Good enough really isn't

It seems today that the idea of just getting by is prevalent in church society.  Oh, I know it's everywhere, but it bothers me more when I see it in God's house.  Recently someone brought an old crib to our church to put in the nursery.  When they told me that a friend of theirs had donated it, they gave this explanation: "It's old and won't pass modern safety standards, so we can't use it, but we figured the church could."  The 'spirit of good enough.'

I want to sound out that God is deserving of much more than 'good enough.'  We need to learn to do what we do for God and His house (the church) with a spirit of excellence and the 'spirit of good enough.'  

No matter how good something is, I believe there is always room for improvement.  Jim Collins explains this expertly in his book Good to Great.  I definitely recommend this book for all pastors and church leadership.

Paul understood the concept of needing to move beyond good enough.  Think about Paul for a minute.  He didn't even get saved like anyone else.  Me, you, DL Moody, every Christian you know; God sent a person or a preacher to tell them about the gospel.  Not Paul.  The Lord Himself stopped him on the road.  He wrote almost half of the New Testament.  At one point he was caught up to the third heaven.  And yet this man said I haven't attained.  I'm still pressing on, still beating my body under submission.

John the Baptist understood this as well.  This is the man who was filled the Holy Ghost while still in his mother's womb.  As the Lord's cousin he would have known Him his whole life.  He is the one, out of all of Israel that was selected to be the forerunner of the Messiah; the one who was privileged to baptize and introduce Jesus to the world.  And yet, when his disciples left him, instead of getting mad or jealous, he simply said, I must decrease and He must increase.  What any example of moving away from the spirit of good enough.

So, the next time you are tempted to just get by, to say well that's good enough, remember what the Apostle Paul said.  I'm not there yet. And take Jim Collins' advise and move from good to great.

The Power of the Mind

While taking my kids camping and hiking this past weekend, I realized several things.  First, I miss camping a lot more than I realized.  Second, I am way more out of shape than I realized.  And finally, I realized just how strong and resilient the human mind can be.

One of our campsite neighbors was a kayak-er, solo camping.  This absolutely fascinated my nine year old son, Connor, since most campers tend to be families or at least couples.  Connor took to calling this neighbor 'Lone Survivor' since he was by himself.  Late Saturday morning, after a big breakfast and cleaning up the campsite, we started on a hike up Morrow Mountain.
Shortly after we started hiking, Connor decided he was hungry.  Now, if you have seen any of the snickers commercials about not being yourself when you're hungry, then you understand the dilemma I was in.  My wife puts it this way, 'Connor doesn't get hungry, he gets hangry.'

So here I am in the middle of the woods  with a hungry and grumpy nine year old.  I thought back to when Connor crawled out of the tent earlier that morning and had looked over towards our neighbor's campsite.  "Lone Survivor is already gone kayaking," he said.  I called my three kids into a huddle and took a knee in the middle of them.

"Here's the situation from headquarters," I said, winking at the older two.  "Lone Survivor has gone missing and we have to find him."  My kids managed to fill in the details and they were off on an adventure with me struggling to keep up.  I had given Connor a granola bar at the beginning of the 'briefing' but by now he was so into his little adventure that he had forgotten all about being hungry.

Now, I am definitely not suggesting that he was really hungry to start with or that all of a sudden his hungry vanished.  What I am suggesting is that the human mind is a lot stronger than we ever give it credit for. It is the power of our mind that enables to push way past our human limits and accomplish more than we could have imagined.

I think the Lord understood this.  I think that's why He was more interested in changing our thought patterns than our actions.  He knew the actions would fall in line once the thoughts were right.  Read the sermon on the mount.  He was as concerned about lust and anger as He was adultery and murder; which makes sense, because the former lead to the latter.  If we can control the lust, adultery will never be a problem.  Paul put it best when He said be 'transformed by the renewing of your minds" in
Romans 12.

It is our thinking and mind that will transform the rest of us.  So, the next time you are struggling with your actions, remember Connor and his 'Lone Survivor' and get your thinking lined up.  The rest will follow.

3 Fridays in your life that need a Sunday

Some people might say it is over-used or even cliche', but I still say, 'It's Friday, but Sunday is on the way!'  The Friday that Jesus was crucified seemed to be the darkest day in history.  There was an eclipse, the very Son of God was dying on a cross, and God Himself turned His back on the world.  That's pretty bleak, pretty dark.  But we can do something the people living that day could not do; we can flip ahead a few pages and read about Sunday morning.  Well there will be many dark days in your life, many Fridays.  So, just as on that first Good Friday, on your Friday you can rest assured that Sunday is on the way! So let's take a look at three 'Fridays' that you will face.

1. The Friday of fatigue.  Life will tire you out.  The day to day struggle of just living is tiresome.  Anyone who tells you different is selling something.  However, Jesus promises us rest.  In Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."  The Sunday of the Lord's rest will show up and carry you through.
2. The Friday of failure.  All of us will fail at one point or another.  And when we fail, we feel all alone.  We let everyone, including ourselves, down.  Failure will make you feel like giving up.  When Judas realized that his betrayal of Jesus was a failure, he hung himself.  Peter might have felt like doing the same thing, but he waited for Sunday.  And on Sunday morning, when Jesus told the women to tell the disciples that He was alive, He singled Peter out and wanted them to make sure that Peter knew He was alive.  So when you fail, understand that God is a God of 2nd chances and realize that your failures are not fatal.
3. The Friday of fatalities.  Guess what?  Not only are we all going to get tired, not only are we all going to fail, but, unless the Lord returns first, we are all going to die.  It has been said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes.  But according to Hebrews 9:27 the only sure thing is death; it tells us that "it is appointed unto men once to die..." But, thanks to that first resurrection Sunday morning, we know that death is not final.  The same verse in Hebrews tells us that after death comes the judgement.  Did you catch that?  AFTER death. Since Jesus rose, we know that we too will rise after death.  

In conclusion, let me encourage you today by reminding you that no matter what kind of 'Friday' you are going through, Sunday is on the way! 

3 places Jesus bled -- 3 places I am healed

As we observe Holy Week this year, we have come to Thursday night.  It was tonight that Jesus celebrated Passover with His disciples for the last time and Communion for the first time.  It was tonight that He prayed fervently in the garden, was betrayed, arrested, tried in a mock trial, beaten, mocked, scourged, and  began His journey from Jerusalem to Golgotha.  Especially now, but always we need to be thinking about the events of this night and the next day.  A great resource for every Christian is Max Lucado's Six Hours One Friday: Living in the Power of the Cross.  Today, I want us to think specifically about the three places Jesus bled from the time of His arrest, until His death on the cross.

1. Jesus bled when He prayed in the garden. The gospels tell us that when Jesus prayed in the garden after the last supper, He prayed so fervently that His sweat became as blood.  (Luke 22:44) I believe this is our provision for emotional healing.  He is our Jehovah-Shalom, our peace and this is possible because He shed His blood while He prayed.
2. Jesus bled when He was scourged in Pilate's judgement hall.  We are familiar with the story.  Pilate did not think Jesus was deserving of death, so he thought he could appease the crowd by having Him whipped.  History tells us that when a Roman prisoner was whipped, he would be tied over a post, and two soldiers (one on either side) would whip the prisoner.  Isaiah knew this would happen to our Lord years before He was ever even born and said that it was by those stripes that we are healed.  This is the provision for our physical healing.
3. Jesus bled when He was crucified on the cross.  And this covers the most important healing of all, our spiritual healing or salvation.  The Word of God has been clear since the Garden of Eden, without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins.  As Andre Crouch sang for so many years, 'The Blood will never loose it's power'.  We are saved because of the blood that Jesus shed on Calvary.  

God is concerned about our whole being: our spirit, our emotions, and even our bodies.  And since He is concerned about all of us, He provided healing for ALL of us, not just part of us.

Heaven IS for Real and Jesus is Alive!!!

I just re-watched the movie Heaven is for Real. While it is good to finally have good, clean, and wholesome entertainment, I am troubled by the general premise of the movie, especially right before Easter. The idea that heaven is real because we believe it in our minds and hearts is very troubling. The fact is, Heaven is real, and not only because we believe it in our minds and hearts. Heaven is a real place, a prepared place. The reason this is especially troubling around Easter time is because there are many people who do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. They say that He rises again every time someone believes in Him. See the connection? It only happens in our hearts and minds. But I submit that just as Heaven is a real place, Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead. The entire foundation on which the Church is built is the fact of the resurrection. This foundation is under attack more today than has ever been. And it is under attack from both without and within the church. I want to address some of the attacks from within the church. There are those, like already mentioned, that only believe in a Spiritual resurrection of Jesus and that this happens every time someone believes. The idea ignores the whole of the NT. Thomas was invited to place his fingers in the nail-holes and his hand in the spear-hole of Jesus. This let's us know that Jesus had a physical body after the resurrection. Then there are those that would have us believe that Jesus did not actually die on the cross. Obviously these people are not at all familiar with Roman crucifixion. Death from crucifixion came as a result of asphyxiation and was the guaranteed outcome. Jesus died. His dead body lay for 3 days in a borrowed tomb. The tomb was sealed and guarded by the Romans. He absolutely rose from the dead, because He absolutely died. So, just as we know Heaven is real by faith in the Word of God, we know that Jesus died and rose again on the third day because of the written Word of God. So, when you watch Heaven is for Real, enjoy it; but understand that Heaven is real not only in our hearts and minds but in reality and remember, Jesus died, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose, physically from the dead on the third day.

Judge not

So often in the church we hear the phrase 'judge not'. Of course we know this taken from the Sermon on the Mount, specifically Matthew 7. However, as is so often done in scripture, we leave most of the scripture out. Jesus actually says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2, NIV) What Jesus is condemning here is the habit of criticizing others while ignoring our own faults. Immediately after saying don't judge, He says in the same way you judge, you will be judged. The implication there is that we are going to judged. Elsewhere in scripture we are specifically commanded to know them that labor among you. The only way you can do that is to judge. In fact, one of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of discernment. So, where does this leave us? What are we to do? The answer is simple. God has made it clear to us that we are not to judge people; He is the righteous judge that will judge all of us. However, we are commanded to judge their fruit. So, simply put, we can and must judge people, especially those that claim to be Christians. It is our duty to have standards and know those that are called alongside of us in our walk with Christ. How do we do that without actually judging people? Again, the answer is simple. Do it with love. That's how the Scriptures can tell us to confront those that are involved in sin. We can stand against their actions, without ever judging the person. We are to look for the fruit of the Spirit in their lives and ministry and that is how we determine good fruit. So, in a world we continually hear 'judge not', I encourage you to judge. Just remember to do it with love and to judge fruit, people.

Thankfulness

It is amazing what an attitude of thankfulness can do in our lives. Earlier today, as I was washing a car in the 95+ degree heat, in a suit, I was bemoaning the fact that I am not fulltime at the church yet. And I was counting down the time until I am, boy was I. Grumpy customers yelling at you and washing cars in the heat (in a suit) for 48+ hours a week will get you to that point, trust me. In the middle of washing this car today, the Lord chastized me. "At least you have a job, at least you are able to work." He said to me. Because of the current economy and in light of my recent stroke, both of these statements hit home pretty hard. So, instead of counting down the days until I am full time at the church, instead of moaning about my jobs and the grumpy customers I deal with, I started thanking God for my job. I started thanking Him for healing me; thanking Him that I am able to work. And yes, I still washed cars in the heat in a suit, and yes, there were still some grumpy customers, but it's amazing how much better my day went when my attitude changed from complaining to one of thankfulness.