Don’t confuse God’s grace with His delight.
You can experience His grace, which is unmerited …
But then miss His delight, which comes from doing His will and obeying His commands.
If you doubt this, just do a quick online word search for “delight” in any good Bible translation.
Those who deny this distinction with their hyper-grace teachings …
Know neither the authentic God of Scripture nor His authentic joy.
When faith is reduced to little more than personal piety, then of course our politics are reduced to personal angst …
Because both are all about us rather than the Sovereign Lord of all.
No matter what happens at the polls, it’s not too late:
Learn His ways;
Repent of making it all about our own wants, needs and fears; and
Pledge to never again be embarrassed by candidates who so mockingly reflect our own poverty of spirit.
Until we get to the end of ourselves …
We’re not much good for the Kingdom of God.
What we mean by “worship” today seems to have become a distraction …
From what God means by “worship” in the New Testament.
In the original language of the New Testament, the Greek words translated “worship” mean a lifestyle of Godly sacrificial obedience and reverence …
Not music or musical performances designed to press our feel-good buttons.
In fact, there’s not a single use of those Greek words in the New Testament, or in the context of the common vernacular of the day when the New Testament was written, which even hint at such a thing.
Nope, not, nada …
Just ain’t there.
I’m all for singing God’s praises together, but let’s leave behind the self-absorbed counterfeit “worship” that’s so common today …
And begin to actually worship God by living holy lives of obedience and reverence, as He defines it.
This Sunday when you go to church, look around and make an effort to see those who have no family or are going through hard times …
Then ask if they’d like to share Thanksgiving with you and your family at your home later this month.
If space allows, also invite others in your neighborhood and community who are isolated, struggling or maybe even homeless.
This is love.
This is being the church.
You will form friendships that will last a lifetime.
Marianne and I do this each Thanksgiving – as well as throughout the year – and it has enriched our lives beyond measure.
Faith is not so hard to find …
It’s just outside your comfort zones.
For me, there’s no greater joy than seeing lives redeemed …
Through the one-on-one ministry of confession, forgiveness and surrendering our associated burdens to the Lord.
There, true repentance happens …
And freedom begins.
Faith presumes no outcome rooted in our own wishes …
But simply trusts God’s goodness.
Forgiveness isn’t saying what they did is ok …
But letting your heart fully acknowledge how wrong it really was and then release it to God.
Continue readingGod’s no thief.
He won’t take the burdens of our heart – our accumulated regrets, hurts, anxieties and wrongs – unless we give them to Him …
As an intentional act of surrender.
To give them to Him, however, we must first own them …
By honestly and fully confessing them to Him.
Because if we can’t or won’t do that …
Then they own us, and not us them.
Nor is God a cheat.
When we fully and finally release them to Him …
He always gives us peace and resolution in return.
Always!
It’s hard to give God our future …
When we keep holding on to our past.
God’s grace:
Love with conviction,
Mercy with repentance,
Freedom with holiness.
Those who claim the Bible is God’s authoritative written Word only in spots,
And by implication that they have the authority to spot the spots,
Are not teaching some new revelation but the same old deception …
Which starts by asking,
“Did God really say?”
I get so tired of the lie, repeated whenever someone wants to avoid the hard work of living by their convictions – or even having convictions – that we must not judge.
Where does Scripture make a blanket prohibition on judging?
Continue readingLove God, do what’s right …
And trust Him with the results.
Without hospitality …
There is no ekklesia.
Grace is the means …
Not the end.
Disgusted with the choice of Trump verses Clinton?
The answer is not to wash our hands of “politics” by retreating into a theology of Gnostic dualism – which isolates our spiritual life from the “real” world and all its shortcomings. Jesus never taught that, but proclaimed full authority over both heaven and earth – while sending us out into all the world.
God’s people need to be careful about wide swings between hope and disillusionment. Wisdom seeks to find, instead, the Biblical precepts which stand firm and will remain true even after the present unpleasantries fade into the past.
Let’s be engaged in a world Christ yet loves, but with a renewed discernment that’s been lacking in God’s people.
The problem is not so much Clinton or Trump as much as our lack of engagement and discernment – in disregard of God’s call to be His salt and light in all spheres of life.
This election, more than most, we are paying the price for our own failures.
Let’s learn the right lessons, vote for whom our conscience allows (while understanding there are more issues and offices up for grabs this election than just the White House), and resolve to never let this happen due to inaction and poor judgement again.
The solution to problems caused by our past disengagement from the civic life of our nation, and from lack of discernment, is not more moral relativism and retreat.
That’s entirely the wrong lesson to learn from the current mess we’re in.
Let’s take our lumps, vote as best we can, learn from our mistakes and resolve to never again be reduced to such poor choices.
Two things Jesus never said:
“Learn to love yourself” and
“Forgive yourself” …
Because true worth and freedom come from Him on His terms, and not from us on our terms.
I’d rather gather together as a functional community of believers who express Christ’s presence already in each of us – one to another …
Than go elsewhere for a scripted performance which tries to “usher” us into His presence – stage to pew.
The more I learn to “be the church,” the less I want “the show.”
It’s popular these days to say that Jesus is all about a relationship.
Ok. I get it. People are sick of dead religion. So am I.
But that begs the question:
A relationship on whose terms?
Continue readingGod’s grace leads to faith …
Through repentance.
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