Cut it Out God!!!

Has the thought ever occurred to you that perhaps the trials you are experiencing can be used by Him to help you fulfill your best  and highest work?  Ever stopped to think that God prefers to wrest beauty out of ashes?  It's easy to think such things when we are at the bottom looking up.  But what about when we are fired up and ready to work for God?

Ever had a vision?  Not necessarily like the prophets of old.  But a vision of what you could do for God.  Perhaps it is even now burning within your heart and you are anxious to lay plans to go after it. Happens to me all the time.  But I tend to forget that God is more interested in who we are rather than what we can do for Him.

In his book, An Unhurried Leader, pg 68, Alan Fadling writes: "We assume the next step after receiving a vision is to get moving and get working.  But I've found that often God wants first to make the vision real in our actual lives so that we can live the vision and then see it realized through out work."

Oswald Chambers, in his book, My Utmost for His Highest (July 6 reading) sheds more light:
"Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience.  Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has!  He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry.  While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us.  God has to take us into the valley ands puts us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision.  Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work.  He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has set for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor's hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal."

I might not like the language of "battering", but it is part of sculpting.  And if I have asked God to use me, I need to submit to His shaping hand, so that He can fashion me into the tool of His best use.

Photo by JAFAR AHMED on Unsplash

And so there are parts of me that He needs to cut away.  My temper, perhaps.  Or my sharp tongue.  My judgmental attitude or my air of superiority.  My need for attention or maybe even my reticence to be speak out and be noticed.  Whatever it is, there are parts of each of us that must go if we are not to inhibit God's plan for us, nor have our lives stand in the way of someone else seeing and seeking God.

If I am to reach my best use and potential for God, I must first allow Him to make me ready for the job He is calling me to.  So whatever it is, Lord...cut it out.  Whatever needs to go...and my humanity would cry against this...but cut it out.  Prepare me for the vision that you have already implanted in my heart...and all that stuff within me that gets in the way...well...cut it out Lord!

Church- No Thanks!

Yea, it's been awhile.  But I was awakened early this morning with a burden to write some thoughts that God has been stirring in me for awhile.

In my work as a young adult ministry director, tasked with helping to solve the issue of a young adult migration from church, I’ve stumbled on something I find somewhat disturbing.  The conversations start out well enough, but invariably lead to a statement made by my conversant that, though they take many forms, typically have one origin.

“Well Pastor, I like going to church, I really do, but Sabbath mornings, I am so tired that I like to sleep in.”  Or “I get so much more out of just sitting in nature and allowing God to talk to me from His second book than I do sitting in church.”  Or “I have to be honest with you, there are things the church is doing that I just don’t agree with and I can’t get anything whenever I go.”  Or “There are so many great preachers on the internet, I get my spiritual blessing there.  I mean, sometimes I watch 4 or 5 sermons in a row!”  Or “I get so much more spending the morning alone with my prayer journal and my Bible reading plan, I’d rather not go and bother with all of the people at my church.  Besides, most of them are hypocrites anyway.” Or “Sabbath School?  Just an opinion fest!  Church? Just a show…and it’s always the same.” And I could go on, but I think you’ve heard enough variations on the theme that you get my drift.

These aren’t new, but what is disturbing is that I’m hearing them more from people in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s than I am from young adults. To be sure, young adults are using some of the same statements and even adding new variations, but they all have a common origin.   Self. What’s in it for ME?  Or what isn’t there for me?  Or what I get more from.  Or what I like better.  Or how I’m spiritually more advanced than the average pew sitter so shouldn’t have to be bothered on a Sabbath morning to go and sit next to them.  And if church really is all about me, then why shouldn’t I be able to decide how I spend my Sabbath mornings?  And the same being that started the selfishness thing is behind those thoughts, because he knows that if he can’t hit the church head on, then he will divide and conquer.  

But then I come to this passage in Hebrews 10:19-25 NLT  

Heb. 10:19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.


Heb. 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Verses 19-23 most certainly would encourage us in our personal pursuit of God, but suddenly verse 24 turns us outwardly. Now we move from thinking about “me and God” to “we and God”. Notice the words “Let us” and then the commands that follow… “think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” “Let us NOT NEGLECT our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”

Perhaps here, we get a clue as to why many of us have given up on church. Perhaps it’s because we have missed our role. And perhaps church, in the way it is currently happening, isn’t conducive to helping us with our role.

If I were to make a case for your role at church just looking at these passages, unassisted by the many others in scripture that are saying the same thing, I would say that first and foremost, you are called to be a worshipper as you remember the sacrifice Christ made, and the fact that He made it possible to approach the throne of grace. Worship because your guilt has been taken away. Christ has made you clean. Hold tightly to that belief and worship Christ because of it.

“But I can do that at home, or in nature!” you might be saying. And you would be right. You can worship anywhere. But now we come to another role of every Christian in the church. That of using your gifts to add to the sum total of the church.


A believer, singular, is just that. A believer. But to have a church, you have to have a group of believers. And it is into that group that the Holy Spirit disperses His gifts for the good of all believers. No one has ALL of the gifts. YOURS are important to the Body of Christ as well. So… “think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” “Encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”


This means that even if you aren’t on the program, you have a role to play. The Holy Spirit could have brought someone to church that needs your love and encouragement. And if you aren’t there to distribute it according to your giftedness, that person will leave just as empty and discouraged as when they came. And enough times of experiencing nothing at church ends up causing another to drop out.

Now before you accuse me of laying all the blame on you and seek to self-justify, let me just say, “I get it.” YOU aren’t the church’s salvation, and therefore you shouldn’t have to carry the responsibility of being there for other people. And to a point…you’re right. Jesus is the only Savior of anyone, the church people included.

But what I am saying is that He has called you to be His hands and feet, not just to address the noble causes of starving children and abused women and homeless people. But He is calling you to also serve those who sit in the pew with you. Those who come and are starving spiritually. Those who have suffered the abuse of a bad workplace all week and just long for some spiritual balm to give them courage to go back into it. Those who find themselves without a home church, but who keep looking. YOU have what they need, and God can use YOU!


So before you skip church again this week, think about the blessing of service that you are missing if you do. Think about who won’t be welcomed or encouraged if you aren’t there. Think about the contribution to the Body of Christ that you can make instead of the blessing you want for yourself. And you will invariably find that the blessing you were looking for is waiting for you in the foyer before church, or in the fellowship hall after church, or in Sabbath School class where someone pours out their heart and gives you a chance to respond with a private note of encouragement. As the old Nike ad pointed out: “You won’t know unless you go.”

And after you have engaged for a while, take a Sabbath off to recoup. Spend some time in nature, or with your Bible, or watching sermons on the internet. Just don’t make that your weekly go-to. Because someone at the church was put there to encourage YOU. And they can’t use their gift if you aren’t there.

Heb. 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Merry Christmas! GOD CHOSE YOU!!!!

I had an epiphany in Wal-Mart the other day.  It occurred to me, standing in the Wal-Mart line as I watched the flurry of frantic Christmas activity, that we, as a society,  are celebrating the wrong thing or things at Christmas.  While there is certainly nothing wrong with letting people know how much you care about them through the love language of giving, especially in light of all that a loving God has given us, it occurred to me that our focus, as a society, has turned to a celebration of materialism and capitalism.  This certainly wasn’t the first time that thought has hit me—as I imagine some of you with the “well, duh” expressions on your faces.  But I began to see it in stark contrast to what we should be celebrating and how what we celebrate affects who we are, and our energy levels and even how fulfilled and excited we are about life.  Let me explain.

To most people in our society, Christmas has become all about the perfect material gift for the significant people on your list, and for the stores themselves, it has become a marketing bright spot in a year of otherwise soft sales.  And the game becomes one of seeking the perfect price point.  If the goods are marked too high, people will tend to walk away.  But if they are priced too low it cuts into the profit margins.  And prices are constantly being adjusted to try and regulate a good flow of merchandise.  And so the two have merged as a celebration in their own right.  For the consumer, it is buying the perfect gift at the right price and for the merchant, it comes in keeping the flow of merchandise moving to maximize profits and the bottom line, so that the fourth quarter earnings can be posted much higher thereby driving your stock prices up. And the more Christmas becomes about the gifts and the profit-margins, the more tired and disgruntled we feel, and the less joy and energy we feel.  That focus on Christmas actually sucks the life out of us.  It reduces us to a mentality of quantifying how important we are by how much stuff we get. 

If we get something exotic or expensive given to us, then we assume we have great worth because much was spent.  Likewise, if we don’t get much, we assume we aren’t worth much.  And for those with little to spend, the uneven financial ground, that we are so keenly aware of all throughout the year, is merely exacerbated and seen in starker contrast because those with little, see those with much, purchasing expensive gifts and they wish THEY could buy more for their loved ones.  And instead of leaving Wal-Mart excited about what they have been able to purchase, they leave disappointed and discouraged and drained—the life sucked out of them, and the wealthy leave Wal-Mart with an air of superiority because they are able to afford more—well actually, many of the wealthy wouldn’t be caught dead shopping Wal-Mart—but you get my point.  But here’s the rub.  

Many of the poor are actually grateful for what they receive for Christmas, while many of the rich only pretend to be.  Or they may be excited at first, but because they get so much, it quickly loses it’s appeal and special-ness and fades into the landscape of all the other stuff they have and within just a few weeks, many forget that they ever received it.  I know...it gets really confusing...and sometimes even maddening.

May I suggest a different focus?   What we really celebrate, or should celebrate at Christmas, is that God chooses us. He comes tenderly as one of us and makes the gigantic step of choosing to love us, choosing to take all of what he has, all of what he holds, and offers it to us in a relationship.   Now that’s energizing isn’t it?  That’s exciting.  And no matter what your socio-economic background, that is still more than any of us will ever have in the material world. 

Think of that—God chose YOU!  He made the gigantic step of choosing to love YOU, choosing to take all of what He has, all of what He holds, and he offers it to YOU in a relationship.  Is that worth celebrating?  That doesn’t leave the drained or disappointed feelings that materialism subjects us to.  That can be energized every single day for the rest of your life!  And that’s the point.  God chose YOU to be in relationship with Him so that He could impart LIFE and ENERGY to YOU.  

For all of the junk that we have to wade through down here—for all of things that can turn life sour, or disappointing or discouraging, or even hopeless, you need to know that Jesus, the Word, capital W, is the right answer.  In a mixed-up world with a mixed-up society celebrating Christmas in a mixed-up way, Jesus continues to be the right answer.  I would submit that it is only through understanding the Word, incarnate,  that is, Jesus in the flesh, that we can begin to see where we fit into the whole scheme of things and then, finding our rightful place, we can begin to live life with a  purpose and an aliveness that has eluded us while we spend our time in the Wal-Mart line.

Thomas A Kempis wrote: A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.    

Merry Christmas!  GOD CHOSE YOU!

God Has a Question...

In 1 Kings 18 we find a story within a story. It is the story of the showdown between the prophets of Baal and Elijah up on Mt. Carmel. But there is an issue at stake that Elijah wanted to point out to the people. Look at verse 21, "Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing."

That’s a great question. Here are people who are supposed to be the chosen ones of God. They have a history with Him. But they’ve forgotten who He is and they have been distracted by idols. Sound like anyone else you know? Some things never change.

Many of us have grown up in the church. We have a history with God. We’ve been taught about Him since we were in Cradle Roll and Kindergarten. But as we go through our days now, we are distracted by other gods in our lives. The gods of money, fame or things. The gods of girlfriends or boyfriends. The god of lust. Or perhaps the gods of bitterness and un-forgiveness at an injustice done to us. Or maybe it is just your own intellect. Whatever it is that continually comes between you and God has become an idol. That pet sin. That secret desire. The continual craving for whatever it is. And God has a question for you.

“How long will you waver between two opinions?” There it is. You and I both have to answer that question. It’s showdown time. And we may answer “yes” to God with our mouth…and even our inner desire, but we keep a corner of our heart unyielded and locked tight, harboring our idol.

And as life gets busy and our quiet time with God gets pushed aside, our other idol suddenly gets the attention. We treasure it, coddle it, admire it, sometimes even loathe it, yet always we worship it.

Somehow these things that we’ve made to be our gods, get in the way of us worshipping the true God. We get so into our false god, our sin, that we end up worshipping the very things that will destroy us. We go back to what makes us comfortable, at least for a little while, and we forget that God has called us to be His people. We forget that we at one point in our lives promised that we would follow Him with our whole heart. And so the question comes from Mt. Carmel into our lives this today.

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

Your choice. Your move.

Advertising and Me...

Have you ever noticed how many advertising slogans appeal directly to your selfish nature? How many of these have you heard? Admittedly, I went back a few years on some of these, so some of them you kids may have never heard, but I bet your parents have. Listen to some of these.

“You deserve a break today?”
“Have it your way!”
“Calgon, take me away!”
“Carnival’s got the fun!”

Or what about Candy--

Two For Me! None for you- Twix
Snickers satisfies you.
Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!
Give me a break! Give me a break! Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!

How about Cereal?
Gotta have my pops!
I'm Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs
Nobody can say no to the honey nut Os in Honey Nut Cheerios

Soft drinks
Live on the Coke side of Life.
Make 7-Up Yours!
It Gives You Wings-Red Bull
All the sugar, and twice the caffeine- Jolt Cola

Even the military has gotten into the act.
An ARMY of one? Who ever heard of such a thing? Think about that—an army of one is going to get trounced every time by an army of thousands.

We could go on and on, but you get the picture. Society has not only accepted our selfishness, they have embraced it. Even going so far as one Reebok ad that almost mimics God’s very title. When Moses asked God at the burning bush, “Who should I say is sending me?” God simply responded, “I AM”. That’s His title. I AM. I always have been, I always will be. I am. Reebok’s take off ad simply stated at the end: I am what I am.

We are steeped in selfishness from birth. As a matter of fact, the only thing that a parent can truly pass on to their child with certainty, is a selfish, sinful nature.

We grow up in it and continue to nurse and protect our sinful natures. Even when we find out that we should share, we do so grudgingly. And even when we think we are not, we continually have an ongoing conversation in our heads about what other people are thinking about us. Don’t believe me? Answer this question.

What happens when you are walking by yourself and you accidentally trip on a crack in the sidewalk? That’s right—you instantly look around to see who saw you.


Advice columnist Ann Landers, once quipped: “At age 20 we worry about what others think of us. At 40 we don't care what they think of us. At 60 we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all.” 

Why is that? Because they’ve really only been thinking about themselves the whole time. It’s been said that the smallest package in the world is a person wrapped up in himself.

So where do we find relief from our selfish focus? The place that it has been found all along. In worship...or ascribing worth to...our Creator. And then serving our fellow man out of love for our God. King Me is really under-rated.

The Reason for Hope...

Anthony de Mello in his book The Heart of the Enlightened, page 19 writes:
Once upon a time in a concentration camp there lived a prisoner who, even though he was under sentence of execution, was fearless and free. One day he was seen in the middle of the prison square playing his guitar. A large crowd gathered to listen, for under the spell of his music, they became as fearless as he. When the prison authorities saw this, they forbade the man to play.
But the next day there he was again, singing and playing on his guitar with a larger crowd around him. The guards angrily dragged him away and had his fingers chopped off.

Next day he was back again, singing and making what music he could with his bleeding fingers. This time the crowds were cheering. The guards dragged him away again and smashed his guitar.

The following day he was singing with all his heart. What a song! So pure and uplifting! The crowd joined in, and while the singing lasted, their hearts became as pure as his and their spirits were invincible. So angry were the guards this time that they had his tongue torn out. A hush descended on the camp, a something that was deathless.

To the astonishment of everyone, he was back in his place the next day swaying and dancing to a silent music that no one but he could hear. And soon everyone was holding hands and dancing around this bleeding, broken figure in the center while the guards stood rooted to the ground in wonder.

Two thousand years ago, thinking to silence hope, the devil looked at the Singer of life and love said, “Destroy this One, and we destroy any hope that humanity ever thought of having!” And he did his best. Satan used one of Jesus’ friends to betray Him. The mob took Him. They spit on Him; pulled out His beard, beat Him until He was almost dead. Then forced Him to carry his cross up a rugged hill, and there, they crucified Him.

“That should do it!” Satan beamed. And for a while, it looked like it would work. The disciple’s world caved in. They locked themselves into a room for fear of the Jews. It was as if a hush descended on the camp, a something that was deathless.

All seemed bleak. Hopeless. Dark. But then someone found the crack in the concrete. A small hole with a single blade of grass hope. “Hey, I wonder if it’s really true?” “What’s that?” “Well, you know, what He said about the third day.”

It seemed hopeless to all, but to the astonishment of everyone, on the third day, Jesus was back in His spot once again singing hope.

Be Amazed...Again...(For the very first time)

Exhibit B in our journey this week on learning to be amazed once again.

Your name is Jairus. You’ve come a long way to find Jesus. Your only daughter is dying. The doctors have all given up and you’ve taken her home to die. But somehow, you just can’t give up without trying everything. One of your servants has seen Jesus heal and suggests that if you could just find Jesus and have him come, your daughter might not die. You search frantically, from one town to the next. The reports are all the same. “You just missed Him. He was here about 2 days ago and healed most of the people in the town.”

Hope grows stronger, while on the other side of the emotional roller coaster, you become frantic as you realize that you are a few days behind him. You redouble your efforts, trying to reach Him and get Him home before it is too late. Finally, you come racing into a town and discover a large crowd of people gathered around. This must be Jesus. Pushing your way through the crowd, you come face to face with Him. “Master, you must come now!” The urgency is in your voice as you try to get Jesus to follow you back through the crowd. He motions for you to lead and begins to follow. You look back and realize that He has stopped and is asking who touched Him. You turn back to urge Him to hurry when one of your servants rides up to the edge of the crowd on horseback and motions for you.

You can tell by the look on his face that it’s too late. “Don’t trouble the Master any further,” he says, “She’s dead.” Grief wrenches your soul and you slump to the ground. The "if only’s" come. If only you had found Him quicker. If only He had been closer to your home. If only she had held on for a little while longer. If only there were no crowds to slow Him down.”

A hand on your shoulder jars you back to reality. “Don’t worry, just believe.” Jesus helps you to your feet and begins walking towards your town, He and his disciples helping you as you stumble along in a haze of grief. You sleep little that night, and the next day is a blur as you head home. As you come near your house, the mourner’s are there in full force. It really hits home. She’s dead. 

Jesus simply quiets them and says, “Don’t mourn. She’s sleeping.” Laughter meets His statement. How can Jesus mock your pain with such a statement. You enter to find your wife weeping and lying across the bed holding the lifeless form of your daughter. Jesus gently lifts her and you rush to hold her, to hold each other, as Jesus now looks at the little body on the bed.

Gently, yet with authority he says, “Little girl, I say to you arise!” Her eyes flutter open as you heart beats wildly. Your wife screams with joy and leaps toward the bed as your beloved daughter sits up. Suddenly the three of you are laughing, crying, talking, hugging, kissing, and marveling at what just happened. You look again…and He is gone.

Are you amazed yet? Can you just shrug it off with an "I've heard all this before!"? Or is there something, even now, that is begging you to be astounded and astonished at a God who cared so much for you and me that He came and gave us a peek at what God is like. Someone who calls the unloveable. Someone who forgives the hookers... Someone who wants to turn your grief into joy. Look again...for the very first time. And be amazed!