So, I was dropped off in Canton, TX for The Rabe Family
Reunion while the rest of my students went on home to Bevil Oaks, TX. I’ve
never experienced such separation anxiety before. Not only was I missing a
great time of fellowship annoying the cool kids with my “to legit” persona, I
was flooded with fears of them losing sight of decisions they had made without
one of my powerful reminders as they head home from the church. Or perhaps they
would let the whole thing fade into a simple social event if I don’t walk
through the sermons again and encourage them with scripture. I was not there
when they arrived home and I will not be attending this Sunday’s services at
FBC Bevil Oaks because of the reunion. I’m not there.
But I do know one who is altogether far more holy, awesome,
amazing, righteous and loving than I and He is there. Jesus is there! The Holy Spirit is drawing these students closer
and closer to Christ and to life more abundant. My anxiety is quickly put to
rest knowing that Jesus is the wonderful counselor. He’ll keep them and grow
them if they have called on Him to be their Savior. Praise God for such
incredible and loving care.
I am not sure what the future holds for these students, but
God does. I am not sure of the sincerity of their hearts, but I know that the
Holy Spirit will give evidence to this fact. It is so encouraging to know that
God works in us. That He is not a distant deity without interest in our
affairs, but He is God with us, God for us, and God in us. How awesome!
I’m in the Blue Cypress Hotel on the last morning of YEC
2012 in Arlington and I am praying that on this last day students would take a
step of faith and trust God with 100% of themselves.I know for myself that being Sold Out for Christ
is the only way to attain the abundant life Jesus mentions in John 10:10.
Anything less results in a double minded man or woman that is turn down
continually by the flesh they cling too.
In the midst of this desire for the students, I am prompted
with our own “Fill the Chairs Campaign” in which students seek to tell everyone
they can about Jesus, filling the empty chairs that are added to our youth room
every week. What a daunting task to see another empty chair added every week
regardless of whether they have filled it or not. But what a powerful image of
our daily walk and the blunt reality that those empty chairs represent a real
person, stuck in a bottomless pit of muck and mire with no hope of escape
unless we introduce them to Jesus. He’s the only one strong enough to pull them
from such a place and we should know this so well. We should know because we
too were once stuck in the pit without hope until someone introduced us.
What a poor example of love it is to think that we were
pulled from the depths of sin and upon our stepping on the solid rock we walk
away knowing others are still trapped. How could we be so cold, so selfish?
I am beyond convicted that I have been too complacent in
evangelism, too lazy in my pursuit of Jesus, too distracted by the flashing
lights of sin. I have been like a moth to a flame. I am being burned by the
desires of the flesh.
But that is the past and like all those in Christ, through confession
and repentance, Jesus has removed that shame and replaced it with a genuine
love for those around me. I too was with them but now I become, “all things to
all people that we [I] might save some.”
May God continually shake me from the lullaby of sin to be
awake and ready for God’s purposes.
This may be jumbled but its early and I have been up with
teenage boys far too long.
In Numbers
21 God sends fiery serpents to draw His people into repentance for their sins.
After being bitten, in order to survive they had to look to a fiery serpent
mounted on a pole and lifted up above the people. It was their sin that led to
death, but by hanging the image of sin (the serpent) on a pole and lifting it
up for all to come face to face with their sin, they were spared. John 3:14
references this passage and associates it with Christ being raised up on the
cross. In Christ our sins were nailed to the cross. They were put to
death in His body and we are now free from the hold of sin and its deadly
consequences. But much of the Christian population is so focused on sins that
we fail to seek the Risen Savior. He's not dead. He's alive and we are charged
to live like Him. We can't simply be identified as Christians by what we don't
do. We must be seen in pursuit of Christ and His righteousness.
If you
were at a gun range and doing some practice shooting, what would be going
through your head as you fired the gun? I’ve gone shooting several times and I
know that for myself, I have this over thought out ritual of aiming and firing.
Take aim and Fire. I’m not really being serious about its complexity, but why
is following Christ any different?
Why
is it that when it comes to Christ we focus on missing the mark (sin) instead
of hitting the mark? I can’t imagine coming to the firing line with the idea in
my head, “Ok, don’t shoot here, or there, or there, or there, or over there,
and definitely not there.” I’m going to be so exhausted, that by the time I’m
done labeling all the wrong things to shoot, I will have lost the enjoyment of
hitting the target all together.
If you live life in this fashion, I can imagine that Following Christ is a
tedious, boring and fruitless experience. Most of your time will be spent
analyzing everything but Jesus. You’ll have your eyes on all the non-targets,
when they should be on Christ. And the reality of the Gospel is that if you
seek Jesus alone, everything else will disappear and you won’t be able to miss.
That’s
what it means when you read in Galatians 5:16-17,
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the
desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and
the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each
other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
If we have
Christ as our aim nothing else will matter, nothing else will come into focus.
It will be Jesus at the center and there will be no provision for the flesh.
(Romans 13:14)
I am not
trying to diminish sin, either the reality of it or its ability to enslave. And
yes we are to abstain from sin, but simply abstaining without a mind to glorify
God in actively pursuing righteousness is worthless. I am illustrating that no
one walks to the firing line, considers all the wrong targets before shooting.
The key is to simply take aim and fire. Ignore the fleshly temptations that
swirl around, ignore the calls from those on the wide road, and take aim at
Christ and follow Him.
This post has nothing to do with technology in the way you might expect. The Digital Age is the name of a band. All former David Crowder Band members and quickly becoming my favorite new band. You can check there stuff out on youtube. Despite the title, this post isnt really about the band either.
It's simply a post about God and what He's been up to in my and my families life, and honestly having some time in worship listening to the aforementioned band has just enhanced the sense that I need to get back to being intentional with the blog.
FBC Bevil Oaks recently had a Solemn Assembly and Worship Renewal weekend that was really awesome. And I mean awesome in the awe inspiring way not the I'm a Gen X-er and everything get labeled awesome way. Having the opportunity to pray with other members, seeing them with a heart to rid themselves of sin and cling to Christ stirred me and I am grateful to God for hearing our prayers and invading our coveted space.
God has been doing some really cool things in my heart and I can't wait to see how this renewed submission to Christ manifests itself. But for now I want to share a few things God's been revealing to me.
1. I don't Grow anything, God does. My plans, events, lessons, etc... are not to be geared toward growth. Sure I can have parties and get people to come but that's not Growth by God's standard. My mission is not to Grow the Church. I am to pour myself out in submission to Christ for His pleasure and His glory. He will do the rest.
2. I am a steward and own nothing. I have simply been given authority over a small area of God's creation, to lead by service and love, that upon the Master's return or my departure what was entrusted to me will be returned more righteous than when given to me. My family is not my own, I am a steward of God leading them closer to Him by living as close as I can to Him.
3. God is undeniably patient. It's unreal how merciful God is to continually forgive me as I chase after dung. I contemplated saying "lesser things" instead of "dung", but honestly "lesser" wasn't less enough. I know my heart and where it has wandered. I am a wretched man, but God through His Son Jesus has bought me and tasked me with bringing Him Glory. In the words of Wayne "I'm unworthy", but I must see this as a divine appointment to the office of Glorifier General and I will not let my unworthiness reduce or take away from my most Holy of responsibilities.
4. I must emphasize the Gospel at all times. We often look on the Gospel as Basic to Christianity and it is, but it is not shallow. To the contrary, it is the Marianas trench of our theology. It's unfathomable nature, being made known to us is not to taken lightly and it should be handled often and with the greatest of care.
That's all for now it's late and I am sure this is riddled with typos but you'll manage and I'll get a little more sleep by not fussing over it.
On Sunday night I ran to Subway after church and I heard a song
playing over the speakers.
Before we get to that I’d like to share a little background
about why it irks me. Let’s look at Genesis 3.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the
field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually
say, ‘You[r] shall not
eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the
serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but
God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of
the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the
serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows
that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to
be desired to make one wise,[s] she took of
its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and
he ate.
This is the account of the Fall. The point at which Satan
began is work to steal, kill, and destroy.
You might even paraphrase the story like so:
Satan came to Eve as a serpent and tricked her into eating
the fruit. He questioned her about how such a small thing could really cause
trouble. “How could this be so wrong? Just take a bite.” She complied and so
did Adam.
Listen to the song. Read the lyrics!
It’s like Satan was singing this to Eve. Look at the
parallels. I’m not even going to get into the coincidence of the band name
being Cobra Starship. They certainly have serpentine lyrics.
I know that the secular world has always rejoiced in and
glorified sin. But as Christians, true believers who actually Love and Follow
the Word and Will of God, we must be aware that this is not just a catchy beat.
This is a very real, very old, and very effective means of keeping people in
the shackles of sin.
Please do not be fooled into thinking, “it’s just music.” It
is a sermon calling all to rebellion against God’s will. It speaks to spread
destruction. To fool people into having their hearts hardened through abuse, to
having their identity scrambled into the expectations and desires of everyone
else, and causing them to ignore or reject the God that Loves them enough to
die.
Ephesians 5
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as
beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual
immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you,
as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish
talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be
thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is
sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive
you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon
the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with
them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in
the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is
found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern
what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful
works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful
even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when
anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for
anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Look carefully
then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use
of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be
foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not
get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always
and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Verse 11 says it so well. It’s not just about abstaining
from the evil things but exposing them for what they are. To think that a song
that celebrates making people “Bad” would be a hit. Oh, what a joy to see good
girls, become bad??? Why would people celebrate this? How can a man seek to seduce
a women from being good to bad and not think beyond to the innocence of a
little girl? How can he not see he is a wolf devouring sheep? We must expose
these things for what they are. *
Now this is not supposed to start a huge protest of Cobra
Starship. This is much bigger than just this one example. My point is that by
default this world is in sin. Since the fall, our sin nature is a given and if uninterrupted
will continue on a course for eternal destruction. At subways shops all across America,
in cars, on tv, in the elevator, in school, at work, and everywhere else you
want to think of Satan is preaching the false Gospel of being “bad.” His words are
reaching into the hearts and minds of people and leading them to forge chains
and cuffs to bind themselves to this sinking ship.
We must preach the Gospel of Jesus. We must reach out our
hands to lift those chains. We must speak the Love of God to the dying that they
may call on Jesus for salvation and have His Spirit break the cuffs that bind them.
There is no one else doing it.There is no one else to go. There is only the
one whose reflection you can faintly see in this screen. If you don’t get it,
turn of your monitor and stare into the black screen for a second. God is not
calling just anybody, He calls You.
I wrote a song a while back satirizing the attitude of
Christians: “There’s no rest for the wicked and the devil’s work is never done.
But that’s for us Christians we’ll sleep until Jesus comes.” We are not called to sleep. the truth is clear: ““Awake, O sleeper, and
arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
* This is a side note marked above.
I know that some may harp on the woman’s own responsibility
in sinning like this, but the Man has the greater responsibility because not
only is he sinning in the adultery but he is failing to lead the woman to righteousness.
He is failing to love as Christ Loved and pursuing his own desires even at the
cost of deceiving the Woman.(Read the rest of Ephesians 5)
If there ever was a reason to breakout into song… It’s while
being persecuted?
Looking into verses 10 and 11 of Matthew 5, we are told to
rejoice in the midst of persecution. Now, this is not just any persecution. It’s
not like when I joke with Nick about his v-necks or when someone kindly points
out that I can’t see my shoes. We are talking about real persecution, the kind
that causes you to run for your life. In fact that’s what the word is really
coming from. It points to a person who is being chased or pursued by an enemy
who intends on making you suffer.
I have never been in a situation where I was actually
running for my life. I am not sure that many people in our American culture
understand that, especially when coupled with the idea that this persecution is
because of one’s faith. Nevertheless, the verse is not lost to us. We too face
persecution, though predominantly in the social realm. We are outcast by
society for being ignorant, closed minded, boring, self-righteous, and the list
can go on.
So what are we to do when ousted from our comfortable social
bubble? Rejoice!
And this is not just any rejoicing; this is a knee-slapping,
song-singing, I just won the lottery without buying a ticket, screaming,
jumping, don’t-care-if-you’re-Baptist dancing, exuberance. Some translations say be glad, or exceedingly
glad. But it’s not just put a big smile on your face, it really has more of a
celebratory nature to it. Here’s some Greek for you:
ἀγαλλιάω (agalliaō 21)
1. rejoice -ed, -eth, -ing
to leap or dance much, to rejoice
with song and dance; hence, to exult, leap for joy.
2. joy (with exceeding)
to rejoice exceedingly, especially,
with song and dance.
Why do we rejoice like this? Because, we’ve taken a stand
for the Glory of God and He will reward us. We become like one of the prophets,
unafraid to speak the truth in the darkness, even if it makes us unpopular,
even if it means we’ll be shunned, even if it means we’ll be fired, even if it
means we will die. Our concern is not
for our small time here on this earth, but for the eternal. We have declared
that whatever sufferings may come, our hearts are fixed on the eternal weight of
glory beyond compare that Paul mentions in 2nd Corinthians chapter
4.
We rejoice because if even for only a moment our lusts for
this world were overtaken by our devotion to the Loving King and we stood for
more than our selfish desires. We stood for Jesus. We stood to exalt the only
one worthy of devotion.
