The Depth of the Father's Love Is Overwhelming

We often sing a song in corporate worship entitled, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, the text is awfully powerful.  I think that the text is so powerful because it calls us to grips to the depths of God’s love.  The only way that we can remotely understand and comprehend the depths of that love, is through the understanding of the depths and severity of our own sin.  The text actually combats our natural and sinful inclination in which we are tempted to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.  Though while none of us would readily admit it, we more often than not, live our lives as if we have something to offer God, that there is something that God somehow needs from us.  While the reality is, as the song says, we are “wretch”, people of a despicable character, who undeserving have been made a treasure. 

Furthermore, the reality that this text continues to reveal, is that this undeserving grace did not come without a price, it did not come without a cost.  There was much pain physically and emotionally, as God who was fully human experienced not only physical torture, but humiliation as well.  This grace did not come without a price, it was our guilt upon His shoulders, it was our mocking voices who were crucifying Him, it was our sin that brought Him death, which brought us life.  This is the depth of the love of the Father, this is the depth of our wretchedness, this is the depth of our salvation. 

Therefore as redeemed wretches, what can we boast in apart from Jesus Christ?  Apart from Him we have nothing to offer, we bring nothing to the table; we brought guilt upon His shoulders, He gave us life.  Why should we gain this undeserved grace, this reward?  Our only response can be that Jesus Is Lord!  Christ died for the ungodly. 

Anthony Carter states this point well in an article at Ligonier.org:  “All because of the love of God. Christ left heaven. He laid aside glory, concealing His majesty. He subjected Himself to the creature’s scorn, outcast from a world He created. He suffered demonic attack, lies, and public ridicule. Friends forsook Him. He was brutally beaten, stripped, and put to open shame. Spat upon and slapped, publicly and shamefully executed, He assumed the guilt and punishment for every sin we ever committed. He reconciled us to God and secured our acceptance before God. Why? Because justice demanded it and our justification required it. Because He loved us even before we ever knew Him or understood what He was doing.

Thankfully, now we do.”

How Deep The Father’s Love for Us!

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

     

Marriage: A Biblical Mandate of Christ's Love

What do you value?  There are many things that we attribute value to.  For example our money system in America, the paper that we hold in our hands is just simply paper, similar to receipts, junk mail, and advertisements that we throw away each day; however we would never knowingly throw away a dollar, because we have attributed value to it.  There are many things in life that are of value to one person and not to the next, as precious as our money is to us, in many third world countries or remote villages who don't rely upon currency, our dollar bills are simply paper to them.  Value is attributed by us to certain things; that being said what are some things that Christ attributed value or worth to?  Christ obviously placed value or worth upon Himself, His Father, and The Holy Spirit as the Godhead.  Christ also placed value upon those who would follow Him, or in short the "church".  He shows us this value because He tells us through scripture and in particular in Ephesians 5:25 that He gave/handed over Himself for her (the church).  Therefore Christ placed much worth and much value in the church that He would hand Himself over for her.  

Obviously you know though that the emphasis in Ephesians 5 is not in the fact that Christ gave Himself for the church, but it is in the comparison that Christ demands that same love which He displayed for the church to be portrayed from a husband to his wife.  Christ placed extreme value in the church, to the point of death, He is commanding us to find that same value in our spouses.  Christ does not stop at the point of calling us to find value in the same way that He valued our souls, He continues in verse 29 calling us to love our wife in the same way that we love our own bodies.  I am not sure about you, but I am scared and fear bodily pain, in that way I seek in every way and effort to protect my body from physical pain and damage.  This imagery that is set before us is that in the same fashion that we seek to protect our body physically, emotionally, and mentally, so should we seek to protect and love our wife.  Christ is serious that we as men practice spiritual headship in which we are the leader and protector of our homes.  

Now I am not unwise in the aspect that I recognize most of whom read this have not only been married longer than I have, but many have been married longer than I have been alive; I have learned much about how to treat my wife and my family by watching the biblical example that many of you portray for me as a young husband and father.  However with that being said, the Lord has spoke into my life the past week a burning desire to discover and share the way in which we as Men, the spiritual leaders of our household should treat our wife as a testimony of Christ's love for the church to a world around us who does not understand a biblical view of marriage and therefore does not understand the imagery displayed through marriage of Christ's love for the church.  Therefore I urge you as Godly men, publicly share with others how you love your wife, adore her, and "love her more than your own body" so that the hurting and dying world around us will see the biblical view of what marriage should be and can understand what Christ has done for us through loving us more than He loved His own body.  

The Definition of Worship

A Book Summary

Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel

Part 1: The Definition of Worship

One of the most influential books that I have read in the past year is Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel written by Dr. Gordon Borror. Dr. Borror is the current chair of the music ministry and worship department at Southwestern and has a unique perspective and understanding of ministry having watched the churches progression over his fifty-two years in ministry and education. I hope that you enjoy this summary that will occur over the next four weeks.

When I say the word “worship”, what is your reaction? Is it that is what occurs on Sunday morning at 10:45? Or it may draw your memory to recollect a certain church building you grew up in. Or you may picture robed priests with incense and candles? Or maybe you think of a room surrounded with candles led by an acoustic guitar? Or you may remember a tent on a humid afternoon singing revival hymns. We all have imagery that is associated with a nostalgic time of worship where the presence of God touched us in a real way and demanded a response – either at that very moment or in some habits that we needed to rectify. “What, then, is worship? Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth”

Why worship God? When we worship God we receive and have opportunity to respond in fulfilling our purpose in life. “Worship is about God, and worship is what God desires from us.” God is actively seeking true worshipers. So what is true worship? Worship is revelation and response. In today’s church we have strong expository preaching and as a result the church has become great at hearing the word. However many times we forget to respond. Worship is not just hearing but it is doing the word. Do not just Hear the Word & Receive but also let’s Do the Word & Respond. Worship means to respond to God. If we fail to respond, worship has probably not occurred. Consider Isaiah 6; throughout this passage the prophet receives revelation and responds until ultimately the Lord reveals His plan and a need for a messenger with the prophet responding “Here I am, Send Me”. Our response may not be exactly that as the prophet’s was in Isaiah, it might look like a change in lifestyle, repentance of a certain sin, or a change in perspective; regardless of what it looks like, there must be a response.

A response that I have been mindful of lately is intentional fellowship. I’ve said it before, but the honest truth is on the outside I don’t have much in common with a majority of the people in the church I attend. That is the way it should be – a Church is a unique group of people that are only assembled because they have ONE Unifying factor, which is “Jesus is Lord”. If this is the case and the church believe this, then why is it that often when the church gathers for fellowship the only talk that occurs is about the weather or other types of “filler” conversations? If Christ is truly the only unifying factor, why does the church not talk about what He is doing in our lives and how He is growing us?

A few weeks ago on a Sunday Morning I was reminded how important it is that we have intentional fellowship and share one another burdens by an older man in my church. I had just returned from a whirlwind trip to Mississippi in which I had seen my grandmother alive, seen her die, and led out in her funeral, I was loaded with emotions and just desired for the Sunday to be over quickly. An older man came to me hugged me and truthfully told me he cared for me, loved me, and was praying for me. He didn’t have to go out of his way to do that, he didn’t have to open up my emotions, but he did. He could have taken the easy road and come to church and left church. Why would he take time to share my burdens? He did this because he is a servant & worshipper. How do we worship God day in and day out? Through responding by Loving God and loving others.

Love = Service = Worship.

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Source: Borror, Gordon, and Ronald Allen Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel.

Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1982

Who Determines Right & Wrong?

Let me first preface this article with saying I think that it is important as Christians that we be knowledgeable of the non-Christian agenda in the world today. We must know who the people are that we are trying to reach before we can ever reach them. Not that we ever lower the standards of a life that Glorify's God for the sake of being relevant, but at some point and time we have to go where to where the lost are for the sake that some may come to faith and Christ can pull them out of the bondage to sin in which they are enslaved.

With that being said I want to throw a new word out for you that most of you may not be familiar with: "Open-Marriage". This is a word that I was not familiar with until recently. An Open-Marriage can be defined as a marriage in which the partners agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded as infidelity. You may say, "THAT'S CRAZY!" like I did when I first heard of this arrangement but the fact of the matter is these types of "agreements" are on the rise.

The hope/reasoning in the "open-marriage" agreement is that a large portion of marriages fail because of the lying and distrust that goes along with being unfaithful sexually in the marriage. Therefore if we just accept that we can be with other sexual partners and don't have to lie about it then at least our marriage will last and not be filled with lies and distrust.

The first time that I heard about an "open-marriage" agreement was actually at a church - Fellowship Church in Dallas. Last September there was a filming of a Nightline Debate "Are We Born To Cheat". One of the panelist had found the answer through an open marriage agreement. The second time I have heard about this agreement was through an article on CNN where a lady was being proposed to join an open-marriage agreement. The lady did inevitably turn the agreement down but I just want to throw out some quotes from her rationality of whether or not to participate in this type of relationship:

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"Telling the truth shows your partner respect, as does following agreed upon rules -- for example, keeping your partner in the loop as to where you have been and who you have been with."

"The goal of an open marriage is to never have to lie -- to create an environment where you can be open about anything.."

"Basically, the thought is that if you truly love your partner, you want them to live their fullest life -- flings and all. Flings are simply superficial sensory delights. There's no difference between your partner enjoying a pizza with anchovies without you and your partner enjoying a blonde with blue eyes without you."

"In a good open marriage, you are simply creating a buffet of sexual experiences, so nobody feels like they are starving for new sensations. This honesty enables couples to avoid the emotional downward spiral of hidden affairs because the need for secrecy is removed."

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This is where the world is in it's rational. This is a generation who has grown up in broken homes and seen how their parents marriages didn't work and now are striving for answers to how to just make a marriage work. This is a world who has turned to the movie theater to define "love".

True biblical love is a verb. It requires action through the form of service and selflessness. The only way that we can understand how a marriage is to work is through looking at God's relationship with us. God has taken us - sinful and dirty - and made us His Sons and Daughters. If God could do that for imperfect you and I then we love our spouse in-spite of our imperfections.

Who Determines Right and Wrong? God.

How will they know if we don't tell them? Better yet how will they know if we don't show them? The world is not looking to the church for answers today - why would they? Our divorce rate is as high if not higher than the world around us. Everyday you hear of leaders in the church who have fallen to sexual temptation and their marriage is in shambles - Why would the world listen to the church if we can't live what we believe? There is a far deeper problem in the church today in the lack of intimacy that we have with the Father.

Look at how God has loved you, sinful and unclean - and love others, including your spouse in the way that God first loved you.

Lukewarm and Lovin' It?

Lukewarm and Lovin’ It?

If you have known me for any length of time you know that apart from God I have two great passions in life: music and coffee. In fact my website/blog is even called “coffeeshopgod.com”, even furthermore a majority of these newsletters are written as I sit at my favorite coffeehouse. I am predictable in the coffee that I drink; I prefer a cup of hot, bold, brewed coffee. I guess you could say I’m a traditional coffee drinker. However in recent years coffeeshops have made a ton of money by selling new drinks iced, frozen/blended.. I could not tell you how tired I was of making frozen/blended coffee drinks in the summers that I worked at Starbucks in Mississippi. They were a huge seller. In all my time that I worked at Starbucks there is one type of coffee I have never heard anyone order, lukewarm coffee.

There was a city in the first century called Laodicea. Laodicea was self-sufficient city, a commercial center and the site of a thriving medical and textile industries. They did not view themselves as poor; they were sufficient by their own industries, not really dependent upon God for their daily needs. In many ways you can say that the community of Laodicea is similar to the modern day United States of America. As a vast majority of Americans we are self sufficient and do not have to wonder where our next meal will come from, where we will sleep, or whether we will have clothes on our back. Just as the city of Laodicea, we are not desperate for God; in fact I would make the statement to say that as a whole, we as American’s are Lukewarm. Sure we claim to “know God”, we may go to church on Easter or Christmas, we may be able to quote John 3:16, and our grandparents might go to church, we won’t renounce God completely, but we are not desperate for Him. We are lukewarm.

John, through the divine author Jesus Christ, has something to say the church of Laodicea in Revelation: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were one or the other!” So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit (vomit) you out of my mouth.” These are incredibly harsh words to be spoken to someone who doesn’t claim to not follow God, but who is merely not desperate for God, right? Wrong! “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform any miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

God views men and women who say “Lord, Lord” but live lives consumed with their own glory, as a cup of lukewarm coffee. He will spit them out of His mouth. Are you desperate for God? Who does your life give glory to? Think about these things as you have your daily cup of coffee.

Religious-mart ©

As I was reading an article on CNN yesterday titled “Americans not loosing their religion, but changing it often” I was overwhelmingly shocked at how much of a consumerism society we have become, and how this has been transferred to the church. I hear it all the time – we moved to this church because they had this, or we moved from this church because they didn’t have that – and churches have begin “marketing” towards this. It is almost eerie similar to conversation held over choosing a restaurant – “well they this is good, but this is bad, so we’ll go here.” True growth will never occur in a church that markets its community as a business would – True growth comes from God alone through the preaching of His Word. I do believe in meeting needs of people, I also believe in being relevant to the culture around us, however when your church is known for its coffee bar, cool music, or dress style before the Gospel than there is a problem.

“You're seeing the free market at work, If people are dissatisfied, they will leave. And if they see something they like better, they will join it." This quote CNN is dead on – secular people are looking in and they see the church as nothing but a market of people who need faith. So what do we do as God’s people? Do we shove off all things of the world and become secluded having no worldly things? Do we quit having programs for people to participate in? Do we only do music that is attractive to one group of people? No. So what do we do?

We place the emphasis on God. We become all things to all people, for the purpose for the Gospel, not for the purpose of church growth. When someone asks about our church, when we go visiting, or when we make flyers our selling points should not be our programs, our music, or our building – it should be you are a sinner, God offers salvation – He is Holy – We worship Him alone. True growth comes from God alone. When a church becomes too popular we need to check and make sure we are still preaching the Gospel; Christ said, “We would be hated by all from His name’s sake” (Lk 21:17). What is your Church known for.

Some Old Posts I

The Uncomfortable Church - Generational Discipleship

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…..When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7;11

In our society adulthood has been called into question. Adults adolescence, as I will term it (which literally means the adult child), is prevailing in our culture with adults well into their 30’s and sometimes even as high as middle 40’s. These adults avoid responsibility and by the culture we live in 18 – 30 year olds are given a grace period of in which they are just allowed to have fun with no responsibility. When did this began to occur? Why does this occur? When did the definition of manhood and womanhood become blurred? What can we do and what is our responsibility to take action to uphold the definition of a biblical manhood and womanhood?

Older men are to be sober minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanders or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that he word of God may not be reviled. Likewise urge the younger men to be self controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Titus 2:2-8

Who is the older man? Who is the older woman? I think many times our society lends us to blur these lines. If we look at God’s definition of an adult it is someone who is not a child. I would began to quit defining someone as a child at the age of 17 or 18 - not that these "young adults" will not make mistakes but older adults must urge all who are younger to lives that are as such as a biblical man or a biblical woman – while at the same time being mentored by someone who is older.
I've said it many times before and I will continue to say it, it is apparent how I feel - I believe 100% in generational discipleship in the church. I believe it is biblical and a characteristic of a healthy church. If at any time you are not being mentored by someone older and mentoring someone younger in the ways of a biblical man or biblical woman, I believe you are not benefiting the church. It is how God created the church - a constant cycle. Not one of us will live forever, we cannot hold onto the life and wisdom that we have received but yet must pass it down. Would God allow you to learn so much knowing that you will pass away? No, He intends for you to pass down your wisdom to others. This is how the church will continue to thrive, if we are not being discipled by someone older and discipleing someone younger, then the church dies when we die. Who is to pass on the church? You are. I am. The 17 year old adult is to the younger 14 year old youth. The 24 year old adult is to the 17 year old adult. The 40 year old adult is to the 24 year old adult. The 65 year old adult is to the 40 year adult. It is all of our job.
Find someone today to learn from who is older - find someone who is younger to pass it along to. The church cannot exist within our generational cliques but it will only thrive outside of our comfort zones, where old passes wisdom and life to the young. This is one way that the church is "alive", ever growing spiritually and a close knit generational web.
I charge to you today to exist outside of your generational clique, we are all guilty of it. It will be uncomfortable, but I am convicted that the true church, is not a comfortable one.