God's Original Masterpiece

The below is a great skit around who you are...you are God's original masterpiece. Well done by "The Skit Guys".

Approval

What a great message this morning at Browns Bridge Community Church by Ben Crawshaw (alias Mr. Takeout as many of us with kids may know him). If you're in the area, check out the "Solomon Says" series July 12, 19, 26 at Browns Bridge, Northpoint or Buckhead church. So many folks struggle with "Approval" and have struggled for years. Ben pointed out a great verse in Proverbs 29:25 that explains "To fear anyone will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe [TNIV]". Don't you just love Proverbs...short, sweet and right to the point. The "need for approval" is often fueled by a fear of rejection and as the verse says, is simply a trap. We end up doing things we might not do because we crave that approval so much and in the end, it was never worth the sacrifice of our conscience. I've fallen in the approval trap more times than I care to admit and I'm sure you have as well. Feeling and experiencing the approval of others in not wrong in and of itself, in fact, it feels great but you'll never fill that "need" of acceptance and approval on your own. Jesus Christ, through His death, burial and resurrection, has already accepted you "in Christ". As a believer, you have God's approval and acceptance right now apart from anything you can or ever will do. As Proverbs 29:25 continues, "whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe". Are you trusting Him for your approval and acceptance? Will you choose the truth that you have nothing more to prove to God since Jesus did it all on your behalf (unless you think you can add something Jesus forgot or failed to accomplish)? As you start to wrap your brain around this truth your "need" to chase approval from others will start to diminish. Right now allow Christ to transform you from chasing approval to receiving His love.

A few thoughts on Hebrews 10

I've been reading through the book of Hebrews and again find myself at Hebrews 10:26. For many, this is a very tough passage to dissect. Although there are many smart commentators out there, if you're looking for a simple approach to understanding these verses, you've come to the right place (simple is about as much as my brain can muster). The author of Hebrews, speaking to an apparent Jewish audience mixed with believers and unbelievers alike, articulates some awesome insight around the new covenant vs. the old and specifically in this chapter, one sacrifice (of Christ) vs. many sacrifices (as performed by the Levitical priests). I love the following verses:

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Heb 10:10-14 NAS95S)

I believe the author is leveraging the "old system (Heb 10:1)" of Jewish laws and sacrifices to explain the reality of Christ and His grace. For some believers in the crowd, the author is replacing some of the old thinking with new truth. For the unbelievers in the crowd, the author is providing the big picture and persuading them to come to faith in Christ. The author sums up to this point that “where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Heb 10:18 NAS95S). Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross is a once and done deal...there are no more offerings necessary to deal with the sin issue (Jesus is the reality and fulfillment of the old system of sacrifices and law). Next, the author appeals to the non-believers in the audience with some additional application of course for those who know Christ. I believe Hebrews 10:19-25 is part invitation to accept Christ and part exhortation to keep the faith. He encourages the non-believers to come in "through the veil" with "full assurance of faith" for the cleansing of their soul (pointing to the ceremonial washings and sprinkling of blood). I read this as "come on in to forgiveness and new life by grace through faith in Christ"...a Jew would never think to go behind the curtain to the holy of holies but now that veil has been torn through the death of Christ with an invitation for all to enter in. The author further exhorts all to hold fast their faith without wavering during the difficult times ahead because God is faithful no matter what happens; he also reminds them to encourage one another and not forsake meeting together. What a great invitation and encouraging message, but the reality is there are many who will not believe.

For those who choose not to believe ("sinning willfully" as described in Heb 10:26) and come "through the veil" (i.e., via the sacrifice of Christ) after hearing and receiving the truth in various forms (written and oral), "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES (Hebrews 10:26-27 NAS95S)." If you are "in Christ" you are NOT God's adversary...on the contrary, you are sanctified and forgiven (I do not see this at all as a believer who went AWOL back to their former life...we're talking someone who, after hearing the truth, simply rejects Christ's offer of forgiveness and life)! If you reject the truth and sacrifice of Jesus at the cross, there's no other way to deal with your sin. The author further clarifies in Hebrews 10:28-31with a comparison of the severity of breaking the law of Moses as determined by two or three witnesses verses one "who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace." The person in question here has "regarded as unclean [or common, ineffective] the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified" and in rejecting Christ, "insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29 NASB95S)". Breaking the Law of Moses was bad, but rejecting the offer of grace and forgiveness in Christ has eternal consequences.

Well, I'll stop at this point...I'm sure many of you have some great additional insights other than what I've shared above. I hope you found it helpful as you study this important chapter of the Bible. Talk with you soon.

Freedom Focus Podcast

Mike Quarles and I are meeting on Thursday to discuss recording some more FreedomFocus podcasts (we received some good comments when we recorded the shows and even more recently have received repeated requests to continue). We're thinking about a 20 minute format that's a bit more informal...still in the discussion phase. More to come I'm sure...thanks for your support.

Love is a verb

Our Pastor has begun a new message series titled "Staying in Love"...if you enjoy listening to Andy Stanley you will really like this first message. Andy forced me to look at my own actions to determine if my behaviors are "loving", not just if I feel "love". Often the community of grace will shy away from a focus on "doing" (and justifiably so as doing in our culture often mistakenly equates to a higher level of spirituality or intimacy with God)...let me offer some words of encouragement from my personal floundering in this area beginning with a question, how are you loving your spouse right now (I had to ask myself that question, and I didn't like the answer)? Proactive acts of love (a hug, kiss, act of service, genuine conversation, sacrifice, et. al) are a major ingredient for finishing strong in your marriage. Are you trapped by the lie of reciprocity as I was that says "if she did, I would", standing firm in your house made of sand? I'm glad our Savior had a different model...He FIRST loved us and demonstrated that love through the cross. For me, the lie included a component where my spouse must earn my love that also included withholding my love until she measured up to my expectations (I know, pretty sorry...it's just the ugly, fleshly truth). If you relate in any way to that sorry way of thinking, make a decision today to reignite your love (ask God for His grace to "love through you"...He IS Love)...take "actions" to save your marriage and/or make it even stronger. Remember that love in the scripture is a verb, not a thing to obtain or emotional place to long for...feelings and emotions will eventually follow when you make the choice to love your spouse.

eStuff

My wife is loving her new Kindle 2 eBook reader...it is easy to use and carry around (vs. keeping up with multiple books) and the battery lasts a long time. I was thrilled when they released the iPhone / iPod Touch Kindle ebook reader application. Although you can not purchase ebooks via the iPhone application, you can download any Kindle ebook to your iPhone / iPod Touch once purchased via the web site. I love it. I'm currently reading Brennan Manning's "The Ragamuffin Gospel"...it is easy to read on my iPod Touch and so convenient. I'm definitely a convert.

Not to be out done, Barne's & Nobel acquired Fictionwise (online eBook distributer) that may offer the Amazon Kindle some competition (iPhone and iPod Touch users might be familiar with Stanza, a great eBook reader application that interfaces very well with Fictionwise). I was thrilled that Stanza was able to import my old Palm eBooks...pretty cool.

Since we're talking about eStuff, you might have guessed by now that I'm an iPod Touch owner and love it. Two Bible applications worth checking out include Mantis Bible Study Application (free KJV as well as paid for Bible translations and study modules) and the popular "YouVersion" online web bible application simply called "Holy Bible" (online translations available for free). Mantis stores the entire text of whatever you purchase on the device (so you can use it w/o out a wifi or cellular connection) where YouVersion's Holy Bible application can only be used when you have a connection to the internet (although it does allow you to download a cache of what you're reading so you can read offline; you just can't read beyond what you specify for off-line reading). Good stuff...good tools.

Great Ministries

Just finished redesigning some ministry web sites for two good friends (well, web sites are rarely "finished"). Check out Mike Quarles Grace Walk Recovery Ministries at http://www.FreedomFromAddiction.org and also Pat Higginbotham at http://www.PatHigginbotham.com. Mike works with Steve McVey (from Grace Walk) and has been running a recovery ministry for many years; Pat is a licensed counselor, specializes in child and family issues and serves as an expert witness in child abuse cases. Enjoy the sites.