Serving the King

This past month I've begun to intentionally train my son on how to become a warrior and a true servant for the King. In my opinion, nothing else matters than serving the King well and carrying out His plan and purposes. I want my son to get that and live that. I want him to know his life is not his own and that he essentially has one choice to make in life - to say Yes to the King or say Yes to self. Jesus is giving him the same choice he gave his disciples, the same choice Elijah gave Elisha, the same choice God gave to Abraham - Follow me or turn back. There is no room for a half hearted commitment.

Being a warrior is about overcoming. In Christ there is no defeat, there is no weapon formed against His people that will prosper, but I can choose to fail, give up and turn back. Our success comes from choosing to stand firm and see the glory of our Lord prevail time and time again. I need to develop in my son the fortitude to set his face toward the King and never look back. He will be the one standing in defiance of the enemy when all others have fled. He will be the one who sees a side of God's glory that few others see because he will overcome. He will live, move, and breath in the power and presence of the Lord his King. This is what parenting is about. God has entrusted us with His people to raise them in His ways, to prepare them and teach them the words of the King. Do our children grow up with a sense of honor and integrity and love for others? Do they know this life is not about them and what they want, but it is a gift to be spent and poured out before the Master? Many times they do not because we as parents don't get that. The Holy Spirit is waiting to teach you how to step into this vital role and raise up servants in God's kingdom.

I keep telling my son he is special and that God has a great purpose for his life. The other day he said "Dad, I know I'm special, but I'm not the only one right? I know there are others who are special and God has a purpose for their life as well". Now I know he is well on his way to the position of leadership God has ordained for Him because leading is about serving and drawing all men into service of the King. I told him "Yes, that is true, but we all have to make that choice. We all have the opportunity and privilege to serve the King and stand in His presence and see His unending goodness."

Thou shall have no other Santa before Me

Time for my annual Santa rant.  I'm not a big fan of Santa Clause.  As soon as my kids were old enough to understand, I explained that Santa was not real and that anyone who said he was would be lying to them.  I think my son got in trouble at school a few times for telling kids there was no Santa Clause.  I'm so proud of him.

In my humble opinion Santa is an idol because that story takes Christ's rightful place at Christmas.  The wonderful, "magical" story of Christmas is appealing and draws us all to want to know the truth, but that truth is only found through Jesus.  Those who will not accept in their heart the real message of Christmas are forced to make something up.  Just like those who are unwilling to make Jesus the Lord of their lives will resort to worshiping other things.  Parents need to lie to their kids because they don't know the story of Jesus for themselves in a personal way.  How can they share the wonderful blessings of Christ with their children when they have not experienced Him for themselves?

God created us all to be drawn to Himself.  We all feel the "Magic" of Christmas and the warmth of thinking of others before ourselves. Kids need to know the truth behind those feelings.  Unfortunately, that truth is just covered over with more lies as the kids get older and question what they've been told.

As for me and my house, there is no one before us but Jesus.  We will serve our King and live in the fullness of His wonderful story and His amazing goodness.  He has given Himself for us, to save us, rescue us, and deliver us into His love.  I will tell that story.  I want my kids to know this wonderful Christ and serve Him with all their hearts.

Repeating History - Idolotry

II Kings 17: 41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.

I read this sobering verse today. The parallels between the "church" today and this idolatrous Israel are astounding and I'll share more on that later. I believe many in the "Church" today are worshiping the Lord while at the same time actively worshiping idols in their life. Many do not even realize they are doing so because they have silenced the voice of God in their hearts. The biggest idol we have is "Self". Self has been allowed to drive our actions and establish our motives. Self-Centric thinking has been intertwined into our preaching, our classes, our music, our books, and on and on. Self rule and authority are in direct conflict with a submissive Christ centered life. The sobering thought is that we are not only walking in disobedience in our own lives, but setting our children up to fail for generations to come.

As for me an my family I say no! We will worship the Lord our God alone with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our souls.

Joy of Giving

I heard an old preacher say one time "God keeps good books". I have taken that to heart and no matter how much I give of my time, my money, and any other resource that God has so graciously given me, I know that He is the rewarder and He will repay what I have freely given. Some will settle for the rewards and accolades of men, but I will sow my life into the Kingdom and expect nothing in return from men. What a privilege it is to freely give everything and withhold nothing from our Loving Savior.

This past year God has transformed my thinking on money and giving. My wife and I made a decision at the beginning of the year to increase our giving by 5%, and God has blessed us. Now we are excited about increasing it another 5% this coming year. I don't say that in any way to pat ourselves on the back, but to encourage everyone that giving is the key to freedom. It is the way to blessing in the kingdom. It is very difficult to break out of our hording, me first mentality, but if you obey God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you out of that limited place, God will bless you and bring you into a new place of abundance and fruitfulness in His kingdom.

Give much and give freely and God will reward you.

What Do You Want?

What is it you want from the Lord? What do you want in life? The self-centric person seeks their own interests, but the man centered in Jesus seeks the will of the Father. Our joy and fulfillment in life flow from our oneness with Jesus. Frustration, fear, bitterness and slander of others does not come from the Christ centered person. James 4 states it pretty clearly. If we truly desire the things of God, we will have them because we serve a good and loving Father. He will not grant self-destructive, self motivated requests, but only that which builds up His Son and all those who are hidden in Him.

Let go of pride and bitterness. Let go of self desires, and love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Deconstruction

As a teacher of the Word, I have come to the conclusion that good Biblical teaching today must involve a deconstruction process. At least for those who are teaching as they're led by the Spirit. I think many "Bible teachers" think they are constructing, equipping, and building up the faith and doctrine of believers, but in reality they are adding layers of complexity and spiritual pride upon a poorly constructed foundation.

We have not done a good job of teaching the elementary principles and consequently we have not been able to move on from there. It seems no matter what I teach, I have to first deconstruct the self-centric and circumstantial thinking that overwhelms the minds of most believers. Once the Holy Spirit is successful in helping people unlearn what they have learned, we can proceed with an open mind and spirit to build a good foundation. That foundation is the simple truth that Jesus Christ is the center of everything. When a person is fully submitted to that eternal truth everything else will fall into place.People seem to like getting a new word or new teaching. I don't blame them. After being a believer for 34 years, I have heard everything, but when the Holy Spirit begins to reveal Christ to us in a very personal, very intimate way, its no longer about Christianity and Bible classes, its about being in love with an amazing God who has given us His eternal, dynamic, and living Word.

The Glory of the Lord

"Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. Ez 10:18"

God is in control and He will have His way no matter what. It is already done. He has already won. We have been given an opportunity to be one with Him and join with Him to see His will done and His glory come. What do you say? Will you loose your life to gain it? Now is the time to overcome, and pour out our moments to our Lord. I'm afraid many today have taken a different path. They have chosen to serve the Lord with their own heart, with their own strength, and for their own purposes. I believe we will yet see the glory of God depart from the church as we know it now. He will guard His glory, protecting and preserving it for those who truly call upon His name and sacrificially and willingly center themselves in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Father will release His glory on His Son in whom He is well pleased. He will release it upon those who are in Him and those who are intent on meeting His need and working toward His purposes. He is jealously guarding His glory and He will allow it to depart from the temple. Just as in Israel, the glory will depart and it will not return until there is a voice crying out in the wilderness "Prepare ye the way of the Lord". When Jesus is once again given His place of headship in His body, among His called out ones, then all the glory and good pleasure of the Father will come with Him. He will vanquish the enemy and He will rule and reign at the center of all things. He is all in all, and He will receive all the majesty and honor and glory that is due unto His precious name.