The Beauty of the Cross

I was just listening to a preacher that I like to hear through iTunes. I made a very powerful statement in regards to following religion versus following the Gospel. He said that the beauty of the cross is not in how well I do things or how righteous I am, but in the fact that God loves me despite how sinful I am and that He extends grace and mercy and salvation for those things which I have offended him (my paraphrase).

It's just amazing to me to hear Matt speak about religion versus the Gospel because I grew up in "American Christianity" and during the era of Christendom (or specifically speaking, cultural morality that was based on biblical values). It's cool because Matt gets it. He sees that the Gospel is not about religion in the sense where we have typically defined religion today: a way of being accepted by God if I do what He says. Matt's message is that this is NOT the Gospel! The Gospel really is that God accepts me through the blood of Christ and therefore I obey him out of gratitude and love, not "begrudging submission."

Growing up in American Christianity I have found that by and large the bulk of Evangelical America is following a religion based on the Gospel, not the actual Gospel itself. This leads to and promotes things like basing our self-worth on our ability to adhere to a pattern of behavior that in the end has no actual power to transform the heart of man. Where instead the power of the actual Gospel is that through the grace and life of Christ within me God changes my heart and transforms me into a new creature, and I get to watch and participate in His incredible glory for eternity - both here on earth and forever after this life. What an incredible promise!

The beauty of the cross is not that I make such a great Christian that I bring amazing glory and honor to God. The beauty of the cross is that in all honesty I am a miserable scumbag at heart and because God loves me and is cleansing me via the life of Jesus Christ at work in me, I am no longer neither miserable nor a scumbag. I am a child of God.

*To hear the sermon by Matt Chandler that inspired this post, click here. To read a transcript of his message, click here.

Inviting God Into Your Brokenness

The other night I spent some time with my wife at her job. She's a summer camp director at a Christian camp in central PA. This week she has a guest speaker from Minnesota and his ministry team joining the camp. The speaker shared a very powerful message that night about brokenness, it was actually his testimony of how God saved him. Not your typical message - or testimony. God literally saved him from death, at his own hands. The speaker shared his story about how on a morning in 1992 after a half hour of panic, Billy, a tough but broken young man faced all of his brokenness collapsing in on him - or rather the walls he built. Billy has a unique story of a life with a broken home and an alcoholic and ultimately absent father, a tendency toward perfection in sports and religion, and a few years of military service.

This particular morning not long after Billy had come home from his time in the military, he opened the door of his house with the awareness that someone was in the house. His newly honed military skills and senses kicked into action as he prepared to take care of the unwitting intruder. However, as he stealthily checked every room of the house and finally found himself in the basement with only one room left, he found no one there. But still, he was keenly aware of the presence of someone - or something just behind him. It was the feeling of tangible evil.

Over the next several minutes Billy's years of brokenness and the walls he had built which held it back came crumbling down on top of him until finally he found himself sitting in the makeshift office in the basement with a rifle aimed square at his chest. He couldn't quite figure out a way to hold the gun and fire it, until he balanced it on a ledge. As the thoughts ran through his mind, "Do it!" and, "Well, I don't know," the gun shifted toward his shoulder as it went off. Bang!

As Billy described the next few moments in his own words: "The pain was unbearable. The stench of burning flesh was ungodly. The blood was unreal." Billy collapsed from the pain, shock and loss of blood. His right shoulder had been nearly completely blown off. His deltoid muscle was gone. Part of his collarbone had been blown into his lung. The bullet had gone completely through his body and out the other side.

As Billy regained consciousness he heard the voice of the Police chief descending the stairs of his house to the basement where he was, gun drawn. "Are you OK, kid?" The police thought there was a shooter involved. The paramedics soon arrived, and had to literally carry Billy in a body bag up the stairs because the staircase out of the basement was too narrow and steep to get a gurney in. One of the first paramedics there was a kid who went to school with Billy. Tears streamed down his face, as Billy said, "I'm going to die, aren't I. Am I going to be OK?"

But what happened between the time Billy fired that gun and when he regained consciousness is something amazing - an unique. As Billy says, "What happened was God."

The investigators reports show that from the desk in the makeshift office downstairs where Billy shot himself there were blood footprints on the floor all the way over to the bed where police and paramedics found him lying. When Billy was found he was still wearing his size 11 running shoes he had on when he came home that day. The footprints were size 8, barefoot.

There is also no explanation for the towel from upstairs that was used as a dressing already wrapped around Billy's shoulder when police and paramedics arrived. No one was home but Billy.

And there is no explanation for why the Emergency Dispatch Service to this day cannot find the recording of the 911 call that came in triggering the dispatch of police and paramedics to Billy's home.

Billy stood before the audience and with determination and conviction in his eyes said, "Don't tell me there is no God."

What followed is perhaps just as miraculous as what happened between the gunshot and the arrival of medical professionals. God saved Billy's life even though Doctors in the Hershey Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University thought Billy was going to die. They thought they were going to have to amputate his arm to even have a chance at saving him. Three days later, on his little brother's birthday, Billy regained consciousness and began a long period of pain and recovery - and of transformation.

Billy shares how for two years after his life was dramatically different and still broken. But through it all God worked in his life and ultimately was able to change Billy. His heart behind the testimony and something he repeated over and over was that he prays that none of those who hear his story have to go through the same level of suffering before they allow God to help them.

The whole point of Billy's story is that he had years of brokenness that he thought he could bear on his own. He thought he could handle it until it all came crashing in on him.

As I sat listening, touched, I knew that what he had to say was just as much for me as it was for anyone else in that room. So often I try to handle everything in my own strength. I try to build walls to hide and protect me from my own brokenness. But in it all, God wants to come into my brokenness and bear it for me.

It's just like the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthian believers, His strength is made perfect in weakness. We think we must be strong to survive, but really we must be weak and allow God to come into our weakness. We must invite Him in, because being a God of love He will never force His way into your life.

Do you have it all together? Is your world just falling apart? If either answer is yes, you need God. Because eventually all of your pain or all of your success is going to come crashing in on you and you are going to need God to lift you up - to carry you through.

Hitting the Big Time

Today I was on LinkedIn. I am a member of several groups on LinkedIn for design professionals. The groups provide a very valuable resource to get feedback, ask questions and network with other professionals in my field. I've used the discussion boards many times to get answers I needed or just to follow a discussion on an interesting topic.

I get regular email updates about weekly questions that people are asking in the groups. Today one caught my eye in a forum called Designers Talk. It read:

You hit the big time … and then what?

When you've made your millions, what do you intend to do? Help others in the same field? Provide free solutions for charities? Perhaps fund causes close to home? And - not unrelated - have you ever told anyone your honest reasons for your burning desire to succeed? (Are they related to the first question?)

Here was my response:

I have always dreamed of hitting the "big time" - like most people. I've always wanted to have disposable income to do fun stuff like taking my wife on dream vacations, buying a quad and going on quad trails, supping up a Nissan Skyline GTR, spoiling my kids, taking care of my parents in the old age, and giving to ministries and other causes I would love to greatly support. To be honest though, a lot of my desire for success - upon close examination - has to do with approval, and justifying myself, and my choices.

To be completely honest, I have recently begun to look at "success" in a new light. As I get older (and I'm only 27) I begin to see that money is not the answer to life's problems. In fact, many times it is the beginning of life's problems. How many people have you seen or heard of in the media or elsewhere who made it "big" and next thing you know they are getting a divorce, or in trouble with the law? Money clearly doesn't solve all problems, and I think it is wisdom that recognizes putting trust in money is foolish.

Some people misquote that Bible verse that says "money is the root of all evil" (misquoted). What the text actually says (and I had two semesters of Bible Greek at a Christian College) is "the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Money is sort of a-moral. Smart people can do smart things with it. Dumb people can do dumb things with it. Good people like wise good things, and bad people likewise bad things.

The point: there are so many other things in life that I am beginning to aspire to OTHER than money that I believe will truly define "SUCCESS" for me.

What do you think? What defines success in your life?

Psalm 51 - David, A Man After God's Own Heart

The Scripture says David was a man after God's own heart. Why? Was David perfect? No. Was he sensitive to the Spirit of God? Yes. David wasn't called a man after God's heart because of he was king, or his exploits, or even the strength of his character, necessarily. We know David sinned just like you and I.

But David always turned to God. When he was happy and experiencing great success - he looked to God and worshipped and thanked him. When he was troubled and in danger of his life - he looked to the God of Israel for protection and strength, calling the LORD his "strong tower." When he was frustrated and angry with what was happening around him and to him - he looked to God and addressed his anger directly to the Most High. And even when he had committed great sin - he looked to God.

Psalm 51 is an incredible look into the heart of David. We know that David looked to God during nearly all of life's circumstances because he so frequently would turn to God by grabbing his pen (or whatever writing technology he had back then) and witting his heart's prayers out for us to read. We read over and over in the Psalms David's heart's cry is to God.

What an example to follow. How often do you and I turn to God? When times are tough? But what about when times are good? Do we remember to thank Him and worship Him for the blessings? Do we remember to thank Him and worship Him for the trials and suffering in life? Do we address our frustration and anger to Him, knowing that only He holds the key to our frustration and our healing? Are we gut level honest with God like David was?

I don't want to idolize David. He was just a man, and clearly didn't get everything right - he was a sinner too. He needed the coming Messiah just as much as you and I need Jesus the Messiah who has come. But David is called a man after God's own heart, and that's something I'd like to cultivate about my own character.

The Strong Man's House

I want to talk at some length about a passage of Scripture in Mark chapter three. The verse in question is verse 27, but to get an idea of the context, start at about verse 20 and read up to there.

I think verse 27 is very revealing in a way we often miss. Jesus says some remarks that we tend to get quickly and stay easily in our memory – “a house divided against itself cannot stand” – but we miss the “bottom line,” if you will. Verse 27 says, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.” We often gloss over this whole verse, passing it off as just a kind of random conclusion statement for the main point. But what if this verse was the main point? What if we’re really missing something here?

Why would Jesus go from talking about a divided house to talking about a strong man and plundering a person’s home for goods? Was Jesus secretly teaching His followers how to be crooks? Of course not. So what is the real point? Here’s my take:

The whole point of Jesus’ preceding remarks was that Satan could not be divided against his own power and be successful. What does Satan have to be successful in? Well, Jesus revealed that Satan’s mission was “to steal, to kill, and to destroy.” So clearly the devil has a goal, and this was the subject of the remarks made in the first part of this passage. Satan is the “strong man” being referenced in this metaphor.

What is the “strong man’s house?” The earth – the world. Jesus said at other times that “the Ruler of this world” was the devil. What he meant was not that Satan is God, but that Satan was the ruler over the present world system. We know the earth is the Lord’s and God is on the throne of the whole Universe. But Satan actually has been given certain power to influence the world for a time. Otherwise, how would we interpret Satan’s temptation of Jesus when the Luke and Matthew give the account that Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan and the Devil took Him to a high mountain showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, tempting Jesus by saying, “all this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whoever I wish. So if you worship me, all will be Yours.” To which we know Jesus resisted temptation saying, “Get behind me Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve,’” Himself quoting Scripture (see Luke 4:5 – 8)

We do know Satan is a liar and is called the Father of Lies, but his lie here was not that he had been given power over the world and could deliver it to others. His lie was offering it to Jesus as a substitute for what Jesus knew was His real destiny as the Son of God. If we assume Satan did not really have any power or authority to give to Jesus, how can we say Jesus really overcame temptation, as it would not have been real temptation, only deception? Jesus knew better than to believe the lie, but also fully realized that Satan meant business. So I think this shows that the “strong man’s house” is the world.

The final component to consider is the “strong man’s goods.” Well, actually the final component will be the “why” and “what” all of this means, but we’ll get to that in just a moment. What are the strong man’s goods? I believe there are some obvious things, but also that a lot of the meaning behind this is a hidden mystery only God can reveal and will over time. The obvious goods are all the glories of man, and the kingdoms of the world. Although we believe confidently those glories do not even compare to the glory of knowing God and the glory of His Kingdom, there still is a certain glory of man. In fact, the book of Revelation 21:24 even talks about this glory and how the Kings of the earth bring their glory with them into the Kingdom of the Lamb, those who enter.

So what does all this mean and why is it important? Well, simply put, I believe Jesus had every intention of stripping Satan of his power and his “goods” when He was in the middle of His ministry on earth, and fulfilled just that when He was crucified and raised. Jesus left His throne in Heaven and entered “the strong man’s house” when He came to earth. He conquered death when he was resurrected and effectively “bound the strong man” and stripped Satan of his power. When He left the Body (the Church universal) with “the Great Commission,” He was telling us to plunder the “strong man’s house” – to take back everything in Satan’s power and influence for God’s purpose and glory.

What does this look like in a practical application? The obvious has to do with people. People who have been living their whole lives – or just been taken captive – doing the work of the Devil. If Satan’s dominion is this present world system, then his goods are the people in it. Actual material goods are just things of perceived value. The real stuff of value is people – souls. God’s desire is that every soul belongs to Him, as His own child. Satan’s desire is that every soul is destroyed. So for believers to “plunder the goods of the strong man” is to win souls.

To another extent I believe there may also be nuances that are still hidden, that God may reveal to us corporately or individually as we seek Him. God would certainly also have us to live our lives with integrity, excellence and love in His name and by doing so we reclaim glory from Satan in God’s name.

As a final thought I want to underscore my point with something Jesus said to Peter when He commissioned Peter as a leader of the church. He told Peter that “the Gates of Hell would not prevail against the church.” We so often think of “the Gates of Hell” as being where Hell launches its offensive attack against God’s people. But a more accurate depiction of gates relevant to their purpose in this culture is a last line of defense.

You see if your army was at war, where were your gates? Your gates were right in front of your city walls. Your army was out fighting, but your gates were protecting your city. The gates of a kingdom were the last line of defense. They really did not represent an offense at all. If the army was being defeated, the city would close its gates to protect its people. So when Jesus speaks about the “gates of Hell,” the image we should be getting is more akin to the people of God storming the Gates of Hell and plundering its goods as we defeat the strong man’s army.

God’s people need to begin acting like an army whose Commander in Chief has already stripped their enemy of Hi s power and attacking all hell like soldiers. We need to realize that Jesus has called us and destined us to attack Satan so hard, they have to close the Gates of Hell to defend themselves. And “the Gates of Hell will not prevail against [the Church].”

Wanting To Follow Jesus

People who really know Jesus want to follow him. That may seem like a bold statement, but I think it’s really just logic. I mean, people who really truly know him want to follow him. They love him. How can you not? Unless you don’t really know him that well.

What I’m getting at is the difference between thinking you should follow Jesus, or knowing it’s the right thing to do, and really just having that deep down gut wrenching desire to be in his presence because you know it’s the very best place in the universe. It’s the difference between saying you’re a Christian because you believe in the Bible and because you think the Church just has got it right and not caring what anyone thinks about your faith in Jesus because you love him from your heart.

There’s nothing wrong with believing in the Bible and thinking that despite all its flaws the Church just has got it right. In fact if you are headed where I’m suggesting, I think those things will follow. But what I’m trying to pinpoint is something that if you miss, the other things that people say really may not get you as far as you think. What I’m trying to get at is that being a “Christian” is less about following something you know is right and more about following someone who you have come to truly love. Being a Christian really is about you and Jesus. Anything past that is missing the mark.
Now a case can be made for Christianity having also to do with affecting the world; showing love to others, reaching out to the poor and needy, and sharing the message of God’s love. But the foundation is actually not those things. The foundation is a changed heart through Christ. Uh – oh. That sounded a lot like Christianese jargon. What in the world do we mean when we say things like that?

What a changed heart is all about is the fact that without Christ our hearts are bad. Real bad. Actually more like wicked. But what happens is when we get a glimpse into who really God is by getting to know the person of Jesus Christ, and we begin to really understand God’s love for us, our hearts can’t help but be touched by how great his love truly is.

There are a lot of forces and systems at work trying to prevent you from truly understanding that fact. Systems that want to keep your mind dull, your heart numb and your attitude cynical so that it is very difficult for you to grasp how truly remarkable it is that God loves you. But when the Spirit of God truly breaks through into our dark hearts – a change takes place. A transformation.
That’s the difference between knowing or thinking that the Gospel is true, and really following God from a heart of love and gratitude for who He is and how much He loves you. It’s not that the two are mutually exclusive. It’s that so many Christians choose to live from somewhere they believe they are right versus a deeper version of faith, living from somewhere they are free to really love God.

Do you struggle with wanting to be a Christian? Do you sometimes feel like people who aren’t Christians have it easy or better than Christians? Are you a Christian just because you know it’s the right thing to do? You may be missing out on really knowing someone you are following.

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:17; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 John 4:16-19; Revelation 3:14-22

Wisdom: Looking At Life From God's Perspective

Wisdom is looking at life from God's eternal perspective. It's like Jim Eliot, the now famous baptist missionary during the 1950's who, at the age of 28 along with 4 other men, was killed by an indiginous tribe in South America. Eliot and his colleagues were attempting to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ when they were speared near on the banks of the Curaray River in Ecuador. Eliot is often quoted as having said, "he is no fool who trades what he cannot keep for what he cannot lose." Eliot was, of course, refering to trading this life, which none of us can keep, for eternal life with Christ, which can only be attained by letting go control of this life and trusting it to Jesus.

That is what wisdom is all about. It is recognizing that there is a God - not equal with me, but greater than me - who rules and reigns over me and over all of creation. It is acknowledging His sovereignty and yeilding willingly to His plan. It is believing that He is inherently good and trusting that He has my best interest at heart.

Wisdom is believing these things, but not just believing them. it si acting on your beliefs. Living them out, regardless of cost to yourself or uncertainty of reward. It is trading what you cannot keep, for what you cannot lose.

Read: Psalm 14:1; Psalm 19:9; Psalm 27:1; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 29:25; James 1:5

Jesus Reveals A Deeper Righteousness

I just finished reading the words of the Lord in Matthew chapter 5. What a powerful message! I love this chapter and often find myself drawn to it when I'm reading the Bible and don't have a planned place to read. Matthew 5 is only part of what theologians call "The Sermon on the Mount," when Jesus addressed a crowd of followers from Galilee or Capernum who had congregated to listen to what this new teacher had to say.

Interestingly enough, Jesus begins his discourse (which may have actually been things he taught on many occasions, to many crowds, not just this one time) with some statements about the condition of his audience. "Blessed are the poor in spirit...blessed are the meek...blessed are the peacemakers...blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness!" Jesus was addressing a crowd of very common people - people some cultures may view as peasants, or in our society the blue collar people. They were not the heads of state, or nobility of the land. They were common Palestinian people. People who knew oppression at the hand of the Roman government. People who also knew exploitation at the hands of their own religious leaders, the Pharisees. And Jesus looks at them and says, "Blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake."

Blessed for being persecuted? Blessed for being spiritually destitute? What is this teaching that sounds nothing like the typical message of religion? This is Jesus. Jesus looked at people and saw their needs. He saw their heart. He saw their sins. And He loved them so much that He wanted them to be free.

In this chapter Jesus goes on to point out several of the Jewish teachings on moral issues, such as divorce and adultery, anger at others, making promises that you cannot keep, how to treat your enemies. And He makes the point that the teachings the people had followed do not go deep enough to foster true righteousness. He said it is not enough to just be sexually faithful to your spouse, you must be faithful in your heart also. It is not enough to just keep from murdering others, you must be patient and loving toward others also. It is not enough just to keep the law of God, you must love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

The incredible thing about Jesus is that He comes along and reveals to everyone who will listen that it is not just enough to do what people think you are supposed to do. If you want to be holy you must live it from your heart. Just think about the following statement that Jesus made, and keep in mind that the Pharisees in their day were the respected religious leaders. We know the term now to represent hypocrisy, which Jesus did reveal. But at the time people did not see it that way. They thought these guys were really doing it right. But listen to what Jesus had to say to everyone who was following the leaders: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

How is it that today we do the same thing, thinking that we can simply follow the religious leaders of our day and time and not give attention to what is really going on in our own hearts? Do you think it is enough to just do what you are taught by someone else you respect?

Character vs. Career

Recently I've been having trouble with my computer. As a graphic design professional I put alot of strain on my machine by working with large, fairly complex files and often several applications at a time.

So I decided to make some hardware upgrades to beef up the performance of my machine, seeing that buying a whole new computer is out of the question for me right now. They don't actually make it easy on you to do this sort of thing yourself. never the less being the 'sort-of-ambitious' and 'not-too-scared-by-technology' type, I decided to blaze the trail.

Well, needless to say, I encountered plenty of challenges. Then, a few days ago, once I had ordered all the parts I needed, removed the cover of my machine, and began getting into the nitty gritty, God politely interrupted my progress--in the way of trials.

No, we're not talking fierce suffering or fiery persecutions here. Just simple frustration at the lack of support from parts manufacturers or direction from anyone interested in helping a poor 'do-it-your-self-er!' Anger and impatience began to kick in. I began to get frustrated and most of all everything was taking longer than I had so happily pictured. Let me just take this chance to admit for someone who grew up thinking and being told I was a Type B person--I sure seem to exhibit quite a lot of Type A tendencies!

That's when God so kindly intervened. It was about that time that I was forced to set it all aside for a previous engagement with my wife. As we rode in the car together we discussed the events of the day and she empathized with my techno-frustrations, knowing that I had been grappling with these computer problems for days, and in fact months.

Then she said something that I knew was the Lord speaking through her. The exact words I don't recall but the idea was this: "Joel, God cares more about your character through this than the end result of your computer." Bang! A light bulb lit up. Right then I fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I knew she was right and that I had not been practicing patience, or even kindness with the myriads of people I had been dealing with on the phone.

Right then I decided to ask God to renew my perspective and thanked Him for teaching me yet again that the development of my character is way more important than the development of my career or the efficiency of my computer. I asked Him to help me cultivate the character of Christ in how I respond to every minor or major situation in life. And I thanked Him for using my wife to minister to me, and for giving me a woman who He is also doing a work in.

I can't say that my computer is 100% where I'd like it to be yet, but I can say that keeping a Godly attitude about the process has sure helped me enjoy the steps a lot more.