From an early age, it was apparent that I would never be a good singer.  Oh, they let me into 5th grade choir, but later I realized they let everyone into 5th grade choir, I think the “try-outs” just let the music teacher know who should be put towards the back (me).  As the joys of puberty set in, and an awkward singing voice added “cracking” into the mix, I realize things were only going downhill from there.  Now you can find me in church singing because God loves me, despite my singing voice, but I have long ago set aside any aspirations of a public singing disply in the form.  Why do I share this embarassing tidbit of information with you?  Because it illustrates how God gives gifts to people.  Clearly, singing was not where my gifting is, but do you know that as believers, God tells us that each of us has at least one “gifting” that has been given to us by God?

1 Corinthians 7:7 – “I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.”

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 – “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.  For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to anotherfaith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

Now your gifting may be different from mine, and neither one nor the other is inherantly better, but God purposed to give gifts to each of us, so that we would use our gifts to build up the body of Christ in love.  Each of us needs the other.  Now I could go on here, about how there are ways in which we can use our giftings, that can actually be unhelpful, rather than helpful to the body (if the exercising is meant to bring attention to the individual rather than God), but I don’t believe most people struggle with that.  Some do, but most struggle with knowing what their gifting is, and exercising it.

That’s my exhortation today.  Do you know what your gifting is?  What things are you consistently good at?  What things do you have a passion for?  Can you notice areas that are not being done well around you?  If you can, that’s may be because that is a strength of yours; you were meant to fill that need, and that is where your gifting lies.  Maybe you just need to serve some in different areas, and ask others where they believe you might be gifted.  My encouragement is to pray and act, both for the revealing of your individual gifting, and then boldness and strength in exercising it for the good of your Christian brothers and sisters.  It’s beautiful to know that God made us all in a way that we are most fruitful when we work together in love, encouraging one another, and praising God for the gifts given not only to ourselves, but to others.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

If you work really hard, you can grow up to be whatever you want, and do whatever you want to do.  If you work really hard, you can grow up to be a doctor, an astronaut, even the President.  If you work really hard, you can have a good job, a good home, a good spouse, 2.5 children and a white picket fence with a wrap-around porch.  These are the things you were promised by a parent, a loved one, a teacher, or perhaps someone else when you were young.  This is what American society promises you.  This is what advertisements draw you into.  Happiness is within your grasp… or so you’re told.

You grow up.  Perhaps you start to get some of those things, that were promised to you, and yet the anticipated bliss is mysteriously absent.  That good job you wanted so much brings with it an overbearing boss, and long nights until 7, 8, or 9pm.  That good home you always wanted comes with it a mortgage payment, the strains of upkeep, keeping you from moving when you might want/need to.  Those children that you always wanted turn out to be the source of a neverending hum of crying/yelling throughout the house…. just like you were as a child.  And society, how does it respond?  It tells you that what you need to make it all work together for happiness, is just around the corner.  Will a new car make things better?  Will a new spouse make things better?  Will a new house make things better?
The payoff of the American dream isn’t the happiness promised, but bondage to playing a game that has no winners.

My purpose today isn’t to say that having all of those things is bad.  It’s not.  What I want to do, hopefully is paint a picture, whereby the worth of Jesus Christ is so magnificently superior to any happiness you could have in those things, that you break the cycle of pursuing happiness apart from God.  It’s a lie, and if you don’t put it to death, it will ultimately kill you.  It’s a funny thing to say – you will be infinitely joyful or I will kill you, but ultimately that is what God has told us.  The whole purpose of God in creation and redemption is that we would know Him, and enjoy Him infinitely forever.  Deuteronomy 28:47-48 – “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.”

Ecclesiastes 2:26 – “For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

You cannot separate saving faith and joy in Christ in the heart of a believer.  God has given us all of the fullness of Himself in Jesus Christ, and Christ is within us as the Holy Spirit.  (John 14:17)  In the presence of God, there is a fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)

2 Corinthians 1:24 – “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” 

From above, standing firm in our faith is helped by the working to increase joy in God.  This joy that Christ invites us into is one of fellowship with Him in every way.  It’s not the kind of joy that sprouts from health, or wealth, or prosperity, but the kind of joy that is found in times of suffering, hardship, serving others at great personal cost, so that we might know Him who humbled Himself to the point dying on a cross and called us out of darkness into light.  It’s a delighting in the goodness of God in all things now, and a great desire to know the fullness of joy that is to come when we rid ourselves of all sin, and stand in His presence for eternity.

My exhortation is to ask yourself if you are daily striving to pursue more joy in God.  If joy in God is the means by which we will stand firm in our faith, how should you respond?  Secondly, maybe as an application to the first question, I want to exhort you to let your mind rest in the goodness and glory of God.  Colossians 3:1-4 – “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

You cannot have the American Dream and Christ, you must choose.  Let us help each other, to be co-laborers in the fight of faith in earnest for joy in Christ.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Every once in a while, I try to step back from my life and gain some perspective, and God willing, a vision for the future.  As I like back on my past 6 or 7 years, I see a sinner saved by grace, struggling to work out my theology, struggling with sin in my life, and struggling to develop a heart that truly wishes to serve rather than be served.  There are some struggles that have largely been conquered, some right away, some over time, and then there are others that I seem to have barely made a dent into.  All throughout, I can see a love by God that surpasses all understanding, that He would continue to love and pursue a sinner – truly amazing.  There are some things about living as a Christian that have gone from seemingly simple and clear to complicated and grey, and there are others that have gone from complicated to simple.  During my time, there has been one thing that has driven me towards God, and the cross, and that has been tasting and seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 34:8 – “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” 

So if what has been helpful to me, is seeing more and more clearly the glory of God, and delighting in Him; I of course want to make it my task to lift Christ up as glorious, good, holy and mighty.  I want to present Him to others, so they can see Him clearly, and then tell them, everyone who wants to come, come… taste and see that the LORD is good.  For most of us, our greatest obstacle to Christ is not intellectual, but moral.  I think most people understand the idea of the gospel, but do not see that Jesus died to free us from sin, so that we might delight in Him forever.  I think most people never hear, or understand the “so that” part.  There are many people who want to take Jesus, but on their own terms.  That is tragic because these people are deceiving themselves to believe that is possible, and they are missing out on the greatest joy possible, knowing and walking with God.

I want people to see that the gospel is more than a get out of jail free card.  The gospel doesn’t terminate on you as an individual.  The gospel isn’t a means for God to make much of you, to show how important you are.  The gospel is a means to reconcile sinners to the one true Good in life, that they would know and make much of God, Jesus Christ.  The gospel is an invitation to salvation from sin, and to joy in God.  A Puritan, Thomas Watson, who wrote it this way in 1692 – “Would it not be an encouragement to a subject to hear his prince say to him, You will honor and please me very much, if you will go to yonder mine of gold, and dig as much gold for yourself as you can carry away?  So for God to say, Go to the ordinances, get as much grace as you can, dig out as much salvation as you can, and the more happiness you have, the more I sall count myself glorified.”

Christians, the whole world belongs to you.  Everything that has been created, was done so to reflect the glory of God that we would enjoy Him forever.  Every word of the Bible, every sunset, every mountain range, has something to say about the glory of God.  Dig deep.  Taste and savor the glory of God, and rejoice in your Treasure that has no end.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Many times life isn’t going to give you what you hoped for.  There will be times when people you care about hurt you deeply, there will be times when things at work go bad unexpectedly, and there will be times where you look around and can’t see much hope for positive change on the horizon.  What do you do when your life looks this way?  How will your relationship with God fare, when visibly, it doesn’t seem like you’re getting a fair deal in life?

Imagine for a moment that you are among friends, and one of those friends completely betrays you.  How would this make you feel?  Now imagine that this betrayal led not just to hurt feelings, but to your actual arrest, based upon false testimony?  Now imagine that you are wrongly convicted, and ordered to be beaten with whip that has bones in it, that rip your flesh open.  Now imagine that you, although perfectly innocent are condemened to die.  Now imagine that God tells you that this is His will, so that the very people who falsely accused you, watched your beatings, and mocked you during your execution could have their sins paid for by your death.  That is the story of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Isaiah 53:5-6 – “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” 

Clearly this was not a fair deal for Jesus.  He was wronged, so that we would be made right.  How did Jesus deal with His being wronged by others?  It would not be fair to say that Jesus was thrilled about the process of dying, nor being beaten, or spat upon, or seeing his friends be dispersed.  Yet, the Bible tells us that Jesus was joyful in going to the cross, despite all else.

Hebrews 12:1-2 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

What is the root of that joy?  Clearly it wasn’t the physical pain that was set before Him.  Clearly it wasn’t the humiliation of being stripped down and paraded through town.  Well, I don’t believe I can fully understand all of the joy that was with Christ in that moment, but I do believe we find some of it when just before being betrayed, Jesus prays to God the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Matthew 26:38-24 – ” Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”  And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Jesus delighted in at least three things when going to the cross 1)  His fellowship with the Father through obedience  2)  The seeing and becoming the fullness of the glory of God displayed on the cross and 3)  His final disarming of the power of sin and putting to open shame Satan and his minions (Col 2:15).  Every one of those things that were a part of Jesus’ joy, as he endured the cross, should be what we strive for, as we deal with the day to day struggles life brings.  Now there are times when our sin is the cause of our struggles, and in those cases, my exhortation would be to turn to Christ, looking to the cross, to repent and believe that in Christ you have been freed from bondage to that sin.  For other times, when you struggle to see purpose in the hard times of life, press into the joy of Christ.  Press into the joy you have in relationship and obedience to Christ.

Press into the joy you have in seeing and savoring the glory of God, displayed in the cross – His love, His justice, His mercy, His sovereign power, and know that as an adopted son/daughter of God, all that God is for us in Christ is our inheritance for now and eternity.  Lastly, press into the joy of your triumph through Christ over sin and the schemes of our enemy.  It’s because of these things that you can know that God loves you, will bring you through whatever you’re going through now, and has a good purpose to use these hard times for our good, and His glory.  Don’t lose the opportunity for the glory of God to be revealed through you during hard times.  Turn to God, and let the world see that Christ is more valuable than anything that the world might offer or take away, and in Him, we have a joy that surpasses understanding, that pierces the most difficult of times.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

There’s a measure of mystery that we are not to understand in how God uses the things around us, other people, and even our own actions, to affect change within our hearts and minds.  Many times, intellectuals want to debate the theology of how man can make “free” choices, God can be sovereign, and God can be altogether good while evil is in the world.  My answer to those all those questions is “Yes”.  It never gets old seeing the first reaction of someone when I say that.  I can see their mind straining, thinking there is a mountain of theology out of my one word answer… I usually stop them fairly quickly.  It’s not that we cannot make headway to understand how those seemingly contradictory things are actually compatible, but the reality is that we’ll never completely understand those things.  I humble myself to recognize that I cannot, as a simple man, understand the mind and ways of God fully.  All that being said, the reality is that our choices do have positive and negative consequences both externally and within one’s heart.

What I try to quickly encourage people with, is that while it’s not a bad exercise to pursue those deeper theological questions some – they are largely separate from the day to day experience of life we all share.  For example, as I’m writing this, I’m not pondering the magnificent purpose of God in my choosing one word verses another, debating the eternal impact of my choice to use the word “the” in a sentence; I simply am trying to lead the life God has given me to live, as His adopted son, and follower to encourage others towards Him.

I say all of this as a backdrop to my encouragement in today’s WFTD to seek after wisdom in how you live your life.  Your works will not save you, but to deny that they will have an impact on you as a believer is a misunderstanding of scripture.  As a follower of Christ, you are completely free to do whatever you wish.  That freedom can be used one of two ways, one, to pursue God’s will and bring more of Him and His joy into your life, or alternatively, to pursue things that gratify your flesh, ignoring God’s will.  The latter if habitual and unrepentant might give cause to encourage someone’s introspection as to why they believe they are a follower of Christ, if indeed they have no desire to follow Him fully?

Turning our attention to our works and without wanting to get into a theological debate, let’s assume that drinking is not inherantly sinful (I would argue that it is not).  We are still called as Christians to use wisdom in how we exercise that freedom.  Meaning that while I can enjoy a glass of wine or a beer amongst friends over dinner, I have decided that it is not wise for me to go out to bars and pound back drink after drink with shots.  I tried that whole – I’m going to witness to people at the bar justification back in my early twenties.  You know what happened?  I got drunk a lot…  Not a good plan.  Likewise, while there is nothing inherantly sinful about being surrounded by attractive women, I’ve decided it is not wise for me to accept invitations with co-workers to go to Hooter’s or the like.  Here’s what I want to encourage everyone with; the world, and all it’s temptations will bring to bear enough of a struggle on our lives without our shooting ourselves in the foot.  Arm yourself with wisdom in how you lead your life, so that you might enjoy victory more often than defeat.

1 Corinthians 10:23 – “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.” 

What is helpful to you, may look different from someone else.  I may say it is unhelpful for me to go to certain bars, whereas other Christians can tell me they have a peace about going there.  My goal today isn’t to give you a list of do’s and don’ts.  My exhortation is to seek in prayer over God’s Word what is helpful to you personally, that grow your affection for God, and help you walk in obedience to Him.  What are the things in your life, that you can do, but maybe shouldn’t do?  What are the things that you have in your life that maybe aren’t helpful to growing closer to God?  What are the things you don’t have in your life, that maybe you need in your life?  Get a peace about what those things are in prayer, and then act on them.  Surround yourself with others who are likewise committed, to encourage one another in love.  We have freedom, but without wisdom and the love of God to guide it, it will never result in the God honoring joy that is prepared for us.

Colossians 3:1-5 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Knowledge can be a very good thing, or a very bad thing depending on how it is used.  Increases in man’s knowledge have brought cures for diseases, increased the speed of travel and communication, and continually increased the standard of living overall worldwide.  Knowledge has also brought with it a greater capacity for evil, namely it has been used by someone like Hitler or Sadaam Hussein to systematic murder hundreds of thousands of people with chemical weapons, it enables greed from someone like Bernie Madoff to steal money from thousands of people on a large scale, and it has facilitated the suppression of people in North Korea by a combination of modern weapons, world banking, and communication advances.

So, with greater knowledge comes the possibility of greater good, but also of greater evil.  Which direction knowledge will be used is a matter of the heart in the individual who weilds it.  That’s the focus of today’s WFTD.  Most people today are religious consumers.  They will listen on Sundays, they may belong to a small group, gaining a large amount of knowledge about God and His desires for us, but without doing much about it.  Here is what I would say to that group of people – stop going to church and stop reading the Bible.  It would be better for you not to clearly see the commands of God, than to see them, understand them, and ignore (reject) them.  It may seem like passivity when a Christian goes to church, but doesn’t do anything with what is heard, but something actually is happening – their heart is hardening against God.  Whenever you hear the commands of God, and do not do them, you may deceive yourself into thinking that “I will get to obedience in that area later”, but what you’re really telling God is “No, I rule my life, not you.  I’ll use you God as I see fit, take what I want, and leave the rest”.

For someone who goes to church on Sunday, maybe reads their Bible some, but to where it never results in a passion to obey God, this is how God will judge them – Revelation 3:15-17 – “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

2 Peter 2:20-21 – “if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.  For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.”

James 1:22-25 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” 

I do not believe those receiving this message are hearers only, and not doers, but I say these things as a way of reminder to always be vigilant to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing it is God at work in you.  A passion for God that results in obedience, is something we must all pray and ask God for daily.  Christians can not “coast”.  We are always moving closer to, or further away from God.  Our hearts are always softening, increasing in joy in the Lord or hardening, pursuing joy in the world.  My exhortation is this – do not read the Word of God lightly nor take your time amongst Christians in community casually.  Claim for yourself these as a gift from God, a means of grace to transform your heart and mind into the image of God.  Be doers of the Word, and so prove yourselves to be disciples of Christ.  May God grant mercy to each of us in our failings, give us grace to know Him more, and grace upon grace as we follow in the footsteps of Christ as His ambassadors into a fallen world.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

What is the means by which God calls someone to salvation?  Leaving room for a Damascus road experience (Acts 9), every single written account of salvation occurs by someone presenting the gospel, and another person hearing (personally I believe this could be reading as well), believing, and responding in action.  For the record, I am not aware of anyone in the Bible who looked upon the good conduct of another person, and was spontaneously saved.  Therefore, while our life can support our message of the gospel of Jesus, it can never be a replacement.    This is the whole task of a true Christian, to live and preach the gospel.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 – “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.  From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Evangelism isn’t the work of pastors alone.  Don’t be lazy and just invite your friends and family to church and assume your pastor will do the heavy lifting.  Does your pastor know your friends and family as well as you do?  Will your friends and family trust someone else more than you?  (hopefully not!)  Many people are afraid to share the gospel because they feel unequipped to answer questions – don’t be.  Jesus didn’t call us to be professional theologians and apologists, he called us to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.  Every Christian should know that intellectually, and as a matter of the heart, because it was that good news that saved them personally.  If you ever wanted to know where you can take someone to share the gospel, go to 1 Corinthians 15 1-8 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (Paul).”

What do you think your purpose is on Earth as a Christian?  When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone you knew?  How about with someone you didn’t know?  If you don’t feel compelled to share the gospel with others, do you value it as much as you think?  If you truly believed the gospel, and being reconciled to Christ was infinitely more valuable than anything else the world would offer, wouldn’t you want to share that with everyone around you?  As Christians, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we carry Christ with us wherever we go.  My encouragement is to purpose your life to be ambassadors of Christ.  Bring the message to the world that there is a Holy God who judges righteously, that we all fall short, but there is hope through God in Jesus.  Jesus Christ, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to God apart from Him.  Trust that we are not alone when we share the gospel.  God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, and He will add the increase to our labor.  We do not need to be clever, we don’t need to have all the answers, we simply need to be faithful to deliver the Truth.  Each of us is a witness to the goodness of God through Jesus Christ and the gospel.  As witnesses, we deliver a message to all who would hear, and pray earnestly that God will call many to Himself.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Often times I will get into discussions with Christians about whether or not it is right for one person to “judge” another, especially as it relates to their salvation.  My short answer is that while I am not the ultimate authority on someone’s salvation, or the intentions of their heart, we as Christians are called to exercise wisdom and discernment, which includes by necessity making judgments and acting upon them.

To give an example of this, Michael Jackson was a fantastic singer.  He did a lot of good things.  He was accused of sexually molesting children.  Now, ultimately, the authority of whether or not Michael Jackson was guilty of the crime he was accused of is determined to be the court (not me).   That being said, if I was looking for a babysitter, Michael Jackson would not have been on my list of people to call.

That seems perfectly reasonable, right?  That’s me using my God given discernment and wisdom to make a judgment that in my mind, would protect my children.  God, in the same way, wants to protect his children.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:15-17 – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.”  Now this only seems loving and helpful for Jesus to warn his children, Christians, to be on guard against dangerous teaching/people that would potentially lead to Christians getting hurt or led astry.   What does Jesus encourage us to do?  Look at the life of a person, and make a judgment about whether there is good fruit (love for God manifested in obedience to God) or bad fruit (a desire to pursue their own will apart from God).  That judgment He is calling us to make, is exactly whether or not a person is a true follower of Christ, or merely pretending.  Now, this was Jesus saying this, but I’m afraid that if he said this in most churches today, they would tell him “it’s not your place to judge, who are you!”. 

In 1 John 3:9-10 it says – “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”   Why would this be in the Bible if it were not meant to be read, understood and acted upon?  Now, we are all sinners, God is not calling us to go around beating down struggling sinners, comparing our strengths against their weaknesses.  That is what most people think of when they thinking about judging, and that is NOT how Christians are to love one another.  We are called to love all people, especially our Christian brothers and sisters, and encourage them at all times.  God wants us to enjoy community with other struggling sinners, saved by the grace of God.

At the same time, because living as a Christian brings with it enough struggles on its own, we are called to judge with wisdom and discernment those persons who are in authority in our church, as well as those who we would surround ourselves with in Christian community.  Many will ask, ok, what does that look like?  Thankfully we have a model in Matthew 18:15-20 – “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

My encouragement to all of us to this, judge with a loving heart.  Even after Jesus gave this model in Matthew 18, immediately afterwards, Jesus instructs on forgiveness, that we should always be ready to forgive and receive someone who is truly repentant of their wrongdoing.  Make judgments as you need to, in order to protect yourself and those under your care, but make sure that there is always love and a desire for reconciliation with all people.  We cannot bend the standards of God, but we can always call people to be reconciled to Him.  One of the pastors I admire in many ways, John Piper once levied a gentle rebuke to another pastor who was speaking sarcastically about a church that espoused bad theology, he said, “I am not against your judgment, but those comments should come behind tears for those who are lost there”.  So that’s what I would say.  Make your judgments as you need to, but make them with tears and prayers for all to be fully reconciled to God, remembering that apart from the grace of God, no one has any hope.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

I intentionally chose the timing of this message to coincide with the start of the work week.  Hopefully it will be received as an encouragement, and not the last bit that pushes you over the edge!  I realize that Monday’s are difficult for most of us, but it’s probably a time when we have some measure of clarity about the end to which we were created, even if that understanding only extends to reveal to us that we were created for more than just our jobs.

Now for the readers among you, you’ll realize that I stole today’s title from our President’s book.  My point today differs slightly from the message of his book though, to say that the only hope we have in the world, is to lose hope for the world altogether – at least as it pertains to our “ability” to find lasting happiness in it apart from God.    Do you know anyone who seems to have everything, wealth, a beautiful spouse, power, but who doesn’t love God and seek to keep His commandments?  Have you ever had a chance to ask, or has that person shared with you, about whether or not he/she is truly happy?  What about those people when they are in the hospital, or at home, when they are preparing to die?  Have you ever had the opportunity to have that conversation with them?  Now, my purpose in asking that isn’t to be morbid, or suggest that you find these people and ask these questions in an accusatory way.  No, the benefit isn’t for them, necessarily, but for yourself.  Leaving room for the most hardened of hearts who might say otherwise, I can honestly tell you, that 100% of those conversations I’ve had with people over the years, has revealed that those people are not truly happy.  Why is that?

If advertisements are always telling you about things you “need”, implying your life will be more happy as a result, what does it mean when someone who has everything still isn’t happy?  The entire advertising industry would be shut down overnight!  What would happen if the President of your company, the position you hope to hold one day, honestly told you that everything he thought he wanted from the job turned out to make him miserable, and the source of his recent divorce?  Would you still pursue that job?  The honest answer is even having those conversations, even understanding the truth, people still pursue the lie.  So why is it that we are trying to consume our way to happinness?  Why do we try to work our way towards happiness?  I don’t claim to know all the answers, but they are good questions to ask ourselves.  My own guess would be that maybe we want to be in control (pride) thinking that we can manufacture happiness for ourselves.  We don’t want to deal with the reality, of what we already know – your job (or the next) isn’t going to make you happy, your spouse isn’t going to make you happy, money and all that it can buy for you isn’t going to make you happy, everything in life ultimately fails to deliver on it’s promise of lasting happiness.

If you’ve never talked with someone who “had it all” – you can listen to the words of Solomon from the Bible, someone who had more wealth than imaginable, more capacity for sexual satisfaction than imaginable (700 wives and 300 concubines), was the smartest person on earth, ruled a kingdom, and would tell you that everything in his life was worthless.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 – “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.  I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”  I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.  I made great works. I built houses and plantedvineyards for myself.  I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.  I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.  I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.  I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and manyconcubines, the delight of the children of man.  So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

Solomon’s warning to those who would hope based on their own hands, to pursue happiness apart from God:

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 – “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.  Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.  Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”

The reason I write this is because this lie – that lasting happiness can be found apart from God, is one of the main barriers to faith.  By definition, whatever thing is pursued apart from God, as an end unto itself, is an idol before God.  One cannot truly place their trust in God, while pursuing happiness apart from Him.  This coupled with last week’s message about the total depravity of man, should give a good picture of how carnal man, apart from saving faith, operates to pursue “good” or “happiness” apart from a desire for the glory of God.  Ironically, the sin in man, is the very reason why he cannot ever be happy on his own.

Augustine said it this way – “He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for thy sake”.  That is to say, the greatest love one can have, or greatest joy, is a love and joy in a thing that is solely rooted in God, and pursuing the glory of God in that thing.  This is how man can live, work, play, take a spouse, and enjoy all of the goodness of life that God has given, without turning those things into idols, which in turn would destroy any ability to have lasting happiness in those things.  Does that make sense?  I realize I might’ve lost some people there.  I myself had to sit and reread that a few times to really understand what was being said by Augustine and why that makes sense, if we truly believe that God is the greatest good we could ever know and enjoy.  I hope you see that.  I hope you believe that and feel it in your heart daily.  I hope that seeing, believing, and experiencing the goodness of God offers you great hope for eternity with God, where the fullness of His glory will be clearly seen and enjoyed by us.  I hope this is a challenge and a framework whereby you can begin to pursue God in every area of your life, rather than compartamentalizing your worship of Him to certain times and places.

My exhortation for your joy is to first ask yourself what are the ways in which you pursue happinness currently.  Then ask yourself if you truly believe that God is the greatest good and source of joy for you?  Often times the answer will be “He should be, but He’s not”.  My encouragement is to pray for God’s grace.  Be encouraged that the answer to that prayer will always be “yes”.  Psalm 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart”  Next, Ask yourself if your happinness in things derive from seeing the glory of God in them?  God isn’t against you enjoying sports, taking a spouse, enjoying sex with your spouse, making a good living, or any other part of normal life, but God loves you and wants for your joy to be made full (John 15:11, John 16:24).  Your joy will only be made full in as much as God is the core reason why you find joy in all areas of your life (Psalm 16:11).  Have the audacity to lose hope in finding happinness in the world, to pursue happinness in God.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

Another week come and gone.  Happy Friday everyone!  I hope today’s WFTD will give you some encouragement as you make the final push through your work day, and into the weekend.  Some may see this as a cop out on my WFTDwriting, ha ha, but I assure you, I’m only doing what I believe to be most helpful.  If you’ve read the rest of the week’s emails this should be uplifting.  Sometimes what I find is most helpful is for me to just get out of the way and let the Word of God speak into hearts on it’s own.  So with that, I want to encourage you with Psalm 145, written by David, rejoicing over the goodness and greatness of God.

Psalm 145 – “I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.  On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.  They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.  They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.  The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.  All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.  The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.  The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.  You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.  The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.  The LORD isnear to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.  The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.  My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.”

I include all of that scripture because I know each of you will find youself somewhere in there.  Be encouraged, the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  The Lord is near to everyone who calls on Him in truth.  He will hear your cry and save you.  The Lord upholds those who are falling, and raises you up when you are bowed down before him.  Seek and savor the goodness greatness of God, Who loves you more than you know right where you are.  Delight yourself in God, and God will give you the desire of your heart.

Grace and Peace,
Adam