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On the Rocks

Welcome to the beautiful Judean Wilderness! It stretches for many miles out from the Dead Sea. There is little to no vegetation – a few small plants are all you see in this picture. And this desert is not covered in sand – it’s covered in rocks. Not boulders, but not exactly pebbles. The ground is littered with rocks about the size of a loaf of bread. Just big enough to twist your ankle if you are not careful.

This desolate wasteland is where David fled on multiple occasions. On one such getaway, David and his army are on the run from David’s own son, Absalom, whose name ironically means “Father of Peace.” Absalom had politicked his way to the top, going behind his father’s back to gain a following in Israel. After four years, Absalom amassed an army, marched into Jerusalem, and usurped his father’s throne. David and his armies escaped just in time, and fled to the Judean wilderness, along the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea.

And it’s here in this wasteland, on the run, in hiding from his own son, fearing for his life, and suffering from dehydration, he pens the words of Psalm 63:

1 O God, you are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
   my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
   where there is no water.
 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you. 

There are times when it is not easy to love someone. Even when you pledge your love and devotion to your spouse for as long as you live, that love and devotion does not come easy every day. You have to work at it, especially when things are not going as planned or when a crisis arises.

In the same way, there are times when loving God comes easy, and there are times when loving God is extremely difficult. When things are going well, when you are surrounded by other Christians who are all working and worshiping together with the same heart and goal…it’s really easy to love God and to feel His love for you. But when your grandparent dies, you fail a class by one point, your girlfriend dumps you, and your dog runs away…God can feel distant at best.


But here’s David – in the middle of nowhere, on the run for his life, betrayed by his own son and most of his country – professing his love for God. In the desert, far from any water source, his soul thirsted for God. David is seeking shelter not in fortresses or even caves, but in God. In fact, David pours his heart out with the words, “Your love is better than life.” In other words David would rather be dead than to be separated from God’s love. Without God’s love life would not be worth living. Moreover, it’s only God’s love that is keeping David going at this point.


31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long; 

   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

David got it.
Paul got it.
Do you get it?

God, the Almighty Creator of the galaxies and your respiratory system, is crazy about you! His love for you is stronger than even the bonds of death. Life would not be worth living without His love, but we have the assurance that even when life itself fails us, we still have that love.


Think about it. 

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Psalm 63

O God, how awesome it is to call you
My God!
Though I have you, I want more
Though you are mine already, I will pursue you
Even to the ends of the earth
My soul is parched
My body aches
As I wander through this spiritual wasteland
And only you can satisfy
I have a disease and the only cure is not more cowbell
It’s more you.

I have witnessed your presence in my worship
I have seen your power and glory at work around me
And I long to see it again
Nothing but praise will pour from my lips
Because your amazing, unfailing, all-consuming love
Is better than life itself!
You’ve got me for life
To you alone will I give praise
To you alone will I lift my hands
Because you are all I need
You satisfy my soul more than a Thanksgiving turkey or a Christmas ham
I will sing to you at the top of my lungs
And I don’t care who hears

I lay awake at night and can’t shut my brain off
Because you are all I think about
You alone are my helper, my guide, and my protector
Even under the shadow of your wings I will keep on singing
My soul clings to you like a child to his mother
On the first day of kindergarten
And I feel safe with you like a child in his father’s arms
In a room full of strangers

There are those who want to see me fail
Those who have set themselves against me
Just because of what I believe
But I know their end already
We’ll see who has the last laugh

As for me, I will praise God regardless
Everyone who claims the name of God will shout Hallelujah!
But skeptics and liars will be silenced

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Be a Man, Son

I’ve been reading through the story of David. His life is an amazing testament of what kind of great feats men can accomplish under God’s power. And as a man, it got me thinking about what it really means to be a Man of God.

One of my favorite side sections in the story of David comes at the end of 2 Samuel where we are introduced to David’s “Mighty Men.” Leonidas has nothing on these guys.
Josheb-Basshebeth (leader of “The Three”) killed 800 men with his spear.
Eleazar (one of the three) stood his ground when all the other soldiers retreated. He slaughtered the Philistines until his hand froze to the handle of his sword.
Shammah (the last of the three) took a stand against the Philistines in the middle of a field!
On one occasion, the Philistine armies occupied the city of Bethlehem – David’s boyhood home. While David and his armies were stationed several miles outside Bethlehem, David started feeling nostalgic. Almost dreaming out loud, David said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.” So “The Three” made the trek to Bethlehem, covertly broke through enemy lines, drew some water from that well, and brought it back to David. Talk about covert ops!
Abishai killed 300 men with a spear in one day.
Benanaiah killed two of Moab’s toughest fighters. Then it says that “he went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.” (!) That’s not all. He went up against a giant from Egypt who wielded a huge spear. All Benanaiah had was a club. He somehow took snatched the spear from the Egyptians hands and killed him with his own spear!
Then there is David himself, who as a teenager killed a lion, a bear, and a 9 foot tall giant! After becoming commander of Israel’s armies, the people started singing “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands!”
When David was on the run from Saul, he gathered a following of 600 men who were professional warriors. That was their life. That was their job. 600 trained killers. Needless to say, they wiped up the opposition when anyone was bold (or stupid) enough to face them.
Again, Leonidas and his Spartans had nothing on these men.
Speaking of the Spartans, their most famous stand was at Thermopylae. This was where about 1000 Greek soldiers took a stand against close to 200,000 Persians. It’s an incredible story of bravery and sacrifice, for without there stand, Greece would have been taken by the Persians and life on this planet would not the be same.
When chronicling this epic battle, Greek historian, Heroditus, said, “Human beings were many, but men were few.”
Human beings were many, but men were few.
That brings us to today. Unfortunately, I look around in the church and think to myself, Human beings are many, but men are few. Where are the true MEN of God? Where are the fathers who are raising their sons to be true men, not just guys. Where are the men who will stand for the gospel like Eleazar stood against the Philistines? Where are the men who could, like David, be a warrior one day and a poet the next – a commander one day and a musician the next – a shepherd one day and a giant slayer the next?
In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul gives the men of Corinth this charge:
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”

In the Greek, it’s literally – “be men,” or “act like men.”
Yes, God has often used scared, cowardly, meek men to accomplish great victories (see Gideon), but He has often utilized strong, valiant, testosterone infused MEN to lead His people.
Human beings are many, but men are few.
Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.
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Mid-Week Music Break

I first heard this song on a CD by the group Turning Point. You can hear their version here. But this is the original song with a touching music video. I hope it impacts you as much as it has me.

Anyway, by Brad Reynolds

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Communicating Truth in Love

In Ephesians 4, Paul writes:

Instead, we will speak the truth in love growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the body, the church. (Ephesians 4:15)

Christians are to speak truth in love. And by doing so we become more like Christ. So…don’t tell lies. Okay! Simple enough.

Or is it that simple?

It’s a common experience to internet users that it is much easier to say some things through the digital media (email, blogs, Facebook, texting, etc.) than it is to say them face to face. Sometimes these are good things that we get too nervous to say in front of another human, like expressing our undying love to the one on whom we’ve had a crush for the last 3 years.

More often than not, however, these things we say online but not in person are more likely to be hurtful, offensive, controversial, and utterly tactless. Someone makes us mad so we post about it. We disagree with what someone wrote so we leave an anonymous comment. If we don’t censor ourselves we can end up saying some pretty messed up stuff that we will certainly regret.

Speaking truth in love. We’ve got that covered. We aren’t being ugly or rude to anyone face to face.

But let’s broaden this exhortation a bit. If we understand this verse to mean “communicate the truth in love,” well that just causes all sorts of problems. Now we have to be conscious of the statuses we post, the blogs we write, the comments we leave, and the Tweets we send.

Text the truth in love.

Blog the truth in love.

Tweet the truth in love.

How do you communicate? Well, make sure that you are communicating truth and doing it in love.

Jesus says:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile him. (Matthew 15:18)

Again, let’s generalize that statement a bit more. The things that come off a person’s keyboard come from the heart. Or the things that come from a person’s cell phone come from the heart.

That nasty email you sent? That comes from the heart. That anonymous comment you left? That comes from the heart. That picture you posted? That link you shared? That status update? Those all come from the heart. And these are the things that defile a person.

What you communicate shows the world what kind of heart you have. Christians, let’s all do better about speaking/texting/blogging the truth in love.

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Evangelism: A Love Story

Everybody loves a good love story. Come on, guys, admit it. You don’t REALLY mind it when your girl drags you to a chick flick. There’s just something about seeing love blossom out of unexpected places.

We watched Tangled last night. Disney movies are especially good at telling unexpected love stories. The hostage princess falls in love with the fugitive thief. The beautiful peasant girl falls in love with the hideous beast. The Arabian princess falls in love with the “street rat.”

We love to hear a good love story.

Let’s think about this in relation to evangelism. To “evangelize” literally means “to tell the good news.” Yet so often we think we have to have all these intricate doctrinal issues all ironed out before we can even mention the name of Jesus. We don’t know enough about who God is, how Jesus is still living, or what the Holy Spirit does. We don’t know the plan of salvation or all the arguments for or against predestination. We feel overwhelmed because we don’t know enough.

But what really is the “good news?”

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (HCSB)

God loves me. He gave his only son to die in my place. And since I believe in him, I can now live with him for the rest of eternity.

One of Paul’s most effective tools in winning converts and making disciples was his own story. Time and time again he shares his own story with people.

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

 15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NLT)

Paul knew that his own story was more effective at showing God’s love and mercy than any sort of systematic theology could come close to capturing. Christ came to save sinners of whom he was the worst. He used his story to show that if God could have mercy on a guy like him, if God could completely transform a sinner like him, then God could save anybody.

One of my favorite stories from the life of Jesus is in John 9. Jesus heals a blind beggar by making mud, rubbing it on his eyes, and telling the man to go wash the mud away. And all this was done on the Sabbath. The Pharisees flipped out because “work” was done on the day of rest. They bring the guy in for questioning, and he tells them straight up everything that happened. The Pharisees wanted to turn it into a technical debate with the man saying that Jesus could not have been from God because he violated the Sabbath.

This blind beggar was way out of his league theologically and intellectually, but his testimony is one of the most powerful in all of Scripture.

 25 “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” John 9:25 (NLT)

Evangelism is not about having all the answers. Sometimes it may seem that there are more questions than can be answered. We don’t have to know everything. But one thing we do have to know is our own story.

Evangelism is sharing the good news. What’s the good news of your story?

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High Five Thursday!

Yep, it’s back. [And there was much rejoicing. “Yay…”]


With the Harry Potter movie series closing its final chapters this weekend, this list is all about movie franchises.

Top 5 Movie Franchises

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Galaxies

The newest Owl City single, Galaxies, is one of my favorites on the radio right now. The chorus is gripping, expressing both despair and hope, darkness and light, doubt and faith.

How many of us have been to that place before where “the galaxies crossed and the sun went dark”? How many of us have experienced the world closing in around us with no light to guide our way?

Like a sailor lost at sea, we’ve got to find that North Star and follow it, trusting that it will lead us where we need to go.

When was the last time you truly took a leap of faith? When was the last time you took a step out into the unknown because that’s where God was leading you?

God is that only North Star that I would follow as far as I have already, and I will continue to follow him to the ends of the galaxies.

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Choice

Did you know:

  • The average adults is subjected to 600-625 advertisements every day
  • If you live in a city, that number can reach upwards of 5000 ads
  • Every day, you make thousands of decisions about your life
There are literally thousands of voices yelling at you every second of every day. Each one of them is demanding that you buy a certain product, wear your hair a certain way, get this phone, buy this value meal. More importantly, advertisers are insisting that you think, behave, and believe just like they want you to.
Marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Everyone from President Obama to Lady Gaga to the clerk in the supermarket is trying to get you to think, feel, believe, and act a certain way.
We are bombarded with so many choices that sometimes it begins to feel like we don’t actually have a choice! 
Lady Gaga says I was born this way so I should just do what comes naturally. But my parents want me to think and act the way they do. And then my teachers are challenging my parents beliefs. But then my friends get together and listen to Lady Gaga!
How can we ever make the decision of whom to listen to?
When Moses was giving his farewell speech to the nation of Israel, he lays it all out for them.

19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.(Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

The time had come. They had to choose. You cannot follow God while sitting on the fence. You cannot enter the promised land with one foot east of the Jordan River.

Some time later, Joshua, the one who took over after Moses, presents a similar ultimatum before Israel.

15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Even the decision NOT to choose is a choice in itself. Choosing not to choose one side or the other is the same as choosing not to follow God.

 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24)

I heard it said before that there cannot be a “God and.” There is nothing that can be served along with God. Otherwise, God is not served at all. You can either choose to love God or choose not to love God.

“Do or do not. There is no ‘try.'”

Either God is everything or God is nothing. He is either Lord of your whole life or Lord of none of it.

Life and death are yours to choose. Heaven and hell is your decision. Blessings and curses are dished out as you choose them to be.

So choose. Make a decision. Either follow God or stop pretending.

God loves you so much that he lets YOU choose.

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"Fire Till Dawn": An Explanation

When YHWH led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, he went before them as a pillar of fire at night to light their way. When daylight came, he led them as a pillar of cloud (Exodus 13:21-22). He was their light in the darkness. At sunrise there was plenty of light for them to walk by. The fire blazed before them until the dawn
came.

When Jesus came to this earth to lead all of humanity out of the bondage of sin, he came to show us life, true life, eternal life. “The life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has [neither] understood nor overcome it” (John 1:4-5). Jesus himself took on the roll of the fire pillar blazing in the darkness leading people until the dawn should come.

When salvation came to mankind, those who chose to follow the light of Jesus became lights themselves. Jesus’ followers are like a city on a hill or a lamp giving light to the dark room (Matthew 5:14-16). 

One of Jesus’ early followers, Paul, wrote to the Christians in Philippi that they shine like stars in the universe among all the darkness of this crooked and twisted generation (Philippians 2:15). The stars act as signposts for travelers and sailors traveling at night. But the stars are only visible until the dawn comes.

When this present world comes to an end and God brings all of his people to live with him in the new heaven and the new earth, darkness will once and for all be defeated. There will be no night, no darkness, no need for candles or fires or even a sun. God himself will be the light (Revelation 22:5). The dawn will come never to fade again into dusk.

Let your Fire burn until the Dawn comes.