What's Better Than the Daytona 500 for a Redneck?

I've recently been listening to Craig Groeschel (pastor at Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma) and his "Better" series. In the series, he has been looking at verses that say something is "better" than something else. Today, I'd like to share one of the verses he looked at in the series, and talk a bit about it.

"For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness."-Psalm 84:10, ESV

It is hard to imagine how one day somewhere could be better than a thousand elsewhere. Yes, a day at the Daytona 500 this weekend would be pretty amazing for me, but it wouldn't be better than the combined happiness found in a thousand days elsewhere. I cannot fathom what kind of day that would be, and odds on, you can't either. My guess is that is exactly the point. Allow me to explain.

Have you ever seen a sunset or landscape (or alley-oop dunk, for basketball fans) that left you speechless? I think back to this picture I took a few years back in Ormond Beach, Florida. As I looked out of the window at the hotel, I saw this sunset and was awestruck at the beauty: so many shades of red, orange and purple, such unique cloud structure, the whole nine yards. It was such an amazing picture, and remains one of my favorite sunset pictures to date. I was simply left speechless at the splendor of the sky.

Now, imagine a moment that you were simply stunned at something amazing. Got it? Now extend that feeling until you are picturing yourself feeling that amazed for an entire day. That, my friends, is a taste of what it will be like to be in the presence of the Lord. That is why the psalmist said that a day in His place would be better than a thousand elsewhere.

Even this seems abstract to us and is difficult to imagine. I mean, our short attention spans only allow us to be amazed for brief bursts until we've moved on down the line. Yet, in His presence, we will not be able to divert our attention away. You could have the worst case of ADHD ever recorded, and it wouldn't matter; you'd be captivated by His glory.

No wonder the psalmist said he'd be willing to be a doorkeeper (aka nobody special), standing in the elements outside at God's house than live in the safety of the "wicked's tents." He got it. He understood this sense of wonder and amazement in God. He was so enthralled in God's majesty that he would be willing to stand outside, just catching glimpses of Him when opening the door.

Are you captivated by God and His glory? Would you be willing to trade a thousand days on Earth for only one with Him?

Two Mistakes People Make With Spiritual Gifts (And You're Probably Guilty of One)

I've been reading through Romans for a long time now, going at a pace of a few verses a day. I've wanted to soak up some information, and really dive into the book. Today, I'd like to share what I read this morning, and give a little bit of application for it.

"3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts..." -Romans 12:3-6a, HCSB

Paul says, toward the end of verse three, "not to think of himself more highly than he should think." In ordinary talk: "I tell everybody not to get all cocky and arrogant." He follows this with a better plan: "think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." This is speaking directly to Christians: don't get all high and mighty. Instead, keep cool and remember Who runs your life. Remember Who gave you your faith. Remember Who gets all glory.

Then Paul seems to abruptly jump to talking about how the people in the Church (parts of the body of Christ) all have different jobs within the Church, all based on our spiritual gifts. What's up with that?

I think this section is a warning to all the people who get cocky in their spiritual gifts. Some Christians, particularly those who are leaders and teachers in the Church, get all holy and arrogant about being so "spiritual" and being "the only people that work around the church." If you are a leader in your church, you must remain humble in your gifts. Your fellow church members need to see humility in your leadership, and will be more likely to follow after you in your vision and mission to spread the Gospel. This is an area that I personally have had struggles in, and totally understand the difficulty in staying humble and not judgmental of "slackers." But we all get our spiritual gifts from God.

The word for "gift" in this passage is the Greek word "kharisma," which means a "gift of grace." Any spiritual gift that you may have is a complete gift of God's grace, and that leaves us ZERO room to be arrogant. It has nothing to with our superior holiness and everything with His supremely amazing grace.

If you aren't a leader, this passage has something for you, too. Notice that is says that gifts are given "according to the grace given to us." Have you received grace? Are you saved and a follower of Christ? If you answered "yes" to those questions... then you have spiritual gifts! Use them! You are part of the body of Christ, too. Maybe you think you're just an elbow, and no where near as useful as a hand. Maybe you are an elbow. Guess what: a hand can't do a thing without an elbow moving the forearm to where the hand needs to be. Without the elbows and eyebrows and taste buds, the hands, eyes and tongue couldn't their job. You may not be the person that's out in the open, preaching on stage or leading the bible study. But without your work in the church, the leaders cannot lead. Don't waste your gifts; use them to advance the Kingdom!

So, leaders, will you humble yourself, and lead like Christ led: by a humble, hands-on example? Other church members, will you step up and quit wasting your gifts? I pray that both occur.

Scar Tissue and Battle Wounds: When God Seems to Have Disappeared

Last week, I talked about how God is always with us, and how we are never alone. Yet, despite this, sometimes we still feel not just that we are alone, but that He has turned His back and done exactly what He said He wouldn't do in Joshua 1:9. Sometimes, we feel like God has dropped us off on a deserted island, and left us to fend for ourselves.

This is not an uncommon feeling. Even though we know that He loves us and saved us from our sins, and would never abandon us, we still feel this way. It's human nature. We are short-sighted and incapable of putting everything into perspective. Our problems we are having right now are always the "big one," the problem that's going to do us in. We won't ever recover from this one. We're forever doomed to sulk and weep, and it's all because God turned His back on us, right? I mean, He works for the good of His people, and this ain't good. Surely He has jumped ship!

No matter how spiritual you are, no matter how secure in your faith you are or how holy you think you are, you're going to have this feeling. I personally feel like this from time to time, and it is times like this where I cry out, "God, where are you?! I'm your child, heir and son. I'm saved by your grace, and I work for your good. Why won't you show me love?" This is why I love David.

David, the second king of Israel, slayer of giants and "man after God's own heart," was a lot like me in His approach to troubles. We both are/were emotional guys that wear our feelings on our sleeves. When things are great, David would sing a song (unfortunately, I cannot sing very well) and dance for joy. He loved worshipping the Lord. But when the crap hit the fan, David broke down. He'd scream and cry out and rip his clothes and fast and yell out to God, wondering why God would leave His side. Let's look at David's anguish in the 22nd Psalm:

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest...

Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced...

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by people. Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads...

Do not be far from me, because distress is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me...

They open their mouths against me— lions, mauling and roaring. I am poured out like water,and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.You put me into the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me...

But You, LORD, don’t be far away. My strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword,my only life from the power of these dogs. Save me from the mouth of the lion!" -Psalm 22:1-2, 6-7, 11-16, 19-21a HCSB

These are the words of a broken, desperate man. Imagine mighty King David, no longer majestic, but crying. Imagine him screaming out to God. He feels like he is going to die, and that his end is near. He has been beaten, kicked and knocked down, and all the while, it feels like God is far, far away.

But guess what? God wasn't as far away as David thought. In fact, God was working for David's good all the while, as we see one of the quickest turnarounds in all of Scripture in the second half of verse 21. Check this out:

"You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the congregation.

23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!

24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.
He did not hide His face from him
but listened when he cried to Him for help."

-Psalm 22:21b-24, HCSB

You. Have. Rescued. Me. Those are four beautiful words. God. Has. Rescued. Us. We are no longer beaten. We are not alone. In fact, we never were. God was fighting for and alongside us the whole time. We're gunna make it out of this. Even if there is a permanent scar (as fighters and warriors often have), that doesn't mean we lost. A scar shows we made it through. When we die, we will all have lots of scars. We may be getting beat up over and over again, but God will keep saving us.

Kevin DeYoung once said that "Christians often forget that life is a pilgrimage, and we think Heaven is on Earth. If we are looking for Heaven on Earth, we will be consistently miserable and disappointed. If we remember that life is more similar to a desert, however, we not only will be less disappointed by our troubles, but will actually find ourselves more happy" (roughly quoted by memory from Just Do Something).

Life's a desert pilgrimage. We are marching forward towards the Kingdom. Things will trip us up, things will knock us down. We will be jumped by bandits and collapse of exhaustion. But I urge you: keep fighting. God is by your side and in your corner. If our God is for us, than what could stand against? And trust me, He is for us.

God Ain't Gunna Ditch You

Well, I made it. 100 posts. I spent some time pondering,

"What should I put for my 100th post? What would be different enough to make this post stand out?"

Then it hit me: video post.

So I practiced with the webcam on my computer for a minute to see how this would look. The verdict: not good. So I scrapped the vlog idea.

In the end, I decided that the best thing to do would be to write whatever is on my heart. A friend of mine just called me, telling me that her grandmother was very ill and may be headed to see Him soon. I looked up some verses to comfort her, and it just clicked: a lot of people need these. I need these.

Joshua is one my favorite characters in the Bible, and his book is one of my favorite books, as well. The way he leads Israel with extreme, bold faith encourages me to do the same, and he is the kind of leader I want to be someday. Joshua is the model of a strong, God-fearing leader that conquered army after army, all the time boasting in God's strength and power. Yet, he wasn't always such a confident leader.

At the beginning of Joshua 1, we see a much different Joshua. Moses, the great leader that brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and up to the edge of the Promised Land, was dead. And now, after all this time, Israel has a new leader. Can you imagine the pressure Joshua was under?! I mean, come on. Who on earth wants to be the guy that leads after MOSES? Talk about being hard to follow up on!

Yet, just as Joshua was as nervous as a cat above Niagara Falls, God steps in and smacks Josh upside the head with this,

"2 'Moses My servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. 3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or forsake you.
6 'Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. 7 Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. 8 This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. 9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.'" -Joshua 1:2-9, HCSB

WOW! Talk about a confidence booster! Just when Joshua was questioning his abilities and getting all scared, God tells him to be strong and be comforted, because God will not forsake him nor leave him. God was always with Joshua, and would never bail. And guess what?

He says the same to you.

We have the God of the universe, the sovereign Lord of all, the Creator of all, Judge of all, King of all... comforting us. Right now. His arms are wide open for us to run to and seek shelter from the world. He empowers us through His Spirit to overcome the obstacles in our lives. In fact, He commands us to be strong courageous, and not be afraid and discouraged. I mean, He's with us; what could stand against? (Romans 8:31)

Bullies at school? Nope.

Cancer? Nope.

Heartbreak? Nope.

Your past? Nope.

Death? Nope.

Nothing can hurt you. For as the apostle Paul says, "to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)." If we are alive, we have Him constantly guiding and protecting us, as our Shepherd. If we die, we are in His presence... forever.

For more on comfort, go to:

Psalm 23
Psalm 71:5
Micah 7:7
John 14:27
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

JESUS Film Series, Part Four: So, Who is He?

This is the final JESUS Film post in the series, and as such, I wanted to focus not on who He isn't, but on who He is. I could ramble, but I think Scripture says it best. So, here's Vintage 21 Church's last video, and then take the time to read each passage and allow it to soak in who He is.



"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." -Revelation 22:13

“I am the commander of the LORD’s army.” -Joshua 5:14

"Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church." -Ephesians 5:23

"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life." -1 John 5:20

"And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity." -Zechariah 13:1

"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Colossians 1:27

"For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." -Hebrews 7:26

"See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated 'God is with us.'" -Matthew 1:23

"Jesus said to them, 'I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.'" -John 8:58

"Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." -1 Timothy 1:17

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess." -Hebrews 4:14

"You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this." -Acts 3:15

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" -John 14:6

This is our God. This is our King. This is our Savior. This is our Jesus. Come before Him today. Worship Him, as He is worthy of all of our praise. He is our friend. He loves you. He didn't come to condemn, but to save. Praise Him.

"O praise Him, o praise Him. He is holy, He is holy." -David Crowder Band

How to Be Made Right (And Others, Too)

This week, we're taking a break from Matthew to look briefly at a passage that has just been great to read this week as I woke up: Romans 10. Romans 10 is a beautiful chapter, and among my favorites that I have read and studied. Let's read it:

"1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." -Romans 10:1-17, ESV

I know, that was a lot of Scripture for one blog post. I probably should have broken this down and gone over each part in my next series. Maybe I will, I don't know. But just look at these passages with me! Verses 1-3 talks about how Israel didn't put their faith in God, but instead in their good works. That's not good! Paul says he is concerned for their salvation! That means that your good deeds, your religious acts, none of that will save you. Not a bit of it.

Then Paul, in verses 4-5, says that Christ is the end of righteous from rules. What does that mean? Check out verse 6-8: no matter how dramatic we are and how hard we work, there is nothing we do. Instead, we hold the true message, the message of righteousness found by faith, which is in verses 9-13.

AHH! YES! The key to salvation is CHRIST! Putting your faith in Him is the only way! Confess that He is your Lord, and you won't be put to shame! How beautiful and easy is that?! There's no distinction between Jew and Greek, meaning that every single person, no matter their ethnicity or past, can be turned down for salvation. Everyone who calls on His name will be saved! I beg you call on His name, right now if you don't know Him! Yell out "Jesus is Lord!"

But that isn't all. Verses 14-17 asks how people will hear of this if we don't tell them. Guess what: they won't. You see, if you have this amazing truth and you can tell the world of the way to salvation, you MUST share it! I know this is hard at times. It's hard for me, too. But we are their way! It's on US to spread the good news!

So, my question is: will you spread this news? Will you tell people about your Lord? Or will you let their ears remain silent?

JESUS Film Series, Part Three: Jesus Loves Scumbags

We have all gotten down on ourselves. We tried to do the right thing, and we messed it up. We tried to help someone, and we ended up hurting them instead. We're consistently screwing everything up, and we spend more time trying to get back to doing good after we messed up than actually doing the right thing. Let's look at another Vintage 21 Church video, and look at how we think Jesus is viewing our constant problems.



Last week, we looked at how Jesus doesn't want us to tend to a long rule book, and that salvation comes from God an God alone, not our works. Yet, we tend to think that Jesus, because He is the holy, perfect God, is too holy for us. We are dirty and broken; He is cleaner than Scrubbing Bubbles. Yes, you have a point. We are dirty, and He is clean. But it doesn't end there.

"15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” -Mark 2:15-17, NLT

I absolutely love how the New Living Translation puts this, which is one of my favorite passages in the Gospels. You see, Jesus had a thing for scumbags: the poor, the smokers, the sluts, the white trash and the money launderers. These were the very people that, according to Mark, that followed Jesus around.

Yes, just as the video portrays, Jesus knows our problems. You may not be to the point that you're worthy of prison, but you do some low-down and dirty stuff. It's true. And odds on, you think that Jesus is "too good" for you. You think you have to get your life together before Jesus can love you or before you can come to church. Guess what? You couldn't be more wrong.

Jesus wants more than anything for the "scum" to run to Him and embrace Him. As v.17 says, "Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." It is only through the amazing, crazy grace of God that we are made right before God, and that starts when we are at our lowest.

When you realize that you are a screw-up, that is the very moment Jesus can step in and do His work. People who think they are healthy don't go to the doctor; sick people do. Admit your sickness and run to the heavenly Doctor that can make you well. You're never too bad to come to Jesus. There is hope in Him.

For more on the topic of Jesus's love for the hoodlums and scumbags, read Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel. It is a fantastic look at the love of Christ for people who don't have it all together (I highly recommend the Visual Edition, by the way).