If It Was Your Last Time to Speak with Your Best Friends, What Would You Say?

Last night was our last HUB of the school year. I thought it fitting to look at the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples before ascending to Heaven. Since the resurrection, Jesus had appeared to his disciples a handful of times. But this encounter would be the last one. What would he say? With what would he leave them?

Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

In the end, what mattered most to Jesus? In his last conversation with the disciples, how did he encourage and challenge them?

Jesus had spent 3 years with his disciples and here in this final conversation he tells them to go out and love on people. Spread truth to everyone around them. Tell others about how their life can be transformed from the inside out when lived in relationship with Jesus. Help people to see that life will only begin to make sense when they come to know they were created for a purpose that is only found in Christ.

Out of their love, devotion, and passion for Christ, the disciples took Jesus's words to heart and went out to change the world. They left everything behind to bring the gospel to the nations.

I don't think these words (often called The Great Commission) were meant only for the 11 disciples. No, I am positive they are meant for you and for me, also. In life we are called to two things: to love God and love others. Our life is a reflection of our response to God's love for us. May we never stop telling people about Jesus. May we never stop offering hope to the hopeless. May we never stop encouraging friends, family, and strangers with the only truth that will hold up: the love of Christ.

Feeling Entitled?

Last week and this week at HUB we talked about the idea of "deserving." We have our own standards, shaped by our society, of what we believe we deserve and what we believe others deserve. If we work hard, we believe we deserve to be recognized and honored. If we feel we work harder than the next, we certainly better get recognized over them. When we don't, and the other man wins out, our bitterness, and pretenses of anger and life being completely unfair tend to cloud our judgement. We feel so justified. But does Jesus work under the same principles as we do?
If we look to Matthew 20:1-16, I believe we'll find he certainly does not.

“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’ “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’ “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’ “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’ “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 20:1-16 is not what we expect. We are just like the 6 am vineyard workers: astounded when God blesses those we have deemed aren't fit to receive his blessings. God is so excited about all of his children turning back to him, all of his children coming home to him. Perhaps those who come to Christ early in life feel it unfair that those who come later in life will have the same blessings and benefits. Shouldn't we too be rejoicing with the Father?

To what do you feel entitled: Someone's affections, someone's forgiveness, a title or honor, a grade, a starting sports position? 

But isn't it the case with God that we really don't deserve anything, and yet even in our poor state, he lavishly pours his blessings upon us?

So who are you? The grateful 5pm worker, or the assuming 6am worker? Whichever you are - it will affect your entire attitude towards life, others, and God.

Grace by the Death of One

Having just celebrated Easter a week ago, I have a continued awareness of how undeserving I am of God's grace. I watched The Passion of the Christ the Wednesday before Easter, and I watched in awe as my Jesus died on the cross for me. It wasn't because I deserved God's mercy, but because of his love for me. But isn't that just it? We live in a culture that says - You get what you deserve. Or better yet - I treat people the way they deserve to be treated based on the way they've treated me. But God doesn't treat us the way we deserve to be treated. Grace.

Read Jesus's parable found in Matthew 18...

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! 23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. 31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Matthew 18 reminds us that we don’t deserve forgiveness - rather, we owe a debt to God, a costly debt: our sin. And yet, God in his grace and mercy extends forgiveness to us through the death of his son, Jesus. And He doesn't just give us extra time to pay our debt, he knows we can never pay it, so we are forgiven entirely because Jesus paid the penalty. But then, we turn around and fail to extend grace, mercy, and forgiveness to those who have wronged us. We think that only those who deserve to be forgiven should be truly forgiven. Only those who have worked hard enough to be sorry enough are worthy of our favor. And yet, we can never, ever, be sorry enough or repentant enough to earn God’s grace. It is a free gift.

Ernest Gordon was a Scottish POW in WWII. His troop fell captive to the Japanese where they had to help build a railroad and were treated as slaves. Gordon describes his time in the camp and how the miserable conditions turned the men into shadows of men filled with hatred and selfishness. Here is an excerpt from his book Miracle on the River Kwai detailing just that….

As conditions steadily worsened, as starvation, exhaustion and disease took an ever-growing toll, the atmosphere in which we lived was increasingly poisoned by selfishness, hatred, and fear. We were slipping rapidly down the scale of degradation. 

We lived by the rule of the jungle, “red in tooth and claw” – the evolutionary law of the survival of the fittest. It was a case of “I look out for myself and to hell with everyone else.” The weak were trampled underfoot, the sick ignored or resented, the dead forgotten. When a man lay dying we had no word of mercy. When he cried for our help, we averted our heads. 

We had long since resigned ourselves to being derelicts. We were the forsaken men – forsaken by our families, by our friends, by our government. Now even God had left us.

Hate, for some, was the only motivation for living. We hated the Japanese. We would willingly have torn them limb from limb, flesh from flesh, had they fallen into our hands. In time even hate died, giving way to numb, black despair.

Ernest Gordon goes on to tell about a day when the men arrived back at the camp after working on the railroad. At the tool check the officers informed the POWs that a shovel was missing. In rage, the officers demanded that the man who stole the shovel come forward, and if no one confessed, the entire group would be killed. Slowly, a man came forward. As he stood before the officers in his moment of confession, the officers beat him to death as punishment.

At the next tool check, all the shovels were accounted for. You see, there had simply been a miscount. A miscount that cost the life of an innocent man. Gordon recounts the disbelief of the men: that a completely innocent man would die to save the rest of them. He said that it was in this moment that the POWs came to recognize an even greater act of mercy: Christ dying on the cross. A completely innocent man who died so that the rest of us don't have to be separated from God. We are the guilty. We deserve the punishment. And yet, Christ paid the penalty.

So, with the grace that has so graciously been extended to us, do we extend it to others?

In Tragedy, We Have One Source for Peace

This past week has been a devastating one for the Tampa and Plant High School community. A senior, Amanda Pierce tragically died in a car accident on her way to pick up her sister in Tallahassee. While I did not have the honor of knowing Amanda, many of my students did. Sadly, this is not the first time tragedy has struck our young community. Ask any student and they can tell you the tragedies that have transpired over the years.

In my conversations with teenagers this week, a theme has been echoing in my mind: There is only one guarantee in this life. We ourselves aren't promised tomorrow. Our loved ones aren't promised tomorrow. We aren't promised any easy life, or success, or popularity, or an easy road in life. The only guarantee we have is Jesus Christ. John 16:33 reminds us of what Jesus said to his disciples as they struggled to imagine what life would be like after Jesus died - how would they carry on without standing next to their best friend? "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

This isn't the first time something tragic and inexplicable has happened, and unfortunately it isn't the last. We live in a broken world where car accidents, cancer, broken relationships, divorce, tragedy, and death exist. And Jesus warns us that life in this broken world won't be easy, and the only guarantee and the only hope we have is in Him. He has conquered death. He has conquered this broken world. The only guarantee is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything can change in an instant, but that never will. 

And so to me, the logical question is: What are you living for? Why live for something that we aren't promised tomorrow? Want to know how to figure out what you're living for? Look at how you spend your time. 

How are you pursuing Jesus? In what ways are you putting yourself in front of God's truth and God's grace? Where do you need to go to hear this truth? What needs to look different so that you can allow God to make you into a new person?

The time is now, my friends. 

My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who are broken during this tragic time. May we confidently and boldly claim the love and life that Jesus is offering. In him, we have peace.

When God Takes You There, Will You Go? Will You Go Wherever for Him?

We all have struggles. One of my greatest struggles is when life is chaotic, things aren’t going smoothly, someone has hurt me, etc. I begin to doubt myself. But at the center of that doubt is a lack of trust in God. I was created to live in a trusting relationship with Jesus. I cannot depend on circumstances because they are never predictable. Instead I must trust in the one who never waivers, never leaves my side, and is always consistent. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make Micah 7:7 my “verse” for 2013. It’s the one I keep going back to and it speaks volumes to the way I let circumstances rock me. It is the encouragement I need to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.

Micah 7:7 (MSG) – But me, I’m not giving up. I’m sticking around to see what God will do. I’m waiting for God to make things right. I’m counting on God to listen to me.

The writer has such a sense of confidence in what God will do. 

I need to claim that confidence everyday!

Lately, God has been working on me. I told y’all about the book I read, Not a Fan, and now I’m getting ready to read it with my senior bible study. God is working on my heart to get me fired up and to get me excited about living for him. He is trying to show me that every moment of every day is an opportunity to live for him, to serve him, to glorify him, and to show who he is to other people.

Last week I almost turned down an opportunity to serve God. God called me to speak at Plant High's Beta Chi lunch. With nearly 200 kids coming to each lunch and speaking at all three lunches, I feared the possibility of sharing my heart, my life, and my Jesus with 600 high schoolers. As I wrestled with whether or not I would accept the invitation I read chapter 12 in Not a Fan. The chapter talks about a man who tells Jesus he will follow him anywhere. When Jesus replies and tells the man he is basically homeless, will he follow him there, you can imagine the man backpeddling. Look at what Kyle Idleman says...

The man says, “I will follow you wherever.” And Jesus points to a place that will be a threat to this man’s comfort and security and asks, “What about there?” We’re left with the impression that this wannabe follower quickly rescinded his offer. “Did I say ‘Wherever?’ This was meant to be more of a poetic expression. Figuratively speaking, I will follow you, ‘Wherever.’
Like this man we may be quick to say to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever…" but let’s move it from the general to the more specific. Where is the one place you will find it most difficult to follow Jesus? If you said to Jesus "Wherever," where do you think is the one place he would point to and say, "What about there?"

Wherever? What about in your own home? There is the tendency to carry a cross and follow Jesus, but before we walk in the door of our own home, we leave the cross on the front porch.

Instead of submitting, you stand up for your rights. Instead of serving, you sit around.

Instead of being patient, you are demanding. Instead of being encouraging, you are constantly critical.

Instead of being a spiritual leader, you are passive and apathetic in your own home. So what about there?

Wherever? What about at school? At around 8am during the week, you’ll find many fans getting out of their cars or off the bus, saying to Jesus, "You wait here. I’ll be back to get you around three.” When they clock in to school they clock out of following.

You justify greed by calling it a necessity.

You rationalize dishonesty by calling it a way to raise your GPA.

You stay quiet about your faith at school and call it being tolerant.

I put down the book slowly. Got it God. I’m supposed to do this.

God went on to use it in a way more powerful than I could have imagined. I know of at least one high schooler who God touched that day. 

This is not about me, though. This is completely about God and what God can do. What will he do with your faithfulness to him? What will he do when you go outside of your comfort zone for him? What will he do when you decide to live for him, go all in for him, instead of holding part of yourself back? Claim Micah 7:7 boldly and with confidence. "But me, I'm not giving up. I'm sticking around to see what God will do. I'm waiting for God to make things right. I'm counting on God to listen to me."

Which Road Will You Take: Easy Street or Following Jesus?

So often, life presents two roads to take. We bump up against decisions that we make on impulse, not thinking about the long term. Not thinking about where that one turn will lead us. We take the easy way out of a situation, only to later realize it led us down a bad path, and eventually we find ourself at a dead end. Consider Paul's words to us in Philippians 3:12-21.

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.

Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.

But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

Easy street is a dead end street. Two Sundays ago we watched the film: Beware of Christians. The documentary followed four college Christians around Europe as they worked through seven topics relative to life and faith. In a lot of the situations, easy street was portrayed. We saw how readily available it is to go down an easy road. They talked about sex and relationships. How the easy street would be to go further physically with the person you're dating. To date around more. To just have fun with casual dating and hook-ups. But then they talked about the men they look up to the most. Those in a healthy marriage and they considered the advice from those older men. Not one of them has ever said he wished he went further with a previous girlfriend, or that he wished he had dated more. Instead, the look back on those moments regretfully or they tell of how thankful they are that they waited to have sex until they were married. Because you see, easy street is just that. It's the easier path to take in the moment. But easy street always leads to a dead end. But the road the follows Jesus leads to life. It might mean making sacrifices in the moment, denying our selfish desires and motives, but in the long run it means eternal fulfillment if it's what Christ has called us to in our life.

I've been reading through Kyle Idlman's book: Not a Fan. The book distinguishes fans of Jesus from followers of Jesus. Here's a quick excerpt from the first chapter that really helps identify the difference.

It may seem that there are many followers of Jesus, but if they were honestly to define the relatinoship they have with him I am not sure it would be accurate to describe them as followers. It seems to me that there is a more suitable word to descrie them. They are not followers of Jesus. They are fans of Jesus.

Here is the most basic definition of fan in the dictionary:
"An enthusiastic admirer."

It's the guy who goes to the football game with no shirt and a painted chest. He sits in the stands and cheers for his team. He's got a signed jersey hanging on his wall at home and multiple bumper stickers on the back of his car. But he's never in the game. He never breaks a sweat or takes a hard hit in the open field. He knows all about the players and can rattle off their latest stats, but he doesn't know the players. He yells and cheers, but nothing is really required of him. There is no sacrifice he has to make. And the truth is, as excited as he seems, if the team he's cheering for starts to let him down and has a few off seasons you can expect him to jump off the fan wagon and begin cheering for some other team. He is an enthusiastic admirer.

And I think Jesus has a lot of fans these days. Fans who cheer for him when practice is rewarded with wins but who walk away when life is hard and they never seem to get the "W." Fans who sit safely in the stands cheering, but they know nothing of the sacrifice and pain of the field. Fans of Jesus who know all about him, but they don't know him.

But Jesus was never interested in having fans. When he defines what kind of relationship he wants, "Enthusiastic Admirer" isn't an option...The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren't actually intersted in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.

So my friends, fan or follower? It's clear that being a fan would be to take easy street. Philippians 3 talks about people who have anything less than total commitment to Jesus. But what about Jesus's commitment to us? He went all it. Jesus gave his everything - he gave his life - he looked at us and without hesitation said, "I'm all in." So now it's time for us to respond to him. And in a sense we too are called to die. To die to our selfish ways and worldly desires. To turn away from living for ourselves and start living for Jesus. To be able to say, "I'm not a fan; I'm a follower of Jesus."

Beware of Christians

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." - Brennan Manning

Michael Allen, Will Bakke, Alex Carroll, and Matt Owen flesh this quote out in their documentary film Beware of Christians. Four hilarious, fun, and cute college guys leave their comfortable American lives for a summer traveling throughout Europe in a quest to leave behind their Christian stereotypes and discover what it truly looks like to follow Jesus. They cover seven topics especially relevant to high school and college ages: identity, materialism, sex/relationships, wealth/poverty, church, media/entertainment, and alcohol.

On Sunday night, high school HUB gathered together to watch this film. The next day a freshman girl told me, "I seriously wish all my friends would watch it. Because maybe they would see it and stop living the way the are currently living and instead live for Jesus."

I love watching four normal guys who I would love to befriend wrestling through scripture and trying to figure out what it means to live for Christ instead of living for the world. For example, in their segment on alcohol, they highlight how alcohol will be the greatest idol for college students. They then go on to stress that Christians were called to be different and to live differently.

I am grateful for four guys my age-ish who are seeking to grow in grace and truth. My prayer is that through their testimony and journey, others will surrender to a wonderful Savior.

Go watch it on Netflix. It's 90 minutes, and worth a viewing. It will get you thinking and might just even challenge the way you live. Who knows, maybe you will be transformed into the person you were created to be?

Here's the website too: bewareofchristians.com

Run Hard for the Finish Line

Last night Matt gave the HUB talk and did a wonderful job helping the 1 Corinthians passage that we looked at come to life.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (MSG) You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

You might not be a runner, but if you're an athlete you can understand what it looks like to train. Why do you practice? Why do you push yourself so hard? Because no one can get out there and run a race and expect to win if he hasn't been training. It's the same with the Christian life...it takes training. It takes time and effort. It's deciding to put yourself in front of truth and grace by going to church, HUB, bible study, whatever. It's taking time each day to spend time in God's word, filling yourself up with His truth about your life instead of listening to the lies of the world. It's talking and praying to God about your life, acknowledging that without Him, nothing makes sense. And why do we do it? Why is it all worth it? Because the goal isn't a medal that tarnishes and fades, the goal is a prize that is gold eternally. The prize is eternal life with God. But that eternal life starts NOW. Here on this earth. We don't have to wait to receive our prize in Heaven, we get to have it here on Earth as we live in relationship with Jesus Christ. So are you going to continue to get caught napping? Are you going to get by with sloppy living? As Matt ended the night he prayed for us. Prayed that we wouldn't compromise and just take the easy road. That one really stuck with me. I pray that I won't take the easy road, that I won't cut corners. What will you do? Are you going to stay alert and in top condition - giving it everything you've got? Let's run hard for the finish line!

Is 21 a Random Number, God? Drinking Series: Part 2

Because of my job, I am constantly praying for teenagers. One of my biggest prayers is that they would live in a trusting relationship with Jesus Christ. My prayer is that they would believe that God has a perfect and life-giving plan for their life. I believe when we settle for anything less than God’s best for our life, we are missing out. I don’t want them to miss out on God’s best for their life. I am constantly trying to drive home the truth that I will not judge them for the decisions they’ve made, nothing they’ve done can disappoint me, nothing they’ve done will surprise me, but if there is an area or areas in their life where they are selling themselves short of God’s best for their life I can encourage them to look to Jesus. I can pray for them to not settle, but to save themselves for only God’s best. God’s best is laid out for us in His word. Here is one particular text that speaks to an area of getting after God’s best for us. And one way he does this is through people in our life – namely – authority.

Romans 13:1-5 (NLT)

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.

The past couple of weeks HUB has been focusing on drinking. Two weeks ago, Angie Ammon shared her heart with us. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Molly and how she died from drinking too much. My prayer along with Angie’s is that lives would be saved because of Molly’s story. Last week we looked at Ephesians 5, a passage that told us we can’t be filled with Christ when we are filled with alcohol. You can’t have both – you can’t live for God when you are living for yourself and consumed by drinking and partying. So this past Sunday night we looked at a passage about authority. How authority comes from God. We learn that the authorities are God’s servants, sent for our good. It all goes back to God’s best for our lives. There is a reason why the drinking age is 21.

Why 21? Is it just a random number the government decided? Through my research, I thought it was cool to see that this law was just another way of God protecting us and of God desiring what is best for us. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 made the legal drinking age 21 in the United States. Before this was passed, researchers discovered that the human brain continues to grow and develop until the age of 21. Alcohol, therefore, has a more dangerous affect on these developing adolescent brains than it does on adults 21 and older. You see, it isn't some random law. It is all apart of God's good plan for our life. (Want to read more? Here's a website with easy take-away points http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=20)

CBS did a report on this, too. Check out the difference in brain activity between a 15 year old non-drinker and a 15 year old heavy drinker. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-1778434.html

Here’s the thing with submitting to God. It’s an act of trust and a leap of faith as we let go of our way and grab ahold of his way.

Our lives are a reflection of our response to God. We are either choosing to love him and follow him or we are choosing to love ourselves. God has put in place people of authority to help guide us. People in the government, our parents, our teachers, our pastors…all of them are there to help us. The authorities are God’s servants – sent for your good. When we rebel against those in authority, we are ultimately rebelling against God.

It’s a heart thing. At the core of who we are (our sinful nature) we have a heart of rebellion. But Christ was sent to overcome our rebellion. So we can choose to rebel against God and live a life that is consumed with me. Or we can submit our lives to God. The thing that is incredible about God is that he doesn’t force us into submission. The choice is left up to us. That’s how much he loves us – he doesn’t force our hand – but allows us to decide for ourselves which of the two paths we want to take in his gift of free will. So we can either choose the road that leads to life with our Savior, life in a trusting relationship with the one who knows us best - or we can choose the road that leads to life away from God, doing things our own way, and living through the consequences of life separated from our loving God.

The choice is up to you. But I can promise you, living life loved by our Savior is the ultimate life path.

What's the Big Deal with Drinking? Drinking Series: Part 1

Last week, Angie Ammon courageously shared her heart with a room full of 300 people at First Pres as she told the story of her daughter Molly who died from alcohol poisoning. Working with teenagers, the topic of alcohol is always on my mind. I am constantly having conversations with high schoolers about drinking - either they are personally struggling with it or they are struggling with watching their friends do it. I am especially thinking of it, though, in the weeks following Angie's talk and with Gasparilla coming up this Saturday. 

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLT)
So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In conversations with my high school and college friends, the main questions I hear from those who drink before they're 21 are - Why is it bad? What's the big deal with drinking? Why does it really matter?  

Note how this passage in Ephesians isn’t just a list of dos and don'ts...Do say yes maam and no maam to your Mom, don’t cheat on exams, do be nice to your little brother, don’t get drunk....

No, it’s a word on how to live our lives the best way possible. Don’t be a fool, live intentionally, live with purpose. If you want to do this – if you want to make the most of every breath and every day God has given you - it won't happen if you are filled with alcohol. This will steal life away from you, and ruin this life God has offered you.

So often, people think God is just trying to take away the fun. But that is a false understanding of who God is. At the core of God’s character, he is good, loving, and faithful. Everything he has to say about our lives comes from this foundation of his good, loving, and faithful character. Also, if we are drunk and filled with alcohol, how can we be filled with the Spirit? If our mind is taken over by alcohol, how can we live for him?  I can tell you from personal experience, that filling my life with anything but Christ’s love for me leaves me empty and unsatisfied. It leaves me feeling anxious and agitated. Only when my life is filled with Christ’s love do I feel confident, secure, and alive. But I can tell you that about myself all I want…what will make a difference is if you can acknowledge what is truly going on inside of you. Take anything that you fill your life with other than Christ and put it to the test of these three questions:

Does it fix your problems? Does it love you back? And does it last?

I don’t think it is a coincidence that people see a contradiction in those who call themselves strong Christians and yet they get drunk every weekend. I also don’t think it is a coincidence that people begin to drift away from things like church, bible study, etc. when they are in the midst of that lifestyle. I've heard many express how distant they feel from God when their life is consumed with drinking. And why? Because your life can’t be filled with the things that God opposes and be close relationally with God. I truly believe the only people who will be able to stay away from drinking before they’re 21 are the ones who are focused on living for Christ. Those with a heart after God and a desire to share the life-giving truth of Jesus Christ with others are so consumed with their purpose, they don't have time to let anything drag them down.

So, I don’t want you to think to yourself OK, I’m NOT going to drink. Saying that is like saying you’re going to give up sweets entirely: how long will it last? Instead, I hope you will decide to pursue Christ. Truly pursue him. Spend time in conversation with him, spend time in his word, spend time with others growing together and talking through life. A commitment like that will transform your life to where your eyes are so fixed on him, that the temptation to do things that he opposes will no longer be a temptation. You’ll see how that doesn’t fit into your life filled with purpose and intentionality. Soon his desires and your desires start to become one – and that my friends – is how life was intended to be.

Parent/Student Night at HUB with Angie Ammon: A Parent's Testimony About Alcohol

I want to invite you all to a very special evening with HUB on Sunday, January 13th from 5:30-6:30pm. Angie Ammon will be speaking to teenagers and parents about the dangers of teenage drinking. Angie and the Ammon family suffered the loss of their daughter Molly during her freshman year at the University of Florida from complications connected with alcohol. Angie wants to share her story and her heart with all of us. I have already had Angie speak to my senior girls bible study, and God used it in such an incredible way that we have asked her to come and speak to all of HUB. This evening is for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and parents. I can promise that Angie's precious heart and heartbreaking testimony will have a huge impact on both parents and teenagers.
I am looking forward to seeing how God will continue to use Angie and Molly's story to transform our lives.

Our evening will take place in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church (412 E. Zack St. in downtown) on Sunday, Jan. 13th from 5:30-6:30pm.

Here is a link to watch Angie speak on the Today show last spring.

http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/20/10774072-after-daughters-drinking-death-mother-tells-teens-look-out-for-each-other

Two Christmas Songs

I thought I would share with y'all two of my new favorite Christmas songs. Neither one is traditional, and yet they both get at the truth of Christmas.

The first one is called I Celebrate the Day by Relient K.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXGcUWuWc8A

The second is called While You Were Sleeping by Casting Crowns.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rqhG2yT-58

Enjoy. Merry Christmas!

Struggles

Philippians 4:4-7 MSG (italics mine)
Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up at any minute!
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

This is truth that I needed to hear today. Truth that I need to hear everyday. This passage, perhaps, is one of the main truths I personally need to be reminded of again and again. When things aren't going right, when my day is full of chaos, when a friend has hurt me, when someone I love is in a bad place, these words meet me right where I am. I am a worrier. I stress. I get super anxious. At the center of my worry, stress, and anxiety is a lack of trust in my good God. I am restless until I find rest in Christ alone. This passage gets at the heart of my greatest struggle.

Set It Free

When we left off with Jonah 3, God had changed his mind and rescued Nineveh. I'm pretty sure the Ninevites were overjoyed. But what about Jonah? How did Jonah react?

Jonah 4:1-4
This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” 
The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

Jonah, Jonah, Jonah. Really? This back and forth? His relationship with God is fickle, marked by a pattern of obedience/disobedience and then being grateful/ungrateful. God challenges his anger. He reminds him of the 120,000 of Nineveh who were living in spiritual darkness. He reminds him that he is a rescuer. Are we like Jonah, questioning our God who rescues those who we don't believe deserve it?
When we are wronged, do we believe justice should be served? When we are wronged, do we seek revenge? When we are wronged, do we justify everything to make sure the perpetrator gets what's coming to them? Isn't that the place where Jonah goes? He wants the perpetrators to get what's coming to them. See the bitterness that holds Jonah captive? Gently, God helps him to set it free.
Here is a powerful video of someone who did just that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz3tkHv5sbg
All of the people we've been talking about - Jonah, the Ninevites, Renee, Eric - they are broken and sinful people. Their stories and attitudes change. And yet, only one person remains constant: God. He remains good and he remains our rescuer. This Christmas, I want to celebrate the ultimate rescue. The day that Jesus was born to die so that I might be rescued.

Are You a Fake?

I think it's fair to say that we enjoy being around genuine people. No one likes someone who acts one way around one group of people and another way around another group of people. We tend to call these people fake. But as I think about my life and as we think about the culture around us - is our society shaping us into genuine people or fake people?

Relevant Magazine posted an article on their website called: "5 Things We Will Wish We'd Done Differently." It is suggesting when our generation is old and gray, we will look back regretfully at these 5 decisions.
1. "Most of my spare time was sacrificed to social media. Collectively, Americans spend 100,000 years on Facebook every month." WHAT?! How crazy is that??
2. "I knew more about celebrities than I did about my neighbors...The relationship with a celebrity is one way...you have no opportunity to affect their lives, only observe them." I am guilty of this one, big time.
3. "I was so set on buying things, I never got the pleasure of making them." I see their point, but I'm not sure if I will necessarily regret this one.
4. "I wasted my life entertaining myself...As long as we are preoccupied with self-entertaining, we have little time for reflection on the needs of other people." Ouch, this hits home.
5. "I never found time to be quiet." And yet we wonder why we don't feel connect to God?

Friends, I'm afraid our society is molding us into fake people. We have been reading through the book of Jonah. In chapter 2, Jonah prayed from the belly of the fish for God to save him. And guess what? Our gracious God came to his rescue. In chapter 3, Jonah finally goes to Nineveh and explains that because of their evil ways, they will be destroyed in 40 days. What is their response? They fast, wear burlap, and pray earnestly to God to be saved.  Hear the words of the king and God's response...
"Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us. When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened."

God is our rescuer. God hears our prayers. God sees if our hearts are genuine or fake.

I don't want to let my culture turn me into a fake like the Ninevites had originally allowed. I want to be genuine - an authentic follower of Jesus Christ - not a follower of my culture. The only way this will happen is if I stop looking at what my culture says is normal and good for me and start looking at Jesus.

Blessings, Not Expectations

One thing I realized during the Thanksgiving season...we have 365 days to be grateful for all that God is given us. Unfortunately, we don't use all 365 days. If we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that we often think we are entitled to the things in our lives. We think we deserve what we want, when we want it. And the saddest part? We have taken our blessings and turned them into expectations. Our health, our money, our happiness - rather than seeing them as gifts from God, we see them as things we deserve. Why?
This year with Matt's siblings, instead of doing a Secret Santa, one of my sister-in-laws suggested we give the money to charity. Together, we were able to give $100 to World Vision. We bought a goat and two chickens for a family in desperate need of basic life necessities. The recipients of our goat and chickens probably have a much better grasp of how EVERYTHING is a gift from God and that they are helpless without Him. We, on the other hand, have a false sense of control and an even falser view of entitlement. We begin to believe that we deserve and expect blessings.
How do you know that's you?
When you are robbed of something - happiness, material thing, relationship, health - does a part of you get angry and think you deserved that blessing?
So when we know God's truth, when we know what living out His will for our life looks like, when we know all of this and yet we look God in the eye and tell him NO are we surprised when we feel distant from him and his blessings? When we live like this and when we tell God no, I believe two things happen.
1. In our disobedience - we miss out on the blessings God had in store for us.
2. In our disobedience - we walk away from God's protection.
Just look at Jonah chapter 1. It's an incredible story.

(v. 1-3)The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”
But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

(Note: Jonah's audacity!!! Looking God right in the eye and saying: no. And yet, how often are we Jonah? How often do we know God's will and God's truth and we look at Him and say: no.)

(v. 4-8)But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”
Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit. “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

(Note: In Jonah's disobedience, what do we see here? He walks away from God's protection and God's blessings.)
  
Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned. And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”
“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”
Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”
Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.
Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

(Note: After the storm, God not only rescues Jonah, but he also brings people to Himself. Sailors rescued spiritually, Jonah rescued physically. Our gracious God is in the rescuing business.) 

So which are you? Praising God and thanking Him for our blessings or looking at the gifts in our life as expectations?

To Know, Love, and Follow Him - My Thanksgiving Prayer

John 14:15 - "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you." - Jesus.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about why people choose to live out God's will or to ignore God's will. Why do some long to please Him, long to shine brightly for Him, long to witness for Him, long to grow in His truth, long to bring others along with them to Him? This is a desire God has given me. The last one is the strongest for me. I desperately want to bring others along with me in my pursuit of Christ.

Yesterday, a friend of mine had an interview and she said one of the questions was to tell of your passion. I started to think - what would have been my response? The only thing I've been able to think of ever since...
My passion is to know Jesus Christ, to follow Him, to love Him with my whole heart, and to bring others along with me.

I am not perfect. I mess up daily - hourly, really. There are times when I am selfish and want to do things MY way. But when He brings me back, when He rescues me from my selfishness, at the heart of who I truly am, this is me. My passion is to know Jesus Christ, to follow Him, to love Him with my whole heart, and to bring others along with me. Not to do this alone, but all through Christ's power and strength working in me.

So as I think of friends of mine who aren't living for Christ - I often wonder why? It really is life at its best. Everything else, chasing after anything else, leaves us empty. For me, it really leaves me restless. I am restless until I find rest in you alone, Christ.

So today, I think I've found the answer to the question I've been asking consistently for six months. Why do some intentionally walk away from God's truth and God's way of living? And some of these people are exposed to his truth. Exposed to his truth often.
Because they don't love Jesus.

Isn't that it always? If we truly loved Jesus, if we truly believed that His way was the best way, if we truly believed that He is enough - all of our choices would be in line with His truth.

God, you are big and you are good. Rescue my friends who don't know you and allow them to see this Thanksgiving that all blessings come from you. Rescue me from my selfishness. May I be so permeated with truth that I never doubt your goodness. The greatest blessing is the gift of your Son, our Savior. When we truly see that, when we truly see what has been done for us, how can we have a response other than love?

John 14:21, 23-24 - "The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him...Because a loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him - we'll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn't mine. It's the message of the Father who sent me."

That Was Me

Sunday night, I had the honor of watching over 50 teenagers assemble Boxes of Hope for Metropolitan Ministries. These boxes provided a Thanksgiving meal for families who would have otherwise gone without. $500 in gift certificates to buy turkeys was collected along with 50 boxes of food. How amazing it that?!

Our scripture reference was Matthew 25:34-40. 
 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

I have a friend who has this passage on her heart. A friend who carries it with her everywhere she goes. She has more than once shared that verse 40 shapes her attitudes and actions. I want to be more like her. I want to be transformed into the person Jesus created me to be. Sometimes I think of this passage just in terms of a service project with homeless people. The thing is - the overlooked and ignored - are all around us. It's our sister, it's the girl in our bible study who we don't click with, it's our teacher, it's our friend. Think about that person's eyes. You know how you can always see the hurt and the confusion in the eyes of those who are overlooked and forgotten? The eyes say it all. Whose eyes have you looked into lately and known they felt overlooked and forgotten? How can you love them? How can you serve them? How can you care for them? When you love, serve, and care for them here's what Jesus has to say to you - That was me. You did it to me.

CS Lewis on LOVE

Love is hard. Love of friends. Love of family. Love isn't safe. But to love is to live. The name of this blog: living life loved - that's exactly what we are. Loved by the Creator of the universe. Loved by the Savior of the world. When we realize how much we are loved, we live life differently. Until we let that love transform us, our hearts are hard.

Worship

It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. John 4:23
Worship doesn't have to be fancy. Worship doesn't have to look a certain way. Worship doesn't have to happen in a certain place. Worship is acknowledging that God is God and we are not. Worship is surrendering ourselves to our creator, savior, redeemer, and rescuer. In the midst of the chaos, we admit that we aren't in control and rely on the one who is in control. I am grateful for God's goodness last night. I am grateful that God was God, in control. I am grateful that I was able to call out to God in prayer and worship him with praises and songs along with a room full of people. It was a picture of how life is intended to be lived here on earth. It is a picture of how we will spend eternity in heaven.
Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, how unknowable his paths. "Who knows the mind of our God? Or who can bring counsel to him? Who has given to God, that God should repay?" For from him, through him, to him is everything. To God be the glory forever and ever. To God be the glory forever! Amen.