I remember looking at these events in my life before, but found little to no joy. So how was I able to change that? How was I able to look at, let’s say, the death of my son and now find joy? Good question because that’s the heaviest situation I have ever faced. So how was I able to find joy in it? I wasn’t. That’s right, I wasn’t able. I couldn’t because I didn’t have the ability. Only God could help me see the joy in that situation and I didn’t see it when I was in the situation. I saw it years later, in God’s time. And I finally saw it through the eyes of Jesus after reading and meditating on a particular passage of Scripture. God’s Word has a way of leading us to a greater peace, comfort and understanding. So join me in this journey. Grab your Bible and turn with me to the Letter of James. It’s located immediately after Hebrews.

In the first chapter of James, beginning with verse two. Let’s read together.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And left steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and completed, lacking nothing.” - James 1:2-3 (ESV)

“Count it all joy”??? Really? Really? The Greek word for “count” can also be translated “consider” or “evaluate.” When I evaluate my life, especially those difficult situations, I can now see joy. When I consider that joy could exist in my current trials, I become confident that it does even though I may not be able to see it now. We are told to look for joy (evaluate) in the trial and expect joy (consider) is present and will later be found because of and through the trial. These “trials” are troubles or anything that breaks the flow of peace, comfort, joy or happiness in your life. We have a tendency to view trials with “the end of the world” kind of drama, when in fact our trials here on earth are temporary.

The Bible says these trials are actually tests of our faith. What are you going through right now? Have you truly understood that it’s temporary? Or have you accepted this as the biggest thing in your life right now? My psychology professor in college, Dr. Richard Brewer, once asked me how big the dime in his hand was in perspective to my hand. I responded that it was small. He then asked me in relation to the room. I said it was even smaller. He proceeded to ask me in relation to the state of Missouri, then the United States, then to the earth and then to the universe. Of course I said it was minute and not big enough to even matter. Dr. Brewer then asked me to close one eye and hold a dime up to the other one.  He asked me what I could see and I responded, “nothing.” I learned that day that my trials are tiny to God, but are enormous to me because I tend to make them the primary focus of my life. Everything seemed to eventually revolve around the issue at hand. Because of this, I couldn’t see God, but only my trials. I learned perspective that day. When you can see God, you can experience joy. There is no other way. Can you see God today? Or are you riddle with haunting fears and concerns with a certain trial? If your trials, difficulties and sufferings were dimes, would they be obstructions to your vision or would they be at the foot of the cross of Christ, at the mercy of His power? Are you carrying the burden alone? Open your hands and let go of your suffering and pain, giving it to God through earnest prayer. And when you open your hands, you can not only let go, but your open hands can receive the blessings, peace, comfort and consolation of Jesus.

I want to encourage you today to lay your trials before God and ask for the strength of faith to face your trials. Friend, God will pull you through. Don’t give up the fight, but get up and fight. He will give you strength. He will give you victory. There is joy in your trial. You may not see it now, but that isn’t important. What’s important is that you believe God’s promise that joy is present and that there will be joy; that He will never leave you and is faithful to pull you through. Let’s pray together.

“Father, thank You for trials. Thank You for Your faithfulness, grace and mercy. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins so that I can be forgiven and spend eternity with You. Thank You for the life You have given me. Give me the faith to put my trials before You, the strength to fight and the eyes to see You so I can have the joy You’ve commanded me to have. I need Your help, Lord. Thank You in advance for answering my prayer. Amen.”

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:12 (ESV)

Visit us on Sundays at 10am for solid Bible teaching. Powell Valley Covenant Church, “Where Truth meets life and we learn to live it together.”

Address: 1335 SE 282nd Ave., Gresham, OR 97080

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Website: www.PowellValley.org

These are noble resolutions, but I can tell you from experience that there’s something gravely wrong with them. They’re broken! They never last! I’ve made perhaps hundreds of New Year’s resolutions and I can’t think of one that I’ve successfully kept. They keep breaking. I plan and plan and plan and execute and execute and execute and somehow I fail and fail and fail. It’s like buying a new car every year that breaks down about halfway home. I get excited that I’ve finally got my answer (my resolution), I sit down and turn the key, starting the engine. I take-in the new car smell and begin driving. But about halfway home the car begins to smoke, the tires begin to wobble, a hubcap veers off and hits a kid on a skateboard, the “service engine” light comes on, I spill my coffee all over my lap and I turn down a one way street. Before you know it the engine cuts out and I’m stranded. I’m in the same position as I was before I got into the new car. I get into this “new” car and drive it into the ground every single year, every single January.

Unfortunately my example is horribly skewed. I’d love to blame the broken resolution and accept it has failed me time and time again, but I can’t and neither can you. Why do our resolutions fail? Why do our valiant efforts, which seem so brilliant and good-natured, fail so miserably year after year after year? May I suggest the problem is the same problem that many Christians face early in their walk with Jesus? Many new believers are jubilantly excited about their newfound life and freedom in Christ. We would say they are “on fire” for God. They are energetic, zealous and unashamed as they fearlessly launch themselves into society with the intention of living an obedient life for Christ. This is a beautiful thing, but something happens after a while. For some reason they become less energetic, zealous and unashamed and become more like they were before they were saved. They begin to live life in a way that isn’t as glorifying to God. They begin to cut corners, letting things slide. They know God wants them to live one way, but they’ve now decided living this way and this passionately is too hard or too burdensome. It’s almost like cologne wearing off after a short time. You easily smell the rich aroma at first, but then it seems to fade off over time. We become weaker and weaker Christians, like the cologne’s aroma. What happens that weakens us as Christians, that weakens our walk with Christ, that weakens our resolutions? The problem lies somewhere between the making of the resolution and the loss of interest in continuing the resolution. The problem isn’t our plan. The problem isn’t our intention. The problem isn’t our execution of that plan. The problem is this: we don’t equip ourselves with enough accountability and support to succeed.

Our culture promotes individualism in the extreme sense. “I can do this!” “I can be successful!” “I just have to decide to do this!” Now I’m not against individualism, but any successful leader will tell you that they couldn’t have done it alone. Lasting change is not made alone and transformation (total and permanent change) is certainly not made alone. Championships are not won alone, not even in individual sports. Coaches and trainers are necessary. Successful lifestyle changes and goals are not achieved alone. Christians growing in their walk with Jesus Christ do not grow simply being alone with God, but with frequent and regular fellowship with one another and solid Bible teaching. It is the sharing of our lives, with transparency, that promotes growth. And it is the sharing of our lives with others, building relationships, that promotes consistent and long-lasting change. Resolutions that live on, now that’s a revolution! If you want your resolutions to be revolutionary, share them with others and ask them to hold you accountable. Share your resolutions with others who will also make them their resolutions, then do it together. This is the best shot you have at keeping your New Year’s resolutions. You can start a resolution revolution that not only impacts you, but someone else. That, my friend, is transformation! And if your car breaks down again,…you won’t walk home alone and you’ll have someone to blame.  /:-) Better yet, if the resolution is kept, you have someone to celebrate with. Good luck.

You smell!!!

Our tri-weekly noon ball episode (basketball) at the seminary had ended and I was drenched in sweat from guarding Tony the Beat Poet (cf. Donald Miller’s book, Blue Like Jazz). Tony and I have quite the battles, most of which I get the short end of the stick. However, that is nether here nor there in regards to this particular blog post. Drenched in sweat I left the court and into the foyer of the gym building and passed by the student working the check-in table near the doors. As I walked by she gave me one of those looks; the kind of look as if she had heard something completely inappropriate while at the same time stepping on a nail. I was a little taken back, but then I realized why the reaction. May I pause here for a moment? You know, no one on the court had said anything at all about my…sweaty and NORMAL work-out-odored Oklahoma T-shirt. In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone that played that day was sweaty. Hey, we all smell like we had been playing basketball…for a reason! What was normal and appropriate for the court was apparently quite the stench to those off the court. I know the girl working the check-in table and we’re on friendly terms, but that did not eliminate the odor.

The Apostle Paul remained engaged with unbelievers throughout his ministry, even though both parties remained differentiated theologically, especially in regards to the person of Jesus. Although they remained engaged, Paul had one odor of being and the unbelieving people had another odor. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church he encourages them to wholeheartedly accept the victory Jesus has already won and to live life through that victory and in light of the victory to be fully realized upon Jesus’ return. Paul teaches them that they smell!  But perhaps not in the way you may be thinking. Let’s read the following Scripture together:

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to  the other a fragrance from life to life.” – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)

Christians have a different aroma than the rest of the world. Parents will understand this next example. If you have children, you know their smell. Each one has a particular smell. It is unmistakable. My wife has a particular smell. She can walk-up behind me at the grocery story, as long as I’m not in the wonderfully musty coffee aisle, and I know she is behind me or near because of how she smells (compliment!). My mother’s meatloaf has a particular smell unlike any other meatloaf. It too is unmistakable. You and I have an unmistakable aroma, or fragrance to the Father. We smell like His Son, Jesus. It’s an intimate and profoundly meaningful smell soaked in the Trinity’s relationship to One Another. There’s no smell more intimate to the Trinity than that of the Risen Christ, the Son of God. As believers, we are covered with that smell. As wonderful as this aroma we carry is, it carries the aroma or fragrance of death to the unbeliever.

As a former police officer, I have smelled “death.” Maybe you’ve heard that it is unmistakable and unlike any other smell on earth. If you’ve heard this, you heard correctly. The smell is almost unbearable and it is without doubt contagious as it clings to your clothes relentlessly. It is almost impossible to rid and you never, every forget it. The odor of death brings memory as the sense of smell is the most powerful sense in developing new memories as well as recalling old ones. The smell of Jesus for some is like that of death. He loves unbelievers so much that He not only died for the potential forgiveness of their sins (if they surrender to Him), but died so that His aroma would perfectly infect the world of His odor through His chosen people for the sake of providing all an opportunity to simply come, just as they are-sin and all, to Him for forgiveness, mercy, grace, new life now and eternal life in the hereafter.

Although we believers are covered with the aroma of Jesus, how we smell is none of our business; how we love our neighbor is our business. The aroma of Jesus may be offensive to unbelievers, but our actions must not be divisive. Many times we use our status as “believers” as an excuse to withdraw from the world. Jesus, in His “High Priestly Prayer”, found in John 17, asks the Father not to take the disciples out of the world. This makes perfect sense as we are the aroma of Jesus to the world and must be in the world for the world to look at us and say, “You smell!”

Remain engaged with the world, loving your unbelieving and believing neighbor with no other agenda than the agenda of the Father; that they may look to the Son, believe upon Him and have eternal life (John 6:40). So remember, you smell. Represent.

I have led in such a way that caters to the younger generation to some degree and to the older generation to some degree. Maybe you’re thinking, “What’s wrong with that? As a pastor aren’t you supposed to meet the needs of the people?” And the answer is “Yo.” Yes and no. And that’s a discussion for another blog post. But what I’m looking at is the motive and agenda behind making church, as we would say, “relevant” to our culture. First of all, what does a relevant church look like? What kind of music does a relevant church have? What does the relevant church pastor wear when he/she preaches? Are the lights dim or bright? Is the music loud or soft? How is communion taken? Individually dipping the bread in the juice or all-together? Does a relevant church use that hard, dry, and displeasing communion bread that looks like a tic-tac or does it use hot, toasted French bread? And in the quest to be “different,” what we really mean by being “relevant” to the community is that we want to be attractive to the community.

When I read Scripture, I don’t see Jesus, Paul, Peter, Timothy, or anyone else trying to “make” church “attractive” to the lost. They didn’t do that because that doesn’t work, bottom line. I know there are a host of other reasons why it doesn’t work, but for now I just want to stick with “it doesn’t work.” People who go the circus are attracted by the lion shows, the elephant shows, and the twisted people like the clowns (scary clowns!). The are attracted, they pay to get it (tithe), and they watch the show. Sometimes they get to participate in the show. After the show they leave. Can you imagine going to the same show, just with different variations of it each week? That gets really old, really quick.

The difference between a “relevant” church and a “relevant club” is the heart behind the movement that happens, not only on your chosen church day, but throughout the week. Is the culture of your local gathering primarily aimed at giving an attractive show so the people will like it and come back? Or is the culture of your local gathering primarily focused on pointing to the Scriptures, worshipping the Almighty God, and sharing life with one another? Shows may attract a larger gathering, but is that what you really want to aim for in your ministry to others? Do you really want to put your religious product on the shelf next to the Captain Crunch and hope someone will spend their time and money on it? Do you really want to face the moment when those people open the neatly and excitedly wrapped product labeled “Jesus” or “Christianity” and find what’s really inside? How would you feel if you paid money for Captain Crunch, but when you got home and decided to stop looking at the games and cool stuff on the box and opened it and found flavorless oatmeal? Do you really want to sell Jesus? Do you really want to represent Him this way? Do you really want to continue suppressing and monopolizing your gospel corner on your side of town? Or do you want to witness and experience a movement of God, perhaps never seen before in your area? Leaders who lead rightly, justly, and faithfully are rare. They don’t want to disturb their personal boat that contains their pride and sense of false-security they believe keeps them on solid ground. It is an illusion of control that leader simply does not have. How will you lead? Will you share your resources with another denomination or underprivileged church? Will you share your staff with them? How will you lead? Jesus is not our product and I fear we have made Him out to be our product instead of our Savior, their Savior, and the Savior of the entire world. Forgive us Lord.

Stand with Jesus and stand with me in committing to be fully devoted to intentionally loving our enemies, our neighbors, our single moms, our crazy kids, our homeless, our poor, our widows, and anyone else Jesus decides to bring your attention to. Don’t wait for someone to cross your path-don’t be passive. “Go” (familiar word) and cross-into someone else’s path for their sake. And do everyone a favor, be real before God, your local gathering of believers, and the lost. And if you’re selling Jesus as a product, you know that those you’re selling to will treat Him as such. You are an example and an ambassador or representative of Jesus.

Consumerism=Bad
Dying & Sacrificing for Others=Good
Genuineness=Good
Broken=Good
Relationships with the Lost=Good

Father, forgive us for selling your Son, Jesus, like a product. We repent. Help us to know Him intimately so others can see Him and perceive Him as their Savior. Give us the faith and courage to intentionally cross the paths of those who need You. Help us to cross them for Your glory. We invite you to work through us powerfully for Your purposes. Thank You Lord and to You be the glory forever. Amen.

"What kind of virgin are you?"

I remember as a teen making fun of other teens who claimed to be virgins, even though I, myself, was one. Us guys especially gave the girls a hard time. You know, they were the uncool ones, the prude ones who didn’t “put out.” Being a guy, these girls fell into one of two categories: 1) “no chance” and 2) “chance.” The “no chance” girls were the girls who were openly virgins that had shot down every guy that tried to “dethrone” her. The “chance” girls were the ones that allowed the guy to go somewhat “far,” but not all the way. The “no chance” girls were just too much trouble and a waste of time, in our hormonal teen minds. But the “chance” girls gave every hormonal guy hope. By the way, I am aware that specifying “hormonal” in regards to a teen boy includes about 99.9999999% of them. Some girls weren’t even close to the edge, while others were oh so close to the edge. Over this edge meant, not losing their virginity, but giving it away to some “lucky” boy, as we saw it at the time. As a daddy to three daughters, thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. Even writing this makes me sick. Nevertheless, I’ll write honestly because that’s all that makes sense to me.

So what was the difference between the two sets of virgins? They were both virgins, but one was closer to giving away perhaps the most precious thing a woman can give away, herself in sexual intimacy. Those close to the edge probably wouldn’t make it through their senior year without having sex and statistics prove that concept today don’t they? Sad. But those who were “no chance” virgins were strong and had a greater chance of making it through high school, college, and even to marriage without losing their virginity. They could endure through the long haul. Why? Because their commitment to purity was more than an intellectual or mental decision. It was a spiritual decision. It would have to be to defend against the wiles of hormonal boys, the manipulations, and the lure of romance. A deep spiritual rooting was their only hope. They were all virgins, but not all were virgins for long unfortunately.

Jesus tells a parable regarding ten virgins. They were all virgins and were all waiting for the groom to come and get them. He would come get them at an unannounced time and take them, along with their family and friends, back to his place for a celebration…a party. They waited and waited and waited…and waited and waited and waited. Finally, around midnight he arrives and someone startles the virgins with a loud shout saying, “Wake up! He’s here for you!” Five of the virgins had enough oil for their lamp to keep it lit long enough to get to the groom in the dark (it’s midnight for crying out loud) and five did not. I mean, who was expecting the groom to show up at midnight?

The five virgins who had enough oil anticipated that the groom might come back during the day or during the night. They were looking so forward to their marriage that there was no way they were going to miss this moment! They knew he would be coming and it was so important they made sure they were ready.

The five virgins who didn’t have enough oil got tired of waiting perhaps (?). Perhaps they concluded he wasn’t coming. Or perhaps they weren’t really that committed to him. Whatever the reason, they decided to live on the edge and “chance it” with this special moment. Why? Because the delay, the time that passed, separated those near the edge from those who were fully committed.

Jesus is coming back soon. You may see Him at death or He may come back before then. But when He comes back, will you be prepared? Will you be found with a lamp full of oil or will you be caught just sliding by, just doing enough? Is Jesus your crutch or is Jesus your stretcher? What kind of virgin will you be when He comes back? What kind of virgin are you today?

“Father, thank You for Your Word. Convict me painfully of my complacency. I repent now of neglecting You and Your Word. I surrender to You, fully, right now, in this moment. Forgive me, Lord. Give me courage and strength to die today to Your will, for Your purposes alone. I am Yours. Amen.”

I’m at a restaurant tightening up some last things for my sermon tomorrow and there is a group of young people in the booth across form me, but two down. Of the three couples, one has a small boy who is no more than three. The boy is acting like a boy. He’s antsy and a little whiney, obviously tired. I’m a daddy of five, I understand the frustration of being out with others who don’t have kids and having your kids act up. I get it.

But threatening them with, “I’m going to drop you off at grandmas house for the night if you don’t stop it. Is that what you want?” Or “I wish you’d stop wetting diapers and be a big boy” and then everyone laughing. Or…never mind.

The psychological effects what parents say to their child(ren) have on their development: trust issues, etc. are heavy, really heavy. I get so angry when I see parents treat kids as though they were an inconvenience to their lives. I don’t know how much harder I can type on this iPad before I crack the glass. My heart is grieved, deeply grieved. The young parents I’m watching obviously love the boy, but do not know what they’re doing to him. I understand why he is acting up. I understand he is scared and confused about his parents’ loyalty. I get it.

It reminds me of how we love God, but don’t really understand what we’re doing to our own lives and our witness as we live selfishly for ourselves, leaving to God what is left over.

Do you treat God like these parents treat this child? Do you mock him? Do you try and tell Him what to do like a child? Do you wish He would just “stop!” until you’re ready to deal with Him? Do you wish He would just get out of your way for a while so you can live?

If so, I’d like to encourage you to examine this and tell me if it really and truly is the right thing. Does it make sense? Repent from yourself and your ways today and return to the place of full surrender to your Lord and Savior, who suffered, died, and rose again for you. Will you do the same for Him today? Surrender…fully.

“Father, thank You for Your Son, Jesus. I’m sorry that I’ve been living for me and pushing You to the side. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I want to turn my heart and mind back to You. Will You help me, Lord? I need You.

Thank You, Lord, for never leaving me, even when I’m treating You unfairly and unlovingly. Thank You. Amen.”

"Who do you follow?"

I have this memory often. I remember being a young boy and going hunting with my dad. We’d spend the night before our hunt, cleaning our rifles, getting our camo suits ready, stuffing our pockets with food, and setting everything out that we’d need for the hunt. I also remember walking to our deer stands, him leading the way, and every step I took I was sure to step exactly where he stepped. I would mimic his body language, look where he looked, and tried to think the way he thought. I blessed to have loving parents. To this day, I still try to step where he steps, look where he looks, and think how he thinks. As a young boy, I followed him closely.

When it comes to your faith, you’re following someone. Everyone does. God puts people in your life to either lead or to follow, and always to love. The question for you today is, “who do you follow?”

I’d like you to take a moment and read the short letter of 2 Timothy. The Apostle Paul is writing a young man who has followed him closely. It’s the last letter Paul would write before his death. This young man, Timothy, is struggle with walking in the faith. He is discouraged. Why did Tim choose to follow Paul? I think you’ll see the reason after reading the letter.

READ 2 TIMOTHY

Now do you see why Tim chose to follow Paul? Who picks you up when you’re down? Who encourages you to have faith when times are difficult? Who reminds you to give glory to God when things are great? We need each other. That’s how God worked it out. You know someone whom you should follow. It’s very important that you make an effort to follow him/her. Who do you follow? Who will you follow? Intentionally follow someone today and experience the blessings of spiritual growth, community, trust, peace, and confidence.

Heavenly Father, thank You for placing “Paul-like” people in our lives that we can follow. Thank You for Your mercy and grace. I need You now. You are the only way. I love You, I love You, I love You. Give me the courage to follow the person You have put on my heart in this moment. I’ll contact them right now. Give me strength to be vulnerable. Please bless me through this. Here goes. Amen.

Do the Right Thang!

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what I did to you. I knew it was wrong. I knew it would hurt you. I knew it would hurt others. But…I did it anyway because I wanted what I wanted and it didn’t matter who it hurt or what the consequences were. I did what I did for me. I was wrong. And today, I’m asking you to forgive me for hurting you.”

Have you ever said something like this to someone? It’s hard, really hard. Doing the right thing is very difficult at times. There are times when doing the right thing is easy or requires little sacrifice and risk. Low amounts of fear are attached to these situations. But there are some situations in which doing the right thing could mean terrible consequences. Maybe doing the right thing means confessing to your spouse that you’re emotionally and/or physically attached to another person. This could potentially end your marriage and break apart your family. Maybe doing the right thing means confessing to your boss that you’ve been cheating him by not being at work when you are being paid to or stealing here and there from the company. This could potentially end your employment. Maybe doing the right thing means finally confessing to someone that you betrayed them days, weeks, months, or even years ago and it continues to haunt you to this day. This could mean the end of a precious friendship. Doing the right thing is at times very, very difficult and can seem literally impossible. Doing the right thing seems completely out of the question. The consequences would be too great. The devastation that doing the right thing could bring wouldn’t be worth the confession it seems.

Today we’re going to look at a person who faced the same type of situation. This person did something wrong, committed a crime and ran away. He became a fugitive. He knew the crime was wrong and he knew the consequences he would face if he committed the crime, but he chose to do it anyway. He knew it would hurt others, but he didn’t care. The person I’m talking about is a slave named Onesimus (O-neese-e-mus). Onesimus had a job and was treated quite well. However, he was a useless slave, lazy, unproductive. When you go into a fast food restaurant and you see an employee who is leaning on the register, looks bored, and doesn’t want to do anything more than the bare minimum to make your dining experience merely acceptable, that’s what kind of worker I envision Onesimus to be. Well, Onesimus decides to steal from his boss, Philemon (File-e-mon), who was a loving and generous man. Philemon held church in his home for many in the city in which they lived (Colossae, “ka-lass-ay”). Onesimus steals from Philemon and runs away.

Now, Onesimus knew the legal consequences of running away. The consequences for simply running away was quite severe. According to Roman law, the master (Philemon) could have him tortured, tortured until death, or tortured and have him branded with a hot iron, putting a giant letter “F” on his forehead, standing for fugitivus (we get the word “fugitive” from this term).  Onesimus, knowing he would hurt Philemon did not care, but hurt him anyway.

So we have a slave seeking to be his own master, regardless of who it hurts. You know, I understand Onesimus wanting to be free. Who wouldn’t want to be free. And I actually understand choosing to hurt someone so that I can be free. I value freedom don’t you? Maybe I would’ve done the same thing Onesimus did. In fact, knowing my personality (Type-A), I probably would’ve done the same thing. Onesimus probably stole enough money to get him to his destination, but we don’t know that for sure. But I get it don’t you? I think I understand Onesimus’ mindset. But breaking the law wasn’t the right thing to do. Stealing from his boss was not the right thing to do. Onesimus wanting to be free, that’s the right thing to hope for and want. But his reaction to this was not. This particular post isn’t focused on Onesimus’ mistakes or mindset at this point in our story. The focus of this post is on Onesimus’ response after an event that happens to him shortly after he committed his crimes.

While this was happening in Philemon & Onesimus’ world, the Apostle Paul was in prison in the heavily populated city of Rome. It was in this prison term that Paul wrote Colossians, Ephesians, and our focus letter in this story, Philemon. This is the point in the story where we see the sovereignty of God more clearly.

God’s sovereignty is hard to see sometimes, especially when things are rough. “Where is God?!!! Where are You?!!!” we scream. We must have faith that He is here with us and already knows…OK, back on track Jamie. Darn rabbit trails. Anyway, of all the places Onesimus could have run to, he chooses to run to the heavy populated city of Rome, where Paul was located. In fact, it was the largest city in the territory. Onesimus, by the sovereignty of God, comes in contact with the Apostle Paul and get saved! Talking about needle in a haystack! It was God’s hand that brought Philemon to Paul (Paul led Philemon to Christ earlier), Onesimus to Philemon, Paul to prison, and Onesimus to Paul. THIS IS SO AMAZING. Funny how throughout reading this blog you probably weren’t putting that together. I know when I first started studying this story I didn’t. Because it’s not until after it’s all said and done that we, at times, don’t see the big picture. We don’t see what God sees. God is the Master Orchestrator isn’t He? Amen? Amen!

The story ends now that everyone has received Jesus as Lord and Savior and they lived happily ever after.

Ummm, no.

Although Onesimus, has now surrendered his life to Christ and has become a new creation, made new, forgiven, filled with the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul and he understand there is some unfinished business from Onesimus’ past that must be dealt with. Paul and Onesimus realize that Onesimus must go back to Philemon and do the right thing. Onesimus must make things right with Philemon, or at least attempt to. Why? Why doesn’t Onesimus just enjoy his new life in Christ and work with Paul and just move on? Good question and here’s the answer. Because God is faithful, we must be faithful to Him and have faith that when we do the right thing regardless of the consequences, we are honoring God and bearing witness to what he’s done in our lives. You see, Onesimus is not the same selfish and lazy slave he was before. He has been made new. He has fully surrendered his life to God and that means he is willing to live obediently to the point of torture, branding, and even death for the sake of one simple act of obedience.

Are you willing to commit one simple act of obedience if it means potentially disastrous consequences? What is obedience to God worth to you? What are you willing to experience or lose for the sake of obeying God’s Word? What aren’t you willing to deal with for the sake of obedience? That question will give you a pretty accurate gauge of how much faith you actually operate in.

Take a moment and think about who you have you wronged and have not confessed to them and asked forgiveness?

Why? What’s holding you back? Choose to be faithful today, like Onesimus, and go back to that person, confess, and ask forgiveness.

“Father, thank You for your sovereignty and that we can know that nothing ever happens that You aren’t aware of or haven’t foreseen. Thank You that we can know You are with us always and never, ever leave us. Thank You for forgiving us for our sins and screw-ups. Help us to take action in confessing to those we have wronged in the past and we pray they would forgive us. But even if they don’t, Father, we pray your Holy Spirit would show them Your love through our actions and they would turn to You and be encouraged by our faith. May they see Your love and mercy through our confessions. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Now that you have some context, read Paul’s letter to Philemon, which explains this whole situation, turn in your Bible to the book of Philemon <—-click here (it’s in the New Testament, just before Hebrews). You won’t regret it. Ask God to teach you what He wants you to learn, to give you the spiritual eyes to see what He sees. And most importantly, ask God to help you respond with action. Blessings.

Is Craig Groeschel Nuts?

I hear Christians preach and proclaim that we are supposed to be “fully devoted followers of Christ.” In fact, the pastor I sat under for a couple of years (Craig Groeschel) preached this over and over again and it’s even in the mission statement of his church (LifeChurch.tv). The mission statement is, “to lead others to become fully devoted followers of Christ.” Seriously? Really? Are we really called, or better yet, commanded to become “fully devoted followers of Christ”? I don’t know about you, but I struggle with this concept when I hear it. As a believer, it can tear at your heart because we realize that we haven’t been “fully” devoted to Jesus. We look at all we’re doing for God in church & ministry and then we look at how we screw-up every single day. I don’t know about you, but many times at the end of the day, I don’t feel like a “fully devoted follower of Jesus.” We try and try and try to do the best we can only to discover it’s just not enough to label ourselves with “fully devoted.” Sometimes it seems like something is missing. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered when, if ever, you would be able to earn the right to be called “fully devoted.” I mean, what exactly do I have to do to gain that patch on my Boy Scout jacket? After all, Jesus did command us to be “fully devoted.” It’s all throughout Scripture. No half-stepping! All or nothing! Right? Right? It’s hard to grasp the whole “fully devoted” thing because, as I said earlier, that many times at the end of the day, I don’t feel like I lived “fully devoted” to Jesus. I remember thinking a while back, “Craig is crazy! Who’s fully devoted anyway? Yeah, that’s easy for him to say…’Mr. Senior Pastor of LCTV.’ He’s telling us to do something impossible. I could never be ‘fully’ devoted. Ridiculous. Whatever Craig.”

Then…God spoke to my heart. The Lord helped me understand this concept is indeed “ridiculous.” But not in the way I thought. What was ridiculous was the understanding the Lord began to give me about being “fully” devoted to Him. I was right to some degree, but I didn’t realize I was wrong. I realized that you and I can’t be “fully devoted” if being fully devoted means marking off my daily checklist of Christian activities and sacrifices I’ve chosen to partake in each day. That concept was ridiculous to me because it’s what I had always assumed and now God was correcting me. It’s not the things we do that make us fully devoted followers of Christ. I don’t have the ability to be “fully devoted” in that sense, because as much as I do and try, it will never be enough to acquire that label. But I do have the ability to surrender fully.

Will you leave it all behind?

It’s not what we accomplish in activity, but who we devote ourselves to knowing & obeying daily. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not discounting the “do” part of our Christian walk. But the “doing for God” isn’t necessary. We have to look no further than the thief on the cross to realize this. However, the thief on the cross didn’t have the opportunity to “do” anything. He only had the opportunity to surrender, and he did. We have the opportunity to “do” (obey) and we must in response to our full surrender.

Listen, you may not feel like a fully devoted follower of Christ because you don’t “do” this or “do” that for the church. You may not feel like a fully devoted follower of Christ because you screw-up every single day. You may not feel like a fully devoted follower of Christ because your marriage is in trouble, or because you cussed when you got angry. And you may not be a fully devoted follower of Christ, but it’s not because of those things. You’re not a fully devoted follower of Christ if you aren’t willing to leave everything you own or do if Jesus asks you to. He may not ask you to leave any of those things behind, but if He did, what would you do? If your spouse asked you to leave all you had in order to be with him/her, you would. I know that because you probably did to some degree. And you’d do it, not out of obligation, but you’d do it out of love. But would you do it for Jesus? Craig was right. We are to lead others to become fully devoted followers of Christ, but we can not lead others in this way if we ourselves are not fully surrendered. So I ask you this: Are you fully devoted to Jesus? If so, what evidence is there to the lost? If not, why? Surrender today…fully.

Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. Help us to remember daily the price He paid for our mistakes, that we have complete forgiveness. And thank You for going a step further and filling us with your Spirit to lead us and guide us moment-by-moment. We now, consciously & intentionally, surrender our thoughts and actions to You. Thank You for allowing us to surrender and be a small part of what You’re doing in the world around us. Thank You. Amen.

Oh my goodness.

You can “dunk today!” That’s right! You can dunk. Maybe you can dunk a basketball, but I know you can dunk a donut. I’ve dunked a golf ball in the cup and I’ve dunked crackers in my clam chowder. The kind of dunking I’m talking about is more important than any dunking you’ve ever done in your life. Over the last several weeks I have been breaking down and studying baptism quite extensively. The history of baptism, the theology (study of God) attached to it, the purpose of it, etc. I found answers to questions such as “should we do it?” and “is baptism necessary for salvation?” and “what if we don’t do it?” I won’t go into all the details of my research, but I do want to talk about it briefly. The keyword here is “briefly.” I will try to be as brief as possible, while at the same time remain accurate.

What is baptism?

Baptism is the follower of Christ’s obedient response to his/her free gift of salvation. Biblically speaking (in regards to the New Testament) and linguistically (Greek language in this case) speaking, baptism is the immersing (or “dipping” fully) or submersion of a person who has decided to surrender his/her life to Jesus. Baptism has been and is still done in several ways, but I’ll only address the two most popular. The first way is “sprinkling,” where water is sprinkled on you by the priest.

Priest sprinkling an infant.

Although there’s nothing wrong with sprinkling (in my opinion), there’s no biblical New Testament reference to this method. The second way is fully submerging the person under water (immersion) and raising them up.

Immersion ("dunking") baptism.

This is the method John the Baptism used and the way Jesus, Himself, was baptized. In fact, the Greek word for baptize means to dip fully or to fully go under something (in the case of baptism, water). As you’ll see, Jesus makes baptism of great importance. And if this is something we’re commanded to do by Jesus, then I want to do it the way He was baptized. Thousands in the early church followed the model of Jesus by full submersion baptism, yet somehow over the years some have gotten away from doing baptism (among other things) the way Jesus modeled it. I don’t think sprinkling is wrong because I understand baptism is also a heart issue, but my personal preference is to have that heart experience the way my Lord had it. Moving along.

Water baptism is a sign to three audiences:

1) to God, as a sign of thanks and gratefulness and a personal recognition to God that you acknowledge the gift of His Son’s sacrifice for you. It is this act of obedience that says to God, “thank You!” and “I’m serious about following You. Your Son, Jesus, did it, He commanded it, and I’m following suit because He commanded me to.” And in response to your obedience, God is well pleased (John 3).

2) to family, friends, and other followers of Jesus as a sign of what has happened to you spiritually and supernaturally. It is a funeral and a wedding at the same time. When you are immersed in the water, you are signifying your acknowledgment that Jesus died and went “under” into the grave for you. You are also saying that you went under with Him when you surrendered your life to Him. At that time, you died, just like Jesus died. When the baptizer lifts you out of the water, it’s a sign that you were dead, but now you have been raised to life, just like Jesus. It signifies that you have left your old self behind and your new self, your new life has begun. You went under (at your surrender) in one state and was raised up (the Holy Spirit dwelling within you at surrender) into another state. The baptizer had to lift you out of the water because once you died, you could not raise yourself. You needed help. When you died to yourself at surrender, you needed God to raise you up because you couldn’t…you were spiritually dead in your sin. But God (I love those two words)…but God in His infinite mercy, love, and grace forgave your sins, granted you eternal life, and raised you from the pathetic and hopeless life you were once living and now you can live it, really live it.

3) to yourself as a personal sign that following Jesus is something you, personally, take seriously. It’s not just something you do when you surrender your life, a religious act and nothing more. It is your endorsement on personal death and a life of following Jesus always. It is the outward sign of your personal covenant with God in which you say, “this covenant I’m making to You and for Your Kingdom, will never, ever end. I am Yours!”

The interesting thing about the audiences is that it covers everyone. The sign of baptism is for all to see. It’s not exclusive to “members” of a certain church or just to followers of Jesus. The sign of baptism is for all who choose to watch and see. It serves as perhaps your first act of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Many of you may feel baptism isn’t that important because it isn’t necessary for salvation. Or maybe you are embarassed because you’ve been a Christian for a while and have never been baptized and you’re thinking, “People know I’ve been a Christian a long time. I can’t get baptized now. How embarassing would that be?” I’ve heard a lot of reasons why people haven’t gotten baptized and I understand; I get it. But let me ask you this, is obeying Jesus about what feels good to you or about loving Him? Our response to Jesus’ commands for us is a direct reflection of who comes first in our lives. In baptism, the very first thing Jesus commands you to do, will you say “thank You” the way He wants you to say it, or will you continue to rebel and have it your way. Don’t go Burger King on God. It’s rebellious and self-centered.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Pastor Jamie, that’s pretty harsh bro.” I’ll never sacrifice giving you truth in order to spare your feelings and I hope you’d do the same for me. Baptism isn’t necessary for you to be saved, no. But neither is loving your neighbor, or loving God, or loving to read your Bible, or loving your enemy, or making peace, or praying daily, or not beating up your wife, or going to church, or witnessing to the lost. I think you get my point. By saying you aren’t going to do something because “it’s not necessary for salvation” or “I’m not comfortable getting baptized,” you are attempting to justify the disobedience and sin of intentional rebellion. You are writing yourself a free pass that will cost you dearly. Sin always does, especially intentional sin.

I want to encourage you today to read this blog again and really soak in this “brief” amount of information. Believe me, I have only touched the tip of the iceberg regarding the importance of water baptism. If you’re a follower of Jesus and haven’t been baptized, purpose in your heart to honor Him. Your witness may encourage others to do the same. You will set an example for your children, other children, your spouse, family, friends, and others for the Kingdom. Some may even come to know Jesus for the first time. You never know how God will use your baptism. And you know what else? God will do a work in you. He will bless your obedience. Get baptized. You’ll be glad you did.

How do I get baptized?

If you’re in the Portland/Vancouver area, I’ll do it. Or you can contact a local Bible believing/teaching church. Ask a follower of Jesus you know. They’ll get you set-up. However you choose to set this up, be diligent and do not let this pass you by. Don’t stop until you’ve been baptized. The enemy doesn’t want you to obey God and that’s the bottom line. Don’t continue giving him what he wants for you, give God what He wants from you. Blessings!