CHARIS SHALOM

There simply is no way to get over Jesus’ words in John 14. Check this out:

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know
my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

 ⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

 ⁹Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

John 14:6-14.

Jesus clearly teaches that He is acting and living just as the Father. What He did while on earth, with every person he encountered, was speak, act, live, and love just as God the Father would and does. That blows my mind.

When I think of Jesus as human or even as the Son of God I can almost be casual about all the wonderful things He did and how He demonstrated great love for people, even “really sinful” people like myself. But, when I think that the Father would do the exact same thing, for some reason it seems even more fantastic.

Think about when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Now, rather than the Jewish carpenter we picture doing that, think of God doing that.

Think about when Jesus called wee Zaccheus down from his tree and worried not about his reputation with the Pharisees by going to his house to eat. Now, rather than picturing some meek and mild man doing that, picture the one who calls all the stars by name doing that.

Remember that when Jesus let Himself be nailed to the cross, God the Father was there too. God died for you.

That’s how great His love is. It wasn’t just a man. It wasn’t just a son. It was God, taking our death on Himself.

People often want to dissect the cross in such a way as to suggest that Jesus was alone on the cross and that God the Father wasn’t. I don’t see how you can read John 14 to suggest that. Sure Jesus felt, in his humanity, forsaken in those last moments on the Cross, but God was there, sacrificing Himself, demonstrating His love for us.

If that doesn’t change the way we see His love for us, I’m not sure what will. God loves us. God loves you. God loves and loves and loves. What does God tell us about love? He says it never ceases. It never fails. It never ends. It always endures. It always hopes. It always is. And God is Love.

Soak it in! Soak it in!

Do you feel like you can’t be loved because of something you’ve done or are doing? IT’S A LIE! THAT’S WHAT SATAN WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE! STOP BELIEVING THAT LIE!

GOD LOVES YOU! He doesn’t love you less when you screw up and He doesn’t love you more when you do something you think was good. His love is unceasing and unchanging. HE LOVES YOU!

Let that change you. Let that transform you into a lover. Live loved!

If you have not seen these, they are quite cute. Nothing like a down home, unplugged cover of “Thriller.” Check it out - and stay with the video to the end for some sweet dance moves.

And how about covering “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”? Hilarious.

HT: Scot McKnight

Our ability to destroy ourselves has no limit. And there actually is an enemy – yes, a very real devil – who desires to do nothing but steal from us, kill us, and destroy us. John 10:10. He will gladly partner up with us to see our lives and God-ordained purpose ruined.

This reality has recently been demonstrated by the poor decisions of Governor Mark Sanford, of South Carolina. Governor Sanford was first elected to be a Congressman when he was only 35 years old, became governor at the age of 42, was reelected at 46, served as the Chair of the Republican Governor’s Association, and was being touted as a potential presidential candidate in 2012.

His reputation and future all dissipated with his recent disappearance and then admission that he had gone AWOL to visit his mistress in Argentina. Some may think to themselves, “What 49-year old man, who has all the responsibilities of someone like Mark Sanford, disappears and goes to South America just to pursue an extramarital affair?” With those thoughts we miss the entire point. But for the grace of God there go any of us and we need to be prepared to prevent our own fall. We may not pursue an affair, but any of us can decide to agree with Satan or with God at any given moment and all too often we choose to believe lies rather than truth. None of us are exempt.

Governor Sanford was an Eagle Boy Scout, had an MBA from the University of Virginia, owned a leasing and brokerage company that he founded, was a captain in the USAF, was married for more than 20 years and had four sons, didn’t accept his allowance for housing in D.C. while a congressman (instead he slept in his office), and had, from the world’s point of view, nearly everything going for him. Yet, he left his wife and four sons, his responsibilities as governor and his political future during Father’s Day to spend time with an Argentinian woman who had become his mistress.

How did this happen? Sanford shared some of the story with his admission. “It began innocently.” How many times has this been said by people who just revealed how sin had destroyed their lives? Governor Sanford claims he met his future lover innocently, and, ironically, their friendship and relationship reportedly began after he counseled her to stay with her husband and not divorce him. The Governor went on to say that emails followed that conversation, leading to their ultimate affair.

How should we respond to Sanford’s demise? King Solomon gave us great advice long ago: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23. The prophet Jeremiah revealed much about the human heart when he wrote “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. And it does not take much for the Enemy to entice us to follow a course of deceit down a broad path to destruction. Therefore, we must guard our hearts through prayer and thankfulness. Philippians 4:6-8. And, specifically with those of us who are married, we shouldn’t find ourselves in a position of being an emotional stability to someone of the opposite sex. It may start innocently, but the Enemy sure doesn’t want it to stop there.

Finally, we shouldn’t be quick to judge Governor Sanford. He is no different than Adam, Abraham, Jonah, David, Peter, you or me. He simply failed to guard his heart by desperately depending on God in prayer and relationship, choosing instead to find intimacy in the arms of a lover. His choices are ones that many of us have made, whether with lovers, habits, entertainment, distractions, work, money, or other things. We should pray for his marriage and his relationship with God. May we remember that the pathway to destruction is broad indeed, and we are called to a narrow path, lit and prepared for us by the Word and Son of God.

Fathers, have you ever wondered whether you have an impact on your young children? Does it really matter what you teach them? Do they notice your words? Your actions?

God highlighted something this morning as I read from Proverbs to Tanner and Keaton. I was reading Proverbs 4, where you hear Solomon’s heart as he teaches his children. He writes “hear, my children, the instruction of a father….When I was my father’s son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me….” Proverbs 4:1, 3.

Solomon spoke this to his children and his teachings were recorded and ultimately became Proverbs. He recounted to them a time when he was very young and King David, their grandfather, taught him. We learn that David taught Solomon about wisdom! Listen to David’s words:

Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.

Wow! I imagine Solomon being somewhere between 4 and 10 when David speaks such words to him. Perhaps he spoke such truths all throughout his youth. Regardless, these words that David spoke to Solomon at a young age clearly stuck with Solomon. Fast forward in time to 1 Kings 3, where God appears to Solomon at the beginning of his reign as King. God tells Solomon He will grant him one request. As Solomon pondered the Lord’s offer, David’s words rang in his ears – “Get wisdom! …love her and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.” And Solomon then responded to God with this request:

Give to your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.

Can you imagine how differently this story could have played out had David not taken time to teach Solomon what really matters? What would your children ask for if God told them to ask for anything? Do you want them to have Solomon’s heart and desires? Do you want them to be the kind of young men and women whom God could trust to offer such a gift?

Teach them! Teach them God’s ways! Just before God makes his offer to Solomon we learn that “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David….” 1 Kings 3:3. He didn’t do so perfectly, it says, but he had great love and remembered what his father taught him. So teach your children and know that it matters.

God reached out to me at a young age, introducing Himself to me as a daddy. I know that may sound strange to some, but it was a very real, very personal experience. I wholeheartedly learned faith and began my journey with Jesus because of the way God revealed Himself and His love to me. Prayer was a conversation. The bible was alive. God was my friend.

Then I met church. There I learned that prayer was something an older man did in King James English. It was scheduled and, whenever it went long, people coughed and cleared their throats. Worship wasn’t something that lived and breathed; instead, it was a part of the program – three songs, three stanzas each. Music didn’t bring smiles or dancing; it simply provided a warm up to a long speech by the same or another older man who thought that talking about God’s word had a great impact when delivered with volume and dramatic pauses where someone else, normally the same someone week after week, would fill in the pauses with one simple word: “Amen.”

As a result I learned that prayer was something that was a part of a program and often was more an extension of a sermon or another way to teach people. Often prayer became a way to preach at people or to tell others how you felt. The longest prayers often were the ones prayed by the preacher at the end of their sermon where they repeated much of the sermon. It wasn’t really a conversation with a living God; it was one more way to tell others what you wanted.

Is it any wonder that so many people have a stunted faith? Faith really is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we don’t see. Hebrews 11:1.

In recent years a new phenomenon has grown in the church called houses of prayer. Many people greet such places with skepticism or wonder what in the world people really do at such places. The church understands when people go give away bibles, preach, share the gospel, teach in a seminary, and even some like the idea of giving away food, clean water, or other aspects of mercy ministries. But to spend hours each day praying and interceding is viewed as lazy, unimportant, even silly. We really must “get to work,” mustn’t we?

Given the fact that we are learning to be like Christ, utterly dependent on the Father and walking by faith, houses of prayer and hours of intercession should be seen as one of the greatest innovations and most important entities in the church today. When we hear that mission leaders hope to see over 100,000 new houses of prayer planted around the world, we should rejoice and endeavor to see this great vision come to pass. We are all Too Busy Not To Pray and must do whatever we can to spend more time waiting on the Father to speak, provide, and direct.

Consider ways that you can support this effort and the ministries of intercession and worship. Remember that God ordained “warriors” in the Israeli armies of old who sang, prayed, and performed, carrying no weapons other than praise and prayer. Today we fight not against physical enemies; instead, we are called to a warfare of the spirit, of prayer, and of faith. Instead of finding more ways to “be busy,” let’s all get busy seeking God’s solutions, purposes, and plans together in prayer. Let’s pray like our lives depend on it. They do.

It’s Father’s Day. Let us celebrate by seeking the heart of our Heavenly Father. His will be done, in our lives just as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-13. Each day is truly blessed because each day is made by our loving, heavenly Father.

The reality that the creator of the universe adopts me as His son is not just a fact to know. I am a son of the King of all kings. I can never be more or less a son of the Father. I will always be His son, no matter what, and can know that He cares for me just as Jesus demonstrated through His life as well as many of the word pictures of God Jesus gave us. I can know that no matter how far I run from God, as soon as I turn back to Him, He will run to me and prepare the best party ever to celebrate my return.

It breaks my heart how quickly I doubt the Father. Everything demonstrates that God is love. And love, we are shown, never fails or ceases. Of all the things David knew about God, He could boil it down to the fact that God is strong and that God is loving.

The Father is. He is love.

Not just for a moment or for some finite period of time.

Not just when I do the “right” thing.

Not just when I don’t miss curfew.

Not just when He feels like it.

He is love. All the time.

And He doesn’t sit around disappointed in Himself and take that out on me. He never goes into a funk and drinks too much or disappears. He never gets in a fight with Jesus or the Holy Spirit and punishes me for it. He just loves and does so perfectly and with all the honor, and all the power, and all the glory.

God is our Father. Just as He feeds the multitudes of birds that I can hear right now as I type this, just as He takes care of the ants who roam the ground, just as He clothes the lovely hibiscus, and just as He warms all of us with the sun, He cares for you, me, all of us.

He desires that all of His children will be saved and restored to a right relationship with Him. 1 Timothy 2:1-6. He longs for you and He grieves for you when you are away. That’s what dads do when their children are missing. Ezekiel 6:9.

Can’t you hear that cry ring out across the sky when you are away from Him? The very cry He let out when Adam and Eve hid from Him? Three of the most beautiful words in the bible are given in Genesis 3, right after Adam and Eve doubted God for the very first time. He cried out, “WHERE ARE YOU?” Genesis 3:9.

He is still crying out those words to His children who would doubt the truth of His great love. “Come back!” “Dwell in My house!” “Enjoy the fruit of My pastures.”

Oh Father, How great is Your love for us!!! Forgive us when we doubt your faithfulness and devotedness. Thank you for loving eternally and providing a way and a purpose for each of us. Happy Father’s Day!

What is the wrath of God? Is it the opposite of His love? Does it demonstrate a division in God’s character? Can God be True and yet be in opposition to Himself?

Clearly He cannot. He is. To think of God’s wrath as somehow different than His love is to misunderstand Who God Is. God is love. 1 John 4:8. There isn’t a time where His love fails or ceases.

That brings us back to the question: what is the wrath of God? In the Fellowship of the Ring there is an excellent scene where Gandalf faces a horrible creature, a Balrog. The Balrog seeks to destroy the entire fellowship. In that horrifying moment Gandalf stands before the Balrog and declares “You shall not pass!”

I think the scene illustrates excellently the wrath of God. Gandalf so loved the Fellowship that he opposed the Balrog – that which sought to destroy the Fellowship – with great anger, confidence and fortitude. The Fellowship wasn’t the object of Gandalf’s wrath –the destroyer, the Balrog, was alone the object of his wrath. It wasn’t a moment where Gandalf lacked love; love and wrath co-existed.

In the same way, God’s wrath is never the opposite of love; instead, God’s wrath demonstrates how much He loves us as He stands in opposition to anything that would seek to destroy our relationship and fellowship with Him. He stands before Lucifer and says “You shall not pass.” He sees us turning to a lie and He pulls out every stop to help us see the Truth.

In His wrath God doesn’t seek to destroy those whom He has adopted as His children. His love for us never ceases. Praise Him for His love and praise Him for His wrath!!!

God has blessed our family with a desire to see other families thrive in ministry together as a family. Landing in Kona we are meeting a number of amazing families. Each one has its unique giftings that shape the face of the mission here at the University of the Nations.

I want to highlight one of the core families here at the U of N, Andrew, Faith, Emily, Michael, and Eli Dutton. Andrew and Faith have been in Youth With A Mission for 12 and 20 years respectively. Both joined YWAM straight out of high school in Australia and have been part of YWAM ever since. They have been married for 10 years and have produced three lovely and gifted children. Andrew is one of the key leaders at the University of the Nations as Director of Training, but the “title” simply doesn’t describe all that he does for the U of N. His leadership style is one of grace and constant discipleship. He has an uncanny ability of turning every circumstance and meeting into a moment for teaching.

Faith
is a woman with a passion to see people come into their true ‘God given identity’ and see them stepping into their gifts and talents in serving the Lord. She serves the U of N in part by helping lead the staff care and development team. She desires to see each individual loved, honored and treated with the unique value that God place on each life. Injustice against women and children are firmly imprinted on her heart, and she is currently developing strategies and opportunities to make a difference this through the nations.

Andrew
has a heart to train up young leaders and encourage people that they can get involved in the great commission throughout the nations. Andrew loves to read and also teach any chance he gets.

Together this couple and their kids have and will continue to serve God in missions and be a part of impacting the Nations for Christ!

I am writing about Faith and Andrew to say that this is a family who has sacrificed much to serve God’s mission as a family. They have suffered a great deal of medical and other unexpected expenses over the past year and would be greatly blessed to receive your support in prayer and finances. I highly recommend them to you and would be happy to help facilitate anything God might lay on your heart as you pray for them.

Here’s an amazing revelation of the sovereignty of God. There are ten patriarchs listed as living before the Flood. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalelel, Jared, Enoch, Methusaleh, Lamech, and Noah. Some of the meanings of the names is not perfectly clear (like so much of the Bible), but many scholars think that they could have the following meanings.

Adam - Man
Seth - Appointed
Enosh - Mortal
Kenan - Sorrow
Mahalelel - Blessed God
Jared - Shall come down
Enoch - Teaching
Methusaleh - His death shall bring
Lamech - Despairing
Noah - Comfort and rest

Genesis 5 takes the opportunity to list this genealogy in great detail and all together. If you put the meanings of these names into a sentence, it looks like we have the message of the gospel:

Man is appointed mortal sorrow. The Blessed God shall come down teaching. His death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest.

I don’t think this is a stretch at all. God, in His amazing ways that are higher than our own, constantly proclaims the good news. Each of those ten men had no clue their individual role in the story, and they may have often questioned their name and life, but they placed their faith in the Living God and followed Him in spite of their not knowing.

We must do the same. We may at times doubt the goodness of God because of the circumstances we face, but He is always and infinitely good. He simply has the big picture; we do not. Faith is trusting God’s goodness and love no matter what life deals us. It is believing in that Unseen Love even when what is seen appears unloving.

HT: Sy Rogers - speaking on 11 June 2009 at the University of the Nations.

In my opinion, one of the things that orchestrates the din of theological disunity is the thought process that suggests that one slip from a particular tenet of doctrine will result in a tumble from the refined, pure air on top of the mountain of tranquil doctrinal soundness to a morass of spiritually messy slop. One of the verses oft quoted to support this thinking is Titus 2:1, where it says “[y]ou must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.”

Here’s my question, and it is one I haven’t heard asked before:

What is “doctrine”?

Or, to expand on the question, do Paul and other authors who use the word doctrine intend for the word to signify how we use the word “doctrine” today? For example, would it be fair to read Timothy and Titus to say such things as “you must teach what is in accord with a sound view of the doctrine of soteriology (salvation),” or “watch your life and your doctrine of baptism [or fill in any theological subject matter] closely.”

I believe that is how many theological “conservatives” read such texts, but is that really what is being said in the New Testament? Does that reflect God’s nature, character and heart?

The Greek word translated doctrine is “didiskalia,” which comes from the word “didiskalos,” which comes from the word “didasko.” Didasko is the verb “to teach” and didiskalos means “teacher.” Didiskalia, the word translated doctrine in these passages, thus simply is teaching or “what is taught.” So, it would seem to me that to understand didiskalia, or doctrine, as intended by the Scriptures, we must look to what the Greatest Teacher, Jesus, taught and what method of teaching He used.

The first time we see the word “doctrine” used in the scripture is in Matthew and Mark (I have no idea which book was written first and I understand that those in ivory towers argue about this and use words such as Markan priority, but I find such argument a wee bit silly). In Matthew 15:9 Jesus is recorded as saying “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,” (KJV) and Mark 7:7 is the corollary account of this quote of Jesus.

Is it a stretch to suggest that Jesus helps us understand that he would not teach as doctrine “the commandments of men”? And does it further bend the scriptures to say that, by way of example, “thou shalt believe that baptism must only be done by full immersion” is a mere commandment of men and that it is vain to try to worship our Lord Jesus by teaching such doctrines and only working with, in missions and ministry, those who would teach the same teaching of man? (Please don’t get caught up in the example I chose; I mean for that to include almost any teaching we consider “doctrine.”)

Looking further at the Titus 2 passage, does anyone else read that passage as focusing more on “good works” than any particular theological teaching like the doctrines of salvation or of spiritual gifts? Moreover, isn’t it interesting to note that when one produces the fruits of the Holy Spirit, no one and no law can oppose one in so doing? Thus, it becomes natural, when doing good works, that “one who is an opponent will be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.” But, if you argue for a particular brand of Calvinism, Arminianism or Open Theism, one can poke holes in your teaching easily. The same can be true of cessationism versus continualism, all the forms of eschatology, and so much more. Moreover, to cover those holes one must rely on his or her skills of apology, not on the Holy Spirit.

Given all of this, I really am uncertain that what I’ve been taught all my life as “doctrine” really is doctrine as Jesus and Paul and the early Christians thought of it. As I meditate upon the life Jesus led, with His band of followers, and ask God directly, “Daddy, what is sound doctrine” I am losing the vision of doctrine that draws pictures of fine sounding arguments about theological constructs, theories, and systematic theology; in its place, I am seeing more beautiful pictures of a father tenderly caressing a crying child, a lover pushing back the tendrils of hair that have fallen into his lover’s face, a crying father greeting his long lost son who ran away to “find himself,” a church that sells its million dollar buildings and takes all the money to a people group without clean water and a way to support itself, a family that opens up its home to the homeless or abused or a fellow church member who has lost their job, and this list can go on and on.

What will bring the children of God back into unity will, and must be, a focus on Jesus Christ and Christ alone, not purportedly sound theories of what a particular passage of scripture teaches. God’s word is living and active and it is Jesus. We need to follow Him and His life. His life was marked by a complete submission to the Father; likewise, ours must be. Even good works, without direction and authority from God and to His glory is nothing more than a nice social work of humanitarian aid. But, in Christ, our good works take on a whole new life-changing meaning. I don’t think any of us will stand before the Father and say, “Dad, I got it right on Calvinism!” We will join in the chorus of Holy, holy holy and set aside all differences because we will finally realize that we aren’t right; we simply are His. And in that realization we can rest and begin the process of really getting to know Him more and more intimately. Eternal Relationship.

Wow!

I love to read and study God’s word. It is amazing. It is alive. It is active. It penetrates me. Hebrews 4:12. Everytime I read it, no matter how many times I’ve read it before, God reveals more of Himself to me. It is never a book that I put on my shelf and say “I’ve read that one.” It begs to be read, and when I don’t read it I feel like life is taken from me. I can’t imagine any other book that I would want to read over and over again. It’s not like anyone picks up War and Peace and reads from it weekly, let alone daily.

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:19-27

Many today want to reduce the bible to a set of beliefs, what they might call “doctrine.” They teach that their doctrine is right and biblical. Focusing on a set of “proof texts,” they will say, for example, that a right knowledge of God’s word demonstrates certain things about man, about God, about how God redeems, etc. I’m not just talking about the fact that God is God, man sinned, God redeems through the cross of Jesus Christ, and that man needs faith to be reconciled to God. I’m talking about big theological words you will never hear out of a newly saved 7-year old child or in the Bible itself like “particular redemption,” “total depravity,” “prevenient grace,” “transubstantiation,” “ecclesiology,” “alien immersion,” and the like.

What’s interesting about all of that is that the God revealed in the bible appears to be quite an active God. Yes, there are positional or static facts that we can know. We can know we are in Christ. We can know we are saved. But at the same time we see that God tells us to keep on clothing ourselves in Christ. And, as in the passage from James above, we must not simply listen to the Word, we must do it.

This makes the point of this post. How do we “do” theological concepts? How do we “do” static ideas? Could it be that the “doctrine” or “teaching” God wants us to believe is the doctrine of grace, good news, giving, and dying to oneself, just as Christ demonstrated through His life and death, and we should be much more about living for others than increasing our vocabulary? We should be much more about helping those in need, like widows and orphans, in the name of Jesus Christ. This is true religion, right? James 1:27. He wants us to be and act and love like Him.

It strikes me that religion today has become like what is described in Isaiah 58, where we have become religious for religion’s sake, learning and learning, but never doing what God desires. Think about what God tells us in this wonderful chapter:

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Here’s something to chew on. I’m still chewing on it. Much of this was written in response to a teaching given by Wayne Jacobsen, the publisher of the Shack, at the University of the Nations on June 4, 2009.

In Matthew 22:34-40 we have that famous passage where Jesus talks about loving the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I have always thought Jesus was giving us the greatest commandment here. I love this passage and have often quoted it and seen it as giving us the new way of looking at things – a summary of the Law, showing that it was based on love.

But it is worth noting that this is Jesus’ response to a very pointed question by a Pharisee and lawyer. When answering a lawyer, every word is extremely important. As a lawyer myself I know this too well. The question is not simply “What is the greatest commandment.” The question is “What is the greatest commandment in the Law.” (emphasis added) Clearly, the lawyer is referring to the Pentateuch.

So, considering that language and context, is it possible Jesus simply answers that question. Jesus, in response to the question about the Law considered the entire Pentateuch and told the Pharisee the best the Old Covenant had to offer. Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. With this in mind we can then draw the conclusion that this passage doesn’t present Jesus’ preeminent teaching or the greatest God has to offer. Jesus may be only answering a pointed question with the very best of the Old Covenant.

You may ask why I am even dissecting this passage in this way. I am sure I am not alone in loving this passage and finding it to be a foundational teaching point. The reason I am is because I am comparing it to John 13:34-35, where Jesus tells us this:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Jesus isn’t wasting words here. This is a new commandment. It isn’t something from the Old Covenant. It is different. And it is His new command to the disciples shortly before He leaves them. How is this markedly different from the Law and the Old Covenant?

It’s different because it isn’t based on our performance at all. Rather than telling us to Love God and love others or to refrain from unloving things (like adultery, murder, idolatry, etc.), Jesus is telling us this – “I’ve set the example; I’ve loved you. Now, just as I have loved you, love one another.”

Rather than focusing on what we can do for God, Jesus is telling us that the new covenant is based on what God has done for us. God has loved us; now we can respond to that love and to our being loved by loving one another.

That is new. That is exciting. That is amazing. The God of the Universe, Who could do as He pleases (and Who does do as He pleases), is pleased to love us unconditionally. Good news!

Consider what John wrote later in I John:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 4:7-21.

And remember Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:16-19.

It would appear that Jesus wants us to wake up to the reality that God loves us unconditionally. The focus absolutely is on knowing and understanding the depth of God’s love for us. To the degree we understand and know God’s love, we will be able to love others. The good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the reality of the Cross, is that God loves us so much that He died for us so that we might live loved forever and that we might love one another. Everything else can just fall away and we can be unified in one thing. Our sole fixation – fixing our eyes on Jesus – is to fix our eyes on the work He did at the Cross, demonstrating God’s love for us. This then frees us to love one another and demonstrate to the world the Truth of Jesus Christ. We can stop focusing on our performance, our religion, and our guilt and be free to live loved and love. We can understand what Paul was saying in places like Galatians 3-5 where he cries out to the Church at Galatia to stop relying on the flesh and to be free in the Spirit.

What do you think?

I just read an excellent story about D.J. Williams, an Arkansas Razorback tight end, who likely will play a great many games on Sundays after wrapping up his college career at the University of Arkansas. The story was done for ESPN and in it D.J. shares how his faith carried him through the horrifying experience of having a father who beat, and nearly killed, his mother.

Here’s a teaser:

“There were so many times when you’d see all these kids playing with their dad and how fun it looked,” D.J. said. “But most of the time, I was just scared of mine.”

“That’s a terrible feeling, to be scared of your own dad.”

Those fears were eventually drowned out, though, by hope, fortitude and faith.

The latter is tattooed on one of D.J.’s arms in the form of praying hands.

“Without that faith, I don’t know where any of us would be,” he said. “Probably not here.”

It’s a great read – check it out!

Molly Aley hits one here: “The Way of Love”.

While I’m at linking to other great posts, check out Guy Muse’s latest, How to Change Traditional Churches into New Testament Churches.

Here’s something to think about.

Do you have any wishes?

And I don’t mean a wish for a material thing. I’m not talking about wishing for a new car or a bigger house. I mean a wish that springs from inside your heart for something meaningful like a better relationship with your son or daughter. Or do you wish that you had more patience? Do you wish that you were a more mature follower of Jesus?

These are all great wishes, hopes and dreams. And, here’s the deal - every one of these types of wishes can come true. If you want to draw nearer to God all you have to do is ask God to help you and do it! If you want a better relationship with someone, ask God how. He may give you a hard answer like, “Forgive her,” but the fulfillment of your wish is as easy as asking God how and then doing whatever He says.

God tells us to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. He tells us that we have not because we ask not. He tells us the secret to acquiring wisdom is to ask Him for it.

Why do we sit around and wish so much? Turn your wishes into reality. Ask God. Hope to God. Wait on God. And do whatever He says. We don’t need Aladdin’s lamp; we know the One who gave us the creativity to dream up that story.

Are you married or have you ever been married? If you have, then you have experienced something that helped prepare you for the work of a missionary. The cultural experience of the first time you spend extended time in your in-laws home, the mixing of cultures in your own home between you and your spouse, and the blending of families by marriage with your spouse’s brothers, sisters, cousins, nieces, nephews, and the like presents all the difficulties one can experience when crossing into another country’s culture.

Sure, you generally don’t have the language barriers you might face in a foreign country (although that isn’t entirely a given if a Southerner finds him- or herself with inlaws from a place like Boston), but you do discover that not every family cooks the same way, eats the same way, dresses the same way, believes the same things, watches the same movies, reads the same books, likes the same sports team or same forms of entertainment, and so many other things. Clean doesn’t mean clean; dirty may not mean dirty; spicy may not mean spicy; the list ends not.

So, this is a shout out to everyone who has gone through the blending of families. You may not think you have experienced much that would prepare you to go to another country to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, but if you have been through all that a marriage brings with it, and you desire to follow Jesus wherever HE leads, I’d say you are more than ready to take a leap into cross-cultural missions. You’ve had to learn reconciliation and peacemaking. You’ve committed to relationship. Combine that with the ministry of reconciliation God has given you to the world and you’ve got a match made in Heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.

As Jesus once said, “Go” for it.

As perfectly coiffed as we are, our last years prior to going into full-time missions were some of the most difficult! Praise God for delivering us to YWAM, Kona, England, the Philippines, South Africa, Costa Rica, and the many other places He will take us in the future!

What an amazing adventure we had sharing the gospel in the Philippines in 2007!

And again we were blown away by God’s grace in South Africa in 2008!

What a journey we’ve had over the past 15 years. Not all of them have been great, but through each one of them, even the hardest of them, God has been faithful, loving, kind, and good. He has blessed us beyond our wildest imaginations in spite of our disobedience or obedience.

On May 28, 1994 we were married by Pastors H.D. McCarty and Mike Bedford at University Baptist Church. We had a veritable concert of incredible music for about 45 minutes before the ceremony began and then we had a wonderful time of worship, prayer, and celebration before hundreds of supportive family members and friends. I am so glad that someone wisely told me to not to let the day rush by; instead, to try to remember each moment, each hug, each handshake, and each laugh as we went through that incredible day.

Just as God says that a man who finds a good wife is blessed, I have been and continue to be. God gave me more than I deserve when He gave me Tara Lavy. She is a woman of great wisdom, full of virtue, who has a great desire to see me be a wise and successful follower of Jesus and who craves having godly children. She is an amazing mother and her skills as a pediatric occupational therapist give her the ability not only to raise three gifted children but also to impart her ability to other moms and moms to be.

While fifteen years is not a lifetime, I cherish the years we have had and look forward to the many years we will share together until the Lord takes one or both of us home.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

The latest unemployment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a national unemployment rate of 8.9%. In some states, like California, Michigan, South Carolina and Oregon, the rates are over 11%.

What this means is that millions of people across the United States are looking at want ads in the Classifieds, hoping to find a job that will meet their needs and the needs of their families.

God published a want ad long ago, and it still applies today.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:35-38.

Perhaps there are more than a few followers of Jesus who are being called into a “new” career of harvesting.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20

Great shots of Little Rock, Arkansas in the video as well.

I emailed recently with a good friend of mine who would characterize himself as agnostic with regard to “religious things.” He was using his agnosticism as an excuse as to why he believed he wouldn’t fit in at the University of the Nations, the Christian missionary training base we are serving right now. As I thought about it I wrote him that I thought being agnostic put him in a great place for learning more about God. In fact, the more I think about it the more I wonder if I shouldn’t think of myself as agnostic – at least in a sense. “Agnostic” simply means “without knowledge.” (I know there are different classifications of agnosticism, but that is not what I am trying to address here.)