Dear America: Chapter Two (vs. 1-5)

The First Letter from the Apostle Paul to the chuch of God in America.

(Adapted from the NKJV 1 Corinthians)

CHAPTER TWO (vs. 1-5)

For example, think about when I travelled to America and preached in your church buildings. I did not succumb to the many temptations I received from your elders to "enhance your worship experience." Is this a common phrase among you?

What enhancing does the Spirit of Almighty God need?

Again, when I came to America, I did not preach nearly as eloquently as your beloved pastors do. My message was so incredibly simple that the comments left online suggested that I actually lacked wisdom. 

Yes, my physical appearance was not what you are used to. I am short and thin and rarely dressed as well as you would like, and you could probably see my knees shaking and hands trembling. The weight of my messages were so burdensome to me. 

Does my appearance and sermon delivery really impact you so much? Are you offended that I declined your worship teams offer to play "emotional music" during my final prayer? Are you offended that I didn't tell funny stories or jokes? Are you offended that I didn't use deep theological terms and well designed charts or power points? 

Are you so offended that all I talked about was Jesus Christ on the cross for your sins?

"It's too elementary," was one comment I received.

"If Paul didn't know the story of Jesus on the cross he would have absolutely nothing to preach on for his over-the-time-limit sermons. I guess we all know if he comes back, it's a good week to skip."

Brothers and sisters, I grew up a man of religion. If I desired to preach on something else, I have quite the repirtoire. Unlike many of yourselves, I have spent my life, not gaining knowledge, but ridding myself of it. The only thing I want to know is Jesus on the cross. 

Because only that is wisdom. Only that is power. 

Dear Americans, your country begs you to put your faith in money and sex. They beg you to believe that success is wise to pursue. This faith and wisdom is damned. 

Put your faith in the cross. That alone, with no substitute, is wisdom. 

Dear America: Chapter One

The First Letter from the Apostle Paul to the chuch of God in America.

(Adapted from the NKJV 1 Corinthians)

CHAPTER ONE

My Dear church of God in America,

My dear saints! Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ our Lord. 

As I sit writing this, or should I say, as I dictate to our wonderful brother in the faith, Sam, I cannot help but to pause for a quick prayer of thanksgiving. It seems like every time I think of you all, I cannot help but thank God for the grace you have found in Christ Jesus. He truly has blessed you, not only with salvation and a good testimony, but with so much knowledge as well. Not only that, but the spiritual gifts God has given you is nothing short of a miracle. I have no doubt that when Christ Jesus is at last revealed, He will find you blameless. Isn't God faithful? Not only to hold you in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ, but in fellowship with each other as well. Do not underestimate that fellowship.

I truly wish I were writing under different circumstances. I would not be so inclined to remind you of my position of leadership as an apostle of Jesus Christ, which was given to me by God Himself. For it is with that authority I write to you know, begging you to listen to correction. 

My joy for you turned so quickly to sadness when I heard of the countless division among you. When the people in your communities see only constant disagreement, what are they to think of your faith? By definition, followers of Christ are supposed to be likeminded. I have even received letters informing me that there are often heated arguments among yourselves as to whether you are followers of me, John Piper, Andy Stanley, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll or Christ! I was completely speachless.

Is Christ a savior of division?

Was Andy Stanley the one who hung naked on a cross for you? How about Piper, Keller or Driscoll?

Do you baptize in my name?

I thank God that I only baptized a few of you, so that you do not get confused and think that being baptized by me somehow makes you "a follower of Paul."

My ministry is simply to preach the gospel. I'm not even eloquent when I preach. At times like these I am grateful, or perhaps even more of you would be distracted from Christ since you seem so prone to follow eloquent speakers. The world is obsessed with wisdom, and the cross if foolish to such people. But not to me. Not to us, America. The world looks at the cross and laughs, but we know it represents the power of God. It's just like Isaiah, the prophet wrote so many years ago. 

"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

Where are your psychologists? Where are those who handle the tiniest details of religion? Where are the traveling debaters? They think they are so very wise, but in God's eyes they are stupid. When God looked at our planet, He saw how much we relied on our humanly wisdom, so in His own wisdom, He decided to save the lost through what appeared to us as foolishness. 

You see, scientists require scientific evidence, and psychologists require wisdom from books, but we preach about a filthy wooden cross and blood and nails and a tomb. The scientists stumble over such simplicity and the psychologists mock it. But to those whom God has chosen, it is a powerful wisdom. Because the foolishness of God, if there were any, would still be wiser than the greatest thinkers' wisdom. The weakness of God, if there were any, would be stronger than the strongest of men. 

Look at yourselves, brothers and sisters. You are called by God, yet there is little about you physically that the world would deem "strong" or "powerful." You see, God rarely calls such types. Look around at the "hottest" models or strongest athletes. Rarely are they the ones God has chosen. Our dear brother, Russell from Seattle is a wonderful example. (For those of you who do  not follow sports, I apologize for the sports analogies I often bring up.) 

Russell is not many people's first choice in an athlete, especially of his position, yet The Lord found it fitting to use him, despite his worldly weaknesses. 

Why?

Because God has chosen to use things and people that the world views as useless, to show how little the world actually knows. God has chosen the weakest people to show earth's strongest how weak they really are. God has chosen the lowest class citizen and the unwelcome immigrant and the unpopular kid who passes through high school in shadows. 

Again, I ask, why?

He has done this so that each of us may not have any pride in ourselves. That we should not focus on ourselves. But that we should find glory in God, both now and when we are finally in His presence. 

Brothers and sisters, look at the wonderful example we have in Jesus Himself. He was just like us. Born into a nobody family in a unknown town in a dirty barn. His father worked carpentry, and his mother wasn't anyone famous either. He was murdered in the most humiliating and painful way. Naked and bloody for all the world to see. 

This is the wisdom of God. 

And the world mocks it. 

But not us. Here, in this humility. In this weakness we find righteousness. We find growth toward holiness. We find redemption and hope. 

I'm reminded of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who said, "He who glories, let him glory in The Lord."

For Auld Lang Syne

As the clock struck midnight, confetti shot into the air, shouts filled my ears, lovers kissed and the words to Auld Lang Syne echoed accross the walls. The confetti came from mini poppers purchased at our local Alco. The shouts and kisses arose only from Meredith and I, as did the words to the old Scottish tune. "For Auld Lang Syne."

For old time's sake. 

My 2013 was...eventful. I graduated college two weeks before the new year and moved home. In January, I moved to my brother's apartment in Grand Forks, North Dakota and worked at Olive Garden. A few months later, I moved to my girlfriend's parents' house in Atlanta, Georgia and worked as a salesman. Two months later, I moved back to Minnesota - unemployed. Two months later, I became engaged. One month later, I began working construction. Two months later, I was married. One month later, my wife, dog and I moved to Scotia, Nebraska to begin a 6-month internship at my brother's church. 

For old time's sake. 

And here I sit, typing. January 1, 2014. I just finished my morning devotions, and in front of me, I can see my chocolate lab puppy sleeping on the couch, with my wife next to her, reading her Bible next to the window. What does 2014 hold for the three of us? I'm tempted to pray it doesn't hold the sorrows of 2013, and yet I plead for the same joys of the past year. 

We'll take a cup of kindness yet. 

Amidst resolutions and new calendars and diet blogs, how do we truly start the new year? How do we begin again? How can we truly form new habits and hope for better times ahead when all the morning seemed to bring us was one day closer to more deadlines and responsibilities and chocolate cravings, and none of our 2013 troubles seem to be forgotten? Raise a glass

For old time's sake. 

The Lord gives, and The Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of The Lord. He has brought 2013 and taken it away. And we praise Him for it. What does 2014 hold? I have no idea. I'll let my tomorrow's worry about themselves. Last year, I sought to honor The Lord. Today I seek to honor Him. Tomorrow I shall seek the same. When it comes to a new year, there really isn't anything as important as that. Let's face it. My wife and I will probably gain weight. My dog will no longer be a cute puppy. I'll spill coffee on the carpet, and I won't go nearly as many places as I'd like. But I have a wife who loves me and loves God. I have a roof over my head. And I have a Savior who ever intercedes for me. I can toast to that. 

For now, I think it's time to join my dog and wife on the couch. 

Digging for Gold in a Chalk Mine (Regarding the Measurements of the Tabernacle)

As many of us read through the "boring parts" of the Books of the Law, we are left wondering, "Should I skip this? Is this really necessary for me  - a New Testament believer?"

It's a valid question. Moses goes on and on and on about measurements that seem to have nothing to do with a twenty-first century Earth citizen. After all, what are we supposed to glean from the tabernacle measurements?

Perhaps, we are completely missing the point. We are digging for gold in a chalk mine.

Followers of the Way are not bound to the Old Testament way of worship. We do not have to enter the Tabernacle of God, frozen with terror that we may be slain for our sins.

The Law should not be boring. It can't be boring.

The psalmist of Psalm 119:97 declared, "Oh, how I love Your law!" It was his "meditation all the day."

"But he was under the law," you might say. "Why should I rejoice for something I am not under?"

The answer is simple. We should rejoice over the Law because we are NOT under it.

We rejoice, because as we read chapter after chapter regarding the measurements of a house for God, we remember the child born in the manger. who made all of Earth His home, and after his death and resurrection, made the human heart His home.

No more must we gather fine woven linen and blue yarn and gold and badger skins. We need not measure the tabernacle of The Lord, for its measurements are that of our hearts.

Regarding the "fakeness" of Christianity

The other day I was discuussing the shortcomings I felt in my faith with a dear friend.

"Shouldn't our conversation be so revolved around things of The Lord? - like how excited we are for Heaven?"

Even as the words escaped my lips, I knew the response I would hear, because it was exactly what I was feeling.

"Isn't that really cheesy? I just feel fake talking about that."

And the truth was...I agreed. Heaven rarely enters my vocabulary, unless I'm talking to my parents or happen to say "thank heavens." After all, we don't have a lot of experience with Heaven. It's hard to get excited about something we've never seen and know very little about.

I pondered this conversation for the next several days, when one Sunday morning (ashamedly during my dad's sermon on a completely different topic) the answer hit me.

Of course it's cheesy and fake-feeling!

...just like so many other things in our lives we hold dear.


Let me give one example and let you fill in the others for yourselves.

Sports.

I love sports - especially football. I crave the NFL season each of the seven months in which I loathe its absence. But it wasn't always that way. I didn't used to care that much. Sure, my brother's and I were crazy Vikings fans, but it wasn't until I met Sam that it really came alive for me.

I used to play catch in his front yard for hours on end, listening to nothing but the sound of nature and Sam talking about the Vikings. He knew every player, stat, score, stadium and result for the past 10 years. It was astounding...and boring.

My relationship with sports, however, began to grow through those conversations. I began to understand his passion, and the more I learned, the more I shared those passions.

The first time I entered the Metrodome for a Minnesota Vikings game I could hear and feel my heart banging against my ribcage. I couldn't believe it was real. For so many years I had watched the game on T.V. and listened on the radio. Today, I was the one watching in the flesh. One of the relatively few honored guests of such a sacred game.


Is it not the same with Christ? I know of men and women who overnight became obsessed with Scripture and Heaven and God, and to an extent, that should not be shocking. The power of the Holy Spirit is...well powerful.

But for many of us, I don't think it happens that way. I don't think we instantly naturally talk about how excited we are for Heaven. It's a process. We have friends farther along than us that lead us along the way - that saturate us with their own excitement until it becomes ours.

In Colossians 3:2, Paul tells the Church to "set your mind on things above."

Why? Because we walk where we look. When I set my mind on the Vikings, my relationship with them grew exceeding quickly. When I set my mind on Christ, the same result occurs.

Set your mind on things above today, and you'll be surprised how quickly the fakey, cheesy feeling goes away.

Regarding the Lie of "Calling"

If I could talk today’s generation out of pursuing something – if I could I could convince every teenager and child that one concept was a lie – it would be that of “calling.”

The dictionary has two definitions for “calling.”

1. n: a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action.
2. n: the activity in which one customarily engages as an occupation

Most people have combined the two definitions and rephrased it as:

            n: a strong inner impulse toward a particular occupation

The term “calling” is used constantly by Christians today, especially those in high school and college. For most people I’ve talked to about it, the word refers to something God gives us, and on the surface, I would agree with them. God does give each of us a calling.

The problem is that most people spend their entire high school and college years searching for this calling. Some spend even longer. Some spend their entire lives and never find it. I find this extremely sad and alarming.

Clearly this is not what God intended when He created the cosmos.

So what is the problem? Why do so many spend so long searching for their calling? The answer is two-fold, though really quite simple.

1. Christians have bought into the devil’s lie that each of them have their own specific calling.
2. Christians have bought into the devil’s lie that their calling cannot be found directly in the words of Scripture.

These two lies are incredibly interlinked, but I will do my best to explain them separately.

Let me assure you that if you believe either of the lies stated above, you have been deceived. One of the devil’s most successful lies against believers today is the idea that God promotes individuality.

Now, I’m not saying that people aren’t different. Of course we are different, and that is a good thing. But our differences were never supposed to be a focal point. Read the word’s of Paul to the Galatians…

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.*1  

And Paul’s letter to the Colossians…

You have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. *2

And finally Paul’s letter to the Corinthians…

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. *3

Paul clearly found this issue important enough to address to at least three of the churches he wrote. But Paul wasn’t the only New Testament man who preached unity. Listen to the words of Jesus, as He prayed before His death…

I do not pray for these alone (the disciples), but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. *4

Jesus says the word “one” five times in that section of his prayer. This was Jesus’ last prayer to the Father before the cross, and what He found to be the most pressing matter to bring before God was the unity of believers – both present and those to come.

This is not the message of today. Today’s youth are consumed with conforming to this world and finding their individuality in Christ. Again, the devil has won a great victory, though he really isn’t the one to blame. If believers truly studied the words of Christ, how could they miss an entire testament devoted to unity?

Think about it. Unity is what it’s all about. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered to love God and to love others.

To unite with God and unite with others, especially the believers.

Which brings me to the second problem with our generation’s view of calling. So many students and young adults view their calling as “a strong inner impulse toward a particular occupation” that God will magically give them at some point. This is a flawed view.

God calls no one to a certain occupation. He is not calling me to be a writer. He is not calling you to be a fireman. He did not call Uncle Billy to be an engineer or Aunt Ruth to be a lawyer. He is not calling you be to a policeman or accountant or teacher or plumber or psychologist or physical trainer or radio host or pastor.

Stop wasting your time waiting for God to call you to something, because He won’t. God is not in the business of choosing occupations. He is in the business of curing a age old curse. He is in the business of changing lives. And He has (to use the word everyone loves so much) “called” you and me to help Him do this.

That is the only thing he has called us to.

Paul wrote these words to the church in Thessalonica…

Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. *5

You want a calling? Well here you go. Fulfill the good work of Christ. Make sure that whatever you do – whatever occupation – that you glorify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ through it. Paul made this really simple to the church in Corinth when he wrote…

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. *6

Paul wasn’t concerned about money. He wasn’t concerned about occupation. He was concerned about how he drank, how he ate, how he spoke, how he slept, and how he walked. When people looked at any aspect of what Paul did, they saw Christ.

What do people see when they look at you? What do they see when you go shopping – how you use your money? What do they see when you go to the movies – what you watch? What do they see when you eat – how much?  What do they see when you are in your house – how you spend your time? What do they see when you help the poor – or do you? What do they see when you visit people in jail – or do you? What do they see when you help a stranger – or do you?

In the book of Matthew, Jesus speaks of what will happen when He returns. All the nations are gathered before Him. He will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, and this is the reason He will give for how they were separated…

Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. *7

The righteous will then look at Jesus and ask when they did these things, because many of them will be seeing Jesus for the first time. Then Jesus will say…

In as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. *8

Brothers and sisters. Stop looking for God’s calling on your life. It’s right here. Glorify God in everything you do, especially by helping people in need. I guarantee this calling is so much better than any other one you are waiting so desperately for.

You don’t need a book, a mentor or a $200 Christian conference to tell you this. Christ told us for free a long time ago.

So be what you want to be. Don’t wait for God to give you a vision that it’s okay to be a fireman. Let me tell you now. It’s okay for you to be a fireman. But be a fireman that glorifies God in every fire. Be a nurse that glorifies God in the way you treat every patient. Be a lawyer who glorifies God through every court case and through every piece of evidence.

Paul says to pray that God would count us of worthy of this calling. Why? Because it’s a high calling. It’s a calling with eternal consequences. It’s a beautiful, wonderful calling that unites every believer together. And if every believer took hold of this calling, the work of Christ would flourish in a way that the world hasn’t experienced for two thousand years.

*  All Scripture is from the NKJV

1. Galatians 3:28

2. Colossians 3:9-11

3. I Corinthians 12:12-13

4. John 17:20-23

5. II Thessalonians 1:11-12

6. I Corinthians 10:31-33

7. Matthew 25:34-36

8. Matthew 25:40

Regarding Humility

I was reading through John 3 the other day when I came across two very interesting conversations. You may or may not recognize both, but I’m sure you’ve read at least the first. The first conversation is between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus the famous line, “For God so loved the world…” You know the rest.

However, there is another intriguing conversation that happens later in the same chapter that holds perhaps equal weight.

This is found in John 3:22-36.

The Baptizer, named John, was confronted by the Jews, as well as his own disciples.

“Rabbi,” they said, “He who was with you (Jesus) beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified – behold He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

Now at first glance, perhaps we might think that John’s disciples are excited about people coming to Jesus. After all, John said Jesus would come, He came, and now people were following Him. It was perfect.

The disciples were not happy, however, because they had missed the point of John’s ministry.

Before Jesus’ ministry began, everyone had been coming to John to be baptized. Now Jesus was the one with all the followers. He had all the attention John had once had, and the disciples were upset.

Let’s put this in today’s context.

Let’s say someone comes up to you and tells you that someone in your town is going to start a food and housing shelter for the homeless, and that it is your job to start a temporary one in the meantime. You get some of your buddies together and make it happen.

You build a small shelter where the homeless can eat and sleep, and you tell each of them that very soon someone is going to build a huge, permanent place for them to stay and eat.

Well, a long time passes and soon everyone knows you as the guy who helps the homeless. Hundreds of people come through your doors, and you and your buddies feel pretty good.

Then out of the blue someone else comes, builds a way bigger place, and nearly everyone who is homeless leaves your place and goes to the new place.

It’s a nicer place, sure. The food is better, the rooms are more comfortable, and it is big enough to fit everyone in need. You know it’s better this way.

Your buddies come up to you and say, “Hey! That guy just came in and stole our business. What’s up with that? We were the big shots. People looked up to us. We were doing a good thing, helping people. Who is this new guy anyway?

Well in John 3, the new guy was Jesus. The name meant nothing to the disciples, but John understood. John’s ministry had been to baptize and proclaim Jesus. But John’s ministry was not meant to last forever. Jesus’ ministry was.

Now John could have still agreed with his disciples. He could have complained, pouted, or even neglected to finish God’s calling on His life.

He didn’t.

Here is what John told his disciples instead:

“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The example John uses here may sound a little strange, but bear with it for a moment.

The point of the example is this. The wedding day is not about the best man, it’s about the bride and groom. The best man doesn’t stand in the front and shout, “Hey look at me! I’m the best man! I’ve stuck with the groom his whole life!”

No.

It’s true that the best man has done his part for the groom, but when the wedding roles around, even the best man stands in the background.

John knew that.

And then John interjects one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible.

“He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.”

John understood the necessity of Jesus’ increase. What is most powerful here is the second usage of the word “must.” John wasn’t saying that he supposed his popularity would die down after Jesus’ picked up.

John was saying that it was completely necessary for he himself to decrease so that Jesus might increase.

Present Day

What does that mean for us?

What does such humility look like?

Let me give you a visual.

Think of the old time scales. The ones where you add something to both sides to make sure they are even.

On one side you have Jesus and on one side is you.

You want to show Jesus in your life. You want Him to “increase.”

How do you do so?

You add humility to your own life. You add humility on top of humility on top of humility until you hit rock bottom and Jesus is raised as high as possible.

Jesus is always exalted in humility.

The more pride, the less Jesus.

The more humility, the more Jesus.

Now if you are having trouble believing, accepting or understanding this, let me give you one last example.

Jesus.

When Jesus was on earth, He wanted to exalt the Father (God).

In Luke 22:42, Jesus is praying moments before He is arrested.

He says, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but yours, be done.”

Jesus knew the pain (both physical, emotional and spiritual) that would accompany His death. And just like you or me, He would have rather not gone through that. But more than His own desires, He wanted what the Father wanted. He wanted to exalt God, and the best way He knew how was to humble Himself, more than any person in the history of the world ever had or ever would humble themselves.

This alone is enough to make us humble ourselves. But God is gracious, and offers a promise to those who humble themselves.

Matthew 23:12 says that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Exaltation always comes through humility, both for ourselves and others.

Ultimate exaltation, however, isn’t the reason we are to be humble.

It can’t be.

The temptation to exalt ourselves would be too great in this life. After all, it is so easy to exalt yourself.

Jesus said that we are to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23).

In order for us to carry that much humility each day requires a goal, a purpose much greater than self-exaltation.

We carry our cross for the Creator of the world, just as Christ did. We carry our cross for something bigger than ourselves, for a grand story that is still being told. We carry our cross to show the greatness of God.

But when the cross becomes unbearably heavy, and we no longer think our part of the story is important enough for the trouble; it is then that we are reminded that glory awaits just beyond death’s gates.

He must increase. I must decrease.

And when we exhale for the last time on earth, and inhale for the first time in Heaven, we will understand. We will see the grand story in its fullness, and we will be exalted together with Christ.

1 John 3:2

God Bless