When Did It Become Cool?

There has been a question that has been bugging me lately. After hanging out with a bunch of people at a Christian school and with Christians all my life, there is a trend going on and it's a dangerous trend. It's a simple question: When did it become cool?

Lately it seems like if you can watch dirty movies, be crude all the time, go drinking on the weekends, and still go to church then you're cool. If you're the guy that is synical about the church then you're cool. If you're the one who makes fun of other people worshiping then you're cool. If you see someone trying to act as a Christian in their everyday life, you make fun of them and say they are trying to act "holier than thou" when they are doing exacty what you need to be doing, but somehow that makes you cool too. So when did this all become cool?

I know that the majority of people who are going to read this are leaders in the church whether it's as an elder, preacher, pastor, youth group leader, or you just have friends in the church. The thing is we, as leaders, have set this tone. When we're synical about the church or when we make fun of someone trying to live or worship in whole-hearted devotion to God, that becomes acceptable, and often the coolest thing, in our sphere of influence. Many times the Godly man and the Godly woman are no longer veiwed with respect or as models to strive for, rather the hypocrite (or "cool guy") ends up being who those kids we care about look up to. Those people end up being a cancer in our churches and their synacism and lack of authenticity spready like wildfire.

This post has been sitting halfway done for a long time. I believe this is because the Spirit was convicting me of some areas where I have become that "cool guy." I think we all have to a degree at some point or another. So I'd like to ask for your prayers for me in this area and leave you with a charge to watch your own lives as leaders in the church so that we can cultivate a community that truly glorifies Christ!

They Devoted Themselves...

Reading Acts the other day, something really struck me. I was reading something that I've read many times before and I'm sure you have too but this time it hit me in a new way.



"And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers... and day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42,46-47)

I think we all understand what the word devotion means. We understand what it means to go to a devotional or to have daily devotions. In those cases we set apart a time (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or however else) for God and for God alone. But I want you to notice something that I noticed in the phrase "they devoted themselves". This is more that something they did for half an hour a day. It's something more than seeking out the secret place throughout the day. They devoted themselves, their whole person, to Christ and the life He called them to. Their lives were centered around the Church and Christ. They did it every day without fail.

So I have one question: how does this picture compare to our lives? So many times our lives consist mainly of our lives and then we add God in. We hear a message about centering our lives around God so we add more of God into it thinking that is what God wants from us, but that just isn't enough. He wants devotion to Him and not just for half an hour a day.

I don't really know the best way to illustrate this. I'll try something but I don't know if it will connect well or not. Think of the last time you started a new hobby. Something like playing an instrument, writing poetry, doing artwork, building something, reading a book, working on a model, playing a sport, or even playing a new video game. When something like this happens you go to work and go to school but your mind is continuously on that new hobby throughout the day. School and work isn't your main concern but that new hobby is. When you're training for a sport, you do other things but your priortity is getting better at the sport. When someone decides to try and make it big in the acting or singing buisiness, they work at Starbucks or as a waiter in some restaurant but that is not their main concern. They are an actor or musician, not a waiter. They are concerned with getting better at acting and music and take every advantage to do so and think on it throughout the day.

This is what Christ wants from us and maybe a bit more. He wants full devotion, not 30 minutes a day. He wants our thoughts on Him continuously and He wants us to follow Him day by day. He wants our lives and has a particular plan for each one (1 Cor 7:17) and we need to always be asking for guidance from Him and let Him be the navigator for our lives.

I know this is something that is talked about a lot, but I hope this gives you a new perspective or a new insight or impartation in some way. It was a new way for me to think about it, but I know you may have seen this long ago. Just something to chew on for a few days

Get Ready

Over and over again the church is called the bride of Christ. I have one question: why aren't we acting like it? When a man and a woman get engaged, (and make no mistake about it, if you're a Christian then you are engaged to Christ) what does the bride-to-be do between the engagement and the wedding? Does she figure out what to do with her life apart from her groom? Does she run as hard as she can after her carrer? No way! She thinks about her groom night and day! She plans the wedding and eagerly awaits their life together. She counts down the days until the wedding and makes herself ready for the wedding.
We are the bride-to-be right now. How do we respond. I know I can't speak for everyone, so I'll speak for myself in the past and even a little bit still. We're engaged to this Jewish man, yet we hardly know Him. Yeah, we know some stories about Him and know some things that He taught and said, but we don't actually know Him. We don't know Him intimately and we can't distinguish Him voice. How are we supposed to be able to discern between the Spirits if we don't even know the man Jesus? We run after everything in our own lives whether it be our carrers, social status, athleticism, or education without giving a second thought about our Groom. We go to church and say a prayer everyday, but we don't consider His will for our lives. Our Groom told us to watch (Matt 24:42; Luke 12:37) but we don't even know how to watch. We are the bride of Christ. Why don't we start acting like one?

I Never Knew You...

"What in the world is that noise?!" It is three o' clock in the morning and someone is blowing a horn right outside the window. WHOOSH! All of a sudden something feels really weird. Your body feels... somehow... nonexsistant. All of a sudden you start levitating into the air; what is going on? You start looking around and it looks like everyone else is going through the same thing. It hits you: it's judgement day. Your life starts flashing before your eyes. You don't drink, you never even picked up anything to smoke, you've never committed adultry or fornication in your life. More importantly, you've gone to church every time the doors were open since you were a little kid and you've even been a daily Bible reader. In fact, you've even preached at your church a few times. Needless to say, you are feeling pretty good!
In front of you, there is a gigantic white throne. There is God in all His glory! You can't help but fall on your face and worship the Lord. After a while, you are told to move over to the right. The right, that's where the sheep go. You've paid enough attention in church to remember how this is going to happen and you are estatic! Then something weird happens: a mighty shout rises from your left side and then it hits you: YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE. You realized that God was going to place the sheep on His right but, seeing as you are facing Him, you are on His left.
You start running, I mean running, to God's throne. You cry out, "Jesus, I've lived a good life. I don't do things that are wrong and I even preach your name." He loooks at you and simply says, "I never knew you." Your heart drops like a rock. "But... Jesus..." But you know He is telling the truth.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second, what just happened? You see, sometimes we mistake discipline for discipleship. We think that if we don't do certain things and punch the sitting in the pew clock enough times, then we are okay. And for a little extra, we might lead a prayer a few times, preach a lesson, or even start a blog. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for adding restrictions to the Law. The early church struggled so much with stepping back into their Jewish ways and trying to earn their salvation. Why was this? It was because it was easier and more comfortable for them because they felt like they could just do what he Law says, and they would be okay. Paul wrote so many times trying to convince them otherwise and teaching that Jesus saves. He taught that through Christ, out heart's become transformed. (Romans 12:2) Jesus taught us to follow His will with our hearts, not only with our actions (ex Matt 5:27-28). And there is something that He wants from us. In fact, he said it is the MOST important thing:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind." (Luke 10:27)

We're supposed to love God AND keep His commandment, (Deut 11:1) not just keep the commandments. Somehow we think that if we have our act together then we are okay. This is just not true. When are we going to stop this show we put on and be real about Christ? When are we going to run after God with heartfelt prayer, worship, fasting, giving, sacrifice, and DYING TO OURSELVES instead of just talking about it (I'm talking to myself here too)? When do we take "Pray without ceasing" seriously and have communication with Him? Jesus takes it seriously. He doesn't care what you, even if it is in His name, if we don't know Him (Matt 7:21-23). He wants us to talk to Him and build a relationship with Him. After all, how else are we going to know him.
God's people in Malachi were facing the same kind of problem. They weren't putting their heart into anything they did. They still sacrificed to God and did everything right, but there was a problem: they didn't give their all to Him. You know what God thought about that?

"Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle the fire on my alter in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand." (Malachi 1:10)

I wonder if God would say the same thing about our churches. I wonder if we mean what we do because if we don't, God would rather us not even show up. It doesn't matter what we do if there is no heart behind it. The only way to have any heart behind it is if we have a relationship with Him, if we know Him. I wonder if Jesus could really say that He knew me... I really don't want Him to say that He doesn't and I don't want Him to say that to you either. I wonder, do we give Him an opportunity to know us... just something to think about.

Who's Your Daddy?

Who put the universe into exsistance? What is He like? These are questions that man has been wrestling with since the beginning of time. Countless theories, religions, and cults have formed as a direct result of seeking an answer to these questions. Thankfully we, as Christians have found the truth: Jesus Christ! He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 4:6). His name is the only way that we'll ever make it to Heaven (Acts 4:12). His name is what we need. For the purpose of this blog, I'm going to assume that everyone reading is already living under that name and is washed in the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus. I'm going to call it "Chasing". A simple name, but that's what we need to be doing. Our whole lives need to be in a constant pursuit of Him, His will for us, His specific calling for our lives, and a deeper relationship with Him.
This morning I was sitting in Bible class. Believe it or not, I don't expect something profound from it everyday, but TODAY was different. As I'm sitting in class learning about history, context, and language of the New Testament, something popped out. As you probably know, the New Testament was written in greek: koine greek, the greek of the street, to be specific. I had some great Bible teachers early in life that have already taught me this. What was really interesting was when we started talking about the language Jesus spoke. He spoke greek of course, He must have spoke Hebrew seeing as He was very well versed in the Hebrew Bible, but scholars agree that He also spoke arabic. In fact arabic was His "heart language". If you remember, when Jesus was praying in the garden before His betrayal he cried out, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36) What struck me was this word "Abba". It's an arabic word, and you know what it means? It quite literally means "daddy"! And here's the best part:

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adotion as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Rom 8:15)

God, the creator of the universe is our father. Not only is he our father, but he is our daddy! That famous quote says, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a daddy." There is a distinct difference between a father and a daddy. God is aiming to be our daddy. He may be all powerful, but he can't be our daddy without our cooperation just like your father here on earth. If you treat Him like some far away diety, that's what He'll be to you. If you treat Him only as an authority figure, that's what He'll be to you. If you feel like you have to be formal and scripted everytime you go to Him, then you won't have any depth in Him. If you treat Him like your daddy, then He'll be your daddy! That's what He want's. Believe it or not, God has a unique intrest in you. Yes YOU! 1 Corinthians 7:17 says, "Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him..." He has called you to something specific and has a place for you in His kingdom. He says that He will take care of us (Matt 6:25-27), and we need to believe it! We need to trust in Him, trust in His calling, trust in His promise, and trust in His leading. After all, "...If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31)