Author: pastorjonathan

Christian,Husband, Dad, Pastor, Mentor, Volunteer.

You See My Update, but God Sees My Heart: Twittering Our Righteous and Unrighteous Deeds

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Matthew 6:1  “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

I’m guessing that if Twitter were around back in the first century that the Pharisees would have been all set.  I mean who needs a trumpet to announce your giving when you can just update your twitter feed with a picture of you giving to the poor.  Twitter would have been the ultimate tool to shape public perception.  No good deed would go unnoticed.

And maybe that is what bothers me so much when I reach in my pocket to pull out my phone and I begin to type in my latest update.  More often than not I end up putting my phone back because I realize my desire to tweet isn’t always born out of a pure motive.  I want you to see all the good things I have done.  I want you to know that I disciple my kids, that I have gospel conversations with people in the community, that I exercise, that I’m losing weight, that I pray for our missionaries. Perhaps sometimes my motives aren’t bad, I truly have a passion to see people grow in Christ and part of that comes by seeing an example.  But to be honest, more often than not I just want your affirmation. 

Then there are times that I’m not searching for affirmation.  I just had a conversation with someone about something and we left a bit of a disagreement.  So I reach in my pocket and pull out my phone with thumbs ready to type in a quote, re-tweet an authority on the subject, or even lay out a blanket statement that 99% of the twitter world won’t recognize as a backhanded jab at the person with whom I had a disagreement.  Then I pat myself on the back for not blatantly telling someone off directly like a more immature person would do… No I’m sophisticated.  I publish my jabs covertly into the stream of public consciousness (I hope you noted the sarcasm there).

Then there are the times that I don’t use my twitter status in a passive-aggressive way.  I settle instead for plain old aggressive.  When I pull out my phone and with great passion start to type my angst.  Usually this comes out against a company or unnamed person (such as the driver who cut me off in traffic or passed by on the median during a traffic jam).  In a sense I feel like I’m justified in sharing this information with the world since I was the victim of a great injustice (sarcasm there as well).

Thankfully I stop before too much really gets out.  I have never been able to publish so much unfiltered content before and it has taken me a while to realize that not everything is worth publishing.  Here lately thought, I’ve been thinking about forming guidelines on how I use twitter, facebook, my blog etc.

So I came up with 3 basic guidelines for how I want to use the social media publishing platforms at my disposal. I drew them from 1 Timothy 1:5 where Paul charges Timothy to correct those who are in error.

1Timothy 1:5  The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

  1. A Pure Heart – Do I have an ulterior motive? Am I publishing this to get affirmation or to jab someone?
  2. A Clear Conscience – Am I about to call someone out on the very things I’m guilty of myself?
  3. A Sincere Faith – Am I trusting Christ in this moment?

I have a long way to go.  Hopefully when I publish content it will be to build you up in Christ, not to boast in myself or tear down others.  To be sure there is still room in there to weigh in on a debate or share an opinion, but hopefully it will be evident that my thoughts are tempered by love.

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

“Out of the Far Country” A Compelling Story of Hope and Freedom in Christ.

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Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God. A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope. By Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan is by far one of the most intriguing books I have ever read. From start to finish it was a compelling story of two intertwined spiritual journeys.  This is a candid story of how God brought an over-controlling mother and her resistant homosexual son to repentance and joy in Christ.

I really appreciated the style in which this book was written.  The chapters oscillate between mother and son both sharing their thoughts and feelings at different points along the journey.  This allowed me to sympathize with both sides of the story through their struggles and made the book quite unique.

The story was well told and carried the voice of authenticity all the way through. I really appreciated Christopher’s openness in sharing his thoughts and struggles concerning how he viewed homosexuality as a core part of his identity. Angela was also very open about her struggles for her son.

I highly recommend Out of the Far Country to anyone interested in a great autobiography of a mother and son wrestling to find fulfilment only to be left empty by what they were chasing and to be awakened to new life in Christ. The retail price of Out of A Far Country is $14.99 (Paperback), and is available around the web in places like Amazon.com for $9.25. I gave it five stars (and would give it more if I could).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of their Blogging for Books Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

“Beyond Tallent” by John Mawell (A Review)

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Beyond Talent: Become Someone Who Gets Extraordinary Results by John Maxwell is a great book about maximizing potential.  Of all the Maxwell books I’ve read, I like this one the best.  The book is full of wisdom and insights that are intended to challenge the reader to maximize their potential.

I found this book to be very readable, practical and to the point.  I really appreciated the candor and self-disclosure of the author making the hard points palatable. This book has deffinately earned a spot in the leadership section of my library.

Over all its a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in maximizing their potential.  This book is especially good for young leaders and professionals. I wish I had read this book at 18. The retail price of Beyond Talent is $16.99 (Paperback), and is available around the web in places like Amazon.com for $11.55.  I gave it five stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

A Bible for Tweens

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To be totally honest I have mixed feelings about the iShine Bible NLT , So let me start with what I like about it and move to the my hesitations.

What I really like about this Bible. The design on the guys Bible is one of the best I have ever seen.  The size and feel are perfect. There are a few sections at the front of the Bible that are really good, especially the topical index that deals with real “tween” issues with a selection of Scripture.  I really enjoyed the interactive sections of the Bible where kids can log onto the internet and see a 2 minute video and music video relating to the topic covered in that section (sadly there are only 3 sections). This Bible actually hits the nail on the head when it comes to interacting with “tweens.”

So then what causes me to pause when it comes to reviewing this Bible? I guess it really all has to do with the way it’s presented. In my opinion it’s a very clearly market driven Bible. It accents all the wrong things. If you want your kid to feel good about owning a Bible I think all that stuff that comes along with this one will do the trick.  If you want them to actually start read it, you will have to dig to find the helps.  If you are looking for a good Bible to get your daughter, I’m more a fan of the Girls Life Application Bible, I haven’t found anything great for guys yet.

If you are looking to put a Bible in the hands of a pre-teen/ early teen who is already into reading the Bible, the ishine Bible will be a good fit. The retail price of the ishine Bible is $19.99 (imitation leather), and is available around the web in places like Amazon.com for $15.59. I gave it three stars.

My hope is that the publishers will take the interactive features and amplify them with sections like, “How to read the Bible,” “Putting God’s word to Practice,” etc…

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a copy of this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Is Jesus the Only Way? (John 8:24)

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I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

I know that in our day this seems like a wildly unpopular to claim that Jesus is the only way to God (and thus the only way to Heaven). To be sure some would call this sheer arrogance to say in our day of toleration that having one way through which humanity might come to know God is arrogant.  I doubt that it is. To be honest, I think it is more arrogant to assume that there are multiple routes to God.

Some people use the old story about a village of blind men trying to discover the nature of an elephant.  One feels the leg and says that the Elephant is like a tree, one feels the trunk and says the elephant is like a snake and so on and so forth.  Eventually they all argue because they have only felt pieces and not the whole.  Thus a person might say that all religions sense a part about God, but none of them see the whole and thus they argue… The problem is that the one making the assertions is claiming to be able to see the whole elephant.  Thus at the end of the day they insult all the religions and really don’t provide a clear way forward.

A similar explanation is to say that God is at the summit of a mountain and there are many roads to get there. In essence all spiritual paths lead to God.  Again the arguer doesn’t come from any of the paths just described. They just merely claim to be able to see what no one on any of the paths can see. Again in the name of tollerance they put forth a view that is actually the most intollerant.

The truth is that God has made a way for people to know Him through Jesus Christ.  While that their is only one way, the way is open to all who would come. Regretfully some people will not come to Christ and they will miss out on knowing God and experiencing heaven.

Father,

Thank you for coming to us when we could not come to you.  Thank you for opening up the door to knowing you and eternal life.  Thank you for Jesus who stood in our place and made the way for all who trust him.

Daniel 3

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Daniels 3 friends find themselves in a bind when the king builds this giant statue of himself and commands everyone to bow down and worship him.  Daniels friends resist knowing that it may very well cost them their lives.  It’s at this point that I want to ask a question.

What if this were to happen today?  What if you were challenged by a world ruler to bow down to a statue and worship knowing that failure to do so would cost you your life?  Would you do it?  Would you resist?  Be honest.  Your response reveals your heart. To be sure it’s not an easy call.  Would you be tempted to bow?

If you would say, “i’ll bow outwardly but inwardly I would still honor God,” you have just played your “life” as the trump card that holds all the power in making your decisions.  You’re statement, though not said with lips, but said with your life would be, “it is better to live serving a false god than die worshiping the real God.”  Your life then is what you love the most.  But now you see the irony, by attempting to preserve your life you have lost it.  Your cowardice now betrays a pocket of unbelief in your life.

So how do you come to the fire believing that God could spare you, but even if He doesn’t He is still God and He is still good? I tell you, you won’t get there by whipping yourself into a frenzy and trying to work up courage.  True courage comes only from trusting the one who faced the greater fire of Hell for you.  You will never be able to love God deeply until you know how deeply he loves you.

Father,

Thank you for loving me even when I was unlovable. Still I am unable to get over the great debt you have paid on the cross for my sin.  Today I walk in freedom and celebrate your glorious goodness.  give me courage to boldly proclaim you to the nations.  I want everyone to know who you are and how freely you save.

River of Living Water (John 7)

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Lots to unpack here. Do you notice the theme again… Jesus is making reference to the fact that he healed a man on the Sabbath.  It’s like an issue that he can not shake.  He won’t be moved.  He was justified in healing on the Sabbath and yet he is condemned by people who are claiming to uphold the Law of Moses.

Jesus points out that they don’t even uphold the Law (John 7:19)… not that he is removing the law, but questioning how they judge the law (John 7:24).  He points out that even when the law appears at odds with itself they show preference to care for people over the sabbath (7:23).

This isn’t a side show debate.  Jesus is forcing the real issue.  The real issue is that we have unclean hearts and we cannot see just how sinful we really are.  These men were no zealous for the law, they were zealous for the reputation they had gained in interpreting the law.  They had become experts in a law that foretold of Jesus everywhere, yet when they were confronted with him they did not recognize him.

Jesus sets himself up against this backdrop of dead religion and offers salvation to all those who would believe.  He had come to set captives free.  He had come to satisfy the thirsty.  He had come to set things right.  Yet, somehow his righteousness exposed them for the fraud they were and they could not handle being in the presence of the king, so they set about with a plot to assassinate him.

Application: When you see others growing in Christ are you provoked to joy or bitterness?  If provoked to bitterness examine your heart for dead religion.  It comes in all shapes and sizes but at the end of the day claims that God owe’s you. God doesn’t owe you any thing and you owe him everything.  Repent today and cling to Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith.

Father,

I cling to you today.  I have tried to be righteous by my own merit.  I have tried to live as though the world were mine and I were in charge.  I was so foolish.  thank you for loving me, even in my worst state and still offering to me eternal life if I would but trust you and believe. Thank you.

Morning: Psalm 9

Mid-Day: Psalm 57

Evening: Psalm 109

Believe! (John 6:25-71)

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Wow.  Lots to unpack here and think through in the gospel of John.  First note that Jesus says that God is working… Rather “this is the work of God” (John 6:29).  In my mind this is a throw back to the whole Healing on the Sabbath Day debacle. There Jesus said, “My father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). This was his justification for working on the Sabbath… That though God had rested the 7th day, was still at work.  Here Jesus proclaims that the work of God is for people to believe whom he sent… (hint: that’s Jesus).

Then in John 6:40 there is the throw back again to John 3 where Jesus talks about being lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.  Only here not the emphasis is on the looking… or belief.  In John 3 the emphasis was that Jesus would be lifted up, here the emphasis is that now those who look on Him and believe will have eternal life!

But wait there is more.  Jesus says that he is the bread from heaven.  He is the true manna from God.  Manna was the miracle bread that God provided for Israel while they wandered in the dessert.  God provided by sending bread down each day.  Here Jesus is saying that He is the true bread of life.  That once someone has gone to him, they don’t need any more.  He is enough.  He satisfies.

Enter now the context of feeding the 5000 earlier in this chapter.  Jesus proclaims that his body and his blood will be offered for the benefit of the world. He will indeed multiply the benefit of his death, burial and resurection to all those who would call on Him.

Application: Jesus is the true bread of Heaven.  You will never be content in this life if you continually feast on the things that do not satisfy.  Are you looking to Jesus today to fill you and sustain you?

Father,

I thank you for your kindness to me in drawing me to faith and repentance in Christ.  This indeed is truly a better gift than I could have ever imagined.  You are my daily bread.  You are what sustains me in good times and in bad.

Morning: Psalm 108

Mid-Day: Psalm 56

Evening: Psalm 8

Something from Nothing (John 6:1-14)

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He took a small lunch and made it enough for everyone.  Ever wonder about that?  Ever wonder how He could multiply the fish and bread and make enough for left-overs?  I mean… what does that say?  What does that mean?

I think the implications are clear.  He is God.  He spoke the world into existence.  He made something from nothing.  So on the one hand I get it…. on the other hand I notice that here he starts with something.  He starts with five loaves and two fish.  He starts with something and somehow makes it enough for everyone.

I think that’s important.  There is enough… actually there is more than enough.  At first the supply looks pretty limited, but in Jesus’ hands it is enough for a 5,000 person fish and bread buffet.

Perhaps there is the meaning.  Perhaps this is the sign.  Just like the fish and bread was really only enough for one, he would multiply the benefit of lunch to an entire crowd of 5000 people.  While his death burial and resurection can hardly be compared to lunch, I do think it is fair to note that as one man he would take on the sins of the world…. he would eat sins demands for each one of us.

One man standing in the gap for millions.  Seemingly impossible, but very possible with the one who can serve up fish-fil-a for 5000 starving guests on the country side.  He is saying, “I will meet your needs.”  No one else on that hill could have multiplied the bread and fish that way.  Only Jesus could take not-enough and make it enough.

Application: You will never be able to come to the banquet table and feast on the riches of God until you realize that Jesus Christ has provided for you what you could not provide by yourself.

Father,

Thank you that you have brought me to yourself through the work of Christ. Thank you that I get to share in delighting to see Jesus save people from their sins.  Thank you that I get to tell others about you and how you provided for my sin debt.

Morning: Psalm 107

Mid-Day: Psalm 55

Evening: Psalm 7

Who Get’s the Glory? (Meditations on John 5)

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Just a side note before we get started.  I’ve been blessed beyond measure for the last few weeks of my life have been revolutionary in terms of my walk with God and my understanding of His Word.  Familiar passages have taken on new meaning as I have been digging deeper.

John 5 is rich with meaning.  God has blessed me with more than I will ever be able to share here, but here are a few highlights that I hope are a blessing to you…

Who Get’s the Glory (John 5:44).  The folks mentioned in this chapter were busy keeping rules.  They were rule keepers.  They gave each other props for figuring out how to do things by keeping all the rules and a few extra traditions along the way.  They were in the business of giving each other glory.

Basketball hadn’t been invented yet and so I guess they were glad to become fan’s of different guys who could parse the scriptures and teach diligently.  But these guys were missing it.  Jesus was standing in their midst and they were worried about the rules (some of which they made up). They didn’t want to share their “glory.” They didn’t want to give him credibility.  They said he was breaking the Law…coincidentally the Law pointed right to him.

You see that’s the big deal.  That’s the big hairy monster in the room that no one wants to talk about.  The scriptures (Old and New Testament) reveal Jesus.  Yet how many times do we examine passages or hear sermons preached that share the “moral of the story” like they were just fables. The truth is that the scriptures are true and they point to Jesus.

The story of Jesus walking on Water and Peter coming out to meet Jesus… is actually about Jesus… It isn’t about having faith to step out of the boat… It’s about the savior that can walk on water and who will come to us in our deepest storms and even when our faith fails will stick out his arm to save us… The first way leaves people with a “moral” a principle if you will on how to live… “Have faith”… the second way points us to Glorifying God.  To be fair these statements are two sides of the same coin, but one way says it was my faith that kept me afloat… the other way says it was Jesus who kept me a float even when my faith was sinking.  In the first order I get the glory for faith (or shame for no faith). In the second order Jesus get’s the glory (and he should… the story is about how he saved Peter)…. You see you’ll never really have the faith to get out of the boat until you trust the one who has come to you in the middle of the storm.

The story of Daniel isn’t about picking your friends wisely or even how to live godly in an ungodly world.  The story of Daniel is ultimately about Jesus.  One way to preach Daniel is to talk about standing up to peer pressure and how we should all take a stand like Daniel did.  But the Story of Daniel is really about Serving the King of Kings.  You see you will never have the courage to stand before an earthly king and defy his edicts if you do not have a relationship with the king of kings.

one way of interpreting the scriptures says that you should “live better” and you should, but this ultimately just leads to a form of legalism.  The second way seeks out Christ at every turn and provokes our hearts to praise and worship.  By coming to a place of worship we relinquish our grasp on the things that would stop us from fully worshiping God.  In essence… We have faith to step out of the boat and we have boldness to defy a king… but only after we have come to a place of worship.

Jesus says here in this chapter that these men who were so excited about seeing the “moral of the story” would one day be judged by the “moral of the story” and be found wanting… The stories were never really about the moral as much as they were about Jesus.  These men were too busy looking for the moral that they missed Jesus.

Father,

Save us from staring at your scripture and missing the obvious truth about you.  We beg that We would see Jesus at every turn in your word.  Where our eyes are week, bring us teachers to strengthen our sight so that we might see you.  Give us grace to grow in knowledge of you.

Morning: Psalm 105

Mid-Day: Psalm 53

Evening: Psalm 5