Daniel N. Lee

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.

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?

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

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.

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

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.

This song has really been on my heart recently. When was the last time you really stopped to take a look around. Every single person around you has a story, they have their own struggles and heartaches, they have their own issues, yet each one of them is extremely valuable to God.

Even with the whole Casey Anthony thing, do we see her through our human eyes? Do we secretly hope that she gets what she deserves? Do we see a lying sociopath who miraculously got away with murder?

Or do we see her through God’s eyes? God sacrificed himself for her sake, too. She may or may not have murdered her daughter, but she definitely is guilty of being a horrible mother. But I believe God still views her as one of his image bearers who has become seriously tainted. Yes, she has some serious issues and needs mental help, but she’s never going to live a “normal” life again. She may never even know love again in her life.

The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

That’s me. A perversion of nature. Well…at least that’s what I was.

Well…at least that’s what I thought I was.

And you were too! You can pretend like you weren’t, but you were. Or at least you thought you were. Because that’s what you’ve been told.

“You’re not good enough/ thin enough/ tall/pretty/athletic/spiritual/holy/rich/smart enough.”

“You are weird/ a freak/ a perversion of nature.”

“No body would ever want you. I mean, look at yourself. Of course you should be insecure about your body!”

“Buy this brand/ that car/ these pills/ those gadgets because your life is incomplete and meaningless without them.”

LIES! Every one of them. Nothing but lies. Yet we believe them! Every day we buy into the lies that we’re not good enough. Even in the church we begin to believe that we’re not holy enough/ faithful enough/ righteousness enough and that God could never love us just the way we are.

I had the privilege of seeing a short film call The Butterfly Circus. Andrew Baker showed this film on the last night of Uplift at Harding University.

Please, take 20 minutes to watch it. Then take another 20 minutes to show it to someone else who needs to know that they are loved/ they are good enough/ they are not a perversion of nature.

God sees so much more in us than we could ever imagine.

The Butterfly Circus – HD from The Butterfly Circus on Vimeo.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and yes, they DO have the fourth of July in Britain… In America we celebrate the day when our founding fathers rightly declared:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

As inspirational as those words are, our generation may be more familiar with the words of Bill Pullman who played the president in the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. I still get chills.

And then there are the words of Paul in Galatians 5:

¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 

Sure, we are living in a free country. We enjoy freedom and independence far beyond what most of the world could even imagine. But how are we using that freedom?

So often we use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. We buy into this “American Dream” which is driven by free market / capitalism. We begin to believe the lies that we are only as good as the stuff we own. We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like – all under the guise of “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

So are we really free? Or are we shackled by our greed, desire, and lust?

That song I posted last really says it all. True freedom comes when we surrender our rights, break past our comfort zones, and love our fellow humans. Christ came to set us free from the sin that so easily ensnares us.

Paul told us not to be conformed to this world but be transformed. Peter told us not to be conformed to the passions of this world. John told us that the world and everything in it is passing away. The writer of Ecclesiastes told us that everything under the sun is nothing but a vapor.

We may be free politically and religiously, but are we truly spiritually free?

We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We are going to live on. Today is our independence day!

This song played before the drama performances this past week at Uplift. It’s incredible!

When was the last time we really loved without limits? Without fear?

Are we really free to love whomever or do we shackle ourselves up by our own fears/ desires/ preconceptions?