All Have Sinned

If there is a message that I want to get out more than anything else, it would be a message of grace through the love of Jesus Christ. I believe that there are many people today who don't fully understand the amazing reality of grace. They feel condemned, unworthy, and lost. They are overpowered by guilt, discouragement, and shame. It doesn't help that all people, including Christians, are hypocrites to some degree. No one has their life together but we all like to front like we do. Maybe if we look happy, dress well, and speak Christianese, no one will ask us the tough questions and everyone will assume we are the 'perfect Christian or family'. I don't know why we like to fool each other, even in our walks with Christ. The more open you are about your brokenness, the more useful you are for the Kingdom of God. Remember, it is impossible to reach broken people if you yourself have not been broken.

When you hear of the Romans Road way of evangelism the first verse that comes to mind is Romans 3:23. I would assume that all Christians know this verse. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This is true. Most people believe that 'Christians' are supposed to be perfect and therefore are just a bunch of hypocrites. But that's the problem, no one is perfect. That is why we need Jesus, daily. See, we all know Romans 3:23 but I'd be curious to know how many of us know Romans 3:24? I think it is wrong to quote 3:23 without quoting 3:24! Verse 23 says again, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Verse 24 continues that thought and says, "AND ALL are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Pretty much we all suck, Christians included. But we all have grace given to us freely because of what Jesus did. And without knowing Jesus, it is impossible to know grace...it is impossible to be free!

Tullian Tchividjian explains grace this way, "The operation of God's grace on our behalf doesn't imply any lessening of his demands. God has always and will always demand perfect obedience. But his grace is experienced when we realize that those demands for perfection for each of us have already been met by our Savior, Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all of God's conditions on our behalf. Christianity is the only faith system where God BOTH makes the demands AND meets them." Wow. Take a moment to marinate in that. The point is, it's all about grace. Our obedience should not be a result of fear or guilt rather, we obey from the secure basis of grace. Your obedience then becomes the natural overflow of your love for Christ.

Thankful

In a year that has been the most crazy and inconsistent for me, I have a lot to be thankful for. First perspective, I'm alive and healthy. I have supportive and loving parents, who I miss greatly, but I'm thankful for the time we get to have together. Each year my brothers leave a bigger impact on my life and I'm thankful for the kind of men they are.

However, this blog post I want to focus on where God has me right now. I can honestly say for the first time in 2 years that I am content with where God has me. I'm not wondering about what's going to happen next in my life or where God is going to lead me or how this season is going to set me up for the next great adventure. God has truly blessed me by putting some incredible people in my life. I am blown away by the generosity, the genuine love, and the amount of fun I am having doing ministry with the people of Cornerstone Church. I'm excited for what God is going to do in and through us this year. I'm excited for the people who are going to hear Jesus. I'm excited for the people who are going to be blessed through our generosity. I'm excited to see a small church in southern Indiana blow up the nations for the Gospel of Christ. I'm thankful and expectant. I'm ready, are you?

On Our Face

The book of Ezekiel has been rocking me lately. As I shared last week about the impossible mission he was given, I find many lessons that we can learn. It is also encouraging to note that he went through many of the emotional roller-coasters that we go through today. This post however is about a moment he had in the presence of the Lord. In the first chapter, verses 26-28, we see this encounter. I hope it challenges you as much as it did me. It says, "Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I (Ezekiel) saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking."

First things first, God sits on a throne. This is a throne of glory, a throne of grace, a throne of triumph, a throne of government, and a throne of judgment. He is King, Holy, and Sovereign! He reigns over all. All while sitting. God is not standing, pacing, or worrying about the mistakes going on in mankind. He is sitting, in charge, reigning with His feet up on the ottoman (Hebrews 1:13). In this picture from Ezekiel, the Lord is surrounded by a rainbow, which is the symbol of His covenant, representing God's mercy and love to His people. We need to stop thinking that God is upset at us. He is a good God, a loving God, and deeply cares about you. His mercy and grace covers you at all times. There is nothing you can do that can separate that (Romans 8)! Maybe you need to just dwell on that this morning...

But what I want to focus on today is this...What Ezekiel the prophet of God saw was only to prepare him for what he was to hear! It was only when he fell on his face that he heard the voice of God. God delights in teaching those who humble themselves before Him. When was the last time you fell on your face in worship? In praise? In prayer? Or in love over the simple fact that He shed His blood for you?

When Discouragement Hits The Fan

Discouragement is something that I believe everyone battles, especially believers. I have pointed out before that the devil works in four ways. Through pride, fear, shame, and discouragement. There is nothing that will satisfy the devil more than when we face discouragement. If we let it, it will affect our walk with God, our ministry, our friendships, our families, and the way we evangelize. When you get down in the dumps, it's easy to not want to do anything that will impact anyone for the Gospel of Christ. This is the place where the devil wants us most! Ineffective for the Kingdom of God because we are disappointed about something or our expectations were not met. We then walk around feeling sorry for ourselves as if we have the power to 'save' anyone anyways. News Flash: the only way someone finds Jesus is if Jesus softens their heart to hearing His message. Our only responsibility is to live like we know Jesus and preach His good news of the Cross. That's it! Everything else will fall into place. Sometimes we just need to realize that we are not the heros; we are only the messengers. Simply mail-men constantly being chased and harassed by the devils dogs. Discouragement is common, but sometimes you just need to kick it in the teeth and remind yourself that you are a child of the King!

I have been studying Ezekiel lately and the Lord has given me a new perspective and appreciation for the ministry that many of us get to be apart of now. In the first 3 chapters God told Ezekiel to go back to the Israelites and preach His Word because they were acting rebellious. He warned Ezekiel to not rebel like them or be afraid but to stand firm and continue to preach whether they listen or not. God then tells him, by the way, the people of Israel will not listen to you for they are hardened and obstinate.  At the end of chapter 2 after he had received the mission from the Lord, it says that Ezekiel went in bitterness and in the anger of his spirit; he sat near the Kebar River for 7 days deeply distressed and overwhelmed! 

Imagine being given that ministry job. God tells Ezekiel to go and preach boldly but he won't see anyone convert, no repentance, no heart change...nothing. Ezekiel is not going to see anything positive. You don't blame him for getting bitter and angry. You understand the discouragement he must have faced. Of course he is going to be overwhelmed and distressed. He's literally doing mission impossible. But that's not the point. God told him to go and he obeyed!

We don't save anyone. Our only mission is to be obedient to God. I thank God that I actually get to see the fruit of His Word. Maybe you are in a season in your church where it seems like nothing is progressing. The fact is, your situation isn't as bad as it seems. You will see life change in the name of Jesus. Are you willing to obey Him? Are you willing to keep going, keep living, keep preaching the name of Jesus? If so, you've already won because Jesus has already won!

Black Holes

There are a lot of books out there that say the same things in different ways. Sometimes, it is those perspectives or different ways of hearing things that finally strike the chords in our lives that cause breakthrough. In Pastor Tullian Tchividjian's book Jesus + Nothing = Everything, he says some things that really challenged me as a young youth pastor. I encourage you to get yourself a copy!

In chapter 4 titled Black Holes he says, "Our performancism leads to pride when we succeed and to despair when we fail. But ultimately it leads to slavery either way, because it becomes all about us and what we must do to establish our own identity instead of resting in Jesus...the most dangerous thing that can happen to you is that you become proud of your obedience." Our obedience proves our love for Him (John 14:15). It should be something that is natural for us as believers but rarely do we obey the FIRST time God speaks! When we do obey immediately, we begin to feel pretty good about our obedience because it doesn't happen as often or as naturally as it should. What a wake up call! Tchividjian goes on to talk about the beauty of grace by saying, "Disobedience happens not when we think too much of grace, but when we think too little of it...Progress in obedience happens only when our hearts realize that God's love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience."

Man, I've been in that place a lot before. Thinking that God loves me more when I'm obedient and the opposite when I screw up. Maybe you've thought those things too. Maybe you too have been impressed with your obedience. But that is not the Gospel. Again, grace is way more amazing when fully understood. My obedience does not gain love. My disobedience does not lose love. In terms of 'justice', we don't deserve grace but it's my understanding of grace that brings freedom. The true kind of freedom that Christianity talks about. Doctrine and theology are important but I know way too many people who know a lot of doctrine and theology but don't know who Jesus is. The law was fulfilled when Jesus said, "It is finished!" Live in His grace today because nothing you do can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35).

Success

For me, as a young youth pastor, it's easy to get caught up in or strive for 'success'. Success can be a wide range of things but one of my favorite quotes on success is one by Henry Blackaby. He says, "Success can distract you as you seek to follow God's will." Tony Miller says it this way, "We are hindered by our last great success because we believe that's the only way God can do it again." Wow, think about that. We can actually be so caught up in our 'success' that we either stop seeking daily after God or, we never change or do anything different because it worked so well before.

In ministry, it's not about a spectacular experience but about a sincere and faithful heart towards God. Do you rely more on the momentum that you have created to carry your ministry, marriage, friendships, etc. When was the last time you stopped to listen what it is that God has for you today? Focus on your own walk with God, then watch as others will benefit from your obedience!

Recovering Legalist

I was visiting Willow Creek Community Church a month ago in the middle of a transition in my life. I was really looking forward to hearing from Pastor Bill Hybels when Steven Curtis Chapman was brought out on stage to do a morning of worship and share some of his life stories. Now if you're anything like me, you would have been immediately disappointed and wondered how a morning of worship with an outdated, old school, corny Christian songwriter would impact your life but I was so very wrong!

First off, you never know where someone is going until you know where they've been. You never really know what someone is going through or how their life experiences have changed them. We are so quick to judge based on what we see with our own eyes without really trying to understand how or why people react the way they do. I had heard of some of the horrible stories that happened to the Chapman family but when you really get to hear from someone why they wrote a certain song or how they hold onto God even in the darkest moments of their life you find a new perspective and appreciation for them. This particular Sunday morning rocked me in an unexpected way.

Steven Curtis Chapman would profess himself as a recovering legalist. He grew up in the Church and knew all the right things to do and say. He found himself judging others and trying to stay in line with the traditions of the Bible, all wrapped around the idea of doing enough good and 'earning' your salvation. The sad reality is that this sounds like many of the "Christians" who attend churches today. We compare ourselves constantly and have a cheap understanding of grace. We think that if we do enough good, 'bad' things won't happen to us and we'll live in our comfortable, middle-class homes, doing just enough 'church' to get by without conviction. We really ignore all the bases of love and rarely inconvenience ourselves to serve. Unfortunately we miss several opportunities to share the love of Christ daily.

Maybe you're a recovering legalist and you don't understand the Gospel fully, or you don't want to give some things up in your life that you deem as necessary, or you feel too judged or not 'good enough'. Whatever your excuse may be, God wants to communicate two things with you: that He loves you right where you are, and are you willing to trust Him?