We Aren't Bouncers

      "I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." This quote has been attributed to Gandhi, but I have seen some people question whether that is true or not. Regardless of who said it the quote has been rolling around in my mind a lot lately. I have seen a lot of Christians acting in manners that make me understand the sentiment of this quote.

     Every day I see Christians self-righteously pointing at others and yelling sinner. This has always puzzled me. We have all sinned, how can anyone point at another's sin in a condescending manner? We have somehow missed the point of what our mission is. We get so caught up in the specifics of another's sin, when the specifics don't matter. The point isn't that we have committed this sin or that sin, the point is that we are sinners. We don't need to point out another's sin, we need to make them realize that they are sinners and in need of cleansing.

     That doesn't mean we have to excuse sin. Sin is sin and nothing will ever change that. Individual sins will need to be dealt with, but that isn't really our job. Our job is to bring people to the one who can do something about sin, not try to fix it ourselves. Even worse, I see Christians excluding people because of a specific sin. That is like a lifeguard asking someone how they came to be in the water before deciding to save them or not. How they got there doesn't matter now, they just need saving. After they have been saved measures can be taken to make sure it doesn't happen again, but that isn't the lifeguard's job.

     We need to understand that as Christians our job is marketing, not quality control. We aren't bouncers standing at a velvet rope deciding who does and doesn't get in. We are merely barkers trying to draw a crowd. When we point our fingers we dilute our message.

Have You Ever Been Really Scared?

First I need to apologize for taking so long between posts, it has been hard to write anything these last few months for several reasons. Second, I don't know if this post is for anyone except me but I had to write it. Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and I promise I will try to be more regular again. God bless.

     Have you ever been scared, I mean really scared? Not horror movie scared or thrill ride scared, but afraid to take the next step scared? I feel like I have been living that way for the last 6 months. I know I don't show it, but that is because I am good at hiding things like that. Now, I am not in any danger or anything like that, it is just life situations that have kept me in fear.

     I have learned an interesting lesson through this, faith is a strange thing. I have discovered that faith is easy to have when you don't really need it, but as soon as things get dicey faith becomes really hard to have. These last few months have been fraught with all kinds of challenges for me, chief among them have been finances. I have discovered that financial problems are great for your prayer life. My budget is extremely tight. My expenses basically equal my income and I knew there were some things coming up that were going to cause my expenses to increase. This was when God challenged me to look at my tithing, or lack thereof. Now, I have a degree in math. I know that if 100% of my income barely covers my expenses, there is no way 90% will even come close. God, however, was not impressed with my math and continued to push me to tithe. So I started tithing. Every time I write the check I am scared to death, it is a struggle to put it in the plate, but I have for the last  months.

     I would like to say that money has just poured in and I have no money worries. I would like to say that but I can't. I can say that every bill has been paid, but it hasn't gotten any less scary. This brought to wonder, is it still faith if you are scared while doing it? This is one of the biggest steps of faith I have ever taken. I know it is what God wants me to do and I know that He will see me through everything that arises, but I am still scared. Then I realized that that is what faith really is. Faith is being scared but still taking that next step because you know that God has you by the hand and He won't lead you to destruction.

     So I guess the answer is yes, it is still faith if you are scared. It stops being faith it the fear keeps you from taking the next step. So keep walking even if you are afraid, God will uphold you with His strong right hand.

Turning Wine Into Water

     I think most everyone is familiar with the story of the first public miracle that Jesus performed. He and his mother were attending a wedding when the wine ran out. As the host family scrambled to figure out a way to avoid the embarrassment that was sure to follow, Jesus' mother said, "Get my son, he can help." They bring Jesus over and tell him of the situation. Jesus tells them to bring him some containers of water and he turns the water into wine. The wine wasn't just any wine either, it was the best wine any of the guests had ever had. Jesus had taken ordinary water and turned it into extraordinary wine. I think this is what Jesus does in our lives. He takes our ordinary, sinful lives and turns them into extraordinary righteous ones. What a glorious miracle that is.

     Unfortunately, many of us then spend the rest of our lives trying to undo what Jesus has done. We may not be doing it consciously but we are still doing it. Once we encounter the risen Lord, we should live a victorious life, instead many continue to live a defeated one. We should be different, we should be changed, we should be wine, not water. Stop trying to turn your wine back into water.






This video was filmed at a church in South Bend, Indiana, insert your town and state.

     

Test the Door.

This post is what happens when a student's chapel at our school passes through my mind. In this case, I must thank Mary Kate Arnold, a senior at Heirway Christian Academy, for the inspiration for this post.


     We are all born into sin, and for this sin we have been sentenced to death. We live our lives chained to the wall of a jail cell; left to wallow in the filth of our sin, waiting for the day that our captor will come to carry out our final sentence. When the day comes that we must pay the price for our sinful life, we will face the executioner. He will draw back his arm to deliver the blow that will end it all.

     It is at this moment that Jesus steps into the gap before us and the blows meant for us will fall on Him. As the blows land, the blood of this innocent man will splatter on us. As the blood falls on us, the filth of our sin is washed away and the shackles fall off.

     For all too many Christians, this is where the story ends. Their shackles are released and their sins are washed away, but there they sit in that jail cell still, the filth of their sin all around them. Jesus doesn't free us to continue sitting in the filth of our sin in that jail cell. He calls us to get up and check the door. If we do, we will find it open with the whole world outside of it. Becoming a Christian isn't a one-and-done event, it is a process that continues every day. We need to stand up and push that cell door open and exit into the life that God has laid out before us.





She used this video to open up her chapel and it is very powerful. It is a little long, but please take the time to watch it.

Has Anything Really Changed?

     We spent all of last month eagerly awaiting the arrival of Christmas. We decorated, we shopped, we baked, we were excited for the coming of Christmas day. We were looking forward to the arrival of the Christ Child. Well, now Christmas has come and gone. The decorations have been put away, the tree is gone, the food has been eaten, and the new has worn off of the presents. Did anything really change? What was all of the excitement for? Here we are only a few weeks later and it is like Christmas never happened.

     Unfortunately, I think as Christians this is all too often true of us. There is much excitement, rightly so, about Jesus' arrival in our life, but then a few weeks later nothing has really changed. The first Christmas changed the world forever. With the arrival of Jesus, man was provided with a way to escape the destiny that sin demanded. Jesus did more than change history, He changed eternity. We can now spend eternity with Him in heaven. His arrival in our life should leave a noticeable change in our lives, it shouldn't be a one day event. It isn't something we celebrate and then put away in the closet. We should live our lives as if we are meeting Jesus for the first time every day. Every day should have the excitement of Christmas.