It pains me to look out my front door in the spring and summer.
Most days, I try to avoid it as much as possible.
Not that I have a problem with the neighbors. I don't care about teenagers' cars parked in the street. I'm not concerned about any litter that has found its way into my front yard.
I don't even get upset anymore about people who drive way too fast down our cul-de-sac street.
The reason I hate to look out my front door...every single day in the spring and summer...is because I know what I will see popping up in my garden – WEEDS!
I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehatehate weeds!
No matter how hard I work at trying to get rid of them...no matter how many times I send my son, Jordan, outside with weed-killer in hand...they just keep coming back.
I pull them. They come back.
I spray them. They come back.
I cut them. They come back.
I dig them up. They come back.
Just when I think they are all gone...when I finally feel that I can rest from my weed-whacking...just when I start to feel pretty good about how our garden looks...
...I take a peek out of my front door and there they are, popping up again!
It is a never-ending battle that I just can't seem to win.
In a way, weeds remind me a lot of sin.
Just like weeds, sin keeps popping up in my life no matter how hard I work to get rid of it. I try to pull out sin by the roots, promising myself that I will "never do that again."
But it comes back.
I try to spray out sin by sheer willpower, striving every day to do and say only the "right things."
It comes back.
I cut out sin by praying for help to "be stronger the next time."
It comes back.
I dig out sin by filling my free time with spiritual pursuits.
It comes back.
Like weeds, when I think I have overcome sin...when I finally feel I can rest...when I start to feel good about how well I am doing...
...there it is again, popping up in the garden of my life.
I just can't seem to win this never-ending battle against sin.
And the truth is, I can't win it.
I have a sin nature that is a part of me, no matter how "good" I try to be every day. There is only one way to get rid of these weeds of sin...I have to seek God's forgiveness through my faith in Jesus.
Here is how Paul described it in his letter to the Roman church...
"What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it...I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help!
I realize I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't do it. I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway...something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time...Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions...Those who enter into Christ's being here for us no longer have to live under a continuous black cloud...The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (The Message, Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2 selections)
The good news is that some day, I won't need to worry about the weeds in my garden anymore. When Jesus comes again, He will create a new earth which I believe will be without weeds.
And I will live with Him there, in a place where sin is gone forever too.
Pastor Greg
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Channel Surfing
If I position the rabbit ears just right, I can pick up four main stations on the television set in our family room...channels 5, 9, 12, and 19.
But, no matter how long I play around with various combinations of antennae positioning between the two long, straight antennas, the center round antenna, and the calibration dial on the base, in the final analysis, channel 5 is always grainy...channel 9 goes in and out of focus depending on which way the wind blows...and channels 12 and 19 are real troopers, generally giving pretty good reception no matter what.
I must confess that I really do not have a "favorite" among these four local stations. When it comes to television shows, I choose the station based on the program I want to watch, regardless of the channel. For local news and weather, I watch the station which is NOT running a commercial, channel-surfing between all four and, in the process, driving my wife crazy.
Why don't I get cable? That is another story, although you are getting close if you know how to spell the word, "c-h-e-a-p-s-k-a-t-e." This fact has been a never-ending source of embarrassment for my children, ever since they were old enough to realize that their friends were watching shows which they had never heard of.
When the weather turns bad and the snow begins to fall, we turn on the TV early in the morning at our house. We do this so we can see the list of closings running along the bottom of the screen on all four channels. Of course, since we can't really read the letters clearly on channels 5 and 9 due to the grainy or out-of-focus pictures, we are usually glued to either channels 12 or 19.
If the bad weather hits on a Sunday, it is my job as the pastor to contact these four stations whenever we need to cancel a service. The process of getting on those television lists is quite interesting.
Channels 5 and 19 are happy to take the information over the phone. No questions asked. Just call the news desk, give them the information, and in a matter of minutes, "Walnut Hills Baptist Church" shows up every time their lists finally roll around to the "W's."
Channel 9, however, refuses to take closing requests over the phone. If you want your church's name added to their list, you must submit the information via email. Unfortunately, finding the proper email address on their website is like finding the proverbial "needle in a haystack." Still, if you follow the rules, you can get on their list.
Channel 12, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. The only way to get on their list is to have a special ID number...and to know the double-secret probation password. From their standpoint, this is an important process because it is a safeguard against "just anyone" putting our church on the closings list. In their minds, it keeps those cagey choir members from calling the station and cancelling a service just because they don't really feel like singing (or hearing the sermon) that day. No ID number...no password...no listing.
In a way, these television stations are not unlike some religions. The way they handle their closings has a similarity to the way some religions handle their beliefs.
For example, some religions, or religious denominations, require that their members possess some type of secret knowledge known only to them. It is through this secret understanding of scripture...this secret code...this secret key...this secret password or handshake or belief system that makes it possible for them to approach God and get into heaven. Theirs is a channel 12 faith.
On the other hand, some religions or denominations require a strict observance of a specific set of rules and regulations. You must "do" this. You must not "do" that. God is available to you and heaven is possible only if you follow the prescribed path without deviating. Theirs is a channel 9 faith.
The problem is that Jesus did not go to the cross so He could make God available to only a select few people who have a certain secret knowledge. And He did not die on Calvary to give us a new set of rules and regulations to meticulously follow if we want to get to heaven.
Instead, Jesus came to die so that EVERYONE who wants to be on HIS list, can be.
There is no secret...the way to get on God's list, the list of everlasting life, has been proclaimed for centuries. There is no long and grueling set of rules which must be followed or else. There is only one rule: Realize that through Jesus, and what He did on the cross, you can have your sins forgiven and by so doing, enter into God's presence for eternity.
Jesus, by what He did on the cross, opened the way to heaven for us all.
Paul put it this way in his letter to the Ephesians..."In Him (in Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses."
In his book, "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die," author John Piper describes it like this..."Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the root, of being forgiven. That's why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus his life. That is why we call it just. Oh, how precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this!"
That is a channel 5 and channel 19 faith...available to all who call.
May this be the kind of faith you know in your walk with God. If it is, you will be on HIS list when the "roll is called up yonder!"
God's blessings,
Pastor Greg
But, no matter how long I play around with various combinations of antennae positioning between the two long, straight antennas, the center round antenna, and the calibration dial on the base, in the final analysis, channel 5 is always grainy...channel 9 goes in and out of focus depending on which way the wind blows...and channels 12 and 19 are real troopers, generally giving pretty good reception no matter what.
I must confess that I really do not have a "favorite" among these four local stations. When it comes to television shows, I choose the station based on the program I want to watch, regardless of the channel. For local news and weather, I watch the station which is NOT running a commercial, channel-surfing between all four and, in the process, driving my wife crazy.
Why don't I get cable? That is another story, although you are getting close if you know how to spell the word, "c-h-e-a-p-s-k-a-t-e." This fact has been a never-ending source of embarrassment for my children, ever since they were old enough to realize that their friends were watching shows which they had never heard of.
When the weather turns bad and the snow begins to fall, we turn on the TV early in the morning at our house. We do this so we can see the list of closings running along the bottom of the screen on all four channels. Of course, since we can't really read the letters clearly on channels 5 and 9 due to the grainy or out-of-focus pictures, we are usually glued to either channels 12 or 19.
If the bad weather hits on a Sunday, it is my job as the pastor to contact these four stations whenever we need to cancel a service. The process of getting on those television lists is quite interesting.
Channels 5 and 19 are happy to take the information over the phone. No questions asked. Just call the news desk, give them the information, and in a matter of minutes, "Walnut Hills Baptist Church" shows up every time their lists finally roll around to the "W's."
Channel 9, however, refuses to take closing requests over the phone. If you want your church's name added to their list, you must submit the information via email. Unfortunately, finding the proper email address on their website is like finding the proverbial "needle in a haystack." Still, if you follow the rules, you can get on their list.
Channel 12, on the other hand, is a different story altogether. The only way to get on their list is to have a special ID number...and to know the double-secret probation password. From their standpoint, this is an important process because it is a safeguard against "just anyone" putting our church on the closings list. In their minds, it keeps those cagey choir members from calling the station and cancelling a service just because they don't really feel like singing (or hearing the sermon) that day. No ID number...no password...no listing.
In a way, these television stations are not unlike some religions. The way they handle their closings has a similarity to the way some religions handle their beliefs.
For example, some religions, or religious denominations, require that their members possess some type of secret knowledge known only to them. It is through this secret understanding of scripture...this secret code...this secret key...this secret password or handshake or belief system that makes it possible for them to approach God and get into heaven. Theirs is a channel 12 faith.
On the other hand, some religions or denominations require a strict observance of a specific set of rules and regulations. You must "do" this. You must not "do" that. God is available to you and heaven is possible only if you follow the prescribed path without deviating. Theirs is a channel 9 faith.
The problem is that Jesus did not go to the cross so He could make God available to only a select few people who have a certain secret knowledge. And He did not die on Calvary to give us a new set of rules and regulations to meticulously follow if we want to get to heaven.
Instead, Jesus came to die so that EVERYONE who wants to be on HIS list, can be.
There is no secret...the way to get on God's list, the list of everlasting life, has been proclaimed for centuries. There is no long and grueling set of rules which must be followed or else. There is only one rule: Realize that through Jesus, and what He did on the cross, you can have your sins forgiven and by so doing, enter into God's presence for eternity.
Jesus, by what He did on the cross, opened the way to heaven for us all.
Paul put it this way in his letter to the Ephesians..."In Him (in Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses."
In his book, "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die," author John Piper describes it like this..."Forgiveness costs us nothing. All our costly obedience is the fruit, not the root, of being forgiven. That's why we call it grace. But it cost Jesus his life. That is why we call it just. Oh, how precious is the news that God does not hold our sins against us! And how beautiful is Christ, whose blood made it right for God to do this!"
That is a channel 5 and channel 19 faith...available to all who call.
May this be the kind of faith you know in your walk with God. If it is, you will be on HIS list when the "roll is called up yonder!"
God's blessings,
Pastor Greg
Monday, March 29, 2010
Easter Faith
Easter faith is a pretty faith. We dress up our Easter faith today. We put it in a new suit or put a
brightly-colored bonnet on it. It is pretty and easy. Perhaps it is too much so.
The Easter faith of Jesus' disciples was not pretty or easy. Theirs was a faith of a bloody cross and a stone-covered tomb. Theirs was a faith of sacrifice.
Actually, during the early encounters of that first resurrection morning, the word of the hour was not "faith," but "doubt." Consider all of the doubt which surrounded that first Easter:
Thomas doubted until he saw with his own eyes, Peter refused to believe the women who returned from the early-morning trip to the tomb, Mary thought she was speaking with the gardener because it "couldn't be" Jesus, and the two pilgrims on the road to Emmaus spent hours walking with Jesus, but didn't recognize him in their own hour of doubt.
Not only did these people doubt the actual event of the resurrection, but they also doubted the promises which Jesus had made to them beforehand. Promises about being raised to life on the third day. Promises of reunion after three days in the earth. So many things are easier to believe. So many promises are more easily kept.
The disciples were overwhelmed by the nature of those promises. They were impossible promises. Incredible. Inconceivable. As dawn broke on that first Resurrection Sunday, everything the disciples knew about life and death said that Jesus was not coming back.
Eventually, the memories of Good Friday faded into the realities of Easter Sunday. By the end of the day, these same people rejoiced not because of the nature of the promises, but because of the nature of the Person who made the promises.
Jesus has made impossible, incredible, inconceivable promises to us today as well. Sometimes, our circumstances in life lead us to the same kind of doubt the disciples experienced. We doubt His promises because, like them, we lose sight of Him.
During our darkest days, when we see only a blood-stained cross and a stone-covered tomb before us, we need to summon strength from our own Easter faith. A faith that believes Jesus' promises not only when it is easy to do so, but also when it requires a sacrifice.
Easter faith believes in Easter promises. Easter promises bring life from death. As our lives become Easter lives, doubt disappears, replaced by a "peace that passeth understanding' and a certainty of eternity.
Happy Easter!
Pastor Greg
brightly-colored bonnet on it. It is pretty and easy. Perhaps it is too much so.
The Easter faith of Jesus' disciples was not pretty or easy. Theirs was a faith of a bloody cross and a stone-covered tomb. Theirs was a faith of sacrifice.
Actually, during the early encounters of that first resurrection morning, the word of the hour was not "faith," but "doubt." Consider all of the doubt which surrounded that first Easter:
Thomas doubted until he saw with his own eyes, Peter refused to believe the women who returned from the early-morning trip to the tomb, Mary thought she was speaking with the gardener because it "couldn't be" Jesus, and the two pilgrims on the road to Emmaus spent hours walking with Jesus, but didn't recognize him in their own hour of doubt.
Not only did these people doubt the actual event of the resurrection, but they also doubted the promises which Jesus had made to them beforehand. Promises about being raised to life on the third day. Promises of reunion after three days in the earth. So many things are easier to believe. So many promises are more easily kept.
The disciples were overwhelmed by the nature of those promises. They were impossible promises. Incredible. Inconceivable. As dawn broke on that first Resurrection Sunday, everything the disciples knew about life and death said that Jesus was not coming back.
Eventually, the memories of Good Friday faded into the realities of Easter Sunday. By the end of the day, these same people rejoiced not because of the nature of the promises, but because of the nature of the Person who made the promises.
Jesus has made impossible, incredible, inconceivable promises to us today as well. Sometimes, our circumstances in life lead us to the same kind of doubt the disciples experienced. We doubt His promises because, like them, we lose sight of Him.
During our darkest days, when we see only a blood-stained cross and a stone-covered tomb before us, we need to summon strength from our own Easter faith. A faith that believes Jesus' promises not only when it is easy to do so, but also when it requires a sacrifice.
Easter faith believes in Easter promises. Easter promises bring life from death. As our lives become Easter lives, doubt disappears, replaced by a "peace that passeth understanding' and a certainty of eternity.
Happy Easter!
Pastor Greg
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Hands of Faith
My grandfather's hands always fascinated me.
There was nothing particularly extraordinary about them physically, except perhaps the field of freckles that dotted them like a haphazard splash of paint on a blank wall.
No, what made them special hands in my eyes was not what they looked like, but what my Grandpa did with them.
My Dad's dad, he worked in the meat department of a grocery store for over 40 years. Back then, we called him a "meat-cutter," but today he would be called a "butcher."
Whenever I visited him at work, his hands would be busy grinding hamburger, or cutting pork chops, or packaging newly sliced T-bone steaks.
When he brought home the fruits of his labor, his hands would soon be busy again, preparing meat for a cookout, lighting the grill, and serving the best meal ever, every time.
On weekends during the summer, our family convened at a one-room, cinderblock cabin, where Grandpa's hands not only did much of the cooking, but also cut grass, painted walls, patched the roof, hauled water, built the dock on the river and the mended the screen porch.
When the work was done, those hands would hold a paperback book, or deal a hand of cards, or shoot a gun, or bait the hook on a fishing line, or guide our motorboat to shore, or pitch a horseshoe into a distant pit.
I loved to watch my Grandpa's hands, no matter what they were doing. They were hard-working hands.
My grandmother, my Mom's mom, had hands that were filled with talent. She knitted beautiful sweaters, crocheted exquisite afghans, did finely detailed needlepoint and painted paint-by-number masterpieces that looked just like the originals.
They were creative hands.
Maybe that is why I have always admired people who use their hands for a living, who make the world around them better through their hard-work and creativity.
Painters, sculptors, electricians, carpenters, cooks, gardeners, tailors, brick-layers, photographers, quilters, musicians, and fishermen all amaze me, along with so many others like them.
Maybe that is also why I have often wondered what Jesus' hands must have been like.
Have you?
Think about what those hands did while they were here on earth!
They healed, they fed thousands from just a few morsels, they washed the disciples' feet, they broke bread and served wine at the last supper. They cradled small children, turned over the money-changers' tables, and were often folded in prayer.
Think about what those hands did while they were in heaven!
They created the stars and the sun and the moon. They molded the continents and raised the mountains. They formed Adam and made Eve. They "knit together" every baby that has ever been born.
Most incredible of all, though, is that those hands were opened and placed on a wood cross, where they were wounded by the piercing pain of cold, hard, steel nails driven through them by one awful hammer blow after another.
And when I consider that Jesus' hands were hurt for me...how He took my place on that cross...when I realize it should have been MY hands that were hit with those hammer blows...
...I find that I can never look at my own hands in the same way ever again.
And I can never look at Jesus the same way, either.
There are so many reasons to love Jesus. For me, one of those reasons is His hands...all the things they did...what they did for me.
When I get to heaven, don't be surprised if I act a lot like the disciple, Thomas, when he first saw Jesus after His resurrection...
"Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord."
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were...I will not believe it."
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands...Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." (John 20:24-28, NIV)
I want to see Jesus' hands too...not because I doubt...but because I believe!
Pastor Greg
There was nothing particularly extraordinary about them physically, except perhaps the field of freckles that dotted them like a haphazard splash of paint on a blank wall.
No, what made them special hands in my eyes was not what they looked like, but what my Grandpa did with them.
My Dad's dad, he worked in the meat department of a grocery store for over 40 years. Back then, we called him a "meat-cutter," but today he would be called a "butcher."
Whenever I visited him at work, his hands would be busy grinding hamburger, or cutting pork chops, or packaging newly sliced T-bone steaks.
When he brought home the fruits of his labor, his hands would soon be busy again, preparing meat for a cookout, lighting the grill, and serving the best meal ever, every time.
On weekends during the summer, our family convened at a one-room, cinderblock cabin, where Grandpa's hands not only did much of the cooking, but also cut grass, painted walls, patched the roof, hauled water, built the dock on the river and the mended the screen porch.
When the work was done, those hands would hold a paperback book, or deal a hand of cards, or shoot a gun, or bait the hook on a fishing line, or guide our motorboat to shore, or pitch a horseshoe into a distant pit.
I loved to watch my Grandpa's hands, no matter what they were doing. They were hard-working hands.
My grandmother, my Mom's mom, had hands that were filled with talent. She knitted beautiful sweaters, crocheted exquisite afghans, did finely detailed needlepoint and painted paint-by-number masterpieces that looked just like the originals.
They were creative hands.
Maybe that is why I have always admired people who use their hands for a living, who make the world around them better through their hard-work and creativity.
Painters, sculptors, electricians, carpenters, cooks, gardeners, tailors, brick-layers, photographers, quilters, musicians, and fishermen all amaze me, along with so many others like them.
Maybe that is also why I have often wondered what Jesus' hands must have been like.
Have you?
Think about what those hands did while they were here on earth!
They healed, they fed thousands from just a few morsels, they washed the disciples' feet, they broke bread and served wine at the last supper. They cradled small children, turned over the money-changers' tables, and were often folded in prayer.
Think about what those hands did while they were in heaven!
They created the stars and the sun and the moon. They molded the continents and raised the mountains. They formed Adam and made Eve. They "knit together" every baby that has ever been born.
Most incredible of all, though, is that those hands were opened and placed on a wood cross, where they were wounded by the piercing pain of cold, hard, steel nails driven through them by one awful hammer blow after another.
And when I consider that Jesus' hands were hurt for me...how He took my place on that cross...when I realize it should have been MY hands that were hit with those hammer blows...
...I find that I can never look at my own hands in the same way ever again.
And I can never look at Jesus the same way, either.
There are so many reasons to love Jesus. For me, one of those reasons is His hands...all the things they did...what they did for me.
When I get to heaven, don't be surprised if I act a lot like the disciple, Thomas, when he first saw Jesus after His resurrection...
"Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord."
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were...I will not believe it."
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands...Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." (John 20:24-28, NIV)
I want to see Jesus' hands too...not because I doubt...but because I believe!
Pastor Greg
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Cold Fries and Cold Lives
The calendar has turned to the cold, cold month of February, and I have been thinking about things that leave me cold. Like...
-- The conversion to digital television
-- Comedians who revert to vulgar language for laughs
-- Preachers who are so proud of themselves
-- People who drive on ice like there is no ice
-- Bad grammar and words spelled incorrectly in the newspaper
-- Dirty restrooms in public places (or, why can't Cracker Barrel do a better job?)
-- Being forced to watch TV commercials at the movies
-- Old, cold french fries
Which begs the question: Why can't I get fresh, hot french fries at a fast food drive-thru?
I mean, these places serve millions and millions of french fries at their drive-thru windows every day...McDonalds, Wendy's, White Castle, Steak n Shake, Burger King, Rally's, Arby's, Frisch's, Chick Fil-A, KFC, Long John Silvers, and so many more and none of them can keep their fries fresh and hot.
Believe me, I have given them all plenty of opportunities to prove me wrong!
Yet, time after time, after time, after time...after time...the same scenario repeats itself: I stop at the drive-thru and wait patiently for my food to come popping out of the window, and as soon as I get it, I drive like a maniac so I can make it home while the fries are still hot.
Only to be disappointed every time.
The fries are not hot. As a matter of fact, it is obvious that they had not been hot the moment they were plopped into the bag. They are limp and lukewarm and rubbery. That doesn't happen in the time it takes to drive home.
Nothing leaves me cold like a cold french fry. Once they lose their heat, there is no way to get it back. There is only one thing you can do with cold fries...throw them away.
Here's the catch...
...if I could find even one place that would hand me hot fries instead of lukewarm fries, I would be their most loyal customer. I would drive through their drive-thru a lot more often.
And, I have a feeling I am not the only one. I have a feeling there are many, many people in the world screaming for hot fries!
Which means, if even ONE restaurant would make it a rule to serve ONLY hot fries at their drive-thru, they would increase their business, make more money, and gain the loyalty of millions of customers!
So, why don't fast food restaurants serve hot fries?
I think it is just the way most companies do business today. Instead of working on ways to MAKE money, businesses today think about how to SAVE money. In the fast food business, they think they can save money by using old fries instead of cooking fresh fries.
They S-T-R-E-T-C-H it.
They "make do." They think those lukewarm fries are "good enough."
The logic goes something like this: They serve lukewarm fries rather than throwing them out...the fewer they throw out, the fewer they cook each day...the fewer they cook each day, the more money they save because they go through fewer fries each day.
But the goal of a fast food business should not be to SAVE fries. Instead, the goal should be to SELL fries!
Hint: If you serve ONLY hot fries at your drive-thru window, you will SELL more fries.
Trying to save fries by serving lukewarm fries = selling fewer fries = less money.
Selling only hot fries = more fries sold = more money.
So why can't I get hot french fries anywhere? Because people are afraid to throw away a few lukewarm fries and just step out in faith that hot fries are the secret to selling more fries.
That is true of our spiritual walk as well.
We want to "make do" with a cold fry faith. We want to make our original commitment to Christ S-T-R-E-T-C-H so that it, alone, will be "good enough" to last us for the rest of our lives!
In the process, we think we are saving something special by holding so tight to that first encounter with our Savior that we never go any further...we don't grow in our walk with Him...and our relationship with Jesus goes from hot, to lukewarm, to cold.
Just like those fries.
And a cold faith leaves God cold just like those cold fries that come through the drive-thru window leave me cold.
How much better it is to keep your faith fresh...to know Jesus more intimately...love Him more fully...and to try to be more like Him.
The secret to a vital walk with Christ is to serve Him only the hot fries of faith, which you keep fresh and hot by the way you seek Him in new and fresh ways every day.
Here is how the author of Hebrews expressed it, as translated into contemporary language...
"By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one – baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ...there's so much more. Let's get on with it!"
(Hebrews 5:11-6:3, selected from "The Message")
Stop craving baby's milk in your relationship with God. Stop saving those old, cold fries! It is not "good enough" for Him.
Instead, step out and give Him the good stuff...give Him the place of priority in your life by pursuing Him in prayer, worship, study, giving, and obedience!
When you do that, even the month of February will not seem so cold, after all!
Pastor Greg
-- The conversion to digital television
-- Comedians who revert to vulgar language for laughs
-- Preachers who are so proud of themselves
-- People who drive on ice like there is no ice
-- Bad grammar and words spelled incorrectly in the newspaper
-- Dirty restrooms in public places (or, why can't Cracker Barrel do a better job?)
-- Being forced to watch TV commercials at the movies
-- Old, cold french fries
Which begs the question: Why can't I get fresh, hot french fries at a fast food drive-thru?
I mean, these places serve millions and millions of french fries at their drive-thru windows every day...McDonalds, Wendy's, White Castle, Steak n Shake, Burger King, Rally's, Arby's, Frisch's, Chick Fil-A, KFC, Long John Silvers, and so many more and none of them can keep their fries fresh and hot.
Believe me, I have given them all plenty of opportunities to prove me wrong!
Yet, time after time, after time, after time...after time...the same scenario repeats itself: I stop at the drive-thru and wait patiently for my food to come popping out of the window, and as soon as I get it, I drive like a maniac so I can make it home while the fries are still hot.
Only to be disappointed every time.
The fries are not hot. As a matter of fact, it is obvious that they had not been hot the moment they were plopped into the bag. They are limp and lukewarm and rubbery. That doesn't happen in the time it takes to drive home.
Nothing leaves me cold like a cold french fry. Once they lose their heat, there is no way to get it back. There is only one thing you can do with cold fries...throw them away.
Here's the catch...
...if I could find even one place that would hand me hot fries instead of lukewarm fries, I would be their most loyal customer. I would drive through their drive-thru a lot more often.
And, I have a feeling I am not the only one. I have a feeling there are many, many people in the world screaming for hot fries!
Which means, if even ONE restaurant would make it a rule to serve ONLY hot fries at their drive-thru, they would increase their business, make more money, and gain the loyalty of millions of customers!
So, why don't fast food restaurants serve hot fries?
I think it is just the way most companies do business today. Instead of working on ways to MAKE money, businesses today think about how to SAVE money. In the fast food business, they think they can save money by using old fries instead of cooking fresh fries.
They S-T-R-E-T-C-H it.
They "make do." They think those lukewarm fries are "good enough."
The logic goes something like this: They serve lukewarm fries rather than throwing them out...the fewer they throw out, the fewer they cook each day...the fewer they cook each day, the more money they save because they go through fewer fries each day.
But the goal of a fast food business should not be to SAVE fries. Instead, the goal should be to SELL fries!
Hint: If you serve ONLY hot fries at your drive-thru window, you will SELL more fries.
Trying to save fries by serving lukewarm fries = selling fewer fries = less money.
Selling only hot fries = more fries sold = more money.
So why can't I get hot french fries anywhere? Because people are afraid to throw away a few lukewarm fries and just step out in faith that hot fries are the secret to selling more fries.
That is true of our spiritual walk as well.
We want to "make do" with a cold fry faith. We want to make our original commitment to Christ S-T-R-E-T-C-H so that it, alone, will be "good enough" to last us for the rest of our lives!
In the process, we think we are saving something special by holding so tight to that first encounter with our Savior that we never go any further...we don't grow in our walk with Him...and our relationship with Jesus goes from hot, to lukewarm, to cold.
Just like those fries.
And a cold faith leaves God cold just like those cold fries that come through the drive-thru window leave me cold.
How much better it is to keep your faith fresh...to know Jesus more intimately...love Him more fully...and to try to be more like Him.
The secret to a vital walk with Christ is to serve Him only the hot fries of faith, which you keep fresh and hot by the way you seek Him in new and fresh ways every day.
Here is how the author of Hebrews expressed it, as translated into contemporary language...
"By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one – baby's milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God's ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.
So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ...there's so much more. Let's get on with it!"
(Hebrews 5:11-6:3, selected from "The Message")
Stop craving baby's milk in your relationship with God. Stop saving those old, cold fries! It is not "good enough" for Him.
Instead, step out and give Him the good stuff...give Him the place of priority in your life by pursuing Him in prayer, worship, study, giving, and obedience!
When you do that, even the month of February will not seem so cold, after all!
Pastor Greg
Friday, January 29, 2010
LOST
Bullets. Blackmail. Bodies. Betrayal. Bombs. Boats. Beaches. Babies. Ben.
What do they all have in common?
If you said, "They all begin with the letter 'B'," you are right. But, that is not the answer I was really looking for. Here's a better answer: They are all a part the television show, "LOST."
Yes, I must admit it, I am a fan. Why? I don't really know. I don't think any other show in the history of television has been more exasperating to watch. The title of the show could not be more perfect, because the more I watch it, the more and more "lost" I become.
And I'm not the only one.
Regis Philbin is convinced the show is actually a long dream sequence of one of the characters. Jimmy Kimmel tries to coax insights from cast members every time one of them appears on his show.
Even actress Evangeline Lilly, who plays the role of "Kate," admits she has a hard time returning to reality once taping is over. She just can't shake the feeling that the threats she faces on the show also threaten her in real life.
For those of you who are not fans, let me briefly fill you in --
"LOST" is a story about the survivors of a plane crash who find themselves marooned on an exotic island. Just when they think things might work out for them, as they await rescue, problems begin on the island.
One major problem is that the island is already inhabited by people who see the survivors as a threat. Also, the island itself, the former site of far-flung scientific experiments, often defies the laws of time and space, and may not be a "real" island at all (or, maybe it is). Since I'm lost, I don't really know.
Anyway, these survivors (mostly good guys, like Kate) are "lost" on the island and are trying to get back home. Meanwhile, the "others" (the people who were already living on the island) are, for the most part, trying to either stop them or kill them.
Great TV, right?
Right. Except, I'm lost. I'm lost because the story is convoluted most of the time. One plot tangent goes off in one direction all on its own for awhile; then the main plot-line returns; then another tangent takes off in a totally different direction...and, all the while, as viewers, we are left trying to piece it all together into a coherent whole.
Complicating everything is the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Sometimes the story is in the present...then, it quickly shifts to the past...or, just as quickly, to the future. There is never any explanation. It is up to us to figure out whether the scene we are watching is in the past, the present, or the future.
The theory is, I suppose, if you watch enough, you will eventually figure it all out from start to finish.
I'm beginning to have my doubts, though. My wife gave up on the show a long time ago and wonders why I'm still watching it.
I don't know. Maybe I am just an optimist. Someday, it will all make sense. I hope. Maybe I also like it because, in a way, the show is a metaphor for real life in the real world.
We are all living on this weird, little island called "Earth" that we don't completely understand. This Earth-island is filled with good guys and bad guys. Some of the good guys want to help us stay alive and find our way home. The bad guys don't.
The plot-line of our lives often goes off in unusual and unexpected tangents. We'll be heading down the highway of life in one direction thinking we have it all together. Then, without warning, something happens that changes everything. Maybe it is a doctor's diagnosis, a drunk driver, or a dropout daughter that stops us in our tracks and reminds us how difficult life can be.
Like the characters on the TV show, we also have a past that has impacted our present. And the way we live in the present, and the decisions we make now, will determine where we spend our future.
And, right now, many of us are lost...looking for the way home.
During one episode of the TV show, six survivors ended up in the middle of the ocean; the island had disappeared; and things looked grim. But, just when all seemed "lost," they were miraculously rescued and made it home, thanks to a life boat which saved their lives.
Sometimes, in my life, I feel like I need a life boat. My plane has crashed and burned and things are looking grim.
The good news is that God has already sent one...a life boat that saved me, and will save you too.
That life boat is Jesus. When you get onto His life boat, you are rescued immediately. Through Jesus, you will not be lost...you will make it home. And when you get there, everything will make sense.
Remember the Bible story about Zacchaeus, the tax collector? He decided to step onto God's life boat, and when he did, Jesus gave him this assurance...
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10 NIV)
You can wonder around this Earth-island we live on today, trying to find your own way home, but you will just end up more and more lost. Or, you can step out in faith onto God's life boat, Jesus, and be rescued.
And being saved is so much better than being lost!
Pastor Greg
What do they all have in common?
If you said, "They all begin with the letter 'B'," you are right. But, that is not the answer I was really looking for. Here's a better answer: They are all a part the television show, "LOST."
Yes, I must admit it, I am a fan. Why? I don't really know. I don't think any other show in the history of television has been more exasperating to watch. The title of the show could not be more perfect, because the more I watch it, the more and more "lost" I become.
And I'm not the only one.
Regis Philbin is convinced the show is actually a long dream sequence of one of the characters. Jimmy Kimmel tries to coax insights from cast members every time one of them appears on his show.
Even actress Evangeline Lilly, who plays the role of "Kate," admits she has a hard time returning to reality once taping is over. She just can't shake the feeling that the threats she faces on the show also threaten her in real life.
For those of you who are not fans, let me briefly fill you in --
"LOST" is a story about the survivors of a plane crash who find themselves marooned on an exotic island. Just when they think things might work out for them, as they await rescue, problems begin on the island.
One major problem is that the island is already inhabited by people who see the survivors as a threat. Also, the island itself, the former site of far-flung scientific experiments, often defies the laws of time and space, and may not be a "real" island at all (or, maybe it is). Since I'm lost, I don't really know.
Anyway, these survivors (mostly good guys, like Kate) are "lost" on the island and are trying to get back home. Meanwhile, the "others" (the people who were already living on the island) are, for the most part, trying to either stop them or kill them.
Great TV, right?
Right. Except, I'm lost. I'm lost because the story is convoluted most of the time. One plot tangent goes off in one direction all on its own for awhile; then the main plot-line returns; then another tangent takes off in a totally different direction...and, all the while, as viewers, we are left trying to piece it all together into a coherent whole.
Complicating everything is the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards. Sometimes the story is in the present...then, it quickly shifts to the past...or, just as quickly, to the future. There is never any explanation. It is up to us to figure out whether the scene we are watching is in the past, the present, or the future.
The theory is, I suppose, if you watch enough, you will eventually figure it all out from start to finish.
I'm beginning to have my doubts, though. My wife gave up on the show a long time ago and wonders why I'm still watching it.
I don't know. Maybe I am just an optimist. Someday, it will all make sense. I hope. Maybe I also like it because, in a way, the show is a metaphor for real life in the real world.
We are all living on this weird, little island called "Earth" that we don't completely understand. This Earth-island is filled with good guys and bad guys. Some of the good guys want to help us stay alive and find our way home. The bad guys don't.
The plot-line of our lives often goes off in unusual and unexpected tangents. We'll be heading down the highway of life in one direction thinking we have it all together. Then, without warning, something happens that changes everything. Maybe it is a doctor's diagnosis, a drunk driver, or a dropout daughter that stops us in our tracks and reminds us how difficult life can be.
Like the characters on the TV show, we also have a past that has impacted our present. And the way we live in the present, and the decisions we make now, will determine where we spend our future.
And, right now, many of us are lost...looking for the way home.
During one episode of the TV show, six survivors ended up in the middle of the ocean; the island had disappeared; and things looked grim. But, just when all seemed "lost," they were miraculously rescued and made it home, thanks to a life boat which saved their lives.
Sometimes, in my life, I feel like I need a life boat. My plane has crashed and burned and things are looking grim.
The good news is that God has already sent one...a life boat that saved me, and will save you too.
That life boat is Jesus. When you get onto His life boat, you are rescued immediately. Through Jesus, you will not be lost...you will make it home. And when you get there, everything will make sense.
Remember the Bible story about Zacchaeus, the tax collector? He decided to step onto God's life boat, and when he did, Jesus gave him this assurance...
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10 NIV)
You can wonder around this Earth-island we live on today, trying to find your own way home, but you will just end up more and more lost. Or, you can step out in faith onto God's life boat, Jesus, and be rescued.
And being saved is so much better than being lost!
Pastor Greg
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Starting Over
January is the month of starting over.
It is the month of New Year's resolutions...promises to start over.
Think about the kinds of resolutions you normally make at the beginning of January each year...here are some of the classics:
-- "I am going to eat better."
-- "I am going to exercise more."
-- "I am going to stop smoking."
-- "I am going to watch TV less."
-- "I am going to save more money."
What do they all have in common? They all require a change in your life...and they all express your desire to start over.
The problem is, most of us eventually fail when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.
Most of the time, those old habits creep back into our lives...sometimes quickly...sometimes bit-by-bit...until we reach the point where, basically, nothing has changed.
Old habits die hard.
Why? Because, if we are honest, we must admit that our hearts are not in it.
Our "heads" tell us that we WANT to change, that we WANT to start over...and we convince ourselves it is true. "THIS time it will be different. THIS time I really mean it."
But, the truth is, it is your "head" talking. Not your heart.
The same thing happens when it comes to your relationship with God.
Something happens in your life and you decide that you need to get closer to Him. Usually, the plan goes something like this...
1. I will pray more.
2. I will read my Bible more.
3. I will go to church more.
4. I will give more money to the church.
5. I will be a better person.
In other words, the plan is to "butter up" the Lord so He will be so impressed with you that He can't help but send showers of blessings your way.
But, in the end, the plan is no more useful than your annual January plan to start over, because these promises to God are no more than New Year's resolutions in disguise.
They are made with your head and not with your heart.
What if Jesus had made resolutions rather than promises? What if He had said in His head something like this: "Yes, I will go to the cross, beaten and bloodied. And, once there, I will let the Roman guards drive spikes into my hands and feet. I will wear a crown of thorns. I will take on all of the sins of all mankind. And, I will suffer and die because that is the only way you can get to heaven."
If this had been only a New Year's resolution, do you think Jesus would have gone through with the plan? Or, would He have changed His mind at some point, like when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration...or as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...or in the Upper Room...or even in the Garden of Gesthemene?
He had plenty of opportunities to turn around a go the other way.
What if He had decided to just forget the whole plan and go back to the glories of heaven where He could share eternity in the presence of angels and on streets of gold?
Who could have blamed Him?
The good news is that Jesus did not make His promise with His head, He made it with His heart. In His heart, He said, "I love you so much that nothing will stop me from dying for you. And living for you...so you can eventually live with Me."
If you really want to get closer to God during the new year, then it is not your head that needs to change. It is not your head that needs to start over. It is your heart.
Give God your heart first, and your life will follow.
Then, you will find yourself doing all of those good things for God, not because you want to butter Him up, but because you are so close to Him already that they are simply reflections of your relationship with Him.
Paul said something similar in Romans, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
"As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right ANYTHING for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is REAL LIFE, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:20-23)
This year, resolve to give up the good intentions of your head and instead, give up your heart...to God. That is the only way to start over with Him in a way that will make a difference not just now, but forever.
May you find a new life with the Lord during this new year,
Happy New Year!
Pastor Greg
It is the month of New Year's resolutions...promises to start over.
Think about the kinds of resolutions you normally make at the beginning of January each year...here are some of the classics:
-- "I am going to eat better."
-- "I am going to exercise more."
-- "I am going to stop smoking."
-- "I am going to watch TV less."
-- "I am going to save more money."
What do they all have in common? They all require a change in your life...and they all express your desire to start over.
The problem is, most of us eventually fail when it comes to our New Year's resolutions.
Most of the time, those old habits creep back into our lives...sometimes quickly...sometimes bit-by-bit...until we reach the point where, basically, nothing has changed.
Old habits die hard.
Why? Because, if we are honest, we must admit that our hearts are not in it.
Our "heads" tell us that we WANT to change, that we WANT to start over...and we convince ourselves it is true. "THIS time it will be different. THIS time I really mean it."
But, the truth is, it is your "head" talking. Not your heart.
The same thing happens when it comes to your relationship with God.
Something happens in your life and you decide that you need to get closer to Him. Usually, the plan goes something like this...
1. I will pray more.
2. I will read my Bible more.
3. I will go to church more.
4. I will give more money to the church.
5. I will be a better person.
In other words, the plan is to "butter up" the Lord so He will be so impressed with you that He can't help but send showers of blessings your way.
But, in the end, the plan is no more useful than your annual January plan to start over, because these promises to God are no more than New Year's resolutions in disguise.
They are made with your head and not with your heart.
What if Jesus had made resolutions rather than promises? What if He had said in His head something like this: "Yes, I will go to the cross, beaten and bloodied. And, once there, I will let the Roman guards drive spikes into my hands and feet. I will wear a crown of thorns. I will take on all of the sins of all mankind. And, I will suffer and die because that is the only way you can get to heaven."
If this had been only a New Year's resolution, do you think Jesus would have gone through with the plan? Or, would He have changed His mind at some point, like when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration...or as He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday...or in the Upper Room...or even in the Garden of Gesthemene?
He had plenty of opportunities to turn around a go the other way.
What if He had decided to just forget the whole plan and go back to the glories of heaven where He could share eternity in the presence of angels and on streets of gold?
Who could have blamed Him?
The good news is that Jesus did not make His promise with His head, He made it with His heart. In His heart, He said, "I love you so much that nothing will stop me from dying for you. And living for you...so you can eventually live with Me."
If you really want to get closer to God during the new year, then it is not your head that needs to change. It is not your head that needs to start over. It is your heart.
Give God your heart first, and your life will follow.
Then, you will find yourself doing all of those good things for God, not because you want to butter Him up, but because you are so close to Him already that they are simply reflections of your relationship with Him.
Paul said something similar in Romans, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
"As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right ANYTHING for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.
But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is REAL LIFE, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Romans 6:20-23)
This year, resolve to give up the good intentions of your head and instead, give up your heart...to God. That is the only way to start over with Him in a way that will make a difference not just now, but forever.
May you find a new life with the Lord during this new year,
Happy New Year!
Pastor Greg
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