pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: faith


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With and Not For

Do you ever wonder what pleases God? Have you ever considered what truly helps us to grow in our relationship with Him?

Just because I go and occupy a pew for an hour on Sunday morning, does it necessarily mean my faith grows. Just because I go and help serve a meal at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission does it mean that I am loving and serving the needy. Just because I read the Bible does it mean I am growing in my faith. We can do lots FOR God but if it is not WITH God. Herein lies a huge difference.

A fast is not a fast simply because we skip a few meals. That is just a diet. A fast starts to become a fast when we feel the hunger and turn to God to admit our weakness and to seek His strength. When we declare our inability to do it on our own and call out to God, then we are building that relationship with Him. The physical need leads to and reveals our need for spiritual strength as well.

Similarly, when we read or hear the Word proclaimed and we take it in and claim it as our own, then we are making it a part of our lives and growing in our faith. When we sit down with someone at the Mission and share a meal with them, then we are beginning to know and understand the needy and how to make a difference in their lives. When we connect we are seeing through God’s eyes and not our own. Then our relationship with Christ grows as well.

When we choose to be a part of doing things with God instead of simply for God, then that makes a huge difference in our lives. And equally important it makes a difference in the lives of those around and with us. Ever worshipped with that guy who just seems so into it, so plugged into the Spirit? Be that guy. Ever served alongside that lady who seems that she would rather be there that anywhere else in the world? Be that lady. Ever marvel at how Jesus could love the least and the lost as if they were the only one that mattered in the world? Be that follower. Today.


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Shining the Light

 

At the end of the Beatitudes Jesus reminds us that when we share the light and love, we may be insulted, persecuted, and falsely accused. This mirrors what Jesus faced His last few days as he faced the religious leaders, Pilate, and Herod. Jesus chose to endure insult, persecution, and false accusation so that He could walk to Golgatha and bear death on the cross for our sins. In verse 12 He also reminds us why He walked that road – He knew that great is the reward in heaven!
When we chose to share the light and love of Jesus in our world, sometimes we cast that light and love into and upon the darkness that some people live in. And when we cast that light upon the darkness, sometimes people recoil and react. They respond by hurling insults, by falsely accusing, and/or by persecuting. But they have heard and seen the word revealed. The soil may be rocky and the seed will not bear fruit, but they have heard the word.

When we chose to endure the insults… we are also shining a light upon Jesus. They expect a reaction from us and when we make the choice not to engage, we shed more light. Others that do not recoil and react but have now seen the light and heard the word will be drawn both to these and to our non-reaction. This soil is a little more fertile so these seeds may begin to take root. For in being willing to model love and mercy in the face of insults, accusations, and persecution, we are modeling the Jesus that we seek to share with the lost and the broken in our worlds!!


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Asking the Right Question

Micah was a prophet in the old testament. In chapter six God, through Micah, begins by calling the people into account and they respond with a ‘what more can I do?’ attitude. God could just as easily be speaking to us today. Although we do not make animal sacrifices to atone for our sins, we do make what we call ‘sacrifices’ to God. We give Him a whole hour on Sunday morning, maybe two if we go to Sunday school! We give Him a few hours once a month to serve a meal at the mission or to help with a project at church or in the community. And then if we have a twinge of guilt over not doing more for our faith, we shrug and whine out, ‘what more can I do?’ And just like the Israelites, God looks down, gives us a loving smile, and lets us know we have our attitude all wrong.

In verse 7 of Micah 6 the people ask mockingly if God wants the first born of their bodies for the sins of their souls. What a powerful question! Maybe the people were thinking back to Genesis 22 where Abraham goes as far as having his son Isaac bound and upon the altar’s wood – ready to be sacrificed. As Abraham raised the knife, the angel of the Lord intervened. But don’t you think God wishes they (and we) had that much faith in Him?

The attitude that God desires is not for us to offer up our own son or daughter for the sins of our souls. He already did that with His son Jesus. The price for us has already been paid through Jesus’ blood on the cross. But in verse 8 God spells out what He does expects of us: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

And this is a 24/7 request – not an hour on Sunday, a few hours here and there once a month. It is about being in relationship with Christ ALL the time. It is about being in the world and not succumbing to what the world says is important. It is treating our fellow man with justice. It is about extending mercy to those in need. It is about walking humbly and acknowledging that it is God who is in control of our lives. In the end, our question should not be ‘what more can I do?’ but ‘what else CAN I do?’


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Serving and Growing

God calls us out into the world to be His light for the lost. At times we catch a glimpse of what God’s world would look like. In these moments we are truly blessed!

 

Last night we gathered with about 45 youth and a dozen adults. We shared our time with each other and also learned more about God’s love for us. This morning we will go out into the community to be His hands and feet. Caring for others is our method today.

 

Serving in the name of Christ is just one way to share our faith. It is our way today. What will be your way to share Christ today?


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Being a Light in the Darkness

Isaiah 9:2 – “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” And in verse four these words speak out to us: “you have shattered the yoke that burdens them.”

Can you see yourself in these verses? Can you see someone you work with, go to school with, someone you encounter each day? Or it could be a person you meet for the first time ever! At times we all find ourselves on both sides of this reality. The passage and the light it refers to has often been seen as Jesus. But as we extend this passage and its ideas out into the time beyond the Old Testament and beyond Jesus, we are called to take up and be that light.

I want to ask you a question. It is the same type of question I asked the young people at Youth last night.

If you think back over your week, when and how were you the light of Christ to someone in your world?

Their question was actually about taking a risk for their faith. But when we step out and seek to make that difference in our world – one person at a time, one moment at a time (thanks again Keihwan Ryoo!) – we are often taking a risk. But when we do we rest assured that God’s grace always go before and that the Holy Spirit is always with us.

Today, yes – today, we will probably all have an opportunity to be God’s light to someone walking in the darkness. They may be dealing with an illness or there may be some other struggle going on in their life. They may be carrying the heavy weight of past baggage upon their backs. They may just have never seen the true Light. Today we can be that difference. It may be through your prayers, presence, gifts, service, or witness. It might even be a combination of these!!

As we go forth today, may we seek to have the eyes to see and the heart to love those in need. We may not be able to ‘fix’ everything for that person, but we can let them know we care and that God loves them and we can begin to point them towards that light. We can be the beginnings of hope in their life. Through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit we can do much. Good luck fishing today!!

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The Tools in Your Toolbox

In the “New Beginnings” series we have looked a lot at the call to share our faith. Peary developed the idea that once we come to know Christ within, then the journey becomes outward as we seek to serve Christ. Keihwan continued the concept with the idea that our call is to make a difference in our world, one person at a time, one moment at a time. Last Sunday we looked at Jesus being our new BFF. The overall idea was that we so grow in our relationship that Jesus is our best friend and that through this we share Him with those in our worlds.
The primary means through which we can share Jesus are prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. All of these are important to have in our ‘toolbox’ of faith. All of these need to be ready to be used. After all, a dull tool will not cut anything very efficiently. Similarly, a jumbled up and rambling story of faith will not be effective. So… which do you need the most practice at? Or, put another way… If you were presented with an opportunity to share Christ with someone desperately in need and I were to randomly draw one of these five out of a hat and you had to go with that means, which would you really hope I did not draw?

If you are like me, and I believe like most people, you were hoping that ‘witness’ was not the one drawn. So that is the one you and I need to work on, to hone into razor sharpness so that when presented with that opportunity, we can nail it.

The natural means through which most of us share our faith is presence. We try to live out our lives as a loving, caring person. We often back this up through our prayers that we follow up a situation with. Many share their faith through their gifts – be that time volunteering at church, through financial support of the church, as so on. And some are natural witnesses. Some are able to naturally work God and their faith into a conversation as easily as some of us talk about the weather!

But to wrap up, again, it is about being prepared to use whatever tool the opportunity requires. If someone is hungry and you have $5 in your pocket, don’t tell them you will pray for them. That’d be like using a screwdriver to cut down a tree! But if someone needs to hear your faith story at that point in their lives, you better be ready to share it. If they just need you to be there to listen, you better pull up a chair. Practice each of these means and be a willing and faithful servant. The world needs Jesus and we are the ones to bring Him to them.


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All Those in the Middle

“He must become greater; I must become less.” That really is the crux of the matter for us as followers of Christ. How do we come to be able to say that about everyone – that our wife, our kids, our friends, that homeless person – that they get considered before we consider ourselves? To know that as Jesus becomes the Lord of our life, we become less and less?

That’s hard to do! But we see in John 1 an example to follow. John the Baptist drew people out into the wilderness to hear his message of repentance. Lots of people. Many who heard him stepped out into the water to be baptized. Pretty heady stuff! I wonder if I could be so humble. I wonder if I’d drift off into the “Look how well I am doing!” mentality and become self-absorbed. It is hard to keep a humble perspective when we are successful and popular.

Yet in spite of the crowds John continues to proclaim Jesus and continues to point toward Him. John realized his call in life was to draw people toward Jesus. He also knew that as Jesus’ ministry grew his own would decline. “He must become greater; I must become less.” And John was absolutely, 100% happy to say that. And he meant it!

As our faith deepens and the relationship with Christ becomes THE relationship in our life, we too can come to say those words of John – I must become less. As we humbly kneel at the foot of the cross and look up into the loving eyes of Jesus, we ask, “What can I do for you today Lord?” As we enter our worlds today, may we seek to be the lesser – to treat all as somewhere between Christ and ourselves.


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Held to a Higher Standard

Last night at the young men’s Youth Small Group we prepared to study the book “Not a Fan” by discussing the difference between being a fan and being a follower. We talked about what a sports team fan may look like – wears a team jersey, catches the game on TV, reads about his team in the Sunday paper, … and about what the Christian fan might look like – wears a cross, sits in church on Sunday morning, respects/loves others, reads a Bible and/or devotional…

Then we moved into talking about what a follower would look like. How it would be different. If I were a follower of the Vikings instead of just a fan – I would know lots of statistics and facts about the players, I would be reading about who the next coach could/should be, I would be reading lots of blogs about who they should be looking at for the draft, … I would be invested in my team. What would it look like if you were a follower of Team Jesus?

As a follower it does involve things like being in church, reading and stuyding your faith, and treating others well. But isn’t it more than that? Lots of ‘fans’ do these things too. As we talked about the idea of being a follower, the idea that we must move into a relationship with Jesus became a necessity. Sam stated that you just don’t believe in Jesus but come to live for Jesus. Jesus becomes a part of who you are and becomes what makes the decisions you face in life. People come to see Jesus in you and come to see you as a new creation. They see what it means to be a Christian.

I asked the young men if their classmates look at them differently because they are Chritians. Dean told the story of a policeman that saw a lady angry in traffic – she had been cut off and was screaming and shaking her fist at the offending driver. After the officer checked her license and registration he returned them to her. She asked why she had been pulled over. He replied that when he saw her being so upset he also noticed the Jesus fish on her bumper. He had assumed the car was stolen and thought he’d better check it out.

The young men stated that others hold Christians to a higher standard. My reply was, “Shouldn’t they?”


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The Reality of God’s Love

As Christians, is it even possible to be God’s light to everyone we encounter? Can we really extend the love of God to everyone we meet? I know the theortical answer is ‘yes’ but… I even know what the answer SHOULD be, but I also know my reality.

Jesus surely set the example for us and Mother Theresa did an excellent job of loving everyone. Pope Francis probably loves almost everyone he meets too. I am sure there are others close to the ‘perfection’ end of this continuum.

We are all God’s children. We are all loved equally by the Father. Yet to begin this walk toward loving all we encounter, we must first acknowledge our role as a child of God. For all are called, but not all answer. As a Christian we begin this journey first by claiming a personal relationship with Jesus and then cultivating that relationship. As we come to know Him more, we come to love Him more. As we come to love Him more, we come to serve Him more.

And soon we are on that road to loving all we encounter. In my reality, and maybe in yours, there are bumps on the road. There are times when I don’t feel like loving the person God has placed in front of me. There are times when I would rather not be around ‘that’ person. In those times I need to lean more into Christ so that the love of Christ may be shared with another.

We are all children of God. Some people just don’t know it yet. It is our call to bring them to the way, the truth, and the life. To end, a favorite quote: “Share the gospel always; use words when necessary.”