There was a time in my life when I heard that many of my friends were quietly upset with me. I had gotten under their skin without even knowing it, and the fruit I had grown was selfishness and a hunger to have my own way, and the root of it was my pride. I asked one of my closest friends, "How come nobody said this to me?" He replied "Because Andy, your pride always caused arguments, and your rhetoric never allowed for anything to happen." I promised him I would keep my mouth shut when he would speak to me of these issues from here on out, and I made him promise me that day to always, always tell me the truth from now on. From then on, I regularly asked him "Did I do it again? Please tell me. Am I doing anything else wrong? Please tell me. You are all valuable to me. Forgive me." As painful as this pruning process was, it was necessary, and one that I continually go over to this day.
"When did we let evil become stronger than us?" -Tauriel, the Hobbit. When did we let ourselves believe that we no longer needed accountability? This implies an arrogance beyond correction; the belief that one needs no correction. This implies a weakness of the heart and the mind; the inability to hear the truth that disables our ability to turn TO the truth.
One day, after praying for a week straight about a certain pressing issue in my life, the Lord answered me at the end of the week through a friend I had not spoken to in years, by a dream he had of me, regarding that exact same issue. One thing he said to me was "I had not seen you in a long time, but when we sat down together, I saw an Andy I had never seen before, the most humble Andy I ever imagined." After thanking God for this, I prayed to Him again saying "Oh Lord, how I desire this, how I long to be this humble man that I never believed I could be, and was unable to do in the vigor and passion of my youth... Father, make me holy like You."
Many of you know I have been pastoring a group of college students that I have come to love dearly, as a father loves and cares for his own, and I imagine it is some of you that are reading this blog. I tell you the truth, there have been many moments with some of them that have been difficult, where in my youth my pride and anger would have bested me, and the Enemy would have won the day. Yet the only reason the Lord has appointed me to be their pastor, is because of this pruning process I undertook many moons ago, and continue on to this day. Any pastor who claims to be perfect, is a liar, and a dangerous man/woman who is vulnerable to become as the pharisees were in the days of Jesus. One thing I learned from my youth pastor Johnny, was his humility. How difficult it must have been for him to deal with kids like me and my peers in our teens! I never realized it then, but walking a mile in his shoes has opened my eyes and he has gained even more of my respect.
Is not a friend who tells the truth better than an enemy who tells lies? For one who tells lies is an enemy, and the clever ones guise themselves as friends. Beloved I tell you now, to speak truth to one another in love, that you may grow up in every way to be like the Master (Eph 4:15), removing the planks out of your own eyes to clearly remove the specks in your friends'. And this is not to hurt your friends, to ridicule them, or to lord yourself over them as if you wanted to become the "wise sage" of your group (it is God who will appoint that one)... but to reveal a sin to a friend is to draw out the admission of their sin that can bring about their repentance and salvation.
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. - Proverbs 28:13
Be of good courage, go forth and speak to them truth in love, in gentleness, in humility, knowing you are no better than any other, for "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment." -Proverbs 28:13 God is love.
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Is There More?
Do you ever notice it's easier to believe the bad stuff about yourself, than the good? I mean, it's easy to believe it when people put you down, and it's even easier to listen to the whispers in your head telling you you're lower than what you really are. The Bible speaks of us as "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty," (2 Cor 6), but it takes long hours of constant reminder to make a person truly realize who they really are. If we keep a person in prison long enough, they will eventually believe that they belong there, even if they do not. That's why the apostle Paul tells us to keep our minds set on heavenly things (Col 3), on our future place of glory and ever-increasing wonder and amazement (2 Cor 5), living in the heavenly realm where beaches never end and the skies are so beautiful they set you free every time you take in a breathe, staring into a vastness with no beginning or end... Can you imagine the beauty that awaits us? My heart longs for that place called Heaven, the place where the Perfect One dwells and we along with Him... truly, our imaginations have a greater purpose than to dwell on the things below in the world. How often do we fill our minds with songs and stories that only take us to the tallest mountains on earth, yet even the highest places in the world are lower than the lowest places among the stars... and beloved, we were meant for the stars.
There was once a very popular story called "Pretty Woman", about a prostitute who, being found by a very wealthy and noble man, falls in love and remembers the person she truly is that she had long ago forgotten. Coming from a troubled past, the lack of a loving father and the discouragement of a bitter mother, she went from man to man only to find that she believed she was worth no more than what she had been told all her life, attracting unruly, cruel, and merciless men. Yet when this good man came to her, he saw beauty in her she once only dreamt about in the dreams of her youth, and slowly she began to change in a way she never knew was possible; she changed the way she saw herself… as a person meant to be truly loved. Perhaps it was the new clothes he bought for her, or perhaps it was the frequent meals she had that were not out of Chinese take-out boxes… or it just may have been the dignity she was treated with that was due to her as a child of the living God, I mean, after all...
We are all equal under the sun.
Whatever it was, this man saw a light and beauty that awaited her, a light that was dying to be set free, washing over fields of gold and spilling over mountain tops and sapphire blue lakes on warm summer mornings…
For no light is meant to be hidden.
She recalls the time when she was a little girl being punished by her mother, trapped in the basement, dreaming of a knight in shining armor that would come and rescue her from the evil queen. And when the generous man offers to buy her an apartment and a car and take her off the streets, she refuses him. Why? She refuses him because she no longer wanted to be treated as someone’s property, she refused him because she knew what she was worth, and it was more than any amount of money could ever buy. For knights in shining armor never come for mistresses to put up in penthouse suites, but comes for the beautiful princess he will one day make his bride. This movie captured the hearts of millions because there was a part in every one of us that was waiting for a knight to come and rescue us. Yet are we worth saving? Are you? One by one, the wicked queens and dragons come knocking, reminding us of our chains, for freedom is meant only for the free.
My dear friend… You have dreamt dreams too, haven’t you? Perhaps you were young, and perhaps you have convinced yourself that dreams are just for kids, and that we’ve “grown out of it." But my dear friend, the beauty of children is their capacity not only to dream, but to believe in those dreams and live them out as free spirits. It is as if their innocence realized a greater blessing than our knowledge ever offered; faith. My dear friend, let your heart stir tonight, for you are worth more than what you have come to believe about yourself, for you were not meant to search for happy moment after happy moment as a person constantly needing to draw water from a well, but you were meant to be filled with happiness, a spring of water bursting inside of you that is not finite but infinite… for how many people once dared to dream of eternal bliss?
Didn't you?
One day, just as this woman saw, a knight in shining armor came to rescue us, yet this knight was not dressed in armor clad by iron or steel; His armor was clothed in heavenly light, a light the world could not see or touch... And He did not ride on a beautiful stallion made for the fading kings of the earth, but on a humble colt, showing us the Kingdom of Heaven is not found in the precious things of earth, but humanity must be found again by the precious things of Heaven; He is the Lamb that was slain for the sins of all the world. He came to take away the pain, the hunger, the fear of damnation, and free us from our mistakes and the guilt that haunts us so. He comes in the Name of love and the Name of God Himself, a Joy giver that never stops giving, and leaves us with a Message of true, unfiltered, unedited, and completely perfected, love. He is Jesus Christ, and there is none like Him. He loves, He forgives, He is patient and ready and willing to heal… for He did not come for the self-righteous, the proud who claim on rooftops they need no help yet cower away in their cold rooms lying alone on their cold beds… no, He is the one who gives grace and mercies to the humble, who carved out the rivers and the oceans with so much beauty and light that we can see glimpses of what is to come, so we would thirst for more than water, and seek that which is greater. Come and see Him while He knocks on your door, for you are no stranger to Him... you are His son, His daughter, and He has been waiting for you for a very long time. Come home now.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17
There was once a very popular story called "Pretty Woman", about a prostitute who, being found by a very wealthy and noble man, falls in love and remembers the person she truly is that she had long ago forgotten. Coming from a troubled past, the lack of a loving father and the discouragement of a bitter mother, she went from man to man only to find that she believed she was worth no more than what she had been told all her life, attracting unruly, cruel, and merciless men. Yet when this good man came to her, he saw beauty in her she once only dreamt about in the dreams of her youth, and slowly she began to change in a way she never knew was possible; she changed the way she saw herself… as a person meant to be truly loved. Perhaps it was the new clothes he bought for her, or perhaps it was the frequent meals she had that were not out of Chinese take-out boxes… or it just may have been the dignity she was treated with that was due to her as a child of the living God, I mean, after all...
We are all equal under the sun.
Whatever it was, this man saw a light and beauty that awaited her, a light that was dying to be set free, washing over fields of gold and spilling over mountain tops and sapphire blue lakes on warm summer mornings…
For no light is meant to be hidden.
She recalls the time when she was a little girl being punished by her mother, trapped in the basement, dreaming of a knight in shining armor that would come and rescue her from the evil queen. And when the generous man offers to buy her an apartment and a car and take her off the streets, she refuses him. Why? She refuses him because she no longer wanted to be treated as someone’s property, she refused him because she knew what she was worth, and it was more than any amount of money could ever buy. For knights in shining armor never come for mistresses to put up in penthouse suites, but comes for the beautiful princess he will one day make his bride. This movie captured the hearts of millions because there was a part in every one of us that was waiting for a knight to come and rescue us. Yet are we worth saving? Are you? One by one, the wicked queens and dragons come knocking, reminding us of our chains, for freedom is meant only for the free.
My dear friend… You have dreamt dreams too, haven’t you? Perhaps you were young, and perhaps you have convinced yourself that dreams are just for kids, and that we’ve “grown out of it." But my dear friend, the beauty of children is their capacity not only to dream, but to believe in those dreams and live them out as free spirits. It is as if their innocence realized a greater blessing than our knowledge ever offered; faith. My dear friend, let your heart stir tonight, for you are worth more than what you have come to believe about yourself, for you were not meant to search for happy moment after happy moment as a person constantly needing to draw water from a well, but you were meant to be filled with happiness, a spring of water bursting inside of you that is not finite but infinite… for how many people once dared to dream of eternal bliss?
Didn't you?
One day, just as this woman saw, a knight in shining armor came to rescue us, yet this knight was not dressed in armor clad by iron or steel; His armor was clothed in heavenly light, a light the world could not see or touch... And He did not ride on a beautiful stallion made for the fading kings of the earth, but on a humble colt, showing us the Kingdom of Heaven is not found in the precious things of earth, but humanity must be found again by the precious things of Heaven; He is the Lamb that was slain for the sins of all the world. He came to take away the pain, the hunger, the fear of damnation, and free us from our mistakes and the guilt that haunts us so. He comes in the Name of love and the Name of God Himself, a Joy giver that never stops giving, and leaves us with a Message of true, unfiltered, unedited, and completely perfected, love. He is Jesus Christ, and there is none like Him. He loves, He forgives, He is patient and ready and willing to heal… for He did not come for the self-righteous, the proud who claim on rooftops they need no help yet cower away in their cold rooms lying alone on their cold beds… no, He is the one who gives grace and mercies to the humble, who carved out the rivers and the oceans with so much beauty and light that we can see glimpses of what is to come, so we would thirst for more than water, and seek that which is greater. Come and see Him while He knocks on your door, for you are no stranger to Him... you are His son, His daughter, and He has been waiting for you for a very long time. Come home now.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17
The Love of a Father
I just got done watching the movie John Q.. you know, the one with Denzel Washington and it's the story where a father wants to die for his son? His son has an over-sized heart and is in need of a very expensive surgery, one that John Q can't afford. Not taking "no" for an answer, John takes the hospital hostage to operate on his son. Eventually he realizes that they need a heart to replace the over-sized one in his son, and John decides to let his son take his heart, to die so that his son can live... and with the obvious Christ-like implications in this story, I thought one scene was particularly interesting...
The doctor and the people in the hospital finally say to John Q (Denzel Washington) that he should just accept the fact that his son is going to die. But what does he say? He says his son is going to live, that he does NOT accept that, that he WON'T accept that.. ever. And it broke my heart.
It broke my heart because I began to think of how the conversation must have been like, in heaven, between our Father, the Son, and the angels. I began to wonder, "What must it have been like? What must they have said? What must some of the angels had said to Him?" To give up perhaps? To accept the fact that your children, that your sheep are hopeless, lost, and dead? That there is no turning back for them, that there is nothing that can save them... To accept that every last one of them will die, that every last one of us will spit in His face again if we had the chance... just forget it, it's not worth it, they don't deserve it... just face up, give up, and give in... For your children are lost... and can not be found.
To you who are reading this, I pray that joy, peace, and love enters your life... I pray that your heart breaks too, when God speaks to you (in all the ways that He does), that when you imagine how God must have stood up for us... tears of joy enter your eyes. How Jesus Christ, the Son, sitting at the right hand of God, must have stood up before the angels... and with power and authority, spoke to them... with nothing but pure... and true...
love.
His strength is perfect when ours is gone yes? His love for us is never-ending, it never fades, it never loses hope, it never fails us. It doesn't give up. It doesn't falter, it doesn't struggle, it doesn't fear, it doesn't regret, it doesn't doubt... it knows everything, it forgives yesterday, today and tomorrow... It gives us hope, it gives us joy, it gives us peace, it gives us comfort and shelter in times of hardship, it gives us unity... it gives us strength, it gives us purpose, and it gives us the truth. He is always there... watching us, with compassion and understanding, with love and mercy... He is watching us.
And through our denying of His love, through our denying of His existence, through our denying of the cross, through the suffering we caused by needing the cross, and through our cursing of the cross,
He was still hanging on that cross...
And so I hope that one day we all will see the cross, that you will see the dream that's been given to you, the road that lies ahead of you, and have the faith and courage that this great father had, and know that this faith started with God's faith...in you.
To end in His words,
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Jesus Christ
The doctor and the people in the hospital finally say to John Q (Denzel Washington) that he should just accept the fact that his son is going to die. But what does he say? He says his son is going to live, that he does NOT accept that, that he WON'T accept that.. ever. And it broke my heart.
It broke my heart because I began to think of how the conversation must have been like, in heaven, between our Father, the Son, and the angels. I began to wonder, "What must it have been like? What must they have said? What must some of the angels had said to Him?" To give up perhaps? To accept the fact that your children, that your sheep are hopeless, lost, and dead? That there is no turning back for them, that there is nothing that can save them... To accept that every last one of them will die, that every last one of us will spit in His face again if we had the chance... just forget it, it's not worth it, they don't deserve it... just face up, give up, and give in... For your children are lost... and can not be found.
To you who are reading this, I pray that joy, peace, and love enters your life... I pray that your heart breaks too, when God speaks to you (in all the ways that He does), that when you imagine how God must have stood up for us... tears of joy enter your eyes. How Jesus Christ, the Son, sitting at the right hand of God, must have stood up before the angels... and with power and authority, spoke to them... with nothing but pure... and true...
love.
His strength is perfect when ours is gone yes? His love for us is never-ending, it never fades, it never loses hope, it never fails us. It doesn't give up. It doesn't falter, it doesn't struggle, it doesn't fear, it doesn't regret, it doesn't doubt... it knows everything, it forgives yesterday, today and tomorrow... It gives us hope, it gives us joy, it gives us peace, it gives us comfort and shelter in times of hardship, it gives us unity... it gives us strength, it gives us purpose, and it gives us the truth. He is always there... watching us, with compassion and understanding, with love and mercy... He is watching us.
And through our denying of His love, through our denying of His existence, through our denying of the cross, through the suffering we caused by needing the cross, and through our cursing of the cross,
He was still hanging on that cross...
And so I hope that one day we all will see the cross, that you will see the dream that's been given to you, the road that lies ahead of you, and have the faith and courage that this great father had, and know that this faith started with God's faith...in you.
To end in His words,
"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Jesus Christ
The Road is Long
Paul's journey was a difficult one, to say the least. He was flogged, beaten, stoned, left shipwrecked, starving, hungry and destitute... put in chains, left cold and naked... all for the sake of the Gospel. I sometimes asked, and perhaps you have too... why did he do all that?
Would I?
I have never met a true follower of Christ, a true man of God, living by faith and not by sight, being led by the Spirit, trusting in the Lord with all their hearts, not have to sacrifice all they have for their Lord Jesus Christ. After all, He is Lord is He not? The God of all creation, of heaven and earth, holy and awesome in power and glory, gracious and kind to those who call to Him, even to those who do not... and we as His servants, are no greater than He are we? He washed our feet. We ought to wash one another's. He gave up His seat in heaven, His equality with God, His position, His rank, His table in the Kingdom eternal... to be beaten, spit on and humiliated by men and women, all to save men and women.
Yet for this He ascended on high, to the right Hand of God, loved by the Father for His humility, His goodness, and His faithfulness. Easter Sunday. The greatest day of my life, where every whimper and complaint that comes from my heart, every arrogant finger pointed at the Lord, every hedonistic pleasure given in to so easily, and every hateful and spiteful word and thought I felt and released... I count them against me no more, for the Judge, the Father, does not count them against me. Though I sin, and continue to do so... though I have weakness after weakness... I can boast of them. Because He still enjoys me during these times. This is not a hockey game. God does not have a penalty box for those of us who fail, who struggle, and who are weak. I do not run from the Father no longer, in shame and guilt, thinking if enough time passes of my feeling "sorry" for what I had done, all will be well with me and my Father again. There are no spiritual "time-outs" for the purpose of gaining God's love; there never were. His favor was never dependent upon what I did... remember? It was dependent on Jesus Christ, on the nature of the Father, and my "yes" cry to Him. We have inherited His righteousness. I do not mean to say that God approves of all that I do... by no means, we are told to put away our former lusts. But I am speaking of what God did for us... that though we still struggle through the years, He is always with us. He is not upset with you, but He enjoys you, loves you, even in your weakness, even in your laziness, even if you have fallen into spiritual slumber. Though you have not been seeking Him... though every step you take you wonder if it is for the Lord and why you feel so alone... He loves you! Go to Him! He will reveal to you more than you can imagine, and give you the strength to continue on, and carry you back to where you belong, so that the lions will not devour you whole.
What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15)
We repent daily, as even in the Lord's prayer, we ask for daily bread along with the forgiveness of our debts, for his mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness (Lam 3) When we truly believe this, I believe, we will know why Paul suffered so much. For we love God because He loved us first... and as I grow to know Him more, of how loving, faithful, and awesome He is.. I will grow more in love with the Father, have more faith in Him, and my faith and love will be seen not by words, theology or song.. but by deed. The cost is great to follow the Lord, isn't it? Yet I count all things as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus (Phil 3). The sufferings are great to be glorified with Him, aren't they? Yet we consider that the sufferings of the present are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom 8). Paul, a human like you and I, did not attain this perfection while writing this letter, and I certainly have not either... yet my soul cries,
...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3) God we seek You, show us Your glory.
Would I?
I have never met a true follower of Christ, a true man of God, living by faith and not by sight, being led by the Spirit, trusting in the Lord with all their hearts, not have to sacrifice all they have for their Lord Jesus Christ. After all, He is Lord is He not? The God of all creation, of heaven and earth, holy and awesome in power and glory, gracious and kind to those who call to Him, even to those who do not... and we as His servants, are no greater than He are we? He washed our feet. We ought to wash one another's. He gave up His seat in heaven, His equality with God, His position, His rank, His table in the Kingdom eternal... to be beaten, spit on and humiliated by men and women, all to save men and women.
Yet for this He ascended on high, to the right Hand of God, loved by the Father for His humility, His goodness, and His faithfulness. Easter Sunday. The greatest day of my life, where every whimper and complaint that comes from my heart, every arrogant finger pointed at the Lord, every hedonistic pleasure given in to so easily, and every hateful and spiteful word and thought I felt and released... I count them against me no more, for the Judge, the Father, does not count them against me. Though I sin, and continue to do so... though I have weakness after weakness... I can boast of them. Because He still enjoys me during these times. This is not a hockey game. God does not have a penalty box for those of us who fail, who struggle, and who are weak. I do not run from the Father no longer, in shame and guilt, thinking if enough time passes of my feeling "sorry" for what I had done, all will be well with me and my Father again. There are no spiritual "time-outs" for the purpose of gaining God's love; there never were. His favor was never dependent upon what I did... remember? It was dependent on Jesus Christ, on the nature of the Father, and my "yes" cry to Him. We have inherited His righteousness. I do not mean to say that God approves of all that I do... by no means, we are told to put away our former lusts. But I am speaking of what God did for us... that though we still struggle through the years, He is always with us. He is not upset with you, but He enjoys you, loves you, even in your weakness, even in your laziness, even if you have fallen into spiritual slumber. Though you have not been seeking Him... though every step you take you wonder if it is for the Lord and why you feel so alone... He loves you! Go to Him! He will reveal to you more than you can imagine, and give you the strength to continue on, and carry you back to where you belong, so that the lions will not devour you whole.
What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15)
We repent daily, as even in the Lord's prayer, we ask for daily bread along with the forgiveness of our debts, for his mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness (Lam 3) When we truly believe this, I believe, we will know why Paul suffered so much. For we love God because He loved us first... and as I grow to know Him more, of how loving, faithful, and awesome He is.. I will grow more in love with the Father, have more faith in Him, and my faith and love will be seen not by words, theology or song.. but by deed. The cost is great to follow the Lord, isn't it? Yet I count all things as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus (Phil 3). The sufferings are great to be glorified with Him, aren't they? Yet we consider that the sufferings of the present are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom 8). Paul, a human like you and I, did not attain this perfection while writing this letter, and I certainly have not either... yet my soul cries,
...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil 3) God we seek You, show us Your glory.
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