Above Reality

Following the Scene...

2012-01-17T12:29:00.002-06:00

Have you ever watched or been a part of good improvisation? Whether it is music, theater, cooking, sports, engineering, true improvisation is a thing of beauty. Why? Because it involves creating. Creating from the heart with passion, precision, skill, and talent.

However, for improvisation to work, there has to be a lead, a goal, a scene and cooperation. If two musicians start to improvise but play in different keys, it will sound terrible. If a wide-receiver starts to improvise his route but doesn't tell his quarterback, an interception is likely forthcoming. Improvisation takes the scene that has been set and creates within it. It doesn't redefine the scene, but simply adds to it. When it is done well, it can really bring music, acting, or anything else to life.

But, good improvisation is hard. It is really hard, because it requires loads of talent and skill to keep it from degenerating into madness. There has to be a commitment to the art and the scene that drives your improvisational technique. Most musicians, actors, athletes or anyone else that know improv is likely to become a part of their trade find that they must practice more, understand the scene/play/score better than anyone else so that what they add actually fits. The wide receiver must know his quarterback's tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses. The musician must not only know the style of the song, but the feel, emotion, drive and purpose for the music as well as know the place his or her instrument has in that piece before they just start randomly playing notes.

In essence, improve requires a person to internalize their craft a much higher level than those who simply stick to the script. It is a high risk, high reward endeavor. When it goes right, it can blow the roof of the place. When it goes bad, well, you just look like an idiot that wasn't prepared.

And this is what Jesus has called us to. Yet, God has called us all to improv in life. He has set the stage, the props, the lights, and he has described the scene in great detail. He has told us our character must line up and serve to highlight the lead character Jesus Christ. But, in the end, God has told us to improv our lives into the scene that He has set.

I know this may sound odd, but think about it. How many places in the Bible did God command us to write songs using 4/4 time? Did God tell us that our works of art had to be cut from marble? How about our hymns? Was it God that told us to skip the third verse? Or to tune our guitars down 1/2 step? Or to worship in the morning, or evening or afternoon? No, He simply said worship, glorify Him, lift up the name of Jesus, love one another and preach the Gospel to all nations.

God didn't tell us how. He left it for us to figure out. So we have to improvise our lives according to the scene that God has set.

Here are the rules for the scene, there are only two:

1. Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Here is the goal of the scene -
Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Your method of performance is this:
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ - basically, everything you say and do needs to agree in spirit and in truth with the scene already set by Jesus in the four Gospels.

Repeat the scene until Jesus comes back or your die.

That's it. There is life.

Now, many people, most people want a word by word script because it is easier and less dangerous to memorize a script and mindlessly repeat it. It is also easier to critique the performance of others when there is a script and I don't have to take the chance that people might find out I am not fully prepared to improvise the scene, so just tell me what I need to say and do.

But

God didn't give us a script. Life is not scripted. He set the scene and told us to follow him. In Hebrews 12:2 the author tells us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." So Jesus is the beginning and end of our faith, or our inclusion in the scene of God.

What about the middle?

That is where improv enters. Start with Jesus and the salvation he offers, then learn as much about the scene as you can. Learn about how those before you pleased or displeased God. LEARN THE SCENE. (The scene is found throughout the entire Bible) Then, start living your life improving it every day to the Glory of God understanding that He will be the judge of your performance, not the other performers. Hebrews told us that Jesus would perfect our faith in the end so it is a matter of getting better day by day. Growing in your role as a Christ follower and imitator.

We also must guard against ANYTHING that is not true to the scene. This includes anything that takes the focus off of the lead in the scene, Jesus Christ. It is ANYTHING that destroys one of your fellow performers, ANYTHING that attempts to redefine the scene that is set through scripture and ANYTHING that keeps you from understanding and accepting the scene better. This includes distractions from the scene, false interpretations of the scene or leaving out part of the scene. We must be true to what God has given us.

So, no, you do not get a script, because a script often will not involve the heart. God wants your touch, your personality, your uniqueness included in the scene of life, so He is commanding us to improvise. And it is through this improvisation that you will truly find freedom in the Christian life as your life becomes a life of beauty, art, discipline, and ultimately love. For, if you honor the scene that God has set you will find that God is calling you to something beautiful that is certainly Above Reality.

(I am indebted to Kevin VanHoozer's The Drama of Doctrine and Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz for inspiring this blog post.)

The Incarnation

2011-12-12T15:04:00.001-06:00

Lets imagine for a moment that we have never heard of Christmas. We've never seen Linus explain the Christmas story to Charlie Brown. We've never opened a gift or talked to Santa. For the moment, pretend that December 25 is just another day on the calendar.

Now that you have, for the moment, let go of everything you think about Christmas consider these passages of scripture.

Isaiah 7:14 - "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

God Himself will show mankind a sign that he is present. A Virgin will give birth to a son and he will be called "God with Us."

In case you have become jaded and lost your grip on the fantastic, this claim is absolutely amazing. The Prophet Isaiah is saying that God himself is going to break the laws of nature, step out of Heaven and come to us as a child by birth. Do not lose sight of how amazing and far-fetched this claim is. It has never, NEVER happened in the history of mankind before this and will NEVER happen again. This is why God points us to it in such a direct way. What better proof could there be that God, the creator of the natural and supernatural was involved than for the impossible to happen one time.

Now consider these verses in Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (ESV)

Here, a 1st century writer noticed that something amazing was taking place in his day and connected the dots to a prophesy made centuries earlier. (Again, pretend you haven't heard all of this.) He writes about one man's peculiar birth and makes the claim that he was indeed born from a virgin mother and even feels the need to explain that the man who was to be her husband found the story of a miraculous "spiritual" pregnancy was just too fantastic to believe until God himself spoke to him in a dream.

Now, you read these two accounts and decide to do some research and you find that yes, there was a man named Jesus who lived in the first century and that yes, his birth did in fact match not only the Isaiah prophesy, but many, many more. You start to realize that something amazing, mind-blowing, and wonderful had occurred. God had come to visit earth exactly the way he said he would.

Matthew and Luke give you the historical versions in their respective Gospel accounts. But John gives us the supernatural account. Read what he says in John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Verses 1-5)

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Verses 9-14)

As you read these verses you realize that God visited His creation for a purpose. He brought something with Him: The Right to become Children of God. His visit wasn't just to show he could do it, but that he came for those who are trapped in darkness. Some received Him. Some rejected Him.

For those who received Him, this would be the greatest story ever told. It would be the centerpoint of all of History. It would define entire groups of people and separate Humanity into two groups: those who receive Him and those who reject Him.

For those who reject Him, the story may be too fantastic. How could a virgin give birth to a child? Why would God come to earth? How could people not recognize him?

Christmas, the birth of Jesus, becomes the starting point for what will be an eternal separation of people. Some will believe and become Children of God. Some will reject Him and miss the greatest gift ever given.

This, my friends, would be all the information you needed to celebrate the greatest and most wonderful gift that has ever been given to mankind: God Himself.

And it is still all that you need to celebrate Christmas. Let us join together in singing one of the great Christmas hymns:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

God came to Earth, born of a virgin to give the gift of life to all who believe in Him. Merry Christmas indeed! For this is Above Reality.

Share the Journey - Church Growth

2011-10-03T15:33:00.000-05:00

Because we have been called to share the Christian life together as an expression of the grace and love that God has poured into a our lives through His Son Jesus, the Church becomes central the life of the Believer.

The Church is the community of faith that is formed by the gathering of those who have a common faith in the Risen Savior. We who believe are bound by a common confession, a common faith, a common baptism, and a common Spirit.

It is through this community of faith that we are called to exercise the gifts and talents that God has given us. Together, we work to further God's Kingdom in this world and it is together that what is produced is greater than the sum of its parts. The Church is referred to in scripture as the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ. Both reveal an intimacy between the Savior and the Redeemed, and a special bond between the Redeemed themselves. Each individual brings something unique to the Body that enables the Body to function properly under the guidance and Lordship of the Head, Jesus Christ.

So, yes, the Church is special and nothing will ever change that. In the Old Testament God's presence was known through His temple and the Holy of Holies. Today, God's presence is most realized in His Church. This is an important fact when we think about how many churches gather in worship, praise and service regularly.

But, if the Church is what scripture says it is, why are there so many problems?

1. People are involved. We must remember that we ALL needed and continue to need grace from God. Therefore, we need to give grace to one another. None of us is perfect and never will be. The church is the glorious body of Christ that is redeemed by the power of the cross. Redeemed from Sin. This side of Heaven, the Church will never reach perfection.

2. More importantly, I believe that many of today's problems exist because we have misunderstood how God has ordained church growth. Ephesians 4:15-16 is helpful. It says:

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (ESV)

According to this, Paul says that the Church is to grow. So while we may never be perfect, we will continually grow. We will grow in Spiritual maturity and depth and in obedience and service to look like the one who started it all, Jesus Christ. It is about Him. And when this happens, the Church functions as a body "when each part is working properly" it "makes the body grow so that it builds ITSELF up in love."

Church growth is not about sitting and waiting for God to mysteriously make more people show up because he espoused a particular theme, musical style, or preaching style. Part of my responsibility as an individual believer is to give my talents to help make the church "BUILD ITSELF UP IN LOVE."

You get that? God has already given the Church everything it needs to grow. It simply needs to obey. When the Church glorifies the name of Jesus, obeys Him and serves, it will build itself up. This is where you come in. Your purpose as a Christian will be found in helping expand the Kingdom of God through the Body of Christ. If you can't serve the church as it serves the purposes of the Kingdom, then you are detached from the head.

A healthy church doesn't wait for God to make it grow, it makes itself grow. It grows because each person is obeying God individually which will ALWAYS bring them to serve alongside other Christians. Their efforts work together and the church becomes an unstoppable force in the world. Jesus promised it.

He said "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not overcome it."

So, do you want purpose in your life? Are you an active member of a local body of believers? Is your church following the Great Commission? Is it following the Great Commission for real? Not just hoping God will send someone to "get saved" but that your church does what it can to take the Light into the darkness? If you are not serving God through a church or your church is not obeying God's command to make disciples, then you have lost your purpose.

Follow God's plan for your life and His Church and you will rise Above Reality.

Share the Journey

2011-08-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest misconceptions plaguing the church today is the belief that faith is a private matter. Just me and God. My faith is personal and real. I have a quiet time. I pray. I worship. I try to avoid sin. I try to be nice to other people and if I feel so led, I might even talk to someone about Jesus. But, overall, my faith is mostly about me and God.

Sound familiar?

The modern day church has developed what could be called a two-legged spirituality. God and me. So long as your faith works for you that's great but keep it to yourself. Society itself supports spirituality as long as it is kept private and personal.

This has allowed people to become consumers rather than servants and has reduced spirituality to a form of therapeutic moralism that is more about being a good person and personal happiness than it is about serving the Kingdom of God. This is seen throughout the church in the way people hop from church to church because the music is better, the pastor didn't visit me, or the services are more entertaining. In the long list of endless complaints, I have yet to hear a person utter the words "I just felt like I couldn't sacrifice enough for the Kingdom of God in this place so I went to a new church."

To correct this problem we do not need better programs, stricter rules, or any of the other million things that are called "cultural relevance" in the church. We need to understand Christianity for what it is.

To follow Christ is to die to self, take up a cross, and follow Jesus in service and in love.

This death that Jesus talks about leads us away from personal desires and towards the will of God. What is the will of God for your life? The two greatest commandments as quoted by Jesus sum it up.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

And

"Love Your Neighbor as yourself."

There it is. Love of God is expressed through love of neighbor. David Augsburger puts it this way:

"To say yes to the Grace of God is to say yes to neighbor and enemy." Jesus said "Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you." You see, God's grace is not only about reconciling you to God, but also to your fellow humans. All of them.

So, when we approach the spiritual life as something private, we are violating the very core of what God is wanting to do and change in your life because His love calls us to community.

The Apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to Philemon. He said in verses 4-7:

I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. (ESV)

See how many times Paul links love of God with love of others. But, he also links maturity and growth to "the sharing of your faith." This is more than evangelism, but evangelism is definitely a part. The word for sharing that Paul uses is the word "koinonia" which means fellowship. The sharing of his life of faith. As Philemon shares his life of faith it will lead him to have a "full knowledge of every good thing that is us for the sake of Christ."

Thus, we cannot grow and experience Christ, His Spirit, or His blessings if we make faith a private affair. We are called to love and serve others. It IS the expression of our faith. What happens personally by faith MUST be expressed outwardly in love, service and fellowship.

We are called to share the journey of the Christian life in every way we can. In so doing, we become servants of God instead of consumers looking for God to meet my needs and make me happy. It is about spreading God's Kingdom and loving and serving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

So what about you? Are you actively sharing the journey to which God has called you or is faith a private matter between you and God? This truth is why we must be attached to a local church, united to the body of believers. Anyone who says he can worship and serve God without being a part of the church is not serving the God of the Bible but an idol, a creation of one's own mind. Why? Because God has called all of us to love and serve others and we can't do that on our own, thus making our "worship" ineffective and selfish.

It is time for our spirituality to go from two legged to three legged. Instead of God and me, it needs to become God, me, and my neighbor. Spirituality that does not include all three is not a true spirituality. Share the Journey of the Christian life and rise Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: Obedience

2011-07-07T11:49:00.000-05:00

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. " Philippians 2:12-13

When the Apostle Paul wrote his encouraging letter to the Philippians, he commended them for their steadfast obedience to God in his presence AND in his absence. They were consistent. They weren't perfect and still needed to grow in their faith which is why he told them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. But their obedience was commendable because it was consistent. It wasn't for show, but was a genuine obedience from the heart.

It is amazing, isn't it? How prone people (and apparently animals!) are to forgetting who they are in the absence of accountability? Like the cat in the video above proves, we like to put on a show as being one thing until we are caught and then we resume regularly scheduled programming. The cat in the video is clearly barking like a dog until it is caught and then resumes his place as a cat. The video really is amazing because it shows how prone to deception we really are and brings into light how remarkable the faith of the Philippians was when they could obey the God even in the absence of their leader.

Proverbs 10:9 puts it plainly:

"Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out."

God is watching. Even when nobody else is watching, God is watching.

I don't say this to frighten somebody or to think God is just waiting for someone to mess up so He can punish Him. That isn't how God works. When I say God is watching, I am saying that your life, your faith, and your thoughts are completely open to God. Nothing is hidden. So even if we think we are fooling others by our actions, we are not fooling God. In fact, when we disobey God, we look as ridiculous as that cat barking like a dog. We were not created to live in rebellion to God. When we do rebel, we assume an existence that is completely foreign to our design and intended purpose.

So we come to our intended design and purpose which is obedience to our creator. 1 John 2:3-5 says it this way:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. (ESV)

There are two things that need to be noted in this passage.

1. Obedience is the result of knowing Jesus. When we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ, God changes us from the inside out and obedience is the proof that the change has happened. It does not say perfection, but it does say a practice of obedience will become a part of your life.

2. When you are obeying God's will for your life, His love will become complete in your life. You will know love. You will experience it, you will give it and you will live by it. LOVE. Not legalistic, mean spirited fundamentalist rule keeping.

LOVE.

It isn't about keeping the rules, it is about living in harmony with God through his son Jesus. It is about fulfilling your purpose for living and operating within your created design. You were created to experience and express God's love in this world. You were created for life and God's commandments are life. Rebellion against God is death.

Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 both say this:

There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death.

There is a way that seems right, until we are caught. There is a way that seems natural until we find out that our master is looking at us and then we remember who we are. There is a freedom that looks like slavery and a slavery that looks like freedom. The sinful heart will look at God and see bondage when in reality God is offering freedom. You purpose is to live in obedience to the God that created you. His will for you is life and love, but it has to be found in him through Jesus Christ. Obey God and you will most certainly rise Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: The Church

2011-05-31T14:12:00.002-05:00

One of the most pivotal, most vital truths a believer in Christ must learn is that he/she is a part of the body of Christ, the Church. When I say the Church, I don't mean that building on the corner or the place you go on Sunday to hear about God.

The Church is something much more important and powerful than a building. The Church is made up of those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and who, through faith, have been saved.

The Church is as exclusive and privileged a group as you will ever see or experience because, biblically speaking, the church is ONLY made up of those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. The Church is the Church because everyone who is saved has a common faith, a common salvation and The Holy Spirit dwelling within them and the only way to become a member is to die to yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus.

The Church is exclusive. It is alive and you, if you are a believer and follower of Christ, are a member. If you want to grow in Christ and truly find your purpose in life, it will involve the church. So whatever hangups you may have regarding "organized religion" you need to understand that they are just that, your own hangups.

God is pro-Church and so must be his followers.

Is the church perfect? No, because it isn't God. It is God's people. A people who needed and still need Jesus Christ to forgive them of sins and teach them how to live in love, righteousness, and holiness. So while it is trendy right now to bash the Church and spell out all the ways it is wrong and hypocritical it is how God has chosen to work. Like it or not, you are not going to create or find anything more powerful on earth than God's people serving Him in fellowship with each other.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

"The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against It"

Powerful words. Jesus said that Hell itself, the full power of the enemy will not be able to hold back the church from doing what it is designed to do, namely, worship, fellowship, and make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church is here to spread God's Kingdom and that is exactly what it has done for 2000 years. That is a track record of success that isn't going to stop anytime soon.

Notice also that Jesus said "my church." I think part of the reason people have hangups with "organized religion" is that they and many, many others come at the church as consumers, like somehow the church exists for them and their purposes. When we look at the church as consumers we will say things like "I want a church that meets my needs" or "I just need a church that is more contemporary or traditional, or rural, or country, or more music, or less music, or louder music, or red carpet, more young adults, or more youth, or a better senior adult program..." The list could go on forever. The problem surfaces when we realize that the church is not there for those purposes.

It isn't here for us, it is here to serve God's purposes in the world and YOU, as a believer, are a part of the labor crew that does God's work on earth. When we realize this one truth, our lives change. We start hearing from God, we start experiencing his Spirit in the Fellowship of Believers and we see the Church as the beautiful Bride of Christ. Instead of complaining about what the church isn't doing well we start doing our part to make it better.

We also realize just how powerful the church truly is. In Ephesians 3:10 the Apostle Paul says that is through the church that "the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." You see, God has chosen the church as his chief instrument on Earth. And YOU, as a believer, are a part of that instrument. God can and sometimes does work through individuals apart from the Church as a whole, but that is rare. Most of God's work is done through the Church.

So the choice is now yours. If you are a believer, you are a part of the Body of Christ. Are you helping or hurting the Body? There is no way around it and it is a truth that you must accept and embrace. You are a part of God's church on earth. What you do with it is up to you. If you want to be used of God, it will be in conjunction with the church. You want to hear from God? It will often come as a combination of the Scriptures and the Church.

We are called to community, but not just any community. The Community. The Church. The one and only Body of Christ. You have a function within that Body that is indispensable. In 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 says this: "For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." (ESV)

Are you functioning as a member of the one body? Or are you expecting the body to function for you? Once we understand God's plan for the church and how truly awesome it is that God says his church "grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:18-22) we will fundamentally alter the way we look at the body of believers. Instead of God's presence being attached to a building as it was in the Old Testament Temple, today, the Temple is the Church and his presence is found among his people COLLECTIVELY. You will only find your purpose when you seek God in the midst of His People and Serve within His Church. Meditate upon this, embrace it and you will most certainly rise Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: Taking Risks

2011-04-12T11:38:00.001-05:00

I found this video of an incredible downhill bike race in Chile and it made me think. First, watch the video...

Intense isn't it?

There are few things that stick out about that ride. First, it is fast in places that people don't normally go fast. Second, there were several truly dangerous places throughout that course. Third, the rider never hesitates.

What is it that allowed the rider to navigate that course so successfully? I believe it comes down to three words: Fear, Skill, and Comfort. These are three words that will either paralyze or empower every Christian in his or her walk because I truly believe that the Christian life is just like that downhill race, for those who are willing to brave it.

First, lets talk about fear. Most people will look at this video and immediately think "No way would I even try that! That guy is crazy!" Crazy? Maybe, if you define life by playing it safe, keeping your pulse under 100 and never risking anything. But here is the catch.

God has not called us to play it safe. In fact, he has called us to be radicals in this world. Christians are to be the game changers. But too many never come close to experiencing the true blessing of being used by God because they are afraid. They are paralyzed by fear.

Fear of the unknown. Fear of what "might" happen. Fear of failure. Just the thought of doing something extreme sends many Christians into lockdown. Yet, some of the most common words in all of scripture are "Fear Not." Jesus told us that "perfect love casts out fear" and that we need only fear God and not man. Many will look at something like that bike ride and say "there is a difference in fear and wisdom." Maybe, but I think that all greatness once started out as a crazy idea that sent shivers down somebody's spine.

Someone will say "okay, I'm not afraid, but I don't know how to do something like that and if I tried, I would kill myself."

This is a true and wise statement that brings us to our second word: Skill.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence at the age of 33. That's quite an accomplishment. But you know what? He didn't get there by accident. Before his 33rd birthday he had already accomplished more than most people will accomplish in an entire lifetime. It wasn't an accident that he was the man chosen to write one of the most important political documents our world has ever seen. Here is a list of what he accomplished before writing the Declaration of Independence at the age of 33.

At 5, began studying under his cousin's tutor. At 9, studied Latin, Greek and French. At 14, studied classical literature and additional languages. At 16, entered the College of William and Mary. At 19, studied Law for 5 years starting under George Wythe. At 23, started his own law practice. At 25, was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. At 31, wrote the widely circulated "Summary View of the Rights of British America" and retired from his law practice. At 32, was a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

Thomas Jefferson wasn't afraid of a challenge, but he also knew he needed to develop the skill necessary to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish. In the video above, that wasn't that bike rider's first time to attempt something like that. He started small and built his skill set until he could accomplish something remarkable.

Are you willing to risk learning how to do something amazing? Are you willing to learn the scripture well enough to live it? Are you willing to develop your skill in communicating, teaching, building, leading, organizing, or whatever it is you do? God is not going to put you on a bike and say good luck. He wants His people to stand out, but to stand out in a good way.

There are two ways to stand out in this world: Excellence or Incompetence. Only one happens by accident. And if we are going to be intentional about developing the necessary skill to take real risks for God, then we are going to have to be willing to redefine our comfort zones.

Comfort, our third word. Its a funny thing because it can be redefined far more easily than most people think. We often talk about getting outside our comfort zones in Christianity. What we are really talking about is getting outside of what is familiar and easy. Here is a secret for you to remember: nobody ever really gets outside his or her comfort zone. We just expand our comfort zone as our skill increases. We can and MUST become comfortable taking certain risks.

The rider in the video was comfortable taking the risks associated with that course because he knew his skill set. What he was doing was trying to push his skill limit even further. The next time you feel uncomfortable taking a risk for God, you need to ask yourself why? Is it lack of skill or just lack of familiarity? Do you need further development or are you just getting a feel for the course? Either way, if you are uncomfortable stepping up for God, then you haven't yet truly given God his due in your life.

You can't meet the Creator of the Universe, be filled with His Spirit, and not feel some boldness well up inside you.

Here is one more little secret: the more skill you have and the broader your comfort zone, the more fun and enjoyment you will get out of what you are doing for God. That bike rider in the video enjoyed his ride. You hear him laugh part way through the video. His heart was racing, his skill set was challenged, but I promise you he ENJOYED EVERY MINUTE OF THAT RIDE. He even enjoyed when he was able to avoid the dog that almost ruined the whole thing.

So, what insane downhill race is God calling you to train for? What fears need to be set aside? What training needs to happen and what comfort zones need to be redefined? It is only when we see life as one big downhill race that God has called us to dominate that we can rise Above Reality and Find our Purpose. We must take risks for God!

Find Your Purpose: Sacrifice

2011-03-14T10:27:00.001-05:00

Sacrifice. Big word, big meaning, even bigger neglect. It can be defined as: Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

In everyday language it means giving until it hurts. This can mean giving of your time, your emotions, your energy, your resources, your friendship, or your abilities for something you believe.

The greatest act of sacrifice ever seen was on the cross almost 2000 years ago when Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed himself to set right what man had broken.

He even said "Father, forgive them..." Here was the eternal Son of God, bleeding, suffering, and dying for a creation that had rejected him and yet he could say the words, "Father, forgive them." Why? Because Jesus was sacrificing himself for us. As a sacrifice, his life was spent for those who hated him. Jesus knew he was getting no benefit from this sacrifice. It was entirely for our benefit.

You see, that is what sacrifice is. It is enduring pain and struggle for the benefit of another. It is voluntarily giving to the point of pain so someone else can experience the benefit. Jesus died on the cross so we could have a relationship with God. He already had a perfect relationship with the Father. He didn't need anything for himself. It was humanity that needed a Savior. So, Jesus offered himself, perfect in every way, as a sacrifice for our failings.

And so we also become a people of sacrifice. We learn to give of ourselves. We learn to sacrifice. We learn to give until it hurts. Sacrifice for others, even those who hate us, should become a way of life for those who believe in Jesus Christ. We give in service, love, finances, talents, support, and even encouragement. We learn to see what others need and give of ourselves to help them.

Even when they hate us.

That is what makes it a sacrifice. We have to endure something we do not deserve for the sake of someone who does not deserve what we are giving.

And we do it with Love.

We do not do it to earn points with them, with God, or even to feed selfish pride. We sacrifice because we see the right thing to do and we are children of God who understand that it took the greatest sacrifice in the history of creation to make us children of God.

So we sacrifice.

Unfortunately too many of us have bought into American consumerism and we expect some kind of immediate return on our "righteous" deeds. We see ourselves as God's employees complete with a heavenly 401k retirement plan, benefits, and collective bargaining rights. We have confused God's call to die and sacrifice with a self-serving gospel of health and wealth.

And the idea of true sacrifice is completely lost. We only serve in our church as long as it is convenient and doesn't interfere with my time on the golf course. We choose a church based on what they can provide me instead of seeing where my gifts and talents could be used to help others. We get it backwards.

When we get it backwards, we lose touch with everything that God intended and our lives become no different than the great throng of people who live only to please themselves. This is why Jesus said some of the most frightening words in all of Scripture in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Many who never learned the true meaning of sacrifice and obedience will try to cash in their heavenly 401k retirement plan only to find out that their investment tanked because they invested in themselves and not in the God who sent His Son as a Sacrifice. Think today about your concept of sacrifice and obedience to God and rise Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: Worship

2011-01-27T16:28:00.001-06:00

There is a common refrain that finds itself repeated throughout much of the history of the church. It is that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Enjoy Him.

Experience, relate to, be fulfilled and enjoy Him.

In a word: WORSHIP

We are created to worship our maker. God is the source of all life, existence, joy and meaning. When I say that we are to enjoy Him forever, I mean we are to enjoy Him as He is, for who He is, and What He is.

Enjoy God because He is God.

Meaning, you can't enjoy Him if you are too busy trying to make him jump through your hoops. You can't enjoy Him if you are too busy trying to make Him serve You. You can't enjoy Him if you think of Him as just another person.

Enjoy the fact that God is not you. Be thankful that God is not you. He is not like you, He does not think like you. His existence is beyond you, above you, over you, and bigger than you. Those difficulties you have, He doesn't.

You should rejoice in this.

Enjoy God! Worship Him. Why? Because it is what you were created to do. It is in your very being. Your meaning and purpose in life will be completely wrapped up in serving and worshiping God. If you don't worship Him, you can't enjoy Him.

The Psalmists knew all too well that God wasn't like them and they loved it.

EVERY BIT OF IT! They marveled at His majesty, sang songs about His Wisdom, trembled at His Power, and invited the nations to come find out what they already knew: God is awesome.

Psalm 95 puts it this way:

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

10 For forty years I loathed that generation

and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,

and they have not known my ways.”

11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,

“They shall not enter my rest.”

You see that? Invitation to join in, a warning about ignoring Him, and an absolute sense of awe at His being.

Worship is not an choice for those who have Discovered God. It becomes their purpose in life. Service and Worship, Worship and service, praise and practice, practice and praise all become intertwined in this wonderfully poetic dance that is life. We worship because of God's greatness. Our worship leads us to service and our service erupts in praise.

Psalm 97 puts it this way:

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him

and burns up his adversaries all around.

4 His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,

before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

and all the peoples see his glory.

7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,

who make their boast in worthless idols;

worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and is glad,

and the daughters of Judah rejoice,

because of your judgments, O LORD.

9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;

you are exalted far above all gods.

10 O you who love the LORD, hate evil!

He preserves the lives of his saints;

he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown for the righteous,

and joy for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,

and give thanks to his holy name!

This awe inspiring, terror building, righteous judge is on His throne and everyone, those near and far need to rejoice simply because it is true. The Psalmist is not worried about living his best life now. He isn't worried about himself at all. He is overcome with the greatness of God. It is great beyond compare, terrifying and yet assuring.

Enjoy God!

Look beyond your circumstances. Look beyond yourself and see God for Who and What He is. Worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Worship Him in life, in song, in service and in fellowship and you will rise Above Reality.

Christmas Blessing.

2010-12-22T10:49:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas! What wonderful words to be able to say. This time of year, so many people get depressed, stressed, grumpy, or withdrawn it is unbelievable. Some for good reason. Maybe Christmas brings up painful memories. Maybe they don't have the family or friends to spend the holidays with that they would like. Maybe Christmas puts too heavy a financial burden on some people.

Whatever the reason, a lot of people don't find Christmas to be so "Merry."

I am reminded of Charlie Brown desperately trying to "get" the Christmas Spirit. His compassion for a sickly tree was despised. His disdain for an overly commercialized production misunderstood. And his frustration at the competition over Christmas Spirit won by Snoopy was too much for him to take.

I truly hope and pray that you, reader, are not one of them. And if you are, here are some reasons that you shouldn't be.

Christmas is about Christ. Yeah, I know that you already know that. But let it sink in for a moment. The world has been lost in sin, without hope, without direction and God chose to intervene.

God CHOSE to help mankind and his Son Jesus was the single greatest gift that was ever given. Think about these verses of scripture for a moment.

Philippians 2:5-8

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus was and still is the second part of the Godhead. The Son is the second person of the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit. The Son was in Eternity with the Father and Spirit and chose to humble himself, set aside the benefits of deity, and come to earth as a human being. A man of a lower social order. He deserved to be worshiped and adored by all creation, yet He chose to come into our world and live as one of us so he could die a condemned man on a cursed tree.

That is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown. So remove all of the hustle and bustle, the gift buying, the crowds, the decorations, the family gatherings, and you still have one of the most monumentous occasions to celebrate that mankind has ever seen. If you understand the enormity of what Christmas means, then you can get into the Christmas spirit, the Spirit of Worshiping the God who loves you, without needing any egg nog, carols, lights, or wrapping paper. (Though, I must admit, egg nog may have been given by God to help celebrate the birth of the King of Kings. A drink worthy of majesty.)

This year, think about those who are able to celebrate Christmas without all of the social acceptance that we here in America enjoy. Persecuted Christians in the Muslim world who celebrate under threat of imprisonment, persecution and loss.

But they still celebrate.

I don't write this to make anyone feel guilty or to dismiss the difficulty that some have during the Christmas season. I am writing this to help us all see that Christmas should be a time of worship and thanks for the fact that God sent his Son into the world to save sinners. Of whom I am chief.

In order to get a view of what Christmas is truly about, think about the lyrics to this popular Christmas song.

Hark the herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled"

Joyful, all ye nations rise

Join the triumph of the skies

With the angelic host proclaim:

"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored

Christ the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come

Offspring of a Virgin's womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

Hail the incarnate Deity

Pleased as man with man to dwell

Jesus, our Emmanuel

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings

Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christmas is about the Gospel. It is about God saving mankind from himself. The long march toward the cross started the day the Eternal Son stepped out of heaven and into creation as a child who would grow to a man. As a man, he would offer himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sins.

That is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.

Indoctrination vs. Discipleship

2010-12-09T11:45:00.001-06:00

Indoctrination: to teach (a person or group of people) systematically to accept doctrines uncritically. It is an accusation that is commonly placed on religious practices.

Often times, rightly so.

The process of indoctrination is thousands of years old and has been used countless times over. Indoctrination forces a set of principles, values, or thoughts onto a person, demands uncritical, unquestioning acceptance of everything taught, frowns on individual expression and condemns creativity as dangerous.

The church has been at its worst when it has resorted to indoctrination in order to try to spread the message of Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because that is not what Jesus did, taught, stood for, or why He died on the cross. Lets get this straight right now. Jesus never indoctrinated a single person. He fought constantly with the Pharisees, who, consequently, were all about indoctrination.

Jesus was into discipleship, not indoctrination. Whereas those who are interested in indoctrination are concerned with conformity, Jesus is interested in the person as a whole. Mind, body, and spirit are all part of Jesus' teaching and it never involves blind conformity. Indoctrination discourages and condemns questions and free thought in the interest of "maintaining doctrinal purity."

Jesus, however, encouraged his disciples to ask questions. Why? Because questions are the beginning of faith. Jesus said "Seek and you will find" not "listen and repeat after me." This is the greatness of discipleship. It involves you as you are. Your being. Your soul. Your likes and dislikes. Its like Jesus comes along side you and says "I am going to fully invest myself in your life. I'm going to get to know you inside and out. I am going to know what makes you tick. I'm going to love your for WHO YOU ARE, and in the process, I'm going to teach you how to live. I'm going to teach you truth and how to recognize truth. I'm going to show you great and hidden things you do not know. Don't worry, I am going to be with you through this whole journey. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't quit when it gets hard. I promise to be with you."

Discipleship is personal. Discipleship is relational, intellectual, emotional, social, and on-going. Indoctrination is interested in people saying the right things, looking the part, and in producing quantity over quality. Indoctrination is a one time process where someone is told what to think and then moved along. Discipleship is personal investment that encourages questions, seeking, and personal growth.

This is the problem with much of our so called "Bible-study" today. Much of it is incorrectly based on the principles of indoctrination. It gives people the "answers" for life in a bullet point format, tells people what God wants them to think and to be and then moves on to the next approved lesson.

This isn't how Jesus taught.

If God had wanted us to learn from bullet points, scripture would be laid out differently.

You see, indoctrination is a cheap and ineffective substitute for discipleship. It tries to skip the discipleship process by giving people the "answers" ahead of time. Unfortunately, getting the answer is not how we learn and grow. The discipleship process is how we learn and grow. The answer isn't effective if we lose the process. So, instead of trying to skip to the end, we need to get back to true discipleship.

Think about this. Jesus, the pre-existent Logos/Word of God in flesh, took three years to train his disciples. If anyone could have skipped to the end and taken the short version it would have been Jesus. Yet, here he was, teaching, walking with, loving, valuing and investing himself in the lives of His disciples for 3 years. And in those three years we hardly see Jesus asking his disciples for quick, indoctrinated answers. Even when they came to Jesus looking for those answers Jesus redirected them.

So, this raises the question for you and your church. Are you making disciples or simply trying to indoctrinate people? If you are indoctrinating people you will get a lot of people who can say all the right things but not live them. You will get Pharisees.

And Pharisees are hypocrites.

You also must ask: "Have I been indoctrinated or discipled?" You may be surprised at the answer. Do you grow in your faith by asking questions and seeking or by wanting a quick black or white answer to something that really doesn't affect your life one way or the other?

Jesus commanded us to make DISCIPLES of all nations. It is time to let go of the easy but ineffective model of indoctrination and rise Above Reality by embracing discipleship.

Is Your God Safe?

2010-11-03T14:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been truly frightened? Not worried, a little anxious, or nervous, but freaking scared out of your mind? The kind of scared that you don't talk about later because you remember the feelings too well? Ever been that kind of scared? Odds are, at some point in life you have been. It isn't fun.

It is something we try to avoid.

At all costs...

So what happens when we experience that moment when we realize that the God we serve isn't as safe as we once thought? In fact, we realize that He is terrifying and have to think hard about everything we have learned about God. What happens when the God who has always brought us comfort suddenly scares us to death?

The FEAR of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7

Fear: Emotional foreboding or dread of impending distress or misfortune.

Not quite the message of the modern church is it?

What has happened today is God has been turned into a therapist, we are the patients, and the therapist's goal is to make us happy and whole. God is safe and quiet. He is there to calm your nerves and make life pleasant. He is a friend who is always supportive and never critical. He is a compassionate care-giver that understands the human plight and just wants to help. So, if you will just let Him, He will make it all better because you were created to live "in total victory." (quoted from Mr. Happy himself, Joel Osteen)

puke...

Problem is, that is not why Jesus died and it is not what God has in mind for us today. It is not at all what Paul had in mind as he evangelized the Gentile world.

Perhaps, no, CERTAINLY this misguided view of God is what has kept many people from growing in their Christianity. If God is there to make us happy, then He will never ask us to do anything that could possibly be difficult or lead to struggle, pain, or sorrow.

Lets look at the scriptures to see where God called someone to happiness and comfort for the sake of His Kingdom.

Go ahead and look. Sure, there was that one guy.

Wait,

No, his life was pretty hard.

No matter how long you look, you won't find it. Happily ever after in God's Kingdom means hard service and sacrifice until you die, THEN, you get to enjoy eternal blessings. Think about this list

Paul-imprisoned, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, bad health, poor, hated and despised
Peter-crucified upside down
John-boiled in oil (survived), imprisoned on an island (survived)
John the Baptist- imprisoned, beheaded
Job-lost his whole family, his health, and his wealth BECAUSE he was a righteous man. (Bet Joel doesn't preach on that one!)
Jonah-swallowed by a whale (brought it on himself)
Isaiah - Sawed in two
Jeremiah - beaten, put in the stocks, thrown into a pit, repeated attempts at his life
Moses - led an obstinate people in circles for 40 years...

All of these people and more suffered and suffered some more because of their faith in God, yet they all persevered and continued to serve God. Why? Because their God wasn't safe. They knew He was unpredictable, powerful, and that their purpose was to serve no matter what. Today, people get angry and leave when a worship service runs too long.

So I ask you, when was the last time you were truly afraid of God? I know it is seems like a strange question in today's culture, but seriously, have you ever been so overcome with the knowledge of his power, righteousness, and holiness that you literally became afraid of Him? If you haven't, then you don't know Him. You may know about Him, but you don't know Him personally.

Because when you do know Him, you know that occasionally and sometimes quite often, He is going to ask you to do something that you don't like. You know inherently that He has called you to do more than simply go to church on Sunday morning. You know that your life is not your own, but belongs to Him because he bought you. The price? His Son Jesus Christ.

And when He calls, you obey. You listen and you do it even though you know you are going to catch it from friends, family, and enemies alike. You are scared to death but you do it anyway because you are more AFRAID of God than you are of the situation.

You know your god is safe when all he calls you to do is whatever comes easy or when the biggest sacrifice you make is the $5 you throw in the plate as it comes by. God is seen as too safe by too many people.

The problem with a safe god, is that you get safe results. Paul's God wasn't safe, and so, Paul himself wasn't safe. Thus, Paul changed the world. He paid a price for it, but he also accomplished great things. Everyone wants God to be active in their lives, but what they really want is the safe god, not the God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth.

The Psalmist understood it. Check this out.

Psalm 97:1-6

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;

let the many coastlands be glad!

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him

and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,

before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

and all the peoples see his glory.

Let me tell you a secret: That Psalm was not written to give you warm fuzzies. It was written to express the power, majesty, and perfection of God. It was written to cause fear, fear that leads to worship and service.

If you are serving a safe God, then you are leading a safe life that probably has you bored to death. Why? Because you were created to serve this terrifying, majestic God. You were created for Him and His purposes and His purposes are big. Let go of the safety of your safe god and serve the God who created Heaven and Earth. The God who sent His Son to die a horrible death so save your soul. Stop being safe and start living in faith. Get back into the scriptures and learn about the God who WILL tell you to do something that will scare you to death. When He asks, then you will find out what your faith is made of. If you obey not only will you stop being safe, you will wonder why you have waited so long to follow the God who is always Above Reality.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

2010-09-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

"He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich." Proverbs 21:17

We live in a society that is completely enamored with entertainment. From American Idol to the News, we are constantly looking for someone to entertain us. We celebrate athletes, actors and singers because they entertain us. Our educational system is based around making learning "fun" and people often focus on whether they enjoy their jobs. Let's face it, we are so busy having fun that it is a wonder that anything gets done in this world.

However, if this is indeed the world in which we live, then it has to affect our view of God and how we serve Him. Instead of worship, we have productions. Instead of fasting, we have feasts. Instead of discipleship, we have recreational small groups. Fun is the order of the day and we are getting plenty of it.

The issues stated above are just the symptoms of a larger problem. Worship is my response to what I value most. If I most value entertainment and "fun" in my life, then I will naturally order my priorities and values around it. Even God will become a source of entertainment to me. Fun becomes and idol.

So we have to ask, "What do worship and service at the altar of fun look like?" First, it must bring fun into my own life, so I will demand that my church and my God make me happy. If my church does not "meet my needs" then it is perfectly suitable for me to find a better source of entertainment and say "God was leading me to this church" when what was really meant was "I really liked the coffee bar, basketball court, entertaining praise band and motivational speaking that is passed off as preaching."

Second, after my needs are met and I am being entertained, I will naturally want to serve my "god" and thus will want to bring entertainment into another person's life. So, I will learn guitar, sing specials at church, start a recreational small group, and hang-out as much as possible with others so I can prove just how "fun" Jesus really is to those who don't know Him.

Third, my discipleship will not consist in quoting and understanding scripture, but in following the latest pop-Christian singer. We will trade our theologians for those who are especially gifted at entertaining us and marvel at how God is using them in miraculous ways.

The problem with all of this is that it doesn't look or function any different than the world. We just chose a different kind of entertainment. Less sex, less materialism, more God talk, more positive thoughts, but in the end, it is based on the same value system: my entertainment.

Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Christian artists and creativity as much as the next person. Truly using a talent that God has given you is what we all should be doing. What I am talking about is our value system as American Christians. Do we strive to achieve "virtue" or fame? Do we serve humbly or do we look for celebrity status. There is a line between enjoying a Christian artist, field, or art form and making it into an idol and currently I fear that the church in America is on the wrong side of the issue. Worship is about far more than having a killer praise band, a slick visual presentation and an entertaining message. Worship is about giving ourselves to God, praising Him and serving Him according to His desires and not ours.

Lets look at a couple of people in scripture and see how much fun they had.

The Apostle Paul
Whipped, stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, starved, imprisoned, abandoned, and killed for his faith in Jesus Christ. Somehow, I don't think he would be too impressed with the worship wars over contemporary and traditional music. Paul's concern was not with being entertained nor with entertaining others. In fact, Paul went out of his way to make sure that he preached the Gospel, "not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." Paul made sure people were not drawn to his entertaining speech (as was custom in his day) but to the actual message of the cross.

The Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah was a young man when God called him. He spoke about the sins of Judah and warned them of impending disaster. He was hated, maligned, thrown into a pit, blamed, and ultimately alone because of God's message. He saw the destruction of the city that he loved and wrote a lament over the city that became a part of our Bible. (Lamentations)

Now, I am not saying that fun is bad. I like to have fun. But it cannot be at the expense of discipleship. We cannot refuse to STUDY our Bibles because it is "boring." We cannot church-hop because we aren't being entertained enough. We cannot allow our worship of God to be hindered because it isn't the style of music we prefer. If you can't worship God to a particular style of music, then you aren't worshiping God. You should be able to sing praises to the creator, sustainer, savior God to the sound of an out of tune piano and a banjo and mean it just as much as you would if it were your favorite artists in the world.

We must repent of this dependence upon entertainment as the driving force behind our worship and service. It is absolutely the truth that God is going to call you to a lot of things that are not fun at all in your life. You must submit to them. God is going to call you to sacrifice. God is going to call you to serve in tangible ways and not just in ways that spread more entertainment.

Read again what Proverbs 21:17 says about over-valuing entertainment "He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich." Spiritually we are becoming poorer and poorer all the time in this country. It is time to shift our values back to the pursuit of God and virtue and rise Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: Service

2010-09-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

When the hammer hits the nail, that is when we know something is getting done. As we have seen, we are called to Discover God, Find our Purpose and finally to share the journey. As we continue to look at ways that we find our purpose in life, we will find that it will almost always involve giving, sacrificing, and effort. What's is the old saying: "Nothing good ever came easy?" In the Christian lifestyle this is always true. God does not call us to the good life of ease and repose. He calls us to good old fashioned sacrificial service. There is no other way around it. If you want to know God, you will have serve people.

In 2 Corinthians 4:5 the Apostle Paul wrote: "For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake." Paul says that he did two things. He proclaimed Christ and he served. We must come to see these two as inseparable. The two sides of the evangelism coin. If we want an avenue to share the gospel, we must serve. If we want people to hear our words, we must serve. If we want to know God better we must serve. If we want to experience true community, we must serve.

So what is service? It is work done by one person or a group of people that benefits another. See, it is a person getting outside of himself or herself and doing something for the good of someone else regardless of personal return. Service means I do it simply because it will help you and I am not looking for ANYTHING in return. In fact, the best servants on this earth are the ones you have never seen. They are invisible. They serve without fanfare and without recognition. This is what God calls all of us to do. Serve.

The tricky thing about service is that we often like to pat ourselves on the back for our service and, thus, lose the entire concept. In the Gospel of John the disciples begin arguing about who is the best. You know the kind of arguments John is talking about. The kind of arguments that overlook personal shortcomings and emphasize the faults of somebody else. The kind of arguments that allow a person to talk big and yet do nothing. Yeah, those arguments.

Jesus will have none of it. Does he join in the argument? Nope. Does he declare one side the victor? Nope. What does he do? He serves. He takes a towel and some water and washes every one of their feet. Here is Jesus, the Word, the Logos of God in flesh PERFORMING the lowest of tasks. He is serving His disciples. How embarrassing. Think about it. You are one of the disciples who has been railing against your brothers, building yourself up, sitting on your ivory tower when suddenly, you see your master at your feet washing off the dirt you had ignored.

Service.

You see, it is only when we realize that there is no job below us and we have no right to any recognition that we are truly ready to be used by God in any real sense. It is when our loving actions of service match our words that we are true witnesses.

The sad thing about many of today's Christians is that this is precisely where they check out. They draw near to God and experience His wonderful, life-giving presence. They love what He has done and then God does the unthinkable. He says "Serve..."

And then nothing.

We search for any and every reason why God couldn't be talking to me. I mean, I work all week, I have to take care of the kids, I go to Church on Sunday, when do I get a little me time? God's response? "Serve..." We respond by telling God "I'll worship on Sunday, that's my service." So we worship, but for some reason, the feeling begins to fade and we find that the church I go to just isn't meeting "my needs" any more so we look for another church that makes "worship" a little more exciting. Then, when we find it, we are satisfied for a short time, that is, until the new wears off and then suddenly, we find ourselves without the motivation to worship and stop going to church altogether. Was it God's fault? Nope. It was mine because I refused to serve.

When we refuse to serve we will inevitably come to see God as being there to serve us. My happiness will become what drives my life and a funny thing will happen: I won't ever be truly happy. Service keeps us from getting lost inside ourselves. It keeps us from becoming selfish. It makes us thankful for God's blessings. Instead of focusing on all the things I'm missing that could make me happier, I will see all the wonderful things that God has given me.

Service. It is necessary to a healthy spiritual walk. If you truly know Jesus, you will learn to serve as he served. It must be sacrificial, which means your service will COST YOU SOMETHING. If your "service" to God is simply going to church and staying awake during the sermon then you know nothing of service. Talk to any mature Christian and they will have stories about how God wore them out serving other people at different points in their life. But watch as they smile, experience peace, and reflect on how wonderful it was, even when their hammer hit their thumb. You see, when we serve, we find contentment. We find fulfillment because our lives are no longer about my elusive happiness, but about obedience to our Creator. The Creator who loved and served.

Find Your Purpose and Serve God because Service will help you rise Above Reality.

A Disturbing Observation

2010-05-03T16:08:00.000-05:00

I have noticed recently that there are a growing number of Christians who are falling into a trap that was settled in the first century by the Apostles and early church leaders. I am noticing an increasing fascination with and even a practice of the Jewish Law system. I notice it on religious programming and in churches. It is almost as if people are once again being fooled into believing that you must first become Jewish in order to become Christian. I was recently asked if I thought that our spiritual connection to God was affected by whether or not we followed the Old Testament dietary laws.

This was settled in Acts 15. Many in the early church were confused as to where to draw the line between Judaism and Christianity and so, a Church Council was called to discuss the matter. This meeting involved all the Apostles and many "elders" or leaders within the Christian church. There were those who felt that Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to Christianity needed to keep the law of circumcision for males, dietary laws, purity laws, ceremonial laws of cleansing and ritualistic observance of festivals and the like. The Apostles (who spoke for God and with God's authority...) disagreed and said that it was not necessary for them to become Jewish in order to become Christian. All that mattered was that they placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and lived out their faith. Issue settled, right?

It seemed like many leaders had a hard time letting go of tradition so that even the likes of Peter had a hard time accepting that he could eat anything and that the Gentiles were equal heirs in the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, yet even he eventually came to accept the truth and even called the Church the "Israel of God" which showed he had fully made the transition.

Yet, today I see over and over where many teachers are giving the Old Testament precedence over the New. Dispensational heresies are notorious for this. (If you don't know what Dispensational theology is just think "Left Behind, John Hagee, etc...") So, today there is once again confusion about the place of the Old Testament. Jesus summarized the Old Testament nicely "the Law and the prophets they testify to me..." The point of the Old Testament was to point us to Christ by progressively revealing God's will for his Kingdom. Once we get to Jesus Christ, that Revelation is completed. (Kind of sounds like a Book "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" that was written as the conclusion to all Scripture.) So anything that the Old Testament teaches is to point us to Christ. The New Testament is primary, the Old Testament is secondary. The New Testament re-interprets the Old.

Lets make this clear. We are not under the Old Testament system of ritualistic or ceremonial law. It is OK to eat pork. It is OK to shave your beard if you are man. You are not unclean because you have a blemish on your skin. There are not secret messages hidden in the text of the Hebrew letters. And the Church (those who belong to Christ) is God's chosen people in this world. The Moral Law (think 10 commandments) is still in effect because it revealed God's character and Jesus imported them into the New Testament understanding of God's Kingdom.

No longer was God's Kingdom centered around an ethnic race of people and the temple that was in their chief city. Now it is centered on the man Jesus Christ, his sacrifice on the cross, and his resurrection three days later. The people of God are no longer identified by a mark in the flesh (circumcision) but by Faith in the Living, Resurrected man Jesus Christ that results in being filled with God's Holy Spirit, which results in circumcision of the heart. Therefore, there is no reason to move backwards by observing feasts, festivals, and ceremonial laws. Our identity is completely wrapped up in Jesus Christ and not in religious practices. Commit your life to Jesus Christ and give up dead works of the law and you will rise Above Reality.

The Work of God

2010-04-13T16:36:00.000-05:00

When Jesus confronted the legalists and their all too familiar brand of legalistic, performance based faith, he condensed everything that God wanted from mankind into one sentence. It is a statement that, when understood, drives legalists and fundamentalists crazy. You see, the Pharisees had created a performance based religion that required absolute obedience to dizzying details. Blessings like the Sabbath rest were turned into a means for judgment and ridicule. The idea that somehow we can perform enough works to be righteous persists even today as many so called "conservatives" try to impose an ever growing list of "works" that a Christian must perform to "prove" his or her Christianity.

Naturally, because people are seeking for God and want a relationship with Him, they start to ask questions that the people asked Jesus. In John 6:28 a group of people asked Jesus "What must we do to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered in an unexpected way. He did not give them a list, which is what they wanted. He did not rail against the sin of the day, which legalists and fundamentalists like to do even today. No. It says this in John 6:29 "Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Did you catch that? Belief. In no way did Jesus say "God hates your actions and wants you to clean up your life and then He might like you." He didn't say "The work of God is for you to make a list of rules and keep them flawlessly and then appoint yourself judge over others who do not keep your rules." No. Jesus said "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom He has sent."

The work of God in your life, what you have to do to be accepted by God is to BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST. It is a list of one item. ONE. 1

1. Believe in Jesus Christ
2. Refer back to item 1.

Now, I know some of the legalists are going to start barking about sin and repentance and easy believism at this point. Hang in there and I will address your concerns.

The point, is that legalism begins with the assumption that I can have a righteousness of my own if I just try hard enough. Fundamentalism teaches that we as a people can force others to have a righteousness if we just pressure them hard enough. The problem with these two positions is that the Bible clearly teaches that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Paul even admits in Romans 7:18 that "nothing good dwells in me, in my flesh." So why continue to push harder and harder when the Bible clearly teaches that our righteousness is like filthy rags before God. Who are we trying to impress?

Jesus knew that nobody could be righteous. Jesus knew that I would fail him no matter how hard I tried. God knows all about my sin and yet, he wants to have a relationship with me anyway. And so, he provided a way. By believing in Jesus Christ, I get to claim His Righteousness as my own before God.

Seem unfair?

It is.

For God.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the single most lopsided, unfair, rip off in the history of the universe. Jesus, who was righteous, died on a cross and got me, a sinful, ungrateful, screw-up. The righteous Son of God paid his life so that I could have a righteousness that is not found in keeping a list of do's and don'ts. But by faith alone. This is why Jesus could condense the work of God into one sentence. All God wants you to do is to "believe in the one whom he has sent."

By believing in Jesus Christ, you are admitting that you need a savior. By believing in Jesus Christ, you are admitting that you cannot keep a list of rules. Not your own, not your legalistic neighbor's, not God's. You are admitting you don't have it all together and that you need God's help. That is the work of God. To cry out for help to the One who offered help: Jesus Christ.

When you believe, then something wonderful happens. Jesus said it himself in John 14:15-17. He said "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

Jesus said when you love Him, you will obey. Obedience will be a RESULT of your love for Him. Not the cause, but the result. How will this happen? Because when you believe in Him, Jesus said we won't have to go it alone. He will give us His Spirit and by His Spirit you will be able to do the things you could not do on your own.

You see, legalists and fundamentalists get it backwards today just like they did in Jesus' day. They think we have to work to be accepted by God when God said accept (believe) in Jesus Christ and you will be accepted, empowered and changed.

No matter how hard we work, we will never change ourselves. No matter how much we hate sin, we won't stop sinning until we love Jesus. When we love Jesus, we will stop sinning through the power of His Spirit.

So, here it is, today, because of the cross sin is a result of a lack of love and faith in Jesus Christ. How can I say that? Because Jesus said the work of God is to believe in the one whom he has sent. If I sin, it is because I have not fully loved Jesus how I should. Thus, no amount of self help, self discipline, self loathing, or legalistic judgment is going to keep me from sinning. Only faith in the love of God poured out through Jesus Christ can do that. It is wonderful, wonderful promise and gift that God has given to a fallen, sinful, rebellious people. Only the Son of God can take us Above Reality.

Find Your Purpose: Discipleship

2010-03-23T11:06:00.000-05:00

What National League MVP played third base for the Atlanta Braves in 1991? Random knowledge such as the answer to the previous question completely fills the minds of many, many people. The topics vary, but the knowledge that people have is often astounding. Whether its sports, pop-culture, history, engines, or just the latest gossip, it is hard to miss the fact that people are willing to fill their heads with all kinds of facts, figures, and philosophies. That is, until it comes to understanding God's Word. When it comes to knowing scripture, much less doing it, far too many people who claim the name of Christ are completely ignorant of what His Word says.

We are IGNORANT, UNLEARNED, AND LAZY WHEN IT COMES TO GOD'S WORD.

Yeah, I said it and I can back it up.

I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions right now:

1. Have I read the entire Bible?
2. Do I have a working knowledge of the individual books of the Bible? (as in, what is the theme of the book of Romans, Ephesians, 1 John, Ezekiel, etc...)

If you cannot answer those questions with a YES, then ask yourself the next logical question:

WHY NOT?

Let me answer the second question for you. Because it hasn't been as important to you as it should. Before you close your browser window and stop reading, I said it hasn't been AS IMPORTANT as it should be. I am not calling your Christian faith, your love of God, or the value God's word has in your life into question. I am merely saying, if knowing and understanding God's Word were more important than knowing who God voted off of American Idol then you would be willing to carry the cross of discipleship and learn the most important words you will ever read.

Instead, most people only touch their Bible on Sunday morning while a few include Sunday night and Wednesday night and then it is normally just to read a verse or two completely out of context.

You see, God's Word is a wonderful thing, but it takes work. You have to want it. You have to want it bad because scripture is going to challenge you on multiple levels. It is going to challenge your values, your assumptions, your intellect and your commitment.

It isn't going to come easily.

It isn't going to come easily!

There is a degree of academic style learning and reading that has to go into learning scripture. You have to read it to know it. You have to know it to understand it and you have to understand it to do it. And so we enjoy quoting James 1:22 (Be not hearers of the word only, but be doers) but we don't quite understand everything that goes into that. If you want to know God, you have to seek Him out with all of your heart and that means seeking Him out through scripture.

But here is the key:

We have to let scripture speak for itself. We can't pick and choose a verse here and there and say "I know God's word." One of the most known and misunderstood verses in all of scripture is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Most of the time, this verse is used to affirm that God is going to give you abilities and bless you supernaturally to thrive and get ahead. People often use the verse as a way to make up for shortcomings in life and to claim that God is going to give us supernatural abilities outside of ourselves so all we have to do is wait for God to move.

This couldn't be more off base with what Paul is talking about in this passage.

If you look at the surrounding verses, something called "context", you will see that Paul talking about God giving him the strength to be faithful no matter what the circumstances. Whether well fed or hungry, in abundance or in need, Paul had learned to rely on Christ for strength to ENDURE anything. This is a far cry from the way we use this verse today.

Why did we just do that little Bible study? Because it illustrates just how important a working knowledge of an ENTIRE BOOK of the Bible is to understanding it.

Do you want to know God? Know his Word.

Do you want purpose in life? Live God's word.

Do you want God to use you? Train YOURSELF in His Word.

If you start learning scripture, you will also find that the Sunday Morning sermons will probably become more interesting and useful because you will be able to interact with what your pastor is saying. Instead, too many people use the sermon as their only time in God's Word for the week. Do you eat food once a week? Then why would you only read God's Word once a week?

Discipleship is not optional. If you claim the title of Christian and say that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you have a responsibility to learn His Word so you can live by it. So next time you are pondering the deep questions of life and come up with answers like "Terry Pendleton" (he was the MVP who played third base for the Atlanta Braves in 1991) I hope you will reconsider how you are expending your mental energies. Are you filling your mind with God's Word or are you filling it with something else?

Make a commitment to learn and live the scriptures that will take you Above Reality.

Leadership

2010-02-16T15:25:00.000-06:00

A little pause from the norm to look at some lighthearted thoughts on leadership. Even though it is humorous, there is wisdom in what is said. Will you be a courageous "first follower" of something Christ is doing in or around your life and so rise Above Reality?

Find Your Purpose: Count the Cost

2010-02-04T14:07:00.000-06:00

We have talked about Discovering God through his love and his holiness. Now, it is time to move forward. Hopefully you know God is there and that he is the creator, sustainer of everything. His love is perfect, He IS PERFECT. Why?

Because even the demons believe, and shudder.

Just acknowledging that God is there is not enough. We have to exercise faith. We have to have a faith that moves and works. Think of it like this: We do what we believe. We can say we believe something, but our actions truly speak louder than our words. If we really believe something we will do it. Period.

Jesus put it like this in Luke 9:23-24,

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (ESV)

You see, here's the thing about crosses. They're heavy. They hurt. They are a burden. They lead others to ridicule you. Crosses are not attractive to modern culture. They weren't attractive in Jesus's day either. Yet, here is Jesus saying "You want to follow me? You WILL carry a cross." It is not optional and it isn't going to be easy. End of story.

I recently heard a story of a Marine recruiter who was supposed to make a presentation to a group of men about why they should join the Marines. He didn't have much time for his presentation after previous speakers had gone over their allotted time so he simply stepped up to the microphone and said something to the effect of "in this group of men, only a few of you are actually strong enough to be a Marine. Come talk to me." Guess what? His booth was swarmed. Why? Because those attending heard the call of a challenge. They wanted to be one of those who are strong enough to make it.

Jesus basically said the same thing. While his call is universal, there are only a few who will respond. Why? Because it means carrying a cross. It means sacrifice. It means change. It means pain. It means giving up one's life so that Christ can find it. And it isn't easy. In fact, it is so hard that Jesus likened it to travelling a small road with a narrow gate that only a few will find. The rest will take the easy way.

So which one are you? Are you taking the easy way or the hard way? Are you carrying a cross? Is it heavy? Has it caused you pain, suffering and separation? If it hasn't then you aren't carrying a cross. You may be carrying a superstition or a discipline. You may even be carrying a religion, but you aren't carrying a cross. You know when you are carrying a cross because it leaves splinters in your back. You know you are carrying a cross because you are dying to yourself with every step taking you closer to crucifixion.

This is purpose.

This is why you were created.

Not for happiness.

Not for pleasure.

Not for success.

But to carry the cross of Jesus Christ and serve God with everything you have. But we must count the cost first. What will it take for you to fully pick up your cross and follow Jesus?

Jesus said it like this in Luke 14:33 "any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Is following Christ more important than anything else in your life? Are you willing to give up EVERYTHING to follow him? If you are not, then you are not carrying a cross.

Do not misunderstand this. Jesus is not saying you must be desolate, divorced, homeless and broke to follow him. He is saying that nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, can come between you and Him. If you are not ready to sever a relationship that is coming between you and Him, you are not carrying a cross. If you are not ready to give up a lifestyle that is coming between you and Him, you are not carrying a cross. And if we are not carrying a cross, we are not his disciples.

If we are not carrying a cross, we are not his disciples.

This is your purpose as a Christian. As a Christ follower, a believer, your life now belongs to Him and you must pick up your cross and follow Him. Anything less, and you are deceiving yourself. It is only by carrying the cross that Christ commands us to carry that we can rise above reality.

Discover God: God's Holiness

2009-11-18T09:49:00.000-06:00

When we think about God we are trying to comprehend the One who goes beyond comprehension.

God. Infinite, loving and Holy. Perfect in every way.

How do we, imperfect, sinful, beings even begin to relate to the One who is absolutely Holy in every way?

This is a paradox that every Christ follower has to engage, and once you do, you will never be the same. Take for instance the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 6:1-4 we read:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

What an awesome sight. Think for a moment about this vision. He SAW THE LORD. Not many Old Testament prophets could boast of a vision like this. The words used to describe the Lord are "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY" And here we are again at this word Holy. What does it mean and what does it mean for us? In this image we have descriptions of majesty and heavenly beings covering their faces in the presence of God. They say that the "whole earth is full of his glory" and at the sound of THEIR voices, not God's, the doorposts and thresholds shook. At the very least, a correct view/image of God will lead to praise and proclamation. Yet there is something more we need to look at.

What was Isaiah's response? Did he leap for joy and join the party? Did he pen the greatest Psalm of praise ever written or write a best selling book about how it led him to lead his best life now? No. Here is Isaiah's response in verse 5:

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

The first thing that Isaiah was aware of in himself was His own sin. As he was in the presence of God, in the presence of absolute perfection, all Isaiah could do was mourn his own imperfection, and the imperfection of His culture. Which is how it should be. Jesus said in Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

As a person discovers God, he/she finds more and more just how Holy, perfect, good and loving God is and then, in the process, sees how imperfect, evil, and hateful he/she really is. What was once acceptable becomes repulsive. What once went unnoticed is suddenly at the forefront, and we mourn. We mourn because we realize we have rebelled, offended, and spat in the face of the God who created us and loves us. We mourn because we realize we were created to bring Glory to God and instead we have brought reproach. We mourn because we know there is nothing we can do to fix ourselves.

Then, something wonderful happens. God intervenes. Look at what happens next in Isaiah. Verses 6-7 say:

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

God ordains/creates a way for our guilt to be taken away. What we can't fix, God fixes for us. And how does he do it? By taking from His own Holiness and giving it to us. Isaiah had his lips (the source of his sin) touched by a coal from the heavenly altar. For us, we find our Holiness through Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross and took away our sin. When we believe in Him, God's Spirit comes to reside within us and we are made alive. God takes away our heart of stone (the source of our sin) and gives us a heart of flesh that will be molded to bring glory to God.

But, this only happens when we first get a true sense of God's holiness. When we sense his perfection, it brings our imperfection to light and reveals our need for a savior. Discover God and discover true Holiness. Discover Holiness and you will find a cross, the Son of God, a death and a resurrection three days later. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." When we Discover God's Holiness, we discover that which takes us far Above Reality.

Discover God: God’s Love

2009-11-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

God is active. God is near. God is actively loving you right where you are. Right now. He Loves you as much now as He ever will and it is more than you can ever imagine. God's love is real. When we Discover God, we discover more than a powerful being who holds the answers to life. We find more than a way to live our best life now. We find more than we could ever hope or imagine. We find love. Pure, unfiltered, unobstructed, ever flowing love. And it is directed straight at you.

For most, this love is so great that it goes unanswered. God has extended his hand towards them, but they just can’t fathom that a love of this magnitude and nature is pursuing them. For many, this happens because they are confused about what love actually means. Too many regard it as happiness and unquestioning support for anything and everything in life. It has to make me feel good right now and forever.

God however, loves you too much to lie to you that way. You see, He created you. He made you who you are and knows how you have hurt yourself by walking away from Him. Now, in love, God is calling you back to Him, back to the person you were created to be. This means that God loves you enough to tell you when you are wrong, when you are hurting yourself and will even intervene in your life with pain if He has to.

God Loves You enough to do whatever it takes to open your eyes to the truth.

The truth. What is the truth? The truth is that nothing in this world, not money, not entertainment, not sex, not fame, not even trying to be a good person can ever rebuild what is broken inside of you. Only God’s amazing love can rebuild your brokenness. Each of us, when we “do our own thing” separate ourselves from God and lose part of ourselves. God’s love is calling us all back to Him and back to ourselves. God is also calling us back to ourselves.

When we rebel against God and his love, it separates us from God, from ourselves and from each other. We were created “by him, through Him, and for Him.” When we rebel against God we rebel against our reason for existing and become something less than God intended and thus lose our connection to ourselves. We forget who we are and become hateful, judgmental, selfish persons. When we lose our connection to ourselves, we then lose our connection to each other. Instead of seeing one another as bearers of God’s image, we see each other’s faults and begin competing for superiority in a broken system.

God’s love is the answer for this. God’s love, as revealed through Jesus Christ, is the cure all. When Jesus came into our world, he repaired all that was broken. He repaired our connection to God by living a perfect life and offering himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. He repaired our connection to ourselves because he showed us what humanity is supposed to be, and he is repairing our connection to each other by sending his Spirit to His church to guide us and teach us corporately.

All of this is because of God’s love. He loves you so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to repair your brokenness. Will you accept this love? You see, God isn’t going to force you to Receive this love. Love cannot be forced. Love must be freely given and accepted. If you wish to Discover God, you must Receive His Love as He has offered it. John 3:16 says it all “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life.”

Discover God and Rise Above Reality.

Making Disciples

2009-10-07T09:43:00.001-05:00

"make disciples of all nations...." These words, spoken by Jesus, are more than a rally cry for the church. It is the reason for our existence. We are to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our job is to find people. People who are not like us and turn them into disciples of Jesus Christ. Not disciples of us, our denomination, our culture, or our nation, but of Jesus Christ. This, in itself, should lead us to question how and why we do what we do.

Not only that, we also need to think about something else. If we are to make disciples of all nations, then we will have to engage people who do not agree with us. People who do not like us. People who ARE NOT LIKE US. Yet, what I see, over and over again, is that we talk to ourselves. As the church, we typically look for people who are like us, agree with us, and like us. We will happily tell them about Jesus, even though they already know. Why? Why do we have such a hard time breaking out of our shell and sharing the message of Jesus with people, all people?

First, I think we have to look at our common modes of evangelism in this world. We ask them to come to us. We ask them to make a change in their lives, SIMPLY TO HEAR THE MESSAGE. I don't think we realize just how much we ask when we ask people to adapt to our schedule, our culture, and our world simply to hear the message. Now, please, do not hear something I am not saying. I do not believe the church should change the way it worships and functions simply because it makes unbelievers uncomfortable. Church is for the saved. Evangelism is the church reaching out to the unsaved. The problem presents itself in the way we expect unbelievers to alter their thinking simply to hear the message.

I believe our message goes unheard by many who would gladly listen and consider it simply because we ask them to act "Christian" while they hear the message. This is not a good or even a Biblical way of evangelism. Look in the book of Acts. Paul went to the people. He engaged them in their world and told them about another. He told them about a world that was different, better, and needed for everyone. But, he did not expect them to change their ways simply so they could come hear the message. Paul went to them. He did not expect them to come to him. Paul worshiped with and discipled the believers he came in contact with, but he went out to the unbelievers.

Today, we need to rethink how we are doing evangelism. Are we asking people to change their lives simply so they can hear the good news of Christ? Or are we creatively thinking of ways to build relationships with people and sharing the good news in their world? We are called to make disciples of all nations. Everyone we can. People not like us. People who disagree with us, hate us, ridicule us and who will even persecute us. These are the people Christ has told us to go get. Instead, we often huddle up in our buildings, speak only to people who agree with us, and shun those who disagree. This is not evangelism. This is not the church fulfilling its mandate.

Jesus promised power to those who would be witnesses for Him. In Acts 1:8 he said "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES..." Could it be that our churches have lost power because we have failed to be witnesses in this world to all nations? Could it be that God is withholding his blessing because we have been too busy talking to ourselves rather than witnessing to the Resurrected Christ to a hostile world?

Remember, it is God who changes people, not us. When we ask people to change simply so they can hear the message, we are playing the role of God and the unbelieving world is unimpressed with this god. Instead, we should get back to making disciples of Christ. He is first, we are last. If we will be faithful to our mandate, if we will do our job, then God will raise us all Above Reality.

Conservatism, Legalism and Those Dreaded Liberals...

2009-09-10T16:18:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else get tired of the all the name calling? I find it funny and tragic that in the world of religious politics one has to "prove" his conservative credentials in order to be taken seriously. In the Southern Baptist Convention one must sign the "Baptist Faith & Message" in order to serve as a professor or missionary. Now, the SBC has every right to make sure that their representatives aren't teaching heresy. But come on. Baptists have historically prided themselves on being a "non-creedal" group. And yet, here they are, forcing people to bow at the Baptist altar. It isn't enough that people pledge their lives to spread the word of God to unreached people groups halfway across the world, leaving friends and family behind. No. They also have to sign a document created by men. I know some Baptist "elites" who refer more to the Baptist Faith and Message than they do scripture. I know more Baptists who think it is more important to give money to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering than it is to witness to lost friends and neighbors. When things like this happens, something is wrong.

Jesus told us, the church, to be salt and light in the world. We have a mandate from our King to make disciples who follow HIM, not a denomination. Yet, our seminary's and churches are often more concerned with turning out good Baptists than they are committed Christians. They claim their Christianity is expressed in their conservative principles, and yet their conservatism have turned into Pharaseeism. That's right.

In the late 70's and early 80's there was a "conservative resurgence" that happened in the SBC. It started out as a worthy cause and movement that sought to restore Biblical principles and practices to a denomination that was losing its bearing. Now, 30 years later, that same movement is destroying the convention because people do not know when to quit. Now, people must prove they are conservative. When this happens, legalism becomes the order of the day. We will provide a set of rules (Baptist Faith and Message) and you must adhere strictly to these rules and if you disagree at any point, we will call you a LIBERAL. In Jesus' day, those rules were called the "tradition of the elders." And guess what? Jesus broke them. He despised them and he led others to break them. The Pharisees hated him. The people loved him. God the Father, approved of Him.

You see, what I believe is happening today is akin to Jesus' day. God is starting to move in many churches in America today, but it doesn't look like the same stale, dead, lifeless, boring, pew warming, plastic relationship of the past 40 years. People are tired of legalism. People are tired of rules that make no sense, don't bring them any closer to God, and lead people to compare righteousness as though it is something any of us posses. God is moving and the results are real. People are connecting with God and with people, but they are shedding the legalism and the establishment is not happy with it.

Instead of celebrating that God is opening hearts and leading people to himself, they are actually fighting it. They are angry that pastors aren't wearing suits every week. They are angry that we aren't treating the hymn book as a sacred object. They are angry that the church is talking about issues like sex. They are angry that young pastors would rather spend their energy planting new churches than fighting the legalists in dying churches. They are angry that young adults would rather meet in small groups than in Sunday School. They are angry that allegiances are to the Bible to Christ himself and not to denominations. They are angry that we are not playing by their rules anymore.

It seems that the traditional crowd always has a problem with new movements of God because they never quite take us back to the old days. In the 1970's, again, there was a great movement of God. It was the called the "Jesus Movement." Thousands of hippies came to know Christ and they were indeed transformed. They were rejected by the establishment because they didn't cut their hair, smash their guitars, or put on a suit. So, instead of being an influx of new life into the Baptist church, they were rejected and went elsewhere to serve Jesus.

Here is a question I would pose to our friends that are trapped in tradition. If your traditionalism was successful and people were converted and all was right in the world, then where is the fruit today? Why are Baptist churches reporting fewer and fewer baptisms every year? Why, if your traditions were so good, are most "traditional" churches today dying? Why didn't you pass on the legacy of faith? The truth is that man's traditions never accomplish what we think they do.

So, what is the point of this rant? Lets stop for a moment and see if maybe it is time for a serious overhaul. I find it ironic that there is currently a document circulating through the SBC that is calling for a "Great Commission Resurgence." Many are happily signing it not realizing that it means they agree that the SBC failed to fulfill the great commission for at least a generation. I find it sad that there are still people fighting the battles of the late 1970's, not realizing that the world has changed. The culture has changed. If we continue to wonder where the good ole days went, maybe we should stop and ask if they were ever really that good to begin with? If it failed to produce and reproduce disciples of Jesus Christ, then it failed in its mission. Maybe it is time to get back to SCRIPTURE ALONE, FAITH ALONE, AND GRACE ALONE.

Rising Above the Dead Weight of Culture

2009-06-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

This is an excellent article on conviction and tolerance. In order to practice Biblical faith, there will come a point that demands a choice between accepting what is forcefed or going against the grain of pop culture to a place above reality.

http://blogs.chron.com/thelist/2009/06/the_collision_of_conviction_an.html

Sin and Death

2009-05-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

Sin. Three little letters that are at the heart of so much trouble in the world. Some Christian teachers can't seem to teach on it enough while others act like saying the word will cause people to leave their churches. Yet, if there is one Christian doctrine that is being most overlooked and even lost in the American church today, it is the doctrine of Sin.

So, what is it? What exactly is sin? According to one very popular TV preacher today, sin is simply not living up to your full potential. It is settling for less than "Your Best Life Now". According to Mr. Osteen, sin is simply bad choices I make that keep me from realizing my dreams and fulfilling my potential.

That sounds great, until I hold it up to the teaching of scripture. According to the Bible, you know, the book that Christian believe to be the source of teaching for our faith, the lens through which we are to look at life and learn about God. You know it, the best selling, least read book of all time. You know, THE BIBLE. (If only people would do the same thing with "Your Best Life Now" and "Become a Better You." But, unfortunately, people are actually reading those books.)

When I look at Scripture's definition of sin it is right before me as plain and easy to understand as anything. Sin is FALLING SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD. Therefore, sin is not about my dreams, hopes and potential, it is about God's Glory. It is about His desires, His goodness, and His nature being on display in my life. It is about me, as a human being, reflecting the glory of God back to him. That means that anything I do that is contrary to the nature of God, contrary to his perfection, or contrary to his Holiness is sin, regardless of how I feel about it. And, since God never changes, neither do his desires. So sin is an objective, not subjective, reality. Sin is sin and will always be sinful in any culture. Some cultures just tolerate more than others. Those who tolerate it too much, ultimately fail.

Yet, today, the church seems too afraid to teach about sin or preach against it for fear of being offensive, perceived as negative, or accused of being intolerant or judgmental. This is unfortunate, because while sin is bad, there is good news to the answer of sin. But, for the good news to be good, there must be bad news first. The bad news? We are all sinners. We are all offensive to God. We are all the problem. I am the problem. God is repulsed by the sin in my life and the bigger problem is that once I have sinned, I create a condition in my heart that enjoys sin and longs for more. You see, I like sin. I like it too much and therefore cannot get away from it on my own power. Sure I may disguise it and keep it under wraps, but it is always there. If I don't follow through on the action, I at least think the thought and to a holy, perfect, God, both are equally offensive. So, repeat after me - "I am offensive to God because I like to sin." Go ahead, say it. You know its true.

You see, the problem is that we have become convinced in this country that somehow people are basically good when we aren't. Sure we may look good compared to other people, but we weren't created to be compared to others, we were created for GOD'S GLORY. And that is the problem. Sure, we might achieve some glory for ourselves, our country or even our church, but God's glory is so much bigger. It demands complete perfection in thought and deed because that is who God is and we were create to show it.

So, look deep down inside yourself and realize one thing, apart from Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for you sin, you are offensive to God. It isn't that God doesn't love you, He does, he just cannot take who you have become. Sin has destroyed everything in you that was good. Everything that was God honoring and acceptable to him is now stained and repulsive to him.

So, lets try to come back to center and understand that Jesus came to be mediator between us and God because God is holy and we are sinful. Because we needed someone to stand in the gap. He did not come simply so you could "Become a Better You" and achieve the American Dream. He came because we were all hopelessly lost in sin and needed someone to help. And that friends is the good news that will carry us Above Reality.

Two ways...

2009-03-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

I recently read a story about a NY Cab driver who decided to take away every possible negative and leave his customers with only positives. This required him to spend extra time each day cleaning and polishing his cab. He purchased drinks, other refreshments, and reading material for his customers and decided he would treat every one of his riders as a first class VIP. The result? This man basically runs a limousine service out of his yellow cab. He rarely picks up random people anymore because most of his customers call him personally to get a ride. Rather than complaining like those around him he decided to do the best job he could do and let the chips fall. The key is that he created favorable conditions for those chips.

This story made me think. How many times do we fail to achieve success or get noticed in our given industry simply because we refuse to separate from the pack and rise above? With this in mind, I decided one something that I believe to be true.

There are two ways to be noticed in this world: Excellence or Incompetence. Only one happens by accident.

Think about it. When you watch the news, it is either a story about someone who did something incredibly stupid or they did something incredibly innovative or brilliant. This, I believe, speaks volumes for the church today. Are we going to follow the paths of the masses and decry the decline of Christianity in our world with the strongest possible language and then stand aside in our Holy Huddles and hope someone shows up or are we going to take what we have been given, do the best we can with it and pray that God will help us create favorable conditions for the chips to fall?

How scary would this world be if the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards or Abraham Lincoln had decided that the world was simply too broken and should be left alone? I shudder to think what the church would be like had Luther not decided to stand up against corrupt leadership and reform the church.

The point in all of this is that we have a choice to make everyday. Do we do the best with what God has given us or do we complain and look elsewhere, wondering why nothing good ever happens to us? We may not change the world, but we can certainly change our attitudes and rise above reality.

Innie or Outie?

2009-01-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

I live in a part of the world where there is a Baptist Church just about every 4 or five blocks. More churches than you can shake a stick at, so the saying goes. A few big, some medium sized, but most of them very, very small. Most of them have plateaued or are in decline. A few are growing.

What is the difference?

What makes one church grow and another stagnate? Is it location? Many in this city believe that to be answer so they have up and moved to the wealthy side of town that is growing. I have to ask them: "What about the neighborhood you just left? Don't they need God too?" Does the size of your bank account determine your importance in the church? Does having a six figure income mean that you are more worthy to hear the good news that Jesus died so that we could have a right relationship with God?

OF COURSE NOT!

So again, I ask, what makes some churches grow and others not grow? I think it has to do with a willingness to do the work God calls churches to do. When a church experiences hardship or decline, it is common for that church to start focusing only on themselves. This, however, is completely against God's design for the church. We do not exist for ourselves, but to serve God in this world. The church is to take up the cause of the orphan and widow.

The church is to make disciples.

If a church stops performing these tasks, they have effectively turned off their light. When this happens, people will stop coming. Churches must be outwardly focused, ministry minded, and great commission driven. If they are not, God will not bless them. This is the great challenge for many churches. A challenge many cannot get over. When giving goes down and attendance drops, rather than redoubling and refocusing their efforts to get the message out and minister to people, they start dropping ministry programs and start focusing inwardly.

I ask you. Is your church an innie or an outie? Does it focus on itself and what it needs, or does it focus on what the community needs? Does it focus on making sure its members are comfortable and happy or does it make disciples that are willing to get out of their comfort zones, get their hands dirty and serve as ministers?

It is a simple difference, but it is significant in effect. When a church is more focused on the happiness and comfort of its own members than it is on fulfilling its God given purpose of making disciples, God will remove his blessing from that Church. When that starts to happen, rather than waking up, many churches dig in and the long march to irrelevance begins.

I pray that never happens to my church or to yours. I have seen it. I have lived it in the past and I never want to be there again.

Power

2009-01-02T21:27:00.000-06:00

A verse that has been coming to mind more and more recently is Acts 1:8 - "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Jesus promised his disciples power. Isn't that attractive? Power. This is a concept that many false teachers have jumped on to tell people that faith in God is about being empowered to be a "better you" or to "live your best life now". They make the Gospel into something that is self serving, materialistic, and short sighted, to say the least.

However, lets look a little closer at what Jesus actually said. The "power" they are to receive is to serve a purpose. It is the power to be a witness for Jesus Christ. It is the power to live the Christian life. It is the power to believe what Jesus believed, which, consequently means that as a Christian you believe that anger=murder, lust=adultery, love=love even for enemies, and that God is to be glorified in everything. It is the power to be a part of the Gospel story, not the power to gain a six or seven figure income, drive the nicest car or have the biggest house.

Jesus said specifically that his disciples would receive power to be his witnesses. So I ask you, have you been a witness for Christ? Do you believe what Christ believed? Do you know what Christ believed? The church in America must wake up and realize that this whole Christianity, church thing isn't about getting my needs filled, it is about doing what God "empowered" us to do. Is your spiritual life falling short? Do you feel spiritually disconnected and weak? Maybe it is because you aren't fulfilling your purpose of being a witness for Christ. God is not going to bless a life that is not fulfilling its God given mission. A church will not be blessed if it refuses to reach its neighborhood or moves so it can "follow the money" as a city transitions.

We who are Christians are a part of the continuing story of Acts. The promise of Acts 1:8 applies to us. We have a job to do. We have been given the tools and the mission. Now, it is time that we spread his message "to the ends of the earth." This video pretty much sums the first half of what I am talking about.

Changes...

2008-12-22T09:04:00.000-06:00

If you are one of 2 people that might be reading this blog, then you have probably wondered why there aren't more posts. Well, the reason is at least a good one. Over the last few months, I started a new pastorate in Amarillo, TX at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church. So, we packed up the family, the house, the dogs and moved to Amarillo. Jana started a new job and life has been nothing but crazy. This, however, is a great move and a very welcome change from the small town we were in the last 2 years.

So, now that we are getting settled, there will hopefully be more posts and random thoughts from Above Reality.

I will leave you with this quote from C. S. Lewis, "I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sunrise. Not only do I see it, but by it, I see everything else."

What do you really want?

2008-07-24T17:17:00.000-05:00

Answering this question honestly will do more to further your spiritual, personal, and professional life than many would like to admit. Yeah, we all know what we want others to believe we want. But look at your life and you will see what it is you really want. Where and how do you spend your time? Do you spend hours watching television? Then that is what you want in life. Do you spend most of your time at work trying to make more money? Then money is what you really want. It really is not hard to figure out what it is in life that we truly value.

Here is a scripture that should rock your world...

Colossians 3:1-4 -

So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Paul is telling us that we really should "want" the things that only God can give. We are to set our minds on things above. This means that God himself should be our chief pursuit in life. Not what God can give, but God himself. Think about it. Why would we settle for less than knowing and being known by the creator of the heavens and the earth, God Almighty?

Paul says that we have died and our lives are hidden in Jesus. This means that the more we seek God, the more we find ourselves, but we have to look. And in the end, when Christ returns to judge the world, we will be revealed as a person who belongs to the judge. What in this world could compare with that? Why would we seek after created things when we can seek after, and find, the Creator?

If you have been frantically searching for more meaning, more satisfaction, more purpose and less fear in life your search is in vain unless it rises above the reality of this world and into the eternal. So ask yourself again, what do you really want? I want to know God.

More To Come

2008-07-22T17:43:00.000-05:00

So what exactly does a 30 year old small town pastor and doctoral student have to blog about that anyone would be interested in reading? Well, a lot. I am currently pastoring and working in a place that would probably chew up and spit out many of those who are in larger churches in larger cities. So far, for 2 years, this has been a lesson in human sin, redemption, frustration, time travel (huh?) and growing in Christ. Check back at a future date and I will elaborate further.

Just remember this, it is ALL for His glory and not mine. Not yours. Not your church. The Glory of God.