Author: Victor Scott

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, father, and author. I am an avid Cubs fan and a lover of Chicago-style Deep Dish pizza.

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 10 | Faith is… Satisfied with the Person of God

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say,"… 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:1a, 8-11, ESV)

What was the first sin? It has been described in different ways: pride, greed, ignorance, being deceived. In the end it doesn’t matter what you call the first sin, there is one undeniable reality that remains. At the root of the first sin was a failure to be satisfied by God and God alone.

As we look at what faith is, we must take the time to consider that faith must be pointed at something. Faith that is not moving, or said another way, faith that does not cause us to move is not faith. Faith is an action word. What makes this word different and unique when we talk about it in a Christian sense is that the object of our faith is not a place or state of being. The object of our faith is actually something that is really unexpected. As followers of Jesus and believers in the Gospel of Jesus, the object of our faith is God. God is the only object in all of the universe that is worthy of worship and devotion.

Now that we have the obvious statement out of the way, we have to take this a step further and realize what we are saying. God is not merely the one that calls us to a better life. God is the better life that we are striving to have. God is not merely offering us joy and peace and grace in this life. God is the joy and peace and grace that are lives need. To get to the point: If God is not enough, then nothing else will be either. What we have to see is that as we are looking for the things that God offers to us because of our relationship with Jesus, we fail to see that what God is offering to us is himself.

Look at this statement that Jesus gave to the disciples in John 15:

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, ESV)

What is the location that Jesus is inviting us to? It is not someWHERE, but rather to someONE. Come to ME. Jesus is not saying that in being physically close to him we will find peace and rest. Jesus is saying that he is the peace and rest and if we are in relationship with him we will have what we are longing for.

I will admit, this is not an easy subject to think about or consider. But, we have to take the time to understand what this means for us. I don’t remember who said this first or who said it to me, but it has never left me. It goes like this, “We are so busy looking at God’s hands, that we have stopped looking at God’s face.” I don’t know about you, but this is very true of me. I can fall into the “give me” game that I forget that what God is interested is in the “with me” game. God wants us to be with him.

This is the sad scene that we find in Genesis 3. God has created paradise, but that is not enough. God has given freedom, but that is not enough. God has given them responsibility, but that is not enough. God has given them pleasure, and that is not enough. God has given himself, and we see that even this does not satisfy the first couple. Why was it so “easy” to trick and trap Adam and Eve into sin? It was easy because when we are given everything we want, we think that there is more to be had. There was nothing missing in Eden. Everything that they could have ever wanted was there, but in an attempt get more they lost it all. We still haven’t figured that out. We still are trying to exceed the boundaries of God’s love and grace.

There it is. The great sin is not that Adam and Eve disobeyed God. I am not diminishing this. The great sin was that they believed that they needed more than what God has provided for them. As we walk this path of faith, we must recognize that faith is not the ever increasing experience of new things. Faith is the simple delight in the same thing, in this case, God himself. God is the only thing, and he is also everything.

Where are you? Have you allowed the extravagant opportunities of this world distract you from the simple joy of fellowship with God? Has your heart been dulled by the constant barrage of stimuli offered to every sense? What is it that is keeping you distracted from looking forward to those moments spent with God in the “cool of the day”? Until we allow God to satisfy our every need, longing, desire and appetite we will struggle to live the abundant life that Jesus promised.

Faith is… totally and unashamedly satisfied with the Person of God.

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 9 | Faith is… Surrendering to the Will of God

39And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:39-45, ESV)

One of the most difficult realities of the Christian journey is this: It’s not about me. Jesus did not die so that I could have everything I ever wanted. God did not orchestrate the greatest rescue mission in the history of the cosmos so that we could gather around dinner tables and reminisce about how bad it was “out there” before we were rescued. This kind of thinking goes in the face of what the bible teaches and, more importantly, it diminishes the worth and glory of God. Any and every failure on our part to live our lives according to the sacrifice of Christ is a travesty and an insult to God’s grace and love.
Continue reading ““Faith is…” Series, Pt. 9 | Faith is… Surrendering to the Will of God”

Book Review | 4-Hour Youth Ministry

Introduction

In November of this past year, 2011, I attended Timothy Eldred’s pre-conference seminar on youth-led ministry at the National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta. Since that time I have dealt with the ideas, concepts and challenges that Tim offered to us as we listened and talked. What is the purpose of Youth Ministry and the Youth Minister/Pastor? What is it that should be the goal of each? I can not say, not yet anyway, that I know all that I should be doing, but I will say that what I have been doing is not the answer.

Only Jesus Can Make Sense of Disease and Pain

I came across this video of Kari Jobe singing “Healer” to a young girl who, from the video, is obviously suffering from something. I don’t know what it is. I don’t need to know. What I know is that only Jesus can make sense of this.

There are many reasons, now after 13 years of dedicated service to Jesus, that I believe that Jesus and the faith that he calls us to is the one true faith available to all mankind. Christianity is the only religion that calls us to accept and trust the dying and humiliated prophet INTO death as the means of passing through from this expression of life to the next.

Probably the most remarkable conversion story related in the bible is found in Luke 23. Why do I say this? I say it because the man that “accepted” Jesus couldn’t have made a bigger mistake. It had to have been the most irrational decision he could have made. Look at it for yourself.

39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43, ESV)

Where was the man when he placed his faith in Jesus? He was on the cross right next to Jesus’ cross. The image that must have been before him was not an inspiring one. As graphic as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was, it did no justice to the reality that the robber witnessed. The idealized images of Jesus are not what converted this man. It wasn’t even the hope of resurrection that motivated the wish of redemption (it could hardly be categorized as hope).

This is the same criminal who earlier had joined in with the crowd to make fun and mock Jesus!

44And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. (Matthew 27:44, ESV)

I am getting to place where I am running out of clever arguments for why someone should believe in Jesus or that God exists. I am starting to understand why the cross is foolishness to some.

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25, ESV)

I am more convinced that only Jesus can make sense of the insensible. And I have made some peace with the fact that I will never fully understand all that takes place on this earth. As a matter of fact, I am growing to enjoy the fact that I don’t know everything and that everything doesn’t need to be explained to me.

Reflections on a Tragedy | “What I Should Have Said”

On Wednesday night David Austin Balfour, a member of my high school graduating class, died in a car accident.

Since I heard about David’s death I have had this gnawing feeling in my gut. It’s one of those feelings that just won’t go away. When these kinds of events happen I can’t help but think about it. And when the event includes something that just doesn’t make sense I really have to try and make some sense of it. I have to think about it over and over until some clarity comes. It came to me this afternoon as I read and re-read what so many who cared about David said and wrote on his Facebook page.

There are so many questions that we want answers to. There are so many thoughts about what was and what could have been. Even what should have been. There are so many memories of good times and hopes for “soon” times. There are so many words, ideas and desires that were shared. But, that is where our grief and heartbreak crash headlong into our regret.

While it has been many years since I have seen David, I understand the emotions that come in moments like this. My brother-in-law also died in a car accident a year ago. He was 24 years old. I get it. I do. What makes these hours and days since David’s death so painful is the reminder that while many things WERE said, and many things WERE shared, there remains this feeling of “What I Should Have Said…” still lingering.

The questions that come to mind are like these:

  • Did he know how much I cared for him? About him?
  • Did he understand how much he meant to me?
  • Why didn’t I ever tell him how much it meant to me that one time he did… fill in the blank.

All of these ideas run through our minds because the thought that something that should have been said was left unsaid begins to fray at the edges of our sanity. Regret is the constant reminder that something was left unfinished. There is something incomplete about all of this. Take it from me, don’t go there. Don’t do that. It won’t change anything. And it may do more harm than good.

What we have to do is to not let this tragedy be in vain. Would we prefer that David were here with us? Yes, there is no doubt about it. I don’t know of anyone that wouldn’t want that. But, we don’t get to make that choice. That one, that one choice, is outside of our reach. But, there is another choice that we can still make. It’s a choice that I think both honors David and helps us all to heal if we make it.

Make the decision to never again worry about, “What I Should Have Said.” Make the decision, that from today until the end of your days, you will strive to not leave any unfinished business. Right now, today, tell that someone, the one you are thinking about right now, who needs to hear from YOU that thing that you have been waiting for the “right” time to say.

There is no better time than now.

There will never be a better day, than today.

The Unexpected Has Happened… Again | David Austin Balfour Remembered

In Memory of

David Austin Balfour

September 5, 1979 – January 11, 2012

I woke up this morning to the news that a classmate was no longer walking this earth. We were acquaintances in high school, but we interacted often enough to get to know each other.

As I read the news on the internet and on his Facebook page I had a memory flash into my mind of us sitting in Mrs. Griswell’s Senior English class. I was sitting near the back of the room, the second row from the door. He was sitting in the first row next to the door, the third chair from the front, facing the rest of the class, with his classic grin. If you knew David, you know which one I’m talking about. There wasn’t a care in the world to him. I wished then that I could know what that felt like.

This is the first memory that came to mind this morning.

It would be a lie to say that I don’t know why I am so bothered by the news of David’s death. He is gone. No more status updates on Facebook. No more class reunions to attend. David’s journey on this earth has come to an end. And I am bothered.

I am bothered because I wish the circumstances were different. I am bothered because there were things left unsaid for those that knew him most and best. I am bothered because I really don’t have anything to say that will change the reality of what happened last night. But, I think what bothers me most is that I was reminded, yet again, that there is no guarantee of tomorrow for any of us. I don’t think David was thinking yesterday that he would not be here today. I don’t think that it even crossed his mind that January 11, 2012 was going to be his last day on Earth.

The fact that life is so fragile, so unpredictable should make all of us carefully consider what we invest our time into. The unexpected has happened…again. Losing someone we know or love cannot be avoided. We would just rather not think about it. But, today we don’t have that luxury. Today we are faced with David’s death and our mortality. Today we can’t avoid dealing with the reality of death and the eventuality of our own demise.

Days like today are difficult. The following words have helped me understand how I should respond and deal with the reality of events like David’s death. I share them here, not as an explanation of why this happened. That would be foolish. I share them to let all of us know that we are not alone in our grief and pain. Our sadness and contemplation. I hope that they help to provide some perspective.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. [Source]

David, I hear the bell tolling.

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