HE IS ALIVE!

My favorite version of the resurrection is when Mary Magdalene is at the tomb weeping; fearful, confused, and grieved that someone may have stolen the body of her Lord, Savior, and Friend.

What she received outside that empty tomb must have caused her heart to leap with joy. Jesus was alive! What ecstasy she must have felt when she heard Him call her name.

 "Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!”She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her." John 20:14-18

Today, millions of believers celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Today, if you are unsure what to believe, let me assure you that JESUS is alive, and He is calling your name.

Please enjoy this new song from Third Day...
He is Alive!

Are You Burdened?

Greetings,

First of all, I wanted to share something personally with you in this blog.  Some of you may know that my father went home to be with Jesus on December 23^rd after a brief illness.  

During the last two months of his life, Dad and I talked about heaven and at one point he said he felt a little guilty because he was looking forward to it.  He said, "Won't it be great!  No more pain, no more sin, no jealousy.  Just pure love from the Lord."  

He was looking forward to seeing family members he hadn't seen, and especially Jesus, and was, well, sort of excited to go!  He did express that he would feel bad about leaving, but… Frankly, as much as I may have wanted him to stay, I could not blame him for wanting to leave.  

Anyway, one of the things we talked about  was the grace of God and how amazing His love for us is.  And I was thinking about that today and it reminded me of an allegory I wrote a few years ago, and I wanted to share it again with you.  I hope you enjoy it… again.

  

An Allegory

 "Welcome, Sojourner," said the shepherd. "I see you have laid your heavy burden down at the foot of the cross; How wonderful!"

 

"Now that you have received the wonderful gift of salvation, let me show you how to grow.  Follow me and I will guide you through your new responsibilities."

“Responsibilities?” Sojourner wondered?  “Let me show you,” said the shepherd.  With those words, young Sojourner began a journey into a new life.

As each day progressed, he was excited to learn from the shepherd and others in the flock how he was to now live and what things he needed to do to please the Master.

There was so much to learn, so many new things he needed to accomplish!

The shepherd and the people of the flock helped him as he began to absorb all the great principles that were so new to him.  It was explained to him that the shepherd and flock discovered these ideas in a book they said contained the "Great Standards of Life."

"Oh, there is so much to comprehend,” he fretted. “How will I ever please my new Master?"

"Follow my lead," said the shepherd, I have lived by these Great Standards for many years.

"But how can I ever live up to such Great Standards."

"The Master’s grace will help you fulfill the Great Standards. You see, the reason He gives us grace so we can live up to them. No one can fully carry them out without help, so we must ask the Master for grace to help us."

"I think I understand," whispered Sojourner. "You are saying that I should ask the Master for grace to help me live up to the Great Standards of Life, and in that way I will someday earn the Master's approval."

“You are a fast learner!” said the shepherd.

As the days passed, no one worked harder in the flock than Sojourner. He performed excellently. He was there with the flock whenever the doors were opened, and he faithfully studied the parts of the Great Standard he was told about. 

He faithfully accomplished everything the shepherd taught him to do to please the Master. The desire of his whole heart was to please the One who had taken his heavy burden, and the way he was taught was to obey the tenets of the Great Standards.

Yet, something was missing.

Sojourner was unfulfilled and sort of, well… disappointed.  And yet, he could not put his finger on the reason why.  

Even with all the effort he was putting in he didn't feel he was doing enough.  

He was reading the book every day – sometimes for hours.  He was praying and seeking and asking for help. He went for days without food just to have more time to learn about the Great Standards. And even then, something was absent in the new life he had found.

So he decided he must try harder.

He said to himself, “I will follow the Great Standards yet closer than before. I will achieve even more than the shepherd has taught me.  Then I will be satisfied, because then I will know I have pleased the Master."

So, he began to act upon his newly found fervor.

He passionately lived his life as close to the Great Standards as humanly possible. He performed even the minutest details (within reason and common sense) of the standards, and constantly prayed for more of the Master's grace to live up to even more.

“What more is there to do and to learn, when will I ever please the Master?”

He also learned about the "Rules for the Flock," which included suggestions on how the flock should live differently from the other people of the world so that other people could see that they were part of a flock, and not just wanderers in the shadows.

Sojourner also executed these rules flawlessly.

He out-performed all of the other members of the flock, and the shepherd began to point to him as another example for the flock to follow. He spent immeasurable hours reading the book and would always stumble upon more things to do that he hoped would please the Master.

He discovered increasingly more ways to labor, more things to do, which he was sure, would succeed in gaining the Master's favor. He spent days praying and crying out to the Master for the ability to please Him more.

Yet, deep in his heart, Sojourner was unconvinced that he was pleasing the Master.

As the weeks, and months, and years wore on, Sojourner became frustrated with his new life.

The precepts and the tenets that he rejoiced to learn at the first, now had become heavy burdens that weighed his life down. The harder he toiled, the more he seemed to leave undone.

"Is this all there is to it – a life of performance-based living and never knowing for sure if I am pleasing the Master? Even when I obey all of the rules, I never feel that I have done enough!"

As he sought the counsel of the shepherd and the older wiser members of the flock, they all seemed to agree that there must be something wrong in the way that Sojourner was performing. They assured him that if he had been performing correctly, he could be sure that he was pleasing the Master.

They suggested to him, "You simply need to read further about the Great Standards and the Rules for the Flock. After all, they have been our guide all of these years."

"Sojourner, if you would just fast and pray more often, these thoughts would not trouble you."

He could hear the others whispering, "Perhaps there is disobedience in Sojourner's life, or worse, a transgression of the Great Standards... "

"Maybe he needs to go to the cross again and repent.”

“Maybe he just needs to re-commit.”

“There must be something he is doing wrong or he would not have these thoughts…"

Yet the harder he tried to perform, the more frustrated he became.

 

He began to read other things in the book that suggested he didn't have to perform to gain the Master's approval, but when he brought those ideas up to the shepherd and flock, they quickly squelched them.

"Don't talk to us about sloppy agape and greasy grace!"  "Are you trying to get a license to sin!"

The only thing that was in Sojourner's heart was to somehow please his Master.

Oh Holy Night

I know that a lot of us get disillusioned when we see Christmas lights and trees going up as soon as October 31st is over.  It is the commercialization of Christmas that disappoints me, and it seems to be a prevailing attitude in our ever more materialistic society. 

However, this year, I am looking forward to the lights and the music so much I thought about putting up our tree today! My wife vetoed that idea, and I will be content to wait at least until after Thanksgiving!

I happened to be on Facebook today and was introduced to an inspiring video of a music group called "Journey of Faith" as they performed a Christmas "Flash Mob" at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach.  You can watch the video here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnt7euRF5Pg 

One of the songs they sang was "Oh Holy Night," ("Cantique de Noël").  This song has a rich history, and was the first song ever broadcast over American radio!

One of the lines in particular stood out to me and inspired me:

 "Til He appeared and the soul felts its worth." 

Jesus Christ is the One who gives worth to each and every soul on earth.  Every human being is born in the image of God and therefore has intrinsic worth and value.  

It is truly only when someone comes to faith in Christ that they truly understand that value.

Jesus laid down His life freely to restore the relationship between God and humanity.  His death brought dignity and value to every human life. 

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  1 John 4:10

The fact that God loves you and chose to send His Son Jesus to take your place as a sacrifice for sin, makes you extremely valuable! Feel your worth today!

I hope that I can keep that song in focus this year amid all the hype about Black Friday deals, and a constant barrage of commercials from Madison Avenue.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

My Testimony

For the past few months I have been re-editing a book I wrote while we lived and ministered in Guatemala, so I haven't done a lot of blogging. 

As I was thinking about the blog, I realized that one of the most powerful tools we have is to simply share our story.  So I thought I would share my story of how I became a believer in Jesus. 

In the hopes that I don't bore you, I will try to shorten it.

Although I was raised in a home with believing parents, I was never taught about having a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ. 

I was taught bible stories as a small child in Sunday school and as long as I remember I believed in God, but I never knew anything about the idea of becoming born-again.

My folks split up when I was seven, and both parents remarried in a relatively short period.  We soon moved with our mom and stepdad from Iowa to New Mexico, and then to Southern California and eventually to Northern California. 

I was used to moving around because as a kid living in Iowa, I went to two different kindergartens in two different towns, one school for 1st grade in one town, another school for 2nd in another town, two schools for 3rd in two close by towns, the same school for 4th, then half of 5th in New Mexico, the other half of 5th in Southern  California, half of 6th in the same school in So. Cal., then the other half of 6th grade Northern California where we stayed for the next few years. Between my junior and senior year of high school, my brother and I moved back to Iowa to live with our dad.  Lots of moves as a kid, and so I learned to make friends quickly!

When I was 10, we lived in Long Beach, California, and one Sunday morning I got up and told my mother I was going to Sunday school.  We had not attended church anywhere there, but there was a church down the street near where I went to school. 

When I arrived, they had children's service instead of Sunday school, and  the teacher had a display board with three hearts on it; a black heart, a red heart, and a white heart.  She explained that the black heart represented a heart covered by sin; the red heart was a heart that had been covered by the blood of Jesus; and finally the white heart was a heart that had been cleansed and made pure by the blood of Jesus.

She then asked if anyone wanted to ask Jesus into their heart to forgive them of their sin, and I raised my hand and said I do.  I do not remember her leading me in a "sinner's prayer," I just remember simply asking Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins.  The children gathered around me and laid hands on me as I prayed.

After that the teacher wanted my name and address but I was always taught not to give out that information to a stranger, so I didn't give her my address.  

Soon, we moved to Northern California, and I never went back to that church. 

When I was 13, my folks thought I should go through confirmation. Even though I really wasn't paying that much attention, the scriptures that were taught by the pastor stayed with me. I can also remember being on a retreat in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and again asking Jesus be in my heart and to forgive me of my sins.

Also, when I was 13, I was walking down an alley on my way home from a store one afternoon when an elderly lady stopped me to talk.  I was always taught to respect my elders, so I listened to her.  

She asked about my family and if I were the oldest son, and then she began to speak over my life how the eldest son is to be given and dedicated to the Lord and His service, and how I would be a minister one day!  This was new to me, and I thanked her but didn't tell anyone about it.

Not long after that, my brothers and some friends and I were swimming in a lake near our home.  There were reeds in the lake and through the root systems of the weeds there were underwater tunnels.  One of my friends swam through the reeds and came up on the other side and so I thought I would try.

Somehow I got turned around in the tunnels and could not find the opening on the other side.  I started to run out of air, and almost started to panic, when a still small voice told me to "Go back the same way you came in."  I began to push myself backwards and shortly my feet hit someone's legs, and I popped out of the water.  My friends were pretty worried and were ready to send in a "search party" for me! I told them what had happened to me and they sort of laughed it off…

Unfortunately, when I was 14, I rebelled.  I was introduced to drugs, and for the next several years of my life I lived for "sex, drugs, and rock and roll."  Even though I was living the wasteful life of a prodigal, there were many times God intervened and spared my life.

Once when I was sixteen, a bunch of us went to dive off a train trestle into the Mokelumne River.  I always loved to do daredevil stuff when I was a kid, so the idea of diving off a 60 foot trestle seemed like a fun thing to do.  The goal was to get out in the middle of the trestle, climb down on some water tanks, and dive into the deepest part of the river. 

As I was walking on the trestle to get to the middle of the bridge, someone yelled, "Train!" and I thought they were joking.  I looked behind me, and it was a train!  Without thinking, I dove off the trestle, and landed in about 3-4 feet of water.  Fortunately, when I hit, I balled up, and I was not hurt badly.  My knees came up and hit my mouth so I got a bloody lip, but that was it.

Over the years, there have many times that I can see God's hand of protection in my life.  My mother told me that when I was 16 days old, I was dying, and she prayed to God if He would let me live, she would give me to him.  

I sat down one time and tried to think of all the times that I know God spared my life. I was amazed at how many times He had intervened in obvious ways. He is so faithful - even if we are faithless - He cannot deny Himself...  

By the time I was in my twenties, I was searching.  I moved back to Iowa via California and Texas, and moved in with the girl (Sue) who eventually became my wife.  With the Lord's help, we will celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary in March!

I had come back to Iowa, but I had no peace. 

When I was in Texas, Sue and I would talk on the telephone about the end times.  We had both read a book about the end times (even though neither of us were following Jesus), and we were convinced that the antichrist was just around the corner.  We thought about how we could move to a remote wilderness and live off the land…  Even though neither of us were living our lives for the Lord, He used the "end times" to draw us to Him.  In fact, Sue had asked her mother for a bible one Christmas, and the first book she started reading was Revelation!

So I was back in Iowa, but I had no peace.  So I started searching for something to fill the "God-shaped vacuum" in my life.  I thought I was searching for "truth."

In my pursuit, I began reading books on the occult and eastern religions, things that we now call "new age" material. People may call it the "new age," but it's the same old lie!  The same lie the serpent used to deceive Eve; "Ye shall be like God…" With new age teaching, people try to become like God, or attain a knowledge of God apart from blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!

So, I was reading all these books on astral projection, transcendental meditation, books by people who have familiar spirits, I even looked at a book on satanism.  

Most of these books talk about Jesus; How He was a "good man," a "prophet," a "messiah," but none of them recognized Him for who He really is. He is only begotten Son of God, God the Son! 

Many of those books talked about becoming "divine," or like "Christ."  I even read part of one book that said that Jesus had to be reincarnated 27 times to become perfect!  The fellow who said that supposedly had read through the bible once for every year he lived and was a Sunday school teacher. What deception!

One night I was invited to hear a Christian singing and drama group at a local church and I went.  After the presentation, one of the men in the group began to talk to me about the Lord.  

He asked me, "What is your relationship to God?" I told him I thought it was good, but I wasn't sure if Jesus was his son.  In other words, I did not really have a relationship with God because Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." John 14:6...

The young man showed me some scriptures and wanted me to pray with him, but I was too full of pride.  I would not do it.  

I told him, "I'll go home and ask the Lord to show me the truth," and I meant it.

When I got to the apartment, Sue was sleeping, and I lay in bed and began to cry out to God.  

"God, you've got to show me the truth.  If Jesus is Your Son, Who do I worship, Who do I pray to?"  I began to weep, and I was laying on my back, but suddenly I heard a voice the voice sounded like it was behind me that said, 

"Praise God!"

When I heard the voice (not audibly, mind you, but a still small voice), several things happened at once: A wave of love, and joy, and peace sort of went "Whoosh!" right over me; and at the same moment, I could see in my mind, Jesus on the cross.  And I realized at that moment, that He was God, come in the form of man, and that He had died for my sins. And not only mine, but for the sins of everyone in the world!

I simply prayed, "Lord, take over my life," and He did! 

The next morning, Sue asked me what had happened to me because something was different about me.  I had peace!  In my searching, I had come across a bible tract ministry next to a printer's shop, and I walked in and asked what bible tracts were.  The lady handed me a bundle of tracts and sent me on my way.  

When Sue asked me what happened, I gave her a bible tract and told her to read it and pray the prayer on the back of it.  She went into the bedroom, shut the door, knelt down, read the tract, and prayed to received the Lord!

A few months later, we both received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and were both later baptized in water… God is good!

Does the Message of Grace Encourage Sin?

"You're preaching 'sloppy agape' and 'greasy grace!' You're giving people a license to go out and sin!"

I'm guessing that if a minister hasn't heard those accusations, he is probably not preaching a strong grace message, i.e., Hyper-Grace. I've written more on that subject, here.

But the question really comes down to "does the message of God's amazing grace encourage people to sin?

My answer is, "Absolutely not!"

 If anything, the message of God's forgiveness and grace causes just the opposite.

It causes us to want to know this God who "imputes righteousness apart from works," and who justifies us, "freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 4:6 and 3:24, respectively)

Titus 2.11-14 says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,  looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."  New King James Version (NKJV) The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

What does this verse say that grace does?

Well, first of all, grace teaches us;

• To deny ungodliness and worldly lusts
• To live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age
• To look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Wow! That seems like the exact opposite of teaching and encouraging people to sin!

Remember when King David sinned with Bathsheba? He not only committed adultery with her, but he committed murder by causing her husband, Uriah, to be killed by the hands of Israel's enemies.

Nathan the prophet confronts him with these two sins, both according to Moses' law, carry the penalty of death.

But something interesting happens.

First of all, David doesn't try to hide his sins, he admits, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Secondly, Nathan declares to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."  2 Samuel 12:13

Whew! Dodged a bullet on that one, Davey! Talk about sloppy agape and greasy grace!

I'll just bet that David must have gone right back out and found another woman to have sex with, get pregnant, and have her husband killed!

What? No?

No.  Instead, we see a picture if God's grace causing the heart of a man to live soberly and thankful to the point that David is able to say,

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” Romans 4:7-8 NKJV

Not only that but David's heir, Solomon, comes from the union of David and Bathsheba.  Talk about amazing grace!

The message of grace causes us to be thankful for what Jesus did for us at the cross.  Grace points us to Jesus, not to our sin.

It causes us to be less sin conscious and more God conscious.

Perhaps people think the message of grace is "out of balance" because we do not focus on sin?  But really, wasn't sin the focus of the Old Covenant?

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.  But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year." Hebrews 10:1-3 NKJV

With the sacrifices, there was a reminder of sins every year. They could never have a conscience free from sin. Why?

Because the blood of bulls and goats could never completely remove the stain of sin!   It took the blood of Jesus to remove that stain!

"For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." Hebrews 10:14 NKJV

The offerings under law were so defective that they had to be repeated. The offering of Jesus Christ was so perfect, that He only needed to do it once for all! 

"Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and ^[a]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him." Hebrews 9:28  Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

 

The blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that cleanses us from sin, and cleanses our consciousness of sin.  

The message of grace is the message of God's incredible love for humanity. 

The message of grace is a message that does not dangle our sin in front of our eyes as a reminder of the bad things we have done, but it causes our eyes to be focused on the One who removed our sins as far as the east is from the west!