A Grace-Propelled Patience

I love Starbucks. Few things in my life bring as much simple, sweet happiness as a tall peppermint mocha or an iced coffee with milk and toffeenut syrup. It's the small things, yo. So, with a few minutes to spare before work yesterday, I went to Starbucks to grab a coffee before I was on my Kroger grind for six-and-a-half hours. After all, what better prepares one for work than caffeine and sugar? I submit that there is nothing.

I was in the drive-thru, and only two cars were between me and the window. Score. I'm going to be at work on time. And yet, the care in front of me aimed to change that. They received four drinks through the window, as well as a gift bag with something in it. They, no lie, took about five minutes to complete their order and drive off.

The entire time that they were dominating the drive-thru and dwindling my time to get to work, I fought a battle within my mind. Much of me was frustrated and impatient.

I knew I shouldn't have wasted time on this.

I'm going to be late.

Come on people, let's go.

What the crap did you order?!

All the while, my mind also told me to be patient. The Spirit pushed and prodded my heart to remain calm. The reward would be worth the wait. I am in Christ, and as such, should exude patience as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Patience should define my life. Alas, I was not patient and remained frustrated at the long wait. By the time I got to the window, my stress levels were rising. I'm paying for this, daggumit!

And then I got my drink for free. Starbucks gave me a free gift because of my wait.

I was not patient.

I did not pay.

I was gifted this cup of coffee, despite my attitude, and it changed my entire perspective on the wait. When I wasn't paying for it, when I was being given something with no work or payment of my own, the wait no longer seemed so bad. Had I known the whole time that my coffee was free, I'd venture to say that I would not have been so impatient. I would, instead, have been calm and peaceful. I would have used my wait for more God-glorifying thoughts. Perhaps I'd have prayed. Perhaps I'd have read my Bible app. Perhaps I would have just been patient, which is glorifying in and of itself.

Don't you see that this is our lives, Christian? We have the free gifts of salvation and the Spirit within us and our future in glory with Christ (which are all immeasurably more amazing and beautiful than a mere cup of coffee), and yet we are impatient with God's timing in our lives. How ungrateful are we?

When one gives you a gift, we must depend upon their timing. How ridiculous would my impatience have been had I known that Starbucks was giving me a free cup? I'd have been unappreciative of the giver's heart, and would have disgraced the gift. It would be as if I were still running the show, demanding that a gift only make me happy if it is what I want, when I want it. Absurd!

Grace, therefore, should propel us towards patience. Every good thing comes from God (James 1:17), and we are undeserving of any good (Romans 3). It follows that all good things we receive are gifts of grace from a loving, good God. We have no say; these gifts are waiting for us in His time, in spite of our impatience and frustration with the wait. Instead, we should pursue patience. Patience shows a grateful heart for not just gifts such as His provision in our lives, His listening to our prayers or even His bringing us onto the throne with Christ in the end of time, but also for the Giver Himself. Patience shows that we trust that God has something good for us, and that we believe that He will give it to us in time. Patience shows that we understand His sovereignty, His love and His goodness.

Be patient, fellow Christian. The Giver of gifts knows best; let this truth of His grace launch you to new depths of patience!

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love," -Ephesians 4:1-2

"Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land." -Psalm 37:7-9

"Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." -Galatians 6:9

I'm Kinda Weird About Christmas Music...

So, my last post was pretty intense. I know. There's been such a brew-ha-ha in the evangelical world this past week, and all of a sudden... Christmas is all up on us! So, instead of diving into some big theological breakdown of the incarnation of Christ, or continuing with serious discussions, I'm going to share my thoughts on Christmas music.

I'm never really sure how I feel about Christmas music, in general. I work in retail, and have heard every basic Christmas song on repeat since mid-November. So, by the time Christmas rolls around each year, I'm generally tired of the songs.

I also feel kind of awkward singing a lot of the standard Christmas carols about Jesus. It almost feels like Ricky Bobby praying to baby Jesus; He grew up! I get that the birth of Jesus is a big deal. Otherwise, we would never have had grown-up Jesus. God coming to Earth and taking the form of a baby, no less, is crazy and huge. I just feel weird singing to and about baby Jesus. Yeah, I know it's goofy. So are these thoughts about these songs:

Feliz Navidad- I have several conflicting feelings about this one. I truly enjoy the Spanish language, but I really feel like "Feliz Navidad" is a lot like Taco Bell in musical form: it tries so hard to feel authentically Hispanic that it gives away the fact that it isn't really Hispanic. Do Spanish-speakers enjoy this song as much as English-speakers?

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus- Have you ever thought how weird this song is? The entire song revolves around the singer's mother kissing and tickling Santa Claus, and how his dad wouldn't have enjoyed it. In fact, the little boy even threatens to rat on Santa because he knows this is wrong. It is literally a song about a little boy's mom having an affair with Santa. There's just something off about this...

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer- Another one that is somewhat disturbing. Grandma got turnt, skipped out on her meds, and then her family allows her to leave the house. If Grandma is in such an advanced state that her medications are that important, why did her family let her get drunk, and then allow her to leave on her own?! Once walking about the blustery outdoors on Christmas Eve (still drunk and off her drugs), Grandma is then killed when Santa hits her with his sleigh. They didn't even check to see if she made it home, as they found her Christmas morning. Her lifeless corpse was left uncared for all night. Did no one think to check on an intoxicated old lady? What the what? The rest of the song then proceeds to be about Grandpa's coping mechanisms about his wife's death. We sing this song with smiles on our faces and hearts without a care.

Up On the Housetop- Two things: A) this song is annoying and B) I don't get the lyric "Ho ho ho, who wouldn't go?" Who wouldn't go where? The housetop? I wouldn't! I'm terrified of heights, and I don't know why we're encouraging children to be up on a housetop, particularly if there are hoofed creatures about up there. 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Everyone that knows me knows that the claymation movie about Rudolph is my favorite Christmas movie, and there's a reason: it is amazingly NOT PC. Seriously. An island of toys known as misfits? Outcast elves who wish to advance their education? Banning a child from sports for a physical deformity? So. Many. Hilarious. Things. The song also has this not-politically correct theme, as it pretty much tells the same story. It's a song all about a freak that doesn't get to play reindeer games, but fortunately, since his deformity helps everyone out one time, he at least has a bit of redemption. I wonder if that one year was enough to heal the psychological wounds caused by years of Christmases past.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing- Perfect example of singing to/about baby Jesus. Glory to the King? Absolutely. But why do we join the angelic host as they proclaim the newborn King? They proclaimed that 2,000 years ago. It's the equivalent of saying, "join with the town crier to proclaim George Washington the first president of the United States." It's a good thing, and I certainly am glad that Jesus was proclaimed by the angels upon His birth, but I'm not with them. I literally cannot proclaim with them, as they are no longer proclaiming that news. It's past tense now. I just don't understand.

So, that's my post for this week. I hope you enjoyed a change of pace from me this week, and have a great holiday time with your family. From the Freed Bug to you, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

PS: What Christmas songs have lyrics that bug you? I'd love to hear! Comment below!

A&E, Suspensions, and the Return of Ancient Cultural Views of Christianity

Last night, A&E announced that Phil Robertson of their smash-hit "Duck Dynasty" was suspended for comments that he made during an interview with GQ Magazine. During the course of the interview, he made several comments that were "antihomosexual" or "antigay," including his stating that homosexuality was a sin (along with swindling, adultery and terrorism, to name a few) and a discourse on his lack of understanding as to why a man would choose a man over a woman. Naturally, the social media world exploded.

The hashtag #istandwithphil emerged from some tweeters, while others were enraged that the original Duck Commander would refer to homosexuality a sin. The point of my post today is not to discuss whether I agree with Mr. Robertson or not. I have posted on my thoughts about homosexuality before, and I get tired of one issue being the entire focus of the Church in the public arena. There are lots of issues that need discussing from a Biblical standpoint, not just homosexuality. If you want my opinions on that, go here or read Romans 1:18-32. Email me and we can chat. That's just not my focus today.

Instead, I want to briefly touch on what is rapidly becoming the norm: the media do not like Jesus.

It really isn't very surprising to me that A&E would make the decision to suspend Phil, and it all boils down to a very simple question: who was the most profitable group to keep happy? Would it benefit A&E more to keep Christians or the LGBT community happy? Think about this, if you can, from A&E's point of view.

They run a business, and it's primary focus is to make money. They had to make a business decision here. They had two options:
     1. Support Phil. This keeps Duck Dynasty untouched, which is easily their most profitable show,
         and it keeps their Christian fan base happy. However, the LGBT community would rake them
         over the coals, thus causing massive PR damage and potentially harming the channel in the
         future.
     2. Reprimand Phil. This option makes a stand for gay rights, and would win massive bonus points
         with much of the more liberal media types, considering A&E would be going against one of its
          biggest stars. However, this would potentially cause the Robertsons to pull out of Duck
          Dynasty, thus costing A&E its biggest show...ever.

They obviously chose option two. They probably assume that Duck Commander CEO Willie Robertson will go into damage control, put together some sort of apology, and business will be back to normal. If he doesn't? Well, Duck Dynasty has had a good run, everyone has made plenty of money, and A&E can send the Robertson clan back to the Outdoor Channel. What this whole ordeal illustrates is just another example of a growing trend: Christianity is becoming marginalized.

It is no longer normal or even socially acceptable to be a Bible-believing Jesus follower in the United States. If you wish to be deemed intelligent, caring, loving, or with the times, then orthodox Christian values cannot be yours. We live in a day where adultery is nearly expected, greed is a cultural norm and several actions that the Bible clearly calls sin are now considered human rights issues. That is why A&E chose the LGBT community over the Christian community: being on the "wrong side" of a civil rights issue is bad for bottom lines. If you stand for a Biblical view of life, then you are deemed at best ignorant and pitiable, and at worst arrogant and hateful. This should not surprise us.

Like Duck Dynasty, the Church has had a good run in the spotlight here in America. Christianity came over when we still had British accents, and has been rooted in our country ever since. Many founding fathers were Christian, as have been many other prominent figures in our nation's history. Yet, we have something else in common with Duck Dynasty: it is shocking that it even happened.

I remember watching Phil, Willie and Jase on the Outdoor Channel with my brother, who was an avid fan of the Robertson family before they were on basic cable. He read Phil's book before it was renamed "Happy, Happy, Happy," and had a poster on his wall of them years ago. So, when it was announced that the guys from Duck Commander were getting a TV show, I was shocked. It was so weird to me. The bearded guys that paint their faces up and hunt are going to be on A&E? No way.

Count it double when the show actually took off. I still sit back and marvel at how that family went from the darlings of hunters to become America's favorite family. It's crazy. And yet, if the early Church leaders looked at the Church in American history, they'd be even more floored.

Think about it: eleven out of the twelve disciples were martyred, with the only survivor being the exiled disciple that Jesus loved, John. John the Baptist was beheaded, and so was Paul. The Church was beaten, stoned, and massacred by both Jewish leaders and Roman authorities during the time that the New Testament was written. The bodies of Christians were used as torches, lighting roadways in the Roman Empire. Riots broke out. It wasn't cool to be a Christian; you only joined The Way if you meant it. In fact, the name "Christian" was originally a derogatory term for these followers of Jesus, insinuating that they were lesser socially. Sound familiar? It should.

The name "Christian" no longer has the positive vibes around it that it once held in America. As I stated earlier, to follow Christ now means to be intolerant and stupid. We hate, according to civil rights activists. We paraphrase ignorantly, according to Macklemore. We don't even know our own God, according to those who claim that Jesus was only about love.

The truth is this: we are called to love, yes, but also to call people to repent. Jesus's first words in ministry were not "all we need is love," but instead "repent, because the kingdom of Heaven has come near" (Matthew 4:17). We are to follow Jesus in this ministry, begging people to turn away from their sin and to God. In order to call someone away from sinful behavior, we are declaring them sinners. We are stating that, like ourselves, these people are in rebellion to God. They have done wrong. As Phil said to GQ:

"Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God."

People do not appreciate being told that they are not perfect. I don't, for that matter. The fact is, however, that every person on this earth is born into a life of sin. We are all sinners, and that sin has us destined for Hell without turning from it and running into the gracious love of our Savior. This truth, this Gospel, is not deemed good news by someone who believes that they have not done wrong. Thus, just as the call to repent caused John the Baptist, Paul, Peter, and even Jesus to be hated, we will be hated.

The Church has, by the grace of God, had a long time of peace, acceptance and popularity here in the States. However, we are rapidly headed for a time where we will be hated. This is only the beginning. People will not suddenly enjoy the call to repentance; they will only loathe it more and more, and in turn, the same loathing will grow toward those who call. We must remain faithful, no matter what, and remember that the world does not like us. Satan has blinded the heart of the unbeliever, so we cannot expect those who are in rebellion to God to tolerate or accept us, even if they expect the same out of us. Persecution, intolerance towards God's people and a hatred for  the call to repentance has existed since the Church began; the Church in America is just seeing it with a different coat of paint.

Flashpoints: Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia

This is part of the Flashpoint series, in which I will talk about controversial issues from a Biblical standpoint. I hope to humbly and respectfully approach these issues when I post on them, as they are difficult conversations and I am by no means an expert of anything. I only aim to help us think through some difficult things with the aid of His guidance. If you have any topics you'd like for me to explore, please write the suggestion in the comment section below.

No sane person enjoys seeing someone else in pain. We may enjoy violent movies, games or television shows, but no one that I know truly enjoys watching someone else in pain. That’s why we all cringe when a football player is slow to get up and look away when the news reports on someone in pain. We don’t enjoy true pain in real people.

This is only escalated in people that we love. When my brother wrecked his bike and slammed his face into the asphalt, I didn’t laugh at his hurt. Instead, I wanted him to stop being in pain. We desire for those around us to be comfortable, and we want them to be happy. It is this desire in the human heart that drives the debate of euthanasia/assisted suicide/hastened death to the minds of people.

Upon reading Nicola G. Raye’s “A Hastened Death,” I was confronted with my own thoughts on this issue. This post will be my working through of this idea, which will begin by looking at what Miss Raye said, work through this issue with my belief system, and then I will conclude with my thoughts on hastened death. Let us begin with a recap of how Nicola Raye and her father approached this very difficult issue. 

An Atheist’s Perspective 

Nicola Raye’s father in the essay, which I presume was a true story, was a brilliant man. He was active in many facets of his life: he walked daily, wrote regularly and engaged in thought-provoking debates. In fact, the knowledge that the way he died is sparking such discussions would probably make him rather happy. He was a philosopher and an intellectual.

All of this was Nicola’s father before the strokes. The first stroke only seemed to affect him a bit, as his mood soured slightly, but little else seemed different. Years later, the next stroke started the downward slope. He ended up bound in a wheelchair with slurred speech. Even though therapy helped some, he could no longer live life as he once could. He couldn’t write on his computer, take walks or engage in conversations like he did before the second stroke. His life was dwindling, and would never return to the way it once was.

The entire Raye family discussed his life with him, and Nicola’s father decided that he wanted to die. Even after he did a year and a half of antidepressants, the man still wanted to die. He simply did not enjoy life as he once did, and had no desire to continue on in this state. As an atheist, Mr. Raye did not see any purpose to his life beyond what he enjoyed. There was no divine calling or anything on his life, and he did not believe in any kind of life after death. The way he saw it, life is to be enjoyed for the short time that we are here. If we cannot do so, then we might as well cease to exist. So, with the help and support of his family, he ate some chocolate pudding with a bunch of pills crushed into it. He took some pictures, watched TV, had one last smoke, and fell into eternal sleep. 

An Christ Follower’s Perspective

This is heartbreaking to me, and a difficult issue to work through. I am saddened that this once-brilliant man found himself in such a difficult position. I am brokenhearted that his family had to watch him deteriorate before their eyes, and that everyone involved felt that the best option for him was to just die.

I can understand completely. I am also an active person, much like Nicola Raye’s father. I am constantly on the move, doing something with my life. I write, read, engage in deep conversations over coffee, take walks and bike rides at the park, swim at the lake and many other things that a neurological disease could take away from me. I would be rather miserable if all I could do was sit in a chair and mumble. Therefore, this essay caused me to take a long look at how I feel about hastening death in cases like this. I needed to search my heart, and most importantly as a follower of Jesus Christ, I needed to search His Word.

I was curious to see what Scripture said about the idea of assisting a loved one into death, or even if I were to be in that position. I was not sure if the Bible would have much to say on the matter, but I scoured over the pages of Scripture, and found a few different ideas that really seemed to point in one direction on this very understandable debate.

There is only one case of hastened death by someone else’s hand in all of Scripture (at least that I could find), and it is found in 1 Samuel 31. Here, we see Israel’s first king, Saul, surrounded on a mountain by his enemies. They would like nothing more than to tear him apart and kill him slowly and violently. As he looked certain death in the eyes, Saul asked his assistant (known as an armor bearer) to run him through with a sword. Saul figured that a quick death at the hands of a friend was better than the possibly slow and agonizing death at the hands of enemies, similar to how someone could feel that eating poisoned pudding at the hands of family would be a better way to go out than slow and agonizing deterioration of the nervous system. I can see the line of thinking, without a doubt, but Saul’s friend wouldn’t do it. He was afraid, and instead Saul was forced to kill himself. Therefore, we are left to speculate on the exact view in Scripture of Saul’s thinking. I can think of  several passages that could assist in our interpretation, however.

The first is in Genesis 1:26-27, which says: 

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

Here, we see that God made man and woman in His image. We are earthly representations, the physical depiction of the Lord of the universe. We are made to represent Him on this earth, much as an earthly king will put up statues of himself to show that he rules that land.

Furthermore, the Psalms talk of how God knew us before we were born, and that we are precious and wonderfully made by God. We are not just His image; we as a race are the treasured image of God that He has made specially and individually, as a master artist works each work with a love and individual effort. I am very different from you: in appearance, speech, interests, age, height, background…the list goes on! We are all uniquely and differently made to represent a God that is beyond all understanding and expression, and He treasures us. He would never want us to ignore that and think that our life would be best utilized by ending it. That’s why in Exodus 20, Moses wrote that one of the Ten Commandments was to not murder. We don’t murder because God values life.

Even more, if you are a Christian, then you have an even greater reason to stay alive. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says: 

Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

The very Spirit of God dwells within Christians, and our bodies have been made into a temple for the Lord. We must keep that in mind! How dare we think that we could know better what to do with the cherished image of God that even houses His Spirit than the God who made it? The arrogance that we have to believe that we know when to end life more than God is amazing, and honestly is even convicting me. We must value life more than this.

Rather than looking at deteriorating health as a curse or as something to run from, why should it be any different than any other problem in our lives? God ordains, in His sovereignty, that we go through trials in this life. Satan still has a limited amount of rule in this world, and he intends to cause us as much trouble as possible. Between those two truths, we can be certain that we will experience any number of things that will make our life less than it may have once been. It could be a heart-wrecking divorce, where your treasured partner in life decides to leave you for someone else. It could be the death of a child or loved one around you. Nicola discussed his pain and agony at watching his father suffer, and then die. What’s to say that Nicola doesn’t drop into a dark state, quitting his job and becoming clinically depressed? His nights and days begin to run together, he stops eating, and is totally miserable. Clinical depression can be even more debilitating than a neurological disease; what if Nicola remembers his dad’s line of thinking (that life would not get better, so better to die) , and in his depressed state, feels that he has also reached the point of no return. Suicide would start looking awful good to him, wouldn’t it?

The point is this: we will all suffer. Few will suffer in ways that assisted death seems logical and merciful, but we must look at all suffering, no matter how bad it seems, through the same lens. The apostle Paul had a “thorn in his side” that the Lord would not remove. Did that mean that he wouldn’t persevere and soldier on for the glory of God through that? Of course that isn’t the case, and it is the same for John, who was left to die on an island. John was exiled, never allowed to be with people again to share the name of Jesus. So what did he do with his new and lesser life? He continued to worship, and eventually wrote the book of Revelation, where Jesus talks of His return to remove suffering from this world.

We must keep things in perspective. Suffering, even to the point of strokes and ALS and other neurological diseases, must be kept with the perspective that God is in control of it all. Nothing happens to His cherished, individually created images without His allowance. He is sovereign, and if he will put His Spirit within a man with a deteriorating brain and body (such as my pastor-mentor-friend, who has ALS), then I will maintain that He intends to keep that person alive until He takes them home. It may not be easy, but we must trust that He knows better. He made us; who are we to finish ourselves off on our own devices?  

Since I've Been Gone

Hello there. Long time, no see. I will say, it feels weird to sit down and write on this blog. I haven't seen the familiar orange-and-gray color scheme of the Blogger homepage in quite some time. In fact, I haven't seen my blog much at all in quite some time. I periodically would check in to see if anyone had commented or anything, but overall, I truly left this thing for awhile. I needed to get away. I needed to spend sometime writing, just me and God.

Since then, I have come into a new place. A lot has happened, that's for sure. My, has my life been nuts since May. It wasn't long after my last post that my mom went in for a routine scan (to see if her cancer was back) and found a mass in her lung. About a month and a half later, a surgical procedure found that her soft-tissue sarcoma had returned. She originally had it in her left arm before this find, and went through both chemotherapy and radiation to rid her body of the disease. She was "cancer-free" for about a year-and-a-half, and then the cancer metastasized in her lung. No bueno, that's for sure.

She had the mass removed, but more returned quickly. The cancer was more aggressive and in a more dangerous spot this time, and had to be handled as such. Mom began working with the University of Texas's MD Anderson Cancer Center, which has a large number of doctors devoted to this particular form of cancer (and about every other kind, for that matter). MD Anderson is one of the very best cancer centers in the world, and they have been more than helpful in working to cure my mom.

She is rapidly approaching her final of six rounds of chemotherapy, in which she was forced to stay in the hospital for a week at a time, letting literal poison to drip into her circulatory system. It has been both a blessing and curse, seeing her receive treatment that could save her life, and yet was also making her sicker. While the first bout was difficult, this second bout has been all the more.

While this was all going on, my college ministry at the University of Kentucky (where I still attend) has been continuing our purpose of glorifying God by making disciples of our generation through prayer, relationships and studying God's Word. EPIC Ministry launched a website, made some contacts and gained some members on UK's campus, held an outdoor worship concert and even went through a study on our basic beliefs and values. We even expanded our meetings, going from a small-group Bible study to a weekly gathering with teaching and discussion times. We then brought back the small-group-only format on Sunday mornings, allowing us to spend more time together as a community in the Word and in prayer.

One of my mentors, Wayne Lipscomb, has continued to battle ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. I have watched and followed as this strong man has tried to defeat this neurological monster. He has continued to work at his church, and still preaches regularly, despite being weaker than he once was.

My sister got married not long after I went on my blogging hiatus. She married her longtime friend, Trent, and they had a gorgeous wedding at their church in Louisiana. Not long ago, Trent and Brittany announced that they will be having a baby in the spring. I've already become a brother-in-law, and now it appears I will be an uncle. Weird.

I was blessed to be able to preach on several occasions over the past few months, ranging from churches in South Louisiana to Frankfort, Kentucky, and twice in my home church of Victory Baptist Church, here in Lexington, Kentucky. Each time, I am more and more affirmed in my calling that I am a preacher. That is what God put me on this Earth to do. There is nothing in my life that I receive such satisfaction from doing, and there is nothing I strive for more than to help someone in their understanding of God and His Word. I know I was questioning that when we were last together, and God resolved that internal conflict. He made Bryan Watts for one thing, and that was to preach His Word and His Name to the nations. I am a preacher at heart, and now know that I am, without a shadow of a doubt, been made to do so.

So, what have I learned through all of this? What have I learned as I left on a little time of Christ-reflecting and such? Did I "find myself," or something like that? Here's a brief touch of what I have learned:

1. I'm still learning
• You are crazy if you think that I disappeared for a while and have come back with all the answers. That doesn't happen. We are not able to "find ourselves," because our identity is not in ourselves. If you are a human, and I bet you are, then you were not made for this world. Doesn't it seem like we're always messed up or in the wrong spot? Guess what: it's because we are. We're made for so much more than the petty crap we fill our lives with. I am not made for Kroger and UK and writing and girls and friendships and NASCAR and all the other things I fill my life with. I am made for one purpose: to worship God. I am designed specifically to be a worshiper, an image-bearer of the Lord God who reigns over all. By saving me, He took it another step further by making my heart new and allowing my to come to Him. My identity and my heart are not made of myself; I cannot craft a true identity for myself. I am in Christ, and He is in me. I am His and He is mine. My identity is found solely in Him, and I must continue to realize that as time goes. If you are interested in getting a head start in finding your identity in Christ, rather than yourself, then check out the Identity in Christ reading plan by Mars Hill Church on YouVersion. It's worth a month of your time. 
2. Life is fleeting
• I have written on this in the past, but has become more and more clear to me that our lives are not but a blip on the radar of time. We have such a minuscule, yet useful, span of time here on earth to accomplish what we are set here to do. James 4:14 says that our lives are but a mist, a vapor, wisp of smoke, and that we are not to be presumptuous about tomorrow. Instead, we live for today. When Christ talks about what we treasure in Matthew 6, He goes on to say that would should not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Instead, we seek the Kingdom. We push forward from where we are now, thanking God for the position He has put us in today and living for Him in that position. It isn't unwise to make plans, but it is certainly unwise to make plans without keeping in mind that He determines what we do and could change our little plans at any given moment. Therefore, we prepare for the future, sure, but our primary focus is on what we can do for the Kingdom today. 
3. Prayer is essential
• Oh, how I have seen prayer work in the past few months! I have seen prayer sustain my mother, give my family peace, bring people to hear the Gospel when I would never expect them to listen, help me with temptations, give me direction in my life, affirm my calling and bring me closer to God. Prayer is our lifeline to God, and we must make it a priority. If you are a Christian, you must pray regularly. Nothing is more refreshing to your soul than time spent with God. I am growing in this discipline, and I encourage you to come with me on it. Let's commune with our Lord. 
4. God has got you
• No matter what, if you are in Christ, you are saved. There is no un-saving you. God is not going to toss you out to the cold and forget about you. We are held in His hand, and in Philippians 1, Paul writes that he is confident that God will finish a work in the Philippian believers. Why was he confident that God wouldn't bail on them? They were partakers of grace, and by definition, God's grace cannot have anything to do with what we do. If you are a partaker of grace, then you have God's grace. Good or bad, you're under grace. Therefore, there's nothing you can do to be unsaved! God's got you! That frees us to live for the Kingdom, because we have to pressure to make sure we're still under grace! We can't fall out, so go for it!
5. Our discussions must be intentional
• I have a friend of whom I had the privilege of spending multiple extended coffee times together with over the past few months, and she taught me one thing in particular: our conversations must revolve around Christ. How often can we get distracted in talking to our Christian friends with talk of sports, fashion, music and other odds and ends? How much easier is it to gloss over the impact of Christ in our lives when speaking to our unsaved friends? This cannot be! We must discuss Christ constantly: for encouragement and rebuke among believers and for repentance and salvation among the unbelieving. Our lives on this earth, as well as our unbelieving friends lives forever, depend upon our discussing Christ on the regular. Have we really given up our lives for Him or not?

These are just a few of the lessons I have learned in my time away.  I have learned many more, but these are just the beginning. I'm glad to be back, and I'm ready to write again. Let's do this.

The Return of the Freed Bug

December 10, 2013.

The bug returns.

To Whom It May Concern

Hey y'all,

I don't know how many people keep track of my blog and me, but if you do, you may have noticed that I have not posted in a while. I, quite honestly, just have not been in a writing mood.

I have found myself in a weird place. I feel stressed and agitated, and have been just rather not happy. Thus, something seems to be amiss with me. I am currently in the process of examining myself and working with my Creator and Father to see what is going on.

I am spending more time in the Word, more time in prayer and more time meditating on our God above right now. I have found that my time with the Lord has been dry and unfruitful of late, so I am going deeper with it. If you are finding difficulty connecting with God, it isn't because you've been reading His Word or praying with Him too much, but rather too little or insufficiently.

My future is a mist. I am approaching one year remaining at the University of Kentucky, and I still don't know what I am going to be when I grow up. I thought I did, and now I am unsure. I am currently spending more time praying and seeking God's direction in that aspect of my life, as well. I have no idea what I need to do, where I need to go, or how I'm going to find that all out. Pray for me, that God will show me where He wants me, and that I'd be willing to do whatever He asks of me.

All of this is to say that I am going to be leaving my blog for a bit longer. I am going to spend a time working through some things with my Savior, and then I will return. I'm not sure when, but I look forward to telling you what God teaches me through this in-depth time of growth in my walk. I pray that all of you who read this letter are growing in your walk with Him, as well.

I love you, and I appreciate you reading my writing. I hope that I am able to be God's tool to bless your soul through.

Your brother in Christ,

The Protestant Work Ethic and You

"Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord." -Ephesians 6:5-8, HCSB

I have issues with authority. Anyone who knows me will tell you that while I generally do as I have to, it isn't always with a good attitude or in the exact manner that my superior wanted it done. I am independent, stubborn and tend to think that I know the right way to do things. I find trivial tasks stupid, and dislike being put in a box, given parameters in which I must accomplish my goal. In a sentence, I like to be my own boss.

Yet, I am not. I have a job at Kroger, a grocery store chain in the United States. I am often responsible to do certain tasks, and do them with a smile. Yet, menial tasks (which are common in a grocery store) irritate me. I don't like to do them, and if I have to do them, it will be in my own way or I will dislike that. I'm guessing many of you probably feel the same way in your jobs-- you do you job because you have to, but it isn't because you want to.

This is not how Paul says one should work in Ephesians. The context is that of a slave and a master, but if a slave should reflect this attitude, how much more should a paid employee?! Colossians 3:17 talks of doing everything as if for Christ, which is almost the same message here: we work as if for Christ Himself. Think about your job: if we did our jobs for Christ, what would that look like? If Christ wanted me to clean the floors, how would I clean the floors? How would I cashier or push carts or stock milk? I'd wager my work ethic would look much different.

There's an old phrase called the "Protestant work ethic." This concept probably came from people living out this passage. They served with a good attitude. They didn't work only when watched, but even harder when not watched. They did everything out of an overflow of their heart, a heart that loved Christ and wished to do the will of God.

We must bring this back. We must, as representatives of Christ in this world, show His heart in the workplace. We must work with a good attitude. There is no qualifier; we don't do this "if our boss doesn't suck." No, we do this as evidence of the new heart Christ has given us. Let us show this! Let us prove our remade selves in the workplace!

The End is Coming

"While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, 'Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?'

Then Jesus replied to them: 'Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines [and epidemics] and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains." -Matthew 24:3-8, HCSB

Headlines on CNN, from the moment I am writing this post, include:

 

Nation mourns Boston bomb

 

Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas

 

U.S. intel works on new N. Korea nuke assignment

 

Casualties mount in Pakistan quake

 

China bird flu count rises to 83

In the context of that passage I started with, these headlines should get our attention. Wars? Um, dozens were just killed in an Iraq bombing today. Syria is still wracked with civil war. Israel and Palestine are fighting, as usual. Rumors of war? The US and North Korea are currently looking to negotiate some peace, as escalating threats from both sides over the past month have threatened the safety of citizens in both nations, as well as anyone near them. Iran is constantly releasing threats of war.

China and the United States, the two biggest "kingdoms" on the geopolitical map as of today, are not the best of friends. A war with Chinese neighbor North Korea could be all it takes for these two "kingdoms" to rise up against each other.

Famines? Ever seen a picture of Somalia, or Sudan, or North Korea? People in these countries are starving. Literally. 

How about epidemics? Bird flu is slowly spreading in southeast Asia. Tuberculosis has developed incredible resistance to antibiotics in parts of Russia and Peru, among other places. Other killers, such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and cholera, are claiming lives daily.

Earthquakes? Pakistan has 35 dead from a quake a few days ago, with several more in Iran dead from the same quake. Need I even mention the Japanese or Sri Lankan tsunamis, or the Haitian quake a few years back?

The fact is that these things are coming true, and have been for quite some time now. These are, as Jesus says, the "beginnings of birth pains." Creation is groaning for the return of Christ (Romans 8:22), waiting for all to be made right again. If you read further in Matthew 24, you'll see that persecutions will come for those in Christ. Guess what: that's happening all over the world, and will only get worse. Just look at the United States over the past few years: the Christian faith has gone from a primary belief in this nation to a source of jokes and outrage. We are marginalized, mocked and ignored. Christians in Western culture are deemed ignorant and stupid. Things are not getting better; Jesus said so Himself.

We must not be surprised that this world kind of sucks. We should not be surprised about the death and dying that is going down, and we should not be surprised by the escalating hostility to the Way. We should expect it, and be watching for the return of our Savior. Let us groan alongside Creation, as our Lord is coming to make all things new. Oh, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

Jesus Believed in Hell

"And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire!" -Matthew 18:9, HCSB

I chose the picture above for a reason. So often, when people think about Jesus, they picture happy Jesus. Soft Jesus. Lovey-dovey, gentle Jesus. And He certainly is loving and happy and gentle, do not hear me wrong. I'm simply stating that He wasn't like that at all times.

A common claim against Christians who are "hardcore" or "fire and brimstone" is that they are not loving. If you preach a gospel that includes a literal Hell for the person outside of Christ, you will be considered unloving by many. After all, it isn't loving to tell people they are headed to Hell, right?

Jesus did. In fact, Jesus spoke of Hell more than any other person in the New Testament. Not that He wanted people to go to Hell; Matthew 18:14 clearly states that God does not want any to enter Hell's gates. Instead, Jesus preached a literal Hell because He actually believed in it.

Jesus actually believed that if someone were to sin and never repent, that person would be in Hell upon death. He believed in a literal, fire and brimstone Hell. This belief, this knowledge of the very real punishment of sins, is something that propelled Him to preach repentance of sins and salvation in Himself. This compelled Him to look upon crowds with compassion, knowing their status before God and thus their eternal fate if nothing changes.

And we don't ever mention Hell.

We have become so afraid of talking about the punishment of sins that we won't hardly mention the fires of Hell. We don't want to seem mean or old-fashioned or weird, so we just leave that part off. We don't ever discuss the extent of punishment for sins, that Hell is a place of eternal darkness and flames (not sure how that works, but it sounds horrifying), a place of gnashing of teeth. Sometimes, people will make Hell into a place of temporary punishment, like time-out for a toddler.

We've lost our belief in Hell. If we actually believed in this Hell, a literal place of eternal suffering and punishment, then we would do something with that belief. We would not sit by, afraid to saying something to the person outside of Christ. We would preach the gospel to all we could, fueled by the desire to see people escape the punishment.

Our indifference towards Hell and those headed there is at best unloving and lazy, and more likely hateful and damning. We quite literally hold the gospel of Christ in our hands, the way out of eternal punishment, and we never preach it. Our silence will be paid for by our friends for eternity, as they cry out our names, wondering why we didn't care enough to share the gospel with them.

Jesus believed in Hell, and did something about it. Do we?

Are You a Wisdom Seeker?

"My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;

furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lordand discover the knowledge of God."

-Proverbs 2:1-5, HCSB

A few years back, I listened in on a conference via livestream. The speaker at this conference spoke on this passage, and he made an excellent observation. So today, I will share it with you.

Observe that I colored the "ifs" in the passage yellow, and "then" in lime. I want to draw you attention to these "ifs" and the "then." Perhaps you have heard of an if-then statement; if ______ happens, then ________ will occur. It is a pretty standard feature in philosophy and in creating formal arguments.  If Kentucky scores the most points, then Louisville will lose the game (I may be a bit bitter about Monday's game...). If I fail to water my plants, then they will likely die. If President Obama speaks, then Fox News will probably have something negative to say. All of these have been if-then statements, showing that a preceding event leads to a following event.

So, in Proverbs 2, we see a series of "ifs" followed by a "then." In fact, there are a lot of "ifs" that this passage implies that we should follow:

-If we accept His words
-If we store up His commands
-If we listen closely to wisdom
-If we direct our heart to understanding
-If we call out to insight
-If we lift our voice to understanding
-If we seek wisdom like silver
-If we search for wisdom like hidden treasure

That is a lot of conditions, right? There are quite a few "ifs" there, and usually, the more "ifs," the lower the chance of a "then" occurring. But, these "ifs" are all pointing to a similar thought pattern: "if you desire wisdom...." I didn't list a bunch of unrelated conditions; they are all extensions of a wisdom-seeker's heart. The wisdom-seeker accepts that God knows what is best, listening (not hearing, but hearing plus processing) to what God says and acts on the wisdom that they discover. The wisdom-seeker isn't passive, but instead is an explorer, traveling far and wide in search of wisdom. And this seeker is rewarded.

If we seek wisdom, then we will find it in fearing God and learning about Him. A fear of God (as discussed in my post on Proverbs 1:7, Fearing God) and acting on that fear is the path to wisdom. Verse 6 goes on to say that the Lord gives wisdom, and this is true. If we are following God, seeking to find wisdom through a healthy fear of Him, we will find it. That will be the natural result of this pursuit.

If we seek wisdom, we will find it. The question is: are you seeking?

Rebuke and Guide: Jesus on Disciples and Their Failures

"Jesus replied, 'You unbelieving and rebellious generation! How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.' Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.
Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, 'Why couldn’t we drive it out?'

'Because of your little faith,' He told them. 'For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" -Matthew 17:17-20, HCSB

Have you ever just wanted to smack a friend? They continue doing something dumb, and can't seem to get it. Finally, they act a fool one last time, and you tell them (rather bluntly) how they are screwing up.

Jesus had one of those moments here. Over and over He calls His disciples out for their faith, and over and over again His disciples show how little their faith is. This time, however, He goes a bit deeper.

Jesus proceeds to explain how their failure at driving out a demon is due to how little their faith is, but if they were to have greater faith, they would be able to do great things. Notice how Jesus handled His disciples in this scenario, and let's see if we can glean some guidance for our own discipleship efforts.

1. He wasn't afraid to rebuke them. How often have we wanted to say how a fellow Christ follower is not walking on the right path, but then chickened out and didn't tell them? Me too, but Jesus didn't chicken out. He saw His disciples failing in their spiritual growth, and He called them on it. We must also be willing to do this. If we are never willing to correct our disciples, then how will they ever grow?

2. He guided them closer to God. Jesus didn't stop with a rebuke, though. He followed up with spiritual guidance and pushed them closer to God. He explained why things weren't working, and helped them see how to do better.

We must be willing to do both of these steps with our disciples. We mustn't be afraid to call people on their shortcomings, but if we aren't willing to lovingly and calmly come alongside and guide them to a new understanding, what good does that do? They'll never know how to correct their actions!

Let us be willing to rebuke, and let us be willing to guide. Our disciples look to us for spiritual leadership; we must act our part.

They Can Only Kill You

"Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." -Matthew 10:28, HCSB

Jesus didn't play games. This passage comes from a speech Jesus gave to His disciples as He commissioned them as apostles, as kind of a "hey, this is going to be your life" type of deal. As part of that speech, he starts talking about how people will want to kill them for following Him. They will be hated, mocked and eventually, possibly killed. No big deal.

Then He says "oh, by the way, the people that want to kill you ain't got a thing on God, who can destroy your soul and body forever." Um, intense.

Guess what, yo: this applies to people these days, too. There are brothers and sisters in South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East dying on a daily basis, all for the Name of Christ. There are siblings murdered, daughters disowned, wives stoned and husbands abandoned for following Jesus. Churches in Nigeria are regularly burned and bombed, and pastors have been skinned in India. Many nations have banned the Word of God, the sharing of one's faith,

And we fret about being made fun of because we are a virgin or don't drink. Ha.

We have to keep this Christian walk in perspective, Western Church. There very well may be someone that reads this in a country where persecution is intense. I regularly have page views on this blog from China, India and parts of the Middle East. These brothers and sisters are being bold in their faith because it doesn't make sense to claim Christ in a lukewarm fashion. Christ equals punishment and death in some places in this world. Making disciples of all nations is not a program or good idea; it is either a command of Christ worth dying for, or a cue to abandon the faith in favor of living.

These are the costs of following Christ in other places, and it isn't getting better here. I hate to be a Johnny Raincloud, but America and the West isn't getting friendlier to the Way. Christ followers are not being welcomed in a greater fashion; we're being hated more and more. We ain't headed for a bright future; Europe has already worked hard at abandoning Christ and the United States is following their cues.

Following Christ in Western culture will continue to be harder as time continues one. Are we willing to take the heat for His Name? Others already are literally dying for His gospel; would we be willing to do the same?

Persecutors on earth have nothing on God, though. I mean, the worst thing that could happen is another human can kill you. God can destroy your body and soul. You tell me: which side is scarier?

We must all decide, at some point in our lives: are we going to fear people on earth, whether they kill us or simply make fun, or will we fear God, who will judge the entire universe. Let's think about this, and live out what should be the natural result of this truth.

Fearing God

"The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge."

-Proverbs 1:7, HCSB

This idea of "fearing God" is something I have just recently started pondering on. It is a foreign, understudied concept for many of us. I mean, doesn't Jesus want to be our Friend and Father? Why does the Bible encourage fear of God?

It all lies in our definition of fear. When Scripture talks about fearing God, there is more to it than the quaking, trembling sensation that we feel when a wolf is bearing down on us (what, that's never happened to you?). Instead, it is a far larger concept.

Robert Strimple described it as a "convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and, yes, fear." C.S. Lewis described a person who fears the Lord like this: "...one filled with awe, in which you feel wonder and a certain shrinking or a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it."

I have been reading R.C. Sproul's book The Holiness of God, and a large focus of this book is the fear of God. You see, God is holy, and holy is a big descriptor. Holy means more than just pure, although that is certainly part of it. Holy literally means "separate." God is separate from everything and everyone else. There is nothing like Him or even close to being Him. He is completely separate and set aside from the world, so there is no sin in Him. He is an entity that we cannot even fathom, and even to say this has really been a bit of a struggle for me. God's holiness isn't just hard to define, though; it is even harder to approach.

In Isaiah 6, we see the prophet Isaiah before the throne of the Lord. The angels and other beings are flying all about, praising God and His holiness. God is in His full glory, beaming in holiness on His throne. Isaiah, the prophet of God, responds to this immersion in holiness by dropping to the ground in worship, and yes, fear of the Lord.

Isaiah, when confronted by the holiness of God, didn't have any other response other than "woe is me!" He was overcome with everything Robert Strimple mentioned in his definition of fearing God: he was filled with awe, reverence, honor, fear and worship to start, and once he realized that God wasn't going to smite him on sight for his sin, he experienced adoration, confidence, thankfulness and love. Isaiah feared the Lord.

I've gone through all of this to get back to my focus verse for today, Proverbs 1:7. This verse is considered the theme verse for the book of Proverbs, and it is huge. If fearing God is the beginning of knowledge, then we need to fear God. We need Isaiah's approach to God. We need to look at God with awe, worship, adoration, confidence, love, honor, thankfulness and even an element of fear. He may be our Father and Friend, but He is also our Creator God.

Sovereign Lord.

King of Kings.

Ruler of Everything.

Punisher of Sin.

Holy, righteous, pure.

This is the God we serve, this is the God that has saved us from our sins. Let's look at Him through the lens of all that He is, not just a portion of it. He's a holy God; let's live lives that reflect a fear of the Lord. He commands no other response.

Our Silence Makes No Sense

"Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'Let it be done for you according to your faith!' And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, 'Be sure that no one finds out!' But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area." -Matthew 9:29-31, HCSB

So, one day Jesus was walking around when a pair of blind guys walk up to Him, wanting to be healed. They had heard, no doubt, of His healing abilities. Perhaps they even heard that He had healed other blind people. Regardless, they walked up behind Him and yelled for Jesus to have mercy on them.

His response? "Do you believe that I can do this?"

Their answer: "yes."

A repeating theme in the Gospels is faith. Almost anytime that Jesus healed someone, it was a result of their having faith in Him to do what they believed He could do. And really, the same should be true for Christians.

We were once blind when Jesus, by grace through faith, opened our eyes to Him and our salvation in Him. When we are awakened from our sin-induced death and brought into the new birth in Christ, we are healed by Him, like the blind men here, "according to our faith." With that, our eyes are opened.

 For both us and the blind men, Jesus made a command and that command was/is disobeyed. And that's when the similarities disappear.

In the case of the blind men, Jesus told them not tell anyone of what He had done for them, as the time had not come for His awesomeness to be revealed. Yet, overcome with gratefulness and excitement, these men could not keep the news of their Healer to themselves. They felt an overpowering compulsion to share about Jesus with everyone that they came in contact with.

Inversely, Jesus has commanded us to "go, therefore, and make disciples," telling them all about Him and what He has done for us. Yet, we respond in the exact opposite fashion of the blind men. We hold in the news of Christ to ourselves.

Imagine if the blind men were healed, and then ran to an entire group of blind men and women. Upon their arrival at the group, they then proceed to act as though they are blind and refrain from telling anyone how they gained their sight. They have the same mannerisms, actions, words and everything that they had when they were blind. It wouldn't make sense!

And yet, this is us. We are healed of our spiritual blindness, and yet continue on in our lives as though we are still blind, keeping the news of our healing to ourselves.

It must not be this way. We must run to any and all the people that we know, proclaiming the name of Jesus! He has healed us; are we not filled with joy at this truth?! Are we content with our healing so much so that we ignore the blindness of others?!

We have had our eyes opened. It is now our job to do the same with our mouths.

Better Than A Pharisee?

"For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." -Matthew 5:20, HCSB

Yesterday I was in a discussion with a friend of mine about her weekend. She told me about how busy her weekend was, primarily because of church. Intrigued, I asked how it was that church had made her weekend so busy.

She went on to tell me how she was Catholic, and due to several factors she couldn't control, was late to mass on Saturday night. She told me that mass lasts for one hour, and after she missed the first thirty minutes, she felt like her attendance in mass "didn't count." Thus, she went again on Easter morning, to make sure that she was in a full mass service this weekend.

Now, I am not one to bash Catholics, but this conversation really got me thinking about one aspect of Catholicism that many Protestants deal with, as well: can we earn any good standing before God? This ranges from full-on works-based salvation to just improving how God sees us, based upon our actions. Is there any way to improve our standing before God on our own? Does God have a scoreboard, keeping track of our good deeds? Do we have to gauge whether or not our deeds count?

The answer is no. There is nothing we personally can do to improve our standing before God. We are all sinners, and according to the book of Isaiah, even our good deeds are merely dirty rags in the eyes of God (if you want Isaiah's version, look up the real meaning of Isaiah 64:6).

In the passage I included at the top of this post, Jesus is describing how He fulfills the law of the Old Testament. He describes how He is not the destroyer, but rather the completer of these writings, and how one must be more righteous than the Pharisees to get into heaven.

Now, let's review: the Pharisees were the group of people in New Testament Judea that held to God's law the closest. No one had all of the sacrifices and such down like these people. They gave, fasted and prayed according to the law. They practically lived in the temple.

And Jesus says we must be more righteous than that to enter heaven.

Can you see our dilemma? I don't know how righteous you think you are, but I know I have nothing on the Pharisees. When you've memorized the first five books of the Old Testament AND follow them to a T, lemme know. Until then, we're gunna operate under the assumption that the Pharisees have us beat on the righteousness scale. That is the level we must surpass to get to heaven. Seems impossible, right?

That, my friends, is Jesus' point. He knows that no one follows the law better than them. Jesus knew when He made that statement that all fall short of that level, much less surpass it. Thus, we must conclude that since no one is at a heaven-worthy level (not even the Pharisees are righteous enough), no one can get to heaven based upon their deeds. No one.

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." -Romans 3:23, HCSB

Jesus was preaching Romans before it was written. There isn't a person on Earth that can improve their standing before God with deeds, since we can't get to a level to save ourselves, and even our good deeds are dirty rags to God. This is why we depend upon Jesus alone for our salvation! He alone could be the one righteous enough to earn God's favor, since He was not polluted by sin. He alone could be the spotless Lamb, slaughtered for the salvation of the people of God. He alone could earn our salvation.

"For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—  not from works..." -Ephesians 2:8-9a, HCSB

We're saved by grace, not works. We have nothing to bring to God, but praise be to Jesus that He brings it all for us! We may rest in Him, knowing that He is the one responsible for our good standing before God, washed white with His blood before the throne of God!

In Christ alone, my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song!

Why is Good Friday Good?

"It is finished!" -John 19:30, HCSB

It is finished. Que se termine. 它完成. она будет закончена. Il est fini. Consummatum est. それが完了しました. يتم الانتهاء من ذلك. 그것은 완료. Está consumado.

One could say that these may be the most important words in the entire Bible. Out of everything that Jesus said in His ministry, these three words may just be the most impactful, the most loaded, the most beautiful words that came out of His mouth. This is the climax, the highest point, in the entire plot and story of the Bible.

As He hung on the cross, He was not only experiencing the physical side of the crucifixion. Yes, He was in physical pain, but the spiritual pain was much worse. As hung on the cross, He took the burden of the wrath of God on Himself.

I once heard Jesus' taking God's wrath like this explained like this: imagine that we are in a canyon. A small river is trickling through, the product of a dam upstream. That dam is holding back a massive river that would flood the canyon if the dam broke. Needless to say, we don't want to be here when it breaks. Regardless, we throw rocks at it. I mean, it's a huge dam. How could it break?

One rock we threw hit another rock in the wall of the canyon, which in turn caused a group of larger rocks to become unlodged and fall into the dam.

 A crack runs up the middle, splintering across the facade of the dam. Time has worn the dam thin, and it is breaking. Suddenly, the river behind blasts through the cracked dam. The pressure was too much, and the river busts through.

We have since walked a little way downstream from the dam. We hear a loud noise, and turn to see a wall of water headed toward us. This deadly, overwhelming flood will destroy us, and it is our fault that the flood is headed for us.

We start to run, but there really is only time to turn away from the water when we hear a massive roar. Afraid to turn, we run a bit, but then realize that we are not dead yet. We turn around and see that there is no more wall of water.

Instead, a massive hole has opened up in the ground, creating a waterfall. The ground took the death from us and absorbed it all.

This is our story. God's wrath was bearing down on us, punishment due us because of our provocation and rebellion toward Him. Yet, instead of the death we deserved, Jesus took the punishment. He took the full wrath of God: not just my punishment, but also the punishment for you, our families, our friends, the guy across the table from me at the library...everyone. He took it all. Sin and death were defeated forever, all because Christ took the punishment for them away from His people.

If you have believed in Christ and confessed in Him as Lord and Savior, it is finished. There is no more punishment due to you, and there is no more power that sin can hold over you. Jesus took care of that. It's over, it's through, it is finished.

If you have never put your faith in Him, do so today. Feel free to trust in Him as Savior. None of us deserved for Him to die, but out of grace, mercy and love, He did it anyways. He took the punishment. Now it is up to you to accept Him as Lord and Savior and follow Him.

They call today Good Friday, the day that Christ died. But why is today good? Because it is finished.

He Didn't Ask Anything He Wouldn't Do Himself

"...and He went out, bearing His own cross." -John 19:17, ESV

The Christian walk is hard. No one every said this was easy, and if they did, they lied to you. As with growing in any relationship, our relationship with God also takes quite a bit of effort. When Jesus commanded His followers to "deny himself and take up his cross and follow me," He wasn't insinuating that to be a walk in the park.

To deny yourself means to put aside your desires. To pick up your cross means you must give yourself up, even be willing to die. To follow Jesus logically means that you aren't following anything else.

Money. Sex. Drugs. Power. Popularity. Spouse. Relationship. Grades. Success. Gossip. Work.

None of it but Jesus.

But here's the thing: He's not asking you to do anything He wouldn't do Himself.

He denied Himself, as Lord of the Universe, Creator God of all and Ruler of everything, to come to earth as a man. Not even an attractive or cool man, but as a servant, an average-appearing man.

He followed God, doing not His will, but that of the Father (Mark 14:36). He served and did whatever the Father asked of Him, following whatever He said.

And then He took up His cross. Literally. The ultimate giving up of Himself occurred on Calvary. He gave it all. He bore the cross across His bleeding, scourged back and was nailed to it.

Jesus was our ultimate example. If we are to follow Jesus, if we are truly Christians, we will look to His example. We will deny our "rights" and desires, in order to adjust to His. We will follow what God is leading to do, regardless of the other places we could go. And we will pick up our crosses, taking whatever punishment is needed in order to keep Christ first in our lives.

Jesus was the ultimate example. Will we follow suit?