Showing posts with label Life Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Journal. Show all posts

Membership at Gateway - Something Different

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Friday, February 10, 2012 at 11:49 AM

February is Membership Awareness Month at Gateway, when we invite our members to reaffirm their membership. We also offer Discovering Gateway the last two Sundays of this month as our membership class for those who want to explore what it means to be a member here.


We've been clear over the last few years that membership at Gateway is about more than joining an organization to get your name on a roll somewhere. Membership is the intentional decision to partner with Gateway on your journey of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.


I had those thoughts in the back of my mind as I have been reading passages from Leviticus the last several days as part of our Life Journal Bible reading plan. Honestly, Leviticus has not typically been my favorite book of the Bible to read, but this year God seems to be opening me to all kinds of new insights as I'm reading. He's been challenging me to go deeper and learn more about what He's saying here. And one passage stands out to me:
"'For I am the LORD your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy....'" (Leviticus 11:44 NLT)
The word "consecrate" is translated in some versions as "sanctify." Regardless of the word, the Hebrew word behind it means that we are set ourselves apart, with the idea being that we are setting ourselves apart for faithfulness and obedience to God. The word "holy" carries much the same meaning - to be "different" or "separate."


The Hebrews understood God to be holy, "wholly other," present and active in all of life but not the same as all that is around us. This was in contrast to many religions of that time that embraced what we would call Pantheism, that God is all that we see. In other words, God and creation are inseparable - God is in all things and a part of all things. They are inseparable. Much of New Age and Eastern thought has pantheistic elements to it.


Hebrew/Christian thought understands God to have created all things, to be active in every part of life and living, but God is still "wholly other," different, apart, from His creation, including you and me. Our "religious" goal is not to affirm the god within us (for we do not believe there is a spark of God in all people), or reunite with the cosmos or universe. We are created in God's image, and when we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, his Spirit comes to live within us, but we are not God or a god.


This is a deeper topic than I can unpack in a few paragraphs, but it's implications for the Christ follower and for the Member of Gateway are profound. God calls you and me, who have committed our lives to following Jesus, to be holy. He invites all to be holy, but holiness is not the product of our hard work or effort. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives, to help us become more and more like Jesus and, likewise, to become more and more like the human beings God created us to be in the beginning (Genesis 1-2) where we experienced open, unhindered relationship with God all the time. Yet, being holy really is very different from the way the world around us lives. And it does require our cooperation.


God is the ultimate definition of holy because God is totally and completely different from anything else in all of creation. The Sabbath is called holy because it is to be a different day from the other six days of the week. The Temple was holy because it was different from all other buildings and used for special and unique purposes. And we are called to be holy, unlike anything and anyone else around us. The goal is not to fit in and be a part of the crowd. 


The early Christians understood that their lives were to be different and separate from the lives of others around them. In fact, they were so different that they were dismissed by others or even attacked and sometimes even martyred for their differentness, their holiness. We, on the other hand, afraid of being ostracized, of being left out, of not being a part of the crowd or even the "in-crowd," find it all too easy to try to be like the world around us. We adopt the standards and practices of those around us because we do not want to seem too radical or different. 


Kids battle it in school all the time, as they feel the pressure to fit in and conform or be left out. But adults battle it no less, though it doesn't seem as obvious when we are in the midst of trying to fit in. I know I battle it when I feel the desire to do things for which people will like me. We give in to office or neighborhood gossip; we prefer to get even when we have been wronged, versus offering forgiveness and seeking reconciliation; instead of loving God and people and using things, we love things and use God and people. In fact, we will even argue that if we are too different, no one will hear or see our message. But there's a difference between being in the world and being of the world, and our calling is to be in it but not of it. (See John 15:19, John 17:13-19, James 1:27, 1 John 2:15, James 4:4)


Membership at Gateway is the decision to partner with Gateway to become more and more like Jesus, and that means becoming more and more different from the world around us (holy). It's not that the world, God's creation, is inherently evil and to be avoided at all costs. It's not a call to retreat into Christian enclaves and hide out. It is to be who we are, where we are, and allow our differences to be seen. It's choosing to let God use us to influence our world, rather than letting our world influence us. Being different will sometimes bring ridicule, but more often it will bring curiosity. I remember looking at committed Christ followers before I had fully committed my life to Christ and wondering what it was that they had that I didn't. I was curious and eventually sought them out to learn more, and I eventually discovered I wanted that difference in my life, too, regardless of the cost.


Being different or holy doesn't mean adopting Amish practices or being weird for weird's sake. It's choosing to be salt and light in our world. It's choosing to adopt practices and life patterns that don't always fit the world's agenda, but we have come to understand their importance in helping us be in the world but not of the world. 


Leviticus says being holy is important for the people of God; so important, in fact, that they ordered their whole lives around practices and beliefs that distinguished them from every other people or nation. Membership at Gateway means to value the journey of becoming more and more like Jesus, and your partnership with Gateway is an intentional choice on your part to seek this. Quite frankly, it's the decision to be intentional about being holy with others, regardless of what the world around us thinks or expects. 


It doesn't mean Gateway is responsible for your journey - you are! But Gateway will partner with you, offer you opportunities to seek Christ and help you and me understand what that looks like. It offers you a community of faith to travel with in the pursuit of this goal. After all, God's teachings in Leviticus were spoken not to individuals but to the whole family of God. And the early church never saw itself as lone rangers but as people of faith walking together, living alongside each other, seeking to be holy even as God is holy, by the power of God's Holy Spirit.


Membership at Gateway isn't even about what's in it for me, but how can I join in what God is doing in through this church to help me on my journey to be salt and light, to be in the world but not of it, to be holy even as God is holy. It is to be different, for the sake of God and His Kingdom!

The Reality of Unintentional Sins

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 11:39 AM

I admit that reading in Leviticus isn't always at the top of my list. Leviticus and Numbers, the third and fourth books of the Bible, can seem long, repetitive and even irrelevant. But what I have discovered is that sometimes we have to pull back from the details of a particular passage to see the big picture and the accumulated weight of all that is being said.


That's what helped me this morning as I was reading my Life Journal readings of Leviticus 4-6. The sub-headings in my Bible title sections with things like, "Procedures for the Sin Offering" and "Sins Requiring a Sin Offering." Who wants to read about sins and the incredible amount of detail spelled out for these offerings, often repeated multiple times?


But then I back up and look at the bigger picture, and several things come into focus. First, these procedures for sin offerings all revolve around unintentional sins: "'If any of the common people sin by violating one of the LORD's commands, but they don't realize it, they are still guilty.'" (Leviticus 4:27) 


Think about that for a moment. We often think of a sin as intentionally doing something that goes against God's laws. But here God tells us we can sin unintentionally, but it is still a sin. It still hurts our relationship with Him, and it often hurts others and/or ourselves. Ignorance doesn't diminish the effects.


If we understand this and take it seriously, one of our prayers needs to be, "God, show me where I have sinned and did not even realize it." That's not necessarily a fun prayer, but if we're serious about our spiritual journey, this passage shows us this needs to be a part of our prayer life. We need to become aware of our unintentional sins, in order to be forgiven, but more importantly, so we can discern how to stop doing them.


The second thing I notice in this section is that the value of the offering for someone who sins unintentionally becomes higher the more prominent their leadership is in the community of faith. The high priests sacrifice for an unintentional sin is a young bull with no defects (4:4). The sacrifice for the a sin by the entire community of faith is also a young bull (4:13). The sacrifice for one of Israel's leaders is a male goat with no defects (4:23). The sacrifice for the "common people" is a female goat with no defects or a female sheep with no defects (4:28, 32).  However, if a person cannot afford a goat or sheep, two turtledoves or two young pigeons can be substituted (5:7), or if even that is too much, two quarts of choice flour (5:11) can be offered as sacrifices.


There is always a cost for redemption, and generally, it is the blood of a sacrifice. But the varying levels of sacrifice also recognize that because a high priest has so much greater visible leadership, his sin, though perhaps not seeming any worse than any others, affects more people and the witness of the faith. An Israelite leader's sin affects more people. 


In God's eyes, sin is sin, but the effects of sin vary depending not just on the sin itself, but also on the position of leadership or authority one holds in the community of faith. I remember hearing leadership guru John Maxwell say that the higher we go in leadership in the Christian community and the church, the fewer options we have. Our witness is more visible, and our failures affect more people, even when they are unintentional. So, we have to be more careful, for the sake of our witness to Jesus Christ. The Bible shows that leaders are held to a higher standard.


Finally, I see in this passage that not only must we seek to discover our sins and seek forgiveness for them, but we need to make restitution where possible, plus some more. Leviticus 5:16 (NLT): "'You must make restitution for the sacred property you have harmed by paying for the loss, plus an additional 20 percent.'" (also 6:4-5)


Where we have cost another something through our sins, even unintentionally, it's not enough to seek forgiveness. God calls us to offer restitution above and beyond the loss that another suffered because of our sin. Just covering the cost of what was lost doesn't recognize that our sin created other problems for that person, including just having to deal with all this in the first place.


When I zoom out to look at the big picture in this section, it becomes very clear to me that God wants us to often examine our lives for unintentional sins. Even when we didn't mean for it to happen, there is a cost, and we have to pay it. Perhaps the extra restitution is enough of a penalty to encourage us to be proactive in seeking to identify unintentional sins and avoiding them. God takes sin very seriously, because ultimately it brings death and destruction. Even unintentional sins. 

Following Jesus in 2012...and Beyond!

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , | Posted On Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 11:25 AM

As we begin 2012, my greatest hope and aim for you and me is to grow closer to Christ. I am absolutely convinced that he is the way to a purpose-filled abundant life. As I was reading the Life Journal readings this morning (Jan. 5), Jesus gave his invitation to Levi, the tax collector, that he gives to all of us, "'Follow me and be my disciple.'" (Luke 5:27)


I really do want to follow Jesus and be his disciple. But if I'm honest, I also realize there are times when, no matter what I say, I don't really feel like doing what it takes to follow him. Maybe I'm lazy, or tired, or distracted. Maybe I'm a little ashamed of where I'm at in that moment and really don't want to get any closer to Jesus and let him see what I've been doing (though, of course, there really is no hiding from him - but it feels like I can sometimes).


The truth is, if my spiritual journey to follow Jesus is dependent on how I feel, I'm not going very far. No matter how well-intentioned I may be, my feelings are up and down. Some folks are less driven by their feelings than others, but I'm not one of them. And the reality is, even if we're pretty strong in relying on our "thinking" over our "feeling," we all get tripped up here sooner or later.


That's why I understand that there are a couple of necessities to making changes in my behavior, changes in my practices, to help me better follow Jesus. Quite simply, they are time and accountability.


By time, I mean that it takes time to build something new into our lives. Call it a habit or a practice or a discipline or whatever, but it doesn't become an ongoing reality in my life just because I decided this morning or at the start of this new year to begin something new. Whether it's exercise or reading or a spiritual discipline, it takes time to make it a part of us.


And the time period we often see mentioned in the Bible is 40 days. Yesterday's Life Journal reading in Luke 4:2 told about Jesus going into the wilderness for 40 days. We see the number 40 all through the pages of the Bible, including 40 days it rained in the time of Noah (Genesis 7:17), 40 days Moses was on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18), 40 days the spies were in the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:25), 40 days of fasting by Moses and Elijah, 40 days of probation given to the Ninevites after Jonah's warning (Jonah 3:4), and the 40 days Christ remained on the earth after his crucifixion and before his ascension (Acts 1:3). The number 40 is also found in reference to years, as in the period of wandering by the Israelites and several other examples. The number 40 is typically related to a time of testing, probation or being tried. And at the end of that time comes a period or item of blessing.


God works through 40 days, and so my encouragement and my challenge to you is to stay with your discipline, your new practice, etc., for 40 days.


But, it's easy to let up or make an excuse for one day, that becomes two days, that then becomes three days and then a week and before you know it, you're either racked with guilt or you've moved on and chalked it up to one more "resolution" that didn't make it. That's why accountability is so critical. Unless we're accountable to someone else, many of us can come up with plenty of excuses for why we let something slip.


That's one of the reasons why I think Jesus was so specific in one of his statements: "'For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.'" (Matthew 18:20 NLT2, italics added) Why two or three? Why not 8-10? Or more? Does that mean he's not there with me all the time, or that's he's not with my family or our church? Of course he is, but the key here is that when we gather as two or three, we can't hide from each other. Two or three is the ideal setting for accountability. I don't have to talk in a group of 8-10, and certainly not in a group of 20 or more, but when there are only two or three of us, there's no hiding, no holding back, without someone noticing. And that's where accountability occurs - when I can't hide. 


It's why I believe God has led us to make our Life2Life ministry and training so important. And why I believe we need to train one thousand or more of us over three years (we're about six months into that time frame) to grow ourselves and grow our influence for Christ across the Bay Area and around the world! You can click on the link to learn more and sign up for the training or if you are new in the Christian faith, have someone come alongside you and walk with you and help you on this journey.


If we're going to get closer to Christ this year, we have to make some changes in our lives, and that takes time - like 40 days. And we need to have someone alongside us to hold us accountable, and likewise, so we can hold them accountable, too. We're in this together! See what God can do in you and through you this year!

Loving + Learning = Living!

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , | Posted On Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 8:15 PM

This morning I was reading my Life Journal reading plan reading - Philippians. This may be my favorite book of the entire Bible. It's full of joy! But it also tells us some incredible things about Jesus Christ. In fact, I'll be focusing on some of this in Philippians 2 in my Sunday messages on the Incarnation this month.


But this morning I found something else that really caught my attention. I would usually journal this in my Life Journal, but I felt this was something I wanted to write out and share.


"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return." (Philippians 1:9-10 NLT)


Vs. 10 caught my attention first - Paul wants us to understand what really matters. Isn't that what we all want, one way or another? And how do we discover that? Paul tells us in the previous verse/sentence. He points to two things: (1) overflowing love, and (2) growing in knowledge and understanding. It's learning and loving, and loving and learning - back and forth. It's not one or the other - both are the key to living! Loving + Learning = Living!


Love grows out of increasing knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Love grows out of realizing God has loved us unconditionally and sacrificially through Jesus. And as I love more, I want to know even more about Jesus and our Heavenly Father. It's back and forth - loving and learning. 


To me this becomes a picture of what the maturing follower of Christ looks like - both loving and learning. They go hand-in-hand. And the outcome is a life worth living, a life that makes a difference, a life that fulfills God's purpose for him or her. 


Too often in my life I have drifted to one extreme or another. Learning for learning's sake, and developing a faith life that really doesn't make much difference in anyone else's life. In fact, it becomes a very self-serving life. Or serving others, because we're supposed to love our neighbors, but not really understanding why. After a while, I found it became pretty senseless. Doing good so others would notice and in some small way applaud. And once again it became pretty self-serving.


I have been out on both extremes, and neither was very satisfying. What I see here from Paul is that to live the way we were created to live, to live "pure and blameless lives," requires loving and learning. It's the secret to living. Living for the sake of others, because we've spent time learning about Christ and his love for us. It sounds simple, yet at least in my life it's a continual struggle to get the right balance. We really need the Holy Spirit's help on this. I hope and pray you've been doing better than I have - it's definitely worth it!


Loving + Learning = Living!

Membership Update - Growing in my Relationship with Christ (June 2010)

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 3:40 PM

Last month, as I began this monthly column for our Gateway members (and anyone else), I talked about the GUIDE. I said the GUIDE (which is a part of our Membership Covenant) is an acronym that both describes what a "fully devoted follower of Christ" looks like, and lists biblical disciplines and practices that God has given us to help guide us in our spiritual journey in order to become fully devoted. Listed below is the GUIDE:


G - Growing in my relationship with Christ
U - Using spiritual gifts to serve
I - Involved in biblical community
D - Dedicated to reaching others
E - Exercising stewardship


Over the next few Updates I'll be examining each of these in more detail, beginning with the "G," which expands to say, "I will pursue a growing relationship with Christ through scripture, prayer and the spiritual disciplines."


The key word here that often gets lost in understanding and living the Christian life is "relationship." A relationship doesn't just happen - we have to work on it. Growing a relationship with Christ is no different.


Part of our Life Journal reading this past Wednesday (June 9) was Ecclesiastes 12, written by King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. There is a pessimistic, cynical outlook on life through much of Ecclesiastes as Solomon drifted away from God in his later years and wrote this work. But, as he concludes this writing, his last chapter opens with this statement: "Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old..." (12:1, NLT2; italics added)


God drew my eye to this verse and the ones that followed. Solomon tells us not to "forget" our Creator. Then, he proceeds to repeat this by saying, "Remember him (God, the Creator)..." seven more times.  Before it's too late, Solomon says we need to remember our Creator. Why? Because we have a natural tendency to forget!


Practices such as reading our Bible daily, praying, reading spiritual books, meditation, journaling, listening to Christian music, etc., are ways God has given us to "remember" Him. (I think of them as sort of powering a "God Radar" that helps me stay tuned to Him and what He's doing in me and around me.) They are especially helpful in times of trial and adversity, but they really do make a difference all the time. 


Doing these practices isn't meant to be legalistic. Legalism is about checking something off my list as an accomplishment, while relationship is always about investing and giving more. Legalism always leads to the idea that if I do these things God will reward me, and likewise, if I fail to do them, He will punish me. Nothing could be farther from the truth! These practices are fundamental to helping us become more like Christ, and not just to please him.


I'll admit there have been many times in my life when I simply read to "check it off my list." But, God has been showing me that's not His purpose or desire for me...or any of us! He wants our relationship to grow, and He's teaching me to approach scripture and prayer and all the other disciplines as ways to get to know Him better and be influenced by Him. They are ways to help me remember who I am and Whose I am. They keep turning my focus back to Christ instead of on me. They prepare me so that when the Holy Spirit does move in my life, I'm ready to respond and grow.




One thing I've realized is that just as no two relationships on earth are the same, or developed in exactly the same way, so no two relationships with Christ are exactly the same or develop in the same way. However, spending daily time with God and His Word, the Bible, and prayer are almost always a part of the life of a Christ follower who is being grown by God.



We offer the Life Journal as one method of investing time daily with God and His Word. We have journals available for sale or you can go to our website and read and journal online free. I've also recently discovered that there is a free Bible app - YouVersion Holy Bible from LifeChurch.tv - for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android operating systems and more that includes the Life Journal reading plan right on your phone.


There's nothing magic about the Life Journal, but it works for me and for many others in our church family. If it doesn't work for you, find another reading plan or another system. Talk to any of our ministry staff about what they do. Go to a Christian book store or look online. The main thing is to do something, because the easiest thing really is to do nothing. And when we do nothing, our relationship with Christ cannot grow, and, in fact, will shrivel. That's not God's desire, and it isn't mine either! 

Pride and Humility

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , | Posted On Monday, January 18, 2010 at 7:59 AM

In today's Life Journal reading from Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of a Pharisee who exalted all his "holy" habits and actions. He made claims about the sins he had not committed and how he fasted twice a week and tithed a tenth of his income. All very noble...but it seems his biggest reason for doing it was for show. To look good before others.

At the same time a tax collector, whose lifestyle was despised by the Jews, stood before God and humbly declared his sinfulness and sought God's mercy. He was open and honest with God about his struggles, his lifestyle, and his regrets.

In telling this story, Jesus concludes with this: "I tell you, this sinner (referring to the tax collector), not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." (vs. 14)

I have to admit I have found myself in the Pharisees shoes before. Proud of my accomplishments, my position, I may not have bragged about them a lot, but I felt very self-satisfied and was quick to accept the praises of others.

But it seems that the longer I travel this journey, the more I experience God "breaking" me. He shows me how self-seeking my attitude can be. He convicts my heart of pride. And He works very little in my life. In fact, whatever outward accomplishments I gained were all I gained because I sure did not have the applause of heaven nor its power in my life.

These days I'm becoming more and more aware that my talents and abilities - the things that in the past earned me the applause of men - are woefully inadequate for doing real works for God. The more I know, the more I know I don't know. I'm discovering there is really very little that I actually do myself that has eternal significance. Yet, when I feel over my head, when I call out to God for help and rely on Him, He does greater things through me than I ever did on my best day. The more I step aside and offer myself to God, the more He does in and through me. He uses the talents and abilities that He gave me for His purposes, not mine. There's no room for pride - it's all actually very humbling.

I still battle pride. I think my pride is a way I try to compensate for my own insecurities. But, more and more I'm trying to simply trust God and allow Him to do His will in and through me, and then be sure to give Him all the glory for whatever good occurs. Maybe that's why this story from Luke resonates so much with me. I really want to be more like the tax collector than the Pharisee. I want to be humble and trust in God's strength rather than mine. I want Him to get any glory that is due. I know how easy it is for me to fall back into "Pharisee" mode.

I don't know if you battle this same struggle, but my sense from Scriptures is that a lot of us do. On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it's important for me - a white male - to see my proper place in God's plans. It's important for me to not look down on anyone, regardless of their race, place of origin, job, economic status, etc. I have no special place as a white male, as a pastor, as an American, etc. I am who I am simply by the grace of God, and if I do any lasting, meaningful work, it is Christ in me that causes and accomplishes this. To God be the glory!

Neutrality isn't as safe as I thought

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , | Posted On Monday, January 11, 2010 at 7:05 AM

There have been times in my Christian journey when I really didn't want to put myself out. I really didn't want to go the whole way. What Christ was asking of me seemed a little extreme. And so, I admit, I backed off. I didn't do anything to oppose Christ, but I didn't help, either. It seemed to me that neutrality was a safe place.

But then I read in today's Life Journal readings, from Luke 11:23, these words of Jesus: "'Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me.'"

In the verses just before this verse Jesus is talking about Satan. Suddenly, as I read verse 23 I felt convicted. I realized that opposing Jesus is obviously working on Satan's behalf. But in this verse it struck me that doing nothing for Jesus is also working on Satan's behalf. Satan doesn't have to get us to do evil to thwart God's plans - getting us to do nothing is also effective.

Doing nothing isn't helping to build the Kingdom of God. In addition, doing nothing becomes a witness to others, an encouragement to others, to do nothing. Working for the Kingdom requires effort. It causes us many times to take a stand. It's seldom the easiest way to go. If Satan can simply keep me from serving Jesus, from doing good things, then he is accomplishing his purposes.

That's why Jesus said that if we aren't with him, we're opposing him. There is no neutrality in the battle between heaven and hell. Neutrality stands on the side of hell, for Satan is just as pleased with us doing nothing as he is if we actively oppose the Kingdom.

This is a scary thought to me because many times I like to think that I can be neutral about certain issues within the Christian journey. Who or what am I hurting if I take no stand at all? Yet, Jesus tells me taking no stand is a dangerous place to be. What do you think?

Sometimes I "think" too highly of myself

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , | Posted On Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 7:14 AM

Sometimes a single word changes the whole meaning of a sentence. I've found that when I read quickly, I sometimes miss that one word because I already think I know what I'm going to read.

This morning as I was reading my Life Journal reading in Luke 5, a word jumped out at me for the first time. I've read this passage many times, but it never struck me. Maybe you'll just laugh at what I missed, because you've always seen it, but it struck home with me this morning.

Luke 5:31:32 (NLT): "Jesus answered them, 'Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent." (emphasis added)
The word I had missed many times before was "think." Jesus isn't saying that he didn't come for the righteous - he's saying he didn't come for those who "think" they are righteous. Those who think they've got their act together. Those who don't believe they are doing anything wrong. They're the ones who believe Jesus came for everyone else, but certainly not for them because they are righteous - they are living rightly. Or so they think...

The Bible says all have sinned. The Apostle Paul, paraphrasing from Psalm 14, says, "…'No one is righteous - not even one.'" (Romans 3:10) That is, none of us can claim "right-standing" with God based on our own efforts or merits. To claim righteousness is to claim that I'm making no mistakes, I'm doing nothing to hurt my relationship with God. My thoughts and actions are always pure and on track. And Paul says none of us can make this claim. Only God can.

But the Pharisees believed that in keeping the letter of the law, in keeping the appearance of the law (but not the heart of the law) they were righteous. Their pride would be their downfall. Unfortunately, the Pharisees haven't been the only ones whose pride would be their downfall.

In my insecurity, I try to come across better than I am. I shrink from admitting any faults or failings. I have nurtured this belief that by seeking to live this great life, by showing no faults, people will see me as someone special, righteous (though we probably wouldn't use that word). It's how I get people to like me, respect me, look up to me.

But what I'm really doing is trying to compensate for my own shortcomings. And in the process, I "think" I'm righteous, when I really am not. I'm living in pride. And as long as I live that way, Jesus won't break into our lives.

Jesus said, "'God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.'" (Matthew 5:3). He said, "…'I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'" (Matthew 18:3-4; italics added)

At Christmas we celebrated that Jesus was born in the most humble of circumstances - to a peasant couple, in a stable or cave, and visited by outcast shepherds at first. And he will still only enter into our lives when we humbly submit ourselves to him. Jesus came for those who are willing to admit they are sick, but there's little he can do for those who "think" they are righteous, who have no need for him.

This passage really struck me this morning, and then an earlier verse in Luke 5 brought it home: "But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer." (Luke 5:16) Even the Son of God knew his need for God, and often spent time with God. Wow! How much more do I need that? How much more do I need to be humble and admit my sickness, my sinfulness, my pride, my self-centeredness? How much more do I need to spend time with God? Because it's then that the "doctor," the Great Physician, is welcomed into my life to bring healing. And even to bring His righteousness into my life.

By humbly accepting Jesus into my life, and daily recalling (or confessing) all the ways I fail to be in right-standing (righteous) with God on my own, He lets me in on his ticket - He awards me righteousness out of his grace, which I can receive only by faith.

So, to sum it all up, the doctor is in...

My Choices...and Maybe Yours

Posted by Randy | Labels: , | Posted On Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 7:12 PM

It's a new year, and I plan to share some thoughts here throughout each week. Some will come from Life Journal readings. Some will relate to Sunday's message. Some will just be whatever I feel like writing.

I'm really excited about this new series we're beginning on January 3. It's called, "Choices." One thing I've discovered in my life is that I'm confronted by choices every day. Too often my feelings or convenience or concern about what others will think keep me from making the best choice - the choice that honors God and grows my life for His glory.

So, in case you're wondering, this series is definitely for me. I hope it will help you. I believe it will. But I know I need encouragement to make the best choices in my life. We'll see how it goes. I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Today marks the last "official" day of our daily readings in the New Testament for Greater Things.... But, I hope you'll continue reading. After doing this for 31 days, I hope it has begun to become a habit for you. Our Gateway website, under the Life Journal heading, has the daily Scripture readings for New Testament and Old Testament. You can even read online.

I won't be writing everyday, though I will keep doing my daily readings. I do plan to still write a few times a week on the Scripture readings, plus other things. If God has used this to encourage you this month, you might think about bookmarking this or subscribing to it.

I've been amazed all this month with the way God has been using these readings, at least in my life. I keep feeling like God picked all these Scriptures just for us, even though the reading plan was put together a few years ago at a church in Hawaii. For instance, our key Scripture for Greater Things... is John 14:12, where Jesus said: "'I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.'" (italics added) Jesus says the key to doing even greater things is our faith in him.

So, our reading today comes from Mark 7-8, and there's a passage in Mark 8 that sums up all we've been trying to do this past month. Jesus and his disciples have headed north from Galilee, and as they're walking along, Jesus asks them who people think he is. His disciples repeat what they've heard, saying people like the prophets, Elijah or even John the Baptist (who had been executed by King Herod Antipas, Mark 6). But then Jesus gets to the crux of the matter when he asks his followers, "...'But who do you say I am?'..." (8:29, NLT - italics added)

That's really the question, isn't it? Not just who people or disciples in First Century Palestine said Jesus was, but who do we say he is. Who we say, what we believe, makes all the difference in the world. It determines whether we believe what he says, whether we're willing to follow him, no matter what. It determines whether we're a follower in name, or a follower in reality. And Jesus tells us from John 14:12 that who we believe he is, our faith in him, determines how much God can and will use us.

Peter makes the amazing statement that must have been floating around in the minds of at least some of the disciples, but no one had said it yet: "...'You are the Messiah.'" (8:29) The Messiah was the Hebrew term (or Old Testament term) for God's anointed One. It was believed by First Century Jews that someday the Messiah would come, from the line of King David, and he would liberate his people, freeing them from captivity and slavery. Jews today are still looking for the coming of the Messiah, whereas Christians believe he has already come in Jesus Christ. The Greek term for "Messiah" is "Christ." Peter was saying to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the anointed One of God." "Christ" is actually a title, not a proper name. Jesus is the Christ.

The Jews pictured their Christ or Messiah as a warrior-type king who would vanquish their foes and lead them to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel, as in the time of King David, a thousand years earlier. There were certainly prophecies that pointed to the Messiah being a liberator, but there were other prophecies that most Jews had overlooked. As if to say this to his followers when Peter made this statement, Jesus proceeds to tell them what will happen to him - and it wasn't exactly according to the script most of them imagined for the Messiah or Christ. Perhaps this was one reason Jesus wasn't fully understood until after his death and resurrection.

Jesus told that, as the Messiah or Christ, he "...'must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.'" (8:31) I'm certain the disciples didn't really hear what Jesus was saying, because all of this went against everything their faith had taught them about the Messiah. How could their conquering King be killed? The reason the disciples had a hard time at first believing in Jesus' resurrection, even though he told them he would (as we see here), was because this was so far outside their expectations, they couldn't begin to swallow what Jesus was saying.

But Jesus doesn't stop there. He goes on to talk about what it means to be his follower - then and now:

"...'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?'" (8:34-36)

Here is the picture Jesus paints of what it means to follow him, to put our faith in him. It's a radical turning from self to God and others. It's selling ourselves out for Jesus Christ, so that nothing and no one is more important. It's sacrificing everything for him, and receiving eternal life! And it is this kind of life, a life of faith in Jesus fully lived out day-in and day-out, that Jesus says he can work in and through to do even greater things. Every time we fall short of this picture, we diminish what Jesus can do in us and through us. Yet, this goal is so impossible, in and of it self, that it takes the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, living in us to move us in this direction, enabling us to live this radical lifestyle.

The question Jesus confronts all of us with is actually very simple: "Do I really believe you are who you say you are - the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed One of God? Am I willing to redirect my life and actions to align with this belief - to live what I say? Ultimately, this is the question that confronts every one of us. Who do you say Jesus is?

How Much Do I Really Want to Follow Jesus?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Today's reading covers two chapters - Acts 6-7 - telling the story of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith. But, as I read his story, I was also drawn back to Acts 5.

As Acts 5 ends, the apostles are leaving the Jewish high council, called the Sanhedrin, after having been flogged and warned for the second time to stop speaking about Jesus. Acts 5:41 haunted me yesterday: "The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus." (NLT) I had to ask myself if I was willing to "suffer disgrace" for Jesus' sake.

And then I read Acts 6-7, where Stephen, one of the original seven deacons (the Greek word diakanos refers to service or servanthood), is arrested by the religious authorities, based on "lying witnesses." As Stephen stood before the Jewish high council (the third time a Christ follower had come before them in recent days), the writer of Acts, Luke, tells us "...his face became as bright as an angel's." (6:15)

Stephen stood before the council and basically gave them a history lesson, recounting the stories of Abraham, Moses, and David - three of the greatest Hebrews of all time. Then he points out that the Jewish people persecuted God's prophets, and even killed the Messiah (Jesus). The council went ballistic, but Stephen, "full of the Holy Spirit," just gazed off into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at His right hand (7:55).

They took Stephen out and began stoning him. As they began, Stephen's accusers threw their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, whom we'll read more about in a couple of chapters. As they stoned Stephen, and he nears death, from what had to have been a horrific way to die, he prayed, "'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,'" and "'Lord, don't charge them with this sin!'" (7:59-60)

I'm struck by the total abandon by which these apostles and first followers of Jesus counted it joy to be persecuted on his behalf. I'm struck by Stephen's last words - words of faith and forgiveness, much like Jesus' own last words on the cross. And then I think about me. Do I have this kind of faith? Would I stand up for Jesus before an angry group of leaders? Would I be glad that I was suffering for my faith? Would I be willing to die a horrible death for Jesus' sake?

The other part of this is that I recognize that today, in various corners of the world, Christian's are still rejoicing for suffering for Christ's sake. In fact, more people died for Jesus Christ in the 20th Century than the previous 19 combined. And I ask myself - am I that committed? We're fortunate that in this country we don't face that kind of persecution for following Jesus, but then I wonder if that has made me luke warm about my faith. If not much is on the line, how much of a follower am I?

Honestly, I don't have all the answers to this. But as I wrote about Acts 5:41 in my Life Journal yesterday, I wrote this prayer: "Father, continue your work in me. Help me withstand the pain and suffering of faith that I might become more like the apostles, and more and more like Jesus." Having the faith of the apostles means we have to take up our cross and carry it, through suffering and shame and worse. But I believe the joy of the cross outweighs everything else. I believe this - now, can I live it?

The Value of All Scripture

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 12:01 AM

As we finish Luke, chapter 24 tells us the story of Easter and the resurrection. In Jesus' resurrection we discover there is hope for life after death. And, if Jesus can come back from the dead, as he said he would, he can do anything - he's worthy of our faith and trust!

But it also intrigues me that twice in this chapter Jesus points out to his followers that all that happened to him had been prophesied in what we call the Old Testament. To the two men who were walking to the village of Emmaus, the risen Jesus said, "'You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?' Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (vss. 25-27, NLT)

Then, later that evening, after Jesus' two followers had hurried back to the rest of the disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus was suddenly in their midst. They had a hard time believing it was really him, and again he reminded them that all that was happening had been predicted: "…'When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, 'Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.'" (vss. 44-46, NLT)

Jesus is reminding us of something that Paul told to Timothy a few decades later: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT)

All Scripture is inspired and valuable - Paul and Jesus affirmed this. Sometimes we think only the New Testament has much value in reading. After all, parts of the Old Testament are tedious, with all these "begats" and laws and strange poetry. But Jesus went to great lengths to show his followers that Scripture really isn't simply disparate parts, written over a period of hundreds of years, by different authors. It is a connected whole, authored by the Holy Spirit through human writers, telling us of God and His plans and purposes. And those plans and purposes find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus himself. All of Scripture leads to Jesus, one way or another. God can (and does) speak to us through Leviticus and Ruth and Lamentations and Obadiah as well as Luke and Romans and John.

The New Testament is very important, for it tells us about the years Jesus walked here on earth, and about his first followers and their experiences and adventures and revelations from God. But "all scripture is inspired by God and is useful..." This month we're focusing on New Testament readings, but let me challenge you, if you haven't made it a practice of also reading in the Old Testament to find a reading plan that leads you to this rich revelation from God. You can certainly use the Life Journal reading plan that we use at Gateway, but there are many others out there. All Scripture points us to Jesus and the love of God, so let's give God every opportunity to speak.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)