Gospel Lenses

         What is the Gospel?  What does the word Gospel mean?  Who is the Gospel for?  What does the Gospel do?  These are basic questions of Christian faith that we usually entertain and answer in VBS or maybe even at youth camp.  Once we "get" the Gospel, we move on to deeper discussions about theology and doctrine of the church.  In doing so, the Gospel becomes the story of the life of Christ and his message of salvation to sinners.  It's almost as if in the church, Christians graduate from the Gospel...to go deeper in faith means to move beyond the simple message of the Gospel right?
          That's the question we've been asking on Wednesday nights with our students as we walk through the book of Jonah.  I have challenged them to read Jonah through Gospel lenses.  As we read Jonah, it's like we are reading the story of the Gospel in the New Testament.  Read it and notice all of the similarities.  No matter how hard he tried, Jonah couldn't escape the reality of the Gospel--grace and mercy to all men.
          The word Gospel literally means good news.  Webster defines the word gospel as the teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation.  It can also be defined as the story of Christ's life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  The Gospel--what does it mean to you?  I think in our faith, the Gospel often gets lost.  The more you go to church, the more likely you seem to be to move past the Gospel into church politics, church arguments, church votes...somewhere in the midst of that we become numb to the Gospel, our faith becomes about our preferences, the church is supposed to serve us, and the Gospel is just for lost sinners.
          Without the reality of the Gospel, that's exactly what we'd be--lost sinners.  Even though we may not be eternally lost, we often get lost like Jonah when we remove our Gospel lenses.  Jonah was a great prophet, but he also sinned, got lost, and forgot that God's grace was for all people.  So, I invite you to put on your Gospel lenses.  You can't graduate from the Gospel!  To do so would be detrimental.  Yes, the Gospel is for lost sinners who live life outside the kingdom of God.  And yes, the Gospel is for Christians who get lost in sin and think they can move beyond the Gospel.  You cannot move beyond the Gospel, but you can forever move deeper and deeper into the Gospel.  
          I think if we view life through Gospel lenses, we as the church will be much more effective.  These lenses are like a good pair of prescription safety glasses.  They allow us to look into the world and see clearly.  At the same time, they protect us from the debris and dangers of getting caught up in the world.  Finally, they allow us to work in the world.  No one sits around watching TV with a pair of safety glasses.  In the same way, the Gospel saves us from works, but it doesn't save us not to work.  Put on your Gospel lenses and get to work.  The Gospel is for all people, both the lost and the found.  
          Ask your kids what the Gospel means to them.  Sit down as a family and write a family mission statement.  Answer this question--How would we live as a family if we were all wearing our Gospel lenses working together in this world for Christ?  If you feel like somewhere along the way you graduated from the Gospel, it's time to go back to school.  The Gospel should change us, grow us, and impact us each and every day.  It is our source of life and gives us breath.  We cannot live apart from it.  If you've taken off your Gospel lenses put them back on!  If you've been hit by some debris, I know a great physician who can probably get you up and running again.  I saw him save a man from drowning once...

Spiritual Adoption

          Adoption is something Stephanie and I have talked about since we began to date.  We both feel as though God has placed this desire in our hearts to one day adopt a child.  For Stephanie, I think that desire grows from her overwhelming love of children, all children of every color, shape, and size.  God made her to be a mother and to love kids.  That is completely obvious if you know Stephanie.
          For me, the desire to adopt comes from the fact that I was adopted as a teenage boy.  I wasn't legally adopted.  I didn't change last names.  I didn't move from one place to another, but I was adopted.  Yep, Clinton and Belinda adopted me when I was thirteen.  They already had four kids of their own, one of which they had legally adopted, and they decided to add another one to the mix...that was me.  I am sure of why they adopted me.  It wasn't because I was a perfect kid that would make their Christmas cards perfect for the cover of a magazine.  Trust me, I was in the awkward stage.  I had braces and a gel-locked hairdo that we now look back and call the wave.  It was bad!  They didn't adopt me because they thought it would be easy.  I was an angry kid.  I was confused, and I was difficult.  They didn't adopt me to be able to brag about filling up every seat of a suburban complete with the smell of McDonald's air fresheners (also known as french fries stuck between the seats).  They didn't adopt me to have another kid to look after on family vacations...that's right, they took me on family vacations!
          I am sure of why they adopted me.  It was and is because they take seriously the Gospel.  They take seriously the Word of God.  They take seriously God's commands, and seriously seek to be obedient.  You see, all throughout scriptures, God is commanding his followers and the church to care for the orphans and widows, to give special care and attention to the fatherless.  When my parents divorced, I became an orphan.  My mom became a widow.  I firmly believe the modern day widow and orphan are products of our culture's tendency to divorce.  Now, more than ever, God's challenge for us to care for the fatherless and widow is urgent.  Clinton and Belinda adopted me as a spiritual orphan.  I had no spiritual guidance at home.  My mom was doing her best to keep us going.  I needed guidance...trust me!
          They took me on.  They made themselves responsible for caring for my spiritual wellbeing.  They gave me a spiritual family and a place of safety and security.  Not only did they care for my physical needs, they provided deep spiritual care and healing as well.
          Because of that adoption, I am where I am today.  My testimony is to the power of obedience, not in my own life, but in the lives of Clinton and Belinda.  Their commitment to obeying the Word of God changed my life.  And I can promise if you ask them, being obedient was not always glamorous when it came to their adopted son Ross.  He was difficult, disobedient, and a typical teenage boy!
I'm not quite sure where I might be had I not been adopted.  Perhaps I would have never been introduced to my Father...maybe I wouldn't be apart of this family, the family of God.  Who knows?  I'm glad Clinton and Belinda didn't leave that up to chance.  Nothing is left up to chance when we live out and follow God's Word obediently.
          I suppose legal adoption is an option.  For me, it has become a desire of my heart.  Spiritual adoption on the other hand is not an option.  It is a command given in scripture to be taken seriously by the church.  Look up the words widow, orphan, and fatherless in the index of your Bible.  I think God was trying to make something very clear to us.  Walk into our ENCOUNtER service on a Wednesday night.  There are so many orphans in need of adoption.  Maybe it's one of your teenager's friends in need of adoption.  Whoever, wherever, I pray that you and I will be obedient.  I pray that we will take seriously this call in our lives.  If nothing else, adopt of one of these teenagers by prayer.  Pray each and every day for them.  Transformation doesn't happen apart from obedience.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27

"Be Filled With the Spirit"

Any Baptists out there get a bit afraid when someone begins to talk about the Holy Spirit?  It's okay.  Go ahead and raise your hand.  My hand is raised too.  I think so many people have abused the Holy Spirit waving it as their banner for Christianity, using it as a tool to dissuade or persuade, or by using the evidences of the Holy Spirit as a sort of mark of superior Christianity.  And, as good Baptists, we have kept our distance from those types of practices and bad theology.  And, being a "good Baptist" myself, I think our trepidation and distance from those issues has been a good thing.  However, somewhere in the midst of all the conversation about the Holy Spirit and our tendency to shy away from those conversations, I think we have forgotten all of who God is.  That's the point Francis Chan makes in his book, "The Forgotten God; Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit."
Somewhere in our fear of getting out of the box, we forgot about the Holy Spirit.  It's as if we have ignored and left out a huge part of who God is.  We started a new series called "Abide" in one of our adult Sunday School classes this past week.  This study places an emphasis on staying in rhythm with God.  The passage we looked at on Sunday came from Ephesians 5:18 which says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with Spirit."
Easy enough right?  I don't drink wine, but this being full of the spirit?  Isn't that for charismatics? Furthermore, I thought when I asked Christ to be the Lord of my life, I was filled with the Spirit.  I thought it was a total package, unless I missed the installment plan.  No, no...Paul made it clear we were "sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13).  Alright, so the Spirit is given to us at conversion and is the agent of conversion.  What then is Paul telling us to do when he says be filled with the Spirit?  Certainly we don't have control of the Spirit, do we?
Have you ever seen one of those documentaries about someone who is able to use their brain in a way beyond the average human being?  I saw one the other night about a man who had a form of autism.  Musically, he was brilliant.  He could play any song, in any key, to any tune.  A room full of PhD's couldn't even stump him.  The documentary pointed to how much of his brain he was actually using and how we could unlock the full potential of the brain.  I think this analogy works for us.  Have you ever known someone that you just knew they were in touch with God?  Their prayer, their actions, their love, their grace, their discernment all led you to believe they were just so close to God.  It just seemed they were tapping much further into their faith.
I wonder if that is us?  We are given the Spirit at conversion, and here, Paul tells us to be filled with the Spirit.  Maybe he is telling us to tap into the full power we have as Christians.  Maybe he is telling us to use and unlock all we are given from God.  "The Spirit is not an optional add-on, a second work of grace, or a privilege of the elite.  Rather, he is the agent of God's work in the world and is both the source and proof of conversion.  To be in Christ and to be in the Spirit are virtually the same.  In fact, the Spirit is the presence of Christ within the believer.  To ask us to be filled with the Spirit does not point to repeated charismatic experiences, as some claim.  It is to ask us to focus our attention on Christ and his presence in us, to open ourselves to the continual transforming work of the Spirit so that the presence of Christ empowers and shapes our lives." (NIV Application Commentary on Ephesians)
If we were to abide in Christ, to make him a part of the rhythm of our life, maybe we would tap into the Spirit that is already at work within us.  How do we do it?  Paul tells us in 5:19-21.  "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The more I fill up on the Spirit by reading, singing, praying, serving, giving thanks, etc...the more I am aware how very close and present God is.  The challenge is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  For you and me, I think that means we make him apart of our daily rhythm.  Without those things, I think we miss a few beats.  What about your family?  Does your family have a Spiritual rhythm?  How different might your home be if you made these things Paul talked about a regular part of the life and rhythm of your family.  The more I practice spiritual disciplines, the more aware I become of how God is acting in the world.  When I neglect those things, I am neglecting a vital part of who I am.  The Holy Spirit is meant to empower and guide us, to transform us and bring us into the presence of Christ.  So if you or your family feels like you're running low on Spiritual fuel, it's time to fill up.  Sing together, pray together, read the Bible together, give thanks together, fill your home with the Spirit.  What better legacy to pass on to your children than one of fullness...."to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).  What a blessing to know and be filled with the fullness of God.  What a peace and joy that brings to life!

"Even Rocks Cry Out"

My dad loves to fish.  I love to fish.  My mom loves to read.  Now, I love to read. My parents raised me in a Christian home and brought me to church each Sunday.  Now I work for a church and go to several services each Sunday.  My dad loves baseball.  I love baseball.  My sister taught me how to cook.  Now I love to cook.  It seems as if I am a lot like my family.  Those things are just some of the good things passed on to me, things that are really insignificant when it comes down to it.  I got my values, preferences, and story from my family.  Unfortunately, I also inherited a lot of my shortcomings, biases, judgmental soapboxes, criticisms, and stubbornness from my family as well.  Don't get me wrong; I love my family, but not everything I learned growing up should be applied to my life today.  I think we can all admit that in some way or another.
Before I go any further, let me back up...Sunday morning I had the opportunity to preach.  We looked at John 7:53-8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.  Each one of us was given a stone to hold in our hands.  As we walked through the story, we watched as a woman encountered Jesus while facing certain death.  After her accusers had left and Jesus refuses to condemn the woman, she is told to sin no more.  Coming away from Jesus, condemnation is replaced by the opportunity for transformation.  As she leaves the temple, she walks into the light of the sun as it rises over the Mount of Olives east of the temple in Jerusalem.  No wonder in the next verse, 8:12, Jesus calls himself the light of life.  We talked about taboo sins the church holds on to...things like premarital sex, divorce, abortion, homosexuality...things we as a church don't stand for.  The woman in the story had committed a scandalous crime, something taboo of her time.  After all her accusers had turned away and dropped their stones, she remained standing with Jesus.  Rather than run off to hide like you or I would do, she remained.  There was something about the way that Jesus handled the woman and her sin.  To Jesus, she was a woman, both a heart and a soul.  The way in which he cared for her kept her from running away in that moment of death.  Instead, she stood in the light with her sin exposed.  And in that same exposure of sin, she stood in the light of life, in the presence of Christ.
We were challenged at the close of the service to drop our stones on the steps of the stage in an act of surrender, obedience, and commitment to grace.  What we did Sunday morning was not condone sin, but we committed to replacing condemnation with opportunities of transformation.  Might people remain in church, in our youth programs, if we dropped those stones and let them encounter Christ instead of our glares of judgment and accusation?  That's where grace brings on the real transformation of lives - where the stones are dropped.  That's how we live in an Easter reality where we are continually transformed by the stone rolling away and revealing the empty tomb.  We let our stones of bias, judgment, fear, and condemnation roll from our hands so that we can hold onto and be bearers of grace in this world.
I wonder what stones we are putting in the lives of teenagers as parents, volunteers, and youth workers.  I wonder what stones of judgment I may pass on to my kids.  I wonder what stones of bias that I will place in my kids' hands that keep them from sharing the love of Christ.  Maybe instead of my shortcomings, biases, judgmental soapboxes, criticisms, and stubbornness I will pass on GRACE.  What will you pass on?
The noise of stones dropping into baskets on Sunday was exciting and moving.  As they crashed against one another, the noise of stones falling was one of praise and worship.  Even rocks cry out!