Archive for the ‘ Relationship ’ Category

Used and Loved

Here is your regular, friendly reminder to get your daily dose of wisdom from Proverbial Thought!

As working through the book of Luke with our youth group, I was inspired to write about some things. I had a great idea for a passage from Luke 12, but my theology was rocked so hard that I will wait on that one! Instead, I am going with one of the other ideas from that chapter.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:13-21, NIV

Stuff and People

There are two ways to handle stuff and people in this life, and our youth group is intelligent enough to notice! In their words:

“We can use things and love people or love things and use people.”

We can get so caught up in what is ours and what is not ours that we can forget about people.

For example, someone in the crowd may have just lost his parents, yet he is more concerned with getting his share of the inheritance than mourning. This shows one aspect.

Another aspect is that his brother is clearly there, otherwise Jesus could not tell him to share the inheritance. What really makes this poignant is that Jesus had just finished talking about avoiding hypocrisy, so we know what the first man was really getting at: that he judged his brother a hypocrite. (What does this show of him, then?)

One further aspect is that our own selfishness and greed gets in the way of another relationship. This man is talking with a wise leader, he might even know this is the Messiah. Instead of actually listening to the teachings (meaning taking them to heart and learning from them), he tries using this Teacher to get what he wants.

How many times do we go to God asking for things instead of seeking His will?

One more thought: Who gets rebuked?

At first, it looks like a rebuke of the man wanting his inheritance. “‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed’.”

It is as if Jesus is saying, “Dude! Get over it! Stop being so greedy!” (Also, He was and is the perfect judge and arbiter, but He was making another point)

But then He goes on. He tells us about a man who became quite wealthy and hoarded it all. This certainly sounds like the brother was being rebuked for his greed at the same time the original brother was being rebuked for his greed.

WHOA! Jesus is a great multitasker!

One man was not worried about his family and used God to get what he wanted. The other man also was not concerned about his family, instead holding onto his new possessions.

Used and Loved

Both of these brothers were guilty of breaking the greatest commandment(s): “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

We can be guilty of the same (in fact, we all are: Romans 3:22-24).

We use people and God to get the things we want, when we should be using things and loving God and people.

Instead of a question this week, a suggestion:

Check yourself. Find out where your heart is: with things or with God?

2012
10/09
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The Core Values: Engrossed Existence

Here is another friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from Proverbs!

We now continue our look at the Four Core Facts and the Four Core Values, having examined the desperate pursuit of God, diligent prayer, and a consecrated heart.  If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the Core Facts and the Core Values, look up my wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger, at Fervent Youth.

As I said before, all of the Core Facts and Values flow together. The Values are useless without the truth of the Facts. Without a desperate pursuit of God bathed in diligent prayer creating a consecrated heart, we play a dangerous game with the fourth Core Value:

A Focused Life

It is God’s will that you should be sanctified . . . For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7

Why would I say we play a dangerous game with a focused life without the Core Facts and Values?

Perhaps you have heard that line that goes something like “Those who believe in nothing will fall for anything.” People can devote their lives to just about anything out there (read the tabloids, news, and/or history books).

Some people even dedicate their lives to God without considering the possibility that God will come collect. Then they are surprised at what God wants.

It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider his vows
Proverbs 20:25

This is why we need a foundation based on the reality of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, and a value-system based on the truth revealed in the Bible.

FOCUS!

Have you noticed how easy it is to be distracted? Humans have always found a way to distract themselves, but Modern Man has really excelled in this area.

We have access to an entire world in ways barely imaginable 100 years ago, from cars to trains to airplanes.

We have access to an entire world through the internet.

We have access to endless entertainment through books, movies, television, video games, sports, the internet, and various other entertainment-industry options too numerous to list here.

We have access to friends and family any time of the night or day around the world through telephones, cellular phones, e-mail, Facebook, the internet (noticing a theme?), and so many other things.

We have more than enough to distract us, and we have even made it possible to stop using our own imagination.

But what do the most successful people in our world have in common?

Focus.

Their lives are dedicated to one major thing (which can include many smaller things, but usually related things), and they do not let anything get in the way of their dreams and goals.

They each have a focused life.

This is basically what God has called all who would follow Him to do. Be focused.

On what?

The answer comes in a rebuke of Peter by Jesus:

“You must follow me.”

We have to focus our lives on Jesus.

However, I will take this a step further.

There are a lot of people who claim to follow Jesus, and they show up to church regularly, tithe, donate, and volunteer.

They live good lives.

While their lives are engrossed in Jesus, I would posit that their entire existence is not engrossed in Jesus. (See the title of the post worked in there?!)

In truth, these people (and even many people engrossed in following Jesus can succumb to this) are distracted by serving.

How do we know when we get distracted by service?

One of two things is usually what happens:

  1. We are not going where Jesus is going. We find ourselves in the church building all the time, or at church functions, and we know everyone we see or know someone who knows that person well and we are all Christian. We rarely encounter anyone who is hurting, mourning, in desperate need, or stuck in sin (of which we are aware).
  2. We are exactly where Jesus is, but we are “pulling a Martha“. Sometimes, we are so busy serving Jesus that we forget about actually serving others, and we are surrounded by people who really need Jesus.

The Problem and Solution

We are not fully engrossed in following Jesus. That is just the way it is.

This is where the other values come in. To be fully engrossed we must desperately pursue God by reading the Bible, learning what it means through teachings and fellowship, and seeking where God is working. To effectively pursue God, we must be in constant communication with Him through diligent prayer, and this helps us grow in a desire to study the Bible and find where God is going. As we pray and study, we find our hearts are growing ever more consecrated to God, and our desire to seek Him and talk with Him grows. The more consecrated our hearts become for God, the more we find our life being focused on God.

The only other step is that we must put it all into practice.We must be with those who are hurting and in need. We must show love and grace. We must forgive ALL people.

We must effectually become like Jesus Christ.

Our focus in life must be to be completely engrossed in living and loving like Jesus, pushing aside distractions and pushing on in faith, grace, and love.

Next week, I will briefly discuss The Core Mission.

What are your thoughts? How are you doing?

2012
09/25
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The Core Values: Cardiac Consecration

Here is your regular, friendly reminder to head over to Proverbial Thought for today’s devotional thought from Proverbs!

We now continue our look at the Four Core Facts and the Four Core Values, having examined the desperate pursuit of God and diligent prayer.  If you are interested in a more in-depth look at the Core Facts and the Core Values, look up my wonderful youth pastor, Jesse Bollinger, at Fervent Youth.

As I said before, all of the Core Facts and Values flow together. The Values are useless without the truth of the Facts. Without a desperate pursuit of God bathed in diligent prayer, there is little need for the third Core Value:

A Consecrated Heart

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8, NIV

This requirement of a person seems simple enough. To put it in overly simplistic terms, we are required to do good, be forgiving, and live life honestly … with God.

Why are these so difficult, then?

To do good, to act justly, often means to think of others before yourself and to sacrifice.

To be forgiving, to love mercy, often means showing love, grace, and, yes, forgiveness to those you feel are least deserving … or to whom you would rather not.

To live life honestly, to walk humbly, often means realizing you do not understand this world or yourself as well as you think. It always means realizing you are someone in need of a Savior.

These are the beginning steps to having a consecrated heart.

But what is the first step?

Why not start with what it really means to have a consecrated heart …

From Merriam-Webster:

1
: to induct (a person) into a permanent office with a religious rite; especially: to ordain to the office of bishop
2
a: to make or declare sacred; especially:to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony
b:to effect the liturgical transubstantiation of (eucharistic bread and wine)
c: to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication
3
: to make inviolable or venerable <principles consecrated by the weight of history>
I especially like definition 2a. In fact, the second definition is the whole point.

In fact, this may help sum up this post pretty quickly.

Having a consecrated heart simply means that you declare your heart sacred, that you set aside your heart to be devoted completely to worshiping God.

Simple, yes? Declare your heart as God’s own.

For it to really mean anything, as stated before, it requires the Core Facts and the other Core Values.

You need faith that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was necessary for your salvation. Without this knowledge, you can consecrate your heart to anything. It happens all around our world every day. Look at all of the religions, numbers of gods, lack of gods (and God), and every other belief, including in the self. Apart from God, we can do nothing, especially save ourselves from condemnation. (A simple, quick explanation: No God = No humans, thus we can do nothing without God.)

You need to have a desperation to know God, which comes from a desire to know truth. (Many seek truth, but not all seek to know truth.)

We grow more desperate to know God through diligent prayer. At the same time, diligent prayer usually grows out of a desperation. (Kind of like wanting to talk to that boy or that girl on the phone at all times of the day or night, because you can not seem to get enough. You find yourself falling ever more in love the more the two of you talk. You know what I mean 😉 .) With the desperate pursuit of God and diligent prayer, it can often be a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. It always depends on the person, the circumstances, and the ways of God.

When you believe something so strongly, you dedicate your life to it. That is what a consecrated heart is. It is praying “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NIV)

And it leads to the fourth Core Value: A Focused Life

What do you believe? Why? What do you spend your time doing and with whom and about what do you talk? To what have you dedicated your life?

Why?

2012
09/18
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What Love Do You Have?

Today I offer part two of the devotional time from the recent trip to the Desperation Youth Conference. Again, it has been adapted for the blog.

This devotion is taken from 1 Kings 3.

Have you read that?

Good.

Seeking Wisdom

Many Bibles title that chapter “Solomon Asks for Wisdom” or something like that.

I now invite you to read the entire book of Proverbs. (You can also head over to Proverbial Thought for some excellent commentary!) If you do not read it all right now, I understand.

Solomon made the right choice. Wisdom is the ultimate thing you can get. If Proverbs 8 is compared to John 1, we understand that Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God.
Wisdom helps us understand what God is doing in our life: Wisdom guides us to God; Wisdom helps us understand when the Holy Spirit is working in us or God is working in our circumstances

The usual theme for this passage is Solomon’s wisdom shining through.
It is a good example. Imitate Solomon in this regard!
But this is not the theme of our lesson today.

These two women are prostitutes. This helps explain why they were living together, they both had children, and there are no fathers mentioned.
In a previous devotion we discussed crazy things: Things that happen to us, things that we hear about hapening to others, and things God calls us to do. Imagine being labeled a prostitute, kind of like being called a slut in school or the workplace. Everyone knows you have this reputation. Would you be willing to go before anybody, let alone a king, to fight for your rights if everyone thinks you are practically worthless?
These women going before Solomon would be like school bullies going before the principal saying one stole the other’s stolen lunch money. Society did not look very highly on them! This is a crazy or even silly situation (at face value).

The real point of this devotion, however, is this:
What is your most favorite thing or person?

Would you … could you give that thing or that person up? Would you be willing to let your worst enemy take it? Would you be willing to let your girlfriend/boyfriend go to another person? Would you give up your child?

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:37-39

One of my favorite definitions of hate is that it means you love something more than another thing.

And the Wisdom that leads us to God, is Christ Himself. If you claim to love Jesus Christ, are you willing to give up your life for Him? Do you love Him enough to give up your life?

Just like prostitute who cried out to let her baby live with the other woman if it would spare his life, are you willing to say “Lord Jesus, take my life and do with it as you will!”?

2012
07/24
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 07/01/2012

I wanted to post a poem this week about independence or dependence or something, but as I have stated before I am making my way chronologically through my second book of poetry.

I did have some choice in the selection, so I thought it fitting that since we just came out of “Marriage Month” to use this poem.

I wrote this several months before I even met my lovely bride, but when in the presence of the Lord it is possible to understand so many things.

Bridegroom Love

When I begin to come into the presence of the Lord
I am a wreck.
Just knowing I am inviting Him to come
I am coming alive.
My stomach wrenches.
My heart leaps.
My body quivers.

When I begin to come into the presence of the Lord
I feel like a bridegroom.
I am a wreck.
As the bridegroom sees his bride coming down the aisle
He comes alive.
His stomach wrenches.
His heart leaps.
His body quivers.

When I begin to come into the presence of the Lord
I understand.
Christ is a bridegroom waiting on His bride.
As believers come alive
(I am sure)
His stomach wrenches.
His heart leaps.
His body quivers.
He sees His bride.

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 96.

2012
07/01
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The Marriage Month

June is historically the most popular month for weddings. I am not getting into the history or anything like that (here is some interesting history, though). Today is more of a celebration.

My wife and I just had the opportunity to take a month, a holiday, if you will, and visit family and friends. We had a lot of fun, got to meet and know better family members and friends on both sides, and go to places we could enjoy together.

This month was also a celebration of life and love.

Our trip began because friends of mine were getting married. We were able to celebrate the start of a marriage with loved ones.

My parents celebrated 29 years of marriage while my wife and I celebrated three years. We were able to celebrate marriages in the middle together, one couple with grown children and another without children.

We celebrated the loss of a wonderful woman who lived for over 90 years, making a great impact on many lives. The day her life was celebrated in a very beautiful and spirit-filled memorial service, a child was born to a young couple within the family.

On the final weekend of our trip, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of that newborn’s great grandparents surrounded by extended family and friends (her side … but really for both of us), including that newborn baby girl Zoe (which means Life!). We were able to celebrate a marriage that is full and long.

Through all of this, we were able to remember all of the good times and bad times our families have struggled through; we were able to remember all those whom we have lost; and we were able to build and strengthen relationships, new and old.

Treasure the moments you have with family and friends. Enjoy them, as you should, and give praise to God, as you should.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8

2012
06/26
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Marriage Flow Chart

Any thoughts?

2012
06/08
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 05/20/2012

Did you know that the reason Oprah says she cannot believe in the God of the Bible is because it says He is a jealous God? Like so many other things in our world by so many people, this comes from a misunderstanding of what is being said.

This is not the reason I wrote this poem. I wrote this poem because I read one of the passages describing God as jealous for us (not “of” us, as Oprah understands it).

jealous one

all He wants is our devotion
all He craves is our attention
when we look to other things
when we make our made up kings
He burns with righteous rage
He scorns what we have made
but He tries to sway us back
but He gives us a little slack
He lets us learn on our own schedule
He wants to fill us to more than full
we must hurry before there is no time
we must hurry before we are left behind
the reason He cares is for us to come
the reason is He is the Jealous One
so let us join with the Holy God
so that He may come and make us good

Taken from deeper words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 65.

2012
05/20
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Will You Go Through Hell with Me?

Last week I started this mini-series with “Will You Go To Hell with Me?” It is not enough to know what the Bible says, we have to live it out. It is not enough to say “Jesus is Lord,” we have to show it. It is not enough to talk about love, we have to share it.

Part 2:

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 17-23

Some of the people I mentioned last week fit the first couple verses’ warning. Some of these people are in conservative churches. Some are in liberal churches. Some in “mainline” churches (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etcetera) and Catholic churches have been around since before the vast majority of denominations and churches ever existed up through today. This is not a new thing, but the evidence seems to be pointing ever more toward us being close to the end. Either people are not showing love, or they are showing the wrong kind of love.

(On an interesting sidenote, Harold Camping, who predicted the world would end last year with Christ’s return, last week publicly repented of his sin of claiming to know the hour and day of said Return. Bravo, Mr. Camping, for owning up to your sins; and praise You, Father, for working in all things!)

People may be stupid, but, individually, people are also really smart. They frequently know when someone is not being real with them.

Here is a rebuke:

Stop offering to pray for people;
Stop telling people you feel for them;
Stop feeling sorry for them;
Stop giving money to them …

Unless you are willing to love them and walk with them in their pain.

At the Rock & Worship Roadshow, Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson said (of the children from Compassion) “If you look at these pictures and feel guilty, then we ask you not to sponsor one of these children. The Apostle Paul told us that if we are not acting out of love, then everything we do is worthless. You should sponsor a child only because a love inside of you is compelling you to help them.”

This can be true for every other area in which we must show love for others.

The only way we Christians, we followers of Christ, can “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear” is if we climb into the fire with them. We show them we care by walking through their pain and sadness with them. We show them we care by experiencing their hurt, doubt, hatred, and fear with them.

They know when we are just saying “I want to help you,” because they see us not helping.

I am just as guilty of this as the next guy.

And those who are living it out probably will never read this, because they are picking up the slack for the rest of us. This means that our brothers and sisters living out their faith are just as much in need of our love and support! Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” includes Christians and non-Christians, family and strangers, friends and enemies.

Spread the Gospel by being Jesus’ hands and feet … and mouth and shoulder and shirt for runny noses and blanket and socks for cold feet and shoes for hurting feet and legs for the weary.

And do not think you are doing it by yourself and in your own power. There is no way we can climb into the flames to reach others and get back out with help. (Perhaps someday I will share a dream I had about this)

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
Jude 24-25

2012
03/13
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Autistic Faith

“Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness . . . . Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

God told Hosea to marry, to put it bluntly, a prostitute. The point of this: God’s people had prostituted themselves spiritually. I have a new take on this … a gentler approach, and one that may help us understand better the Apostle Peter!

Friday night here in Phoenix we had the Rock & Worship Roadshow, and what an amazing show it was! Tenth Avenue North sang their song “By Your Side” during this show. Something struck me when they sang this verse:

And please don’t fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.

I work with low-functioning autistic children who are in the first through fifth grades. It is not an easy job, to say the least. These children struggle with understanding basic necessities of life and learning. It can be such a joy watching them suddenly grasp how to say a word, count out loud, use the toilet by themselves, or even just point at a picture. When they achieve these, I and the other teachers cannot help but hold them close in a big hug and say “Good job! I am so proud of you!” To get to this point, however, there are many struggles for both of us.

Just to get these students to learn something takes great patience and repetition. Occasionally, these little ones can pick up a new task in an instant. It also can take several minutes or several months to get them to learn something as simple as pointing to a picture to saying “I want …” to walking without holding our hand. Even after they learn something, they can easily forget until we remind them. They can get distracted by toys and food quicker than we can blink!

Much of the time they do not want to learn something new, even if it is for their benefit. These young ones can scream and cry, kick and hit, scratch and pinch, flail around, and bite … us, other students, and even themselves. When this happens, we have to step in and try to calm them down through speaking softly, occasionally speaking very firmly, holding on to them (through holding hands or holding their arms), and, when it is really bad, putting them in a hold. A hold means restraining their arms, and sometimes their legs, until they can relax and listen once again. Many times they fight this hold with every bit of strength they have.

This past Friday was one of those days that I had to help with every one of these with various students. I just wanted to say to these kiddos, “Just relax! I love you and want to help you! Please, listen and sit still! It will be okay!”

The thing that struck me at the concert when listening to Tenth Avenue North was this:

We Christians sure can act like autistic children.

God comes to us when we have no understanding of His ways and His love. He gently moves us toward being like His Son, and sometimes we get it right away. The vast majority of the time, we kick and scream; we flail around like we are being forced to eat dung; and we lash out at our Teacher and each other. We easily get distracted by toys and food … and each other. It takes us a lifetime to grasp the simple teachings of loving God and loving others.

Yet, God patiently works with us, every moment of every day. Sometimes He coaxes us, other times He holds us until we listen, again.

Am I saying God sent autism into the world to teach us to love Him more? Not at all. Like all things, He has redeemed this aspect of our fallen world to display His glory and love.

Just as with Hosea and Gomer, God takes a situation that looks miserable and makes it something glorious. I never imagined I would work with autistic children. Now that I am, I would never want to give up the chance. It does not mean I will not change careers in the future, but as hard as it is working with these very special children I have rarely been so fulfilled and blessed.

The message for the rest of us: Let the Healer and Teacher mold us. It is not comfortable being put in a hold (being disciplined), but it is so glorious when we finally “get it” and He simply holds us as He says “Good job! I am so proud of you!“

2012
02/28
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