Great Gain (Daily Reflections on 1 Tim. 6:6-10)

I hadn't been out of college too long when I begin to realize that their was a real world out there. I had left home two weeks after graduating from High School and had been on my own basically since that time. But I had still been really protected from the pull of world. I had already discovered that "paid ministry" wasn't all that lucrative as a profession. My first full time ministry paid less than my part time milk route and dock experience at a local dairy where I worked during my college years. My friends who had also recently graduated with business degrees were in starting jobs that paid three to four times what my first ministry job paid. I've noticed that most of those professional jobs still pay about three times ministry.

After leaving my first ministry, I was trying to enroll in a clinical psych program at a major university. While I was waiting to get into the program, I went to work for a retail chain. I quickly moved up the ranks when they discovered that I had a college degree. It wasn't long before I found myself in management. A few short successful months in that position of getting three out of my four assigned departments out of the red, that I was suddenly being groomed for executive training within the company. 

When the top company execs showed up one day to talk with me, I suddenly realized that this was a crucial moment in my life. All my friends that I grew up with were already doing well financially and now I had a chance. Yet, something kept haunting me. It was my call to ministry. I knew if I took the position being offered me, it was off to a different life that would center around me. But my calling was to a life centered around serving others.

The world is constantly beckoning us to chase after it's goods. It flashes it's glitter and shiny things at us, tempting us to grab onto its empty promises. Things, stuff, material possessions are alluring. And to be honest, there is nothing inherently wrong with having wealth. It's the pursuit that's the problem. In this text, 1 Timothy 6, the Apostle Paul talks about how the love of money is the root of all evil. He says it leads to destruction and people to ruin. Chasing after the accumulation of wealth is a trap. And many people have fallen into the trap thinking that this will lead to happiness and end all our problems.

Paul encourages us to pursue godliness and contentment in God if we want to find great gain. All the things in this world that we could accumulate have to stay here on this planet when we die. It's impossible to take stuff with us. It's just stuff and the only place it has value are to people here. But the things of true value, lasting value, lie beyond this place. That's why Jesus tells us to lay up our treasure in heaven where thieves can steal it or things depreciate or decay or can and will be destroyed. 

Why do we kill ourselves trying to get stuff? This consumeristic world we live in seems get more and more rabid. The more stuff we try to consume stuff, the more we get consumed by it. 

I almost fell into the trap. I came close, but I walked away. I knew it wasn't the financial reward that I really wanted. I just wanted my life to be used fully of God to carry out His mission in the world. For some, accepting that job might be exactly what God wanted them to do. God uses people in all positions of life. But I knew for me, I was having to face building my life around me and chasing after material things or giving my life completely over to God and finding my contentment in Him.

God, the allure of the world is very strong, especially in our culture. Get, get, get seems to be the order of the day. Somehow the world convinces us that having stuff gives us personal value. God, I'm still trying to find my contentment and value only in you. I want the great gain that can only be found by pursuing you. Keep me on the path that leads to you.

Seek First (Daily Reflections on Mt. 6:19-34)

The New Year is a natural time for reflection. It's a perfect time do a quick check on our current status and general direction and tweak our path or practices or habits or diet or financial investments. Each year in January the health clubs get an overflow of new membership signees. Yet studies show us that many of those eager enthusiasts lose heart and drop out of sight within six weeks. Staying focused on our newly established priorities often gets derailed by old habits and daily routines.

It's one thing to announce a new set of priorities or values or even direction. It's quite another thing to pull them off. Newton's Laws may have some impact on the personal patterns of our life. And perhaps the old cliche is right that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Or maybe the one that says, "Old habits die hard." (Sounds like the theme of a new Bruce Willis movie.)

As I was reading through the end of Matthew 6 again it began to occur to me that our vision might have something to do with the inability to get to where we need to go with our life or to become what God would want for our life. In this section of Sermon on the Mount, Jesus starts addressing the base issue. He talks about where we store up our treasure. We can either store up treasure on earthly things or we can store up our treasure on heavenly things. Vision. Where are we looking? What has the greatest appeal to us? What pulls us in for a second look and third look and captures our focus?

In Tolkien's, Lord of the Rings, Smeagol becomes so enamored by the Ring of Power that it consumes his life and transforms him to the hideous life of the creature Gollum. He refers to the rings as, "My Precious." In his own words, "he has to have it." Gollum can no longer see anything else. In the end it destroys him.

Jesus urges us not to store up our treasures on the corruptible things of this earth. He commands us to change our focus to heavenly things, things of His Kingdom which is incorruptible and eternal. He urges us to set our sites not on wealth and materialism and power and position and things that the world considers of great value. Because, what you set your vision on, you will pursue and it will consume you.

And what's interesting is that Jesus goes on in Matthew 6 to talk about the eyes. He says the eyes are the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, he says, then your body will be healthy. If your eyes are unhealthy, then your body will be full of darkness. He's not talking about pink eye or cataracts or glaucoma here. He's talking about our vision, what we set our eyes on. What we set our focus on is what we will become or what will eventually consume us. Focus on the things of this world and in the end we will be consumed by them.

And ironically, Jesus' next twist takes a direct stab at our desire for riches, wealth, money, mammon, personal gain or whatever other word you want to insert there that draws our focus away from heavenly things. He proclaims that it's impossible to serve two masters. And without beating around the bush just comes out and says, "You cannot serve God and money."

It goes back to the eyes and vision and focus and motivation and priorities and the distractions of old habits and daily routines. When we set our eyes on the things of this world, our focus moves off of God and His Kingdom and heavenly things and then our life falls back to ultimate destructive forces. Nobody sets down to gain 40, 50, 60, 100 pounds after finishing high school or college or after getting married or having a baby. Somehow it just grows on us. Nobody after getting married sets out to see if they can ruin their relationship. Nobody tries to purposely overextend themselves financially when the get that job. Yet over time it happens. It's about our eyes!

That's why Jesus tells us not to focus on material, worldly stuff. Is there anything inherently wrong with houses or cars or boats or cell phones or tablets or clothes or having a portfolio? Absolutely not. It's the focus on getting, having, accumulating stuff that pulls us downward and corrupts our lives.  

Jesus says, don't worry about stuff. Do not preoccupy yourself with material goods or gain. Focus on Him not climbing the corporate ladder or adding tallies to your life. Focus on "seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness." God knows what you need. He will meet your needs.

Some of the biggest issues people bring to me or complain about or struggle with are finances, stress and time. And usually the stress has to do with time and/or finances. And time because they are involved in four hundred million things or have their kids in those activities so that some day they can get ahead and have things. And often finances are wrapped in those things too. Of course many time finances are an issue because people haven't managed their resources well because they had to have stuff.

It's no wonder our world fills up with darkness, our hearts fill up with darkness, our lives fill up with darkness and stress and heartache and burdens and those feelings of being overwhelmed overwhelm us. It's the eyes. It's our vision. It's our focus. Seek first HIS Kingdom and HIS righteousness.

God, help me to keep my eyes only on you. You direct me my path, my life, my heart, my thoughts, my finances. I want to be full of light. I don't want those dark feeling to overwhelm me. 

Making Fun of God, Really? (Daily Reflections on 2 Chronicles 30:1-14)

There is nothing more exciting for me than to watch someone come alive with enthusiasm for God and a relationship with him. I especially see this with new converts who have suddenly discovered the love, grace and forgiveness of God. There is a freshness to their new found passion, a fire within their souls that is captivating and contagious. That's why I love hanging out with new believers. They haven't learned to tone it down yet and live mundane lives like many long term believers. These novice followers of Christ are eager to learn and apply their learning and truly hunger for God and His righteousness.

As I was reading about King Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 30 and 31, I felt his enthusiasm for God. Like a new follower of Christ, Hezekiah was eager for others to embrace his passion for God. He decided to make a big push for celebrating the Passover Feast the way God intended. Since it hadn't really been celebrated by the nation as a whole in recent years, he called together his leaders to get them on board with his idea of having the biggest feast possible and even inviting the kingdom of Israel to join them.

A spiritual renewal started in Jerusalem and Judah. They began tearing down the idols of foreign gods and tossing them in the Kidron Valley to be burned. Hezekiah sent runners throughout the land of Judah and Israel with the call to come to the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. But an interesting thing happened to the messengers. The Bible says that "many" people just laughed at the idea and made fun of the runners. Now I remind you that the Passover Feast was THE major feast/celebration that God had instructed the Israelites to follow. It is THE key reminder of how God brought them as a nation out of bondage from the most powerful nation on the planet at the time, Egypt. And these people were laughing and mocking the idea of coming back to God and worshipping him.

I could possibly understand someone not from the Israelite nation laughing and not understanding the invitation. But someone who is where they are because of the grace and power of God, that's a different story. It was their heritage. They would have still been living in slavery had not God intervened. Yet here they are making fun virtually of God and His passion for them.

Unfortunately, that attitude is way too prevalent today. I see plenty of people mocking God. They laugh at His calling and passion for them. They make fun of His followers or messengers. They don't just ignore His invitation to join in relationship with Him, they ridicule it and deride those offering the invitation. Wow, really? Mocking God's invitation to know Him deeper and celebrate life with Him, and for eternity? Is that wise? Those who do are eventually going to be in for a rude awakening.

To be honest, I watch people not just ignore God, but mock Him all the time by their behavior. They laugh off their life killing and aberrant behavior. They jokingly make fun of their own sinful lifestyles and continue to pursue the things that will lead to eternal death or separation from God. But I have also witnessed many older believers slough off young, exuberant believers with their new found passion for God and the things of God. They ridicule any potential for spiritual revival or expression of passion for God. They make fun of people who stretch their hands upward to God in celebration, praise or surrender. They downplay enthusiasm and a deep heartfelt pursuit of God.

As you continue reading 2 Chronicles 30 and 31, there were many people who did respond to the invitation to celebrate the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. And a true spiritual renewal took place when these people began to truly worship God. Lives were transformed. A renewed passion for God and the things of God broke out across both nations. People went home and got rid of the false idols in their communities and turned many back to God. Passion for God and deepened relationship with Him became the norm.

God, I am sorry for the way we mock and ridicule you as a nation or society. Our treatment of you is atrocious. Forgive me for any part I may have had in this obnoxious behavior. I want to pursue you with all my heart. I want my passion for you to rub off on the people around me. I want to see my neighborhood and community transformed as they discover you and your grace. I want to be like King Hezekiah who issued a call to return to God and started a revival among his own people.

Everybody Needs a Reset Button (Daily Reflections on Rom. 6)

Everybody loves a fresh start! It's so refreshing, so liberating to look at a brand new canvas. Everything is clean. No marks, no smudges, no history of past mistakes or reminders of days gone by clutter the page. It's clear sailing ahead for as long as you can see. Endless opportunity lies before you. Nothing inhibits or holds you back. There's a new optimism, a new energy as you approach this virgin venture.

Recently I had the fortune of winning an iPad in a drawing, for which I am extremely grateful. But I have found that my wife, my girls, my nieces like it a lot too. In fact, I'm not sure who has it the most. One of my daughters downloaded the game app, "Rush Hour." She got my wife hooked on the game who is normally repulsed by anything computer related or high tech in any way. My wife loves the game because it has this one little feature on it, "reset." She can make tons of moves, but when she gets stuck or exasperated, all she has to do is hit reset and the game clears out all the previous moves and you get start over. Since the object of the game is to clear a certain car from the traffic jam with the least number of moves, starting over relieves the pressure of past wrong moves and enhances the odds of winning the game with a low score.

Wouldn't it be great if life had a reset button? Whenever you messed something up all you to do was press reset and you could start over with no penalty. And better yet, you could screw up dozens of times, press reset every time and it would be like it was the first time you were facing your challenge. Man, I'd be using that button on a daily basis.

I got some good news for you. There is such a button. It's not like Staples' "That was easy" button. It's real! And it's not exactly a button, it's a person, Jesus Christ. And guess what, He offers it to us free.

I love the book of Romans for its clarity on this issue. No matter how good we think we are, we are never good enough to stand in the presence of God. Our hopes of Heaven went out the window with our first sin, screw up, misdeed, whatever you want to call it. Unfortunately, being good isn't good enough, because God's standard requires perfection. That means we are all up a creek without a paddle.

As Romans clearly states, as do other Bible passages, the only avenue for reconciliation with God, our only chance at heaven is through the gracious act of God. Jesus, God's Son and God Himself, paid the penalty for our sin. Now all we have to do is accept Jesus by faith and surrender our life to him. It's like hitting reset. My past is gone and a new life has begun.

Romans 6 talks about what happens after we hit the reset button. Paul describes what happens when we are baptized into Christ. He says that we die to our old life when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior; that we're buried in baptism and raised to new life in Christ. RESET!

But it doesn't stop there. In our new life in Christ we have something that helps us stay on the right path. There's another button on the Rush Hour game that my older daughter likes. It's the "hints" button. By pressing the hints button the game will make the next move for you. After you hit reset, you can keep hitting the hints button until the puzzle is solved guaranteeing you the lowest score possible. Now you can chose to keep trying to do the puzzle on your own, but it's very likely you will make another mistake and or have to start over again.

Same is true in our spiritual journey. God has provided the "hints" button through His Word and the Holy Spirit whom He puts within you when you become a Christ Follower. We can chose to use that power or we can chose to go it alone. Paul uses the terms that we can either make ourselves a slave to sin or we can walk in the power of God. Our quality of life is determined by our own actions or choice of path.

Paul says in verses 12-13, "Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God." In other words, don't put yourself in situations where sin can take over and control you life once again. If you play with fire you will get burned. Once again Paul's words in verse 16, "Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living."

He goes onto say in verse 22, "But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life." If we have both the "reset" and "hints" buttons, why do we continue to go through life doing the same old things that got us into trouble in the first place? Doesn't seem very bright to me. That's like hitting the reset button, solving the puzzle up to the very last move and then going back to make dumb moves on our own again. But it's you choice! If you screw up again, ignoring His hints, it's not His fault that your life is a mess! Paul concludes this chapter by saying that the wages of sin lead to death, but that the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!

God, first of all I want to say thank you for the reset button of grace that you offer us through Jesus. I'd be lost forever without it. I don't deserve it, but you freely offer it at a great cost to your Son. I also want to thank you for the hints button you give through you Holy Spirit and your Word. I don't know why I ignore those so many times. I'm just thankful for the fact that no matter the mess I get myself into, your hints can get me out and help me win the game! Keep me from presenting my body as an instrument of evil and keep me focused on following you!

My Wife, My Treasure (Daily Reflections on Proverbs 18:22)

I was a confirmed bachelor, or so I thought. I had dated a young lady for about five years for some of my high school and nearly all of my college years. I loved her family, but it became increasingly apparent that she and I could not be life partners. I felt too confined, restraining the essence of my personality. It was a difficult break up. Although I've never been divorced, I think I have a pretty good idea what it must be like.

After that experience, I was convinced that I would be like the Apostle Paul and remain unmarried. Being single gave me more time and focus on ministry. Sure there were several churches that wouldn't give a young single pastor a chance, but I knew God would open doors for me since I had answered His calling. Besides, I enjoyed dating various young ladies and as an eligible, young, athletic bachelor, finding a date was not difficult. In fact, I wondered if I would be able to make a life long commitment to any single person. I had even announced to my younger sister that I didn't think that I would ever marry.

That was before she walked through my door, literally. I was cleaning my apartment when a knock at the door introduced me to my now wife. She had come to meet me at the insistence of her best friend and one of my youth sponsors. Somehow I knew that day that she was destined to be my wife, although it was over a period of months that our relationship developed. That knock has changed my life.

Prov. 18:22 says that a man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the Lord. I must say that my wife is certainly a treasure. I feel lucky to have someone as loving, patient, dutiful, industrious, accepting, gorgeous as she. She is a light to me, my encouragement, my confidence, my lover. Right now in this season of life, she is my comfort, sustainer, my friend, my everything. I cannot imagine life without her.

Not everything has gone smoothly in our relationship throughout our years together. We've definitely had our share difficulties and tense moments. But our commitment to one another has helped us persevere through those struggles. I am not perfect and neither is my lovely wife. Had we given up on each other in earlier years, we would have missed out on the joy we experience today. I have learned that my wife is a treasure whether we're into it or not, whether she's on her own agenda or we're focused together, whether she's attentive to my needs or flat out ignoring me (okay, sometimes I need ignoring). She's worth fighting for and I should always treasure her, protect her, care for her, celebrate her, encourage her, esteem her, love her, and pray for her. She's God's favor on my life.

God, thanks for giving me my wife. She's more than I could have imagined. I certainly do feel blessed. Lord, she is worth fighting for. I know that I'm not the perfect husband by any stretch of the imagination. I need your wisdom, your grace, your guidance in holding up my beautiful wife. I'm selfish sometimes and irritable and irritating and downright unpleasant to be around. I need you to help me be the kind of husband my wife needs each day, to be sensitive to her needs and to act on those insights in the proper way. Help me to treasure my treasure.

Let's Stop Planting Churches and Start Planting The Gospel (Acts 18-19)

I grew up "going to church." My dad was a preacher so I didn't really have much of a choice. It was a way of life. Our family life was intertwined with the lives of the "church folk" and for the most part I enjoyed the relationships and bonds we formed with those people. We moved about every four years or so which increased the flow of lives in and out of ours.

Church was our social circle. We did everything with friends and families from our church. We had meals together. Picnicked together. Hung out together. Went to ball games together. Virtually everything we did was in and around church activities or church friends.

Since I grew up in the church culture, I adopted the values of that culture. It shaped my thoughts, attitudes and even schedule. I was an adult before I ever saw "The Wizard of Oz," because it always came on a Sunday night during evening service. I never really understood what non-church goers thought, did or why they didn't go to church. I felt very comfortable only associating with my church folk. It was almost as if those "pagan" people might infect me with a horrible disease if I spent any time with them. I would get some sort of spiritual leprosy and become an outcast in my own community. After all, the Great Commission was about sending missionaries to Africa.

Unfortunately there are many today who carry the same mentality. They cut themselves off from the world, which God made and loves intensely by the way. They quote verses like "friendship with world is enmity with God" as proof for steering clear of any non-church goer. They don't want to be stained or corrupted by the world. Only the scripture also says to be in the world but not of it. Churches have built walled fortresses to keep the world out.

The mentality has been to create our church clubs where we talk about the evils of the world, hold our own celebrations, keep to ourselves,and virtually stick our heads in the sand. Our idea of reaching the lost has been to invite people to join the club. We develop programs and events to hopefully entice non-church goers to check us out. Our idea of being salt and light is to develop such attractional bait that we will lure people to us so we can hit them with the gospel message.

As I've been reading through Acts, I've notice that Paul and others didn't go to the various communities to plant churches. They went to plant the Gospel. That's a big difference! Peter didn't stand up on the day of Pentecost and announce that he and the other Apostles where planting a church. He preached to them Jesus. The church formed as the people responded to the Gospel. Jesus told Peter that He would build His church on the foundation that He was the Christ, the Deliverer, the Messiah.

If God's people are going to impact the world as He intended, then we must come back to our calling of proclaiming the Good News, of planting the Gospel wherever we go. Let's stop inviting people to "join the church" and start asking people to embrace Christ. Perhaps the church has lost its influence in the world today because we have been more focused on our clubs than on our mission. Salt is useless just sitting in the shaker. Bottom line, isn't our calling, in the words of my friend Dave Ferguson, simply "to help people find their way back to God?"

God I really enjoy the church culture. Sometimes I get so focused on church stuff that I forget your calling. I want to start being more effective at planting your Gospel. I'm done trying to plant the church. The church doesn't transform lives only you do! I just want to be a messenger of your Good News.

Has God Lost His Power? (2 Kings 4:42-44)

One of my favorite miracles that Jesus performed was the feeding of the five thousand. I think it is so cool how Jesus took the few loaves and fishes and fed so many with all those baskets full left over. Trying to picture how that went down in my mind stretches my imagination. How did He do it? Did He just keep breaking the loaves and it grow back? Did He just break it in half and start passing it out and as each person broke a piece off and passed it down did the loaves keep extending? And how did He do the fish? I can kind of see the bread but how do you break fish? Fish is flaky when cooked and I don't think Jesus was serving sushi. Besides the scripture doesn't mention anything about cubing or rolling the fish. I guess He could have made fish sandwiches but even that seems like it would take a lot time to prepare especially for five to as many as twenty thousand people. And you know that some where going to have seconds. The Bible does say that they had their fill.

This isn't the only time God performed this type of mass feeding miracle. Yes, there was another time Jesus fed three thousand. We also know that God fed the Israelites with manna and quail. But do you remember the time that God fed hundreds with only a few barley loaves through Elisha? You will find the account in 2 Kings 4. Jesus didn't just pull one out of his hat when He fed the five thousand. Of course what Jesus did was on a much grander scale, but the principle was the same. God took a few loaves and fed a mass of people.

In 2 Kings 4 there was a famine in the land. A farmer had brought the first of his harvest as an offering to God, giving it to the prophet Elisha. Seeing the need of the people, Elisha ordered that the loaves be given to the hungry mass. His servant freaked out. I'm sure he was thinking, "Do you know what will happen if I show up with a few loaves in front of that hungry mob? It will be pandemonium! People will be fighting over them. A riot could break out. You take them out there!" Obviously that's only my speculation. But being a keen observer of typical human behavior, I doubt that I am too far off.

Jesus was keenly aware of God's patterns throughout biblical history. He often quoted scripture to explain or challenge His listeners. I don't know if Jesus said anything to His followers that day reminding them of the time when Elisha fed the hungry masses, but I know it was in His mind. Jesus throughout His ministry demonstrated faith in God for His disciples based on the past actions of God portrayed in biblical history. It's a lesson for us. As we read and study and meditate on God's Word, we should look for and trust in His principles. If God could and would part the Red Sea and let His children cross on dry land in the past, why couldn't or wouldn't He today? Has God's power diminished? Is He weaker today than He was back then? Does He care less about people today than He did in Moses' or Elisha's or Jesus' day? Does He love us less today? Is He less interested in a relationship with us today than He was with those living in biblical times?

God, why do I have the tendency to minimize your power? Why do I often read the stories of your interaction with your people in the Bible and discount your involvement today? Where's my faith? Have I just brought you down to a philosophy of life? Do I even believe you're real? I want to see your power in my life! I want to have the faith of Elisha. I want to hear your voice. I want to be known as a man of God and not just a spouter a life philosophy. I want to see lives changed through your power. I want to see your miracles.