Connections, Connections!

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” (John 15:5 HCSB)

Connections, connections, connections—I’m thinking about connections and I hope by the time you finish reading this sentence you too are thinking about connections.  What kind of connections am I talking about?  The relational kind of connections all human beings have to have.  When I think about being in relationships I immediately think about Jesus’ and how he is the vine and we are the branches.  Jesus was focused on being relational and there is a reason for this.  Jesus is himself a relational being—he is part of the Holy Trinity.  God is a triune being, three in one and does nothing outside of relationship.  I know this is a difficult thought, but think about how we are made in his image we too must be in relationship.  Think about this in prison for punishment we place someone alone in solitary confinement.  We even punish our children by making them stand alone in the corner.  It is known isolating a person for long periods of time is detrimental to their mental condition.  I always think about the movie “Castaway” where Tom Hanks character is desperate for human contact and makes a friend out of a volleyball which he names “Wilson”.  We cannot live without connections.      

    

In our culture today we are connected more than any other culture in history.  We have “social” networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat just to name a few.  We send thousands of text message to one another and yet we are largely disconnect more than ever.  Here is what has happened, we have created “safe places to connect without all the emotional risk.  We pick and choose the time to connect, how we connect, who we connect with.  The truth is connecting with people is messy business.  Entering into a relationship with someone involves risk.  People will let us down, they will hurt our feelings and disappoint over time.  We a broken people making the best out of a broken situation—yet we need relationship—real connections with real people.    

Which makes a relationship with Christ all the more important—it has to start with Christ.  A relationship with Jesus starts by changing of your heart and is initiated by him.  He changes us, he extends grace and forgiveness, and he shows us mercy.  We were powerless and he took pity on us and recused us.  He draws us into a deep relationship with himself and gives us peace.  From our relationship with Jesus we can connect with others in an entirely different way.  We don’t have to connect with others to find our peace and to complete us—we have peace and completeness in Christ.  We are free to love people deeply despite the brokenness.  We love, because we are loved.  We extend forgiveness because Christ forgave us.  We connect with others because Christ connected with us in a deep and personal way. 

I want to challenge you to take the time to connect with Christ.  Spend time in his word, read the gospels and pray to him.  Next take the time to meet with someone you love.  Take your spouse out to dinner, put the phone away.  Do something special with your kids or just get up and make pancakes with them.  Connecting doesn’t have to be complicated—it just requires your time and attention.  Reach out to others face to face, take the risk and truly connect with someone.  Let’s make 2016 a year where we focus on truly loving God and others—fully connected         

Dignity and the Unborn

Recently I stood with about 250 other people on Sunrise Boulevard in Roseville, CA.  We were there to protest Planned Parenthood.  Over the last few months a series of videos have been released by the Center for Medical Progress documenting what the organization has been doing with aborted babies.  The videos are appalling and watching them physically made me sick.  The main reason why I was so appalled was the attitude hidden behind the work.  One leader sipped her wine and ate her salad and was totally unphased by what she was describing (which I will not share here, but would encourage you to watch the videos yourself).  It was frightening to watch and it deeply concerned me.  Have we become so callous and hard hearted in our country that such things no longer bother us?     

The Bible says we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6), thus all human life is valued and comes with an inherited dignity.  Dignity being “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”, we have this quality because we are a reflection of God.  No other creature on earth or in heaven is made in the image of God.  We hold a special place in creation and this goes for all human beings—born or unborn.   At the fall we also know sin entered the world and has corrupted what once was perfect and God is working to restore what was lost.  Thus we now live in the already and not yet.  We know God will restore everything to himself through Jesus Christ and we long for the day when we will spend eternity in his presence.   Until that time we are to be share Christ with the world—to build his kingdom and we are do this until Christ returns or we are called home.    

Because of the value of human life and the obligation we have as citizens of the kingdom we have the scared duty to defend and protect, provide for and care for those who are defenseless, broken and in need.  The orphan and the widow are to hold a special place in our hearts, we are commanded to love one another and we are to share that love with the world.  These are not just buzz words for the follower of Christ to banter around on Sunday morning to make us feel better about what we are not doing.  They are descriptive and are to define in essence who we are.  This is because they are the reflective attributes of God himself—who is in us. 

Who will stand up for the one who cannot speak on their own behalf?  Who will be the voice that pushes back the darkness and holds up the light for other to see?  I’m reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Philippi “Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world. Hold firmly to the message of life.” (Php 2:14-16a)  We are to shine like stars in the culture, holding firmly to the message of life that is found in Jesus Christ alone.  We shine so that those who are lost may be guided back to the source of hope and peace, grace and mercy, love and forgiveness.  Let us encourage each other to stand for truth, to expose evil and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Pray for God to close Planned Parenthood.  Pray for those who work in the clinics.  Pray for the young ladies who visit and pray for the unborn.  May God have mercy upon us all.    

        

Waves

I was sitting on the beach watching the waves come in.  Children and young adults were playing in the surf and enjoying the water.  The older crowd stood further back only dipping their toes in to cool off or were standing on the wet sand.  The waves though never stopped, there was never a moment when the waves took a break, they were relentless.  The only different was the size of the waves some were larger than others, but they don’t stop coming.  I couldn’t help but to look at the waves at the way life plays out in front of us.  Life comes in waves and they never stop.  Overtime you become stronger in the waves but eventually you just get tired of them all together and you’re ready to go home.   Life is like that and one of the reason I love scripture is God is always with us and he reminds us.  The nation of Israel was going through trials and judgement and God speaks through his prophet Isaiah these encouraging words. 

Now this is what the LORD says—the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you. (Isa 43:1-2)

I hope when you read these two inspiring verses you noticed something…God never says he would remove you from what you’re facing, he says, “I will be with you”.  He says they will not overwhelm you, but he never says I will remove them all together.  He says there a reason for this, he says, “I have redeemed you and have called you by my name; you are mine.”  We are not our own, we were bought and paid for. (1 Cor. 6:10; 7:23)  Christ paid the debt of you sin and you were called by name to bring glory to his name. (Phil. 2:9-11)  You belong to God and that is a good thing!  He didn’t look down and see something special in you and thus he choose you on merit. No, you were his from the very beginning of time, before he spoke the worlds into existence, before he placed the stars and gave them their names (Psalm 147:4), you were loved and he has placed his name on you. (Eph. 1: 4-6)  

Knowing who you are makes all the difference, the waves can keep coming and I know God is with me.  I can face tomorrow because I know Jesus has paid the price for my sin, he has redeemed me and I am his.  He died and was buried and on the third day he rose again and because he lives I will live (Romans 6:4-8).  This life has no hold on me!  I belong to the King of kings and to the Lord of lords.  We need to keep this in our minds at all times as we watch the world around us rapidly change.  Jesus tells the disciples of what is to come in John chapter 16 and reminds them of who he is and who they are.  He tells them, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world." (Joh 16:33)  Be encouraged brothers and sisters, we serve a great God who is building his kingdom.  Now is the time to join him and to trust in HIM!

 

Why I Am a Baptist

In a world where standing alongside a denomination is slowly becoming unfashionable, I chose to retain my label as a “Baptist”.  When I tell other pastors I’m a Baptist there always seems to be a pause.  Maybe I’m self-conscience and have heard all the “when I was a Baptist” jokes.  I even had one person tell me how they grew up Baptist and how his pastor now always asks him where a verse is located in the bible--because he knows he was raised a Baptist.  The sad part of that story is he was laughing about it, I on the other hand was saddened.  Baptist have from the very beginning been about “The Book”.  They were called “people of The Book”.  Baptist have always taken the Word of God seriously and it was Scripture that moved them away from “paedobaptism” (baptizing infants) towards believers baptism.  They were convinced from scriptures that one had to have a personal belief in Christ that was visible and life changing before being baptized. 

Why am I a Baptist?  I’m a Baptist by choice first and foremost.  Three common threads bind Baptist together.  The first is the Word of God, all of it, God breathed without error.  The Baptist believe the Bible is the primary source for everything we need for living a holy life.  If we don’t believe the Bible is true in its entirety--then we can also pick and choose what we want from the Bible.  Baptist believe you must accept all of Scripture or none of it.

Secondly I’m a Baptist because of missions.  Because we believe in the Bible we believe the Great Commission is a command from Jesus Christ to go and baptize and to teach all that Christ command.  Jesus didn’t give the church the “Great Suggestion” but commissioned us to go.  Baptist have grasped this from the very beginning.  It was the drive to spread the gospel that Southern Baptist formed a convention in 1845, of like-minded churches to stand together.  It was the growth of missions that drove the Southern Baptist Convention in 1924 to pool their resources together in the “Co-Operative” program.  Today the cooperative program of the SBC raises money for the purpose of sending missionaries all over the world. We at FBC Rocklin contribute 8% of all monies we receive to this effort. 

Thirdly I’m a Baptist because each Baptist church is its own entity.  We do not answer to higher governing authority, we answer to Christ alone.  Each Baptist church ordains its own ministers, established its own form of government and is led by the congregation of baptized believers.  There isn’t such thing as a second Baptist church, or a third, there is only one Baptist church, each church stands on its own. We choose who we will work with according to the Scriptures and to Christ’s leading, there are absolutely no strings on a Baptist church. 

I am a Baptist for many other reasons as well, but when it’s all said in done I’m a Baptist by choice.  I also recognize Baptist have earned some of the negativity they rightly receive. But I stand with many others who through the years have suffered and stood by the Scriptures when others would not.  Baptist have historically stood firm in the face of intense persecution because of what they believed and have been uncompromising in the pursuit of liberty to follow those beliefs.  As our culture continues to shift we will find ourselves at the battle front and we will have to make a choice.  I’m convinced the world needs more Baptist!  Come join me!                       

Today I visited Alice

Today I visited Alice, she is in a convalescent home recovering from a broken leg. She was out feeding the birds in front of her home when she stepped off the sidewalk and tumbled over breaking her leg. She is use to moving and so being stuck in recovery away from home is really tough on her. She was telling how it felt like she was serving a jail sentence and she has served two month's time. She has been battling depression and has felt abandoned by God. She looked at me and said, “Pastor why doesn't God answer my prayers and let me out of this place, I feel like he has abandoned me here.” As she was talking I started to look around the room. On the bathroom door hung a reef, covered with colorful spring flowers. A table in the corner had three empty vases on it. Her desk was covered in cards and several church bulletins were visible. As we were talking another couple came to visit and we all sat around her bed.

I asked her about the reef she told me how a friend Joyce from the church had made it for her, it was beautiful and she explained her love for spring and the flowers. She was getting visibly excited as she looked towards the vases and told about how different people had brought her roses and other flowers. She looked at the cards and told me about the cards and how different people had brought her bulletins from church. She told us how her daughter has made sure she had clean cloths and how Charlotte who leads the hymns in our church came by and they sang together. She named all the people who had come to visit her and how great it was to see them.

After she was done I looked around and asked her if she still felt abandoned by God? She looked around and said, “No, he is with me”. I also handed her a card signed by the men in our prayer group and told her we had prayed for her this morning. She was overjoyed and asked me to thank each person on the card. I share this story to remind you to pray for those who are older and struggling to heal in homes, facilities and feel alone. Alice is bless to have so many care for her, many seniors have nobody. Secondly, when you feel abandoned by God, pause for a moment and take an inventory, I bet he is closer than you thought.

Decisions, Decisions

We have to make a decision.  You and I have to decide what we believe about the Bible.  Every day as Christians we are faced with a growing tide of pressure to conform the Bible to the world around us.  We live in very interesting time in where we are constantly being hard-pressed to conform into the mold of thinking that is contrary to Biblical truth.  You will make a decision, either you will be conformed to the world or you will decide the Bible is going to conform you. 

Not too long ago I found myself in a conversation with several youth leaders at seminary and they brought to light a thought I hadn't had before.  The youth today are pressured in ways we never were.  Their friends and peers expect them to think like they do and when they don’t there is enormous pressure exerted on them to conform.  They are told they hate the other person because they don’t agree, plus they are bombarded by a social media message 24/7.  It never ends and the challenge for them to live out their faith is almost impossible. 

Even adults are faced with this pressure to conform to new social standards.  Now when we look out our window there is a different world out there, right now riots are happening in Baltimore, there are Christians being killed in the Middle East and no one seems all too concerned.  How are going to live out our faith in this changing world?  We have to make a decision.  We are being forced out from the shadow of ambiguity and are being forced to make a stand.  Now isn't the time to sit on the fence, our children need us, the world needs Christ now. 

Scripture tells us “Not to be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2).  Where you stand with scripture is going to determine how you are going to live out your life now.  If you believe the Bible is a book to be interrupted by person experience, in light cultural standards you are going to fit into the age just fine and should find it easy going, church will be optional.  But if you make a stand that the Bible is absolute truth, and believe it’s the Word of God and hold to the Bible as being the standard for all moral good, you are going to find the world unwelcoming.  You will make a decision. 

Our children need us to make a decision, our grandchildren need us to make a decision.  Our young adults need us to make a decision, our country needs us to make a decision.  The world needs to see us stand for Jesus Christ and His glory and that will only happen if we stand with the Bible.  For it is through the Word of God we know God, we know His Son, and know the Holy Spirit.  How you view the Bible matters, you will make a decision if you haven’t already.  My prayer is you will stand on the truth of scripture.  That you will humble yourself and not conform the Bible to your own standard, but that you would be shaped by scripture.         

  

Consider it Great Joy

“Consider it great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3

Every time I start to read James these two verse stop me in my tracks.  I will re-read them several times amazed at what I am reading.  Because my first thought is always James must be crazy!  How can he say this especially knowing that James was the leader in the Jerusalem church. He had experienced and had personally witnessed terrible persecution and yet he says it was able to say what he experienced brought him “great joy”.  How and why would he say that?    

As I reflect on this thought its impossible not to take inventory of my own life.  I have experienced pain and sorrow, not near the scale of James, but I have seen my friends and family suffer pain and loss.  I know in the midst of the “moment” the last thing I want to do is rejoice!  I think to understand James we have to take a step back and try to see from his perceptive.  He says the reason we should rejoice is because the testing of our faith produces endurance.  Wait, he said testing?  Does this mean God knew about this?  Does this mean God allowed suffering?  Why would a loving and just God allow me to experience suffering?  There has to be a reason, right? 

James continues his thought and says suffering produces endurance and he continues in verse 4…”But endurance must do its compete work, so that you be mature and complete, lacking in nothing”.  James is not looking at the moment but he is looking at the result of the moment.  He is seeing through the immediate pain and uncertainty to the other side of the event and how it will change us.  How difficult times give us strength and matures our faith, makes us complete and lack nothing.  In other words in the future when we face similar or God forbid greater suffering we can stand under its pressure knowing we have been here before.  God got us through it once He will get us through it again.  I can know that, with certainty.

Here is the reality we all face, suffering is a part of the fallen and broken world we live in.  Sin is the issue, the result of sin is suffering and death.  The beautiful thing is God did something about it and one day he will put an end to pain and suffering forever.  He sent is Son into the world  to suffered.  He didn’t have it easy, he suffered all the way to the cross and carried its shame.  He was hung on a cross, a place for thieves and murders.  He was placed there by the very people he came to save—He used their sin for good.   Nothing is wasted in the economy of God.  He uses ever hurt, every event to build and strengthen our in faith in Him.  In this quest He is relentless, and this gives me “Great Joy”.  I am never forsaken, never forgotten, even in the darkest moments He walks with me, He talks with me along the narrow way.  He imparts his salvation to me and I can know this, He lives, He lives, He lives in my heart and I can face any situation with confidence and surety, knowing my faith is in Him.

-ps            

Jesus Challenge

 “What is Jesus to me?”  He is my Lord, He is my Savior, and He is my Rock and Redeemer.  He pursued me, sought me when I was a stranger, and bought me, with his own blood!  He is the Creator, for everything was made by Him, for Him and is sustained by Him.  He made the stars and placed them and gave each one their names.  He is my Shield, my Refuge in times of trouble, when the world crumbles around me, when the arrows of the enemy fly in my direction He protects me.  He is solid ground for which I can plant my feet. 

In Jesus I am free, I am free to be what I was made to be, for my purpose is found in Him.  He empowers me with His word and He sends the Spirit to comfort, train and to guide me.  Through Christ all the relationships around me find their place.  My relationship with my wife is sweeter, my love for my children deeper and I see my neighbor in a new light. 

He saved us, He is the kindness of God displayed for the world to see, He is love, truth and grace personified.  He rescued me not because of my works of righteousness, but through the Holy Spirit, who convicted me of sin, righteousness and judgment and pointed me to Him who can alone save me.  The Father poured out this Spirit abundantly through Jesus Christ my Savior so that, having been justified by His grace I become a heir with the hope of eternal life.  Everything I am is because Christ. 

His grace overwhelms me—to think He would die for me is too lofty for me to comprehend, it’s beyond my reach to grasp.  He has awakened me to a love that surpasses everything I can know, my sin, my failures, my triumphs all rest in his sure hands, for which I gladly give to him.  He is God in flesh, full of glory and truth, the Bright and Morning Star.  He is my Shepard, the Bread of Life, and The Living Water.  He is the Author and Finisher of my faith and the Alpha and the Omega, who has and always existed.   That is the Christ I think about and for which I am thankful for. This is the Jesus for whom I worship and adore.    

Maybe you have read these thoughts I have written and I hope God has spoken to your heart.  I want to challenge you. There seems to be a lot of challenges going on to raise awareness to certain causes of late, so I want to jump on the bandwagon and I simply challenge you to sit down and write out what Jesus is to you and share it with someone.    

Jesus In My life

I have been through a lot in my life, it has never been easy, I served 22 years in the Air Force, spent 22 months in the Middle East in various conflicts. Fathered 3 great boys, survived cancer, been married 26 years to the same women who is my best friend to this day, ministered to hundreds of people, sat with the dying and comforted the living. Watched, encouraged, helped, wondered, doubted, worried about the people around me. At times I have wanted to drop out of this world, run from all the hurt but I can't. I have a God who suffered also, who went through more than I can ever image, he did it because he loved me. He rescued me, called me, strengthened me, showered me with grace and mercy. He fills my life with purpose and my heart with love for others and secured my future with him as his son in eternity. 

I don't know how people pick up a newspaper, watch what is happening in the world, see others suffer and not have Jesus Christ in their life. I can't image to think this is it, that suffering and all that happens doesn't serve some kind of purpose even if I don't understand it. I'm thankful for what has been given to me, I am humbled that God would even consider me and he did far more than consider me, he demonstrated his love knowing all my sin from beginning to end and was willing, with joy to embrace the cross of my shame and die, so that I would have life in him through trust in what he did and not what I do. I stand amazed and in awe of this reality.

Call on him who is able to save you from yourself, from this world and from the sin that so easily ensnares us all. He alone can lift you out of the pit, he can free you from the mud and clay of this life, he alone can place your feet on a rock and give you footing, clean you up and place a song in your mouth and joy in your heart. Don't look for it in people and things of this world, but look to Christ, the bright and morning star, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who made the stars, placed them and named them. He is the one who can fill your heart with joy when your world crumbles around you, when your well has ran dry from the tears, he is the one who can fill your life with meaning and give you something to live for when all else fails. God is good, trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. Grace and peace be with you all.

Gospel Power

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16 ESV)  

As soon as the sun starts to shine bright things start to change.  Things that have been asleep through the winter jump to life in a beautiful display of color. Tree’s that were dormant burst into green leaves and flowers.  All of this activity takes power, mighty power and the plants know the source of that power which is the sun.  Have you ever drove past or seen a field of sunflowers?  Their oversized flowers seek and follow the sun in unison, they will start the day facing east and by the end of the day they're all facing west.  The sunflower doesn’t want to miss a single moment of exposure to the sun.  The reality is the sunflower is dependent like all plants on the power of the sun to grow and to produce fruit or sunflower seeds.  

            

            In the New Testament we see the Greek word dynamie or a variation of it used over 120 times and it means power.  You might recognize that we get our English word “dynamite” from it.  In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul says the gospel of Christ is the “power of God for salvation” to everyone who believes.  It is God who saves us and it is God who gives us the power to live the Christian life.  Think about it like this, my salvation doesn’t rest in my efforts but in the power of God who is at work in me changing my desires and bringing me into right relationship with himself and thus I believe.  This means also that as I live the Christian life, I cannot rest on my individual effort but I must rely on the power that God provides (1 Peter 4:11). 

Does this mean I just give into to sin and live the life I want and wait for God to change me? No not at all, but it does mean I need to align myself with the Son.  Like the sunflower I am dependent on God to empower me over sin, and to change the desires of my heart.  It is the power of God at work within me who changes me and makes me into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Phi. 2:13).  Like the sunflower I need to turn and face the Son.  I can do so by reading the Word of God, praying and living in fellowship with other believers.  As I stay focused on the Son, as I remain in him and him in me (John 15:4), he will change my heart and empower me to produce fruit for others to enjoy and bring glory to God. 

Are you tired?  Are you worn out by life?  Have you struggled with sin and feel defeated?  Is it because you're trying to do something you don’t have the “power” to do? I want to encourage you to turn to Christ, to trust him, to seek him in scripture and prayer.  Pray and ask him to show you how to grow closer to him. Stop relying on your own power and plug into the true source of the power, power that can change you and empower you to live for the glory of Christ. Look for ways to serve and to share the fruit Jesus has produced in your life.  Share the fruit of peace, joy, love, hope with the people around you and let it nourish their lives and point them to the Son.  Let us not be ashamed of this beautiful gospel and its power to change lives, starting with our own.