My Jesus: Making Faith A Priority

Jesus is calling you and me to make Him the priority of our lives.
We say we "know" Jesus. We say we believe the Bible. The Bible is clear that "knowing Jesus" means He is the centerpiece of our lives. Yet, each of us - in part or in whole - rejects Him daily as the Lord and Savior of our lives. Yes, He is our Savior, but following Jesus means He is our Lord as well. Lord means "master" or "owner."

It is a heart-breaking story that is replayed in American household after household.What comes between a person and following Jesus?

• People say "I love my home" and demonstrate it by yard work and remodeling and refinancing.
• People say "I love my family" and demonstrate it by investing full-time energy and money in their children.
• People say "I love my job" and demonstrate it by working 80 hour weeks and celebrating a "climb" in business and prestige.
• People say "I love my Jesus" and demonstrate it by . . . an occasional hour on Sunday morning and perhaps a check to the church.

Jesus says we have it all backward. The planning and priorities of our lives should give the "first fruits" to the work of the Kingdom - to following Jesus. Then, we give to home, family and job whatever is left.

Read the story of the Rich Young Ruler.

This story isn't so much about money. It's about priority and the place of Jesus in our lives.
Too many people say, "Whew, for once I'm glad I'm in the middle class. I'm not a rich person with a lot of influence and so this doesn't apply to me." No. This story is about each of us who put what the world values over following Jesus. I'm guilty; so are you. All of us are - at times and perhaps all the time - found wanting in this regard. But, because "we all do it" excuses none of us.

• The Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus, knowing him as a teacher .  .  .  but not as God.
• Jesus says, Why do you call me “good – only God is good." Jesus is not separating himself from being God; He is saying that all men are self-centered and evil.
• The Rich Young ruler wanted eternal life, and Jesus said, “Well, you know the commandments” because Jesus knew the young man was looking for a check-off list. Jesus quotes the commandments out of order just to show the silliness of the check-off list. You and I can't do anything to receive eternal life.
• The young man says, "Well, I do those things. I keep the commandments."
• Jesus loved the young man because he was eager. Jesus says, "Well, there's one thing left to do." He tells the Rich Young ruler that he must go and sell everything that he has, and give it all the poor. AND THEN, "follow me." Jesus is saying, 'You must strip your life down to nothing so that in having nothing, you must have Me to make it day by day. Place Me at the top of your priorities."
• The Rich Young ruler’s face dropped and he went away sad because he could not give up the things of the world.
• Jesus says, “How hard it is for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!” Exclamation – sadness. Then, he said it again.
• The disciples said, “Well, who in the world can be saved then?” Jesus said, "No one." What Jesus is saying is that the rich young ruler would not have eternal life because he gave his stuff away. We can’t earn salvation. He would have eternal life because he would clear away all the distractions, forcing him to live each day dependent on God to see Him through. And, surrendering to Jesus, to God, would give him eternal life.

How do we begin the journey of making Jesus a priority?

• Slow down.Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God."
• Calendar the things of faith . . . first. Take your calendar, and write "Attend worship and Sunday School" on each Sunday; put small group and mission activities on the calendar. Then, add the family calendar, being careful and thoughtful about removing the things of faith that help you grow.
• Invest in a few others. Segregate your "friends in faith" from your "friends who need faith" and invest in both groups.
• Use the name of Jesus. The more you talk about Jesus, specifically, the easier it becomes. 
• Study Scripture and have regular times of daily devotion.
• Pray. If you don't know how to pray, ask a friend in faith to help you.

In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, there's one thing to consider that is rarely mentioned.

When the young man turned and walked away. Jesus did not chase after him.

Jesus allows you and me to make our decisions. He wants us to freely choose to follow Him. He won’t chase after us. If you choose to value the things of this world over Jesus, He will let you. He will let you live in worry, fear, doubt, depression, regret, and sorrow. He will let you live that way that, hoping that in your deepest despair, you will turn to Him and cry out for the cup of water that only He can provide.

I do believe that we moved by the Spirit to sow the seeds of faith. Our burden is to tell the stories of Jesus – stories like the one of the Rich Young Ruler. We have a burden to share the gospel with people – to say, “Jesus is my Savior.” I believe it.

We have a burden – a responsibility – to live lives that protect our witness – lives that encourage people and don’t cause people to stumble. We have a responsibility to take a stand for what’s right in keeping Jesus and faith as the No. 1 priority in our lives; that stand will be in opposition to what the world calls important and the world will make us pay for it.

As we scatter these seeds of faith in our community and in our neighborhoods and in our work place, we will bump into “rich young rulers” with whom we can have conversations. They may turn away, but the seed will be planted.

We hope that seed was planted in the Rich Young Ruler, that He came to know Jesus one day and is in heaven today. Scripture never tells us. Our mission is simply to plant the seeds, knowing some will grow. So, this story speaks to us in two ways: Make Jesus the center of our lives, and then live lives that scatter the seeds of faith to others.

Pleasing People v Pleasing Jesus

By Monty Hope -- Piles of financial data, spreadsheets built with cunning insight, sales reports loaded with client information, detailed cost reports showing where the money was going………these were the heart of six, super-duper, financial reports I spent an entire weekend constructing.  Each report was sent to my boss, our CFO, and the General Manager of the area studied.  Each was concise and contained detailed action plans for improvement.  As I went to bed Sunday night after emailing the last of the reports, a smug grin emerged across my face.  I drifted to sleep sure of the at-a-boy emails I would receive on Monday.

Monday came and went; no emails, no calls.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday passed with no acknowledgement of the work that surely could have earned a Nobel Prize in economics.  I made my way home for the weekend questioning the value of the sweat I put into those reports.  By Monday the disillusionment had worn off, but God waited until Wednesday to teach me a lesson.  As I opened my “Stand Firm” devotional on June 5, 2013, the title of the lesson read, “Seeking the Approval of Others.”  There is always a “Bottom Line” in this devotional.  It read, “Pursuing the fleeting, conditional recognition of others is like running in the wrong direction.  It takes us further away from God, never closer.”  While I did emit a slight chuckle at God’s sense of humor, it was done so through a shroud of shame.

In John 5:38-47, Jesus addresses the danger of seeking praise from others.  In his words to the Jewish leaders, “I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.  How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

Here is the crux of the issue.  There is no sin or harm in pleasing others.  In fact, obedience taken to the max should be pleasing.  The harm and the sin occur when we please other so that we can receive the praise.  Pride is truly at the root of all sin and you can see its interface here.  Let us follow the advice of Paul in Colossians 3:22-25 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Go ahead.  Work hard so that others may be pleased.  Work hard so that Jesus will be glorified through you.  Take great comfort knowing Jesus has granted us all the reward we will ever need.  We have eternal life through Him.  What more could we ask?

Be, Know and Do

By John Wright

If you are going to teach, it’s usually good to teach a subject that you know something about. So at the very least, this lesson should discuss something that I should know a little something about. For those of you that don’t know, the Army and God’s will brought my family here to South Carolina. For the past 2 and ½ years, I have had the awesome privilege of teaching leadership classes at USC’s Army ROTC Department.

In the Army, our leadership doctrine identifies 16 leadership competencies. They are all listed on a form that we call a “Blue Card” which is used to evaluate a Cadet on his or her leadership abilities. On the top of the Blue Card are our values, our absolutes if you will, Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. Then on the bottom are the leadership competencies. They include such things as physical fitness, resiliency, interpersonal tact, communication skills, and leading by example. These competencies are further organized into a model based on all these attributes being things that a leader should Be, Know or Do. I believe that Jesus was the greatest leader that ever lived and fully exemplified the Be, Know, and Do model.

So, let’s begin with “Be”. In my opinion, there is no greater example of being as a leader as God coming to earth as a man in the person of Jesus. In Philippians 2, Paul explains it so beautifully and I like how it is translated in the New Living Bible

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross

The great singer and songwriter, Rich Mullins, the man who wrote Christian classics like “Awesome God” and “Step by Step”, never performed or recorded what I think was his most profound song. The song was titled “A Man of No Reputation” and was inspired by this passage. Mullins could never perform it because when he thought about the level of humility that Christ brought on himself out of love for us, he didn’t think he could keep his composure. Fortunately, this song was recorded after Rich’s death and I recommend that you listen to it some time. Just have some Kleenex handy.

Recently, Pastor Mike preached yet another of his great sermons .The subject was Jesus and the woman at the well. One of the things that strike me about this story is just how the humanity of Jesus is displayed. As a quick recap, Jesus chose to travel through Samaria, a region of the area inhabited by a group of people that were despised by the Jews. In fact, any self-respecting Jew at that time would not have been caught dead in Samaria. So here’s Jesus in Samaria, sitting beside a well when a woman walks up. And this is how John recounts the story in Chapter 4:

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. (NIV)

Now, let’s think about this. “Will you give me a drink?” Compare this passage with Genesis 1:

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. (NIV)


So, why was the creator of all water, earth, and sky lowering himself to ask this half-breed, tramp, Samaritan woman to give him a drink? And I truly believe that he was thirsty because if you remember that one of the things that he cried down from the cross was; “I thirst.” It’s very simple. Jesus was “being” and a huge part of being is getting your hands dirty, making yourself uncomfortable, not worrying about the opinions of others and building relationships. That’s why Jesus asked this woman for a drink of water because he was getting ready to change her life. So how are we doing with being? If you are we are in a position of leadership, do we merely see those that we supervise as tools to use to check things off our list and further our own selves. Is the homeless person holding a cardboard sign at the interstate on-ramp an indicator of the deplorable situation in this nation that “someone” needs to do “something” about or, instead, is he an opportunity given straight from the hand of God to pour part of ourselves into someone else?

Now let’s discuss knowing. Have you ever been in a bookstore and seen all the books about leadership and management? Many of these books will tell you that an effective leader needs to clearly communicate their vision to their organization. In the 22nd Chapter of his gospel, Matthew says this:

35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)

Pretty eloquent for a homeless man with no formal education who grew up blue-collar in a hick town, huh?

We must remember that Jesus knew and used the scriptures.
The Ten Commandments on at least 4 separate occasions, Leviticus, Isaiah, Psalms, when face-to-face with Satan himself, those are just a few of the over 40 occasions that Jesus quotes what we would now call the Old Testament in the four gospels.
It doesn’t surprise me that this series “The Bible” on History Channel is doing so well. People are thirsty to know the word and nature of our wonderful Heavenly Father. Check out this amazing illustration. Pick up a bible, put your finger on the account of Adam and Eve’s sin. Now notice how much more there is in the Bible between that account in Genesis and the end of Revelation. In those pages there are many characters and stories, but from that incident in the Garden of Eden the Bible is really all about Jesus. It’s all about God’s desire to love us his children and have a relationship with us. So how are we doing with the attribute of knowing? Do we live 1 Peter 3:15 that says:

15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (NIV)

OK, now for the final attribute of doing. A trait that most effective leaders have is charisma. How’s this for an amazing illustration of charismatic leadership:

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew (NIV)

Wow, now that’s making a first impression! I know that the Bible is perfect and God has ordained what is in the scriptures but wouldn’t you love to know what was going through those four men’s minds right then? What made them decide to drop everything and to follow Jesus? I often tell my students that they will never be good leaders unless they learn to be great followers. Right now, in our men’s Bible Study (MOVERS ) we are studying the book “Multiply” by Francis Chan (I knew that I could find a way to get a shameless plug in here). The cornerstone scripture of this book is this:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew (NIV)

Of course, we know this passage as the Great Commission, not the Great Recommendation, or the Great List of Really Good Suggestions. And, if that doesn’t make you wiggle in your seat a little, check this out:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew (NIV)

I’m not making any of this up. I’m just trying to move the plank in my eye enough that I can see my Bible and share some scripture. You see, it doesn’t matter if you are a teacher, manager, coach, mom, or dad, if your identity is based in your relationship with God Almighty through his son, Jesus, you are a leader. Therefore, Jesus is the perfect role model for any leader. Furthermore this is what Bible says about our commissioning as leaders.

(all from the NIV)
Exodus 19:6
6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

John 1: 12-13
2 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

1 Peter 2:5
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:5-6
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

We are greatly loved, mighty and powerful indeed. I pray you have a great week and you start to be, know and do like you never have before.

Chasing Jesus is life-changing

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24.

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Followers of Jesus choose to pursue Him. Followers of Jesus can look at today, compare it to the same day last year, and say, “Yes, I am closer to Jesus and I am more like Jesus today than I was on this day last year.” There is an assurance of that.

You see, the word following implies forward movement; it implies a pursuit or chasing after Jesus. And, so it stands to reason that if I am following Jesus, I will be on a forward-moving journey with Him, and in that journey I will become more like Him, and my today will not be the same as my yesterday.

I’ll go so far as to say those who today are no closer to Jesus than last year, well, they aren’t really following Jesus at all. More than likely, these good people are simply church Christians who believe church attendance, church busyness and participation in church stuff is synonymous with following Jesus. Churchyness (my word) can contribute to the spiritual journey of following Jesus, but for many it does not. Churchyness is largely a clinical exercise to meet cultural expectation: I want people to know I am associated with a church so they will believe that I am a good person. If I were Satan, I would love, love, love people to buy into that theology.

Look at what the prophet Isaiah writes in Isaiah 51:1: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.” We are called to “pursue” and to “seek” Jesus; we are called to be moving forward in our faith journey. We are called to be followers.

In Philippians 3:12-16, Paul writes, “but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” and “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul says we are to be moving forward, following Jesus, “pressing on” and “straining toward.” Am I? Are you? Is your today significantly more close to Jesus than your yesterday? Ask your spouse. Ask your parents. Ask your friends.

It’s all easier said than done, frankly, because we live in a broken and sinful world, and because we are broken and sinful people. But, that does not excuse us from being on the journey. In fact, we are guaranteed the journey will be hard and also that few will actually choose to take this narrow way. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

At this writing, Vicki has me on a diet. To be on that diet requires life changes on my part and a diligent moving forward. I am on a journey. At the end, I will be different than I am today. But, along the way, I will face temptation and may even slip backward. In fact, unless I am diligent and focused, I will choose to fail. And, then I will no longer be able to say that I am on a diet at all. I can “watch what I eat” and lie about being on a diet, but I know that I won’t really be on a diet at all. On the other hand, I might stumble on the diet, regroup and begin the journey again. Even though I have slipped, I can still claim to be on the diet because I am continuing to move forward.

So often, the faith journey - following Jesus - is a two steps forward and one step backward journey, but it is still about making that one step of progress. It's always about moving forward and being more like Jesus.

Life is constantly calling us backward to the easy, to the comfortable, to the “be like everyone else” and if you and I succumb to that, we will never be able to follow Jesus. Nothing about that cross is easy or comfortable or like “everyone else."

In summary:

Following Jesus is about saying:

1. My life is better, more peaceful, more joyful and more hopeful when I set my eyes on Jesus and decide to follow Him.
2. By following Jesus, what I really mean is that I will respect Him as my leader, and pursue Him. He is in front of me, and I will chase Him and pursue Him toward a goal of being more like Him. What does that mean? I will intentionally choose to (a) completely love people – all people – not just in words, but in deeds; (b) extend undeserved forgiveness to people; (c) see beyond the surface attitudes of people to understand the motivations, and then minister to them; and (d) I will build relationships with all people – all people – and help them discover joy, peace and hope that’s only found in Jesus Christ. I will call others to pursue Jesus and pray to see them baptized according to Matthew 28:19.

And, I know that I as I draw close to Jesus, and as I follow Him, it will be very difficult to maintain the pursuit.

1. People won’t understand. They will raise an eyebrow, and I can expect following Jesus to reshuffle the deck of my relationships. I will gain new friends; I will lose old friends. It will be joyful and painful all at the same time. In the end, though, it will be peaceful.
2. I can expect following Jesus to cost me something. It might cost me a job. It might cost me position. It might cost me time and money. Jesus' sacrifice on that cross was costly to Him; following Him and becoming like Him will absolutely cost me. There is no cheap grace; only a costly, expensive grace. That's why it's the narrow way and few really choose it.
3. As the white hot light of the cross burns my sinful nature, the pressure of it all will cause me to retreat into the darkness of my sinful nature. And, I will find myself in a sorrowful place because my retreat will grieve the Holy Spirit within me. And, I can expect Jesus to find me and ask, “Scott, what are you doing? Are you a believer or not? In or out? Let’s get back on the journey.” And, I will decide to follow or not.

What I have learned about following my Jesus:

1. I must be intentional about it. The world is calling me away from Jesus; following Him requires my absolute focus and best effort.
2. I must allow the Holy Spirit to place me around people – even people that make me feel uncomfortable - for encouragement and correction; love and service. 
3. I must look beyond what I want and see what others need. And, then I must respond the best that I can. And, where I can't respond, I will mobilize others to respond.
4. The call on my life is not to be perfect; the call of my life is to simply focus my life on being more Christ-like and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts, actions and my attitudes.
5. I must anchor my life in Scripture and prayer.
6. The world will notice, my family will notice, my friends will notice, and following Jesus will tighten some of my relations and loosen others. Following Jesus comes with a cost, but it is a cost worth paying.
7. I only understand a fraction of all this, but I understand all that I need to know. I need Jesus, others need Jesus, and it is my responsibility to follow Jesus – to work to be more like him – each and every day of my life so that others can see and know Jesus because of His reflection on me.
8. If my today is not closer to Jesus that my yesterday, I am not following Jesus at all.

Being attractive

There is one thing of which I am certain:

No one wants to be around someone who is unattractive, thereby leaving the unattractive all alone a great deal of the time. Someone who is perpetually alone isn’t building healthy relationships with others, and therefore is failing to introduce people to Jesus. And, each of us is commanded to help people discover Jesus as Savior. (Matthew 28:19).

Are you attractive or unattractive? That’s the question.

And, it has little to do with beauty though Satan would have us believe that beauty and attractiveness are synonymous. Satan would also have us think this is all a women's issue, but it is not.

Beauty is only skin deep.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And, I like this one: Beauty doesn’t matter after 50 because you will either be overweight in some degree or thin and wrinkled – choose one and be happy with it. (Personally, the overweight seem more healthy and fun to me, but then again I am one of them. J)

Beauty is a characteristic that is based on a perceptual experience. That’s why we all see beauty differently. It’s why someone decorates their home and says, “Wow, this is beautiful” and then someone like me comes in and says, “Wow, what were they thinking?” Beauty is subjective.

Unfortunately, we assign beauty to being Godly, and it’s not. Beauty is of this world. When 81 percent of 10 year old boys and girls say they are afraid of being fat because it makes them ugly – that’s a problem. That statistic alone speaks to a world more focused on being superficially beautiful than being inwardly attractive to others.Being attractive is so much deeper than beauty. Attractiveness is a quality that stirs an interest in someone else.

I know a lot of people who are attractive, but the world doesn’t necessarily see them as beautiful.
I know a lot of people who the world calls beautiful, but those people aren’t very attractive.
I know a lot of people who bloom beautiful *because* they are first very attractive.
I know a lot of people who are so very unattractive that their beauty has faded into ugliness.

Beauty is fading, fleeting and a distraction to what is really important. We need to focus on being attractive to others and let beauty, on occasion, bloom from that if it will. People will migrate toward people who are attractive; people will be repelled by those who are unattractive. People want to be around the kind, the encouraging, the serving, the loving, and the positive-thinking. People don’t want to be around the self-focused, the bitter, the negative, the superficial, and the lazy. Lonely and without friends? How attractive are your attitudes?

And, I know, we all have moments of being unattractive. We all do; none of us is spared. I know that. But, we have to be working toward an attractive attitude.

So, how do we cultivate and sustain this attractiveness – what I’m calling an attractive spirit. And, why is it important for followers of Jesus? Here’s why – you and I are commanded – not encouraged or invited or asked – but commanded to make disciples, to see people baptized, and to be expressive about Jesus. Well, who has the more authentic opportunity to reflect Jesus? The attractive or the unattractive? If my life is so self-absorbed that I am no longer attractive, what effect does that have on my ability to build relationships with people and tell them about Jesus? It has a huge effect. The more I’m focused on me, the more addicted I am on me, the more unattractive that is to others, and the less chance I have to tell others about Jesus.

A rotten spirit of attractiveness destroys our opportunity to help others find Jesus.

So, here are some things that I found in Scripture this week to help us focus on being more attractive for the purpose of building relationship and sharing Jesus. And, while Scripture sometimes puts these in the context of women, I think we men must pay attention to them, too. You will see what I mean.

1. We must be a follower of Jesus. And, look what happens in 1 Peter 3:1-4 – “. . . your Godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” Your Godly lives – that implies that we must be in fellowship with God through faith in Jesus. People are attracted to those who have an inner peace about their lives and where they are in life.
2. This 1 Peter Scripture passage also points to being “gentle and having a quiet spirit.” My daddy has that gentle spirit – and I try to be like him in this regard. A few years ago, we were at the movies, and I turned around and he wasn’t there. Then, I saw him. He was on the sidewalk, helping a little boy who had spilled his M&Ms, and I heard him say, “If dirt would kill us, we’d all be dead.” He is quietly gentle toward others, and possesses a quiet and loving touch on someone’s life. People are attracted to the kind of person who lives unassuming.
3. Psalm 29:2: “Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” Being holy is attractive. What is holy? It’s about being “set apart” – if the world is busy, busy and materialistic and flashy, then holiness – set apart – is the antithesis of that. People in this culture are attracted to those who live a simple, uncomplicated, authentic and down-to-Earth life because it gives people hope that they can live that way too and in so doing everything will be just fine.
4. Ephesians 5:21: Paul writes about the relationship of husbands and wives and says, “Further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Marriages are attractive when husbands and wives submit to one another. I know that when I submit to Vicki it becomes learned behavior that allows me to submit to the best for others, too. I love my Vicki so much that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. If she says, “Scott, go with me to counseling,” I’m going. If she says, “Scott, it sure helps if you will do the laundry” then, I’m doing the laundry.” If she says, “Scott, you need to lose some weight” then I’ll make a run at it. Why? I submit to her because I love her more than I love myself. But, I also have confidence that she’s only going to ask of me those things that will either make me a better person or make our marriage better. Neither of us is going to ask the other to do something through selfish motivation.Those kinds of marriages are attractive to others, give hope to others, and create environments through which faith can be shared.
5. Matthew 5:14-6: Jesus says that, “You are the light of the world . . . shine for the world to see. Let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” An attractive spirit does good work for others, and does it out there so people can see us get our hands dirty. It’s not about advertising it; it’s about getting out there among people and doing it. People will notice when you donate time to the good of the community and the good of others. And, it inspires others to do that, too. It inspires conversation that you can use to talk about Jesus. Every believer should be involved in the community in some way – hands and feet to real service. What does it say when only 15 percent of believers are actually involved in hands-on ministry or service? It says we don’t really believe what we claim to believe – and that’s not very attractive.
6. Last, Isaiah 3:16-26: The great prophet presents a metaphorical warning for those who subscribe to a superficial obsession with beauty. And, what we take from this is that it’s far better to live a life that is meek and humble, simple and encouraging, and gentle and quiet, focused on pursuing attractiveness for the sake of the Gospel – a life focused not so much on the mirror, but the window of opportunity to build relationship and share faith.

Lord, let me be attractive today. Let others fall in love with you because they see you reflected in everything that I do, say, and think today.

Gossip is a destroyer

I don’t know of a single person who hasn’t been a victim of gossip and, at the same time, a gossiper about others. What’s more, every one of us gets caught up in gossip – coming and going – every single day.

More than once I’ve had to come to the rescue of family and friends who were the victims of gossip; a lot more than once I’ve had to be shamed because of things I said about others. There’s one thing about gossip that you and I need to remember: Gossip always finds its way home. Always.

The Proverbs, in the Old Testament, warn against gossip at least four different times. (Proverbs 20:19, Proverbs 11:12-13, Proverbs 16:28, and Proverbs 18:7-8). Proverbs 16:28 likens a gossip to a “perverse man.” A gossiper is defined as “one who reveals secrets, one who goes about as a tale-bearer or scandal-monger.” Many will position gossip as “information sharing” or “within the realm of good business practice” or even, wickedly, as “prayer requests.”

Many, with an already poor self-esteem, lacking attention or praise or recognition from anyone about anything, will use gossip to pull others down and lift themselves up. Gossipers like to be at the center of attention; the center of the all-knowing, all-wise and all-perfect.

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul writes boldly and straight-forward about “God’s Anger at Sin.” Paul is writing about all of us – wrapped up in our sinful living. Put a finger on the first sentence of v. 26 that reads, “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.” We’ll come back to that.

Beginning in verse 28, Paul writes, “When they refused to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. (Again, Paul writes that God abandons us). Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

You may be asking, “Scott, who is Paul writing about?”

Continue reading into Romans 2:1 – “You may be saying, 'What terrible people, you have been talking about?' But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things. (v. 2) And, we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.”

Here are some things we need to consider:

• Paul throws a wide net in making a case that God hates sin – all sin – and there’s no pecking order for it. Beyond the listing in v. 28-32, Paul also includes homosexuality in v. 26-27. But, understand, God hates all of it equally. He lists murder in the same sentence with gossip. I thought that was interesting, especially since gossip does murder another person’s reputation and character. Anything that lifts self over God and others is sinful, and God hates it.
• In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives us clear direction that we are to go and make disciples, and help people discover Jesus as Savior. As we have studied before, this mission often includes building relationships with people. If we are involved in envy, fighting, deception, gossip, breaking promises and greed, well, we are not building relationships – we are destroying them. Not only that, but we are exhausted in the things of sin and have no energy left to reflect Jesus.
• We are all guilty. I can point a finger at a homosexual. You can whisper around about someone’s alcohol problem. We can talk arrogantly about someone’s sexual missteps; we can hold up another person’s failings and shake them out for all to see. But, as you and I do this to others, we need to remember that somewhere someone is breathing that same acidic breath in our direction. God will punish you and me, and everyone, for our lack of mercy and grace and love toward others.
• What does God’s punishment look like? In v. 26 and again in v. 28, Paul writes that God abandons us. I can’t think of a punishment worse that being out of daily fellowship with Almighty God. It’s as if God takes His hands off of us and lets us slip into the muck of the world. We lose our calm, we lose our peace, we lose our courage, we lose our patience, we lose our sense of direction, and we lose our sense of right and wrong. We become adrift because we can’t be in fellowship with God, following Jesus, and be mired up in hurting others with our tongues. We can’t be destroying people on the one hand and be in the center of God’s will for us at the same time. Each of us chooses - God or self. And, God lets us choose.

To put the wickedness of gossip in a modern day context, I turn to Joseph Goebbels, who served as Adolph Hitler’s Reich Minister of Propoganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was Goebbels’ strategy that vilified the Jews so that everyday Germans would not rise up when the Third Reich moved in to destroy the Jews. Goebbels led book burning, took control of the media, produced anti-Jewish films, and created a frenzy of anti-Jewish sentiment throughout the German people. But, it has been said of Goebbels, and wrote of him, that his most effective tool in pushing people toward mass hate and extermination was simply this: The Whisper Method of propaganda. Gossip.

The Whisper Method of propaganda works like this: Human nature is so rotten that when presented information about another person – good or bad – we can’t help but tell someone else and often twist it to our own biases. My friends, I want to tell you something. This is dangerous shifting-sand. If you and I do anything to harm the ones that God loves (everyone), we can fully expect that to come home to us. Gossip finds its way home.

James 3:6: The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”

This lesson has given me some things to clean up in my own life, and to pray about with vigor. Here are a few considerations. My friend Rob Motley would call them “guard rails” in daily living.

• Let’s not talk about anyone without their permission. I know that’s impossible, but let’s set it as a goal to perhaps curb some of our gossip.
•  Let’s not say anything about anyone that would hurt another person’s reputation; let’s not say anything about someone that we are not willing to say directly to them. Let’s stop living around the perimeter of people’s lives, guessing and speculating about what’s happening with them. Let’s instead get inside people’s lives, live with them, encourage them and even correct them toward being complete with Jesus Christ
•   Let’s protect relationships, preserving the opportunity to talk about Jesus and faith.
• When in positions to talk about someone as in an employment discussion or whether to accept someone as a volunteer, let’s seek open and prayerful discernment regarding what’s appropriate and inappropriate to discuss. Let’s get God in the center of our discussions and trust Him to guide our motives and our discussions.

We cannot hide from God

A dirt road separated our chicken and hog farm from the angus beef farm of Mr. John Strozier, who my granddaddy liked a lot and was a good neighbor with.
Between our two farms was a large corridor – not quite a forest – of thick woods, mostly pine trees and underbrush. Some of it was easily passable; but other places were not, especially for boys without a machete.
We called those woods, “Strozier’s Woods” and Mr. Strozier was more than gracious to let us play in them and camp in them, and build forts in them.
One summer – I know it was summer because my cousin Jeff was visiting from Atlanta – me, my brother Tim and Jeff decided to explorer the deeper recesses of Strozier’s Woods, going far beyond our usual haunts.
With canteens of water and sticks to beat back the underbrush, we began our descent into Strozier’s Woods. There were places we had to lie on bellies and crawl through the brush, giving not one thought to rodents or snakes or chiggers. There were places we had to use our sticks to beat through the brush, clearing a little walking path. At one point, we even had to climb one of the pine trees and jump to a spot more clear.
It was such a great adventure for three pre-adolescent boys with nothing to do on a summer day.
As we got deeper into the woods, the canopy of the pine trees cast an eerie and kind of dark pallor over us, and as we were walking along, my brother Tim noticed something to our right, several sections of pine trees stacked up like a wall.
That certainly deserved investigation, and so we walked over to it, and then realized it had walls! And, it had a bit of a roof on it – some pine sections covered with pine straw. And, we continued walking around it – not sure what we would see at the opening, which faced a dense part of the woods.
Around the short corner we went, and peeked inside, fully expecting to see a skeleton.
Instead, we saw a collection of beer cans and glass liquor bottles.
We ran out of the woods, finding the dirt road that separated our farm from Mr. Strozier’s, and we beat a path to find our grandfather. We needed to report this “hideout” we had discovered.
When we told our papa, he told us to never go back that deep into the woods, and to stay away from that place.
A few years later, when I was older, I went back down into those woods and the hideout was gone. The boards were scattered and the mess cleaned up.

I don’t know whose hideout it was, but it was someone’s secret place to hide from the world and indulge in self.

Whoever built the hideout likely did so alone – a place to escape from the world. They carefully sought a place hidden within dense woods, away from roads and away from people. It was a place to go, to get away, to find solace in the darkness of self-retreat.
And, yet what that person failed to know and realize was this: God was there.
God was there in the selection of the place. God was there in the placement of each pine tree branch. God was there in the slipping away to the place. God was there in the lies that led to the place. God was there when the top came off the bottle. God was there in the self-indulgence. God was there in the depression and the self-pity. God was there in the guilt that came after the sin. God was there.
We all have those hideouts, don’t we? I know people who sneak around and do all sorts of things, forgetting that God is literally right there with them. I’ve done it, too – still do it some. I know people whose “hideout” is sitting in front “the screens” computer, television, smart pad and smart phone consumed with self-indulgence, forgetting that God is there, too.

On a scout campout, when I was in the 9^th Grade, some of the older boys brought their Playboy and Penthouse magazines. Unbeknownst to me, one of those boys stuck the April 1974 issue of Playboy into my backpack, and I discovered it when I got home. I didn’t throw it away; I kept it – put it under my bed. I cleaned my own room; my mama would never find it. Sadly, the scars of sin hang around – I can tell you the name of that centerfold to this day – she made a big impression on me.
But, that summer, while I was away – on a church trip, no less – my mama did clean out from under my bed and she did discover Miss Marlene Morrow.
When I came home, I walked in my room to find the magazine neatly in the center of my bed. As I turned around, my dad stood there. He said, “You need to get rid of that. Your mama went screaming through the house that we raising a smut king.”
I was so ashamed and guilt-stricken – I couldn’t stand to be around my mama for days. She didn’t say a word about it until one day she said, “There are no secrets from God. Not one. You can hide your life from people, but you will never hide not one passing thought from God.”

Like you, I’ve done a lot of things in the past 52 years – some I was able to keep hidden; some not. But, regardless, there is no hiding anything from God. There is no hideout. There are no dark places beyond the vision of Almighty God.

The heart beats our life, doesn’t it? It is the source of our life, and Scripture over and over defines our heart as the center place – the HQ – for our moments of triumph in the Spirit and for our moments of wickedness.
Matthew 15:7-8 says, “We might praise Him with our mouths, but it may be that our hearts are far from Him.” And, in Matthew 5:27-28, “We might refrain from committing adultery with our bodies, but it is still possible to commit adultery with our hearts.”
Jesus said, in Luke 16:15: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
We can’t pull the wool over God eyes. Psalm 90:8 – “You have kept our hidden sins under the light of your scrutiny.” Matthew 23:28: “You outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
After lamenting the inexplicable dark mystery of the human heart (“the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt”), Jeremiah cried out, “Who can understand it?” But, God immediately replied, “I, the Lord, search the mind and try the heart.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). We are not stuck forever with the limitations and defects of our hearts, if we confidently entrust them to Him who is greater than our hearts.

Nothing is hidden from God. There are no hideouts. If you are burdened by self-focused action, self-focused thinking, self-focused talking – now is the time to clean it up. God knows. And, God may not allow you to live in private, continuing to sin as if no one is watching. My mama likes to say, “God will not allow one of His to continue ignoring Him and living in unrepentant sin.” You may find your hiding place discovered by a group of boys or by your mama cleaning under your bed. Turn from The Hideout. Seek a new refuge in the Lord, throw yourself into the company of other believers, and remove from your life the distractions that keep you from following Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit within you. In the light is where we are called to live. And only in the light can we find peace, joy, love and hope.

Companionship

A key leader at Lexington Baptist Church, Jerry Tarlton, died this past week. All of those who knew Jerry have a blessed assurance that he is with Jesus today.

The visitation was this past Friday night, advertised from 6-8 p.m., at Caughman-Harman Funeral Home in Lexington.

I wanted badly to be at the visitation, to speak to Jerry’s wife Pat, and to meet his family. I also wanted to be around my “faith family” that I knew would be assembling there. I wanted to pay my respects to Jerry’s memory, too. But, my Pony League baseball team had a game on Friday night. Knowing how much Jerry loved baseball and our local Dixie program, I knew he would want me to be at the game rather than the visitation.

The game wrapped up about 8:30. Vicki and I met at home about 9, and decided to grab some dinner. Since I can remember, I have celebrated baseball victory with Kentucky Fried Chicken. So, off we went to KFC, passing Caughman-Harman Funeral Home on the way. There were still cars in the parking lot – an hour after the visitation was supposed to have ended. So, we made a last minute decision to step inside the visitation.

At 10:10 p.m., Vicki and I got home from the visitation (with our chicken). The visitation for this good man lasted almost four hours – far beyond the advertised time.

Standing at the end of the receiving line, I overheard someone say, “I knew that Jerry knew lots of people, but I had no idea that he touched so many people's lives.” Do you see the powerful difference in knowing and serving?

Through Lexington Baptist Church involvement, our local Dixie baseball league, his work with Farm Bureau Insurance and living within our community, Jerry Tarlton had plowed his life into a lot of people and allowed a lot of people to plow into his life as well. I was deeply reminded of why we live this life we are given: We live it to link arm-in-arm with other believers to love and serve the Lord, to love and serve others, and to open ourselves to be loved and to be served. (Yep, it’s important for us to allow others to exercise faith in our direction – to fail at that is sinful.)

In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, the great King Solomon writes: “Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But, how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

These verses are about companionship, especially among like-minded followers of Jesus. Where are you? Are you linked arm-in-arm with other believers? Have you pulled a seat up to the camp fire? Are you in the game? Or, are you trying to navigate this life all by yourself? Are you on the fringe of fire’s warmth – freezing and in the dark? Are you sitting in the stands, watching the game you should be playing?

And, a warning. Satan is real. He is wanting to destroy you and all that you love.

He wants you and me to be isolated from the fellowship of other believers. He wants us turning to non-believers for good advice on faith, marriage, parenting and relationships. He wants us to be lonely, self-indulged, and looking in the mirror. Because he knows that if we are isolated, well, we will remain in sinful, stale and unfulfilling lives, unchallenged, unchecked, and mediocre at best. No one will come to Jesus because of us.

Companionship.
We were not created to be isolated from one another. We were made to enjoy one another, to lift each other up, and to reflect the Savior who loves us.

Finishing Well - The Days Of Our Lives

Since the early 1950s, daytime serials or “soap operas” have been a significant component of American television and American culture.
These 30-60 minute programs started on radio and transitioned to Monday-Friday afternoon television, targeting American housewives in post World War II suburban America. They were sponsored and produced by American soap manufacturers (Proctor & Gamble, for example). The plot lines ran concurrently, never-ending, and kept viewers coming back for the continuation of the story the next day. These programs became such a part of our culture that we still describe “over-dramatic” relationships as “a soap opera.”
By 1976, Time magazine called the daytime soap market “America’s richest television market” but that was also the beginning of the eulogy. In the late 70s, as most American women flooded the workforce, daytime soaps lost their footing. No new daytime soap has been created since 1999, and many of the 1950 veterans have been cancelled. Television producers made a shift in the late 70s, pushing programming to the evenings and launching programs like Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest. Today, arguably, we still have soap operas in the form of reality television like The Bachelor – programs that at their core “spy” on the relational drama of others – real or fictional.
One of my mama’s favorite soaps was “Days Of Our Lives,” which – oddly – remains on television today and has been extended through 2013. “Days Of Our Lives” continues to open as it always has, with a creepy hourglass through which sand is sifting. There’s the “tick tock”  opening music, reminding us that our lives are on a clock that never ends. The late MacDonald Carey, who starred on the show, still narrates this opening with these words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”
One summer, when I was 10 or 11, my mom was working and paid me to watch her “soaps,” and record the highlights of the various storylines. I joke that this was my first paid reporting job, which led to 20 years of newspaper work. The opening of “Days Of Our Lives” is still haunting, a reminder that our days are numbered. It’s a reminder that our days, like grains of sand, are slipping through our fingers and can never be recaptured.

About 3,000 years ago, King Solomon was the man who “had it all” – tremendous intellect, power and unbelievable wealth. Kings from other nations came to him for advice. He was the son of King David, and built the first temple in Jerusalem. His economic system made money on top of money, and with money came undeniable power throughout the world. And, yet, he was a man adrift from God. He fell into worldly lust, worshipped idols and took multiple wives who introduced pagan rituals and idol worship into his home. He knew God and his advice to others was to follow God, but he lived the majority of his life apart from God.
At the end of his life, presumably, and now a very old man, Solomon writes the simple Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. He writes it all of us who are young and those of us who remain active, and he provides a cautionary and sobering reminder that our days are numbered. He tells us to understand the fragile nature of life and to live extraordinarily the days of our lives.

The Days Of Our Lives count for something. They are numbered. We will never have a chance to live today again, or make right the decisions we make. Life is a chess game; and, you can’t take back a move.
In my own life, I think about the time wasted, rushing after career and money and influence. I picture Jesus sitting at my kitchen table, watching me chase all the unimportant drama in my life. Each time I rush pass the table, I can see Him calmly reach for me and say, “Scott, slow down. Slow down and follow me.” And, of course, I was too busy to listen. How much more peaceful my life would have been had I listened.

I picture Solomon as a very old man, living his last days in a nursing home, desperately wanting to throw back a warning to everyone headed toward this same fate . . . or worse.
He writes in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10: “Light (life) is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days (death). Everything still to come is meaningless (compared to our eternity). Young man, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.”
And, Solomon concludes in 12:13-14:
“Here now is my final conclusion: Fear (honor and respect) God and obey His commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” (The words “everyone” and “everything” always get my attention.)

Here are my personal take-aways from this:

1. Remember Our Mortality. Solomon reminds us that we will spend more of our days in death than in life. We are going to die. Within all our networks – Sunday School, high school classes, family - there will be a “last one standing” – many of us will bury one another, will cling to one another in death, and will walk through the valley of death with one another. It’s coming. That’s why Solomon says don’t waste the adventure of life – one day my life will be over. Make your lives extraordinary – even today. If today is my last to breath, how will I mark it – how will I sign my name to it as one that was extraordinary? Oh, please don’t let this day be ordinary. One day, I will bury Vicki or she will bury me, and that provides an urgency for my loving her extraordinarily today. One day, I will bury my parents – is that worth a telephone call today, reminding them that I love them? There are no guarantees – we must live each day beyond ordinary. One day . . . soon . . . one day . . . each of this will be no more. We will have no more time to invest in the lives of others. More importantly, we will have no more opportunity to come to faith and to introduce others to Jesus.
2. There is the threat of Meaninglessness. If you should die before me, I want to stand among your friends and family – even casually – and say, “I know He knew Jesus. I know She is with our Savior in paradise.” Any life not lived in the fullness of salvation will end full of meaninglessness. What separates us from despair is not our bank accounts, or our address books, or the resumes we put together – no, it’s the light of our Savior flowing through us to improve the lives of other people and help them discover Jesus. Please don’t be that pitiful and pathetic person whose life is marked by the funeral parlor cliché - “He was a good man; she was a good woman.” No, be the person remembered this way: “He poured his life into others because He knew Jesus as His Savior; She never celebrated anything but the great things God did through the lives of those she knew.” A life without Jesus produces regret, bitterness, loneliness, and hopelessness. A life centered in Jesus is fulfilling and can be richer and more bearable. Solomon reminds us that squaring our lives with God points us to an end with no regrets. When Solomon says, follow God’s commands, we skip to the New Testament and know those are to (a) love God; (b) love others; (c) and, make disciples. That’s the only way to avoid a meaningless life.
3. Remember Divine Judgment. No person will escape the judgment of God upon his or her life. After telling us to follow our dreams and live extraordinarily, Solomon reminds us that everything – all things – even the secret – what we say, what we do, and what we think – are seen by God and known by God, including the motives. Not even the inclinations of our heart or the desires of our eyes escape His knowing. We are called to live extraordinary lives, but we are commanded to live “right” lives. The Holy Spirit, within us, reminds us of what is right. We don’t have to worry over changing ourselves; the Holy Spirit will change us according to God’s plan for us. Thank goodness we have Jesus – not to escape judgment – but to be pardoned because of our faith in the One who died for our sins.

These sobering Old Testament reminders remind us of the width and depth of Jesus’ sacrifice for each of us.
C.S. Lewis said that all people must make a decision about Jesus. Each individual will call Jesus, “Lord, Liar or Lunatic.” Those who call Him Lord, cannot be ashamed of Him, and must live lives that are numbered for Him, speaking His name, loving His church, serving His people, and reflecting His sacrificial love for others. Those who don’t do this, mock Jesus, and He says in Matthew 10:33, “If anyone acknowledges me here on Earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before God, but, if anyone denies me here on Earth (and fails to recognize me before men), I will deny that person before my Father in heaven.” And, in Matthew 7:22, Jesus says, “Many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord . . . but I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away.’”

These Are The Days Of Our Lives. Gone before we know it. While we are able:

1. Profess Jesus as Savior, ensuring our relationship with God for all eternity.
2. Communicate with God through prayer, Bible Study, and being in fellowship with other believers. Know God.
3. Love One Another. No conditions. Put others ahead of self. Let the Holy Spirit work through it. Live extraordinary lives of love and service.
4. Make Disciples. Be blessed along your own journey by helping someone on their journey. Point people to Jesus.

Those who live this way, will finish this life well.

Build on eternal; squeeze in the temporary

~ From Derek Miller

We make many, many decisions in our lives.  These decisions range from the routine easy decisions to complex and difficult decisions with long-term impacts.  In the typical day, we have to make thousands of decisions.  We make decisions on whether to shower or eat first, what to eat for breakfast, what clothes to wear, what time to wake our children and/or spouses for their day, what route to use to get to work, and on and on.  Many of these go without much forethought and are made in a fraction of a second.  Many of these decisions, however, even when they are perceived to be small, can have many life altering impacts.

In the Guideposts story written by Kevn Felts, he tells the story of how he was struck to give a $100 to a family that he did not even know.  As it turned out, he provided the seed money to print the initial 15 copies of a story that would become the bestseller, The Shack.  Do you see that?  A simple act of giving to others, allowed author Paul Young to print out 15 copies of his story to distribute to his family members.  God used that gift to help millions who have read The Shack which has sold over 14.5 million copies.  Kevin relays that he never knew who he gave the money to until he was called upon to be the camera man for a documentary about Paul Young and realized he was the beneficiary of the $100.  A gift that has been multiplied many times over when placed in God's hands.

In Matthew 6:19-21, we are called upon to store up treasures in heaven and not here on earth.  Jesus lays out the different economic lessons that God has for us.  Many times we get hung up on the marketing blitz of modern times and we lose out on seeing that many "treasures" we seek have a short life span and we find that we have to scratch that itch for the next latest and greatest thing.

In Luke 12:16-21, Jesus relays the parable of the foolish farmer who has a bumper crop.  Rather than being generous with his bounty, he decides that he is going to build bigger barns and take it easy for a while.  The story shows that while Jesus continues to show that we tend to focus on the temporary, God is more interested in the eternal.  One thing to notice here is that Jesus doesn't say that the man in the story is evil or wicked.  He simply calls him a fool.  Why does Jesus use this harsh word?  The man did not deliberately set out to neglect his wife or ignore his children.  He did not establish the goal of becoming greedy and self-preoccupied as possible.  He didn't purpose in his heart to defy God or close off all compassion for the poor.  He just had other things to do.  He was simply too busy.  His priority list of what mattered most would be:

1. Harvest large crops
2. Build bigger barns
3. Achieve financial security
4. Eat
5. Drink
6. Be merry

What he did not bank on was that all of these things were temporary.

When we do a little mental accounting, we realize that as we look around and think about our lives, there are many things that are temporary.  This list includes our possessions, our resumes, our bodies, money, pleasures, other people's opinions of us, security, titles and positions, youth, power, physical attractiveness, and health.  On the Forever side of the ledger, we find God, our investments in the lives of others, our soul and deeds of love are eternal and are those treasures in heaven that Jesus talked about in the earlier verses.

What these verses are saying is that we need to be rich toward God.  You may ask, what does that look like:

• Being rich toward God means growing a soul that is increasingly healthy and good.
• Being rich toward God means loving and enjoying the people around you.
• Being rich toward God means learning about your gifts and passions and doing good work to help improve the world.
• Being rich toward God means becoming generous with our stuff.
• Being rich toward God means making that which is temporary become the servant of that which is eternal.
• Being rich toward God means savoring every roll of the dice and every trip around the board in this game of life.

What stops you from being rich toward God?

A couple of things get in our way.  One is that we are in a long lasting desire to keep score.  The old "keeping up with the Joneses" routine.  It is easy to use stuff to keep score and it is very difficult to quantify the effect of loving and serving both God and others.  We love to compare and contrast ourselves to those around us and decide whether we are better than, equal to, or worse than someone else.  Second and very related to the first, is that we like to live in the here and now and we lose track of the coming accountability that we are going to have to give later on.  With all of this, it is important to recognize that wise people build their lives around what is eternal and squeeze in what is temporary rather than the other way around.

Kyle Orth has learned that very thing.  Growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, he was one of the best athletes that I ever saw.  Whether we played football, basketball, baseball, track or any other athletic endeavor, everyone always wanted to be on Kyle's team.  It seemed that his teams never lost.  In a relay race, he was the anchor leg to make sure that any deficit after the third lap could be made up with his speed.  I was on a recreation league team with Kyle and we won the league championship in come from behind fashion due in large measure to Kyle's play.  As the years went along, my family moved away and when we moved back to Tallahassee, his family had moved.  The last time that I saw Kyle was when he came to a bank I worked at in 1982.  We had lost touch with each other.

Recently, through a series of God centered events, our lives have reconnected when I noticed pictures of work he was doing last summer in South Africa.  After getting to see his sister on Facebook and getting his contact information, I corresponded with Kyle and he related his story of how he has gotten so heavily involved in kingdom work.  He related to me that while influenced by events that happened to build his foundation in childhood, his recent involvement in these missional trips has been triggered by a calling to do things with an eternal effect rather than a temporary one.  It started about a decade ago with a daily quiet time and then built into his following the footprints of Jesus into the world.  He answered the call of who will go with, "Here am I, send me."

Kyle is epitomizing that wise people build their lives around what is eternal and squeeze in what is temporary rather than the other way around.  I always enjoyed being on Kyle's teams because I knew that we were going to win.  Jesus' words show that we need to recognize that it is being on His team that really makes all the difference.  When we do that and we change our focus from ourselves and our needs to those of others around us that is when we become eternal winners!

Catch and Release

~ From Derek MIller

 

God is so vast and amazing that we try our best to come up with ways that we can understand Him.  Many of these ways, are rooted in misconceptions.  As we develop more and more technology, it seems we get better at attempting to define and confine God in a box of these misconceptions. 

 

We have the OnStar God.  He is the one that we call on when we get into trouble along the road of life.  We think we can press a button, get help and once the crisis is averted, move on our way.  This is similar to treating God like a genie in the bottle who we can summon just when we perceive that we need Him.  Then like a disposable wipe, we just throw Him aside until we need Him again in another moment of crisis.

 

Another misconception is the iPod God in which we pick and choose the attributes of God similar to downloading individual songs instead of the entire album.  In other words, we pick what WE want to believe about God and how we should interact with Him.  The problem with this is that we miss out on the richness of all that God has to offer.

 

Third, there is the Video Game Score God.  This is one that many struggle with.  They recognize that they cannot fully achieve what they want or ought to do as they live their lives.  Just as with a lot of video games, the score you get on one level determines whether or not you can advance to the next level.  Is that really how God will decide whether or not you can go to heaven when you die?  Are you able to earn your way into heaven simply through doing more works alone?  Of course not.

 

Why do we do these things and why do we keep on repeating these same misconceptions, in varying forms, of God?  God is our Heavenly Father and wants to build a lasting relationship with you and me.  The Bible is full of stories of how God wants to interact and intersect with our lives on more than just a surface level.  It is important for us to read the Bible and recognize those stories and how they apply to our lives.

Resolving To Stretch and Serve

New Year’s Eve 1973 was a lot like most for the Vaughan brothers. My parents would gather with friends – many if not most from church – and we would spend the night with my grandmother. My grandmother loved New Year’s Eve, and she loved having the three of us with her. She would cook a big supper for us, pull out a deck of cards and play games with us, and as midnight approached, she would turn the television to the “big ball in Times Square” and we would celebrate as Guy Lombardo as his Royal Canadian Big Band swung in the new year. And, just before midnight, she would break out the milk – and we would all toast in the new year, clinking glasses together. It was the only night of the year when we actually saw Midnight. Fireworks? Nope. Georgia wasn’t the trendsetter that South Carolina was – fireworks were against the law.

Like almost everyone, I’ve plowed into the new year, using it as an opportunity to turn the page and start afresh. I’ve had my share of New Year’s Resolutions that didn’t make it to Jan. 10. I’ve also had several years when I started a journal. January 1974 was one of those years. We had just moved into a larger home, anticipating the birth of our new sister in March. I was also finishing up my first year of high school. But, that journaling project didn’t survive – largely because I went to work that summer for the local newspaper and my love for writing took a life-changing turn.

New Year's Resolutions can be good for us, because they promote planning and dreaming and starting over, but there's a problem. It's the stamina to see them through. And, quite honestly, it's because our Resolutions are often self-centered (sinful). When we anchor in our selves with ourselves in mind - well, that's a weak foundation.

I’d like to suggest two things as we enter 2012:

1. Set one goal that is squared with your relationship with Jesus rather that centered on self. Creating a budget, for example, is self-serving unless that budget is squared with faith – and a percentage of the budget will be poured into improving the lives of others (in the name of Jesus). Going to the gym or losing weight can be selfish, but it can be turned to ministry if partnered with someone who needs a friend, needs a church, and mostly needs encouragement in faith. So, what is one thing that you can do in 2012 – all the way through 2012 – that will honor and lift the name of Jesus above your own?

2. What is one thing that you can do throughout this year that – without Jesus – would be absolutely impossible? On Dec. 31, 2012, what can you look back on and say, “Wow, I can’t believe I actually did that this year – and it was only possible because Jesus walked with me in it.” In December 2012, what will you be able to do toward praising the name of Jesus?

Vicki and I are not hospitable people. We don’t apologize for it. We just don’t have the gift of hospitality. We aren’t the people who enjoy inviting people to our house, and we aren’t the people who enjoy cooking for other people. We love people, and we love talking to people, but we would rather meet you somewhere than have you come to our house. You know why? Because when we get tired of you – you may not be ready to leave. :) Or, we just don’t like to go to the trouble of cleaning up for you. That’s just how we are.

In late 2010, Vicki and I decided to have some friends over one night as the holidays approached. It was so out of character for us – as we cleaned the house and prepared for the evening, we kept saying to each other, “Tell me again, why are we doing this?” It was honestly like having a great pair of blue jeans, and replacing them with brand new ones . . . and not really understanding why it was it necessary.

After that initial shock to our hospitality system, I began studying Scripture and its emphasis on hospitality. Here’s what I came to:
1. Hospitality is not just a practical issue – it is a fundamental expression of the Gospel. As God was hospitable to us in providing Jesus, we are to be hospitable toward others in hopes of building relationships with some.
2. Hospitality is a fundamental expression of Christian faith. It’s an out-working of love – Romans 12:10-13 . . . Love each other with genuine affection (brotherly love) . . . always be eager to practice hospitality.
3. And, while we typically focus on hospitality toward our friends and family, Hebrews 13:2 says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.”

And, so Vicki and I began opening up our little home to people in 2011. It was something we were not wired to do. It was something way beyond our comfort zone. It was something we could only do with the help of Jesus . . . and yet we said, “Let’s do better at this part of our Christian walk.”

We started inviting people over – people we didn’t know well, but wanted to know better.

On Easter Sunday, we hosted about 20 people, opening the door for the boys to bring friends to church with them and then to our house to eat. We sacrificed our boy’s traditional “Easter gifts” to provide an Easter basket for every student attending.

One couple at a time, we began inviting the younger church staff members – and spouses – to have dinner with us. We realized that the Lord could use us as encouragers to them, and use them to help us from becoming “old people.” (In 25 years, I want to be like the 75-year-old, humming Eric Clapton tunes last week in Kentucky Fried Chicken).

We had a Christmas party, specifically inviting those who volunteer as Care Group leaders to serve our class.

What Vicki and I have discovered is that while we don’t have the gift of hospitality, God brings a blessing to us – a joy to us – when we step beyond our comfort zone, embrace a new goal, and square it with Scripture. We are going to press forward with this in 2012, and we are excited about it. Because this 2011 goal was squared in Scripture and larger than ourselves, it became very easy for us to embrace.

What about you? How can you stretch and serve in 2012?

A Case For Believer's Baptism

• Matthew 28:18 – Jesus claims that all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Him. Jesus does not speak suggestively in his words to believers. He speaks with authority – His words are specifically instructional without room for question.
• Matthew 28:19 – Jesus says that disciples (followers / believers) are to “go” (directive) and make disciples, *baptizing* them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit . . . (This is not a suggestion – see above). The word baptism has its roots in the word Bapto, which means “dip” or “temporarily plunge something” or “temporarily immerse something.” Baptism is about going under water (immersion).
•  Matthew 3:13-16 – Jesus was baptized by John The Baptist. Jesus “came up out of the water.” Note that Jesus sought baptism – it was not something done to him until He first sought it.
• Acts 8:26-40 – The Ethiopian Eunuch asks Philip about baptism, and what he must do to be baptized. Philip says (Broadman translation – v. 37), “If you believe with all your heart you may (be baptized). And (the Ethiopian) replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Philip then baptized him – The Eunoch “came up out of the water.” This reminds us that Salvation is separate from Baptism, *and* must *precede* Baptism. Baptism, without salvation, will not “save someone” and ensure they live in eternity with Jesus. That’s why we must *never* talk of baptism as synonymous with salvation. Many people today, baptized or ceremoniously inducted into the church, may be living with a false assurance of salvation. Also, note, the Ethiopian sought baptism – it was not something done to him until He first sought it.
• Mark 8:34-38 – Jesus reminds us, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when He comes to glory.” Believer’s Baptism is a beautiful way to publicly demonstrate that you and I are not ashamed to say that we follow Jesus.

7.      Baptism allows us to literally follow Jesus’s example of baptism. Is there anything sweeter than knowing we shared the same experience as our Savior?

If someone says to you, “Baptism? That’s a Baptist thing.” Now, you can say, “No, it’s a Scriptural thing; it’s a Jesus thing. Baptists practice it, but it is not exclusively Baptist.”