Category: Liturgical Calendar

Holy Week 2018 | Wednesday of Holy Week: The Gospel

The Gospel is the most wonderful message every conceived. It exposes the human problem and at the same time reveals the divine solution. There is no more wonderful message.

The Gospel is the most wonderful message every conceived. It exposes the human problem and at the same time reveals the divine solution. There is no more wonderful message.

There have been many things I have learned on my journey with Jesus. But, in all my learn I have not learned enough. With each day I am astounded by how beautiful God’s grace is. It is glorious and awe-inspiring.

I really don’t have the words to do justice here. I will not try. What I will say is that the more I look at this divine reality I become more convinced of its power and purpose. And that is really what I want to say.

If people who do not yet know the Gospel; have not yet believed the Gospel; have yet to feel the effects of the Gospel, would just give it a fair chance, I believe they would be surprised at its effects. We come to Jesus with too many demands and even more prejudgments. We come to Jesus and we demand out of selfish impulses rather than receive what he offers. It’s quite a remarkable state of affairs.

What many do not understand is that the resurrection that Christians celebrate on Easter morning is the climactic moment in the divine drama. A drama being played out in the history of the world. The Gospel did not begin on resurrection morning. And it did not begin when Jesus entered into the human experience. It began long before.

What I mean is that the Gospel began at creation. The Gospel marches through the story of the nation of Israel and King David’s regal lineage. The Gospel is present in on every page penned by every prophet ending with John the Baptist. And it passes through events surrounding Jesus crucifixion, touching every person who has ever believed in the name of above every name. The Gospel is still alive because it is alive in me and in you if you believe.

As we reach the middle of Holy Week I would encourage you to consider your role in this Gospel drama. What role have you played? What role are you playing? And possibly most important, what role do you desire to play in the time you have left on this earth? Do not take it for granted. Seize the moment God has given to you, to each of us, to be Gospel people to a world that desperately needs some Good News!

Holy Week 2018 | Tuesday of Holy Week: Glory

There is coming a day, when we will not be as we are right now.

As I have gotten older, one of the characteristics of God’s nature has become more interesting. I say it this way because when I think about this attribute, I know that I don’t have anything I can compare it to. That is, I have never experienced it and I won’t until I stand before him. That characteristic is “Glory.”

In the Old Testament, the glory of God was described as hovering over the tabernacle that Moses built. It was evidence of God presence. It was proof to the Hebrews and the surrounding nations that God was with this people. It has been described as light, power, radiance, heat, and fire. It may be all of those things or none at all. The craziest thing about this glory is that no person has ever experienced in its fullness.

Moses asked God to show his glory. But God knew that this would be the end of Moses. So he offered this instead, God put Moses in a small opening in the side of a mountain, covered it with his hand to protect Moses and then allowed Moses to look at his “back” when he passed. I’m going to tell you right now, that doesn’t make any sense. What did Moses see? Better still, what did God show him?!

The apostle John says something interesting in his first letter. It’s in chapter 3.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

What I love about this passage is that it appears to confirm what God told Moses. A regular, un-transformed human being cannot look at God’s glory because it would destroy them. But, there is coming a day, when we will not be as we are right now. Where we will be changed and resemble Jesus in his resurrected form. And, on that day, when that transformation has taken place we will be able to “see him as he is.” I don’t know about you, but I look forward to that day. I hope you do too!

Holy Week 2018 | Monday of Holy Week: Salvation

God, as a manifestation of who he is, sought a way to save that which deserved damnation.

God’s glorious grace is seen in the Cross of Calvary. On that instrument of suffering and death, the Son of God purchased the salvation of all who would believe. In a moment of pure love, the blood of Christ dripped and redeemed that which was thought lost for all time.

The remarkable mystery of salvation is that any of us is saved at all. God was not obligated to save. But he was compelled to do it. There is a difference. And obligation is imposed upon us by an outside force. But that is not what God did. God is good. He is gracious. He is loving. In all that he does, he is just. What this means is that God, as a manifestation of who he is, sought a way to save that which deserved damnation. That is a paradox. These two seemingly contradictory realities find their resolution in Jesus.

As we look forward to Resurrection Sunday, I am stunned yet again at the wonderful grace of God. God is so much better than we could ever fathom. He is more glorious than we could ever describe. He is kinder than we could ever deserve. But, I am so thankful that he is who he is in spite of who I am.

Lent 2018 | Day #33: Spiritual Health

Most people will readily understand the idea of growing spiritually, but far fewer understand how this growth is cultivated and sustained.

I will be borrowing heavily from the countless conversations, books, and teachings of my father, Pastor Luis R. Scott. He serves as the Senior and Founding Pastor of Ambassadors of Christ Ministries. If you would like a more in-depth discussion of Spiritual Health I commend his book, Healing the Broken Spirit, on the subject of Spiritual Health and Spiritual Injuries.

Spiritual Health is a concept that describes a holistic view of Christian growth and sanctification. Most people will readily understand the idea of growing spiritually, but far fewer understand how this growth is cultivated and sustained. In this post, I will not try to fully explain what spiritual health is. That is a subject that would require far more space than this post will allow. My goal is to paint a silhouette of the possibilities that God is calling us to.

There are two distinct features of Spiritual Health. The first is understand how transformation takes place. The second is learning how to engage in the process of transformation.

How Does Transformation Happen?

To understand how transformation takes place, we can look to one of the apostle Paul’s more interesting ideas. It is found in his letter to the Roman church.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

The part I want to focus on is this relationship between transformation and the renewal of the mind. Paul appears to make the argument that in order for there to be transformation something has to take place in the mind of the person. But the question is what exactly has to happen?

What I find interesting is that in verse 3 of the same passage Paul talks about making sober judgments. In the context, Paul is talking about understanding our own individual gifts, as given by the Holy Spirit. But, more generally, this verse provides a framework for transformation.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)

What does it mean to have “sober judgment”? At our church we describe this idea in this way: Transformation can take place when we replace a lie with the truth. The goal is that for every lie that is replaced we become freer, and by extension healthier. The greater our health, the more opportunities we will have and see to engage in kingdom work.

Where does transformation happen?

The second feature of Spiritual Health has to do with how do we engage in the process of transformation. For my church, we teach our members—and anyone who will listen—that a disconnected Christian is an unhealthy one. What this means is that God has designed and appointed the Church to be the instrumental means of communicating the truth that transforms. Can it be found in other places? Yes, of course, it can. But every soul is guaranteed to find it in the Church.

Now, I fully understand that all churches are not as healthy as they should be. Some are downright sick. However, the failure of some to embody God’s purpose and design does not eliminate the goal and function of the Church in an individuals life.

We like to say at our church that there are three essential reasons for gathering with the church:

  1. To hear a truth that replaces a lie.
  2. To tune our ear to hear the voice of God.
  3. To build lasting friendships with other believers.

These three reasons are how we engage in the process of transformation. If transformation happens when lies are replaced with truth and if the church is the place designed to disseminate God’s truth then we should connect with a local body to give ourselves the best chance at becoming spiritually healthy.

As we enter into Holy Week, I would encourage you to seek God’s truth and to engage in the process of transformation. Find a church that carefully and unashamedly communicates the full counsel of God. There really is no better time to begin to seek lasting Spiritual Health.

Lent 2018 | Day #32: Caution

Whenever we rush into decisions; whenever we make decisions emotionally, we run the risk of being careless.

I have worked with young people in the middle and high school stages of life for the past twelve years. I did not think that I would be good at it, but I have discovered that I have more of an aptitude for it than I thought. God knew better.

As an observer of human behavior, I was able to learn a great deal about the youth mind. I did not know these things when I was passing through this particular stage of development. But, now as an adult, I am more keenly aware of some of the hazards that young people face during this transition. I want to address one of these today and see if we can’t learn something ourselves.

Over the years, I have noticed that most youths have a hard time seeing past the immediate situation they are facing. This can create some very serious problems. The biggest of which, in my opinion, is committing to a rash decision. Because a young person does not have enough information, through life experience and education, they are prone to respond emotionally. As a result, these decisions can become more burdensome than was necessary.

The lesson we can take from this is the idea of “caution.” Whenever we rush into decisions; whenever we make decisions emotionally, we run the risk of being careless. Not that we meant to, but that we are unable to reflect and consider the effect of our choices. This is one of the many reasons for teaching and encouraging youth to have caution.

Another way of thinking about this idea of caution is to remind ourselves to slow down. Not every important decision is an urgent one. And not every urgent decision is an emergency. Until we are able to tell the difference between these levels of intensity we will get bent out of shape. I saw this more often than I can count.

As we get closer to Holy Week I would encourage you to be more cautious. Don’t get hurried. Take your time and learn to keep a steady pace. Life is short enough, let’s not speed it up.

Lent 2018 | Day #31: Calling

The calling of God is not about some transformation of the external things of life. The calling of God is about the relationship that we now have access to because of Jesus.

If you are a child of God you have been called. God has a purpose and a place for you within the Body of Christ and in the world. Now, before this gets out of hand, let me correct a common misconception. Whenever I have conversations with people about God’s purpose, too often these folks start painting some majestic mental picture of the kind of life they will now have. They will transform the world. And then if that doesn’t happen, they will feel let down and even disappointed.

What I am getting at is that the calling of God in our lives will look far more ordinary than we may care to admit. The calling of God is not about some transformation of the external things of life. The calling of God is about the relationship that we now have access to because of Jesus.

The fact that we can hear the calling of God’s Spirit to our spirit is a testament to the fact that we have now been brought near to God. We are no longer strangers. We are sons and daughters of God.

The wonder of God’s calling is that he is constantly calling us to come. But can’t we hear him? Let me frame this idea differently. How do we hear the calling of God? We hear it through the preaching of the Gospel. In the declaration of the Gospel God calls, he calls our attention. He identifies the poison of sin in our souls and then points to the antidote of the Cross.

Whether we understand it or not, God speaks in so many ways. And many of those ways are ordinary. So ordinary in fact that we miss them, but he is there, speaking about the life he desires for us to have and the new home Jesus has prepared for us.

Lent 2018 | Day #30: Service

As followers of Christ, we are the beneficiaries of Christ service to us.

Our service to our neighbor is one of the greatest testimonies of the Gospel’s power to transform. Service does not come easily to me, and I would imagine that is true for a lot of others. It’s not that I don’t want to serve. There are two big reasons I struggle in this area. First, I trend toward laziness. I like to just have my space. Second, I don’t feel qualified to do too many things.

For some others, the struggles may manifest themselves in different ways. But, since I know where the fight is for me I have to be more diligent it confronting these two tendencies. I have to push back against them because service is a vital component to the mission of the Church. And, I have to do my part in helping the Church extend her reach into the world and, more specifically, the community God has planted me.

We all must take the time and assess why we fail to serve as we should. As followers of Christ, we are the beneficiaries of Christ service to us. Jesus taught and exemplified a life of service. Everything he did was in service to God and to us. Jesus’s death on the cross was an act of service. We could not die for our own sin, so Jesus died for us.

This is the key to genuine Christian service, we do for others what they cannot do for themselves. And this is especially true when we have it within our power to do it.

I pray that we will seek to increase our sacrificial service in this season of Lent.

Lent 2018 | Day #29: Worship

We will always have a “soft spot” for the style of music that helped us to connect to God.

I have spent my entire life in the church. What I mean is that as the son of a pastor and now a pastor myself, I don’t know any other way of life than as a believer in Jesus. In my time being a part of the church and now working as a leader within the church I have been a part of many interesting conversations. One of the most provocative has always been around worship. I don’t know why, but I have my suspicions.

If I had to bet on why I would illustrate it this way. My parents are from Puerto Rico. They grew up speaking Spanish. So, even now, after over forty years living in the continental US, they still love to worship in their native language. Their first encounters with God were in one language, their heart language, and there is a natural affinity to worship in that language.

This is an analogy. We will always have a “soft spot” for the style of music that helped us to connect to God. Do people “hate” other styles? Not necessarily. But they do have a preference. What tends to polarize people is being told that their style is not good or that it needs to be eliminated from the catalog of a church’s worship. There is a problem when the conversation gets to this point, people retreat into their camps because they do not want to sacrifice their own connection with God. Because whether we know it or not, that is exactly what someone hears when they are told their preferred style is being eliminated. And no one should be asked to give this particular connection up.

The church should not address the subject of worship this way. The conversation cannot be about just music. Worship is so much more than the music! But, it gets reduced to just music for some reason.

I discovered this tendency in myself in one of the churches I served. We had a contemporary service and a traditional service. Even though I was in my late 20s/ early 30s I preferred the traditional service with its massive pipe organ. For some reason, I “felt” closer to God when I worshipped in that service. Could I worship in the other service? Yes, I could. What I am saying is that when we make sure to keep the focus of worship on God and not on the music (or anything else that happens in the service), we can work out some of these differences. We can be more gracious and understanding.

In the Christian tradition that I grew up in we do not typically observe Lent. But, now I do because I learned to appreciate what it is. I may not observe Lent perfectly, but I do my best to keep the spirit of the season in view. This is something we all should do more often.

Lent 2018 | Day #28: The Church

Surgery should not be performed with axes. We are so good at cutting off the arm when all we are trying to remove is a mole.

For as long as I can remember my father has been telling me, and whoever would listen, that he is a defender of the church. Many people have taken that to mean that he would defend all the mistakes that are made in the name of the church. This understanding of that phrase is wildly incorrect. The church is made of broken people who are being mended by the grace of God.

The idea that every Christian should be a defender of the church can be difficult for some. If we have suffered an injury at the hands of those we trusted or admired, we may have raw emotions about the subject. What I have come to realize and what I believe my father is saying (which I have confirmed with him over many conversations) is that he will never side with the critics of the Church. Are there mistakes that have to be rectified? Yes. Are there wounded souls that must be helped to heal? Yes. Does the church have to learn and do better in accomplishing her mission? Yes, absolutely.

The problem is that many of the critics of the church are not seeking reformation or redemption. They are seeking to undermine work of the church or destroy the foundations upon which she is built. An even bigger problem is that you cannot fix what you are constantly criticizing. If all you ever see are the flaws; if all you ever talk about are the dents and dings; if your tendency is to tear down how can you possibly build up?

Yes, I am generalizing. And yes, I am speaking in broad strokes. The reason I am doing it this way is because it is easy to hide our negativity toward the Church under the thin mask of “constructive criticism.” When we take the poor choices or vile misdeeds of a few and extrapolate that the entire Church is at fault, we are participants in a wild injustice against the Church. Surgery should not be performed with axes. We are so good at cutting off the arm when all we are trying to remove is a mole.

As we move through the Season of Lent I am thankful that God has preserved the Church in spite of the many failures of her members. There are many things that we as the people of God could do better. What we can’t do better to come up with a better means for spreading the Gospel of Jesus. The Church is that instrument in the hand of God. Our failure in effectiveness is not a failure of God’s purpose or design of the Church!

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