#IHateHashtags!

When was the last time you received a letter?  Not an email, but a real, pen-to-paper letter?  It seems the ability to write carefully, expressing one’s deepest feelings in words that are well thought out, has fallen into disfavor.  People don’t even send real cards on birthdays anymore – they just post greetings on Facebook!  The well-mannered epistle has been replaced by the indiscreet tweet.  How sad.  Can you imagine the apostle Paul expressing his views on church doctrine in 140 characters or less?  Or perhaps the apostle Peter might just post a picture of Jesus on Facebook for you to “like” or not (how dare you pass up the opportunity!)  I am grateful for all of us that the Gospel was introduced to the world in the 1^st century and not the 21^st.

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved so deeply, shared his heart with his fellow believers (and us) when he took the time to pen these words:

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. ² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.  ³ And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. ⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

I didn’t count characters, but John’s beautiful words wouldn’t fit in a single tweet.  They do, however, fit nicely into the heart of a believer, and they encompass everything we need to know to live life as God intended.

John reminds us that sin has no place in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.  Wow!  Does that create guilt in you like it does me?  While I’m no bank robber, or child molester, I’m guilty of allowing sin to creep into my life in other ways, just as offensive to God.  But, all praise to God, Jesus Himself pleads for me before the throne of heaven, reminding the Father that my righteousness is in Him, not in my own failed attempt at sinless living. 

But John is careful to remind us that the sacrifice of Christ isn’t a purely personal gift to be cherished and packed away for our own use, but Jesus’ death for sins is a universal call to repentance and forgiveness.  Your struggle with sin is the same life-stealing cancer that eats at every person in the world, and only Jesus has a cure.  How dare we keep the Gospel to ourselves when people are perishing all around us?  The blood of Christ is not limited by geography or heritage or race and is sufficient to bring cleansing to the souls of mankind wherever it is applied.

John’s words are also meant to help us learn the key to being assured of our place in the Body of Christ.  He says, “We can be sure that we know Him IF we obey His commandments.”   Doubt doesn’t usually haunt the believer who is walking faithfully with Christ.  It is the “follower” who isn’t following who is plagued by insecurity.  Yet John says we should just “live our lives like Jesus did.”  Seems simple enough, right?  Just always subordinate your will to the Father’s.  Always love others, even when they hate you.  Turn your back on sin so you can honor God and bring glory to Him.  Invest your life to help others find peace with God.  Simple, right?  The Holy Spirit inspired John to share that challenge with us because it IS possible, not because it’s impossible.

Perhaps today is a good day to find that old stationery and a nice pen, and jot a note to someone you care about?  Sure, it takes more time than tweeting or FB Messaging, but can you imagine their response when they open that envelope and find your heart there?   I promise it’s worth the time – for both of you.

Jacob

The Secret to Successful Children

While I realize the title might seem a bit immodest at first glance, please don’t assume I’ve got all the answers.  Having just passed the day when we celebrate Fathers, I must admit that every father I have ever known has some deficiencies and many don’t have a clue when it comes to rearing successful children.  How, then, do children become wonderful, successful adults, as have my own children?  Some of it is luck, since they don’t come with specific instructions; some credit may certainly be due to the help from adults other than parents, like supportive grandparents or friends; but most of the credit goes to teaching children the two basic principles found in the heart of our Heavenly Father.  What are those two principles, you ask?  Ahh…THAT is the secret to successful children!

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.   Romans 5:8

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?   Since He did not spare even his own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?   Romans 8:31-32

The first and greatest lesson our kids need to learn is that God loves them completely and will do anything for them.  His love for us is the picture of what we like to call “unconditional love” – that genuine, accepting, sacrificing love each of us WISHES we demonstrated to our children, but which usually devolves into the more traditional “if you do this for me, I’ll do this for you” kind of parenting.  God says (and we must echo this to our children) “I love you; I’ll provide for you; I’ll pay any price to see that your life is filled with blessing.”  And then He did it by offering Jesus to keep His promise.  Not because we’ve EARNED His love, but because He loves us completely.  How do we prove to our children we’re not just saying the words?  It’s not always easy, but stay the course.

And lest you find yourself feeling pretty good about expressing your love at this point, the Second Principle may be the most difficult for us to understand and pass along to our children, but it, too, is based on unconditional love.  It is this: Life is filled with choices and consequences. 

“…if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God…But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments…The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do…”   Deuteronomy 28:1-2; 15-20

The pages of Scripture are filled with decisions that create undesirable consequences.  Actions that produce pain and loss.  Proverbs overflows with lessons for parents who fail to allow painful outcomes when wrong decisions are made by their children.  Is it any big deal when your child fails to prepare a project and you step in and save them through your efforts?  Yes, it is.  While you might believe you’re fulfilling Principle One by sacrificing for them, you’re defying Principle Two by negating the consequences of their choices.

I’m confident that it’s not easy for God to watch a person self-destruct in life – to watch someone He loves deeply do everything wrong, even to the point of rejecting Him and spending eternity suffering because of it.  But the pain is supposed to act as a deterrent; the suffering is designed to cause a person to want something different.  Saving our kids from suffering the pain of consequences isn’t the same as patching and kissing their skinned knees.  The latter is kind and loving; the former is selfish and short-sighted.

As a parent, I was more consistent teaching Principle Two than always demonstrating my unconditional love.  But since both Principles are paired together somehow in the heart of our Omniscient, Loving God, it seems my children learned them both – not by luck, as I stated earlier, but because God is faithful.  I know that because He’s still teaching me.

Jacob

Be the Cake, Not the Recipe!

Can we agree that most Christians KNOW a lot more about Jesus, about faith, and about the Bible than they ever really put to use?  We followers of Christ have gone to witnessing seminars, sat through Bible classes, and we’ve listened to the great Bible teachers of our day on the radio and television, and yet how much of what we’ve learned are we actually using?  I’m not sure what my next door neighbor’s name is, let alone whether or not he knows Jesus.  I can’t recall the last person I personally led to the Lord outside of the church building.  And I’m confident that I spend more time on Facebook than I do in the Word.  Are we convicted yet?!

This all brings to mind the experience of leafing through a magazine and stopping to gaze at an amazing photo of what MUST be a delicious dessert – pies and cakes usually catch my eye.  I look at the image, I consider what it must taste like, and will often comment, “Honey, we have to make this!  I’ll bet this would be SO good!”  I follow that exclamation by glancing down through the recipe, noting that there is nothing too difficult about it, and making a mental image of what my taste buds will surely experience when we make it and I put that first bite in my mouth.  Then, I do what most of us do.  I flip through the rest of the magazine, close it, and pick up the TV remote.  Perhaps I’ll tear out the recipe, but usually I just let that potentially-wonderful dessert remain on the page, rather than make it a reality to be savored.

We tend to do the same with what we know about Jesus and our faith.  But the Bible says things like this:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?...¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden…¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.   Matthew 5:13-16

(Jesus said) “…lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”  John 4:35

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?...If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,  and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead…Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.   James 2:14-18

We read the pages of Scripture and we’re fascinated by the truths related to being empowered by the Spirit, or the promise of Heaven, or the joys of knowing Jesus, and then we close the Bible and pick up the TV remote, just like before.  When does faith become action?  When do we start flavoring and preserving as “salt” in our communities?  When do we begin to be a part of the harvest that God has ordained to occur?  God is moving to prepare hearts and minds to be His – He needs US to give the world a taste of who He is! 

King David wrote, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”  (Psalm 34:8)  Recipes are great, but it’s the taste that makes all the difference.  When others can “taste” how good God is; when they can sample what it means to be a confident believer in an unsure age; when they can dine on the joys of following Christ; THEN we will have made a difference in our world and shared in the kingdom work.  It’s time to be the cake and not just the recipe. 

Jacob

Promises and Pinky Swears

Do you remember that as a kid, that you’d share some amazing story with a friend, and when confronted by their doubting looks, you could simply say, “Cross my heart”, perform the aforementioned symbolic act, and all doubt disappeared?  After all, who but a truth-teller would ever risk saying, “cross my heart and hope to die”?  Promises were equally binding as a kid IF each party was willing to agree to a “Pinky Swear”.  That simple act (with a gruesome backstory) was intended to cement for perpetuity whatever deal had been struck.  Children devise such actions because trust is critical to functioning in life.  We are often faced with decisions about which we may not be SURE, but about which we must be confident.   Even kids know that.

Yet as an adult, I can’t remember the last time I crossed my heart or made a pinky promise.  Our world constantly confronts us with important and perhaps life-changing information, but in this age of the internet and fake news, how can we be sure that what we hear is really true?  We have been led to believe that even reliable sources may intend to mislead us, and if experience has taught us anything, it is that “people lie.”  Why has truth become such a rare commodity and who can we trust to be honest with us in every circumstance? 

Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, ² in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. ³ In His own time He has revealed His message in the proclamation that I was entrusted with by the command of God our Savior.  Titus 1:1-3

The simplest, safest answer to the question “Who can we trust?” is God alone.  That makes our lives fairly complicated, because He rarely (OK, maybe never) speaks directly and audibly to me.  But Paul, in writing this note to Titus, gives us some guidelines for trusting OTHERS that I hope you’ll apply to those who supposedly speak truth into your life. 

·         There are some who have been “entrusted by God” to share truth.  We can believe them, once we identify them.  Treasure these folks in your life. 

·         Those who share, offer truth to “build up the faith” of those who follow God.  Is what you’re hearing building up your faith?  If not, don’t trust it!

·         Whatever you’re hearing, IF it is truth, it will “lead to godliness”.  If what you’re hearing is leading you AWAY from godliness, cover your ears!

·         The ONE TRUTH that matters, is that THIS life is all about preparing us for ETERNAL life, promised to us by a God who cannot lie.  If we listen through the filter of eternity, it makes it a lot easier to determine what is true and whose promises we can believe.

In a world filled with the overwhelming noise of lies, we even hear those who would deny the truth of Jesus, and those lies seem to attack every aspect of who He is.  Was He really born of a virgin?  Was He really dead on the cross?  Did He really come back to life as a sign that we will, too?  Did He really say that HE is the ONLY way to find forgiveness from a Holy God?  Is He really coming back again to receive those who believe and judge those who don’t?  The truth is, YES, YES, YES, YES, and YES.  Can you believe me?  If it helps, I could say “Cross my heart”, but God already did that. 

Jacob

Zombie Apocalypse or Alien Invasion?

How do you think it will all end?  If you watch much television or go to the movies, you’ve been led to believe the world as we know it will end in submission to flesh-eating zombies or that we’ll be overrun by spider-like creatures from some distant planet.  This trend isn’t new at all.  I watched the same stuff growing up MANY years ago and now I’m watching remakes of some of those classics.  But why are we so obsessed with worrying about how our world will come to an end?  Don’t we have enough to worry about with terrorism and hunger and hate?  Why do we need to add all these other potential villains to our list of worries? 

I have a theory.  I believe we’re afraid to face the personal, individual truth about the “end of life, as we know it.”  We won’t have our brains sucked out by swarming zombies, nor by other-worldly cockroaches.  Instead, the vast majority of us will age quietly, having our hair turn from brown to gray to white, and find that one day, our body just can’t go any further.  We will breathe our last, hopefully in the presence of someone who loves us, and then slip off into whatever comes next.  But if you don’t know what comes next, that IS scary!

I am in complete agreement that what WILL happen to us isn’t nearly as cinematically appealing as some apocalyptic conundrum.  But it is real and it WILL happen that way for most of us.  The writer of Hebrews says,

…it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment…  Hebrews 9:27

Frankly, it’s that “after this, judgment” that scares the devil out of people (if only it could!)  None of us wants to die, and certainly no one wishes to face an uncertain future, but isn’t facing reality eternally better than creating a fantasy world of worry?  The God who made us didn’t intend for us to have to make up stories about how the world will end.  He already wrote the last chapter:

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.   Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.   But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.   2 Peter 3:10-13

Whatever you do, don’t miss that part that says everything on earth “will be found to deserve judgment.”  That’s you and me.  And anyone who might still be here when the real apocalypse comes.  Since it’s likely my judgment will come quicker than what Peter described, I’d better be ready for it!  And be warned – there is no bug-out-bag or survival shelter than will make one bit of difference when YOUR time comes.  What WILL make a difference is if you pay attention to the verse that follows the Hebrews passage above:

 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.  Hebrews 9:28

Facing the “end of life, as we know it” really isn’t all that bad, when you know what comes next.  There are no surprises with God, only mysteries.  In this edition, we find out that Jesus has been waiting to return for those who have been waiting for Him.  There’s nothing scary about that – as long as you’re prepared! 

Ready to bug out when Jesus calls,

Jacob