Christian Life - Jeremiah's Vow

4 Reasons I choose to go to Church… and you should consider

Have you ever heard someone say that they don’t need to go to church to be a Christian? Do you think that that is true? I have begun to see that this is not true at all. And yet, I wonder why so many people believe this.

The other night I was watching a replay of Oprah and there was lady on there talking about the difference between spirituality and religion. I had one thought running through my mind, and it was this woman had no idea what she was talking about.

Paul tells us in Romans 1 that true spirituality is not found in what we do, but in what God has done. John explains God’s activity in people’s lives when He talks about the Spirit going like the wind wherever it chooses to go. I mention all of this because it seems that people have an underlying and a basic misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian.

I remember hearing a very interesting summary of the history of Christianity. I will paraphrase:

Started as a relationship
Became a movement
Morphed into a philosophy
Was codified into an institution
Finally evolved into a benevolent non-profit organization

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION. It is not a corporation or a non-profit. Christianity is an organism. Look at what the apostle Paul says to the Corinthians.

1. I go to church because that is where I am supposed to be.

(14) For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (15) If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. (16) And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. (17) If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? (18) But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. (19) If all were a single member, where would the body be? (1 Corinthians 12:14-19 ESV)

The subject for today is “Why Come?” There are too many people who do not understand the importance of being and staying connected to the body of Christ. Many people look at the church and they see a place to find peace, answers, comfort, hope. And, there is nothing wrong with these things. They are true.

There are any number of reasons to go to church. But why should I come? We have to personalize the question. When I look at these and any other reasons that we could chose, I am confronted with one simple reality. These are just ends. These are the benefits of being a part of the body of Christ. They are not the reasons for staying connected. This is why we have to see that if we are going to enjoy them we have to stay connected to the body.

2. I go to church because I cannot be a Christian alone.

(20) As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (21) The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” (1 Corinthians 12:20-21 ESV)

We should come because it is here, as a gathered people, that we are able to endure the journey of faith. It is not easy to be a Christian and to have to travel that narrow road alone is not what God had in mind. By joining our lives together we are able to help one another. When we forget this we risk putting ourselves in jeapordy.

3. I go to church because I will need a community when life happens.

(26) If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (27) Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 Corinthians 12:26-27 ESV)

Whether we want to acknowledge it or not there is no stopping life from happening. We all will go through something. Isn’t it better when you can go through it with someone?

4. I go to church because it will prepare me for when Jesus returns.

The writer of Hebrews helps us to understand one of the main reasons for coming together as the body of Christ. I would like to leave this with you for your consideration.

(24) And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, (25) not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV)

If we want to be ready for when Jesus comes back, we need to be and stay connected with God’s people. The training ground for heaven is in the church. We may forget this from time to time. However, we must work be a part of Christ’s body until he returns.

Originally titled “Why Come?” (04/13/2008). Edited and expanded.

9 Reasons that our Souls can Bless the Lord

I read this today in Psalm 103.

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.

After I read this I realized that all of what David was saying here were wonderfully clear reasons for my soul to bless the Lord. One reason for each of the verse.

1. God is righteous and works justice for those who are oppressed. (v. 7)

2. God has made his way known. He has communicated with us. We should listen (v. 8)

3. God’s love is steadfast, therefore, we can have confidence in his mercy and grace. (v. 9)

4. God’s anger against sin will not last forever. (v. 7)

5. God does not deal with me according to my sin or iniquities. He knows I would not survive if he did. (v. 10)

6. God’s love cannot be quantified, it can only be experienced. It should cause awe within us. (v. 11)

7. God’s ability to forgive is beyond measure. (v. 12)

I love this song by Casting Crowns. It is a wonderful description of the truth this verse!

8. God is prodigal in his compassion to his children. (v. 13)

9. God is not confused as to our condition and temperament. He knows us and loves us in spite of our shortcomings. (v. 14)

Joey + Rory | “A Story of Love and Preparation for Loss”

This past week I saw the call for prayers for Joey Feek circulating on social media. Up until that point, I was not familiar with this bluegrass/country duo.

Joey is dying. She has cancer and it is slowly destroying her body.

As I was reading Rory’s perspective, of a husband losing his wife to cancer, I was struck by the love with which he talks about his bride. He does not shy away from the raw emotions that he feels. He is open and honest about the struggles that have marked their journey together for the last few months. I was touched by this.

As a musical group, much of how they interact with life is through the music they make and sing. It seems that several years ago a friend wrote a song about her own loss. As they considered what tracks to include on their most recent project they picked their friends song, “When I’m Gone.”

As they discussed making a video for the song, they decided to record it from Joey’s point of view. Rory’s reaction to this decision resonated with me.

I didn’t like it.

I told them so. It hit too close to home.

But as they continued to talk and I listened… I realized that “yes, of course. We have to make it that way. It’s the story in the song”.

It wasn’t what I wanted… but it’s what the song wanted. And though it scared me for us to be that vulnerable, it was also what our whole lives and music career was about – being real… being honest.

And so the cameras rolled and both Joey and I let us ourselves imagine what it would be like if she had to leave this world and I was left behind without her… [Source]

I have to agree with Rory, no one wants to have to think about these things. No one should have to. However, life on this fallen planet does not give us that option. I have prayed for this family I do not know. I pray that God gives them peace and comfort in this time of preparation and mourning. We sometimes forget that mourning is a process that can begin long before a person is finally gone from this world.

Family, Community, and the Blessing of Being Connected

Everybody is alright, but yesterday we had a bit of a scare. My sister started feeling ill all of a sudden. We had to call 911 for an ambulance and then she was carted off to the emergency room.

To say that I was a little freaked by it would be somewhat of an understatement. I am not typically an outwardly emotive person. I like to think that I can and do remain composed in difficult situations. However, when your little sister, who is a nurse, is in some medical distress and she does not know what’s going on, you can get flustered. And I did.

I was at the office when my dad left to go check up on her. She had finished her night shift at the hospital and was sleeping at my parent’s house. For those who do not know, I serve as a pastor in the church my father planted in 2007. So, when he goes to the house and I get a call from my mom not to minutes later, alarms start to go off in my head. As I sit in my office, trying to figure out what is going on, I decide to just go over to the house. I knew that is where I needed to be.

As my wife and I were watching our nephews (she had decided to come over as well thank goodness), this thought came to my mind: I am glad that I was close enough to jump into action.

It has been a long time since I lived close to family. These last two years have been especially nice for us as a family. And, it’s when things like this happen that you begin to understand how important family is. But, I also realized how important it is to be and stay connected with those who, while not blood relations, provide a stabilizing effect on your family.

There are three comforts I believe we can enjoy when we stay connected with others in close relationship.

1. When we are connected we are never alone.

The world can be a lonely place. It can be so easy to get disconnected and to miss out on so many wonderful things. Life was never meant to be lived alone. God, from the very beginning, understood that it was not good for people to be alone.

One of the greatest tactics of the enemy of our souls is to tell us and trick us into isolation. When we are separated from one another we are vulnerable. When we are are cut off from the rest of our community we are susceptible to believing lies and half-truths. Our community can provide a counter-measure to our insecurities and doubts and fears. When we are surrounded by others who love us, we can face far more difficulties than we ever thought possible.

2. When we are connected we learn to appreciate those who chose us.

It is true that when things get hard for us is when we know who are friends are. Many people are friendly. Many people can be counted on to offer kind words and even encouragement. But, there are some people in our lives who show up unasked. Who do without being told. Who are ready to enter into the hell of your circumstances and wait with you for it pass.

It is then, at that moment, when you you know you have found a friend. I am not trying to discount what many people do. I am pointing to a specific kind of friendship that we all need. We need to have friends like this but, we should also be friends like this.

3. When we are connected we share life with others.

This is, in the final evaluation, what we should be striving for. We should not only be looking to provide support or help to others. We should be offering ourselves.

This is Christ’s example. Jesus came to serve and not to be served. Jesus humbled himself and became like a servant for our sake. Jesus was not trying to impress anyone, he was trying to impress upon us the importance of forming bonds with others that go beyond the physical to the spiritual. A friendship forged in the fires of faith are destined to last.

I am fortunate to count my siblings among my friends. This may not be true for everyone. However, this does not mean that we can not cultivate deep, meaningful, and enriching friendships with those in our churches. It can be a risk. And, it can be scary. But, in the long run it will most certainly be worth it.

Faith is NOT Blind

One of the most difficult things in the Christian faith is learning how to bring out entire lives into conformity with God’s commands and purposes. I think the reason I struggle with this is because I cannot see into the future. If I could see how the decisions I was going to make right now were going to impact future events I would have greater confidence in what I was doing.

This may be wishful thinking. It may even be naive to think that we could have this kind of foresight. I do not have a problem with that. What I have learned is that I do not have to see into the future to have a good idea of how a present decision with impact future events.

For better or for worse, people and the circumstances that we find ourselves in do not change all that much. Sure, there are issues of language and culture but, people still have the same basic needs and desires. We all desire to be loved and accepted. We all have fears and anxieties. We all have a longing to live a life of meaning and purpose. I do not believe that people wake up every morning hoping to live a meaningless existence. This kind of hopelessness and ambiguity is something we learn because of what we choose and, to a greater degree, what we go through in life.

We cannot deny that the choices of others affect us. They may even cause us to stumble. I do not ever want to minimize this reality. What I have come to believe is that when we do not have something sure, constant, and immovable in our lives this tendency toward existential angst goes unchecked.

As a believer in Jesus, my faith provides me with a mooring to hope that, even when I fight against it, reminds me that there is someone who is calling me back from the brink. For me, hope is not just an idea. Hope is incarnated in the person of Jesus. He is my hope. He is the one who calls me back to the light when the world grows dark.

Faith in Jesus is not easy. Not because it is difficult to understand what is being asked of us. This life is difficult because we see what is being asked and we have to decide if we are genuinely willing to surrender our desires to those of God. Are we willing to trust that the steps God is calling and leading us to take are safe and sure?

In the end, there is only one way of finding out. That way is to take the first step. We have to begin to walk by faith and in faith before we will ever know. Faith is not blind. It is bold. It looks at what is in front of it and decides to proceed.

Faith is NOT blind. But it is not careless either. It must be thoughtful and measured and, most importantly, courageous.

When You figure out what you’re here for

Over the years, there have been movies that have imprinted themselves in my mind. Movies that have triggered thoughts, ideas, and even emotions that I was not anticipating as I watched them. For a variety of reasons, they have pointed me to consider more deeply what it means to be a follower of Christ. One of those moves has been Sister Act.

Movies are made to entertain and even to inform. But, to me, movies expose some of the fundamental needs of the human soul. We have to be watchful and observant. We have to be self-reflective if we are going to see what is often overlooked. There is a scene in Sister Act that every time I see it I get goosebumps.

It would take a long time for me to mark out the many lessons that I have gained from this film. One of them, however, revolves around the youngest nun, Sister Mary Roberts, in the convent. She has always believed there was something inside of her that God wanted to us. It is not until Sister Mary Clarence arrives (played by Whoopi Goldberg) that she finds it. She discovers her purpose and it was something that she had never considered as “the thing” for which she existed.

The older I get the more striking it becomes that many of us do not know why we are here on this earth. We seem to be going about our lives randomly bumping into each other but with no true direction. We have been told over and over again that we have a purpose. That God has a wonderful and beautiful plan for our lives, and yet, we do not know what it is. Or worse, we do not know how to get started in living it out if we do.

There are many tragedies that happen in life. However, one of the greatest has to be living a life without purpose. I want to live a life filled with purpose. And, that purpose will be unique to me. It will be fulfilling for me. Therefore, I have to do all that I can to find it. Then, when I find it, I have to fight to stay true to it.

I think this is what makes this realization by Sister Mary Roberts so powerful to me. Watch the video below and watch the change in her face as she begins to believe in herself and her purpose. After you have watched ask yourself this question, “What are you doing to find and live out your purpose?”

The truth of the matter is that you never know where you will be when you find out what you’re here for.

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How do we heal from our Spiritual Injuries?

If they knew what you knew that God knew about you, how would that affect how you lived your life?

One of the hardest things to do as a Christian is moving on from our past. We all know who we were. We also know who we are, or at least are trying to be. There is no escaping the memories of our history. We are all inescapably trapped by our own experiences.

This reality has often times caused me to struggle. In particular, I have struggled with bearing witness to the grace of God and the Gospel of Jesus because of fear. Fear of my own ignorance; of my own failures; even of my own fears. The level of emotional and spiritual paralysis can be suffocating at times. I recognize that I have been saved by Jesus. I believe the Good News and have confessed my faith in God. I have started doing all the right things, and still I have felt like there is something missing.

The truth is there is something missing. However, it is not what many of us think. Over the years, I have found that my biggest problem is not the right things I’m doing, but a shame over all the things I know I have done wrong. I think this is because of an essential misunderstanding of grace.

God’s grace does not remove the scars caused by our sin. What grace does is heal the wound. An open wound, one that will not heal, will eventually get infected. We understanding this when we think of our bodies but, what about our spiritual being. When we suffer a spiritual injury how are these wounds healed? What can we do to close a wound we cannot see?

The first thing we have to recognize is that spiritual injuries are exactly that, spiritual. That means looking for natural means of healing them will never work. As a matter of fact, doing this may actually deepen the injury and extend the time needed for healing. Pastor Luis Scott has defined a spiritual injury as a contradiction between what we believe and what we know to be true. An example of this is when a child is being abused by a parent. The child believes that the parent should be caring for and protecting them but, the supposed protector is actually a perpetrator. The injury caused by this contradiction remains present and open far longer than any of the physical wounds inflicted as long as the contradiction remains unresolved. Long after the latter has healed, the former may continue growing and festering.

While it is true that many people suffer spiritual injuries at the hands of others, it is also true that we can become the cause of our own injuries. When w attempt to reconcile a contradiction in our hearts and minds, a contradiction that “we know” is not true, we inadvertently keep amplifying the spiritual damage. What makes this entire process worse is that many of us dying under the weight of more contradictions than we can identify on our own. We need help in sorting it all out. We really cannot do it on our own. But our shame (which is the inverted expression of pride) gets in the way.

My shame over past sin is real. There is no taking any of it back. All of us who acknowledge that we are sinners understand this. The problem is that we cannot continue to believe that we are both horrible sinners and redeemed saints. Before I get accused of being a heretic, understand what I am saying. I am a horrible sinner. That does not change. What does change is that if I am redeemed by the blood of Christ, as the Gospel declares, then I have to see the reality my sinfulness in light of the truth of my salvation.

In other words, the TRUTH of God’s grace, the TRUTH that I have been saved, the TRUTH that I am now being conformed into the image of Christ, these TRUTHs overshadows the lie that I am too far gone for God to save. That I cannot not be saved or that I cannot be changed. These ideas are contrary to what God has proclaimed in his word.

There are too many Christians who have inflicted upon themselves very serious spiritual injuries and they may not even know it. And the root cause of these injuries is that they have believed lies. When we believe lies about God, his grace, and the Gospel we will suffer. And we suffer because we are descending into bondage. But, when we continue to hold on to notions of who we used to be without God when God has changed those circumstances we continue to injure ourselves.

The first step toward healing is to stop doing what is causing the wound to remain open and exposed. We have to discover the lie we have believed that has led to a contradiction in our lives. This is not always easy. It can take some time to find and then accept that we believed a lie. However, in the end, it is vital to our getting spiritually healthy.

The Will of God

The will of God. This is such a difficult and mysterious phrase within the Christian faith. I think that almost every Christian would say that they want to know what the will of God is for their lives. But, how can we find it? How can we discern what God would have us to do?

Maybe, we should try to find what is already before us. I think of what Paul told the Roman church:

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:17-18 ESV)

What Paul appears to imply by this passage is that the will of God is NOT something we do, but rather something we are. We are to become something new as Paul would tell the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:17). Could it be that as we become more like Christ and live a Christ-like life we are then “doing” the will of God? Could the will of God be a changed life living for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)?

If the will of God is becoming more like Christ, then anything we avoid doing or anything we modify for our own convenience is a move away from God’s will.

I pray that we will strive to become more like Christ as we seek to obey God.

Your Fears are a sign of God’s Grace

There are many people who love being scared. They go on rollercoaster rides, to haunted houses, through Halloween mazes, and even watch scary movies to get the “rush.” I am not one of those people. I tend to be rather skittish when I know that something is about to happen. I just want it to be over. This makes me a bad movie partner. I talk to the characters on the screen and tend to laugh at things most people don’t see as funny. Over the years my wife as learned to just deal with my movie-watching antics. This may also be a big reason we watch more movies at home than at the theater.

This past week, as our LifeGroup meeting was closing one of our members made the comment that when they start praying for God to be at work in their lives, almost immediately, they have fears pop up in their minds. As this member shared and we listened, a thought came to my mind. It was something I had thought about before but had never verbalized in quite the same way I did in our meeting. I told my LifeGroup, “Our fears are evidence of God’s grace in our lives because they reveal to us where the battle will be joined.” If we know where the battle will be fought it only makes sense to strengthen our defenses in that area.

We are created to experience fear. It is a truly remarkable quality to the human experience. It is a built in defense mechanism. However, what many of us do not always see is that our fears are warnings we are supposed to take notice of. We are overcome my our fears rather than learning what is causing them so we can stop being afraid.

I have started saying that fear is faith in the wrong thing. When we are fearful we have replaced the comforting truth of God’s word and God’s character and God’s promises with something that is unable to sustain us. That is why we fear. We become afraid when we realized that what we wanted to hold us up cannot support what we are entrusting to it–our lives.

I know that there are some things we fear that are not life altering, i.e., my own fear of heights and spiders. I can’t explain or control these fears, but they do affect how I live my life in some way. So, what do we do when we have a fear of greater import? How do we respond when we are afraid that we have failed God in some way? What do we do to overcome our anxiety of falling back an undesired habit or pattern? How do we overcome the feeling that God will not be able to do something we are asking his help in doing?

These are genuine issues we all face. I am sure we could all come up with a list of fears we have as it relates to our faith journey. The question we must ask ourselves is how can we trust God to help when we feel unworthy?

The place I go for encouragement and a reminder is 1 Corinthians 10:13:

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God provides a way of escape for every temptation we face in life. The choice we have to make is to take it. It is already there. Paul seems to indicate that the way of escape is apparent because it is tied to the temptation itself. When we are being tempted, the solution is right in front of us. We know what it is because we are the ones being tempted.

Our fear in whatever situation we find ourselves is the signpost pointing to the way out. We have to trust it and follow it. There are many reasons we fall prey to fear. But, the most prominent of them all is that we already know what we must do and many times we choose not to choose the path to freedom. If we want to overcome our fears we ought to put our faith in the right thing (i.e., God) and see our fear as a grace of God pointing me to the way of escape he has provided.