Victor Scott - Jeremiah's Vow

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 3 | Faith is… Rejoicing in the Mercy of God

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

(Psalm 103:6-14, ESV)

Psalm 103 is one of those places in the bible where you are confronted with an unrelenting truth about God. Grace has commonly been defined and understood as God’s unmerited (undeserved) favor from God toward us. Grace is what God gives to us when we don’t deserve it. But, there is something else that happens in that exchange. At the moment of salvation mercy is extended, and mercy is something different all together.

Mercy is different because mercy is what God withholds from us when it is EXACTLY what we deserve. Don’t miss that. There is something that we all are guilty of and should be judged for. No one escapes.

My thought today is that faith is REJOICING in the mercy of God. The first time that I truly understood that God’s mercy was something worth rejoicing in was as I was reading and studying through the apostle John’s first letter. In 1 John 2:1-2 John is trying to help his readers understand the security and comfort that comes from Jesus being our advocate, our lawyer, in God’s court. As I read these words I was struck by the tenderness with which John writes these words.

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. ²He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (ESV)

Right there, in the second verse we find this amazing and revealing reason for our rejoicing. Jesus is our PROPITIATION. This is one of those words that is not used very much any more (if at all). It has been translated “atoning sacrifice” or “the sacrifice for our sins” or some other variation. While this is technically correct there is one significant problem. One of the most important components of what Jesus did for us is missing.

Jesus atones, takes the blemish of my sin from me, by dying. When Jesus was crucified and he was killed, my sins were put on Jesus in such a way that he became guilty FOR my sin–and the sins of the whole world! This is the basic understanding of atoning. Jesus paid the price for my sin. But, the act of propitiation has another idea included. When Jesus atoned for my sin he also gave me something that I could not get for myself.

When Jesus was placed on the cross for my sins, God pronounced his judgment on all sin for all time and unleashed the unrestrained fury of his wrath upon his Son.

When Jesus was placed on the cross for my sins, God pronounced his judgment on all sin for all time and unleashed the unrestrained fury of his wrath upon his Son. God did not hold something back in reserve for us so that He can hold it over us. God has finished punishing sin. What is missing is the application of that punishment to those who never accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. You see, in order for me to receive grace Jesus had to die in my place. In order for me to experience mercy God had to pass my judgement onto Jesus.

God’s wrath has to be appeased. This is why an atoning sacrifice was needed in the first place. Now, this sounds like God has an ego problem. God has to be happy. But, this is the fundamental problem that we have to overcome. The problem is not that God’s ego was bruised by sin. God’s character is what was violated. The demand for punishment is never determined by the offender. Even in our flawed and broken justice system we try to find a punishment that “fits the crime.”

So, what then is the proper punishment for offending an eternal, holy and pure God? Is it not an eternal, profane and despicable hell? When my simple sensibilities are wounded, I want retribution. But, when God is the one offended, somehow God should not seek recompense. Why? God is gracious, some will say. God is good, others will argue. God is love, comes the reply. But, God’s goodness, grace and love are expressions of another more basic reality of God’s being–God is holy.

Worship is the only proper response to Jesus being our propitiation.

Jesus stands between me and a holy God and he received and endured the full thrust of God’s wrath. When this truth penetrates your mind and touches your soul…you will be changed. You can not continue living and working and attending church as if what Jesus did was just something to be thankful for. No, worship is the only proper response to Jesus being our propitiation.

Only when we appreciate what God should have done too us because of our sin will we rejoice in God’s mercy toward us. When we can understand how bad our sin really is we will begin to see that mercy is also a form of grace. Only a loving and gracious God could withhold his well deserved day in court and extend mercy.

Faith is rejoicing in the Mercy of God. Have you stopped to give God thanks today? Do not miss another chance to do it.

Reflections on a Cheerleading Competition | “Finish What You Start”

This past weekend I had the opportunity of emceeing a cheerleading competition with a friend of my church who also teaches at the local public high school. It was an interesting experience. When you think about the different sub-cultures in our society cheerleaders often have many stigmas and stereotypes attached to them. I will not list them here (because I think they are irrelevant). What I will say is that there were several times throughout the day where I felt really out of place because I did not know what the expectations were. But, I survived and had a great time supporting these young ladies and their coaches.

There are several young ladies in my youth group that are on the varsity squad. I have also had the chance to interact with some of the other cheerleaders because of the weekly devotions and lunch visits that I have been able to make since school started. What I have discovered as I have learned about the sport of competition cheerleading is that these young ladies (in some cases there are young men) have two and a half minutes to make an impression on seven judges. Two and a half minutes. All your successes and failures are on display for all to see. Talk about a pressure filled situation!

There are several thoughts that stood out to me over the course of the day that I have had a chance to reflect on in the past few days since. These are not in any particular order.

1. The fans of the squads feel the pains and celebrate the joys of those two and a half minutes with the squad.

I was struck by the way that the coaches and other members of the fan base knew the routines and tensed up when difficult components and stunts were coming up. It was an amazing thing to see how whole sections of the crowd breathed almost in sync with one another. There was such an emotional connection between competitor and supporters.

2. There is not place or time to stop, regroup and start over. You have to finish once you have started.

This is probably the most striking thing that I noticed. It did not matter if you fell, tripped, stumbled, dropped a stunt or forgot a movement in the choreography. You had to finish. Just as an example of this, one of the teams was executing some of their stunts and as the “flyer” (the girl that gets thrown into the air) was coming down she lost her balance. As the “bases” (the girls that lift, throw and catch the flyer) were making adjustments to catch the flyer, her foot caught one of the bases squarely on the face. There was a moment’s hesitation and then the girl that was kicked gained her bearing and continued the routine to the end. In any other situation I would imagine she might have fallen to the ground and clutched her face, but when you only have two and a half minutes, and your team is counting on you to finish you do not have the luxury of taking a personal moment.

3. You can not and you will not win or lose alone.

As the end of the competition came and the awards were about to be announced all the squads gathered on the mat. They took pictures, danced to the music (all of them!) and waited. It was one of those moments that are hard to explain, not because of they are all that unique in and of themselves, but because they are unique to you as an individual. I was announcing some of the winners and the collective eruption of joy from those that won and the disappointment from those that did not was a strange mixture of jubilation and sadness. What stood out to me was that the award was for the team. It took all of the members of the squad to win and the failure of one was the failure of all.

Final Thought

One final thought that I would like to say is this: Be open to hear from God in any and every situation. You just never know what God will say!

unConventional Twisdom

If leaders/disciples rely on pastors to say
all the hard things to others in their communities,
the church will be slow to grow.

via @GCDiscipleship

A Prayer on 9/11

A prayer offered during morning worship at Cordele First United Methodist Church, September 11, 2011.

Father,

We are here this morning with thoughts and memories that we would rather not have. We are here this morning and we remember where we were ten years ago on this day. We are here this morning and we recognize that for many there are loved ones who are not.

There are no words that will ever be able to capture the feelings of sorrow, pain, loss, anger, frustration and disbelief that many of us felt as we watched our innocence stripped away. There are no words that could ever be spoken or written that could ever capture the struggle of faith that many of us endured as we tried to make sense of the wickedness and evil that exists in this world.

The danger that we faced that morning, and the danger that we face this morning is not that terrorists or war will end our lives. The danger that we faced that morning, and the danger that the we face this morning is that terrorists and war will end our faith.

The age old question of evil in the world causes us to doubt and to question your goodness and your power and your presence in our lives. But, it is in moments like these that we must focus our attention toward one point in history. A moment in time long before there were words like “terrorist” and “America” and “9/11”. That point in history, in many ways, looks very much like our day.

Two-thousand years ago, in the city of David, the Savior was born so that he might bring to an end the reign of evil, not just in the world, but in our hearts. Two-thousand years ago, on the banks of the river Jordan, the Son of God, initiated the plan of God to redeem his enemies unto himself. Two-thousand years ago, outside the city gates, the lamb of God was slain, and the veil in the temple was rent so that ALL might approach the throne of grace.

Jesus is the answer to the suffering of our world. Jesus is the answer to the sorrow of our hearts. Jesus is the answer to the doubts of our minds. Jesus is the answer to the fear of our souls. Jesus is the answer that God has given to us when our lives are loosing their bearing. Jesus is the answer.

And because Jesus is the answer we all can call upon you, God, as our father. You see all of our concerns and you ask us to come to you. And for that we give thanks.

Word to the Wise | “Fellowship with God”

Most of us are familiar with Moses and his extraordinary faith. This is the man that confronted the most powerful ruler of his time without a single soldier or even a personal weapon for self-defense. All he had was a shepherd’s staff. And with it he beat Pharaoh’s pride.

The story, however, includes a very short statement that is often overlooked. God said to Moses, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings, and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4-6). Wow! God’s primary purpose was to establish an intimate relationship with the people of Israel–He brought them to Himself. Over the following decades and centuries God’s desire to fellowship with the people was rejected. But, in spite of the rejection God sent His own Son, Jesus, to reconcile us back unto Himself.

John quoted Jesus’ words in the book of revelation, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). From Genesis, when God had an intimate relationship with Adam and Eve, to the exodus when God called the people of Israel unto Himself, to the book of the Revelation, God continues to call men and women to open the door of fellowship to Him. Have you opened the door of your heart to Him? If you have, enjoy your invitation to dinner in God’s Kingdom.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/11/09)

“Faith Is…” Series, Pt. 2 | Faith Is… Living in the Grace of God

¹¹ … for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:11b-13, ESV)

As I thought about this statement — “Faith Is… Living in the Grace of God” — I could have said “by” or “with”, but I have found that my greatest challenge to being a Christian and living out the convictions and beliefs that I now hold is living IN the grace of God. The idea that I have in mind is that the grace of God is now the atmosphere that we exist in. God’s grace is not something we have, it’s something we are in. We are IN God’s grace. That is why there ought to be comfort and assurance in our relationship with God. Paul says it this way in Colossians:

³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3, ESV)

I have read this passage many times and I still can hardly believe that it says what it says. I know that there are some who have asserted that a person’s salvation can be “lost”. I understand the theological and volitional reasons for this way of thinking, but there is a small (and by “small” I really mean insurmountably huge) problem. This verse says that when we have received salvation, the life that we had died and our new life is not really given to us for safe-keeping. No, our salvation is such a precious gift, that God has kept it in as safe a place as he can imagine, in himself. And if that wasn’t enough he has left our salvation in the capable hands of the one who purchased it.

Peter, who among all the disciples understood that if it were up to him he would have been lost and completely cut off from Jesus, shared this understanding of what salvation looks like.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5, ESV)

This is why faith is living IN the grace of God. When we are exercising the kind of faith that the Bible is talking about, we are saying to the world that our trust and confidence is not in us, but in God. We are not interested in what is happening around us. We are not trying to do anything other than living in what God has purchased, and is now keeping for us.

That God does not trust me with my own salvation is not an insult to to me. It is a reason for hope, confidence, and rejoicing. We have to stop trying to earn what is already ours. Learn to live in the Grace of God. We are talking about a COMPLETED work of salvation. Just because we have not reached the end of the road, does not mean that God has changed his mind about what he has promised and done in our lives.

Word to the Wise | “The Work of the Holy Spirit”

The Apostle Paul tells us through his letter to the Roman church that, “the true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them” (Romans 8:14, NCV). We have no problem talking about God the Father or studying God the Son. But when it comes to the indwelling Holy Spirit we have two basic responses: (1) we are confused on how to listen to Him and follow His direction, or (2) we are frightened because we have been taught to be afraid of addressing Him for fear of committing the unpardonable sin. The horror!

Allow me to simplify this situation. The Holy Spirit helps in three major ways. (1) He leads us inwardly—by making the fruit of the Spirit our lives’ goals (Galatians 5:22). (2) He keeps us focused upwardly—by interceding (praying) for us (Romans 8:26). (3) He keeps us in touch with the world around us—by depositing God’s love into our hearts to love God and our neighbor (Romans 5:5). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide, to encourage, and to counsel. All we need to do is figure out how to listen to Him and follow His lead–it will lead us back to Jesus.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/10/09)

“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)