I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone elses foundation…
-Romans 15:20 (ESV)

These are the thoughts rolling around in my head about this verse:

• How many churches, ministries, and ministers build on the foundation of others? Churches steal members from one another and compete within a community insead of working together. Is our main goal not the same? Save the lost and disciple the saved.

• How many of us (myself included) preach the gospel to ears that have heard the name of Jesus not once, but many, many times? We preach to the chior and leave the world to die.

This scripture convicts my heart. In reading it I realize that I often take light to the light places while tip toeing around the dark ones. This motivates me to get serious about stepping into the darkness, finding the blind, sick, helpless, and hopeless, and loving them like Jesus does.

I’m also convicted to get out of my house, out of my church, out of my city and out of this country to share the love of Jesus, to take his name into the local and global places where it is not known.

I was talking with a friend the other day about what a radical life change might look like in this area. For me, and for most Christians that I know, the radical life change would simply be to engage and love people that don’t know Jesus. It’s just so easy to hang out with Christian friends, and meet new Christian friends. But it’s another thing altogether to meet people who don’t know Jesus and have them over to your house for dinner. It’s harder and less comfortable, but it’s what Jesus did on a regular basis.

Any ideas on ways to get into places where Christ has not been named and meet new people?

Note: I’m not just talking about evangelism, I’m talking about building life on life relationships with people that don’t know Jesus for the sake of loving them with Christ’s love and allowing Him to change their hearts and lives.

Romans 14 serves as a great reminder of how easy it is to lose sight of what is really important (it’s not about food, it’s about faith).

It’s easy to take our eyes off of God for a brief moment only to realize that it is difficult to recapture Him in our line of site. And then, gazing across the chasm that has formed during that brief lapse, we find God’s figure fuzzy and distorted…out of focus.

It is here, looking in the general direction of a fuzzy God that we lose our bearings and become lost in religion.

This was the condition of the pharisees, men of great devotion who took their eyes off of God and got lost in religion. Then in their fuzzy thinking they created all kinds of rules and regulations (adding to the scripture) that made following God more difficult, completely disregarding the importance of faith. They forgot that it is faith, not works that make us righteous before God. And, that “whatever does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).

This is the place where most Christians get lost as well. It’s a quick process. One day you are following God, fellow-shipping with Him, and then after just a short time of slacking off you find that you can’t seem to reconnect with Him in the way that you once did. Then you figure, “well, I’ll keep going to church, being a good person, and giving money and eventually I’ll get back to where I used to be,” only to find that you drift farther and farther from relationship and deeper and deeper into religion. Before you know it your whole spiritual life consists of rules and propriety instead of a deep faith that can move mountains.

I think there is only one way to avoid this predicament. We must, at all costs, fix our eyes on Jesus and press on towards Him. We must hate everything, as it compares to our love for Jesus (Luke 14:26). We must be intentional in our thinking, our living, and our pursuit of God. We must stay focused.

Yesterday I finished out my study of Romans. In reading chapter 16 I was stunned by how many people Paul offers greetings. He mentions 27 people, 3 churches, and 2 families (if I still know how to count). That’s a decent number of people to remember in one city, especially when Paul was traveling to so many.

I guess what really strikes me about this is that I have no doubt that Paul is greeting these people because they are on his heart, which also means they are in his prayers. I realized a few days ago how little I actually pray for my friends and family. It’s sad. Then, yesterday, reading this passage, affirmed to me how important it is to pray for other people.

So, to help me in this endeavour, I have a note pad always open on my desktop that I can write prayer requests in. This serves two purposes; I can write down prayer requests as soon as I think about them, and I see the prayer requests many times each day reminding me to pray. So far it’s going well.

Do you have a method for reminding yourself to pray for others? Please share your strategy.

Last night I got an email from a friend that teaches a college Sunday School class. He asked me a question that his students asked him: is God able to [tag]hate[/tag], as in hating [tag]sin[/tag]? I have a few thoughts on this, and some scripture that I want to share.

First, I think that God hates sin in the sense that sin is unable to exist in His presence. In a very real way God’s infinite holiness repels and dispels sin. Also, considering that it was for the payment of sin that God allowed His son to die the most brutal death imaginable, hate might be an appropriate word to describe the anguish that He felt.

you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
-Psalm 45:7 (ESV)

• God rewards those that hate wickedness, so I would assume that He feels the same way.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
and perverted speech I hate.
-Proverbs 8:13 (ESV)

• The fear of the Lord is also the beginning of [tag]wisdom[/tag], so those who are wise hate evil. I’m thinking that God is pretty wise…

There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
-Proverbs 6:16-19 (ESV)

• Notice that these are all sin, and God hates them all.

What are your thoughts?

When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
-Acts 14:21-22 (ESV, emphasis added)

As I read this passage I can envision myself walking through the fires of this world’s tribulation and in the moment that my heart beats it’s last, I step from the fire to gaze on the beauty of heaven and the glory of God. This helps me to realize that death is a beautiful thing and reminds me that, though life is hard, the reward for believers is eternal and satisfying. Paul understood this better than anyone, his life was full of trials and in the midst of them he was continually looking toward his heavenly reward.

[tag]Paul[/tag] was stoned in Lystra, thought to be dead (by the Jews), and left to rot outside the city. Now, Paul has returned to encourage the believers in the very city where he was stoned. His message is simple but encouraging, “through many [tag]tribulations[/tag] we must enter the kingdom of God.” These are pretty powerful words from a man who had recently endured so much.

I think the key to walking through trails of any kind is to have our eyes fixed on what lies beyond them, namely [tag]heaven[/tag]. When [tag]Peter[/tag] stepped out of the boat with his eyes fixed on [tag]Jesus[/tag] he was fine, but as soon as the wind and water clouded his vision he began to sink. It’s like running a marathon, you set your eyes ahead (toward the finish line) and you run, totally disregarding your fatigue and your competition.

But, the [tag]race[/tag] of life is different. In life we race, and as we fatigue we are infused with strength to endure by the [tag]Holy Spirit[/tag]. When we finish this race we don’t end with tired and worn bodies, instead we enjoy perfect heavenly ones.

In my experience life is a difficult race with more [tag]trials[/tag] than I care to admit or acknowledge. But, in my estimation (according to God’s word) these trails will end, along with my life, at a destination more glorious than I can conceive. In that instant, the arms that have lifted me up for so long will embrace me in a perfect moment of love, satisfaction and eternal fulfillment.

I certainly love this life on earth with my family and friends, but my heart can’t help looking forward to that first day of the rest of my [tag]eternal life[/tag] with Jesus.

The lyrics to a Rodney Adkins song come to mind:

If you’re going through [trails]
Keep on going, Don’t slow down
If you’re scared, don’t show it…

Note: Lyric edited by the author

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
-[tag]Isaiah 55[/tag]:2 (ESV)

This verse makes me think about playing video games. I must admit, I enjoy a good video game now and then. My favorite game tends to be NCAA football where I can win with my boys, the [tag]Yellow Jackets[/tag] (go Tech, and yes…I know…it is only in “X-box-land” that they win the National Title). I like to take Tech through a good ol undefeated season, go to the championship game, and walk all over my opponents. It makes a guy feel good. The only problem is, I’m the only one that appreciates the victory, because the game is nothing more than a fantasy. In reality Tech is playing in the Gator Bowl rather than for the National Title.

Why do we spend our money on things we don’t really need (that which is not bread) and work for things that don’t last (that which does not satisfy)? Everywhere I look I see examples this in both secular and Christian [tag]culture[/tag]. In secular culture I see people spending all their [tag]money[/tag] on big houses, better cars or expensive clothes, while neglecting to save money for more important things (like…their child’s college education). In Christian culture I see churches paying outlandish salaries, building larger more extravagant buildings and often neglecting the Biblical mandate to feed and clothe the poor. I see Christians spending plenty of time and effort working inside the walls of the church but overlooking the work that needs to be done for the people in their neighborhood.

I think the point of this verse is to call us into focus. Playing video games isn’t bad, it’s just not the best use of our time. Buying a nice house or building a large church isn’t bad, but we should be cautious to make sure it’s best. Isaiah is calling us to “eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food”. So, maybe it’s time to put down the X-box controller and pick up the Bible. Maybe it’s time to get a ride that is “not-so-pimped” and give away some cash to someone who needs it. Maybe it’s time to focus less on church socials and more on church service projects. Maybe it’s time to get focused, put what’s best in front of us and enjoy that other good stuff with whatever time is left.

I think it’s time we all dug in to some rich food rather than settling for coco puffs and pop tarts.

and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
[tag]Isaiah 55[/tag]:1b (ESV)

This part of the verse is tough. How can someone with no money “but and eat”? And, how can you buy a drink “without money and without price”? These relationships are a paradox, so, let’s go slow and take this piece by piece.

First Isaiah asks the person with no money to “come, buy and eat!” We aren’t talking about regular food here, but spiritual food. This is not the food that gives us energy to run a marathon, it’s the kind of food that gives us the strength to run the race that is life. The food is of great value and comes at a high price. But, we cannot pay for it, it must be paid for by someone greater, by someone richer, by someone with everything to offer, by [tag]Jesus[/tag]. We were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20), paid for by the death of [tag]Christ[/tag] on the [tag]cross[/tag]. Our purchase is the free gift given to us, which is [tag]salvation[/tag] through [tag]faith[/tag].

At this point we have come to the water thirsty, we have bought spiritual food (paying what we cannot afford), and now we find not only water that quenches our thirst, but we find wine and milk too! We come to Christ initially because because we thirst for the deep satisfaction that only He can give, then we find that satisfaction and so much more than we ever dreamed. The milk and wine are the icing on the cake. Milk nourishes the body¹ especially for those that are new to the [tag]living water[/tag], and wine lifts the spirits² for those fighting the good fight of faith.

All of this is done “without money and without price”, because the living water we find is of infinite value. There is no price for the priceless and no amount of money can match what Jesus paid on the cross.

This reminds me of the parable of the King that threw a wedding feast for his son (Matthew 22). The elite crowd had been invited and then flaked out when it was time to come to the feast. So, he sent his servants out into the streets to invite as many as would come. From the rest of the story it is clear that the people came somewhat prepared (because most were wearing the proper wedding attire), but I’m sure none of them would have had the ability to pay for the quality of food they were given. Imagine that crowd? The best of the best had been invited originally and now that elite crowd is replaced by a group of [tag]ragamuffins[/tag] (see definition). That’s like expecting a room full people like Elvis Presley and getting a room of Napoleon Dynamites instead. These people only sat at the kings table because of his gracious invitation and gift.

In the same way, we come to the water like ragamuffins, and to our astonishment we are given the most amazing living water, food that sustains life, milk to nourish our body, and wine to lift our spirit. All of this (a priceless gift) paid for by the King and offered to us as a free gift.

1. Thought gleaned from Matthew Henry’s Commentary

2. Thought gleaned from Matthew Henry’s Commentary