Do you disagree with God?

We may think that things with God and us are, in the words of the young Forest Gump, “just just fine and dandy.”  However, God may have something to say about that. 
 

Romans 10:9 says if we believe from the bottom of our heart to the tip of our tongue, that is, confess that Jesus God raised Jesus from the dead (Jesus lives as the Savior of humankind) that you will be saved.  Who could disagree with such a sweet deal?  It sounds easy but not so fast. 

 

I’d like to think that I fully agree with how God loves me and proved it through Jesus.  However, if I were really honest, I’d have to say many of the ways I go about living this trusted-truth in my life, may have a few ticks on the disagreement side of the ledger! 

 

 

To truly trust God is to agree with Him not only in our hearts but also by what we say.  If we confess that God proves his unconditional love for us by saving us in Christ, yet live and act in ways that do not agree with our trust statement -- aka confession -- we fall into the precarious position of disagreeing with God.  It's hard to trust some one who you don't agree with! 

 

 

Confess in the Greek literally means “to say the same thing.”  In other words, the heart and the mouth are in union – an agreement so trusting and tight that not even a light sliver of light could pass between.  So to “confess” Jesus essentially means we are saying the same thing as God -- we are in agreement with God. But are we really? 

In some Arab countries, there is a saying that if you trust someone, you should give that person your breath (hopefully after a tic-tac). “In other words, there is no space between people who trust; no light shines between trustees who share personal space.” 

Just how tight are we with God?  How much of our lives are really “in agreement with God?” It’s hard to admit, but we disagree with God far more than we might like to admit or are even aware.  Because, in many ways, our hearts and voices and actions really don’t say the same thing as God!

In this Sunday’s message will continue our series on “Trusting God From the Bottom Up” by asking how our lives might look and feel if how we trust God from the bottom of our heart not only agrees with what we confess with our lips, but also with God? 

  

 

Snatching Victory

Have you felt like you are experiencing life in a mirror?  Not the narcissistic gotta-see-myself kind of pathology – and not the Harry Potter Mirror Of Erised type of reflection where you see an image of your deepest desires having been met. 

There is another sort of mirrored-irony in life where what we want and what we get is often the very opposite of the image we desire.  One of the characteristics of a mirrored reflection is that of the opposite - the reversal of the object being represented.  Just hold up any word to a mirror and it will be turned around backwards. 

 

Such is the case with the well-known and often-used cliché, “Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.”  “To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat” means to suddenly win a contest when it appears that a loss is a forgone conclusion, to succeed in an endeavor through reversal of fortune, skill, effort, of good judgement..

 

Unfortunately, however, in our lives we often experience the mirrored opposite side of this phrase, or, “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” -- also a well known and used cliché.  I think all of us as some point in our lives feel like what we want, and what we get somehow gets turned around leaving us to feel a bit like life is playing some cruel trick on us.

 

Is your life more a “Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat,” kind of experience or, like its mirrored reversal “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?”  One is freeing, while the later is confining - like being helplessly crushed upon or trapped with no one to extricate you into a victory life. 



On the night of November 19, 2011, we received the kind of phone call no one wants to receive.  The state trooper on the other end told us our 17-year-old daughter, Rachel, had been in a serious car accident and was being airlifted to the hospital.  

 

 

 

What they didn’t tell us was that she was literally “Snatched from the jaws of defeat.”  Before she could be flown the hospital for the emergency treatment, there was the matter of extricating her from the tangled remnants of her car which had been crushed in-around her.  And, the mechanism that was used by the rescue team to snatch the victory was called “The Jaws Of Life.”

 

Rachel was rescued, but she had nothing to do with it.  She could not be smart enough, faithful enough, good enough – she was asleep in a coma.  All she could do was be rescued.

 

Have you ever felt helpless? Maybe a time when you were faced with some difficult real-life issues? Sometime we find ourselves in a personal situation where life seems to be crushing-in around us and there seems to be no way out – at least by our own power or abilities. 

 

There are certain times where all we can do is be rescued.  There is one who can always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

 

 

This Sunday in worship you can hear all about him. His name is Jesus, and He is “The Jaws Of Life.”

 

 

 

 

  

 

Viral God

Did you hear about the new reality drama being cast?  It features two very competitive sisters – one strikingly beautiful and the other a bit homely.  In the reality series, they are fighting for the affections of the only available potential husband in the area.  

 

Add to that mix an exploitative father-in-law looking for cheap labor with benefits, and stir in some behind the scenes “catfish type” shenanigans and you have an instant hit. 

 

 

The clips from this reality show will probably go viral immediately.  But how long will the series last?  One season, two, maybe five?  It actually lasted 14 seasons, but in one sense it lasts forever. (You can read more it in Genesis 29:15-28)!

 

We live in a video-clip, sound-bite age.   What is all the rage in one moment becomes old news in a 24-hour news cycle.  

 

 

This cultural conditioning seems to excite the desire of humanity everywhere for instant satiation of well - whatever.  We demand quick solutions, instant pain relief, and instant gratification.  I suppose you might say we long for a god of miracles gone viral!

 

  

Electronic posts can go around the world in seconds.  So, what happens to us when God doesn’t act in a like fashion?  When it seems like God isn’t posting fast enough – doesn’t go viral in our lives?

 

 

  

I think we all have a universally-held desire for God
(or for some, a higher power) to act on our behalf
without delay.  We need to know that pain, loss,
suffering, trauma, loneliness and the like won’t last
too long.  We want god-medicines that quickly take
away the pain.


So, how long should we give God to act? In today’s social-media viral-video age, everything happens instantaneously with just a click.


I think today, in a designer-god age, would we want him more like the proverbial tortoise who is painfully slow, or like the hare who speeds lightening fast toward the finish line of our dilemma in record time. We all know the answer to this one!
 

 Given our choice, we would want God to look and race more like the hare.  In today’s world, a tortoise-style God just moves too slow for us, our problems, not to mention the world’s problems. 

Our memories are short and our expectations for service or “need response” is immediate.  Like the viral video of last week, the rage of the moment, is quickly left behind and forgotten.   I think this “new reality” leads us to doubt God, His presence and His ability to reach us personally.  Let’s just say it, God’s promises don’t exactly seem to go viral! 
 

But that’s the point! God keeps His promises to you, but not with a social-media timeline!  If we are looking for God to go viral in a social-media-second, we misunderstand the power and duration of His Word and His promises.  Even the old trickster Jacob figured it out -- and waited it out!  In the message this Sunday, you will see and hear what a guy who lived 3,000 years ago knew even before electricity -- God's promises doesn’t go viral, they go forever!

God Fits Us

Have you ever felt like a round peg trying to fit in a square hole?  As far back as I can remember, I have definitely felt this way.  It’s a bit disconcerting because deep down, I think everyone has a desire to fit it – you know, find our place in the world where we do belong. 

 

 

It’s like we are Cinderellas waiting for the prince to offer us to try on the glass slipper.  And, when “it” happens, the two matching shapes will fit and everything will be happily ever after!

 

 

More often, we are just in the long line of those who try hard to squeeze their foot into the unique shape so we can receive the reward.  Unfortunately, just like the movie, it only fits “the one,” so we feel rejected!  And, to make matters worse, in often looks as if many around us give the outward appearance that they do fit in.  This only has the effect of making us feel even more isolated, weird or somehow defective as a human beings.  Resonating yet?

 

Then comes the squeeze – trying for press ourselves into someone else’s mold or shape.  Usually, this means getting a hammer and just banging and beating on ourselves to make a forced-fit.  And, if we still don’t fit, we just get a bigger hammer!  Hence the phrase “beat up by life.”

 

What was God thinking when he made us?  Well, actually he was creating a perfect fit.  Did you know our brains were designed to operate by making perfect fits?  Neurons fire exact shapes that find their place in an exact receptor.  All other shapes are rejected to ensure the perfect fit and function -- we think, act, live, and love! 

 

 

In other words, God made our brains work on the principle of round pegs round holes, squares peg, square holes – a perfect fit.  It’s built into us.  We seek to fit in, to find the perfectly shaped receptor, and we are relentlessly driven to find this match – the place where we belong.

 

This Sunday we will explore God’s perfect design and discover where we actually belong – the place where our shape thrives.  Here is a hint – God fits us!

 

 

 

What does the church and 9/11 have in common?

Have you seen some of these demolition companies that specialize in imploding towering structures like old buildings and giant smoke stacks? 
They use a strategy of calculated physics to bring these antiquated monstrosities to the ground by their own weight. 
 

 They do this by placing explosive charges at key load-bearing structural components so that when the charges are exploded, the building collapses on itself.

 
The most grotesque example of this type of demolition technology, I suppose, is the strategic plan the Muslim extremist of Al-Qaida used to implode the twin towers on 9/11. 

They calculated the amount of energy required by a forced explosion - in combination with the precise location - to cause an unthinkable and devastating collapse.  The terrorists knew they could not defeat America, but they could attack its institutions. 

I like to ask questions, especially those which are spiritual in nature.  So here is a whopper: If the “evil one,” Satan, were to create a strategic plan for the demise – the implosion of the church – what would the elements needed to create a collapse look like and where would they be placed? 

 

Satan can’t defeat Christ; Jesus has already won the victory, so the best he can do is attack Christ’s church on a main street level.  So, first, he would locate and target the load bearing supports.  Next, he would weakened them just enought to create the instability needed to bring the Church down upon itself.  But, what type of explosive material would he use? 

If he employed only the strategy that C.S. Lewis’s creatively describes in the Screwtape Letters - a one-by-one, individual assault by little devils - it may gain him a few souls, but it would be highly inefficient.  Going after every follower of Christ one at a time would be daunting and impossible. 

 

However, if he followed a similar strategy of implosion as the 9/11 designers, (or maybe they followed Satan’s design) he could bring down to the pit of ground zero, towering numbers in Christ and weaken the Church to the point of irrelevancy. 

What if Satan has indeed strategically targeted the twin towers of the Christian faith, the institution of the Church itself at a local, main street level!  If so, are we susceptible? 


And, are there any signs we can identify to guard against this strategy to implode the structure of the church?  And, if not, what would the effect be on us, the very ones who make up the church.  Could this be a reason the church seems to be weakening in America?

This Sunday in worship, we return to our series, “Where did we learn that?” as we seek to find some relevant biblically based answers to these questions I just posed.  We will do this by looking at some very powerful, yet misguided, lessons we’ve learned about the institution of the church. If you can't be with us, you can view this message through facebook and from our web site http://mwpcusa.org/
 

 

Hangin' My Homies

Who do you hang with?  You know, who are your “boys (or girls)?”   It’s interesting that we very often become like - or have our identity shaped by - those we chose to include in our “circle.”  However, many might say they are their own person and that they are free to be whoever they want to be.  If we are truly free from the shape of our friend circle, why are so many people unhappy with themselves and to some extent, with life?  Why is it so hard to really find a better more positive and fulfilling life?

 

I believe, in part, this constraint has a great deal to do with who we “hang with” -- where we place ourselves in a life-context -- and who makes up our inner circle of influence.  There seems to be a strange dynamic of image-reciprocation in our circle of friends.  What I mean is that it’s as if we surround ourselves with mirroring images that create a perpetual reinforcement of a particular lifestyle and life-answers.  We take on the group image, group think and group character of our primary circle of friends, while they reflect back a similar life view – even if harmful or ultimately unsatisfactory in terms of life-fulfillment and personal-peace.

 

 

When caterpillars begin the process of transforming

from a butterfly pupa into the free-floating, fulfilled realization as the final form of a butterfly, they “hang with their homies" in a protecting and nurturing environment we call a chrysalis.  Nature has internally wired the pupa to create, live and perpetuate life by surrounding itself with the exact perfect environment while going through the life-stage transformation.  To choose other surroundings would spell disaster.  But human beings are different.  We may choose any number of surroundings; hang with a variety of desirable and undesirable influences.  And we do.   

 

 

I felt urged to write about this issue out of a real-life example.  Unfortunately, it’s a story I have heard many times.  A married person with a family succumbed to the lure of instant gratification and love without responsibilities by entering into an adulterous affair.  When you ask someone, “Why risk so much?  Why jeopardize your family and possibly the rest of your life?” the answer is never very rational or satisfactory.  Maybe the “love” word is tossed out without much thought of its true definition or commitment of character such a statement requires.  But ultimately, it’s about their homies who mutually reinforce the behavior:  “Go ahead, you deserve love.”  “We’ve done it too.”

 

When I look at the why of it, one clear factor (although there are several) seems to be who we “hang with.”  If my theory of the dynamic of image-reciprocation in our circle of friends is true, this is a classic case.  If in surrounding ourselves with mirroring images that create a perpetual reinforcing lifestyle and thought includes those who also would engage and approve of seeking extra marital “love pleasures” regardless of responsibilities and consequences, then the “chrysalis” is woven and hung to produce a like minded image and action.

 

I have taken over a thousand teens to retreats and camps during my years in ministry.  I have witnessed this phenomenon so often and worked hard to counter it by creating a new environment.  Often I would bring along a kid who had fallen into, been accepted by, or chosen to surround themselves, with a group of friends who perpetuate counter-cultural, character-diminishing, and self-destructive thoughts and behaviors.  The hope is to, if only briefly, offer them an alternative circle, through a week-long Young Life retreat.  It only takes about an hour for them to find their group of image-reciprocating circle of friends, and engage in the same behaviors that limit their success in a more fulfilling life.

 It takes more than a week or month or even a year “away” to create positive change.  If you want to have positive change in your life, first take a look at who you hang with!  Do they reflect principles and values that build character and create a truly freeing opportunity for fulfillment, or do they only reinforce proven life-lessness? 

 
Who you surround yourself with will absolutely determine your attitude, lifestyle and sense of fulfillment -- especially while going through the life stage transformation!  Where is the best place to hang with some positive homies, who wish you to find complete fulfillment in life and as a human being?  I know, it’s so corny, but it’s the only real and complete answer – it’s the Church.  It’s a group of committed friends who have based their life operating system on faith in Jesus Christ.  Find that group.  Bring them into your circle or seek to be a part of theirs.  Not all churches are the same, but within the church there will always be more good homies than not.  If you can’t find one, just look for the people who exude fulfillment, high character, available unconditional love, and a positive outlook,  not only in their life, but who are also interested in helping you find it too.  Now, go where they go.  Hang with them and stand tough!