After school had let out, I fell deep into sin. For the next week, I lived in sexual immorality. It's not that I didn't think it was wrong but that I had perhaps surmised that this was one hurdle I would jump over later in life. That as of right now, I would never conquer it and could therefore put it off for later. Is that how I look at sin in general?
I even went to my church retreat not even thinking about this. Not even going in thinking, "I'm going to fix this here" or "God's going to fix this here". Not that that is the right mentality, but that just shows me how unconcerned I was about my sin. The first sermon ended and I was about to head to my small group, more concerned about meeting new people than what had been preached. But before I even left my seat, I was told that I had been switched out. I thank God that I was. My new small group leader's first sentence was "We have to beat sexual immorality. Let's band together to kill this thing."
I was floored and it really brought to light the sin that I was facing. It was the first installment encountering a love in my church that wasn't afraid to be intrusive, wasn't afraid to ask hard questions that seemed awkward, and wasn't prepared to assume anything just because you didn't share that you were struggling with something. But after that retreat, I'd be lying if I said I was changed. Even after being shown the truth and having a genuine brother reach out to me, my hard heart remained. I needed God himself to change me.
The turning point was my church's first men's meeting. It was a real men's meeting. Asaph and I were the only college guys. Once again, the talk was on sexual immorality. My pastor said "This isn't normal. Why do we think that this is normal?" I realized that almost every prayer group I've been in has had myself or another brother struggling with this sin. If I'm struggling with it and that guy is struggling with it and maybe even my small group leader is struggling with it...then I'll start to think it's normal. I know it's wrong but this must be something God addresses with me much later on.
It's not normal. After that meeting, God did a work in me. I've lost count of the number of weeks since I last fell. I wish I could tell other people how I overcame it but the truth is that I didn't. Christ overcame that and changed me with his love. I did nothing.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Stewardship
My small group leader brought up an interesting point a couple months back. Say you make 100,000 dollars. You buy a 35,000 dollar car and we think everything is fine. You can afford it. Say you make 30,000 dollars and you buy a 35,000 dollar car. We call that bad stewardship. What's the matter with you? Why would you buy a car that expensive?
What's really the difference between the two scenarios? Just that the guy who makes 100k can afford the car, so that makes it "okay" stewardship for him to buy it? We would tell the guy who made 30k, "What's the matter with you? Why would you do that?" Of course the decision doesn't affect the guy with 100k as negatively, but is this a good use of our money for God's purposes?
Don't say, " but there's nothing wrong with having nice things". That's one of the worst cliches hanging around in Christian circles. It's true. Don't get me wrong, it's true. But don't hide behind that sentence and use it as an excuse. How often do you say that and how often do you give God more than a 10% tithe, if that much? Don't we say that everything we have is actually God's? From our money to our spouse to our house to the food on our table to the clothes on our backs to the friends around us? Everything, every blessing is from him.
Matthew 25:14-30
"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
This means that all we have is his originally, and we are merely stewards of the riches he has entrusted to us. Would you be a good steward of using these riches he gave you very extravagantly for your own pleasure? But it's only 35,000. Read that again. 35,000? Imagine the good that can be put to work for God's kingdom with 35,000. Do you need that new Lexus?
Being a good steward doesn't mean being stingy in general. So often, God calls us to give up EVERYTHING for him.
Luke 18:21-25
And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
Luke 21:1-4
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
So how does being a good steward and giving EVERYTHING up for him coincide? You are only a good steward if you give up everything for your Lord. It's not yours. You'd be a bad steward to use your master's money as your own.
Are we trying to control our giving so we can spend more on ourselves? Or are we trying to control our spending on ourselves so we can give more generously to the church, to others, and to God's purposes.
I need to come to grips with this when I make real money.
What's really the difference between the two scenarios? Just that the guy who makes 100k can afford the car, so that makes it "okay" stewardship for him to buy it? We would tell the guy who made 30k, "What's the matter with you? Why would you do that?" Of course the decision doesn't affect the guy with 100k as negatively, but is this a good use of our money for God's purposes?
Don't say, " but there's nothing wrong with having nice things". That's one of the worst cliches hanging around in Christian circles. It's true. Don't get me wrong, it's true. But don't hide behind that sentence and use it as an excuse. How often do you say that and how often do you give God more than a 10% tithe, if that much? Don't we say that everything we have is actually God's? From our money to our spouse to our house to the food on our table to the clothes on our backs to the friends around us? Everything, every blessing is from him.
Matthew 25:14-30
"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
This means that all we have is his originally, and we are merely stewards of the riches he has entrusted to us. Would you be a good steward of using these riches he gave you very extravagantly for your own pleasure? But it's only 35,000. Read that again. 35,000? Imagine the good that can be put to work for God's kingdom with 35,000. Do you need that new Lexus?
Being a good steward doesn't mean being stingy in general. So often, God calls us to give up EVERYTHING for him.
Luke 18:21-25
And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
Luke 21:1-4
Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
So how does being a good steward and giving EVERYTHING up for him coincide? You are only a good steward if you give up everything for your Lord. It's not yours. You'd be a bad steward to use your master's money as your own.
Are we trying to control our giving so we can spend more on ourselves? Or are we trying to control our spending on ourselves so we can give more generously to the church, to others, and to God's purposes.
I need to come to grips with this when I make real money.
Christianne Udoh from Nigeria
I left from Dulles at 7:07 on my way to Frankfort. I was thankful for an aisle seat as I knew I'd be getting up frequently to use the lavatory (lava laboratory?) many times during the flight. I quickly retrieved my copy of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan from my draw string bag. I couldn't wait to dive right back in after my hour of waiting at my terminal. However, the woman next to me started to strike up a conversation. She asked me where I was going. I said, "Prague", but she stared back with a confused expression, so I said "Frankfort" after a short, awkward pause. Well, of course she understood that. We were both on the same flight.
She told me that she was going back to Nigeria. I pretended to be interested and then went back to my book. Then God told me, "You're going to have the entire trip to read that book. Can't you talk to that woman for ten minutes? What if she needs to hear the Gospel?" I'm like..."Aight, God." Lol. So I put my book away. I ask her why she was staying in the U.S. She was there to visit family and go to her sister's wedding. She's one of six sisters. She has four kids. One graduated from a school in Malaysia. Another is just starting in Alabama.
Then she asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes. She asked me how I became one and I told her my two sentence testimony. She asked me if I felt like I had been changed. I said, over time by the grace of God. It was a very interesting conversation. I couldn't help but notice a difference in how we spoke about our faith. Perhaps it was her lack of understanding of more complex English. Maybe it was because we focused on different things. I always felt more "intellectual". I was trying to address things like sanctification (although I never used that word), but she only spoke of who God is and how important it is to have faith in him. She asked me for my bible and opened up to John 3. I asked her what her favorite verse was. She answered, John 3:5
"Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.""
Towards the end of the flight, she lent me a book she had with her for the remainder of our time in the air. It was called, "The Fourth Dimension". Odd title, I thought. The fourth dimension is time, but aightttt. The guy began with a story of how he thought we needed to pray for very specific things. How prayer wasn't answered because our prayers were too vague. He gave an example of how he prayed for a desk, chair, and bike for six months because he was living in extreme poverty as a preacher in Korea. He then heard a voice from God, telling him to be specific. So he prayed for a very specific kind of desk, chair, and bike. He then went to his congregation and told him that God had delivered those things to him. They were amazed. They wanted to see these things. And he was terrified, because he didn't have any of them. They went to his place, where there was obviously nothing there, and he told them that God was growing them inside his faith.
Now...this kind of sounded like heresy to me. Not going to lie. I asked Christianne about praying specifically. She kind of brushed that off and focused on our need to have faith in praying to God. Her faith seemed very simple and very focused on God. I felt silly for trying to focus on the intellectual side of my faith.
Luke 18:15-17
"Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.""
She told me that she was going back to Nigeria. I pretended to be interested and then went back to my book. Then God told me, "You're going to have the entire trip to read that book. Can't you talk to that woman for ten minutes? What if she needs to hear the Gospel?" I'm like..."Aight, God." Lol. So I put my book away. I ask her why she was staying in the U.S. She was there to visit family and go to her sister's wedding. She's one of six sisters. She has four kids. One graduated from a school in Malaysia. Another is just starting in Alabama.
Then she asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes. She asked me how I became one and I told her my two sentence testimony. She asked me if I felt like I had been changed. I said, over time by the grace of God. It was a very interesting conversation. I couldn't help but notice a difference in how we spoke about our faith. Perhaps it was her lack of understanding of more complex English. Maybe it was because we focused on different things. I always felt more "intellectual". I was trying to address things like sanctification (although I never used that word), but she only spoke of who God is and how important it is to have faith in him. She asked me for my bible and opened up to John 3. I asked her what her favorite verse was. She answered, John 3:5
"Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.""
Towards the end of the flight, she lent me a book she had with her for the remainder of our time in the air. It was called, "The Fourth Dimension". Odd title, I thought. The fourth dimension is time, but aightttt. The guy began with a story of how he thought we needed to pray for very specific things. How prayer wasn't answered because our prayers were too vague. He gave an example of how he prayed for a desk, chair, and bike for six months because he was living in extreme poverty as a preacher in Korea. He then heard a voice from God, telling him to be specific. So he prayed for a very specific kind of desk, chair, and bike. He then went to his congregation and told him that God had delivered those things to him. They were amazed. They wanted to see these things. And he was terrified, because he didn't have any of them. They went to his place, where there was obviously nothing there, and he told them that God was growing them inside his faith.
Now...this kind of sounded like heresy to me. Not going to lie. I asked Christianne about praying specifically. She kind of brushed that off and focused on our need to have faith in praying to God. Her faith seemed very simple and very focused on God. I felt silly for trying to focus on the intellectual side of my faith.
Luke 18:15-17
"Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.""
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Suffering for Christ
It's nothing new. I've heard preacher after preacher tell me that the American church is not suffering for Christ. That I'm not suffering for Christ. And they're right.
Phil 1:29
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake
It's true that I'm not suffering, I'm not persecuted in America. But what am I supposed to do? Move? Leave America for a place more hostile like Saudi Arabia? Perhaps I will never suffer in this manner. Maybe I'll never have to run for my life because of a professed faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe I will. But telling me that I'm not suffering for Christ in that way at this moment is not helpful.
Perhaps there's a different way to suffer for Christ.
Phil 2:3
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
How about holding others more significant than myself? Even in an argument. Even when I've been wronged. Even when I'm blameless and hurt. This is how Christ suffered for us.
Phil 1:29
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake
It's true that I'm not suffering, I'm not persecuted in America. But what am I supposed to do? Move? Leave America for a place more hostile like Saudi Arabia? Perhaps I will never suffer in this manner. Maybe I'll never have to run for my life because of a professed faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe I will. But telling me that I'm not suffering for Christ in that way at this moment is not helpful.
Perhaps there's a different way to suffer for Christ.
Phil 2:3
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
How about holding others more significant than myself? Even in an argument. Even when I've been wronged. Even when I'm blameless and hurt. This is how Christ suffered for us.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
God Is Speaking
Maybe we don't read the Bible because we don't believe that God is talking to us through it. We may believe that the Bible is full of wisdom. That the Bible tells us about Jesus and about God. These are all great, but maybe we also believe that the Bible is static.
We don't think that it has the counsel to comfort us, to advise us when things come up in life. We ask friends and family and pastors for help because we know that we can get their opinion on very specific problems and scenarios. Their opinions are dynamic, constantly being shaped by what God is showing them. Surely, what has been for two thousand years cannot possibly come to give as specific, fruitful counsel as the words we get after explaining our specific situations.
I urge my soul to reconsider this thought. I urge my soul to consider that God knows everything already. God knows more than what I explained in my situation to my friend. God knows more than what I perceive with my own heart. His Word is the best advice I'm looking for.
We don't think that it has the counsel to comfort us, to advise us when things come up in life. We ask friends and family and pastors for help because we know that we can get their opinion on very specific problems and scenarios. Their opinions are dynamic, constantly being shaped by what God is showing them. Surely, what has been for two thousand years cannot possibly come to give as specific, fruitful counsel as the words we get after explaining our specific situations.
I urge my soul to reconsider this thought. I urge my soul to consider that God knows everything already. God knows more than what I explained in my situation to my friend. God knows more than what I perceive with my own heart. His Word is the best advice I'm looking for.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
