as part of studying Luke this year, i've been reading a commentary by michael wilcock. he makes a great point about luke 15:2 ("and the pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, 'this man receives sinners and eats with them.'") - although the pharisees are saying this as a complaint against Jesus, it is the truth of the gospel!
JESUS WELCOMES SINNERS WHO KNOW THEY ARE SINNERS AND HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO TURN!
the following is a quote from "death by love: letters from the cross" by mark driscoll:
"the opposite of the gospel is idolatry. idolatry is worshiping someone or something other than God. by worshiping i mean that we make sacrifices (e.g., time, energy, money, emotion, thought) so that we can give ourselves to someone or something because it is our highest priority. everyone is a worshiper for the simple reason that we were made by God to worship and cannot help ourselves. but because we are sinners, we are prone to worship created things rather than God the Creator. romans 1:25 teaches that this is at the root of all paganism/idolatry, saying, 'they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.' this is a complete inversion of the purpose of our creation, which is to worship God and rule over created things as shown in Genesis 1:26-28. martin luther taught that idolatry is, therefore, not just a sin but rather the sin that is the cause of all other sins..."
this past week, two men that i knew died suddenly. both of them had had physical problems for a while, but their deaths were still somewhat of a suprise.
the first man was a well to do business man (he even had a doctor for a son). he had lived a hard partying life, and i was a bit suprised that he was only 67, because his body seemed to be much older than that. i have no idea where he stood with the Lord, but the life that i observed, spoke of little hope. he seemed to be a fairly bitter old man.
the other guy was one whose life had been amazingly transformed. he had been a night watchman before his illnesses made him unable to work any longer (and also made his medical bills difficult to pay). although his sister came to our church, he was very anti-God. about 3 years ago, when he was in the hospital his sister had asked us to pray for him. the pastor went to visit him and the church helped him out some with his bills. after he was home and stronger, he began to attend on Sunday mornings (perhaps just out of a sense of gratitude). let me tell you, Jesus got ahold of bill's life! it has been such a joy to see him stand before the church and make a public profession of faith, to hear his childlike prayers of faith at the prayer meeting, and to experience his hunger for God's Word at the men's Bible study. i was shocked when i heard that linda had found him dead on his floor last tuesday, but my very next thought was "Praise You Lord, bill is with You!"
another incident happened to me this past weekend. we were part way to an fca event at ysu, when i suddenly had only 3 good tires on my van. this pretty much ended our trip as we waited for the tow truck to arrive. the saddest part? i had known that the tires were in declining condition, and had even planned to replace them this week. too late, the blowout had already occurred. how many people live putting off their need of Jesus Christ? how many does death suprise unawares? don't push it!
"make progress!" was a phrase that became popular with me a couple of years ago when i was trying to encourage a couple quizzers to keep up a regular schedule of learning. the idea was to move forward, even if it was just a little bit at a time.
since that time, the concept of "progress" (and no i don't mean the pedro the lion e.p.) has been one that has come to mind often, especially because it ties in rather nicely with the tool of a growth plan. a verse that often comes to mind is 1 Timothy 4:15 which says, "practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress."
so i've been trying to get in the habit of doing little things regularly that are helpful to growth (easier said than done, because i can be rather sporadic and undisciplined). moving into my own place has also made this a little bit easier (because i am also easily distracted... and at my house i have no tv or internet).
i've made goals and tried to be more thoughtful (hmmm - i actually do more when i consciously think about it). i've had successes and i've had failures (usually stemming from neglect of thoughtfulness and the aforementioned proclivity to distraction).
one little every day bit of progress this summer was pulling weeds in the garden. maybe i'd only have 5 minutes some days... but i'd get some pulled every day. i was making progress! then i went away to camp for a week, and guess what?!? the weeds had taken over... and stronger than ever.
since that time with the weeds (and yes, the poor old lu song is applicable), i've been thinking through this simple point: it takes effort - thought and energy - to move ahead. progress is not easy. regress? well, that's easy, just stand where you are. i think back to the analogy of walking the wrong way on the airport moving walkway. "standing firm" according to paul in philippians 4:1 relates back to "pressing on" in chapter 3 (cue relient k) - standing still takes me the wrong way.
so for me, for now, i'm thinking of that turtle.... and saying to myself, "MAKE PROGRESS!" (ok, yeah, now we can go to pedro...)
lol... and thus continues my theory that no matter what the subject, i can come up with a musical reference...
so the other night at youth group, we were talking about one of my favorite passages of Scripture - Hebrews 10:19-25 (lol - i actually have soooooo many favorites, it's funny for me to use that phrase as a description), and once again we were making the wordplay joke about "let us" and "lettuce."
well, this morning as i was meditating on that passage again, i thought... "hmmmm - the analogy of roughage and it's benefits to our digestive system can really work here." so i started thinking about constipation, and what we're like when we are experiencing it... uncomfortable, bloated, pained, irritable, frustrated, worried that something's wrong with us... just feeling "not quite right," because our systems aren't functioning properly...
so what did i do? yeah, i came in here and started searching the internet for symptoms of constipation! how did people ever work through their analogies properly before the internet?!?
of course, we all know that one of the first prescriptions that we get for "keeping ourselves regular" is MORE FIBER... so, here's a little Scriptural fiber prescription:
"therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
LET USdraw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
LET UShold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
and LET USconsider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
so what do we do when we have a sense that spiritually things are "just not quite right?" 1. DRAW NEAR TO GOD - the way is opened for us by Jesus' blood! 2. HOLD FAST TO HOPE - God is faithful and He is working! 3. GET TOGETHER WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS - our salvation has brought us into a community of believers, we are not meant to be isolated, but to spur and encourage one another in the faith!
... lol - and thus continues my theory that EVERYTHING in creation, God has made with a view toward us realizing His truth... digestive track - check.
