Whether You Feel It or Not

Today was the day we decided to tear the stage at church and get rid of all the Christmas decorations.  It’s one of those things that you know needs to be done, but you would rather do just about anything else.  There’s a whole lot more excitement to decorating for Christmas than putting it all away.  Thankfully, it’s all done!

After taking the Christmas decorations away, I was setting up the stage for rehearsal tonight and services on Sunday.  I was flipping through my Amazon library and ran across Matt Maher’s All The People Said Amen album.  I hit play and started moving things on the stage.

During the song Your Grace is Enough, Matt Maher shared briefly about why he wrote the song.  I had listened to it before, but thought it was so powerful as I heard it again:

“I wrote that ’cause I was going through a difficult time and I needed to be reminded that despite what was going on in my heart, those words in Scripture are true, whether you feel them or not, that God’s grace is sufficient.”

What a great thought and reminder: God’s grace is sufficient, whether I feel it or not. Sometimes we let how we feel determine what we believe to be true.  Instead, we should allow the truth of God’s Word and who He is (and who He says we are) to guide our feelings.

Appreciated that reminder today and hope you do, too.  Thanks Matt!

For the Love by Jen Hatmaker

When I was looking around the Book Look Bloggers website for a book to read, I came across For the Love. I recognized the name Jen Hatmaker, but don’t remember reading anything by her in the past or hearing her speak. As I trolled around the social media world, I saw a lot of people posting and tweeting about the release of her new book. Some of them were authors I had read before or speakers I enjoyed, so I was drawn to it by their recommendations.

I had hesitated at first because it was a female author and thought it might be geared for the female population. Then I remembered my same hesitation in reading Michele Cushatt’s book Undone. I ended up reading it and enjoying it, so I thought I would check out For the Love.

I got through the introduction and right away I noticed Hatmaker’s sense of humor, so I thought it was a good pick. Then, as I’m reading through the first chapter, I come upon this phrase: “Here is part of the problem, girls: we’ve been sold a bill of goods.” So, at that point, I made the brilliant observation that this particular book was directed toward women.

That being said, I think the message is helpful for any reader. The tag line of the book says “fighting for grace in a world of impossible standards.” I’m pretty sure that all followers of Jesus have experienced that and Hatmaker spells out how that struggle plays out in how we see ourselves, as well as in our home, our neighborhood and even in the church.

Right before I realized this book was geared for ladies, I read Hatmaker’s observation that because we don’t accept God’s grace for ourselves, we have a hard time showing that grace to others. The self-critical become others-critical. If we don’t see ourselves as good enough, we won’t see others that way either.

So, for any females, who might read this post, you should check out For the Love. Hatmaker points to that fact that Jesus came to set us free. We all could benefit by living out of that freedom.

Vanishing Grace by Philip Yancey

It’s been a few years since I’ve read a Philip Yancey book. Reading Vanishing Grace reminded me why I appreciate him as a writer. He is an intelligent, yet humble author. It is obvious throughout the book that he has spent a great deal of time in research. He quotes a number of different writers and speakers that span a variety of academic disciplines and faith backgrounds.

Reading his past works makes it clear that Yancey is a follower of Jesus and in this offering he discusses how the modern church is doing representing Jesus to the rest of culture. In the final chapter of the book, he writes this, “I care about vanishing grace, the erosion of a gospel that, for many, sounds less and less like good news.” While it is clear that he comes from a specific point of view regarding Christianity, he doesn’t allow that to blind him as he explores the topic. In one chapter of the book, he shares about an experience attending a New Age seminar and listening to a well-known speaker in that arena. Yancey took that as an opportunity to not judge the beliefs of those attending the seminar, but rather to seek to understand.

In one candid moment in the book, Yancey shares a bit of guilt he feels as he sits in an office wrestling with words for books while there are others who are serving on the front lines. While he sees the value in what he does as an author, he maintains a humble perspective on his role.

Vanishing Grace seeks to address how the church can continue to live out the good news to those in our culture. He references a list of complaints about Christians in the magazine Christianity Today: Christians are seen as those who don’t listen, who judge, whose faith confuses people and who talk about what is wrong instead of making it right. Yancey shares stories of those who are doing a good job engaging culture and modelling the good news while also identifying where the church is falling short.

In the book he talks about three different roles Christians can play – as pilgrims (those who live authentically), as activists (those seeking to address various social issues), as artists (using art and creativity to share the good news). Near the end of the book Yancey writes this: “Pilgrim, activist, artist – whatever our calling, we join together to proclaim the good news that God has commissioned us to announce to the world.”

Vanishing Grace was a though provoking book and challenges those in the church to take a look at how we represent the good news to our culture.

Junior High Retreat 2014

Last weekend we took our junior high students to the annual Middle School Retreat held at our church camp Butler Springs. We had a good weekend playing some pretty messy games, hanging out, singing together, listening to some good messages and just having a good time.

The leaders of the weekend did a good job unpacking the theme Messy Spirituality.  We started the weekend by admitting that we are all a mess – we all have our shortcomings, we all fail, we all mess up. The good news is this:  Jesus knows that and He gets in the mess with us and helps us clean up and move forward.

There were two phrases that they used during the weekend that I thought were helpful for our students.  The first was this:  “Say ‘Yes’ until you can’t.”  The idea behind that phrase was to encourage the students (and adults) to simply try.  Whatever task or challenge that was presented, we should say “yes” until we couldn’t anymore.  Rather than decline an invitation because we didn’t know if we could handle it or accomplish it, we should simply say “yes” and give it a try.

The second phrase made sense to Star Wars fans.  It was this:  Yoda was wrong.  In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda has a conversation with Luke Skywalker.  Luke is faced with a challenge and tells Yoda, “I’ll give it a try.”  Yoda says, “No. Try not. Do…or do not. There is no try.”  The invitation in following Jesus is to try, to trust in His power to help us when we need it and to depend on His grace when we mess up.  The invitation to follow Jesus is to be faithful, not to be perfect.

It was a good retreat and gave our leaders and students a chance to spend time together outside of our regular student ministry programs.  I’m grateful for our leaders and the time they invest in our students.

Here’s a short video with some pics from the weekend.  Special thanks to Dale for putting it together.

Jesus is ______________

Along with a cool title (and a cool book cover), Judah Smith’s latest book was a good read. While I don’t think he really said anything brand new, he does write about Jesus in a fresh way to remind us of not only of who Jesus is, but how He looks at us. I appreciated Smith’s transparency about his life and ministry, his humor throughout the book and the way he presents Jesus.

One of more compelling quotes from the book was this one: “If you want to know what God thinks of you, or what God would say about your sin, or how God would respond it he were face-to-face with you, just look at Jesus, and you’ll know.”

Judah Smith’s church launched the “Jesus is                       ” campaign in Seattle to get Jesus on the minds of people in the city.  In this book, Smith offers a look at Jesus that is far from what people might think about Him.  In one chapter he shares how Jesus is Grace.  Some people (especially church people) don’t want to go too crazy on the grace angle because people might start sinning.  I really like what Smith wrote next and it depicts his humor pretty well:  “News flash: they are already sinning.  People don’t need grace to sin.  They need grace to deal with the sin they already have.”  Jesus is not surprised or shocked by our sin; that’s why He came.

Smith gives us a picture of Jesus who knows us deeply, knows all about our sin and humanity, yet still invites us to relationship with Him.  He even loves us.  In the book, Smith shows Jesus as Friend, as Grace, as The Point, as Here and as Happy.

It is a good read for an individual seeking to know who Jesus is and for the person who is a follower of Jesus.  The book would also make a good study for a small group to really dig into the passages Smith presents to talk about who Jesus is.  If you get a chance, grab a copy of Jesus is                        .

(I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own)

90 Day Challenge – Week 8

Today is Day 57 and the start of week #9 in our 90 Day Challenge! I hope you are encouraged by the time you are spending with God in His Word.

Yesterday we finished the book of Galatians and were reminded that Jesus is all we need!  There were some people around the Galatian church who were trying to add to what Jesus did for us through His death on the cross.  They were saying you had to accept Jesus and follow the Old Testament Law.  Paul said Jesus was enough.  His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave satisfied our need for a Savior. In Galatians 2:20-21 he writes,

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

What Jesus did is enough to save us.  We don’t need to keep the Old Testament Law to be made right with God.  Everything we do should in gratitude for what Jesus did, not our effort to try to gain His approval.

Keep up the good work of the 90 Day Challenge. Remember that our goal is to develop the habit of spending time with God.  If you are right on track, behind or even ahead of schedule, keep opening His Word and listen to what He has to say.

90 Day Challenge – Week 6

We are continuing in our 90 Day Challenge and getting so very close to the halfway point. If you are on track with the challenge, this Wednesday will mark Day 45 – the midpoint of our 90 Day challenge. If you are not on track, don’t despair. Don’t give up. Don’t wave the white flag. Don’t throw your hands in the air in sheer frustration. Pick up wherever you are and continue on. Please remember – the goal is not to finish the challenge on April 6. The primary purpose of the 90 Day Challenge is to help us develop the habit of spending time with God in His Word. Most habits don’t come easily, especially when we have an enemy who wants to keep us from spending time in God’s Word. So, keep at it. Don’t give up. Press on!

This week is taking us through the book of Romans.  Martin Luther referred to this book as the Masterpiece of Scripture.  It can be challenging at times to follow what Paul is saying, but there are so many great truths in the book.  If you need to, take some time to re-read the verses and seek to understand what Paul is saying.

Keep up the good work of going through the 90 Day Challenge.  God speaks to us through His Word.

A Worship Leader’s Perspective

For the last couple of years, I have had the opportunity to lead worship at our Sunday morning services.  Being on the stage almost every Sunday gives a unique perspective that most church attenders don’t have.  I see when people are moved by what’s happening in the service, when people appear bored and even when people are texting or talking during the service.

This past Sunday as we were moving toward our time of communion, we used the song Jesus Messiah.  While our church family isn’t overly expressive in our worship (compared to other places I’ve been), I saw many of our people respond in a worshipful way during the song.  Some simply raised their hands.  Others stood.  Some did both.  Some smiled as they sang.  Others closed their eyes.

As I looked around our auditorium, I was struck by the fact that God loves and uses all different types of people. I know gathered that morning were sinful, broken, wounded people who were expressing their thanks that Jesus is our ransom, our redeemer, our rescue.  It wasn’t because the praise team was so good.  It was the power of the truth of that song.  It reminded me that God loves me in all my shortcomings and allows me and others into His presence.

Conviction vs. Condemnation

I was listening to a podcast yesterday from National Community Church in DC.  Mark Batterson was speaking on Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..”

He made an excellent distinction between conviction and condemnation in regards to our sin.  When we sin, one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of our sin, which should lead to confession and then forgiveness. Conviction is a good thing as it brings us to the place of coming to God so He can take away our sin.

Condemnation occurs when we have confessed sin, but still carry the guilt for it.  Satan will remind us of our sin and will attempt to weigh us down with guilt that we shouldn’t carry.  Once we have been convicted of our sin, turned to God to forgive us, He doesn’t condemn us.  That’s the point of Romans 8:1. Once Jesus has forgiven us, we are no longer condemned.

Batterson had a simple equation he used.  Sin – Grace = Guilt.  Sin + Grace = Gratitude.  Thought that was a good reminder.

Good Enough to Get into Heaven?

If you go to church most Sundays out of the year, does that get you in?  If you give money each month to the church, is that enough?  If you don’t cuss (too much) or are nice to people who aren’t nice to you, does that do it?  How good is good enough?

That’s the question that Andy Stanley wrestles to the ground in this book.  It seems the majority of people accept the premise that God will let good people into heaven, but how do you know if you are good or even good enough?

In one chapter Stanley shares an encounter he had with the lady who owned the dry cleaner near his apartment.  He relates one conversation they had that got around to what happens to people after they die.  The woman said she knew she would go to heaven.  Stanley asked how she knew.  She said because she kept the Ten Commandments. He asked if she knew the commandments.  She didn’t  He asked if she knew where to find them  She didn’t.  But she was certain she had kept them and so was good to go.

The problem that Stanley points out is that while it seems a lot of people accept the “good people go” theory, there is no way to determine what good enough is.  In fact, scripture doesn’t even support this notion.

After spending considerable time debunking this myth, Stanley made this point: good people don’t get into heaven; forgiven people get into heaven.  The reason Jesus came was to extend grace and forgiveness because left to ourselves, we can’t be good enough.  Rather than putting our eternity into our efforts to be good, we place our trust in the One who can forgive.

How Good is Good Enough? is a good book for those who wish to communicate clearly to others the reason for Jesus’ death on the cross.  It is also a good resource for those searching for the truth of how they can be certain of where they will spend eternity.  Stanley is an excellent communicator and demonstrates that in this book.