October 01, 2009

A True Calling

After church on Sunday, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, “Mom, I’ve decided I’m going to be a minister when I grow up.”

“That’s okay with me,” the mother said, “But what made you decide to be a minister?”

“Well,” the boy replied, “If I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen.”

September 30, 2009

Pray for Those Who are Hurting Around the World

By now, you’ve heard of the flooding in Atlanta and in the Philippines.  Here’s part of an email from a pastor in the Manila area.  It is quite moving…I hope it moves us to pray.

We have been hit hard by the flood last Saturday night.  We lost everything.  Our house, things, clothes, cars.  Everything was buried in water and mud.  I also lost my laptop where all my materials for my ministry are stored (bible study guide, sermons, all your podcasts).  All my books were also lost.  Praise God all my children and my wife are safe.  All I have with me now is my bible.  Since Sunday we started cleaning the house.  Maybe in a months time we will finish the job.  Marikina (where I live) was devastated by the floodings.  Hundreds are dead and still hundreds missing.  You can smell in the air the stench of the dead.  It is terrible.  You can see from the faces of all the residents the look of shock, confusion and despair.  Brother please pray for me and my family.  Pray for me that God give me the strength to go on.  It is really different when you are in the “storm.”  It is a whole different story.  But I love God.  And I know that He will walk me through this.  I am faithful.  Though all my possessions are gone, I know that the house prepared for me by our Lord is intact. 

There are also people hurting in Samoa and Indonesia and in Peru and Bolivia.

September 30, 2009

KBM Friendship Banquet

I’m really looking forward to the Friendship Banquet for Keep Believing Ministries on Thursday night.  It’s a joy to watch what the Lord is doing through this ministry as Pastor Ray and Marlene encourage people to keep believing wherever they go.

There will be a number of video testimonies from around the world, including an update on the new Chinese language section of the KBM site.

If you haven’t visited the site recently, here are some direct links to some incredible resources.

Pastor Ray’s Blog
FAQs.  Pastor Ray answers questions like this: “How much do people in heaven know about what’s happening on the earth?”
Audio Podcasts (You can also subscribe through iTunes).
Pastor Ray’s Books
Pastor Ray’s sermons (I believe there are over 900 full-text sermons available for free.  They can be searched by text, topic, series or date.  These sermons are biblical, well-illustrated, and extremely practical).

For the sake of full disclosure, Ray is my ministry mentor, a great friend and my pastor.  I also have the joy of serving on the KBM board with him.

September 30, 2009

Fox’s Book of Martyrs

Part of our text for Sunday focuses on blessing those who persecute us from Romans 12:14.  This made me think of Fox’s Book of Martyrs.  Someone has said, “After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the Book of Martyrs. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification.”

Amazingly, this entire book is available online for free.  Click here to begin your journey.

September 29, 2009

God Declares His Glory

Been awhile since you’ve contemplated how big and great God is?  Take a look at the heavens.

September 29, 2009

What I’m Reading

I’ve been reading a book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love.  It’s both interesting and agonizing to read because it’s messing with me.

Here’s how it begins…

We all know something’s wrong.  At first I thought it was just me.  Then I stood before twenty thousand Christian college students and asked, “How many of you have read the New Testament and wondered if we in the church are missing it?”  When almost every hand went up, I felt comforted.  At least I’m not crazy…I get nervous when I think of how we’ve missed who we are supposed to be, and sad when I think about how we’re missing out on all that God wants for the people He loved enough to die for…This book is written for those who want more Jesus.  It is not for those who are bored with what American Christianity offers.  It is for those who don’t want to plateau, those who would rather die before their convictions do.

I really like how the book links to a website that encourages the reader to go deeper.  Within the first few pages, Chan tells the reader to go to CrazyLoveBook and watch the “Just Stop and Think” video before going any further.  I encourage you to do the same even if you haven’t read the book.

I also just finished listening to two sermon podcasts through iTunes and was greatly challenged.  You can get these by going to the website of Cornerstone Church or by doing a search on iTunes.

I just ordered his second book called Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.

Here’s an example of his preaching.

 

September 28, 2009

Parenting Tip - Lying

Truth is foundational to relationships. It helps us know and understand others so that we can interact with them effectively. When people are honest and tell the truth, we learn to trust them. When a person lies, our thinking about that person changes. Trust is broken. This is particularly hurtful when it’s our children who break our trust.
We want to believe our kids. We want to give them the benefit of the doubt. We want to trust them. When a child lies, we’re stuck. We ask, “How can she do this to me? Why would he lie to me?” Our very relationship feels threatened.

Lying is an attack on our closeness with our children. It makes us feel angry and betrayed. But the solution is not to yell, or punish, or demand the truth. Overpowering or forcing specific words will do little to develop integrity in our children. What we need is a plan. We need to understand the deeper problem and get to the heart of our children.

Deception is a term we use to describe a number of dishonest words or actions. Lying is only one piece of the bigger puzzle. Some people define lying as saying something that is not true, but we believe lying has more to do with the intent of the speaker. The person who reports inaccurate information is just mistaken unless he intends to deceive. We believe that lying is best defined this way:

Lying:  Stating something, either written, oral, or with other signals, with the intent to mislead or deceive.

Having honest discussions about what lying is and how it damages relationship is important in family life. There are many other important strategies for fighting the battle against lying but an important one is to dialogue about this important issue. Now, that doesn’t simply mean lecturing after a lie. It means taking time in non-discipline moments to do some helpful teaching.

You can sign up for free parenting tips like this one by clicking here.

September 28, 2009

Hanging on to Hope

Check out this link to watch the moving video testimony of a young woman who drifted away from Christ.  This shows the power of hope as Christ became her bondage-breaker.  We showed this at the end of the services yesterday.

September 24, 2009

Attack of the Aphids

If you’ve spent any time outside the last couple weeks you’ve been under attack by some atrocious aphids, at least that’s what the experts are calling them.  I thought they were gnats but upon closer investigation, they’re actually plant lice.  That sounds even worse than gnats.  These prolific reproducers are everywhere, causing havoc and giving people the “heebie-jeebies.”

As I pondered these pesky pests and wondered how they were getting in through the screens in our house, and then dive-bombing into my ears, my mind went to three different passages in the Bible that point to some lessons we can learn from the attack of the aphids.

1.  Small problems can make a big mess.  In any relationship, you are going to have some ruptures.  There will be misunderstandings and misery but much of this can be avoided by giving attention to the small things before they become big problems.  In the Song of Songs, a book in the Bible that has been referred to as a marriage manual; we read these words in 2:15: “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.”  Vineyards were often surrounded by stone walls to keep the animals from destroying the grapes.  But invariably, little cracks and crevices would appear and little foxes would weasel their way in and gnaw on the tender vines.  We don’t know what Mr. and Mrs. Solomon were struggling with but they needed to deal with their diminutive troubles before they became destructive. 

The word “catch” means to “seize” or lay hold of.  We can’t be passive when puny problems arise, hoping they’ll go away on their own.  Observe also that these are “little foxes” and they don’t ruin the thick branches that have been growing for years but the new “vineyards that are in bloom.” 

Most of the things that cause division and distance in a relationship start out as small problems.  In a study called “Social Allergies in Romantic Relationships,” researchers found that “Irritating behavior becomes more irksome over time.”  Marlene Pritchard discovered that there’s a name for this.  It’s called MAD – Minor Annoyance Disorder: “Some of us have MAD marriages that may become bad marriages if we don’t do something about it.”

Are you allowing the little things in life to bug you so much that they’ve now turned into big problems?

2.  If you focus too much on small things you can miss the big things.  Because these aphids have been almost omnipresent, it’s really tough to find a place of refuge.  The other day I noticed that our dog’s water bowl was filled with aphid cadavers and so I threw the water out and started to fill the bowl again. By the time I was done there were about twenty more aphids in it!  I left our dog Charlie outside and ran into the house.  Sorry, Charlie.

Jesus spent quite a bit of time telling some religious hypocrites that they were focused on way too many small things because they majored on the minors.  In the process, they left out the larger things.  Here’s what He said in Matthew 23:24: “You blind guides!  You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”  These self-righteous guys would use a filter to keep the insects out of their water bowls but in the process that would end up ingesting a camel (who says the Bible doesn’t use humor to make a point?).

Some of us are so caught up in the little things that we don’t take the time to ponder the big questions of life.  Questions like, “Am I ready to die?”  “Am I living the way I should?”  “Can God really forgive me for what I’ve done?”

3.  God uses irritations to get our attention.  While the aphids are a huge annoyance, they’ll hopefully go away once it gets colder.  Have you ever stopped to consider that God uses the irritations, troubles and trials of life to get your attention? 

When God sent the 10 plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt, they came one right after another: blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock dying, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of the firstborn.  While the aphids are awful, they were nothing like the gnats unleashed in Egypt: “…Gnats came upon men and animals.  All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.” (Exodus 8:17). 

We see a pattern that develops with Pharaoh.  When the plague hits hard, he repents and asks for deliverance, and then his heart becomes hard again.  When the pain is too much to bear, he admits that he’s a sinner and that he will change.  But, when the problem goes away, his repentance evaporates too.  In Exodus 9:34, Moses prays, and God stops the hail.  And then we read these words: “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.” 

Some of us do this as well.  When things are tough, we come back to church; when things are better we sleep in.  When life is falling apart, we cry out to the Lord for help; when life is good, we forget about Him.  Pharaoh didn’t really repent; he was just doing pain control. 

What has God been doing to get your attention?  Will you turn to Him in faith and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

I don’t know how long the aphids will attack but I sure want to learn what I need to before the approaching ladybugs make us all livid. 

September 23, 2009

SYATP Update

Check out Pastor Jeff’s blog for a report on how See You at the Pole went this morning.

September 23, 2009

ApolegetiX

I recently listened to a Plugged In Online podcast that featured the Christian rock parody group ApologetiX.  I found this interview to be very interesting and then I went on YouTube and listened to a couple of their songs.  If you like 70s and 80s rock, you may enjoy this.  Their heart is to share Jesus through their songs.  Here are four videos that parody songs by Queen, the Beach Boys and .AC/DC.

September 22, 2009

Who’s in Heaven?

HEAVEN

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp—
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, “What’s the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How’d all these sinners get up here?
God must’ve made a mistake.

“And why’s everyone so quiet,
So somber—give me a clue.”
“Hush, child,” He said, “they’re all in shock.
At the thought of seeing you.”

(from Mikey’s Funnies)

September 21, 2009

SYATP

Please pray for Christian teens to gather up some courage and gather around their school flagpole to pray this Wednesday at 7:00 a.m.

September 19, 2009

Pinocchio Parenting

In our continuing emphasis on how we can help families build faith at home, I came across an article about the topic of gifting as it relates to our children.  Erik Rees describes what he learned in a book called, “Pinocchio Parenting: 21 Lies We Tell Our Kids” by Chuck Borsellino: “Guess what one of the top lies is that parents tell kids? ‘You can be anything you want to be.’  Have you heard that phrase before?  I have.  Did you hear it growing up?  I did.  If you have kids now, have you ever told them that?  I sure have.  The truth is, you can’t be anything you want to be.  When you were born, you were given a specific set of talents and passions and a unique personality.  Then as you grew, you went through a series of experiences—some good and some not so good…all these things are tools God uses to make you into the unique you he’s had in mind from the start.” 

I would add that once our kids come to Christ they are given spiritual gifts and part of our responsibility and joy is to help them figure out their gift mix and how God has shaped them for service.

September 18, 2009

Last Day in Guatemala

Here’s a report from the team leader in Guatemela.  Pray for Christi and her team.  She arrives back late tonight.

Tonight we danced with orphans - and it was beautiful.  Our final day in Guatemala took us to the Buckner Baby Home, where we spent the afternoon with sweet kids who are are thriving because of tender care.  There is Juan Pablo, little boy who suffered severe burns on his face and body when his mother poured hot grease on him in a fit of rage.  Through contributions, he has had several surgeries, and in October, Juan Pablo will be going home to his “forever family” in Indiana.  There is Crystal, a smart and talented toddler who was abandoned, and Milagro, a tiny little sprite who was literally thrown away.

We then went to the Buckner Transition Home to celebrate the life and hope that can be offered to orphans when people respond.  These teens now attend trade school or university, live in a secure neighborhd, and are surrounded by people who love and care for them.  We cooked out and also baked cupcakes (thank you, secret recipe!).  The joy felt in the home is beyond words.

We depart the hotel tomorrow at 10a, and most of us are flying out around noon.  I know I can speak for everyone when I say WE MISS YOU AND CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!

Blessings,

Ronne Rock
RockNowTeam

September 17, 2009

Be Like David (Robinson)

This is really a cool post that shows the depth of David Robinson as he gave his speech before being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.  Make sure to watch the video to see how he expresses love to his boys and to his wife, to his teammates and to his coaches.

He is a Christ-follower who demonstrates honor and humility and love for family.

His speech is not about self, but about his Savior and others.

If you don’t have time to read this, then watch this video.

September 15, 2009

A Text From Christi

Just received a text from Christi Ucherek in Guatemala…

Driving 2 another city, broken inside not knowing if I did enough or if I will ever see them again!  I won’t come back the same!

September 15, 2009

Guatemala Update

Thank you so much for your prayers and notes of encouragement to the entire RockNow team!  Our time here so far has been amazing.  Today, we journeyed to Cerecaif, a private orphanage about 25 minutes outside of Xela.  Founded by family that immigrated from Mexico several years ago, the facility is filled with beautiful children who have been removed from abusive situations.  From the outside, the orphanage is very “utilitarian” in nature, tucked away in the shadow of mountains. There is no playground, no park nearby - the children play in a yard area alongside goats, sheep and chickens.  Inside, however, the rooms reflect a heart for creating beauty from ashes.  Using fabric remnants, cardboard boxes, and other items most of us would simply throw away, the director has transformed simple rooms into bright, cheery places to live. 

We painted two boys’ bedrooms this morning, and will be returning tomorrow to paint a bit more.  After our painting was completed, we turned our attention to sharing the story of David and Goliath.  Courtney, Brynn, and Christi were the “green team,” taking the youngest of the children.  Ryan, Jim, and Mandy were “big blue,” taking those in the middle, and Stacey, Patrick and I were in charge of the oldest children.  The time with children flew by as we told bible stories, painted t-shirts, and helped teach a memory verse using a modified version of Simon Says.  Pictures are to come…

Tonight, we are all attempting to sleep while literally tens of thousands of Guatemalans dance and sing outside in the Xela city square.  The 16th marks the country’s Independence Day, and as I type, the crowds are cheering “freedom!” and shooting fireworks.  Their celebration pales in comparison to the joy we experienced today.

We’ll return to Cerecaif for a few hours in the morning, and then drive 3-1/2 hours to Antigua, where we will close out our day with beautiful elderly people.  Pray for traveling mercies, an abundance of energy, and sensitivity to the Lord’s direction in each and every moment.

September 14, 2009

Christi Ucherek Update

Christi has arrived in Guatemela and is doing well.  If you’d like to follow along with her this week, one of her team members is blogging about their experiences.

Here are some highlights from an email from her team leader…

The bond between us, after only a few hours, is strong - it feels as if we’ve all known each other for years.  There has been plenty of laughter, and a few tears have already fallen as we consider the road ahead of us.  Please pray specifically for our journey - for safety on the winding mountain roads, for health and strength for each member of the team, for peace and joy for our families back home.  Pray for our daily ministry:
Monday/Tuesday - Cerecaif (Serehkyeef) orphanage in Xela.  72 children, ranging in ages from 4-12.  All have been removed from abusive situations.  We will paint the orphanage and do Bible Study and activities with the kids.  Plus we’ll have an opportunity to visit their school.

Tuesday/Wednesday - Cabecitos de Algodon and Manchen in Antigua.  Cabecitos is a home for the elderly.  We will deliver slippers, sing, and spend time in good conversation.  At Manchen, we’ll do a Bible Study written just for the 100 teenage girls living there.

Thursday - We will return to Guatemala City to visit the Buckner Baby Home.  Then we will enjoy a good evening of fun, pizza, and cupcakes with the teens at the Buckner Transition Home.  These amazing kids have aged out of the orphan system, and are now attending college or trade school, supported through generous contributions from churches and individuals in the United States.

September 13, 2009

Spiritual Gift Inventory

I really appreciate Pastor Dick jumping in this week and preaching for me. 

I came across this free online spiritual gift inventory that is quite helpful.  While this inventory lists some “sign gifts” as still applicable today, I found this to be easy to use and confirming to what I have always thought were my gifts—Teaching/Preaching, Evangelism, Shepherding and Administration.

Check it out. 

September 11, 2009

Two Great Boys

The Bugle ran an article today on Michael and Kyle Walker and their incredible mom Elaine.  Check it out.

September 11, 2009

Lessons from the Losses of Life

Since today is the 8th anniversary of 9/11, it’s good for us to contemplate what happened on that day and to focus on some lessons we can learn.  Here’s an application from a sermon I preached on Psalm 46.

Have you noticed that our nation has relaxed again?  It reminds me of what happened after 9/11 when Leno and Letterman stopped cracking jokes for a few days and then went right back to their routines as if nothing happened.

Friends, we can’t go back to our routines.  It’s time to learn some lessons and to make this Psalm 46 your personal song.  Let me encourage you to memorize it.  I want to leave you with ten quick lessons that we can learn when we face loss.  Here’s my own top ten list:

10.  God is powerful and in control.  The Bible tells us that God works wonders, even when we can’t see them, and especially when we don’t understand what has happened.  Isaiah 40:22: “…He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth…”

9.  God loves to bring good out of bad.  This principle helps us see that with God at the center of life, there’s always reason to hope.  In Genesis 50:20 Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…”

8.  Things will get worse before they get better.  As we get closer to the end of the world, the Bible says that things will get increasingly worse: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” (2 Timothy 3:1)

7.  Live one day at a time.  One of the best ways to beat anxiety is to simply focus on the day in front of us: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)

6.  We are made for a different place.  For the believer in Jesus Christ, this world is not our home.  2 Corinthians 5:1 reminds us: “…we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven…”

5.  Jesus meets us in the storms of life.  No matter what you are going through right now, or what hurricanes will hit your heart in the future, remember that when the storms show up, so does the Savior.  Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

4.  Jesus is coming again.  After Jesus ascended into Heaven we read this announcement in Acts 1:11: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

3.  The Bible is filled with predictive prophecy.  When asked about what signs to look for that will tell us that the second coming of Christ is near, Jesus made this statement in Matthew 24:7-8: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

2.  Israel is central.  While there are differences of opinion about end-times prophecy, the return of Christ will be wrapped up in developments surrounding Israel.  Romans 11:25-26 says, “…Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved…”  The story of the Bible began in the Middle East and ends there as well.

1.  Get yourself ready.  I’m reminded of the passage in Luke 13 where some people described an event similar to 9/11 to Jesus, when a number of innocent people were annihilated.  Jesus then brings up another situation in which 18 people were killed when a tower fell on them.  In both instances, Jesus doesn’t give them an answer as to “why” these things happened.  Instead, he personalizes it and says, “Unless you repent, you too will perish!” 

Are you ready right now?  If you had been in those twin towers, or on the beach when the tsunami hit, or in the Gulf Coast when Katrina came ashore, would you have been ready to meet Jesus?  Are you ready for what will come next?  The only safe place to be is in the arms of the Savior…and it’s a good thing that God is taking care of Himself and that nothing will happen to Him.

September 10, 2009

I Love How God Does This

This morning when we read a devotional with our girls before school, the passage was 2 Corinthians 12:7-11.  This came at a perfect time for me.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

James MacDonald concludes with these words: “God is so sovereign.  He’s so much in control that even when Satan tries to ruin our lives, God takes the weapon that Satan wants to use to destroy us and turns it into a good thing….We all have a thorn.  We all have something that God has allowed into our lives that Satan meant for our destruction but that God has turned around to help us grow and change.”

September 08, 2009

At The Crossroads

Pastor Jeff has posted a creative video to kick-off Crossroads (Junior High) ministry.  They meet on Wednesday night at 6:15.

September 07, 2009

God’s Labor of Love

Samuel Gompers, the founder and long-time president of the American Federation of Labor, said “Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country.”  While we set aside this weekend as a national tribute to the contributions that laborers have made to our country’s strength, for me it has always meant something much more profound—summer is now over! 

Isn’t it interesting that we celebrate work by taking a day off from work?  This doesn’t really help me however, because my day off is Monday!  I think I’ll start a campaign to have Labor Day moved to Tuesday.

This year especially, many people are unemployed and would like to work but can’t find a job. These comments are primarily addressed to those of us who have a job right now.

The Bible speaks very positively about work and negatively about those who refuse to work.  Labor is good for us and we’re challenged to work hard.  The Book of Proverbs is full of cautions for slothful sluggards and the apostle Paul says, “If a man will not work don’t let him eat.”

While some people love their jobs, others can’t stand what they do for a living.  For some a career has become the altar on which they’ve sacrificed their lives.  Work can very easily become our new religion, where we bow down and give our time.  Someone has said that we worship our work, we work at our play, and we play at our worship.  This happens quite easily when our commitment to family, community and church heads south.  When lives lack meaning, many look to careers to provide identity and self-esteem.  This is not how God set it up.  Our work should never take first place in our lives and it’s a terrible determiner of our sense of worth.

Solomon, one of the wisest men to ever live, never wimped out on work.  And yet, he realized that our jobs were never designed to meet our deepest needs.  Here’s an excerpt from his diary: “What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun?  All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest.  This too is meaningless” (see Ecclesiastes 2:22-23).

That doesn’t mean that work is a bad thing.  In fact, God Himself is a worker.  The opening lines of Genesis are filled with God’s work – He separates light from darkness, He makes the sky and heavenly bodies, He gathers the waters and forms man from the dust of the earth.  Instead of leaving the scene after His display of creative power, Psalm 121:4 declares that God never “sleeps or slumbers,” but is always guiding and reaching out to His people.

When Jesus came to earth, He came as a worker.  In fact, for most of His adult life He worked as a carpenter.  But, He had a much more significant job assignment.  His work was to do exactly what His Father wanted Him to do.  In John 5:17, Jesus declared, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”  The primary work of Jesus was to come to earth and to die as our substitute on the cross.  Because He completed the work that He was given to do, you and I can now experience the full benefits of His labor. 

Labor Day provides a day off from work (for most of us).  Let it also be a reminder that we don’t have to work in order to please God.  Jesus did it all for us.  He paid the price.  He completed the job He was given to do.  Just before He died, He cried out in John 19:30, “It is Finished!”  This term was common in the world of finance and banking.  When someone would borrow some money and then pay it back, the banker would use this phrase to declare that the debt had been paid off.  Literally, it means, “Paid in Full.” 

When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for us.  Jesus took our moral liabilities and stamped “Paid in Full” across the ledger sheet of our lives.  Our sin debt has been forgiven.  Because of our moral failures and patterns of sin, we all deserve to be sentenced for our cosmic crimes against a holy God.  Someone needs to pay the price for our sin.  The Bible makes it clear that either we pay it—or someone else needs to.  We don’t have to work to gain God’s favor.  In fact, if we try to work our way into heaven, we’ll receive a paycheck that won’t make us very happy.  Romans 3:23 says that the wages of sin is death. 

Everyone has violated God’s standards.  Because He is a just God, a penalty has to be paid.  God sent His son Jesus to be that payment for each one of us.  Jesus died on the cross as our substitute.  He paid the price with His life and God accepted His death as full payment for all of our sins.  He completed His work and now we don’t have to labor to get to Heaven.  Salvation is a gift that we must receive by faith.  Ephesians 2:8-9 puts it succinctly: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Work hard at your job.  But don’t let it become your god.  Enjoy the results of God’s work on your behalf and put your faith and trust in the labor of love that was fully expressed on the Cross of Christ.  Make this a Labor Day to remember by focusing on the One who completed His work – so that you can experience forgiveness and freedom, and a benefit package that is out of this world!

September 06, 2009

More on The Shack

Here’s another review of The Shack that may be the best I’ve read so far.

September 04, 2009

Resolved

I stumbled upon these powerful words while preparing for Sunday’s sermon.  They come from Jonathan Edwards.

Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live.
Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.
Resolved, never to do anything which I should despise or think meanly of in another.
Resolved, never to do anything out of revenge.
Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.
   
—Iain H. Murray, “Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography”

September 03, 2009

Masha’s Trip to India

Check out Masha Wilkinson’s interview in The Paper about her experience in India this summer.  Good stuff.

September 03, 2009

Romans Rendezvous

I’m excited to be back in Romans this Sunday as we begin a six-part series on chapter 12 called, “Living Life on Purpose.”  The topic this week is, “Knowing God’s Will” from Romans 12:1-5.

If you’d like to go back and review the first eleven chapters of Romans, here are the links to 44 sermons from our sermon archive. 

Romans 1
Romans 2-4
Romans 5
Romans 6-8
Romans 9-11

September 02, 2009

Game Plan for Life

If you’re looking for a book to give to a man who is not yet a believer, or has some questions about faith, I recommend that you get him a copy of Game Plan for Life by Joe Gibbs.  Joe Gibbs is a three-time Super Bowl champion and three-time NASCAR champion.

I particularly like the way the book is written.  Joe shares his testimony at the beginning of the book and then talks about a national survey of men that identified eleven issues that are most important to men—Finances, Health, Relationships, Vocation, Bible, God, Creation, Sin and Addiction, Salvation, Purpose, and Heaven.  These topics make up the remaining chapters of the book.  He introduces each topic with some examples from his life and then eleven different “experts” write the remainder of each chapter.  Here are some of the men that are included: Ron Blue, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, Chuck Colson, Tony Evans and Randy Alcorn.

I’ve already given a copy away and plan to give out some more.

Check out his website for more information.

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