I Should Be God!

There are people who lose their job while their neighbor is promoted.

I have seen a weak man beaten down because he is weak.

I have seen the lame suffer greatly and live short lives.

There are children without a father because of a prison cell.

I have seen undeserving people get the Lord's grace.

There are wives abused and husbands cheated on.

I have seen the rich have no regard for the poor.

I have been abused as a child.

There are children crying today because mom's a crackhead.

There are people begging for change from people ignoring them.

I have seen the addict live to be 100, and an innocent child die at birth.

The guilty go free from the same room that the innocent are declared guilty.

All of this and more causes my heart to scream out: "This is not fair!"  And in that moment of screaming out, I have declared that I should be God - because I am more capable than He at determining what is fair and just, and what is not.  In all of these moments and many more in my own personal life, may what I scream be what David said in Psalm 86: "You alone are God, have mercy on me".

The Red Letter Gospel

A great friend of mine shared with me this quote today:


"If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it’s not the gospel you believe, but yourself." - St. Augustine of Hippo


Yesterday at Relevant we started a new series called the Red Letter Gospel which focuses on Jesus' version of what the Gospel is - in contrast to what we might think it is.  Unfortunately as Christians, we've added so much to the original Gospel message that Jesus gave, and rather than drawing people to love and hope, we push them away by our versions of what the Gospel is all about.  


I often wonder how different our world, my world, would look if we lived the Gospel the way Jesus presented it?  We fail greatly when we base the Gospel on our views, feelings, thoughts, perceptions, etc.  It has nothing to do with us, and everything to do with Jesus.  I also like how Martin Luther put it:


“As sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are antithetical in every way.” 

Life's Highlights

I haven't blogged a lot in a while due to being sick and tired - literally sick (sinus infection) and as a result literally tired :)  So I thought for today I would share some highlights from my "down time":

1.) Having a two week sabbatical from preaching on Sundays.

2.) Hearing Brad's heart through his series he preached: Comfortable.  Knowing him and calling him friend is a true gift from God.

3.) Some "couple" time away for a weekend with just my wife - very nice indeed!

4.) Defeating every level of BrickBreaker - YES! If you don't know the game you wouldn't understand, it's a crackberry thing!

5.) Finishing two books: Epistle of James and "The Devil In The White City"

6.) Kicking off Duke's 2009-10 season with my family.

7.) Watching StarWars for the first time with my son!

8.) Painting my daughter's and son's bedrooms to their likings!! (Butterfly and Skateboard themes)

9.) Seeing Relevant grow in attendance and opportunity.

10.) Preformed a wedding of a couple in our church - crazy, enough said.

I LOVE QUOTES

As I've shared before with you, I love collecting quotes.  Words contain great power and can be very moving and inspirational when harnessed by someone who has been gifted to use them appropriately.  This is one of many favorites:

"The place to where God calls you is where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." - Frederick Buechner

Do you have any favorite quotes you can pass along here??

Worship: 3 of 3 - Desirable Aroma

Well, this is the last post on the topic of worship I've been writing on.  We've been looking at what sacrifice looks like based on Leviticus 1.  The first two principles were to come to God vulnerable and completely open, then secondly to allow Him to clean every aspect of our life.  Lastly, we are taught both in Romans 12:1 and here in Leviticus 1 that when we do these things, we are 100% completely desirable to God.  That blows my mind, that the Creator of the universe would find me desirable.


Look at the end of Leviticus 1:9.  "It is a whole burnt offering made by fire, very pleasing to the LORD."  Compare this to Romans 12:1 where He says when we do this, we are "holy and pleasing to God".  Another way this phrase is translated is that we become a sweet aroma for Jesus.


That is how Jesus defines worship, at least worship that He desires.  Our lives vulnerable, open, exposed, cleaned and washed, and given over to Him.


I love this verse about being a pleasing smell.  2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."