you have done all this evil . . .

"Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.
Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty."
I Samuel 12:20-21

Sometimes you read the Bible and certain verses just jump off the page at you.  These are such verses.  They meet me right where I am.
I have done this evil (confession)
Yet (hope)
do not turn aside from following the Lord (renewed focus)
do not turn aside to empty things (renewed perspective)

There is hope for all of us.  We don't down-play our sin.  We have done this evil, but we simply need to confess our sin and believe in the hope we have in our Lord.  Renew our focus on him and maintain a Christ-centered perspective that will weed out all the empty things that tempt us.

strength in weakness

"The Lord said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

God's grace is sufficient . . . His power is made perfect in weakness.

The process of shifting our perspective from power in strength to power in weakness is a life-long process. Perhaps that is why we endure weaknesses, insults, hardships, etc. our whole life long.  It is a process of embracing God's grace.

May I take one step closer to shifting my perspective today.  By God's grace may I catch a glimpse of my weakness and His strength.

like a child

Mark 10:15
"whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

I am not sure what this means . . . but for as complicated and conflicting as faith in Jesus can be at times, this verse is reassuring.
Let the theologians debate God's sovereignty, let the skeptics struggle with His existence, let the conservatives argue over His laws, and let the liberals question His justice (and I surely will join in with each of them from time to time) But let us all come home to a simple child-like faith.  Let us all remember the wonder that fills a child's eyes as you tell them stories--the peace that fills their heart as you let them under the covers during a thunder storm--the comfort that calms their tears as you kiss away the pain from their scraped knee.
No doubt there is time and space for the questions and the struggles, but whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.

a verse for the celebrity apprentice

I Samuel 2:1-3
"And Hannah prayed and said,
'My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like the Lord;
there is none besides you;
there is no rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.'"


Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth.

I have been watching the Celebrity Apprentice this season.  It has been fun to watch a bunch of has-been / wanna-be celebrities compete to win money for charities.  However, it has been frustrating to listen to a bunch of self-obsessed failures drone on and on and on and on and on about how wonderful they are.  Maybe a handful of the contestants are talented, maybe the majority of them were simply in the right place at the right time to rise to their D-level of stardom--whichever the case each week I find myself shouting at the tv--"shut-up already! How arrogant can you be?!"

So, it was refreshing this morning to read these verses from I Samuel, and be reminded of how beautiful humility is.  The Bible is a story of salvation--it's a story of how we need salvation--it's a story of God's strength and our weakness.  He is our rock and by Him actions are weighed.

When either option is modeled for me--Godly humility vs celebrity arrogance--I am far more attracted to the humility of Hannah than the arrogance of Aubrey (or as I call her, "the red head").

The Unseen Power of the Gospel

SEEN VS. UNSEEN
from II Corinthians 4

• Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers
• God made His light to shine in our hearts
• jars of clay
• with a treasure inside
• hardpressed
• BUT NOT crushed
• perplexed
• BUT NOT in despair
• persecuted
• BUT NOT abandoned
• struck down
• BUT NOT destroyed
• always carry the death of Jesus
• SO THAT the life of Christ may be revealed
• always being given over to death
• SO THAT His life may be revealed
• outwardly wasting away
• inwardly renewed day by day
• light and momentary troubles
• eternal weight of glory
• temporary
• eternal
• seen
• unseen

II Corinthians 4:18, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

If you like starting your day with happy thoughts, reading the Bible may not be your best option

I have often been told that it is good to start your day off with reading the Bible.  So this morning I read the book of Judges.  How can I put this without being irreverent . . . it sure felt like a lousy way to start my day . . .

The 12 tribes of Israel have settled in the promised land.  Their leader Joshua dies in the first couple chapters, and everyone starts doing what is right in their own eyes.  The stories in the book are tragic and gruesome.  Even the "good heros" that preserve Israel are "bad" people.

Take the popular story of Samson as an example.  He is an immoral, arrogant man who when angered takes vengeance by killing hundreds of men at a time--and he is one of the "better" characters.  But we have to seriously consider how we are telling this Bible story to kids (and adults) in Sunday school.  Samson was a bad man that God used to preserve his chosen people.  We should never aspire to be like Samson, but we should cling to the hope that if God can use Samson he can use us too.

The book closes with an awful story that illustrates how vile the 12 tribes had become as they ignored God and did what was right in their own eyes.  You finish the book feeling disappointed, dirty, and defeated. What hope can their be?  But thankfully Judges is just one act in God's drama.  Hope is coming.

So it felt like a lousy way to start my day, but I suppose I would get a similar feeling starting my day reading the morning paper.  Political parties slinging mud--murders--wars--rumors or wars--economic depression--corrupt leaders--corrupt political systems.  However, one thing that Judges highlights that the newspaper does not is that God is at work through it all.  He has given us a free-will to do what is right in our eyes or to do what is right in His eyes.  Sadly Judges and the paper generally report on the tragic stories of doing what is right in our eyes, but both leave us longing for someone to come and make it all right.  It is fitting that Ruth is the next book.

I believe; help my unbelief

Mark 9:24 captures the struggle that is faith . . . I believe . . . at least I think I believe . . . I want to believe . . . how can I tell if I really believe . . . it is so hard to believe . . .

"I believe; help my unbelief."

In Mark 9 a father brought his demon possessed son to Jesus with the hope that Jesus could make his son well.  Jesus' response to the father was, "all things are possible for the one who believes." To which the father responds, "I believe; help my unbelief."  Jesus then heals his son.

The father's response resonates with me because it is honest.  He doesn't try to fool anyone. His son's life is on the line; if I were him I would of put on a face of total belief--I would have left off those last 3 words.  But the father defaults to the path of total transparency--I believe, but honestly there is a little doubt floating around in the back of my head about who you are Jesus, and about how you are going to act in this circumstance; help my unbelief.

At times it can feel like there is very little room for doubt in Christian circles.  It can feel like everyone is running on a full tank of faith, and if that is the case you feel like keeping quiet about your quarter tank.

I wish we could all be more like the father in this story.  I wish we could be more open about our belief AND our unbelief.  I know it's true for me.  I know I believe (after all I am a pastor) but the gas gage of faith is not always full.  Faith is difficult to understand; it is difficult to exercise; it is difficult to discuss.  So with that understanding, lets be honest about the struggle--and like we see in the story, Jesus will work in spite of our unbelief.

weakness

I just finished reading I Corinthians from beginning to end in one sitting.  Paul instructs the church at Corinth in many different topics ranging from the role of women in church to spiritual gifts to the resurrection of Jesus.  But at the beginning and the end of his letter Paul highlights the contrast that defines God's work in this world--In 1:27 he states that God uses the weak to shame the strong, and in 15:43 that what is sown in weakness is raised in power.

God is in the business of using our weaknesses to shame the strong and to demonstrate HIS power.

So as you read through I Corinthians and see the issues present in that church--divisions, sexual immorality, lawsuits, broken marriages, cultural clashes, idolatry, inappropriate use of the Lord's table, misunderstandings about spiritual gifts, disorderly services, etc.--one can't help but wonder if the Corinthian christians felt pretty weak by the end of the letter.  I imagine they read it and thought, "wow, we have a lot of work to do!"

As I look at the status of the American church today, I can't help but think, "wow, we have a lot of work to do!" But recognizing our weakness is a good first step, because God is in the business of using our weaknesses to shame the strong and demonstrate HIS power.

As I look at my life, I know that I have a lot of work to do.  I know that I am weak, but I also know that my weakness can be raised in power.