Seasons

Finally! Finally it's cool in Texas. People are smiling. There is a crispness in the air that is exhilarating, refreshing, renewing. Seasons change. The heat of summer is over and for a few weeks we enjoy the cool of fall. It's a wonderful time.

We go through those changes in our lives as well. This change in weather, this ongoing turning of the clock makes me aware of the changes in life. The seasons of life wear us out, beat us up and eventually refresh for a bit. I'm thinking about this more this year because I have a big birthday ahead in a couple weeks. One of the big "O" birthdays. None of them have bothered me, but this one does. This year I'm thinking about mortality, about my life, my investment in the lives of my family, of other people. It's a great time to reevaluate my choices and directions. Seasons give us the change we need to realize time is passing and so are we. As I wear a jacket for the first time this fall I'm grateful for this time to think about the changes of life, the changes in me. It's a moment to thank God for life.

Just thinking a little about mortality....especially mine! I'm glad to know that ahead of me is the unending season of the kingdom of God. A season in time that will only get better as time passes. The final season when life becomes the norm and death will be forgotten forever.....I guess, in this change of season, I'm longing for that eternal season of God's wonderful presence with man and all that will bring.....it will be the final season and I can't wait.

Amazing grace

The women's study groups at our church are studying the tabernacle this fall. They have wonderfully recreated the tabernacle in one of our large classrooms and are giving tours this morning. It's a great visual illustration of what it took for the Jewish people to deal with sin and approach God under the law. Our ladies have even found a high priest to serve in the tabernacle. I am worried though....I fear that if this guy enters the holy of holies he may not come out. We are looking for some rope to tie around his ankle.

All this said, some in jest, to contrast what the Jewish people went through under the law and the great benefits we experience under grace. Grace provides for us a finished work accomplished by Jesus Christ himself. He was the final high priest and the only one to meet the needs we have for a resolution of the sin problem and a bridge to God. Now, simply by faith, we enter God's presence, experience forgiveness, find life and the promise of a relationship with the God who made us. It is a most amazing grace we enjoy!

Quote of the day

"I don't respect people who don't proselytize me." -Penn Gillette (Of Penn and Teller)

In his video blog he went on to say if Christians really believe "this stuff about an eternal heaven and hell, but never tell you about it they must really hate you."

Clearly Penn understands the issues well.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my sweet wife's birthday! The bible says if you can find a good wife you are blessed.

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I must tell you that I am most blessed!!!

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Happy Birthday, Joye!

You're gonna have to serve somebody

You're gonna have to serve somebody. These lyrics from Bob Dylan's song resonate with the words of Paul in Romans 6. Paul's focus in the second half of this chapter is this- we are all designed by God to have a master. We are built that way. That sounds strange, doesn't it, but when I use the word master it's the lowest idea of what God intended.

God designed us to always be in intimate relationship with him....all the while allowing him to be Lord of our lives. But that plan went wrong when Adam chose a different lord....a taskmaster that led him into bondage. Now this idea of another reigning in my life is considered primitive, religious or even stupid.

But here's the problem...in spite of our aversion to the idea it's still the way we function, it's still the way we are made, so we WILL install a master, a lord to reign in our lives. The question Paul asks is this- Do you understand how important this decision is? Do you understand the
implications? Who you choose as your lord will determine all that follows.

As I prepared to teach through this material last week I came to two verses, completely unrelated, that caught my attention because of one common word. Here are the verses and then let's talk about them,

Genesis 4 "Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Notice these words, "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you...it desires to master you, but you must master it."

Now, contrast that passage with this,

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

Two visitors have come to seek entrance. One comes by stealth, crouching, looking for a way in to master us. The other comes knocking, looking for a relationship. What a contrast of masters. One simply wants to master our lives to sin, and finally death. The other wants a relationship, time to eat, fellowship with us and brings life. These are the two choices of masters. We each will choose one or the other. Here's how Paul describes it in Romans 6,

"...do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."

You're gonna have to serve somebody. At the door wait two masters. One will reign with evil desires and death as the final outcome. The other will rule in love and grace with life as his goal for you.

As I have thought about this I realize that most do not believe this is true. We believe, as the writer once wrote, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." But it's simply not true. We aren't our own masters. It's clear we choose whom we will serve, but serve we will.

Who do you serve?

Monday's cartoon

He is able

He is able....

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What a great introduction to so much more. He is able. When we know that the God who made the universe is able to AND willing to work in our lives it changes how we view everything. The big question for our faith is this, "Is God big enough to take care of my problem?" That question, whether spoken or not, is at the heart of our fears and worries. Here's the answer from scripture,

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He is able.

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Now, the next question I know some would ask is this....Is he willing? To both questions the answer is "YES!" Scripture is full of both his ability to meet our needs and his willingness to do so. Here is a passage I read this morning that speaks to these great questions of our heart. It's one of the great benedictions of scripture. You may have heard it before, but it speaks to these two questions in a grand and wonderful way.

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

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God's great plan for us is that we finish this life and appear before him with "great joy." We can't accomplish this amazing plan on our own, but his response to our request for help in this life is an eternal "YES!" He is there to help. He wants to help. His plan is to keep you from falling and present you before him with great joy. Only the God who is able and willing can make this come true. His questions to us are rather simple, "Will you let me help you? Will you trust me to live my life through you and do, in and through you, what you can't do on your own?"

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He is able. Are you willing?

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Just thinking...

It's been a couple days since I had time to write. I've been preparing for a sermon this Sunday. I'm teaching from an amazing passage and as I read it, reread it and think about it I'm struck by this thought-

Most Christians don't believe this is true!

It's clear we would all agree we believe it, but when I watch the lives of Christians it's obvious we don't really believe what God says! Like the people of Jeremiah's day we will listen and nod politely, but then do what we want. I wonder....how would the church in America change if we really believed God's word? How would our lives change if we lived like it's all true?

Just thinking....just wondering....what if we really believed God?

Don't push that button!

(This is a story some dear friends told us last night. It's a true story, but I'm sure I won't retell it nearly as well as they did. Thank you both for the great laughs as we listened to your experiences.)

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On vacation, finally! It has been a difficult year for my friends. His work is difficult. Her mother was ill and died just a few months ago. All in all 2010 has been a year they will be glad to leave behind. The struggles and stresses of the year made this vacation even more important for them. They both needed it!

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And so, off they go....to another part of the country. To a house their daughter owned in the northwest. Beautiful scenery, wonderful weather, calm and rest. It was exactly what they needed. Then this story begins. Beside the bed was a remote. They both wondered what it was for. Was it a remote for the ceiling fan? For the TV? Did it operate something they didn't know about? They talked about it.....the perfect discussion when you have finally gotten away and found some calm...what is that remote for? He said, "I'm going to push the button and find out." She said, "Don't do it. We don't know what it's for." He can't resist. The longer he ignores it the more curious he becomes. She's in the bathroom getting dressed and from the bedroom he hollers, "I'm going to do it, I'm going to push the button." She calls back, "Don't do it." But he does....

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....then from the living room he hears, "Step away from the house, the police have been called." He had hit the panic button! He quickly runs to the security panel to turn off the alarm, but as he describes it, "the panel was behind a 900 pound couch." Soon, coming to the door is a police officer. They are still in their undies. A quick scramble for clothing and the unavoidable answer of the door. He explains what happened and from the stairs behind him she says, "I told him not to push the button." The officer responded, "Lady, that's why he did it."

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(I would love to elaborate and I have tried. After more than a half dozen attempts at application and closing thoughts I realize the officer made the application for me. I will let the closing words be his...."that's why he did it.")

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Saturday's cartoon

May we never be that guy. I pray we would always be men and women who look for opportunites to extend mercy and kindness to others....even if it does make us late.

Secrets

She had to be in her mid 80's as I met her, riding on her electric scooter in the hall of her nursing home. She had asked me to come by and visit with her. She had some things she wanted to talk about. And so began two hours of her story to just get us started.

Here are a few things I know:

-We are all just people. Men and women living our short lives, trying to find our way.

-We all have problems. They may be different, but problems are normal to every life.

-We all have passions. You wouldn't know it in the faces of some of those dear old folk you run into, but passion is part of life.

-And, lastly, we all have secrets. We each have things we hide...things we hope no one will ever know.

And so, as I sat and listened to this dear lady's story it struck me, "I never would have imagined that this dear old lady would have ever done such things!" I have heard everything and very little surprises me, but what caught me off guard were the stories this sweet little elderly lady told me of her life and choices. Secrets indeed! I felt I needed a clerical collar to be part of this visit as she confessed her life and choices. It really felt like a final confession...a making things right visit.

We will meet again next week to continue our visit. I know we have more to talk about. My thoughts raced to our own choices even now. Here is this elderly lady who is living with regrets of choices made more than 70 years ago! How can we think that our choices won't be a problem in the years to come? We never forget the choices we have made. It struck me that decisions of the moment will often become regrets of a lifetime.

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It's wonderful that years of bad choices and regrets can be washed away through faith in Christ. His death on the cross made it possible for my friend to know forgiveness and experience God's amazing love. It's every man's solution to a life of regrets and bad choices.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Several pastor friends, over a great breakfast this morning, recommended this new biography about the life of Bonhoeffer. It's titled "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas. It is a rather large work of more than 500 pages, but I got a copy on the way home today and am looking forward to reading it. Bonhoeffer has inspired me since college days and it will be great to revisit his life in Nazi Germany.

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I'll keep you updated on my thoughts.

Alive again!

Do you think any of the miners in Chile will ever be the same again? Do you think they will ever look at the sunrise, smell the fresh morning air, or hug their children in the same way again?

Everything is changed for them.

Why?

They were dead, but now they are alive again. How could life ever be the same? How could the chirp of a bird ever go unnoticed? How could the glow of the sun ever feel the same? These men were dead, but now life is restored....now everything is new. They were saved and given a new life. Nothing will ever be the same again...nothing should be the same again.

Second chances are wonderful, aren't they? New life. New hope. Resurrection! What an amazing experience for these men. Their rescue and redemption from the grave caught the attention of millions as we all watched them brought back to the land of the living. It's a miracle they could never achieve on their own. Others had to help them and their rescue brought joy to a world looking for hope.

Hope is a wonderful thing but not nearly as glorious as the fulfillment of that hope. These men have experienced, and we all watched, as their hope was realized.

I look forward to that glorious day when the hope of the Christian is finally realized in the light of the face of Jesus Christ. Hope fulfilled...what a wonderful thing....

Salvation!

There is a story in Chile that has been unfolding for months. It's the story of more than 30 miners who have been trapped underground. It's a story I have been thinking about as I watch the efforts to rescue them.

This story has amazing similarities to the dilemma the human race is in regarding sin. We, like those miners, have been trapped! In spite of our best efforts we cannot get out of this mess ourselves. We are trapped! We need someone to rescue us. That is the drama of the last few months as millions have been spent to drill down to them, to save them, to rescue them.

They are trapped in their cave. There is no way out by their own efforts. Someone has to help them, dig them out and save them. As I thought about these men and their helpless situation it struck me that the human race is in a similar situation. We are trapped by sin and cannot rescue ourselves. We need help! We need someone to save us.

That is what the good news is about- God's rescue plan for the human race. Since we are unable to save ourselves he made his way to us and provided a way out...Deliverance! Rescue! Freedom! Salvation! It's only when we realize how helpless we are that we look for help from someone else. These miners know they cannot save themselves and so they wait...they wait for salvation.

How many of them will take advantage of salvation when it comes? How many will get in the recovery pod to be brought back to life by someone else? Do you think any of them will decline? Will there be any who would say, "No thank you, I can save myself. I don't need anyone else to save me. I'll do it myself, thank you very much." To even write these words is silly. None will remain behind. None will believe they can rescue themselves. All will respond to the saving work of others. All of these men will gladly say "YES!" to salvation.

Like these miners the human race is trapped and in need of salvation. God has come and done for us what we could never do for ourselves. He has rescued us, provided a way out....he's sent the recovery pod for us. Why would any say no to his wonderful rescue plan? Why would any turn down God's gift? Here is his salvation plan for mankind. Who wouldn't want to be rescued from the dark pit of sin and death? Who wouldn't respond to this free gift of life?

John 3:16-18 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him."

Wages or gifts?

Which would you prefer? Wages or Gifts? That's the question and conclusion of Romans 6.

I've been reading Romans 6 daily for a few weeks now. I'm trying to wrap my mind around this amazing chapter. As Paul concludes his argument for both justification and sanctification he offers this contrast- Which do you want, wages or gifts?

Wages are the result of work you have done, the wage is due you for your efforts. It's payment for service rendered. Woven into this question is the reality that your wage is tied to what "boss" you work for (but that's a discussion for another time.)

On the other hand is the gift. A gift is given for no work done at all. You can't earn it, you may not deserve it, but it's based entirely on the kindness of the giver. It's given without any merit on your part. And, it's free.

This is the question at the end of Romans 6, a wage or a gift...which do you want? With that simple question comes other decisions- Which "master" will I serve? Can I humbly receive something I didn't earn? Or, will my pride keep me from the gift because I want to "earn my own way?"

Wages or gifts? That's the question for the human race. Surprisingly, for a race that loves free things, most will choose a wage rather than the gift. To be honest, our rejection of the gift amazes me. Why would you rather earn your own way than receive something even better for free, without work, without merit?

Here are Paul's closing thoughts on this topic in Romans 6- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Wages or gifts? Which do you choose?