All those Reposts?

So I wanted to take a minute to give a brief explanation of the reposts that I have published in this blog.  I spent a fair bit of time writing them, and while I feel I am still growing in my writing ability, I think that much of what I have written still has relevance today.  So, if you want, feel free to head on over to http://tllcf.blogspot.com/ and see what has been written there.  And, take a look at what they have added since I left that church, because you may be changed by what you read!

Blessings,

Brian.

Gnats to you!

{This is a repost of a blog I wrote for another church @ www.tllcf.blogspot.com}


Let me just start by saying that this blog is aimed--that's right, "aimed" (and I include myself here)--at people who are Christians.  Normally I try to write with encouraging words that could lead us all deeper into God's presence, whether we acknowledge a relationship with Jesus or not. Today though, I have some words for Christians, though if you are not please read along and perhaps cheer at the appropriate spots.

This morning I was reading my bible and I came upon the passage in Matthew where Jesus berates the Pharisees because they "strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." (Matthew 23:24) So what is the big deal with swallowing camels?  Maybe they taste good!  I think that Jesus here has some great words for Christians in today's world, words which are much needed and (I believe) will help us in today's increasingly anti-Christian culture.  They echo a sermon that I heard Andy Stanley preach last week, the link to which is found at the end of this post (you can watch it for extra credit!).

Gnats vs. Camels
Before you start envisioning some kind of titanic battle where a horde of gnats is taking down a poor, bedraggled, lone camel, lets read the passage:

 ²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:23-24, NIV)

 So what's this about gnats and camels?  Jesus is speaking here in the middle of a long tirade against the people who were supposedly the holiest of the holy in his day.  These are people who have proclaimed that they have followed God for years (probably since birth).  I think that the key to understanding this verse is "Everything they do is done for men to see..." (Matthew 23:5a).  They have set up a kind of religion where there are little things that you do to prove your faithfulness to God become the test of your faith.


What Jesus is talking about here is a kind of attitude that it is so easy to fall into as a follower of God, and I know that the church has been guilty of it over many points of history--and far too often in huge and embarrassing ways. I could list here all the ways we have violated it, and all denominations and expressions of the faith could be mentioned.  As Andy Stanley says in his sermon (see below), "We (the church) tell people that if they change to look like us, then they can join us."  We are guilty of telling people that their hard lives, their sins, their differences, exclude them from joining in with the People of God.  We are guilty.


Jesus' Way
Yet the way the Jesus preached, healed, taught, and related to people is drastically different than the way that the Pharisees in his day worked.  Can you imagine being so hyper-"spiritual" that you would go to your cupboard and divide out a tenth of your spices and bring them to church one Sunday as part of your tithe?  Yet what was the issue that Jesus pointed out?  They were nit-picking (gnat-straining) but in doing so were too busy to attend to real issues!  They neglected justice!  They left out mercy!  And they thought they were being faithful to the commandments of God but in fact were not practicing faithfulness.

When we look at the Bible, how then do we see Jesus acting?  I believe that Jesus never neglected to tithe (giving a tenth of your income), I believe he never lied, and I believe that he was faithful to every letter of the law that the Pharisees held dear.  We read that he was a righteous man, a perfect man, and without sin.  Better than Mary Poppins he wasn't just "practically perfect," he was perfect!  Yet here he points that there are larger issues than just personally following the letter of the law.

What Jesus did, and what he calls (albeit harshly) the Pharisees to do, is to speak out for those who have no voice.  He calls them to love those they deem "sinners."  I say "deem" because here Jesus is pointing out the sin of those who think themselves "righteous."  Jesus did not worry about whether he would be thought proper for going and partying with the sinners, he just went and did so!  And the result of that is that many of those he ate with and talked to became followers of him and had their lives transformed.

Today's Church
So I said at the beginning that I am speaking to the Christians I know in today's world.  Can you think of ways that the church has become like Jesus' Pharisees?  I have long felt what Andy preaches in his sermon "The Separation of Church and Hate."   Think about the last 50 years of the church in America.  We have stood up for the laws of God and done our best to tell people what they cannot do.  In many cases the only real ground (and I believe that it is real ground, more real than what the world counts on) that we stand on is the Bible.  We have been right to stand up for the issues we have battered the rest of our culture with, but I think that we have failed in doing so in the wrong way.

I believe that the Bible teaches real and eternal truth.  I believe that when God says that he hates sin, he hates sin.  I believe that when the Bible says that we should not do "x" or "y" or "z" then we should not do those things.  However I also believe that using the laws of the land to enforce the mandates of the Bible creates people who hate the Church and God, as well as turns the church into "sons of hell" (Matthew 23:15).  This is a hard thing to think about.  Should we stand up for morality?  YES! Definitely!  But please lets go about it in a different way.

The Bible only applies to the people of God.  I can't turn to my Buddhist neighbors and point to the Bible and say "This is why you are going to go to hell."  They would laugh at me!  Would I be wrong?  No.  Will they convert to Christianity?  No.  What would the result be?  They would hate me and the God I supposedly stood for!  So then what do we do?  How do we protect the sanctity of marriage?  How do we protect the sacredness of life?  How do we uphold the laws of God?  By loving God with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength, followed by loving our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

A Call To Action!

{This is a post from a previous church I served at, and I thought I would repost this here.  www.tllcf.blogspot.com}

I have been wondering and praying about what to put into this blog, when I got an email from our friends at the Not For Sale Campaign (www.notforsalecampaign.org) that totally resonated with me.  Here is the like for the web version of the email that I received.

In that email there was a link to the video below.  Please watch it (its short) and then continue reading.

Here's the deal: we have a holiday coming up and to celebrate it, the #1 purchased gift is chocolate.  What we don't realize is that the majority of the world's chocolate is produced with slave labor.  We just see great deals on the shelf in the store and stop thinking.  What we don't realize is that there is a human cost to the low price tag we are looking at!  I know I personally never even gave this issue even a little consideration until I was made aware of it.  I thought, "didn't slavery end with the Civil War?"  And I was right, but failed to realize that that was true only for the United States.

As a Christian, it is my duty to fight for the rights of those without a voice.  But more importantly, the love and grace that I have received from Jesus creates within me a love for all of humanity.  This love motivates me to ensure that all people, regardless of their place of origin or past stories, receive a life that gives them opportunities for dignity and safety just as we have received here in the USA.  The same promises that we have received from God also apply to the people being trafficked into the Ivory Coast to produce our chocolate.

So here's what we can do.  I am not saying no to chocolate.  What I am saying no to is chocolate not certified "Fair Trade."  Look for these symbols:

And know that these mean that the company has been investigated and certified to not produce products that were made with slave labor, and that they were made while paying fair, livable wages to their workers.

What I am not suggesting is that all of the chocolate (or coffee for that matter) is made with slave labor, but it has been proven that much of it is.  What we are able to do as consumers is to send letters to the CEOs of the companies we have come to enjoy (in this case Nestle and Hershey, yes even these) asking them to go "Fair Trade."  And then until we do, we spend our dollars elsewhere!  They will get the point!  We as individuals have the power to make this happen, and we have the right to do so as well.  I also feel that we have been given a gift of freedom by our forbears in the country that can be honored by fighting for the rights of others.  But ultimately it is the love and freedom given to us by God that drives us to seek the freedom of others as well.  Freedom to live their lives with dignity, without whips at their backs, as well as the freedom to choose a relationship with their Creator!

So please join with me and make this Valentine's Day, a Free Trade experience!

What Keeps You From Following God? « Videos « The Skit Guys

{This is a repost of a blog I wrote for another church @ www.tllcf.blogspot.com}


The Skit Guys have put out this hilarious video on what keeps us from following God.  I think this is applies to people who follow Christ and those who don't.  This is a longer video clip (about 11 minutes) but it had me laughing, crying and ultimately thinking.


What Keeps You From Following God? « Videos « The Skit Guys


What really keeps us from following God?  Is it our pasts?  Is it our stubbornness?  Is it the people in our lives?  Is it the things that we have grown to like?  Is it pain?


The point that these guys try to get across is that ultimately its us who stands in the way of following God.  But why would it be us, why would it be me who stands in my own way?  I don't know what your excuses have been over the years, but I know I have come up with a few--even as a Christian.


I want to take a moment and see whether it is really me who stands in the way:


"I have been hurt in the past, I just can't get past the pain..."  yet the Bible promises "I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life." (Psalm 119:93) And the funny thing?  When I have given over  my pain and suffering to God, and when I have followed His wisdom instead of my own, I have received real and final healing from God.


"If God really knew what I have done, he wouldn't actually forgive me.  Jesus came for those who did little things, but I know I am too bad..." I know I have felt this cry in my soul, and yet again have experienced the promises in the Bible.  "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (1 Cor 10:13) AND " For 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Rom 10:13).  I guess I am neither special nor un-savable in my sins.  Jesus died once for the whole world, and I was included in that deal.  The infinite God is more than a match for my finite sins.  He makes no caveat, nor any requirements for receiving his promises, think about John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have eternal life."  God's requirement I guess is just belief.  Just for me to accept what he has already done for me.


"If Christians would just act like Christians, I could believe in God..." This is what Gandhi reportedly said about belief in Jesus, and many people the world over have said the same.  I too, have felt that Christians kind of give the lie to the promise of the Gospel.  I read how the Bible calls the people of God to be, and yet I have seen time and time again these people of God fail.  I have called (and continue to call) myself a person of God and I have watched myself fail.  So what's the deal?  Should all Christians be perfect?  Should we show the world that God makes a difference in our lives?  The short answer is yes.  The Bible tells us "Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)  Jesus calls us and gives us the power to live apart from the world, following the commands of God as we do so.  Yet that wasn't the point, and it isn't the real answer.


You see, as we come to Christmas we see a story about God that strikes us differently than our perceptions of the "commands" we find in the Bible.  God came to earth humbly, as a little baby boy who was born in one of the dirtiest places imaginable.  He was born as a human in order to set us up with a relationship with him, and not a rule book.  Even when I acknowledge the rules God gives us, when I ignore the relationship God gives us in his son, Jesus Christ, I end up losing by trying to follow "the rules."  Here's the point: when I make it about the rules I end up keeping myself centered as the point of it all.  I am trying to be perfect.  And I fail.  Just as I did apart from Jesus when it was all about me then.  Yet when I focus on the relationship I have with Jesus, rules and being perfect cease to matter.


When I say "cease to matter" I mean cease to matter.  Yes they still apply, but they become tools I can use to seek to please God rather than become good enough.  But they cease to matter, because I can no longer focus on them while looking at Jesus.  He becomes the most important thing in life.  Sure I still stumble and at times even fall.  Yet those aren't failures because I know what truly matters: Jesus.  So when I am asked about the rules we need to follow from the Bible I can say, "Yes, but thats not what is important."  What is important is my relationship with Jesus.  I don't mean to diminish their importance, but realistically next to Jesus they are nothing.  I learn to follow the rules and accept God's boundaries as part of his plan for my well being, and as things that I can do to please him.


So, like the Skit Guys suggest, it is myself that becomes the biggest roadblock to following God.  When I make it about me, I have no room for HE.  When "I" am the biggest word in my vocabulary, I get in my own way.


As we celebrate Christmas this week, meditate on your relationship with Jesus.  I have said before that all of us have one with him, it just varies upon our use for it.  Where are you at?  And do you need to ask Jesus for the Christmas gift of getting "me" out of the way so you can live for HE?