Tag: Christian

Philippians 3:1-3 (Devotional Thought)

On By pastorjonathanIn DevotionalLeave a comment

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh- (Philippians 3:1-3 ESV)

Christians should be good, but being good isn’t what saves us. Jesus is the one who saves us. There are people who think that Christianity is all about seeing who can be the best at being good. They like rules and have made up extra rules along the way. They look at how well you can keep the rules and that determine how good of a Christian you are… Paul has a big problem with that, being a Christian isn’t about keeping rules as much as it is about loving Jesus.

You see the whole point of the gospel is that while you are unable to do anything to save yourself, Jesus willingly went to the cross as a substitute for you, died, and rose again from the dead. To be admitted into the kingdom of God by God’s grace you have to receive what Christ has done. You actively trust in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. There isn’t anything that you can point back to and say, “I’m saved because I DID THIS, I KEPT THIS RULE.” You can only look back and say, “I’m saved because JESUS died on the cross for my sin, and rose from the dead! I’m trusting HIM!”

Paul writes to remind the church at Philippi that their joy comes from the Lord. We may get a certain sense of joy from knowing that Jesus changes us. After all you can’t follow Jesus and be the same. But the focus, the joy, comes from a real relationship with Jesus, not in being good at being good.

Think of it this way. I love my wife and so I do certain things that I know she likes. I buy her flowers and small gifts from time to time. I wash dishes so she doesn’t have too. I pick her movie to watch instead of the one I want to see, etc. But what if I became obsessed with how good I was at becoming a good husband? so much so that I stopped actually loving my wife! What if I cared more about doing dishes than actually loving my wife! Something would be wrong. I would have replaced a relationship with my own set of rules.

That’s like what people were doing in Paul’s day. They were going around following the Apostle Paul where ever he went and right after he left they would swoop in and tell the new church he had started that God was all about rules, not a relationship. They insisted that for people to truly follow God that they had to follow their own prescribed set of rules. The problem was that all their talk about rules actually lead people away from JESUS and into trying to live a moral life without Jesus at the center.

Paul reminds the Philippians, “Rejoice in Jesus” (“the Lord” is another way of referring to Jesus). Don’t take your eyes off Jesus. He is where true Joy is found. Don’t be distracted by people who talk about how good they are and how good you can be. Sure when following Jesus you can’t help but become a better person, but its because of the work of God in your life… not because of all the stuff you do.

So here is the deal. You may wrestle with a habitual sin. You think. If I can just quit ____ I’ll be ok. And maybe you do need to quit whatever you struggle with, but don’t let the struggle become your focus and steal your joy. Paul says it’s no trouble for him to remind folks where the real joy is… Jesus.

Philippians 1:27-30 (Devotional Thought)

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Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:27-30 ESV)

“Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel,” have you ever thought through this statement? Have you ever pondered what it means to live worthy? It’s not like we could pay Jesus for what he has done for us. We could never make up for our sin! This verse isn’t asking us to do that, but Paul is commanding us to move forward in the power of the gospel!

I once heard a story about identical twin brothers. As they grew into adulthood they took two very different paths. One was a very moral, upstanding man the other became a drunk, was caught up in illegal gambling, and would often get in fights. One night the less moral brother got into a fight over a gambling debt and killed a man. He didn’t know what to do so he ran to his brothers house in the middle of the night.

“Brother, Brother, what do I do? I killed a man!” By now they could hear the police sirens in the distance and knew that they must be coming for the murderer. The good brother quickly insisted that they change clothes. “Here put on my clothes and I’ll wear your blood stained garments.” The murder sobbed and said, “No, their must be some other way!”

The good brother insisted that they change and soon the good brother was wearing the murders clothing complete with blood stains and the murderer found himself in a nice white shirt and slacks. Just before the police entered the house and began to take away the good brother and the murderer spoke up, “What do I do now?”

“Live like the man whose clothes you wear.” And from that day on he became someone different. He was often tempted to settle into old habits and go back to a lifestyle that he was familiar with, but he reached down and would feel the buttons on his shirt and remember, “I am someone different now.”

We were once guilty of great sin before a holy and righteous God. Jesus paid for our sin by his death on the cross and credited us with his righteousness so that not only are our sins not counted against us, but his goodness is counted for us. Sometimes when we are tempted to sin, we need to remind ourselves that we are different than we once were. The gospel gives us power to live every day different than we were before Christ. The gospel gives us boldness. We used to care what people think but now we care more about what God thinks. It doesn’t mean that at times we won’t be tempted, but the ability to resist the temptation comes from trusting that Jesus is enough. We need to be reminded of the gospel everyday because the gospel is important everyday.

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Philippians 1:18-21 (Devotional Thought)

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Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:18b-21 ESV)

When I was in the 5th grade my class used to take field trips to the local university swimming pool. I don’t remember much, but I do remember that it had a high dive. By high dive I’m not talking about the big diving board at your neighborhood pool, I’m talking about an Olympic size diving platform!

I was thrilled… then I was terrified. I didn’t get scared until I climbed all the way up to the top and stood out looking over the edge. Somehow the pool got a lot smaller. It wasn’t until one of the older students walked out to the edge with me, told me what to expect, and jumped with me that I ever really experienced my first jump off a diving platform… Then I was hooked.

For some people facing death can be terrifying. (I’m sure it’s a lot more scary than a kid looking down at a pool for the first time.) Unlike my dive platform experience… There is no one who has been there before to walk you through it… Or is there?

Paul is in chains and one of the very real outcomes of his situation is death. Yet somehow he finds a way to rejoice. He rejoices because he knows that he doesn’t walk through this dark valley alone. The church at Philippi is praying for him and of course he has the spirit of Jesus. Paul can’t help but know that Jesus has never left him. He remembers that first day when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus said, “Saul why do you persecute me?” He learned very quickly that Jesus is very much present with his people. Now that Paul belongs to Jesus, Jesus is present with him and Jesus will see him through this to the end.

This gives Paul hope and courage. He knows that God is not far away but He is right there with him. He can be bold because He’s not alone. He can be brave because Jesus has faced worse and will be with Paul no matter what happens. Paul doesn’t know what will happen, but God does and he can rest in that.

Paul has been on both sides of the coin. It’s ironic that we first hear about him when he is going around Jerusalem looking to throw Christian men and women into prison and now we catch a glimpse of him writing from prison accused of the very same crimes he accused those early believers. The persecutor has become the persecuted.

Pray that you will not be ashamed of Jesus today, and that you will have courage and confidence to tell others about him!

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Philippians 1:15-18a (Devotional Thought)

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Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18a ESV)

Not everyone was rejoicing with Paul. Some people saw Paul’s being in prison as an opportunity to talk bad about him. Perhaps they would have done things differently. Perhaps they thought he was being too bold or brash. You expect the bad guys to say bad things about you, but these people were Christians!  How would you feel if Christian people were saying mean things about you?

Paul reveals that their motives weren’t exactly pure. They were envious and they wanted the recognition that he got for leading people to Jesus and planting churches. So they preached Christ but they did so in such a way as to drag Paul’s name through the mud. They got the gospel right, but they got Paul wrong. They actually took some kind of weird pleasure in causing Paul pain.

Yet, even in the midst of this harsh judgment from Christian brothers Paul finds a way to praise God. He doesn’t focus on himself but rather what is happening with the gospel. Sure there are people out there talking him down, but are they talking Jesus up? That’s what Paul wants to know. He doesn’t care why they preach as long as what they preach is truth about Jesus.

This Jesus first, Paul second attitude allows him to see the good in people who have said some mean things about him. He does not get bogged down in personal attacks. He does not write to the Philippians telling them that this person is a jerk because they said mean stuff about him. He simply says don’t worry, as long as they are preaching the gospel God is glorified.

Sometimes we get this picture in our mind that if we could just go back to the New Testament church where everything was perfect, life would be better. However, even in the first churches people weren’t prefect. Many of them did great things for God while holding on to sins like envy and rivalry with God ordained leaders like the Apostle Paul. It’s not that God looks lightly at this, but that God used them despite their sin. Paul chose to look at this situation and rather than take personal offense, he put a priority on the gospel. He chose to see how God could use even this bad situation for something great like telling the world about Jesus.

We live in a day and age where it is too easy to get offended over the slightest thing. The gospel is greater than our personal feelings. Many times we get offended because we put ourselves ahead of God or ahead of the gospel. Paul reminds us that when we put the gospel first, personal attacks and criticisms don’t sting as much.

Criticism always stings. It stings so bad that sometimes we are just afraid of what people ‘might’ say. Ask God to give you courage today to put the gospel first no matter what people say or might say about you personally.

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Feminist Lesbian Professor Renounces Lifestyle and Comes Out as a Christian

On By pastorjonathanIn booksLeave a comment

the secret thoughts of an unlikely convert Imagine a feminist lesbian english professor who has lived in a committed lesbian relationship for over ten years, hosted various LBGT regional events not to mention smaller LBGT local community gatherings, and is the current faculty adviser for LBGT students… “coming out” in a public speech as a “Christian.” Furthermore imagine that since she is an English professor that she has actually attempted to read the bible with literary integrity and she has come to realize that she must renounce everything she has known to be remade in the image of Christ. Imagine the cost. Imagine the agony. Imagine how people at church might look at her. Then imagine that she somehow is now happily married to a man who happens to be a pastor and is a home school mom to several children who happen to be adopted….Then imagine no more for this is the very real and very raw story of  Rosaria Champagne Butterfield. It is the true life story that she shares in her memoir “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert.”

Mrs. Butterfield is a fantastic writer and offers a very candid look at her thoughts and emotions as she seemingly betrayed her community to become an awkward outsider in the church. She shares about the elderly pastor and wife who offered an invitation to dinner and dialogue. She confronts the needless barriers that contemporary Christianity has placed to the gospel and shares her inner conversation as she noticed her world was changing.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert is very engaging and the real life tension keeps the reader glued to the page. There are parts where Mrs. Butterfield journeys away from the tension to offer data that would have been better offered as index reading such as the entirety of her “coming out” Christian speech and the full manuscript of their wedding message. These two exceptions aside the book flows freely from tension point to tension point. Near 3/4 of the way through she leans heavily on the regulative principle and offers an apologetic for how her denomination does hymns. Had this been an issue for me (either dogmatically pro or con) It would have demanded my attention more than it did. The conclusion of the book highlights her families road to adoption and offers keen insight into what it takes to be an adoptive mom.

Over all I thought this was a great book.  I got my copy from amazon.com who has it on sale right now for $8.00 in the Kindle Edition.

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The Color of Justice (REVIEW)

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the color of justiceThe Color of Justice is an engaging courtroom drama centered on the issue of racial reconciliation. In 1964 a white girl is murdered and a young black man is fingered for the crime despite a lack of evidence. Cooper Lindsey an aspiring lawyer with roots in the small town of Justice, Mississippi steps in to make sure the defendant gets a fair shake. The book is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird , even to the point that the author references Mobile and Montgomery with some frequency. The twist comes when another lawyer enters town in 2014 to answer the questions left by the case in 1964 and to defend a young white man accused of killing a young black man.

The Color of Justice speaks well to the theme of racial reconciliation, repentance and forgiveness. The author helps the reader seemingly explore the issues from both a black and white perspective. Early on the main character maintains that he is not racist, but when confronted with difficult circumstances he has to really examine his motives and thoughts. The author does a great job of illustrating the reality of racism in a 1964 Mississippi town without fully engaging in racist rhetoric. He lays down enough hints and interjections to get the message across without ever actually penning derogatory terms.

Over all I thought this was a great book. The author kept the lines of tension tight which always makes for a great read and the inability to put the book down. I know I lost an hour of sleep just so I could muddle through to the end of the book and not have to wait till later. I got my copy from amazon.com who has it on sale right now for $13.49 in paperback.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: 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.”

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James 5:1-6 (Devotional Thought)

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Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
(James 5:1-6 ESV)

I heard the story once of a weary traveler who came upon a fairy glen. The glen was filled with all sorts of gold and treasures. He was told by the fairy king that he could take all that would fit in his pocket and so throughout the night the man madly filled his pockets and attempted to find ways to fit more and more gold into them. Then at the moment of dawn all the gold the man had filled his pockets with turned to straw and all he could hear was the fairies laughing at him.

James writes a lot about rich and poor people. In his day most rich people became rich by taking advantage of poor people. James reminds us that there is a greater treasure than gold and while some people spend countless hours and effort to make lots of money that at the end of the day gold is worthless because it can’t save you and what’s even more tragic for the unrighteous rich is that we will all answer to God for how we have mistreated others. Like the man who filled his pockets with gold only to find out it was straw, those who value money over people will one day soon wake up to see all their efforts have been wasted.

What Are You Waiting For? (Review)

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What are you Waiting for  What Are You Waiting For?: The One Thing No One Ever Tells You About Sex by Dannah Gresh is a refreshing book.  I picked up the book as a youth pastor looking for a resource for leaders and others who are working with our young women. As a dad of a young daughter I was also looking for insight for the path ahead.  Dannah addresses  many of the taboo topics about sex that simply aren’t addressed in church and she does an outstanding job providing grace and guidance along the way.

Dannah takes the reader on a journey through the scriptures to get a biblical perspective on purity. Along the way she shares her own struggles, thoughts, and misgivings that provide a clear and relevant picture of how to apply the scripture and live humbly in light of God’s word.  She engages her readers well with the tension of where scripture meets life and has several real life examples and stories to share.

This book has been a handy resource and tends to be one of the most loaned out books I have in my personal library. I highly recommend it to Youth leaders, mothers of teenage daughters, college students, and women mentors, etc.

One note of caution. Be careful where you read this book. I was reading it on the treadmill at the gym and a very nice woman (a few decades my elder) asked me what I was reading. The resulting conversation was interesting to say the least.

Over all I thought this was a great book. The author has a brilliant writing style that at times is very poetic. I purchased my copy from amazon.com who has it on sale right now for $8.35 in paperback.

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James 4:11-12 (Devotional Thought)

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Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11-12 ESV)

I used to play flag–football on Sunday afternoons. Our team got really good and we started a league so we could play other teams. We started out just calling the rules ourselves like if we stepped out of bounds we would call it or if we stopped short of a touchdown we would call it. But we soon learned that this wasn’t the best way to oversee a game. Generally both teams had a difference of opinion on every call. Someone would say we stepped out, but we were sure we remained in. Someone would say that they grabbed our flag before we crossed the goal line and it went on and on.

That’s the way it is in life sometimes. We look for the mistakes of others while hoping that our own mistakes go unnoticed. We are quick to talk about a friend who stabbed us in the back by gossiping about us, but we don’t realize that we are guilty of the very same sin when we talk about them. James reminds us that we are responsible to honor God, not pick on others who have fallen short. God will judge them fairly and He doesn’t need your help. Everyone will pay for their sin in one of two ways. They will face eternal destruction in Hell or they will embrace forgiveness in Christ. Either way, who are we to condemn someone that Christ has forgiven or who will face God’s wrath?

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James 2:8-13 (Devotoinal Thought)

On By pastorjonathanIn Devotional1 Comment

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:8-13 ESV)

I like omelets. There is just something about scrambled eggs, cheese, ham, a few select veggies and bacon that make breakfast worth having. But can you imagine making an omelet with just one rotten ingredient? What if I served you an omelet with rotten eggs? Or perhaps I made one with completely fresh ingredients but threw in rancid bacon? What if it were just one rotten egg or just a few pieces of rancid bacon? Just a little rottenness really ruins the whole omelet experience.

James writes that if you keep the whole law and break it at one point, you are guilty of breaking all of it. Sometimes we are tempted to think of our sins in different categories like big sins and little sins. Conveniently the little sins are sin that we are guilty of like showing partiality. The big sins tend to be ones that we don’t do like murder. The writer of James says that showing partiality is just like murder. An omelet with a little rottenness is a rotten omelet. A person who breaks the law just a little is a law breaker.

We should be merciful to others because God in Christ has been merciful to us. We should not show partiality to people based on whether they are rich or poor. God doesn’t show partiality to us. We need to remember that there is a judge of our actions and it isn’t us. Jesus will judge

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