The Other 167

The Christian walk can feel like it's across a balance beam, sometimes blindfolded. Seeking righteousness, we lean a little too far to the legalist side. We steady ourselves with grace, maybe a little too much, and stumble toward sin.  Compare this to Jesus' own words: "I am gentle and humble in heart". "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light". Does that sound like He wants us to balance like an Olympic gymnist?  We struggle to balance when we try to walk by ourselves. Jesus doesn't want us to learn how to balance. He just wants us to hold His hand. 

All Christians have done some regrettable things in our lives. Some years ago, some yesterday, but there are plenty of opportunities for us to look back at things we know we should have done differently. But should we hang on to them? I can argue that remembering how prone we are to mistakes can be a healthy reminder to seek God's direction in every action. We rarely see a mistake coming before it happens (although to be fair, I probably have). We often think we are doing the right thing at the time we make the mistake. It's only after the fact that we realize we missed it. Anytime we act without God the risk of mistakes skyrockets. On the other hand, we can spend so much time remembering the things we messed up that we only see ourselves for our failures. But that isn't how God sees us. But God's love is in both. I think it's OK to remember your mistakes as long as they serve as a reminder of how much God loves us, flawed as we are, and how forgiving and gracious He is. But He also loves us enough to offer His Spirit and His Word as a guide, so we don't have to make those mistakes. Best of all, God's power is displayed in what He is able to do with our mistakes. He did some incredible things with some sketchy people and continues to today. We just have to trust and follow Him.

It's easy to have faith when we like the way we see God working in our lives. But when we don't like His answers (or He just isn't offering them), those are the times we see our true faith.  After Jesus' fed 4,000 people, Peter said He was the Christ. But when Jesus told them He would be killed, Peter argued with Him and Jesus called Him Satan. Peter flip flopped so fast he got two new names in five verses! Believing in God's past goodness isn't faith. That's observation. Faith is believing God is good even if the next phase of His plan is scarier than we could have imagined. It's remembering He is good when the scary part is actually happening. And it's relying on His grace to comfort us for as long as He allows the pain to last.  It's not easy. Not at all. When things really got hard, Peter tripled down on denying he even knew Jesus. And this is the man Jesus tasked with building the church.  I think He understands how difficult it is for us. But it's pleasing to Him. And that's all the reason real faith needs. 

Paul didn't include "argumentative" in his list of the fruits of the Spirit, but Christians seem to add it from time to time, especially when it comes to non-believers. We are called to be the peacemakers, not conflict seekers. Whether we are confronting sin, discussing interpretations of Scripture, or even the existence of God at all, we can get so fired up defending our stance that conversations turn into arguments. And in doing so, we misrepresent the very thing we are so passionately defending. God has done plenty to prove His existence and has all the power to convict others of their sins and theological misunderstandings. He doesn't need our help. He asks us to show patience and kindness to others. This is how we represent the one thing He commanded repeatedly: His love.

Christians can be the some of the worst representatives of what we believe sometimes. Grace, forgiveness, mercy, love, humility, these are the qualities Jesus commanded us to show as His disciples. When we treat others as we think they deserve to be treated, celebrate and applaud our own righteousness, and act like we know the one and only correct answer in every scenario, we represent the complete opposite qualities of Jesus. We judge non-believers for not accepting the faith that we fail to demonstrate. What do you think Jesus would have to say about that?

Sometimes it's hard to trust that God's process is good. Sometimes it's hard to believe He even has one at all. But He has known everything that was going to happen from the beginning, and knows exactly what is going to happen next, and further down the road. When things don't make sense, trusting that He knows exactly what He is doing and that His way will ultimately be perfect, helps us to find peace in the storms. He wants us to stay focused on HIM, instead of the situations we don't understand.

A couple thousand years ago, we received the greatest miracle of all. God Himself was among us, in the flesh, experiencing everything we experience, yet without sin. As ancient as the story may seem, His presence is with us as much today as it was then, and it's every bit as miraculous today. A holy God loves us and wants us to know Him, wants to be with us every day of our lives. It's incredible. Merry Christmas!!

The Christmas season brings a lot of traditions along with it. Santa, movies, songs, gifts, trees, decorations, concerts and funny sweaters. But the whole season, the whole story, it's all about God and His love for us. It's easy to get swept up in the chaos this time of year and forget why we are doing all these things in the first place. But what Christmas celebrates is so much more important than how it is celebrated.

The perception of Christianity, even sometimes from within Christianity, is that Christians are supposed to be perfect, righteous people. We equate God's ability to love and use us to our ability to perform at or close to His expectations. Maybe that part isn't entirely untrue. The lie might be in what we think His expectations actually are. God knows everything, so He most certainly knows we are nowhere close to perfect. He is aware of, and prepared for, all of our flaws. And He loves us anyway. And will gladly use us for His kingdom if we are willing. Ironically, perhaps the only people God can't (or at least won't) use, are the ones who think they are perfect and righteous.

Living out the Christian life is really what the first 99 episodes have been about, so it was a fitting title for the 100th.  Reading scripture, prayer, church, these are all great things that we need in our lives to grow closer to the Lord. But what we learn and how we grow should spill over into how we live our lives as well. If it doesn't, how much did we really grow?  We should also remember God is the source of our growth; we certainly couldn't do it on our own. Don't forget to thank Him for that along the way. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

It's easy to think Jesus didn't need faith. If He was God, He knew everything and didn't have to worry right? But without faith it is impossible to please God, and God Himself said He was well pleased with Jesus. So He must have had to rely on some faith in His time here.  When Jesus was on earth, He voluntarily surrendered some of His God-like attributes, coming down to our level in some ways. This makes His faithfulness to the Father all the more incredible! We can't use the excuse "well, yeah, but He was Jesus" when we can't find the ability to live the way He told us to live. He lived by example, struggling with temptation without surrendering to it.  When we can't find the power to do this on our own, God reminds us that "on our own" was never His plan. 

Worshiping Jesus isn't an hour a week church service, a 15-minute daily devotion, or a nightly prayer. It is a way of life. For a Christian, it is the way of life.  It is welcoming Jesus along for the minute by minute ride. The ride with the crazy drivers, difficult people, and less than ideal circumstances. He wants to be a part of it all. Church and quiet time are the easy times to follow Christ. It's the rest of life we struggle with. And that's where He wants to be.  When we invite Christ into unrestricted 24/7 access to our hearts, our entire lives become about glorifying Him, and He is able to do so much with the little things along the way.  Chapters (00:00:02) - Wonders of the World(00:01:24) - Jesus' patience with the she-devil(00:06:10) - Pondering the Humility of Christ(00:10:11) - Humility in the Word(00:14:50) - Jesus Was Tempted 3 Times(00:18:27) - Did They Know The Messiah Was the Messiah?(00:23:50) - Jesus and the Old Covenant(00:24:26) - Christianity and Nicodemus(00:26:42) - John 3: The Contrast Between John 2 and 3(00:31:33) - Why Was Christ So Humiliated?(00:35:46) - say yes to everything(00:40:06) - Wonders of the World(00:44:38) - Thanksgiving and Being thankful(00:47:19) - Rusty Earnhardt In The NASCAR Hall of Fame(00:49:33) - Tallahassee Motor Speedway(00:51:59) - Carl Lewis on Jimmy Kimmel's Hall of Fame Moment(00:54:47) - Things That God Can't Do For You(00:56:58) - Homework For Kids

Why are we doing what we are doing? Better yet, Who is directing us? It's so easy to take control and do what we want or do what we know we should for the wrong reasons. But if we are being led by God, our hearts align with our motives, to serve Him in gratitude, and direct others to Jesus! Chapters (00:00:02) - It Takes Courage to Love Self(00:01:05) - My Son's First Step To 100(00:04:21) - Kenny on His Backup Plan(00:05:41) - Pray for Your Enemies(00:10:14) - Praying in the Spirit(00:15:07) - Blessings Follow Obedience(00:17:04) - James 5: The Prayer of a righteous Man(00:21:32) - What, What Was It That I Would Love to Be?(00:21:46) - Reveal: Self-Control(00:26:19) - How to Deal with a Hardheaded Child(00:29:05) - Who Comes First? The Test of Discipleship(00:31:53) - Mental preparation for God(00:33:22) - How to Do a Three-Part Sermon(00:36:33) - The Cross and God's Love(00:39:59) - An atheist on God and His Love(00:42:38) - Jesus on Self-Love(00:45:28) - Check Your Motions(00:47:49) - Closing with the Book of Jude(00:49:17) - Responsibilities of Others and God

If we aren't careful, our inner legalist can twist our motivation to obey God. We either do it so appear righteous to others, make ourselves feel better about ourselves, or even to earn God's favor so He will give us what we desire.  Not only are those the wrong reasons to obey God, they are sinful! Self-righteousness, pride, & greed square off directly in the face of what God desires in our hearts. So are we not to obey? As Paul would say, God forbid!  We shouldn't see blessings and obedience as a divine currency exchanged between us and God. If it were, we'd be bankrupt!  A unique characteristic of love is that it causes you to find joy in the joy of the person you love. When I do something for my kids that makes them happy, I don't do it to make myself feel like a good dad. I do it because seeing them happy brings me joy! But bringing myself joy isn't the motivation for doing it, but it goes hand in hand with bringing them joy.  When we pursue the things that make God happy out of our love for Him, blessings follow, because our obedience to Him is the blessings itself!   

God can do anything He wants. Literally anything. We can't even comprehend His power, let alone match it. But when it comes to the things most important to us, for some reason we try to limit His power. Yes, He can create the universe, raise the dead, multiply fish and bread, but what is that to us?! We think this one thing in our life is the one thing God can't handle. We trust ourselves to step up and handle a problem that we think is too big for Almighty God. It really is comically stupid. Chapters (00:00:02) - God's Love for Us(00:00:55) - Jack's Jams and Jellies(00:03:38) - Keep Your Testimony(00:06:43) - Jesus' Mercy for Mary(00:09:41) - Sub-Points of the Bible(00:14:02) - Jesus on the Crucifixion(00:17:35) - Wonders of the World(00:21:10) - How Much Wine Would Have Been Needed for the Disciples?(00:24:04) - Wonders of the World(00:26:25) - God's Will for You(00:29:41) - Burden of Eternal Trust(00:33:44) - Blessed People: How Dependent Are They on God?(00:38:00) - How to Be Less Prideful(00:40:27) - How to Fight PRIDE(00:43:12) - "My Mother in Law Is a Blackey Blank"(00:43:52) - It's Just Too Important to Let God Handle(00:46:44) - Real Prayers For The Lord(00:49:33) - Gabe's Love Letter To His Parents(00:52:46) - Gabe's Attempt to Earn 17 Million GTA Points(00:55:38) - Mariah Carey on Smartphones(00:59:40) - Amelia in the Amber Alert(01:01:51) - Moses and Aaron in the Desert(01:05:13) - Jesus at the End of His Own Life(01:06:20) - Why Did God Tell Moses To assemble the congregation and speak to the(01:07:36) - PODCAST: Chick Fil-A

We are naturally bent towards comparing ourselves to others. How skilled are we at certain tasks? How kind are we towards others? How much have we been blessed? Looking only at ourselves doesn't tell us much. We need to know the answers to these questions for other people to know how we measure up. Very little can come out of this. We either find ways to be jealous of others or find ways to feel superior to them. But when we compare ourselves to Jesus, there's no room for either. He holds all the power, all the glory, all the knowledge, and all the love. We will never "out know" Him, or be able to "out power" Him, and we most certainly will never be able to "out love" Him. He is the only standard worth chasing. Chapters (00:00:02) - How to Build a Personal Pride(00:00:48) - How to Prepare for a Hurricane in New York(00:04:52) - Hurricane Florence's path through the mountains(00:07:49) - Hurricane Florence: Taking a boat to the beach(00:09:18) - Chick Fil A In The Elevator(00:11:36) - "Oh, That's Pretty!"(00:12:03) - Christian Karma(00:16:38) - Getting It Out of the Cash(00:17:17) - Karma and the consequences of actions(00:20:12) - Respondent: Consequences of Our Actions(00:23:31) - Consequence and Result(00:25:53) - Can Christians Still Live in Sin?(00:26:15) - Will Christians Sin?(00:30:02) - How to Deal with Homeless People(00:30:09) - What About the Sins That You're Still Doing?(00:33:04) - Can I Do X and Be a Christian?(00:37:02) - 7 Deadly Sins of the Christian People(00:41:12) - Sin begins in the mind(00:44:19) - Can I Do This and Be a Christian?(00:47:07) - The standard is Christ(00:48:37) - John 2:1 Through 10(00:50:54) - Eternal Heaven and New Earth(00:53:49) - Isaac on the New Heaven and New Earth(00:57:44) - Hurricanes and the Rotation(00:59:19) - God Isn't a Cosmic Killjoy(01:03:16) - In the Elevator With Dr. Phil(01:03:57) - There Are 8 Million Stories in A Naked City

Sometimes we give our best effort, and things don't work out. Other times they don't work out because we don't give them our best effort. I've honestly never known which was harder to deal with. On one hand, you have to deal with regret when you know you could have tried harder. But on the other, when your best wasn't good enough, it's a downright humiliating thing to have to accept. Both are hard to live with, but neither can outrun God's grace. God's grace far exceeds our best efforts or our failures. More than our effort, God desires our hearts, to put our faith in Him and know that His best efforts always work out.

There's a scene from an old baseball movie called Moneyball. In the scene, a player hits a ball deep into the outfield and immediately runs as fast as he can towards first base with no regard for the ball. As he rounds first, he trips over the bag into an embarrassing 15-foot barrel roll. Crawling frantically back towards first base, he looks up to opposing players and his own coaches' playful laughter at his expense. More embarrassing than his fall, was that he hadn't even realized that he'd hit the ball 60 feet over the fence.  It's easy to get so caught up in our search for God's will that we forget that, by accepting His salvation, His will for our life is already fulfilled, and we've received His ultimate gift. Our search should now be for how we respond to the grace He has shown us.  Contentment isn't about being satisfied with what God has given us. It's about realizing that He has already given us the only thing that matters. The more we wrap our hearts around this concept, the less we see value in anything but Him and Him alone, and the more we rest in Him calling the shots from here. 

What did Paul mean when he said "to live is Christ"? Charlie Kirk knew. Very few people exemplify Christlikeness as well as Charlie did. He spoke the truth with more grace and love than most can manage these days. He stood firm teaching the word of God courageously, never alarmed by the many opponents to his purpose. He worked fearlessly, and patiently, to try to unify a crooked and perverse generation. He didn’t lay down his life voluntarily, but he was obedient to the point of death.   We lost a bright light in a dark world yesterday, but his life didn’t end. Charlie’s life was eternal from the moment he surrendered it to Jesus. Our loss was his ultimate gain, and I am grateful for his faithful service to the Gospel. Chapters (00:00:02) - Living on a Privete(00:02:44) - I Didn't Read The Flashpoint(00:03:54) - How Do We Live As Christ?(00:07:20) - Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians(00:09:28) - Too Good to Be True(00:12:25) - Tongues tied in the seminary(00:14:12) - Reverend Kenny on Communion(00:16:32) - When You Can't Plan Your Life(00:18:53) - What's Your Lesson for Today?(00:20:59) - The Too Good to Be True(00:24:02) - Jesus on Personal Responsibility(00:26:21) - John 11:1-2(00:31:14) - Bradley on God and the Creationist(00:38:10) - God's Truth in One Verse(00:40:29) - The Man Who Missed Ben's Sermon(00:43:38) - Good Samaritans on Facebook(00:47:36) - If God Were One of Us(00:51:51) - Paul's attitude toward Philippians 2(00:52:31) - Being Nice to Non-Believers(00:54:40) - John 8: Don't Forget How Much He Loves You(00:57:42) - There's Still Plenty of God's Beauty in Your Neighborhood(00:59:27) - A Lesson on the Nones(01:05:05) - Deception of the Good News(01:08:46) - How Much of the Country attends Church on a Regular basis(01:12:50) - Creeper Creep in Southern Baptist Church(01:18:38) - Protecting the Fabric(01:20:23) - Contentment in Psalm 18:1-3(01:23:24) - In the Elevator With Grading Homework

There's a subtle, but huge difference, between knowing about God, and having a personal relationship with Him. You can know that God is all powerful and all knowing, without experiencing the peace that comes from trusting Him.  You can know that God forgives sin, without experiencing the grace of His forgiveness for the worst thing you've ever done.  You can know that God wants you to have joy, without experiencing the patience He shows while you fight His plans to provide it.  You can know that Jesus paid for your access to this relationship, without feeling the love that compelled Him to pay such a price. Knowing God, vs. knowing about God, is a distinction that makes all the difference.    Chapters (00:00:02) - Swimming in the Pool(00:03:08) - TRAVEL: Adventures along the Mississippi(00:04:11) - Strengthening Yourself in the Lord(00:05:09) - Lost Phone(00:06:02) - Strengthening Yourself in the Lord(00:12:01) - Trusting God(00:16:18) - Heavenly Wait: Praying For Changes(00:19:45) - How to Strengthen Our Souls in the Lord(00:26:24) - Part 3 of Humility(00:31:57) - Knowing About God and Knowing God(00:36:37) - Getting Away From the World(00:41:45) - Quiet Time on Vacation(00:46:08) - Pray Without Ceasing for the Lord(00:48:16) - Another homework assignment for Philippians(00:48:33) - Philippians 1:21: To Live Is Christ(00:52:16) - Andy Griffith on His Face