Lessons from a 5 year old.

Here are my daughter’s thoughts on what Christmas is all about (from a school assignment she did in class on her own)…

“12-4-09…Chistmas is not a balt geting stuf   it is a balt Jesus birth day and giving stuf   God let Mary hav Jesus so he cood di on the cros for are sins  he did not hav to  he cood let us hav a pushmit”

So simple a child can get it, yet the smartest of this world will stumble over what they think is foolishness. 

Jesus…born to die, so we could live.  Praise the Lord!

Family Christmas Ideas

At our church we recently talked about God’s call/command/plan for Christian parents to teach their kids about Him.  To help equip families who may be new to that, I thought it would be helpful simply to share with one another what we have done or are planning on doing to celebrate Christ and teach our kids this Christmas.  What are the fun experiences, serious teachings, or devotional moments that you can share that may give some ideas to those parents who are seeking to disciple their kids during this season but don’t know where to start.  I look forward to your responses and pray God blesses our efforts at being faithful parents and pointing our kids to Him.  

Merry Christmas!

JUDGES: American Idols part II

Often we hear imbalanced descriptions of God.  One person continually points out God’s wrath and hatred of sin, another only talks about God’s love, grace, and mercy.  While it is true that God is wrathful and God is loving, it is important to remember that BOTH of these are true of God if we are to have an accurate picture of who God is and of the gospel.  God does hate sin and punish sinners, God does love people and forgive and give grace for salvation.  In Judges chapter two, we see both God’s wrath and grace as He responds to the idolatry of the Israelites. 

What was God’s response to the idolatry of the Israelites, the people He had covenanted with to be their God and they His people?  God’s response to the Israelites idolatry was anger, anger that led to his “hand” being against them (vv. 12-13, 14-15, 20 – a.k.a.  He would not drive out the people before them).  God still has the same response to sin today, especially idolatry.  Sin provokes God’s anger, and His anger leads to suffering.  Ultimately those outside of Christ will experience the eternal suffering of God’s anger and wrath in hell forever.  And remember, this is what all of us deserve.  We have all earned God’s wrath (Rom. 6:23) because we have all rebelled against God and put other things in His place, whether someone, something, or ourselves. 

But now go back to Judges chapter two and see God’s mercy.  In verse 19 we see that in response to the people crying out for deliverance, God was moved by pity.  And out of that pity, He chooses to act and show mercy by raising up Judges to deliver the people.  He didn’t have to, He chose to.  (Here we’re talking judges as in deliverers, not as in ”The People’s Court”.)  God would raise up a judge and then use the judge in bringing deliverance from those oppressing the Israelites.  He could have left them alone to suffer, but He didn’t.  Here is a clear display of God’s grace to those who are sinners, who had broken their covenant with Him, rightly deserving His wrath. 

But (and this is a pattern in the book of Judges) once the judge died the people would forsake God again, God would punish them through oppression, they would cry out to God again, He would raise up a judge to deliver them, the judge would die, and the cycle would start over.  There was a problem, while the judge could deliver the people from external oppression, he couldn’t deliver them from the bondage of their hearts to sinful desires for things other than God.  The human judge could do nothing to change their idolatrous hearts, he could not bring ultimate deliverance.

But that’s not the end of the story, for we are pointed to an even greater act of God in His mercy, the sending of His Son to be the ultimate deliverer, the ultimate judge.  One who would redeem people from the slavery of sin at the cost of His own blood.  Jesus Christ came not just to throw off external slavery and oppression, but to break the chains of the greatest slavery, the cruelest master, that man has ever known, sin. 

Make no mistake, we are all slaves.  Romans 6:16 says, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness?” In what particular way does sin manifests itself in your life?  What particular sins dominate you?  What do you worship?  What do you idolize in your heart?   We all know from experience that what we’ve seen in Judges is a real picture of how sin pulls us away from God, can control our lives, demands our affections, corrupts all aspects life, and in the end will bring destruction.  But we don’t have to stay there, we can be free in Christ.

Thank God for mercy.  Thank God for sending Jesus.   Thank God that through faith in Jesus, we can be counted dead to sin, and be free, truly free to know and love Him.

Key passage: Romans 6

JUDGES: The Holy Spirit

Greetings Wickland folks and anyone else reading this.  God is teaching me so much through our study of Judges about Himself, the gospel, and how hopeless we’d be without Jesus (the Ultimate Deliverer).  This week we’re going to be learning about the Holy Spirit.  In preparation for Sunday I encourage you to look up as many verses about the Holy Spririt in the Bible as you can (use the concordance in the back of a Bible for help).  What do these verses teach you about the Holy Spirit?  What does He do?  What does He want?  Where is He? 

I also challenge you to ask yourself these questions: When was the last time you really experienced the presence/moving/empowerment of the Holy Spirit in your life?  When was the last time something happened and you knew it would not have happened had not the Holy Spirit been working?  When was the last time you sought the presence/moving/empowerment of the Holy Spirit?  Are you afraid of the Holy Spirit and what He wants to do in your life?  Does talking about the Holy Spirit make you uncomfortable because it’s too “charismatic” or ”Pentecostal”?  Do our worship services give evidence of the moving of the Holy Spirit?  Why or why not?  Does your everyday life and choices give evidence of someone who is walking by and being led by the Holy Spirit or someone who is gratifying the desires of the flesh? 

Feel free to leave a comment.

Resources to help avoid JUDGES 2:10

Remember Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and Ephesians 6:4.  You’ve got to know and love God, know His word, and commit to be diligent in teaching your kids through words and actions, in both formal and informal settings.

Books:

“Teach Them Diligently: How to Use The Scriptures in Child Training” by Louis Paul Priolo

“Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God” by Bruce A. Ware

“Shepherding a Child’s Heart” by Tedd Tripp

“Don’t Make Me Count to Three!: A Mom’s Look At Heart-Oriented Discipline” by Ginger Plowman

Please leave a response if you would like additional info. or have questions.  May God bless you as you seek to fulfill your calling as a Christian parent.

JUDGES: American Idols

 We are worshippers…all of us… every human ever created.  It is what we were created for, to know and worship the one true God.  I like the way Louie Giglio says it in his book ”The Air I Breathe.”  He says, ” Everyday, all day long, in every place you worship.  It’s what you do.  It’s who you are…You may not consider yourself a “worshipping” kind of person, but you cannot help but worship…something.  It’s what you were made to do” (9).  The question is who or what do you worship? 

In Judges 2:6-3:6 we find that the people of Israel had broken their covenant with God and had begun worshipping the idols that the pagans of the land worshipped.  Reading that passage and looking at how Israel’s idolatrous worship is described gives us some penetrating questions to probe our heart with and find out if our worship really is directed to the God of this universe or to something else.  As you read, keep in mind that an idol doesn’t have to be, and in our culture typically isn’t, some statue of wood or stone that we keep locked up in a secret closet somewhere.  Idols can be anything from money, to success, to sexual pleasure, to pleasing people and are kept in our hearts.  Idols aren’t always things that are bad in themselves, you can idolize your family, your job, or even your church and ministry.  

So how do you know if you worship something other than God?  Look up the verses below in the book of Judges and ask yourself the questions that go with each one.  Pay attention for repetition in your answers that could indicate what it is that you might be worshipping instead of God.

2:12-13 – they “abandoned” the LORD.     Is there something in your life that you allow to pull you away from God?  What keeps you from consistently making God first in your life?  Why can’t you go to church?  Why can’t you serve?  Why don’t you give?  Why can’t you spend time with God in studying the Bible and prayer?  Do you notice any repetition in your answers?

2:11, 13, 19 – they “served” other gods.  When you idolize something in your heart, your service to it will be seen in your actions and choices.  You will give of your time, resources, emotions, etc. to please or get whatever it is you serve (for example, you worship money so you embezzle, you worship your reputation so you lie about your past, you worship leisure so you golf on Sunday mornings instead of gathering with the church).  What directs your actions (influences your choices)?

2:12, 17, 19 - they “bowed down” to other gods.  This bowing down is an expression of worship, adoration, and affection for something.  What is it that you adore (love, have affections for) the most?  What makes you happiest in life?  What do you find yourself talking about the most when nothing else is going on?  God or something else?

2:19 – they became “more corrupt”.  When something is corrupt it is spoiled, ruined, and ultimately destroyed.  Idolatry will effect all of your life as you seek to satisfy your desire for that idol rather than seeking to satisfy a desire to please and know God.  What most influences your view of life (purpose, goals, etc.)?

So what do you worship?  I’m not talking about on Sundays, but everyday.  My prayer is that God will expose idols that we have been keeping in our hearts, that we will confess those to God, repent, cast them down, and seek to replace them with abandonment, service, and affection for the Lord.  I’ll post again soon about God’s response to idolatry, but until then would love to know your thoughts.

Giglio, Louie.  The Air I Breathe: Worship As a Way of Life. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers Inc., 2003.

A little something for the married folk.

So I haven’t posted in forever…there goes my loyal following.  To ease myself back into the whole blog thing, I thought I would take a week or two and post some stuff we have recently given out at our church.  Hopefully this will serve two purposes: 1)  If someone from my church missed these studies, then they can get them, 2) If you are struggling with some of these issues or are interested in some of these topics, maybe this will give you a starting point from which to dig deeper. 

Today’s post is about making marriages stronger.  I don’t pretend to be an expert in theory or practice (ask my wife if you don’t believe me).  However, this is an attempt at putting a few thoughts together from the Bible on this topic.  I hope this is helpful.  Feel free to post any questions or comments you might have, or add to the list with additional insights from the Bible.  I will check back every couple of days and respond to as many as I can.  So here goes…

(P.S.  I probably have not had an original thought in my life, so I state up front that more than likely I have heard someone speak about the points below, read about them, or been directed to these texts by someone else…I just can’t remember who.)

Ways to Strengthen Your Marriage and Avoid Divorce

 To the Unmarried:

1. Make sure marriage is God’s plan for you

            1 Cor. 7:6-9, Mt. 19:10-12

2. Stay pure

            1 Thess. 4:1-8

3. Marry the right person

            2 Cor. 6:14-16, 1 Cor. 7:25-39

4. Commit for life or don’t commit

            Gen. 2:24, Mal. 2:14-16

To the Married:

1. Live by the roles God created

            Gen. 2:18, Eph. 5:22-33, 1 Cor. 11:3

            (Understand the fight against these – culture, flesh)

2. Keep God central

            Josh. 24:15

3. Erase “divorce” from vocabulary

            Mal. 2:16

4. Be quick to forgive

            Eph. 4:32

5. Work at communicating

            Eph. 4:25-27, 29-32

6. Trust in God’s sovereignty and know He is using your marriage to sanctify you

            Rom. 8:28-29

7. Maintain an active sex life

            1 Cor. 7:2-5

8. Be faithful

            Mal. 2:14, Ex. 20:14, Mt. 5:27-30

9. Deal with sin quickly

            James 4:1-2, Mt. 5:29-30, 1 Jn. 1:9

 To those Married to someone who is not a Christian:

Christian Wife:

1. Submit to win

            1 Pt. 3:1-6, 1 Cor. 7:12-14

2. Pray with support from brothers and sisters in Christ

Christian Husband:

1. Lead and love like Christ

            Eph. 5:25-30

2. Pray with support from brothers and sisters in Christ

Would someone please kill the easter bunny already?!?

I hate the easter bunny!!! 

Ahh, I feel better now.  That has been on my chest for weeks.  I tried to hold it in…but anyway…I know you might think that I sound like a Bible thumpin fundamentalist, known more for what I’m against that what I’m for.  But you see, that’s the thing, it’s what I am for that makes me want to scream and beat my head on the wall everytime I see a cute little pink bunny promising goodies come Sunday morning.  I don’t have anything against bunnies, and I have to admit I have been chowing down on a chocolate one today (a gift, thank you very much).  I don’t even have anything against silly traditions that people grew up with and want to pass down to their kids, and use to make themselves feel all nostalgic and like a kid again.  I personally wish I still lost teeth so that my parents would put money under my pillow. 

The problem(s) I have with the easter bunny (or bunnies, unless your doctrine of the easter bunny includes him/her/it being omnipresent), is twofold:

1.  For many people it’s a distraction from the real meaning of Easter.  If we love Jesus so much, and if what He accomplished on the cross and through the resurrection are the greatest things to celebrate in the world, then why even take a chance on letting something overshadow that (especially something fake).  Is Easter so boring that we need extra traditions to look forward to?  Is the resurrection not enough to bring families together and fill the home with laughter and joy?  Do the depths of the Gospel not provide so much fodder for conversation and praise that we need extra activities to take up our celebration time and activities? 

The enemy wants nothing more than to completely secularize the celebration of the resurrection of the King of kings.  Not suprisingly, he is doing a good job of that in our culture.  The sad thing is that Christians are playing right into his hand.  I realize that it’s just one day a year, so what’s the big deal, right?  But where does it stop.  I am afraid that for many this is symptomatic of a life lived flirting with the world.  If the salt loses its saltiness…

I am not trying to be a jerk and get all legalistic about a “gray area.”  I am bound to my conscience as you are to your’s in those areas.  However, with the current state of our culture and the church, I see a real danger in followers of Jesus not thinking through their traditions and justifying living a “normal” lifestyle by the world’s standards.  My heart, and probably your’s too, wants to see Jesus be kept central.  We just need to be on guard to make sure we are doing that.

2.  Parents often use it as an excuse to lie to their kids.  “The Easter bunny is coming Sunday!”  Lie.  “The easter bunny brought you a basket!” Lie.  “The Easter bunny hid some eggs for you to find!” Lie. 

Since when did lying stop being a sin?  “But it’s all in fun.”  Sin is always ”fun” (or beneficial in our minds in some way) or we wouldn’t want to do it.  “We’ll tell him when he’s older that it’s just pretend.”  And at the same time teach him that lying is okay as long as it’s “harmless” and you tell the truth later?  ”My parents told me the Easter bunny was real and I turned out okay.”  Your parents, nor how you turned out, are your standard, God’s word is.

When you kids find out that you and all the other adults in their lives have been lying to them about the easter bunny, what is to keep them from assuming the same thing about God?  How hard it must be for a little mind to understand that something they can see (like the easter bunny) is pretend while hearing that somone they can’t see (God) is real.  (Already had to deal with this issue to a degree with my own kids as their teachers at school have told them everything from Santa to leprachauns are alive and active.)   

Look, you may be a person who celebrates the resurrection and includes the Easter bunny in your celebration and you have somehow found a way to do it so that the focus stays on Christ, your kids know that Easter bunny isn’t real, and your conscience is clear before God that you are glorifying Him in your celebration, not compromising with the world, and not confusing your kids.  Then go for it.  Who am I to judge? 

However, if you are a person that has been lying to your kids, the call is to repent before God and immediately tell the truth to those you have lied to.  I’m not judging you, I am just telling you what God has said (Ephesians 4:15,25).

I’m not against imagination and fun and make believe.  But when it comes to Easter (and Christmas for that matter, I don’t like the fat guy either) I am jealous of the glory and focus being taken from God.  And when it comes to ”Christian” parents lying to their kids, I just don’t get it.  If I am “against” anything it’s the sin for which Jesus suffered and died and anything that takes glory from Him.     

Remember that part in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” when the little rabbit attacks the guys and kills them?  It was so innocent and cuddly looking, and yet deadly…I think somebody finally killed it and all was well.  I pray for the same happy ending.

Disclaimer:  I do not recommend the above mentioned movie, as I have never seen all of it, and frankly just don’t find it funny. 

Predestination Pt. 2: Aren’t we all just SICK?

There have been some great comments to my first post on the topic of predestination.  However, there is one begging question…Where are the folks with a different view?  For the sake of discussion I want to throw out a question for response dealing with an aspect of predestination that is fundamental to our understanding. 

The question…What is the spiritual condition of a person outside of Christ (before they get saved)? 

I remember when I was young, going to church most every Sunday, I would hear the message of Christ preached with an appeal at the end for people to “get saved.”  Many times the preacher would say something like, “Just take the first step, and then God will do the rest,” implying we could and would take that step on our own.  The picture that was presented concerning the condition of man and his need outside of Christ, was that we all had caught a sickness called sin.  Thus we all needed medicine.  It was true that as “sick” people we were weak and needed help, but there was just enough strength left (just enough of our being not affected by sin) to reach up (or step out, or whatever) and choose to take the medicine that God had to offer. 

You’ve probably heard analogies similar to this.  One popular analogy used in this manner is that we are drowning, and God has thrown us a life preserver in Christ.  However, we can and must, on our own, choose to reach out and grab hold to be saved. 

These analogies imply that we can say “yes” to God on our own strength if we so choose.  God will “give us the present, but we have to unwrap it.”

Are these analogies correct?  Is this what the Bible teaches about people outside of Christ?  Are they sick?  Are they drowning?  Is this the truth the Bible presents?  Can people, will people, choose Christ on their own? 

The answer to these questions will set the trajectory of your thoughts on predestination, if you are consistent in your thinking.  So what do you think?

PREDESTINATION !?!

In my first post, “There Is A Point After All,” I made it known that I was open to topics and questions to discuss.  Well, here’s a doozy…predestination…presented to me by a follower of Jesus who is trying to understand this doctrine.  Great discussion starter… and ender.  Of all the topics we could discuss this is one that often leaves people either not talking to you because they are mad, wanting to talk to you more because they are mad, or wanting to talk about the people on the other “side” because they are mad.  Why does this doctrine make people so mad? 

I think part of the reason people get so mad about it is because of the way it is often discussed.  Whether you are a Calvinist or Arminian, or somewhere in between (?), we have a tendency to look down on folks who don’t agree with us on this issue.  Our pride often shows when we talk about predestination because we are so quick to get snappy and offended as if the other person is attacking us personally rather than simply trying to come to terms with this subject.  (If they are purposely attacking you rather than the subject, end the conversation and find someone to talk to who actually acts like they love Jesus, loves others, and wants to understand the Bible.)  We often hit below the belt by quickly pointing out the extremes of each position, while often these extreme tendencies aren’t even characteristic of the person we are talking to or of their beliefs.  Acting this way is not okay, especially when talking about the Word of God as “mature Christians”.

So what is the answer to this problem?  The answer must be to discuss predestination (as well as any topic) in the context of Christian love.  Obviously this is an important doctrine to talk about because it’s in the Bible, and every doctrine in the Bible is important.  We cannot ignore predestination.  We must realize that it is healthy for us to wrestle with this doctrine and try to understand it biblically, not basing our views on man’s philosophy or wisdom, but on God’s revealed truth.  Therefore, all of our arguements must be from Scripture, properly understood and applied, using the best tools of interpretation and application available, and making sure we square each use of a proof text with the rest of God’s Word on the matter.  If we do this we will not only please God, but grow in our understanding of predestination.  However, it’s as we do it in a context of love that the way in which we study and discuss will be effected.  For if we all love God, then our goal will be the same, to know and glorify Him.  And if we all love each other then our method will be the same, speaking the truth without hitting below the belt or getting personal, and genuinely trying to help our brothers and sisters grow and change, while trying to grow and being open to change ourselves. 

These are the rules we will seek to follow.  The topic is on the table.  (Are we predestined?  To what?  When?  Why?  By whom?  Why does it matter?)  So what do you say?  Or should I ask, what do you think the Bible says?