Christian Living – Page 19 – Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Guilty as Charged

It’s no secret that I’m a huge sports fan. I’ve written about March Madness here recently, and you’ll regularly see me write or post about Tennessee Volunteer Football (only a few months away!). But my love of sports goes way beyond that. I like just about any sport that you can think of, and, my wife will confirm, sports are generally on our television. Golf is no exception. I realize that many people have no love for watching golf. But it intrigues me. I don’t watch every round of every tournament by any means, but when it’s the major tournaments, that’s what is going to be on my television.

Last weekend, the LPGA made headlines with a controversial ending. I wasn’t watching it, but the first women’s major tournament of the year was being played. I found out about the headline from a fellow minister and golf friend, Dustin Fulton (If you are in the Omaha, NE area, you should check out his church, Restore Community Church). He posted about the controversy surrounding Lexi Thompson, and the circumstances that led to her losing a three stroke lead and eventually losing the tournament in a playoff, all because a fan at home got involved.

How did a fan get involved? On Sunday, during the fourth round, a fan saw a replay from the day before in which it appeared Lexi didn’t place her ball in the correct position on the green after marking it. We are talking about a fraction of an inch. No one, including Lexi caught it at the time. She made the putt, went to finish her round, and signed her scorecard. The fan at home, with the ability to watch it over and over again, saw what they thought was a rules violation, e-mailed the LPGA, which opened an investigation. They then decided to enforce a four shot penalty on Lexi for something that happened the day before. Here’s a video of the incorrect ball placement.

Four shots, two for playing from the incorrect position and then two more for signing an incorrect scorecard due to the first violation. That’s incredibly harsh. By the letter of the law, it is correct, but come on. She was penalized almost 24-hours after the fact, for something that she didn’t even realize she had done. On top of that, it wasn’t the people charged with officiating the tournament that caught the violation. It was some fan at home that had no business involving themselves in the tournament. The rule is there so you cannot gain an advantage by placing your ball in a better position. But we’re talking about fractions of inches here. So close that the player didn’t even realize what had happened.

So, while Lexi was waiting to play the 13th hole of her final round, she was approached by a rules official and told that she would be assessed a four shot penalty. At the time, she had a three shot lead, so she actually fell to one shot off the lead with this ridiculous ruling. Most would have crumbled and just gone through the motions. Not Lexi. She fought back and ended up tying for the lead at the end of regulation before losing on the first playoff hole.

I personally think it’s a shame that someone who was not even supposed to be involved in the tournament (a fan sitting at home) had a direct effect on the outcome. Again, the letter of the law stated that Lexi was at fault. But I don’t think the spirit of the law was met.

This all got me thinking about life in general. We have violated “the law” in a bunch of ways, some in ways that we have no idea that we even did anything wrong. And by the letter of the law, we are guilty. The penalty described by the law for sin is death. Even when we don’t necessarily realize that we have sinned. And we have an accuser who is calling in, telling on us. And again, by the letter of the law we are guilty. Paul states in Romas 6:23,

23 For the wages of sin is death…

Unlike the story of Lexi Thompson, we have a thing called grace. It is a free gift, offered by God to anyone that is willing to accept it. We accept the gift through faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And the best part; He’s already paid the price for our sin. We are covered by His blood from His death, burial, and resurrection. By the letter of the law we are guilty, but by the blood of Jesus Christ, we are FORGIVEN! That’s why I am thankful that this life is not fair. It’s not fair that someone else take my place for my sins, but God’s grace does just that. And Satan can accuse us as much as He wants, God see the cleansing blood of His Son on us. Just look at Paul’s entire though from Romans 6:23. He writes;

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

thoughts-from-a-crosseyed-jesus-freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry

Community: Passionately Pursuing Jesus Together

A few days ago, I wrote about passions. How as Christ followers, we should be passionate about following Him and carrying out our mission. We can have other things that we are passionate about, but Jesus should be something that we undoubtedly have a passion in our souls for. Around the same time, I came across an article that stated we should not rely on our passion for ministry, because passion can run out. After reading the article in disbelief, I discovered that it was written by someone that I have never agreed with on anything that he has written, and his argument against passion is just added to the list. Let me explain.

I do not mean to make lite of anyone’s profession when I say this. But ministry and preaching every Sunday is not an easy thing to do. If you haven’t done it personally, realize that you might just not understand what all goes into it. And that’s fine. Again, I’m not arguing that my job is any harder than anyone else. But it is difficult. And I don’t think I could do it week in, week out if God had not given me a passion for preaching His word. That’s why I changed from Youth Ministry to Preaching, because God changed my passion. I still really enjoy working with and being around teenagers. But my passion is preaching His word week in and week out. Without that passion for Jesus and for preaching His word, I don’t think I could handle all the demands that ministry and preaching have.

But that is not what I want to focus on in this post. It was just something that got me thinking. You see, in my last article about passion, I stated again that passion for Jesus and learning more and more about Him should be paramount. I heard about a 12-year old this week that is doing just that, and it gave me a renewed hope. Our Wednesday night Kid’s ministry lost one of our own a couple weeks ago. His family moved out of state. The last week he was here, we cancelled Adult Bible Study, and the Kid’s ministry along with myself threw him a going away party. The teachers, on their own, got together and bought him a teen study Bible, we played games, and ate pizza.

My wife told me after this past Wednesday night that the Kid’s ministry must have really had an impact on our friend that left. You see, the week before was spring break, and we don’t do any Kid’s programming that week. But this past Wednesday, our friend who now lives in Michigan, called one of the teachers and asked if he could participate in the Bible lesson time over the phone. Even better than that, we know that he was truly listening, as he was apparently answering questions after the lesson time.

Now, it is my heartfelt prayer that our friend can find a group to connect with in MI, not because we don’t want him in our group, but because he needs to be in a group that he can connect with face to face. But the fact that he has been impacted enough to want to continue learning even over the phone is pretty incredible. He has a passion building for Jesus in his heart, and it shows.

Passionately Pursuing Jesus Let me ask you. Do you have that kind of passion for Jesus that you would call so that you could be a part of a lesson? Do you have a group of people that you have connected with so much that you would do anything you could to continue connecting with them? That’s what the local church is supposed to be. That’s why I love the idea of small groups, even if you’re in a church that could be classified as a small group itself.

My wife and I have a group that meets at our house. Right now, it’s just four of us, but we hope to expand that. Actually, the prayer is that we can reach our neighbors through this group. But for now, it’s just the four of us. And I can tell you this. I miss it terribly when something happens and we are not able to meet one week. Sometimes we meet and just talk about life. Other times we actually do a session of a Bible study. Sometimes it’s both. But here’s the thing. We, as Christ followers, have been built to be in community. And that community should be together more than just an hour or two on Sundays.

Following Jesus passionately means finding a community of Christ followers to be connected with. That’s why I have a passion for the local church as well. The Church has a lot of flaws. How could it not, it’s run on earth by flawed human beings. But it is the Bride of Christ, and a community meant to help each other walk as Christ followers. If you are in the Carlsbad area and don’t have a church that you gather with regularly, we would love to have you at Central. If you are not in the Carlsbad area, please find somewhere that you can join a community of fellow Christ followers!

thoughts-from-a-crosseyed-jesus-freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Ministry

The Most Loving Thing You Can Do…

There is a growing trend that I’ve been noticing for a while. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ve probably seen it as well. Some of you maybe have even gotten caught up in it. I get it. It’s easy to do, and our human nature wants us to believe it. But I believe it is a dangerous trend that can end up hurting more people than we could ever help with it. What is it? It’s the idea that everything is alright, nothing is as bad as we could make it out to be, and in the end, God’s love wins.

Let me say one thing before I go any further. Yes, in the end God’s love wins, but not in the way that many are trying to argue now. God wins in the end. But for us that means we have to be in a right relationship with Him. There are going to be those that, through their decisions, do not end up on the right side of eternity. Jesus went to the cross for our sins, and it is through His blood that we have a chance at a relationship with God. But that means making Jesus our Lord and Savior. That means attempting to live the life that He has laid out for us. That means loving others as our selves and becoming servants.

There is a picture of a church sign that has been circulating through social media the past few days. I’ve seen in pop up a few different times from different connections I have. At first glance, I was all for it (even though I truly do have a disdain for church signs, because most do more harm than good). It reads, “Just love everyone I’ll sort’em out later. —God”. While I agree with this on the surface, I think there is a deeper meaning that people are trying to take out of this that, in the end, is just plain wrong.

Love Everyone

Yes, we are supposed to love everyone. I agree with that wholeheartedly, even though I understand that some people are just down right hard to love at times. That’s ok. God never said it was going to be easy to follow His commands, just worth it. The deeper part of this, however, is a potential issue. With society the way it is today, I see people taking this as saying “Never correct anyone, never disagree with someone, live with tolerance, even if they are doing something that is completely opposite of what the Word of God says.” In other words, there is no right and wrong, so just love each other and God will sort it out in the end.

Here’s the problem with that. If someone is going against the very Word of God, and you don’t try to help them see where they are wrong because you love them, that is the very opposite of love. And that is where I am afraid our society is heading. There are differences in how we need to react to others depending if they are fellow Christ followers or not. I’ve written here before about how we can never expect a culture that doesn’t claim to follow Jesus to live by the morals that we try to live by. And that is very much true here as well. Pointing out to someone that they are not living according to the Bible when they don’t claim to be trying to follow Jesus is not the best way to go about this.

But think about it. You wouldn’t let someone walk into the path of an oncoming bus that they didn’t see just because they don’t see it would you? That’s why we need to be building relationships with others and introducing them to Jesus. If not, they are just walking into the path of destruction.

Penn Penn Jillette is one of the members of the duo better known as Penn and Teller. They have a very famous show in Las Vegas, where they perform regularly. Penn is a very outspoken atheist, but I came across a video he posted a few years ago on Youtube that opened my eyes to something profound. In the video (which you can watch here), Penn describes meeting a man from the audience of one of his shows. The man gives Penn a Gideons pocket edition New Testament, and tells Penn about Jesus. In the front of the Bible, the man has written contact info down so that Penn can contact him to ask questions if any arise from reading.

Now Penn states directly that he knows there is no god, a point that I disagree with wholeheartedly. But he goes on to talk about how much respect he has for the man that approached him. He says that he has no love for any Christian that doesn’t try to share their faith. Penn goes on to use the analogy of a bus, saying if you see a bus coming that someone else doesn’t, you do everything in your power to pull them out of the path of the bus. This is where it gets really interesting. He says if you believe in God, heaven and hell, how much do you have to hate someone to not try to tell them about it.

Penn Jillette makes one the best arguments for evangelism that I’ve ever seen. Not only is it not loving to not share your faith with someone that doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus, an atheist claims that you must hate someone not to do so. Think about that? Love everyone and God will sort them out later. How can you love someone and just sit idly and watch them go to hell?

How much do you have to hate someone to not share your faith with them?

Now, there is another side of this that we need to deal with as well. What about fellow Christ followers? Just love them. Never correct them. Never call each other out for sinful behavior, right? It’s not that simple. In Jesus’ most famous sermons, recording in the early chapters of Matthew, and known to us as the “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus addresses judging. I’ve heard this passage used countless times trying to say that we should not judge each other. And while there is some truth in that, it is not entirely what Jesus is talking about. In Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus is recorded as saying;

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

I hear most people talk about how can we judge someone else when we have our own sin. And that is true. Jesus asks how can we help our brother get the speck out of his eye with a log in our own. But most stop there. Jesus continued. He said to take the log out of our own eye (get rid of the sin) and then we will see clearly to remove the speck from out brother’s eye. In other words, we are called to help one another remove sin from our lives. Not just let each other continue in sin with a log in our eyes.

So I would say the same thing about our fellow Christ followers. How much do you have to hate them to not try to help them correct sin in their lives? It’s not judging them, it is loving them. God even disciplines us because He loves us. Sometimes He uses others to point out where we’ve go Love Everyone ne wrong. But make not mistake about it, His discipline comes from a place of love.

“Just love everyone I’ll sort’em out later.—God” I’m fine with that, as long as you realize this. Sometimes, the most loving thing you can do for someone is point out that they are sinful and in need of a loving Savior.

thoughts-from-a-crosseyed-jesus-freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Preaching

A Light Shines in the Darkness

As I woke up one morning this week, the news flashed across my iPhone screen about another potential terrorist attack, this time in London, England. As I type these words, five have been confirmed dead, including one police officer. There are at least 20 injured. The person responsible for the attack is thought to have acted alone, and is also dead. We see this all too often anymore. Every time we turn around it seems some kind of violence is happening in our world, rather it be nation against nation, terrorism, or individuals against each other. There is no doubt about the fact that we live in a dark world. I’m not sure if it is actually getting darker, or if it’s just because the world is so connected through technology and we hear more about what is going on. But there is no doubt that we live in a dark and dying world.

Just here in Carlsbad, we are reminded almost daily how dark and broken our world is. We see a city that has the potential for a bright future, but we also see a city with a bad drug and alcohol abuse problem. In the past few weeks, friends of mine have lost close friends suddenly. There are many other things I could type, but I think I’ve made my point. This world seems to be lost in darkness.

There is light, however, we just have to where to look for it. When we see the void in our lives because of the darkness, we try to fill it. That’s why drug and alcohol abuse are so prevalent. That’s why there is so much violence in this world. But, like I said, there is a light. There is something to fill that void that we feel in our lives. That light is Jesus Christ. We’re in the middle of a sermon series here at Central called “I AM Jesus: Who Jesus Claims to Be”. In this series we are looking at what is called the “Seven I Am Statements” that Jesus makes in the book of John. One of those statements that He makes is “I Am the Light of the World”.

There is so much packed into this one statement that we actually took two weeks looking at it. Jesus actually makes the statement twice, once in John 8 and then again in John 9. The setting for these claims are related, but there is enough difference in them to take them one at a time in our sermons. In John 8, the setting is the Temple. Specifically the Court of the Women, in front of the collection areas for the offering, probably early during the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is teaching in the courtyard, and as usual, a big crowd has gathered to hear Him. This setting is important, because on the first night of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Courtyard of the Women is illuminated with four giant candelabras.

It is said that the Temple would be aglow from all over Jerusalem during this ceremony. It is likely either during this time, or the next day, when it is still fresh on everyone’s mind that Jesus made His first “I Am the Light of the World” statement. In John 8:12, Jesus is recorded as saying;

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Think about that. Jesus is saying, possibly with the backdrop of the Temple being illuminated in a great way, that He is the light of the world. Not the Temple. Not the Pharisees who made it almost impossible to follow God, not even Moses or Abraham. He is the light of the world.

As impressive as the Temple had to be illuminated the way it was, Jesus is saying, “I shine a light in the darkness of this world, and only through Me can you see”.

After this conversation that eventually ended with the Teachers of the Law picking up stones in an attempt to stone Him, Jesus is with just His twelve disciples. They come across a man that had been blind from birth and the disciples ask Jesus if it was because of the man’s sin or his parents’ sin that he was blind (The Jews, at this time, believed that one could sin in the womb, and therefore thought that this man could have caused his affliction. I don’t have time to go into too much detail with this now though). This led to Jesus making His second “I am the light of the world” statement. This time around, it was just the twelve disciples and the man Jesus was getting ready to heal that was present for the statement. John 9:1-5 records the event this way;

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Jesus continues and heals the man, however, this is done on the Sabbath and that gets the Pharisees all in a twist again. They cannot understand how someone “from God” would “clearly” break the Sabbath. But you see, Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. He was continuing His teaching from the Temple from the previous chapter. He used the physical blindness of the man he healed to lead in to a discussion on what He considered an even bigger issue; Spiritual blindness.

He’s basically saying to the Pharisees, and to us, that we are spiritually blind. But through Him we can receive our sight. Jesus knows the darkness that is in the world, but He has the cure. In His own words, He is the light of the world. The Pharisees bring in the man healed of blindness and question him. They are not satisfied with his answers, and eventually kick him out. That’s when Jesus enters the picture again. John 9:35-41 records the rest of the story;

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

There is no question what Jesus is claiming here. He is claiming to be the Messiah. He is claiming to be the Son of God. And He is claiming that only through Him can we truly see in this dark and dying world. That is because He is the light of the world. That is because only through Him do we have a relationship with God the Father. You want to fill the void of this life? You want to see clearly in the darkness? John, continuing the thought of Jesus as light in this world, writes in I John 1:5-7;

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Christian Living, Encouragement, God

Where Does Your Passion Lay?

Humans are created to be passionate. We all have different passions and that is what makes us unique. But what we have in common is that we should be passionate about something. Some are passionate about sports. Others are passionate about food. Still others are passionate about reading or writing. As Christ followers, it is my prayer that at least one of your passions is our mission of sharing Christ with others, and being transformed more and more into His image daily.

Let me back up just a moment and tell you what got me thinking about our passions. Back at the end of February, while I was thinking through and working on our churches March newsletter, I was trying to figure out what to write about. I remembered that just a few days before, February 23, was the “Shine the Light on Slavery” day. You see, there are more people in slavery and human trafficking today than at any time in history. When I realized that I had just posted about this, trying to shine a light on a very broken part of our world, I thought what better topic to cover in our newsletter.

End It

Em passion My first thought was to write the article, but also to contact a friend of ours that has spent years researching and fighting this epidemic. I thought it would be good to get some statistics from her to help the article out. Then I had one of my best ideas I’ve had in a while. Why write the article myself when I could ask Em to write it as a guest post for Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak and our church newsletter? I called Em, and while she was excited for the opportunity, she had too much going on to be able to write the article for March. We agreed that she would write it for our April newsletter.

This past weekend, she sent me her first draft, and we are in the process of editing and proofing it now. But this whole process is what has got me thinking about passion. Em is passionate about ending human trafficking and sexual exploitation of people. And you can tell from her writing. I won’t go into too much detail now because I don’t want to take away from her article that will come out sometime next week.

Here’s the deal. When you are passionate about something, other people can tell. When there is a passion in your soul for something, it takes a prominent place in your life. For Em, she has spent time overseas, working with girls that were rescued from the sex slave trade. She looks for opportunities to raise awareness anywhere and everywhere she can about this issue. And she does it because of an even bigger passion in her life. Her ultimate passion is Jesus Christ. She does all she does about human trafficking because of her relationship with Jesus.

When there is a passion in your soul for something, it takes a prominent place in your life.

I try to live with the ultimate passion in my life being Jesus as well. That’s why I preach. He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, and because of that I have a passion of preaching His word, trying to introduce others to Him. Jesus is why I write here on Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak. I have a passion for writing, but it’s not just because I like to write. I like to shine a light on Jesus and help others in their walk of faith.

Recently, through some of the sermons I’ve preached, books I’ve read, and the writing challenge I just completed, I’ve developed another passion. One that I should have had for a long time. But I have a passion for trying to get to know my neighbors and building a relationship with them so that I can, along with my wife, share Jesus with them.

Scripture is filled with passionate people. Some of those people had their passions in the wrong place. Think Saul of the Old Testament, and even Solomon. They ended up being passionate about the things of this world. And it cost them in the end. Paul, once he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, became passionate about spreading Jesus to anyone and everyone that would listen to him. Jesus’ disciples, minus Judas, became passionate about taking the gospel to the ends of the earth as well. And believe me, their passion was real. I don’t have time or space to go through all of it here, but only one of the apostles died a natural death after a long life. That was John. All of the others were tortured and martyred for the passionate following of and teaching Jesus.

Scripture is filled with passionate people.

One story sticks out in a vivid way, however, when I think of passion for Jesus. That’s the story of the first person killed for his faith in Jesus. In other words, he became the first martyr in Christianity. That’s the story of Stephen. You can find it recorded in the book of Acts. Specifically in the sixth and seventh chapters. You can read it here and here if you’re not familiar with the story. Let me give you a short synopsis before I wrap up. Stephen was chosen to be a servant. He was helping by taking care of some widows, but he was also sharing his faith. No one that would challenge him could actually stand up to his arguments. The religious leaders of the day (the Sanhedrin) seized him and put him on trial. Stephen boldly told them the history of the Jews and stated that they killed Jesus, who was the Son of God. And because of this, they killed him. His passion was Jesus, and it didn’t matter what he faced in opposition, he stayed focused on Him.

What about you? What are you passionate about? There is nothing wrong with being passionate about food, or sports, or reading etc. But is that your only passion? If people were to look at your life, could they tell that you were passionate about Jesus because of something that you do with your life? And I don’t just mean “going to church on Sundays”. Is there something in your life that you do because of your passion with Jesus, and it costs you something? Time, money, friendships, just some of the things a passionate relationship with Jesus could cost you. But it is so worth it in the end. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.

What about you? What are you passionate about? There is nothing wrong with being passionate about food, or sports, or reading etc. But is that your only passion?

So let me ask you again. What are you passionate about? Don’t have a good answer right now? Figure it out and start putting your passion to work for Jesus Christ. It was His passion for you that led Him to the cross. Return His passion. It might cost something now, but I promise it is so worth it.

thoughts-from-a-crosseyed-jesus-freak

Christian Living, Encouragement, Newspaper

The Most Intriguing Stories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Usually you hear that phrase around Christmas, but as a college basketball fan, I could use it for this time of year. The NCAA March Madness basketball tournament has started. For the next three weeks, college basketball is going to dominate my television. In face, as I sit here and type this in my office, I have a screen set up to watch some of the games as I’m working.

There are just always so many good story lines that take place during what we call March Madness. There are teams that you expect to dominate opponents and do so. Then there are the teams that end up being the unexpected Cinderella teams that capture most of our hearts as they perform at a level not expected from a small school. It’s competitive. It’s intriguing. But it’s not what I mean when I say “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” Don’t get me wrong, I love this basketball tournament, but there is something that makes this time of year better than college basketball.

You see, we are just a month away from Easter. While Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate Jesus becoming God in the Flesh, which is definitely something to celebrate, it means nothing without Easter. Easter is the time of year that we focus in on what Jesus did for us on the cross. Our sin has caused a debt that we cannot pay ourselves. So Jesus willing went to the cross to pay our debt for us. And God honored His sacrifice by bringing Jesus out of the grave. That’s Easter. That’s what we celebrate. And it is the best storyline in history.

God honored His sacrifice by bringing Jesus out of the grave. That’s Easter. That’s what we celebrate. And it is the best storyline in history.

In reality, as Christ followers, we should celebrate that every day of our lives. I would like to think that most of us do. But we especially celebrate each year when Easter comes around. It usually matches up with the Jewish Passover week, as that is when Jesus went to the cross, so unlike Christmas, the date changes. The most wonderful time of the year fluctuates. Just in case you don’t have it on a calendar somewhere, Easter Sunday is on April 16 this year. If you don’t have a church home to celebrate Easter this year, we would love to have you join us at Central Christian Church at 10:30.

There really is no better time of year in my opinion. A time that we focus specifically on what Jesus did for us on the cross. I don’t know what you believe. I don’t know if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And I don’t know if you attend church regularly. But again, I want to extend an invitation to you. Not just to church on Easter Sunday, although that would be a great start. But I want to extend an invitation to sit down over a cup of coffee and talk about who Jesus is and what He has done in my life. If you have questions and are not really sure what you believe, please let me know. I would love the chance to talk with you. E-mail me at kraig@crosseyedjesusfreak.com.

Christian Living, Encouragement

Slaying Giants

I want to apologize. Last week I laid out my plan for how I was going to post after finishing “My 500 Word Challenge”. I haven’t followed that plan like I wanted to. I took a few unexpected days off from writing anything. Whether it be just needing a break (which we all do sometimes), a meeting that took almost my whole Saturday by the time it was all said and done, a sick wife at home, and being a little under the weather myself, I haven’t written in almost a week. So for that I apologize. I made a commitment to posting three days a week, and that’s just not going to happen this week. But I will make that happen in the future.

A few things have happened since I last posted. I finally got my little buddy Aaron to let me put him down for his nap instead of my wife. We also took him to a zoo here in town and got to watch his excitement seeing the animals (especially the prairie dogs). But maybe most exciting for a sports fan like me, the NCAA Tournament field has been finalized. The big dance is about to start tomorrow (Yes, I know the first four games are on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I’m focusing on the main tournament).

I filled out my bracket yesterday, and picked the University of Kentucky Wildcats to go all the way this year. That will be an amazing feat, however, because they probably are in the toughest bracket to make it to the finals. Anyway, that’s now what excites me the most about this time of year. It’s the underdog stories. Or as we call them in this tournament, the Cinderella stories. It’s those teams that are not expected to win even a game, yet end up playing into the second weekend or the tournament. In years past, teams like Butler, VCU, Florida Gulf Coast, and others have captured our hearts and our attention as they played better than anyone imagined.

This year I have special interest in one team that could be a big Cinderella story if they can win even just a game. That’s because they are from my hometown. The East Tennessee State University Buccaneers made the field this year by winning the SoCon tournament. When the field was announced Sunday, ETSU was given a 13 seed, which means they are matched up against a 4 seed. On paper, a 4 seed should always beat a 13 seed. But I have a feeling that ETSU will take down a 4 seed this year. And even sweeter, that 4 seed just happens to be the University of Florida. In fact, in my bracket, I have ETSU winning two games and making it to the Sweet 16 before losing.

One thing that I always think of in regards to Cinderella teams is actually a Bible story that you are probably familiar with. This little teenaged shepherd boy steps up to fight a giant that no one in the army of Israel was willing to go up against. You know the story as David and Goliath. On paper, Goliath wins every time. No questions. David doesn’t stand a chance. But David had one thing going for him that Goliath didn’t. God. God was with David, and David knew that. I’ve seen quotes before that say something along the lines of “David didn’t need to know the power of Goliath, because he knew the power of God that was behind him”.

Will ETSU follow through with what I have predicted, winning two, or even just one game in the big dance? I don’t know. We’ll find out tomorrow when they play UF. What I do know is that we all face giants in our lives. Giants that on paper we have no chance. Whatever they may be, we shouldn’t stand a chance. Yet the God that was behind David is behind us, if we are Christ followers. That God was also the God that raised Jesus from grave. The power that brought Christ back from the dead now lives in you. Believe in His power in your life. It may not work out exactly how you think it should or how you want it to, but know and trust the full power of God in you life. Who knows, you may slay a giant through that power!

thoughts-from-a-crosseyed-jesus-freak

Christian Living, Encouragement

Be Still

A few days ago, I wrote about the idea that we wear our busyness as a badge of honor (read it here). We are so busy with everything under the sun we don’t have time to share Jesus with other people. What prompted that article was another article by another minister that was suggesting that we spend too much time studying the Bible. I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that we spend too much time studying God’s word. I do think however, we don’t spend enough time living out what we study in scripture.

I suggested that we maybe find some other things that we are involved in and figure out a way to take a step back so that we can use that new found time to build relationships with others. That’s is going to be the most effective way to share Jesus and what He has done for you. But, I also think that we need to find ways to get away from everything every so often. Completely unplug, and spend some time one-on-one with God.

unplugged Busyness is an epidemic. We are constantly taking on more and more. With the aid of technology, we have become great at multitasking, so much so that even when we are trying to unwind at the end of the day, watching tv, or whatever, we have our phones or tablets in our hands because we just can’t slow down. I’m the worst at that. Scrolling through Facebook or playing a game while trying to watch shows with my wife (she does it too).

Busyness is an epidemic.

When people ask me how I’m doing, or how things are going, my go to response is something along the lines of “staying busy”. Why? Could it be that we are afraid if we aren’t so busy we seem to be running around “like a chicken with our head cut off” that others will think that we are slacking off? Is it that we’re afraid that they will think that we aren’t putting enough effort into a task if we even appear to be able to relax? It’s got to stop. Especially in ministry. Ministry is one of those vocations where there will always be more work to do. That isn’t a ticket to slack off, but just a realization that we will never run out of things to do.

What ever happened to this simple notion; “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

There are times that we need to just stop, get still, and just know Him. Rest in Him. Relax in Him. Spend time with Him. I’m afraid we have forgotten that in our culture today. I know that I have at times. But it is something that we need to get back to on a regular basis. It could be just for a few minutes each day, which is something that I would suggest. But I think we could benefit from a greater chunk of time at times as well.

I want to point something out first. This is something that we can see Jesus modeling for us during His three years of public ministry. There are many occasions noted throughout the Gospels of Jesus going off on His own, usually up a mountain, and spending time with God. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to do this, then I think we have the same needs.

While I strive to spend a few minutes alone with God daily, I want to take some extended periods of time as well. I have something in mind too. It involves going up a mountain, but it doesn’t have to for you. gcc-pic Because of my relationship with Guadalupe Christian Camp (being on a couple of camp boards), I have the opportunity to spend time at the camp when/if I need to. That’s my plan. I don’t know how often yet, but occasionally I will pack a bag, get some easy to make food, and head up the mountain to spend some time being still and knowing that He is God. I may write, I may read, I may do nothing but pray and meditate, but I will slow down and unplug from the world around.

How are you going to “Be still, and know that He is God” in your own life?

Christian Living, Encouragement, God, Life, Ministry

Pressing On!

ANW Perseverance. I just can’t seem to get the word out of my head the last few days. It keeps coming up in different ways, almost playing a constant theme everywhere I look. My wife and I enjoy the show “American Ninja Warrior”, and so many stories of the athletes that compete there are all about perseverance. Just a couple of weeks ago, they aired their all-star challenge, and we got to see some of our favorites compete, and persevere through obstacles that they have never faced before. Some of them even got to compete and complete obstacles that had taken them our during the regular season a few months before.

ETSU My home town college basketball team, the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers from Johnson City, TN have shown some great perseverance this season. This past Monday evening they won the Souther Conference Tournament, earning a spot to play in the NCAA March Madness Tournament that kicks off next week. This was a team that only had one shot, winning their conference tournament, and they did so beating the number one seed UNCG team that had beaten ETSU twice already this season.

Even a movie that Kelley and I watched just a couple nights ago was full of the theme of perseverance. The 2001 film The Musketeer is a lesser know versions of the story often known as the “Three Musketeers”. In it, the main character perseveres through the hardships of life after his parents are murdered in front of him. He is trained in the ways of the Musketeers and travels to Paris to join them, only to find that they have been disbanded. Not to give away too much of the story if you haven’t seen the movie (or any of them), I’ll just say the rest of the story is about pressing on through hardship after hardship to accomplish his task. In other words, he continues to persevere.

Much of this life, especially as a Christ follower, is about perseverance. That’s why I have been noticing this theme all around me recently. Life may go smoothly for a while, but inevitably, it is going to get rough again at some point. Like I told our faith family this past Sunday, Jesus never promised following Him would be easy, only that it would be worth it in the end.

Much of this life is about perseverance.

The fact of the matter is life is not fair, easy, or smooth most of the time. How can we expect it to be easy when Jesus Himself said that we must take up our cross daily? Luke records Jesus’ words in Luke 9:23-26;

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

So, without perseverance, without pressing on through all of life’s hardships, then we will just simply get overwhelmed. We are going to face trials of many kinds in this life. But we have to keep focused on Jesus. We have to be focused on the goal rather then what is going on around us at the time. Paul knew this first hand. He lived it. That is why I take so much comfort in his words to the church in Philippi. He starts out talking about how much he could have boasted in himself at one point in his life, but he realized that only in Jesus Christ is there anything to boast about. Then he wraps up this section by stating that he realizes that he hasn’t obtained this yet, but he is going to keep on pressing toward the goal. He writes in Philippians 3:1-14;

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We have to be focused on the goal rather then what is going on around us at the time.

That’s my goal. Forgetting what is behind me. The good and the bad things that I’ve accomplished in my life mean nothing if I don’t keep focused on the prize ahead. This life is a battle, and perseverance through Jesus Christ is the only way to get through it. Not only do I take comfort in the words of Paul here in Philippians, I take comfort in the idea that he accomplished his goal. Not that he was perfect, none of us will be. But his words to Timothy in II Timothy 4:6-8, near the end of his life, are words that I want to be able to echo in my own life. Paul writes;

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

May we all press on, forgetting what is behind and strain for what is ahead. That’s the type of perseverance I long for in my life.

Christian Living, God, Writing

The End is Near (Of “My 500 Word Challenge)

my-500-words As I am coming to the end of “My 500 Word Challenge”, I want to take a moment to write about what you can expect from “Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak” here at crosseyedjesusfreak.com. I’m on day 28, or according to the e-mails from Jeff Goins, day 26 of the 31 day writing challenge. I’ve gotten a lot out of it, and am excited to continue this writing habit that I have developed.

One thing that happened during this challenge that was unexpected is that I have actually posted on my blog every day except for one. I wrote that day, but decided to keep the article private because of what I dealt with in it. My original plan was to write for the blog for the first half of the challenge and then focus on writing for my book. I have done a little work on the book idea so far, but I kept writing for the blog more than I thought I would. I don’t want to completely abandon my writing on here, but I do need to focus a little more on my book after the challenge is over, if I ever hope to actually complete the book.

So, here is what I plan on doing. I am going to attempt to continue to write everyday, but most of that will be focused just on the book idea for the time being. As for “Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak”, my plan is to post three times a week, not counting articles that I write for the newspaper here in Carlsbad and our church newsletter. I will continue to post them on here as well, but those will not count toward my three articles a week goal.

Along with the commitment for three articles a week, I want to attempt to be as consistent as I can be in when they are posted. So you can expect to see articles posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That is my commitment to you.

I want to thank you all for following along with me during this challenge as well. I’ve enjoyed seeing your “likes”, comments, and new followers along the way. But I have never wanted to be about me, or getting my name out there. I try to remind myself daily that my worth is not found in how many people are reading my articles, or how many likes and retweets I get through social media. It’s definitely a temptation to find our whole worth in those things, especially in this heavily digitalized society that we live in. My goal in my writing has always been to point to Jesus, and I will continue that.

My goal in my writing has always been to point to Jesus, and I will continue that.

I want to write about topics that help us all walk this Christian life better together. Occasionally, I have focused on writing specifically for ministers, and will continue to do that as well from time to time. Everything will have some connection to my relationship with Jesus, no matter what the topic is, because that is the most important thing in my life.

I want to write about topics that help us all walk this Christian life better together.

Through the rest of this week, I plan to write each day for “Thoughts From a Crosseyed Jesus Freak” as I wrap up my time in “My 500 Word Challenge”, meaning you can expect to see articles through Saturday. On Monday, March 13, I will begin the Monday, Wednesday, Friday commitment.

Thanks again for reading my thoughts! I hope that you have been blessed, encouraged, and maybe even enlightened along the way. And it is my hope and prayer that you will continue to be as we continue this life as Christ followers together. May we all become crosseyed when life starts to distract us!