Searching for Meaning and Purpose...

I've been cruising through Hebrews right now, so you get to join with me some more as we look at chapter 12 today. But, more than just some thoughts, I want to show you how to study your Bible as you read it. So journey with me now as we toss out the opening text... Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. I love this set of verses. It's encouraging to know that the...

What would it look like if we lived our lives based on faith? I mean this seriously, because we so often talk about faith but seem to care about it and possess so little! Hebrews (11:1) says " Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. " Now, with that in mind, are you living in faith? Now, note here, I am NOT , NOT , NOT , pushing a health and wealth, name it and claim it, kind of thing here. Yes, I may hope for a custom made Dodge Viper to appear on my doorstep, but that's not what my hope is built on or for! That is just the selfish nature rearing its head and saying, "GIMME!!!!" Now, let's look at this verse in context and determine what it really means... Following the verse is a list of people who had "faith." Their faith wasn't necessarily getting what they wanted (or at all!) I mean, just look at the examples he gives and then the fact that he goes on...

So, after saying that we were done with the purity discussion, I'm to resurrect it for one more post. Mainly because I think we told part of the story and the rest needs to come out. A lot of us struggle with some kind of secret-ish sin (okay, make that ALL of us!). It might be a porn addiction, it might be things we do/say or otherwise, but its the thing that we cannot beat. We've tried and tried, but always fail. If that sounds familiar (which if you're anything at all like me, sounds more like the story of your spiritual life sometimes), this post is for you. Condemnation comes from tons of sources, but we often heap most of it on ourselves for our repeated failures. I know I'm often my harshest critic, because I see the things no one else sees and know the way it " ought " to have gone/been/worked. And I think that's true of most of us, especially those in Christian circles. We know the truth, and the truth is supposed to set us free, but i...

Okay, we've covered a ton of ground and hopefully got you thinking, and maybe feeling convicted. There are choices to make regarding what's been said and what will be said today. The question is who you are going to be at its core: Jesus or something else? Now, let's take a breather and be honest with each other for a second. I'm a youth/worship pastor and I'm the one doing the talking here, does that mean it doesn't apply to me? Heck no! I'm guilty of lots of sin. To be brutally honest, I'm not just a pastor, I'm a guy which means I have some serious issues with my road to purity. Guys are generally visually stimulated to the point that our culture tries to sell everything to us with scantily clad women. I have had serious issues with that in my life and had to come up with a way to beat it so I could get to know my God. The answer for me was to "bounce" my eyes. If that college girl out jogging knew what I was thinking when I...

So we had a great discussion last night in the church van about this topic, and the state of many Christians in general, after our See You After the Pole rally. Each of the previous posts will come in here too, but this could almost stand on its own as we finish up this discussion today. When we speak about purity, the important thing to remember is that it encompasses so much more than sex. Leviticus told us that we should (MUST) "be holy, because I, your God, am holy." It's not a bummer of a rule, instead its the best thing that we can imagine. Think about the person you are closest to in this world. Do you tend to think alike and do most of the same things? If not, do you wish you did more where you were of one heart/mind? The simplest way to explain God's requirement that we be holy, comes down to our relationship with Him. Sin creates distance in that relationship and divides us. God, who loves us so incredibly, hates that and so should we. Most time...

Here we go again... I've hit on some of the issues surrounding purity, and touched on some of the Scriptural truths that we would rather live without, but today we're going to get a bit hardcore in our exegesis (reading what Scripture says, versus eisegesis where we make it say what we want it to say) as we go to the heart of the matter. Some would tell you that being pure is part of our duty as Christians, to which I would agree, partly. The truth is, we need to live life with purity for a LOT more reasons than some "duty." The thing is, to call oneself a Christian literally means "someone who is like Christ or "a little Christ" (think Spanish: adding "ita/ito" to the end off a word makes it "little"). But so many of us don't take that name very seriously, which is why we hit on Christian Atheism Monday! The hard-to-swallow fact of the matter is that we may well be the only Jesus someone sees, which can bee quite frightenin...

So, after yesterday's post you might wonder ho much more I could rant... the answer is A LOT more! This is one of those things that has been bubbling over in my brain this week, matching so many thoughts and combining them together, hopefully allowing me to put into words a lot of what God has been telling me lately. Back to the conversation... Yesterday I talked a little about the connection between how we think and our purity level, especially when it comes to the excuses we make! Today we're going to look at several specific standards God sets and how it relates to us. First off, here's a chunk from the New Testament (Ephesians 5:3-7 NIV): But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy pers...

So often when the word purity is thrown out in a church setting, it is only referring to one thing: sex. I mean, the 90's were the era of True Love Waits (and many did!) and that had to be what purity was about, right? Unfortunately, many would say yes. Why do I say unfortunately you might ask? Because purity means SO much more than simply "not having sex." Instead, we've developed a church culture where it's generally okay to get under a girls shirt, have oral sex, mutual masturbation or anything else as long as we stop short of "intercourse." In fact, so many students have this perspective, which is leeched from the True Love Waits campaigns of the past/present mixed with an equal amount of current cultural thought. What it amounts to in sum, is a ton of students (and adults!) who say they believe in God, but live as if He didn't exist. Craig Groeschel (pastor of Life Church in Edmond, OK) called the phenomena "Christian Atheism" a...

I've alluded to W.P. Cambpell's book, Turning Controversy into Church Ministry: A Christlike Response to Homosexuality several times, but today you get all my thoughts regarding the book. First, note that Campbell is a pastor in the PC(USA), which means he falls into one of two camps: for or against the repeal of the "fidelity and chastity" clause. I'll admit, when I saw the title of the book, I was afraid he fell into the camp that totally embraced homosexuality because Jesus was "inclusive." At the same time, I imagined it couldn't be too far right (a la Fred "I'm a nut-job" Phelps) and wondered what middle ground he had found. Fortunately, Campbell navigates the roaring rapids of the homosexual issue quite well. He begins with the story that forms his framework from John 8, showcasing Jesus, the Pharisees, and the woman caught in adultery. Of specific note, he highlights Jesus' response to their demands that she be stoned, J...

Bill spoke of real faith Sunday, and it was awesome. The idea that believing alone isn't all we're called to is so much bigger than we say. Just as God called Abraham to leave his home or Peter to leap out of the boat, He calls us to live a life as He did! How does that relate to Ephesians 1 you might ask? Simple, Paul speaks of God as having "blessed us with every spiritual blessing...because we are united with Christ." One of the blessings, whether we see it or not, is faith! It might sound odd, God giving us faith to believe in Him, but it's the way it works. Without God's gentle (or not so gentle!) nudging, none of us would have ever found Jesus Christ, much less come to a saving knowledge of Him. The Psalms say it pretty clearly: "No one seeks God...no not one." We weren't seeking God, He was seeking us. Why would He do that? He is perfect in and of Himself; why seek us, imperfect, flawed, and ungrateful as we are? Short answer: ...

As I finished W.P. Campbell's book, "Turning Controversy Into Church Ministry," it has made me want to re-examine Ephesians. Partly because it is the framework upon which he builds the entire book (which is VERY, VERY, VERY good and comes highly recommended for everyone in ministry or who is dealing with issues related to homosexuality, in fact I'm going to recommend [and possibly push "gently"] it become required reading material for our church and Presbytery officers/staff) but mainly because he brought a lot of great thoughts into my head. But, I'll start my thoughts around this particular quote and passage from Ephesians 3 tonight: "The love of God is wide enough to reach all kinds of people, long enough to keep your church on track through time, high enough to change any life, and deep enough to heal every wounded heart." Followed by Ephesians 3.14-19: When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of ...

I've been reading an excellent new book by W.P. Campbell (I'll post the review later for Zondervan and everyone else to see) about how to turn controversy into ministry and am struck with some thoughts on vision. Nehemiah was a man with great vision. But the question we often skip is where that vision came from! Nehemiah was broken for the city of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, which led him to prayer, fasting, and mourning. He was GREATLY leading from a long-term prayer emphasis! But how often do we (as Christians and specifically those in leadership positions) neglect prayer and instead focus on the things we "need" or "ought" to do? I mean, I know I am often busy "doing" ministry (planning events, prepping the current series for junior and senior high, running the 4 days a week programming that exists our ministry, planning worship, making/sending mailers, doing stuff for the presbytery, doing miscellaneous stuff for the church, filling in...

Have you ever wished life came with a pause button? Or maybe more aptly, a rewind button? I know I would love to have either, although the more crucial might be the rewind button as I could NOT say many of the stupid things I say and NOT do many of the stupid things I do. Or maybe the pause button would be more important? I think about Zach (from Saved By the Bell) and his use of the "timeout" to freeze action around and narrate/arrange situations to his benefit. Or maybe the Twix ads that let the person in them "have a moment" to figure out how to do something (like not lose a chance to date a good looking lady or not get decked by someone) is a better explanation for the non-Saved by the Bell generation! The thing is, you don't need a pause button to stop and think about what you're about to do... Scripture is replete with the suggestion to think before we act, if only from a to avoid punishment and receive rewards perspective! But I think Joshua lai...

Have you ever felt over-whelmed by what you "had" to get done? Too many appointments and stuff on the calendar? That seems to be more and more the norm for our society, especially my students! Trying to keep up with them is a non-stop riot of insanity most of the time. Going from dawn to dusk in a constant whirl of busyness. 7 days a week often, going from school to sports practices to instrument lessons to church to homework to whatever other activities that have in their lives. I would be tempted to ask where they learned this behavior, but all I need to do is look at myself! I run from home to work to working at home to trying to play with my kids to chores to the little bit of personal time that we have to reading the book I'm reviewing until the clock reads WAY past my bedtime! Compare that to God's ideas: "For six days you should work, but on the seventh day you MUST rest." Hmmm... Add to that when God actually speaks (not all the references,...