. There is something about the times that we spend together, whether in the car going to the mall or at Starbucks talking at 7 am…its always a sweet time about the Lord.

And I remember Tim talking about that song by John Mayer. I like John Mayer…I like that song..but I never, in a hundred years (I didn’t say million , cause of course I wouldn’t be able to in a million years…but maybe a hundred) would have thought about that song in this way.

“Whenever I listen to that song, it makes me think about sin. And how sin and my flesh just want to bring me down and it feels like there is this force that is keeping…and Im just like (what John Mayer writes)….’stay the hell away from me’.” Profound. Deep.

That should be our desire and our reaction towards sin and our flesh…stay away from me!!!! Stop coming around…Stop bringing me down!!! Sin does carry some gravity. It feels like at times that we cannot beat it. But we can. We can never down play the power and control of the Holy Spirit. Before Christ…the gravity of sin was huge. We couldn’t beat it. In reality, before Christ, you didn’t want to…you had no reason to. Even if you (before Christ) wanted to quit an immoral activity (sin) it was for your own benefit and not the Glory of Christ…hence…you were still sinning.

The Gravity and the Weight of sin is huge. It permeates anything and everything about us. And it’s no wonder that Paul tells in Ephesians to put on the armor of God, because it is a battle. You are fighting a force that’s bigger than your body (John Mayer again). The Evil forces of this world…but…the Spirit is our help.

When we sin…our how world is flipped upside down and a whole slew of sins is committed, not just one. Let’s say a guy looks lustfully at a woman. Did he just lust??? No..follow me here…He committed adultery with her in his heart, he was selfish (seeking after his own desires), he became prideful(selfishness and pride go hand and hand, saying ‘i can do this, she doesn’t matter, I deserve this’ now of course he may not have been thinking those things, but that is what is brewing in his wicked heart), he didn’t love that woman as himself, he began to disobey God, and act out of His will for his life to be sexually pure (1 Thess. 4:3), and worst of all…he communicated to God that he is not pleased with God, that God is not satisfying for him, and that He doesn’t love God (right then) by his disobedience and the selfish pursuit of lust.

The Gravity and Weight of Sin is huge. When one sin is committed…it’s more than one…This is why we have a problem. This is why we are in desperate need of Christ to cleanse us and make us new. To continually confess know sin to our brothers and sisters, and enjoy the community that God has given us…so that..together we can fight the gravity of sin. And we can begin to point everything in our life to the Glory of God…

As Tim and I kept on talking…we began to talk about…how do you begin to live your life for the Glory of God. I mean, we know how to do it on the major things..school, work, ministry, friends etc..etc.. We got that down. But how like Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:31, that in everything you do, whether eating or drinking give glory to God. Is it possible?? I think so…why else would Paul tell us to do that…knowing that we can’t really do it?

We began to talk about how we see in color. We give glory to God that He made it so we can see in color. He made different smells…good and bad. He could have made it to where everything smelled like mint. But He didn’t. Eating is one of my favorite things that God has made. If you have never to Lupe’s (Mexican food), you need to go. So…God could have made it to where we have nothing to eat but lettuce and water, nothing but oatmeal (no raisins or brown sugar to put in, plain oatmeal..gross). And He could have designed to where it would be incredibly painful for us to…that it would be something we hated doing, and never looked forward to. But Praise Him that He didn’t!!!! There is a way to sit in a movie in bring glory to God. “Wow..God gave these me a brilliant mind to think of this script, it reminds me of the Story of Redemption that God has been working on since the Garden of Eden.” Begin to shift your thinking….This is how…make God the subject of your sentence.

There are ways that in everything you do…to bring glory to God.

For the Kingdom of Christ and The Glory of God,

jm

Preaching?

Have you ever thought about just how odd (it appears) some of the stuff that we do in church must look to the outside world?? Think about preaching…A guy standing next to or behind an ugly podium (not all, but some are just funny) and has a really really really old book, written by a bunch of different people and makes some very strong claims about life. And people sit there write down what he says…they have their books to and while he is talking, they say things like ‘amen’ (don’t you say that after you pray for your food?) and ‘that’s right’, ‘come on’ etc..etc.. Now I am not trying to lessen or come down on preaching at all..just think what it must look like to some people. Not that we should change what we are doing…but I do feel there needs to be a change in what we are saying.

What are we talking about? When have 45 minutes of their time a week (up to 1.5 hours, depending on the church). What are pastor’s declaring to their people in the short amount of time that they are sitting there grabbing every word they have to say?

Brothers…nothing…is more important than that we declare Christ and Him Crucified. That we Exalt the Glory of Christ and the Beautiful Treasure that is Jesus Christ, God in flesh. But yet…My heart is troubled as I hear and see what goes on in some churches all across our country. Now…I am not just an irritated guy that is getting on a soapbox about preaching..and I’m not going to start, “this guy is a joke…and he said this..and blah blah etc..etc..etc.” That is not for right now (that might happen later, but not now).

There are sermons/talks/motivational diatribes that have nothing to do with God, where God is not the subject..we are! And what does this accomplish, but make me feel central to my life and put the focus on my life and my problems and my success. Let me be honest here…the problem with a marriage that is getting a divorce…the problem is not the divorce…Now please hear me, I am not saying this is not a problem, of course it is. But it is not the main problem. This is fruit of the main problem..the root that is in their hearts.

Think with me for a second…there is a farmer and he has an apple tree. And this apple tree does nothing but produce rotten apple after rotten apple. Would this farmer be serving his family and farm and the tree justice just by picking the fruit off and throwing it away? What does this farmer need to do? He needs to do something with the tree…either this tree is totally corrupt and needs to be moved to some better soil or the roots are dead/sick and need some nutrients so the tree can begin to produce what it is designed to do.

Now if all we do is continue to pick at all of the bad fruit in people’s lives…are we really helping them?? It would seem to me that we are really hurting them and not only them, but there families, the church (their local body) and those who are closest to them. Cause while they may be good at picking the bad fruit out of their lives, the root (their heart) is still in need of being fixed. The problem with a divorce is Love for God. The problem is love, the problem is selfishness. People who get married for selfish reasons, will get out of it for selfish reasons.

Our preaching and teaching must be centered Christ. We must be about declaring God. Making Him the subject of every sermon. Making sure that people walk away wanting more of Him, giving people a desire to taste and see that the Lord is Good. We don’t have to make God look good. HE IS GOOD!!! You don’t have to make a sunset look appealing…beautiful women (like my wife) don’t really need make up..why!? Cause they are already beautiful. We do not need to dress up God and make Him attractive…He is the author of beauty. He is beyond compare, He is the stunning beauty to the souls of all mankind. No convincing needs to be done, no fancy tricks or fog machines…yet…Only Preaching Christ and Him Crucified (which is the Glory of God) and Prayer that God moves.

For the Kingdom,
jm