Think About These Things - Part 1

Okay this is not a rant against television because believe me I love to watch television. But God has really been dealing with me about this topic. Let me give you some statistics that I found that have just really rocked my soul:

Amount of time the average American watches TV a day

=

4 hours (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year).

Amount of time the average American will watch TV by the time they are 65

=

9 years

Number of hours of TV watched annually by Americans

=

250 billion

Value of that time watching TV annually by Americans assuming an average wage of S5/hour

=

S1.25 trillion

Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children

=

3.5

Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television

=

1,680

Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television

=

54

Hours per year the average American youth spends in school

=

900 hours

Hours per year the average American youth watches television

=

1500

Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school

=

8,000

Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18

=

200,000

Tomorrow we will take a look at a passage of scripture that has really challenged me regarding my own TV watching habits. Today I just want you to let these statistics flow over you.

Statistics were compiled by:

TV-Free America

1322 18th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20036

(202) 887-4036

What's that Smell?!

What’s that Smell?!

Okay, this post is not about what you think it is about!! I want to look at a passage of scripture that I find SO compelling. Look at what it says:

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

What is Paul talking about in these verses? When he speaks of a triumphal procession he is using the Greek word which described the Roman general returning home from battle victorious. During these victory parades incense would be burned as an act of worship to the gods. For those in the victorious Roman army, and for the spectators in Rome this smell of incense would have brought great joy and recognition of victory as the smell wafted over the crowd. But for the enemy soldier who was paraded through town only to be killed at the final ceremony the smell would have signaled death for them. For the Romans the smell was the smell of life and for their enemies it was the smell of impending death.

It is with this metaphor that Paul describes how God uses us to spread the knowledge of him. You see once we have accepted Christ we are not to shrink to the sidelines as though we have been defeated in battle. No, we are now alive, we are victorious! That victory in our lives should spread out throughout the world. We should take the knowledge of Him to all people of all nations. We have the aroma of Christ on us and we should act like it! Now to those who will reject Him that aroma will only signal their doom, but to those who accept the message of grace that we spread will delight in His aroma on us because it signals their eternal life!!

So let me ask you a question, can people smell Christ on you? Does the smell of Christ waft over your neighborhood or your workplace? Can others smell the close proximity of Christ in your life? We are being paraded by God through the world, let us march in the triumphal procession and allow the aroma of Christ to flow from us!

Lord, let others be able to tell that I have been close to you today. Please help me to take my place in the triumphal procession so that the knowledge of you might spread to all people of all nations. I praise you my victorious King!

MAN LAW

Man Law #348: You mess with the youngest of 3 boys at your own peril!

My son Koleman learned an important lesson in Man Law on Saturday. You can read a mother’s perspective of the event on my wife’s blog, but let me tell you my side!

Koleman and his friend were playing and wrestling on the field near where the team Kensey cheers for were playing their game. Koleman was dishing it out as well as he was receiving it. But ultimately he learned Man Law #348: You mess with the youngest of 3 boys at your own peril!

Koleman has two sisters at home. They like to dress him up and laugh at him! They like to make him play barbies and house. But his friend is the youngest of 3 boys. He is used to being a tackling dummy and wrestle partner. It goes without saying that one is much more experienced in rough-housing than the other! Well when the boys started rough-housing Koleman gave his friend his best move – and it was NOT good enough!!! Needless to say we learned two important lessons: 1) mommy is not allowed to rescue you just because you picked on the wrong guy; and 2) if you are going to dish out the punishment then you can’t cry when they give it back!!

Growing up as a boy is not an easy thing in a world that demands the feminization of men. But I am determined that Koleman will not shy away from difficulties just because they are a little painful! I am determined that he will be a Godly man without being feminine! I am determined that he will have a sensitive heart and a strong back! And, I am so thankful that he has other boys who are growing up in Christian homes to help him learn these lessons!

Crowns - Part 3 - GLORIOUS!!

Okay one last thought about crowns.

The passage of scripture that really grabbed my attention when I started thinking about this topic is from the book of Revelation. It reads:

Revelation 4:9-11 (NIV)
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

The elders in this passage are the representatives for the church of God. In other words they represent each of us who have had the crowns of righteousness and life placed upon our heads.

This passage tells us that when the elders are in the presence of God they take off their crowns and lay them before the Lord. This is the point that really captured me as I considered the crowns. Think about it – as much as the crown of righteousness means to us because it represents the work and sacrifice of Christ on the cross that covers our sin and allows God to declare us as justified before Him; and as much as the crown of life is cherished because it represents our willingness to persevere in our faith in the midst of a world that will hate us; neither means anything compared to the surpassing greatness of just being in His presence!

God is so incredible and so glorious that everything else pales in comparison! The work of Christ on the cross, my own perseverance in faith all pale when compared to Him when He displays His glory!

We do not serve a mundane God. We do not worship a stale God. We do not bow before a God who is beige. We serve, worship and commit our lives to Him who lives in unapproachable light; the one whose glory is indescribable and whose might stretches beyond my own ability to imagine. We are children of the King, purchased with the cost of His own blood – but none of that compares to the sheer delight that we will experience at just being in His presence!! He truly is worthy to be praised and nothing that I might gain in this life or the life to come can compare to Him! Let us bow before Him and present our crowns!

Philippians 3:7-8 (NIV)
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

Crowns - Part 2

Okay, let’s keep talking about “crowns.” Yesterday we looked at the “crown of righteousness.” Today I want us to look at the most familiar crown in the New Testament, the “crown of life.” What I found as I studied this crown has absolutely blown me away!!!

The “crown of righteousness” is a crown that points to the efforts of Christ on the cross that allowed for our justification even though we are rebellious and not righteous (see yesterday’s post for a more full explanation). But the “crown of life” points to our own perseverance once Christ captures us in salvation. Let me try to show you what I mean – the key text for the “crown of life” is found in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 2:10 (NIV)

¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

The word for “crown” that is used here is the Greek word stephanos it was used to denote the crown that was given to the victor of a competition. And the word “life” here is clearly talking about eternal life in God’s love and grace.

So think about what the Apostle John is saying in this passage. He is saying that if we will stand strong in our faith even to the point of death that God will place on our heads the victor’s crown of eternal life in His love! So, the “crown of righteousness” was earned by Christ on the cross. It assures us of eternal life as we are justified before the Righteous Judge. But the “crown of life” is placed on our heads when live in that gift and persevere no matter the difficulties.

Now I am not saying that we earn eternal life, but I do believe that what this passage teaches us is that we show that the righteousness of Christ really lives in us if we persevere in our faith when it is difficult. I do not believe that the scriptures allow for the wishy-washy believer. We have either been radically transformed or we haven’t, but there is no in-between. And if we have been transformed then we will show it with how we live our lives, not just when things are easy, but when they get hard (even to the point of death). This is what makes the following statement from Christ so profound:

Matthew 10:22 (NIV)

²² All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Again Jesus is not saying that our perseverance is what saves us, but He is saying that if we have been captured by Christ then we will persevere!

So, are you living the victorious life? Are you standing firm even though it is hard? Is God preparing the “crown of life” to be placed on your head? I pray that it is true!

Lord, please help us to persevere in our faith. Please help us to live out our love for you even when life is hard and we want to give up or follow our own course. We praise you that we prove our salvation every day when we live in obedience to you!

Crowns - Part 1

Have you ever thought about the crowns that are mentioned throughout scripture? Probably not, I had never really thought about them until a couple of weeks ago when several of the songs that we sang in worship mentioned “crowns.” It got me thinking about their obvious importance in the scriptures and what they mean to us. So I did a little study! Over the next couple of days I would like to look at this interesting topic.

Crowns are mentioned throughout the New Testament. There is the crown that athletes receive as a result of winning the race (1 Corinthians 9:25). There is the crown of thorns that Christ wore on the cross; and Paul will mention those that he has led to Christ as his own earthly crown (Philippians 4:1). But the crowns that interest me the most are the eternal crowns.

2 Timothy 4:8 gives mention to one of the eternal crowns:

2 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Now the Greek of the phrase crown of righteousness is interesting. It seems, on the surface, that this phrase means that God will place on our heads a crown that has the word “righteousness” written on it. In fact what is meant here is that God will place righteousness on our head as though it is a crown.

So the only way for us to fully understand the crown of righteousness is to understand the word “righteousness”:

Righteousness means “the state of being right” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary). In other words to be righteous means that we have never been wrong. The only problem with any of us possessing the title of “righteous” is that, clearly, we have all done wrong.

So for us to understand our ability to be righteous we have to understand the concept of justification.

Justification: it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Easton’s Bible Dictionary).

In other words, we are righteous because God considers the righteousness of Christ and His willingness to receive our punishment on the cross; and pardon’s all of our sin so that we are considered as absolutely without sin before Him!

Think about that for a second; even though I am absolutely sinful and rebellious against God, because of the sacrifice of Christ God declares me to be absolutely right when I stand in front of Him!

So, what Paul is saying in this verse is that if I (and you) will place our faith in Christ then God will place righteousness on our head as though it were a crown! And, I can have full confidence in the receipt of that crown because it has been purchased with the blood of Christ and promised by God!

Let us delight today in the crown of righteousness that awaits any of us who have placed our faith in Christ to purchase our sin and grant us eternal life in heaven. Let us be a people who freely share this gift that awaits any who believe!

Lord I praise you for my righteousness. I know that my sin reveals my need for judgment, but your love and sacrifice has purchased grace for me! Lord please help me to live in the righteousness that cost you so much today! I praise you!

A Child's Challenge!

Today’s blog is not really a devotional as much as it is a challenge.

Over the weekend my oldest daughter Kensey (9 years old) was telling us about a friend in her class who is Muslim. Kensey said that she really wanted to share Christ with her. In Kensey’s Sunday School class they had learned how to use an Evangecube so Valinda gave her one and we prayed together yesterday morning that God would give her the right words and that God would soften the heart of her friend.

I cannot tell you how excited I was to see Kensey’s passion to share the Gospel. I loved that Valinda and I did not have to spur her on, she took the initiative to share and went boldly forward!

Well yesterday when she finished school my first question was, “How did it go?” She told me that her friend said, “It is not that I do not believe in your God, I just believe in my god more.” Kensey then blew me away by saying that she was going to keep looking for opportunities to share with her friend. I love that she did not get discouraged or give up, she was just determined to keep right on sharing!

But then something happened that touched my heart even further – Karis, my middle child (7 years old), started weeping! She said, “But I want everyone to believe in the One True God!” Her heart was broken that Kensey’s friend had not accepted Christ! I was humbled by the depth of pain that she felt over anyone who would not accept Christ.

I don’t know if you are like me, but I wish that I was as driven by the gospel as those two girls! The passage of scripture that sounds in my heart is in the book of Psalms:

Psalm 8:2a (NIV)
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise…

So, what is stopping you from sharing your faith? Is it fear, lack of knowledge, or some other excuse that we all tend to use when it comes to participating in the radical advancement of the Kingdom of God? The reality is that each and every one of us should be broken over those who do not know Christ as their savior. Lostness should keep us up at night and drive us forward during the day. We should take our cue from two schoolgirls and we should boldly proclaim the grace of Christ because our love for our fellow man compels us into action! We must no longer sit on the sidelines but we should grasp this day, this moment for His glory! We have been deeply loved; let us love others by sharing the truth of His grace!

Romans 1:16a (NIV)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…

Lord Jesus, help my heart to break for those who do not know you as Savior! Please help me to never forget the certainty of judgment and the depth of your love! Let me push aside my fear and apathy and help me to press forward unashamedly with your Gospel on my lips! I praise you my Savior.