Thursday, June 27, 2013

Burning Questions: Do I Sort of Believe in Jesus?

Main Teaching Point:  Belief and unbelief can both co-exist at the same time.  Our original sin nature will battle with the new Spirit in us.

Secondary Teaching Point:  Win the battle for your heart and your head.

Primary Scripture:  Mark 9:14-Mark 9:14-29
Secondary Scriptures:  Romans 7:14-19 / James 4:1-10 / 2 Corinthians 10:5 / 2 Corinthians 5:17 / 1 John 1:9 / Psalms 103:12 / Philippians 4:8 / Matthew 12:34

As a child growing up in the 70's and 80's in northwest Oklahoma, I remember that cartoons were special but scarce.  We had about an hour of some of them after school (G-Force, Star Blazers, various fighting cats, metal birds and superfriends) but Saturday morning showcased the best.  For three to four hours before wrestling came on and your parents woke up completely, you could catch the Looney Tunes, Mighty Mouse, Tom and Jerry and the whole Hanna Barbera crew.  So I would get up as early as possible, suffer through either the Little Rascals or the Three Stooges (nothing like 1930s black and white live action shorts to make me appreciate the glorious cartoons of the 40s and 50s) and be in place for my favorites.

I have clear recollections of a Tom and Jerry cartoon where the animators used that age old illustration of the battle going on with Tom's interior monologue.  You remember the technique too, if not this specific cartoon.  The character's good side and bad side would literally take position on his shoulders.  An angel version of Tom in a white outfit and halo and complete with a falsetto speaking voice urged him to be nice to the mouse.  But on the other shoulder, red and complete with pitch fork and a voice that was gravelly as your late Aunt Margery's, was the devil version of Tom trying to raise up the evil nature in Tom to harm the mouse.

Despite the cartoon format, I was always intrigued by the spiritual battle depicted.  I would come to realize that these lesser demons and better angels sort of signify what happens in my life.  My sinful nature, the lesser demons, would be on constant struggle with my newness in Christ, my better angels.  And even though Tom and Jerry was a cartoon, it illustrates a point that Jesus, Paul and James all teach and speak to:  we are dual-minded and it is completely possible for belief and unbelief to coexist within a follower of Christ.

Jesus has just returned from the Transfiguration to another fight between the religious elite and the disciples, with a possessed child and desperate father caught in the middle.  The boy was being held by a vicious demon who would cause terrible convulsions, grinding of teeth and foaming at the mouth.  It would also try to throw the boy in the water or the fire in an attempt to murder him.  This father had brought the boy to the disciples to see if there was anything they could do to help.  The disciples were unable to cast out the demon which sparked all sorts of debates.  Jesus has them bring the boy to him.  As soon as the demon is in the presence of Jesus directly, the attack starts.  Jesus then brings in the father to get more information.  While Jesus is diagnosing the issues that day, the attack continues.  We find out the sad history the father is dealing with.  He asks Jesus that if there is anything Jesus can do to help, please have pity and help.  Jesus responds to the if statement and then says that all things are possible for someone who believes.  Then the father makes a fantastic statement:  "I do believe; help my unbelief."

It is fantastic because out of all the characters that get speaking parts in scripture this father might as well be me.  That sums me up pretty succinctly.  I do believe in Jesus, especially when I am in his presence.  But there are parts of me that are clouded and crowded with unbelief.  And they are there all the time, together, an odder couple than Oscar and Felix.

How can this be?  Shouldn't all Christians be free from that unbelief, that doubt?  Weren't we taught that once you gave your life over, Jesus would make everything sunshine, lollipops and rainbows?  Preachers talk about how Jesus makes everything better and life gets better and problems dissolve and peace and knowledge and seven other spiritually impressive but sometimes confusing and vague words later we start to think life with Jesus is life without issues!  And then issues return.  Problems arise.  Mostly within our own skin, in our heart.  But shouldn't we be past this?  Shouldn't all of this be solved?  I remember clearly feeling like I wasn't doing the God stuff right because I still had doubt and unbelief.  And the leaders in my church seemed to agree.  I was a failure as a follower because I couldn't free myself from sin.

But we are not alone.  We have this desperate dad.  And we have Paul.  Who comes so transparent in Romans 7 where he says that he is still doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he does want to do.  He can't seem to get this stuff down either.  And then James says in his book in chapter 4 that we have this dual nature within us that is at battle constantly.  And when two of the scriptures most effective teachers self-diagnose a problem, we need to take notice.

I learned something in a quiet time ages ago that literally freed me up from the unrealistic expectation of perfection:  who I was before Christ will always influence who I am in Christ.  Yes scripture says I am a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come.  But that seems to be more of an issue with turning on the no-vacancy sign for the Holy Spirit.  Christ is in my heart and the Spirit is in my life.  However, that sinful nature never goes away.  Because it is tightly wound into my DNA as a human being.  I was born into that disease and it will be a lifelong affliction.  There is no cure.  There is treatment.  Jesus can forgive my sin and remove the weight of the guilt and condemnation.  But sin will return.  Who I was before Christ will always influence who I am in Christ.

I still say the same bad words that I did before Christ.  I still suffer from the same character flaws that I did before Christ.  Regardless of the battle I wage, that is still there.  There is a reason the imagery Jesus used was "carry your cross daily."  It implies a hard struggle.  My selfishness will never go away.  It will always be there.  I will always love me more than anyone else.  I will have seasons where I love my wife and my kids and the least of these etc etc etc but I will always ruin those moments with some stupid, vapid, passing thought about how I would like to eat fried something or other instead of loving God and other people.

There are a lot of scriptures above that scripture provides with great plans to help your better angels win the battle waging within you against your lesser demons.  And they are that.  Your sinful nature is less powerful than the new Spirit living in you.  Never forget that.  And realize that the things that make you "you" are there for a purpose too.  If we can harness the abilities, experiences, skills and talents that are inherently making us who we really are for the cause of Christ, we can become a powerful tool and weapon in right Hands.  That old me can actually be filtered through Christ and be used to help bring more people to Christ.

There are other people who can relate to everything I have been through, every thought, every word and every action.  God can use that.  So I don't let the old me run roughshod over the New Me, but I don't just run away from it.  God knew it would be there and knows how to harness it for good.

So stop beating yourself up.  You are not going to miraculously change on this side of heaven once you have accepted Christ.  You will still deal with road rage.  Your crippling insecurity will still come to visit.  The damage done to your self worth from some family member or friend will still be there convincing you that you are worthless.  Who you were will always influence who you are.  Just use who you were to make who you are more effective for Christ.


When the disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't heal the possessed boy, Jesus said that sometimes only prayer can heal.  When I really struggle with who I was before Christ, I have to get in prayer, in the presence of Jesus.  Just like in Mark 9 it will probably cause me at least discomfort, at the most some spiritual and emotional upheaval, but Jesus will heal me, hold me up and send me the right direction.  I may have to spend a little more time in prayer than i usually do but He is the one true miracle worker.  He will ultimately cure my sin when I am actually in His presence.  But until that day, he will help me treat the disease and provide fresh and refreshing victories along the way.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Burning Questions: What about the faith of my family?

Main Teaching Point:  How important is the faith of my family and what am I doing to strengthen and perpetuate it?

Secondary Teaching Point:  Don't get stuck looking at scripture the same way.  Be open to different applications possible from time to time in your life.

Primary Scripture:  Judges 11

Simple lesson tonight.  How important is the faith of my family.  Regardless of how you interpret Judges 11, Jephthah teaches us valuable lessons about the faith of our family.

Jephthah was a judge appointed to deliver the people from the Ammonites.  He came from a rough start.  His half brothers (same dad obviously in ancient Hebrew culture) ran him off because his mother was, according to scripture, a harlot.  She was probably also not a Hebrew either.  He was abandoned to fend for himself.  Back then you either depended on the mercy and handouts of the people or church or you went and took and fought for your own.  And Jephthah was a very successful and influential warrior leader who provided plenty for himself and also for the men who found their way into his company. 

Eventually he became a pretty famous warrior with an impressive reputation for taking care of business on the battlefield.  The Gileadites came back to him to ask him back as their leader, the next judge.  He locks them into an agreement to be their leader.  Then goes to prepare his soldiers and others for battle.  He also goes to see if there is a diplomatic way to end the oppression.  Jephthah reveals an understanding and education in the history of the Israelites and writings of the Torah.  After he is faced with no other choice but ending the conflict through force, he makes a vow to God.

If God will deliver the Ammonites into his hands in victory, then he will offer the first thing that leaves his home to greet him in victory over to God.  Unfortunately his only child, a daughter, is the first one out to greet him.  He is gob-smacked and his heart is broken.  He explains his grief to his daughter and she too is grieved.  But breaking the vow was never an option for them. 

We are not ever going to make such a rash vow to God.  And even if we did, I doubt we would keep it.  The reason I say that fairly confidently is that we don't keep weaker vows.  But how important is it to me to help my family keep their vows to God.  How important is it to my family to help me keep mine?

Now, you may be wondering what vows we make these days?  It is 2013 and we are not considering a monastic lifestyle.  Sure there are vows of chastity, poverty, silence and isolation.  But what "vow" do I make?  Well we make a vow in salvation.  If I trust my life to Christ, then He will save me and extend to me abundant and eternal life.  We make a vow in baptism.  If Christ will save me, then I will make that decision public through the act of baptism.  We make marital vows.  We make vows to serve.  Vows to give.  Vows to help.  Vows to lead.  Vows to minister.  We make vows.  If that word throws you, maybe it is time to work it back into your religious vocabulary.  It isn't just a commitment.  It is a vow - an arrangement or an agreement.  An if/then proposition.

Are you helping your family make and keep vows? 

Also there is a deep love between Jephthah and his daughter.  If this was a Hollywood script for a movie or tv movie (and it could be - they surely are working on a sequel to the History Channel's The Bible miniseries) then they would add a little montage showing how close the judge was to his daughter.  Regardless of the creative license you add, there is a strong love binding them together.  How strong is the love you have for your family?  Will you waver in helping them?  Is my love for my family stronger than my love for myself?

And there is a deep level of commitment, total surrender and sacrificial giving.  Jephthah has no other children and he is willing to sacrifice his future family, his lineage (crucial to the paternal head of any Hebrew family) to keep his vow.  And his daughter makes an extreme sacrifice for her father as well.  What am I willing to sacrifice for the faith of my family? 

How seriously do I and my family take the vows we make to God?
How do I show my love for my family?
What am I willing to do to help my family's faith grow?

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Burning Questions: Does your Gospel need a social life?

Main Teaching Point:  the Gospel is the only hope for a dying world - that message is always more important than how it is delivered
Secondary Teaching Point: Am I completely captured by the power of the Gospel
Secondary Teaching Point: churches and believers should feel a burden to ease and end suffering

Main Scripture: Mark 6:30-44
Secondary Scripture:  all of it, basically

There are two terms we need to get down before we get started because we are framing the lesson in these terms:
1.  The message - the content
2.  The platform - the delivery system

There are a lot of ways we get our news today.  Via email, websites, podcats, facebook, twitter, newspaper, radio, television, magazines, blogs, vlogs and text message updates.  Our parents read the papers, watched the news and listened to the radio.  Our grandparents read the papers, listened to the radio and watched the newsreels at the local movie palace.  There have been a lot of platforms over the years - public discourse, smoke signals, oral tradition and face to face delivery systems.  However the message of the news has not changed much.  Oh the names have changed but over the decades we are still dealing with wars, scandal, taxes, unemployment, The Oakland Raiders and other various problems that pop up again once every few years.

In many cases the platform is more important than the message.  Not in the case of the church though.  Our message is MUCH more important than our platforms.  However, that doesn't mean the platform is not important.  Growing up in the Disciples of Christ denomination meant having a firm grasp of the different platforms or delivery systems.  There were a lot of social justice irons in the church's fire.  And I thought it was and is great.  However now I see that a crucial element was missing so often.  We were never convinced of the power of the message, the power of the Gospel.

Our friends at Dare to Share have really provided a great and complete understanding of the Gospel and have shown how the entire Bible lays it out.  And they even patched it all together with a lovely acrostic:
God created us to be with Him - Gen. 1-2
Our sins separate us from God - Gen 3
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds - Gen.4-Malachi 4
Paying the price for our sins, Jesus died and rose from the dead - Matthew-Luke
Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life - John
Life with Christ starts now and lasts forever - Acts-Revelation

If you look at that complete outline with the GOSPEL laying it out and the scriptures in support you can see the complete picture.  And it is life changing and powerful.

In Mark 6 Jesus finds himself in the midst of an arena full of people.  An OKC Thunder game has shown up to be in his presence.  His reputation has been spreading and his disciples have just returned from a ministry project.  Many are sort of there.  Jesus has compassion on them because they were like a sheep without a shepherd.  He wasn't worried if they had eaten, had a place to sleep, had some other issue or concern or physical issue.  There was a group of people who needed the Gospel.  He taught them many things, Mark tells us.  After he was done, they feed the crowd with very limited resources.

The message was much more important than the platform.  People who focus on the platform focus on the feeding.  But Jesus was not focused on a physical feeding.  He was concerned with the spiritual condition he was facing in that crowd.  He knew the life changing power of the Gospel could change lives.

Don't let the platform become more important than the message, the content.  You all know people who are so obsessed with the platform that their lack of content is certainly not compelling.  You all know someone whose tweets and updates you skip because you don't care about the trivial usage of the platform.  Honestly, do you really care what someone is watching or eating all the time?  The platform without a compelling message is a waste of time and energy.  But if you have a powerful message, something you believe in your bones and have to share, you will utilize so many different platforms and maybe even link them all together in one cohesive push.  We do that all the time to get the word about voting, social justice issues and big events.  Why couldn't we do that with the Gospel?

I think it is because we are not completely confident in the power of the Gospel.  If we were, we would be using the oldest and still most effective platform to share that message:  face to face.

The disciples were believers and loved and followed and listened to Jesus.  And they saw Jesus do incredible things in front of them.  And then they witnessed the resurrection and suddenly the gospel became the Gospel and their lives changed.  And the delivery systems became secondary to the content being delivered.  Peter could no longer contain himself.  He didn't care if he lived or died or went to jail.  He HAD to share the Gospel.

When you and I believe in the Gospel completely, the platforms will present themselves more often.  God has already programmed you to have some passions and experiences.  He has hard-wired you to care about some sort of injustice or issue.  So find out how you can connect the platform of that issue with the message of the Gospel.  Then someone dealing with pain and hurt and lacking some basic essential of life can approach it with the hope and grace and peace that comes ONLY in the presence and person of Jesus Christ.

The message is the Gospel.  The delivery system is you and me.  How can I get the Gospel into every platform I have to share content?

Thursday, June 6, 2013

BURNING QUESTIONS: Do you have a God of your past? - Session 1

Lesson Title:  Do you have a God of your past?
Main Idea:  God isn't just the God of your history.  He should be a God of your present, working to shape you into who He wants you to be.
Main Teaching Passage: Genesis 25-35 - we covered the overall narrative of Jacob/Israel's life and focused in on a few significant moments.
Secondary Support Passages:  Judges 2:10/Hebrews 4:12

X.  The Roman Numeral for ten.  By adding one line how can you reduce the Roman numeral for ten by 10%?  Simple.  IX.  Now add one line to reduce the Roman numeral for ten by 40%.  There are at least two ways to do it.

You can do it one by way adding a curvy line - SIX.  Or you can go another more mathematical route IX6 or 1 x 6 which equals 6.  If that stumped you it was probably because of the direction I gave at the very beginning.  I told you that X was the Roman numeral for ten and thus set the framework for how you would go about trying to solve the problems.  You were probably limiting yourself to only using Roman numerals.  I never said JUST to use Roman numerals.  But by couching it in that language I had already limited how you would interpret it.

The Bible can be that way for us too.  We get stuck seeing all of the answers in the same way.  Some preacher preached a sermon on a specific passage and that has been the sole interpretation we have allowed all of our lives.  Or a sermon was preached about an event in scripture through one participant's eyes from that event.  And that is locked in.  The challenge in making sure God is doing new and refreshing things in our lives is getting past our programming.  There just may be more ways that the Word can penetrate and shape.  Hebrews 4:12 calls the scriptures living and active.  Not static and ancient.  It can change and be different things for us.  The 23rd Psalm can be lovely poetry about abiding in God's presence but as you get older it can create hope in hopeless moments, comfort in mourning etc.  As you mature and grow, the scripture can speak differently.  But if we are programmed with a limited acceptance of what it can do, we are limiting how God can work today and locking him into being a God of our history.

Now don't get me wrong, it is incredible to have  God of our past.
- We remember what God has done for us and it causes us to appreciate Him even more - driving us to praise and worship him.
- We remember what God has done for us and it causes us to learn - driving us through discipline to growth.
BUT we also remember to recapture or re-create the same experience.  We had a legitimate, genuine experience with God and we try to generate the sequel - second verse same as the first.  We try to set everything up in the same way, hoping for the same results.  The problem is that only a few sequels are actually better than the original, let alone as good.  A copy of a copy of a copy has such low quality and clarity.  Allow God the freedom to do something new in your life today.

It is also great to have a God of your future.  Jesus secured your eternity in Heaven.  He also secured your connection with Him on earth through the Holy Spirit.

Jacob's life is a great example of allowing God to work in your present.  More than any other Old Testament person, Jacob is associated with God.  22 times throughout scripture the phrase God of Jacob appears.  You can skim through those ten chapters and get a refresher on the life of Jacob.
Some highlights:
- younger twin brother of Esau.  when born God told Rebekah (Jacob's mother) that Esau would be the servant of Jacob, basically changing the order of birth.  Jacob would be considered the eldest by God.
- Esau forfeits his birthright (85% of everything the family had/owned) for some stew when he had come back in from the hunt, starving.  The maker of the stew and the owner of the birthright?  Jacob
- Esau was daddy's favorite.  Jacob was mommy's.  Proof that being a mommy's boy will always pay off in the end.  And more proof that dads are essentially clueless and gullible...HA!
- When Isaac (dad) was dying he called for Esau to come in and receive the blessing.  This was more important than the birthright.  The birthright was just stuff.  The blessing was the promise and anointing of God on the family, as made by God to Abraham.  Rebekah overheard the plans of Isaac (who was also sending Esau out for a special last supper).  She went into overtime to work with Jacob to deceive Isaac.
- Jacob steals the blessing.  If this dysfunctional family was just obedient to God, Jacob would have had both the blessing and birthright without all of the drama, hurt, pain and deception.
- Jacob flees Esau's wrath and has a few encounters with God, eventually making a covenant relationship with God and moving to his uncle Laban's to marry both Laban's daughters.  Jacob reconciles with Esau and comes home.  At this point his mother has passed away but his father Isaac has made a dramatic recovery and lived many, many more years.
- God continues to work in Jacob's life and changes his name to Israel.

Jacob experiences the transforming power, grace and plan of God in his life.  He has a God of his past, a God of his history - Abraham and Isaac.  He has a God of his future -the nation and people of Israel and Judah.  But he has a God of his present who carries him, cares for him, protects him and provides for him.

Do you have a God of your present?  Are you allowing God to move and work and shape you daily?

Some questions to think about:
- What if the heritage of God in your family ends with you?  Judges 2:10 speaks of the danger of not sharing about what God has done in your life with your family.
- What if the heritage of God in your family begins with you?
- Is the Bible still speaking to you daily?  Here is a nice litmus test on your connection to God's word.
Not counting Genesis 1:1 and John 3:16 or any verse that you are not sure the book, chapter and verse where to find it, do you have a verse of scripture memorized for every year you have had a God of your present?  I have been a believer since 1988.  Do I have AT LEAST 25 verses memorized?  I bet I have at least 25 songs, movie lines etc down pat.  What about you?

Just some things to think about.  Let the transforming grace, power and plans of God work in your life today.  Make sure you have a God of your past and not JUST a God of your past.