New Year New Cross

34 Then he (Jesus) called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
- Mark 8.34-35

It was a little after midnight or so this morning and I was thinking about how scripture repeatedly informs us that Jesus says in order to be one of His followers we must take up our crosses and follow Him or follow in His steps. I have heard other preachers including myself say "at least all we have to do is carry or crosses, He didn't say we had to be nailed to them." Now even though this statement is true I believe it has led us to believe in a fairytale of sorts. Because it implies that we will not suffer. Which is true to the degree that we won't have to suffer the punishment of being nailed to the cross because Christ has already died in our place. But the fallacy of this statement is that it may lead some to believe that if we follow Jesus we won't suffer at all. And this is not true.

Part of the shame, disgrace and pain of crucifixion was having to carry the instrument of your demise. It was a heavy, rough cut splintered object to carry. In other words it was a physical, mental and spiritual burden on your back knowing that what you are "taking up" now will soon be your end.

So if we are to be pain, trouble, and care-free as followers of Christ then why would Jesus tell us to "take up OUR CROSSES" and follow Him? Because He knows we live in a fallen world where we will experience heartache, loss, pain and sorrow. Now this is not God's fault, even though sometimes we have a tendency to want to blame Him it's not His fault at all.

Jesus knew we would have troubles and tribulations in this life and these are OUR CROSSES to bear. It may not be because we have sin in our lives as some would preach or teach but because sin in general distorted and ruined what was once a perfect world. But to take up our cross and follow Jesus means to bear what we must bear in this life knowing that after this body has failed us God never will.

Hebrews 12.2-3 tells us that if we 2 fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

To follow Jesus is to enjoy this life, endure it hardships knowing someday we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. So when we reflect back on 2010 I'm not going to suggest we forget the bad times or the good because both make us stronger and wiser for what lies ahead. And what lies ahead is if we continue to follow Jesus we will gain a more intimate and personal relationship with the one who was nailed to His cross so we won't have to bear the punishment of our sins after this life is over.

Yes in this new year there will be a new cross but we must remember that if we follow Jesus He will never leave us, nor forsake us and His presence and leadership will give us a peace in knowing His great love is constant and consuming. And someday we will see Him face to face because we will have followed Him right into His Kingdom.

Just some early morning thoughts on the cross and the new year.

The rise and fall of empires has little to do with managing prophets but more to do with manifested prophecy.

The Greatest Paradox Ever Told

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
-Luke 2.10-12

One silent night God exclaimed His love for the entire world,
because our all powerful God came to earth in the form of a helpless child.
Many had been waiting for His coming but very few noticed His arrival,
so much so that there was no room for him in the world that He Himself had created.

He who was divine became human.
He who has always existed with His heavenly Father traded His place on a lofty throne to be born of an earthly mother and be placed in a lowly manger.
He who reigned over streets of gold was born in a borrowed cave used as a stable.

He exchanged His robes of splendor for swaddling clothes
and He left the songs of the multitude of angels for the silent stares of a few humble shepherds.

And that night even though Jesus left His throne He became our King,
a King who came not to be served, but to serve.
A King who was born to die,
a King who’s death would bring us life,
a King who’s single solitary sacrifice would serve as a ransom for all.

Our God, Savior and King materialized to bless us with the gift of eternal life, yet on this day we celebrate His birth by blessing ourselves with material gifts.

So it’s this silent paradox of Christmas that beckons us to respond.
And even though there are presents still waiting for us to receive,
this season is truly about the gift we've already been given,
the gift of God himself.

Have a jolly, jolly paradox this year.

practice, practice, practice

I'm sitting here in my office listening to the worship team practice worship. My thought is why don't we all practice worship so when we get to church we are ready to be in His presence instead of waiting for someone to lead us into it? Would our hearts and time together be more eventful and fulfilling?

I know it will

With Christmas right around the corner what if instead of searching for gifts for family and friends we were to search our hearts for what gifts we could give Christ this next year?

What if instead of being all excited about what we might get under the tree, we were to get all excited about the gifts God's already given us?

You know, the things we take for granted. Like our life, every breath, the ground we walk on, and most of all the family and friends who haven’t forsaken us. You see these are the gifts of real importance and real substance because they are what make us who we are.

So this Christmas let’s not forget the real gifts we’ve been given by remembering God didn’t give us material things that first Christmas. He just materialized and generously and sacrificially gave us Himself leaving us the perfect example of what we should gift to Him and to those around us. And if we do this starting this Christmas and every day after, do you suppose our lives and the lives of those we say matter to us might just be more fulfilling because we will be filling them with the gift of our life and our love?

I know it will.

BUT SHAMMAH!

2 Samuel 23 gives a list of King Davids mightiest men. These men are the equivalent of Israel's special forces of that time. These are God's chosen warriors and Shammah is #3 on this list and yet in verse 12 we find this one mighty man fighting and risking his life for a field of beans.

WHY?

Are these beans really worth his life?

Would you risk life and limb for beans?

Or is his stand really about something deeper than a field of beans?

Read verses 11 and 12 and see what you think.

The Other Character

Yesterday in our morning service we looked at how evil can and will speak into our lives using the story in Acts 19 about the 7 sons of Sceva. We discussed how if these 7 sons were here today they would probably have 3 things they would like to say to us and they would be #1 "the voice of evil takes on many forms." #2 "Satan's kingdom is aware of who you are." And #3 "you can't use Jesus' name effectively if you're not convinced of His power." And the entire theme they would like to get across to us would be "Don't try this on your own!"

Now today as I've been reflecting on this true story again about this demon possessed man beating these 7 grown men until they ran off bleeding and naked I've stumbled upon another truth that was invisible to me before. And this truth isn't just about these 7 "religious" men trying to use Jesus' name as some Harry Potter type of "magic word" to exercise the demonic presence from this other character in the story, but it's more about the fact that the force of evil made it's residence inside of this man.

First I noticed that while we don't exactly know the individual names of these 7 men, we do know who's sons they are. Because they're recorded as belonging to the Jewish Chief Priest Sceva. So we can see by this fact that they are of Israeli descent and are evidently well versed in the religion of Judaism. But while we do have an idea of these 7 mens background and who they are, the possessed man in this story remains nameless for posterity.

Why is that?

Now I know this story's all about the fact that you can't defeat evil if you don't have a personal relationship with Christ. But what about the other character in this story? What about this nameless man who is tormented and controlled by evil?

Just look at what this man single handedly achieves (with the help of evil of course). When they came to exercise him they confront him and they say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." But the evil spirit in this man tells them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then he puts the hurt to all 7 of them.

So my thought is that maybe this mans remaining nameless displays the fact that none of us are immune to evil being able to work in or maybe even through our lives. Just a hypothetical question but what if we were to write our name in the blank space where this mans name would be? You see this story shows me that if it's allowed to, evil can voice itself through our vocal cords, personify itself through our flesh, and even inflict emotional and physical harm to those around us most likely scaring them for life.

So here's a few questions we should probably ask ourselves everyday.

1. Do we make sure that we're always in the "right spirit"?
2. Do we always watch what we say, or even how we say it when speaking to, or even about others?
3. Do we always weigh the consequences and the affects of our actions towards others?
4. Which type of personification are we permeating through our actions and our words, helpful or hurtful?

I know one thing. I wouldn't want to be like the 7 sons of Sceva and get a beat down every time I'm confronted by evil in my life, but on the other hand, I never want to be like the other character in this story either!