So I'm hanging out in the church coffee shop and I check out one of the coffee bags, as if I actually can tell the difference between a 'dry roast' and something with a 'smooth aftertaste'...
Honestly my coffee is more like, "I'd like coffee with my cream and sugar" then being a true COFFEE drinker. I confess I hate the taste of a regular coffee!
But anyway, I see one of the descriptions of a blend from Africa as "bold". I was thinking about how I would be described were I to be 'grained' and put into a coffee bean bag and sold for 8 cents. Would 'bold' for the Lord be an apt picture of who I am?
I'm reading Philippians as the high school goes through it verse-by-verse and I'm blown away at how bold this guy Paul was. It's amazing that around every corner he is stoked about his chance to promote the gospel. He was looking for each and every moment to become an opportunity for the message of the cross, the message that Jesus died for my sin and for yours, to come glaringly through.
Am I bold proactively, sharing my faith when I'm not questioned about it, let alone am I bold when people ask me about my faith? If I'm living like I believe it, standing unashamed on the power of God for salvation for anyone who believes, and I'm praying for opportunities, then God will provide them and I'll find the answer I've been looking for: am I bold or not?
Share Christ with someone today, even if you are scared. What do you have to lose? Bold coffee has an aroma, and our aroma should be pleasing to the world as we share the love of God to a lost and dying generation.
-Pilgrim
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
With great power comes...
Great responsibility! Thanks Uncle Ben, I can go feel guilty about my life now.
Doesn't it seem to get frustrating knowing that we have such an incredible calling to live up to? I mean, here we are, holding out the word of Life to a lost and dying world, making our goal to share the message of reconciliation that our Lord has commissioned us to go and teach, and I feel overwhelmed just asking someone if they'd like to come to church!
We as believers in Christ have a HUGE responsibility...why? Because we've been given GREAT POWER. We've been given grace: saving grace from our sins and hell and death and the penalty and punishment of separation from God and eternal torment. Then there's daily grace that we receive each morning, new mercies from our faithful God that we can't exhaust before sunset. There's forgiveness, love, mercy, strength, promises, a future and a hope, answered prayer, joy unspeakable, a past that will be redeemable, a present that is sure and possible, and a future that is heavenbound.
There isn't MB space on my hard drive to delve into the compassion, kindness, wonder, power, truth, splendor, glory, sovereignty, holiness, righteousness, fear, and perfection of our God. All I can say is we've been given so much...too much to mention in a hapless blog. With that great power comes a great responsibility--you take it from here and apply it to yourself.
-Pilgrim
Doesn't it seem to get frustrating knowing that we have such an incredible calling to live up to? I mean, here we are, holding out the word of Life to a lost and dying world, making our goal to share the message of reconciliation that our Lord has commissioned us to go and teach, and I feel overwhelmed just asking someone if they'd like to come to church!
We as believers in Christ have a HUGE responsibility...why? Because we've been given GREAT POWER. We've been given grace: saving grace from our sins and hell and death and the penalty and punishment of separation from God and eternal torment. Then there's daily grace that we receive each morning, new mercies from our faithful God that we can't exhaust before sunset. There's forgiveness, love, mercy, strength, promises, a future and a hope, answered prayer, joy unspeakable, a past that will be redeemable, a present that is sure and possible, and a future that is heavenbound.
There isn't MB space on my hard drive to delve into the compassion, kindness, wonder, power, truth, splendor, glory, sovereignty, holiness, righteousness, fear, and perfection of our God. All I can say is we've been given so much...too much to mention in a hapless blog. With that great power comes a great responsibility--you take it from here and apply it to yourself.
-Pilgrim
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Who do you trust?
I guess I'm pretty dumb.
I trust STUFF, blindly, to my downfall.
It's not that I need to be compulsive and read all of the ingredients on the menu before I eat, or go back and watch the cook preparing my meal, and have it tested for bacteria or sanitation, because I wouldn't make many friends that way (and I'd probably stop eating out!). I just show up, order the chicken parm, and eat it after a thankful prayer. IDIOT!
But isn't it a little scary to see how much we blindly trust the car manufacturers to construct a safe vehicle, safe brakes, safe seatbelts, safe airbags, etc?
What about your hot water heater? When you woke up this morning, did you jump in the shower and constantly wonder if suddenly skin-burning hot water would come surging through the shower head? I sure hope not.
So if I trust these fallible, easily shaken and problematic things in my life, why do I find trusting God to be a constant struggle?
Psalm 20 says 'some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord". I have put too much trust in my chariot, my ability, the things in my life and God is reminding me minute by minute to place my faith in Him.
So who do you trust? I hope you will never look at a seatbelt or showerhead, or for that case, your God, the same way again.
His- Pilgrim
I trust STUFF, blindly, to my downfall.
It's not that I need to be compulsive and read all of the ingredients on the menu before I eat, or go back and watch the cook preparing my meal, and have it tested for bacteria or sanitation, because I wouldn't make many friends that way (and I'd probably stop eating out!). I just show up, order the chicken parm, and eat it after a thankful prayer. IDIOT!
But isn't it a little scary to see how much we blindly trust the car manufacturers to construct a safe vehicle, safe brakes, safe seatbelts, safe airbags, etc?
What about your hot water heater? When you woke up this morning, did you jump in the shower and constantly wonder if suddenly skin-burning hot water would come surging through the shower head? I sure hope not.
So if I trust these fallible, easily shaken and problematic things in my life, why do I find trusting God to be a constant struggle?
Psalm 20 says 'some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord". I have put too much trust in my chariot, my ability, the things in my life and God is reminding me minute by minute to place my faith in Him.
So who do you trust? I hope you will never look at a seatbelt or showerhead, or for that case, your God, the same way again.
His- Pilgrim
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
School's Back!
I'm sure you're reading this because of your overexcitement because of school starting back up...but maybe not. Maybe you are heading into the 2006-07 year with the reality that your faith may be challenged, even moved by some temptation or problem you do or don't yet see.
1 Corinthians 15:58 says, "Stand firm...let nothing move you..." Have you purposed in your heart, like Joseph around Potiphar's wife, like Daniel around the king's delicacies, like Jesus around the wilderness and Satan's tests?
Purpose in your heart BEFOREHAND that you'll let nothing move your faith.
Paul realized that he was about to enter the "lion's den" of the Jerusalem Jewish religious leaders, and he knew his faith would be stretched more than at any other time. He knew what he was about to endure threatened not only his faith and beliefs, but also his very life. He said in Acts 20:23-24: "...chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."
You are no doubt about to enter this school year with the realization that pitfalls and problems are up ahead, and I would challenge you to not let fear or peer pressure or anxiety or lust or anything move you from your stand for God. Why? So you can, like Paul, finish your race with joy, and do the ministry of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God.
I'm praying for you!
His, Pilgrim
Friday, July 28, 2006
Grace-filled
It isn't hard to find grace when we're looking for it...
it seems like when it is our turn to receive grace we are all too willing.
But what about when we extend it, pour it out, share it with others, others who in our eyes DON'T deserve it? Are we still willing?
I had to deal with a problem-maker this week and found my flesh rising up. How did God respond when I started whining? "GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE"!!!
Be a grace-practicer today.
-His, Pilgrim
it seems like when it is our turn to receive grace we are all too willing.
But what about when we extend it, pour it out, share it with others, others who in our eyes DON'T deserve it? Are we still willing?
I had to deal with a problem-maker this week and found my flesh rising up. How did God respond when I started whining? "GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE, GRACE"!!!
Be a grace-practicer today.
-His, Pilgrim
Friday, June 16, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Waste Your Life!
Mountain climbing could be one of the strangest “sports” (or more accurate “obsessions”) I’ve ever heard of. Equipped with nothing more than what you can carry on your back, you scale an insurmountable wall of treacherous heights for solely the enjoyment of reaching the top (and eventually having to find a way back down!).
I see a familiar analogy when I look at our graduating seniors, you students who are closing a chapter of your childhood and are moving now into adulthood. Here you are, standing on the precipice of life’s unknowns, pondering the panorama of choices, paths, and worldviews. What will the next step be? Confident of the uncertainties, you move forward with either sheer faith or blind adrenaline! Bloody knuckles and all, you seize whatever you see is strong enough to hold you, and you keep moving, never looking down.
In your ascent, I want to leave you with a few final words. It has been an honor and a privilege to teach and equip, to love and lead, to pray for and nurture the young flock of students who are now taking the torch and running the next lap, moving on to college and “real life”. What would be my final exhortation?
Pastor Carl has encouraged and exhorted us as a fellowship to read, study, internalize the book by John Piper called, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. I agree with the entire message of the book and give it my full endorsement. But I want to play with the title for just a moment. God has challenged me recently on the idea of ‘wasting my life’, and what that really means.
When we think of someone who has wasted their lives, often drug addicts, convicts, uninvolved parents or bitter divorcees may come to our minds. The word, “waste”, according to Webster, means: “to spend or use carelessly; to allow to be used inefficiently or become dissipated; to be consumed”. We would never intentionally want our lives to be ‘wasted’ by drugs, or work, or money, or sin, or self. God gently posed the question I’m posing to you today:
Would you be willing to waste your life for God?
That’s right—to be spent or used, exhausted and expended by the Lord for His purposes, no matter where or what it may entail. Are you willing? This goes against all that we hold dear as humans, as Americans, even as Christians. The antonym for “waste” is “conserve”. We should become successful, educated, wealthy, wise, and prominent in order to have a life that isn’t wasted, right? What did Jesus say about our lives? He said frankly: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).
Often we ask God to come alongside our plans, our motives, our ideas, and put His stamp of anointing or blessing on them. We pray and tell God what we’ll be doing and then expect Him to join in and hop on board.
Would I be willing to waste my life, to abandon my dreams, my desires, my agendas, my strategies and the design for my life, to the One who lost His life to save me? Jesus’s life had one goal, one plan, one intention. It was to please the Father, to do His will. Jesus never deviated, disobeyed, or disregarded His Father’s will. Even when the path led to death, and Jesus wrestled in the garden with the implications, He still submitted and entrusted Himself to the One who was faithful to lead Him through.
By historian standards, Jesus’s life was absolutely wasted for God. He never owned property, was never a political leader, didn’t set up a worldwide healing or preaching ministry, and always seemed to turn away the crowds that wanted to crown Him king. He invested in people that Hollywood and Washington would never consider and wasn’t worried about their social or economic status. Jesus didn’t sell a book or a DVD, didn’t start a fashion line, and still hasn’t launched a website! He didn’t even promote Himself, but only His Father. In the end, His life was ended unfairly and unjustly. According to this world, Jesus’s life was wasted. But we know the rest of the story!
For the Christian graduate, often we hear the phrase, “You need to fit Christ into your life after high school”. Whether spoken or implied, that idea is often how we go throughout our Christian lives. We form compartments into our lives, and we have our life at school, our life at work, our life at home, our life with these friends, our life with those friends. And we fit Christ into these areas, squeezing Him in so He fits nicely and is compatible with what we are doing.
Instead of fitting Christ into our lives, I would challenge you to fit your life into Christ. The Bible says to “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Instead of asking God to come alongside OUR plans and bless them, we should stop and ask what His will is for our lives. We should join in what HE is doing and then follow with reckless abandon. Instead of making plans and goals and praying for His blessing, we should wait upon the Lord, see the direction He is leading, and then make every effort to reach and attain the end of that path as He takes us step by step by faith.
As you venture into the next chapter of life, I would leave you with just a simple verse, a simple truth that applies not only to mountain climbing and graduating, but for all areas of our Christian endeavor:
I will ask nothing more of you except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. (Revelation 2:24-25, NLT)
-Pilgrim
I see a familiar analogy when I look at our graduating seniors, you students who are closing a chapter of your childhood and are moving now into adulthood. Here you are, standing on the precipice of life’s unknowns, pondering the panorama of choices, paths, and worldviews. What will the next step be? Confident of the uncertainties, you move forward with either sheer faith or blind adrenaline! Bloody knuckles and all, you seize whatever you see is strong enough to hold you, and you keep moving, never looking down.
In your ascent, I want to leave you with a few final words. It has been an honor and a privilege to teach and equip, to love and lead, to pray for and nurture the young flock of students who are now taking the torch and running the next lap, moving on to college and “real life”. What would be my final exhortation?
Pastor Carl has encouraged and exhorted us as a fellowship to read, study, internalize the book by John Piper called, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. I agree with the entire message of the book and give it my full endorsement. But I want to play with the title for just a moment. God has challenged me recently on the idea of ‘wasting my life’, and what that really means.
When we think of someone who has wasted their lives, often drug addicts, convicts, uninvolved parents or bitter divorcees may come to our minds. The word, “waste”, according to Webster, means: “to spend or use carelessly; to allow to be used inefficiently or become dissipated; to be consumed”. We would never intentionally want our lives to be ‘wasted’ by drugs, or work, or money, or sin, or self. God gently posed the question I’m posing to you today:
Would you be willing to waste your life for God?
That’s right—to be spent or used, exhausted and expended by the Lord for His purposes, no matter where or what it may entail. Are you willing? This goes against all that we hold dear as humans, as Americans, even as Christians. The antonym for “waste” is “conserve”. We should become successful, educated, wealthy, wise, and prominent in order to have a life that isn’t wasted, right? What did Jesus say about our lives? He said frankly: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).
Often we ask God to come alongside our plans, our motives, our ideas, and put His stamp of anointing or blessing on them. We pray and tell God what we’ll be doing and then expect Him to join in and hop on board.
Would I be willing to waste my life, to abandon my dreams, my desires, my agendas, my strategies and the design for my life, to the One who lost His life to save me? Jesus’s life had one goal, one plan, one intention. It was to please the Father, to do His will. Jesus never deviated, disobeyed, or disregarded His Father’s will. Even when the path led to death, and Jesus wrestled in the garden with the implications, He still submitted and entrusted Himself to the One who was faithful to lead Him through.
By historian standards, Jesus’s life was absolutely wasted for God. He never owned property, was never a political leader, didn’t set up a worldwide healing or preaching ministry, and always seemed to turn away the crowds that wanted to crown Him king. He invested in people that Hollywood and Washington would never consider and wasn’t worried about their social or economic status. Jesus didn’t sell a book or a DVD, didn’t start a fashion line, and still hasn’t launched a website! He didn’t even promote Himself, but only His Father. In the end, His life was ended unfairly and unjustly. According to this world, Jesus’s life was wasted. But we know the rest of the story!
For the Christian graduate, often we hear the phrase, “You need to fit Christ into your life after high school”. Whether spoken or implied, that idea is often how we go throughout our Christian lives. We form compartments into our lives, and we have our life at school, our life at work, our life at home, our life with these friends, our life with those friends. And we fit Christ into these areas, squeezing Him in so He fits nicely and is compatible with what we are doing.
Instead of fitting Christ into our lives, I would challenge you to fit your life into Christ. The Bible says to “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Instead of asking God to come alongside OUR plans and bless them, we should stop and ask what His will is for our lives. We should join in what HE is doing and then follow with reckless abandon. Instead of making plans and goals and praying for His blessing, we should wait upon the Lord, see the direction He is leading, and then make every effort to reach and attain the end of that path as He takes us step by step by faith.
As you venture into the next chapter of life, I would leave you with just a simple verse, a simple truth that applies not only to mountain climbing and graduating, but for all areas of our Christian endeavor:
I will ask nothing more of you except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. (Revelation 2:24-25, NLT)
-Pilgrim
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Standards?
Recently I experienced a "Christian" concert of some very popular and up-and-coming bands. The music was intensely upbeat and the quality of the sound was impeccable. The music ability and talent was second-to-none. The words, though indistinguishable, were powerful, poetic, and thought-provoking. The entertainment value was mind-boggling, and the crowd was participative and packed.
BUT, there was little redemptive spiritual value. I found myself grieved at the lack of personal testimony shining through the lead singers' words. I didn't hear the gospel, let alone about the nature of God, the beauty of the church, the joy of forgiveness or the fruit of the Spirit, and certainly nothing about Jesus Christ.
So what happened? Not to be the Pharisee, but it seems someone's standards were lowered.
We do this all the time: lower our standards to fill a need, whether that need is to reach someone who is lost, or to relate better to others, or to not look too set apart, or to try to understand the culture better, or, more honestly, to feed our flesh.
Our generation of believers has en masse found the path of Lot far easier to tread down than Calvary's road. We find excuses and 'reasons' to head downhill to Sodom, rather than taking up our cross, denying ourselves, and heading up the hill after Jesus.
When we lower a personal, Biblical standard that God has given to us as a means to some end, we will find ourselves compromising and accepting more what God has forbid for us.
Adam and Eve knew the stakes, and knew the standard. But when they questioned the motive behind the standard, behind the law, behind the command, they fell.
We too must not question WHY God gives us a different standard for music, money, drinks, language, media, or anything else you can fill in the blank.
Just trust that His commands are not burdensome and by abiding in Christ, we will bear much fruit, fruit that remains.
His,
Pilgrim
BUT, there was little redemptive spiritual value. I found myself grieved at the lack of personal testimony shining through the lead singers' words. I didn't hear the gospel, let alone about the nature of God, the beauty of the church, the joy of forgiveness or the fruit of the Spirit, and certainly nothing about Jesus Christ.
So what happened? Not to be the Pharisee, but it seems someone's standards were lowered.
We do this all the time: lower our standards to fill a need, whether that need is to reach someone who is lost, or to relate better to others, or to not look too set apart, or to try to understand the culture better, or, more honestly, to feed our flesh.
Our generation of believers has en masse found the path of Lot far easier to tread down than Calvary's road. We find excuses and 'reasons' to head downhill to Sodom, rather than taking up our cross, denying ourselves, and heading up the hill after Jesus.
When we lower a personal, Biblical standard that God has given to us as a means to some end, we will find ourselves compromising and accepting more what God has forbid for us.
Adam and Eve knew the stakes, and knew the standard. But when they questioned the motive behind the standard, behind the law, behind the command, they fell.
We too must not question WHY God gives us a different standard for music, money, drinks, language, media, or anything else you can fill in the blank.
Just trust that His commands are not burdensome and by abiding in Christ, we will bear much fruit, fruit that remains.
His,
Pilgrim
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
His Love Compels Us
2 Cor 5:13-14 (NIV)
“If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us…”
(This blog was written on a short-term missions trip to Rosarito, Mexico)
Imagine: leaving the comforts of home, work, family, recreation, to spend over a week’s time in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, doing unfamiliar things! Imagine: your diet is drastically changed from the well-managed healthy McSalad to the daily variation of McBeans, Rice, and filtered (we hope!) water. Imagine: being awkwardly transplanted in a place where you can’t find a bathroom or buy a soda without a translator, let alone share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Did we sign up for this voluntarily?! What would drive people to do such things? Paul says, “The love of Christ compels us”.
It is the love of Christ that dangerously carries Bibles across foreign borders, that spends a lifetime in a hard field with little fruit and no conversion, that gladly trades the mirage of safety and comfort in America for the unknowns of faith and blessing. His love wakens men to trade the corporate ladder for the servant’s seat; it harkens young women to abandon the pursuit of courtship and seek a better reward in serving their Bridegroom; it draws young and old to people that have never seen a white face, heard an English word, or the saving name of Jesus.
The love of Christ calls the broken, the failed, the fallen, the forgotten, and the firm equally, to lose their lives to find what is truly called life by their Lord. What compels us? It is the love of Christ.
Paul says, “the love of Christ compels us”, which literally means, “to hold together, to press the ears together, to press on every side, to hold fast, to hold oneself to”. His love is a keeping love, as He holds us to Himself, holding us together. That gives comfort to the struggling marriage in the struggling work in a struggling field. That brings peace to a young couple looking for direction in a wide-open valley of choices and opportunities. That brings endurance to the missionary that is questioning the will of God and whether this furlough is their last. His love is a compelling love, a staying love, a love that keeps us close. And as Paul said, it may seem to others that we are out of our mind, but it is for the sake of God.
At 8am, a man walked into a bar, sat at his usual seat, and ordered his usual drink. The bartender smiled, but could only imagine how empty a life must be when liquor was on the menu this early in the day. A man approached the window of the bar, and tapping on the glass, held up a sign that read, “I’m a fool for Christ…who are you a fool for?” May the love of Christ compel us to be His fools, if it means winning some for Him.
-Pilgrim
“If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us…”
(This blog was written on a short-term missions trip to Rosarito, Mexico)
Imagine: leaving the comforts of home, work, family, recreation, to spend over a week’s time in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, doing unfamiliar things! Imagine: your diet is drastically changed from the well-managed healthy McSalad to the daily variation of McBeans, Rice, and filtered (we hope!) water. Imagine: being awkwardly transplanted in a place where you can’t find a bathroom or buy a soda without a translator, let alone share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Did we sign up for this voluntarily?! What would drive people to do such things? Paul says, “The love of Christ compels us”.
It is the love of Christ that dangerously carries Bibles across foreign borders, that spends a lifetime in a hard field with little fruit and no conversion, that gladly trades the mirage of safety and comfort in America for the unknowns of faith and blessing. His love wakens men to trade the corporate ladder for the servant’s seat; it harkens young women to abandon the pursuit of courtship and seek a better reward in serving their Bridegroom; it draws young and old to people that have never seen a white face, heard an English word, or the saving name of Jesus.
The love of Christ calls the broken, the failed, the fallen, the forgotten, and the firm equally, to lose their lives to find what is truly called life by their Lord. What compels us? It is the love of Christ.
Paul says, “the love of Christ compels us”, which literally means, “to hold together, to press the ears together, to press on every side, to hold fast, to hold oneself to”. His love is a keeping love, as He holds us to Himself, holding us together. That gives comfort to the struggling marriage in the struggling work in a struggling field. That brings peace to a young couple looking for direction in a wide-open valley of choices and opportunities. That brings endurance to the missionary that is questioning the will of God and whether this furlough is their last. His love is a compelling love, a staying love, a love that keeps us close. And as Paul said, it may seem to others that we are out of our mind, but it is for the sake of God.
At 8am, a man walked into a bar, sat at his usual seat, and ordered his usual drink. The bartender smiled, but could only imagine how empty a life must be when liquor was on the menu this early in the day. A man approached the window of the bar, and tapping on the glass, held up a sign that read, “I’m a fool for Christ…who are you a fool for?” May the love of Christ compel us to be His fools, if it means winning some for Him.
-Pilgrim
“Let Go and Let God”
Recently my wife and I were having dinner with two of our good friends, and on their wall I read a large wooden sign, “Let Go and Let God”. We all know the phrase, to the point that with many of us it has become a cliché. But as parents, do we really understand and apply this concept in raising our children?
The verse that struck this idea deeply came across my eyes just last week, as our junior highers are going through the book of Exodus. It’s a familiar story: the story of Moses’s mother hiding him from Pharaoh’s decree that all males born in Egypt were to be thrown into the Nile.
Exodus 2:1-4
“Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”
Mo’s mom could have held onto him for a variety of legitimate reasons. After all, this tyrant was murdering children. She had every right to hold onto her son and protect him from the certain disaster that awaited him. But I believe this Levite woman had an unshakable faith in God, and believed that no matter what happened, God would see her through.
Has this happened to you? Have you ever come to the point where your child or teen is at a place that you would prefer to lock them in the house rather than expose them to the real and scary world out there? It’s a valid fear! But Moses’s mom feared God more than she feared Pharaoh, and I believe that is what gave her the strength to wrap her 3 month old, lay him in the basket, and send him downriver.
There are things we need to let go of: whether they are things we struggle with, things from the past, or even our children. If we give those things to God, He will take far greater care of them than we ever could! In the end of this story, Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses, and sends for a Hebrew woman to come and nurse him. Guess who ends up nursing Moses? His own mother! She gave Moses and her fear up to the Lord, and in the end He brought her son back to her. But if she were to try and hang onto him, I believe the story would have had a more tragic ending.
A New Testament verse that is a parallel to this is found in Philemon 1:15: “perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever”. I pray that we will all have the strength to LET GO, and LET GOD have all of our cares. We can cast them on Him, because He cares for us.
Pilgrim
The verse that struck this idea deeply came across my eyes just last week, as our junior highers are going through the book of Exodus. It’s a familiar story: the story of Moses’s mother hiding him from Pharaoh’s decree that all males born in Egypt were to be thrown into the Nile.
Exodus 2:1-4
“Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”
Mo’s mom could have held onto him for a variety of legitimate reasons. After all, this tyrant was murdering children. She had every right to hold onto her son and protect him from the certain disaster that awaited him. But I believe this Levite woman had an unshakable faith in God, and believed that no matter what happened, God would see her through.
Has this happened to you? Have you ever come to the point where your child or teen is at a place that you would prefer to lock them in the house rather than expose them to the real and scary world out there? It’s a valid fear! But Moses’s mom feared God more than she feared Pharaoh, and I believe that is what gave her the strength to wrap her 3 month old, lay him in the basket, and send him downriver.
There are things we need to let go of: whether they are things we struggle with, things from the past, or even our children. If we give those things to God, He will take far greater care of them than we ever could! In the end of this story, Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses, and sends for a Hebrew woman to come and nurse him. Guess who ends up nursing Moses? His own mother! She gave Moses and her fear up to the Lord, and in the end He brought her son back to her. But if she were to try and hang onto him, I believe the story would have had a more tragic ending.
A New Testament verse that is a parallel to this is found in Philemon 1:15: “perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever”. I pray that we will all have the strength to LET GO, and LET GOD have all of our cares. We can cast them on Him, because He cares for us.
Pilgrim
The Main Thing
“Jesus Christ and Him crucified” 1 Corinthians 2:2
Take away our church traditions, remove the “way we do church”, confiscate our comfortable chairs and peel away the pattern of our typical services, and what would you find? What common ground do I discover every month when I meet with other area youth pastors who come from diverse denominational backgrounds and belief systems? What do I have in common with a persecuted believer in China? What is the true basis for revival? What one thing should my life be centered around?
The answer to all of these questions can be found in the simple yet insightful answer: “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. He is the foundation of our faith, which we build our service to God on (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). He is the object of our faith, and we are made righteous by Him (Romans 3:22). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Your Christian life starts and ends with this truth: the main thing is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The beginning and the end is easy, but it is in the middle that things get muddy! We as sophisticated, educated, and complicated adults LOVE to add things to the mix. Recently my wife has had a blast experimenting with our pancakes. She takes the basic recipe of Bisquick and milk, and flairs it up, kicks it up a notch, with vanilla, or honey, or other things she won’t dare share with me! We love to do the same with the gospel: we aren’t content with the seemingly simple recipe of salvation by grace through faith in Christ, so we add to it.
We add works to spice it up, make it something we have to earn. Or we move away from the basics and begin to make ‘creation’ or ‘abortion’ or ‘Calvinism’ or ‘holiness’ or ‘discipline’ or ‘prayer’ or ‘this Bible translation only’ or whatever it might be that takes the place of the main thing as our new soapbox. We lose sight of the straightforward message that has the power to change lives for all of eternity, and exchange the glory of God for a good argument. We must return to the plumb line of what is really truly important and get back on the narrow path.
I love the words to “Heart of Worship”, a popular worship song by Matt Redman: “when all is stripped away, and I simply come…back to the heart of worship…it’s all about You Jesus”. Don’t add to the mix. Don’t complicate the clear-cut, down-to-earth truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It all begins and ends with Jesus, and that includes revival, repentance, restoration, forgiveness, grace, truth, and all the promises of God. So come back to Him, and allow Him to shine in your life. I would leave you with a request for your life from John 12:21: “we would like to see Jesus.”
-Pilgrim
Take away our church traditions, remove the “way we do church”, confiscate our comfortable chairs and peel away the pattern of our typical services, and what would you find? What common ground do I discover every month when I meet with other area youth pastors who come from diverse denominational backgrounds and belief systems? What do I have in common with a persecuted believer in China? What is the true basis for revival? What one thing should my life be centered around?
The answer to all of these questions can be found in the simple yet insightful answer: “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. He is the foundation of our faith, which we build our service to God on (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). He is the object of our faith, and we are made righteous by Him (Romans 3:22). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Your Christian life starts and ends with this truth: the main thing is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The beginning and the end is easy, but it is in the middle that things get muddy! We as sophisticated, educated, and complicated adults LOVE to add things to the mix. Recently my wife has had a blast experimenting with our pancakes. She takes the basic recipe of Bisquick and milk, and flairs it up, kicks it up a notch, with vanilla, or honey, or other things she won’t dare share with me! We love to do the same with the gospel: we aren’t content with the seemingly simple recipe of salvation by grace through faith in Christ, so we add to it.
We add works to spice it up, make it something we have to earn. Or we move away from the basics and begin to make ‘creation’ or ‘abortion’ or ‘Calvinism’ or ‘holiness’ or ‘discipline’ or ‘prayer’ or ‘this Bible translation only’ or whatever it might be that takes the place of the main thing as our new soapbox. We lose sight of the straightforward message that has the power to change lives for all of eternity, and exchange the glory of God for a good argument. We must return to the plumb line of what is really truly important and get back on the narrow path.
I love the words to “Heart of Worship”, a popular worship song by Matt Redman: “when all is stripped away, and I simply come…back to the heart of worship…it’s all about You Jesus”. Don’t add to the mix. Don’t complicate the clear-cut, down-to-earth truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It all begins and ends with Jesus, and that includes revival, repentance, restoration, forgiveness, grace, truth, and all the promises of God. So come back to Him, and allow Him to shine in your life. I would leave you with a request for your life from John 12:21: “we would like to see Jesus.”
-Pilgrim
A Biblical “Wordview”
Psalms 119:105 (NIV)
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
This passage in Psalm 119 tells us that God’s word is both a lamp and a light to give us direction in the practical steps right in front of us, and in the steps down the road. The path we are required to walk in this world is dark—so do you look to the Bible for guidance? Our worldview needs to be based not on the world around us, but on the Word within us.
A lot of people believe that Sunday’s talk and Monday’s walk are two totally divided and separate things. They listen halfheartedly to the bible teaching, and even rate it at lunch as “a great sermon today” or “a really boring sermon!”, but they miss the entire point. Many dismiss the Word of God in their lives, yet still claim to follow the God of the Word.
There was a small town known for having only 1 stoplight. One day this stoplight malfunctioned, and from every direction, the light showed ‘green’. When the cars came upon the stoplight, they saw the other cars coming and not yielding, but because their own light showed green, they continued through the intersection, crashing into the other traffic. When they were questioned on why they continued through the dangerous light, they simply replied, “I did see that the other traffic wasn’t slowing down, but my light was green, so I figured I was right”.
That’s what many people are doing today. They are living their lives because it feels right, or because everyone else is doing it, or because common sense tells them so. But when they see the disaster that awaits them, they simply shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, I thought I was right because I was following what seemed right”.
We as Christians don’t have to depend on such shaky foundations of tradition, common sense, or the standards of this world. Even if something seems to make sense, is it biblical? Is there anything we stubbornly hold on to that may not find its base in scripture? When we receive a Sunday or Wednesday sermon, or even when we are hearing from God in our own daily quiet times, is there something we have failed to engage (i.e. our heart!)?
James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” We need to be wary of having a dis-engaged heart. There is no Bible study on earth that was meant to be received apart from personal application. If you have heard the word of God, then you need to ask yourself, “What should I do?” And as the Holy Spirit brings application, we will be blessed in what we DO, not just in what we heard.
May we be Christians who have what the apostle Paul said was, “love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).
As a Berean,
Pilgrim
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
This passage in Psalm 119 tells us that God’s word is both a lamp and a light to give us direction in the practical steps right in front of us, and in the steps down the road. The path we are required to walk in this world is dark—so do you look to the Bible for guidance? Our worldview needs to be based not on the world around us, but on the Word within us.
A lot of people believe that Sunday’s talk and Monday’s walk are two totally divided and separate things. They listen halfheartedly to the bible teaching, and even rate it at lunch as “a great sermon today” or “a really boring sermon!”, but they miss the entire point. Many dismiss the Word of God in their lives, yet still claim to follow the God of the Word.
There was a small town known for having only 1 stoplight. One day this stoplight malfunctioned, and from every direction, the light showed ‘green’. When the cars came upon the stoplight, they saw the other cars coming and not yielding, but because their own light showed green, they continued through the intersection, crashing into the other traffic. When they were questioned on why they continued through the dangerous light, they simply replied, “I did see that the other traffic wasn’t slowing down, but my light was green, so I figured I was right”.
That’s what many people are doing today. They are living their lives because it feels right, or because everyone else is doing it, or because common sense tells them so. But when they see the disaster that awaits them, they simply shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, I thought I was right because I was following what seemed right”.
We as Christians don’t have to depend on such shaky foundations of tradition, common sense, or the standards of this world. Even if something seems to make sense, is it biblical? Is there anything we stubbornly hold on to that may not find its base in scripture? When we receive a Sunday or Wednesday sermon, or even when we are hearing from God in our own daily quiet times, is there something we have failed to engage (i.e. our heart!)?
James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” We need to be wary of having a dis-engaged heart. There is no Bible study on earth that was meant to be received apart from personal application. If you have heard the word of God, then you need to ask yourself, “What should I do?” And as the Holy Spirit brings application, we will be blessed in what we DO, not just in what we heard.
May we be Christians who have what the apostle Paul said was, “love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).
As a Berean,
Pilgrim
Broken Cisterns
"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
There is an in-born quality in you and I to thirst. When we think of being thirsty, often we picture a man crawling along the sandy desert floor, with a dry tongue and a desire to find an oasis of water. Gatorade boasts that their product is the “Thirst Quencher”. Sprite tells you to “Obey Your Thirst”. When we are really thirsty, we need something to quench it.
God often uses the physical world to explain a spiritual truth, and often water represents God and His Holy Spirit. John’s gospel records Jesus making a great claim: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’" (John 7:37-38). Jesus was talking there about the abundant life we can have when the Holy Spirit is upon us. Even the last invitation of the gospel in the Bible is for those who are thirsty to come and drink (Revelation 22:17). So God has created a spiritually thirsty place in each of our hearts that only He can quench.
But what happens is that we commit two sins, like this verse in Jeremiah talks about. We first leave the fountain of true living water, and then we grab our shovels and start digging our own spiritual springs! Out in the wilderness, people would divert the flow of rainwater into small dams which led into cisterns, carved out of the sandstone. They worked hard at it and could gather the scarcest amount of rain. But the problem was they weren’t fresh springs, they were runoff water. That meant that this water got stagnant because it wasn’t fresh flowing. If you own a pool, you’ll know the value of having a pump to keep the water fresh and flowing! If not, don’t ask why your pool parties aren’t as heavily attended as they used to be!
And so too, the things that we replace God with, whether it is money, careers, popularity, talents, or even false religions, have no fresh flow. They are broken cisterns and are stagnant, spiritual cesspools. We dig into these things, thinking that they will quench our thirst, only to find that they are like salt water, leaving us thirsty for more!
Jesus spoke to a woman like that. Her ‘cistern’ was to find fulfillment in relationships with men, and Jesus met her at a well, which changed her life forever. He said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14). He alone can give us Living Water, so that we will never thirst again.
So maybe you’ve been digging for a while, and found yourself dirty and dusty, and still thirsty. Digging is hard work, a lot harder than simply coming to drink! The salty water you’ve been digging for won’t ever quench your thirst. You need Jesus! Pray today and ask God to fill you afresh with His Spirit. Don’t let your life be a stagnant pond of self-sufficiency. Take the step of faith and taste and see that the Lord is good!
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
There is an in-born quality in you and I to thirst. When we think of being thirsty, often we picture a man crawling along the sandy desert floor, with a dry tongue and a desire to find an oasis of water. Gatorade boasts that their product is the “Thirst Quencher”. Sprite tells you to “Obey Your Thirst”. When we are really thirsty, we need something to quench it.
God often uses the physical world to explain a spiritual truth, and often water represents God and His Holy Spirit. John’s gospel records Jesus making a great claim: “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’" (John 7:37-38). Jesus was talking there about the abundant life we can have when the Holy Spirit is upon us. Even the last invitation of the gospel in the Bible is for those who are thirsty to come and drink (Revelation 22:17). So God has created a spiritually thirsty place in each of our hearts that only He can quench.
But what happens is that we commit two sins, like this verse in Jeremiah talks about. We first leave the fountain of true living water, and then we grab our shovels and start digging our own spiritual springs! Out in the wilderness, people would divert the flow of rainwater into small dams which led into cisterns, carved out of the sandstone. They worked hard at it and could gather the scarcest amount of rain. But the problem was they weren’t fresh springs, they were runoff water. That meant that this water got stagnant because it wasn’t fresh flowing. If you own a pool, you’ll know the value of having a pump to keep the water fresh and flowing! If not, don’t ask why your pool parties aren’t as heavily attended as they used to be!
And so too, the things that we replace God with, whether it is money, careers, popularity, talents, or even false religions, have no fresh flow. They are broken cisterns and are stagnant, spiritual cesspools. We dig into these things, thinking that they will quench our thirst, only to find that they are like salt water, leaving us thirsty for more!
Jesus spoke to a woman like that. Her ‘cistern’ was to find fulfillment in relationships with men, and Jesus met her at a well, which changed her life forever. He said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14). He alone can give us Living Water, so that we will never thirst again.
So maybe you’ve been digging for a while, and found yourself dirty and dusty, and still thirsty. Digging is hard work, a lot harder than simply coming to drink! The salty water you’ve been digging for won’t ever quench your thirst. You need Jesus! Pray today and ask God to fill you afresh with His Spirit. Don’t let your life be a stagnant pond of self-sufficiency. Take the step of faith and taste and see that the Lord is good!
What is truth?
“What is truth?”
Pilate’s rhetorical question, now 2000 years removed, still has the same stinging volume as when he asked it of Jesus. Perhaps a better question today might be, “IS THERE truth?” Most of us would provide a resounding, “YES!”, but with what proof, with what explanation? What determines if something is true or not? How can we claim to have truth in these days of absolute uncertainty, when it seems better to just be sincere than right? What if someone is sincerely wrong? Why do we ask so many questions?!
Is it true if it works?
When we seek to explain to children that a math equation or science theory is true, our subconscious definition may be as simple and sorry as, “It works”. Is that the way truth can be defined? It is true as long as it works? What about when it doesn’t work? What if “it works” is really just a proof, or validation, of what is true? The answer to a math equation works because it is the right answer, not the other way around. We can’t base our lifestyles and values on the shaky ground that something seems to work. One has suggested that the Christian life is the best life because it works the best. I would disagree! The Christian life WORKS because it is based on the truth of God’s Word and the person of Jesus Christ. And even so, the Christian life doesn’t always work according to the pattern or expectation of this world, because we are living for eternity, not this present life. The foundation we base our lives on should be greater than “it works”.
Right or WRONG?
Instead of worrying about what is true, what about thinking for a moment if anything is wrong? Is it wrong to kill, steal, rape, lie, or cheat? If we all agree that some things are wrong or false, or that life seems unjust or unfair or people seem to always be lying, doesn’t that presuppose that we long for or expect something that IS true? Doesn’t our conscience or consequence expose the reality that there is an underlying truth beneath all of our excuses and ignorance? Romans 2:2 says: “Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth”. With that being said, can we really say right and wrong are only based on culture?
Morals or truth?
What one believes as “true” will inevitably shape their ethics and will establish moral authority. All cultures have moral boundaries and structure that help define “right” and “wrong” in a strictly moral sense. Whether one culture sees abortion as “right” or another sees it as “wrong” isn’t so much a truth issue as a moral issue. But it is the foundation on which these morals rest that matters. No culture or conscience, even the most hardened and brutal, would disagree that murder is wrong. That is the truth, the foundation, and it does not change or compromise from North America to Asia. The disagreement is when some cultures define murder differently, or brazenly ignore the foundation and suffer the ill-received consequences (Romans 1:32, 2:8; Ephesians 4:18). If the light on your dashboard says, “Oil Low”, you have the choice to heed the warning: “I need to get some Pennzoil!” Or, you could question the truth of the warning: “I don’t think that light works correctly”. Or worse, you could ignore the light: “Oh well, I don’t think it will affect the engine at all”.
Psalms 11:3 puts it well: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The foundation of our Christian faith is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), who revealed that He was “the Truth” (John 14:6). His inspired Word to us allows us to build a belief system and moral boundaries based on that foundation of truth. Without a foundation, there is no “ground to stand on” or more literally, no moral authority with which to rest under. When the foundation is questioned, or removed, we find ourselves where we are today.
Moral relativism?
In these post-modern days there is a philosophy that says all of our morals and beliefs are equally true and relative to one another. There is no absolute truth, and truth changes, and just because it is true today doesn’t mean it will stay true. But the statement, “there are no absolutes” is itself an absolute statement!
It is impossible for there to be two opposing views that are absolutely true. Two opposing views can both be false, but not both true. If I say that Starbucks opens at 6am, and you say, “No, it is 5am”, can we both be right? If Starbucks opens at 4am then we are both truly wrong!
If everyone “might” have the right opinions or beliefs, and everyone’s belief could be true, what about when those opinions and beliefs and truths contradict one another?
Without giving you a scripture reference, I can tell you that walking up to a stranger and hitting them in the face is wrong. This is not a moral or cultural issue, it is simply true! But if it is “right” to me, and I struck a person who believes in moral relativism, could they argue with me? Isn’t it my right to be right?
You hear the word, “tolerance” being used a lot these days. The original idea of tolerance was that we will not persecute someone we disagree with, but we “tolerate” them even when there are major disagreements. But today, we have redefined “tolerance” to mean you should embrace and equalize any and every idea EXCEPT one that acts exclusive. In other words, as long as you agree with me, I’ll tolerate you, but once you disagree, YOU are intolerant. This whole attitude is laughable.
I will tolerate someone who smokes cigarettes, and still love them like a brother. But when they decide to light up at the gas station, in front of an open pump, out of love for them and concern for myself, I’m going to speak up! To be tolerant of someone’s obvious wrong behavior in that situation would be foolish and inconceivable.
Can I stand on the truth of Scripture?
In an age where even biblical absolutes are being questioned, it is imperative that we know not only what we believe, but why. When cult members come to your door, are you able to back up what you believe with scripture? That’s why it is so important for us to grow in God’s Word personally and corporately through solid Bible teaching. Paul warns us in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” The pastor has been gifted by God to equip and teach the saints, but have you been the Berean and investigated what is taught, compared it with scripture and then believed and lived what you have learned?
The Bible makes exclusive claims about itself, claiming to be God-inspired and useful to make the person of God complete in every way (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the complete and perfect revelation of God’s truth, made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The textual support alone can vouch for the reality of God’s truth in written form. The hundreds of fulfilled prophecies give us confidence and faith in its reality and power. The variety of authors, backgrounds, and themes, yet single message of redemption and love shows a oneness of thought without error or contradiction. Over thousands of years the critics have come and gone and the Bible remains steadfast and uncompromising in the waxing and waning of fads and trends. The question shouldn’t be: “Is the Bible true?” But rather, “What excuse do I have to not obey it?”!
We meet regularly as a church to learn these truths more clearly and apply them personally. Paul said that “we speak not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:13)”. Jesus said that another Counselor would be coming, “the Spirit of truth”…whom…”the world cannot accept… because it neither sees Him nor knows Him” (John 14:17). We have God’s Spirit to teach us the spiritual truths of God’s Word, allowing us to stand on the sure foundation that He has laid for us. We can build on this foundation with a moral authority constructed with scriptural command, and share our beliefs joyfully with others as Paul would exhort us to: “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
My prayer is that our excuses and doubts would be satisfied and set aside as we grow deeper in our understanding of who God is, and what He wants to communicate to us. 2 Timothy 2:15 in the Living Bible says: “Work hard so God can say to you, "Well done." Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.” May it never be said of a Christian: “You can’t handle the truth!”
-Pilgrim
Pilate’s rhetorical question, now 2000 years removed, still has the same stinging volume as when he asked it of Jesus. Perhaps a better question today might be, “IS THERE truth?” Most of us would provide a resounding, “YES!”, but with what proof, with what explanation? What determines if something is true or not? How can we claim to have truth in these days of absolute uncertainty, when it seems better to just be sincere than right? What if someone is sincerely wrong? Why do we ask so many questions?!
Is it true if it works?
When we seek to explain to children that a math equation or science theory is true, our subconscious definition may be as simple and sorry as, “It works”. Is that the way truth can be defined? It is true as long as it works? What about when it doesn’t work? What if “it works” is really just a proof, or validation, of what is true? The answer to a math equation works because it is the right answer, not the other way around. We can’t base our lifestyles and values on the shaky ground that something seems to work. One has suggested that the Christian life is the best life because it works the best. I would disagree! The Christian life WORKS because it is based on the truth of God’s Word and the person of Jesus Christ. And even so, the Christian life doesn’t always work according to the pattern or expectation of this world, because we are living for eternity, not this present life. The foundation we base our lives on should be greater than “it works”.
Right or WRONG?
Instead of worrying about what is true, what about thinking for a moment if anything is wrong? Is it wrong to kill, steal, rape, lie, or cheat? If we all agree that some things are wrong or false, or that life seems unjust or unfair or people seem to always be lying, doesn’t that presuppose that we long for or expect something that IS true? Doesn’t our conscience or consequence expose the reality that there is an underlying truth beneath all of our excuses and ignorance? Romans 2:2 says: “Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth”. With that being said, can we really say right and wrong are only based on culture?
Morals or truth?
What one believes as “true” will inevitably shape their ethics and will establish moral authority. All cultures have moral boundaries and structure that help define “right” and “wrong” in a strictly moral sense. Whether one culture sees abortion as “right” or another sees it as “wrong” isn’t so much a truth issue as a moral issue. But it is the foundation on which these morals rest that matters. No culture or conscience, even the most hardened and brutal, would disagree that murder is wrong. That is the truth, the foundation, and it does not change or compromise from North America to Asia. The disagreement is when some cultures define murder differently, or brazenly ignore the foundation and suffer the ill-received consequences (Romans 1:32, 2:8; Ephesians 4:18). If the light on your dashboard says, “Oil Low”, you have the choice to heed the warning: “I need to get some Pennzoil!” Or, you could question the truth of the warning: “I don’t think that light works correctly”. Or worse, you could ignore the light: “Oh well, I don’t think it will affect the engine at all”.
Psalms 11:3 puts it well: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" The foundation of our Christian faith is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), who revealed that He was “the Truth” (John 14:6). His inspired Word to us allows us to build a belief system and moral boundaries based on that foundation of truth. Without a foundation, there is no “ground to stand on” or more literally, no moral authority with which to rest under. When the foundation is questioned, or removed, we find ourselves where we are today.
Moral relativism?
In these post-modern days there is a philosophy that says all of our morals and beliefs are equally true and relative to one another. There is no absolute truth, and truth changes, and just because it is true today doesn’t mean it will stay true. But the statement, “there are no absolutes” is itself an absolute statement!
It is impossible for there to be two opposing views that are absolutely true. Two opposing views can both be false, but not both true. If I say that Starbucks opens at 6am, and you say, “No, it is 5am”, can we both be right? If Starbucks opens at 4am then we are both truly wrong!
If everyone “might” have the right opinions or beliefs, and everyone’s belief could be true, what about when those opinions and beliefs and truths contradict one another?
Without giving you a scripture reference, I can tell you that walking up to a stranger and hitting them in the face is wrong. This is not a moral or cultural issue, it is simply true! But if it is “right” to me, and I struck a person who believes in moral relativism, could they argue with me? Isn’t it my right to be right?
You hear the word, “tolerance” being used a lot these days. The original idea of tolerance was that we will not persecute someone we disagree with, but we “tolerate” them even when there are major disagreements. But today, we have redefined “tolerance” to mean you should embrace and equalize any and every idea EXCEPT one that acts exclusive. In other words, as long as you agree with me, I’ll tolerate you, but once you disagree, YOU are intolerant. This whole attitude is laughable.
I will tolerate someone who smokes cigarettes, and still love them like a brother. But when they decide to light up at the gas station, in front of an open pump, out of love for them and concern for myself, I’m going to speak up! To be tolerant of someone’s obvious wrong behavior in that situation would be foolish and inconceivable.
Can I stand on the truth of Scripture?
In an age where even biblical absolutes are being questioned, it is imperative that we know not only what we believe, but why. When cult members come to your door, are you able to back up what you believe with scripture? That’s why it is so important for us to grow in God’s Word personally and corporately through solid Bible teaching. Paul warns us in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” The pastor has been gifted by God to equip and teach the saints, but have you been the Berean and investigated what is taught, compared it with scripture and then believed and lived what you have learned?
The Bible makes exclusive claims about itself, claiming to be God-inspired and useful to make the person of God complete in every way (2 Timothy 3:16). It is the complete and perfect revelation of God’s truth, made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The textual support alone can vouch for the reality of God’s truth in written form. The hundreds of fulfilled prophecies give us confidence and faith in its reality and power. The variety of authors, backgrounds, and themes, yet single message of redemption and love shows a oneness of thought without error or contradiction. Over thousands of years the critics have come and gone and the Bible remains steadfast and uncompromising in the waxing and waning of fads and trends. The question shouldn’t be: “Is the Bible true?” But rather, “What excuse do I have to not obey it?”!
We meet regularly as a church to learn these truths more clearly and apply them personally. Paul said that “we speak not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:13)”. Jesus said that another Counselor would be coming, “the Spirit of truth”…whom…”the world cannot accept… because it neither sees Him nor knows Him” (John 14:17). We have God’s Spirit to teach us the spiritual truths of God’s Word, allowing us to stand on the sure foundation that He has laid for us. We can build on this foundation with a moral authority constructed with scriptural command, and share our beliefs joyfully with others as Paul would exhort us to: “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
My prayer is that our excuses and doubts would be satisfied and set aside as we grow deeper in our understanding of who God is, and what He wants to communicate to us. 2 Timothy 2:15 in the Living Bible says: “Work hard so God can say to you, "Well done." Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.” May it never be said of a Christian: “You can’t handle the truth!”
-Pilgrim
Our Precious Commodity
Today the most precious treasure we possess seems to be our TIME! We pour billions of research dollars into our relentless pursuit in these ‘techno-efficient’ times to create the easiest, quickest solutions to our basic problems. We couldn’t wait for the stove to cook our bacon so someone invented the microwave, and now we have ‘Precooked INSTANT Bacon’. It took way too long to send letters via Pony Express (which we now refer to as ‘Snail Mail’) so now we have ‘INSTANT Messaging’. Why wait for an accountant to file your return when you can get an ‘INSTANT Refund’? My point? In an attempt to make things quicker and easier, ironically our time seems to have drifted away like our dropped cell phone calls. Plus, have you really tasted that bacon?
Jesus told a familiar story about a man trying to grow some plants, who scattered seeds on various types of ground. He threw some seed on a path, some among thorns, and some on fertile soil. But he also threw some on ground that was full of rocks. Here’s what He said, “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” (Mark 4:5-6) Jesus’s disciples didn’t understand this veiled truth, so He revealed it to them: “(These people) hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
(Mark 4:16-17)
This description is filled with words we can relate to: “quickly”, “short time”, “at once”. Maybe we could use the word, “Instant” instead! Some people apply the rush of life to spiritual things, thinking there are such things as ‘instant Bible study’, or ‘microprayer’, or ‘mini-fasts’. But the soil is shallow, the understanding and openness to allowing God to produce fruit is superficial and skin-deep.
So hopefully before you set this newsletter down to check your voice mail, rush on to work, or eat a Hot Pocket, stop and take a personal inventory. Calculate how many hours in a day you do the following things:
Eat ______ Computer/games ______
Sleep ______ Spend family time ______
Watch TV ______ Read the Bible ______
Work ______ Pray ______
School ______ Leisure ______
Exercise ______ Talk with spouse ______
Add these up and here is your total: ________ Any hours left? _______
We all have 24 hours in a day—how is your time being spent?
Pilgrim
Jesus told a familiar story about a man trying to grow some plants, who scattered seeds on various types of ground. He threw some seed on a path, some among thorns, and some on fertile soil. But he also threw some on ground that was full of rocks. Here’s what He said, “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” (Mark 4:5-6) Jesus’s disciples didn’t understand this veiled truth, so He revealed it to them: “(These people) hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.”
(Mark 4:16-17)
This description is filled with words we can relate to: “quickly”, “short time”, “at once”. Maybe we could use the word, “Instant” instead! Some people apply the rush of life to spiritual things, thinking there are such things as ‘instant Bible study’, or ‘microprayer’, or ‘mini-fasts’. But the soil is shallow, the understanding and openness to allowing God to produce fruit is superficial and skin-deep.
So hopefully before you set this newsletter down to check your voice mail, rush on to work, or eat a Hot Pocket, stop and take a personal inventory. Calculate how many hours in a day you do the following things:
Eat ______ Computer/games ______
Sleep ______ Spend family time ______
Watch TV ______ Read the Bible ______
Work ______ Pray ______
School ______ Leisure ______
Exercise ______ Talk with spouse ______
Add these up and here is your total: ________ Any hours left? _______
We all have 24 hours in a day—how is your time being spent?
Pilgrim
How to Fail
There are countless books, seminars, sermons, and advertisements on “How to Succeed”. Many through the years have invested small fortunes just to gain information on these ‘how to’ principles. I’ll save you the money and reverse the list. Instead of boring you with the characteristic and the conventional, I thought the following might help you to examine your life, and see if you are on the path of succeeding, or failing. The only verse I’ll leave you is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. May we run to win (succeed), and not be disqualified (fail):
Cheat!
If you can’t find a way to cheat, then just ignore the rules.
If all else falls short, simply rewrite the rules or your understanding of the rules.
Listen to your own wisdom.
Listen to someone who has no wisdom. They’ll agree with you.
Don’t listen to God, who gives wisdom to men, or else you may have to agree with Him.
Stay away from true Christian fellowship.
Keep your focus inward at all times. #7 can help you with this.
Ignore the needs of others. If that gets difficult, refer to #8.
Try to please people all the time.
Wear a good mask (this is essential to #10).
Hold expectations up for others that you never would for yourself.
Be submissive until you disagree.
Be faithful unless you have distinctive needs. God probably didn’t know you did.
Be willing to serve if it looks good, otherwise strive to do things that attract the most attention and exalt you the most glory.
Make decisions based on what it can do for you.
Leave your checkbook home on Sundays.
Leave your Bible home on Monday.
Leave your kids home on Wednesday.
Reward your kids with no discipline.
Let your child date at the earliest possible age.
Make sure your child sees church as another appointment on a busy list of to-do’s.
Keep your feelings about your spouse to yourself.
Tell your spouse your REAL feelings about them, in front of someone else.
Talk twice as much as you listen.
Even better, just stop talking and listening.
Look back at your life and inject the ‘victim’ virus.
Blame someone else.
If you can’t blame someone, look up.
Spend at least two quality days with God a year.
Cheat!
If you can’t find a way to cheat, then just ignore the rules.
If all else falls short, simply rewrite the rules or your understanding of the rules.
Listen to your own wisdom.
Listen to someone who has no wisdom. They’ll agree with you.
Don’t listen to God, who gives wisdom to men, or else you may have to agree with Him.
Stay away from true Christian fellowship.
Keep your focus inward at all times. #7 can help you with this.
Ignore the needs of others. If that gets difficult, refer to #8.
Try to please people all the time.
Wear a good mask (this is essential to #10).
Hold expectations up for others that you never would for yourself.
Be submissive until you disagree.
Be faithful unless you have distinctive needs. God probably didn’t know you did.
Be willing to serve if it looks good, otherwise strive to do things that attract the most attention and exalt you the most glory.
Make decisions based on what it can do for you.
Leave your checkbook home on Sundays.
Leave your Bible home on Monday.
Leave your kids home on Wednesday.
Reward your kids with no discipline.
Let your child date at the earliest possible age.
Make sure your child sees church as another appointment on a busy list of to-do’s.
Keep your feelings about your spouse to yourself.
Tell your spouse your REAL feelings about them, in front of someone else.
Talk twice as much as you listen.
Even better, just stop talking and listening.
Look back at your life and inject the ‘victim’ virus.
Blame someone else.
If you can’t blame someone, look up.
Spend at least two quality days with God a year.
Be a Berean...BUT
“Be a Berean…But!”
I love being a part of a church where God’s word is not compromised but is taught with conviction and completion. I love that we are exhorted even from the pulpit to ‘check out’ what we are being taught, comparing each sermon to scripture to make sure what we are learning is biblical. Paul found that the men and women of Berea were more noble than those from Thessalonica, because (as Doctor Luke put it in the book of Acts), “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). These Bereans received the word of God both with satisfaction and sobriety.
Just this morning I turned on the television to find a television evangelist promoting his new “miracle water” that “guaranteed” healing. Of course, there was a hefty love offering involved and his ministry “desperately needed” my support. With so many winds of doctrine around, how can we truly know what is straight and what is…crooked?
The answer is to “Be a Berean”. God wants us to search the scriptures, to look into His word, and not merely receive a message blindly. One of the marks of a growing believer is his or her ability to discern truth from error, and biblically know how to back up the what he or she knows is right. We should be listening intently to understand and rightly handle the word of truth.
God wants us to “Be a Berean”, but how far does that go? Many people are caught in Berea and can’t listen to a message without trying to “uncover” some error. God isn’t leading us to go on heresy “witch hunts”, or to correct the pastor when there is something we don’t agree with. Paul said in 2 Timothy, “Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen” (2 Timothy 2:14). Just a few verses later, Paul adds this to the young pastor: Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
Satan loves division, and since the beginning has challenged God and His word. We must not become captive to Satan’s will, to quarrel and argue about the nonessentials. We must strive to keep “the main thing” the main thing, and not major in the minors. If there is blatant heretical doctrine that undermines the nature of God, the deity/humanity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith, or any other essential of the faith, we should head to Berea. But if we find ourselves camped out there, judging EVERY book or EVERY sermon or EVERY word, we will cause division in the body of Christ, and will thwart the work of God. May we be Bereans, not boxers!
-Pilgrim
I love being a part of a church where God’s word is not compromised but is taught with conviction and completion. I love that we are exhorted even from the pulpit to ‘check out’ what we are being taught, comparing each sermon to scripture to make sure what we are learning is biblical. Paul found that the men and women of Berea were more noble than those from Thessalonica, because (as Doctor Luke put it in the book of Acts), “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). These Bereans received the word of God both with satisfaction and sobriety.
Just this morning I turned on the television to find a television evangelist promoting his new “miracle water” that “guaranteed” healing. Of course, there was a hefty love offering involved and his ministry “desperately needed” my support. With so many winds of doctrine around, how can we truly know what is straight and what is…crooked?
The answer is to “Be a Berean”. God wants us to search the scriptures, to look into His word, and not merely receive a message blindly. One of the marks of a growing believer is his or her ability to discern truth from error, and biblically know how to back up the what he or she knows is right. We should be listening intently to understand and rightly handle the word of truth.
God wants us to “Be a Berean”, but how far does that go? Many people are caught in Berea and can’t listen to a message without trying to “uncover” some error. God isn’t leading us to go on heresy “witch hunts”, or to correct the pastor when there is something we don’t agree with. Paul said in 2 Timothy, “Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen” (2 Timothy 2:14). Just a few verses later, Paul adds this to the young pastor: Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
Satan loves division, and since the beginning has challenged God and His word. We must not become captive to Satan’s will, to quarrel and argue about the nonessentials. We must strive to keep “the main thing” the main thing, and not major in the minors. If there is blatant heretical doctrine that undermines the nature of God, the deity/humanity of Christ, salvation by grace through faith, or any other essential of the faith, we should head to Berea. But if we find ourselves camped out there, judging EVERY book or EVERY sermon or EVERY word, we will cause division in the body of Christ, and will thwart the work of God. May we be Bereans, not boxers!
-Pilgrim
Blasphemy of Self
The subtleties with which our flesh curses God can blind us often to assume our state with God is nothing but bliss and perfection. I can look to others and compare myself with their standards (or lack of) and pat myself on the back with prideful applause, ignorant to my own depraved nature.
God has never called us to look AROUND to the left or right for our comparison, only UP, to CHRIST, to HIS measure of righteousness, humility, service, compassion, prayer, love, forgiveness, and obedience. When we see a weaker brother and find our self-piety on display, we fall into the Pharisaical trap so many have tripped into before us.
Paul said he was a 'wretched man', the 'chief of sinners', formerly a 'blasphemer'. To blaspheme means to speak and act against the character and nature of God with the utmost pride and defiance. In the life of the Christian, it is rarely our tongues that take the fall, but the BLASPHEMY OF SELF, the depraved sinful nature that Paul recognized we continue to struggle with AFTER salvation.
I am a new creation, and the old life of being dead in sin is now gone, but as Paul points out in Romans 7, the things I want to do in Christ, I don't seem to always do, but I end up doing the things I was saved FROM. I am a wretched man not because of my blasphemous past, but because of my wicked inclination to have tasted the heavenly gift and yet still desire the things of this world.
We may not be condemned for blaspheming God with our mouths, but in our conduct we are guilty as charged.
Only as we abide in Christ will these subtle pockets of pride, deceit, selfish ambition, and desire be exposed and consumed with His presence.
-Pilgrim
God has never called us to look AROUND to the left or right for our comparison, only UP, to CHRIST, to HIS measure of righteousness, humility, service, compassion, prayer, love, forgiveness, and obedience. When we see a weaker brother and find our self-piety on display, we fall into the Pharisaical trap so many have tripped into before us.
Paul said he was a 'wretched man', the 'chief of sinners', formerly a 'blasphemer'. To blaspheme means to speak and act against the character and nature of God with the utmost pride and defiance. In the life of the Christian, it is rarely our tongues that take the fall, but the BLASPHEMY OF SELF, the depraved sinful nature that Paul recognized we continue to struggle with AFTER salvation.
I am a new creation, and the old life of being dead in sin is now gone, but as Paul points out in Romans 7, the things I want to do in Christ, I don't seem to always do, but I end up doing the things I was saved FROM. I am a wretched man not because of my blasphemous past, but because of my wicked inclination to have tasted the heavenly gift and yet still desire the things of this world.
We may not be condemned for blaspheming God with our mouths, but in our conduct we are guilty as charged.
Only as we abide in Christ will these subtle pockets of pride, deceit, selfish ambition, and desire be exposed and consumed with His presence.
-Pilgrim
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