A Christ-follower with a limp

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Anticipatory Anxiety

“Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered.
No one was there.”

Recently, the Chapman University Survey of American Fears (CSAF) conducted their annual survey of the top 10 fears in America. They do this by following trends over time and identifying new fears that might emerge.
Among the top ten fears Americans currently have: Corrupt government officials; Economic/financial collapse; Russia using nuclear weapons; US involved in another World War; Biological warfare and Cyber-terrorism.
Let me ask what I hope is a thought-provoking question: How many do we have any control over? Zero, nil, diddly-squat, zippo…you get the point. If 99.99% of us have zero control over these things, why are we afraid of them or what purpose is there in us worrying about any of them?
Many people, including sadly many Christians, suffer from what’s known as Anticipatory Anxiety. That’s simply a “fear of the future.” Some tragic consequences of anticipatory anxiety are that victims are nervous and fearful about the future. Often, they spend time mentally dwelling on worst-case scenarios regarding future situations. Instead of dreading a terrible potential future with a low potential at that, God wants us to live where that missionary statesman, William Carey lived. Carey wisely said: “The future is as bright as the promises of God.”
For the believer, the future isn’t dark, it’s brilliantly bright because our Heavenly Father has it all under control. What does the future hold for the believer? Let me point out five promises just from the book of Philippians.
Future Perfection. The last part of Philippians 1:6, says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” When someone is born again, they can’t be satisfied with spiritual mediocrity. They long to be sinless and ultimately be sin-free just like Jesus. Those of us who are “in Christ,” will, one day achieve our dream. No more struggles, no more defeat, no more shame: perfection. What a joy it will be to be “finished,” completed, perfect!
Future Joy. Philippians 1:18 says, “…Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” Every believer longs for joy. If you’re a Christ-follower, you can be absolutely confident today that you will do lots of rejoicing tomorrow, both on this side of the grave and on the other side of death. Paul was primarily thinking in terms of rejoicing on this side of the grave. His confidence in future joy gave him present joy. Paul and we can have hope based on the promise of our Father.
Future Deliverance. Philippians 1:19 says “for I know that through your prayers, and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” Whether we live or die, God has promised to deliver us. Either way, we win! No more disease or pain, no suffering, no more losses or tragedies, no more hatred or conflict.
Future Grace. Philippians 1:20 says, “I eagerly expect and hope, that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” This wasn’t self-confidence. It’s holy boldness. Paul knew that God would give him all the grace that he needed to face anything and everything victoriously, and in that God would be honored by Paul’s life.
Future Gain. Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” That’s to be our passion and goal now, “to live is Christ.” Yet, it doesn’t end there, “to die is gain.” For someone who hasn’t committed their life to Christ, to die is to lose everything. No wonder so many will do nearly anything to hold off death. Yet, Christians have no reason to be desperate. As much as we enjoy the things of this life, our deaths will bring gain, not loss – rest, joy, peace, comfort, satisfaction, perfect fellowship, and so much more. Seeing Jesus face to face will make every other gain seem small by comparison. Because our future is certain because of God’s promises, every believer should have Anticipatory Excitement!
Which one do you have? Anticipatory Anxiety or Anticipatory Excitement? Anticipatory Excitement comes from focusing on God’s truth!
In national parks, there are signs, “Please Don’t Feed the Bears.” When people feed the bears, those bears gain confidence and lose their fear of humans. They become dangerous as they become more aggressive. Many of us need to cross out the “B” and place an “F” there. The sign we need over our hearts is, “Please Don’t Feed the Fears.” As we feed our fears, they eat us alive. How can we feed our faith and not our fears?
Habitually read God’s Word. Feed your heart on God’s promises.
Go on a media and social media diet. Stop feeding the monster. The majority of what’s on there won’t help you trust God or grow in faith.
Become more aware of your thoughts. Have you ever caught yourself just eating mindlessly? We do the same mentally. As the refrigerator has a light that goes on when we open it, we need a light to go off when we begin to head down dead-end dark mental streets.
Fight imaginary fears with the truth of praise. In the midst of fearful circumstances, the psalmist continually praises God. Count your blessings and then count them again and again. There’s power in praise! By choosing to praise God for what you know is true of God’s character, you overcome your fears with His truth. Rather than following your heart, lead it.
Remember what God has done, not what might happen. Remember God’s goodness in the past in your life. The conscious act of remembering His past faithfulness deepens our trust in His present goodness. Spurgeon wrote: “It is well to mark our mercies with well-carved memorials.” God commands us to remember His works. Why? He knows we’re so forgetful. Remembering what He has done strengthens our faith to fight fear.
Fight imaginary fears with an eternal perspective. Fixing our thoughts on the eternal keeps our perspective of the present balanced. It gives us clarity as to why we’re here and that this life, even at its worst, is temporary. Focusing on eternity inspires us to live lives of significance.
As our trust in God’s truth deepens, we experience grace and power. Jesus is real. Let’s fill our minds with Him and His promises. And we’ll have no need to fear the future because He’s already there…waiting for us!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Basics on Toxics

“Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light.

Try not to take it personally.” Kamand Kojouri

This morning we’re beginning a several week series, “Dealing with Toxic People.” The dictionary defines Toxic as: “containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation.” Applying our spiritual nature to this definition gives us the reality that toxic people are those who are capable of causing mental and emotional injury and death, or serious debilitation, to both their lives and ours.
We all have toxic people in our lives. Because of sin, at some level, we’re all toxic. For some reason, memes about toxic people, narcissism and broken relationships have exploded on social media. Yet, toxic people have always been around. Probably the acrimonious cultural divisions we’ve seen in recent years have heightened our awareness of toxic relationships.
Genesis 4 is one of the first toxic relationships. Cain’s anger at God erupted with his murdering his brother, Abel, who’d done nothing to antagonize Cain. Abel was simply seeking to please God, but his commitment to God enraged Cain and Abel ended up as the first victim of rage and cold-blooded murder. Like Abel, sometimes you don’t have to do anything other than exist to find yourself the target of someone’s toxicity.
As I’ve watched the obsession with toxic people on social media, the thought occurred to me that “if your best strategy in dealing with toxic people is memes, you’re in big trouble.” Add to that, we tend to throw around terms and use a broad brush. Do those using these terms even know what they mean? That line by Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride seems apropos. “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.” Before we label someone, we should be certain of our own understanding of the label and what the term actually means.
For example, someone may be labeled a “narcissist.” The dictionary defines it, “A person full of egoism. One who shows extreme love and admiration for himself or herself. Someone in love with themselves.” Have you ever met someone who isn’t full of pride at some level and loves and admires themselves? We’re all guilty. Now someone who is truly a narcissist takes that to extremes. Yet, traits of toxicity that so bother us in the lives of others are frequently ones that we also are guilty of. Toxicness is true of all of us at some level according to Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Be aware that as we work through this series, there are some themes that we’ll return to each week.
When it comes to a toxic trait, first suspect the sinner you know best. Stop for a moment and answer this question. Who is the worst sinner that you know? Chances are that you know hundreds, even thousands of people. Think of all those people and ponder: Who is the worst sinner of all?
Perhaps you thought of a parent who did great damage to you as a child. Maybe a co-worker who delights in her own vileness, or a friend who is imprisoned for what he has done. If you were honest though, you admitted that you know someone who is a far greater sinner than any of these – YOU. When I stop and think about the greatest sinner I know, I must admit that it’s me. I’m the greatest sinner I know…and you’re the greatest sinner you know. There is seemingly no end to the depravity of my own heart. As William Law said, “Self is the root, the tree, and the branches of all the evils of our fallen state.” So, as we work through these toxic traits, please first look in the mirror of your soul. Frequently, we have blind spots and would be wise to ask those closest to us: How do you experience me?
Then, be warned. Because of our own toxicity, we can project what we are onto others. King Ahab did that to Elijah, accusing God’s prophet of being the source of Israel’s trouble. For example, if someone is a habitual liar, they assume that all others are liars. The same is true of someone who is manipulative or has an anger issue. We assume others think like us.
If you are in a toxic relationship whether in your marriage, family, workplace or wherever – God put you there. Read the first two chapters of the book of Job. Who allowed Job to go through all that misery? God. One of the most toxic families in the Bible is that of the patriarch, Joseph. Yet, God used that dysfunctionality to “send” Joseph to Egypt to preserve the nation of Israel (Psalm 105:17).
As much we may hate it, God uses fire to melt away our own sinful habits and traits to make us trophies of His grace. I know that’s true in my life. I doubt that I’d be in the ministry today and love the Lord, if I had not grown up in the family that I grew up in. As Job observed, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10).
I love those words of Joseph at the end of Genesis as his brothers were terrified that Joseph would execute justice and take revenge on them for the evil that they’d done to him. “But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today’” (Genesis 50:19-20).
There is always hope! There are times when the best decision is to walk away or at least limit the toxic individual’s influence in your life. Yet, the tendency in our culture is to bail too soon. We know little of what the Bible calls longsuffering and perseverance.
Living in the heat of a toxic relationship must drive us to prayer. While it’s appropriate to pray for deliverance. Yet, God never wastes our pain, so we should also pray that God will, as He did in the life of Joseph and many others, use the pain to produce spiritual fruit in our own lives.
Then, if there is no relief, we’re confident that the very worst toxic situation for the Christ-follower is temporary. The Apostle Paul endured terrible fiery trials. Notice the contrast in his words between temporal trials and life in eternity. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

Sunday, January 14, 2024

TEAMWORK: Together We Are Winners!

“All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades.” Daniel James Brown in The Boys in the Boat

If the movie is half as good as the book, I can’t wait to see it. A few years ago, I read, The Boys in the Boat, which has been recently released as a movie. This true story is based on the struggles and sacrifices made by the University of Washington rowing team in the 1940s. It’s the powerful account of nine young men from various backgrounds who came together during the Depression to be an Olympic championship team. The main character, Joe Rantz, had a tough time growing up and was abandoned by his family for several years to fend for himself. He and the other eight young men struggled to earn their way through college. Success was dependent on learning to work together as a team. They became national heroes after defeating Germany in the Olympics prior to World War II.
Team is the stuff of great champions. Team is the stuff of great churches. Notice that there is no “i” in team.
Most Christians read the New Testament through contemporary eyes. When we see “you” in the Bible we see the “you” is singular. Yet, of the 3,000 uses of the word “you,” nearly 2200 of them are plural. Even our worship music is more “Jesus & me,” but the New Testament’s focus is “Jesus & us.” In our individualistic day we forget that Jesus had a team. As God, He certainly didn’t need a team. He was giving us a pattern.
Though the Apostle Paul was a dynamic leader, yet he travelled with a ministry team. You can hear the sadness of being alone when Paul writes, “only Luke is with me…” (1 Timothy 4:11).
The Bible compares a local church to a family, a body, a building, even an army. There is no such thing as “an army of one.” Every metaphor used for the church in Scripture speaks of a team and a committed community. What does it take to be a successful church team?
You must have one captain. One quickly learns in The Boys in the Boat the vital importance of the synchronization of the eight rowers as they respond to the commands of the coxswain with the stroke, consistent pacing, and sprint to the finish. The coxswain sets the tempo. If the rowers are going at their own individual pace or direction, they’ll always lose.
The same is true of the local church. If Jesus Christ is not Lord, if everyone has their own personal agenda, the church will struggle, be distracted, frustrated, even irritated and dead in the water. While we have opinions and values, our direction doesn’t come from within ourselves. Our direction must come from His Word. Each of us must be in the Book, if we’re going to be obeying and pleasing to our Captain.
You must have a united purpose. Grace Church exists to glorify our Heavenly Father by continually making more followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. At Grace, we’re committed to being part of Jesus’ team to reach our neighborhood, community, and world. If someone only wants to attend and not be a contributing part of the team, if they don’t want to serve, give or share the gospel but just fill a seat, we’re not the church for them.
You must be an encourager. Our world has far too many discouragers and critics. Check out social media or listen to those around you. It’s the antithesis of the old folk song, Home on the Range. Instead of “never is heard a discouraging word,” more often it’s “never is heard an encouraging word.” Anyone can point out what’s wrong and be a critic. It’s vile that many will say behind someone’s back or behind a keyboard what they’d never say to someone’s face. If we do need to say something corrective to a team member, we must “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
The Bible commands us to have conversations which “edify” (Ephesians 4:19). Edify simply means to build each other up. It’s hard work to be a winning rowing team. Each member needs to encourage the other rowers to persevere. They need to know that their part and effort is vital.
All of us grow tired. We all grow weary and get discouraged from time to time. It’s why need desperately each other and must encourage each other.
You must let others know that they are not alone. Recently, as some of our church families were going through difficult times, it struck me that one of Satan’s worst weapons in suffering is loneliness. You begin to feel that no one else is there for you or understands the struggles you’re going through. While we often can’t solve the problem, we can reassure those going through deep waters that they are not rowing through them alone.
You must know other team members. A winning team knows each other. That doesn’t happen in an hour on Sundays. We must spend time with each other. It takes what Scripture calls fellowship. The word in the New Testament is koinonia, which means “sharing life.” The Bible commands us to love each other, serve each other, pray for each other – in other words – be there for each other. That will never happen if we don’t first know each other.
There’s an old story about teamwork. Many years ago, when most roads were dirt ones, a farmer who lived near a dirt road prone to flooding, would bring his old mule, Buddy, down to pull cars out of the muck. On one occasion he arrived and hooked up Buddy to the car in the mud. The farmer yelled, “Pull Nellie! Pull!” But Buddy didn’t move. Then the farmer yelled, “Pull Jenny, pull!” Buddy still didn’t move. Then he said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And Buddy easily pulled the car out of the mud.
One motorist asked the farmer, “Why did you call out those other names before you called Buddy’s name?” The farmer said, “Old Buddy is blind. If he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try. I do that to make him believe that he’s part of a team. That idea of teamwork gives him the strength to pull out any car.”
Jesus has called every Christ-follower to be part of His team. Are you rowing? Are you a faithful member of His team?

Sunday, January 7, 2024

and the WORD of the year is...

“Authenticity is more than speaking; Authenticity is also about doing. Every decision we make says something about who we are.” Simon Sinek

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2023 is authentic—the term for something we’re thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more than ever. A high-volume lookup most years, authentic saw a substantial increase in 2023, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.
Authentic has a number of meanings including “not false or imitation,” a synonym of real and actual and also “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character. While clearly a desirable quality, authenticity is hard to define and subject to debate—two reasons it sends people to the dictionary.
Authentic is often connected to identity, whether national or personal. Words frequently modified by authentic include cuisine and dish, but also self and voice. Celebrities like singers Lainey Wilson, Sam Smith, and especially Taylor Swift all made headlines in 2023 with statements about seeking their “authentic voice” and “authentic self.” With the rise of artificial intelligence—and its impact on deepfake videos, academic honesty, the line between “real” and “fake” is increasingly blurred.
If anyone should be authentic and live authentically, it should be Christ-followers. Notice that I didn’t say “perfectly.” We all blow it. We all sin. I’m continually astounded at the evil within my own heart. What we must have is a new heart. That only comes when someone commits their life to Christ. It’s impossible to work up. Instead by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, it’s worked out. It’s in Christ that we have an “undivided” heart. As Psalms 86:11 says, “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Living authentically is a command that echoes throughout God’s Word. It’s woven into the very fabric of our faith. Obviously, since “authentic” is the word of the year for 2023, it’s as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. To be authentic will challenge us, shape us and free us.
When we think about living authentically, we usually think about honesty. We think about telling the truth, about not lying or deceiving. That's certainly part of it. But living authentically is about so much more than just honesty. It’s about integrity. It's about being true to who we are, to who God has created us to be and who Jesus has given us new life to be.
Living authentically first means living with integrity. Integrity is about being the same person in all situations. It's about being the same person on Sunday morning as you are on Saturday night. It's about being the same person in public as you are in private. It's about living in a way that's consistent with our beliefs, our values and our faith.
Living authentically first means living transparently. Transparency is about being open, being vulnerable, being real. It's about letting others see us as we really are, not as we wish we were. It's about sharing our struggles, our failures, our doubts, our questions, our joys, our victories.
Living authentically first means living faithfully. Faithfulness is about being true to our commitments, to our promises, to our word. It's about being reliable, trustworthy and being dependable.
Living authentically isn’t easy. It’s certainly not comfortable or convenient. But it’s worth it. It pleases God and it’s what He’s commanded us to be. It brings us closer to Him and ultimately is so freeing.
Most of us struggle with being authentic Christ-followers in three areas: our marriages and families, with money and business and in private.
When it comes to our marriage and family, it’s amazing that we’re often kinder, have our words and temper more under control with even a cashier at McDonald’s than we do with our own spouse or children. If our faith is authentic, our families should be able to testify to that.
The Bible never says that “money is the root of all evil.” It’s “the love of money that’s the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). It’s that love that tempts us to fudge our ethics, cut corners at work, cheat on our taxes, etc.
Character is who you are when no one is looking. It’s when we’re alone late at night or out of town without accountability that we’re tempted to act with a divided heart. Temptation whispers, “Who will know?” God will.
Perhaps as never before social media has increased the temptation to sanitize our lives so that we only ever share the highlights of our lives: the best pictures, the flattering news and happy family events. Our image is carefully managed and squeaky clean. But those who are far from God are looking for the real deal – neither worldly compromise nor phony religion. God has called us to be authentic in our faith and to be true representatives of Jesus Christ as we attempt to reach people with the gospel message.
Everyone loves someone authentic. Sadly, genuineness is an unusual trait. When how we live matches up with who we say we are in Christ, authenticity shines through. The walk matches the talk.
Authenticity is attractive, drawing people to Jesus. Our world is looking for those who are real. As God builds the distinguishing marks of authenticity into a believer, it increases God’s influence in our world.
Most of us cringe when we have to show others our driver’s license photograph. We look either washed out from too much light, or shadowy and suspicious from too little. Our eyes look either goofy and wide-eyed, or droopy and sleepy-eyed. Our hair is hopelessly out of place. And our smile? “Good grief,” we say to ourselves, “do I really smile like that?”
But then there’s the opposite extreme—the studio portrait. With the photographer’s magic, the right background highlights our colors. The most flattering angle emphasizes our strong points. The lighting softens our features. The air brush can blow away any wrinkles or imperfections.
As radically different as they are, the driver’s license photo and the studio portrait have one thing in common – neither is realistic. If we want to influence others for the Lord, it’s important that the portrait others see is real. In the end, only God sees our “real” selves. Yet it’s imperative that by His grace we strive to be authentic if we truly desire to bring glory to Him.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2024: Grab Your Parachute!

“Maybe sometimes it’s riskier NOT to take a risk. Sometimes all you’re guaranteeing is that things will stay the same.” Danny Wallace

In 2024, I want to be like Dorothy Hoffner. Last October 4^th this 104-year-old Chicago woman jumped 13,500 feet from a plane to take a chance of becoming the oldest person to tandem skydive. She ditched her walker to skydive, and it wasn't even her first freefall. She first skydived four years ago on her 100^th birthday, but she wanted a redo because, she said, she didn’t want to be pushed out of the plane…she wanted to lead the jump. On October 4^th, she did just that. Hoffner tumbled out of a plane while 13,500 feet in the air, strapped to an instructor. White hair billowing in the wind, she parachuted down to a grass landing area. “Age is just a number,” Hoffner told a cheering crowd. After cheers and congratulations from friends and family, she was handed back her red walker.

Unlike Dorothy Hoffner, too many of us essentially live in a rut. Someone defined a rut “as a grave with both ends kicked out.” Here are some risks that I wish people would consider taking in 2024.

Get out of your safe zone and check out if what the Bible says about God and going to heaven is true. I have many friends who’ve decided that they don’t believe there is a God, and that this world is basically a machine. They believe that this life is it…when you die, you die. Many of them are well educated and very intellectual. Most of them are good people who sincerely care about others.

Maybe they have but if they haven’t, in 2024 I wish that they’d check the evidence out for themselves. What I’m asking isn’t big, it’s just reading the four biographies of Jesus in the New Testament for themselves – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. My concern is that so many have swallowed what they have been taught and never checked it out for themselves. If they did, maybe they’d come to the same conclusion…yet I know of so many that once they actually read the Bible for themselves with an open mind, were overwhelmed with who Jesus is, how much God loves them and that He cares for them and their deepest needs. So, if you’re a skeptic, in 2024, please take a risk – take the time and check out the evidence for yourself.
Get out of your safe zone and check out whether what you believe about going to heaven is what God says in the Bible. One of the most frightening statements you’ll ever hear is: I think that God is like… And when someone dies, most of their friends and family aren’t honest about where they actually are. Someone could have blown off God all of their lives. Often the only time they mention God’s name is as a swear word but in the end, according to the conventional wisdom no matter how you live, everyone goes to heaven. Listening to these conversations, you’d almost think that they’d give Hitler a pass.
Yet, since heaven is God’s Home and He created it, shouldn’t He set the standards for who lives in His Home. God is loving but He’s not stupid.
What Dad would sacrifice his only child for someone else, particularly an enemy. Yet, that’s exactly what God did when He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, on the cross for the sins of the world. Do any of us really believe that we could somehow pay God back for such an unbelievable sacrifice by being good, going to church, being a nice person…at our best we’re all still a big mess. So, if you’re religious but trusting what you think or have been taught, yet never checked out what God actually says in His Word about going to heaven, check out whether you are right.
The Book of Romans was written by Paul, a very religious guy who believed he was going to heaven because he was so religious. He found out he was dead wrong. Why not check out what Paul wrote and see if you’re right? In 2024, do some biblical fact checking for yourself.
Get out of your safe zone and take a step forward spiritually. Isn’t it amazing that those of us who know that we’re going to live with Jesus for eternity are often focused on temporal changes rather than spiritual and what are eternally significant changes? Perhaps it’s a sinful habit that you’ve been rationalizing about. Clinging to it is causing you to limp spiritually and withholding God’s best for your life. This is the year to repent and replace it with what God wants you to do.
Perhaps there are some spiritual habits that you know that you need to make part of your daily life, yet you keep procrastinating. Maybe it’s regularly reading your Bible, instead of just on Sundays when you’re at church. Maybe it’s committing to increase your prayer life or becoming more faithful in your church attendance or even joining a small group Bible study. So, if your spiritual life is like a rocking chair and not really going anywhere because some things need to change, make 2024 your year!
Get out of your safe zone and make what for you is a leap of faith. One of my heroes in the Bible is Caleb. When everyone else was shaking in their sandals in fear of the giants, Caleb with Joshua was singing a duet of “We can do it! We can do it!” When God finally brought Israel into the Promised Land, Caleb was 85-years-young. Rather than sitting out and saying, “I’m old. It’s someone else’s turn,” Caleb is biting on the bit to take new territory. Even though there were giants there, Caleb said, “I want that mountain.” Caleb was a man of faith who’d have gone after Moby Dick in a rowboat with a bottle of tartar sauce.
That’s who I want to be. That’s what I long for our church to be. Maybe for you it’s inviting that neighbor or co-worker to church? Maybe it’s sharing the gospel with that one you’ve been praying for that they will come to Jesus…and God is sending you? Maybe it’s giving so it tightens your budget a bit? Maybe it’s serving in a ministry where you’re not a natural or you’re nervous? It’s time for the people of faith to step out in faith. It’s time to dream big because we have a BIG God and go big!
In 2024, I’m packing my parachute! How about you? Let’s stop playing it safe and take some risks!

Sunday, December 24, 2023

The Gift of Peace

“What peace can they have who are not at peace with God?”

Matthew Henry

Two artists set out to paint a picture that was to represent perfect peace. The first painted a canvas depicting a carefree boy sitting in a boat on a little lake without a ripple to disturb the surface. The other though painted a raging waterfall, winds whipping spray about. Yet on a limb, overhanging the swirling water, a bird had built its nest and sat peacefully brooding over her eggs. Here she was safe from predatory enemies and though surrounded by the roaring falls, she was totally at peace.
Peace isn’t just the absence of conflict. In fact, peace is best appreciated and understood when conflicts raged all around.
Alexander Maclaren said, “However profound and real that Divine peace is, it is to be enjoyed in the midst of warfare. God’s peace is not [inertia]. The man that has it has still to wage continual conflict, and day by day to brace himself anew for the fight. The highest energy of action is the result of the deepest calm[ness] of heart. That peace of God…is peace militant.”
A relationship with God isn’t like some magic wand to be waved over all of your problems. True peace doesn’t come that way. As we make the tough choices to trust Him and hold fast to His grace, His peace surges through us. As hard as life is, militant peace arrives at the instant we exercise faith during the battle. It gives us strength to say, “I can do this. I can make this tough choice for the honor of Christ. I can, I will trust Him!”
Peace is something that we all desperately need and want. It’s one reason why countless millions are spent annually in search of peace. Every year thousands of people seeking personal or family peace flock to professional counselors. Diplomats fly around the globe pursuing peace between nations. Our courts are jammed with cases arising from a breakdown of peace between individuals or corporations. But all this money and time hasn’t worked. Seemingly, there is less peace than ever before.
Peace, the kind of peace we need and yearn for, is a gift. It’s a gift that God lovingly gave us when He sent His Son, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, into our world. 2,000 thousand years ago angels announced God’s peace in His Son to a group of poor shepherds.
The peace the Lord Jesus gives isn’t just any kind of peace. The Bible tells us that this peace is a type of peace that enables us to experience an inner calm in spite of circumstances that would normally cause us to unravel. It’s like the calm like the eye of a hurricane…perfect stillness and peace while storms rage all around.
The best picture of the gift of peace that Jesus brings us is seen in Jesus Himself. The way that the Lord Jesus lived His life showed that when it comes to peace Jesus knew what He was talking about. He fully deserves the title: Prince of Peace. For example, the very storm that caused His disciples to panic, made Him drowsy. Remember? The disciples feared that their boat would be their tomb but to Jesus it was a cradle. Another time, when Jesus was teaching a crowd of 5,000 men (not counting women and children) His disciples panicked because it was supper time, and they were worried about how they’d feed the huge crowd. When they informed Jesus, He faced that situation with unworldly calm. As He began His earthly ministry and told people in the synagogue that He was the Messiah. They responded by trying to throw Him off a cliff, but He calmly walked through their midst. The professional mourners at the home of Jairus laughed in His face when Jesus told them the little girl was only asleep. Then He calmly entered her room and raised her from the dead. Even the raging demoniac in the graveyard at Gadara didn’t scare Him. On the cross while the other two prisoners cursed their executioners, Jesus prayed for them, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Isn’t that the kind of peace that we all long for? Wouldn’t you like to be able to face the trials of life like Jesus did? Doesn’t this particular gift of Christmas seem appealing to you? Jesus came to give us peace, yet there is only one way to have this peace.
You must surrender your life to King Jesus. The Bible teaches that we’re all sinners and at odds with our Holy God. There’s no such thing as a “good” person. Most of us aren’t even nice. So, to experience this gift of Christmas we must first make our peace with God. We must resolve our part of the conflict between God and man that began when sin entered the world. When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God’s laws, really just one command, they broke their relationship with our loving Creator. Every human being since has done the same thing.
Instead of living our lives according to the will of our Creator, each of us willfully chooses to live according to our own self-will. Isaiah 53:6 describes this selfish rebellion when it says, “We all…like sheep…have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way.” When sin entered the world, peace left it. Since then, all of us go our own way instead of God’s. We disobey His laws in thought, word, and deed. Yet Jesus came to make peace between God and man a possibility again. In dying for our sins, Jesus carried the guilt of the entire human race in His own body. Jesus became our peace offering.
A peace offering is a gift or service for the purpose of securing peace or reconciliation. In the Old Testament there are dozens of references to the Jews recognizing this enmity between themselves and God by bringing peace offerings, sacrifices to God in His temple. But Jesus came to be the peace offering to God for all humanity. His sacrificial death on the cross is the source of this gift of peace.
It’s what Ephesians 2:14 means when it says, “For He [Jesus] Himself is our peace, Who has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, for through Him we have access to the Father.” To have inner peace then, we must personally accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We must claim Him as our peace offering.
Jesus is the first Christmas gift. He’s God’s gift to YOU! It’s the message of John 3:16. But a gift is worthless unless you personally accept it. You can believe there’s a gift, know all about it, but it doesn’t become yours until you accept it. Jesus came to give us the gift of peace with God. That’s the beginning of true peace. My friend, have you accepted God’s gift?

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Christmas: Better Than A Hallmark Christmas Movie

“I wanted to send you something AMAZING for Christmas,

but the mailman told me to get out of the mailbox…” Unknown

Doesn’t that sound like a line from some Hallmark Christmas movie? One of the most popular movie genres this time of year – one that you probably either love or hate – is Hallmark Christmas movies. Initially associated with the Hallmark Channel, the genre now spans multiple networks and streaming services. To say these movies are successful is an understatement, considering some 50 million people have watched at least one Christmas movie on the Hallmark network.
It’s an all too familiar script: a reluctant young woman travels back to her hometown; sworn enemies fall in love; towns are named after favorite Christmas treats. There will be an initial conflict, but it will be overcome because Christmas is a time of love…even miracles. We see just enough of our own lives reflected in these conflicts—a sick parent, a heartbreak, a jealous ex—that we can see ourselves as the protagonist. But unlike real life, there’s always a happy ending.
While I have some Christmas movies that I love to watch each year, the Hallmark ones are a bit too cheesy for me. Jane and I tried to watch one recently. At the halfway point I’d had enough. Everything was just a little too perfect. Maybe that’s my problem. I know that no matter what Hollywood or Hallmark churns out, Christmas is not about perfect.
And even the Hallmark Christmas movies have a vital unanswered question: What happens after the perfect, cheery holidays? We want to believe that they’re fairy tale endings – “they lived happily ever after.” But most of these movies end at Christmas. What about after Christmas? What does life look like when the magic of Christmas is gone? Or what if the magic of Christmas was never there?
For some this will be the first Christmas with an empty place at the table. Others have gone through a terrible divorce. It’s the first Christmas after the death of a marriage. Some serve our country in the far reaches of the world. Others must work on Christmas. Many go “home” but family relationships are like walking through a minefield. The atmosphere is fraught with tension and unresolved conflict. Hallmark Christmas movies give us a happy ending in a time for some that feels anything but “merry.”
With the beauty of Christmas, the decorations, gifts, singing and parties and sanitized manger scenes, we easily forget that Christmas happened because this world was a disaster. Christmas happened, because we’re all a hot mess. God the Father in love sent His only Son into our trainwreck to clean it up, to give us hope.
Jesus was the first Christmas gift, yet it doesn’t end with a smiling infant in a manger. It ends with a Savior on a cross. While you and I were born to live; Jesus was born to die.
In his book, Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller explains the three elements of a story. He points out that a story begins when something knocks life out of balance and things are obviously not as they should be. Then it progresses, or the plot “thickens,” as the protagonists in the story struggle to restore the balance of peace while antagonistic forces work to thwart their efforts. Finally, the story ends as the struggle results in either the restoration of balance or the failure to recover it.
One of the reasons we love the stories that fill our Christmas traditions is that they inevitably end in the restoration of peace and the perpetuation of the Christmas Spirit. They’re so familiar that we don’t need a spoiler alert.
Remember that when the Grinch stole Christmas, he gave it back. In Christmas Story Ralphie gets the Red Ryder BB Gun. In Christmas Carol that old curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge embraces generosity. Even in Home Alone, Kevin’s family makes it home for Christmas, the bandits are hauled off to jail, and a lonely old man reunites with his family.
We cherish those Christmas stories because they reflect the hope that’s associated with Christmas. An association we make because of the real Christmas Story, when the protagonist, Jesus Christ, came to light the way to peace and reconciliation with God and us, and us with each other.
Our story going back to the Garden begins when something knocks life with God out of sync. Sin entered the world and things were no longer as they were supposed to be. You and I, and the whole human race, were originally designed to walk in peace with God. Because of sin, we lost the connection. In biblical terms when sin entered the world, the lights went out and we couldn’t see His way. From that point forward, the world is filled with darkness, and everyone is on a hopeless quest for peace. We either sought to work our way to God through religion, or sought peace in other things—money, drugs, power, prestige, or people. None of it works. It’s why Jesus had to come!
Christ-followers are reminded every Christmas that Christmas isn’t the ultimate end—it’s the beginning. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the One sent to save us from our sins and the fulfillment of God’s promise. The first promise of a coming Savior is found in the first pages of Genesis in Genesis 3:15. That miracle—a baby born to save us all—is the promise that can get us through the worst days. God created a home for us in Heaven, a home where there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more death. It’s a home where we’ll be reunited forever with our brothers and sisters, all who have accepted the One who came to be our Savior.
Christ-followers get to live this truth each year, celebrating the miracle of new beginnings. For us there really is a happy ending, one that’s out of this world forever! Because of God’s great love and great Christ’s sacrifice, we will live with Him in heaven forever.
So, what’s home? It can be many things. It can be a mom or dad, or grandparents. Maybe it’s the aroma of Christmas dinner. Our one true Home is because of faith in a loving God and His promises. When we commit our lives to Him, when Christ lives within us, our hearts yearn for “peace on earth” that begins in our hearts. There really is no place like Home and the one our Heavenly Father is preparing for us. And Hallmark ain’t got nothing on that. It will be a happy ending that lasts forever!