Sayin' What's Needed So That God Will Pat Your Head

...until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love - Ephesians 4:13-16

In a day when the pressures of daily living create in us a sense of urgency just to say what needs to be said and move on, we are each challenged to dig deeper into what we say, how we say it, and why we say it.

We have been reminded that our communications are directly related to our relationship with God. Do you believe this? Do you act like you believe this?

When we communicate scathing, thoughtless, and hurtful ideas and feelings without any regard to the big picture, the implications of the words, or our responsibility in the matter, we are actually conveying the level of our spiritual maturity!

A spiritually mature person is able to process, reinterpret, and package their ideas, emotions, and feelings, BEFORE expressing the message the Holy Spirit wishes them to convey. This is because a spiritually mature person does not disconnect their communications with others from their communication with God. The circle of life is truly an eternal matter. We aren't supposed to have one level of communication for the spiritual and another for the temporal. We don't treat our conversation at church differently than work or school or the street or traffic!

Isn’t it unfortunate how we think we’re spiritually mature because we read our Bibles and go to church every Sunday? Our honesty demands we discover that our everyday lives are raggedy and we’re not as spiritually mature as we thought. And the first place it squirts out is in our verbal communication.

I challenge you to process, reinterpret, and package your ideas, emotions, and feelings BEFORE expressing them. I challenge you to grow up a little bit more today in a way that our Heavenly Father interprets growth and maturity...by the grace of the words we speak; the life they bring, the message of hope and power they express.

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

When God Kicked the Dog

I was listening this morning to a radio host who came dangerously close to letting the world off the hook. You may ask what I mean by that...

He was quoting a leading voice in the Emergent Church movement who was talking about the concept of Hell. Essentially, this leader, Brian McLaren, was saying that there was a "problem" with traditional theology it's teaching on Hell and on the idea of the centrality of the Cross of Jesus Christ. I've embedded a YouTube video. Listen to what this sweet and gentle voice of reason says and then get back to me on the other side of listening.



Oh Lord! May it never be said that you can't do something you ask of others! How insidious is that!

Guys, this may all sound very clever, but it does not match up with Scripture. Hell is not antithetical to the cross! Hell exists because of one very important aspect of the person of our God. He is a holy and perfectly just God. He takes rebellion against Him, His person, His truth, His leadership and yes, His rule ...He is a God that takes sin seriously. He is not a god who values personal lawlessness (don't call it freedom - God has a definition of freedom and that for another teaching) or that could care less regarding the way you live out your days on earth.

And what of Jesus? Jesus died on the cross because God is both perfectly just AND infinitely gracious. A God who could in fact take the hit of having His most precious relationship, His most precious and fully perfect Son humiliated in the site of the "piss ants of the Milky Way," human beings. Jesus actions represented how God made a way in which He could extend His grace to us without compromising His justice.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus ~ Romans 3:21-26

That is the gospel! If God were not just, Jesus’ sacrifice inclusive of the cross would not have been necessary. God, said it was required. And if God were not gracious, He would have left you and I separated in our sins rather than sending His Son to a wretch like me. We can be forgiven because grace and justice met at the cross. Praise God that He is both Just AND the Justifier!

Let’s proclaim the Biblical Gospel faithfully! It is the only Gospel that saves. We have to take a stand. Dr. McLaren may not wish to stymie a "conversation" but the fact is Paul, Peter, John, Eusibius, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Finney, Moody, Ironside, Graham, Swindoll, MacArthur, Beth Moore, and Joyce Meyer and 10,000,000 more some who just preached it and others who interpreted it had it right. There is a hell to shun and a heaven to gain! And, while we are at it, let us make sure that when we are hit with these kinds of thought processes, from these kinds of heretical corners of unacceptable liberalism, thoughts that elevate the idea of love at any cost, including the Bible account, that we have a standard and know where we stand.

I remain...in the arms of my loving Savior and grateful from all He has saved me from, including an actual Hell.

InHISgrip,
~J~

And I Praised God in Faith & It Ate Me!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope - Romans 15:13

Now, I realize this doesn't directly relate to Jonah but ya know, Jonah once thought by being a pure Jew that God would bless his lil heart and instead that isn't what happend at all. He got (as my grandpa would say) 'et!

So this morning a nice note was awaiting me to read an article written by John Ortberg on "Hope Management."

Cool article. You'll find it in Christianity Today. But I needed more..."Lord! It's your boy John! Can you magnify and clarify please?"

Here is what I got.

Hope against hope – that is the call of every Christian on this journey in this earth. We have these great and precious promises and then we have...well, we have the promise of persecution and trial (2 Tim 3:12; John 16:33), but then there is this promise of hope thing.

Americans aren't tortured, imprisoned, or put into political exile. No, it's much more subtle, emotionally insidious and sure to kill the spirit just as if we were attacked physically.

No, we aren't persecuted (usually) overtly for claiming the name of Christ. Rather slowly we are being persuaded to lose hope in God. Is he trustworthy? Is he reliable? Will He honor the, "if two or more of you agree?"

The same bad science and the same feeble philosophy that has been circling for centuries has new voices and new delivery strategies today. To their redundant questions they answer for us, “No! The evidence is all around you Christian. The misery of the whole world demonstrates that He is not helping" (they say). At the same time, (though we cry otherwise) abundance and wealth lull us into a sense of satisfaction and contentment – not in God, but in the things themselves – to the point that we are tempted to rely on and put our confidence in them our ability to get stuff to respond to the need we have spiritually to have hope in that which we cannot produce. “God may not be there for me at retirement, but I sure hope my investments are.”

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith 1 John 5:4

Jesus said that He has given us His words, which in Godspeak is HIMSELF (check out John 1 - if you got the words you got the relationship with "The God.") that we may have contentment of a type that has nothing to do with the elementary things that plauge us daily. "Though in the world we will have tribulation. “Be of good cheer,” he says, “for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

I could have this wrong but it seems to me that the trial of our faith, this idea of hoping against hope, is to believe and trust our Heavenly Father, our God, in the face of a whirlwind of subtle and non-confrontational opposition – that we may have peace. Since they typically don't hit us head-on the dowaggers of our faith are just this nagging voice in the wind (Oh wait! That's the TV or the Radio or the Movie Theater or Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, Yahoo News, CNN, MSNBC, etc.)

We absorb and then, left to our own thoughts and our own agendas, we seemingly face a pretty bleak future.

But...

our God knows this, and He gave us a Comforter, the Holy Spirit. We take comfort in knowing that by letting our requests be known to God, the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phi 4:6-7). And having this peace, we rest assured that God will supply all of our needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phi 4:19).

Where we are confused is we are sure this means perfect health, financial abundance, the job the great family, a lack of discomfort...but what about that tribulation thing?

Here is where I want you to get to, if just for today. I want you to get to these words, write them down (cut and paste is fine) and say them to yourself...preferably more than once.

I do not hold the future. I do not understand how to hold a future. I do know the one who holds it in the palm of His hand holds me also and He will do that which will spring up in me eternal life, His kind of life, and goodness and ministry and joy and I realize it may not at all look like anything the world calls good. That's ok. He does and I believe Him! He gives me my Kingdom of God, heavenly, eternal life kind of hope against which I surrender my earthy, worldly, see through a glass darkly limited and false hope - in Jesus Name!

Are any of you anxious? Are any concerned about an uncertain future in a cold and scary world? Hope management for you and I is an exchange program. We give up hope in things and in our ability to manipulate God to do what we think is best and He gives us eternity and an eternal perspective. It is not like anything we imagine.

You pray what I wrote and then you pray it again, and you expect our God to work and He will exchange a kind of lotto hope for more of His kind of life - Eternal!@ Let's remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Live In Our Pain – Freed Into Our Destiny – Which Will It Be?

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah - Judges 11:29a

We've all heard stories of individuals who have prevailed over extreme hardship to rise to the top or to have full, complete triumphant lives. Many of them had horrible lives during their childhood years. If you have lived at all you have either been or known children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal disease or calamity, childhood diseases that created twisted bodies - these are all difficult conditions to surmount.

Jephthah was such a man. He was born to a “godly” but faulted man named Gilead. Jephthah was the result of his father's adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Gilead's wife, who had bore more sons, decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman."

Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

There was a silver lining in this instance…at least at one level. This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. He would be in a street gang today. His fortunes changed however. As he matured his reputation grew as a warrior. This was so true, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

"Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?" he responded.

Yet, ultimately love of God and country prevailed. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life. Jephthah freed himself of his prejudices and did not allow his mistreatment rule his life and rob him of greatness and honor before God.

We all have heard the story of the caterpillar to butterfly. If we were to help the butterfly when it is coming out of larvae stage and move it from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle of freeing itself that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly; to become what it’s destiny provides. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in dissimilar ways. We need to learn to understand the struggles of our brothers and sisters. It is maturity. It is part of the freedom that comes with loving another for no good reason other than within our heart their true value is revealed to us. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh. It seems a loving God missed a stroke since we were born into a seemingly loveless start. Ah! But did God miss something? Or, did He know our struggle would make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

This week the Church on Rogers Street is studying two little verses Galatians 5:1 and verse 13. It’s about “free.” Are you ready for it? Freedom is just a moment of surrender away. Oh sure. You may have to come back again and surrender AGAIN. But we will start today. You expect God to heal and Jesus to be the Great Physician of a hurt heart. He is and He will. Give over that pain that has stymied you. It’s time. I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

Can A Drip Really Count

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow - Psalm 144:4

Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor – Psalm 39:5

…Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away – James 4:14

When my oldest son J.R. was about 6 we were on an airplane and leaving out of Orange County airport. Our departure took us out of the Pacific Ocean and down the coast for a bit. It was a moment when I think we were both struck with just how immense the ocean was. He was enamored by the water until a moment when he turned to me and said, “Daddy, I have to pee.” Of course as a good dad and a typical male, I just burst out laughing and then led him to the restroom closet (remember, it’s an airplane). He went and did his duty, came back and the ocean was gone of course. He then confessed that when we were at the beach he in fact had a similar need while in the water. We were quiet for awhile and then he said, “It wasn’t that much. You couldn’t tell.”

This was not a moment when I should have been trying to swallow the drink my flight attendant had given me. Now it was my turn to go to the bathroom.

But J.R. was right. It wasn’t much. Just like our lives compared to eternity. They aren’t a lot. It is beyond time and includes all of time – eternity simply swallows up life.

If eternity is what we are being prepared for and this life is such a small thing, why then do we invest so much in temporal activity that is here today and then gone, burned up, useless in terms of forever? We know that the way we invest our lives here can have eternal impact. And yet…

It is the great paradox of Christian behavior. Knowing what we know we chose to build houses on sand and not on rock. We build and establish lives of straw and not steel.

I don’t have time today to massage this or sugar coat it. Here’s the deal: does your life have any component at all where you have eternity in mind? Do you have an overall ministry? Do you know what it is? Are you doing it? When you wake up of a morning are you greeting God and expecting to be used even in the smallest of ways?

Do you have an eye on eternity? That little phrase simply means we need to be about what God has called us to do. The motive of which is He leads in things that are eternal. Our being obedient to the mission ensures the value of our lives.

This overall seems like a bummer of a time. Everywhere. Anywhere. But hey…it’s just the world – Don’t let life hassles keep you from having an eternal impact on people you meet; the same ones Jesus loves. Don’t! Focus on the problem and Satan wins. He is master of the urgent, not the important; of the temporal and not the eternal.
Make today a day likes this:

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain -1 Corinthians 15:58

I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

The Reward of Alone Time and an Empty Stomach

So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision, I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless - Daniel 10:8

I got up this morning and having read my devotional fixated on this particular part of the Bible. The reason? I had felt like God was trying to get a message to me. What I believed He was saying to my spirit was troubling. I somehow, today, just now, felt like Daniel felt.

I was having a “Daniel” moment.

In this section of scripture Daniel received a vision that troubled him greatly. He didn’t like what he saw but he also didn’t get it completely. He wanted understanding of this vision. We then read what he was willing to do in order to understand what God was attempting to get through to him. Check this out: “He set himself out to understand the vision by fasting for three weeks.”

Three days after his three weeks of fasting, a messenger of God appeared to Daniel. The messenger explained that Heaven had heard his prayer from the first day, but the angel was temporarily prevented from coming by the prince of Persia, a demon angel, who sought to thwart God's messenger from coming to Daniel.

I realize some would suggest this is a mere fable or perhaps more deeply an allegory with a simple obvious meaning and then a more complex or secondary meaning. That secondary meaning, as with me this morning, might be something God shows you personally. We should read the Bible expecting the plain truth to provide us with personal truth. That is how the Holy Spirit works in a Christians life and aren’t you glad?

But nothing in the Bible suggests this was pretend. This was an historical event. Or, as my agnostic friend Bruce Brown would say, since it occurred in time and space a natural event.

My point this morning loved ones is this: when we are troubled in our spirit by something or when we are confident that God is really working on us to deliver a personal message to us specifically we must set ourselves to seeking God with all our hearts. It is in these times that we hear from Heaven in ways we may never have experienced before.

Daniel's resolve took him beyond mere contemplation. He went beyond prayer. He read, prayed, fasted and anticipated God would reveal the fullness of the message. He was rewarded with a personal encounter from a heavenly messenger.
But there was more.

If you read this section rightly (and I encourage you to do so) in order to receive from God, Daniel had to choose solitude, have his strength removed, and be placed in a condition, that, in the natural, appeared completely helpless.

Why?

When we have no ability in our own strength to move Heaven on behalf of our cause (or even a really good cause) or the events around us, we are in an attitude to hear God clearly. It is the recognition of our humanity and our true helplessness that positions you and I to receive a personal encounter with the one who then becomes Abba Father to us. Dad comes to meet with us and explain what it is that only He knows and we need to hear and act upon.

What God is working in me to reveal is not important to you. What is important is this: do you need a personal encounter with our Heavenly Daddy today? Do you need God to reveal more of the story to you? Daniel had to add fasting and seclusion to prayer. DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO! Get there from here. Seek Him with all your heart. Show Him you’re serious. I suggest you start by figuring out how you will get alone with Him that you can establish, verbally your helpless condition before Him. Jesus died for this next part: Abba Father will reward you with His presence. You can take it to the bank!

I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

But Jesus Promised!

And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No"; anything beyond this comes from the evil one - Matthew 5:36-37

Here’s the scene: You live in the time of Jesus and in His hometown of Nazareth. He is just one of the carpenters there. You are moving into new offices. You want furniture that reflects your new digs. You're on a deadline since you’ll be moving in on the 14th of next month. You agree on the price of $10,000 for the desks and chairs and the date of the 10th for completion. You put down a one-half deposit. You wait for delivery on the promised date. But, the day comes and goes and at the end of the workday you get a call from Jesus. “I am sorry but the furniture is not ready. I ran into complications. Also, I can no longer honor the price I gave you. It is now $12,500 instead of $10,000."

(End Scene: Verbal Explosion mildly unintelligible and perhaps unfit to be heard by your mother!)

The event creates a domino effect; a minor disaster occurs. An opinion is formed and sealed in your head.

Now, let us fast-forward a couple of years. You hear about this same Jesus guy who is now preaching all over the area. He’s amazing people. He’s changing lives. He’s healing and He’s prophesying. Let me ask you how are you going to respond to this seemingly new and improved Jesus? If I asked you that you would look at me like I was from the moon! He’s a jerk! He doesn’t honor His commitments! If you are like me it would be, “Sorry Mac but take it down the road; go sell that to someone else!”

Now, let me switch gear and let me ask you about you. How do people view your message and Christian conviction? Are they attentive? Are they responsive? Or, like in this scenario if they heard of a new phase of power and effectiveness in your life for God would they just laugh and mock the thought?

Our actions reinforce our personal convictions. That is how those who know us think as they relate to us. Those actions can violate our desire to please God and make us totally ineffective. The above scenario plays out everywhere on our globe doesn’t it? Broken promises can set back a life of faith and service.

Your life, like mine has people we depend on and it also has 50 percenters, 75 percenter’s and even 20 percenters. For some the words mean nothing. For others, their word is their bond. The only time they don't come through is when something falls outside their control and even then they forewarn us.

There are times when we are unable to perform or deliver what we promised due to outside influences. The key to turning these potentially negative circumstances into a witness for Christ is communication. If we are unable to pay a bill on time, we must communicate with those we owe and make a good faith effort to resolve it within our means. In these cases, God's purposes are being performed as well if we seek to do the right thing.

Over the last two weeks I have been living this scenario out. It has caused me to reflect on me. It has dropped me to my knees. I brought this to the attention of a Christian sister in Christ who indicated with a shrug that you do the best you can and if you disappoint another Christian it’s their job to forgive and forget.

Forgive? Yes. Forget? Are you out of your mind? Our homes, our friends, our life commitments and our work depend on one another. The one we cannot count on becomes just that.

Do your words mean anything to those who hear them? Do you make commitments and fail to follow through on them? What would others say about how you follow through? Ask the Lord today to show you how you are doing in this area. You might even want to ask three people who are the closest to you how you fare in this area. May our yes be a true yes and may our God get the Glory!

I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

To the Men of the Church on Rogers St.

The men of our church spent the day working on my mother-in-laws cabin and this was part of our day; we just shared and I provided them with some of the following...I hope it speaks to your heart.

Every man should read Temptations Men Face by Tom Eisenman. I appreciate Tom's candor and practicality. He pulls no punches; neither does he wrench your gut with guilt. His observations, insight, and suggestions are both penetrating and provocative. This book got me thinking about the top temptations father face.

First, the temptation to give things instead of giving ourselves-our presence, our personal involvement - Don't misunderstand. Providing for one's family is biblical. First Timothy 5:8 calls the man who fails to provide for his family's needs "worse than an unbeliever." But the temptation I'm referring to goes far beyond the basic level of need. It's the toys vs. time battle: a dad's desire to make up for his long hours and absence by unloading material stuff on his family rather than being there when he is needed. Like in the bleachers during ball games or in the audience during a band concert, like by your child's side when the homework calls for a father's encouragement, or driving the boat when your child is learning to water ski. Nothing takes the place of a father who gets involved.

Second, the temptation to save our best for the workplace - Nobody has an endless supply of emotional energy, creativity, enthusiasm, ideas, humor, leadership drive, and a zest for life. How easy it is for dads to use up all those things at work, leaving virtually nothing for the end of the day. As a result, the wife and kids get only the leftovers. Our families deserve better! By failing to pace ourselves, by not deliberately saving some of our creative energy for home, we tend to be listless, negative, boring, and predictable. Be a rare unselfish man who thinks ahead, maintain right priorities, and keep your family surprised by your attitude.

Third, the temptation to deliver lectures rather than earning respect by listening and learning - James 1:19 is worth a look, here: "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" . When things get out of hand at home, it's our normal tendency to reverse the order James suggests. First, we get mad. Then, we shout (lecture No. 38 . . . or is it No. 39?). Last, we listen. When that happens, we get tuned out - I've learned that the hard way. Our family members may stop. They may look. But they aren't listening. They go through a slow burn. It's a sobering realization, dads, but our home is not an extension of the office . . . and our wife and children are not employees. Maybe we get respect automatically where we work, but at home we must earn it the old-fashioned way. We must work for it.

Fourth, the temptation to demand perfection from those under our roof - Fathers and husbands can be extremely - unrealistic, can't we? It does me good to remember that a .330.375- batting average is considered tops in the big leagues. That means the professional ballplayer swings and misses well over 60% of the time. Yet .350 and he's the batting champ. In fact, if he keeps that up long enough, he's a Hall of Famer. Sure is easy to set our expectations for the wife and kids out of reach, expecting them to bat a thousand. Fathers are commanded not to exasperate their children (Ephesians 6:4), which suggest being an annoyance or one who causes grief. An exasperated child can never jump high enough, thanks to a demanding dad who mistakenly thinks good coaching means always raising the bar. Good coaching notices the little improvements and celebrates them.

Fifth, the temptation to find intimate fulfillment outside the bonds of monogamy - Thanks to our ability to rationalize, we men can talk ourselves into the most ridiculous predicaments imaginable. I've heard most of them. I've also listened to the children of adulterers after the fact, which never understands; who hurt beyond description, which carry scars indefinitely. The charm of seductive passion is incredibly strong, able to blind even the godly. The enticement can be powerful enough to make a man momentarily forget his family as well as ignore the crippling consequences of his sin. That's why I suggest that dads carry a picture of their brood and look at it often. It's impossible to fantasize sensual lust while looking at the smiling, trusting faces of your family.

Sixth, the temptation to underestimate the importance of your cultivating your family's spiritual appetite - Men, your wife and kids long for you to be their spiritual pacesetter. Children love knowing that their dad loves God, walks with God, and talks about God. Never underestimate your role as the spiritual head. If your wife is running circles around you in this area, that tells me a lot more about you than about her. And don't think the kids don't notice, and wonder. Ready for a challenge? Begin to spend time with God, become a man of prayer. Help your family know how deeply you love Christ and desire to honor Him. Start today! C'mon, men . . . it's one of the greatest gifts any father can give a family. I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~