One Day versus 40 Years

"It took the Israelites one day to leave Egypt, but it took 40 years for Egypt to leave them."

I have found this is a fitting metaphor for some aspects of our lives.  One aspect in particular is our struggle with habitual sin.  All it takes is one day, one choice, one conversation, one prayer, one whatever to turn from our sin to God.  But it can take a really long time for the sin to leave us.  And the effects of that sin linger even longer.

Just because the sin leaves us does not mean the temptation to fall into that sin will as well.  In fact it might not ever.  I have experienced this before when I went for a few months without falling into a certain sin I struggled with for a long time.  But the temptation never left, though it was diminished for a while.  Even though I had repented of the sin, I am a broken human being and I did fall back into that habitual sin.  I have since been able to kick that sin again (and hopefully for good this time) with the help of the Spirit.  But the temptation still follows me around.  The slippery slope is still close and still beckons.  But I would like to think I am more prepared now.  I am a little older and arguably a little wiser.  However, I will feel the scars and effects of that sin probably for the rest of my life on earth.

If you think that you have kicked some habitual sin that you have struggled with for a long time, I want to encourage you.  Do NOT deceive yourself into thinking the temptation for that sin is gone for good.  Satan is crafty and prowls around waiting.  He will change tactics.  Keep on your guard, if you get complacent he will pounce.  But take heart, we have God on our side and in the end, He will prevail.

Don't Waste Your Life

I recently finished reading Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper.  For the most part, I really enjoyed the book.  There were only a couple spots where I disagreed with Piper's theology.  But that is not the point of this post.  My reason for this post is to give a few thoughts on what I got from the book.

Reading this book I realized just how much my view of living a Christ-centered life had shrunk.  Christ is still the center of my life, but that center should be more than just the core of my life.  It should encompass every aspect of life.  Like Piper says, "If my life was to have a single, all-satisfying, unifying passion, it would have to be God's passion" (pg. 28).  He goes on to describe God's passion as being "the display of his own glory and the delight of my heart" (pg. 28).  For me this is not the struggle.  My struggle is letting that passion permeate even the mundane things in life.

Reading this book also expanded my view of what it means not to waste my life.  I grew up hearing live your life for Christ and it won't be wasted (which I agree with).  But have you ever felt there was more to it than that?  Piper gives some very concrete examples of how NOT to waste your life by saying how to waste it:

"We waste our lives when we do not weave God into our eating and drinking and every other part by enjoying and displaying him" (pg. 32).

"We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life" (pg. 32).

Living for Christ is more than just seeking God's will and trying to live a good life that reflects Him.  It includes glorifying Him in all we do whether eating, playing, working, or whatever.  It is weaving Him into it all; doing all things in partnership with Him.  I should be including God in every part of life, even the mundane, daily tasks.

Here are a few questions to ponder:  Are you wasting your life?  Do you involve God in every aspect of life, even the mundane?  Is there a single, unifying passion in your life?

Looking up

Have you ever found yourself looking up at the ceiling while singing worship songs at church (or really anywhere for that matter)?  My pastor mentioned this the other week during his sermon and it sent my mind to wandering.  I started pondering why we look up.  Especially when God is all around us and not just up above us somewhere.  So I came up with some possible reasons:

1.  God is so awesome and majestic that we can't help but look up to Him in awe and wonder and respect.

2.  We look around us at eye level all the time so we need somewhere else to look that is new.

3.  We can't look down since we already bow our heads when we pray.

4.  It is like standing on the side of a mountain and wanting to get a bigger picture of where you are.  Even though you are on the side of the mountain, you look up in order to get a better view of the whole thing.  In the same way we look up to God even though He is all around us.

5.  We grew up thinking of heaven (God's dwelling place) as up in the clouds somewhere so we still at some subconscious level think of God as up above us.

Those are just a few reasons that I came up with.  Why do you think we look up?

God is love!

Quite often I hear people (mainly nonChristians) question the fact that God is love and, if He is love, then why is there so much hurt and pain in the world.  So how do we know that God is love?  And when talking to a nonChristian saying that it says so in the Bible does not cut it so there must be another way.  Well... the other day I heard it explained this way: We know God is love because He gave up a part of Himself for us.  In sending Jesus to die in our place, a part of God Himself suffered for our sakes.  Another phrase I heard used was, "in a way He went through hell for us."

In response to the hurt and pain in the world I have a couple questions.  First, how would we have free will if God did not people make poor choices that result in hurt, pain, and loss?  Second, if you were God would you want a world full of people forced to worship you or a world partly full of people who choose to worship you?  If you prefer the latter of the two then there would have to be free will in the world.

Our actions and decisions affect more people than just ourselves.  Whether the outcome is good or bad, I am not the only one affected by my choices.  On some level, in some way, someone else (or lots of other people more accurately) are going to be affected.  If God were to only allow the good to affect us, if he were to not let any bad/hurtful/painful outcomes to affect us, then we would not have true free will.  So next time something causes hurt and pain to us lets remember that humans, angels, and demons all have free will and we live in a broken world.  Also, remember that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

The Social Gospel?

At small group a few weeks ago we talked about something called the Social Gospel.  This is basically taking the Bible and using it as a means for social justice.  From what I understand, people who follow this focus solely on fixing social justice and ignore eternity thinking that if they can fix someones position in life here and now then that is all that matters.

To be blatantly honest, this is wrong.  This is not Biblical.  This is bad theology.  Granted, social justice is a natural byproduct of true Christians, but it is not the aim of Jesus nor should it be our only goal.  I think it is a valid thing to strive for but is of secondary importance.

Jesus did not come to Earth and perform miracles just to improve people's social position.  Yes, healing a leper or demon possessed person automatically elevates them out of being an outcast.  And healing the blind, paralytic, or lame automatically makes their lives better since they no longer have to beg.  But that is not why Jesus would heal them.  It was because they believed.

Jesus healed people not because of their social status and how He could affect that.  He did not do it just so they could have a more comfortable life.  He did it because they believed in Him (that He could in fact heal them) and because it brought God glory.  And it was very often coupled with the forgiveness of sins.

Just a few examples of this are:  Matthew 9:1-7, 27-29, Luke 18:35-43.  But look at any passage where Jesus heals someone and you will find a common theme of being for God's glory, not their comfort here on Earth.

What is of first importance is the person's soul and where they will spend eternity.  No matter what our station in life is, we can bring glory to God.  But if we are not saved by the blood of Jesus then regardless of how good our life on Earth is, we will spend eternity in misery separated from God.

To the beach...

I really enjoy going to the beach.  But going to the beach with friends is even better.  I recently went to Canon Beach and Lincoln City, Oregon with some amazing friends and coworkers.  For the most part it was sunny but the wind kept the temperature rather low.  However, it was a small price to pay for hanging out with awesome people at the beach.  Normally when I go to the beach I sit and watch the waves at some point, but not this time.  I can watch waves crash for hours without getting bored, but I was just fine not doing that this time.  It was much more fun to hang with awesome people this time.

Anyway, here are some photos of the trip.  Enjoy!

One of my coworkers drew in the sand to let everyone know who had passed by.

Most of the team heading out to get stranded on some rocks.  Ok, not really but that was what I thought it looked like.

I am much better at taking nature pictures than people pictures so that is always what I end up with more of.  And since I am the one taking the pictures I get to choose what to take them of.

Everyone draws a circle.

There is a conversation in the movie 10,000 BC that I have discovered is true of not only myself but of people in general.  In the conversation the village leader (Tic'Tic) is explaining to the main character (D'Leh) why his father had left the village while D'Leh was young.  Here is what Tic'Tic says:

A good man draws a circle around himself and cares for those within. His woman, his children.  Other men draw a larger circle and bring within their brothers and sisters.  But some men have a great destiny. They must draw around themselves a circle that includes many, many more.  Your father was one of those men. You must decide for yourself whether you are, as well. 

This is true.  Everyone draws a circle around themselves.  And as I believe anyone who knows me will attest, my circle is rather large.  I am very protective of those I am close to.  I have the back of anyone I label as a friend.  Even people I don't know sometimes fall inside my circle.  I don't say this to puff myself up or make you think better of me.  I say it purely as a statement of fact.  That is my circle.  Everyone I know, and many I don't know, are within my circle.  I can't help it.  And even if I wanted to I couldn't change it.

The important thing is not the size of your circle compared to another's.  The important thing is knowing how big your circle is and who is within it.  Do you know what circle you have drawn?  If not here are a few questions to get you started:

If you were walking down the street and a friend was shoved/shouted at/mugged what would you do?  If you saw a stranger getting beat up what would you do?  Who would you go out of your way to do something for?  Who would you risk your life to protect?

Seeing Jesus face to face:

Have you ever felt out of synch with the world around you?  Ever felt like everyone else is moving faster than you and life is leaving you behind?

I had one of those moments last week.  At work we had a Day of Prayer where we focused on what was keeping us from meeting/seeing Jesus face to face.  While we were singing some worship songs God put a picture in my head that grabbed my attention and would not let go.

Have you ever seen a movie where a character is standing on a busy sidewalk and they speed up time so that all the people/cars around them are a blur?  That is the picture God gave me.

I was standing still on a busy sidewalk and everyone around me was a blur of movement.  I then stepped up onto a bench to see if I could see an end to the mass, or a way out of it, but there was none.  As I was pondering this I realized this is how I do life sometimes.  I get caught in the flow of life (its business) and then I realize what I am doing, look up, and search for a way out. 


While we were worshipping, I felt Jesus telling me, "James, you are looking for the wrong thing."  


I realized there was no way out of the blurry mass of people.  At least, not on my own.  But with Jesus there is.  So I started looking around for Him.  Then, suddenly, Jesus stepped out of the blurry mass up onto the bench with me and wrapped me in His arms.  At this point I no longer cared about the blur around me.  All that mattered was that Jesus was there and was protecting me from being swept away.

I have found recently that one thing that keeps me from seeing Jesus face to face is my tendency to get caught in the flow of life.  But all I have to do is stop, look around for Jesus, and start walking with Him again.