"Mistaker" vs "Sinner"

In my last article I wrote about a starting point for faith as an adult, and I concluded the article with a question: “Who is Jesus?”  When it comes to faith in God, that’s the question that has to be answered.

Another question we have to deal with is, “Am I a sinner?”  We don’t like that question, so in our culture we’ve removed the word, “sinner” and replaced it with a word that’s easier for us to bear.  We’ve replaced the word “sin” with the word, “Mistake”.

“Mistake”, however, is a terrible word.  Here’s an example of why: Brian Williams, news anchor for NBC, claimed to have been in helicopter that was shot down by a RPG.  This is a story that he’s told, in various forms, for 12 years.  Then, last week, he recanted the story saying that he, “made a mistake” in remembering.  But wait a minute, that’s not a mistake.  I may not know exactly what it is, but it’s way bigger than a mistake.  A mistake is when you forget to carry the 2 on a math test.  A mistake is when you’re trying to drive and look at a map at the wrong time and you make a left instead of a right.  Those are mistakes.  But a 12 year mistake?

The idea of a mistake is insufficient knowledge.  But we’ve all used the word “mistake” to talk about things where we knew exactly what we were doing.  In fact, sometimes we make mistakes on purpose.

What do you do with a mistake?  You correct it.  But the problem isn’t “mistakes”.  The problem is us.  We resist the idea that it just might be a sin problem.  So to help all of us out, let me give you the “101 definition” of a sinner.  This isn’t theological, this is just a simple definition.  Sinner: Someone who knows better, but does it anyway.

When Jesus talked about sin, He always talked about it in connection to relationship because sin breaks relationship.  Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, had this close relationship with God, but sin broke that relationship.  If you’ve ever broken a relationship it’s because you did something that you shouldn’t have done, or someone else did something they shouldn’t have done or both of you did things you shouldn’t do.  And it broke the relationship.  So, because of that, Jesus’ entire purpose of talking about sin was not condemnation, but restoration.

Jesus knew that as long as you just think you’re making mistakes, you will never seek the thing you need most to bring restoration.  He says, “You’re heavenly Father wants you to be restored to Him, and the only way to be restored is to seek forgiveness.  And the only way you’ll seek forgiveness is if you realize you didn’t simply make a mistake.  It’s bigger than that.  And it’s not the first time.  The fact is, you’re a sinner.”

But Jesus doesn’t end with sin condemned.  It goes from sin to condemned to, “I need to ask forgiveness.”  And when we ask for forgiveness, we can be restored to God.  But if we never ask for forgiveness we can never be restored to God because mistakers think they can self-correct, and they never get there.

Here’s my point:  Recognition of sin is what paves the way to restoration of relationship.  In our minds we think, “Once I say I’m a sinner, ‘boom’, the bottom falls out.”  But Jesus says, “That’s not it at all.  You need to just look at me and say, ‘I have sinned’ and ask for forgiveness.  And as soon as you do I’m going to give you what a mistaker never asks for.  I’m going to give you forgiveness and I’m going to restore you to me.”

So here’s another question to wrestle with: Ask youself, “Am I a ‘mistaker’, or am I a ‘sinner’?”  And when you honestly answer that question, what will you do about it?

THE Question

Everything has a starting point, including faith.  For most of us, our faith journey started somewhere in childhood and included things like, “God is good”.  Along the way you heard that God punishes evil and rewards good, so you’d better be a good little boy or girl because God rewards good people, and He doesn’t really reward the bad people.  And someone told you that God answers prayer.  But for many people, as they grew older, their childhood faith didn’t do so well under the rigors of adult life.

Yeah, God is good but there’s a lot of bad things in the world.  And there seem to be a lot of good things that go unrewarded and bad things that get rewarded.  And God answers prayer, but He didn’t answer your prayer - at least not the way you wanted Him to.  Sometimes our childhood faith and what started off so fresh and so real and so passionate as kids just doesn’t seem relevant in the world in which you live. 

Part of the problem with Christianity is that when we grew up we were taught the Bible.  That, in and of itself, isn’t a problem, but in some ways the way we were taught the Bible is a problem.  As a child, we were taught that it was the Word of God, it was inspired and infallible.  So we went off to college and we were told that, even though it was sacred, it wasn’t scientific and it wasn’t factual.  And even though there were stories in here that were inspirational, they weren’t necessarily true.  The thing is, “The Bible Says” is not an adequate starting point or returning point for many adults.  But here’s the good news:  “The Bible says” was never intended to be the starting point for the Christian faith.  

“The Bible says”, wasn’t the starting point when Christianity started.  the New Testament wasn’t put together for about 350 years after the events of Jesus’ life.  The phrase, “New Testament” doesn’t even show up until about 250 AD.  So for the first 250 to 350 years of Christianity, countless people became Jesus followers, but not because, “The Bible says”. 

These people trusted in Christ and found a relationship with God.  But the fact remains, the starting point for the Christian faith is not, “The Bible says”.  The starting point for the Christian faith is not, “just believe”.  The starting point for the Christian faith, whether they told you this as a child or not, is a question.  And the question isn’t, “Were Adam and Eve really naked?”  The starting point isn’t, “Did they really put all those animals in the ark?  Was there really an ark, anyway?  Was there really enough water in the atmosphere to flood the whole earth?  Was creation 7 real days or were they longer days?”  The question, the foundation, the thing you have to wrestle with if you’re looking for a starting point or looking at re-starting your faith, is this:  

Who is Jesus?  

Not, “Is the Bible true?”  Not the other 20 things we could debate because they’re fun to debate.  The question is, “Who is Jesus”? “Who is Jesus” is the question that will always be THE question.  Because, once you answer that question, you will discover that many of those other questions begin to answer themselves.  

Jesus said this, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”  (John 14:6, NCV)  

Let me invite you to wrestle with what Jesus said in light of the question, “Who is Jesus?”.  And if you have more questions, I, and my colleagues in churches across the community, would be glad to help you find the answers.

Iowa Gubernatorial Inauguration

On January 16, 2015, Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds took their oaths of office.  I had the privilege of offering the benediction at the inauguration, and also had the privilege of presenting a charge to Lieutenant Governor Reynolds on Thursday evening, January 15 at the Service of Dedication.

However you voted in the election, let me challenge you to hold our leaders up in prayer.   Below is the charge I presented to Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds.  Please join me in praying for her and all of our local, state and national leaders.


Lieutenant Governor Reynolds,

When we think of individuals in the Scriptures, we tend to think of men.  David, Moses, Abraham, Jesus.....the list goes on.  But the Scriptures also include many significant female characters who left their mark in history through their leadership qualities.

Eve shows us that leaders are the target for temptation and that leaders have to face challenges and make difficult choices.

Rebekah shows us that leaders are always willing to give, often giving more than they’re asked for.  They put the needs of others before their own.

Miriam shows us that leaders look out for the helpless, that they don’t side with bullies and they defend the defenseless.

Deborah teaches us that leaders inspire their followers.  They’re cheerleaders who encourage, motivate, and inspire their followers with supportive words.

Ruth teaches us that leaders demonstrate loyalty and devotion to those they serve and the people who have helped shape them.

And Mary of Nazareth shows us that leaders embrace great opportunities with willingness and enthusiasm and know that the greater the possibility there is for failure, the greater the opportunity there is for success.

Lieutenant Governor, it is not by chance that we stand here again, this evening, as we did 4 years ago.  That evening I stated that clearly, God had prepared you for such a time as this.  I reiterate that this evening.  You have demonstrated exceptional leadership, as these women in the Scripture have done, and as such, the people of Iowa have re-elected you to serve them in the office of Lieutenant Governor, giving you continued opportunity to make Iowa a better place to live, work and raise a family.

As you, once again, accept this great privilege and responsibility, will you continue to be challenged by the Word of God and the people of Iowa to be a servant leader?

Will you continue to work for the betterment of the people of Iowa, consistently and determinedly seeking the best for each individual, and the state as a whole?

Will you continue to pursue advancement in all facets of life for every Iowan and continue to set an example for all Iowans in character, integrity and openness?

Will you welcome wise counsel as you uphold the duties of the office of Lieutenant Governor, and pray daily for wisdom and guidance as you serve the people of Iowa?

If, under God, this is your intent and the purpose in accepting this high calling, please signify the same by affirming: “With God’s help, I will.”

[Lieutenant Governor Reynolds: “I will.”]

And now, I challenge you, as God challenged Israel’s King David:  Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
(Psalm 37:3 & 5, ESV)

Forgiving those who have hurt us........

How do we forgive those who have hurt us?  Odds are that when you read that line, someone’s name immediately came to mind.  There was something they did to you in the past that is still fresh and raw and painful.  Someone has wounded you, lied to you, taken advantage of you and that wound is very fresh.

Let me say this right up front:  Anytime I talk about this I get some push back.  I get, “Chuck, listen, you don't know what so and so did to me. You're going to tell me that I'm supposed to forgive, but you don't know what so and so did to me.”  And the truth is, I don't know.  But here’s what I do know:  If you really want to move past your past, if you really want to get the past to release it’s grip on you, you have to decide to forgive.

Jesus made a statement that speaks to this issue.  A doctor named Luke wrote down an account of the events of Jesus’ life and he recorded what Jesus said:  What is impossible with men is possible with God.  (Luke 18:27, NIV)

Let’s start with the why.  Why in the world should I forgive someone who hurt me or hurt someone I love?  2 reasons.  First:

Because unforgiveness hurts me.

For some reason we have the idea that when we don’t forgive someone else that we’re hurting them.  We’re getting even with them.  But that doesn’t make any sense at all.  They’re the ones who did the hurting, do you think they really care if you forgive them or not?  No.  They don’t.  So when we don’t forgive someone else, it doesn’t hurt them, it hurts us.  The writer to the Hebrews said:  Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.  (Hebrews 12:15b, NLT)

Many people have learned to function with a grudge.  But Scripture says that love keeps no records of wrong, but bitterness keeps detailed records doesn't it?  Unforgiveness is like grabbing broken glass and squeezing it in our hands, it hurts us.  Here’s the 2nd reason we must forgive:

Because I will need forgiveness again.

It would be great if we were to repent of our sins and ask God for His forgiveness and that was it......forever.  But the problem is, we’re human.  Even though our sins are forgiven, we aren’t perfect so we will sin again.  So every one of us, regardless of who we are, will need forgiveness again.  Here’s what Jesus said:  “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  (Matthew 6:14-15, NLT)

We can shrug that off and say, “It’s not a big deal” all day long, but it is a big deal.  It’s a huge deal.  I don’t know if you’ve caught on to this yet, but forgiveness doesn’t benefit the person being forgiven, it benefits the person doing the forgiving.  Forgiveness doesn’t benefit the person or the people who wronged you, it benefits you!  It removes the poison from your heart, and opens the door to receive God’s forgiveness again, and not matter how you look at it, both of those are winning situations!

It’s not enough to know why we should forgive, it’s also helpful to know how to forgive.  Here we go:

I first need to pray.

Start with prayer and pray for those that hurt you.  Some of you are thinking, “I’ve been praying but God still hasn’t given them hemorrhoids or struck them with lightning!”  That’s not the kind of prayer I’m talking about.  I’m talking about praying for them like Jesus.  While He was on the cross......beaten, bloody, bruised and dying, Jesus said something.  As He was hanging there He looked up to Heaven and said:  “Father, forgive them.”  (Luke 23:34, NLT)

Right as they were hurting Him He prayed.  So just start and pray.  I’m not going to tell you this will be easy, and I don't want to minimize the pain, but you start there and God can start to do a work in your heart.   Start with prayer.  Here’s the second step:

Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Forgive the same way God forgave you.  “But Chuck, I’m not God.”  Of course you’re not God.  If you were God you would have forgiven long ago.  I know you’re not God, but we need to forgive in the same way He forgives.  In the New Testament we have a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote the church in the city of Colossai because, apparently, they were having some issues with forgiveness too.  So here’s what He wrote to them:  Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  (Colossians 3:13, NLT)

Cut people some slack.  You like it when people cut you some slack, don’t you?  When you get pulled over for doing 78 in a 70, do you want a ticket, or do you want some slack?  When you’re in a hurry and you didn’t come to a complete stop, do you want a ticket or do you want a break?  Paul says, “Hey!  People have faults.  Give ‘em a break.  Make allowance for that.”  And no, it might not be easy, it might not be clean, there might still be some mess, you still might have to hang in there and work through some things.  There might even be some pain on the other side, but hang in there, bear with them.

God forgave you and me of this huge debt of sin, and He calls on us to forgive the offences that others commit against us.  Why?  Because forgiven people forgive people.

That's what we do.  I’m forgiven by Christ and didn’t deserve His grace, therefore because I belong to Him, I offer the same forgiveness that's been given to me.

Fan? or Follower?

Jesus was never impressed by the size of this crowd, it’s the commitment level that He cares about.  When I consider churches today, including LifePoint, I have a concern that there’s at least the possibility that instead of a community of followers we’re nothing more than a stadium full of fans.  We may wear a cross, but we don’t bear the cross.  You can come to church, wearing our, “I Love My Church” apparel, know all the songs, open your Bible and take notes, walk out to your car with a Jesus fish on the bumper and say grace before lunch, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a follower.

What makes this possible - and actually prevalent in many churches - is the fact that so many Christians confuse knowing about Jesus with knowing Jesus.  But there’s a difference between knowledge and intimacy.  I grew up, like a lot of you, thinking it was my knowledge and my good behavior that made me a follower.  I loved Jesus and I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn’t know Jesus. I wasn’t talking to Him about my day.  I wasn’t listening for Him to speak into my life.

There are many Christians who don’t mind Jesus once a week on Sunday.  We don’t mind making some minor change in our lives but Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down.  We want Him to do a little touch up work, but Jesus wants complete renovation.  We come thinking we need a tune-up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul.  We think just a little makeup is what we need and Jesus is thinking makeover.

It’s only when we let Jesus interfere with our lives that we find real life.

Jesus didn’t come to this earth so that we would be better behaved or to tweak our personality or fine-tune our manners or smooth out our rough spots.  He wants total transformation.  The objective of the Gospel isn’t to make us well-behaved people, but to turn our lives upside down.  Here’s what it looks like:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.  (Luke 9:23, NLT)

Jesus says that if we want to follow Him we must turn from our selfish ways and take up our cross daily.

Legislative Prayer 3-25-2014

On Tuesday, March 25, 2014, I had the privilege of leading prayer before both houses of the Iowa Legislature.  Many thanks to State Representative, Rob Taylor and Senator Amy Sinclair for their invitation and their confidence in me.  Below is the text of my prayer:


Thank you Mr. Speaker (Madame President in the Senate).

May I pray for you this morning?

God, I want to thank You for each individual in this room.  From the clerks to the custodians to the recorders to the lawmakers, every individual here is of immense worth and value to You.  You clearly demonstrated that when You gave Your only Son to pay the price for the sins of all mankind - including me and each individual hearing my voice. 

These women and men who serve carry a great responsibility, having sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and of the State of Iowa.  They have further sworn to faithfully discharge their duties in their respective chambers.  And while it’s foolish to think that the decisions made today will please every citizen of this great state, I ask You to grant wisdom so that every decision made would resonate with You and be made in accordance with Your desires for our very lives.  I don’t know the items on the agenda, but I’m confident that before the day is through there will be some difficult decisions made.  I simply ask You to guide these leaders through the process of making those decisions.

Because some of the decisions made in these hallowed chambers are unpopular, the people gathered here take a lot of heat. I realize that they signed up for it when they ran for office, but their families also take a lot of abuse in verbal and written form.  So I ask You to strengthen each one here, and their families:  to protect these lawmakers and the ones they love from the negative comments and vitriol that others might choose to send their way.  Bless them with strength, health, peace and guidance.

I ask You to guide each Member beyond their failures, their sins and their humanity as they humbly lay down their differences and work together for the common good of all Iowans, even as Your Son laid down His life for us.  May the decisions made this day and throughout this session serve the under-served, care for the disenfranchised and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. 

Bless and protect these servants, Governor Branstad, Lieutenant Governor Reynolds, their families and all those they love and care for.  Please pour Your blessings on the United States of America, and this, the great state of Iowa.

I ask these things of You, great God and giver of all good things, in the name of Your Son, Jesus.  Amen

This Journey Called, "Faith"

Faith is a journey, not a destination.  It’s not like we trust in Jesus and then everything about life is perfect.  It doesn’t work that way.  Putting our faith in Christ doesn't make us perfect.  It makes us forgiven.  And it starts us on this journey of faith.

I think that’s why Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again.  When we’re born we're a blank slate.  We begin learning and growing.  We make mistakes - a lot of them.  But we eventually get to the place where the mistakes are fewer and wisdom grows and we move forward on the journey of life.  And the same thing happens when we’re born again.  We aren’t made perfect, but we do begin a journey of learning and growing and watching God do some pretty incredible things in our lives.  As time goes on the mistakes become fewer and the victories come more frequently.  And the journey of faith continues.

So stay on the journey........where you’re going is worth it!

You Were Made For Relationships

God is all about relationships.  When sin began in the Garden of Eden it broke the relationship between God and man and it broke God’s heart.  That’s why Jesus came, so the relationship could be restored.  But God’s not just interested in us having a relationship with Him, He also wants us to have healthy relationships with each other.  For God, relationships are a pretty big deal.  Most problems in life are relational problems because you and I are wired for relationships, and when the wires get crossed there are problems.

We don’t usually think about it this way, but God has hardwired all of us desire relationships.  In every cell of your body, in your DNA, God created you and me to value relationships.  It’s part of His design.  You and I work best when we have a relationship with God that’s working and then we have a relationship with others – in that order.  A religious leader came to Jesus one day and asked Him which was the greatest commandment.  Here’s what Jesus said:

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39, NLT)

Jesus took all of the commands from the Law and capsulized them into 2 commands: Love God, Love people.  It’s not that there isn’t more we need to know and learn, but Jesus said that these two things are the top priority.  Why?  Because God is all about relationships; our relationship with Him and our relationships with people.  Here’s what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus:

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.  (Ephesians 1:5, NLT)

When God created you and me, it gave Him great pleasure because God is all about relationships.  And when we have a relationship with Him and right relationships with one another it makes Him happy.  No one wants to go through life alone - we want to go with others.  We want to share the good things that happen, and if something bad happens we don’t want to be alone.  The reason for that is, God created you and me to be in relationship. 

So many of us have labels that bind us because somewhere in our past someone called us something or somebody characterized us in some way.  Or maybe we did something that earned us a label that we’ve moved beyond, but still has a prominent place in our lives.  It might have even been ourselves - maybe we've believed a lie about our self that isn't true and we are living under the labels of the past.  

When I was a kid growing up I wasn’t the skinniest kid in school.  I was overweight then - and now as well - but back then there was a group of kids that came up with a name for me: Chuck the Truck.

This wasn’t the cute mis-pronunciation that I get from kids when they call me, “Pastor Truck”.  No, this was an insult.  It was masked in fun, but it was an insult.  And when people called me this they weren’t thinking of a little Ford Ranger.  And we weren’t even talking about an 18 wheeler.  No, we were talking about a big truck.

Let’s just say that it wasn’t too flattering, and it wasn’t meant to be flattering.  It was meant to be an insult.  It was meant to be a put-down.  Granted, the name doesn’t really bother me anymore......but I’m still kind self-conscious about my weight - or my overweight, as the case may be.

A lot of you can relate to that because, at some point in your life, you were given a negative label that followed your name.  It might be someone's called you the doormat; you know, you're always so nice, people just walk all over you and they always take advantage of you. Or you're the lazy one, or you're the irresponsible one, or you're the hot head, or you're the person who is not good with money, or you're the party girl or the wild guy who is never really going to settle down.

Or maybe you're just the average one; you're not great at anything, you're not horrible, but through your life you've kind of been labeled as average.  For some of you the label is worse.  You’ve been labeled a loser.  You’ve been labeled the druggie or the pot-head or the drunk.  
Then there are numerous sexual labels the people get, and because many of those would be inappropriate I’ll just let you imagine what those might be.

But what does God have to say about labels?  First of all, let me make this perfectly clear:

God's power is always bigger than your past.

God's truth about you is bigger than any current truth in your life.  If you own a label that you truthfully deserve, I want you to understand that what's true about you today doesn't have to be true about you tomorrow.  Check out 2 Corinthians 5:17:

...anyone who belongs to Christ 

This is for anyone who belongs to Christ.  It’s not for a select few.  It’s not just for the elite.  It’s not just for the wealthy or the powerful or the popular.  This applies to anyone who belongs to Christ.  If you belong to Christ, he’s talking about you.  If you’ve trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, then he’s talking about you.  It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, where you've come from, how bad your past is, how true the label about you was or is, it doesn't matter who you are.  Anyone.  If you've repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, if you’ve turned your life over to Jesus, then this includes you. And then he goes on to say something that is so incredibly powerful:

...anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  

Here’s what I love about that.  He writes, NEW, not re-built.  Not modified.  Not refurbished.  NEW!  Paul writes that when you trust in Christ, you’re made new.  Not on the outside, but on the inside, where it really matters.  Oh, and one more thing:

...anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT) 

If you are in Christ, all of the old is done away with, it's gone!  The power of sin that has held you back can be broken by Jesus!  When you trust in Jesus Christ, your past is washed away.  Its gone and the newness of life in Christ is available to you.


Don't you dare let anyone put you in a box and put a label on it.  You are not what anyone else says about you. By the power of Christ, you can get past your past and God will give you a new name.  The only one
who has the right to label something is the creator.   Since God created you, He’s the only One Who gets to label you!

...anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT) 

This One Thing

You and I need to do something.  What’s interesting is the fact that the “something” we need to do is different for all of us.  Your one thing is different than my one thing and my one thing is different than yours because whatever the one thing is, it’s based on what’s going on in your life, your relationships, your marriage, your finances, whatever it might be.  If you figure out this one thing and if you would do this one thing it would leave you in a much better place a year from now than where you are right now.

This one thing in your life is something you’ve thought about, it’s something that someone has suggested to you, this one thing may be something you even tried before but for whatever reason you lost focus, you lost track, you got distracted and you didn’t focus on the one thing.

Maybe your one thing is a habit that you need to break.  Nobody needs to tell you what it is because you know what it is and know you need to break the habit.

Your one thing could be a relationship you need to restore or perhaps a relationship you need to end.  Or it might be a debt you need to retire.  It’s been hanging around forever and every time you hear someone talk about debt you feel guilty.  Your one thing might be something completely different, but for every one of us there’s something that is a part of your life and if you don’t get anything else accomplished, there’s this one thing you need to do.

Let me tell you a story from the Old Testament.  The story of Nehemiah takes place in about 444 B.C., around the time of the reign of Artaxerxes, the emperor of Persia.  And Nehemiah worked for Artaxerxes as his cup bearer.  We would consider him a wine taster, somebody to make sure that the wine hadn’t been poisoned, but Nehemiah was much more than that.  Nehemiah had gotten close to the king and was a friend.

Nehemiah was Jewish, and to our knowledge, had never been to Israel, but he  gets this burden for his city and he hears how terrible things are in Jerusalem and so he does a very risky thing.  He prays this big prayer in Nehemiah chapter 1 before he goes to King Artaxerxes.  And then he says to him, “Oh King, things are bad with my people and I’d like to go back and bring some organization, bring some leadership to my people. How would you feel about giving me some time off?”

Nehemiah worked for the king, but he wasn’t an employee, he was a slave and slaves don’t get time off.  But he asked for it anyway.  Lo and behold, the King says, “I’ll do better than that. I will make you the governor of Judea, basically the mayor of Jerusalem and I will give you whatever you need to help you get your people in shape but you have to come back.  You can’t stay away forever.”

So Nehemiah spends a lot of time preparing for this trip, gets a whole bunch of money, gets a bunch of lumber and other building materials and he heads to the city of Jerusalem.  The walls had been torn down for so long that the people living in the city of Jerusalem had never lived in the city when the walls weren’t torn down and the gates weren’t burned.  There was no national pride, there was no sense that, “God is with us”.  They had forgotten their history and the surrounding region was led by some very strong warlords who would come and go into and out of the city and steal all the time.

So Nehemiah shows up, he sees the city and it breaks his heart even further and he takes an entire day and night to travel around the city and to meet the people and to talk to the people and he comes to this conclusion.  “If I don’t get anything else done while I’m here, I’ve got to get this wall rebuilt.  There’s an economy that needs to be propped up, there are leaders that need to be put in place, there is all kinds of problems but the one thing I’ve got to do while I’m here, we’ve got to get the wall rebuilt around this city. It will give people protection, it will give people a sense of national pride and it will protect us from our enemies.”

So Nehemiah calls all the people together and he casts this unbelievably compelling vision.  Nehemiah pulled the people together and, essentially, laid out 4 things. He said, 1) here’s the problem we need to solve, 2) here’s the solution, 3) here’s why we need to do something about it and 4) here’s why we need to do something about it now.  The people rallied behind the vision and together and they began to rebuild the wall around the city.

Long story short, there were some people who didn’t like him rebuilding the wall, and they did everything they could to try to stop him, but it didn’t work.  And the reason it didn’t work was because Nehemiah was committed to getting the work done.  When he was asked to come down from the wall, here’s what he said:

“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”  (Nehemiah 6:3b, NAS)

So........what’s the one thing that you need to get done?  What’s that one thing that you need to step up to and work on and refuse to come down from?

The great news about the story of Nehemiah, there are no miracles but clearly the hand of God was at work and when you lean into the plans that God has for you, when you lean into the vision that God has birthed inside of you, you never know what God will do.

It’s time to get on the ladder and refuse to come down.  Even though you don’t know how this is going to work out, and even though you don’t know where the money is going to come from and even though you know your parents-in-law are going to think you’ve lost your mind, you know this is something you’ve got to do.  Make the decision:

I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down.

What if?

What if Jesus had never been born?  What if the first Christmas never happened?  No virgin birth.  No baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.  No shepherds receiving angelic news of the Christ child, and therefore no trip to the stable in Bethlehem.  What if none of that had ever happened?  Let’s see:

1)  I wouldn’t be writing this.

2)  There would be more world poverty because organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army wouldn’t exist.

3)  There would be greater moral decay because there would be no hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

4)  Many American colleges like Yale and Princeton and even Drake University wouldn’t exist because they were all started by Christians.

But here’s the biggest thing:

5)  If Jesus had never been born, you and I wouldn’t know what God is like.

Jesus cleared up faulty images that people have about God.  In Jesus’ day a lot of people had messed up views of God.  They didn’t even believe there was one Creator God, they believed in multiple gods and goddesses (Zeus, Aphrodite) who they believed were simply more powerful version of themselves.  It’s a pretty sad situation if the god or goddess you worship is morally just as bad as you are.

Today there are some pretty messed up claims about God too.  There are people who believe that they are god, that I am god, you are god, we are all god.  They would say, “If you want to see God, look at each other.”  Again, it’s pretty discouraging to think that we are God, and if it were true we would definitely be in trouble.  People who are into Star Wars think God is some kind of force or energy.  Again, pretty disappointing.

Everyone has an idea of what God is like.  For some, God is like a judgmental Father waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you.  For others, God is like Santa Claus Who wants to grant your every wish, just pray and God will do everything you want, as long as you’ve been a good boy or girl.  For some, God is like a gentle old grandfather who loves everybody and doesn’t really care what we do.  And for still others, God is some remote being out there somewhere on the edge of the universe somewhere, Who really doesn’t care about us very much.  Like Bette Midler sings, “God is watching us from a distance.”  There are lot of images people have about what God is like.

But what the Christmas story reminds us is that we don’t have to wonder what God is like because the Bible says Jesus is God come in the flesh.  Jesus’ birth tells us that:

1)  God is near.

Because of Jesus’ birth we know that God is not some distant deity living on the edge of the universe looking at us through a super Hubble telescope, but a God who is near us.  One of Jesus’ titles is Immanuel, which means “God is with us.”  Through Jesus we know that God is with us as we worship.  God listens to us as we pray.  God is with us when we sleep, at work, in the marketplace, at play, wherever we are,  whether we are aware of God’s presence or not, whether we feel God’s presence, God is near.  His birth also tells us that:

2)  God is Love

Some people think God is out to get them, or to punish them for their wrongdoing, but Jesus shows us otherwise.  Through Jesus we see God’s incredible love for us.  The Son of God was willing to give up His throne in heaven to take on a human body, to be born a helpless infant in a barn in the Middle East, to grow up and endure temptation, to face the evil and injustices of this world.  Why? Because of God’s incredible unfailing love.  God did not have to come to us, but He chose to come of His own free will because He knew there was no other way to make our world right.

John 3:16 is clear:  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16, NIV)

Jesus’ birth shows us one more thing:

3)  God wants to have a relationship with us.

God wants us to know about Him.  That’s why there was such angelic fanfare at Jesus’ birth.  But He wants so much more than for us to know about Him.  God’s desire is for us to know Him personally.

John 1:12 says:  But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God.  (John 1:12, NCV)

God came to earth as a child so you could become a child of God.  God became one of us so we could become like him.  People often say, “We’re all God’s children.”  No we’re not.  We’re all God’s creation, but we only become His child when we become part of His family.  But keep in mind that us becoming part of His family has been His plan all along.

The Bible reminds us, though, that we don’t automatically become a part of God’s family.  It’s a choice we have to make.  We have to choose to accept God’s gift of love and grace and forgiveness through Jesus.  Only those who receive this gift will become part of God’s family.

Many of us will be giving and receiving gifts over the course of the next few days as we gather together with family and friends to celebrate Christmas, but we all know that a gift is useless unless we open it and receive it.

My question to you today is simple:  Will you unwrap God’s gift of love and receive it?

How to Achieve Greatness

From the moment we’re born we’re taught to work hard and to go for it in life because we can do anything.  And while we’re at it, we’re told that we can be the best - yep, the best.  We can be the greatest.

When you think about the thing you are most passionate about, everybody has it in them to be the best, to be better and better all the time.  It could be your work, or your family, being a father or a mother.  It could be being a disciple.  The question is, “How does one become the greatest?”  The answer is captured in a little story:

There was a guy in this large organization who was sweeping one night, and all of a sudden, he finds a lamp and a genie.  I know, it’s crazy, and here is this genie who says, “You’ve got three wishes.”  So the guy stops and thinks about it, says, “You know what?  I want to be somebody important in this organization, somebody that people will recognize.”  Poof!  All of a sudden, he’s in this office, middle management.  He’s like, “Oh, now this is good.”  So, he’s says, “Okay, genie, I know my second wish.  I want to be more important than this.  I want to make some major decisions in this organization.”  Poof!  He’s got the sweet suit on.  He’s got these sweet digs in his office, and he’s like, “Man, this is it.”  Already knowing what his third wish is, he looks and the Genie says, “Okay.”  So this janitor, turned middle management says, “My third wish, I want to be the most important person in this organization.  I want to be the greatest.”  Poof!  He finds himself with a broom in hand, sweeping the halls.  Here’s how Jesus said it in Matthew 23:

The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matthew 23:11-12, NIV)

We’ve heard that hundreds of times, right?  But look at it once again. See these 2 words?

The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  (Matthew 23:11-12, NIV)

We don’t typically put those two words together because that particular combination flies in the face of everything we know in our culture.  Think about the language that we use to be the greatest in our culture, right?  I mean, you’ve to climb the corporate ladder.  You’ve got to reach the top.  In our culture, if you want to be great, you rise to greatness, but in the culture of the kingdom, Jesus flips it around and says this:

“A disciple doesn’t rise to greatness, a disciple descends to greatness.”  ~Jesus

Jesus’ disciples were just like you and me......they had aspirations to greatness.  In fact, they argued about it more than once!  They were arguing about it the night that Jesus arrested.   So here’s Jesus....He knows what’s about to happen.  Within the next 48 hours He would be tortured and crucified.  Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot was going to betray Him.  And here are His disciples, arguing about who’s the greatest.  So what does Jesus do?  Jesus did exactly what He came to do.  Jesus served.  Jesus takes off His outer garment, He grabs a towel, and He puts it around His waist as a slave would do, and He begins to wash the disciples’ feet.

Keep in mind that in First Century Palestine, all the roads leading into Jerusalem were just dirt roads.  Often times the dirt was several inches deep if it had been dry.  If it’s wet at all, it is just a cake-like mud.  Shoe apparel, obviously, was nothing more than a small piece of material on the bottom of the foot, wrapped on your foot with some leather straps.  That’s it.  Animals also traveled on the roads leading into the city, and they obviously didn’t stop off the side of the road to take care of business.  So in First Century Palestine, you are going to have these roads with all kinds of stuff and dirt and mud on them.  So whatever the disciples walked through that day was on their feet, and chances are, it was pretty disgusting.

And here’s Jesus, taking off His outer clothing, grabbing a towel, pouring water into a basin and kneeling down at the disciples’ feet.  This was a task that would have never crossed the minds of any of the disciples.........yet, here’s Jesus, washing their feet.  Here’s Jesus, serving.

Now, take that principle and plug it into the context of your life.  How is God asking you to serve others?  Not what other people think you should do, but what is God asking you to do?  How is God asking you to serve?

Listen to what Jesus said about Himself in Mark 10:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  (Mark 10:45, NIV)

Here is a huge mistake Christians make.  So often we focus on, “What do you want God to do in your life?”  Or, “What do you need God to do for you?”  And the truth is, God is deeply interested in our lives and He wants to provide for all of our needs.  But too often, our own needs become our only focus.  Let me suggest a different approach.  Let me suggest that we change the question from, “What can God do for me?” to, “What does God want me to do with the life He has given me?”  Jesus gave us the answer:

The greatest among you will be your servant.  (Matthew 23:11, NIV)

What's it cost to be a disciple?

When we think of the term, “Disciple”, we often think of the 12 guys Jesus chose to follow Him throughout His ministry on earth.  Fair enough.....but what does it mean to be a disciple today?  My next several posts are going to focus on what it means to be a disciple.

Check out Jesus’ words when He challenged people to follow Him.

A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,   “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 
And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost.  For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?”  (Luke 14:25-28, NLT)

Those are some pretty intense words and through these words Jesus raises the standard to as high as it can go.  If all you want is the “title” of Christian, it probably won’t cost you anything.  But, if you want to follow Jesus, be like Him, do what He did, you gotta understand that it will cost you.  You will lose some friends.  Some family members may turn on you.  It might cost you your job or a promotion.  In some parts of the world, maybe even in our country one day in our lifetime, it could even cost you your life.  So what does it mean to be a disciple?

Being a disciple means I give up everything to follow Jesus.

The word “Christian” has become watered down today.  It’s watered down so much that the vast majority of Americans would call themselves Christians.  From the White House to the poor house, the vast majority of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.  I’m not sure what that means for everyone, but for a lot of people it means, “I believe Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again.”  It’s great to believe that, but believing that doesn't save anyone...it doesn’t make anyone a Christian.  Even satan believes that.  Simply believing that doesn’t put anyone in a right relationship with Jesus.

Being a disciple goes beyond cultural Christianity; beyond just believing in Jesus.  A disciple is one who puts their faith in what Jesus did when He died on the cross.  A disciple believes so much in Him that their whole life pursuit is to become like Him, and that not only are we to become like Him, but as a disciple, we are to do what He did - and there’s a profound difference between those 2 definitions.

If we are disciples of Jesus, we will do what He did.  I’m not talking about dying on a cross - I’m talking about living a life that emulates what Jesus came to do.  What did Jesus come to do?  John 10:10 and several other verses tell us:

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  (John 10:10, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will help impart that kind of life.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”  (Luke 5:31b, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will be here for the sick, those who are in need.

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  (Luke 5:32, NIV)

If we are disciples, we will be there for the prostitutes and the lepers, the sinners, the no good, the low down, the outcast.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:17, NIV)

Jesus came to do all of these things, including bringing people into a growing relationship Himself.  But that means going against the grain of what’s commonly accepted in society.  A couple of examples:  Someone strikes you on the cheek, you want to hit them back.  But Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek.”  Doesn’t make sense.  Someone curses you, you want to curse them back.  Jesus says, “No.  Bless them instead.”  Doesn’t make sense.  Someone asks you for your shirt.  Jesus said, “Give them your coat, too.”  Give them more than they expect. Someone says, “Go a mile.”  Jesus says, “Go two.”  Jesus says, “Give and it will be given to you.”  You don’t understand, but because Jesus says so, we follow.

Being a disciple begins with being sold out to Jesus.  I’m not talking about cultural Christianity where we simply believe Jesus died on the cross.......I’m talking about committed discipleship where I make God my top priority; where I put Him first in everything in my life; where I choose His way over my way and over the way of convenience; where I’m willing to take up my cross - to step away from all the other things I’ve been pursuing - and follow Him.  That’s what it means to be a disciple.  Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  (John 14:12, NIV)

A disciple who leaves everything to be like Jesus, will do the things Jesus does.

Defeating Giants (Part 5)

For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she was worried that a burglar might show up.  One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, lo and behold, he found a burglar had broken in the house and was looking around to find something to steal.

The husband approached the burglar, baseball bat in hand, and said, “Man, am I glad to see you!”  The burglar was surprised, but kept quiet. The husband went on, “Please, come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you.”

Why do we worry so much?  Well, let’s see:

Life is hard. Bad things happen to good people, to bad people, and everyone in between.  Even the wealthy and powerful aren’t exempt. All you have to do is watch the news or read the paper to see that tragedy comes to everyone.

The future is uncertain. We worry because we don’t know what the future holds. Not only are there dangers we know about and can make some preparation for, but there are dangers which are completely unexpected.  We can prepare as best we know how. We can watch our diets and exercise to prevent heart attack. We can stockpile food and water to prepare for an emergency. As hard as we try, though, the bottom line is that the future is unknowable.

We’re not in control.  Everyone knows someone we consider to be a control freak.  You have friends who consider you to be a control freak.  The truth is, we’re all control freaks because we want to know what’s going on and when it’s going to happen.  At best, we have only the illusion of control. Even doctors get sick. Financial experts lose money in the stock market. Policemen get robbed. Lawyers get sued. Good, loving, responsible parents are rejected by their teenage and adult children.

We live in a high stress culture.  There’s stress from lack of job security… few people believe they’ll be in the same job 5 years from now.  There’s financial stress… as soon as you are on top of your finances, the car breaks down. Stress of watching your portfolio drop lower and lower.  There’s the stress that comes along with the pace of life.  It just doesn’t slow down.  The list goes on and on.

Before we look at Jesus’ answer to worry, let’s define what worry is.  The Greek word for worry is MERIMNAO.  Merimnao comes from “merizo”, “to divide”, and “nous”, which means, “mind”. The word “worry” means:  to have a “divided mind”.

A mind divided between the worries of the world, and the peace of God; between worldly attitudes and Biblical truth; between a focus on the situation, and a focus on the God of the situation.  So let’s take a look at a solution to worry and learn how we can defeat it.  In Jesus’ sermon on the mount, He addresses this subject of worry. Matthew 6:25:

      “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what
      you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?   Look at  
      the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
      them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
      life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or
      spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is
      how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
      not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What
      shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly
      Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
      will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
      itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  (Matthew 6:25-34, NIV)

Jesus’ teaching here gives us some clear help with this subject of worry and gives us some weapons with which we can defeat it.  First:

I need to recognize that worry accomplishes nothing.  If we can really grasp this one, we’re well on our way to a solution.  Ask yourself this, “Why is it that there are no classes on how to worry?”  No high school offers college prep worry.  No college offers Worry 101 or a degree in worry because worry accomplishes nothing.  It has no productive value whatsoever.  Worry doesn’t help anything.  Not only does worry not help, it often has the opposite effect.

Worrying about everything is like trying to take a trip by sitting in a rocking chair. You expend lots of energy, but you make no forward progress.  Here’s something else Jesus teaches us:

I need to learn that God cares about me.  Rick Warren says, "Worry is the warning light that God is really not first in my life at this particular moment." Worry says that God is not big enough to handle my troubles.  But the fact is, He is big enough and you also need to know that you matter to Him!

God values us even more than the rest of his creation. Birds, who don’t labor at all to provide for themselves, have adequate food to eat. Even flowers, which only live for a short time, have beautiful "clothing." If God provides for them, doesn’t it stand to reason that He will care for us, since we are much more valuable?  Here’s a 3rd lesson:

I need to put first things first.  We worry too much because we care too much about the wrong things.
We have our priorities reversed.  We worry about what we eat, but don’t care enough about what we are going to do with the life that the food makes possible.  We worry about what we wear, but aren’t concerned enough about what we are doing with the bodies we put those clothes on. We concern ourselves with how to preserve our lives as long as possible, but we give very little thought to what comes afterwards.

No one would claim that having enough food to eat, and clothing to wear, are trivial matters. For the people to whom Jesus was speaking, these were life and death issues. But they aren’t the most important things.

The things we should be most concerned about are the things which matter most. Putting first things first gives us a right perspective and give us strength to face life without worry.  The most important things for us to concern ourselves with are His kingdom and His righteousness.  Our primary concern in this life shouldn’t be pleasing and serving ourselves, it should be knowing and serving God.  One more step:

I need to transfer trust.  Rather than trusting in our own power, wisdom, and strength, we need to place our trust in God for everything. As a result, he will give us a peace which defies logical explanation. It’s not a trick of the mind; it’s a spiritual reality.

We exercise this trust by actively committing our concerns to God in prayer.  We aren’t in control, but we can place our trust in Someone who is. We don’t know the future, but we can place our trust in Someone who does.

Defeating Giants (Part 4)

Have you ever attempted something - anything - and failed?  That’s what I thought.  If it brings you any comfort.....and it probably doesn’t.....you’re not alone.  All you have to do is look around you to see that we’ve all failed at some time or another.

Everyone wants to be a success. I’ve never met anyone who purposely set out to be a failure.  Yet, failure is one of those ugly realities of life—a common experience to all of us to some degree. So the ability to handle failure in its various forms and degrees is a vital part of the spiritual life and another sign of maturity. A careful study of the Bible reveals that many of the great figures of Scripture experienced failure at one time or another.  The thing we have to focus on, however, is that those failures didn’t keep them from effective service for God. Individuals like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Peter....they all failed at some point, and often in significant ways.  But they learned something along the way.  They not only recovered from their failure, but they used it as a tool of growth - they learned from their failure, confessed it to God, and were often able to be used in even mightier ways.

When we began this series we spend the first couple of weeks examining David’s victory over Goliath.  But David’s life wasn’t always as victorious as we learned last week.  The Reader’s Digest version of David’s failure reads something like this:

David was supposed to be out with his troops, leading them in battle, but he was kicking back at home instead.  One day he was out, taking a walk on the palace roof.  He looked over the edge and saw a woman bathing and he let lust get the best of him.  He sent for her, slept with her, and she became pregnant.  In order to avoid detection he called her husband home from battle so he would sleep with her and think the child was his.  But her husband didn’t follow through with the plan, so David had him killed in battle.

Ultimately, David’s failure and his sin was found out and he was called on the carpet by the prophet Nathan, which ultimately led to David’s confession and repentance.  Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance.  From his prayer we can grasp some steps to overcoming and defeating the giant of failure in our lives.

First, I must acknowledge my failure.  Not every failure results in sin, but we all fail and sometimes that failure results in sin.  James 3:2 (NCV): We all make many mistakes.

If at first we don’t succeed, we redefine success because we hate admitting failure.  A lot of people make the mistake of blaming someone or something else.  David admitted his failure.  He referred to, “my guilt, my sin, my  shameful deeds.”  He said, “I have done what is evil.....”  David didn’t blame Bathsheba or anyone else.  He acknowledged his sin.  He acknowledged his failure.  And this is where it has to begin.

Second, I must receive God’s forgiveness.  There is no failure too big for God to forgive.  After all, forgiveness is God’s speciality.  I realize that your failure may not have involved sin at all, but if it did, you have to receive God’s forgiveness if you ever hope to move forward.  Ephesians 1:7 (GWT):  Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.

God’s forgiveness is available and it is extended to each one of us, but unless we receive it, we remain in our sin and our failure.  David cried out to God for His forgiveness.  Acknowledge the failure and then receive God’s forgiveness.  And can I also say.........once you’ve received God’s forgiveness it’s time to stop beating yourself up.  There may be some other people you need to talk to, some restoration that needs to take place......but stop with the pity party and move forward to the next step:

I must apply the lessons of failure toward success.  Here’s how your mama used to say it, “Son, you need to learn from your mistakes.”  And she’s right.  If we don’t learn from our mistakes and our failures, we are doomed to repeat them.

Failures and mistakes can be teachers that provide us with invaluable lessons!!! Proverbs 26:11 (NIV):  As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

If you fail to learn from your mistakes and failures, you’re doomed to repeat them.  But if you learn from them, you will move forward with new strength and hope.  Here’s our 4th step:

I must accept failure as a fact of life, not a way of life.  There’s a huge difference here.  Failure is going to happen, but it doesn’t have to be the norm.  Failure doesn’t have to be fatal and it doesn’t have to be final.  The apostle Peter knew all about failure. In the upper room Jesus warned Peter about how he would deny Him  before the rooster crowed 3 times.

It was just hours later that events happened just as Jesus said they would.  Jesus was arrested and Peter denied Him 3 times.  Peter blew it and he knew it. So he went and spent the rest of his life as hermit in complete seclusion. WRONG!  2 months later Peter preached one of the greatest sermons in Christianity and 3,000 people got saved!

Don’t ever let someone call you a failure or a loser. You are not your resume!  Failure is an event, not a person.  It’s something you do, not something you become.  Your attitude during failure determines your altitude after failure.  When you mess up you can grow up.  Here’s the final step:

I must arise from failure and start again.  Remember the story of Jonah?  God told him to go to a place called Nineveh and preach.  Jonah decided to go the other direction.  Epic fail.  He ended up in the belly of a huge fish for 3 days.  What do you do in the belly for a huge fish for 3 days? You stink and you think.

Jonah 3:1 & 2 (GWT):  Then the LORD spoke his word to Jonah a second time. He said, "Leave at once for the important city, Nineveh. Announce to the people the message I have given you."

The result was that 120,000 Ninevites turned away from sin and turned to God.  But what if Jonah had chosen to ignore God and go the other way again?  We don’t know because Jonah learned from his failure and got up and went the right way.

You may not have been in the belly of a big fish....but maybe you’ve been in the belly of...bad decisions or an affair, or divorce, or poor parenting.  Maybe you’ve experience failure at your job or in your marriage or even with sin.  Whatever your failure may have looked like, if you let it bring you down and keep you down, you’ve failed bigger than you could ever imagine.

I love basketball.  Years ago, a shot clock was inserted into the game.  In college ball they have 45 seconds to shoot and in professional basketball they have 24.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been watching a pro game and watched a player shoot and miss, but then his team rebounds the ball and the announcer says, “They get a new 24.”  He’s talking about a shot clock, but I want you to know that when you fail, God offers you a new 24.

Lamentations 3:21-23b (NCV):  But I have hope when I think of this: The Lord's love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning;

Have you failed?  God offers you a new 24.  Have you sinned?  God offers you a new 24?  Have you let someone down?  God offers you a new 24.

What are you going to do with it?

Defeating Giants (Part 3)

My last 2 posts talked about facing giants in our lives.  The next few posts will take a look at some specific giants we have to face head on.

They say, “Go big or go home.”  Well, let’s start big and talk about the giant of lust.  When it comes to lust we are definitely talking about a giant, and the problem is that so many of us fail because we’re naïve to it’s power. 1 Thessalonians 4 says:

God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor–
not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways.  (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, NLT)

The dictionary defines lust as:
Intense sexual desire or appetite.  Uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.

Let’s refine that a bit:
An insatiable craving to gratify your fleshly desires by seeking to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.

The fact is, we can lust after money or possessions, power - all kinds of things, but for the sake of this post, we’re going to discuss lust within the context of sexual lust.  The problem we face - particularly in our American culture - is that sex is thrown around casually and constantly.  Television shows make it the norm for people to hop from bed to bed.  Magazines, billboards, the internet - all of these push sex and sexuality at us constantly, and almost always it’s in a way that is completely contrary to God’s plan for our lives.

And this isn’t a “male” problem, it’s a humanity problem - including women.  As we look at the process of lust, there’s no greater example of how lust works than the example of King David in 2 Samuel 11.  I find it a bit ironic that the same individual who slew the giant succumbed to lust.  But even that illustrates to all of us just how insidious and powerful lust is.

Lust moves through a process that looks something like this:

Idleness.  King David had time on his hands because he hadn’t gone to war like kings are supposed to.

Interest.  With that free time he took a stroll and saw Bathsheba bathing and became interested.

Intoxication.  He moved beyond interest to an intoxication of desire.  He began dreaming and fantasizing about her.

Indulgence.  The dream & fantasy was no longer enough.  He had to have her.

Cover-up.  He found out she was pregnant and set the wheels in motion to cover-up his sin.

Sexual lust almost always follows that pattern, and when it does, 3 things happen:

It destroys my convictions.  Think about it:  a little lust led David to commit acts of adultery and murder.  It will eventually cause you to lose your ability to judge right from wrong.

It destroys my character.  Lust destroys you reputation and integrity. You lose both your credibility and the confidence of others because you have no sense of morality and no sense of self-control.

It destroys my connections.  As a result of his sin, David lost his intimacy with God, he lost intimacy with his family, and he lost intimacy with his kingdom.

But there’s a remedy......there are some steps you can take to overcome and defeat sexual lust.

1. I must be accountable.  In the Old Testament story of Joseph, he was being pursued by Potipher’s wife, but Joseph said he couldn’t indulge because he’d have to answer to Potipher and to God.  He had accountability.  So let me ask you:  Who or what holds you accountable?  And I know I’m going to run the risk of being accused as a heretic, but in this case, God isn’t enough.  Before you throw tomatoes, let me explain.

If God were enough to keep us accountable, Adam and Eve would have never sinned.  If God were enough, there would be no sin, no lust, no evil.  But the thing is, we have this strong tendency to focus more on God’s grace than on His judgement for sin.  Because we know God is a God of grace, we tend to look beyond Him and think, “Well, He’ll forgive me.”  That’s why I say God isn’t enough.  God was enough for Joseph, but I’m not sure He’s enough for us.  That’s why we need more.

We need to learn how to bounce our eyes away from the things that tempt us.  We need to learn how to turn and walk away from temptation.  We need to learn the power of repentance and seek God’s forgiveness for lustful thoughts.

2.   I must count the cost.  Joseph not only answered that he had God and Potipher to answer to in authority over him, he also recognized all that he would lose if he engaged in the proposition.  What would you lose?

Like David, clearly you would lose your convictions, your character and your connections.  But what else?  Maybe your family?  Maybe your job?  Maybe the trust of others?  Maybe your self-worth?  It is worth the guilt and emotional turmoil?  Is it worth the shame and damage to your reputation?  Is it worth the risk of disease?  Is it worth getting divorced or estranged from your mate? Is it worth it?

3.     I must stick to my convictions.  I wish I could tell you that simply making a decision not to indulge lust will make it all okay and go away.  It doesn’t.  Potipher’s wife was relentless.  Day after day she was after him to sleep with her.  She used every means to tempt, trick, and turn Joseph.  And day after day, Joseph stuck to his convictions.

Keep your guard up.  Joseph determined to believe the commands of God over the whispers of the wife.  Remember that while lust makes great promises – it can only deliver a lie.

A wealthy couple purchased a new Rolls Royce and wanted to hire a chauffeur. The wife advertised and they were able to narrow the applicants down to 4 candidates.

The wife called the prospective drivers to her balcony and pointed out a brick wall alongside the driveway. She asked the men, "How close do you think you could come to that wall without scratching my car?"

The 1st man felt he could drive within a foot of the wall without damaging the car.  The 2nd felt sure he could come within 6 inches. The 3rd believed he could get within 3 inches.

The 4th candidate said, "I don’t know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car.  Instead, I would try to stay as far away from that wall as I could."  He’s the one who got the job.

Why?  Because he had a different focus. He understood that true skill in driving is not based so much on the ability to steer the car to a narrow miss as on the ability to keep a wide margin of safety.

Lust is no joking matter.  It’s a real problem in our culture, in our communities, in our churches, and in our homes.  But you can defeat this giant in your life - not by trusting in yourself, but by trusting in God and seeking His help.

Defeating Giants (Part 2)

In his book “Believe and Belong”, author Bruce Larson tells of how he helped people who were struggling to defeat the giants in their lives. He writes, “For many years, I worked in New York city and counseled at my office any number of people who were wrestling with these situations. Often I would suggest they walk with me from my office down to the RCA building on Fifth Avenue. In the entrance of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas, a perfectly proportioned man who, with all his muscles straining, is holding the world upon his shoulders. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under his burden. ‘Now that’s one way you can live,’ I would point out, ‘trying to carry the world on your shoulders. But now, come across the street with me.’ On the other side of Fifth Avenue is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and there behind the altar is a statue of Jesus as a boy, perhaps eight or nine years old, and with no effort, he is holding the world in one hand.”

The truth is, we have a choice, and we are faced with a question: Who are we relying on to defeat our giants? Who are we counting on to carry our burdens?

Obviously, if we’re going to talk about facing giants and overcoming the biggest challenges in life, we have to begin with David and Goliath.  David faced a physical giant in Goliath, but we face giants of our own all the time, whether they are mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual giants. So how do we defeat them?  Follow David’s strategy:

1. Run toward the battle.

David shows up, surveys the situation, sees the problem and immediately runs to the battle.  We wake up every morning and walk to the battle line. We look across the valley and see the intimidating problem standing there. And it happens day after day, and the more we delay in battling the giant, the more intimidating the problem becomes, and the harder it is to handle later.

David didn’t go to the valley of Elah expecting a battle. He was simply on an errand for his father to check up on his three older brothers who were soldiers in the army. David, more than likely, had no idea who Goliath even was. But that’s the way it is with giants. We don’t expect them, and they rarely announce that they’re coming.  They just show up. So run to the battle when they do.

2.   Fight your own battle, not someone else’s.

Anyone who has ever fought a battle of any kind always has advice for you.  It’s not a bad thing to learn from others’ experiences, but just as each individual is unique, each battle we fight is unique.

King Saul wanted David to fight using armor and weaponry. Saul thinks he knows best, but David knows he has to fight his own battle his own way.

You need to fight the way God asks YOU to do it.  God created you in a unique way, and that means that when you battle your giants, He will give you a unique way to handle them and defeat them. There’s nothing wrong with seeking advice and wise counsel, but ultimately, your giants are YOUR giants, and we cannot approach them trying to be somebody we are not.

3. Trust in the Lord and not only in your weapons.

As David and Goliath approached each other in battle, they each carried their weapons. Goliath had his spear and sword, David had his sling and 5 stones.  But that’s where the similarities end.  Here’s what David said:

...everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The LORD will give you to us!"  (1 Samuel 17:47, NLT)

Please get this because this is important:  David HAD a weapon, but David wasn’t TRUSTING his weapon.  He was trusting in God.

David expressed his trust in the Lord before, during and after the battle. David had faith in a mighty God Who has never ever lost a battle.  That was his greatest weapon!

4. Celebrate your victories.

David killed Goliath and then cut off his head.  But then he packed Goliath’s head with him back to Jerusalem.  Can you imagine the conversation?

“David, what’cha got there in the bag?”

“Oh dude, you’re not going to believe this!  Check it out!”

“Wow!!  That’s a good one!  He was big!!!”

“Oh yeah!  You should have been there!  God showed up and the giant went down.  It was so cool!!!  And you know what they say, ‘The bigger they are the harder they fall!’”

Start your own trophy case. God healed your broken arm?  Keep a piece of the cast.  God healed your broken heart? Write down the Scripture where you found His promise to you, and keep it somewhere that you will see it.  God defeated a financial giant for you?  Keep a copy of the check or simply keep a dollar or a coin somewhere to remind you of God’s faithfulness.  Start yourself a trophy case where you can celebrate your victories and give glory to God.

Every giant we face in battle can bring us closer to God. And when we are faithful and we stand before the giants in the name of the Lord and for His glory, the victory is sure to come.

Defeating Giants (Part 1)

Remember the story of David and Goliath?  (1 Samuel 17)  I recently used that story to take the church through a series on overcoming giants in our lives.  Giants are bullies.  It’s what they do.  Goliath was no different - he was just doing what he does.  Giants will taunt you and bully you and make you feel like you can’t do anything.  But you can!  Take a look at the situation with David & Goliath.

Goliath was huge and well armored, and he was taunting King Saul and the entire army of Israel.  That’s how giants work.  They taunt us, they flaunt their size and power in front of us, just daring us to take them on.  And far too often we react like the Saul and the Israelites........we are dismayed and cower in fear.  

Along comes David, delivering some items to his brothers who are serving in Israel’s army, and he hears Goliath’s challenge.  No one had taken it up, so King Saul was doing everything he could to sweeten the deal.  David asks about the offer from the king and his brother goes off on him, trying to use guilt and ridicule to keep him away from the battle.

Sometimes, when it comes to fighting the giants in our lives, part of the battle is overcoming others who would drag us down and try to get our attention on something else rather than the battle before us.  It’s important for us to keep our focus, which is what David did.  He stepped away from his brother - not out of disrespect - but because he didn’t want to be distracted.

So David steps up and says, “Yeah, this dude’s big, but you know, God’s brought me through some other battles over the past few years.  I’m no rookie to difficult situations.  God has taken care of me this far, and I’m sure He will take care of me now.  So let me at ‘em!!”  And Saul said, “Go for it!”

When we are facing a giant in our life, it’s always good to look back and remember the other victories God has brought our way.  Too often we forget all about the other victories because the giant looks so big.  Don’t let yourself forget the other victories that have brought you to this particular giant because each one of those was preparation for where you are now.

A shepherd often carried a sling that was two pieces of small rope or leather with a pouch in the center.  He would then load a rock in the pouch, swing the sling around and at the right time, let go of the end of the sling and the rock would go sailing toward the target.

When giants come our way, we sometimes think we have to have heavy artillery.  That’s why Saul wanted David to use his own armor and  weapons.  But David knew that wouldn’t work.  He had to use what he was accustomed to.  It wasn’t huge, but it was very effective.

David said some mighty big words to Goliath.  “I’ll strike you down, cut off your head and leave your carcass and the carcasses of your buddies for the birds to eat and the beasts to devour.”  Pretty big words.......but remember, David had a big confidence in an even bigger God.

Then he loaded a rock into his sling, took aim and let it fly.  It landed and brought the giant to the ground.  Not bad for the shepherd boy from the dessert.  One giant, one rock, one sling, one throw, one victory.

The headlines in the local paper the next day read, “Boy defeats Giant.”  But how did he do it?  The same way you and I are going to have to do it if we’re going to defeats giants in our lives.  Very quickly, to defeat the giants:

1.   I must remember that the odds are against me.

In the story, the odds were definitely against David.  More than likely, you are too.  But your giant doesn’t carry sword or shield.  He looks more like unemployment, or abandonment, sexual abuse, or depression. He brings bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, addictions you can’t resist, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.  If you’re going to defeat the giant you’re going to have to realize that you’re outgunned.  But while you might be outgunned, God isn’t.

2.   I have to remember God is bigger than my giants.

In the story of David and Goliath, no one else discusses God.  Not Saul, the king of Israel.  Not David’s brothers.  Not the army of Israel.  No one discusses God.  David discusses no one else but God. Ultimately, this comes down to more than “David versus Goliath,” this is “God-focus versus giant –focus.”  David sees what others don’t and refuses to see what other do.

Your giants are real, and they may be big.  But God is bigger.  If your entire focus is on the giants, chances are you’ll lose the battle.  But if you keep your eyes on God, chances are your giant will fall just like Goliath did.

3.   I must give the battle to the Lord.

When David stepped onto he battlefield he was the laughing stock of the entire Philistine army.  But David is prayed up.  He knows God and He knows the power of God.  Fighting on your own doesn’t have great odds, so give the battle to God.

4.   I must focus on God, not the giants.

David makes no inquiries about Goliath’s skill, age, social standing, or IQ.  David asks nothing about the weight of the sword of the size of the spear.  But he gives much thought to God.  If you read the account you’ll find no less than nine references to the Lord.  God-thoughts outnumber Goliath-thoughts nine to two.  How does this ratio compare with yours? Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt?  Is your list of blessings four times as long as your list of complaints?  Is your mental file of hope four times as thick as your mental file of dread?

The whole thing can be summed up this way:

Focus on giants – you stumble.

Focus on God – your giants tumble.    

So.......what giants need to go down in your life?

The Importance of Packaging

I recently read this article by Phil Cooke (www.philcooke.com) and it's just too good to not re-post. Give it a read, and then give me your thoughts...........

The Importance of Packaging

by Phil Cooke

Who you are is important—but you can never underestimate the impact of how you are perceived.

When I was a kid, television meant three channels. Whoopee! But on our satellite TV system today, my children have a choice of five hundred channels, and online, that number is nearly unlimited. The difference is extraordinary and very important. My production experience in a five-hundred-channel universe indicates that people take less than five seconds to decide to watch your program. That’s it. Think about how quickly you handle a typical TV remote and what little chance you give each program to grab your attention.

Audiences today are sophisticated and aren’t willing to put up with programs that don’t interest them. Therefore, I always advise my media clients that how a program is packaged is just as important as its content. For instance, no matter how brilliant the program content might be, it has to be packaged in a high quality, contemporary, and compelling way. Otherwise, the viewer won’t watch long enough to hear the content, and you’ve lost the audience. In the same way, you need a compelling “package” in order to be perceived as powerfully as possible. What elements combine to make your package great? Here are a few to consider:

How You Look

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. —Mark Twain

My father used to say, “If you dress like a pauper, you’ll never get an audience with the king.” Although styles today are much more relaxed than in the past, there are still strong feelings among people about clothes and the impact they have on perception. Even in Hollywood, where jeans are considered “business attire,” if you look closely, you’ll find those jeans are often accompanied by an exotic leather belt, an expensive linen sport coat, a designer T-shirt, a pair of alligator loafers, and a twenty-thousand-dollar watch.

But understand that it’s not about money; it’s about a style that’s appropriate for the situation. Don’t become a clothing snob and use them as weapons to elevate yourself above others. No one respects a person in the office who uses clothes as a label to separate them from everyone else. But do know and learn the power of how to dress appropriately and how clothes can be used to give you access to people, places, and events.

How You Speak

Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening. —Dorothy Sarnoff, opera singer

At the highest levels of corporate America, you rarely hear the sound of regional accents. A Southern accent sprinkled with local mannerisms may sound cute in your hometown, but the more you travel beyond the city limits, the more you’ll sound simply out of place. Talking like a cast member of The Sopranos may be desirable in parts of New Jersey, but in parts of Texas, you could be shot on sight.

Proper grammar is another basic issue that frightfully few take the time to fix. If you want to increase your value and perception in the eyes of other people, never open your mouth unless you’re speaking proper English and using grammatically correct sentences. Remember that in most business situations, your speaking voice and writing abilities are your most important communication tools, therefore, poor grammar muddles up your meaning.

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to improve your communication abilities. A quarterback wouldn’t neglect his passing skills because that’s often the key to his success. In the same way, your brilliance and business expertise will never be known or understood if you can’t express those ideas clearly and accurately.

Appropriate Behavior

Those that are good manners at the court are as ridiculous in the country as the behavior of the country is most mockable at the court. —William Shakespeare

Knowing instinctively how to act in a variety of situations is a critical element to increasing perception. Some football coaches are brilliant on the field, but at a dinner party, they become bumbling fools. In the same way, I’ve met doctors who are internationally known for their medical skills in the operating room, but act ignorant and uncouth in other situations. Learn to become comfortable in a wide variety of circumstances and your chances of success are greatly improved.

At a board meeting, a formal dinner party, a local football game, or church, in a casual social situation, or on a business trip, does your behavior reflect the level of success you’re working toward? And please don’t think the value of perception is the ability to hide the fact that, in reality, you are unethical or dishonest. Ethical and moral behavior matters. It creates trust, loyalty, and integrity, and when damaged, reputations are tough and often impossible to rebuild.

Everything communicates. – —Brad Abare, branding and organizational consultant

Start today recognizing opportunities to jolt your perception in the eyes of your superiors, your customers, and your associates. A business genius who neglects the value of perception risks appearing to others as simply average, or worse, a fool. On the other hand, even a relative novice in business and leadership skills can dramatically improve his standing among his associates through an investment in the art of perception.

Who you are is important—but you can never underestimate the impact of how you are perceived.

A Father's Sacrificial Love

There was a Pastor, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

"A father, His son, and his son’s friend were sailing off of the Pacific Coast," He began, "When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. No pain imaginable could match the decision he made at that moment. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you son!’ He threw out the lifeline to his son’s friend.

By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. "The father," he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, but he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus.

Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend.”

With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon… Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.

"That was a nice story," Politely stated the boys, "But I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you’ve got a point there," the old man replied glancing down at the worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It’s not very realistic, is it? But I’m standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only son for me.

You see… I was the father and your Pastor was my son’s friend."

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, NIV)