Nothing says “I Love You” like a ski mask!

I heard this story on the radio this morning. Here is the overview, but if you want to read it all, here is the link from the Chicagobama Sun Times.

Apparently a security guard at the University of Chicago Hospital named Donquila Butler had his eye on a 19 year old female co-worker. She wouldn’t really have anything to do with him but he was definitely after her. So he derived a planned.

He put on a ski mask and grabbed her by the throat threatening her life. Then he ran off, and responded to the security call that followed, as if to save the day. It would have a been a good plan if it wasn’t such a bad plan… Unfortunately for Donny boy she recognized him as the guy in the ski mask and he was arrested. I’m guessing he didn’t even bother to change his clothes. Maybe that would have worked. Needless to say there was nothing he could do to earn her love.

Makes me think of God. No, not the ski mask thing, the whole “you can’t earn God’s love” thing. He is love. He has loved you from the beginning of time. He has loved you from before you were even dreamed of by your parents. He has loved you from birth, and He will love you till death. He will love you after you die and enter eternity. He will rejoice if that eternity is in Heaven with Him and mourn if it is eternity in Hell.

The point is, God is madly in love with you, regardless of your actions, your good deeds or your lousy sins. The coolest part is His love is in no way a response to the things you do! He loves you unconditionally. In fact, His love for you runs so deep He came in human form (Jesus) and died for you just so you could be in relationship with Him.

So nothing you try to pull will make God love you more or less. He is however seeking a personal relationship with you! All that takes is realizing that the death Jesus died to forgive your sins is all you will ever need to connect you with God and ensure you of eternal life. Pray for forgiveness, trust in Jesus, and follow Him, worshiping and pursuing Him alone! Then go live your NEW LIFE as God intended, experiencing His love in FULL!!! (Leave the ski mask at home…)

“For 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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” ~John 3:16-21

“Jesus said to him (Thomas) ‘I Am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’ ” ~John 14:6

Divorcing God

On my way home from the concert Sunday night, all by myself, I decided to cut the music off and just pray; just spend some time with God.  I got to thinking something that had never crossed my mind before.

If my relationship with God was a marriage, I’m pretty sure we would be divorced.  I’m also pretty sure I’m not alone in this thought.  No marriage survives without good communication, trust, love, concern, selflessness, etc.  I know I suck at all those things and more when it comes to my relationship with God.

The jaw-dropping truth is that although I deserve to have God walk out on our relationship, He continues to love and pursue me.  Although I may turn my back on Him at times, doubt Him, question Him, fail Him and ignore Him, He will never fail me and will never leave me alone.  He will always desire relationship with me.  He was even faithful enough to die for me (AND YOU) so that He could redeem me.  I’ll never understand why, because I’m such a flawed creature, but I will cherish that fact for the rest of eternity.

“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples.  For GREAT is His love toward us, and the FAITHFULNESS of the Lord endures FOREVER.  Praise the Lord!” ~Psalm 117

Stand Firm

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Jeremiah 1. For the sake of length (or lack thereof…) I’m only going to throw part of it up here. I encourage you to read it all on your own.

“Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ Then I said, Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth. But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,’ declares the Lord.” ~Jeremiah 1:4-8

” ‘Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,’ declares the Lord.” ~vs. 17-19

This passage has so much to it, but my favorite part is how God is trying to convince Jeremiah that He’s got his back. He has charged him with a crazy job, and is giving him His word that whatever happens, he has God on his side. Jeremiah’s call was to go into the land of God’s people as one man, telling them how evil and dysfunctional they are, and how God is sending a new nation to wipe them out. Plus, he had to do it as a pretty young guy, which I’m sure lost him a lot of credibility. He was sent to stand up in the middle of a religious, yet completely lost, screwed up bunch of people who thought they were cool with God, and tell them what God really thought about them.

Not so different from our call. We are here in America, a nation called “Christian” but anything but it. Let’s face it, we are a jacked up culture that has no clue who Jesus is, largely because of a religious system that has added to and taken away from His Gospel. Our mission is to stand up in the middle of a religious and anti-religious nation and tell them the truth about Jesus, through action and word.

This is a huge order, but remembering God’s message to Jeremiah: He is with YOU in your call. He’s got all the strength and endurance YOU will need. No matter what happens, stand firm, because HE is behind YOU.

When words become weak

This is one of my favorite commercials of all time…

It makes me think about us as Christians. One of my favorite quotes of all time (don’t know who said it though) is “Your actions are speaking so loudly I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”

This tends to be the case a lot of times with those who follow Jesus, myself at the forefront. Our verbal message is that of repentance, restoration and relationship, but often our struggles with sin override our words. For example:

• how many times has our message of service been overridden because we drove by the guy on the side of the road or in the parking lot because we don’t have time, or we assume he’s scamming people?
• how many times have we neglected to show someone the love they need and hunger for?
• how many times have we canceled out our ‘everyone is welcome’ message by shunning or judging someone different?
• how many, because of lack of patience and determination to always get ahead, have we neglected to put in play Jesus’ “put others first” mentality?
• how many times have we failed to sacrifice for the sake of others because we don’t have enough faith to let go?
• how many times have we blacked out Jesus because we are so focused on ourselves?

Are your actions having a negative affect on the message of your faith this week? Are you canceling out Jesus via your lifestyle rather than pointing people to Him? Just something to think about.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” -2 Corinthians 5:20

Felipe the Target

Back when I cooked at Christo’s Italian Restaurant in Albemarle, I was the only white guy in the kitchen.  I was affectionately referred to as “Felipe the Cracker” by the other guys.  There were two Greeks, one Frenchman and one guy from Mexico (who later bought my electric guitar).  Good times.

The previous story is irrelevant, except for the fact that I titled this post Felipe the Target which is one word different from Felipe the Cracker, and I felt you needed a little background.

I felt like a target after getting home from the beach a week ago.  Umpteen letters from Lawyers in the area we had the accident beat us home, offering legal services and genuine help and concern.  It is a no brainer that they don’t give a rip about me, they just see an opportunity to make money.  They see fresh meet.  I felt like vultures scooping in on me after tripping up in the desert.

Sometimes Christians come off this very same way: disingenuous, impersonal, unconcerned about the person, and convert-driven.  Believe it or not, people outside of Christianity (“non-believers,” “outsiders,” etc-whatever title you want to give) do not have a very good opinion of Christians.  In fact, based on the research from “unChristian,” a book from the Barna Research Group I’ve been reading, 49% of young outsiders ages 16-29 have a bad impression of Evangelicals.  48% have a neutral opinion and only 3% have a good opinion.

The book goes on to dissect the 6 major reasons they think this about us, one of which is a convert-driven mentality.  They feel Christians don’t really care about them, don’t view them as people, and are only concerned about whether or not they become a Christian.  The research shows only 1/3 of the people in this age range believe Christians really care about them.  Does that trouble anybody else like it does me?

The solution?  We have to make a change in the way we relate to other people.  Christians have to stop bypassing people who aren’t Christians, and start loving on them as Christ did.  We have to start building genuine relationships with people.  Through these relationships people will see the love of Christ in us and might actually want a part of it because we genuinely care for them and they see that!  Why should anyone trust the Jesus you believe in if they don’t know anything about Him or you!?

Let’s just take it all the way down to the Golden Rule:  Treat other people like you want them to be treated.  Do you want outsiders to the faith to treat you like a real person?  Would you like to feel like a target when they are around, feeling like they have some great big agenda for knowing you?  Would you like them to dissociate with you when they find out they can’t “convert” you away from Jesus?

It works the same both ways.  We have the prime example in Jesus.  He just loved people, regardless of their history, their present situation, the baggage, their views, their whatever.  He never swooped down for a convert-kill.  He transformed lives by being genuine and through His love.  I think it is safe for me to speak on His behalf and say “Go and do the same.”

hangin with north

Jenn and I went to North Albemarle Baptist tonight to teach the students their in Torrey and Tiffany’s absence. I know I’m no Torrey, but we had fun.

We just had a round table discussion and discussed the story of the Good Samaritan and serving others.  You can find this story in Luke 10:25-37.  My favorite things about this story:

• Samaritans and Jews hated each other, but the Samaritan chose to serve his enemy.  For a Jew to call someone a Samaritan would be like me dropping the F-bomb on you.
• Jesus wasn’t just teaching, “Love your neighbor” in this example, He was saying “Love everyone you come in contact with.  Love your neighbor even if he happens to be your worst enemy.
• Jesus was a Jew, but He was using this story to make the Samaritans look good, and he was telling it to Jews!
• In the previous chapter the Samaritans rejected Jesus (Luke 9:51-56) but He didn’t hold a grudge
• It reminds me to get over myself and focus, love on, and serve others!

First Fruits

I plucked the first fruits of my garden today, 4 cucumbers and 1 squash. I gotta say I really enjoy planting stuff and watching it grow. It gives a cool sense of accomplishment. My garden is getting to the point that it’s going to start throwing out veggies and fruits all over the place, and I’m pretty excited about that. Thought I’d share the first few with you via my blog. If you came over in person you could help us eat them, but, just call first.

What better opportunity to talk about something spiritual than when talking about our first fruits? It makes me think of the festival of first fruits in Leviticus 24:9-14. The Israelites were to give God (through wave offerings and sacrifices) the first of their harvest, in honor of Him and in complete acknowledgement that everything they had was completely because of God’s love, favor, and hand on them.

God doesn’t call us to burn things on altars anymore (or I guess I would have taken a lighter to my cukes), but I think He still wants our first fruits. Our fruits are our time, our talents, and our treasure. He doesn’t need any of these. He’s God! He does deserve to have us using these things to honor and glorify Him. I’m reminded to put my best foot forward and give God my all, serving Him with everything I have, even if (and especially if) it takes sacrifice on my behalf. What better way is there to show God I love Him than to sacrifice for Him, who sacrificed His life for me?

What first fruits could we all be dedicating to God?

Gonna make it, gonna make it! pt.2

First off, if you didn’t read the Scripture in the previous post, it would be best to go back and read over Paul’s words to the Church in Rome.

Second, when I read this passage a couple of days ago, I thought of 2 things.

1. The 3 Amigos (no, I’m not ok in the head, and neither am I…)
2. 704, Stanly County’s Youth Center

 If you’ve never seen The Three Amigos, it’s a classic, rather senseless comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase: one of the greatest combos of comic genius ever on screen.  There’s this one scene where Steve Martin is in a jail cell, chained up to this contraption with weights.  The only way to get out is to pull the chains which lifted the weights higher and higher until he was close enough to pull the release lever. 

He tries and tries and tries and just can’t make it.  He chants “gonna make it!” with each step.  Finally, after a ton of hard work, pain and agony, he reaches the lever, only to be pulled all the way back again.  He eventually gets back to the lever, pulls it, releases the weights, and is free!  You should watch it sometime.

The passage also makes me think of 704.  For years and years (at least since I was in high school) people have wanted a youth center in Stanly County, but for whatever reasons, it just hasn’t happened yet.  When reading Romans 1 I couldn’t quit thinking of the correlation between Paul desperate for Rome and myself and others desperate for a youth center:

• vs 8, we are thankful for this generation and everything that comes with it
• vs 9, only God knows how much we talk about establishing a youth center for these students
• vs 10, we pray for these students all the time and for 704 to happen 
• vs 11, we can’t wait to meet the students who will come to 704, and show them how important they are to us and to God
• vs 12, we can’t wait to teach them about life and learn a lot about life from them
• vs 13, we want them to know how hard we are trying to bring 704 to these students and that we value them
• vs 14, we owe it to them and we owe it to God!
• vs 15, we are pumped about making 704 happen and even more pumped about showing these students what the love of Christ really is!
• vs 16 & 17, we aren’t ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus either and know it CAN and WILL change a ton of teenager’s lives!

So, is 704 gonna make it? gonna make it!  NO DOUBT IN OUR MINDS!!!  It will continue to take a lot of work, with a lot of ups and downs.  However, we are NOT pulling the chains by ourselves, and it isn’t just us who wants to show the students of Stanly County just how loved and important they are:  God is leading the charge!

Gonna make it, gonna make it! pt.1

“…to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.  For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the Gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.  For I long to see you that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.  I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.  I am under obligation both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.  So, for my part, I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome.  For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written (Hab 2:4), ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’”

-Romans 1:7-17

Make sure you read this awesome passage of Scripture and come back later when we discuss it! 

snack-tastic!

If you have turned on a TV in the past year you have undoubtedly seen an advertisement for a snack sandwich from one of our many great cholesterol-friendly fast food joints.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it all started with KFC and their 99 cent chicken snacker.  After that came the competition with chicken wraps at McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s, and boosted dollar menus everywhere!  KFC even has like 5 or 6 different snackers now, one of which is fish.  I too found that a bit nebulous from Kentucky Fried CHICKEN, but, oh well.

What makes me laugh is watching the commercials.  Let’s break them down, shall we?

• semi-hungry person between meal
• 99 cent snack advertised
• semi-hungry person receives snack with much glee!
• semi-hungry person holds very tiny snack in such a way to make it look like a 2 lb steak burger
• semi-hungry person takes extremely over-exaggerated bites followed by chewing drenched in hyperbole
• semi-hungry person is no longer semi-hungry: he/she is very happy and satisfied

They do their advertising to make you think you get some great big snack, but if you order one it comes out looking like it was made for Oompa Loompas.  They clearly don’t advertise what they sell (but who does in life?)

If anybody better be selling what they advertise is should be Christians.  (‘Selling’ and ‘advertising’ are simply metaphors here.  Don’t start throwing Jesus clearing the Temple Scripture at me or anything…)  We are advertising the One true God, and the story of how He saved all humanity from death by becoming human and dying Himself.  2 Corinthians 5:20 says: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, through God were making an appeal through us.”  We represent Jesus once we receive His payment of our debt. 

Jesus expects us to advertise AND sell love, genuineness, kindness, and service.  The question though is do we do a better job advertising than selling?  If we put up a lot of signs about love, and do a lot of teaching about service, and where lots of Christian t-shirts to let people know who we are, but don’t put these into action, we have reduced ourselves to master billboard designers with our sales charts in the tank.  Have we reduced ourselves to noisy gongs and clanging cymbals? (1 Cor. 13)

What Christ taught He ALWAYS lived.  We must do a better job mirroring Him. 

So, are we being the love we sing about?  Are we reaching out with our hands and feet, or do we let our Jesus fish do the talking?  Does what we are advertising match what we are selling?

“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  -John 3:21