God Loves YOU!

It's the second Tuesday of 2015, and time for my second thought on what makes the path to following Jesus such a #NarrowRoad. Today, we are going to look at some really horrible theology that plagues the 21st century western church. This past weekend our pastor, Matthew Hartsfield, pointed out that on too many Sundays in too many churches the sermon says something like this: God is good. You are not. Try harder.

This teaches us that when we sin, we can fix it. If we will just read more, study more, pray more, attend church more, serve more and give more then we will sin less. WE are the ones with the power to pull ourselves out of the messes we get into- all we have to do is DO more for God. Love God more and behave better and we can do anything. It is a theology that reinforces the concept that the things we don't do, the sins we avoid, are what makes u better Christians. We have heard so often for so long that it sounds correct. But the truth is we often miss the narrow road because we become convinced we can navigate it ourselves. If that were true then Jesus came for no real reason. 

Last week I wrote about loving God and loving others as the true narrow road, a path that is much tougher than the "thous shalt nots" so many of us adhere to. And Jesus did say that was the greatest commandment. But before we have any chance of actually doing those things with any true success, there is a first step. We have to believe that God loved us first. Everything else we believe and everything else we do must flow from that knowledge. Check out this scripture from 1 John 4:9-10:  God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. And this one from 1 John 4:19 - We love each other because God loved us first. Any love we have, any good we do comes from a source. And that source is the love of God for us. It's unconditional, it's never-failing, and it is so very real.

I don't know any Christ -followers who cannot recite John 3:16. But do we really believe that God so loved US- me & you- that he sent Jesus to die on a cross that we might live in harmony with God despite our human failings and faults? God loves YOU! 

I have written here many times that we complicate our spiritual journey and lose sight of the narrow road because we too often put theology before Jesus. I have also suggested before my feelings that the only theology we really need is this- "Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so." This past Sunday we ended worship by taking Holy Communion- a reminder of just how much God loves us- and singing that song. The narrow road is not about us. The narrow road should be reminder that God loves us so much that he pulls us from the muck and mire of our failures and sins and dusts us off and then loves us even more. That's grace. And scripturally speaking, grace is not a theological concept. It's a person. The love of God whose name is Jesus is our guide on the #NarrowRoad. And to quote C.S. Lewis, "He's not safe. But he's good." To know the love of God and then love like Jesus is a wild ride. Remember that dangerous love...and follow the leader down the narrow path to the abundant life.

Because of Jesus,

Forward Hoooooo!!!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Phillipians 3:12-14 (NIV)

Our pastor at Van Dyke Church, Matthew Hartsfield, gave a great sermon illustration this past Sunday.  He credited it to another pastor whose name now escapes me, but it was a brilliant illustration that I wanted to share with you today.  It went something like this...

God made the human body with the intention that our movement would be forward.  Our eyes are focused to the front. So is our nose.  Our arms work best when we are reaching forward. Our legs have more strength when moving forward or kicking to the front. Our toes point forward.  There is only one part of us that points backwards.  It seems that even as God was designing the human body, he knew there was some crap that would need to be left behind...

Although he used different words, the Apostle Paul said basically the same thing to the church in Philippi 2000 years ago.  Forget what is behind you and press forward.  In the old, seldom seen movie Gumball Rally, there is a classic line where one of the drivers rips off his rear view mirror and says, "That is the first rule of Italian driving- what's behind me is not important!"  We all have memories we love and treasure and baggage that we find difficult to let go, but as the great philosopher Pumbaa once said, "You have to put your behind in the past!"  We have to keep pressing on.

Far too many of us- myself included- tend to get caught up in the failures of our past.  We give lip service to God's grace and forgiveness in our lives, but we don't REALLY believe it.  You see, the opposite of forward thinking and pressing on is not remembering. There is nothing wrong with remembering.  The opposite of forward thinking is backwards thinking.  And that will get us into trouble every time. Backwards thinking attempts to strip God of his power, and makes the work of Jesus on the cross look like a fool's errand. Think about it. Is it ever a compliment to say someone or something is backwards?  No...

I do indeed have "crap" I need to leave behind, even as I keep my eyes focused FORWARD on the prize that is abundant life in Jesus Christ.  My guess is you do too.  If Paul could write that he had not achieved his goal, then it is safe to say we haven't either.  So we keep pressing on.  God loves us. Too much, in fact, to leave us the way we are. Let's start fresh from right now- Forward Hoooooo!!!

Because of Jesus,

7 Affirmations of Faith

Yesterday at Van Dyke Church our Pastor, Matthew Hartsfield, continued his sermon series entitled Help!  After sharing the previous few weeks on the subjects of marriage, finances and children, Matthew turned his attention to the topic of stress. We learned that Forbes Magazine recently ranked Tampa as the 4th most stressful city in USAmerica, so stress is a part of all of our lives. He talked about how God designed our bodies to handle immediate stress, such as emergency situations and "flight or fight" reactions, but not to deal with the chronic day-to-day stress so many of us have in our lives today.  He spoke of the Apostle Paul and all of the stresses he faced in his life, as found in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33, and how he still kept his eyes on the joy of following Jesus. And finally he taught about the antidotes to stress as found in 2 Corinthians 4.  That antidote is Jesus.

At the conclusion of worship we all received the card you see below. Our challenge was to memorize the scripture and keep the affirmations that will help reduce our stress front and center in our lives.  I offer you that same challenge today. There will be stress in our lives, but we need not carry it.  Turn it over to Jesus. Or as Ray Lewis said (Paul said it first) at the conclusion of last night's game, "If God is for us, who (or what) can be against us?"  NO ONE!  Have a blessed and stress free day!

Because of Jesus,

10 Things You Must Know

Remembering Rich Mullins- 13 years ago today he went home to see his lifelong best friend- Jesus. 

Psalm 8: 4-5 (NIV)- What is man that you are mindful of him, 
the son of man that you care for him? 
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor. 

On August 8th, Pastor Matthew Hartsfield delivered a message at Van Dyke Church, the church that Marilyn, Will and I attend, entitled 10 Things You Must Know (if you have surrendered your soul to Jesus as Lord and Savior).  I have been using his points as a devotional guide ever since, and I thought some of my readers might be interested in doing the same.  All of his points came from the scriptures (in parentheses) and were designed to remind us, just as the words from Psalm 8 remind us, that we are glorious creations of God.  Despite our sins, our faults and our flaws, we are children of the living God- and that is something to celebrate!  Because "God don't make no junk..."   

So check out the scriptures and keep this list handy.  Check it out anytime you feel like a loser or a failure.  It's the ultimate self-esteem booster.  The Creator of the universe- the all-powerful Yahweh- is also your Abba (daddy) who loves you and knows your name.  How awesome is that?

1.  You are handcrafted (Psalm 139:13-15)

2.  You are valuable (Luke 12:6,7)

3.  You are loved (John 3:16)

4.  You are rescued (Romans 5:6-11)

5.  You are privileged (Romans 5:1,2)

6.  You are powerful (Ephesians 1:19-23)

7.  You are invincible (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

8.  You are fearless (Romans 8:15,16)

9.  You are unbeatable (Romans 8:31-34)

10.  You are a winner (Romans 8:35-39)

Thank you, Matthew, for sharing these words of encouragement.  May God continue to use them when the darkness of this world closes in on us and labels us worthless.

Because of Jesus,