Avoiding the Feel Good Fever

Ever had a big decision to be faced, and you didn't know how to figure out what to do? We all do at some point. It comes with the territory when you are a finite, trapped-within-time-and-space being. We cannot see the future, and have no idea how things will play out, so we stress out about what to do. This is a problem that has occurred since the beginning of time, and happens throughout the Bible. Today, we will be looking at 1 Kings 22, and the dilemma that was facing Ahab, the king of Israel.

Now, Ahab made a deal with the king of Aram not to fight, and there had been peace between Israel and Aram for three years. But Aram had some of Israel's towns under their control, and that bothered Ahab. Those were supposed to be his lands, and he wanted them back! So when the king of Judah (the Israelite nation was split into two nations: Israel, led by Ahab, and Judah, led by Jehoshaphat) came to town for a visit, Ahab asked Jehoshaphat if they could team up and take back these towns.

Something about getting support just makes us bolder, doesn't it? Ahab wasn't into the idea of going alone against an army he probably could have defeated (Israel routed Aram in 1 Kings 20). He was scared. But if he had some help, he felt better about his chances. Jehoshaphat had a different focus of support, though.

Jehoshaphat said he would help his Israelite brother, but one thing needed to happen first: they needed to consult God on the matter. Jehoshaphat's daddy, King Asa, had been a long-ruling king of Judah, and had taught Jehoshaphat all about following the Lord. The king of Judah knew that if God didn't approve of going to war, both armies could be destroyed.

Do you look for God's approval in decisions? Are you concerned about His opinion on the matter?

Ahab agreed to find out what God thought, so he called up 400 prophets to tell him what God said on the matter. They all said that Ahab would be victorious, for God would be with him. They filled the room, shouting that God wanted nothing but good for Ahab, that God certainly would give over those lands to Ahab.

Of course, Ahab was thrilled to hear it. But here's the thing: these weren't prophets of God. They had no authority from above; they were former idol-worshippers that were brought in to make the king feel like he was hearing from God.

Do these men sound familiar? Let me go further.

These are men that were catering to man's feelings, and not to God. These were men saying things about God that pleased man to hear, whether it was true or not. They weren't concerned about staying true to God; they just wanted man to "be the best you could be." They want man "to reach their full potential" and "live their best life now." Nothing more than motivational speakers in preacher's clothes.

These men exist now. They are everywhere, and people are all about them.

Men like this will tell you that God wants you to be rich and wealthy, if you just follow Him. If you just follow God, he will give you the desires of your heart. He wants you to be happy, all the time, no matter what. Whatever you want is what God wants. This, my friends, is a lie.

Books like Love Wins will willingly leave out words from Scripture, or twist it to mean what they want it to sound like. Does God really send people to Hell? How could a loving God do that? There's no way this could be... Let me tell you, it is. Anyone who tells you that Scripture could be inaccurate is lying to you, and is speaking not from God, but from the adversary, the devil himself.

I'm not saying God doesn't want you to be happy. Of course he wants you to be happy. The Psalms and Proverbs are fulling of verses that say that He wants us happy (Ps. 68:3, Pro. 17:22 for example). But it also says that He wants us to rejoice in Him (Ps. 118:24, Phil. 4:4). This is how God wants to give us the desires of our heart (Ps. 37:4). This oft-misquoted verse says,

"4 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires." -Psalm 37:4, HCSB

Prosperity gospel preachers will say that this verse is meaning that delighting in the Lord will give you everything you want. That is NOT what this verse is saying. If you are taking delight in the Lord, He will be the desire of your heart! Sure, He may choose to bless you with material wealth, but He may not. Life doesn't always turn out with rainbows and butterflies for people that follow Jesus. Look at the 12 disciples. Jesus leaves and they start the church. 11 of them are killed, and the other is left stranded on an island to rot. Do you think they were delighting in the Lord? Where's their wealth? Where is their perfect life?

What about the apostle Paul? He wrote 13 books of the New Testament. He started many churches. He traveled all over, proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior. He was killed after spending years in multiple prisons. He spent his life with a "thorn in his side," which is believed to be some sort of physical pain for him. Do you think he was delighting in the Lord? Was his pain and confinement taken away because of it?

Or what about our Christian brothers and sisters in countries like Nigeria, China, and India, where Christians are being tortured, burned alive, raped, and killed for loving Jesus. Do you think they are delighting in the Lord? Did that make them rich?

My readers, false prophets are everywhere. They are idol worshippers in God-loving disguise. No, they aren't sacrificing to a god on a hill like Ahab's prophets. They are sacrificing to a much more subtle idol: themselves. Following these pastors and speakers feels good, because they say things that make themselves and other people feel good. But God's Word isn't just a warm hug on a cold day. It is the Truth, the written words of an almighty God.

So, do as Jehoshaphat did in verse 5, where he asked if there were any real prophets of God. He knew these "feel-good" preachers weren't speaking from God. How do we know?

Look for Scripture. If the speaker is leaving out words of Scripture, or just throwing it in at the end to give weight to his message, red flags should go up. All preaching and teaching about God should come directly from Scripture. It may not always make you feel good (this is why Ahab hadn't called on the only real prophet around, as we see in verse 8). The truth hurts sometimes. But we must be willing to listen for what God is saying through His Word, not what a glorified motivational speaker is saying through his charisma and smile.

Are you willing to look for the truth from God, even when it doesn't always make you feel good? Are you willing to look for speakers grounded in the authority of Scripture, or will you be content to be fed lies about "becoming a better you?"

Go Crazy in Worship

How often have you been in church and felt like the worship service was stuffy? I know that I have: everyone is dressed up and still, repeating words off a screen or out of a book, without any real passion or heartfelt worship going on. While I am not innocent of this kind of "worship," it is something that troubles me deeply, and is blatantly unbiblical.

We have a God worthy of praise (Psalm 18:3), a God who deserves our utmost worship (Psalm 96:1-13), a God that is completely in charge of everything He made (Isaiah 40:28). He is the King of the Universe, the Lord of Lords, and has defeated both sin and death. Is not this kind of God one who is worthy and deserving of our worship? Doesn't He deserve everything we can throw at Him, all to exalt Him above everything?

King David got this concept in 2 Samuel 6:16. Let's look here:

"When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord..." -2 Samuel 6:16b, NIV

When the ark of the covenant was brought into Jerusalem for the first time, David was so pumped about Jesus that he was literally leaping and dancing in the streets praising God, much like a little kid on Christmas. He was so thrilled about God and His glory and that His throne was coming to the capital city that he couldn't contain himself.

Meanwhile, in the same verse, we see his wife Michal had a different attitude. The end of verse 16 says that "she despised him in her heart" when she saw him acting a fool for God. She didn't understand the idea of making yourself look like an idiot to show your love and passion for God. She was a restrained worshipper of God, and looked down on David for his actions.

Have you ever felt this way in worship? I feel like most of us probably have: we see that person raising their hands, dancing, etc. before God, and we act like they are being "holier than thou." While that may be the case, it could be that they are enjoying God to the fullest. They are simply pouring their heart out before God, and your are judging them for doing exactly what you should be doing.

We see later in chapter 6 that Michal and David have a chat about Dave's worship practices. Michal tells him that he is a "vulgar fellow," and pretty much tells him that he should get his act together. I mean, what would people think?! David is the king of Israel; he should be a reserved leader. But David tells her that he would continue to make a fool of himself for God, and that anyone with God's interests at heart would do the same.

Are you willing to act a fool for God and go all out in your praise and worship of Him? I challenge you this week in your service to actually read the words of the songs you are singing. Think about what you are saying in those songs, and then sing them like you mean it. I'm not saying you have to break dance down the center aisle; I'm saying we should all put some thought and heart into our worship. Let's quit being robotic towards our God, and get passionate.

The Difference Between Good and God's

Ever feel like God is asking you to do one thing, and in order to do it, you'll have to miss out on something else that could glorify Him? It happens all the time- you simply cannot do everything. You may be wanting to go with the youth out to a baseball game on Friday, but God may be asking you to stay home instead and meet with a friend for some discipleship. You may be wanting to start a new Bible study on Wednesday nights, but God is asking you to get involved with the children's ministry instead. We often don't understand the reasoning at the moment, but it happens all the time in this busy world. The problem with finding what God is asking for happened in the Bible, too. Let's look in 1 Samuel.

In the book of 1 Samuel, King Saul of Israel has been told by God through the prophet Samuel to attack the Amalekites. The Amalekites are a group of nomads that roamed into Israel's land and caused problems for the locals. God tells Saul to lead the troops against the Amalekites, and destroy them. No one is to be left alive, and no stuff is to be kept.

Saul leads the men into battle, and they follow God's orders... for the most part. They kill all but one person, the king, and then they destroy all the enemy people's stuff except their best livestock.

Samuel learns that Saul didn't follow directions, and confronts him. Saul says that the reason the animals were kept for sacrifice for God, and is confused as to why Samuel is calling him out for sacrificing. That's when Samuel says this:

"22 Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." -1 Samuel 15:22-23, NIV

Samuel doesn't say that the sacrifices were bad things to do. He says that sacrifices become bad and sinful when they go against what God tells you to do. When you do something that is against what God tells you to do, you are sinning and rebelling against the God of the universe. You are being arrogant enough to tell God that you know better what He wants you to do for Him than He does. That doesn't even make good sense, and it is often costly. Look at Saul: due to his rebellion and arrogance, he became rejected by God as the king of Israel. In the next chapter, Samuel would anoint David as king, and Saul's reign would deteriorate until his death in the ensuing years.

You see, you can think that you are doing something that God wants you to do, but if that something gets in the way of doing something that you know God wants you to do, the price can be costly.

Are you willing to listen to what God wants you to do, no matter what that may keep you from doing? Even if it keeps you from doing something that is a good thing, and perhaps even a godly thing?

For more on obedience when two good things present themselves, check out David Platt's new book, Radical Together.

Go All Out

I have recently been reading through the book Think Orange by Reggie Joiner. It's a pretty good book; I will give a final verdict on it when I finish. The book is about meshing the church and family together, to help kids learn the best that they can about God. A passage that gets a lot of attention in the book is Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which I happen to also have read recently in my quiet time in God's Word. I'll share the passage with you, and then we will look at it a bit and see how this applies to our lives.

"4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." -Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NKJV

Let's start at the beginning. Verse 4 says "the LORD our God, the LORD is one!" Observe that LORD is in all caps; Moses (the author of Deuteronomy) isn't screaming the word "Lord" at us. No, the word is in all caps to show that this use of the word "Lord" is in the Hebrew word "Yahweh." The word "Yahweh" is the Hebrew word for "personal God." He is in everything: our lives, their lives, everything. He exists, and is all over the place. Now, we see that Moses is saying that this personal, deeply-entwined-in-our-lives God is one. He is the only God. There is no other. This distinction and reminder to Israel (Moses's audience in this speech) is for a specific purpose: to remind them that God is everywhere, and involved in everything. The fact that He is so deep within everything in the world makes Him kind of a big deal. In fact, He's the biggest deal ever. Moses wants this idea of God first to preface everything that he would say next. This applies to us, too. As we look at the next verses, let's remember that God is everywhere, and He is the only God.

Ok, so now Moses has established that God is the only God, and He's all over the place. I think I made that clear above. So then Moses says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Ok, so once we remember how awesome God is, Moses says to love this awesome God with all of our heart, soul and strength. I could go further into the Hebrew meanings of those three entities, but I'll sum it up by saying that Moses is saying to love God with your entire being. Every. Little. Bit. Of. You.

These words may sound familiar to any of you who have grown up in church, or been in church really at all. Jesus would repeat this statement in His ministry, saying that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our being (Matt. 22:37). So, if the Savior of the world says that this is the greatest commandment, then it must be important, right? Eternally so.

Observe that Jesus called it the greatest "commandment." A command is something you must follow, right? We are being ordered to love God. That's not an idea Jesus introduced; look at the verse above from Moses. It states "you shall..." By saying that we shall do anything, it means that it is to be a certainty that it occurs. This is a huge, ginormous statement!

We have a God, who is personal, within our lives and everyone and everything else's lives, who is in control of the entire universe. This very same God is commanding that we love Him; in fact, it is His biggest command. The most important thing, if we can't get anything else right, is that we love Him. Ladies and gentlemen, please don't miss this. We are ordered to love God with all of our being. This is our ordered task.

Ok, Bryan, you may say. I get that the all-over, amazing God has commanded me to love Him with my entire being. But what does this look like? Glad you asked. Moses has the answer as we look further into this passage.

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Moses says that if we love God, these are the things that we shall do when loving God. We will keep those words in our hearts, memorizing them and applying them to everything. We will teach our children to love God(the part Think Orange focuses on). We will talk about our love for God when we sit in our house. We will talk about our love for God when we are out and about. We will talk about our love for God as we laying down to go to sleep. We will talk about our love for God as we get up in the morning. We will make the love of our God known by every aspect of our life. It will be so obvious that we love God that we might as well have "I LOVE GOD" written on our hands and heads and on our doors and the gates of our house.

Every single part of your life is to scream "I LOVE GOD!" People are to look at you, and see how much you love Him. Everywhere we go, we are to talk about the God that created the world, the God that we have rebelled against, the God that didn't smite us all the first time we sinned, the God that sent His Son (and Himself) to die both for His glory and our salvation from our rebellion. The God that defeated death and rose again. The God that is everywhere, at all times. The God that will reign from a throne, and all will bow before Him.

Do you love this God? Is it obvious in everything you do? Do people look at you and say, "Wow, they love God!" or do they see just another person that disobeys the greatest commandment we have been given?

Persecution Spotlight: India

DISCLAIMER: This video is intense at times. If you aren't prepared to handle a video that YouTube makes sure you're 18 to watch, don't watch this.



This video was shared with me by my friend Daniela in Florida, and goes hand-in-hand with what I saw at David Platt's Secret Church service last Friday.

In India, Hindu extremists have been violently attacking Muslims for centuries. These two religious groups have been at it since 711 A.D., which is a really long time for those of you keeping score. If you want to see a good example of how that conflict has been playing out, watch the first 30 minutes of Slumdog Millionaire. However, in recent years, the Hindu extremists have turned some of the attention to the growing Christian minority.

Despite "having a freedom of religion" law in their governmental system, the Hindu majority has a tight grip on the nation and is giving more and more pressure on Christian groups.

Christian brothers and sisters, this goes right along with what I discussed in my latest post, which can be found below. The passion that the early church had for Christ isn't dead; it's alive in India. It's alive in places where the church is being beaten, burned, tourtured and killed. It's alive, and we need to do three things:

A) Learn from them. They are passionate about Christ, to the point of death. Would you be willing to die for Christ? Would we be Christians if it were illegal to be so? These are questions that need to be asked of ourselves (myself included).

B) Be thankful for what we have. In the Western world, we have carpeted churches, Christian bookstores, and worship CDs all over the place. These Christians are lucky to keep their lives, and maybe a Bible (or even part of one). We need to thank God daily for the blessings we have.

C) Pray for them. This is the biggest one. We need to pray for their effectiveness in spreading the Gospel. We need to pray for them to have strength. We need to pray for them to build each other up. We need to pray that they continue living for Christ, and that they never bend to the adversary that is Satan.

For more information on persecution in India, please go to: http://www.persecution.net/india.htm

At the Bottom of Your Receipt

I work at Kroger, as I may have mentioned on here before. It can be a joyful experience at times; others, it's a nightmare. The public can drive a man to madness, it's true. And as a member of the retail business, I am assigned a number of seemingly meaningless tasks that I must perform when bagging groceries, running a cash register, or working the customer service desk. One such task is the pushing of the Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard.

This card is a credit card offered to Kroger Plus members after they have shopped at their friendly Kroger store a certain, and unknown, number of times. A prompt will pop up on the screen of the cashier's keyboard, reminding the cashier to prompt the customer about this offer. Information about the card is on the bottom of the customer's receipt. There are two ways to present this information:

-Option A: Excited. Passionate. On fire. "By the way, customer, you happen to qualify for a new Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard. In addition to having your Kroger card on the back, this card will help you out with your shopping. It allows for an additional five cents off of each gallon when filling up at our Kroger fuel station, which we all need now that gas prices are going up and up, huh? Also, in addition to your normal savings, you can save even more money at Kroger. After accumulating a certain number of points, you will be sent cash voucher checks with rebates of five, ten, even twenty dollars to use in store. After you collect a few of these, which takes very little time, you can bring them into the store and use them to save money on your groceries. Any more information is available at the bottom of your receipt, including how to easily sign up for this card. Thank you for shopping with us here at Kroger, and we hope to see you again."

-Option B: Listless. Uncaring. Forced. "Hey, there's some info about a Kroger Mastercard at the bottom of your receipt. If you're interested, and I'm sure you aren't, it's down there. Thanks."

This forked road of options is one that all cashiers must come to multiple times a shift: do we care enough about this card and this company to legitimatelly try to sell this card, or will we halfway do it? Usually, the latter option is the preferred method of attack. It's easier. It shows less devotion, but more devotion would be weird; who wants to be a Kroger freak? Unfortunately, this very attitude is often carried over to our feelings and methods of sharing God's truth with others.

Think about it: we as Christians typically will take the easy road out when it comes to sharing His Gospel with others. Sometimes that means saying as little as possible to make our conscience feel like we "shared the Gospel." Sometimes it means saying nothing. This is a troubling attitude that many, if not all, Christians must face at some point. Do we really care about His message? Are we too worried about saving face and not being a "God freak" to say anything? Not to mention, it takes work to share! We have to find a way to express our faith in a conversation, make it creative enough to resonate with the person, and find a way to not go overboard. I'm tired thinking about it. Does God really expect us to try as hard as we can to spread His good news?

After Christ drove out demons from him, a man in Luke 8 went crazy for Christ:

"And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him." -Luke 8:39b, HCSB

This kind of reaction was not uncommon of people who Christ touched. Often times, Christ even had to make sure they didn't tell people what He had done, just so a riot or something wouldn't begin. The disciples of Christ took things even further in Acts:

Pretty soon after Christ's death and resurrection, the local religious leaders in Jerusalem made it illegal to speak of the good news of Christ. This did not deter the disciples; it only made them go stronger. Peter and John were arrested after "provoking the people" with the word of Christ. In the time before they got arrested, many people came to know Christ (Acts 4:4). In Acts 13, we see that the disciples were facing persecution in Antioch (Ant-E-ock) and yet they still shared the Gospel until they were run out of town. So then, in chapter 14, we see them going to Iconium (have fun saying that) and getting run out of town for speaking "in such a way that a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed (Acts 14:1)."

You see, the early Christians were completely enthralled in Christ. He was their life. Everything they did revolved around him. Look at the early church as described in Acts 4:32, where it says "they held everything in common." Clearly, this isn't saying that they have literally everything in common: Peter was a fisherman redneck, and Matthew was a number-cruncher. Guarantee they didn't have the same interests in pastimes. Yet, they had everything in common because Christ was their everything. Everything in their world revolved around Christ and His mission for their lives. If everything in your life revolves around Christ, you have everything in common with another who is equalled as obsessed with Christ. This is a level of passion I desire to obtain. That's the kind of Christ follower I wish so badly to be, and I would venture to say that should be how you want to be, also.

Are you so passionate about Christ that you refuse to take the easy way out of His plan for your life? Are you willing to talk to anyone about the greatness of the Savior of the world, or will you talk about Him as if he were nothing to you? Do you genuinely care about the advancement of the Gospel, or do you genuinely care about the advancement of your coolness?

Radical Together

This is the "trailer" for David Platt's new book, Radical Together. If the book is as intense as this video...wow.