Where Does Your Name Stand?

I've had a few conversations lately with my son about telling lies.  In those conversations, God has really taught me a few things that I walked away with.  I have learned that a name is a very powerful thing and is very important to consider in all I do. 

For example, my name is David Ashworth.  If you knew me and someone said my name in your presence, a few things would happen in that first split second.  Typically in that instant, a basic approval or disapproval would be shown.  Watch a person when you mention a name they know.  They will either smile or they will express some sort of disgust, sadness or any other array of emotions.  In that split second, a person's natural reaction is an indicator of how they feel about a name.  Beyond that, they may even say something or tell a story about that person.

The choices you make in your life affect your name.  The ultimate sign is at a funeral.  Some people live lives that bring great tears, laughter, joy and even sorrow when they pass.  Others however get a "good riddance" when they move on.  Some get a little of both.  A funeral is a sobering moment.  At the end of a person's life, there are three judgments:

1.  How you feel about yourself.

2.  How others feel about you.

3.  How God feels about you.

Those three judgments should keep us awake at night just by themselves, yet sometimes we live as if none of those judgments were coming.

Michelle and I listened to a story called Affabel.  The characters were named based on their attributes.  "Selfish", "Charity", "Sorrow", "Anger", "Joyful" and many other names.  While we rarely would have those names in our culture, when someone states your name, those emotions are tied with the announcement of you.  How you treat people is important. How you interact is very important.  Your name is on the line in everything you say and do.

So is this entire post about how to be prideful, fake and conceited for your reputation?  Not hardly.  You see, the biggest issue of your name is this:  If you are a Christian, you have tied your name to another name.  A name much greater than yours.  Your name is tied to Jesus.  Never would I recommend you preserving your name for your own pride or standing.  The sad fact is that people who do not know Christ will get an initial picture of Him through you.  So in the grand scheme of things, your name is more valuable than your very self.  It can have an impact on the salvation of someone else.

Live your lives honorably.  Love every person you meet, even if they hate you.  Honor God in all you do.  Those that love Jesus will reflect Him, a name much greater than their own.  In preserving our name in all we do, we exalt the name of Jesus, who's name is above all names.

God bless,

Dave

Are you a safe Christian?

This last week, I had a Christmas party at our house and there were 42 people there including kids.  I say this not to announce that I had a big party, but that night, I really felt like we had a family get together.  We had some laughs, we praised God and shared a meal together.  These people had spent the entire year together and many were well vested into each other.  Regardless of the background, we were a family of believers celebrating Christ's birth together.

The more I think about church, the more I believe we are supposed to be family to each other.  In the book of Acts, they regularly opened their homes to each other, they cared for each other, they shared burdens together, they suffered persecution together.

You see, I believe there is a day coming when "safe Christianity" will be no more.  You may be asking what that is.  My definition pertains to a faith that costs you nothing, requires you to risk nothing and requires you to give nothing.  I believe there are a lot of safe Christians in America and I think a time will come that many of those believers will have to make a choice.  They will either be all in or all out.

When that time comes, it will be important that you have a real church family.  It will be important that you have a family that you trust and that you can lean on when hard times come.

A safe Christian doesn't need a family.  Allowing people in their lives makes them vulnerable, so it's not safe.  Having to give money to help others out in family may put safe Christians in a place where they get taken advantage of.  Not only that, safe Christians realize that Christians are still people and sometimes, people hurt other people and they should not risk such a relationship.  They know that an engaged Christian will lose time, money, resources, emotions and will put their hearts at risk. The safe thing to do is go to a church that is big enough to sneak in, listen to the sermon and sneak out.  No need to talk to Christians because most are hypocrites anyway.

I have news for you:  If you are a human being, more than likely, you have been a hypocrite.  Christianity is not an exclusive club for hypocrites.  Unfortunately, they are everywhere. 

People in the church will hurt you at times, but you forgive them because family is important.  When they are hurting financially, you give to help them, not because it's the Christian thing to do, but because Jesus has set a love in you that you give to others to honor that love from Him.  You listen, you learn, you refine yourself during conflict, you hurt with others, you cry out to God on behalf of others and in the end, God will refine you to something that is more like Him.

You see, safe Christians miss the refining process and when hard times come, they are unequipped and unprepared for catastrophe or loss.  The engaged Christian is refined by family through faith, hope, love, remorse, sorrow and suffering.  God gets them through it all and in the end, they walk in the security of His grace and a covenant love that will never be forsaken.  The engaged Christian learns, by faith, to stand.

So find a God family to love.  It's messy, it's difficult, but it's worth it.

The Church in Ephesus

In the book of Revelation, Jesus writes letters to seven churches.  I wanted to take a few blogs and talk about those churches.  One that hits close to home to me is the church in Ephesus.

All of the verses are taken from Revelation 2

2 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.

In these verses, we see a church that has worked.  It has sacrificed for the name of Christ.  The church in Ephesus took a stand for the truth.  In all of this, they dealt with trials and stood against evil.  But then Jesus goes on to say this:

4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.

However, in persevering and standing for truth, the most important thing of all had escaped them.  They lost their "first" love for God. 

In this is a warning for long standing believers.  There are so many ways we can lose our "first love".  Sometimes our work for God can become so tedious that we find no joy in it.  Not only that, when you are doing that work within churches, they typically need you so bad that you would have to be utterly intentional if you really wanted to make a change.  The end result is that our relationship with God suffers and love for Him can diminish if we look at our weariness in the wrong way.  Don't think Ephesus didn't love God.  They did.  Losing your first love means that other things went above loving Him.  It's never been God's intention for our love to fade or for it to be low priority.

In our country's past there was a term we used for free but forced labor.  It was called slavery.  God has no intention of enslaving anyone.  When people feel trapped in ministry and serving with little to no love for God, they can feel like slaves.  They have lost their first love. 

God wants you to love Him and with that comes serving that brings you joy.  Any true relationship will produce fruit and God longs for that from us.  I love my wife Michelle dearly.  There are things I do differently because she's in my life.  There are things I've learned how to fix so that she would have what she needs.  There are things about myself I changed as a result of my relationship with my wife.  My life characteristics reflect the relationship with her that I have.  I didn't do or change all those things because I had to.  I made those changes because I love her more than any other person.

God wants that from you.  If you have been worn down, maybe it's time for a change.  If not a change, maybe some quality time with God.  Take a hike.  Get alone.  Go to a conference.  Praise Him. Read the Word. Do whatever it takes to keep God as your first love.  He is worth it and wants you to love Him first.

The History of Grace, thoughts from a Matthew West concert.

While at a Matthew West concert last Sunday, I heard a comment he made. He invited people to be a part of the "history of grace". It really was not even a focal point of his entire message, but this side comment really made me think.

I believe the "history of grace" began when Jesus rose from the dead after suffering a terrible death for our sins.  Once Jesus stood in the gap for our sins, Jesus became the means by which men could ever be justified before God forever.

When I think about grace in and of itself, it's amazing.  Here we have the Lord of the universe.  He is right in all His ways and for reasons we can grasp but not fully understand, He despises sin.  So enter fallen man.  Man had sinned and was separated from God forever.  God, who established the laws of the universe could not just allow people to be forgiven without compromising His righteousness.  So what does He do?  He sends Jesus to die on the cross to justify us before Him.  God makes a way for us to be with Him forever without compromising His Word or His stand against sin.  It is amazing really when you think about it.

So grace, through Christ, is established and this burning torch is passed into the hands of people who would be willing to take this burning flame of grace for themselves and share it with others. 

At this point, you could say a book was opened.  It was a blank book.  Every page was empty. This grace, as it was passed through generations created stories that I imagine would be written in this book as to what men did with this gift we all have been given.  Each generation of people with grace had an accounting of what they did with the grace of God given to them. 

So now, our generation is of age and our kids are not close behind us.  The question is, what story will be written about this grace that has been handed to us?  Did we hide it?  Did we share it?  Did we dim it?  The choice ultimately belongs to all of us.

You see, I don't know if there is a literal history book of grace or not, but I do know that in the heart of God, He knows everything we have done and will do.  In that knowledge, there is a story of grace for each and every person and if God were to write down what He knows about every generation, a book of the "history of grace" could easily be written.

This thing called grace is the starting point of your relationship with God.  Through grace comes love, devotion, obedience and forgiveness.  Not only for yourself, but for others as well.  Through grace, people find healing, people find redemption and they feel a love that can never be taken away.

So if you know Christ, the history of grace is being written through your life whether you know it or not.  What will you do with the grace given to you?  My prayer is that God's grace would be so established, that many people come to Christ through your life.  In that, I hope the book of the history of grace, when it is opened to your chapter, will contain many stories to read.

Cruise Ship Church

 

A friend of mine and I had a conversation about church once.  In that conversation he made a great statement.  Sometimes, church can be what he termed, "cruise ship church".  I had to break that down in my mind for awhile because the name had alot of implications.  It says alot about a church building, its leadership and even the people in the church.

 

I actually came racing to this place in my mind because tonight I listened to Francis Chan talk about how churches in many generations made obvious mistakes when we look back, but it was not obvious to them at the time.  For example,

 

During Martin Luther's day, Catholics would sell indulgences where people could purchase forgiveness of their sins.  Only a few stood against this heresy but many in the church accepted the practice.

 

During the Civil War, churches in the south supported slavery.  Looking back, this really doesn't make sense to do such a thing, but again many in the church accepted the practice and only a few stood against it.

 

So the question he raised that compelled me was, "What is it that we accept in our generation that we will look back on and say, 'That was pretty dumb'?"  What have we accepted?  We really have to take a step back and look at ourselves from a distance to find such an answer.

 

Francis Chan gave the answer that I had in my mind.  He said that we are a "consumer church".  We come to church on Sundays expecting good music, good programs and good teaching and we live in this shell of what church should be.

 

So think about it for a second.  What do you expect of church?  Do you expect all of those things?  Do you search out good programs and good facilities?  Do you come to church with the mentality that the church is there for your needs?  What is church really for?

 

After my friend made the comment about cruise ship church, I had the luxury of going on my first cruise ever.  I have to admit I had a great time.  Some friends came and it was alot of fun.  However, "cruise ship church" echoed in my mind on the boat.  When I was on the cruise, it was about me.  They had shows for me, food for me (6:30am to 1:30am), a movie theater, music, games, relaxation, convenience, comedy, swimming, a workout room and a view that was amazing.

 

As all these attributes played out in my mind, I started making comparisons to American church, and to be honest, I cringed.  We can go to church today and watch shows and movies, play games, sit in comfortable seats and pick a church close to our house.  Many have great programs and do a great job in entertaining our kids.  You can go to yoga at church, join the basketball team, the softball team, a gym in some places and it's all well and good.  None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but the question that crippled me was, "Have we missed the boat?" (awkward question being on a boat at the time)

 

Have we made church about us in action even though we talk about God?  When I look at the early church, it was not about the best programs or speakers or facilities.  It was about people who relied on God so much that they couldn't make it without Him.  If God did not intervene in their situation, Christianity would have died off as another cult.  But God demonstrated His purposes through the churches and He made known the name of Jesus to billions of people through the ages.

 

I believe it is time to abandon ship.  It is time for Christians to change the norm of Christianity.  Every believer needs to make it their responsibility for their faith, not the ship captain or crew.  We should not rely on programs to teach our kids when God gave that role to fathers and mothers. 

 

We cannot live off our parents faith and live out our faith like our parents did.  This is our generation and our responsibility.  In a time where America is about consumerism, the church has to reject it and make church about God again, not only in well educated teaching, but we desperately need God glorified in our actions.  The world needs to see the power of God in His Church (with a capital C).  It is time for us all to get off the ship and hit our knees.  It is time for us to really be the Church again.

It's Hard to be Humble

      When I was younger, this song was actually popular.  Am I showing my age a little? (I probably am)  Well humility is one of those things that people rarely think about directly, but it is a character trait people will or will not see in you, whether you think about it or not.
 
    So stop for a second.  Are you a boastful person?  Do you talk about yourself or your life more than anything else?  Most people answer no to these two questions and then move on, but sometimes, pride is not what we think.  When I used to think of pride, I thought of a man with his nose in the air looking down on people.  But really, that is only one form of pride. 

     Take a day and as you speak, listen to your conversations.  What is the topic of those conversations?  Are they about what you've done, or what you need/want or what you are going to do?  Is it about your ministry, your prayer life, your time in the Word, your good deeds?  All of these can be forms of pride even though they can appear spiritual, but being self centered is the biggest obstacle to giving yourself for Christ.

     Pride is one of those things that can wage war with humility.  Pride can cause you to miscalculate and misstep and walk into an area you are not ready for.  Proverbs makes the following statement:

Proverbs 11:2

     When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

      I believe humility falls hand in hand with wisdom.  Humility is one of those attributes that give you insight to know who you are and who you are not.  When pride is absent, a person will know when they need help and they will seek it and be humble enough to find it.

It is when we stop thinking of ourselves, talking about ourselves and living for ourselves that we make room for Christ's purposes in our lives. It is when we really and truly make room for humility.
 
     However, there is another form of pride.  It is one when you focus intently on yourself in a negative aspect.  It's a little different however.  When a person has no self confidence in anything they do and when some are regularly down on themselves, the focus, like a proud person, becomes centered on the person rather than others.
 
     But really, if Christians are honest, some degrade themselves thinking they are being humble.  There is a misconception that if we make ourselves appear helpless, then we will be in line with scripture.  But it's not the life Jesus is inviting us to.  Jesus has invited us to live a victorious life. 

     Let's stop a second.  There are "claim it" branches of faith that will tell you a victorious life is when God gives you "Your Best Life Now" in all the desires you could want for yourself.  Victorious living has been victimized as people thinking that God is Santa and will give them all they want.  That theory does not line up with our purpose as directed in scripture.

     When we set aside proud ambitions and when we step beyond internal pain and live our lives not for ourselves, but for God and others, the focus is away from us.  The victory is with those you have brought to Christ, those you have shepherded and lead closer to Him and those you have kept from stumbling.  It is when God has used you to fulfill His purposes on the earth.  That is the real victory of your life.

     So the challenge today is:  Be humble.  Make room for humility in your life.  Lift others up in conversation and action.  Show your concern for their troubles.  Share Christ with them not only in words, but in humble actions that make people question what is different about you.  You can't look any different than the world if you are living for yourself or talking about yourself all the time.  The world is already doing this.  To glorify Christ, you life, in deepest humility, has to be about Him.


 

Giving With No Regrets

In Schindler's List, Schindler smuggles Jews away from the Nazi's. In this scene, he laments because he could have saved more and did not. While he did great things for the Jews, he had some things he had left undone.  When I look at Schindler, I see a man devoted to a cause.  He risked his life to save people.  I think there is a misconception that people in ministry have "done their part" if they work for a time.  Schindler really got this message that there is always more, even though due to his gratitude and willingness to risk his life, he saved many.

I think when we stand before God, all of us will have a moment like this. We will think about where we spent our money, efforts and time and we will probably have regret, even though God will accept us into His Kingdom.

My advice for us all is to live with no regrets. What we do with our time and money matters. What we do with the lives we have been given matters.  When God places people around you, even if they are not people you particularly like, it's important.  God has a job for you and there are lives to be saved.

I think the hard part of this is that it comes down to every choice we make and it's hard for us to be that consistent in our lives.  My hope is that we give without abandon.  We can set aside selfish living and give to each other in ways that inspire and grow each other towards Christ.  We seek and save those that are lost.  We lift up the widow and orphan and we spend our time drawing closer to Christ ourselves.

Jesus made this the example of His life.  So many of the times we look at Christ, we think about his sacrifice on the cross and understandably so.  However, the life of Jesus really shows us what it means to be a "living sacrifice."

Romans 12:1 states this:

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Being a living sacrifice is giving with no regrets.  It's giving your all to God and Christ modeled this for us.  I don't believe God wants you to die for Him as much as He wants you to live for Him.

I believe there are two judgments coming for many.  There is the judgment that happens with God after you take your last breath, but there is also another judgment.

When you are old and you stare in the mirror, you will judge yourself.  You will ask yourself what you have done with the time given.  I believe there are things we will regret, but live in such a way that your life is characterized by real and selfless giving.

The people that are affected by your life will know how you lived.  Everyone you have won to Christ will celebrate the goodness of God with you in eternity.

Give with no regrets.  Start now if you haven't already.  It's worth it.

Walking Through Depression

Have you ever had a time in your life when you were depressed?  I have.  There was a time before I knew Christ that I had really messed up my life.  In fact, I believe I had to go through that season to find Christ. 

Looking back now, it still was a very difficult season.  I remember one morning during my depression, I was half awake.  I was up, but I was not aware of anything because I was not completely coherent.  Then finally, I woke up enough to know I was awake.  I'll never forget what happened next.  This weight, this burden, fell on me.  Everything I was facing and feeling fell on me like a ton of bricks.  It was as if God gave me a taste of what it was like not to be depressed because I had been for some time.

I remember some things from that season.  I remember that I just wanted to talk alot about what I was feeling and facing.  It was as if I was trying to get it out like a sick person trying to vomit something bad they have eaten. 

I don't have a magic formula to get a person through depression, but I can offer a few tips that eventually helped me.

1.  Pray.  Sometimes people won't be around or they won't want to listen.  God is not that way.  You can pray over and through your pain.  You can cry out to Him and even vent when you need to.  God is bigger than your pain.

2.  Psalms.  I know this may be difficult for some, but reading aloud Psalms has a dramatic effect on people.  There are verses in Psalms where David cries out to God, celebrates God and is even frustrated with God.  In depression, sometimes, we cannot find the words to say, so in this, the Psalms are the words given to us to speak.

3.  Basics.  Sometimes, before depression hits, life has become complicated.  Simplify your life for a time.  Focus on breathing and eating and just learning to be yourself again.  Many people in a hectic schedule or in a relationship lose themselves.  Go back to the basics and determine who you really are (or who you are not). 

4.  Small steps beyond depression.  There are times when you will not feel like doing anything but an opportunity will present itself for you to go do something out of the norm.  Your depression will take away desire to participate in those opportunities, but you need to ignore depression and change your surroundings anyway.  It may not be an easy task, but stepping beyond the grasp of depression, even for a short time can have dramatic effects.

People tried to help me through that season.  They would listen.  They would offer advice, but really, I did not take much of their advice.  I'm not saying they should not have given it to me, because their advice was proof that they cared.

Some were frustrated with me and I can really understand why.  I was a broken record, continually trying to "vomit" out the pain.  However, some people in depression are very quiet and very withdrawn.  It takes a deeper commitment to reach out to (or rescue) people isolating themselves because they will have to be sought out. 

People try so many different ways to reach those going through depression, but instead of giving you different ideas, this video really summed it up for me of what to do or not to do if you have a friend dealing with depression. 

Whether you are going through depression or you are a friend of a person depressed, my hope is that you will lean on God to get through this.  Sometimes, the only answer is time.  You will never know all the answers why, but all you need to know is that you are loved and God loves you in a way no person ever could.  You are never alone.


God bless,
Dave

Just Passing Through

I was thinking about this phrase "Just passing through" and what it really means to live that way.  I found this verse in Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

When I thought about this concept, I felt that we've not taken this far enough as Christians in American society.  When I hear the phrase, "in not of" the world, I have to start asking myself what that means.

I look at my life and I really feel like I have made my home here.  I have a house, a routine, stuff, you name it.  I have alot of things that really make me think my home is here.  So what do I do with that?

I don't think I'm hopelessly lost at this point, but I really want to live as if my resources, time, talents and devotion belong to God.  So what does it mean to be a "stranger on earth" as noted in Hebrews 11?

Have you ever gone on a trip overseas?  Maybe you've taken a vacation to even a different state.  When I was sent to Mexico to manage a network installation, I got my first feeling of what it was like to be a stranger on earth.

I was the only American I saw in this area.  I did not speak the language and I did not look like the people there.  I was one chocolate chip on a cookie if that paints a picture for you.

I was there for a two week job and I really did some things differently in my life away from home.  Here are a few examples and how they translate for me today:

I only went where I was directed to or for basic necessities.  I was not out exploring due to possible danger and even getting lost in an area I did not know (this was pre-GPS :) )

When we live our lives God focused, we are here to fulfill basic needs, but our paths and travel should be God directed, not our own choices.  Living as strangers in a strange land requires us to ask God for direction, otherwise, we are lost in that land.

I contacted home regularly.  Home really was my hope in that situation.  I was not interested in being away any longer than I had to be.  I was not hoping in my work project, but in the life I had at home.

If I make my hopes earth centered, then I'm really not hoping in God.  I would be missing the point in being someone passing through.  I believe sometimes, we have areas or periods of our lives where our hope shifts when it shouldn't.  We must remain focused on our hope in Christ.  To contact home, we need to pray.

My purpose there was for my employer.  I was not there for myself.  I wanted to be home with my family and friends.

We have to realize we have a purpose here, and it's not for us.  It's understanding that God saved us and that we are here for His glory, not our own.

Most of all, I was never comfortable.  I only unpacked what I needed and I only used what I had to.  I was not staying.

In our country, it is easy to get comfortable, but we are not supposed to be.  Our comforts are elsewhere, not here.  God is our comfort and our peace, not our stuff or ourselves.

When I returned home, it was a joyful reunion.  I saw my family and friends and they were happy to see me.  It was then that I felt like I was myself with those I loved.

When we live as strangers here and our work is accomplished, God will call us home.  Some people see death as an ending, but really, it is a journey home.  According to the Bible, it's a quick journey.  Blink an eye and you are there.  We will rejoice with loved ones who have gone before us and we will all be with Jesus forever.  Home is beautiful.  It is our destination.

Have you heard the phrase, "You can't take it with you?"  Mostly, that phrase is correct and we should live as if we can't.  However, there is one thing you can take with you.  People!  God loves people.  We should be about His business to show the love of God to everyone we can and fulfill His purposes in our lives.  When the job is done, He will receive us and we will be home.

The Tale of Desperaux: A Reminder of Heroes

Ok, Michelle talked me into seeing this film because I really wasn't about it at all. It looked good enough, but I never thought that I'd like it. It was going to be a labor of love from me to my wife by watching this movie.

At the end of it, I was floored. I won't give the details of the movie, but Desperaux basically is a mouse hero. They try to make him conform to his society, but he doesn't and refuses to. Desperaux desides to be a gentleman, noble and heroic.

The princess asks if he's a mouse and his reply is "I'm a gentleman." Really, she tried to define him by what his species was, and Desperaux replies back with who his heart defines him as.

Do you remember super hero movies growing up? The super heroes had it all together and they did what they did because they choose to be noble, heroic, people of character.

Today when we see a super hero, we see people focusing in on vengence, or they are trying to right a wrong or something has happened tragic in their lives and it has transformed them. It's all well and good, but some heroes today even come across as being evil themselves.

So the question is: Where did all the old hero stories go? Well, when it's said and done, they aren't "deep" to people and the hero stories of old have been forgotten.

The reminder is: We need real heroes. We need people who choose to forgive, choose to be noble, choose to rise above their circumstances and make a point to honor God with their lives. Our world needs heroes to feed the poor, help the homeless, become politicians and maintain integrity, run businesses honorably, become notable husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. We need people willing to sacrifice... to stand.

I walked out of this "kid's" movie with a reminder of what that is. My prayer for us is that we are intentional about being heroic. There's so much more I could mention here about Desperaux and the parallels of honorable people and the Christian walk, but go see the movie for yourselves with this in mind and the comparisons are in your face. Some are not comparisons at all. Some are direct lessons.

Thanks honey for making me "endure" this one.

God bless,
Dave

The High Places

2 Kings 12

1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

I've been going through the Old Testament and it is interesting to hear of all the kings of Judah and Israel. They chose to follow God or they did not. But every now and then, there is this exception of those who follow the Lord but they keep the high places, allowing others to sacrifice to Asherah a mother goddess, Baal and other idols.

This may seem awkward but, do you have high places? I know that my audience is predominantly Christian, but if you walk the high hills of your heart, what do you see? Are there things you hold out for yourself? Are there idols in your walk that you have not torn down yet?

If we are honest, most of us can find something that is a high place. Is it money, time, television, places you go, what you listen to, unforgiveness, etc.  This is a question for you and God. He already knows the answer anyway.

My hopes are to be like Josiah. When my days are done, I want to know I tried my best to hold nothing back. Feed the poor, help the homeless, the widow, teach, serve, laugh, study and sing all in the name of Jesus.

Holy wars never were very effective in bringing people to Jesus, but the church today needs to lead a war campaign for the hearts of people. We must tear down our high places and shine like Josiah. In our obedience in removing the high places, we will honor God more than we ever thought we could.

Josiah was given the book of God and realized the sin of his people. He tore his clothes as king and repented of the people's sin and his own sin. Here is an account of Josiah the king's reaction to the knowledge of God. (Keep in mind that he was only 18 years old):

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel.

5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.

6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people.

7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD and where women did weaving for Asherah.
8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates—at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate.

9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech.

11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.

13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon.

14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also.

There's more, but Josiah, when he learned of God, he went for it. He trashed everything that set itself against God in his land. My challenge today is for you to clean your lands. Remove your high places. Fight the places in your heart and life that don't belong to God and conquer them for God's glory. Your inner battles won will have an outer effect.

In verse 25, the final thought of Josiah was this:

Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

You are writing the story of your life right now as you live and we all are living in a generation where those who believe in Christ must stand to make a difference or what we have will be taken from us. We can't stand for what Christians have bickered over in the past. We can't fight about doctrine differences, Rapture timings, ceremonies, etc... It has to be about what a real relationship with Jesus means.

We must vow to remove the high places from our lives and turn our hearts in serving the King. It matters more than anything, even our own lives. It is for His renown that we set ourselves as ambassadors for in this world.

The Morning Alarm

A few years back, I went to Israel with my church and I thought it would be cool to have a shofar! I mean, the full blown deal here. The first one I got... stank bad. I mean, a shofar is the horn of a dead ram... Who knew?  Well, I think the first one I got had too much dead ram in it and Michelle and I spent the night in Jerusalem with a heavy "warm meat locker" odor going on in our hotel room. You could imagine how much she was in love with me that evening! I took it back the next day and exchanged my first shofar for one that was not so stinky.

You know, when I got this shofar, I had some pretty religious purposes for it. I wanted to blow that sucker on Jewish feasts (yeah, I know, I'm not really Jewish at all) or for something like that, but to be honest, it really didn't pan out for me. 

I did finally get to where I could make a note come out of it. At first, when I blew it, it sounded like an elephant was in my bathroom. I'll let you get the sound you hear in your head at this point. Got it?  Good! You can thank me later :).

Since I was not blowing the horn well until about 6 months after getting it home, I lost hold of the religious reasons to blow it and I just decided to have fun with it. The biggest use I got from my shofar was an alarm clock.

My son Briggs sleeps in the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, so at 5:55AM, I creeped into his room, pointed the horn at his head and let it rip. I've learned something: When you are under the covers, the covers act like a safety net when you scare the mess out of someone unconscious. After I blew the horn, Briggs probably jumped at least a foot and a half. The momentum of his shock would have landed him face first attached to the underside of the top bunk, but the covers acted like an air bag and pulled him back down to his bed. "DAAAADDDD!!!" is what I heard next.

Some day, he's going to get me back, but also, I've realized that there will probably be end times ramifications for my periodic prank. You see, Jesus is coming back and with the blast of a horn. My fear now is that Jesus is going to come back in the morning, the trumpet will sound and Briggs is going to say, "DAD!! QUIT IT!!!!"

Please pray for me! (oh yeah, and Briggs too)
Dave

What Really is Church?

I was in a Hardee's this weekend (trashing my diet of course) and I saw a large group of people sitting at a few of the tables together.  I heard one of the ladies say, "I haven't been to church in three weeks.  I really need to get to service this weekend."

It struck me because I am currently dealing with a lifetime of teaching that I have realized is wrong.  I have always been taught that church is a building.  The lady at Hardee's had a point worth analyzing. Do we "go" to church?  So I looked.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say, "the believers 'went' to church." 

After doing some research, I realized that it was during the era of Constantine did we really get the concept of church buildings.  After Constantine came to power, he then created Christian religious buildings that were called churches.  So really, it was two hundred years or so after the New Testament was written that the word "church" transferred from being people to a building.

To answer the question "What is Church?" for myself, I had to go back to the book of Acts and the Gospels.  There I learned some aspects of the early church.  First off, the Bible states that they met in homes and marketplaces together.  When we look at archeology, we find that they also met in remote places and caves during times of persecution.  There was continuous discipleship going on, God given direction and displays of His power, faith, relationships, caring, teaching, leading, mentoring and feeding and praying for the poor and each other.  Not only that, this was a daily thing for them, not a one day a week thing.  There really was no emphasis on a building program or worship styles.

Somehow, when it comes to church, we have really missed the mark.  The church is people.  You are the church.  You can't "go" to church.  You are already there if you have given yourself to Christ.  I really don't think there's anything wrong with buildings, worship and gathering together on Saturdays or Sundays.  However, don't let the mold limit your view of what church should really be.  When I read the two greatest commandments:

Matthew 22
36  "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37  Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38  This is the first and greatest commandment.
39  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

I realize that the motto of our group of believers is perfect:  "Loving God, Loving People, Serving Both".  I think that if I try to generalize all that the apostles did in the book of Acts, this general statement covers it all.  When we remember that we are the Church (with a capital 'C') and that church is not a location, we will live out our faith every day.  When we love God and love people, when we serve them both, we are the church. 

The Sound of Silence

A friend once was listening to a conversation.  Her friends were talking about someone, so she listened, but she did not agree.  However, she didn't speak up either.  In the end, she walked away with something just nagging at her on the inside. 

Have you ever been in a situation like this?  For some reason, you know something is wrong, but you are not sure what to do about it.  Maybe you are non-confrontational and don't want to start an argument.  Maybe you are afraid of rejection or afraid of repercussions.  There are many reasons why we sometimes do not speak up.

There is a feeling I get when I am quiet and don't want to be.  When the conversation stops, sometimes, there is something lingering in the air in the silence after a statement is said or an action is taken.  People say and do things sometimes that just are not right and sometimes our inner alarm goes off and we do nothing about it. 

Do you know that in politics, there is a way to be silent that is a little more formal?  When a highly political bill comes up for vote, the congressman really has one extra choice.  Besides "yes" or "no", he can vote "present". 

Basically a "present" vote means that he showed up that day, but chose not to vote.  In a way, it's the same as being silent.  Some politicians will vote "present" when they are worried about their careers or don't know enough about a bill to have an opinion.  There are other reasons, but really, a "present" vote is one of silence.

We've come to a time and place in our country where we as the Church have voted "present" on many issues.  It is time to break the awkward silence. 

Sometimes, we can respectfully disagree with an opinion.  Other times however, taking a stand for Christ and the people He cares about means not being popular.  It means that people may ridicule or hate you.  It means that we stand against behaviors and opinions that are not compatible with our faith in God.  And for too long, we have remained silent when we should have spoken.

My prayer is that we choose no longer to vote "present" when dealing with the hard issues.  My hope is that we express a Christian worldview in a respectful and dignified way.  We should all pray that God gives us the courage to stand when the time comes.  In this, silence is replaced with truth.

What will your new name be?

This is a blog entry from my lovely wife Michelle.  I wanted to share it since it was written a few years back:

I came upon a verse in Isaiah during my Bible study last week and it struck a chord with me. It's found in Isaiah 62:2

The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. (NIV)


What struck me was that I will be given a new name from God. It took my breath away.  Have you ever read a verse or a portion of a verse that just captures your attention? Well that one did for me.

My mind wandered back to an audio theater that I listened to a while back called "Affabel". Some of the characters had earthly names like Deceived, Faint Heart and Selfish.  All were attributes of their personality.  This really got me thinking about what would I be known as if my parents hadn't given me the name "Lisa Michelle". It's a sobering thought and made me thankful for my given name that I'm called by.

It made me even more thoughtful and reflective about what name I want my Lord and Savior to bestow upon me in Heaven. Names like Compassion, Forgiven, Charity, Loving, Praiser, Faithful, Finisher come to mind.  It makes me realize that my actions, thoughts, deeds, reactions, all my characteristics here on earth are going to determine the name that God gives to me.

It makes me think further about how I live my life each day.  Am I reflecting all the goodness that He has so freely given to me?  Am I showing Christ' love to others in need? Am I forgiving others with the same forgiveness He has given to me? Or, am I being petty and holding grudges against my brothers and sisters over things that aren't really going to matter in the end? Am I being His hands and feet to an unsaved person? It's alot to consider, but we are called to be salt and light to the lost and dying world.  Does that make you wake up and take notice of your life like it has me?

My biggest desire is for me to hear the Maker of Heaven & Earth to say to me,"Well done, thy good and faithful servant".

Blessings,
Michelle

God? Maybe After I live a little..

Something hit me this morning as I was listening to a song.  It made me think about how teens approach God and even how I approached God as a teen and young man.  I said this:

"I'll follow God later after I've lived a little.  There's so much of life to experience first."

I've heard young adults say the same thing on a Christian radio station I listen to when they had a late night talk show for teens.  The teens would talk about how eventually they would settle down and then follow Christ.

I really had to think about that comment this morning.  I know from my studies that most Galilee fisherman died within 30 miles of their birth during Jesus' times.  When the disciples followed Christ, that commitment took them to the ends of the Earth.  Many disciples saw things they could never see on their own.  They lived more than a little!  They lived in such a way that could only be described as God directed.

We have taken Christianity in our generation and we've made it something we do when we settle down.  We have conveyed that message to our kids and we never should have!  Following Christ is vibrant, spontaneous, even dangerous.  Somehow, we have created a routine faith.  One that does not require you to actually follow God, but observe Him.  This teaching tells us that following Christ is for families with routine jobs and routine dreams, not for dreamers with ambitions to change the world.  It sounds like a cage to me.  If I thought being a Christian meant this, I may not be one.

I think when we are young, some actually prefer to go make mistakes.  There are so many temptations in our country that look like ultimate fun on the surface, but most of these temptations are empty and usually lead to only wanting more.  There is no lasting satisfaction in what they offer.  These temptations can lead to huge mistakes in our lives.  Some of those mistakes we pay for years later.

Jesus called us to much more than living for ourselves.  If you want to step outside of that cage, try this: Go on a mission trip.  Serve with your family in your community together.  Help someone you know only because you love God.  Feed the hungry on the street.  Teach your kids how to share Christ.  Study the Bible together.  Go to a conference. These are just a sample.  There's so much more.

There is fullness in being a Christian and I never would want to live any other way again.  A full life is knowing a lasting peace in who you are and who God is.  It is knowing that you are going to be all right no matter what happens as you live.  It is even understanding suffering and walking hand in hand with God as you face trials, experience joy and even shed tears.  

Unlike the misconceptions given in this church generation, following Christ is not for the faint of heart.  It is not a cage to walk into and shut the door.  Following Christ will take you places you could never go on your own.  You will feel greater joy than you would living for yourself and you will do things you could never imagine doing.  You will have a friend in God for this life and beyond.  I can't imagine living any other way.

When God told me "no"

I recently started praying about something I wanted to do for God and started praying for confirmation.  That began a journey of "no" for me for the last 2 weeks.  It's not like God verbally told me "no", but there were things consistently in my path that really pointed me to "no". 

The problem is, I really wanted to do this.  After my first prayer, and the pretty definite "no", I prayed what many of us pray:  "God, are you sure?" and of course it was again... "no".  This led to a conversation of course that may have went like this:

"God, can I?"
"no"

"Is this really you?"
"yes"

"Can I?"
"no"

How about now?
"Still no."

But if I don't do this, It will be harder.  Don't you think I should?
"no"

I have to stop and laugh for a minute.  It's reminded me of my teenage son asking me me over and over for something and to make my point, I had to keep telling him "no" and I told him "no" for 30 minutes straight!  I spent alot of time listening to what I call "But dad's".  My son was trying to break me!

I think we do that with God.  We try to break Him.  We try to get Him to change His mind.  He says no and we say, "but dad"!  Imagine the whole picture now.  Have you ever looked down from an airplane at a highway?  The moving cars look like ants.  We are the small dots inside the cars.  So now, with that picture, imagine God, the creator of the universe is listening to my prayer.  Me, a little dot on the earth, pouts to the creator and He hears this dot saying "But dad!".  I know, not so bright really.  There are days I wonder why He doesn't just take His finger and squash me like a bug.  I'm glad He never does.

After I was done pouting and my "but dad's" were exhausted, I realized something.  There is a comfort when God says no and I can understand Him telling me no.  There is a comfort in knowing that He's guiding my life and not me in control. 

There were times in my life that I was more upset at God for telling me no.  I believe it was because He wasn't my first love all the time.  It's taken me time to get to this place where what I want most is Him.  The hard fact is that sometimes we can want things more than we want God. 

After putting this all together, I'm really ok with no.  I'd rather Him tell me no if that's what He wants for me.  I think sometimes, no will be hard, but in the end, He is my Father and I'll try my best to cut back on my "but dads".

I Don't Want To Be Safe. A Lesson from The Movie Salt.

So I broke down and I went and saw SALT tonight.  The person I admired most in the movie was Salt's husband.  The guy made a statement that blew me away.

First off, the movie starts with Salt captured by North Korea.  Turns out that's how she met her then boyfriend.  The boyfriend does everything he can to obtain her release from the North Koreans.  He hits newspapers, does interviews, basically anything to get her freedom.  Salt's fellow agent calls him "relentless".  He generated so much publicity that the government had to act.  As she is bruised and walking towards him, he can't keep his eyes off her.

The U.S. then makes a spy exchange with North Korea and Salt is delivered back to our government after being horribly beaten.  As Salt and her boyfriend are riding in the military vehicle, she comes clean about what she does.  She tells him that she's a CIA agent and says she can't be with him because they now know who he is.  She tells him that it's not safe.  

Then the greatest line in the entire movie hit home with me and really got me thinking.  After she tells him it's not safe for him to be with her, he says, "I don't want to be safe.  I want to be with you.  I don't care what happens.  I know you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."  What a husband!

How many want a safe faith in Christ?  Would we walk away from our faith if our lives were on the line?  I don't know about you, but I'm at a point in my life where I want to follow Jesus with all that I am and I all that I have.  My heart leads my actions at the moment, but my hopes are that my actions catch up with my heart. 

I don't want to be safe!  I don't want to settle for an easy life that takes no risks as it pertains to my walk with Christ.  I want to be relentless!  I don't want to stop.  I want to die to myself and live for God. 

I think there is a common belief that our goal is to arrive safely at the end of our lives with a great retirement plan in place.  Personally, I'm over it!  What's the point in that?  Is this really the objective, or is there something more? 

A quote I heard from Braveheart once really puts it all together.

"Every man dies, not every man really lives."

I'm done with a Christian faith that costs me nothing.  When I look at the Bible and those that followed Jesus, their faith came at a price.  I believe there's more danger in calling yourself a Christian and doing nothing about it.  I don't see anyone in the Bible that settles for that after giving themselves to Jesus.

By the way, Salt's husband?  He paid for his love with his life.  Terrorists shot him because he was her husband.  Could I do the same for Christ?  I really hope if the time ever came, I could stand or even die for my belief. 

Please don't settle for a meaningless faith that has no value to you.  Don't settle for safety when God is calling you to so much more.  Just because you are breathing doesn't mean you are alive. Be relentless in following after Him and You will know what it means to live!

Who knew I'd pick that up from Salt?

He Knows My Name

It wasn't too long ago that my wife and I had a weekend alone.  My wife, was listening to a song I heard, but I did not recognize the singer.  The song was "Fields of Gold" and I had heard Sting sing it, but honestly, the lady Michelle was listening to blew his version away.

After my wife listened to the song, she started over.  It wasn't enough for her to hear it once.  She listened again and again, which is not like her at all.  Actually, Michelle listened to the song all weekend, over and over. I realized finally what was going on. She told me it was Eva Cassidy who had such a beautiful voice.  Eva died a few years ago of melanoma.


Here's the song:



My wife spent the weekend mourning the loss of a person she didn't know through her song.  Michelle didn't cry, but in her own way, she celebrated this person's life and the beauty of the voice of Eva Cassidy.

I got to thinking how beautiful life is.  God makes something special about us all.  There is no two people on the earth alike.  Your DNA and your life experience make you different than every other person that has ever lived.  God's infinite creativity is enscribed on each unique person. 

I've known lonliness in my life.  I've known insignificance when I reflect on my years.  There were seasons when I felt that hardly anyone cared.  But now, I know that was never true, even when I thought it was.

I found this verse today:

Luke 12:6-7
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Do you get what God is saying here?  He knows every detail of all His creation.  Each sparrow is half a penny and then they throw in an extra sparrow for free.  God cares about the worthless free sparrow.  That free sparrow is wonderful in God's sight.  And so are you.

In these two passages, God declares that you are worth something great to Him!  How could the Infinite Creator of the Universe see value in me?  But He does!  During that season I spent alot of time alone and thought that no one cared about me.  However, God knew every detail of my pain and when I felt worthless, He saw someone of worth to Him.  Then He sealed His love for me with the covenant He established for us all in His Son's own blood.  If we really believe these verses from Luke, they change everything!

Just as my wife saw value in a life she didn't know that had passed years ago, God loves and sees worth in you.  However, with God, He knows you.  He knows your name, your likes, your dislikes.  He knows the good and the bad. 

Look, I don't know what you are going through or the mistakes you've made in your life, but I know that God cares.  He knows every detail of your pain and your trials and even your joy.  He sees you as someone worth dying for and that should give us all a reason to live.  Even if we feel worthless, He just doesn't see it that way. 

Why Do We Fear?

I watch the news and realize that everything in our world is changing.  All the things I grew up secure in have completely changed since I was a kid.

As a kid, I used to be able to walk to school. Sometimes we didn't even lock the doors. Now we lock the doors and turn on the house alarm. Things have changed. If you're old enough to remember, have you noticed the change?

I never thought of death until recent years.  Today, there seems to be a lot of deaths happening and not necessarily by natural causes.  Whether from earthquakes, floods, natural disasters, wars, street violence, genocides, disease, you name it, there seems to be plenty of ways to die and we really feel less secure in our lives today than we ever have. 

Afraid yet?  We have every reason to be if we look at what's going on in our country and in the world today.  But as I turn to God, there's a verse that really addresses this.  If we really understand:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18a) 

It makes all the things I'm afraid of nothing.  But how much do I believe this verse?  Where does that fear I feel come from if I am trying to embrace this verse for my life?  Why do I not feel really safe until the car alarm, house alarm, doctor visit, (insert dependency here) is set or done?

Am I really trusting God?  Even more specifically, do I trust His love for me or am I substituting trusting Him with trusting other things?  I don't think doctors, alarms, weapons and smart decisions are unwise or evil and they are needed in some cases.  But what am I trusting really?   

A lady and her family began to follow Christ after being athiests almost all their lives.  The mom had cancer and was dying.  At the cancer center in the newness of her faith, her mom told her daughter on the phone, "There are alot of Christians here with cancer, but I can't understand why they are so afraid.  My God is greater than my cancer."  What a response!  Sometimes, child-like faith (no matter the age of the person) can remind us what we have forgotten over the years. But why do we forget?

I want to trust that God's love can overcome anything I face, even if I lose.  I don't want it to be only lip service.  In the deepest part of my being, I want to trust His perfect love to drive out all of my fear and live each good and bad day that comes my way trusting Him.

God bless,
Dave