0 - 2011 - Jeremiah's Vow

“Faith Is…” Series, Pt. 1 | Faith Is… Seeing the Works of God

¹ As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ² And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:1-5)

Too often I find myself wanting to have an explanation for something so that MY life will continue to make sense. I don’t like it when my view of the world doesn’t work out just how I wanted. This may be the problem. God doesn’t owe me an explanation for anything. God tells Job just as much when Job worked up the nerve to tell God what he thought about what had happened to him (Job 38-41).

So many times we can look at the events of our lives and believe that there is a randomness to a vast majority of what happens in our lives. This would be an unfortunate tragedy. While we may not understand why something happened, we are not left to fend for ourselves regarding what God is going to do with what happens.

The events of John 9 are interesting, provocative and even confounding. A man is born blind. We take that for granted in our day, but during Jesus’ time, this was understood as an unmistakable sign that someone had sinned. The commonly held belief was that only someone guilty of some transgression would have the misfortune of being born without sight. What is striking is the assumption that the man was capable of being guilty of sin before he was born! This is seen in the question that the Pharisees ask in verse 2. So, what does Jesus do?

Does he agree with the assumption that sin was the reason for this man’s deformity? No.

Does Jesus change the conversation toward the good that will come from this man’s handicap? No.

Does Jesus attempt to console the man, telling him that things will be better in the New Jerusalem? No.

Jesus takes a completely different approach. Jesus says that the reason the man was born blind was so God’s works would be seen in the man! The blindness was a part of God’s purpose for this man so that others might see God’s work in the world, through the Son, for the world. We have to be careful to not take statements like this and make it “easier” for us to believe that bad things happen because God is somehow missing in action. I am not attributing evil to God. There are just times when I find myself wondering if having a God who knows and controls everything is better than having a God who can’t? You see, if evil is a part of God’s purpose then EVERYTHING becomes a part of God’s purposes because he has taken its presence and effects into account.

The way that Jesus answers the question about the reason for the man’s blindness reveals that sin, while important, is not a blip on God’s radar for why he does what he does. God is more interested in his works being seen than in our sin! Why is that? It is so because God knows that if His works are seen, His glory will be known, and his name will grow in fame among the whole world.

Faith is seeing the works of God and putting your trust and confidence in God–not losing faith in God–because of everything that happens. Faith requires a new “seeing”. We must look for the works of God which are all around us.

If anybody saw the works of God that day, it was the man who had never seen anything at all! And his testimony was one of faith, boldness and assurance.

When the Coach Rises! | “Keep Your Weight Back… Until”

Over the last few months, Zack (my fellow youth pastor) and I have been out and about in our community sharing time and thoughts with various squads and teams in our local schools. This has been a great time and a great experience. I have enjoyed spending time with these athletes as they prepare and play the games. I am such a fan! I love yelling, encouraging and pretty much being a kid. It’s the least serious thing I get to do.

Well today I was able to spend some time helping the county high school softball team during their batting practice. We were talking about weight transfer. This is the process of moving weight from the back leg to the front leg, while swinging the bat on plane. When done correctly it is poetry in motion.

Keep Your Weight Back!: What That Really Means

One of the things that was said over and over by the young ladies was that they were told that they had to keep their weight back. And in an of itself that is true. You are supposed to keep your weight back…until the moment of impact. You can’t hit the ball squarely or keep your shoulders, hips, hands and head in alignment if you keep your weight back as you swing. In golf this is called the “Reverse C” position as seen below.

The weight is not moving forward through the ball, but is moving away from the point of impact. Keeping your weight on your back foot will not allow your body to work with gravity and your muscles will actually be working against themselves. Your shoulders and knees end up behind your hips instead of in line with each other. The object of the game is to smoothly transfer your weight to maximize power and efficiency AND minimize alignment issues.

Weight Transfer is the Key to Power

Here is another set of pictures from two great power hitters–Gary Sheffield (left) and Albert Pujols (right). Even though they are not vertical like the picture of the golfer above, there is a straight line from their head to their knees as they swing and make contact with the ball. This is a power position.

Look at their back foot. Their are completely off the ground at the point of impact. This is a sign that their weight has completely shifted from the back to the front. While this is somewhat exaggerated in their individual swings it shows that your back foot is not as important in executing a powerful swing as weight transfer to the front foot is at the moment of impact. The weight transfer will actually keep your swing on plane and give you a better chance at making solid contact.

Here is another example of weight transfer from one of the greatest hitters of all time, Hank Aaron. His back leg is completely off the ground!

Here are a sequence of pictures of Albert Pujols swing. (Click on the Picture to see the sequence.) Notice how if you were to draw a line from the top of his head to the ground he actually rotates around that line as the weight transfer takes place. His head barely even moves.

Final Thoughts

I wantto provide a final thought about this idea of “Keep your weight back.” This is great advice for young ball players. It helps them to remember not to move too much or too quickly while they are learning to hit. The problem (as I see it) is that this is only half of the equation. Hitting is all about two kinds of timing. First, you time the pitch. Second, you time your weight shift. When these two events happen and meet at the moment of impact you increase your chances of solid contact and increase your chances of getting hits. You have to learn to develop both. Simply keeping your weight back will create some bad habits.

You will drop your back shoulder, creating a undercut swing rather than a flatter swing.
You will drop your hands, wasting time and loosing power potential. (None of the examples above drop their hands. They DRIVE their hands too the ball.)
You will leave your weight on your back foot, relying on your hands to create power–which isn’t the best way to do it–instead of the large muscles in your legs.
You will tend to flip the bat at pitches rather than hitting the ball. This is just counter productive.

Here is one more example of what weight transfer should look like. Don Mattingly was one of the most consistent hitters during his time in the Major Leagues. He has some simple insights into this concept of weight transfer.

Word to the Wise | “Carpe Diem”

In the movie Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams played a literature teacher in an all boys’ school. Mr. Williams wanted the students to learn from the lessons of history the dead poets wrote about. His message? Carpe Diem—Live the Present.

Mr. Williams’ point was that TODAY is the only day we have. The dead poets had their day and their say. Dwelling on the errors of the past, or fretting about the unknown future is a hindrance to our enjoyment of God’s gift for today. We can live with an eternal purpose (Seek God’s Kingdom), or we can live for a temporary purpose (self aggrandizement). When we seek God’s kingdom, God will work for us. When we seek our own aggrandizement, we are on our own. I suggest that we:

Learn from the past. Plan for the future. But, for goodness sakes, live today for God as if it was your last one on this earth.

Carpe Diem.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/05/09)

Reflections on a Funeral | “I Will Not See The End”

I just attended the funeral of a member of our church. He was ninety-seven years old. Funerals are such interesting events. We gather together to mourn, remember and make sense of our own lives. But, today I was struck by something. I will not see the end!

I will not be there to hear the words that are said about me to my family and friends. I will not know how many people attended my funeral or why they decided to come. I will not have a chance to thank them or wonder why someone I expected to come did not.

I know that these are odd thoughts. It feels strange writing them, but I feel compelled to. I do not want to let these feelings go away. They are helping me to shape the life I will lead. I no longer want to assume that life will go on as usual because it will not. I want to be able to come back and remember that life is so much more than what I settle for so often.

I don’t know when my end will come. I think this might be the reason I struggle with attending funerals. I don’t know if the convictions and passions that I hold today will be the ones that I am remembered for when my life comes to an end. As a pastor I know the difficulties that can occur in life. I have seen how tragedy, sorrow, pain and guilt can alter the trajectory of a person’s plan for life. And to this point in my life I have been spared of much of these.

I know that the man I am today may not be the man who will be remembered. To be honest I don’t even know if the man I am right now is worthy of being remembered. I am not trying to sound humble or self-deprecating. I am not trying to elicit anything. I just know who I am. I know how flawed I am. How often my motives are not those of Christ. I know the wickedness that still finds its way out of my mouth. I know… even if others never see it.

Being confronted with your own mortality has a way of putting your whole life into perspective. I will celebrate my thirty-first birthday next week. I am no longer a kid or a young adult striving to find my place in this world. I am married to a wonderful woman, the father of two beautiful daughters, and a member of the greatest family I know. I am doing what I love to do: serving God and the youth of this generation. I have seen things this year that I would never have imagined possible, both in my own life and in those around me.

I guess the thought that lingers in my mind and causes my breath to catch in my chest is this: Has my life counted for much of anything?

If I will not see the end, what am I doing to prepare those I love and who have offered their love to me to live better lives when I am gone? I do not want to over-state my importance in their lives. But, what am I doing to make their lives better? More fulfilling?

I guess that what my desire is, right now, is that I will live a life worth remembering. Not because of what I did. Nor because of who I was. If God were to answer just one prayer for the rest of my life it would be this:

Lord, help me to live a life that brings your name honor and glory, so that when my life on earth is spent, those whom I have had the privilege to love will see you, find comfort in you and give thanks to you for having used me to help them fall more deeply in love with you. Father, help me to count all things as loss so that I might cherish your name, your fame and your beauty above all else. Father, grant me strength to live this way so that when my life is over the man Jesus died to redeem might be the man I am when I die.

“Faith Is…”: Investigating What It Means To Believe

Over the next several weeks we will look at what faith is. But before we can get there we have to make sure that we understand what faith is not. There are three specific and important truths we have to understand about faith. We will talk about them in this introduction.

Faith is NOT blind Trust

One of the most common definitions of faith is that it is trusting or believing something that you cannot know for sure. It is often described as a blind leap, or just a leap of faith. But, there is one fundamental problem with this approach. It is not based on anything found in scripture. Faith, the faith that the bible describes, is grounded in something very real and more certain than our very lives. Biblical faith is undeniably tied to the character and nature of God.

The writer of Hebrews makes this statement when describing what God did to give Abraham confidence in what He was going to do.

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself… (Hebrews 6:13, ESV)

When oaths were made during Abraham’s time the object you swore by was an object that was greater than you. So, If I wanted prove my commitment I would say something like, “I swear by Mt. Everest that I will fulfill my part of the deal.” But, what does God swear by? Well, there is nothing greater than Him so he swore by Himself. His character would serve as the basis for Abraham’s confidence. Abraham’s faith in God was not a blind trust in something unknown. Abraham’s trust and our trust is based on someone who is sure and that we can have confidence in.

Faith is NOT an occasional practice

My faith, your faith, is not something I DO. My faith is someone I AM. The difference between these two positions cannot be exaggerated or over-stated. Until we make this switch in the way that we think about what it means to have faith we will fail to understand why our faith “doesn’t work.”

Paul made this incredible claim about what it means to live a totally committed life for God in Christ. He says it in his letter to the Galatian church.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Who’s life was Paul living? When was he living that life? Only on Sundays? I don’t think so. Life is lived EVERY day. The life I now live… is not an occasional life. If my faith is going to be what the bible describes I have to see that my life has been replaced with His. And, Jesus is not interested in only living through us once a week.

Faith is NOT produced from within

What I mean by this is that faith is not something that exists independent of an object of faith. I can’t just walk around having faith. Faith is always aimed at something outside of me. When we talk about faith we are talking about having faith “in” something.

⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9, ESV)

Peter helps us to understand that faith, if it’s going to be properly called faith, must have an object. What is the “outcome of your faith”? It is salvation. But, the question that we have to answer is what is that faith holding onto? Peter tells us in verse 8. The faith that results in our salvation comes because we trust the one we “have not seen” and yet love. Jesus is the object of our faith.

Everything that Jesus did, said and continues to do through His disciples become the reason that we are compelled to consider Jesus. We are acted upon by God’s grace, God’s people and God’s word. And, as these and other expressions of God’s goodness in my life are seen and felt I am drawn to God.

If we are going to know what faith is we have to know what it is not. As we journey together over the next several weeks remember that faith is more than you ever imagined, not less.

Word to the Wise | “Words Reveal Our Beliefs”

Have you ever noticed how careless we are with our words? Sometimes, I think that we do not even know what we are saying. But, do you know what is the biggest problem with our words? We do not realize that our words should be an expression of what we really believe. Too often they are spoken without considering the impact they will have in our souls.

Allow me an example. Most people in the United States have, at one time or another, said these words: “Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Let me ask you a question. Do you know what you’ve just said? You have said that you want for God to rule in your life in the same way He rules in heaven. We say it, but we don’t really mean it, because if we meant it we could not wait to hear from God and follow Him. The next time you recite the Lord’s Prayer, ask yourself, “How willing am I to actually act upon the words I am about to declare?”

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/04/09)

Book Review | Dinner with a Perfect Stranger: An Invitation Worth Considering

I was not even sure if I was going to enjoy Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, but it turned into a very good read. The storyline was easy to follow and I felt drawn into the conversation. The issues that are addressed are general enough to attract a wide range of readers. The book is short at 128 pages, but it reads a lot faster.

I have often wondered what a conversation with Jesus would look like. I think that the one characteristic of the book that stands out is the way the Jesus is portrayed. Jesus is always calm, always collected and in control of himself. Nothing flusters him. Nothing seems to distract him from his task of talking with and helping Nick Cominsky, the protagonist of the story. Continue reading “Book Review | Dinner with a Perfect Stranger: An Invitation Worth Considering”

A Wesleyan Moment | What is Sanctifying Grace?

The third movement of God’s grace in our lives is called Sanctifying Grace. God has been at work in our lives with Prevenient Grace. When we heard the Gospel and believed we were born again as God applied Justifying Grace. Now the question becomes what will God do next? God has an amazing plan and desire for our lives.

Peter answers a question that many of us have asked: What is God’s will for my life? Now, the response that we make to the answer Peter gives should not be, “Is that all?” That would not be correct. The fact that God, in his wisdom and purpose, has decided to tell us what He will do should create in us joy and peace; patience and passion. So what is God’s will? Listen to what Peter says is 1 Peter 4:3:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification (ESV)

The New International Version says it this way: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” Do you see that. The implication here is not that this is an option we can opt into or out of. God’s will, what he has determined will happen is that you become like Jesus. That is what it means to be sanctified. To look so much like Jesus that the world sees Jesus and not us.

Could that be why we don’t want to be sanctified? We don’t want to have our identity replaced with Christ’s? I cannot think of anything I want more than to have my weaknesses replaced by his strengths; my sorrows by his joy; my pain by his healing; my sin by his grace. That is what God has offered. That is what Jesus has purchased through his death and resurrection. That is what the Holy Spirit has applied to our lives. Be sanctified. God desires that for you.

Excited about I don’t know what…

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you don’t know what is about to happen, and you can’t shake the feeling that it is going to be something, not just good, but indescribable? Right now, right where I am, I know–in that way of knowing that can’t be explained, but you’re confident in–that God is up to something that only he can do. I am not trying to explain it. I am not even trying to describe it. I am just waiting. Waiting for a faithful and good God to do whatever he wants to do. Waiting to see a return to an unshakable, unquenchable faith in a God that can and will do things that simply don’t make sense. I am waiting. Waiting. Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled; a hope to be renewed; a joy to be restored; a faith to be made sight in spite of the dark night of a self-centered heart.

O God, your life is what infuses every other life with meaning. Even that life that has failed to comply to your sovereign grace is brought into proper submission to your purposes. There is nothing that escapes your sight. Nothing that is beyond your insight. Nothing that can be undone due to your foresight. You are majestic, not merely because of some attribution of the human tongue. No, your very being is majesty. It is worthy of all that can be ascribed to it. And when we frail image bearers have reached the end of our ingenuity, it is in your uniqueness that our plain-ness is seen against the relief of your unchanging beauty.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, only in you will all eyes agree!

Father, may my soul and faith; joy and life; passion and prayer; sorrows and pains reach the peaceful shores of your kingdom.

Word to the Wise | “The Need for Single Mindedness”

In the movie The Last Samurai we find a scene in which Tom Cruise is fighting an expert samurai with a wood sword. He is getting beaten by the expert even though he had demonstrated progress. The son of the hero in the movies tells Tom Cruise: “You have too many minds.” He meant to say that Cruise was not focused. He was thinking about the opponent, the crowd, himself, etc., but that he was not focusing on the task at hand—to win.

The Bible says that a “double minded man is inconsistent in ALL his way” (James 1:8). In this passage James is specifically making reference to the person who prays with doubt. That is, they are not sure that their prayers will be answered. He is double minded.

We can have double-mindedness in many areas of our lives. A person, for example, may believe that he should attend church on Sunday, but they also enjoy sleeping until noon on Sundays, or they prefer to watch a movie, or just relax looking at the lake. Regardless of their purpose, as long as we prefer more than one thing at a time, we will have the tendency to choose the least beneficial.

The solution to double mindedness is singleness of purpose. To finish the previous example: In our house there is no debate whatsoever regarding Sunday morning. On Sunday morning we will go to church because that is what the Scott family does. It is the most beneficial and connects us with God.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/02/09)