Christ the Center Collection
Here are some posts I have written about Jesus being the center of our lives. I write these things to help me process what I am learning. I also hope to encourage others.
"But I have this against you..."
The Danger of Receiving Rewards Now
A Hike with my daughter and 1 Thessalonians.....Walking Worthy?
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.
Sherlock Holmes and the Apostle Paul...Mystery
Death by Love, Letter from the Cross
Futsal and Jesus...Ordinary Life?
His Body was Broken for Broken Families
Renovation-a lesson from Chic-fil-A(wesome)
...and hey, could you pick up some bread on your way home?
Celebrate Grace Series (11 posts)
(unofficial) What is the Gospel Study Guide
I made and used this study guide with our 2010 summer missions team in Thailand. We just completed the last week and it was a great time of worshipful discussion.
The book What is the Gospel by Greg Gilbert is free in Amazon's Kindle and Apples ibooks store until the end of July.
What is the Gospel (unofficial) Study Guide
A book that will shake you…unless you have it all together.
I finished David Platt's book Radicallast night and am very glad I read it. My plan in writing today was to summarize the book and encourage you to go out and get it and then I saw that Platt had a short video explaining the purpose of the book. So I will let him share about his book with you in the video below. As a missionary I am reminded that radical Christianity is not defined by how far away you live from friends and family but by how much you love and obey Jesus' commands. May I stop picking and choosing which commands of Jesus I think are important and see that they all are. May I stop categorizing his commands according to my comforts. May I see who I am in Jesus and reach the world for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit as one who is in love with his Good Shepherd who was slain for His sheep.
"What does it mean to be a 1st century follower? Is it any different than being a follower in the 21st century? Listen as author Dr. David Platt shares the passion behind his new book, Radical: Taking Back your Faith from the American Dream. The radical things Jesus said 2000 years ago still apply to Christians today. Denying ourselves, giving up everything, and loving Him above all others is a radically different way to live. But it is the only way to truly live. We were created for more than a middle class existence. We were meant to count for His glory."
David Platt Radical Book from Life Bible Study on Vimeo.
Wasn't sure if I should use the word altogether or all together??
Jesus is better.
In the morning we leave for Thailand. It has been a great 30 days back in the states.
We love our family. Jesus is better.
We love our friends in the states. Jesus is better.
We love our culture and roots. Jesus is better.
We love our church. Jesus is better.
We love our students at Salem. Jesus is better.
May the gospel go forth. May the world know that Jesus is better than all and everything. May we love all the good gifts of God in life less than we love Jesus and more fully because of him.
Futsal and Jesus
Pray for me and Guy as we spend time with these men. May God be glorified in all that we do. A provoking question buzzing around with the staff here has been "What does futsal have to do with Jesus?" It has made me think and I will answer it with similar questions.
1. What did fishing have to do with Jesus?
2. What did getting water out of a well have to do with Jesus?
3. What did riding in a boat with his disciples have to do with Jesus?
4. What did weddings have to do with Jesus?
5. What did grave sites have to do with Jesus?
6. What did eating with friends have to do with Jesus?
These are just a few of the ordinary things Jesus took part in to be with people. So what does futsal have to do with Jesus? Jesus has something to do with those who play futsal and will use ordinary people through ordinary things to do it.
What are some ordinary things in and around you that you can get involved in to show and share the love and gospel of Jesus?
His body was broken for broken families
Jesus came to seek and save those that are lost and in finding them, restore them.
This restoration does not come by means of morality lists and supreme effort by us, it comes by death, specifically Jesus' and then ours. There are many great books that do help us to be better people, husbands, wives and children but they build on a rotten foundation, our sinful nature. We need to be made anew and we need a better foundation. Jesus, through his death and resurrection makes us new, gives us a new nature, and becomes our foundation. In being our substitute, Jesus absorbed the punishment of God in our place. This one aspect of the gospel frees us from condemnation, guilt, and works based good ol' boy systems that have proved to be failures. Even public schools see the decay around us and need for restoration, so what do they do? They hand out powerfully good words of the week and hope to change lives. Is that working? No.
In short, we need Jesus, God's word, and the indwelling Holy Spirit to heal us and make us whole, to make our communities whole, and to make us lovers of God and others, not of our selves.
Two rotten core foundations that have been eroding the world from the beginning are pride and selfishness. You will not be too surprised if you do a search for divorce rate in America. These two core values show themselves in many other ways, but I want to focus on families, where all societies have their roots. We are so much about ourselves! So much so that we are blinded to see that we are killing ourselves and those around us.
USA is not alone in the increase of divorces:
One blog shares with us the Thai governments assessment of the divorce rate increasing in Thailand along with unregistered marriages:
"The statistics shows a gradual loss of faith in the family, according to government officials.
This could lead to other society problems, they warned.
The government has been promoting a return to family values in order to preserve a loving and peaceful Thai society."
Family values are not enough
Once again, we need Jesus, we need a helper, we need more than good goals and hopes, we need power, we need a new nature, we need the gospel everyday. Everyday I need to be reminded that through the cross Jesus died for me, for the specific junk I am living in, and because of his resurrection I have the power and ability to trust him and be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus will make me whole, make me better, for God's glory, and for my families good and then for the good of the world.
Statisticlly, most of us come from some type of "broken" or dysfunctional family. God desires to heal us and make us whole and functional. He does that through the cross. I do not write this to discourage you in your brokenness, but to encourage you to confess it and trust God with the results.
How are you loving your parents? your wife? your husband? your children? your neighbors? and even your enemies? How am I? I need Jesus. Read the following update, pray, and be encouraged.
Brian Firpo, our country director, wrote the following update:
"It was the last day of our campus staff training on May 13th when Yute, one of our Thai staff men got a call from his mom. His mom was crying & said she’d had enough of being married to Yute’s dad. His dad felt the same way. A week later, Yute was sitting in his home leading a discussion between his father, mother & younger brother where each of them were sharing their hurt with each other, confessing their sin and being reconciled. Terri & I have been in Thailand almost TWENTY years & we’ve never heard of such a thing happening. His parents or brother haven’t accepted Christ yet, but the LIGHT of Christ has shined in their home through the power of the Gospel. In a country where younger people are never listened to … In a country where you never admit you are wrong because you lose face … In a country where almost 70 million Buddhist live … The Gospel of Christ is transforming lives & families one person at a time. Please pray for Yute as he evangelizes college students at KKU and as he evangelizes his family at home."
worth
As we walked into the fairly new yet greasy waffle house, we saw some friends of ours from church. We walked over and said hello, talked for a minute and then went to another table and had dinner. As we were about finished, our friend came by and let me know that he took care of our bill and invited me to come by his house so he could make me a pen. I was not exactly sure what it would be like to watch someone make a pen, but let me tell you, it is pretty cool and I would not be able to do it. I was intrigued the entire time, I felt like I was Mr. Rogers on a field trip to a cool place only I didn't sing a song before I left home as I put my shoes and cardigan on...I guess this day in age it would just be a sweater vest. Anyways, my pen is just that, my pen. It was made just for me, with my preferences in mind. I will never look at this pen like I have always looked at pens...as pens. This pen not only is valuable monetarily, but it is priceless to me in personal value. OK, maybe I would sale it for over a thousand dollars for all you sticklers out there like me, but we know that will not happen, even then I would inform my friend, ask permission, split the money and then have him make me another one.
As I think about my pen tonight, I am reminded of how God is the master craftsman and designer of all creation. We were not made on an assembly line, but were hand made by God. This gives us great worth and even purpose. Assembly line pens work and can even be expensive but there is just something about a hand-made one that makes it better.
God has made me, Christ has saved me, and the Holy Spirit is comforting, leading, and empowering me. Like a pen is made to write, I am made to worship. I was made to have a personal relationship with my creator. I was not made on an impersonal assembly line that by chance happens to crank out people.
Am I living according to the value that God gives and Jesus has purchased for me? Do I worship God with my whole heart, mind and strength? He has fashioned me to make His Name great. I can hold in my hand an awesomely completed pen, but I praise God that He is holding me in His hand, complete but needing lots of sanding, gluing, and refilling.
in Christ alone. justified.
Romans 5:1
Did Jesus come to teach those that are "good" and those that are bad a better way to live so they could follow his ways and one day be declared righteous? Are we made right in God's eyes because we attend church, say a prayer, give our tithe, give to missions, sell millions of albums and thank Him at the awards, walk to the front of the church and cry or maybe even pass out, sing in the choir-especially soprano or tenor, clean out the church bus toilet, become a minister, say the Lord's prayer before the big game, refrain from "dipping, cussing and chew and dating those that do", teach 7th grade boys Sunday school, feed the hungry, adopt children, take care of widows, give away free water downtown without even mentioning our churches name, or cut the pastors lawn?
Deep down and even on the surface we know that these things can not save us. So how can we get to God? How can we be made right and be forgiven? We need help because without it, we are doomed.
If you are a Christian then you have been justified, in other words the Christian, "through faith in Christ, has been justified and declared righteous by God, once for all. The result of this is that the Christian no longer lives under the fear of judgment and the wrath of God but has peace with God, which is not merely a subjective feeling but an objective reality."(ESV study bible)
We no longer pay the price for our sins because Jesus, in love, took our sins upon Himself absorbing the wrath of God. God, in the most Supreme court, takes the substitutionary death of Jesus on our behalf and declares us free and forgiven. Jesus paid the price, our death penalty. God sees us now as righteous, because of Jesus, not because of us.
So believer, walk in the freedom and peace that Jesus accomplished for us, God gives us and the Holy Spirit empowers. In faith follow Jesus and do great deeds, but do them because you are justified and love God, not to be justified as you fall deeper in love with yourself.
In Christ alone am I justified.
in Christ alone
If you are a Christian then you are a child of God, you have been adopted into His family. This adoption does not happen due to us living in such a way that earns God's favor. It is not like God walks through the spiritual orphanage and sees us looking cute, being sweet, or displaying obedience causing Him to take us home. We do not become His children because we follow some laws in faith and want to be like Jesus. We become His children solely based off the the works of Jesus, trusting in Him to save us from our sins. None of us are worthy, but through Jesus we receive our worth and rights as God's children.
I think it is important to know that our standing as children of God is all of grace. I don't deserve all the rights of a child of the King of all, I deserve all the rights of a sinner, the right to receive the wrath of God. GRACE!
As I look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, I am full of gratitude and joy. I am not saved by my works,
but I am saved because of the works of Jesus and faith in Him alone. God has adopted us to display His awesome love, forgiveness, mercy, grace, power, and so many other things that brings delightful worship. God has adopted us to show us and the world His worthy Son. God has adopted us to live through us in the person of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, I am a son of God, a child of God. May I never insult Him by thinking my works add to what Jesus did for me on the cross, giving me some credit for this privilege of sonship.
In Christ alone am I a child of God.
the Jesus Storybook Bible
Follow. Pray. Encourage.
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