At Passion ’07 I learned of a great ministry called OneVerse. Please take a look at this site. I will write more on this and what we are doing at my church to take part in this great ministry. My heart and desire has been captured by the people of the world that do not yet have the gospel in a language they can read. Please, check this ministry out and pray about taking part in the great commission in a different way than you normally think.

A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile and I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they’d be happy for a while but February made me shiver with every paper I delivered, bad news on the door step, I couldn’t take one more step, I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride but something touched me deep inside, the day, the music, died.

In 1971 Don McLean’s American Pie bent America’s ear and captured her heart. It is mostly about the loss of better days as McLean recounts the hardships of the 60′s. The song begins with, and pivots on, the death of Buddy Holly in 1959. Buddy Holly’s music, simple and optimistic, symbolized an easier time in American culture for many people, including McLean.

America has come a long way since then and we have dealt with more tragedy and cultural shift than 1971 could have imagined. So, I think I can understand some of what McLean was lamenting.

The day the music died was the day that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper all died in a plane crash. The tragedy of such a day is that all we have left of these great musicians is the music they left behind. They can never produce anything new; they have nothing more to contribute to our lives.

Unfortunately I think many Christians look at Jesus in the same way. The day the music died might have been the end of Buddy Holly’s contribution to society, but the day the Savior died does not mark the end of His involvement in our lives; in fact it was only the beginning.

This is, of course, the foundation of the Christian faith and what the life of every Christian should be centered on:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time…
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 (ESV)

We serve a living Savior, not a dead religion. We live for, and under the authority of, Jesus who loves us and continually speaks into our lives. Jesus didn’t defeat death so that He could go home to Heaven and get away from His creation, but so that He could sit at the right hand of God and actively intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25), praying for us and impacting our lives here and now.

I have no doubt that God has a plan for every life He purchased through the sacrifice of His son (1 Corinthians 6:20). And, as a part of that plan, God wants to guide and direct us. He wants to interact with us. He wants us to know Him and love Him in a deep and intimate way. God is here, now (Psalm 14:5). Jesus is praying for us, now. The Holy Spirit is guiding us, now (John 16:13). We would all do well to listen carefully and follow eagerly in whatever direction He takes us.

This is our church’s first week without a pastor. As I think about that I am sad in some ways, missing members of our family, but I am also excited to see what God has in store for us. I am reminded that we may be missing our pastor, but we are still under the guidance and direction of our Senior Pastor, Jesus. My prayer is that our church will continue to follow Him, listening for His direction to guide our path.

P.S. I realize that the truth that I am speaking of here is something that every Christian knows already. But, I felt compelled to write this because even though we know this is true, we usually live like it is not. My prayer for my family and for you, the reader, is that we will embrace the simple truth that Jesus is alive and desires to be an active part of our lives. And, I pray that this truth will set us free to live for Him with every ounce of our being.

What I am not saying.

Let me start out on the defence; I am not saying that Jesus is not my first and most favorite hero. I am also not saying that many biblical men and women of the bible are not great examples for us today. I am not even saying that Spurgeon(pictured above), Pink, Tozer, Sproul, Edwards, Bunyan, Grudem, Calvin, Elliot, Tyndale, Driscoll, D. Montgomery and other great men of God are not important to me as a learner.

What I am saying.

We live in a world full of men and women that are afraid to speak the Word of God to each other and the lost world. We are seeing a growing complacency where the Church is happy just to get fat on pharisitical Fajitas- rules and morals that are to be consumed for the sake of religion and good public standing. Why are we so caught up in cheep grace theology and what ever works pragmatism? Where are the men and women that will speak up and teach God’s Word, regardless of the sufferings it may bring.

I want to encourage you that there are many modern day heros in a world of wimps that are indeed standing on God’s Word as they trust in the Holy Spirt to use them to teach. One of my personal modern day heros is John Piper. I first read a book by Piper when I was in college, it was about 1996 or 97 and Future Grace gave me a sharper view of my God and His Glory. I try to read every book that Piper puts out because I believe that God is using Him to show us that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”. God is using Piper to encourage pastors all over the states and missionaries all over the world along with young men and women in the professional fields. He is fireing up college students and rekindling the flame for retirees as they are brought face to face with the truths of Scripture.
I am tired of hearing so many preachers on tv and the radio saying “Oh, it’s not about us, or me, it’s all about Him”, only to speak for the rest of the sermon about everything but God. Are you taking in a good dose of biblical Christ exalting preaching? Be deliberate about listening to the Word of God being preached by men who are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Don’t be content with placebo sermon perscriptions that leave you unchanged and unchallenged in your condition.

Who are some of your modern day heros in a world of wimps?

Resource:
I am excited to let you know that you can now watch Piper’s sermons for free. They start in August

Yesterday I sat in a room at Emory Hospital and watched my aunt walk down a long path and open the door into eternity. Around 6pm my family and I watched and comforted her as she left this world and entered into the very presence of God.

Death is always hard, and seeing it first hand is even harder. But, it’s a part of life, we are born, we live and we die. Rather than avoiding and fearing this aspect of the life process we should accept and, dare I say, embrace it. Thought it’s hard, and somewhat cliché to say it, death is a transition not an end. For the Christian, death is stepping away from physical pain and into eternal bliss. It is stepping out of a world that is filled with sin, pain, heartache and despair and into a reality of unimaginable beauty and splendor. Death is often painful, bloody, ugly and frightening, but (for the believer) its aftermath is a beautiful thing to be celebrated by everyone who knows Jesus and looks forward to life everlasting with Him.

I will be speaking at the funeral, and I imagine I will reiterate most of what is written here. But, as I was thinking about what to talk about God brought a verse to my mind. Just last week I read this verse to some friends to encourage them after the death of their sister so it seems appropriate that my family and I be encouraged by it now. It says:

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.

-Psalm 130:5-7 (ESV)

The part of this scripture that captures my attention is the line, “my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning”. This is obviously an important point because any time scripture repeats itself it is for the sake of emphasis; basically it’s the Hebrew version of the exclamation point. So, we must ask, how do watchmen wait for the morning?

But, before answering that question let’s ask and answer another question to set the stage. What was the most dangerous time for a city in Old Testament times? Night. Night was the most likely time for an enemy attack. At night the watchmen had limited visibility and therefore the city was far more vulnerable than during the day. For the watchmen darkness did not bring peaceful rest, but fearful anxiety and a headache from straining to see through the dark curtain of night. For the watchmen morning brought relief, a confirmation of safety and the satisfaction that their time of uncertainty had ended.

This is a beautiful picture of death. While we walk this earth we are very much like the night watchmen of a city. We are never completely at peace. We consistently suffer enemy attacks. We are unable to see everything clearly and truly understand everything that life throws our way. We are weary, anxious, vulnerable, fearful, and desperately straining our eyes to see the path ahead. But, our soul waits for the Lord like watchmen for the morning! When death comes and we are united with Christ we experience complete peace and joy for the first time in our existence. We don’t suffer enemy attacks any more. We see everything about our life and eternity clearly for the first time. We are no longer weary, vulnerable, tired, anxious, or fearful. In death (in heaven) we experience a joy far greater than can be imaged. In death we taste life, real life, eternal life, for the first time.

In death our soul does not wait for the Lord, our soul experiences Him full force! In this life we wait eagerly to be united with Christ, in death the thirst of our soul is quenched and we are complete.

Technorati Tags: Death, Heaven, Soul, Afterlife, Psalm+130, Soul+Waits, Life, Joy, Eternity

We live in a culture where men wear pink. Not just a few, but most men have something pink hanging in their closet or folded nicely in their dresser. While I don’t particularly condemn the men that do this, it has made me realize that manhood appears to be on the decline.Just think about it, culture increasingly embraces guys that are metrosexual, which is basically when a guy acts less like a guy and becomes all too interested in how he looks, smells, etc. The fact that someone once referred to me in such a manner makes me queasy.

So, you may be wondering, if men don’t mind being more like women, why does it matter? It matters for many reasons, but mainly, because men are supposed to be the head of the household. I don’t mean this in the archaic, “my wife should serve me”, old school, anti-women way that many people would advocate. My wife and I are partners in every way, and I would not (and could not) ever order her around; but, I do take a leadership role in our home and act as a servant leader to her and our child. Too many husbands and dads get walked all over by their family. They become the provider of income only, accepting limited responsibility in the home. These dads become checked out of their family’s life because they are not fulfilling the role designed for them. A father that does not lead his household is a father that will burn out, flake out, or just bail out completely. This is detrimental to a child’s development and to the family as a whole. If you don’t believe me just look at the statistics:

From Human Events Online:

• 40 percent of our nation’s children are living in homes without their own father

From Fathers.com:

• Children from fatherless homes are twice as likely to drop out of school.
• Fatherless children are twice as likely to engage in premarital sex and become teen parents outside of marriage.
• Seventy percent of juveniles in state reform institutions grew up in single or no-parent situations.
• Sixty percent of America’s rapists grew up in homes without fathers.
• Seventy-two percent of adolescent murderers grew up without fathers.
• Fatherless children are five times more likely to live in poverty compared to children living with both parents.

I’m writing this post because as I read my Bible I realize that it is filled with manly men, doing manly things. For example, Gideon was getting ready for battle with a 32,000 man army and God says, “The people with you are too many…” so Gideon gets rid of 22,000. Then God says, “The people are still too many…” so Gideon ends up with 300 men. What does Gideon do with 300 men verses a whole army? He fights like a man and wins the battle to the glory of God! I have to admit, the closest that I can come to something like this is watching an episode of Stargate SG-1 where the team of four defeat an entire alien army through mass weapons fire and some trickery.

I also think of the prophet Nathan when he confronts King David about his sin. King David has the authority of life and death over anyone in his kingdom and Nathan walks right up to him and condemns him for his sin; a pretty gutsy move. It would take a pretty bold man to do that. How many guys today are afraid to confront others about the sin in their lives, even though they know there will be no repercussion other than hurt feelings or anger?

Hebrews 11 is also filled with some very manly men doing bold things for God. Across scripture we see men doing what men do best…being manly. Does this always produce good results? No. Does this result in God doing amazing things through men with valiant hearts? Yes.

Also, let’s not forget, Jesus was not a pink wearing, metrosexual, white, middleclass, republican (slightly altered Derek Webb lyrics). He was a carpenter, which meant working with his hands (a very manly thing to do) and involved a lot of heavy lifting (meaning Jesus did not have girly little arms). He hung out with fishermen (generally very manly men like the guys on Deadliest Catch). He turned over tables in the temple in his righteous anger. He was always doing the unexpected, teaching controversial topics in odd places to unusual listeners and going against the flow of society. There is no doubt that Jesus was a man’s man in every sense.

If men want to be like Jesus, if they want to be good husbands and fathers, then they must embrace being men.

So let me end by asking: What does Biblical manhood look like? Have men really become less manly? What should today’s manly man look like?

Technorati Tags: Biblical+Manhood, Manhood, Men, Being+a+Man, Hebrews+11, King+David, Jesus, Metrosexual, Husband, Father, Servant+Leader, Head+of+Household

Shadows are not physically real; they are a two dimensional representation of something else. From a shadow you can infer and learn a lot, but if it is all you have to examine it will leave many questions unanswered. It seems like most of the time this is where we find ourselves when trying to understand God. Too often we settle for focusing on the shadow rather than seeking the fullness that is God Himself.

The examples are abundant. In New Testament times the tabernacle was described as a shadow of the real place of worship that is in heaven. Fast forward to today and that should remind us that the physical church is not the true place of worship; it is a representation of a real place. Our worship in church is temporary, but once we reach the true place of worship it will be eternal

The Sabbath, various celebrations, gatherings, and holidays are a shadow of the real thing that is Christ Himself. There is no doubt of the importance of the things listed here. The Bible expressly commands that we meet together regularly for fellowship, worship, and the teaching of the Word. But, we must always remember that we do these things for Christ Himself and for no other reason. Getting caught up in religious activities for the sake of the activities themselves is missing the point and settling for something less.

The law is a shadow of the good things to come. By it we know what is right and wrong. By it we are able to define ourselves, to see ourselves as we really are, sinful and fallen. By the law we are able to become better because it gives us boundaries to run from and goals to run after. But, the law can never perfect us. The law can never make us good enough to enter the presence of a Holy and perfect God. Being legalistic just won’t cut it. Following rules never brought anyone into a deeper relationship with anyone else; at best rules keep us out of trouble without ever developing intimacy.

All these examples are pointing out one thing, it’s easy to look at God’s shadow and miss out on Him completely. I pray that we can focus on Him without getting lost in the shadows.

Why do we tend to think that Christianity is about knowing the answers rather than asking the questions?

This is a thought from the book Velvet Elvis in which Rob Bell writes, “Being a Christian then is more about celebrating mystery than conquering it.”

I think he makes a good point. So often we look at the Bible as the book that has all of life’s answers. It does have answers, but it also raises questions. Questions like: what does faith look like? How can a person be a disciple? What does being a disciple look like in today’s culture? What does it mean to be a teacher and leader? The Bible does give us answers, but it should also make us ask questions, questions that make us dig deep into our soul, questions that make us seek God. These questions should drive us, motivating us toward deeper relationship with Christ.

Please share some of your questions. What is driving you?