Oxymoron

Listening to a Christian radio station this morning I heard the DJ comment that we disobey God “millions of times, maybe even many millions of times.” Then he reassured his listeners that God forgives us and it’s okay. We just need to embrace that forgiveness.

Am I the only one that has a problem with that thinking?

I’m a father of two teenagers. My wife and I have worked hard to teach and train them self-discipline, politeness, compassion, respect, morality, and above all - obedience. Obedience to their parents but most importantly, obedience to God. I would be shocked if one day my teenager just decided to disobey me when I asked him or her to do something.

Of course, it took discipline to raise our children as any good parent knows. We spanked when they were toddlers (necessary maybe once or twice) because we love them (Proverbs 13:24). We used the word “No” often when what they desired was not beneficial to them. Over time, they learned obedience, continued to be a blessing to our family, and the discipline became much easier, almost unnecessary.

The Bible teaches that the Lord disciplines those he loves too (Proverbs 3:11,12; Hebrews 12:6-13). I don’t think we recognize God’s discipline very often. It comes in many forms and it’s different for different people. However, the goal of the Lord’s discipline is teach respect and obedience.

Once that foundation of obedience is built, anything is possible (Matthew 19:26)!

My children have learned to obey out of love and respect, not out of fear or coercion. Likewise, as Christians we strive to please and obey our heavenly Father not because we must, but because we love Him. Loving Him means we conform more and more to the person He desires us to be. This ultimately results in living a life pleasing to him, or in other words, obeying him.

A Christian “disobeying God millions of times” is certainly an oxymoron. A Christian is one who has “denied themselves, taken up their cross, and followed Jesus” (Luke 9:23). They produce the fruit of the Spirit, having crucified their own fleshly passions and desires(Galatians 5:22,23).

Paul said it quite clearly in Romans 6 when he said, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!!...” He recognized that God offers forgiveness and He cleans up our lives, but he also recognizes some would use this as an excuse for living in sin and disobedience.

Jesus didn’t die on a cross to give us license to continue living lives of disobedience. He died to make us brand new without sin or blemish! When baptized we become new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17), filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and saved from punishment (1 Peter 3:21). After all God has done for us, let us live lives of obedience, not because we must, but because we are grateful and desire to please Him!

God Speaks through our Accidents

Have you ever been in or had an accident? Perhaps a car, airplane, or train accident? Or maybe a physical accident from sports, work, or a hobby? An accident is an unfortunate, unsettling event that cannot be planned. Your blood rushes as your mind swirls in anxious confusion.

Depending on the severity of the accident, it can also be life changing. Not just your life, but the lives of many others involved either directly or relationally. It can leave long-lasting scars in more ways than one.

The cost of an accident must be borne financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Financially because there are usually repairs involved. Emotionally because it shakes us to the core testing our mental integrity and stability. And spiritually, because regardless of what literally happened, thoughts arise of what could have happened, and this brings questions to the surface about life, death, and eternity.

Common Results of an Accident 

1. A sense of losing control - Honestly, the world would have us believe we have total control. Truth is humans have very little control. We appear to control our environment, but a simple thunderstorm or a worse natural disaster quickly dispels that illusion. Plans and schedules are altered more often than we admit. Illness, weather, and other people all tend to take away our control.
2. An unplanned event - No one plans for an accident. Ever if you wanted to plan for it, you can't because there's no calendar nor schedule to check. It doesn't make a reservation or an appointment, it just barges right in without knocking.
3. It forces us to stop - Everything else takes a back seat to an accident. It demands our immediate attention. An accident jolts us out of routine. It demands priority. We must deal with it immediately and put aside all else on our agenda.
4. It causes evaluation - An accident is normally a setback, forcing us to stop and process our current state of being. Where are we? What's important? Who is important?

Is there anything redeeming about an accident? Yes, I believe there are lessons to be found in an accident. It's a wake-up call to a complaisant results-oriented fast-paced society we live in today.

How God speaks through our accidents

1. God is in Control Not Us - Ultimately, God is in control of our world, and our lives. Solomon write in Proverbs 16:9, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps."  Not only is He in control, but he has our best interests at heart. He's a good and loving father.

2. Live in The Moment - "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14 Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." insinuating that we need to live every day, even every moment to its fullest. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

3. Take Time to Rest - Jesus had the habit of taking a break from the crowds and teaching to rest and recharge himself physically and spiritually. Of course, we have the command from the Old Testament to take a Sabbath day each work too. God set the example of resting in that after he created the world, He took a day off. Should we do no less?! Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God..."

4. Evaluate Your Life - When taking that daily or weekly rest, it is a good time to stop, think, and evaluate where we are. Are we walking in the Word? How's our prayer life? Are we a good spouse or a good parent? What changes should we make in our lives?

Pray you never have to experience an accident. But if you do, know that God may be using this experience like a megaphone to speak into your life exactly what you need to hear.

AND THEN - CIY MOVE 2017

CIY Move 2017 is an intense, high-energy, hyper-drive week of heart-pounding music, challenging messages, complete with first-class dining all for High School students! There's a video of our experience below if you want to see the intensity of the week. While the packaging for CIY Move is created specifically for High School students, the Biblical message is timeless. It's worth sharing with everyone.

The overall theme of the week was "And then..." CIY used the symbols & [ ] and the story of Simon Peter to teach this concept. It lent to the idea that our stories continue on. Our choices are never final. God is always there to pick us up, clean us up, and move us forward in our spiritual journeys. There will always be an "and then..." Here's how it was incorporated in the day by day themes.

Follow

DAY 1 - FOLLOW -  Students were invited to follow Jesus Christ just as Peter did in the Bible. Peter was a fisherman when Jesus simply called out to him, "follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Peter dropped his nets and followed. And then...

See

DAY 2 -  SEE - Students were invited to see Jesus despite all the distractions in this life. Peter was distracted by the wind and waves as he walked on the water towards Jesus. This night, students were invited to drop a rock in a container located in front of the stage indicating a first-time decision to follow Jesus Christ. As each rock was dropped, the 900+ crowd exploded with yells and cheers. Many of our own group said this was the most powerful time of the week. And then...

Fail

DAY 3 - FAIL - Peter denied Jesus prior to him going to the cross for our sins. Yet after the resurrection, Jesus reinstated him as an apostle and forgave him. Students were encouraged to take their failings and sins to the cross of Jesus knowing that everyone fails. And then...

Trust

DAY 4 - TRUST - Peter learned to trust Jesus even though he had messed up. Day 4 focused on the resurrected Christ and the celebration that Jesus conquered sin and death. "It is finished" rang true to the students as they were encouraged to live for Jesus and see amazing things happen through their lives. And then...

Repeat

DAY 5 - REPEAT - Peter went on to be a witness for Jesus by preaching, teaching, and sharing his faith. Students were encouraged to take the gospel message with them where ever they go. They were also challenged to become a "Kingdom Worker" by taking a small sealed envelope with a card inside describing a Bible-based activity that they would need to complete in the coming year. All of our students took a card!

CIY MOVE

Yearly Christian Music Festival held in our Back Yard

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot at Big Ticket Festival

The Big Ticket Music Festival is this week and my family and I plan to attend. We've attended every year except one of this Christian music event in nearby Gaylord, Michigan. It's an amazing 4 days of non-stop Christian music from artists all over the world. In the past 11 years some of the bands we've seen are: Newsboys, Tobymac, Third Day, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, David Crowder, Jeremy Camp, Switchfoot, NeedtoBreathe, and countless others.

The Big Ticket Festival is a part of Northern Michigan. The first year it started I remember Drew Spanding coming to visit at the Kalkaska Church of Christ. He just chatted with a couple of us staff members and left off some posters. He wasn't sure if a full-blown Christian music festival would fly in Northern Michigan or not, but he wanted to give it a shot. I recall asking him about how he would choose which bands to invite and how much they cost. He said it was more about their touring schedules than the cost. If they were in the area (Michigan), they would love to come up for the festival. If they were out West, you probably couldn't book them no matter how much you offered.

Listing to positive, encouraging Christian music for 3 or 4 days is very uplifting. It's quite the contrast from what the world feeds us on a daily basis. The verse that comes to my mind is: Philippians 4:8 "Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

It is so important we as Christians fill out minds with pure, lovely, and true things. We do a good job protecting our children from the filth in the world, but what about our own selves? We need to continually dwell on good things, excellent things.

By the time you read this I'll be kicking back listening to some Mac Powell of Third Day under a beautiful Northern Michigan sky. I plan on filling my spirit with some noble, true, and praiseworthy lyrics for the next four days.

You Must Choose

Choosing a paint color

There's a book on my shelf called "The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less" by phycologist Barry Schwartz. The author sets out to explore the problem of the abundance of choices available to most Americans today. It seems that while most people would think more choices are better, the research indicates that an overabundance of choices can actually be crippling and lead to depression and feelings of loneliness. Pretty heavy, huh? I bet you didn't realize that just choosing which toilet paper to buy could be the source of your sadness!

When we think of choice in terms of scripture, it's refreshing to see that basically, mankind is given just two basic choices.

God told his people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, that they had only two choices:

 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." - Deuteronomy 30:19

 That was it! Choose either life or choose death. Life would lead to blessings; death would lead to curses. Your choice!

Even in the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had two choices. They could choose to either eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or not eat the fruit. It was simple. And sadly, "They chose poorly."

Fast forward to today. Again, the number of choices are simply two. How, you ask? The Bible says,

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them." - John 3:36

To believe is simply "trust" combined with action

Did you catch it? Either we believe or we reject the Son (Jesus). That's it! You don't have to compare plans. You don't have to call for a quote. You don't have to read the label. Just believe or reject! Simple!

Anyone, not just one nation, but anyone, who believes in Jesus is welcome to receive eternal life with God the Father. Of course this is where to amazing gospel story comes into play, but rest assured, the work has already been done!

What exactly does "believing in Jesus" look like? You could use the word "trust" in place of "believe" and that might make it clearer.

For example, if you take a plane somewhere, you trust the person piloting the aircraft has been fully trained to fly the plane. And you trust they are taking you where they say they will. You also trust they'll leave and arrive when they say they will. In essence, you BELIEVE in the pilot. Taking it one step further, you also BELIEVE in the company that pilot flies for. Unless, of course, they make you leave the plane...then your belief may be shaken!

But Jesus is faithful! He's fully capable to save us from our sins (1 John 2:2). He promises to take us one day to a place he has gone to prepare for us (John 14:1-6). And He has drawn up a timeline already (Matthew 24:36-39)!

The other side of the coin is death. Why? Because God's wrath - His punishment for rejecting his son - is what we all deserve. If you dare, read 1st and 2nd Kings in the Old Testament to see God's wrath upon those who refused to obey God. It's not pretty. In fact, it's seriously R-rated!

You must choose! I pray you chose the Son! It's the best choice among just two choices! 

Walking through the Valley

Prior to my father passing away from a lengthy battle with pain and internal bleeding from an aortic aneurism, God put this verse in my path:

"Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me."

After a restless night, I woke up in the morning with the desire to watch to an sermon online. It was Sunday morning, but I couldn't bring myself to go to church right now. There were too many unanswered questions. I couldn't hold it together surrounded by my spiritual family. They cared too deeply. So, I turned on the computer and began to seek who to listen to. There were many to chose from, but for some reason I chose Rick Warren of Saddleback church. I don't usually listen to Rick although I enjoy his teaching.

I pulled up Saddleback and found a worship service from the week before. I thought I might find something live, but it didn't matter. The service began with announcements. The host said, "This morning we are going to recognize and appreciate all those people who work in the health care field." Wow, I thought. Those are the very people I feel so indebted to right now. And I've never seen a church service recognize them.

A couple worship songs and then Rick began to speak. He said we're in a sermon series taken from the 23rd Psalm. Huh, that's a chapter in the Bible I might read to someone in the hospital to comfort them. Maybe this was from God for me today?

Tim with Bill during one of three stays at Munson Hospital

Rick continued by saying we're looking at verse 4 today, "Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me." Tears swelled up in my eyes as I thought of my father and the chance of losing him.

The message was that a shadow is nothing to fear. "Have you ever been run over by the shadow of a truck?" It didn't hurt, did it? It was harmless. The shadow of death cannot hurt us, if we are Christians. Don't fear the shadow. In fact, if you see a shadow, that indicates something else-there is a light! Shadows don't exist without a light! Rick said, look to the light. Jesus is the light.

This is a valley most of us will walk through. Ether with a friend or a loved one, we'll be faced with this deep, dark, lonely valley. It comes upon us quickly without warning nor time for preparation. Words like "hospice" and "palliative care" are spoken in hushed tones.  The tears come in waves unexpectedly as the reality of a loved ones absence set is.

We can take comfort knowing the following:

1. The valley is temporary.
2. The shadow is harmless.
3. The shadow indicates the presence of light.
4. Look to the light! He is with you. 

The Bible: Rated R for Strong Adult Content

The Brick Bible - Not for Children

More and more people are picking a Bible plan and joining the social media timeline on the Youversion Bible app. After creating a free account, you can "friend request" other people and connect your activities with theirs. Share highlights, notes, Bible plans, verse images, and more all within the app.

Those of you who grew up going to Sunday school as a child have heard many of the amazing accounts from the Bible - stories of Adam & Eve, Noah, David, and Jonah. What you probably didn't realize as a child is that those stories were censored to some degree for little ears to hear. 

For example, we heard how God told Noah to build a big boat, collect 2 of every animal, and then cruise high on the water while it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and then there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky.

The Story of Noah?

We probably didn't hear about the criticism Noah endured for 100 years nor about the millions of people slowly drowning as the waters rose. We probably also didn't hear about Noah getting drunk after exiting the ark nor the untold act Ham did to his father while he was passed out!

So, a word of warning for new Bible readers...it's unfiltered and director's cut material! Teens take pride in saying "I can handle that" when faced with adult material. If you are new to reading the Bible, you may be surprised and even shocked when you see what it contains.

What some examples?

• Strong sexual content: Genesis 34
• Graphic violence: 1 Samuel 17
• Genocide: Genesis 19; Matthew 2; Exodus 1-2
• Drinking:: Genesis 9
• Divination & witchcraft: 1 Samuel 28

Graphic Violence was for mankind!

As you read the Bible, you will encounter stories that make you scratch your head, stories that will make you blush, and stories that will enrage you. You will read about people who fail, sin, and flat out mess up their lives.

Why didn't God clean up the Bible before He gave it to us? Because God tells it like it is. "In this world you will have trouble" is not a footnote but a promise. If the Bible were honestly made into a movie including the details given, it would have to be rated R. God isn't blind to man's sinfulness. And it's not something new. Sin has plagued man since the Garden of Eden. God is well aware man sins and that he is in need of a Savior.

What does this say to us today? No matter your sin, no matter your mistakes, no matter what evil you have experienced, God can handle it. God is grown up enough to take your sin, forgive it, and make you new. After David's sin with Bathsheba, he wrote, "wash me and make me white as snow."

So, it's good that children hear Bible stores in Sunday school. But the Bible is chock full of stories for adults dealing with adult issues, adult situations, and adult solutions. Read it again as an adult. Witness His-story as you never have before!