You have never talked to a mere mortal

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which,if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - These are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Those words are from C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory. Have you ever thought about his point? For me, it offers a deeper meaning to helping others. We spend so much time accumulating stuff and building our wealth despite Jesus' command in Matthew 6 to not lay up treasures on earth. Jesus says those things will be lost or destroyed.

Lewis reminds us about our neighbors. Have you taken the time to invest in the immortal?

An open-handed life

The following clip is an excerpt from a recent sermon at the Monrovia Church of Christ I have put with some animation...

"God provides his blessing for the less fortunate, often through the wealth of the saints. He's blessed us in order that we may bless the ones around us. You have been blessed by God to live an open-handed life, not a life of greed saying, "What all can I accomplish? What all can I get?" Instead, live a life of giving to the people around you. Live an open-handed life."

The problem with perfume

My parents say I broke a lot of hangers when I was a child. My mother would lay out my clothes for me, but I wanted to choose my own clothes. I would go to the closet and pull down what I wanted to wear. The resulting fashion sense looked like this...

 I'm on the left in those sweet L.A. Gears

On the left again, in the floral print shorts

This killer fashion sense carried over to my college years and beyond...

Who doesn't wear athletic shorts with their tie and blazer?

 

Rocking the orange faux alligator skin shoes at Newscenter 25 in Victoria, Tex.

The point is, from an early age I was a fairly independent dude. That wasn't always a good thing. When I was about two or three, my parents say we were on a family vacation and headed to the hotel swimming pool when I ran out in front and jumped right in the deep end. As you can imagine I wasn't much of a swimmer. My desire to do everything myself put me in serious danger as I began to sink. Because I am writing this blog, it is obvious I did not drown that day. Fortunately, my dad jumped in to save me.

I think this is what it looks like when we try to define good and evil for ourselves. Isn't that the story in Genesis when Adam and Eve are convinced that the fruit will make them as smart as God. They eat the fruit and there are consequences. Evil enters into the world and Adam and Eve are banished from the garden (Genesis 3). This scenario plays out over and over again throughout the Old Testament when people try to live independently from God. Even today when we try to define good and evil for ourselves and seek happiness outside of God we find ourselves drowning in the deep end (Romans 6:23).

The truth is we live in a broken world. We live in the deep end and the only way to get out is to be rescued. But, how many people around us don't even realize they are drowning? In his book "The Invisible War", Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote, "The Church was not left in this world to perfume the dung-heap of fallen humanity, but to take out, one by one, those who will be saved from the coming destruction.”

There is a lot of wisdom in the quote. So, how do we "take out" those will be saved? The answer is pretty simple: we point to Jesus, the one who came to rescue us. That's what it means to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

I remember singing "This Little Light of Mine" as a child. The second verse is, "Hide it under a bushel? NO! I'm gonna let it shine." That is an eternal truth, not just a song for children.

You see, we as Christians are called to live in the world, but not of the world. The church is in the world to call others to the savior. But, we are instructed to not be conformed to it (Romans 12:2). That means we are to look to Jesus to define us; our definition of good and evil and our sense of happiness.

Paint, Piercing and Propitiation

Okay, yes it's the classic alliteration perhaps overused by some preachers (there's another "p" if you're keeping track). But, it really does sum up what the sermon is all about.

Posted below is video of my sermon from Monrovia in December. I shared a message that has been pretty heavy on my heart the last few months. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to follow Jesus after reading Kyle Idleman's "not a fan" (You should check it out if you haven't read it). There is one quote from chapter 10 that really got me thinking. Idleman says, "A belief, no matter how sincere, if not reflected in reality isn't a belief; it's a delusion." I even wrote about it in my last blog post. 

I've taught bible classes on this concept of living out our belief using some ideas from Idleman. That morphed into a sermon in November at Wichester Road Church of Christ. From that sermon, I expanded on a couple of ideas and with the help of a video from Jefferson Bethke, developed the sermon below. 

Is your faith delusional?

Are you a follower of Jesus?

That's the question Kyle Idleman leads with in not a fan. I finished this book in the fall of last year (I highly recommend it) and was forced to take a personal inventory of my life and really think about what it means to be a follower.

It's more than just calling myself a Christian, or a even a minister for that matter. Being a follower is being sold out for God.

Is it weird that I have a favorite body wash? Well, I do. And, unfortunately it has been discontinued. I like to use Old Spice Game Day Body Wash.

About two years ago, I ran out and went to buy another bottle only to realize I couldn't find it. As I continued to look, sometimes I would find the label on store shelves, but there was not a single bottle available. It was sold out. And, because it was discontinued that meant they weren't getting any more. Do you realize the implications of a product being sold out. That means it's all gone. There is none left. I would even ask an employee if I was missing something or if they had more in the back to no avail. The bottles were all gone.

Let's translate that to our faith. If you are sold out for God that means you are holding nothing back. Everything you have you give to him. When we become followers of God, he intends for us to be sold out. Jesus makes that clear in Luke 9:23 when he says, "if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself..."

I really like the way Kyle puts it on page 106 of not a fan.

Have you thought about your faith in those terms? You can say you are a Christian. You can go to church on Sunday and have a bumper sticker on your car. But, are you living out what you say you believe. If not, perhaps you are delusional.

These are hard words. For me, it's a work in progress. I find areas of my life that I am holding back from God. Some of my thoughts and actions don't always reflect my belief. Fortunately, I serve a God of grace and find healing through Jesus Christ as I strive to live out my faith. My goal is to be sold out to him, "looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12).

We believe: My reaction to the events in Ferguson

I stayed up several hours last night watching the events unfold in Ferguson, Mo. in the aftermath of the grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown. Politics aside, what I saw was a broken world.

This afternoon I was listening to the Newsboys and I heard these lyrics from their song, "We Believe"...

In this time of desperation

When all we know is doubt and fear

There is only one foundation

We believe, we believe

In this broken generation

When all is dark, You help us see

There is only one salvation

We believe, we believe 

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He conquered death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's comin' back again, we believe

 Here's the truth I found in those words: We are living in times of desperation and a part of a broken generation. Our sense of justice is out of whack. The only salvation comes from God through Jesus Christ.

Check out Romans 6:

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

 What an awesome promise we have from him. We will live with him!

I hope you can join in on that chorus. As the next verse of the song says, "may our faith be more than anthems". I hope you can join in with confidence as we say, "WE BELIEVE!"

I encourage you to take a couple minutes to listen to the whole song.

What I learned at VBS

Sunday we wrapped up a very successful VBS at Monrovia. It was a good reminder of God's love. I wanted to share with you some of the things I learned or was reminded of.

I learned we have a lot of talented people in our church family. It is a reminder of the truth we find in 1 Corinthians 12:12, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."

There are so many people that chipped in to help us "blast off". Brian Kello and Jennifer Hamlett led the charge in organizing the weekend. Brian really brought a lot of passion and encouraged our young people with his excitement.

Brian leading our final session

There were so many crew leaders and people working behind the scenes that I can't mention everyone here. I do want you to see the rocket Bryan Bates constructed from scratch. It was incredible.

 Our kids participated in what was called "projects with a purpose". Katy Brown and Heather Bates came up with two great projects to allow the kids to serve. One night they put together a care package for the homeless. The next night, they stuffed toy owls to give away to traumatized kids in the emergency room and on ambulances. 

 

Finally, I want to recognize the Waltons and the Selfs. Amy and Christy served as story tellers to the kids and really made the scenes we read about in the Bible come alive.

Amy Walton, dressed as a Capernaum resident, showing the kids the hole in her roof 

where the paralytic was lowered to see Jesus

 Thanks to all who participated. I know the children had a great time and learned a lot. Our theme verse for the weekend is also a good reminder to all of us. It comes from 1 John 4:7, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." Throughout the weekend, Brian would say, "God loves us, sooo...." And the children would shout back, "love each other." No matter where you are or what you've done, God loves you very much. For us as Christians, it is our mission to share that love with everyone.