It’s A Good Thing

“In his book By Grace Alone, Sinclair Ferguson identifies four major ‘fiery darts’ Satan uses to unsettle believers and rob them of their assurance and peace in the gospel:
·   Fiery Dart 1: ‘God is against you,’ Satan says. ‘He is not really for you. How can you believe he is for you when you see the things that are happening in your life?’
·   Fiery Dart 2: ‘I have accusations I will bring against you because of your sins,’ Satan argues. ‘What can you say in defense? Nothing.’
·   Fiery Dart 3: ‘You can say you are forgiven, but there is a payback day coming—a condemnation day,’ Satan insinuates. ‘How will you defend yourself then?’
·   Fiery Dart 4: ‘Given your track record, what hope is there that you will persevere to the end?’ Satan asks.”[1]

The enemy uses every trick in his effort to get us to doubt our Salvation. One of his most successful lies is fiery dart number one. Haven’t you heard people talk about God as though He is just waiting for us to screw up so He can keep us out of Heaven? It’s almost like the heathen practices where, if we want God’s blessing, we have to appease Him in some way.

Thankfully, because of Jesus’ life and death, we know that’s just not true.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

Now, fiery dart number two, on the other hand, is 100% true – he has a record of every sin we’ve ever committed. And without Jesus, we have absolutely no defense. Without Jesus we are doomed.

“Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins that he has tempted God’s people to commit, and he urges his accusations against them, declaring that by their sins they have forfeited divine protection, and claiming that he has the right to destroy them. He pronounces them just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. . .  But while the followers of Christ have sinned, they have not given themselves up to be controlled by the satanic agencies. They have repented of their sins and have sought the Lord in humility and contrition, and the divine Advocate pleads in their behalf. He who has been most abused by their ingratitude, who knows their sin and also their penitence, declares: ‘The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. I gave My life for these souls. They are graven upon the palms of My hands.
They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them.’” (Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 588, 589)

Fiery dart number three is not far from number two, but Satan brings in the threat of a condemnation or judgment day to up everyone’s anxiety. He has made sure that when most of us, even those of us who claim to rest our assurance of salvation in Jesus, experience some sense of foreboding when we think about a day of judgment. The enemy has twisted and clouded the purpose of the judgment so much that most of us don’t see the promise of freedom within it.

The pre-Advent Judgment, something that is going on right now, is described by Daniel.

“I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21-22

“A judgment was made in favor of the saints…” Does that sound like condemnation? It doesn’t to me. It sounds like Jesus showing God each of our records wiped clean because we have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice in payment for the wages of our sins.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had pass over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

As for the last fiery dart, well, we know that Jesus will ensure that anyone who loves Him will spend eternity with Him. He has paid the price for us to enter God’s Kingdom.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3

“For many Americans, the college admissions process is an oppressive and extraordinarily stressful area of life. A number of years ago, I watched as two best friends, Wayne and Dave, applied for early admission at the same college. That December, Wayne was accepted and Dave was deferred. The next four months, during which Dave waited for the final ruling, looked very different—and very similar—for each of them. … No longer under the watchful eye of the all-important transcript, Wayne decided to branch out in his extracurricular activities. He started a band and got into rock-climbing. He even pioneered a program teaching underprivileged kids in the community how to climb. … Meanwhile, Dave got involved in a bunch of extracurriculars … that he thought might boost his chances at getting into his dream college.
“By the end of the semester, Dave was exhausted, and Wayne was full of energy. Although Dave did well and kept up his GPA, Wayne got the best grades of his high school career! Freed from having to play it safe, he wrote his papers about topics he was genuinely interested in, rather than the ones he thought the teacher would appreciate, and it showed on the page. Their paths may not have looked very different to the outside eye, but one of these guys was carrying a burden of expectation and one wasn't. No wonder it felt like such a slog.
“The fruit of assurance in Wayne's life was not laziness but creativity, charity and fun. Set free from the imperative to perform, his performance shot off the charts. Set free from having to earn his future, he enjoyed his present. Set free from the burden of self-focus, he was inspired to serve others—and without being told he needed to do so!"[2]

Because of the pre-Advent judgment, we can live like Wayne, free in the assurance of God’s love for us.

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[1] Sinclair Ferguson, By Grace Alone (Reformation Trust, 2010), p. 68

[2] Tullian Tchividjian, "Grace and the Summer of George," Liberate: Tullian Tchividjian blog (4-19-13)

Keep the Change

If you have ever been around a cat, one of the features you might have noticed was its whiskers. Have you ever wondered about the purpose for those whiskers? Well, believe it or not, a cat’s whiskers work kind of like the Holy Spirit. They warn the cat that it is going into a dangerous place.

No, really! Check it out –

“… the whisker's primary use is to help a cat judge whether or not he'll fit through an opening. A cat's whiskers are roughly as wide as his body -- sort of a natural ruler. The whisker tips are sensitive to pressure. You'll probably see a cat stick his head in and out of an opening before he puts his body in. He's judging the width of the opening, and is determining if he can fit into it.”[1]

Also like the Holy Spirit, the cat can ignore what his whiskers are telling him. Let me tell you how I know that.

The house where I grew up was built by my parents primarily out of rocks and glass. The head of my bed was against one of these rock walls, so that often I heard puzzling and frightening noises from outside, usually in the middle of the night.

One night I heard what sounded like someone hitting a jar on my bedroom wall. The sound went on for long enough that I was sure there was a stranger outside my room hitting my wall with a glass jar. (I know, just go with it.)

I jumped out of bed and ran to my parents’ room, woke up my father and made him go outside and chase the man away. (Not the first or the last time I did that, by the way.) Of course, by the time he got there, there was no one to chase away. This happened three nights in a row. (My dad was a very patient man.)

On the evening of what would have been the fourth night, we were all in the living room watching TV when we all heard (finally) what sounded like someone hitting our sliding glass patio door with something quite hard – not hard enough to break the glass, but hard enough to make a loud noise. We jumped up to go look and found nobody. We thought it must have been our neighbor boy playing a joke on us, and we planned to ask him about it the next day.

The next day came, and he claimed to know nothing about knocking on our door. We felt like we had quite a mystery. Later that same day, though, I was outside and saw a truly strange thing. I saw a cat walking around with his head in a mayonnaise jar.

Hmmm. All the weird noises suddenly made sense! He was a youngish cat – not a kitten, but not fully grown yet and so he was having some trouble walking and navigating with that big jar on his head. Even so, when I walked toward him, to pull it off, he ran away from me. (Keep in mind, he’d been stuck in that jar for a minimum of four days at that point.)

I got my dad and we finally caught up to him. That was surprisingly difficult, but we finally threw a towel over him and held him down so that my dad could break the jar off of his head.

You’d think that cat would have been grateful…if he was he didn’t show it. He just ran off. Hopefully though, the next time his whiskers told him not to put his head in something, he paid attention to the warning.

I’m struck by how much like that cat we are. We see something we want and we go toward it and the Holy Spirit sends us a message, “Don’t go near that.”

But we look at it, and we think about it, and we get a little closer. The Holy Spirit says, “Don’t do that, it’s dangerous.”

We really want to check it out, so we stick our noses just a little way in. The Holy Spirit says, “Back out now. You’ll get stuck in there.” But it’s so cool and so much fun that we stick our heads all the way inside that jar … and then we realize how trapped we are. We’re trapped and there’s absolutely nothing we can do to free ourselves from our mayonnaise jar of sin.

We wander around, stuck, starving, suffocating, and lost until Jesus comes to set us free. We’re afraid to accept His help. We’re stuck in sin and we’re dying, but we’re not sure we want to make any changes in the way we’re living our lives.

Finally when we’re exhausted from banging our heads against things trying to free ourselves, we let Jesus take us out of our sin and rescue us.

Jesus has changed our circumstances, given us hope and a future, (For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)but how often do we run back to the sin that trapped us rather than keeping the change that Jesus died to give us?

“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:15-23

“Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching
As if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
'Cause I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you”[2]

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[1] Why Do Cats Have Whiskers, Animal Planet, http://animal.discovery.com/pets/question592.htm

[2] Jason David Ingram, Phillip Larue, Jason Ingram, Phillip Paul la Rue, Mike Donehey, By Your Side, Formerly Music, Songs Of Razor And Tie O.B.O. My Maxx Songs, Sony/ATV Timber Publishing

Potato Chip Christians

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 4.14.12

“The heart must receive the divine current, and let it flow out in rich streams of mercy and grace to other hearts. All who would win souls to Christ must be winsome.”[1]               

“Winsome,” that’s an old fashioned word, isn’t it? It’s certainly not one we use very often. Here are some synonyms for the word, “winsome:”  absorbing, alluring, appealing, attractive, captivating, charismatic, delightful, desirable, enamoring, engaging, enthralling, fascinating, inviting, irresistible, lovable, pleasant, pleasing, sweet, tantalizing, winning.”[2]

When was the last time you heard someone refer to his or her contact with a Christian in any of those terms?

One pastor uses a bag of potato chips to illustrate an effective way to make contact with people so that they will begin to want to get to know Jesus better. This pastor opens a bag of potato chips and then steps out into the congregation.  This is how he describes the object lesson:

“Turn to one person: ‘Want one? Help yourself!’“Then say: ‘I've learned that one of the simplest acts of grace in meeting someone is to simply be interested in them. Just ask them a question about something they care about in life. It's like turning to them with a bag of chips and saying, “Want one?”’“As you offer chips to more people in the audience, ask questions to serve as examples of what you mean: ‘Is that a good book you're reading? Want one?’ ‘What's it like to deal with people in your job? Want one?’ ‘Did you grow up around here? Want one?’“As you prepare to offer a chip to another person in the audience, say, ‘Or perhaps you can find a way to ask gently or discretely about deeper heart issues.’ Offer an example of what you mean: ‘How do you keep your balance with all this turmoil in your life? Want one?’“As you prepare to offer a chip to another person in the audience, say, ‘You know, there's a wonderful verse in the Bible that might encourage you. Want one?’ To another person: ‘Let me tell you a story about a Father whose son broke his heart. Want one?’ To another person: ‘You know what? I'm going to be praying for you. Want one?’“Then, return to the pulpit and offer a conclusion to the illustration: ‘Grace-accented conversations give people more than they deserve or expect. They are conversations rich in love and sincere interest, in unexpected sympathy and empathy, in undeserved hope and forgiveness. They are conversations which, by the Holy Spirit's miraculous help, touch something soul-deep—words that go where no one else has. Words like that are salty, tasty. They make a person want more. Though people may not realize it, you're grace-accented words are giving them a thirst for Jesus.’”[3]

Paul said something very similar in his letter to the Colossians. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:6

Remember the old potato chip ad: “Nobody can eat just one?” How often in our everyday lives do we come in contact with a person who doesn’t have an active, positive relationship with God, and, through our interaction with him or her, caused that person to want to know more about Jesus? Or has our contact caused the opposite reaction – leaving him with less interest than before in getting to know Jesus better?

A long time ago I worked as a waitress in a Mexican food restaurant in San Antonio. The restaurant was close to several churches and so on Sundays, what we called the “church crowd” would fill up the restaurant for their Sunday dinner. Unfortunately, this was not a group that the other waiters and waitresses looked forward to, in fact, it was usually a focal point of dread and did little to increase anyone’s desire to become more involved in Christianity.

Now, I know that on a person-by-person basis, some of the Christian customers were very nice, but the overall impression left by the church crowd was overwhelmingly negative.

Isn’t that sad? Most of my fellow waiters and waitresses were not church goers and the church crowd didn’t inspire them to become more involved in any church. As a Christian myself, I was often embarrassed by the behavior of these fellow Christians.

I haven’t heard the phrase in the last couple of years, but there used to be this image of American tourists that some folks called the ugly American. Do you remember that? It was portrayed with absolute cringe-inducing accuracy by Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Chevy Chase’s character in that movie left a bad taste for Americans, so that the next American that came along had a much more difficult time.

In the Christian world, the same thing can happen. If, in our dealings with people we are rude, abrasive, demanding, vindictive, or pushy, we are going to leave a bad taste for Christians after us. How can we show people how much Jesus loves them if they dread seeing us coming?

“Watchman Nee tells about a Chinese Christian who owned a rice paddy next to one owned by a communist man. The Christian irrigated his paddy by pumping water out of a canal, using one of those leg-operated pumps that make the user appear to be seated on a bicycle. Every day, after the Christian had pumped enough water to fill his field, the communist would come out, remove some boards that kept the water in the Christian's field and let all the water flow down into his own field. That way, he didn't have to pump.This continued day after day. Finally, the Christian prayed, ‘Lord, if this keeps up, I'm going to lose all my rice, maybe even my field. I've got a family to care for. What can I do?’ In answer to his request, the Lord put a thought in his mind. So, the next morning he arose much earlier, in the predawn hours of darkness, and started pumping water into the field of his communist neighbor. Then he replaced the boards and pumped water into his own rice paddy. In a few weeks both fields of rice were doing well—and the communist was converted.”[4]

So, let’s decide, today, to be potato chip Christians! Always leave folks wanting to know more about Jesus.

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[1] E.G. White, That I May Know Him,” p. 218

[2] winsome. (n.d.). Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition. Retrieved April 06, 2012, from Thesaurus.com website: http://thesaurus.com/browse/winsome

[3] Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois

[4] Making Things Right When Things Go Wrong (Howard, 1996)

Extravagant Grace

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 1.28.12

“My wife is ... a mirror. When I have sinned against her, my sin appears in the suffering of her face. Her tears reflect with terrible accuracy my selfishness. ... But I hate the sight, and the same selfishness I see now makes me look away. ...“The passion of Christ ... is such a mirror. Are the tears of my dear wife hard to look at? Well, the pain in the face of Jesus is harder. It is myself in my extremest truth. ... The death he died reflects a selfishness so extreme that by it I was divorced from God and life and light complete. ...“Nevertheless, I will not avoid this mirror! No, I will carefully rehearse, again this year, the passion of my Jesus--with courage, with clarity and faith; for this is the mirror of dangerous grace, purging more purely than any other.”[1]

Have you seen that commercial that’s out right now that’s pushing some prescription medication?  It shows a “doctor” standing outside, next to a full length mirror, and he says, “I wish my patients could see what I see.  Then as each person walks past the mirror, his (or her) health concerns pop up on the mirror.  They’re things like “high cholesterol,” “risk for heart attack,” and other things like that.  The problem is, the reflection of the person doesn’t change at all.  They just look the same.

I think the commercial would be much more effective if the image in the mirror changed, Portrait of Dorian Gray style, ya know?  Like, if the person had high cholesterol, there’d be big chunks of fat stuck all over him.  Don’t ya think that would work lots better?

Well, it’s kind of the same way with us.  We walk around in our little lives thinking we’re pretty much okay, but we don’t see ourselves the way God sees us. 

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Revelation 3:17

Now THAT would be an eye-opening experience, wouldn’t it -- to see the world from God’s perspective?  That’s kind of a lot to think about.  We want to think of ourselves as pretty likeable, but we’re not seeing the thick, oozing coating of sin that God sees.  We can’t imagine how far we are from His original creations, Adam and Eve.

And, as if all that didn’t make us hard enough for God to love, much less even look at, our sins took the life of His Son.  Now, if you’re a parent, you know how you feel about anyone who had just hurt your child’s feelings…

Well, put all that together, and we really should be absolutely hideous and completely unlovable, from God’s perspective…and yet…

“I learned an enduring lesson about grace from my church's response to Adolphus, a young black man with a wild, angry look in his eye. Every inner-city church has at least one Adolphus. He had spent some time in Vietnam, and most likely his troubles started there. He could never hold a job for long. His fits of rage and craziness sometimes landed him in an asylum.“If Adolphus took his medication on Sunday, he was manageable. Otherwise, well, church could be even more exciting than usual. He might start at the back and high-hurdle his way over the pews down to the alter. He might raise his hands in the air during a hymn and make obscene gestures. Or he might wear headphones and tune in bebop music instead of the sermon.“As part of worship, LaSalle [Church] had a time called ‘Prayers of the People.’ We would stand, and spontaneously various people would call out a prayer for peace in the world, for healing of the sick, for justice in the community around us. ‘Lord, hear our prayer,’ we would respond in unison after each spoken request. Adolphus soon figured out that Prayers of the People provided an ideal platform for him to air his concerns.“‘Lord, thank you for creating Whitney Houston and her magnificent body!’ he prayed one morning. After a puzzled pause, a few chimed in weakly, ‘Lord, hear our prayer.’“‘Lord, thank you for the big recording contract I signed last week, and for all the good things happening to my band!’ prayed Adolphus. Those of us who knew Adolphus realized he was fantasizing, but others joined in with a heartfelt, ‘Lord, hear our prayer.’“A group of people in the church, including a doctor and a psychiatrist, took on Adolphus as a special project. Every time he had an outburst, they pulled him aside and talked it through, using the word ‘inappropriate’ a lot.…“We learned that Adolphus sometimes walked the five miles to church on Sunday because he could not afford the bus fare. Members of the congregation began to offer him rides. Some invited him over for meals. Most Christmases he spent with our assistant pastor's family.“Boasting about his musical talent, Adolphus asked to join the music group that sang during Communion services. After hearing him audition, the leader settled on a compromise: Adolphus could stand with the others and sing, but only if his electric guitar remained unplugged (he had absolutely no music ability). Each time the group performed thereafter, Adolphus stood with them and sang and played his guitar, which, thankfully, produced no sound
“The day came when Adolphus asked to join the church. Elders quizzed him on his beliefs, found little by way of encouragement, and decided to put him on a kind of probation. He could join when he demonstrated that he understood what it meant to be a Christian, they decided, and when he learned to act appropriately around others in church.“Against all odds, Adolphus's story has a happy ending. He calmed down. He started calling people in the church when he felt the craziness coming on. He even got married. And on the third try, Adolphus was finally accepted for church membership.“Grace comes to people who do not deserve it, and for me Adolphus came to represent grace. In his entire life, no one had ever invested that kind of energy and concern in him. He had no family, he had no job, he had no stability. Church became for him the one stable place. It accepted him despite all he had done to earn rejection.“It gave him a second chance, and a third, and a fourth. Christians who had experienced God's grace transferred it to Adolphus, and that stubborn, unquenchable grace gave me an indelible picture of what God puts up with by choosing to love the likes of me.”[2]

God is so good!  He looks at our horrible ugliness and loves us anyway.  Jesus draws us close to Him and tenderly covers our filthiness with His spotless sinlessness because He wants to spend eternity with us.  Thank you, Jesus, for your extravagant grace

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[1] Walter Wangerin, Jr., in “Reliving the Passion.” Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 4.

[2] Philip Yancey, "Taking My Stand with the Church," Leadership (Spring 1996)

Mirror? Mirror!

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson dated  11.5.11

Have you ever seen someone and found yourself thinking, “Did he (she) look in the mirror before he left the house?”  Ok, I know it’s wrong to judge people by the way they look, but sometimes I have to wonder…

 Anyway, the reason I thought of that was that I’ve heard/read some folks describe “the Law” as a kind of mirror.  A mirror can show us what we look like; it can show us if we have a piece of broccoli in our teeth or smudged mascara, but it can’t do anything about it.  The Law can’t save us, but it can show us our need for Jesus.

I’ve also seen the law compared to a microscope and to a light on a windshield.

“On a warm, summer night, my wife and I were traveling in our car with Micah, our 3-year-old son, who sat in the back seat. After many miles of driving in the darkness, we came to a stop in a remote area. The brightness of the traffic light revealed all of the dirt, dead bugs, and insects on our windshield. Micah said, ‘Look, how dirty!’
“My wife and I didn't think much of his comment until a moment later when we drove on—away from the light and back into the darkness. Upon reentering the darkness, we could no longer see the mess on our windshield, and Micah quickly piped up and said, ‘Now the glass is clean!’
“Before the law came, the dirt within us hid under the darkness. But when God gave the law, its light shined on the windshield of our hearts and revealed the filth of sin we'd collected on our journey. The law, then, is a light that shows us how sinful we really are. It cannot cleanse us or make us whole. But it does starkly highlight the true situation of our souls—and thus can lead us to Christ.”[1]

I love the way D.L. Moody said it: 

“Law tells me how crooked I am; grace comes along and straightens me out.”[2]  

Isn’t that great?  I really like that.

As simple as that is to say, the relationship between law and grace can really give us fits sometimes.  I’m surprised at just how much I take “justification by faith” for granted.  But then I’ll hear somebody say something like Mohammad Ali said in a Reader’s Digest article.  

"One day we're all going to die, and God is going to judge us—[our] good deeds and bad deeds. If the bad outweighs the good, you go to hell. If the good outweighs the bad, you go to heaven."[3]

The idea that we can earn our way to heaven is shockingly prevalent in Christianity, the one place where it has absolutely no business!

“In What's So Amazing about Grace, Philip Yancey recounts this story about C.S. Lewis:
“During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith.
“They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death.
“The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. ‘What's the rumpus about?’ he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, ‘Oh, that's easy. It's grace.’ “After some discussion, the conferees had to agree.
“The notion of God's love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, … , and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.”[4]

So, how does it happen that we wander off into legalism so often when, if you think about it, living under grace is so much easier?  I mean, most of the time, we choose the path of least resistance, but when it comes to Salvation, we try to slog through the hard way…what’s up with that?

Talk about doing it the hard way, check this out: 

“It's amazing what some people will do to be spiritual. On September 18, 2003, Genshin Fujinami, 44, a Buddhist priest nicknamed the ‘Marathon Monk,’ finished a seven-year, 24,800-mile journey in the Hiei Mountains of Japan. It was intended to be a trek to enlightenment.

“Once a monk starts this journey he must finish or kill himself. According to an Associated Press article, for the first three years the pilgrim must rise at midnight for 100 consecutive days to pray and run 18 miles per day, stopping 250 times to pray along the way. During the next two years, he must up his schedule to 200 days. In the fifth year the pilgrim must sit and chant mantras for nine days without food, water, or sleep in a trial called doiri, or ‘entering the temple.’ In the sixth year, he must walk 37.5 miles every day for 100 days. In the seventh year, he must run 52.5 miles for 100 days, 18 miles for another 100 days, and then complete a 234-mile trek back to his home base.”[5]

It’s really easy for us to read that and shake our heads because we know that even a ritual that extreme will not earn anybody a spot in Heaven.

“Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’  So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.  For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”  Galatians 3:8-14

Have you looked in “The Mirror” lately?  What do you see?  Are you covered with sin?  What will you do about it?

We all have a choice to make, the moment the Law shows us our sin.  We can either bash ourselves repeatedly with the Law, or we can turn our sins over to Jesus.  Which choice is less painful?  easier?   the only choice that leads to Salvation? 

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Galatians 3:26-29

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[1] William Wimmer, pastor of Grace Chapel Church of God, Benton, Arkansas

[2] D.L. Moody, Christian History, no. 25.

[3] "Ali," Reader's Digest (December 2001), p. 93

[4] Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace? (Zondervan, 1997), p.11

[5] 'Marathon Monk' Ends Seven Years on the Run, Chicago Tribune (9-20-03)

Redirect

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for October 8, 2011

“Redirect” is one of those words, which in the last twenty years or so, has become very important in the education / behavior management fields.  At some point, we stopped telling individuals who were behaving badly to “Stop it!” and began “redirecting them to more appropriate behaviors” by reviewing consequences and offering choices.

Having said that, I’d have to say that Saul’s Damascus Road experience has to be history’s biggest redirect.  Although it was dramatic and sudden, the follow up must have been truly difficult.  It’s one thing to change someone’s mind, but changing his (or her) behavior is a much tougher thing.  And for Paul, he had the added struggle of convincing others that he had really changed – not a simple task by any means!  Imagine his first meeting with the original disciples…I’d be interested to know what happened, wouldn’t you?  I mean, Stephen was one of their friends!

Do you think Paul explained that he was converted; Ananias said, “Yeah, that’s pretty much it;” and then they had a big group hug?  I’m thinking not so much.

I’m thinking the process of gaining the trust of the disciples and other early Christians happened pretty gradually.

You can tell the process wasn’t complete yet when Paul wrote to the Galatians.  Somebody or somebodies in Galatia were sniping at Paul and whether or not he had the authorization to be included in the early Christian cadre of church leaders. 

“I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin.  I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
“For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.  But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
“Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days.  I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
“Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: ‘The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’  And they praised God because of me.”  Galatians 1:11-24

You can kind of tell Paul’s had to explain all this before.  He ends up doing some redirecting of his own.  Paul has to show the Galatian church that they are letting their mistrust of him lead them to reject the truth of the gospel just because it came from him.

Do we ever do that same thing?  Do we reject what a certain preacher says because we’ve heard that he used to belong to another religion?  Do we ignore everything Ellen White says because someone in our past has used her wisdom to punish us?  Are we quick to discount good information because we dislike the source?  You know, the enemy works hard and constantly to distract us from the truth, and he will use any trick to make sure we aren’t aware we’re being led astray.

“In his book Tempted and Tried Russell Moore recounts an NPR program about a scientist named Temple Grandin who is researching new ways to gently kill cows. It's an important issue because if the animals experience high stress levels prior to death, hormones get released that lower the meat quality. Thus, Grandin has been exploring how to keep the cattle calm as they are being led to slaughter.
“Grandin's research has led to one simple insight: novelty distresses cows. The key is to keep everything in their lives feeling and looking as normal and natural as possible. Russell Moore summarizes Grandin's techniques for gently killing the cows:
“Workers shouldn't yell at the cows, [Grandin] said, and they should never use cattle prods, because they are counter-productive and unneeded. If you just keep the cows contented and comfortable, they'll go wherever they're led. Don't surprise them, don't unnerve them, and above all, don't hurt them (well, at least until you slit their throats at the end).
“Along the way, [Grandin] devised a new technology that has revolutionized the ways of the big slaughter operations. In this system the cows aren't prodded off the truck but are led, in silence, onto a ramp. They go through a ‘squeeze chute,’ a gentle pressure device that mimics a mother's nuzzling touch. The cattle continue down the ramp onto a smoothly curving path. There are no sudden turns. The cows experience the sensation of going home, the same kind of way they've traveled many times before.
“As they mosey along the path, they don't even notice when their hooves are no longer touching the ground. A conveyor belt slightly lifts them gently upward, and then … a blunt instrument levels a surgical strike right between the eyes. They're transitioned from livestock to meat, and they're never aware enough to be alarmed by any of it. The pioneer of this technology commends it to the slaughterhouses and affectionately gives it a nickname. [Grandin] calls it ‘the stairway to heaven.’”[1]

Okay, does anybody else find that absolutely terrifying? Are we so distracted from our relationship with Jesus that we don’t realize we’re being herded in the opposite direction?  We’ve forgotten about grace and have long ago allowed ourselves to be convinced that we can earn our way into heaven.

“To substitute external forms of religion for holiness of heart and life is still as pleasing to the unrenewed nature as it was in the days of these Jewish teachers. Today, as then, there are false spiritual guides, to whose doctrines many listen eagerly. It is Satan’s studied effort to divert minds from the hope of salvation through faith in Christ and  obedience to the law of God. In every age the archenemy adapts his temptations to the prejudices or inclinations of those whom he is seeking to deceive. In apostolic times he led the Jews to exalt the ceremonial law and reject Christ; at the present time he induces many professing Christians, under pretense of honoring Christ, to cast contempt on the moral law and to teach that its precepts may be transgressed with impunity. It is the duty of every servant of God to withstand firmly and decidedly these perverters of the faith and by the word of truth fearlessly to expose their errors.”[2]

We have been redirected…now we have to choose – grace or works.

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[1] Russell D. Moore, Tempted and Tried (Crossway, 2011), pp. 25-26

[2] E.G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 387