2015: A year of being stuck

Before I begin I have a joke.

Question: "What did Adam say to his wife on the last day of the year?"
Answer: "Happy New Years, 'Eve'"

I know. I know. Don't quit your day job.

So, its been awhile since my last blog but felt the urge to get back into it. Maybe that should be my New Year's Resolution?

Almost every year we come to Dec 31 and we realize we completely neglected our New Year's Resolution from the year before. So, we make an oath that this year we will do better. Or Go to the Gym more. Or Eat less snacks. Or Drink less pop. Or Read my Bible more. Or Be a nicer person. Or whatever.

I want to suggest a new way of doing this.
Instead of trying to come up with things you need to do better or things you need to give up I want us to focus on one thing.

Actually, one word.

Ask God to give you one word for your new year. No matter how simple or silly that word might be that's your word. Don't try and negotiate with him. It usually doesn't work. We can ask God for a word because he actually knows us better than we know ourselves.

So go ahead try it. Even if you aren't religious. Even if you don't believe in a god, just humor me. God speaks to and loves even those who don't believe in Him.

The rest of this blog will be dedicated to my word: My word is "Stuck"

On the surface this looks like a very depressing word but I love it! King David from the Bible tells us to "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures. Take Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:3-4)


David is an easy person to relate to. He has incredible passion for God but sometimes he loses his focus and falls short of perfection. That sounds like me, sounds like you. But there is some redeeming qualities to the life of this shepherd boy turned King. He had "a heart after God's own heart." In other words he loved God and didn't care who else knows.

In fact the more I study David the best word to find to describe him is: Stuck. He gets stuck in the grace of God. He gets stuck in the love of God. He gets stuck as a sheep.

David, formerly a shepherd knew how much sheep needed to rely on the Shepherd. David calls the Lord "His Shepherd" in the famous 23rd Psalm.

I want this word stuck to consume my life this year. When I'm reading my Bible I want to be stuck on words and not be able to continue. When I'm preaching I want to be stuck  in awe of the one I am preaching about. When I am coaching I want to be stuck when I realize that God has been so Good to bless me with the ability to be an influence on these kids lives.When I'm eating I want to be stuck when I realize how good food tastes. That my God would create taste buds for me.

This is a just a start but how cool is it that on this journey we call life that God has designed places for us to get stuck. To reflect. To be thankful. To inspire. To be well human.

Above all, may I get stuck in the overwhelming grace of Jesus Christ. Who has called me to himself before the foundations of the world.

If you desire, you may just my word. I think it's a good one. But I want to challenge you to ask God for yourself. What word is he giving you for this new year. May God slow you down. May he open your ears to hear from him so that you may truly be changed by the one who made, knows, and loves you.

Judge not?

A common phrase in today's lingo is: "Don't Judge me. Only God can judge me." This type of thinking is most often stated because one is either completely ashamed by their actions or they acknowledge the fact that God is infinite and wise while we are finite and often foolish.

But the phrase "Only God can Judge me" should scare individuals if they do not have a relationship with him. Think about it for a moment. God is holy. You are not. God is wise. You are not. God is perfect. You are not. Without the sacrificial act of Jesus dying for our sins we would still be regarded as enemies of God. Once you have place your trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus it changes everything. You have now become a friend of God.

But does that give us the right to judge?

This is a tough subject to approach. And I am going to admit, I don't have all of the answers. But I think this is a topic that is worth wrestling with in today's culture.

We live in a day of Postmodernism. Historians have placed the start of this era and the death of modernism on Sept 11, 2001. Regardless of where you place the beginning of this time period, the fact remains that it is driven mostly by one distorted worldview of Relativism.

Relativism is the idea that there are no absolutes. (Stating that there are no absolutes kinda defeats its purpose yet this idea remains for the majority of people in the twenty-first century). Religions that teach there is exclusivism are rejected by the population as a whole. "How can you tell me what I ought to believe?"

This idea becomes even more scary when it is coupled in with morals. Moral Relativism is the concept that my morals and beliefs are private and each individual is entitled to his or her one belief system. One is allow to do and believe whatever he or she wants as long as it does not interfere with the freedom of another. (this is where the subject becomes very tough to interpret because how can you tell if it is really interfering with another's freedom.)

Yet, in the midst of Moral Relativism many in the Western world still believe in a "god." This God may or not be a real person but it brings many individuals much comfort to believe there is someone out there that has his or her best interest in mind. And he is the only one that can judge them.

Who is God? I believe that Jesus Christ is God. Why? He said he was. My case does not rest simply in the fact of that he claimed to be God for many have suffered psychological delusions of grander where they believe they are a divine being. I believe Jesus is God because he predicted his own death and resurrection and was right about it.

Jesus said, He is the way, the Truth, and the Life. And that people could only come to God through Him. He wasn't stopping people from coming to know God but allowing himself to be a bridge between our fallen humanity and the holiness of God.

So, with all that being said........ what about judging others. Did Jesus even speak on this topic? YES!

"Do not judge."- Jesus

He actually said those three words. Do NOT JUDGE. The problem for all of us who want to take this as a license to disobey God is Jesus didn't stop there!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."- Jesus

These words were given by Jesus not because he wants you to avoid judging each other but because he wants you to be careful on how you judge.

Jesus says, Before you start going around acting like the Righteous Police and trying to get everyone to clean up their lives to take a deep breath and think about it. To examine oneself. What are your motives? Are you calling this person out because you generally care about their well being or are you doing it because you are in a bad mood, mad at them, or want to see them embarrassed?

If you are a Christian you have been set free from the bondage of sin. What does that mean? The thing (the plank) that you have been struggling with can be set free. Jesus died not just so you can go to heaven one day but so that you can be set free from your addictions and problems today. Allow him to take away your plank. To give you free sight. To set you free!

So, what's this judgement thing about?

Once you have become free you have the capacity to set other people free. As you walk in freedom you will have opportunitie to tell others how Jesus has set you free. As you remove the plank from your own eye you can tell others that God can remove the speck in their eye. You can tell them that He is not mad at them for their mistakes and shortcomings but does want to see them set free from the pain that their sin has caused.

It's okay to call other people out when they are doing something that is harmful to themselves and others. They might not thank you in the moment but looking back they will be glad you were a good friend and told them how them can be set free from the life they are living.

This needs to all be done in love. Jesus, God incarnate, held on the knowledge of the universe. Yet not everyone believed and trusted in what He had to say. Yet he knew when to speak and when not to. He showed us how knowledge empowered but love becomes the most powerful force in the universe.

Divine Relationships

The goal of any relationship is to leave someone better off than when we found them.

This is true of friendship, romantic relationships, marital relationships, and family relationships. 

This blatantly spits in the face of the value of our culture. In 21st Century America we are all about instant gratification. What can I get out of it? How can this benefit me now?  

I wish I knew this concept earlier in my life because when you grasp it. When you get it. It wrecks you. You can't stay the same. 

For example, in a dating relationship between a boy and girl. Many cases they are in the relationship for purely selfish reasons. She is cute. He is athletic. I am lonely.  I have a low self-esteem. I I I. 

We take our brokenness and take it to another broken person to not feel broken. Its the blind leading the blind. 2000 years ago Jesus said, "The two shall be one." This implies the reality that the two whole people shall be united together to become one whole person. (Not 1/2 person +3/8 person= One person)

Not perfect by any means of the word but whole. 

To be whole means to be holy. These two words actually come from the same word in the Greek. It is when "all the parts are present and working as they were designed."

To be whole or holy means to have one's identity fixated on the fact that because of Jesus's Actions on the cross we have incredible value in the eyes of God. We are valued no longer as sinners but as saints. We are valued no longer as distant from God but as people who have been bought near. We are valued no longer as servants but as Kings and Queens. With Authority. With dignity. With honor. 

When one brings himself/herself to a dating relationship he or she must be whole. They enter into the relationship to offer themselves to the other. 

This same truth ought to be apply to any and all relationships we have. We bring ourselves to others not to get something from them but to give ourselves. To leave every and any situation with them being better off because you were in their presence. 

There are two possible things that can occur to dating relationships. This is the fact that they can end up being engaged and then married or have a breakup. As child of the king a breakup should not look like it does in the "world." 

Yes, hurt shall come and pain will arise. But if you were whole before the relationship and if you were in it to give of yourself and not merely to receive, (There is a purpose in receiving from others but it ironically only occurs when you give) things will be okay. 

Why?

Because your goal weather you ended up marrying the person or not was to leave them better than you found them. 

I write this blog a few days before I get married. What an exciting time in my life. But what also a scary time. Not scary in the sense that I am afraid but in the sense of the unknown. What does it look like to love and be loved and give of myself wholly and fully?

I do know at least one thing. My goal and purpose in marriage cannot be about myself.  It needs to and has to be about the other. My purpose fixates on the idea that I will leave her better off each day. Not in a controlling and trying to fix any and all things kind of manner but in the "I really do care about your best interest" kind of way. 

Jesus knew who he was. He was a whole person. He was a holy person. He brought himself to every relationship. He never care what people thought about him because life wasn't about himself feeling good. It was about living for others. 

And you know what?. Every time Jesus hangs out with me I am a better person. He does it. He makes me better. Not by controlling me with guilt and shame but through his loving kindness. 

Jesus, teach me to have divine relationships. Teach me how to respect others above myself. To honor others above myself. Walk with me. Talk with me. Guide me today in this journey. To the end goal that you might be glorified. That you might be praised. Thank Risen King Jesus. 

Powerless

I was reading my bible this morning and I was struck by a sentence. I could no longer continue after I read these words. Have you ever read something and felt so connected to those words that you could no longer continue. Here they are:

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."

These words are written by Saint Paul to the church in Rome roughly 2000 years ago. The wonderful thing about the words of God is that they never change. We change and we are transformed but His words remain the same.

We can look at the context of the verse and ask what the author was trying to communicate to the orginial audience and then seek counsel through the Spirit of God to the personal application of the day. The wonderful thing is: They are usually the same thing. What God was speaking through Paul 2000 years ago is exactly what we need to hear today.

Paul is writing a letter to the church in Rome explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good News! That we were created good, have disobeyed God in word and deed, have a redeemer name Jesus that has saved us from hell and for heaven, and that one day Jesus is going to return to earth and restore the world to the way it gets to be.

Reading this verse, this sentence, this thought, made me a little upset. You see, because Im American. I am no powerless. I'm an athlete, I'm not powerless. I have worked hard for everything I have in my life. It's humbling to be called powerless when all we are feed every day is the complete opposite. Pop-culture tells me I'm special (like a snowflake). But powerless, never.

This is a place where one needs to tend lightly. Because I am not taking about low self-esteem. I am not taking about having emotional/psychological issues like depression or the opposite end of narcissism. I am taking about our sense before God awaken us to the truth of who he is!

Maybe the best way to explain what I am trying to say is through a story.....
A few years ago I worked at a summer camp. I was in charge of teaching sailing for a part of the day. I dont know why they chose me considering I have never sailed myself before the one hour orientation I received. But there I was. The camp was for kids ages 8-18. And many younger kids had a difficulty sailing. It is tough. The wind blows fast and without warning.

One day, as two 9 year olds were out of the lake the wind did increase without notice. The students panic and pulled on the rope and they went so fast that the sailboat capsized. Without hesitation, I jumped into the water and went after them. I swam toward them in the heavy winds and waves until I reached them. At this point, I flipped their boat for them and told them to get inside. We dumped as much water out of the boat as we could as I began to swim two 60 pound boys plus the boat to the shore.

They were powerless. They were stuck. Have you ever felt stuck and didn't know what to do? There was nothing they could do. They were waiting and crying for help until their hero came to rescue them.

This is the message of how much God loves us. That when we didn't even know we needed to be saved that Jesus took our place on the cross.

Later in the scriptures we see God call us other words, "Children," "Saints," "Forgiven," "light." But it didn't start with you choosing to be a better person. Moralism only gets you so far. Trying to be a good person only gets you so far. You are powerless to come into a relationship with God. It's only after he awakens you by His spirit that you can follow him.

This sounds like fatalism but it is not. The truth is that it starts and ends with God but it is also about you. God's spirit awakens us to the truth and the fact that Jesus is Lord and in that awakening moment we are brought to crisis moment. Which way are we going to go in life.

I think of Paul's conversion. He sees a light that blinds him. It is Jesus from heaven. He proclaims, "It is I, Jesus, the one whom you are persecuting." He is blind for three days until God sends a man named Ananias to heal him. In that instance Paul is completely healed and can see again. Paul is awoken to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah but Jesus himself but still has a chose to make. Does he follow his leading and lose all he has worked for his whole life?

Paul was powerless. He was blind way before he was physically blind. Ironically, It took him becoming blind physically for him to see spiritually what was happening.

Before, God awakens us to the truth that He is real we are left in a state of blindness. Without power. But he flips on the light switch so that we can see the truth of who he is.

What role do believers have in the role of salvation then? As a believer, your responsibility is to follow Jesus. Fall in love with Jesus. As unbelievers see how your life has become transformed by God they will chose to follow him as well when they are having their next crisis moment.

You see, we had no power but now we have unlimited power from on High. The Holy Spirit has given us the empowerment to follow him and share his love with the world. You were powerless now you are full of power but this power is from God alone. Will you be a person of power of loving others and by laying down your life for the other?

Offensive Love

God's love is incredibly offensive. Not in the sense that "The Pirates need to generate more offense" but in the sense that his love is above and beyond our cognitive understanding of what is good and right.

We have unintentionally shape our understanding of God and His love toward us based on our experience and the love we have receive from others. If one wants to judge by this merit he or she will continually underestimate the capacity God has to show favor, grace, and love toward his children.

I am a Christian and believe in the mystery of the Trinity. I believe in One God yet he has revealed himself in three characters. We call this the Father, the Son (Jesus, the Christ), and the Holy Spirit. They are equal in power and authority for there are literally one but they are different in their roles. The Father creates and sustains the world, the Son sacrificed himself showing us the great love of the Father, while the Holy Spirit empowers us for daily living and enlightens us to the truth that Jesus in the Messiah.

Trying to explain God in human terms is very difficult for He (even using gender is incorrect analysis) indescribable. The best one can do to explain and understand the glory of the Father is to look at the Son. The author of Colossians, Saint Paul, show the resurrected Christ seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven in a vision. He says two important things of God: "The Son is the image of the invisible God"  and "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him."

What's the point. We can fully and truly know God through the character of Jesus Christ. If we have some understanding of God that does not match up with how Jesus acted then we need to repent (change the way we think) at once.

Many of the religious people in the First Century did not like Jesus. They were offended by how he did things. He was offending people before he was born. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. God chose to bring His Son into the world through a teenage Jewish girl who was engaged to be married. Many people would have looked at Jesus and mocked him calling him a bastard child. Neither did Jesus get married. This is more common in today's culture but not in the First Century! In addition, Jesus who was a teacher with much authority, chose disciples that were the rejects of the day. The majority of his followers were fishermen and tax-collectors.

What is this Jesus guy doing? As you read through the Gospels you will see that he continues to offend the religious yet stun the "Sinners" by welcoming them into his life. He breaks down their man-made religion and reveals the true heart of God. "To seek and save the lost."

There is an account of great offense that Jesus brings in Luke's Gospel. Some Pharisees (this was a devout Jewish sect that held morality to a high standard) invited Jesus to have dinner at their home. This was the greatest level of intimacy in the Jewish First Century culture. As they are enjoying their meal and woman who doesn't even get named walks right into the house. She is simply called, "a sinful woman." She does the oldest thing. She falls to the ground at the feet of Jesus, pouring perfume and washing his feet with their kisses and hair.

This event caused the Pharisees not to be mad at the woman but at Jesus. But why? Because he was not offended at the woman. She was unclean. She was unholy. She was unworthy. She was a SINNER. She was a woman. She wasn't one of them. She wasn't a child of Abraham. The Pharisees say about Jesus, "If this man was a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is- that she is a sinner."

Jesus explains why he is not offended with a story (this was pretty common for Him).

"Two people owed money to a certain monelender. One owed him 500 days of wage, and the other 50 days of wage. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?

His rhetorical question was answered correctly by Simon, "The one who had the bigger debt forgiven."

If the Pharisees and many Christians today it is about doing more right than wrong. Life is about achieving perfection; more good deeds than sins. But the thing is no one is perfect. And if we are honest with ourselves trying to achieve perfection is hard and it is tiresome task.

The very fact that God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place is the fact that we could not rescue ourselves. That is
God's
Great
Love.

That he chose to love everyone equally. You might say, "Well, Jeff. Don't we all? No, I don't think so. We might try to love everyone equally and unconditionally but this again is a task that you and I fail.

God's love is offensive because your eternally  status before God is not determine by how you act or what you do. It is totally, 100% in the fact that he loves you and me and us and paved the way for us to have an eternal relationship with Him.

Jesus didn't care that the woman who was at his feet was considered to be a sinful woman. He didn't view people in light of their sin but in light of how much he loved them. To this day, Jesus' love is incredibly offensive to many. It is "too good to be true." We many times believe this because we believe the falsehood that God can only love me by how good of a person  I am. You are not a good person. You are however, a child of God. A prince or princess in God's kingdom. Forever loved and forever cherished simply because you are you.

Because this woman had a huge debt her understanding of God's love was able to increase. Y(our) ability to love others is directly proportional to the love we have received. To those who have received grace in light of their error how much greater has their capacity to show grace increased. 

As you walk through life today, I pray that you know that there is a God and He is madly in love with you. I pray that you can reflect on your life and understand no matter what you have gone through that God is willing to fully forgive you of everything. 

And when He forgives; He forgets. 

The time Jesus went to a wedding

I was reading in the Bible today about when Jesus went to a wedding. It is unclear who the bride and the groom were because they are not the focus on this story. Some Historians believe that it was a friend of Mary, the mother of Jesus, but no one knows for sure. 

At this wedding there is Mary, Jesus, and the disciples of Jesus. There is no mention of Joseph. Joseph was the earthy father of Jesus and historians have taught that he passed away during those 18 years of history that are not included in the Bible. 

We encounter Jesus when he is born, when he is 12, and then when he is 30. Jesus took over the family business of being a carpenter but his life was radically changing and he knew it. He experienced the heavenly father when he was baptized in the Jordan River. In that account the Father says of Jesus, "You are my Son, with whom I love and with you I am well pleased." 

Jesus is tempted in the desert for a long time but is able to overcome because of the assurance that he received in being the son of God. After this account, Jesus spends time with His Heavenly Father and asks him to show him his disciples. 

Jesus picks his disciples and a few days later we find Jesus, His disciples, and His mother all at a wedding feast. Up to this point Jesus had performed no miracles (besides being born). He told his newest disciple, Nathaniel, that "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

In other words Jesus was telling him that “You don’t just have to believe my words, what I am saying here. I am going to perform signs that will back up the truth of what I’m saying and prove that I am who I claim to be.”

And three days later they are at this wedding. Nathaniel must have been waiting to see if Jesus was truly the Messiah. Jesus himself must have been a little nervous. This is a side of Jesus we generally don't think about. But Jesus was 100% God and 100% human. His humanity was in the fact that he had emotions just like you and me. 

I wonder if Mary was nervous approaching Jesus. After all, He is now the man in the house. Mary found out the wine was all gone. Which was a huge embarrassment in the First Century. What words should I say to my son? 

And then she speaks! "They have no more wine."

That's it???!?? She knew that he would know exactly what to do. She didn't fear but knew that her baby boy was also the GREAT I AM. But was he ready?

His response seemed incredibly hesitant. "Woman, why do you involve me. My hour has not yet come." 

What does he mean that his time or hour has not yet come? He was baptized, He has overcome temptation, and he has picked his disciples for ministry. It was time. And he knew it. 

It doesn't say in the text but I assume that either through words or by how Mary acted it encouraged Jesus to perform his first miracle. She doesn't argue with her son but simply says to the servants, "Do whatever he tell you." 

Mary might have prompted this miracle but I don't think so. Instead I think we don't give Mary enough credit for her encouragement of her son, Jesus. She knew he was ready to begin the ministry, that is why she asked him. 

The story tells of how they bring Jesus between 120 to 180 gallons of water and he turns it into wine. It is noted that this wine was better than the original wine! *Sidebar* Jesus was not encouraging people getting drunk but provided enough wine for the entire feast which could last many days depending on what has determined**

There is many spiritual applications that we can take from this story. But the focus that I wanted to take was on encouraging you to know that you are ready. What have you been waiting to do? What have you said you wanted to start doing but haven't yet? 

I have heard this phrase that I think is important to read here: "Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift that is why it's called the present."

Live today to the fullest with the boldness and assurance that the God who changes water into wine also will give you whatever you need to accomplish whatever you need to accomplish on this day. 

The Passover Lamb

Happy Palm Sunday. Okay, I am a day late. But to be fair Sundays are incredibly busy in my life right now. This past weekend we had a lock-in Friday night into Saturday Morning and then Youth Group on Sunday night.

I was thinking about Palm Sunday as "Spazz" and his puppet friends explain the meaning of Easter through a parody of "Thriller" but the late great MJ.

And as I was thinking a random thought invaded my mind. I thought, "How much more would we love Jesus if we knew the Old Testament?"

Now, to be fair, knowing the Old Testament or the New Testament or any creed or belief is meaningless without leaning into a personal relationship with Jesus. I think of many Jews in the first Century, or even today. They knew about the prophecies about the coming Messiah but didn't recognize Him when he didn't fit into their understanding of who God was.

I wonder how many times this is the case? We miss what God is doing because He doesn't fit into our box of what God should look like.

God sure does some strange things. At least from my understanding of life. For example, If I were God I would have never thought about giving up my only Son to be murdered on a cross and by his death buy back his sons and daughters (us!). But that is why it is good that God is God and that you or me is not God.

God is always in the business of rescuing. He is close to the brokenhearted. I believe that when He looks at the hurting his heart breaks. But it is in those moments of heartbreak and sadness that we open ourselves to hear and receive from God.

He knew we had a sin problem. Saint Paul later, reflecting on his conversion, viewed sin as death. He said, "The wages of sin are death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And when there is a problem God is on the move.

God started with a man. He started with Abram. A old man. And through that man he developed a covenant to bring redemption to the world.

Many years later God's people (The Isralities later called the Jews) were in Egypt. They were in slavery and were very oppressed. So the Lord sent a man named Moses to speak to Pharaoh to request for their freedom. The Pharaoh continued to deny Moses his request. As a result God chose to send Plagues to try and soften Pharaoh's heart. The final of these plagues lead to what is now known as the "Passover."

The Lord wanted to show Pharaoh he was serious and gave His People instructions on how to avoid this plague. He told the Jews to take a lamb, an innocent and pure and best lamb, and kill it. They were to take the blood of the Lamb and place it on their doors that night. When the Lord went through Egypt He would know to pass over their houses instead of killing their first born.

There are some amazing connections between that Jewish holiday of Passover and what Jesus did for us.

1) The Lamb Connection

Jesus, who was perfect. 100% man and 100% God did not contain sin. He was completely pure and without sin. He, being like the Lamb, in the Old Testament shed his blood for us on the cross so that when the Lord looks at us He no longer sees our sin.

If you are a Christian you celebrate the Jewish holiday of Passover without even knowing it. God has given us the chance to take the blood of the Lamb and apply it to our lives. The Question for us is to we apply it to the "door" of our lives?

2) The Week connection

In the Old Testament there is another connection that relates more directly to Palm Sunday. The Jews were taught to bring their best lamb to the temple to be killed for their disobedience. They needed to bring that lamb one week in advance. They needed to do this in order to prove that this lamb was without defect. It would be looked at and made sure it didn't die in that time period. And at the conclusion of the few days. The lamb was killed and they were freed to go.

In the same way Jesus entered in to Jersualem as their King. People waved palm branches and cried, "Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven."

The word Hosanna means, "Save us!"

The first century Jewish population viewed Jesus as their earthy king. They thought he was there to save them from the evil Roman empire. They didn't realize that Jesus actually knew that Rome was going to destroy the temple a few years later (See Matthew 24).

Jesus had a bigger plan. He was going to save people from their sins and begin to build his kingdom. And as we know from reading the rest of the story, "Jesus is coming back!"

This is good for those who have the "blood of Jesus" on their doors but bad for those who have harden their hearts to the message of the Gospel.

Jesus is our passover Lamb. The one who has come to bring you and I life. As we enter into this holy week may each one of us reflect on our relationship with God. Have we allowed the work of Jesus to transform our life?

The shame game

One of the biggest misconceptions I have noticed recently is that people have a difficult time telling the difference between guilt and shame. 

Guilt is when you do something wrong and you feel bad about it. This is good. If you didn't feel guilty for doing something wrong you would continue to do the injustice. 

Shame is when do something wrong and even after you ask for forgiveness you still feel bad about it. Shame can cause people to go down some serious roads that are not fun. Including but not limited to low self-esteem, depression, cutting, and even taking one's on life. 

In some cultures shame is an important aspect of life. Last week, I heard a missionary that was stationed in Japan, tell a heart wrenching fact. This was that in Japan shame is important. But they think it is honor that they are protecting. Let me explain: In Japan if you do something wrong you do not ask for forgiveness but you bow down until you believe it has been long enough. In addition, their culture holds perfection as the ideal. If one is under such pressure they go into their room and do not come out for a very long time. This is very common in Japan. In addition, the most honorable way to die in Japan is to take one's own life. Countless people have died because they cannot live up to the standard of their society. 

What about you? Have you ever felt shame. "Shame on you," someone might utter. Do they realize what they are saying? Words are powerful. They have the power to kill and the power to heal. Which way are you choosing to use your words today?

This topic of shame gets even more personal when we talk about religion. Religious shame is the worst because it pends eternal damnation if you do not listen to what I have to say. Religion was never meant to be about controlling another person but expressing love. 

I think of my religious upbringing and of my current occupation. (as a youth pastor). How much shame have parents put on their children to live a life without mistakes? They do this primarily because they themselves have made mistakes and they would be heartbroken for they made the same mistakes. 

The good news is that you do not have to live in shame. Shame is a lie. You are good enough. You have a purpose. I believe that if you are reading this that you have a purpose because you have a father in Heaven that loves you. 

No matter what you have done or what has been done to you. He loves you. I believe that. I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus was and is a real person and is really God. That he died the death that we deserved so that we could live the life that he deserved. He was the prefect sacrifice for your, mine, our sin. 

If you struggle with shame I want to let you know that you are not the first person and you will not be the last. This is a universal issue. Some deal with it more than others. Did you know that the first humans dealt with shame?

This story is at least 6,000 years old (depending on how you date the earth. I believe it is older than 6,000 but that is a discussion for another time).

The story includes God creating the first humans. Adam and Eve. (not Adam and Steve). I know I am very insensitive and I repent of that in JESUS NAME!

Anyhow, God creates the first humans and places them a garden. He calls this place Eden. Eden is wonderful. There is an all you can eat buffet of food, a life time of no work, and the best gift ever they were both naked. 

This place is perfect except for one thing. A serpent. Some made this story literal, some don't. Some make the serpent the devil while others say he is a representation of evil. If you need to believe this story is literal then that is okay and if you are on the other side of the boat and believe that this story is a legend you can still learn a lot as well.

God instructs the person humans that they may eat from any tree in the garden except for the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." He tells them that if they eat from the tree that they will surely die.

Enter the serpent.

He approaches Eve (the woman) and asks her a question: "Did God really say you should not eat from any tree in the garden?"

Eve responses but adds something to what God says, "God said, 'You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

Did you catch it?

You must not even touch it! God didn't tell her that. Of course we all do that. We imagine what people think or say to us and add in shame. 

She was fearful. God gave them a good rule. He knew that if they knew the implications of their sin that not only would they be filled with shame but all the other negative emotions in the world. God was trying to spare humankind from having to deal with death and hatred and pain. But He also knew that humans needed to posses free-will. 

The serpent tells the woman that if they eat from the fruit they will be like God knowing good and evil. But the question we must ask is why did they want to be more like God? After all if one reads back a few pages in the Bible he or she will realize that God created humans in His image. 

They were already like God! They just didn't trust him. They had pride in their own ability. 

The shame game continues as God goes into the garden to find Adam and Eve. The first thing they do is hide. They hide because they realized they were naked. 

The shame game turns into the blame game as each person begins to blame the other for their error. 

God could not shamed them and killed them and started over again. But instead he had a different plan. He didn't give them a get out of jail free card. There were consequences to their actions. But he made them a promise. The promise was that one day He would send His Son Jesus who would be the seed of the woman into the world to save the world from their sins. 

What a promise. What a loving loving daddy. That even though we were in the right. We disobeyed the God of the universe. He thought of a plan of redemption. 

Adam and Eve should have felt guilty. They disobeyed God. When you do something wrong I give you permission to feel bad about it. Because you feel bad you will make sure things are renewed. I also want to give you permission not to feel shameful though. 

I want to encourage you to realize that when you make a mistake that your mistake is not your identity. You are a son or a daughter of God. You were created in the image of God and made with a purpose. I pray that you find your identity as a children of God and find vision and purpose in your life.

 

True love doesn't wait

Have you ever heard the phrase "True Love Waits?" In case you have not heard of this Christian Pro-abstinence group I would like to share what Wikipedia says about them: 

According to Wikipedia, True Love Waits is an international Christian group that promotes sexual abstinence outside of marriage for teenagers and college students. TLW was created in April, 1993 by the Southern Baptists, and is sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources.

Before I go too deep into this subject, I want to lay down some disclaimers 

1) I believe that sex was created by God as a good gift to His children between one man and one woman to enjoy with-in the covenant of marriage. 

2) The idea of sex has become distorted through homosexuality, premarital sex, and porn. Homosexual is not always a choice but neither are tendencies toward premarital sex, and addictions toward porn. 

I believe that God created everything good. Sometimes we fall into the duelist mindset and claim that some things are from God while others are not. We say some things are "holy" like church, and praying, and fasting, and reading your bible. While other things are not, like smoking, drinking,  and sex. 

Instead, I want to pose the idea that God created functions such as sex as a gift for a man and a woman to enjoy. When I consider God up in Heaven when He created humans I imaged his love for us as he gave sex organs to his children. He said, "They are going to love me for this!" 

So, Sex is good inside of marriage. Or so I have been told. As I am currently engaged. But I know the sensation that a kiss brings and hunger to consummate from marriage in a few months. 

I love purity groups. They are wonderful. But sometimes I think they do more harm than good. They tell boys and girls not to have sex. But for what reason? Because God says so!

Does He? I still haven't found that verse in the Bible. ;) 

There are much more psychological reasons behind preserving sexuality than Biblical! For example, consider someone who sticks one's tongue to the flag pole in winter. This of course was done because he or she or YOU were dared during your childhood. Once you stick your tongue to the flagpole there is only one way to unstick it. Pull as hard as you can and stream bloody mary. 

What happens? part of your tongue is stuck to the flag pole. Forever. 

When you engage in sexual activities just to try it and then there is a breakup you leave part of your tongue (heart) with that person. 

That's probably why the Scriptures command of us: "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." 

The problem I have with most teachings on Abstinence is not that they teach that one should wait to have sex but that they tend to bring your focus on waiting for your lover. If you don't have sex before you are married, if you don't look at porn, if you don't do this or that then you will find the perfect love of your life and live happily ever after. 

The problem is that this is a false narrative. It is a false reality because no one person can fulfill on of your desires. Yet people transfer their sexual/finical/emotional desires and place them on someone else. 

The slogan is "True love waits." But true love doesn't wait. 

Jesus is my true love. He is the lover of my soul. John, a man who followed Jesus 2000 years said this of Jesus: "No greater love than this that a man laid down his life for his friends." 

That is what Jesus did. Not only did he lay down his life for his friends 2000 years ago. He laid down his life for anyone and everyone. He paved the way for us to have an intimate relationship with the eternal God of the universe. 

True love doesn't wait in your relationships either. If the relationship is one of romance then there is a need to to display one's love for another without breaking boundaries that the two set up. But if one looks for love in another in order to fill complete he or she will not find it. 

I don't know everything about love but I have learned at least one thing. A relationship is about giving love not receiving it. Giving love is hard but it is the purpose of all relationship. It shows even greater love toward someone when you give love to someone when they cannot love you back. 

True love does not wait for the other to straighten out before they love or have a strict list of rules in order for love to happen. True love is unconditional full of grace and truth. True love is Jesus and His love never runs out on us. 

The other problem I have with many Abstinence groups is that they teach that you need to preserve yourself for the "ONE." I write this blog after watching the series finale of "How I meet your mother." This show was amazing but reinforcements the idea that there is a perfect person for each person out there. That the universe, or karma or in Christian circles God will provide your soul mate! 

But do we have a soul mate? A perfect one? I would say we do not. After all love is a choice. Love is a choice one must make every day. And because we are not puppets it makes love all that more powerful. That we choose to look beyond the imperfections in others, treasure hunt for their their good qualities and love each other even when it is hard. 

True love does not wait. Choose today to love the person next to you. In doing so you will make a difference at least in one person's life.  

The sun will come up tomorrow.

Last night I was able to travel to Saint Marys High School to watch their drama department perform the musical entitled, "Annie." A girl in my youth group/church was performing and I thought it would be nice to go over and show my support. I can't lie this musical blew me away. They hit it out of the park. They used 60 or so little kids as orphans in the scene of "It's a hard knock life for us." In addition, the little girl who played Annie (I found out she was only in 7th grade), blew the crowd away. With her charm, wit, and amazing voice.

If you have never seen the musical Annie here is the synopsis.  Annie is about an 11 year old Orphan who lives in an Orphanage with many other orphans in NYC. Annie has hope that her parents are still alive because she has a letter and half a locket from them. She gets invited over to a Billionaire's house (Oliver Warbucks) for two weeks to spend the Christmas season. She loves it there but wishes she could be with  her parents. When Mr. Warbucks discovers that Annie wants her parents found he hires over 50 FBI agents and conducts a nation-wide search to find Annie's parents. Many couples try to trick the billionaire  and his assistant saying, "We are Annie's parents." because they desire the 50,000 dollar cash reward. In the end, the FBI agents discover that Annie's parents passed away many years ago. This leads to a heart wrenching scene  but in the end Mr. Warbucks adopts Annie into his family. It concludes with Annie calling Mr. Warbucks, "Daddy."

Through out this movie the little girl is stunning in her optimism. She sings the song, "Tomorrow," countless times to cheer the mood. She knows that even though the situation is looking bad that things will be better tomorrow. In the orphanage she cheers the "children" up by singing tomorrow. She even sings it to the FDR when the presidential cabinet is feeling depressed.  She inspires the president to come up with the "New Deal."

There are a four things that I learned watching the musical last night.

1) Community is necessary in order to make it through tough times.

The first place we see this in "Annie" is at the orphanage. When we have things in common with each other we are able to bond over our common interests and when tough times arise use that developed relationship to lean back on. The girls held a common bond of their hatred toward Miss Hannigan.

Looking at our own lives. When do you find healing? By yourself? Only over time? Those are myths. We find healing by getting whatever is bothering us up and out. James, the brother of Jesus, said it this way: "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." 

I am not saying that if you confess your sins and hurts to God that you will not find forgiveness and even healing. But how much more can you find comfort and healing if you walk with your brother or sister in Christ through your tough time! 

I believe this is where we often time drop the ball. We are too focus on ourselves and not the needs of the other. The common bond of believing in Jesus for our salvation is the greatest bond in all of the world. If a rag tag bunch of little girls from the great depression can band together over their hatred for Miss Hannigan how much more can we band together over our love for Jesus! 

2) When tough times come we can see the brighter side. 

Annie sings her song "Tomorrow" in which she proclaims a promise she believes to be true. She says, "The sun will come up tomorrow. Thinking about tomorrow will clear away the cobwebs and the sorrow. The sun will come up tomorrow. You're only a day away." 

Wow. What a promise she was able to hold onto. And guess what? She was right. When we are negative and fill our minds with those negative thoughts we trap ourselves. But when we start looking on the brighter side of those we can start to have positive thoughts. Positive words produce positive thoughts which produce positive actions. 

The idea of hope within the Christian framework is often under underestimated. 

Jesus came to bright hope two fold. 

a)  In the future. 

The scriptures end with a promise. Jesus promised when he returns that, "He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 

What a great promise. That there will be a time when there is no more hatred. No more fear. No more discrimination. We will be completely free to be all we have been designed to be by God. I hate crying. I don't think many people like it. There will be a day when you can't cry because there will be no need to cry!

b) Right now. 

The hope that Jesus brings now is to be with us through tough times. 

One of the last words that Jesus told his disciples before he was killed was, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

He is telling them that they are going to have some tough times ahead. Some of them will even die for their faith. Jesus does not give them a pass on persecution. What he does give them is a promise. He says that I will be with you. I will walk beside you. 

Reflecting back on my own journey: I am incredibly thankful that God allowed bad things to occur in my life. I would not be the same person if I had not been tested with difficult situations in my life. 

Jesus does not promise an easy life for you or for me. He does promise that he will be with us through it all. And that is a better promise. Because the sun will come up tomorrow and when it comes up you and I will be stronger. 

3) God adopts us into his family

There is this great parallel between Annie and the Bible referring to adoption and selfless love. In the musical Annie, Annie is adopted by Mr. Warbucks. Mr. Warbucks knew there was something missing in his life. He had all the money, fame, and possessions in the world. What he did not have was someone to spend his life with.

In the same way, God adopts us into His family. God has all the money, fame and possessions in the world. What does he need? Nothing. No one. But He yearned for a relationship with us. His yearning was so great that He sent Jesus to the cross in order to gain a relationship with us.

Saint Paul said it this way:
"But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father."

I love that at the end of the musical, Annie calls Mr. Warbucks "Daddy." They no longer had an impersonal relationship. She no longer was an orphan but a child of her daddy. 

In the same way, we can call out to our Abba, Father. Abba means our daddy. We now have a deep relationship with the one who created the universe. Not only can we believe that the sun will come up tomorrow; we can know the One who has designed the sun to come up tomorrow.

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4) God has big things for us. But it might look different then what we had planned.

You might have heard this Bible verse before talking about the future:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declare the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jer 29:11)

These words are completely true but often misused. Many look at these words and think if I follow God I will be living on "Easy Street." It is true that God has plans for us and they are good plans but never once are we promised to have an easy life.

In context with the rest of the Bible, Jeremiah is writing a letter to people that follow God but are trapped in a land that was not there own. They were hearing rumors that they were only going to be there for a little while. But God spoke through Jeremiah to tell them they were going to be there for awhile! (See Jeremiah 29:4-10)

He is telling them the opposite of what many believe about this verse. He is telling them that life is going to be tough but it is part of God's plan. He is telling them that God's plan for them is to live in exile for right now. They need to learn and grow and mature.

He goes on to tell them that He will bring them into a better situation but it is going to be awhile. This is where are confidence and faith needs to be in that God knows what he is doing. Life was tough and they had a choice whether to believe and trust that God was going to fulfill his promise.

Two things can happen when you are going through a tough time.

a) The first is that God might change your position.

This is what happened to Annie. She was living in the orphanage when the assistant to Mr. Warbucks comes in and choose Annie over the other children.

For Annie this is not what she thought was going to happen. Her dream was finding out who her parents were and living with them forever.

That didn't happen. But that's okay. Because it all worked out. God had something better in store for Annie and usually God has something better for us that what we are thinking about. We tend to settle for what we think is best. But God has something way better planned for us.

b) The second is that God might change your perspective.

That's what happened to the followers of God in Jeremiah 29. They thought they were going to have a change in position. That God was going to come in and get them out of there. Instead, God came in and changed the way they thought.

He said, "You are going to be here for awhile."

He said, "Build houses, settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters away in marriage. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city. Because when it prospers so will you prosper."

Sometimes we are looking for an out when the situation gets tough. More times then not I have learned that God is using that situation to change me. Transform for into the person He desires me to be. Because if I am able to overcome a tragedy then I can bring hope to someone else down the road.

We need to remember that when life does seem hopeless that the Sun will come up tomorrow and that God is using everything in our lives for our good.

Holy Slumber (A theology of Sleep)

I love to sleep. I am not kidding. It is one of my favorite things to do. I heard somewhere that adults need to have between 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Frankly, that is not enough. I believe a good night's sleep includes 9 to 10 hours of sleep.

I wrote in my previous blog that I was traveling with my girlfriend, Jasmine Benton, on an eight day road trip. This road trip included going to: Skyline Chili, A Spurs/Cavs Basketball Game, my brother tom's house in Madison, The Tracy's in Fort Mill, SC, Jasmine's Father's house in Tampa, a pirates spring training game, bowling, the beach, Genghis Grill, Starbucks (a few times), and of course Chick-fil-a.

Wow. Did I mention we drove to all these places. Roughly 40 hours of driving. A good time for connecting with my girl and see most of the east coast for sure. But it was a long trip.

Jasmine's father, Kevin Benton, approved of me and he said something of me that affirmed the truth that I already knew, "boy you are a deep sleeper." His statement came from the fact that while I was in Florida, I slept through three trains coming through the town and a transformer blowing up in addition to Mr. Benton coming into and out of the youth room in which we were sleeping.

In many ways, I am similar to Jasmine's father. (Maybe Freud's theory that you marry someone similar to your opposite gender parent is true).  We both are in ministry, both love sports, both enjoy singing to the songs on the radio (making up new lyrics where we feel necessary). But in some areas we are not.

Kevin and Vanessa (Jasmine's father and step-mother) are borderline workaholics.  It was very difficult for me to write that previous statement for two reasons. 1) As humans we are never confined to a label because we are constantly changing and transforming. 2)  Kevin Benton is a church planter. So, in addition to working a 40 hour job he puts in a full time job working at the church. I have no idea how difficult that is.

But the reality is work can cause stress in a individual's life that can influence other dynamics. One area is sleep. If there is always one more thing to be done then that is more important sleep or getting that one thing done? To a person that values sleep it is sleep to a person obsessed with work it is that one more thing.

Getting enough sleep, eating healthy and exercising are the three biggies in lowering one's stress level.  I am not perfect in any of these areas but I see the need to continually improve my sleeping conditions, eating a little better and working out when I can.

As I was driving (well when it was Jasmine's turn to drive) back from Florida I opened the book of Psalms and decided to read the chapter for the day. I was on Psalm 4 and was shocked as the author talked about sleep! David wrote the majority of the Psalms, including this one. He is seen as a Biblical Hero for many but really he was just as imperfect as you and me. This is the same David who was a Shepherd, kills Goliath, becomes king of Israel and called a man after God's own heart. Did I forget to mentioned he also committed Adultery, got her pregnant, and killed the husband.

How does one go from being this guy on fire for God to going on a slippery slope of sin? Or maybe I should pose a question that is more personal: How you go from being on fire for God to being on a slippery slope of sin?

Well, maybe it would be helpful to know a little bit more about David in order to know what happened. He was king over Israel and his army was off at war. He decided, instead of fighting with his men, that he was going to sit at home. It was there that he was able to look out his window and see a beautiful young lady. And the rest was history.

David sinned against God because he was slumbering in his house instead of fighting in the battle.

Sleep is good but too much slumbering and laziness can cause your mind to wonder. Stress occurs in our lives when we do things that we believe our wrong. Think into your own life. When do you fall into the same old bad habits? When you are alone. Because there is no accountability of friends.

Many years later David writes Psalm 4 as a warning and a plead for balance between rest and work. He said, "Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your bed, search your hearts and be silent."

Do not sin when you are on your bed but rather search and silent your heart. I wonder where he learned that?

David concludes this Psalm by saying: "In peace, I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety."

 The problem with many people (including myself), in 21st century USA, is that we are go, go, go. And then we wonder why we are so tired at night. In a society that promotes working your butt off include you get burnt out I want to give you permission today to stop. To take a few breathes. God has important things for you to do but they can wait. Your job/calling/vocation whatever can wait. Spending time alone with God gives you and I the energy and motivation to be all we are.

God needs to be our primarily focus, followed by time with our family, followed by our jobs and other activities. If other areas in your life are lacking think but to the last time you were allowed with God. I am not talking about reading your bible or listening to worship music (though I am not against those activites). But just alone. You and him. Your heavenly daddy. I realize not all of my readings are Christians but even if you don't identify as a follower of Jesus He is still your daddy and He loves you.

May you mediate on these words as you go through out your day:

The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.


May you quiet yourself today and allow your Good Shepherd to bring you peace.

God opposes the proud?

I have never been to Florida. Flew over it twice but I do not think that counts. This next week is going to be an exciting time in my life. I get to take my girlfriend to Cleveland to watch her favorite basketball team play (the Spurs are in town), I get to spend a night at my brother's in Madison, OH, I get to eat Skyline Chili, I get to visit my mentor John in Fort Mill, I get to meet my future father-in-law in Tampa, and I get to watch a spring training baseball game.

This 8 day trip is going to include over 40 hours of driving! That's crazy! 

I checked the temperature in Tampa, FL. Which is where we will be spending the majority of our trip and it it currently 59 which is amazing considering it was 0 degrees when I drove to the office this morning. 

Still a few more tasks to complete but the trip is so close I can smell it. Or maybe that is the smell of the Chainsaw carvers in town. IDK?

As I get ready to leave I am in deep thought over the passage of scripture that I read this morning. I have just finished reading the book of 1st Peter. It took me a month to read it as I read a few verses per day in order to reflect deeply on the words. 

This letter, written by Peter, demonstrates the ways in which Peter has been transformed by God. Today, I read about being humble. You might have heard these words but I will write them in case you have not.

"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."

This makes me mad. How the heck does God oppose some people and show favor to others. I thought that God so loved the world that he gave His only Son to die for our sins (John 3:16) and that God shows no favoritism (James 2). 

This also makes me mad because I have to submit myself to someone else. NOT FAIR! 

The kids in my youth group and on my wrestling team both think I am old. But really I am only 22 years old and compared to the average elder in our church I am half their age. Maybe a third of the age of our head elder (though he is still pretty good at tennis). 

I don't think I am the only one in the world that has a problem with submitting to others. Whether older or younger. After all, we can all find a reason why we are more qualified or knowledgeable in a certain area of life. We all think we are expects. 

And that is our biggest downfall. When we think we know everything we have no room to grow and to learn. When we believe we have arrived at our destination we hinder our ability to travel further on this journey we call life. 

Where this becomes incredibly personal for me is in my trip to Florida. Precisely for two reasons. The first is that I grew up in a culture where I respected my mother and father and grew to love them incredibly. I would call my mother and father by either "Mom" and "Dad" or "Mary Jane" and "Joe." Not because I disrespected them but knew calling them by their first name was easier than calling out  "MOM" or "DAD." Growing up we were often at sporting events and large family gathering and it was incredibly more efficient to yell their first name. 

Furthermore, the culture I grew up in and even the college I attended reinforce these tendencies. My friend's parents did not require of me to call them Mr or Mrs so and so but rather by their God given name. Even the majority of professors at my college did not demand (though some did) that we call them by their professional name. Dr or professor so and so. 

Inversely, this is not the culture that my girlfriend grew up in. She grew up with parents and grandparents that found it respectful for their daughter/granddaughter to call them by their surname. 

I was reminded by Jasmine that when I meet her father that I will need to call him either "Mr. Benton" or "Reverend Benton." I don't even call my own pastor Reverend.  Frightened at the fact that I might slip and call him "Kevin" the first encounter has me worried and tense. 

The other area that this because personal is through the housing arrangement while we are down at his house. Being raised in a Christian household we were instructed that sexual intercourse was given as a gift between one man and one woman when they are married. That is how God made it to be because he knew the ramification if one were to engage outside of marriage. 

This rule of abstinence is governed within our relationship. 

A rule that Jasmine's Father upholds that we do not (nor do I know anyone who does) is sleeping in the same household. He does not believe it is right for two individuals to sleep in the same house, even if they are separated by four floors, if they are not married. 

I am not posting this in order to claim how ridiculous I believe this rule is because I know I have created rules in my life that seem redundant to his worldview. 

I am posting this to show how their is a tension and it is completely my fault. It is not my fault that we have separate views of the world and rules and regulations but rather how i response to his rules. 

The same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. 

Submitting yourself to someone else does not mean you  agree with what they want or what they are doing but rather that you value the relationship over the rule. 

What do you think he meant when Peter said, "God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble."?

I don't think God will hate you if you disrespect someone. He can't. His love for you is unconditional. If his love for you and for us depended on what we did it would no longer be unconditional it would be conditional to what we did. 

Maybe when we are proud, When we think we know better than someone else, God does not oppose us. Rather, maybe we oppose God. Like Adam and Eve in the garden. They rebelled against God. They ate the forbidden fruit because they did not trust God. They became proud. Proud in who? Themselves. 

When we put anything in front of God, even logic (which is a gift from God) we are making it our new God. 

Does God show favor to the humble?

Yes and no. Once again there is nothing you can do to earn God's love. He couldn't love you any more than he currently does. 

But He does know that when we walk in humility that things go better. 

Think back to the Ten Commandments with me this afternoon. The first four have to do with our relationship to God. The last six have to do with our relationship with others. 

The fifth Commandment (or first on the second tablet) says, "Honor your mother and father, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving to you." 

God knew that if we started by honoring our mother and father it would flow into all of our relationships. You know how someone is going to treat others by how they treat their parents. Out of that commandment God says, "Don't Murder, Don't commit adultery, Don't Steal, Don't lie, Don't covet." 

If you respect someone you wouldn't murder them, you wouldn't sleep with their wive, you wouldn't steal from them, you wouldn't lie to them, and you wouldn't want their stuff. 

Jesus summarizing the Ten Commandments told us the two greatest commandments were to "Love the Lord God with all of your heart, soul, mind and love your neighbor as yourself. 

God understood that if we honor and respected each other we would live a much better life. For example, You are free of guilt if you never murder anyone. Your marriage is better off if you only sleep with your spouse. 

It feels like we are receiving blessings and favor from God by it is simply us following the common sense law of God that he established for our benefit. 

Peter goes on to say in his letter, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 

When we set down our pride, our agenda, and  the way we perceive the world we are able to learn from others. We are able to ask questions and learn about others. We are to take the focus off of me and place it on another. We are able to dig deep and learn the story of another. Instead of being quick to judge and slow to speak we need to be slow to speak and quick to listen and learn. 

Humbling yourself before another does not mean you lower your self-esteem and go into a stage of depression it simply means you take the focus off of yourself and are willing to go about things in a different manner. 

Humbling yourself does not depend on your emotions. In fact, I urge you to trick your emotions. When someone does or says something that pisses you off: response in love. When someone makes a rule that you see no purpose in it, instead of becoming defensive, ask them why they believe in that rule. They might have a good reason. 

And finally, humbling yourself is not easy. Saint Paul, who wrote to the church in Philippi, tells us to have the same mindset as Jesus. Jesus humbled himself to the point of being killed on a cross. Because of Jesus's humbleness God exalted him. 

It would have been easier for Jesus to not die on the cross. But he was motivated by love. He valued the relationship over his situation. He said, "The needs of the many out way the needs of the few." Or was the star trek? Whatever. 

When you are motivated by love you set aside your control. May you and I fall more in love with Jesus and with others. As we love each other the way we treat each other will change. Will you join with me on this quest of setting aside my knowledge, pride, degrees, and qualifications and follow the way of the Jewish Carpenter of Nazareth? 

What would Jesus do?

WWJD? It was the YOLO of the 90's. It stood for "What would Jesus do?" This phrase has been overused and unfortunately misused.

The main point: If you face a decision in your life you should determine what Jesus would do in that situation and act accordingly. The problem is that we face many different situations that Jesus would not have faced. For example the Internet. Or dating. Or for women, being a woman!  

BUT...........

Jesus did live on earth and therefore was faced with many temptations that are at the heart of any issue that we are facing.  I believe that any and all struggles and hurt we face in this life are a result of wanting to be in control. At least, that's how I see it. (Freud believed we learn how to control our environment during the potty training years of development).

Why do we fall into addictions? Why do we get pissed off if someone cuts us off in traffic? Why does it hurt when a love one passes away?

When things do not go according to plan (or rather our plan) we are frustrated. There is so much in life we can control and I am not pleading we fall into a fatalistic mindset. But there is so much we cannot control. The only certain thing of life is that it is uncertain.  The Question one must ask is how should one view and react to life's seemingly unpredictable circumstances?

As a follower of Jesus, I look toward Him as my example. He certainly did not have an easy upbringing. We learn in Scriptures that Mary was found to be with child before she was married to her then boyfriend (Joseph). This seems not as much of an issue in 2014 Western Culture however this was a huge deal in 4BC (roughly). Mary and Joe were not living in sin but God conceived a child in Mary to bring salvation to the world. (This is the message of Christmas).

Jesus was raised in a world where many upright religious leaders looked down upon him and his father and viewed him as a mistake child (which is oddly ironic because He was perfect and without sin).

The story of Jesus is he grows and he learns and develops into this man who loves His heavenly father. He develops a ministry in the most unique way by choosing men who have no formal training to be his disciples. Throughout his ministry he taught people what it looked like to actually fall in love with God and not just with the rules of religion. He invited people into a personal relationship with the Father. His love was incredible. His love brought him to pray and see people healed. His love was even greater because He was willing to touch people that society deemed as "untouchable."

Jesus made the Jewish religious leaders of the day upset because He claimed to be God. For them, Jesus could not be God because He did not fit their qualifications. Jesus left no room for being politically correct or moral relativism. He said He was the only way to the Father.

The Jewish leaders did not like Jesus and they saw him as a threat. As He continue to claim to be God and prove it through His actions they plotted a scheme to kill him. They used one of His closest friends as a spy to lead Jesus to be arrested.

A huge crowd gathered around Jesus and his disciples. Peter, another close friend of Jesus, knew that He was in trouble. Peter grabbed his sword and attacked the first person he saw. The person was Malchus. He was commissioned by the high priest to  arrest Jesus. However, When Peter attacked Malchus, instead of hitting his neck or chest he missed. His missed attack resulted in Malchus having his ear chopped off.

Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away and then reaches to the ground and grabs the ear that is laying on the ground dirty and bloody. He says, "No more of this." When Jesus does the unthinkable. He places the ear back onto the head of the man who was trying to arrest him. Jesus healed him. One second, Malchus had no ear and a few seconds later it was back fully attached.

In the midst of being betrayed and arrested Jesus choose to bring healing to his enemy.

Malchus used that ear to hear Jesus' last words on the cross. "Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they are doing."

Malchus came to faith in Jesus later in his life. He experienced the goodnesss of God. He experienced it through Jesus bringing healer and hearing Jesus pray to God for His salvation.

I could easily go on a rant on how we need to show people the love of God. That we need to pray for the salvation of friends and family that do not know the Lord. That we need to forgive others, even when it is tough. But not today. I just preached on that on Sunday at Awakening Alliance Church. You can find that sermon on the church website.

Today, I do not want to focus on "what would Jesus do?" but rather "what did Jesus do?" I think it is important to think about what Jesus would do in a situation but it can only come out of knowing what Jesus has already done for you and I. I am talking about his willingness to give up control. He laid done His life and was killed on  a cross. He did not stay in the grave but rose again on the third day.

Jesus provided everything for us. He provided for us a relationship with God that was not possible because of sin. He provided for us eternal life (first in heaven and later in the New Jerusalem). He provided the means by which all things will be redeem all earth. Every relationship, every discipline, everything!

We want control. It is part of being human. But what if instead of having to be in control of everything we acknowledge the fact that we are not in control. But God is! God is in control of your life, of my life, of the universe. What if our faith is not in you or me or TEAM USA but in God. Our faith is not in what would Jesus do if He were on earth now but on what He accomplished 2000 years ago.