To tell the good news you have to tell the bad news

Dear pastor,

I want to share with you a profound reality about ministry and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You and I have the calling, the privilege and the responsibility of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people. And what a joy it is to tell people of God’s love for them, and His plans for eternity and an abundant life in Christ. But before we can really get them to to understand and receive this, we must help them understand the bad news of where they are apart from Christ.

Confronting people is a weakness that many people and many pastors face. We want people to know we love them and we know that many people are fragile emotionally. Because of this we try to be careful in what we say so as to not add to the pain and suffering they have already endured at the hands of so many but then end up not confronting people. (And let us not forget that we often fail to confront because of our own insecurities, failings and even a desire for people to like and approve of us.)

But to truly disciple people means that we must learn to confront. With the help of the Holy Spirit we will have to give the bad news of what life without Christ looks like in order that we can tell people (or remind them) what Christ offers those who are fully committed to Him.

I pray that you and I will learn from our humble and gentle Savior how to warn people of the harmful effects of sin. May we learn how to lovingly, patiently and graciously confront people about the trajectory of their lives so that then we can point them to Jesus and the path of righteousness where they can walk in holiness, peace and freedom.

Thank you for being so deeply concerned about the condition of their souls. And because you are, please, make every effort to let God use you to share the full gospel found in the Word of God. Remember that the Word of God is useful for rebuking, exhorting, correcting and training in righteousness. Let the Holy Spirit do the convicting but may you and I still lovingly point out to people the traps, obstacles and blind-spots of temptation and sin so that they can truly receive the good news of the full and free salvation available to us in Christ.

So thankful that Christ is with us and Christ is in us and that He will give us the words to say when we obediently go to share His gospel with people.

When nothing is going right

Have you ever been in that season of life when everything seems to be falling apart? We almost wonder how it is possible that so many different people, situations, relationships, and things can all begin to collide and simultaneously blow up! 

I have been there. Seemingly by nothing we do, everything around us starts to go haywire almost like a vast conspiracy bent on destroying any remaining sanity, hope or motivation that we might have. 

So what do you do? Should you hide your head in the sand until it passes by? Should you try to put your chin up and your shoulders back and march directly into it?

I believe every single person should ask these 3 questions when chaos erupts and everything conspires to rob our peace and joy:

  1. “Is it possible that everything is going so wrong because of my own choices?” Whether because of ignorance or foolishness or selfishness, am I in this place because of something I did (or didn’t do)? It is so easy to look for someone else to blame. From the Garden of Eden forward, humans have looked for someone they could blame instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. As painful as it is to look within and then consider past words, attitudes, behaviors and even inactivity, it is important to prayerfully discern what part we each have played in self-sabotaging our lives. 
  1. “Is it possible that all these things are happening because the devil is prowling around in my life and trying to steal, kill and destroy?” Scripture plainly tells us to be on our guard because of the enemy of our souls. Are the problems that are taking place because of spiritual warfare? Of course spiritual warfare indicates that in some way we pose a threat to the devil either because of something we are currently doing (in agreement with God’s word and plan) or because of a path we are on which will lead us to God. So if we are living a completely reprobate, pagan, selfish and sinful lifestyle, the devil doesn’t have to destroy us, we will do it just fine on our own. But if we are seeking God and His righteousness and His glory, we need to watch out for fiery darts of accusation and condemnation as well as temptation, traps and outright spiritual attacks.
  1. “Is it possible that these things are happening because God is trying to get my attention?” It is crazy how easily it seems that our mind and our focus drift away from God. And yet because of His great love He is willing to do whatever it takes to get us to hear Him, notice Him and return to Him, knowing that when we are united with Him that is the best thing for us. This does not mean that God is the one causing the bad things to happen in our lives but He may simply be withdrawing His hand of mercy, protection and deliverance. He does this at times, in order that we might realize that we have withdrawn from Him or that we have been quenching and grieving His Spirit or taking Him for granted, instead of being open to Him and faithful to Him. So many times throughout the Bible God withdraws His hand of mercy in order that people will realize the futility of their own behavior, the foolishness of their choices and the emptiness of their life without Him. 

If your life seems to be falling apart and everything seems to be imploding or exploding around you, prayerfully ask these three questions so that God may show you what you need to know, how you need to grow and where you need to go. It of course is possible that the situations in your life are connected at least partially to more than one reason. But we need to ask the questions and allow God to instruct us. 

I hate it when my life is falling apart and it deeply grieves my spirit when I see other people in places of deep pain and agony, but when we discover some of the why it can help and of course asking the Lord “what now” and “what are you teaching me” are fantastic next steps as well. 

Let us pray that God will give us wisdom and understanding, even as we seek Him as our Savior, our refuge and our rest. Remember, Jesus told us we could take heart in the midst of all the trouble, because He has already overcome the world!

How can we change what we are living for?

In my last blog post I challenged us to look carefully at our lives  (maybe even by looking at our calendars, our credit card statements and our browsing history) in order to discover what we are living for. I asked a number of questions to help us consider what our life is being spent on.

Very often unless we do an inventory of our lives we don’t even realize what we are living for or where the vast majority of our time, energy and resources are going. Much like sand slipping through our fingers, it seems like our lives are just slipping away with not much to show for it.

But once we identify an unhealthy or harmful habit, tendency, or life direction, how can we change it? Of course there are thousands of books, articles and resources available which speak about changing our lives and habits, but let me just mention a few key ideas:

  1. Look at what legacy you would like to leave behind in your life. If you could reduce that down to one “epitaph” that could be placed on a tombstone, what would it say? Then once you have that in mind, begin “working backwards” to consider what small thing(s) you could do each day or week for the rest of your life in order to leave that legacy and offer that influence to the people around you. For example, if you want your life to be a life that inspires others to pray, make sure to daily spend time in prayer (alone and with others). If you want to live a life of encouragement, seek daily to find someone to speak kind and uplifting words to. If you want an epitaph that says “Lived his/her life to the glory of God” then begin daily witnessing for God, serving others in the name of God and exhibiting the patience, kindness and mercy of God. 
  1. You might say, that’s too big for me, give me something smaller and less intimidating. Okay, ask yourself these questions: “What activity in my life gives me joy, hope and makes me think I am doing something worthwhile with my life?” You might discover that you feel the most alive when you are causing someone to laugh or smile. It might be that you find joy when you go out of your way to serve someone or offer a helping hand. It might be that sense that you are fulfilling the purpose for which you were created when you produce something with excellence in your life that helps another with their life. Make a list of the things that give you hope and joy while also making you feel like you are doing something meaningful and then start doing that at least 1x per day. Examples might include, opening the door for people, helping someone carry their groceries, calling someone to see how they are doing, giving away money or gifts to people, or even just doing your home chores and vocational work with excellence and diligence.
  1. Remember that a life is made up not just of one or two big things here or there but rather 1000s of different events, choices, and activities. And behaviors that add up to the most significance and the most impact are the ones that are done repetitively. So for instance if you start putting $25 per week in a retirement fund when you are 20 years old, by the time you retire that fund could be worth about one million dollars. Another example, if you write 600 words daily, it would only take you about 4-5 months to write a book, and if you continue this for life you could write as many as 100 books in a lifetime! One more example. If you call, text, email, visit 1 person per day (only on weekdays!) for the sake of helping them, serving them or encouraging them you could touch 250 people in a year and perhaps as many as 12,500 people in a lifetime. 

How can we change what we are living for? In a phrase: “Be intentional.” But beyond that consider what you want your life to accomplish and give thought to when you feel most alive. Let the fulfillment of God’s call on your life lead you away from wasted time and into deliberate choices for His glory and for the help of your fellow man. Remember, whatever is worth doing is worth doing with excellence and of course doing repetitively. Change what you are living for by investing your life in something of significance. Do it over the long haul. And even when it doesn’t seem in the short term that you are gaining any traction, remember that the compounding effect of your life choices can bring a great reward, not only to yourself, but most especially to the one(s) you are helping. 

Finally, stop time, energy and resource wasting activities. Many people lose their way simply because they squander away what they have on meaningless things. So instead of spending 3 hours per day on a screen, spend 30 minutes on the screen and the remaining 2.5 hours with people. Instead of spending $5 per day on coffee, spend $5 per week on coffee and the remaining $30 per week on giving to others or saving for the future. And instead of spending 3 hours per day sitting on a couch or in a recliner, spend 1 hour per day resting like that and the other 2 hours per day walking the neighborhood, doing some chores, getting some exercise or developing a hobby. Many times we squander our lives away by not being intentional and by wasting the resources we have been given. 

I hope and pray that some of these words will inspire you to make some changes and live a meaningful and excellent life.

What do you live for?

I have always been something of a people watcher. When I am in crowded places like an airport or a busy mall I find it fun to play “detective” or “Sherlock Holmes” and try to deduce what I can about a person based on certain clues that I see in their appearance, hear in their conversation or notice in their choices. 

One thing I have noticed is that if you watch someone long enough (or watch your life in a mirror) you will begin to notice that people seem to live for certain things. We might not actually say that we are living for those things, and yet consistently the choices reveal a priority and a focus that is undeniable. (Shoes/clothes, jewelry, sports, cars, entertainment, laughter, etc) That is not to say that every person is fully aware of what they are living for but patterns emerge and a careful analysis can show what we are at least attempting to live for. 

So, let me offer you 10 possible things that your life is being spent on:

  1. Are you living for self?
  2. Are you living for pleasure?
  3. Are you living for the weekend?
  4. Are you living to make money? (And spend it?)
  5. Are you living to try and be happy? (Have a good time?)
  6. Are you living in order to try as many experiences as possible?
  7. Are you living for success? Fame? Power?
  8. Are you living for the next moment of what is fun? 
  9. Are you living for your desires/your appetite?
  10. Are you simply trying to survive?

I believe that many people are very likely living in more than one of these 10 places simultaneously or else vacillating between some of them, and yet if we look objectively at these 10 we can also see a gaping hole. What about relationships? What about health? What about wholeness? What about spirituality? What about eternity? What about God?

The Bible tells us that we cannot serve two masters, we will either serve one or the other and in fact when we try to have two foci in our lives we end up catching neither one and may end up loathing one (or both, or ourselves) because of our divided focus/heart/life.

In my next blog post I will talk about how to change what we are living for, but for now, I simply wanted to challenge you to look at the decisions you are making and the possible behind-the-scenes reasons that you make those choices. 

If you and I will turn away from the empty things that so many end up living for and instead focus on relationships, health, wholeness, spiritual and eternal life and above all the good and gracious God of the universe, our life will be so much better and we will finally discover purpose, meaning and fulfillment along the way.

Be open

Dearly beloved,

I want to challenge you to be open. What do I mean by that?

What does it mean when something is closed?

  • When a business is closed the employees are unavailable to meet with you and help you or offer you anything
  • When a flower is closed its beauty is hidden away,
  • When a mind is closed it is resistant to learning new things or thinking about things in new ways.
  • When a heart is closed, it is hard, sometimes cold and often bitter because of past pain and offense.
  • When eyes are closed, people are unwilling or unable to see what is right before them.
  • When a spirit is closed, the Holy Spirit of God is grieved and unable to come and do His saving and sanctifying work within a person.

I want you to be open to God. Wide open to Him. May you be open to:

  • Receive His offer of help and reciprocate to Him that you are open to help Him and serve Him
  • See His beauty and discover the beauty that He places within each of His children
  • Learn from Him that which is right and true
  • Have God heal your broken heart and soften your heart that you may receive His love even as you give and receive love to and from others
  • See new things, new paths, new attitudes and behaviors that can be yours
  • Have His Holy Spirit live within you, calling the shots, guiding and directing your life and providing all that you need along the way.

Will you live your life wide open? Will you allow yourself to be fully open and available to God?

What can I say to convince you to go to church this week?

How can I convince you that you need to be in the house of the Lord this week? How can I convince you that what you are facing, struggling with, feeling weighed down by can all be addressed when you gather together with other people to draw near to God? 

Furthermore, what can I say that will help you to realize that it is vitally important to draw near to God and discover who He is and what His will is because He is the Sovereign Lord of the universe and everyone will have to stand before Him one day, so it is important that today we get to know Him and understand what He is saying and what He expects of people?

So often it seems that people say they know that God is important. But then they follow up that sentiment with a demonstration that God is not nearly that important because work, pleasure, food, entertainment, depression, conflict, struggle, drama, etc all get our time and attention before God does. We claim that we are God-fearers, but then trifle with Him and His Word, ignore His commands and quench His Spirit. At other times we do give Him a lot of attention but only because we are going through a hard time and we think “who do I know who can help get me out of this mess” and we decide that maybe we should knock on God’s door and see perhaps if He is real, if He is able and if He cares. 

Thankfully God does care. And He really thinks that you matter. And He is willing to give chance after chance and grace upon grace, even when we don’t deserve it. 

So back to my original question…

How can I convince you that you need to be in God’s house, in God’s Word and with God’s people? How can I compel you to seek the Lord, talk to Him, listen to Him, surrender to Him, give Him thanks and praise and worship?

And then I realize that God is in fact attempting to do this every single day. It seems terrible to say that God is “attempting” anything, because surely God cannot fail? Which means He is not “trying” He is just doing, right?! But then we understand that somehow God allows us to choose and so even though He is working every single day to convince and compel, even for God many times His efforts are spurned, His voice is ignored and His gifts are left unopened. 

So here I am reminded of a couple of things that the Bible says:

  1. The Holy Spirit is the One who “convicts” or “convinces” people. And He does it by reminding us of who Jesus is and what Jesus taught and by grabbing our attention (convicting us) regarding sin, righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit is using the Bible, the church, our conscience, and other tools to help us know what is right and what is wrong and what God’s will is. For me to try and convince you, I will have to be in agreement with the Holy Spirit and let Him do the talking and the working in and through me. I hope that I can indeed be a conduit of the Holy Spirit into your life.
  2. God’s love compels us. We are drawn to the Lord because of His faithful love. We are compelled to repent because of His kindness. And so I must remind you that God loves you deeply and that He has shown you tremendous kindness in spite of your sin, and hopefully because of His love and kindness you will turn away from your sin and turn fully toward God. 

It hurts to see people resisting the Lord and drawing near to the world and the devil. The Bible tells us to do the exact opposite (Resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw near to God and He will draw near to you). It makes me sad to think that pastors, teachers, evangelists and Christians who are faithful to the Lord will try to do all manner of things to convince others to go to church, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, have faith in, trust, follow and obey the Lord and yet the excuses that will be given in response…It is heartbreaking to consider how God is an after-thought. I will keep trying to convince you and I hope to do it with the Holy Spirit’s anointing and the love of God and the kindness of God flowing through me. But I also hope that you will hear the voice of God and heed His call before it is too late. Please respond without any further delay so that you will no longer needlessly suffer. 

What can I say to convince you to pray, read your Bible and go to church this week? 

Waiting on a miracle

Have you found yourself in desperate need of something to take place in your life that you had no control over?

Maybe a relationship that is strained or broken, maybe a physical need that is excruciating or life-threatening, perhaps a financial need that is unreachable, or even an emotional weight that hangs like a millstone of weight around your neck, crushing your soul.

What do you do, when you are waiting on a miracle?

Often times I try and figure out what I can do to hurry things along. Sometimes I try and determine what I have done that brought me to this difficult circumstance. At times I will try to ignore the problem, cover up my feelings or cope with the reality of being out of control.

Sometimes I choose wisely what I do when I am waiting, other times I do not.

What should we do while we are waiting?

Keep praying, keep trusting, keep reading God’s promises, keep surrendering the issue to Him, keep persevering.

I have often told my kids and other people that being patient is “waiting nicely.” I would add to that, that being patient is also trusting that someone will bring a perfect solution to the situation in due time.

Whatever you are waiting on God for, make sure that you truly are waiting on Him: pray, surrender, express your faith and trust, and give thanksgiving to God. Don’t try to figure it out, work it out or force something to happen. Give it to the One who is all-sufficient to bring it about. Anticipate and look for God’s miraculous answer. But while you are waiting, don’t lose hope, don’t take your eyes off of Jesus and fully trust that God’s answer will be more complete, more beautiful, more timely, more sufficient than you can even imagine.

And then rest in His arms, as you express to Him that you trust Him, His ways and His timing.

Would you join me in waiting patiently on a miracle?

Desperate

Have you ever been desperate for something?

I don’t just mean a strong desire but rather something that you would despair if you did not have it?

Sometimes, sadly, we think we are desperate for that new piece of technology or for that particular food/snack/drink, or that we are desperate to “get away.” But the truth of the matter is that we are (or ought to be) only really desperate for a few things

If the body doesn’t have air or food or water, that situation can come to a point of despair.

If a heart/soul doesn’t have love that can become despairing.

I would propose to you that there really are only two things we should be absolutely desperate for (more than a dying man in the desert who needs water):

  1. We need to be desperate for God. Of course He avails Himself to us, has taken the initiative to not only create us and give us a purpose, but also to provide for us, offer us salvation and take the first step so that we can know Him and know what He is offering to us. But we still need to recognize our desperate need for God. There is a God-shaped hole in all of us and until He fills it, everything else will continue to leave us empty.
  2. We need to be desperate for spiritual health/life/growth. It is not enough to know that God exists or even to begin a relationship with Him that we end up neglecting. We need to have growth. We desperately need to strive to be with Him, and learn to be like Him and to make every effort to avail ourselves to Him that He can fill us, flow through us and use us for His glory.

My life would be a life of despair, depression and emptiness if not for God. And furthermore, I can always tell when my spiritual life is stagnating because if I am not drawing closer to God, then the only alternative is that I am drifting from Him.

I want to challenge you that you don’t need to pine after so many empty and meaningless things in this life. If you pursue God and His kingdom and His righteousness above all else, He will surely take care of what you need. If you become hungry and thirsty for God and desperate to learn and grow spiritually, you will find that your life has greater meaning, greater fulfillment and greater hope than ever before.

I pray that you will discover what it is to be desperate for God and desperate to grow spiritually. There is nothing else like it.

You matter

Dear friend,

I want you to know you matter.

You matter to me.

You matter to God.

You matter to many more people than you know.

There are many who think about you regularly. There is God above who thinks about you constantly. You are valuable because God says you are. You are significant because of what God thinks about you and what He says about you.

And perhaps in the midst of this world you might not be able to hear clearly what God is saying about you. But I want to help you to listen, help you to believe, help you to live in what God declares…

  • God says that you are priceless. You are worth so much that God decided He would rather be betrayed, spat upon, whipped, and crucified than to live without you. You are so valuable to God that He used all of His power to rescue you so that you would be able to live with Him forever.
  • God says you are beautiful. When He finished creating you, He stood back and saw all that He made “was very good.” That’s not to say we don’t have imperfections. But God loves us regardless. Just like when we look at the face of our sleeping child or spouse and simply admire their beauty and treasure the fact that they are “ours” and we also belong to them, even so God cherishes you and looks upon your beauty and treasures you.
  • God says that you are His beloved. In fact this is not only the reality of His heart it is the expression of all of His speech and reflected in all of His attitudes and behavior. Beloved is what you are (loved) but also who you are (your identity). Everything else that we might try to use to describe, define or identify ourselves either pales in comparison or completely falls away when compared to the intimate love that God has for us.

Remember this, that because God says you are priceless and beautiful and that you are His beloved then He gives to you bountifully! He showers blessings on you. He works diligently to provide for you, protect you, defend you and redeem you. He provides for your sanctification and transformation into likeness and holiness. He secures your place in His family with His eternal loving kindness and attention, all you have to do is believe and walk in and according to what He says.

You face many battles from within and without. Feelings, thoughts, temptations, accusations, condemnation, oppression, trouble. But nothing in all creation is able to separate you from the love of God in Christ. His love will go through every barrier, tear down every stronghold, break through every wall of separation. There is nothing that will keep His love from getting to you. The question though is will you believe Him? Will you receive His love?

So remember today: You matter!

God has loved you, chosen you and called you since even before the world began.

You are the priceless and beautiful beloved of God! And whether you feel like it or whether you discount your significance in the eyes of God, it does not change the reality of what He feels for you and how He is working to save you to the uttermost.

Please, today, take time to pray this, state this, believe this and live this:

“I matter to God. I matter to others. God says I am priceless and beautiful. I am God’s beloved. God is working to supply everything I need for life and godliness. I only have to believe and obey. I can rest in this. I will follow you God! Thank you God!”

Bringing people to Jesus

Dear Pastor,

What kind of disciples are you making?

Do they look more and more like Jesus everyday? Or more and more like you? Or are they staying the same?

Of course, every single person gets to choose and so you are not responsible for their choices, but for those who do choose to follow you, heed your words and emulate your example, are they more like Christ because of it?

The world definitely doesn’t need more “clay jars” or “earthen vessels;” instead what the world needs is the all-surpassing greatness of the power of God that we are supposed to carry around in us and release to everyone we meet.

Something to think about: Is your discipleship more focused on programs, routine, experience, tradition, or Jesus? God of course uses so many different tools to shape and form people, but above all our discipleship efforts need to be Christocentric. Jesus needs to be in the middle of our conversations, our goals, our meetings, our ministries.

I will leave you with this:

As you make Christ the center of your life and ministry and He simply overflows out of you, because you are filled to the max with the Holy Spirit (and His fruits and His gifts), then you can be sure that whether or not the program grows or the church/ministries gets earthly accolades, God will get the glory and people will be changed! We know this for certain: when you connect people with Jesus, and they are surrendered to Him, He does His supernatural work and the results are eternally significant and extraordinarily profound!

Let us pray that we make Christlike disciples. Let us put Christ first, and front, and center. And then let us pray that God radically works among us!