Luke 6:43-49

As Jesus taught:

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Effects of Belief

Recently I passed out these random items to a group of young people.

• Chocolate
• Porterhouse steak flavored dog food
• Candy
• Coffee Mate

As one would guess, the kids ate the chocolate and the candy without thinking twice about it. When it came to the Coffee Mate and the dog food, there was hesitation.

But Why?

Why didn't the kids eat the coffee mate and dog food in the same way they ate the chocolate and candy?

Belief

Coffee Mate goes into coffee, and dog food is disgusting.

We live what we believe don't we?

We believe chocolate has an attractive taste, therefore we eat it.

We put gasoline in our cars because we believe and know our cars need it to run.

We wear warm clothes in the winter because we believe they will keep us warm.

Paul (in Romans 1:5) puts it this way, "obedience that comes from faith."

It comes to me as interesting when obedience doesn't follow faith. In virtually every area of our livese, we make decisions and assumptions based on what we know and believe to be true. This is why I find it interesting when someone makes the statement that they believe in Jesus. To truly believe in Jesus means to soak up and absorb every word that came out of His mouth, and live accordingly. To have faith in Him means to drop our own focus of life and follow His. It means to look at the world through His eyes. It means to embrace the Spirit of God like he did. To have faith in Jesus means to refucus and reprioritize our lives around His teachings of the kingdom of God. Some would call this sort of thing a "change in direction." Repentence. New Creation. Born Again. Become like new. And from our faith in Jesus, obedience will naturally follow.

Obedience that comes from faith isn't strict rules or vigorous religious disciplines made by man. Obedience that comes from faith isn't the yoke of mankind cast on our necks. Its not a burden. Its not depressing.

Obedience that comes from faith in Jesus is life-giving. Its a way to live right here and right now in this life. Obedience is looking to Jesus as a Savior and a teacher. It means to follow and apply His teachings to our lives. It means to practically apply His way to our day.

Many of us have progressed and evolved in a culture that seems to exemplify faith and works as being two separate identities when it comes to the catagory of the religious. The masses declare to have faith, but would someone please show me the same amount of obedience that stems from it. Maybe we're caught more in the iconology of Jesus and less in the applicability of Jesus? Maybe we simply don't have faith.

"I sure do like what He did for me, but I don't want to do anything for him." Is this faith?

If there's no obedience, maybe there's no faith.

James 2:17-18, "...faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead....I will show you my faith by what I do."

Eventually we have to ask ourself questions.

How serious are we about this Jesus dude?

Do we have faith?

Blessed in Being

When I was a freshman in high school, I went was involved in a road bicycle group named "DeCycles." This particular year, we were scheduled to cycle approximately 1,300 miles.

It was my first youth trip as forty of us kids packed our bags, jumped in a bus and made our way from Ionia, Michigan to Sault Sainte Marie, Mi. This trip takes about five and a half hours on a bus, plus extra time for stops.

All of us kids were pumped as we finally got on the road. We put in training and spent plenty of time together preparing for this trip. This trip was going to be worth all the time and effort we invested. You could almost see the buzz of excitement in the air. Our caravan consisted of a bus, three vans, a motor home, and a pick-up truck; and we were now on the road.

It was an hour into the trip when I realized I was in trouble. Suddenly, I realized I was in the middle of experiencing one of those horrible traveling ventures. I forgot to go to the bathroom before I left!

I thought about holding it the whole way (another 4.5+ hours), but I knew this was impossible. Plus, I would refuse to put myself in that sort of misery. Through myths I've heard, holding it can cause all sorts of bodily problems.

I didn't want to be "that" kid. The one that says an hour into the trip, "Can we stop, I have to go to the bathroom?" With all of the other vehicles, and on a bus full of youth, what was I supposed to do? I thought maybe I could pee in a bottle, and I would have if there weren't as many kids, but there was no way I could have accomplished this with the bus being so packed full of other kids.

Emergency!

I could now feel my pulse throbbing in my bladder. The pressure in my gut was intolerable. It was pure misery. I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand. The situation was to the point where I was either going to pee my pants, or my bladder was going to bust in my gut and cause all sorts of issues. I had a one track mind. Nothing else in the universe existed except the situation at hand. My ears tuned out the noise from the kids around me. I couldn't even focus on people enough to have a conversation. I had entered into a mission, ready to do anything to accomplish my goal. Alarms were going off in my body that nobody else could see. If people could have seen, they would have seen sirens and red flashing lights and the buzzes of fire trucks as they race through red lights. This was serious.

My only option was to pretend to be sick. I figured this would be a better excuse than having to go number one. A bathroom break an hour into the trip would only result in other people giving me crap the rest of the trip. There's no way I was going to begin a two week youth trip with such a humiliating experience.

I approached our youth pastor and told him I felt like I was going to throw up. He got on the radio with all the other drivers and we soon pulled off into a gas station.

While all the other kids watched me get off the bus, I briskly made my way into the bathroom.

AHHHHHH. At that moment, nothing felt better! Relief! OMG (oh my goodness) :)

Smile! "This is the life!"

PPS (post pee shivers)

After the duty was done, I had one of the biggest smiles throughout all my teen years. I forgot what a wonderful time going to the bathroom was. I knew from this moment on, I would appreciate every time I had the opportunity to go to the bathroom.

Not that this was the right thing to do, but I got back on the bus and told everyone I threw up. This resulted some sort of sympathy towards me, and for the rest of the trip I was given my own seat instead of having to share with someone else. The whole situation worked out perfect, and I was one happy dude.

The thing I remember the most is how wonderful it was to go to the bathroom! The relief. The comfort in knowing that everything was going to be O.K. My bladder didn't bust. I didn't have to walk funny. I didn't have to put up with that throbbing bladder any longer. It was over! Thank God.

I tell this story partly because I find an immense amount of humor in the whole situation. I also tell this story because it reminds me how accustomed to norms I can become. Whether its going to the bathroom, eating, drinking, sleeping, breathing, or whatever else; it can be extremely easy to forget how much of a blessing these things are. Its easy to take these blessings for granted, and obsess ourselves with "more important" aspects of life. When events or decisions don't turn out to our advantage, its easy to focus on the negatives.

I recently jacked up my left thumb during a basketball game. I honestly think its broken. When I hit it wrong, I don't think of what a wonderful day it is, I'm thinking, " That Hurt!"

Pain, situations, drama, and the petty areas of life so easily consume our minds. If fact, some people spend their whole lives dealing with the "more important" areas. Not that I'm against the so called "important" areas of life. I'm more concerned with finding the right balance.

Its interesting to see the way Jesus escapes for prayer in the Gospels. As was his custom, he would leave his disciples and the crowd that seemed to follow Him to spend time with the Father. The Gospel writers all mention this discipline of Jesus.

I continue to find this habit of Jesus extremely interesting. Not that I have all the answers, but I'm curious why the Messiah exemplified this solitary prayer. Did Jesus soak Himself in the presence of God for a reason? Did it give Him strength? Did it help Him stay in tune with God the Father?

Then I ask:

Should each day I live reflect my pursuit to follow Jesus? If so, am I willing to let go of the "more important" parts of life and soak myself in prayer? Will this help me cherish the blessings of life?

Now you may be asking, "Prayer helps us appreciate going to the bathroom?"

I hope you follow me to a larger and more general point. The Spirit of God breathes life into creation. If we accept and follow Christ with everything He stood for, we'll enter into a Kingdom where life itself is abundant. Its a beautiful life! If we interact with this Spirit, life won't have to be about the so called "more important." In fact, in this Kingdom we'll be blessed when we're down and out, sad, persecuted, and when we don't have things figured out.

As we continue to progress in living out reality through the eyes of Jesus, we'll find that we're blessed in simply being.

One Lord

I would like to make something clear.

As a pastor, disciple, and lover of Jesus; I take great seriousness in His commission to make disciples.

Being called to ministry here in the area I live, my overall intent is to lead people on a path of discipleship in Christ. Whether I work with SMASH (a youth group in the area), YFC (a parachurch ministry), or any other fellow Christians; I want to see a generation of young people devoting their lives to centering themselves on the Lord.

I'm not concerned with competing with other ministry organizations.

I'll refuse to be mediocre in ministry from fear of hurting other churches.

Maybe I'm naive, but I'd rather be a fool for Christ rather than a man wise by the world's standards.

I hope our hearts and minds can be united in Christ and the Kingdom He taught, rather than be divided because of simple political and social differences. If the structure and heart of our faith is truly Christ and everything He stood for, we will find excitement when people come to know and follow Him, regardless of what building they do it in.

So what I would like to make clear:

I'm going to continue to be faithful to the call God has placed on my life. I'm going to continue to love on the young people in the area I live, and hope that the Lord brings them to Himself. I'm going to continue to learn and live out Jesus in every aspect of my life. Regardless of what people say, I will continue to pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Make His Reality Ours

Does Jesus really have relevance in the daily, momentary life flow?

A man that lived two thousand years ago cannot honestly have advice for me living in the twenty first century.

He was a great teacher in his time, and we use some of his ideas, but to honestly say that he has all the answers is ridiculous. We like the ideas of love, peace, and justice; but those ideas were around long before Jesus.

There are still some of us who think Jesus really meant what he said!

We believe He is the:

-Logos (or Word of/about God)

-Immanuel

-Messiah

-Christ

-Son of God

We continue to believe that no matter what the surrounding atmosphere of culture says, this Jesus has the answers to not only our simpleton questions, but also the answers of reality itself. Jesus was saturated in the Spirit and very Breath of God. He was a rabbi (teacher), and ultimately paid the penalty for the sins of mankind. He was the fullness of God existing in the fullness of man. We embrace the fact that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is a complete gift from God (Ephesians 2:8). This faith is not only directed towards his death and resurrection, but also to everything he said and taught to those who would listen. We cherish his teachings and strive to live our lives by the lens of his reality, which is ultimately God’s reality.

The Messiah teaches us to follow His ways(John 14:15). So as Christ is the center of our faith, he represents the axis to which our lives revolve and rotate.

The heart and hub for things such as:

Our perspective of the world around us

The way we spend money

How we communicate

The things we think about

Our values

Our overall focus and goals

The way we care and treat people

The way we perceive ourselves in relation to God

As Jesus is our axis, we want His reality to become our reality. Ultimately we know His reality is Truth. We become His students. When we fall short, we know His blood covers our failures and screw-ups. We seek to see the world through his lens instead of our own. The nucleus of our existence is based upon the life and death of the Messiah.

So let us rise and be a people who’s AXIS is centered on Christ!

Transitions

It's been a while since the last time I updated this blog, and with the changes in our life, I figured now is good a time as ever.

For the past couple months, God has been placing signs and directions in our lives. Its been quite unnerving throughout the whole situation. I went from being a pastor in a flourishing youth group in which God was clearly working in young people's lives, to being hired by another church in the same town. I know there's this whole negative stigma when it comes to switching churches (especially as a pastor) in the same town, but we felt doors opening regardless of the fears and doubts we (and others) had. There's no doubt in our minds that throughout the past two years, we've developed a passion for the area where we live. We've come to develop base relationships, started knowing people throughout the community, and the discipleship process at church was progressing efficiently. This whole change thing seemed chaotic and even irrational. My wife and I are still asked to logically explain the whole scenario to people, and not to be short with anyone, but trust us; you don't have enough time.

Why did we feel arrows were pointing us elsewhere? We wondered and even questioned God through this whole ordeal. Yet in the end, all roads were leading us to this new ministry opportunity. In the end, I'd rather follow the Lord through the hard times and risky situations rather than sit securely on the hill of comfort and pride.

On top of our ministry transition, my wife went back to school, we're having to move, our dog of 18 years died, and we're maintaining family time with a seven month old baby. When it rains it pours right?

We're soaked with transition!

It has taken us out of our comfort zone and placed us off balance in this weird awkward position. Its sort of like the game of Twister. We had our hands and feet in a comfortable position, and now God is asking us to get all curled up and distorted out of shape. Yet there's something extremely exciting with what God is doing. He's continuing to work among the people of the area in which we live, and to be part of His Kingdom is joyous.

The important thing isn't that we have moved. It isn't about the church I used to work at; it isn't about the church that I'm now working at. Whats important is that the Kingdom of God is being taught to the young people of the area. Its important that disciples are continually being made of Jesus. Its important that through all this, God continues to get the glory. We are part of God's restoration project of humanity. Let us continue to center our lives on the Christ.