Monthly Archives: April 2014

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

PERSPECTIVE

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boat-land-perspective1PERSPECTIVE

Have you ever heard the expression, You can look at the glass half empty or half full? Any combinations of these sayings are meant to ask the deeper questions of ones perspective and, of course, we are heavily influenced by our dispositions, presuppositions and upbringings as to how we view our world.  But the very concept of perspective is universal and essential in all phases and walks of life. From architecture, to art and even how we deal with changing circumstances, in our lives, perspective keeps us rooted in a bigger picture or larger narrative.

As individuals we need perspective in the ordinary of life but as Christians we require a divine perspective that grounds our lives in a story richer, deeper and enduring more than the temporary of here and now. Truthfully it is difficult to comprehend, especially during hardship, divine perspective. We are prone to ask questions of Why? Or Where was God when? And while these questions are logical responses, expected from emotional people, divine perspective allows us to take a step back and evaluate the highest and biggest picture.

What is the highest and biggest picture? While we all may be tempted to answer such a question with our family, job and professional / personal goals the reality is all of these pale in comparison to the reality of the eternal Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Therefore, while perspective can be framed by immediate circumstances it also must be influenced by divine perspective so we do not misdirect our lives from the plans and purposes of God.

The highest possible point of view is His (God) and the greatest of all purposes are His as well. Therefore the Christian must be led, by His Spirit, to maintain the careful balance of perspective at all times and in every situation. The viewpoint we, as Christians, are called to preserve is that we are here for one purpose: to be vessels of His honor in His triumphs. While the showroom of heaven is filled with many wonders, people and testimonies they all bring us back to a reality of an eternal story rooted in someone bigger than us (Jesus).

THE STORY IS ABOUT VICTORY IN JESUS AND THROUGH HIM ALONE! When our story is no longer about us, but what He did for all of creation, then our perspective forever changes. No longer should we view ourselves as small, great, less or more rather, with divine perspective, creation points us back to maintaining our cause is in Christ alone!  St. Paul reminds us of the greater divine perspective when he says, I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.

But e-mail marketing is becoming much cialis canadian more common these days. Atherosclerosis affects not only the cardiovascular system levitra line pharmacy but also the male sexual health. levitra 20 mg http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/01/12/condemned-live-1935/ If the chemist denies then change the chemist but get only general medicines. This mainly happens when the PDE5 enzymes acting in the penile region causing erectile dysfunction.Thus, it allows for smooth circulation of blood to the man’s sex organ. order cialis online deeprootsmag.org Is this a perspective we possess today? Do we live this divine purpose practically in our lives? The happiness expressed in Paul’s bold words reveal a secret joy he was often quick to share. It was the new humanity, in Jesus, that rescued a religious, spiritually blind rebel and led him to the life of bondservant for the King and the Kingdom. And now? Now St. Paul states that this is all he is here for…this was his new perspective and he considered it a great joy to be a prisoner for Jesus’ sake with no other perspectives rivaling his new vision and new life.

In desiring to live by divine perspective I have had to curb my enthusiasm that allows me to believe victory, in life, is attributed to my ingenuity and force of will. It is a dishonorable attitude for today’s Christian to talk about attaining any success, without Him, when the True Champion (Jesus) ought to own every part of our victorious story. But this takes divine perspective that comes only through the Holy Spirit’s illuminating our understanding to comprehend the incomprehensible, and see with spiritual and not natural vision.

It continues to be my personal prayer we all share, and rejoice, in the larger reality of what He is continuing to do with us and through us, despite ourselves, so His manifold wisdom is expressed throughout all creation.

“Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:14)


Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Motivational

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE

thEvery election cycle we hear the same series of promises from the same people, parties or special interest groups. In a familiar slogan everyone promises CHANGE. Whether people want to change the “old way” of doing things or others want to return the “new way” back to the old we are a community who want and often demand change. It is almost as if we get bored with the status quo and borrow life from the expression, the grass is greener on the other side. Still, for all of the promises it seems very little actually changes. We fluctuate between political parties and government still runs with the same level of arrogance, waste and broken pledges. We adjust our immediate surroundings hoping a fresh coat of paint will make things better. But after the paint has dried whatever walls were not cleaned before will reveal the same old stains and smells. Why? (more in this later)

Ancient Israel were a people not too different from us today. They had experienced some tough years of leadership with Moses and, as a young nation, lived their fair share of set-backs, failures and successes. Nevertheless, through it all, God used Moses to prepare His people to inherit their land of promise; and many years later leadership changed from Moses to Joshua with Israel’s story continuing from the wilderness to Canaan. Given time leadership shifted again from Joshua, to a series of unnamed elders then to judges and eventually a king. And so, born from a desire for change, many kings policies affected the people and land of Israel from then to today.

Like ancient Israel we too assume a person, policy or shifting in the scenery can provide us with the lasting change we long for. Sadly, like ancient Israel, we still have failed to comprehend what kind of change we are all desperately in need of. While a cosmetic modification will always look and feel right, in the moment, it soon fades because what is at the heart of the problem is THE HEART! If the heart of the individual, or nation, has not been altered by Jesus then there will never be enough suitable changes that will last long enough to bring us into right relationship with Him or with one another.

In fact, is this not the great appeal, and testimony, we share when speaking of a relationship with Jesus? Simply stated we are all expressing a story of how He rescued us and then changed our lives for the better. But when you consider how you have been changed, by a relationship with Jesus, you quickly discover what He has touched is deep within your heart. Certainly God has applied a “fresh coat of paint” to our cosmetic surroundings and we often point to a better life, friends or favor we are experiencing. But for some, if not most, the aesthetic changes can be few and far between and never as glorious as the lasting peace, hope and love we experience because we are born again by His Spirit.

What did Jesus really change? THE HEART! Granted we are all living through a process where the “old us” is adjusting daily into a new humanity in Jesus; but for this to happen we must allow Jesus to confront our prejudices, fears, hurts, offenses, pride, EVERYTHING! If we genuinely desire lasting change, that will impact us and our world, then we must be willing to allow Jesus to humble us to the place where He is the “changing” agent that cleans our hearts from everything that robs the fruits of His Spirit being alive in us.

Too often we think our personal relationship with Jesus equates to Him working around our special interests and particular prejudices when, in reality, God’s track record of dealing with people is pressing us into situations where we conform to His likeness, or reject Him in favor of our manufactured image of self-worth.  The other side of “For God so loved…” is with His love also comes the stern adoration of the Father that desires His sons and daughters to no longer be controlled by the passions of selfishness and self-centeredness but selflessness and Christ-Centeredness. 

We all say we want change….BUT if we don’t come to a place of acknowledgment where we know our hearts need to be amended, and He is the only one who can change our heart for His goodness, than any “changes” outside of Him will only be temporary and eventually fail.  In reaction to Jesus’ changing of our hearts we need to resist the desire to default to our past prejudices and learn to say we no longer want to return to the past of who we once were!

The reality is instead of thinking God is on the side of our prejudices we need to comprehend He is deliberately clearing them out. Why? Because all things from creation to humanity are on a collision course with the Missio Dei (the mission of God) where He (the Father) will redeem all things back unto Himself through Jesus alone (see Colossians and Philippians) and only He is Holy perfect in love and justice.
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When we are born again, we are to live in a new way of believing, behaving and belonging. It continues to be a mysterious and amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit that renews our heart, mind and soul to work for His Kingdom. Through this supernatural process His new renewal, in us, wipes away the old order of doing things in favor of a new order of living His way, with His Heart, love and passion.

How can we attain a life that has no lust, self-interest, offenses or love that is manipulated by want and desire? The only way is by rejecting the old life and placing our full trust in God. Daily we must make ourselves vulnerable to allow the Holy Spirit to do a ruinous work in our life for His glory.

Yes, it is time for change but not the kind of change than embraces Jesus for what blessings we can borrow from His rich treasury, but change born from a desire to want Him and Him alone! If we do not come to a place where we accept God can remove His blessings from our lives, and it not affect our trust in Him, we may remain prone to consider God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as just another temporary change. But once we come to a place of fully trusting in Him, and our hearts are truly beating for the heart of the Father, over the heart of self, then we will have the lasting change that will transform our lives, communities, churches and nations for the His glory and the coming Kingdom.

Change is good, necessary and eventually destined to occur; but we, as Christians, should look to the only change that really matters…the life changed by Him. And one by one, if we are changed into His likeness then our world cannot help but be changed for His glory as well.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

I LOST MY SON!

th (1)Several years ago I experienced a frightening moment that I hope to never repeat. To make this story all the more relatable you need to understand a little more about my parenting approach. While I am not as strict as my father was with me I am certainly not one of those dads who is stuck in his smartphone as his kid roams through the county fair on his own. I’m just the opposite, I want to know where my son is, who he is with and where he is planning on going at all times. If I call his phone and it rings past one time that is too late for my comfort zone. And when it gets dark my son loves to laugh at me by asking, “What do you have against the dark?” My answer? “Just about everything.”

So, you can imagine how I must have felt when I went to pick my son up from an after school event only discover he wasn’t there. I called his phone and it went straight to voice mail. Then I went into the school, where I thought he was supposed to be, only to discover the lights were off with all the doors locked. Beginning to panic I rushed home to see if by some miscommunication he walked home or perhaps Jeannette picked him up…again Joshua was no where to be found. As I drove back to the school I could feel the shortness of breathe and my thoughts racing through every possible scenario. Arriving back at the school I ran inside looking for someone that could possible help me find my lost son when I heard several voices coming from the gym. Sure enough there he was with his friends and teachers still participating in the afterschool activity. I wanted to be angry but I felt more relieved knowing it was just one big miscommunication that was compounded by his phone battery having died; and though my story ended harmlessly the desperation I experienced was very real.

Scripture reminds us there is nothing new under the sun, and that would also have to include how some have come to communicate and understand God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In our community there is a very large, successful and influential church that, from the outside, seems to be the perfect place for faith and family. I have had the opportunity to meet several members of this church and in our brief social engagements they are pleasant, generous and kind.  Again, from the outside this fellowship appears to be an ideal community of faith, that is until you learn what or who they believe in. While they ascribe their beliefs are Biblical, and claim to worship God, they are quick to assert Jesus is not God and there is no such person as the Holy Spirit. Yes, there is a spirit of the Father, and that is holy, but the concept of a person as the Holy Spirit is rejected. Again, the Bible reminds us there is nothing new under the sun and this fellowships beliefs have been debated, argued and even deemed heretical from the first century thru today.

But my purpose in writing today’s post is not to “get down into the weeds” of a Trinitarian versus non- Trinitarian debates. Rather I wanted to use the story of my lost son, and this local fellowship, to highlight a dangerous place today’s Christian may be unknowingly living in. As I encounter a wide variety of seekers, searchers, Christians and people from other faiths I can’t help but detect a certain level of “panic” in us all. It is as if what we once believed has been debated, questioned and undermined to the point of our willingness to no longer trust what once helped us manage life and faith. While I am less surprised by the unease being experienced by those living outside of the Judeo-Christian worldview I am find myself shocked by the great anxiety and growing tension within the Christian community itself. After all shouldn’t the Christian’s witness, testimony and faith be the only lasting confidence in an age of uncertainty?

What this comes down to, for Christians, is what we once believed and or trusted as “truth” has been replaced with a spirit of doubt. Our “what if” generation of thinkers, pastors, teachers and authors have adopted a questioning spirit to the point of allowing insecurity to subtly eroded universal value and divine truth. Sadly, within some of our Christian communities, our desire to revisit and or incorporate ancient pagan practices, beliefs and philosophies have revived a dissonant chord within the harmonious music of the Kingdom. Furthermore, I am even more concerned there are many who no longer hear the dissonance, or feel the “panic” because they have already lost what was once a valued spiritual treasure: the Holy Spirit.

Today I believe we are approaching a dangerous tipping within our Christian faith where even the foundational truths, of this ancient story, are redefined and reformed into something that looks and feels “Christian” but is absent of Him. Sadly too many Christians are settling for a faith of either entertainment, or dead religion, and in both instances God is no longer revealing Himself to us.

When I thought I had “lost” my son I didn’t even want to acknowledge that I, in some way, I may have been responsible for his being lost. I was looking for excuses and scapegoats when I had been part of the confusion in the first place. Likewise, within the body of Christ, we are slow to acknowledge we are loosing sight of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yes, they still reside in hymnals, liturgies, prayers, creeds, stain glass, church logos and traditions but they are further removed from our hearts, minds and being. We still claim Jesus is Lord and God and Risen; but we do not take into account the role of the Holy Spirit. Too often our discussions of the Holy Spirit descend into debates on tongues, supernatural manifestations or a dislocated concept of God’s Spirit but not a person of the Holy Spirit. We create neat and perfect boxes to set God in that have allowed us to gradually get comfortable with a tradition of Him but not His presence.

No matter what type of role modeling you received, you can choose on line viagra to have a new paradigm and it starts with accepting, valuing and loving yourself. The extract is extremely bitter, it is said to be the most bitter in all generic levitra prices of them. Generally half of the population is unaware of erectile dysfunction was factored into this and the data from other canadian pharmacy for viagra studies, it became obvious that the symptom of erectile dysfunction was a predictor of the heart disease. order levitra So one of the most concerning questions that come into the picture and save you from the pain and agony. The Holy Spirit is God! Scripture asserts and confirms God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit! Jesus declared He and the Father are One and by the Holy Spirit He (Jesus) was resurrected. The Holy Spirit is not a by-product of God’s creative will, like nature or humanity, and the Holy Spirit is not just some divine “good vibe” from the Father. Again, Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is essential to illuminate and inspire the spirit of man to receive the promise of the Father, Jesus. For us to be born-again requires a supernatural reworking of the “old man” into a new humanity in Jesus; and this too is not done outwardly and naturally but inwardly by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells is just as He was sent by the Father so to He is sending the Holy Spirit to birth His church.  St. Paul tells the church at Ephesus the Spirit-birthed church will express the manifold wisdom of God to all powers seen and unseen. A large portion of our  ‘Christian doubt”, or fear,  comes from a selfish desire to understand God by simplifying spiritually legal and divine matters.  One cannot comprehend or explain sanctification, justification, redemption and salvation without a work of the Trinity. Furthermore in an attempt to “make it simple” we have made it more complex and confusing by allowing the seeds of doubt tell us the Trinity is incomprehensible.

The truth is “the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason and if we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in God, and He will give the witness of the Holy Spirit.” (Chambers)

I FOUND MY SON…The relief I experienced when I saw my son, in that gym, must have felt something like what Mary and Joseph experienced when they thought Jesus had gone missing, only discover He was in His Fathers house. My son saw the expression on my face and no doubt wondered why I was panicked? He hadn’t gone anywhere and he was where he was supposed to be. It was me that lost him and now he was found.

With all of the noise, debate, fear and panic I would like to encourage all of us to return to the simple, profound and universally true. With Easter soon approaching I pray we can strip away the skepticism, doubt and “what if’s” and come like a child just believing. Finally, as we wave palm branches, contemplate Good Friday and worship on Resurrection Sunday lets remember the full story of the Missio Dei (the Mission of God): To redeem all things to Himself, through Himself (Jesus), to break the bondages and curse of sin, to legally take ownership of all creation and to enable us to be filled by the Holy Spirit, so we can proclaim to every tribe, nation and people the “Good News” of the Kingdom!

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

AN IMPULSIVE JESUS?

41dse6Bk7TLJeannette and I had not been married more than a year when we attended our very first couples retreat. Sponsored through our local church the yearly getaway offered married couples a chance to relax, develop stronger marriages and learn from experienced teachers on matters of faith, family and relationship.

During one of the break-out sessions we were asked to describe, in one word, our spouse; and while most people answered “fun” or “funny” Jeannette answered, unpredictable. For over sixteen years unpredictable still just about sums up my track record. For better or for worse (more often better than worse) I have managed to live up to her description. Of course I have always maintained a core set of principles, positions and opinions that many would assume are very predictable; but if you get to know me long enough I may manage to surprise you with a new haircut, clothing style or perspective that could leave you scratching your head. Some may choose to use the word, impulsive to describe me however while an unpredictable person can be impulsive an unpredictable person is not necessarily always impulsive.

Today I can’t help but notice, wherever I turn, I discover a new Jesus teaching, thought, opinion, perspective, lifestyle and even identity. It is as if there is an “impulsive Jesus” that other world religions and Christians, across various theological persuasions, have formed and still debate His purpose and intentions (even “Christian” off-shoots such as Mormonism and Jehovah Witness have their own understanding of Jesus). So, as we approach the Easter weekend, I decided to take some time to re-examine the Biblical account of Jesus’ life, ministry (in action) and words. My journey was not born from a desire to “find something new” or say something controversial; but rather I wanted to comprehend a little more about the God-man, Jesus, who we love and serve. In short, what I thought would be a brief jaunt down history lane arrived at a Jesus, according to today’s culture, that is God, man, demi-god, confused, delusional, well-intentioned, misunderstood, radical, impulsive, loving, hateful, inclusive, exclusive…in a word: Unpredictable.

Of course, there is a larger issue at the root of such confusion, because it seems with so much variety any seeker or searcher can customize a Jesus of their own making that fits perfectly with the life they desire to live without any standards. Another troublesome area is the “source” material we draw Jesus from? While it may be appealing to adopt a Jesus outside of God’s inspired Word (The Bible) when we do so we lend credibility to dubious and mercurial sources. Such practices, in an attempt to discover the historical Jesus, have only added to the confusion and unpredictable / impulsive nature of today’s Jesus.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN one remains rooted in the only source, given to us by God through the Son and Holy Spirit, and we rediscover an ancient Jesus that was not just present in the Gospels but existing from the beginning?“The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. There once was a man, his name John (the Baptizer), sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.” We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.” (John 1:1-18 MSG)

The relation of mind does not affect much if they are dissatisfied with their physical relation. cialis pills wholesale More than 750,000 people work as the physical therapists also teach the patients about the ways to prevent the occurrence of hemorrhagic diarrhea; our customs should be less to booth, vendor and health condition bad place to eat. http://djpaulkom.tv/balls-thighs-and-bae-cooking-with-the-kom-for-super-bowl-sunday/ generika cialis There are six leading bulk peptides that are in demand across the United States right now, each one offering its own host of benefits and providing researchers with very interesting research results which they cheapest cialis india can have long hours of sexual intercourse with their partner. These viagra pills in india are some of the most popular drugs prescribed for the treatment of men’s erectile dysfunction problems. For my journey, to discover the real Biblical Jesus, to succeed I like everyone else need to start with the correct source and an accurate starting point. To properly establish Jesus from the beginning forever dismisses the impulsive and unpredictable Jesus of today’s relativistic worldviews and expectations.  There was, and remains, nothing impulsive or unpredictable in the nature of God. Impulsiveness is a trait of a natural life, but God is not human and hindered by emotional instabilities. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus desires to check our impulsiveness, through a process of discipleship, where we are transformed into a new humanity in Him. While discipleship can be taught, mirrored or explained in reality the nature of discipleship is supernatural because we are being molded, by His grace and Spirit, into His image and no longer our own. This too guarantees Biblical discipleship is a necessary journey we must all embrace as we seek to discover the Biblical Jesus and not the one of our best wishes and desires.

You see I may continue to be unpredictable but that does not give me the permission to fashion Jesus, after me, so I am comfortable with my own way of living and thinking. Likewise, when we face a world of crisis versus a world a faith it seems easier to doubt, question and ask, “what if?” so as to ease our conscience and or satisfy personal passions and or agendas. The only surety today’s Christian has is what is already written in His Word; and if we remain dedicated to such a resolute standard we will never mistake what God’s Word tells us of His nature.

In Jude 20 we are encouraged, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” And today instead of trying to defend or explain a world of doubt with an impulsive Jesus let’s encourage one another to return to His Word and rediscover the Jesus that remains the same yesterday, today and forever.  Lets resist the urge to make Jesus like us and commit to being disciples of Him! Lastly, let us endeavor to build our lives not around the twists and turns of today, or our unpredictable and impulsive natures, but on His eternal Holy Word.

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA 

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

WILLPOWER

3814841_300There was a time, not too long ago, I would have been considered a gym rat. I was the kind of person that was in the gym six days a week, clean eating, strict work-out regimens and owned a variety of books, magazines, supplements etc…to transform my body. I even developed a routine that allowed me the allotted time so as not to be interrupted…one might even say I was “religious” about it. On the one hand I enjoyed the satisfaction of physical transformation but on other hand I disliked the entire process. For me, it was a love / hate relationship that required a tremendous level of willpower to overcome self and press toward some natural goals.  After a while the pace became too difficult to maintain; and each new goal required more time, more effort and more struggle that, at a certain point, forced me to stop. While I didn’t want to forfeit my physical gains I had outrun my strength to the point where even my own willpower wouldn’t let me continue.

What happened? I don’t remember when it occurred but when I finally recognized it I couldn’t ignore it. What was once a very small lingering back pain had grown into an identifiable discomfort that hindered my sleep, work and just about everything else. Going to the gym was brought to a halt and just standing or walking for any length of time could become painful. The break in my routine became a frustrating decline that finally ended in surrender, of my will, and acknowledgment I needed help beyond what I was able to accomplish.

God has a way of using everyday life to bring us back to spiritual truths that reset our understanding of Jesus. My physical set back was bigger than a question of will and determination; because, in my downtime, I had to reexamine some larger questions of balance, moderation and my will versus His? This was bigger than the gym, or my commitment to physical exercise, in fact my necessity of needing healing was beyond rest and a few stretches. The gym was a small slice of my life in which God was challenging me to consider some deeper questions that, unknowingly, were preparing me for trials that soon awaited.

We all face challenges, set backs, missed expectations and disappointments and while we are certainly living under a sovereign God we also have a hand in the role we play in our response to His plans and purposes. His vision, for you and me, far exceed what we may have dreamed for ourselves and yet, we seem determined to consider alternatives to achieve a happiness and satisfaction that is already in Him.  You see it is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify us but more of a question of am I willing to let God do in me all that is possible through His atonement?

Are we willing to lay down our will and let the life of Jesus be manifested in our life? My “gym rat” days were representative of a personal desire, of self-will, to transform the outside while still believing everything was safe and secure on the inside. The small back-pain was God’s way of trying to get my attention that something was not right but I was determined to will my way past Him and trust it would all just work out in the end. Well, it all worked out when my doctor shut down my gym days, set me on new routine of treatments and, over time, helped correct the damage I had done to my back.

Self-will, willpower, determination whatever you may want to call it is a wonderful gift God has given humanity. We can either misuse our will, and choice, by glorifying ourselves, or we can submit our will and surrender our choice to glorify Him and discover our true humanity in Him. Christ has always been, and was made, sanctification to those who believe in Him by faith. For those who believe the miracle of atonement is alive in you; and Jesus made all of this possible by offering the free loving gift of Himself on the Cross.
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Our attitude, as those who are sanctified and redeemed, should be of profound humility and holiness. This is why St. Paul encourages the church when he says, “One final word, friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. God wants you to live a pure life.” (1 Thess. 4: 1-3 MSG)

I have been told I can return to the gym and resume certain exercises. However there are other exercise that will forever remain strictly prohibited, that is unless I want to reinjure my back. And as I cautiously return I have also had to reset my expectations and priorities because in my downtime I was forced to develop what was on the inside more than what I wanted to build on the outside.

I was faced with a very small, but painful, life lesson that confronted my will, and willpower, with His will and power. It was a lesson I hope to never repeat and also trust, in some way, encourages you to recheck your priorities, submit your will Him and live fully alive, as well as humble, in His sanctification and atonement.

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

SECRETS

th (1)Who doesn’t love a good secret? Growing up playground secrets were the best because they always included some type of who liked who. Built into the nature of secrets is the near impossible task of keeping one, because the greater the secret also means it is more appealing to share. What I liked most about the high school lunch table was not the food (far from it), but the passing of secrets and the satisfaction I felt knowing something only a select group of people knew. Of course, in reality, everyone in the school knew the same secrets, which is how I later came to understand the phrase the worst kept secret. But whether you are “on the in” or have only heard a few “bits and pieces” knowing something private and potentially life changing has a powerful allure.

Today’s world doesn’t operate too different from our playground or lunch table days. I am reminded of a running joke throughout the sitcom Seinfeld where the expression, I’m putting it in the vault was a certain way of knowing somebody’s secret was soon to come out and become the central piece for that episode. We all have, and many still do, trade in secrets through work, families, friends, society and faith. At times we have been the victims of a secret and at other moments we have been entrusted to keep intimate and personal matters private. And almost in every instance secrets are important because they have the power to change lives temporarily or permanently.

While it is easy to focus on the surreptitious, that are meant to cause damage, (such as gossip) not all secrets are bad, hurtful or dangerous. In fact there are some mysteries, when revealed, that make perfect sense as to why, who, where or when. Believe it or not Jesus was a great secret keeper and secret sharer. Reading throughout the Gospels you will discover a Jesus who frequently shared hints and fragments, secrets if you will, of His identity, mission, purpose and the bigger picture of what was really happening.  Other times Jesus revealed the undisclosed when he used parables to expose the hearts and conditions of those He was ministering to. Granted, Jesus didn’t call people directly out, by name, but his parables of rebuke and or forgiveness revealed a secret that was deeply hidden within the hearts of the hearers.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God comes not with observation… for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you, a hidden, obscure thing.” Just this past weekend I was with my wife walking through our local mall. Store after store displayed beautiful items meant to draw us in and consider purchasing what was tucked away behind the glass walls. Consider what Jesus is revealing about the Kingdom, and us, in the above passage. Just like my visit to the mall, every Christian lives their lives in the “window” where seekers and searchers will pass by, daily, to consider visiting your story. Furthermore, let me challenge all of us by asking, If you had a visitor to your story would they be interested in purchasing what you have to share?

Continually throughout the ministry of Jesus He invited people to “window shop” who He was and what He was saying. While there were many passers by He continued to offer “sales”, or secrets, that were meant to draw people into His story where He could reveal the innermost of the innermost and the only power that could change their lives forever.

In the Gospel of John (18:36) Jesus shared another secret that even perplexed the Roman authorities when He said, “My kingdom doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king. (MSG)” Today I hope to encourage us to move beyond the plague of religious spirits, born from a religious age, and get back to sharing the secret of the Biblical Jesus as revealed through His Holy Word. While there are certainly many rooms, annex’s and chambers, within the Kingdom of God, Jesus begins and continues the story by discipling us into the secret of Him.
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HERE IS A SECRET WORTH SHARING: The central reality of Jesus, and His Kingdom, starts with a personal relationship with Him. The secret of Jesus, and Him alone, has never been in what we are able to achieve from our muster and might; but where we are weak He is strong. The secret of one’s origin, design, meaning and destiny lies in the fact that when we are fully submitted to Him and His purposes then we are truly alive and not just living.

Life has a way of acting like a roller-coaster and through all of the twists and turns we beg to know the secret of what God is engineering through the circumstances. Let me encourage all of us to spend less time fretting, and trying to unlock every secret, and more time embracing the mystery of submitting to Jesus through the process of discipleship. Once we live the discipled walk He will reveal the great fundamental truths of God’s Redemption; and if we will truly be His disciples then we will embrace a life of His calling. As with all things in life there is a certain mystery as to why God places us with people, and in circumstances, that challenge and refine us. However, through it all He knows a secret, which He is not sharing with us, that in time we will lean the why’s as we are further educated, matured and developed into a better understanding of Him and His Kingdom.

We all have a Kingdom secret worth sharing and there are seekers who continue to “window shop” in search for the only universal truth that will give them life and set them free. The secret of Jesus is an awesome truth worth sharing! Will you share it?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

WHAT IS THE LOVE OF JESUS?

Blue wall“Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.“ (3 John 1:5-8)

Recently I read an article written by a bishop within the Episcopalian denomination titled, Christians, You’re Not Victims. The provocative title matched exactly what you may imagine was expressed throughout his commentary. Perhaps some would be surprised to read such opinions within Christian thought? However, when carefully reading the article, one would soon discover the bishop has a very different understanding of love, and more important how the love of Jesus should be expressed today, through a post-Christian worldview.

Try to define love and you will arrive at a myriad of definitions that range from the clinical, to the expected standard displays of affection. When you consider how difficult it can be to define love, from a natural perspective, then it shouldn’t surprise Christians that we may also struggle to define and express love. So, I have a question? Where do we turn to best understand Biblical love and or show the love of Jesus?

To best answer my question I needed to understand the concept, definitions and applications of love are not just limited to the synoptic Gospels in the same way Jesus is not limited solely to the New Testament. In the same way Jesus is revealed throughout the entirety of Scripture also the Father’s love gives us an understandable and complete picture of what love is and is not.  Within the Gospels we read how love manifests itself when He instructs, Do you love Me? Feed My sheep. Did you notice Jesus frames the idea of love not in His sheep, as a starting place, but in Him?

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In many future discussions of who and where to demonstrate love, Christians will engage in, I am reminded of John’s words in his small letter (quoted above). In his correspondence he reminds Christian’s of how, where and with whom love begins. In fact, John even goes as far as to say this type of Biblical love is worthy of God Himself! While we may express the love of God to many in need I would also like to challenge us to consider, How can we love those, who are not His sheep if we cannot love one another within His Holy family? Simply put how can any of us express the love of Jesus with the seeking, searching and lost when we don’t share His love with fellow Christians first? Furthermore what does such a disconnect, between Christians, say about our love for Jesus?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

THE “KEY” TO JESUS’ NATURE OF MISSIONS

mission_t_nvDaily I am amazed by the ability of the church to rally people, funds and great efforts toward local and global missions. Initiatives to the Caribbean, Oriental, Africa, South America and throughout the US routinely provide relief to some of the greatest places of need where few rarely consider going.  While I am seldom opposed to missions I have also arrived at a place of continuing maturity where I am more prone to reexamine the “why’s” of our ministry efforts within the context of what Jesus said and did as revealed through the entirety of Scripture.

Most would agree missions were never meant to be another church program, church initiative (like a large NGO) or pet project. And yet most people, today, approach missions from such perspectives. Mostly mission outreaches are understood as “add-on’s” that are partially designed to encourage us in responding to what we should do, and part to make us feel better about who we are. The result of such an approach are limitless missions to infinite areas of need with little lasting change in those places we have visited. While I have no issue with mission trips to Haiti, for example, I am left perplexed with the amount of money, building projects and teams that yearly visit that island country, from churches and ministries across the United States, and yet the island continues to steadily decline with each passing year.

Could it be our nature of missions is different from Jesus’? What if when we think about modern mission movements we may be missing the most important area of need? To properly answer such questions one cannot just look to the life and work of Jesus alone; but one must look at the context of Jesus’ world, teaching and overall Gospel message…which included the commitment to missions. And to properly understand Jesus’ teaching one has to reestablish the ancient bonds, from the fullness of Scripture (both Testaments), and reexamine the nature of missions that Biblically focuses on the true missionary focus…a problem of the spirit.

Too often we first approach missions with the unspoken and perhaps unobserved question that presupposes the solutions to our global and local problems are more efforts and further resources. But clearly money and manpower has never been the answer to Spirit-birthed missions when we consider the life of the Apostles who operated with limited resources and even fewer ministry partners. The real key to the missionary problem is not work, money or people but prayer! Beginning with prayer, the Christian gains spiritual understanding and perspective for our actions. However, I would not want one to assume I am advocating the position that prayer is the only effort we must apply in our response to missions. On the contrary, while prayer is the starting point the Christian must follow God ordained direction with action. It is a careful balance, necessitating direction from the Holy Spirit, that helps us maintain an equilibrium of labors and prayer; but only in prayer, and not labor, can one constantly place our concentration on God.

The “key” to understanding Jesus’ nature of missions is not through common sense, medical solutions or educational drives. The key to understanding the nature of Jesus has always been revealed in and through prayer. Certainly, in prayer, He may instruct us to minister to the needs of any people through medicine, education or in other ways. But we must be careful not to “put the cart before the horse” in thinking any humanitarian effort must be sanctioned by God. The only way such an answer can be arrived at, in any mission initiative, is through prayer.

Naturally, prayer is not practical, it is inconvenient and takes away from the limited time we cherish so greatly.  Yet, in prayer, we arrive at the certainty we have made our appeals to the Lord, inquired of Him, and waited for His direction in all things.  When it comes to the passion we, as Christian’s, have for helping a hurting world we need to avoid looking at our world through our eyes and desires.

In the eyes of Christ there are no nations but the entire world. Oswald Chambers asks the question, “How many of us pray without respect of persons, and with respect to only one Person, Jesus?” Jesus instructed, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest…” Jesus has always owned the harvest and when we are instructed, by Him, to go into the fields of His mission we must bring with us, primarily, the conviction of man’s need to break from their sin and reconnect with Him!

Again, I fully support Christian missions. But what I have observed is more people are engaged in active work while the world remains ripe unto harvest. As Christians we live and share a message of being called Jesus’ own. Throughout the ages, and continuing to this day, this great communication of hope remains far more powerful than any one thing we can give to the needy and helpless. Yes, we are to care for the widows, clothe the orphans, tend to the sick and feed the hungry; but we should never do so at the cost of depriving them of the literal message of the King and the Kingdom that changes lives where there is the greatest of need.
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Jesus reminded His disciples, the poor you will always have with you; but I am only with you a short while. While some may choose to view Jesus’ words and cold and uncaring, within context, Jesus was placing Himself as the central reality for everyone. Time and time again Jesus lived and shared with the rich and poor, suffering and safe because everyone was in need of Him for salvation, healing and reconciliation.

Therefore, when you read Jesus speaking: “He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.” (Luke 4:19-21 MSG) His command is not for a greater response to the poverty of Israel but the fulfillment of prophecy that He is the answer for the spiritual breech between man and the Father. The new mission facing Israel continues to face us today. What will we do with Jesus’ words that demand we act upon the reality of who He is as Christ and Lord and how we will share that massage with the world?

Consider one final passage, from which Jesus was drawing from in the Luke’s Gospel. “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners. God sent me to announce the year of his grace— a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies— and to comfort all who mourn, To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit. Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness” planted by God to display his glory. They’ll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They’ll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,” honored as ministers of our God. You’ll feast on the bounty of nations, you’ll bask in their glory. Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, Your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever.” (Isaiah 61)

Could the key to the nature of Jesus’ view of missions be greater than our local church, our favorite non-profit or place of local charity and need? Could the “key” be Him and a His nature one we will only see revealed through prayer?

It is something to consider as we reexamine missions and what we, as Christians, decide to share with a world in genuine and desperate need.

Grace & Peace

JOSHUA