Imagination Vs. Faith

Is Jesus just your imaginary friend or is He an unseen constant reality of your life?

You just might want to think about that for a minute.  The next generation may hinge on that answer.

Generational faith training requires that parents take an active role in shaping the faith of the next generation.  It is following the Biblical mandate from Deuteronomy 6:1-12 where Moses commanded :

“1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all His decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. “3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and  when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not  dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Now, I have talked ad nauseam about this passage.  I've blogged about it.  I'm writing a book about it.

A new aspect, however, has come to my feeble-minded attention span via AW Tozer's The Pursuit of God.  While laying out the case for incorporating a deeper and passionate relationship with God that many Christians miss, Tozer notes the following:

"Imagination is not faith.  The two are not only different from, but stand in sharp opposition to, each other.  Imagination projects unreal images out of the mind and seeks to attach reality to them.  Faith creates nothing: It simply reckons upon that which is already there.  God and the spiritual world are real.  We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us."

Tozer goes on to say that we can't really comprehension the realness and authenticity of God and the spiritual world because of our sin nature:

"But sin has so clouded the lenses of our hearts that we cannot see that other reality, the City of God, shining around us.  The world of sense triumphs.  The visible becomes the enemy of the invisible; the temporal, of the eternal.  That is the curse inherited by every member of Adam's tragic race.  At the root of the Christian life lies belief in the invisible.  The object of the Christian's faith is unseen reality.  Our uncorrected thinking, influenced by the blindness of our natural hearts and the intrusive ubiquity of visible things tends to draw a contrast between the spiritual and the real; but actually no such contrast exists.  The antithesis lies elsewhere: between the real and the imaginary, between the temporal and the eternal; but between the spiritual and the real, never.  The spiritual IS real."

Those of us entrusted with cultivating the faith view of the next generation (see all of us) must keep these truths in mind.  Our Homeboy Jesus often chatted about the importance of child-like faith.  He chastised the crew to let the little kids come to him.  Kids have that natural ability to believe in the unseen.  You've got your Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and monsters under the bed as just a few examples.

A clear distinction needs to be made here though.  God is not an imaginary friend that you talk to when you are bored.

How you interact with God on a daily basis will impact your child's view of God.  If you treat Jesus as a mystery person that you talk to about once a week that becomes the reality for your kids.  Jesus joins the holiday posse of Santa and the E Bunny as imaginary beings that do nice things for you on occasion.

One of the great challenges of faith training the next generation is incorporating Jesus into every aspect of life and making kids realize that HE IS REAL.  Kids need to understand that faith is not the same as imagination.  We don't project our version of Jesus.  We learn to see the truth Jesus through His Scripture and communion with the Holy Spirit.  Through faith we can see the invisible as it actually exists not as our imagination crafts it to be.  Sometimes that truth is uncomfortable but it doesn't make it any less true.

If one of the sad truths of the modern church era is that statistically the largest percentage of folks who walk away from church do so upon entering college for the primary reason of faith not being applicable to their lives, we need to do a better job at helping kids uncover the REALITY of Jesus before its too late.

Sadly, for many of us (myself included) this means uncovering the REALITY of Jesus for ourselves first.  Too often we compartmentalize and allow the temporal physical aspects of this world to define our ambitions, our priorities and our lifestyle.  Like Adam and Eve's feast on forbidden fruit (and quite frankly like cats chasing a laser pointer) we get easily distracted by the newest and brightest shiny object in front of us.

That veil of "imagination" shrouding the true reality of the spiritual world needs to be torn down.  We can't afford to continue to drape our beliefs into warm and cozy images that we construct ourselves.

Jesus came both to bring a SWORD and ABUNDANT LIFE.

So Deuteronomy Six-ize your faith first and then your kids will follow.  Pray for deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit and deeper revelation of who Jesus is.

Don't settle for Santa.

Imagination is great and fun and provides for hours of entertainment.  It does not, however, provide salvation.  Only spiritual truth can uncover that reality of God found in Christ.

That is the ultimate adventure that no fairy tale could touch and it ain't hopping down no bunny trail or shimmying down the chimney.

Peter: Dissing Jesus One Minute & Loving Him The Next

"Feed Me!"  

You have to love Peter.  Or maybe you don't.  I don't know you so I won't presume to tell you what to do.

Anyway, Peter is a man of high highs and low lows.  Dude jumped out of the boat when he saw Jesus walking on the water toward them when everyone else was messing themselves and shaking like a leaf.

Then he sank into the water because his fear and lack of faith got the best of him.

He was also eager to build tents for Elijah and Moses when they networked socially with Jesus during the Mount of Transfiguration experience.  They weren't planning on hanging out long enough to need the digs, so he never got to build them.

Then during the Last Supper when Judas was all-Satan-ed up, Peter dramatically declared that he would never betray or leave Jesus only to have Jesus rebuke him by predicting his betrayal as a prologue to the exciting event of a rooster crowing.  Me thinks the burly fisherman doth protest too much.

You get the sense when you read John's Gospel that there was a friendly rivalry between these two.  John-boy was the "beloved disciple" and often subtly refers to himself as such when writing his Gospel narrative.  I guess it's a way to try to remain humble about the honor.

To read his account, you see that when Jesus was arrested and Peter was warming up for his betrayal performance of a lifetime, John was also there:

"And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.  But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in."  JOHN 18:15-16

Now, it's true that the account doesn't specifically say it was John, but among the 10 possibilities (let's go ahead and rule out Judas) for this mysterious other disciple, only John is recorded at being at the cross during Jesus' crucifixion.  John and Peter are almost ALWAYS referred to as being together.  Pretty much any major narrative involving one of them involves the other.  Symbolically their partnership serves as a glimpse of the collaborative relationship between FAITH & DEVOTION (John) and ACTION (Peter).   Additionally, John ALWAYS refers to himself in third person, but typically names the other disciples. 

If it is indeed John (and since I'm the author of this blog, I'm declaring that it is) it is interesting that the only disciple to see Jesus through to the cross and the one who bore such a deep and abiding love for Jesus was probably a first-hand witness to at least one of Peter's denials.  According to the text, Disciple X (see also John) was allowed into the courtyard but the salty rough and tumble Peter was not.  Physically, John-boy was probably not nearly as menacing as Petey and yet he doesn't deny Jesus for fear of peer pressure the way Mr. "Rock" does.  Anyway, John used his street cred with the door-lady and "brought Peter in."  Then the very next verse says, "Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, 'You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?' He said, 'I am not.'"  

So, John went to get Peter, vouched for Peter and then "brought Peter in" and in that very same instant, Peter was questioned by this door-lady and denied Jesus.  Ouch.  

That my friends is a literary contrast.  And this English teacher likes it.

So, after Peter denied Jesus and runs from the courtyard weeping, John stays and watches his Savior die for the sins of the world.

The two then also face off in racing to the empty tomb.

And then there is Peter's restoration.  Peter was previously described as a "rock" by Jesus and then he had that epic rooster-crow-inducing FAIL of denial.

So when Jesus appears to the disciples after His resurrection, it should be no surprise that He makes a special point to restore Peter's rock-ness. And just as John gave Peter access to the courtyard that night, it's again John that confirms to Peter that it is Jesus speaking to them from the shore in John 21:6-7:

"And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea."

After Peter gets to the shore, Jesus engages him in a little game of "Do You Love Me" where He asks Peter THREE times whether he loves Him or not.  Peter basically answers that he likes him a lot.  And each time Jesus commands him to feed and tend His sheep.  This is to restore Peter to his rightful position as a rock of the faith that will help lay the foundation of the early church.  Jesus knew that Peter had the tenacity and the ACTION to get it done, but here He's restoring Peter's love and devotion (see also relationship) with Him after the nasty denial episode.

Again, interestingly enough, Peter will now get his wish to follow Christ even to death as Jesus predicts that Peter will also die via crucifixion.  Jesus is allowing Peter to truly go where He has gone even after Peter dropped the ball and cajoled a rooster into breaking the serene morning hours with his obnoxious wake-inducing melody.

And even still Peter is comparing himself to John.  He wants to know about John's type of death.  Perhaps because he now feels like he's in the inner circle of relationship again and wants to confirm that all folks in the "in crowd" will suffer and die like that.  Jesus' answer is to again turn the wayward eye of Peter back to Him and not on others.

(Side note:  It's always troubled me that Jesus seems to suggest that John would live to see the end times and the typical "Jesus was just redirecting Peter's attention" explanation never quite cut it.  Thankfully this time reading through the Holy Spirit reminded me that John did in fact see the end times when he wrote the book of Revelation.  Mystery solved.)

John and Peter represent the need for faith and action to work together.  Peter may have had shortcomings and failures but Jesus demonstrated through his story that He is all about restoring broken people by giving them opportunities to learn from their failures and grow closer to Him as a result.

As parents and world-changers in the lives of children, we need to understand that our kids are the same way.  We need to build up both a deep and abiding love of Jesus AND the boldness to act and rock this world to the foundation.  There's a lot to learn from the lives of Peter and John.  

And there are a lot of the Master's sheep to tend and feed.  And if we truly LOVE HIM we will do just that!

Every Day a (Good) Friday

On this holy day where we remember the painful trek to Golgotha that Christ made for us, it's important that each believer stop and calculate the cost of his or her salvation.

I'm personally not good at calculating costs.  Don't tell Dave Ramsey but an accountant I am not.

So, being a more free-spirited kind of person, I don't usually count the cost.  I'm usually in the camp of least resistance.  Not, however, when it comes to my faith.

In a day and age where there are many high profile pastors proclaiming that Jesus is essentially a magic genie that will take every problem away from your life and make your life the stuff of fairy tales, many folks don't have the first clue as to what being a true follower of Christ means.  They've been robbed of the true power behind Good Friday and the walk of a Christian.

Yes, the life of a believer does have every day as a Friday.  It's just that every day is a Good Friday.

That's not to say that Jesus will not bless you.  He will.  It's just that our narrow constructs of what "blessing" means seems to translate into our modern narcissistic worldview of "me me me."  God blessing you does not mean that you will have a mansion, the model family, no history of sickness and virtually no strife.

God's mansion for you comes in the next life.  This life is quite simply not about you.

We are so conditioned thanks to the carnal nature of our world to put our own comfort and ease above all else.  If something is hard, hurts our feelings, or makes us struggle we shrink away from it.

And so, those who cling to Jesus solely as a "get out of jail free" card and magic charm to erase all of their hurt, are missing out on a much larger life-altering blessing.

That's why when pressed for the greatest commandment, Jesus told us in Matthew 22:37-40:

Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Notice Jesus didn't mention that iPads and fancy new cars would be falling from the sky.  He didn't say that the most important thing in life was your personal comfort or happiness.  He did, however, lay out a plan that would leave you fulfilled and whole.

Jesus is talking about the priorities necessary in order to live the Christian life and be a true follower of Him.  It's.  Not.  About.  You.

You don't even make the list.

Your first priority in all that you do, think and experience should be your all-encompassing love of your Lord Jesus Christ.  Your love and relationship with Jesus will not only determine your eternal destination but also the fullness of your wisdom and experience in this life.  He is the "solid rock" on which you stand "all other ground is sinking sand."  Any theology or teaching that starts without Jesus as the first priority and center of everything is false doctrine right from the pit of hell.

The second priority is again not you.  It's other people.  Jesus is telling you that in order to be successful in this whole Christian experience, you need to put Him first and others second.  You come somewhere after that.

In our culture, many in the church are trying to gain favor in our self-centered culture by focusing on your needs and your wants and how you can feel better and become more comfortable by citing verses that refer to Christ giving you whatever you ask for in His name.

That is a distortion of reality and one of the subtle ways that the enemy can warp our thinking and thwart our witness in this world.

Again, this is not to say that Jesus wants you to suffer in this world.  He doesn't.  The world and the enemy do, however.  He wants you to stand with Him and not with the pleasures of this world.

And that involves a choice.

You would think that if Christianity was the secret formula to riches and a life of ease that the disciples and early New Testament believers would have been on Easy Street.  And yet, despite the miraculous world-changing witness that they bore, we find the opposite: people being boiled in oil, crucified, stoned to death, hanged, exiled, beaten repeatedly, mocked, scorned and rejected.

This is why Jesus didn't promise us to "live offa fatta the land."  (A little literary reference to my Of Mice and Men scholars!)

Jesus counts the cost for us.  Right after He predicts His own death on the cross, He tells us in Luke 9:23:

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

ANY basic understanding of God's purpose for your life begins and ends with this verse.  Your life is not your own.  The Bible talks repeatedly of being bought with a price.  We are slaves either to self or Christ.  The Christian life is not about what you can get, how easy you can make life for yourself, or how every day will be like a Friday to you.

It's about understanding the reality of your salvation.  The cost involved in liberating you from an eternity in hell.  The proper response of a freed soul.  It's about following the Master, walking in His steps, and finding your contentment in serving and loving Him.

Every day is literally a Good Friday for the Christian.  We must pick up our cross to follow our Lord.  We must enter into a world at war with our Savior and shine His light for others.  We must put God's plans and desires ahead of our own.  Heck, we must even put other people ahead of our own.  And not just our kids or spouses.  The life of a Christian is one of sacrifice.

And in that sacrifice and diminishing of self comes the blessing.  Not in iPads, new threads and McMansions.  It is the blessing of a life (and a choice) that Jesus laid out in John 10:10:

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. "

The more abundant life is one of purpose, wholeness and blessing.  It may not be the path with the most material wealth.  It may not be the path with the most popularity or earthly power.  It may even not be the path with the least amount of sickness and struggle.

The truth is, however, that one day you will see your Redeemer face to face.  And in that moment when you are basking in His glory and the freedom of being whole in His presence for eternity, you will understand what His definition of a blessed life truly is.

So today, take a moment and think about the sacrifices that Jesus made for you.  He denied Himself His throne in heaven (and refused to seek a throne here as well) and lived a life as the stone that the builders rejected.  The man of sorrows, who was mocked, scorned, beaten and savagely slaughtered on the cross for sins that He never committed.

Fair?  No.  Right?  Yes.  His example showed how He intends to bring about freedom, purpose, restoration and salvation.  And this Good Friday, may you find the abundant life of Christ by embracing the "every day a Good Friday" mentality about your very important mission on this earth.

Lives are hanging in the balance.  Live like it.

Elijah, Ravens & Finding Hope In God's Provision

Raven:  "Can I Take Your Order Please?"  

It's funny how God chooses to test our faith and encourage us in unlikely ways.

Our family has been enduring Financial Setback-Fest 2012 lately with various unexpected expenses zapping up our financial means in rapid succession (I'm looking at you lawnmower and dryer.)  It's been the age-old adage "one thing after another" brought vividly to life in HD and it has been a bit jarring to endure.

It's so easy to begin the pity party and begin wallowing in how hard your life is when something like this occurs in your life.

It's also easy to enjoy God's provision and encouragement.

A few years back, a friend of ours was having a similar financial setback and the folks in our children's ministry rallied together to collect money for her family to show her that God provides.  When she was asking for names and wanting to know who was involved in blessing her family, I played coy and told her that these people didn't donate for the fame. They donated because God had led them to do so.

I explained to her from the divinely appointed story of the week in our K to 5 program that just like God sent ravens to provide support to Elijah in his time of need, she needed to only thank God for her blessings.  We were merely God's ravens.  She just needed to be blessed, grow her faith in the Lord and look for opportunities to raven-ize someone else when the time came!

This raven-laden portion of Elijah's story is from 1 Kings 17:

"1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word." 2 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3 "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook."

Like us, Elijah sometimes had a woe-is-me attitude.  He moped and whined with the best of them.  He also saw God's miraculous provision multiple times in his earthly ministry and had a pretty awesome smack-down of those other false gods with the whole Survivor-style sacrifice-burning competition where God won immunity every time and outlasted, outwitted and outplayed the false idols to win the title of Sole God of the Universe.

In this instance God didn't break open the sky to let Elijah know He was with him.  He didn't part a sea.  He simply directed simple-minded scavenger birds to bring food to a person in need.

Now, as an aside, I'm not a big fan of the scavenger bird types.  I previously blogged about the random predatory birds that fill the skies near our house and about the hideously disfigured turkey vulture that launched out of a random field and almost slammed into my driver's side window as I innocently drove down the street.  So, I'm not entirely sure that I'd be thrilled to accept scraps of food from nasty creepy ravens.    But there is something very profound in this story.

God uses often very small things to bless us, provide for us and alter the path of our lives.  The folks that donated to the woman in need were not rich.  They were not wizards of Wall Street with deep pockets.  Many of them were struggling financially themselves.  And yet God led them to share with a sister in need to bless her.

So sometimes we see ravens and we miss the great and dramatic work that God is about to do.  And yet He does this kind of thing over and over again.

Not only are we in danger of missing the blessing because the vehicle isn't the chariot we always envisioned, but our attitude and receptiveness toward such blessings can pay it forward.  I mentioned earlier that Elijah had thankfulness issues.  We read, however, that right after Elijah was taken care of by filthy predatory birds that he spread the love around.  While asking the widow to step out in faith and make him some food, Elijah brought God's blessing to her and made her little bit of flour and oil (when combined and mixed thoroughly with her own faith and obedience) into an endless smorgasbord of provision.

And so as we wait for our financial ravens to arrive in the skies above, it is fitting that God reminded me of this crucial story that I used to encourage a friend.  Not surprisingly, you will be interested to know that my daily Bible reading just happened to be in 1 Kings 17 on the very day that I found myself wallowing in my own pity.

Like the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, God is never late nor is He early. He arrives precisely when He means to and His way is always perfect.  While we are still struggling with our financial setbacks and our own unbelief, God has slowly met each need bit by bit.

And we are blessed indeed.

Blessed people bless people.  Be a raven for others and let God grow your faith and theirs.  Also, don't look your gift raven in the beak.  It might peck your eye out and that would be nasty.  


  

Justin Explains Relationship With God

This video presentation on what relationship with God through Jesus Christ means was done by my friend Justin Barringer.  Justin is an awesome man of God who attends my church.  This video is well done and right to the point.  Enjoy!

Martha, Lazarus & Whats-Her-Face

Admit it, you have been conditioned to judge Martha as a hopeless case.

If you've grown up in the church like me, you are expected to give Martha the evil eye.  She's so obsessed with household chores that she doesn't love Christ or something.  I don't think that I've ever really sat under someone teaching something positive from Martha's example until recently.  She's always been this one-dimensional busy-body who is the personification of works-based theology.  She only cares about works and misses the Messiah entirely or so the standard boiler-plate teaching goes.

Having a mother who bears the name of Martha, I always hoped for some kind of shout-out from the pulpit pointing out something positive about Martha.  Sadly, Martha remained a cautionary tale against the evils of cooking, cleaning and other sinful household chores.

Meanwhile, we obsess over Mary lethargically sitting in awe of Christ and wiping his feet with her hair and anointing them with oil.  While we heap praise on the emotional yet work ethic-challenged Mary, we tend to heap judgment on Martha.  And to simply retain that simplistic view of these two passionate followers of Christ is to diminish them and to miss the complete picture.

As God is a God of perfection and the Author of the complete picture, there's sure to be more to the story.  Let's look at the original text with haughty Martha running around like a chicken with its head cut off from Luke 10:

38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Yes, Martha misses the point of having Jesus there because she's concerned with her household chores and preparing for her guest.  Yes, Mary understands the importance of just basking in the presence of Christ.  Notice, however, who it is that "welcomed" Jesus into her house.  It wasn't Mary.

It sets up an active-passive contrast between the sisters.  Martha's faith is one of an active and bold woman.  Mary is more of a silent and passive taker-in kind of gal.

Martha has been referred to as the "female Peter" for her fearlessness in approaching the Lord and her boldness.  Martha's boldness during that time is in many ways more remarkable than Peter's due to her gender.  Jesus' rebuke to Martha is not one of complacency but of priority.  It's not a call to a life of lethargy but a life of ordered priorities.  He's not upset with Martha for cooking and cleaning.  He's upset with the condition of her heart AT THAT MOMENT.

In John 11, we see more of Martha's tenacious faith.  Lazarus is sick to the point of death.  The ladies call for Jesus to come and heal their brother:

Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

A small caveat and yet everything in the Word of God is intentional.  Look at verse 5, "Jesus loved MARTHA and her sister and Lazarus."  God is a God of restoration and healing.  Jesus may have rebuked Martha for missing the point of his previous visit but he loved her.  And the wording of this verse basically reduces the so often over-glorified Mary to the status of "what's her face?"  I believe the wording here is intentional and meant to restore the readers view of Martha to a positive one.

And when Lazarus dies and Jesus tarries, it is the bold Martha that approaches Jesus while the more passive Mary stays home:

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." 

Martha is breaking societal protocol by approaching Jesus directly.  As a woman, this would be highly unusual.  As a woman in mourning, Martha would be expected not just to submit in silence, but also to remain home.  Martha, however, pulls a Peter and runs right to Jesus demanding answers.  She recognizes His lordship: "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is com into the world," but she also boldly declares to Jesus "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

She's not happy and she's letting Jesus know.  There's something powerfully bold and authentic to her faith in this passage that the passive Mary doesn't seem to demonstrate.  Martha speaks her mind, but still acknowledges that "even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

Mary later meets Jesus and her weeping causes Jesus to weep.  After raising Lazarus to life, Jesus again encounters the sisters and Lazarus in the following chapter of John where Martha is still about the business of serving and Mary is anointing Jesus' feet with oil.  There is no condemnation here of Martha as in the Luke account.

Martha may have temporarily missed the point but she had a bold and active faith.  Faith without works is dead.  Pastor Gary Clark from Calvary Fellowship of Gloucester County recently pointed out that this family trio represents the mission of the church.  Martha represents serving, Mary represents worship and Lazarus represents witnessing.  People were drawn to this family because of Lazarus' testimony and resurrection.  Jesus celebrated the powerful and authentic worship of Mary.  And it was the boldness and action of Martha that demonstrates faith through actions.

As people of faith, we need to be about all 3 of these things.  We need to get up and serve like Martha.  We need to passionately worship like Mary.  We need to boldly witness like Lazarus.  To remove any pillar of our faith will distort the view of authentic Christianity to our children and our community.  Parents who don't follow the teachings from Sunday in their daily living will undermine the Gospel and detach their children from having a relevant faith.  Parents who focus only on accomplishment and deeds will fail to impart the message of grace and the importance of worship.  There's a huge difference in attending church and being a Christ follower.  Following Christ demands action and sacrifice. Bottom line?  Do the dishes and your devotions.

To diminish Martha as simply a cautionary tale about the evils of works based theology and to elevate Mary to a place of spiritual perfection is a woefully inaccurate picture of these two very complete Christians.  As with Biblical heroes from Abraham to John, these ladies are not perfect.  And in their imperfection we can find valuable lessons of how to live as followers of Christ.  Plus, Martha's one heck of a cook.  Or so I've been told.

Backstabbing Brothers & Birthrights

Editor's Note:  I'm very impressed with the alliteration in the title of this blog.  You should be too.


Jacob and Esau.  It's a story that we all know well.  Jacob gets dissed a lot.  What with all of the deception and thievery that the smooth skinned Mama's boy did, we can probably understand why.

And yet as I read through the story this time around, I was struck with Esau's hatred of his birthright.

Sure Jacob took Esau's birthright and then later conspired with his mother to steal his blessing from his blind and old father.  These are not traits that we would usually celebrate to our children or encourage in our church.  They are traits that we would typically identify with a villain.

And yet Jacob is the dude that get's the blessing and the dude that God continues to build His Biblical narrative through.

Why?  Well, let's look at the beginning of their story in Genesis 25:22-26:

22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger." 24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

Jacob and Esau were warring in Rebekah's womb.  God told them in advance that this was going to be a case of textbook sibling rivalry.  And while we can't excuse the deception and the bad things that Jacob does, we can't deny his passion.

And it dawned on me that the story of Jacob stealing Esau's birthright is just as much about Esau as it is Jacob.  Jacob would never have been able to take the birthright if Esau hadn't "despised it" so much.

Here's the text of the story from Genesis 25:29-34:

29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom. 31 But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day." 32 And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?" 33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.   

Now, I'm a simpleton.  I don't claim to be the smartest man in the world nor do I claim to be the final authority on all scripture.  As I understand it, however, the birthright in Biblical terms meant that the firstborn was to get a double portion of the inheritance from the father.  The firstborn would also become the head of the household after dear old dad kicked the bucket.  This is what Esau despised.

Now, it's not clear from the wording if he always despised his birthright or if he just in this moment despised it by his actions.  Either way, the man clearly held his birthright in low esteem.

Jacob is a great cook apparently, but it still doesn't seem like a rational person would give up his inheritance and role of leadership over his family for a meal.  I say this as an intense lover of food.  As much as I love cheeseburgers, I'd never forfeit my standing in my family for one.

And that is exactly what Esau does here.

While we don't typically in this day and age have siblings enticing us to forfeit our inheritance over some fine cuisine, we do have many many lessons to learn here.

Again, think about that for a moment that if Esau esteemed his birthright as he should have, Jacob would never have succeeded in his plot.  And by Jacob's passionate desire to obtain that birthright from Esau we can infer that he saw the birthright for the blessing that it was.

So in that sense Jacob's wrong-doing here is akin to Jack Bauer breaking all sorts of laws as he pursues the higher good of saving folks from terrorists or biblically speaking the prostitute Rehab lying about the Israelite spies in order to protect their lives (a feat for which she is credited in the Hebrews hall of faith.)  Again, this doesn't dismiss his wrong-doing, but it does reveal the nature of his heart.

And the bottom line for us today is to not be Esau.  The enemy prowls around seeking to "steal, kill and destroy" anything that brings glory to God.  Your family is the basic building block upon which Jesus has built His church.  The loving relationship of mutual respect, submission and self-sacrifice between a husband and wife is to testify to the love of Christ and His church.  The parents are responsible to apply God's word and faith in Christ to the hearts of their children.  Church can provide illumination of those truths, but it is the daily relational dynamic of the family that is responsible for making that faith real.

And so, when the enemy is attempting to steal, kill and destroy things that will bring glory to God there is no bigger target than Christian families.  If he can destroy our families, he can render us spiritually neutered in this world and will radically diminish and water down the effectiveness of the church.

In order for his dastardly deeds to succeed, however, we have to "despise our birthright" just as Esau did.  Every time we choose sin over Christ we despise Him.  Every time we choose sin or self over our spouse and children we despise them.  Every time we lose a blessing, diminish our ministry, or rip apart our family it is because we have despised them.

It is only when Satan convinces us to do an impersonation of Esau that we can lose our birthright.  If we love our spouse and children more than ourselves, he has no foothold.  If we love our Jesus more than our sinful desires and temptations, he has no foothold.

So, quite simply, instead of heaping judgment upon the head of the trickster Jacob for his thieving ways, let's take a moment to reflect on the heartless folly of Esau.  He sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.  He so despised his blessing, his family and his faith that he was willing to barter it away for a snack.  Don't trifle with sinful stew.  Esteem your birthright as a man or woman of God and put your God and your family before yourself and before anything else that easily entangles or ensnares us.

Know that Jesus is faithful and will always provide you a way to stand.

You cannot positively influence the lives of your family for Christ without first esteeming Christ and family above all else.  Your family cannot influence and expand the ministry of the local church without first esteeming your birthright to each other first.  Your church cannot stand and influence our culture and community with weak ineffectual families who esteem their birthright no more than a Happy Meal at McDonalds.  Don't be a gaggle of Esaus trading away the eternal for the temporal and the important for the trivial.

Love your God and your family like the world is depending on it because it is.

JACKSON: Jesus Knows What Infinity Plus Infinity Equals

I love my kids.

Jackson, our 5 year old, recently broke his elbow.  This is the second of our 3 children to break an arm at the age of 5.  Parents of the year we are not.

Jackson is the full of life adventurer type.  At a year old he was already climbing out of his crib, climbing onto the top of the kitchen table and pushing chairs around the kitchen.  When I contacted my mom to inform her of his broken arm, she replied, "I'm really sorry that that happened to him, but to be honest, I'm really surprised he hasn't already broken a bone!"

He also has a big bold spirit.  I wrote about that previously when I compared him to C.S. Lewis' Reepicheep from the Narnia series.  While reading the Narnia books to the kids, Jackson saw a picture of Reepicheep and claimed that the mouse was him.  Now, I don't think that Jackson was identifying with a rodent.  I think he was identifying with the absolutely fearless bold faith of Reepicheep because that is exactly what Jackson is.

So, when Jackson went to the ER, he entertained the masses with classic gems from his Jackson Lexicon. One of the pearls of wisdom that he tossed out to the entertained ER staff was the following:

"Jesus is the smartest. He knows everything.  He even knows what infinity plus infinity is.  I don't even know if infinity is really a number, but He knows what it equals."

It's so awesome to have my little guy testifying before people about the greatness of our God.

It's also a funny little story but an important reminder of my own failings in trusting God's wisdom and proclaiming it publicly.

Jesus DOES know what infinity plus infinity equals.  He knows everything.  And yet our grown-up adult view of faith seems to fail to grasp that truth when we are dealing with something monumentally scary in our lives.

It's like Job.  I love when God shows up to answer him in Job 38:

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 2 "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3 Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; 9 When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; 10 When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; 11 When I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!' 12 "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place, 13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? 14 It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment. 15 From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken. 16 "Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? 17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18 Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. 19 "Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, 20 That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home? 21 Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great? 22 "Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail, 23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war? 24 By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth? 25"Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt, 26 To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man; 27 To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? 28 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth? 30 The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen. 31 "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion? 32 Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth? 34 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? 35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, 'Here we are!'? 36 Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart? 37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, 38 When the dust hardens in clumps, And the clods cling together? 39 "Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40When they crouch in their dens, Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait? 41 Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?"

This rebuke of God's almighty power and sovereignty continues for another chapter or so (you should get a Bible and read it or look it up online!)  Here's Job in the midst of tremendous suffering and although he refuses to "curse God and die" as his wife encourages, he is having a little pity party and demanding answers.


Too often in Christian circles we think of teddy bear Jesus who wants us to have our "best life now" and make "every day a Friday."  And yet, interestingly, God chooses to respond to Job not out of love and compassion, but out of rebuke.  He's reminding Job of His tremendous power and sovereignty.  Job's suffering brought about God's glory.  And when Job stood up under that suffering God restored him to prosperity and health far exceeding his previous years.  Every day wasn't a Friday for Job, but he sure ended well!  It's this fundamental truth that Paul wrote about in talking about finishing the race well.


And although I sometimes miss it in the storms of life, my little guy Jackson can sit in a hospital at midnight with a broken arm and remember that God knows all, is above all, can do all things and takes comfort in that.


Jesus does comfort the broken-hearted, but He's also the all-powerful Lion of Judah prepared to demonstrate His power to a hurting world.  Take comfort not in phony sentimentalism but in the absolute sovereignty and power of Jesus.  In this life we will have trouble, but even when we fall off the couch and break our arm, Jesus is still in control.  Just ask Jackson!