A Life of No Regrets

Do you have regrets? I sure do. Would you like me to tell you what they are? Forget it.

We all have regrets about certain things from our past, but what do we do about them? That is the overwhelming aspect of regret. It is so permanent. That is why we feel the emotion called regret, because it accompanies a permanent condition about our past that we are unable to change. We can try to make ammends for our past, but those ammends do not take away things we've done and nor to they erase our memory. Other people will remember what we've done, and so will we. Those memories can be haunting.

But what does God remember about our past? We can be encouraged by looking at the life of Abraham. Abraham is known by God for his great faith. Hebrews 11:8-19 is the record of Abraham that God reveals to us. There is no recalling of his many failures in this passage of scripture. Instead, only his successes are recalled. Specifically, Hebrews 11:8-19 recalls three times when Abraham had faith in God, by obeying God through doing that which was unconventional, inconvenient and uncomfortable. This is what God remembers about Abraham.

Wow! One choice of faith to surrender one's life can overcome a lifetime of sinful bad choices. I am not suggesting we don't live with the consequences of our choices, but God recalls them no more. I may live with the consequences of my sin amongst other people, but I don't have to before God. While I may remember them, and others may want to define me by them, God remembers them no more. In fact, the Bible tells us that our sin and wrong, selfish decisions are behind God. He sees them no more. They are covered over by Christ's shed blood for me. Faith enables this to occur.

I am so encouraged, because I have made so many bad choices. I am thankful because Jesus made a choice to die for me, and I chose to have faith in him. His decision was gut wrenching, mine was easy. It does not seem fair that I get off, but I thank God it is not fair.

God, Our Cosmic Sugar Daddy

Keith Green, singer and song writer of the 70s sings a song with the lyrics, "Bless me Lord!, Bless me Lord, it's all I ever hear, no one hurts, no one aches, no one even sheds one tear, but He cries, He weeps and He bleeds, and He cares for your needs, but you just lay back and keep soaking it in! Can't you see it's such sin!?" This song of the 70s even more accurately describes the Amercian church of today. Collectively, churches in the U.S. are billions of dollars in building debt for the sake of catering to the consumerism of our culture which has contaminated Christ's followers. While our worship services are often comprised of lush comfort and lively entertainment, billions of people still need to receive the greatest blessing of their Creator. We have sorrily missed the call of God and sought after comfort from God, our cosmic sugar-daddy who exists to answer our prayer requests that are catered to and communicated around our needs and wants.

Genesis 12 records the essence of God's call to all His people as it is specifically given to Abram. Inherent in God's call are two commands. First, God commands him to LEAVE. Second, there is a command to BE A BLESSING. Our English translations often miss this from the original Hebrew because it is often incorrectly rendered, "and you will be a blessing." However, this misses the mark. God is not suggesting that as a result of leaving, Abram will be a blessing, but rather God is commanding Abram to "...be a blessing." The command to be a blessing implies that Abram's M.O. in life, his drive and singular intention is to be a blessing. But first he must leave.

The leaving of Abram involved leaving three things, familiarity (his country) family (father's household) and identity (his own people, ethnicity). I don't know about you, but if I were called to leave such things, this would smack in the face of the two gods I worship most, control and comfort. This was essentially what Abram was called to leave, as mostly evidenced in the fact that God did not even tell Abram where he was going.

Abram not only obeyed the first command to leave, but he also obeyed the second command to be a blessing. Immediately, Abram takes many people, or in the Hebrew it says many "souls" with him from Haran. These people or souls were immediately exposed to this new God. Thus, they were richly blessed. But notice, the mode of blessing by Abram. He did not simply bless people by offering assistance to their life struggles. Instead, Abram continually blessed people with God. For instance, in the land of Canaan, he built two altars, one in Shechem and one east of Bethel. There he called upon the Lord. This means that he proclaimed or taught about his God. So, how was Abram blessing people? Not solely by material or physical means, but primarily by addressing their spiritual needs. Often churches today are content to limit our blessing of others by helping them out in life, often because we worry too much about what they may think of us if we talk about Jesus.

Also, notice Abram did not understand God to exist in order to bless Abram! Instead, Abram saw himself existing to be a blessing to others for God. In fact, upon Abram's death, he still did not see the promise of God fulfilled. He had only one son from his wife Sarah, not the millions God promised. Furthermore, he owned only one piece of real estate and that was a cave to be buried, not the expanse of real estate of Canaan which God promised. Did Abram feel cheated by God? Did Abram begin to pray that God would deliver on His promise? No. This was okay with Abram because he understood that God did not exist for him, but rather he existed for God and that God, Himself was his reward, not the children, nor the land.

Ironically, God's call to Abram is not only God's call to everyone on earth, it is modeled in Christ's own mission to earth. Jesus Christ's life is comprised of the same two commands. First, Jesus Christ, although being God and not obligated, nonetheless, LEFT Heaven. He gave control over to God the Father and gave up the comfort of Heaven to be dependent upon the womb of a 14 year old girl named Mary and to live a life dependent upon God the Father. Also, this life of Christ embodied the second command to BE A BLESSING. Jesus' blessing to us is not an improved life. The blessing of Jesus is not for us to have the life we've always wanted. Instead, Jesus' blessing was the same as Abram's life to bless people with God. Thus Jesus blesses us with Himself which involves being given a new life. A new life which involves LEAVING all our sin and BEING A BLESSING to all by sharing Jesus Christ with them.

What would happen in churches today if all of our personal prayer requests were replaced with thanksgiving to God because we trust in His faithfulness and goodness? What if those same prayer requests were replaced by passionate and persistant pleas for God to show us and enable us to be greater blessings to others? How would the world be different if some of the richest people in the world, American Christians, repented of their affluence, sold their church buildings which exist for themselves and used the money to help people in the world and tell them about Jesus? Would the world be any different? Would I be any different? Will I leave my gods of comfort and control to fully follow God with a singular intention of being a blessing to the world? Will you? Why won't we?

Beams Away!

Perspective In a Season of Politics

In the heat of this political season we are inundated with many promises by different politicians. As different as they appear to be, they are very similar in one way. They are all making promises of protection and provision. They promise to protect from increased taxes or from a poor economy, while promising to provide things like jobs and better education or more opportunity. They are well intentioned, some of them, and can look us in the eye, from our television screen, or shake our hands, while unaware of who we are. But can they deliver? Do we put our trust in them to deliver? How will we feel if our party is not in office after the November elections?

Ironically God is making many of the same types of promises to us. God promises to protect us and to provide for us. This is a constant theme in the Bible. In fact, this dynamic of protection and provision is inherent within the Ten Commandments. Also, in Genesis 15 verse 1, God makes this promise to Abram. He tells him I am your shield (protection) and your great reward. (provision) This was said to Abram when Abram felt very vulnerable because he still had no children and his life was seemingly meaningless.

Many of us feel vulnerable by the economic times of today. However, even today, God makes the same promise of provision and protection to those who surrender to him by faith. Also, God does this while calling us by name, after dying on a cross for our sinful offense towards God and by knowing our needs even before we utter them to God. God can and does deliver for those who love and trust God.

The future of our country will never be determined by the abilities of politicians to provide and protect us. All of our provisions and protection come from God alone. Do I really believe this? Why or why not? How does my life show it? If this is true, then why am I worried about certain things in my life today?

Beams Away!

Making Room for What is Most Valuable

Have you ever had difficulty parting with things from your past? My wife and I have moved several times over the past fifteen years and we have always brought a roll top desk with us. It is a beautiful piece of furniture, but would never fit in any of our new homes. We would conclude, this is such a valuable piece, we don't want to seperate from it. However, we could never get it to fit and so it simply took up space, didn't look good anymore and we never used it. But we could never part with it either. It never dawned on us to ask ourselves "How can something we never use, that continually takes up valuable space be so valuable to us?"

So it is with each of us in our walk with Jesus. Abram found this out in Genesis 11:27-32 and 12:4. Abram was called by God to leave everything by faith and follow God. Yet, Abram took his father and other relatives with him. This was an act of faith of Abram to leave his home, yet it was comingled with compromise. The result of compromised faith is a compromised life, and we become obstacles rather than instruments to what God wants to do. Abram, instead of leaving his father, took his father with him and this caused Abram to stay in Haran until his father died. Also, Abram's nephew lot, caused a number of problems for Abram, until they agreed to finally part from one another. Whatever we compromise our faith with ends up being an obstacle to the new life God has for us. The perceived value of people from Abram's past just did not fit in his new life with God.

A new life in Christ demands full allegiance and obedience. But does this not sound like God is going overboard a little bit? How uncaring would it have been for Abram to leave his father and other family behind. This perspective lacks faith as well because it assumes a number of things. First it assumes that although Abram could acclaim God's goodness and faithfulness by leaving his home, he wouldn't lay claim to God taking care of his family that he would have left behind. The other assumption by Abram is by being obedient to God's call, he was also a bit entitled to something for himself. Abram had viewed his family as his reward and his future promised children as his reward. However, God told Abram in Genesis 15 "I am your great reward." As we leave more of our life behind in full obedience to God, we will discover certain things don't fit and that God himself is the One who is most valuable and precious.

What do you and I have in our new life in Christ that no longer fits? Is Jesus Christ truly our great reward or are there things we prize more than him? Is it family? Is it comfort? Is it a noon kick off of football? Is it a cabin? Is it children?

Beams away!

A Building To No Where

As our congregation has recently read the story of the tower of Babel as recorded in Genesis, it is important to once again understand the theme of God's limits, our surpassing God's limits and God's surpassing love.

It is often misunderstood that the tower of Babel, was erected by the people of that day with the intention of reaching God. However, these types of buildings were common in that day, and the purpose was not to reach God, but to construct a building with the intention of getting God to come down to earth. Thus the story of the tower of Babel is a story about humanity's futuile attempts to invoke God's presence with them.

However, due to the universal contaminant of sin within all people, and God being a holy Being, God has established limits regarding his presence with humanity. The first limit is that humanity is unable to be in God's presence. Second, if God's presence is ever to be experienced among people, then God would be the only one capable of establishing it. Thus, God's presence is experienced on God's terms. The Old Testament records how God's presence was to be experienced and managed with clear rules and parameters or limits. These limits and rules applied specifically to God's presence in the Tabernacle. Any surpassing of God's rules and limits regarding His presence would result in the same consequence that Adam and Eve experienced, which is God's presence being withdrawn. However, in the New Testament, because of Christ's atoning and substitutionary death for humanity's sin, humanity can experience the very presence of God within their own lives. In fact, a human being is able to house the presence of God just like the tabernacle did in the Old Testament.

So, is this automatic? Does God's presence exist within all people today? No. Many people today are still attempting to building bridges and even buildings to God in order to invoke God's presence with them. Some of the bridges we build are in the form of our good behaviors, church attendance, moral living and accepting of all people. Also, the American church is infatuated with building buildings. One study estimates that American churches are billions of dollars in building debt, and for what? To worship a God who says He dwells not in temples made by hand. We all are inept at building anything in our lives that is so impressive, God would want to come and dwell with us. In fact, if we could invoke God's presence through our own efforts, then Jesus Christ would not have died for nothing.

God has already build a bridge to humanity, through His son Jesus Christ. For humanity to experience God's presence, a person needs to change the direction of their lives, by turning toward God, trusting that His bridge is the bridge that leads to forgiveness of sin and a new life in the presence of God. By doing so, a person lays down their own efforts to please God and their own lives to please themeself, realizing these are all bridges to no where.

Isn't it funny how a story from thousands of years ago is so relevant to our lives today? Am I building bridges to no where, relyin on myself to impress God? Absolutely! How about you?

The Limits and Benefits of Noah's Ark

Last week in my sermon, I communicated that God sets limits which create order amidst chaos. Also, we surpass God's limits and create chaos amidst God's order. However, God still has a surpassing love for His creation. This is a theme that not only runs throughout the Bible, but also throughout human history. Allow me to offer some observations about the account of Noah to highlight this theme and help us examine our own lives.

First, Noah was eager to stay within God's limits. The obvious limit was the Ark. Noah and his family had been in the ark for a year before they left it. But they would not leave it until God had shown them it was time. Personally speaking, when we drive a distance of one hour in the car, my kids are asking me, "Are we there yet?" "How much longer?" Yet, Noah, after a year in the ark, was still only eager to remain within the protection and provision of God's limit...the ark. Am I willing to persevere, content and patient in God's timing for my life?

Next, the Hebrew text tells us that "the ark came to rest." This is ironic because Noah's name sounds like the Hebrew word for comfort and actually means "rest." Noah's father Lamech desired his son to bring rest to the world, hence he named him Noah. In fact, rest did come to the world after the flood and through Noah's obedience to remain within God's limits. However, the rest came at a large cost. Justice was served upon the world by God and the population of the world died. However, it must be noted that the world was given grace by God to be saved within the limits of God's provision, i.e. the ark. Yet the world refused, choosing to surpass God's gracious limit, and thus the world experienced chaos, death and destruction.

Rest has come to the world again, through another offspring of Lamech, Jesus Christ. The world can find rest in Jesus Christ, if only we respond to God's invitation for salvation. However, it must be noted again, that this rest is afforded at a tremendous cost, the slaughter of God's son Jesus Christ, who did not simply die for us, but sacrificially and subsitutionally took our sin upon himself. This is God's grace, which just like Noah is offered, but will not be offered forever. Will we respond to God's gracious invitation to leave everything in order to live in His beneficial limits found in a life of service to Jesus Christ?

Beams Away!

Telling God's Story Through The Hand We've Been Dealt

Recently, I was playing cards and as the cards were being dealt, I was very unhappy with the hand I was receiving. I was beginning to feel hopeless . I thought I was going to have to bluff my way through in order to come out ahead. However, the dealer made a mistake, which meant that we started over. Everyone turned in their old cards and were dealt brand new ones. Thankfully, my new hand was a great one. It was very different from my previous hand and in the end, I won, without having to bluff.

Ever feel you have been dealt a difficult hand in life? Ever feel like you got the short end of the stick in life or in your family? Ever look at your past with regret? Ever feel like you are simply bluffing your way through life? There is hope and comfort for each of us. We can have a future that is new and radically different from our past. Interestingly, this hope is found in the geneologies of Genesis. If we read carefully, we will see God's Story for the world and for each of us, is captured in these otherwise monotenous geneologies.

In Genesis 4 and 5 we read the geneologies of Cain, who killed his brother Abel and that of Seth, Adam and Eve's third son, whom they bore after Abel's death. In these geneologies we see the line of Cain, and the line of Seth each produce a son named Lemech. We do not know much of the Lemech related to Cain, but we do know something significant about the line of Lemech that descendended from Seth.

Seth's Lemech had a son named Noah. Seth's concern in those days was that his son would bring comfort and rest, because making a living was difficult. So, Lemech named his son Noah, which is very close in sounding like the Hebrew word for comfort. As we read in The Story, Noah was used by God to save the world by continuing the plan and promise of God, because Noah's offspring would eventually produce the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Each of us are like the two Lamechs. Just as they were two different people, from two different lineages, but having the same name, we too can be two different people, from two different lineages, while maintaining our same name. We are all born from a lineage of sin, which chronically surpasses God's limits. But God's surpassing love can make us children of God, through His Son Jesus Christ; and thereby transform us into a different person of a new and different lineage, while maintaining the same name.

There was no mistake in the hand each of us has been dealt in life. However, God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, will take whatever hand we've been dealt, and give us a new deal, a new life, if we only we give up that hand to Him.