Belonging

           It really is interesting to me that the closer I get to Christmas, the more materially focused I seem to become. Gift ideas go through my mind both to give and receive, though mostly it’s the latter- movies I want, video games I need, coffee mugs I crave (okay, maybe not). To put it simply, my mind gets flooded with stuff.

           I also find it funny that gifts upon gifts are given at Christmas yet, in all reality, come next Christmas, we will all have a fairly difficult time remembering what we received the previous year- was it Aunt Margaret who got me the sewing machine? Or was that Aunt Ethel, and why did I ask for a sewing machine anyway?!?!?!?!? 

I think a lot of people have the wrong ideas about what Christianity is exactly. Some see it as just another religion, which it certainly can become if we are not careful.  Some see it as a means of control and manipulation and sadly it has been used as such. Some see Christianity as a crutch for the weak, and while I do believe it is a crutch for those who realize that they cannot do anything without God, this is not WHAT Christianity is at its core. It is something so much more.

When we come to Christmas we give gifts and there is nothing wrong with this. I happen to like both giving and receiving gifts. But there is more to it than this. December 25^th is the day which has been chosen to celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus; the Prince of peace, Immanuel (meaning God with us), Savior, Redeemer, Lover of mankind, and….. adopter of children.

You see when one receives Jesus Christ they do not only receive forgiveness and freedom from sin. They also receive adoption. Through faith in Christ we are adopted into the family of God (Galatians 3:26) and given the Holy Spirit which is our direct connection with Father God (Ephesians 1). It is a spirit that does not lead to fear, for fear has to do with condemnation for sin (1 John 4:8), but is a spirit by whom we cry out to God calling Him Abba....daddy. It is a spirit which joins us with the eternal God, bringing us into the largest family of all time with the most loving parent in the universe; a parent who is unfailing in the love He has for His children.

            There is nothing more important than belonging; it is as if our very souls cry out for this. God has sent His son Jesus to save us and bring us into the belonging that we so crave. It does not matter to God how many times we have rejected Him or what our past holds. What matters is decision. We have this life to make up our minds about Jesus Christ and His gospel of grace, and so be invited into the greatest love anyone can know. It is a love that adopts the parentless; a love for orphans living in an unkind world.  A love for you and me.

There is nothing more valuable than belonging to God. Not even a sewing machine.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8:15

Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God

              
               We all come from different religious backgrounds. Some of us were raised in families that believed in a god of some sort. Some of us were raised in families that rejected the existence of one. Some of us were even raised in families that were religious on the outside, with big smiles in public places and at church, but with broken hearts and varying degrees of dysfunction at home in “behind-the-scenes” territory.

              Whatever the background we carry on our shoulders, we all have two things in common: we are sinners and we are loved.

               Just the other day I told the students at my youth group a story of one of my very first attempts to steal something. I was at a pharmacy with my mom and desperately wanted some Starburst. For whatever reason I was not allowed to have them, so I snuck over and began un-wrapping the package hoping to take just one. As I did, a lady older than God Himself (okay maybe that’s an exaggeration) came around the corner and grumbled something at me. Needless to say, I was terrified and ran away leaving the Starburst package half unraveled. I knew exactly what I was doing that day: I was attempting to take something that was not mine.
              We have all had those moments, and most likely, at the very least; continue to be tempted by them today. If thievery or dishonesty is not our stumbling block then perhaps its hatred or lust or maybe, if you are like me, you are tempted by all of them at times perhaps even falling to their prey daily.
God says in His word that whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (see James 2:10). For those who are not familiar with the Jewish law, in the context here, James is speaking directly about the Ten Commandments which were the moral law that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai to help govern Israel. What James is basically saying is that whoever breaks one law (let us say the commandment prohibiting adultery for example) is considered guilty of breaking all the laws. From God’s perspective, it only takes one act of sin to fall short of His standard for moral perfection. This is a grave situation to be in, especially considering that we can all think of multiple times that we have done things that brought guilt on our conscience because we knew that they were wrong.
             The truth is, whether we believe it or not, we will all stand before God one day to give an account for our actions here on Earth, and we will all have multiple violations of God’s perfect standard to present to him, each one meriting an eternity separated from God. But Jesus Christ came so that we wouldn’t have to be separated from God for eternity. He experienced the punishment for our sin.
             Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Because of God’s great love for us he came to Earth wrapped in flesh and took the punishment for His creations rebellion. One only needs to depend on Jesus for salvation to be saved. Such an act of trust and dependence in Christ begins a relationship with God that never ends.
             The Gospel (or good news) of Jesus is simple: believe and have life. John 3:16 says that “…God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The Greek for eternal life means not only heaven, but life as God has it. Life that begins at the moment of belief and forgiveness when God comes into our hearts and lives in us through His spirit (see Ephesians 1:13). It is life that begins now in a relationship with God, and continues forever on into beautiful eternity.
            Whoever you are, wherever you are, the gospel is for you. God’s love revealed and proven in Christ is readily available and is yours for the taking (see Romans 5:6-8). May you, dear reader, see the God who came for you. May you receive His love and depend on Him. His arms are a safe place to be.

Andy

Broken Offerings

              Lately I have been realizing just how desperately dependant I am on the love of God. I am so utterly dependant in fact that I have come to the conclusion that I have nothing to offer God except this desperate dependence. Oh, how imperfect and broken I am and how desperately, desperately dependant I am on the love and grace of God!

 I think it is so easy to know that we are broken and that we all have struggles, but to actually face those struggles in light of God’s love for us and get to know them instead of keeping them in hiding, is something completely different altogether. Facing the fact that we are imperfect and flawed is the last thing we want to do. It is such an ego crusher for us because we want to be perfect. We want to be the most loving husbands or wives who never fail to love their spouses; we want to be the perfect parents; we want to be the perfect employees. And while some of these desires may be admirable they often get in the way of our recognizing our total and utter failure to be ANY of these things perfectly (I have only been married three months and I already know how far short of perfection I fall as a husband. I cannot even begin to tell you what it means to be a parent). When we face ourselves we see the nasty imperfections that we have tried to keep hidden from ourselves all our years. And when we see those, we see the people that we have come to despise in our life time; we see the little boy who could never get the highest grades on his math exam or the little girl who could never please her parents.  Imperfection is the very reason we feel unlovable, and it’s our chief excuse to reject God’s love for us.

For some reason the reality of my imperfection has flown right into my face on numerous occasions this past month and it has been impossible to shake. I have come face to face with my failings as a husband and my failings to love people and serve them perfectly. No matter how hard I have tried to avoid it, I have come to the pride-busting, gut-wrenching truth that no matter how utterly hard I try I will always fail at being perfect in this life. I will always fail at meeting God’s standard of perfection and I will fail perhaps even more at my own standards of perfection.

When we have the courage to come to the realization of our total inability to be perfect, and are ready to let God love us in spite of these imperfections, then we are ready for a new stage in our walks with Jesus; a stage which brings us to a place of total dependence on a Love which is not our own, and a salvation that is nothing short of a gift in Jesus name. This is where I am right now. This is the new chapter of my journey with Abba.

I have heard about the love of God almost my whole life. First from my dad, then from church, then from a variety of different authors I have read, but I am seeing just how impossible it is to even begin to grasp God’s love until we come to grips with the ugly parts of ourselves, allowing Jesus to love us with them. Until this happens the love of God is mere intellectual goo with no form of importance or substance whatsoever.

Resting in God’s love means not defaulting to self-criticism in the midst of failure, but to acceptance of a love that “keeps no record of wrongs” (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It means not grabbing hold of our failures and keeping them close, but acknowledging them before God in trust that He won’t turn His back on us. It means letting God love us perfectly, driving out all our fear of condemnation (see 1 John 4:8).

Romans 5:8 says that God “proved His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That is the essence of the love of God. It is a love that reaches out to the prideful and the self-centered, for those trapped in sin and barely making it through life. It’s a love for those who know that they have nothing to offer God except a life of total and utter dependence on this love for salvation and for daily peace.

God has made it nearly impossible for me to avoid my broken parts these past few weeks and I wonder if it is the beginning of an answer to my prayer to know His love more. For what better way to know His love than to see Him accept and have compassion on me during my daily, moment by moment existence.

When we realize that all we have to give God is imperfection, and that this is okay with him because of Jesus’ saving work on Calvary, then I think we are really on to something.

Andy

Rest

        The statement that life is relentless just may be THE understatement of all time. Jobs are our means to eat. Bills call our name. School beckons our attention. More bills call our name. Illness strikes us. Death grieves us. Traffic angers us. Relationships with people we like encourage us. Relationships with people we don’t like bring us down. Performance plagues us at every corner.

       I recently went through a pretty intense time of burden where I had very little peace for almost two weeks straight. I did not know where God was and what is even more frightening, I truly didn’t know if he cared about what I was going through. I was constantly reciting scriptures about God’s love and peace, yet for some reason, nothing I said helped. I tried so hard to enter into God’s rest that I literally ran myself into the ground.
     One morning I awoke and I told my wife that I was really stressing and that I could not for the life of me figure out why. She said a few things to me that morning and one really stuck. She told me to ask God to take away whatever it was. At the time I thought “Haven’t I already done that? Isn’t that what I have been doing all this time? Reciting scripture and trying my hardest to focus on Jesus?” But knowing a bit about my wife’s intelligence I decided to obey. I knelt to my knees and simply prayed for God to take away whatever it was. Over the next few days, God lifted my burden and I felt a thousand times lighter.
      A poll was taken of the most stressful jobs in the world and number five on the list was minister of worship. Number 10 was minister. While the results of the poll were not in the least bit surprising, they certainly made me think. How and why could this be? Those very people who are responsible for guiding and instructing others in the life giving freedom of God are among the most stressed out people in the world. All I could think as I read the article was that something was terribly wrong. What a message a poll like that sends to the world:

      "Burdened now? Come be a follower of Jesus, it’ll get worse. YAY FOR RELIGION! Looking for peace in your life? Whatever you do, don’t become a Christian! You won’t be able to handle it! You are better off running 23 miles a day and biking 12."

      Paul commanded the Colossian church to “let the peace of Christ rule” in their hearts since they were “called to peace” (Colossians 3:15). Jesus Christ came to give people peace. He came to give rest to the weary and to reveal the true, deep, unending and uncontrollable love of God; a love that sets people free from the troubles of this world; a love which offers a relationship that forever protects from a life lived alone; a love which invites people into a peace which is not momentary, but eternal.
      At one point in the book of John chapter 10 verse 9, Jesus said that he is THE door to pasture and that anyone who enters by Him will find rest. Psalm 23, perhaps one of the most famous chapters in the Bible, illustrates this perfectly. In it we are reminded that God leads His people to green pastures and still waters, not life killing burdens. Not meaning at all that burdens don’t exist but that, even in the midst of attacking enemies, God our Shepherd prepares a meal for us that we may rest and eat while He tends to he nasty stuff.
      It took me a few days but I finally realized what had been wrong in my life. I was not letting God lead me to peace. I was not letting him BE my peace. I was not trusting in His character and love and because of this, I was not resting. When Christ said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” he was not only meaning His words for the audience of His time only. He was expressing who he IS at His core, both to the people he encountered as He walked the Earth some 2000 years ago, and to the people that He encounters as He walks the Earth today.
       Are you burdened? Jesus IS peace. He IS rest. It’s His love, the love of God that will set you free. But He must be trusted. He must be relied on. He must be utterly depended on. God didn’t walk through this world and carry the weight of sin and burden so that rest in our weary lives would be a figment of our imagination or a faint notion. He came that we may have life and have it to the fullest; a life without shame and guilt for our screw ups; a life of peace in the midst of storms. He came to give a message utterly and totally contrary to the one that the job poll above speaks. A message that says,

       "Burdened now? Come be a follower of Me. I will carry you. Looking for peace in your life? Whatever you do, don’t settle for anything less than the peace I want to give you! Trust me! It will be so great you won’t be able to handle it! My love is enough for this world. It will never fail you. I will never fail you."


Andy

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Identity

We long to be defined.

           

             For some it’s the latest clothing or fashion styles. For others, it’s being the first in line at your local coffee house. A select few find their identity in achievement and status (oh wait that’s everyone).  Perhaps straight A’s, perfect attendance to Chargers games (hey I live in San Diego now), climbing the ladder at work, or bowling is your thing.

            I remember growing up I was the movie man (and I do mean THE movie man). If you wanted to know something about movies, I had the answers. I collected movies, made movies, ate movies, drank movies. Ask anyone who knew me to describe me and one of the first things that would come to their minds (besides my ravenous good looks) was my knowledge and passion for film. I loved being “that guy.” I loved being the person who could point people the “right way” with movies (ask my wife and she will tell you that I am still like that). But something was certainly missing in me. I could never see enough movies or learn enough about film. There would always be one more to see. There was an unrelenting inner competition within me that wanted to outdo everyone else who thought they knew movies. This was my definition, and remained so until after several years of following Jesus.  

            It was a slow process, but God slowly began showing me that I was so much more than just “the movie man.”

            I was an object of God’s love.  

            Me. Not the just the perfect student behind me or football star to the left. But me. Andy-the kid who was teased on the playground in kindergarten and had his underwear thrown around the gym locker room in middle school. Me. The broken, insecure, thin shell of a man was and continues to be God’s beloved child.

            People are starved for significance. We all want meaning. We want identity; a definition for ourselves. The cross of Christ is not just a story about a nice man who was born, taught a little, and then died. It is about God Himself chasing after a creation that left Him. It is about redeeming something that was lost. It is all at once about how much God hates sin, but loves people. Jesus and his cross are instruments for forgiveness of the crap we have done, and an invitation to true identity as Children of God.

            True meaning IS being God’s child and living a life of total dependence on the Father, both for salvation and our daily existence. True identity is found in Jesus Christ. This is true whether we are pastors, teachers, musicians, astronauts, college students, youth workers, children abandoned by parents, girls with abusive pasts, drug addicts, recovering drug addicts, alcoholics, recovering alcoholics, mathematicians, recovering mathematician, basket-ball stars, or track practice dropouts.

            If you are searching for identity, don’t settle for anything less than meaning in Christ. If you have this meaning, don’t forget it or substitute it for a false thrill. He is worth too much for that. So are you.

Andy

 “How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1