The Focus

Asking the Right Question

I’ve referenced before while preaching, that Jennifer and I have been trained by Christian friends to make sure that we are “asking the right question.” This means that when we’re praying or talking to other believers we need to make sure that the “right” questions are asked. For example, when asking for God to show you what company will be best for you; perhaps you are asking the wrong questions and you should ask ‘what company do You want me to work at?’ The focus is very important.

Luke 7:36-39; 44-49

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Traditional View

Traditionally I see Pastors talking about this scripture reference from the aspect of the woman’s convictions and faith saving her. But what if the focus is wrong, and the focus is not on the relationship of Christ and the woman?

We’ve seen over and over the “marketable” Christ. The Christ where it’s easy for everyone to accept, the Christ that is easy to approach as a buddy and runs about blessing the little children. However, we miss the ubiquitous instances where Christ is stressing his masculinity and authority.

The Authority

See, when I read this scripture, I see Christ standing boldly before the religious leaders of the time, the rulers who can and will eventually kill Christ – but only in His time – and only because He ordained it. I see Christ standing and telling this religious leaders “You say that only God can forgive sins – I say that I am God and this woman’s sins are forgiven.”

Imagine the scene! Do you think that this was a soft spoken cowering man, that whispered these words? These words were His death penalty! No, I see a strong man, with an ability to command an audience just by His presence. I see Him looking each Pharisee in the eye; ensuring that He had their direct attention and then with the same voice that commanded the creation of the earth, speaking forgiveness to a prostitute; and using that instant to stand in for her penalty. Understand, that in order for Him to forgive that sin; He would have to go to the cross and die. His blood washed those sins away.

We glance through this scripture with an almost casual respect for what we believe to be a predictable story. We get shivers with the rousing speeches of man; yet when we read the actual words of God we scan over them. Why!?! Because the focus is on us and not Him.

I pray that our focus will be on Him, I pray that our vision of Christ is refelctive of who He is and now who we want Him to be.

Don’t Do What You’re “Suppose To Do”

While driving today, I had an epiphany  about living a life of duty and being a “good Christian.” I recalled a chapter that I read from John Eldredge, in his book The Sacred Romance.  The paragraph is as follows:

The religious technocrats of Jesus’ day confronted Him with what they believed were the standards of a lifepleasing to God.  The external life, they argued, the life of ought and duty and service, was what mattered.  “You’re dead wrong.”  Jesus said.  “In fact you’re just plain dead [whitewashed tombs].  What God cares about is the iner life, the life of the heart” ( Matthew 23:25-28).  Throughtout the Old and New Test, the life of the heart is clearly God’s central concern. When the people of Isreal fell into a totally external life of ritual and observance, God lamented, “These people…honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).

This thought combined with my sermon from the previous week made me consider who I was as a Christian.

James 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

I won’t regale you with the platform of my previous sermon, but I want to take a different direction.  If you and I put up a pretense of overabundant “goodness”, a non-divulgate persona of purity in church, how can people with real problems relate to us?  Since our primary purpose on earth is live out Christ and deliver His benevolence and love to the world, we must be approachable.

This is not to say that we have to sin in order to make others feel comfortable.  I am not calling you from the road of sanctification as we should all strive to be more Christ-like.  However, I am asking for some transparency.  I’ve written about my “blue jean theology” in the past, but in essence I feel that Christians should be less concerned with judging or being judged on appearance (both physical and in actions), but more so on the fruits of your Christianity.

People make a judgment on your character within 6 seconds of meeting you and 70% of communication is based on body language.  So, how important is your interaction with other people?  Very important.  Letting the approachable nature of Christ resonate through you, to others is the key to being able to be used by Christ to convey His mission.

I don’t want to be so concerned about pretense and church protocol, so longing for emulation of other churches or acceptance in the religious culture that I have donned the mentality of the nefarious church leaders or Christ’s time.  Their embodiment of religious adornment lead to these men killing God Himself, on earth.  Amazing enough for us, His resurrection was the beginning of the new church.  A church that has been given the Holy Spirit and the opportunity to learn from the failings of the church of old.

Let’s not fall into the trap of  “acting as a church” and let’s “be a church.”  Transparency, intentional relationships and a higher priority on serving one another in Christ’s name, are all good elements.  I’d rather be alive in the preverbal blue jeans, than dead in a suit!

Fitting Him in…

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No More Excuses

In preparing for my upcoming sermon, I was putting together different areas of our spiritual growth that we need to attend to.  As I did so, I could just hear the excuses of those who I have talked.  It’s always a matter of “time.”  I don’t have time to the read the Word or to pray.  I agree that time is of a premium, but if we can’t give some time to the one who created time; we’re in need of an adjustment.  Regardless, I’ve put together a list of resources that can come straight to your e-mail box to help you be able to spend a little time in the Word each day.

Christian Social Media Website

RC Sproul Ministries

Bible On-line (Various Languages and Resources)

Crosswalk Ministries

Music, Videos, Teaching, Blogs, Politics and more

FrontLineDC Online Church

Rejoicing in God’s Glory – or how to love Him with all our hearts

I am fascinated still with Jonathan Edwards statement:

“God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it, delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it”  (Quote is here) – you may have to register with the Yale site to see it – registration is free.

The implications of this statement and the surrounding writing include that our happiness is linked directly to our rejoicing in God – in worshiping Him in all things, in loving Him with a passionate love.  And that brings me to why I am writing this:

The Oswald Chamber’s reading from My Utmost for His Highest for today includes the statement, “To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Ghost has imparted it to him.”

Lord, fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that this love for You becomes a consuming fire within us, affecting our whole being.  Hear our cry, O Lord. Amen.

Your child,

Boyd

Being Imprisoned in Life

 

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Psalm 142:7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name; The righteous shall surround me, For You shall surround me, For You shall deal boutifully with me.

Steel Trap

You’ve heard the phrase “He has a mind like a steel trap” to describe one who retains intellectual knowledge.  But, I feel that from time to time there are those, like myself, that tend to have a mind that is like a steel prison.  Have you every felt imprisoned in your own mind about condemnation that you’ve received from others or even yourself?  Have you ever felt that people were out to judge you or held disregard for you, and it just bugs you?  I have and still tend to fall into this trap.

Transparency

I’ve been in the Grace Network of Churches for about 15 years and most recently have been with Grace Community Church of Caroline in Ladysmith, Virginia for the past 3 or 4 years.  The members of the church have gotten to know Jennifer and I well.  They have rejoiced in our successes and counseled us in our failures.  This long history has given our family a level of transparency over that period of time.  From time to time I’ll encounter someone who just isn’t as friendly as I would like to think that people are.  I do the “self check” to ensure that I have not offended the person directly and finding no opportunity (that I know of) for the offense; I am left to think that my mere existence or something I’ve done to them in the past has made the person dislike me.  From there, I become self loathing because I can’t make everyone like me.  I become depressed to a certain degree, because I’ve let someone down or offended someone at some juncture.  It makes me leary of interacting with people on a personal level.

The Reality

What I typically find in both myself and others that I have worked with in the past, is that the amount of energy I’ve spent being concerned about this person is for not.  It yields nothing and more often than not, I find that one of two things is at play.  The first is that the person’s personality is simply not compatible and they just aren’t as engaging as I am accustomed to.  The second is that person may be judgmental and nafrious in nature (yes, occasionally even a Christian can have a cold heart) and they simple don’t like other people.  They have been hurt in the past by someone who shares a name with you, or maybe looks like you. 

The issue is that we can’t always control others and not everyone is going to like us.  We are responsible to pray for them, to be kind to them and to not take everything so personally.  Only God can change hearts.  This release from forcing people to “like” us can be very freeing. 

 

Wonderful guidelines about gospel doctrine

I recently picked up a used copy of God is the Gospel by John Piper.  On page 22, he makes this statement which just thrilled my heart:

• Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all its treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable. Doctrine guards the diamonds of the gospel from being discarded as mere crystals. Doctrine protects the treasures of the gospel from the pirates who don’t like the diamonds but who make their living trading them for other stones. Doctrine polishes the old gems buried at the bottom of the chest. It puts the jewels of gospel truth in order on the scarlet tapestry of history so each is seen in its most beautiful place.

• And all the while, doctrine does this with its head bowed in wonder that it should be allowed to touch the things of God. It whispers praise and thanks as it deals with the diamonds of the King. Its fingers tremble at the cost of what it handles. Prayers ascend for help, lest any stone be minimized or misplaced. And on its knees, gospel doctrine knows it serves the herald. The gospel is not mainly about being explained. Explanation is necessary, but it is not primary. A love letter must be intelligible, but grammar and logic are not the point. Love is the point. The gospel is good news. Doctrine serves that. It serves the one whose feet are bruised (and beautiful!) from walking to the unreached places with news: “Come, listen to the news of God! Listen to what God has done! Listen! Understand! Bow! Believe!”

That brings a new way of looking at doctrine that I have never seen before.  In fact the statement could be turned into a prayer to our Lord as we approach the study of scripture and of biblical doctrine.

Boyd

It wasn’t about Forgiveness

Hi all, Cash has blessed me with the opportunity to share on Sunday morning. I am going to be preaching on Christ establishing his authority by forgiving a sinner in defiance to religious leaders of the time. It’s not the traditional story – I hope you’ll be blessed!

She is my gift…

Proverbs 31:28-29 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.   

Fifteen years ago she said “I Do”, five years later she delivered our first prodigy. Within a 5 year span she repeated that miracle two more times, for the three most amazing daughters anyone could ever ask for (and maintained an incredible figure ).   Every day, since the first time that she held our first child in her arms, I have seen her pour herself into our daughters and exemplify everything I could ever hope to find in a mother for my daughters.  

  

As a homeschooling mother, Jennifer has taken on a task that few desire and even fewer can master. She has poured herself into training and raising Godly children, who have responded and continue to grow. We have the happiest and most social children I could have ever imagined. They love their mother and each one longs to be just like her. 

 

 Although the effort she puts into her calling, as a mother is significant, she has doesn’t neglected our relationship. Jennifer is the most responsive and generous lover that I could ever desire.  She has tolerated things that no other might, and worked with me to develop our relationship to an amazing level. We’ve followed our belief that God has put us together and that out relationship is a gift.   

On this Mother’s day weekend, I want to express how incredibly grateful I am that I have been granted the gift of my marriage and this amazing woman. I couldn’t imagine the epic journey of life, with any other partner. I am excited and anxious to see how we continue to grow and how increasingly graceful and beautiful she will become as we grow together. She’s by best friend, playmate, conscious and adviser. 

  

  

  

   

Camel Through a Needles Eye – Not a “Perfect” Life

Don’t Believe the Hype 

One the many frustrations that I have undergone in my life has been the failure to obtain peace. My entire life has seem to be a on-going series of stressful events. It’s typically self induced and I’ve struggled with it forever. However, I’ve learned a lot in my struggle to create a perfect life for my wife and children. One of the foremost principals, I’ve gleamed has been that God is not the blame for things that don’t work according to my plans and just because things aren’t working to plan; doesn’t mean that I am not in sync with the intentions of God. 

Is it About You? 

We all have dreams and desires; some are very gimcrack in their audacity; whereas others are more benign. Regardless of their intensity, in my twenty-five or so years of church attendance, too often I’ve heard a believer despondently say “I don’t know what else God wants from me” when their desires are not being met. I have a few issues with this. The first is that it is not ALWAYS about YOU! Often the Spirit has something else planned and we look back in time to see that it worked better, than if we had we gotten “our” way. There is also the theory that in order to serve your desires, then someone else may have to suffer. We never know the why, but we have to have trust that God does have your best interest at heart. Christ actually left heaven, came to earth and died for you, exactly what else do you want from Him? 

It’s a Fallacy  

Too many people believe that they should live perfect lives. They believe that once they answer the calling of the Father; that they are now deserving of some utopian lifestyle. I’ve yet to find a ubiquitous inference in scripture, that when taken in context of the passage; would lead me to believe that we are to have a clear path to a “perfect life.” This is not to say that consequences of our sin aren’t our responsibility. Simple that when you can’t “explain” things, that it may just be how life is. There is an arrogance in thinking that we can earn or deserve God’s favor. It’s as if to say, that if I do things more correctly than that other person, I would than deserve a larger outpouring of blessings. 

Case in Point 

in Mark, we find an instance of a rich man encountering Christ: 

 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”^[c]
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 

The Rich Man wasn’t just another sycophant who was trying to impress “The Teacher” (my favorite reference to Christ). The Rich Man was one of notoriety, I think, or they wouldn’t haven included him in the gospel. He came to the Teacher, being of wealth (probably influence), cleaning living and the knowledge of who Christ was; at least in relation to the time and place. By chapter 10 of Mark, when tend to see that the church leaders, of the time, were already not happy about Christ; so this Rich Man was probably of the knowledge that being a follower was not politically correct.  

Christ looked at him with “love”, as the scriptures say; and still told him that he needed to give up his wealth and take up a cross. Interesting point here, is that Christ used the phrase “take up your cross” – he was asking the Rich Man to suffer and die in the same way that Christ was going to.  Now, Christ didn’t simply say ‘You need to donate your wealth’ He actually said, that you needed to also suffer. Christ did not come from wealth, we can surmise from the large family that he was born into, and being a carpenter; that the family was not influential and perhaps struggled a bit. 

Why Aren’t We Perfect 

It’s been my experience that the most “on fire” people of God have been those who have been saved from a life of great sin.  The conversations are significant changes in their lives. They have a NEED for Christ. They saw their lives with Him and then without Him and they hope to never return to their old lifestyle. People in struggle tend to pray more and rely on God more. They are more eager to understand that troubles of others and are more humble to serve. 

Running Away is Cowardly 

The world is full of sin and of failed people. Those failings and that sin will effect us all, regardless of how “perfect” we try to be. Christ’s grace is the only redeeming factor; we cannot earn it, as it’s a gift. We cannot demand it, as we were never entitled to it in the first place. However, so many people spend so much time church hopping and driving about hoping to find a church or ministry that will make their lives “perfect” that they fail to realize that time and commitment are necessary to their church family. Commitment to their Church Body is essential to getting some level of peace in their walk. Challenges make us grow; iron sharpening iron. We become unsettled in our families, because they aren’t meeting “our needs” and aren’t acting the way that we perceive them need to be – and we physically or mentally walk away; because we feel that we aren’t being blessed. Many times people who are chasing these “out pouring” of the Spirit haven’t realized that Christ is a personal God. He is not relegated to a geographical location or specific church. By the time we move our camp there, we fail to realize that the revival has moved on after doing His work in that place. Revival tends to not linger for great periods of time. My thoughts on this are vast and too long for this post. 

Spirit Filled Demands 

As one who grew up in Pentecostal Churchs, I am grateful to be in church network that I am in, as I found many abuses in the churches I grew up in. It was a blaming of the vessel if they weren’t filled. The extreme of these churches would say that if you weren’t regularly in this “gift” i.e. speaking in tongues, slain in the Spirit (which is poor title for this) than the “Spirit” wasn’t upon you. The people who had disingenuous experiences in church, trying to earn the respect of the leadership, or to live up to unrealistic expectations have left hurt. They have suffered from guilt and depression because God hasn’t filled them in way that they were trying to force. Christ interacts with everyone differently and on different levels.  There is always something that we need to learn or something area of sin that we need to address and work on. To say ‘God needs me to learn something here” or “my life isn’t right, so He isn’t blessing me” is a limiting statement. Again, it’s as if we can earn a gift. There is always things to learn and area’s to improve, it will always be like that. Christ wants us to respond appriotaly, not crucify outselves. 

The Journey 

Life is an epic journey. All great journeys have dramatic challenges in them. If they didn’t we’d all just die of boredom. We need challenges to feel alive; Christ fills up and equips us to meet these challenges – not to make them nonexistant. The presence of sin in the world is not going to go away until Christ’s establishes peace. We cannot condemn ourselves for life being filled with challenges, we need to use the strength of the Spirit to meet those challenges. We must strive to overcome them through prayer, study,  reliance on the Body of Christ and humility.  

 

 

Good On-Line Bible Reference

 Ever have a problem finding a specific scripture that you knew was there? Ever need to type a scripture into a flyer, letter or e-mail that was just sooo long that you wished you could copy and paste it? Well, here’s a great (free) On-Line Bible reference. It’s easy to search, has tons of different versions.