Our highest pursuit

I've been converted. I am now an extreme environmentalist.

I don't think we should just strive to conserve resources and maintain current levels of pollution or damage to our planet. We should be working to return the Earth to its original state before man damaged it.

Of course this will never happen until Jesus returns. The Earth is damaged due to the Curse of Sin; it is impossible for the damage to be reversed until the Curse is lifted. Thankfully in Revelation it says that God will destroy the current Earth and a New Earth will be created, this one to be pure and undefiled as the current Earth once was, and to be our eternal dwelling place with God after the New Jerusalem comes down to rest on the New Earth.

Now don't get me wrong - I do believe that we should take care of this Earth. I know I started this post a bit tongue in check, but I am not slamming those who choose to focus their efforts on protecting the environment. After all, God appointed us as its stewards. It is a sorry steward that deliberately or even carelessly lets the item in their responsibility become damaged or through their own actions lessens the value of that item.

But as with everything else, the most important task set before us is to reach the world for Christ. It is not to influence the government, or to eliminate abortion, or to bring prayer back to schools, or to protect the environment, or to bring social justice to the world around us. It is only after He returns that all injustice will be set right, and all wrongdoers will be punished (and stopped), and all people will do the right things. And also only then will the Earth will be renewed.

There is nothing wrong with any of those pursuits I mentioned, or others that we strive for. Many of them are valid, and some may even be things that God calls individuals to do. But we cannot lose our focus of the world above.

Our constant pursuit above all else should be last words of Jesus: preach the word and make disciples. Our constant cry should be the cry at the end of Revelation: "Come quickly Lord Jesus".

The Fall of Saul

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/25)

1 Samuel 15 tells a very poignant story.

It starts off with Saul the great King of Israel. Victorious in battle, slaughtering his enemies, he was the champion of God. The anointed. The chosen to lead God's people.


It ends with a heart-wrenching condemnation of Saul:
v35 Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.

How did Saul reach this point? How could he fall so far so fast? By doing something most of us do everyday.

My wife and I have been fighting this very thing in our 3 3/4 year old son Connor. There are times we tell Connor to not to do something and he goes ahead and does it anyway. Normal kid, right? But normal for us too. When I ask Connor why he did the thing I told him not to do, his reply is almost always: "But I wanted to ...". There is a direct conflict between his will and mine. He then makes the choice to obey or not.

We make that same choice everyday, probably even every minute. Do we obey God or not? Even in the smallest things that choice is there. It boils down to this: do I value God's commands higher than my desires? Or is what I want more important to me than what God wants?

Saul fell so fast. Don't fall with him.

v22-23 What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.

Praise God!!

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/24)

I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:2

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! Deuteronomy 32:3


Praise God!! Praise Him for the blessings He has given!

Praise God!! Give him praise for the calamities He has spared you!

Praise God!! Praise him for being the unbelievably, unspeakably, inconceivably awesome God that he is!


What, you are going through tough times and don't feel like praising?

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7


Through it all, in it all, because of it all - Give Him Praise!!!

He's not done yet

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/22)

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1: 4-6

Not satisfied with where you are at? Not happy with the way things are going? Great! You are just where God wants you to be. He's not done with you yet.

We too often look at what we are today and think that is all we can ever be. But God still has new heights he wants to take us to, with new adventures just around the next bend. Just don't get comfortable where you are. One of the laws of physics states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion. In other words it is easier to start doing something if you are already moving, harder to start if you are sitting still.

So you want God to do something big in your life? Get moving!! Find something to do, some way to press in deeper. Start something new, anything from a Bible Study or time of prayer to trying to apply a new virtue to your life. Maybe you could start being more friendly to waiters and cashiers, or finding a way to help around the church with some physical labor. Whatever it is, find a way to start something new. Anything to keep from getting comfortable with where you are now, or God may not be able to move you.

Walk Humbly With Your God

(Note: originally posted as guest blogger on Dallas First Assembly of God blog 10/22)

Have you ever sat back and just watched people? Maybe at a mall or a sporting event, or even at church? I love doing it, just watching the stream of humanity as it flows past and observing all of the non-verbal cues to what a person is thinking.

It may be a group of giddy teenage girls, or the group of boys trying to impress them. It may be a couple that are obviously having problems in their marriage from the anger they show, or another couple that could not be more in love. Or the loner that is shuffling along wishing he belonged.

Or take the person who is so full of themselves and so puffed up I am tempted to find a needle and pop them like they were a balloon. He or she just struts along, their thoughts of being better than those around them so apparent. It is surprising they lowered themselves to even be around other people.

And then my thoughts turn to me ... what would others think of me as I walk down life's ways? Do I act lovingly to those around me? Do I treat others fairly or do I seek to take advantage? Do I seem like I think I am better than those around me, or do I come across as a friend to everyone? Do I act "Holier than thou", or do I accept everyone as they are?

Most of us like to think we are humble, fair and kind, but remember the old saying - actions speak louder than words. What do those around you think about you?

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV

What are you seeking?

But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. Matthew 6:33 (Amplified)

So what are you seeking? What are you aiming at, or striving after? What are your goals in life?

Most of us in the American culture would have to say we strive after money, but our true goal is probably more for the comfort and prestige money can bring. Some are always looking for entertainment; they get bored fast and have to find the next fun thing. In the corporate world power and recognition is the reason for climbing the ladder.

On the social front many are always looking for a place to belong, or someone to love them, or friends they can connect with. Or just wanting everyone around them to envy them, or look up to them, or be the most popular in their crowd.

Everyone has something, or usually multiple things, they are searching for or striving after. What is it for you? A good way to figure it out is to decide what one thing you would make happen if you could. Would it be winning the lottery? Or becoming a celebrity? Or falling in love and getting married? Or becoming young again?

How many of us can truthfully say that one of the things we most desire the most is to see God? That we spend all day trying to figure out how to get closer to Him? That we sacrifice other areas of our lives in order to have time with Him? Is going to church a delight or a chore that you find excuses to not do?

So - can you honestly say you are seeking God above everything else? Why not start now.

Delight?

The BibleGateway verse of the day for today:
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Do I delight in the Lord? I mean really delight in Him?

I can think of a few things I delight in - some of my favorites are the great smile Emma (my daughter) has when she first sees me when I get home from work, or when Connor (my son) is being loving and wants to give me a big hug out of the blue.

Those are great times, and my heart feels like it is about to burst from the pleasure of those moments. I would love those moments to never end, and keep happening.

But do I feel the same way about spending time with God? Do I ache if I have not talked to him in a bit, do I get excited about the opportunity to be with Him?

Emerging Church

Sam and I are having an interesting discussion on his blog about the "Emerging Church" theology. I just thought I would link to it in case anyone wanted to see. 2 posts:
Emerging Church
A Modest Reply


I do want to make a comment that it is important not to let discussions like this become divisive. We have more in common than we have differences, and we are all one family and are to be unified. Some will let differences drive wedges, but instead we should let our similarities pull us together.

Church and Society/Government

I've been thinking about this sort of topic for a few days now. Following Pastor's sermon on Sunday and some posts on Sam's blog (specifically this post, but previous ones also), I've been contemplating on what the role of the Church is when it comes to the government, and also to the society as a whole.

Things are great in a nation when the people are overwhelmingly following God, but this is exceedingly rare. I think it happens far less than we like to imagine it does. Most of the time the people of God are only a remnant, fighting against the flow of the society. Even in the "Good Old Days" that most of us like to look back to, I don't think things were as rosy as we think they were. We were not a nation full of God-followers, but rather a nation that was raised in a conservative manner and taught to follow certain rules that looked like doing the right thing. But as Pastor said in his sermon, it is not about doing, it is about being.

But back in those days when the majority tried to look right, the Church got very comfortable. There was very little difference between the way we looked and the way society looked. (Hopefully there was some difference inside.) And when it came to government, most of the laws passed followed the beliefs of society and maintained the standard of "right living".

These days however vastly more parts of society are less concerned with looking "Godly" but would rather follow their own path. As they should - that is what being apart from God is all about. But that causes 2 problems for the Church. First, too many Christians never learned how to maintain the separation from the world that we are called to. So now whatever is acceptable to society is fine with us. Forget holiness, forget being set apart. As the world declines in morality, so do we.

The second problem is how we respond to the political changes. Is it the Church's mission to force the nation to follow the rules we as Christian's should live by? Absolutely not. We are so quick to deplore governments that try to enforce Sharia law (Islamic religious laws) on the populace, but are we not trying to do the same thing when we want to force laws that are designed around Christian beliefs?

Please don't get me wrong, I am not against Christians in the political process - as citizens in a democracy it is our duty to voice our opinions - and I am also not saying we throw our hands up and let the society decay around us.

I think our problem comes when we expect the law and the government to cause people to live right. That is not the case. Only a true cleansing by God can cause a person to change and want to live according to God's way. Remember, the call is to BE, and then let the doing follow. There is definitely a way in which we are supposed to live, but that must flow from inside. If the inside part is not there we cannot live right. Trying to get others to do without being is legalism. It is also impossible.

We do not impact society by laws, or by votes, or by any other worldly means; we do it by following the Great Commission - make disciples.

Politics

I just responded to a friend's blog on a post that touched on the political realm, and it sparked some thoughts. Most I have had for awhile, just thought I would write them down.

What is the job of a politician? Most would probably respond that their job is to govern, to enact or enforce or interpret laws in the way that would best help the American people. And that is true, that is what they should be doing. But in looking at what their job is I tend to look at what got them the job in the first place and what they have to do to keep the job. In other words, what are they most concerned about on a day to day basis?

Most politicians' number one goal is to stay in office, to get re-elected, and in order to do that they have to get the voters to like them. Sure, this is basic stuff, Government 101. But what most of us overlook is that most politicians will say just about anything to get elected. Ok, we will usually acknowledge this, but only about the guy we don't like. But in reality even the person who you most strongly support is shaping his message in a way to get your support. Don't think so? Then why do they all have campaign managers, public relation groups and speech writers? So that they can make sure they say the right thing. Hit the right issues. Find out what the polls say and get the message across that I agree with you on the issues you think are important.

I'm not trying to say they are all liars and deceivers. What I am saying is we really don't know the thought of the politicians. We know their campaign promises, we know the way their PR person told them to respond to questions, and we can see their actions of the past, but we really don't know them.


And the problem is even worse when it come to the political parties. We all have the items we think are most important, and there is usually a party that comes closer to matching your ideas on those issues. The problem is when that translates to a blind following. A couple of examples I see today - on one side you have those who believe the promise that one party will get them more money, and so they blindly follow. On the other side you have those who believe this party is more religious and so blindly follow anything they say. Even if one side is totally correct on everything (which I don't believe), blind following is never a good thing.

I don't believe one party is inherently better than the other. You have to look at each issue one at a time and make up your own mind. That includes everything: abortion, prayer in school, immigration, terrorism, poverty/welfare, the environment, big business accountability, taxing fairly ... think about each one and decide your stance. Don't just spout the party line without having really thought it out.

I actually hate the two party system we have here in America. It seems to force everybody into the "us against them" mentality. If your values tend closer to what is normally considered a liberal stance you are hated and vilified by the conservatives. And a conservative is ridiculed and harrassed by the liberals. If you are more moderate both sides dislike you while at the same time trying to win you over.

I am by nature more conservative in my beliefs. I think a lot of it comes from the way I was raised and the environment I am surrounded by. But I have some friends who are much more liberal, and there have been many times in discussing issues that I have been challenged to rethink my reasons for a certain stance. And the same is true for them too. I have often found that both of us have not really thought out everything about an issue and the reasons for thinking a certain stance is right. When I approach that issue in a fresh light I am forced to decide if I was correct or not. Get input from both sides and weigh them, thinking it through from every angle. Even if I don't agree with the different opinions I find, there is usually validity to some part of their argument. Or maybe just some side to the issue that had never occurred to me.

Be willing to challenge your own preconceptions, and actually listen to those around you. Who knows, maybe they have a point.