Forgiven Much, Loves Much

"...Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven- as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little, loves little..." - Luke 7:46

He would is loved much, loves much. He who has been forgiven much, forgives much. How can you not be gracious to your neighbor who has wronged you, if you yourself have been forgiven of everything by a most gracious & loving Heavenly Father? We must realize how much we have sinned & how much we have been forgiven before we can truly Love others.

In Luke 7, Jesus tells the Pharisee Simon a parable about a man who loans money to two men- one a large amount & one a small amount. Neither of the men could afford to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Of the two men, which will love him more? Simon answers, "I suppose the one who has the bigger debt forgiven." "You have judge correctly," Jesus tells him.

At the same time, Simon has the audacity to pass judgement on a prositute groveling at Jesus' feet. Unlike Simon, she was aware of who she was without the Messiah. She was overcome by her love for Him. And she was confident of Who He was. If that''s what it takes for me to Love on that level, isn't it worth it?

Do you look like you have it all together, like you have all the right answers? Do we really think that much of Christ? Are you so overcome by your sin that it brings you to tears? Are you aware of who you are apart from Christ? Are you so humbled by God's mercy that you would wipe His feet with your hair? Are you ready to really serve Him? Why do you do what you do? Are you so confident in His power to forgive that you would kiss His feet? Are you so motivated by His love that you would annoint His feet with oil?

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, & God in them... We love because He first Loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates his brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother & sister." - 1 John 4:16, 19-20

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you Love one another." - John 13:34-35

"If all you do is love the loveable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. In a word, what I am saying is grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously & graciously toward others, the way God lives towards you." - Matthew 5:46-48 (The Message translation)

"From everyone who has been given much, much more will be demanded; & from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." - Luke 12:48b

Why is He our Hope & Salvation? Because we are nothing without Him!

Radical generosity demands a Gospel explanation. Live a life of Gospel explanation. Motivated by a heart of passionate Love for your Savior.

*** Text roughly adapted from my sermon notes taken from Jim Schutz's (Risen Lord Community Church) sermon on Sunday, July 12, 2010 entitled "I Love Him More" over Luke 7:36-50 ***

Remembering Those Before Us

Are We Remembering Those Who Came Before Us? Oct 2009

"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten."- Calvin Coolidge

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana

Are we remembering those who came before us?

Do we remember those who gave their lives, their families, their fortune, their future for our freedom?

How did they/are they affecting our lives today?

How would our lives be any different if they didn't exist?

Would they be proud of who you are today?

Would they be proud of what our country has become?

"We are who we are because of those who came before us. We're standing on their shoulders."

“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our own lives sublime
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Every nation or a group of nations has its own tale to tell. Knowledge of the trials and struggles is necessary to all who would comprehend the problems, perils, challenges, and opportunities which confront us today." - Sir Winston Churchill

"I shall never surrender or retreat. I call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid... The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country." - Lt. Col. Wiliam Borrett Travis, Alamo

A Prayer of Sir Frances Drake

 "Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new Earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope & love." - Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, explorer & naval pioneer during the Elizabethan era (Golden Age)

And yet they have the guts to say that the only reasons the explorers came to the New World was their thirst for gold and land (and that America was not founded on Christian principles)... May we continue to proclaim the Truth and stand strong against the waves of historical revisionism! :)

The Unrepentant Believer (oxymoron)

I have heard “Woe is the unbeliever!” I say to you, “No! Worse is the unrepentant believer.”

As Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23: ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven… Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name and in Your Name drive out demons and in Your Name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

They are twice crucifying Christ (Hebrews 6:4-6). He was crucified once in the flesh, they are (figuratively) crucifying Him again in the Spirit- by understanding what He did, but still rejecting Him & holding Him up in contempt, to their own harm. They have tasted the Fruit, partaken of the Banquet Table & have chosen to walk away. This is the WORST. This has many faces, whether they’re walking in sin, are doubting, questioning or just plain lazy.

Much like the Deists operating under the Founding Father’s Christian principles, they are receiving the benefits & blessings of godliness, without ever having been saved themselves. Even if they don’t believe it wholeheartedly themselves. A non-believer, acting like a believer, enlightened, not adhering to the Truth. Tasting, but not digesting the Truth. Seeing & witnessing the Power of God, while never experiencing it themselves & still denying it (like the unbelieving Pharisees). The incredible difference between mere interest & real commitment. Their hearts are hardened, they will not repent. They looked at Grace & said “no thanks.” They cannot lose their salvation because they never had it in the first place.

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips. They walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." – dcTalk

Argument roughly developed from Marc Sikma’s (Matthias’ Lot Church) sermon over Hebrews 6:1-8 on Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Better To Be an Unbeliever than a Lukewarm Christian?

It is, in my opinion, almost*  (disclaimer: see below) better to be an unbeliever than a lukewarm Christian. Let me explain:

Picture for a minute an unbeliever, caught head-over-heels in sin, who has never heard the Gospel preached before and is generally unaware of his Sin. The Gospel is presented to him. He hears for the first time of he depth of his sin, his separation from God, how his good works are worth nothing, how he (in and of himself) can do absolutely nothing to save himself. When his need is revealed to him, he is full of despair, depressed, anguished, humbled, broken, contrite over his Sin. He knows he's wrong and could never be right before God. Then he is told that there IS a way to be saved from the horrors of his sin and the consequences that he deserves because of it. That God, the Creator of the universe, spanned time and space and reached down to save him (a poor, undeserving, wretched sinner). He acknowledges his sin, believes Christ to be the propitiation for the punishment that he deserved, and repents. How the angels sang on that day! He is SO happy, he cannot bear to keep the Good News to himself! He is on fire for God, passionate, zealous, constantly desiring to learn more of God. He cannot hear enough about Him. He devours every book he can get his hands upon, desiring to learn all that he can about Him. He constantly grows in relationship with God. He is in continual awe of this Creator-God, who spanned the gulf to rescue him, the lowest of the low!

Contrast that with the disgusting image of a lukewarm "Christian"-  Possibly one who grew up in the Church, who knows "everything" there is to know about God- full of knowledge, but void of a real relationship with God (that which really matters). He is numb, passionless, apathetic, ineffective, useless, deceived, self-sufficient,  even hampering the spread of the Gospel by his hypocrisy and contradictory witness/lifestyle. His "worship" is empty, hollow, half-hearted, and lifeless. He is overly familiar with the Church and is bored by its traditions, rules, and rituals. He is legalistic and lives life by the rulebook. He can quote the Bible, Church fathers, and theologians left and right. He goes to Church, listens to the "good" music, reads the right books, has Christian friends. It all looks perfect on the the outside, but on the inside... He says that he believes in Jesus, but his life (choices, decisions, values, character etc) screams otherwise. It's all head (knowledge) and not heart (real wisdom). 

Again, it is almost* (disclaimer: see below) better to be an unbeliever than a lukewarm "Christian"

"I know your deeds, that ou are neither cold or hot. I wish you were one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of My mouth... You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked... Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent! Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My Voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and they with Me." - Revelation 3:14-20

"'By their fruits you shall know them.' (Matthew 7:16a) You say, 'Wait a minute, I thought we were saved by grace through faith and all of that.' That's right, we are. But whether we are saved or not shows up in our deeds. James says the same thing (James 2:14-26 Your faith is made known by your works. So He says I know your deeds and therefore I know your heart. I can see by what you do who you are," says John MacArthur.

"But I submit to you that Jesus said, 'I would rather have you cold than this. I'd rather you be a prostitute than a Pharisee. I'd rather you be a sinner who knows his sin than a hypocrite who doesn't recognize it. I'd rather you say... God, be merciful to me, a sinner...who feels the coldness of his lostness than a Pharisee who says I thank You I'm not like other men.' Anything is better than lukewarmness!" - John MacArthur

"But there was something worse than being lukewarm and that was their self-deception. They had spiritual pride. They thought they were spiritually rich. They had attained spiritual knowledge. This is the hardest person to reach. The intellectual apostate, the intellectual unsaved hypocrite who stays in the Church. They are religious and damned. This is a person to be pitied." - John MacArthur

"They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." - Titus 1:16

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?... Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that- and shudder! You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did... You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone... As a body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." - James 2:14-26

* Disclaimer- I say "almost," because if a person was genuinely saved, there is always the chance that they have just wandered from the Faith for a time and will be back. In the case of the die-hard unbeliever, there is always the chance that they won't hear the Gospel... In which case, it would be better to be the lukewarm Christian...

Argument developed by myself. John MacArthur quotes taken from a sermon entitled "Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church" (Parts I & II) over Revelation 3:14-20 on 03.06.1992. Found at: http://gty.org/Resources/Sermons/66-14

Friendship

Sympathy/pity is one thing. Anyone can give that in an instant. But a true friend can do more than that. They can relate & identify, having been there, done that before. Having walked the same road of suffering, you understand. That’s different. And nothing can replace it! This is real friendship, a bonding of the soul. “Kindred spirits,” as one of my friend calls it.

A bond like this is unbreakable. It’s more than doing things together, spending a lot of time together, talking etc. It’s the deep-rooted feeling, knowing that person will always be there for you, no matter what happens. Because they genuinely care.

"Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had
neither son nor brother... Two are better than one... If either of them falls down, one can
help the other up. But pity anyone who falls down and has no one to help them... Though
one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not
easily broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

Friendship is important. It provides accountability & community, a sense of belonging. An opportunity  to impact the world & be influenced yourself. It is critical also which friends you choose to associate yourself with (see Proverbs 13:20, 2 Timothy 2:22 etc). What your friends look like is who you will become. Therefore choose your friends wisely.

As Christians, we’re called to encourage & build up our brothers & sisters in Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:11), to be the salt & light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16).

Some friends are surface-deep. We all know what these so-called “friends” look like, being more like acquaintances than real friends. They’re “fair-weather friends”- fun to be with until things get rough. Then they drop you. A real friend doesn’t do this, however, because they’re there to see you through thick & thin.

A good friend is caring, humble, vulnerable, God-fearing, diligent, passionate, motivated, consistent, wise, patient, joyful, purposeful, mature, respectful, trustworthy, honest, full of integrity, faithful, uncompromising, honorable, kind, self-disciplined, etc. Let’s strive to be this kind of friend!

As Jackie Robinson said, “A life is not important except on the impact it has upon other lives.”

 “Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle.” – author unknown

Only What's Done for Christ Will Last

Written in September 2010

"For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone's amazement he came and took my father's hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as  people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face---and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears---'I've wasted it! I've wasted it!' This was the story that gripped me more than all the stories of young people who died in car wrecks before they were converted---the story of an old man weeping that he had wasted his life. In those early years God awakened in me a fear and a passion not to waste my life. The thought of coming to my old age and saying through tears, 'I've wasted it! I've wasted it!' was a fearful and horrible thought to me." - John Piper, in his book Don't Waste Your Life

If Christ is not made much of in our lives, then it's wasted. If our life and death don't show the worth, magnificence, and wonder of Christ, then it's wasted. It is better to lose your life than to waste it. Life is hard and the risks are high, but your joy will be full.

Fame, pleasure, and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfullment of His eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life its most sweetest and priceless rewards.

"If I love Christ, how can He be most magnified in my behavior this afternoon, this evening, this week? How can I portray God as glorious in my actions? How can I enjoy making much of Him in this behavior? How will this help me treasure Christ more? How will it help me know or display Him more? How can my life count for the glory of God in my secular vocation?"

Remember: You only have one life. You were made for God. Don't waste it!!!

Roughly adapted from my book notes on Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

The Tragedy of a Wasted Life

Just one blog post today. Another old note that I ran across, from September 2010. Enjoy!

"I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1988 edition of Reader's Digest , which tells about a couple who 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.' At first when I read it I thought it was a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn't. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life- your one and only, precious, God-given life- and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells. Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgement: 'Look, Lord, see my shells.' That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don't buy it. Don't waste your life!" - John Piper, in his book Don't Waste Your Life

Most people slip by in life without passion for God, spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, trying to avoid sin. Don't get caught up in a life that counts for nothing. I challenge you to live and die boasting in the Cross of Christ alone and making the glory of God your singular passion. Not to be made much of, but to make much of Him in every part of our lives.

"To live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:22) We're dying to self, comfort, security, and reputation. Heath, family, friends, homeland, and wealth may be taken from us at any time on the road of Christ-exalting obedience. We're embracing a life of loss for Christ's sake and counting it as gain. Treasuring Jesus above the gift of life (honoring Him in death) and treasuring Him above life's gifts (honoring Him in life).

It is a tragic waste of a life when people turn away from the Calvary road of love and suffering. All the riches of the glory of God in Christ are on that road, all the treasures of assurance, all ecstacies of joy, all clearest sightings of eternity, all noble comaraderie, all humblest affections, all deepest discoveries of God's Word, all most earnest prayers are found on this road alone.

Some die in service to Christ. This is not a tragedy. Treasuring life above Christ is tragedy. Know what really matters and be willing to live (and die) for these core beliefs. His beauty shines most brightly when it is treasured above health, wealth, and life itself.

Roughly adapted from my book notes on Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper

The Power of the Will (versus fleeting Emotions)

“Remember then that the real thing in your experience is what your Will decides & not the verdict of your emotions... If the  Will is set right, the rest of the natural must come into harmony... Since a man's Will is really the man's Self, of course, what his Will does, he does... Have you thus consented, dear reader, and is your face set as flint to Will what God wills? He wills that you should be entirely surrendered to Him and that you should trust Him perfectly... Do you Will the same? Are you submitting your Will to God? Is it given to God? Is it in His hands?" - Hannah W Smith, in A Christian's Secret to a Happy Life  (1875)

Basically what she's saying is, "If your Will wills it, it will happen." Faith is not built on feelings. The Will supersedes emotions every time. Emotions are temporary & are constantly being replaced with new (often contradictory) feelings. But a person's Will (think values, core beliefs, worldview etc) should be more grounded and is what really matters.

But it is not in our power, strength, motivation or desire that we work for change. Anything done apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross & the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is done in vain.

There are times when God may feel far off (our feelings deceive us). This is a lie- God is always near at hand! There are times when our faith might feel empty & void (feelings are fleeting). We all go through the valleys & the mountaintops at one point in our lives or another. They are what make us stronger & give us a clearer perspective. "It's always darkest right before the dawn." (an old adage)

I'm am reminded of William Cowper's testimony (author of the "God Moves in a Mysterious Way"  hymn). Not every Saint's path to Salvation is straight & narrow... Not every Sinner is filled with Joy upon the moment of Conversion. Some must fight, wrestle & war til the very end. And not always is there a happy ending... But God is FAITHFUL none-the-less. His purposes are always accomplished. And His was are GOOD. He is WORTHY of our praise!

Do not give up hope. Continue to press on & fight the good fight. As the Word says, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9

The Potter & the Clay

I finished reading a new book today & some of the things he said really stuck out at me.

"You, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, You are the Potter; we are all the work of Your hand." - Isaiah 64:8

"You turn things upside down, as if the Potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it, 'You did not make me?' Can the pot say to the Potter, 'You know nothing?"- Isaiah 29:16

"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the Potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The Potter has no hands?" - Isaiah 45:9

"Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to the One who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes & some for common use?" - Romans 9:20-21

God IS sovereign. His Will SHALL be accomplished in our lives. Like Job, we can submit to the Hand of Grace without questioning His Will. Job came to an intimate knowledge of the Truth that God reveals about Himself in Scripture:

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9

Like Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:21-23, we can cling to the Faithfulness & Goodness of God, even though we might not feel that He's very good at the time. Like Elijah in 1 Kings 18 & Gideon in Judges 7, we can choose to obey. Their obedience was blessed. Or... we can choose the other path. The choice is ours.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness & peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms & weak knees." - Hebrews 12:11-12

God IS good. And His ways are BEST. He is WORTHY of all glory, honour & praise!

Are You Who You SAY You Are?

*** Note: I did not write this article. Article writted by the Generations Church of Granbury). The website link is listed below. I was doing some research for a different topic back in June & I ran across this article. It has some interesting points...***

"Are You Who You SAY You Are?"

"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other! So then, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of My mouth..." - Revelation 3:15-16

Therefore be zealous and repent.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the Will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, & done many wonders in Your Name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" - Matthew 7:21-23

"Are you who you SAY you are?"

"But I know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" - 2 Timothy 3:1-5

True or False?

In a 2005 Gallup poll 94% of Americans said they believe God exists. In a 2007 Gallup poll, 82% of Americans said they identify with the Christian faith. Pastor Craig Groeschel describes the majority as "practical atheists," who say they believe in God, but act as if He doesn't exist.

"You believe there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe- and tremble!" - James 2:19

"They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." - Titus 1:16

"Are you who you SAY you are? ARE you?"

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips. They walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." – dcTalk

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