Victory Playlist

When my wife was going through her cancer battle several years ago, we put together a playlist of songs to listen to every time we made the 30-minute trip to the cancer treatment center - it helped both of us get in the right frame of mind of faith and hopefulness on the way to whatever treatments she was going to have to endure that day. Now that I'm going down a similar road, we've come up with a playlist for me! Here it is on Spotify:

Hollow Grave

Let my soul arise
Let my heart awake
Let these empty lungs overflow with praise
I found all the life I need in a hollow grave 

It's only by the blood
Only by Your grace
All I see is love where nobody lays
I found all the life I need in a hollow grave

 

Isn't it amazing that through Christ's death we have been given life? I happened to be on worship team within a week or two of getting a cancer diagnosis, and singing this song was like rising up from the grave myself, filled with Jesus' life!

Prepare to Die

Prepare to die!
Cancer, prepare to die!
I've got a message from the God of whom you have defied!
You come against me with your weapons from hell,
And you come against me with your fearful evil spell,
But I come against you in the name of the God of the armies of Israel!
Prepare to die!
Prepare to die!

For the last time, you've come against me with your weapons from hell,
And you've come against me with your fearful evil spell,
But I come against you in the name of the God of the armies of Israel! 

Disease, hatred, jealousy
Enemies of the cross
Prepare to die

 

As I explained in my previous post, this song is absolutely not about a person dying... it is about the cancer dying! This song is really upbeat... it kind of gets me pumped!

Shackles (Praise You)

Been through the fire and the rain
Bound in every kind of way 

But God has broken every chain, so LET! ME! GO! 

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise You, I just wanna praise You
You broke the chains, now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise You, I'm gonna praise You 

 

This one is actually one of the holdovers from my wife's list. I've always liked the original Mary Mary version, but when Mandisa screams LET! ME! GO! it just knocks it out of the park for me!

Miracle Maker

In the midst of our despair
When our hope is running dry
We lift our voices to the heavens
To the One who hears our cry
With a heart full of faith
We know He's always near
Every moment, every heartbeat
He wipes away our fear

Oh, the power in His name
Bringing life to broken frames

Miracle Maker, You heal the blind
Turning water into wine
Miracle Maker, You calm the sea
Setting every captive free
Miracle Maker, we believe
In Your love, we receive

 

This may be the newest song on this playlist, released by the oldest band, Petra. This is from the album Hope which they released just last January. If you haven't heard the album, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole thing! (Physical copy store link, or find it on all of the streaming services!)

Destined to Win

This song’s for all the people with light in their hearts and love in their eyes
You don’t have to worry when the mountain seems of infinite size
There is one who goes before you to calm the sea
And there’s a king who leads his people to victory

We are destined to win!
We’re surrounded by his love, guarded by his power,
Destined to win!
Following the Lord until the battle’s over,
We are destined to win!

 

A classic by DeGarmo & Key, and maybe among the short list of perfectly crafted Christian Rock songs of all time. Which of us doesn't need to be reminded from time to time that no matter what's going on, we have a destiny in Christ Jesus?

I Still Believe

I've been in a cave for forty days
With only a spark to light my way
I want to give out, I want to give in
This is our crime
This is our sin 

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the pain, and through the grief
Through the lies, through the storms
Through the cries and through the wars 

I still believe

 

Written by Michael Been, who was a believer, and first recorded by his mainstream band The Call, this is an amazing song about standing firm through adversity. I love every version of this song (another famous version was included in the movie The Lost Boys) but I prefer Russ Taff's energy for my playlist.

Take You At Your Word

I'll take You at Your word
If You said it, I'll believe it
I've seen how good it works
If You start it You'll complete it
I'll take You at Your word

 

Faith is way simpler than we make it out to be. It doesn't take a lot of effort. It just takes one decision to believe what God says. It's not like climbing a tree - it's like letting go of a low-hanging branch and dropping safely to the ground!

This Is Our God

Remember that fear that took our breath away?
Faith so weak that we could barely pray,
But He heard every word, every whisper.
Now those altars in the wilderness
Tell the story of His faithfulness - 
Never once did He fail, and He never will!

 

I also talked about this song in my previous post, so I won't repeat myself here.

I've Got Joy

I've got joy in the struggle
I've got peace in the storm
I've got strength in the battle
I don't fear anymore
I'm a child of heaven
And my hope is secure
I've got joy cause I've got Jesus

 

Another holdover from my wife's Victory Playlist, this one just reminds me of everything I have to be joyful about!

Great Are You Lord

You give life, You are love, You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken
Great are You, Lord

It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise, we pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise to You only

 

My wife suggested that we include Michael W. Smith's recording of this in the playlist. I love that he starts with "It's Your breath in our lungs..." When Jesus died, he took our death and gave us His life. Every breath we take is His breath.

Always Be There

I can count on You to always be there
And know that You will always be there
Every day You'll always be there with me, with me

 

This one is probably a curve ball for almost anyone but me! This is from a CD of VBS songs written and recorded by Yancy, who grew up right here in Tulsa. Sometimes I find that songs written about Jesus and recorded for kids have a quality that really speaks to me. Maybe that's because I've been involved as a volunteer children's minister for many years, or maybe I'm just an overgrown kid myself! But this song reminds me of what we always need to remember: God will never leave us, and He will never forsake us.

Givin' Up Givin' Up

I gotta stop kickin' myself around
Swimmin' in a pool of pity
I'm gonna pick myself up off the ground
And get back to the nitty gritty 

Well, it's one step, two steps
And then I'm back on my way
Sittin' around has just been gettin' me down
And that's why I just have to say that

I'm givin' up givin' up
I'll never give up again
I'm givin' up givin' up
And hangin' on till the end

 

Bryan Duncan is a ridiculously talented musician, and this song is just a lot of fun while it reminds you that you can't give up! I haven't been tempted to give up on fighting this fight of faith, but when hard times come, sometimes it helps to have a lighthearted little reminder to leave your pity party in the past and get back to what really matters!

If God Is For Us (Who Can Be Against Us)

If you're weary, don't lose hope in fighting the good fight
Just remember, God is with you through your darkest night
In the heat of battle, keep your head up high
God is marching with us
He's always at our side

If God is for us, who can be against us?
No power on earth can take His love away
If God is for us, who can be against us
We can live in victory today

 

DeGarmo & Key made the list twice! This line from Romans 8:31 is something every believer in Jesus should hang their hat on. Just remember: that "if" isn't a question. Read the context in Romans: there's no "if" about it. God IS for you!

Don't Look Back

I finally see the dawn arrivin'
I see beyond the road I'm drivin'

It's a bright horizon, ooh, and I'm awaken
I see myself in a brand new way
The sun is shinin', ooh, the clouds are breakin'
'Cause I can't lose now, there's no game to play

 

Wait, a Boston song on the playlist? Yes! This song is absolutely, 100% about leaving behind something that was keeping the singer down, and it doesn't have anything specific to do with God at all. But when you're in the middle of a storm, it's good to keep your eyes on the prize and not look back at, say, the initial prognosis of how long people live with the condition you're in, or famous people who have died from it, or whatever. Keep your eyes forward and trust in Jesus! This song just has such great energy, it was just the right way to close out the playlist.

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I hope you've enjoyed reading about these songs! I love them all, and I hope you check any out that you're not familiar with!

 

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For the full story of my cancer journey, start here - or just explore all of the posts I've tagged "cancer".

It's a Long Story... Part 3.

If you want to start at the beginning, here's Part 1.

The next day was Sunday. My wife and I volunteer every other week teaching a preschooler class, and I wanted to let our children's pastor and her assistant know what was going on. We got prayed for by the whole team of children's volunteers, and as a bonus, the assistant gave me what turned out to be really great advice. "Christ the Healer by F. F. Bosworth is on YouTube for free, the whole thing," she told us. "Google it up and listen to it!" I did Google it up, but here it is so you don't have to:

I grew up in churches that believe that God still heals people today, and much of what is in this 100+ year old book was familiar territory... in fact, there was a copy of it in my house when I was a teenager! But if I ever read it, I didn't read it with my mind open to what it was actually saying, rather than what I expected it to say. There were no Scriptures in the book that I hadn't heard, but there were some concepts that I don't remember ever being part of messages about healing when I was a kid (or an adult). For example:

• The Bible never says that every ailment will be healed instantly by a miracle. It says that you should lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Have you ever been in "recovery" after a hospital procedure? I have... it doesn't happen instantaneously. Usually it takes days to fully recover. There are miracles that are instant, definitely, but there is also a slow steady recovery. Bosworth tells this funny story about promising a child you will buy her some new clothes: "Suppose again, that after you promise her the new dress, she runs to the mirror to see if she looks any more 'dressed up.' She then says: 'I cannot see any difference; I do not look a bit better'; and then gives up the idea of having a new dress." Just because you might not see the answer in an immediate miracle doesn't mean it doesn't belong to you!
  
  
• Healing for your body is exactly as much a promise from God as salvation of your soul. Romans 8:11 says "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." In Psalm 103:2-3 it says "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases..." Forgiveness of iniquity is placed on the same footing here with healing of diseases. It's one of the benefits of putting your faith in God! (I've blogged about this before... check it out here.)
  
  
• Symptoms and diagnoses exist. They are not imaginary, and it's not faith to pretend they are not there. When a doctor, who is a scientist, tells you what he observes in your body, there is no reason to think he is being dishonest with you. However, those real things that exist are the actual liars! The symptoms that exist in your body are liars, because they are trying to convince you that God's healing isn't available to you. I think this is a key idea that a lot of  "faith people" have missed. If you have a cold, and you say "I do not have a cold," then you become a liar. But if you have a cold and you say "Lord, I thank you because Your healing of this cold belongs to me, and I am ready to see it happen in my body!" then that is faith! Don't let your symptoms lie to you!

The next week we visited with the oncologist again, and found out what my chemotherapy treatment schedule will probably be like. We don't believe in ignoring a health problem just because you prayed about it... I'll talk more about that in the next post. We also asked him whether it was okay for me to continue to teach the class and also volunteer on church worship team, and he said as long as I am physically up to it (chemo can make you very tired) and as long as I am careful to keep clean around the kids (for my safety and theirs), it's okay to continue to do those things. I've been told by several nurses at the treatment center that it's important to continue to do the things that give you joy if you can, and nothing gives me more joy than sharing Jesus with others!

Continued in Part 4...

Spiritual Worship

Stepping back a bit from my previous post about Romans 12, I think it's interesting to get some context from the whole chapter.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

What I see here is that Paul is going to give us some instructions on how to live a life fully committed to God, not only in spiritual things but also in the physical realm (so, not just thinking nice thoughts, but actually taking action). He prepares us for a mental paradigm shift, then he goes on in the next few verses to explain that in the body of Christ (meaning, all who has put our faith in Him, not the head and torso and arms and legs and hands and feet he had when he walked on the Earth) has lots of members with different functions to perform, different jobs to hold, and all of them are important.

Then we get to that passage I mentioned last time starting in verse 9. There are 13 verses from there to the end of the chapter, and I noticed something interesting. Out of the 13 verses, I only see two verses that are about doing something solitary. "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." (verse 11) "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (verse 12). The rest of the verses are all about how we treat other people! We love them (9-10), we take care of their needs (13), we bless them, even the mean ones (14), we empathize with them (15), we are friendly even to the ones that are different from us personally (16, 18), and we choose to treat them well even if they treat us badly (17, 19-21). All that stuff in verses 6-8 - prophecy, teaching, exhorting (persuading people), giving lots of money, leadership, all of the things we tend to think are cool important things that we want to do - all of that stuff winds up being secondary to just being able to treat people like Christ treated them.

To come back full circle - this chapter started off telling us how to worship God with our whole selves, even our bodies. We each have gifts and callings, but in the end, it is doing physical acts of service for others that somehow turns around and becomes a spiritual act of worship to God!

How to Be a Christian

I've been thinking lately about Romans 12:9-21. I actually took a picture with my phone of the passage, and I keep looking at it and thinking about it. Basically, it's a description of how to really live out your faith as a Christian. Every day I take a look at it and take stock of how I'm doing, sort of like a checklist before launching a rocket ship. Here are things I've been thinking about in some of the verses:

Verse 9 "Let love be genuine." If you know about Greek words for "love" - this word is "agape" which means the kind of love that comes directly from God. It doesn't say that we should force ourselves to love - it says we should let the genuine love flow from God through us. I think in the Christian life sometimes we think we have to make something happen, when in reality if we sort of let go of the reins, God will make it happen (see 1 Thessalonians 3:12). Let God's love happen in you!

Verse 10 "Love one another with brotherly affection." This is not "agape" love. This is human affection. Basically this verse is talking about loving other believers in Jesus like family, like brothers and sisters. People don't always get along with their brothers and sisters very well, but in a loving family, they'll stand up for each other when the chips are down. I'm so glad I go to a church where people do care about each other! At your church, when the service is over, do people immediately leave and go to lunch? Not at my church. At my church, people are still there chatting and enjoying each other's company well after the service is concluded. Some of my favorite people are there - I want to talk to all of them! No church is perfect, but I think that's what this Scripture is saying.

Verse 11 "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord" We have a vibrant volunteer culture at our church. I'm not sure how visible it is to members who aren't involved, but I'm on two different teams - worship arts and children's ministry - and in both of those contexts people are fired up about what we're doing for the Lord. I don't hear people talking like they are doing it because they feel obligated or because they want to be special (and that can be a real problem on worship teams!) - people genuinely see that God is doing something and we just want to be part of it.

Verse 15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." This past year my wife went through a serious health problem (maybe I'll talk about it in a future post), and it was really hard, but as soon as our brothers and sisters in Christ found out about it, they went out of their way to help us out. They prayed for us, brought us food when we were going through a rough patch, and when my wife wasn't able to come to church with me because of her treatments, everyone asked how she was doing. Do you know what effect it had on me? It made me want to be that person for someone else one day. I guess that's that whole "iron sharpens iron" thing, huh?

Verse 21: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Do you notice what that does not say? It doesn't say "Be careful because evil can totally beat you up, so try to run away if you can!" It completely puts you and me in the driver's seat. If evil happens to us, it's because we let it overcome us. Instead we need to overcome it! It wants to beat us, but it can't unless we let it! That doesn't mean that evil won't come - ref: my wife's health problems last year. But when evil comes and tries to overcome you, the correct response is to apply good to the situation and overcome it instead!

How's THAT for a lot to chew on?

Live Like There's Every Tomorrow

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. - Romans 13:11-14 NIV

Paul wrote that to the church in Rome thousands of years ago. He was writing to Christians — people who had already given their hearts to Jesus "when they first believed." These days, we call that "salvation", but Paul refers to salvation here as a future thing. Didn't they already have salvation? Weren't they "saved"?

Of course they were! At least, they were the way we use the term today. What I realized when I read this passage this morning was that Paul is talking about our full salvation... not just the salvation of our spiritual selves, which we obtain by putting our faith in Jesus, but the salvation of our bodies and minds, which will happen in the resurrection at the end of time. Jesus will come back, the dead in Christ will rise first, we will meet them in the air, and we will all be changed! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 NIV)

What Paul is telling them and us here is that we need to seek to live our lives as though this had already happened. Live as though you are already in God's kingdom of light, wrapped in his armor, behaving like someone who has been fully saved, spirit mind and body. Act like Jesus has returned, the book of Revelation has been played out, and eternity has begun. This is the life of faith! This is God's best for us. But if we figuratively stay in bed, if we don't "rise and let Christ shine on us," we won't access this best life that Jesus has made available to us until then.

Paul says we can have it now! Don't live like there's no tomorrow... we're living in the first day of eternity! Let's live like there's every tomorrow!

Perfect Peace 3: Life or Death

© 2010 Gareth Jones, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. - Romans 8:6 ESV

Wow... "to set the mind on the flesh is death." That seems really extreme, doesn't it? By the way - when the Bible says "the flesh" it doesn't mean what we mean when we say flesh. It doesn't mean any part of your physical body, at least not directly. It means your human nature, specifically the darker part of it. The part of it that makes you want to cut someone off on the highway when they did the same to you. The part that makes you want to yell at someone when you feel angry. The part of you that wants to eat more dessert than is healthy for you.

So, setting your mind on that is equated to death. We already found out that focusing our minds on Jesus is a catalyst for peace inside, and we found out that we don't really need to be anxious about whether we have all the stuff we need (like food, clothing, shelter) because God knows and promises to provide. But this verse seems to indicate that if we focus on the wrong things, it will lead to some sort of death!

I don't believe that a person who has given his or her heart to Jesus can experience spiritual death in Hell. I think that once you've given that to Him, you can't take it back. If that's the case, and since we all know that it's perfectly possible for us to focus on sinful things, this must be a different kind of death.

The flip side (after the word "but") is focusing on the Spirit, and the result of that is not only life, but peace. Remember, in the Hebrew language, peace means not only inner tranquility, but physical health and material prosperity. Maybe the "death" here manifests itself in lack of inner tranquility, or maybe it manifests itself as getting fat because we ate too much dessert, or maybe it manifests itself in our bodies becoming sick because we spend our time being angry and bitter against others. There are lots of things that could easily fit under the heading "death" here. My personal take is that when we spend all of our time focusing on gratifying our sinful natures, eventually, the "death" will be physical - maybe actually dying early, but maybe the loss of health and quality of life. Think about this passage from Proverbs:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. - Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV

Maybe I'm wrong and living for the sinful nature doesn't cause physical sickness, but this passage pretty clearly indicates that if you're not putting all your trust in the Lord, you're missing out on some actual physical health benefits available to you. I'm not making this up - I'm just calling them as I see them!

The next time you start to get angry, or anxious, or gluttonous, or whatever Achilles heel your flesh presents to you - take a second to intentionally set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Let's see if God's health plan starts kicking in!

Back to the beginning

Perfect Peace 2: Needs

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. - Romans 14:17 ESV

This verse is about more than having Subway and a Diet Coke. I think that when this verse says "it's not about eating and drinking" it's more broadly talking about everything we need. Jesus made a similar statement in Matthew 6:31-33:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Jesus added clothing to the mix. I think we can also add in the car you drive, the job you work, the house you live in, the computer or phone or tablet you're reading this on - anything you need or want. These verses are saying that those things are irrelevant to your inner spiritual life. If you keep your focus on Jesus (as we talked about last time) then you can have peace, joy, and righteousness in your life regardless of whether you have anything to eat, drink, or wear at the moment. Jesus adds a promise that if you seek God's kingdom above those other things, God will provide the eat, drink, and wear things. That's not to say that if you are hungry and have a $5 bill, you should pray that someone will magically bring you your sub sandwich. By all means, head to the restaurant if that's the food you want. But the food should not be your primary focus at any time. Or your clothes or lack of clothes, or your money or lack of money. Seek God's Kingdom first, and see what happens!


Back to the beginning

Perfect Peace

Recently I was reading a little book given to me by a friend that is just Scripture verses arranged by topic, and I came to a section on peace. A few verses jumped out at me, and I wanted to share them along with some brief comments of what went through my mind as I was reading them. I will list the references at the end of this post.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

If we focus on God as we go through our day and trust Him, the gift we will receive is perfect peace.

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

"Eating and drinking" here are not limited to food intake. Those two things here represent things in the physical world around us, specifically things we need (or at least think we need). God's Kingdom is not effected one way or another by the things around us.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Not only does focusing on the things of God result in a life of righteousness, peace, and joy - but the reverse actually results in death! I am of the camp that believes that once you receive God's Salvation through Jesus, you cannot take it back, so I don't think this is talking about spiritual death in Hell. I think this is talking about emotional decay and rot (anxiety, stress, worry) and eventually physical sickness and maybe even untimely physical death.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Jesus said two things: (1) He was leaving us His peace. HIS peace. Imagine the peace that was present inside of Jesus as He walked the Earth. That's what He left for us. (2) We should not "let" our hearts be troubled and afraid. That implies that if we begin to feel those emotions, there is a mechanism available to the Christian to eliminate those things. WHAT? I can switch fear off like I'm turning off a light?? Seems like Jesus was saying that if you are fearful, it's because you let the fear happen.


I'm going to further elaborate on each of these over the next few weeks, so plan on stopping back by - if you want to read more thoughts about peace between now and then, here are some links to a series I wrote about peace a couple of years ago: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 ...or you can click "peace" in the "labels" section at the bottom of this post.


Scriptures quoted (from the English Standard Version of the Bible): Isaiah 26:3, Romans 14:17, Romans 8:6, John 14:27

I Can Do It!

Despite clear evidence in the Word of God to the contrary, we Christians seem to think that we need to do a bunch of good stuff to be right with God. How much clearer can it be than Romans 5:1: "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"? It's almost a no-brainer! And there's no Christian that will try to tell a nonbeliever that they have to "clean up their act" to become a Christian.

And yet somehow there is this idea in the back of our minds that we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing so that we and God will be on good terms. I'm not just talking about sin, either. Am I supposed to be on the mission field but I'm not? GUILT. Was the Holy Spirit telling me to give that panhandler five dollars bu I didn't? GUILT. Did I stay home from Sunday School last weekend? GUILT GUILT GUILT!

Those are not things that come between you and God... not unless you let them. If you do something that you know or think wasn't right, and then you hide from God like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, well then yes, your actions have come between you and God. But it's not really your actions that are the problem; it's your refusal to be with God because you think they did! You might not have even done anything wrong - maybe the Holy Spirit wasn't instructing you to do this or that thing. In that case, all that is coming between you and God is your own ignorance.

But let's talk about sin for a second. As a Christian, does sin come between you and God? Well, that's up for debate on one level - I am of the school of thought that says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all of our sin, past and future, once and for all when we make Jesus our Lord. Others feel otherwise. But if we are eternally secure in Him, then that means that not even blatant sin is a barrier between us and God. (Lack of repentance is, though, so repent for crying out loud!)

Now, the flip side of this whole discussion is that you cannot do anything that will get you closer to God in any way that is meaningful to Him. You can do actions that help you to focus better on Him, so you might feel closer, but it's not because you are more righteous in any way. Again, the blood of Jesus instantly provided you and me with all of the righteousness that will ever be available to or needed by any of us. Your good works are not currency with God.

I have a family member who used to own a restaurant. The first time I went there to eat, I placed my order with him and then pulled out my wallet. "Your money's no good here," he told me. It's not that I didn't have any money, and it's not that the money itself had no value - it's just that the meal was not for sale. It was a free gift.

So, why do we get the idea that anything we do has any relevance to the way God sees us? I have some thoughts about that, but they'll have to wait for next time. Stay tuned!

Never Fall

This past weekend my pastor delivered a message about living a life where you never "stumble". I wanted to compile a list of Scriptures he used all in one place, and thought I would share! Here they are (emphasis is mine):

Joel 2:26-27:
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

and praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.

     And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Romans 9:33:

...as it is written, 

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; 

      and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Romans 10:11:

For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

2 Peter 1:10:

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 

1 John 2:1:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 

John 17:23:

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 

Acts 1:8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Philippians 1:20:

...as it is my eager expectation and hope that I [Paul] will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Psalm 33:22:

Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, 

     even as we hope in you.

This is by no means the complete list of Scripture references from the message - just ones on the specific part of the message I wanted to think about a little more. Here's the full message (it's worth listening to). The part containing the Scriptures above starts at about 18:55 (I've quoted the ESV above, but I think he's using the NLT in the video):



If you enjoyed this message, you can check out the full series here.

Letter

When Santa Claus gets your letter, You know what he will say:
"Have you been good the way you should On ev'ry single day?"

When Santa gets your letter To ask for Christmas toys,
He'll take a look in his good book He keeps for girls and boys.

He'll stroke his beard, his eyes will glow, And at your name he'll peer;
It takes a little time, you know, To check back one whole year!

When Santa Claus gets your letter, I really do believe,
You'll head his list, you won't be missed, By Santa on Christmas Eve.

-"When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter" by Johnny Marks (recorded by Gene Autry)

I think it's interesting that every story we tell kids about Santa Claus says that Santa gives "bad kids" lumps of coal (or will bring them nothing at all!)... but no kid thinks that they've been bad enough for that. Every kid thinks that Santa loves them enough to overlook the bad things they have done. Nobody is bad enough to tick off Santa! Write him a letter! Tell him what you want - he'll get it right to you!

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. -Romans 3:23 NLT

In contrast, the letter God wrote to us (the Bible) tells us that nobody is good enough to meet God's standard. We're all "bad kids". We all deserve lumps of coal from God. Even worse, we all deserve to spend eternity in Hell!

Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. -Romans 3:24 NLT

The good news is that God sent Jesus into the world to satisfy God's justice - to pay the penalty for what we had done. To bail us out of Hell - better yet, to serve our sentence for us! That's the story of Christmas. It's the first part of God's plan to buy our pardon. To eliminate the eternal consequences of all our sins! What a great Christmas story!

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so!

So why do we find it so easy to believe that Santa loves us enough to do something amazing for us, even though every one of us did something bad this past year... but no matter what we do, God can't possibly love us enough to forgive us for our sins? Why is Santa's love so easy to swallow, but God's is too hard to grasp?

I hope Santa left something cool for you this morning - I'm sure he did. And I also know that God gave us the most amazing, incredible, life-altering gift of all. Santa says: "You've done something bad, but you're still pretty good. I'll just ignore those bad things you did. Here's a gift!" God says: "There is no way you can be good enough to be able to receive what I have, but I love you so much that I'm going to wipe that slate clean and make it possible for you to receive from Me what you need!" Sure, Santa will overlook your flaws. God doesn't overlook your flaws. God has eradicated your sins through Jesus! Think about that today!

Merry Christmas!

Peace, part 3 - Think

© 2014 Allan Ajifo, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

Think about this:

The Bible tells us that what we think about affects the amount of peace we have.

I guess that's just logical... if I think about things that worry me all the time, I'll spend all my time being worried. But you know what? I've tried putting things out of my mind, and it's not as easy as just refusing to think about something. You can't "not think." I don't think it's possible.

So if you have to think about something, and you don't want to think about the thing that takes away your peace, what do you think about?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
-Philippians 4:8-9 ESV

The Word gives a whole list of things to think about... whatever is:

• true (the reverse of false)
• honorable (with good character, dignified)
• just (righteous, without guilt, following God's laws)
• pure (clean, faultless)
• lovely (pleasing, acceptable)
• commendable (like a good omen)
• with excellence (virtuous, moral goodness)
• worthy of praise (commendable)

But you know what? We don't really need a list. We know when we're thinking "good" thoughts - the kind that feel like spring breezes and warm sunshine - and "bad" thoughts - the ones that feel like spider webs and graveyards and despair. The point is, you can't simply boot those bad thoughts. You have to replace them with good thoughts. And if you can't think of anything good on your own, you can always go down this handy list and come up with something! We have to learn how to focus our minds in the right direction if we're going to avoid living in fear.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
-Romans 8:3-6 ESV (emphasis mine)

It seems that our minds have a setting we can set. We can set it to thinking about "the things of the flesh" - which means the things around us that reflect our own desires, especially out of control ones - or we can set it to thinking about the things of God. Remember, Philippians up there gives us a list of examples of those things if you need it! Tweak those settings. Think about the things of God, and the Bible says that your mind will be filled with life and peace.

Now continue on to Part 4!

Working Together

© 2006 VisitSormland, Flickr | CC-BY | via Wylio

In my family, we've been working on some things lately. I've been working on the details of a new mortgage for the new house we plan to move into next week. My wife has been working on getting boxes and getting things packed up for the move. My son is working on fundraising for a missions trip he's going on this summer (and, by the way, if you would like to make a tax-deductible gift toward that, let me know!) The other day I was thinking about the balance of our own effort and God's provision, and a couple of things came to me.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

- Romans 8:28 ESV

Did you notice that word "together"? Who is working together in this verse? Strangely enough, notice that strictly speaking, it is not God that is "working together"! The things are working together. Maybe that's splitting hairs a bit, because God is certainly behind the whole deal, but to the casual observer, it looks like things are just coming together for this person who is pursuing God's purpose. I think this verse also implies that the person who loves God is working toward a goal, and that the circumstances (some of which may be negative) are ultimately working together with the person to make things turn out all right.

The heart of man plans his way,
   but the LORD establishes his steps.

-Proverbs 16:9 ESV

I think God expects us to think through problems. I think He expects us to make plans and put them into motion. When we do that, though, He ultimately is the one that makes things happen. He is the one that makes things work together for our Good. He is the one who establishes each step that we take.

Seek the Holy Spirit's guidance! Make wise plans! And then put them into action, knowing that even if something seems to go weird on you, God is guiding each step and making even that unforeseen situation work for your good. Then when all of those things come together and make something wonderful happen, don't forget to tell people about it! That's your chance to give God the glory!

A Matter Of Procedure

Recently a reader posted a comment on one of my blog entries from a couple of months ago, and although I replied there in the comments, the reply was getting long and I wanted to develop it into something more in its own post. The original comment (which oddly seemed to have little to do with the original blog entry) is:

Your verse in john 3:16 has a miss print "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved " there are plenty if others here's a couple mark 16:16 Jesu says it again ,acts 2:38 the whole bible is inspired by God not just what we edit for what ever reason Billy Gramm once said he don't preach baptism because he wouldn't have as many followers oops I give anyone $500 if they can prove you don't need baptized

My reply was as follows:

Acts 16:30-31 - the Philippian jailer asked "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas simply replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." Although the jailer did ultimately get baptized, Paul and Silas, in a simple answer to a simple question, did NOT include it as a requirement. He was saved as soon as he believed in the Lord Jesus.

Romans 10:9 states the requirements for salvation this way: "...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Again, no requirement of baptism is included.

I've matched your Mark 16:16 and your Acts 2:38, which seem to include baptism as a requirement, with two verses that absolutely do not include it as a requirement. Maybe the "misprint" you're talking about is in your two verses? I'm feeling pretty safe in saying that John 3:16, which is probably the most popular Scripture verse in the whole entire Bible, has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb any number of times. Do I get $500, or since I proved it twice do I get $1,000?

I don't expect to hear back from commenter "Mark" - at this writing I haven't. If I do, I expect it to be mostly an argument containing a lot of Theological hair-splitting. In fact, I can split some of those hairs myself... if you look at the two verses I cited, they say that if you believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. It doesn't say you immediately are saved. So there's room for bullying people into getting baptized with those two Scriptures too, if you want. But I don't see things that way.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, it is recorded that God said to Samuel "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." God's not as interested with the procedures we follow as with what's in our hearts when we follow them. The Old Covenant provided tons of procedures that you could follow to bring you nearer to God, and I truly believe that if someone had been able to follow them perfectly, they would totally not have needed the salvation that Jesus brought. They would have been made righteous by the Law alone. The fact is, though, that until Jesus, nobody was able to do it. Everyone had the disadvantage that they were creatures hindered, let's say, as if by a birth defect. We couldn't walk straight, because we were born with a lame leg. No matter how hard we try, we simply are unable to live up to the rules and regulations which, if we had been able to live up to them, would have provided righteousness to us. That's what the Law was given to teach us: we just can't do it. Rules and regulations don't work for us. We needed someone to finish the work for us and give it to us as a gift. That person was Jesus.

Which brings me back around to my point. God spent thousands of years driving home His point that we are unable to obtain righteousness through performing the correct activities. Why would God turn around and load another activity on us as a requirement to come to Him? Wasn't Jesus' work sufficient? Didn't God tell Samuel that He looks at the heart, not on outward appearance? Baptism is an outward act, there to be a sign to other human beings. It's an "outward appearance" thing; it happens to your body, not within your heart.

I am a firm believer in baptism. I think baptism is a wonderful sign of the change that has happened to the believer. I do think that there is something spiritual that happens when you are baptized. But I do not think it is a requirement for Salvation. I just don't think God is looking for excuses to keep people out of Heaven. "Hello, Mr. Jones. I see here in the Book of Life that you believed in the Lord Jesus in your heart... very good, very good... and you even confessed Him as your Lord with your mouth, that's wonderful! Oh... oh no. Mr. Jones, I'm afraid you never were baptized. I'm sorry, but even though you made a heart decision to choose Jesus as your Savior and follow Him, because you did not get baptized, you're going to have to go to Hell instead of Heaven. Too bad for you." The idea just seems kind of ridiculous to me.

I've been baptized. I recommend that everyone who becomes a Christian get baptized. It's a very special, valuable experience. But I think that people become Christians immediately, as soon as they allow the Holy Spirit to change their hearts. I think Jesus did the job completely. I think he purchased the gift, wrapped it up and put a bow on it, and offered it to anyone who would accept it. I just don't think there's any extra requirement for Salvation after that.

Epicenter

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire."

"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

-Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28 ESV

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

-Romans 10:8-10 ESV

This week we've been hearing a lot about the earthquake which occurred in Virginia. There wasn't a lot of damage (the picture accompanying this post is from a different quake last February), but there was a little bit... things falling off shelves in homes. A plumbing rupture at the Pentagon. Some pieces falling off the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Walls and foundations cracking. Nuclear power plants shut down as precautionary measures. The earthquake was of historic strength, yet we were lucky enough that it really did very little damage. But one place that it did do some damage was a little town in Virginia with the unlikely name of Mineral, population 450. Mineral got a pretty good shaking, and they've got some pretty respectable rebuilding to do.

The reason that Mineral, VA got shaken worse than Washington, D.C. is that Mineral is geographically quite close to a place called the epicenter. Earthquakes occur because layers of rock, usually deep underground, suddenly slip past one another. Places near the epicenter feel rumbling and movement, but the actual earthquake didn't occur in Washington D.C., or Richmond VA, or even in tiny little Mineral. All those places and many more could feel the effects of the earthquake, but the earthquake itself, you could argue, actually occurred underground, and nobody really knows exactly where.

Jesus told us, in the "Sermon on the Mount", that the sin of murder actually starts with anger, and that sexual sin actually starts long before the sex act occurs. In fact, Jesus said that the sin of adultery occurs, not when the man looks at the woman with lustful intent, but before he even looks at her. When he looks at her, he has "already committed adultery with her in his heart" (emphasis mine). The sin occurs in the heart, deep inside. The actions that we see are the result of the sin which has already occurred.

Romans says that we will be saved as a result of confessing the Lordship of Jesus with our mouths, but we have been justified long before that... when we believe in our hearts that Jesus rose from the dead. Salvation occurs later on, when we say something out loud that people can hear and see us say, but justification, being made effectively sin-free (or, more precisely, free of the guilt of our sin) before God, occurs because of something that happens deep down, where nobody can see it but God. Once again, the actions occur because the event has already occurred inside the heart.

At the epicenter.

When the dishes fell off a shelf and broke in someone's house in Mineral, VA, it wasn't because the earthquake happened in that house; it was because an earthquake had occurred somewhere else, at the quake's epicenter, and that house was feeling the effects of the earthquake. When your life naturally begins to reflect the grace of God, when you start to do things God's way automatically without having to drum anything up, it's because something has occurred in your personal epicenter, in your heart. When the Word of God begins to transform you from the inside out, the world around you begins to see the effects!

Atheism Friday: Proof God Exists

photo © 2010 Jeffrey Beall | more info (via: Wylio)Not too long ago I read a terrific book about the Christian church world written by a man who was and is an atheist, even though he has spent a great deal of time visiting various churches (read my review here). Now I'm no skilled debater, and I'm sure my chances of actually convincing someone that God exists when they've got their mind made up are slim, but I did have some thoughts while I was reading the book that I wanted to share over the course of the next several Fridays.

So I thought I would really hit the ground running right away. Let's talk about something atheists seem to think nobody has: proof that God exists.

There is a story in the Bible about a man who dies without acknowledging God, and he winds up in Hell. From Hell he is somehow able to talk to Abraham (who is not in Hell, but is in the afterlife), and he asks Abraham to send him back to persuade his brothers that they should turn to God before they die. "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets," Jesus quotes Abraham as replying, "neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31 ESV) Essentially, Jesus was saying through his story that the testimony of the Scriptures is enough evidence that anyone who hears the message and is open to the truth will be persuaded by them. I never write anyone off, but if someone has his mind made up, if we are to believe this Scripture, it's going to be pretty difficult to sway them.

But I think there is other persuasive evidence. The most comprehensive proof of the existence of God that the Scripture mentions is the world around us. In Romans 1:19-20, the apostle Paul, talking about people who reject God, declares that "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." Paul says that Creation itself is so amazing that it should point anyone who is open to the idea of a creator toward Him. And in fact, the more science discovers about the complexity of living things and of matter and existence in general, the harder you have to work to imagine that it could have all happened by accident. Science has not by any means disproved the existence of God.

In fact, ironically enough, one of the ideas that Science came up with in the twentieth century caused great consternation to Christians who believe that God personally created the cosmos, but it actually had presented a pretty huge obstacle to those who would like to say there is no creator and life developed spontaneously by chance over the course of many billions of years. The "Big Bang" theory says that the cosmos has not been around for an eternity past, but it originated only something like 13.7 billion years ago, which is kind of a tight schedule by evolutionary standards. Scientists also calculate that the conditions needed to create a universe with planets that could support life are pretty exacting; even a very small deviation from what they theorize must have happened would result in a universe devoid of life, or a universe that would collapse back in on itself or otherwise be destroyed long before life could have developed. The Big Bang theory actually points toward the existence of an intelligent designer; if you choose to insist that this designer is not the God of the Bible, that's one thing, but to insist that the designer does not exist actually runs counter to accepted scientific theory.

But let's quit looking at the world around us for a minute, and turn our thoughts inward. Let's examine ourselves. We are creatures that have two interesting features: first, we believe that some things are morally right and some things are morally wrong. And second, the human race has a strange habit of worshiping things. The existence of the idea of morally right things and morally wrong things does not fit with the idea of "survival of the fittest" which would seem to be the obvious way to live; if I want something and it exists, outside of morality, the obvious thing to do is to take it for myself, even if it belongs to someone else. If I do not like someone, if I have no sense of moral right and wrong, the way to make sure that person never irritates me again would be to kill them and eliminate the problem permanently. But somehow we've gotten the idea that some things are "right" and some things are "wrong." With no logical reason for those kinds of ideas to have evolved naturally, the evidence points toward a supernatural source for them.

Down through the centuries, people seem determined to find something to worship. It may be the Hebrew or Christian or Muslim God, or any of a huge variety of other gods and goddesses, but humans seem to really desire contact with something or someone larger and more powerful than themselves. To me, there are only two reasons why this could be: either there is a creator who has intentionally placed this desire within human beings, or we are a flawed and pathetic race, afraid of the knowledge that we might be alone in the universe. Why would human beings, who in general are fiercely independent, have an inborn weakness that makes them desire to place themselves under a deity? I don't buy it. I think God made us with an inborn desire to know Him.

But let's bring this all the way down to a key point. Does God have to prove He exists in order to exist? Could He possibly exist and not leave any clues at all? Of course He could, and if He exists, it doesn't matter if you believe He exists or not. I love this bit from an old Stan Freburg Christmas recording: "I still ain't made up my mind yet about Toledo!" Does Toledo exist, even if Grudge decides he doesn't believe it does? You tell me.

I think the evidence for a creator is actually pretty strong, and the arguments against that evidence are pretty flimsy. Next Friday I want to discuss what I think the real issue is for many atheists... I don't think the existence of God is the real issue. Find out what I think it really is next week!