Spiritual Budgeting

There are only so many hours in a day. Do you ever wonder if the difference that you want to make is different than the difference that you are called to make?

There is a guy at work that I have been spending a great deal of time and effort with. It isn’t some evangelical duty. The problem is that I really like him. I’ve liked him ever since he started working at The Mufflerman. Alright. I like most of the people that I have ever worked with, but for some reason, he remains very much on my mind. It would be difficult for me to explain how much I would like to be able to refer to him as my brother in Christ. I’ve even told him as much.

Fortunately, he does seem to enjoy talking with me about Christ, although, he calls it ‘religion’. When I think of him, I see a man who seems to want to be what God is. He’ll even ask me questions about my faith from time to time and I’ve had different opportunities to share with him.

It seems rather strange. As much as he remains on my heart, and as open as he seems, there is a certain door that remains shut. He often talks about coming to hear me speak and I think he’s sincere, but our schedules never match. In fact, we’ve tried on several occasions to get together and there is always some roadblock.

He has some issues in his life that he’s dealing with right now. While I was in church on Sunday, I was really thinking on him. You know that every idea you get in church must be from God right? (Wrong?) So this morning I asked if he had anyone with whom he could talk about his issues with. I figured that would be one way that I could help meet his needs. After all, the average North American male has zero close friends. He didn’t seem to need me for that. My (our) time is in short supply, but I was prepared to get up a couple hours early to meet with him if he would want to. If you know me, you realize how dramatic that is.

And then there is this other guy. I met him a few years back at an Alpha course. This past year we started to spend some time together. He is a little needier than my co-worker to say the least. He calls me at work and he calls me at home. He has even called my church. I haven’t put a whole lot of energy into my relationship with him. He’s fairly poor.

What if? What would happen if I invested just some of my time, thought and prayer on ‘the other guy’, that I have been spending on my coworker? Maybe some of my doors have been closing for a reason.

I don’t fish very much, but it’s as if I have found this watering spot where I’m getting a lot of bites, but I can’t reel it in. I’m not very good with fishing metaphors, but it is a Biblical one. It isn’t that I feel called to give up on anyone ever, but there is only so much time that we have available as we are about our Father’s business. Perhaps the best use of my time is simply to go where I’m obviously needed.

It’s a principle that I try to remind myself on occasion. If I just go where I’m needed, God can use me. I think I heard this phrase in a movie or something. It went something like this;

‘Sometimes, I do what I want to do. But most of the time, I do what I have to do.’

I know that I’m taking this passage out of context, and you can remove my preaching badge if you want to punish me, but this verse just stays with me,
Ephesians 5:15-16 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Our time is short and the days really are evil. I pray that each of us are using these brief days as effectively as possible.

By the way, if you are my coworker and you think that I’m talking about you, I’m still open for breakfast. But unless you take the next step, I’m going to let you have some space for a while.

Soccer Update

Going into the fourth week of soccer this summer, here are the standings so far;


Win Loss Tie

My Daughter's Team: Peloquin Promotions 1 - 2 - 0

The Twins: Aylmer Kinsmen 2 - 0 - 1

My Youngest's Team :Brown Timbits 0 - 3 - 0


Nathaniel 1 goal so far this season

Jeremy - 4 goals so far this season. (Two on his own net.)

Since scoring his first goal last week, Jeremy has proved himself to be a two way player. For every goal he scores against his opponent, he also scores one on his own net. They were ahead 3 to one in their last game, so we started thinking that their team was pulling it togeter. That was before we lost 10 to 3.

Tomorrow night is the big game against Michael Krahn's team. Come on out. (Wear red or black. Doesn't matter. Prizes given for originality.)

Apology

This whole, “new creation” business has reminded me of the time in my life where I began to believe. I mean really believe. I grew up going to church once in a while, but it wasn’t real to me. In my mid twenties, my wife and I began attending a United Church in Aylmer. The pastor’s name was Don Graham and I remember him teaching a series called, ‘Your Life’s Purpose’. Somehow, in that period of my life, Jesus became real to me.

I can’t point to a time or a date, but I do remember the period in my life. I felt led to help lead youth group and in time, it seemed as if I had been developing a spiritual gift for teaching. For about five nights a week, I would spend time in the Word and write a short letter on the things that God was revealing to me and I would send my reflections to my youth group.

That was all fine right? I sent my churchy writings to churchy people. I remember quite clearly however, debating on whether or not I should send my thoughts to my friends and family. It’s not that I would ever force it on them, rather; I debated on whether or not I should even allow them to see the kinds of things that I was learning in the faith.

Specifically, I was concerned about tarnishing my relationship with some of my university friends. I mean, we had a lot of fun together back in the day. We might not have been completely vile by any worldy standards, but few of us seemed to demonstrate or verbalize a sincere desire to live for Christ. (There were a couple.)

So that’s where I was - A young man in his mid twenties who had discovered the great treasure of The Kingdom of God; worthy of abandoning all. Having discovered the treasure, why do you suppose I would worry that my friends wouldn’t want anything to do with it?

To my shame, I guess I had judged them. I just assumed that they would have no interest in turning from sin and turning to God. I just assumed that my ‘new’ faith would be offensive to them.

Do you do that sometimes? Do you just assume that the people in your life don’t want anything to do with Christ? Have you even given them the opportunity to know and to decide for themselves?

I was wrong about my friends. Without exception, every one of my core group of friends from university is involved in their own church. We don’t all go to the same type of church and we don’t all write books or blogs, but all of us have some form of Christian faith.

It’s a funny thing really. Whether you know it or not, Christ really is at work in the world reconciling many of the people of this world unto Himself. Not everyone wants Him and I get that, but I know that He is capable of finding His lost sheep with or without our involvement.

In the end, I did give my friends the option of whether or not they wanted to read what I write, and most of them are encouraged to know that I’m walking on this narrow path alongside of them. Most of them have bought my book and even though they don’t agree with everything in it, have benefitted from it. In fact, I’m on my way home from visiting with one of them this evening. My family and I just celebrated their daughter’s 4th birthday and I must tell you that I was really encouraged to talk to my friend and to hear how he has been doing his part to uphold the Christian faith. His wife has been teaching Sunday school for the past few years as well.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the many of you whom I was afraid would never want anything to do with Jesus Christ. I have been arrogant and self righteous. I suppose I didn’t have to tell you, but I feel that you deserve an apology. In turn, I hope that you don’t carry that same air of self righteousness in your own faith. I hope that you don’t just assume that the people around you prefer to live lives of sin; separated from the God who loved them my sending His only begotten Son to die in their stead.

Please forgive me. Don’t do the same. It's not right to judge others.

Kevin L. Abell

Under New Management

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Just so you know, I really don’t think that murderers should be allowed to continue to murder. I really think they should be taken off of the church membership role. But that really shouldn’t be a problem anyway should it? It will be difficult for them to make it out Sunday morning if they are behind bars.

You see, if we are in Christ, we aren’t the same people any more. On the other hand, if you aren’t in Christ, you are the same person that you’ve always been. But for those of us who are new, having come to a saving knowledge of Him, we’ve been changed. The old has passed away.

The problem is, we’re still living in that other guy’s old body. And his body likes to do certain things. Having come to Christ, we’re different people, having been indwelt by The Holy Spirit. This isn’t funky theology. It’s something that happens. So we’re this new person living in this old person’s body.

Being this new creation, we are no longer called to observe the law, but to live by the prompting of The Holy Spirit within us. So here we are, living in this old guy’s body, sharing this residence with The Spirit of Christ. Both the Spirit and this dying body seem to have us as his audience. Each of them are vying for us to yield to their will.

We are called to obey God, not to observe the law. There is a difference, even though the law can help us to discern what God wants for us. When we are involved in and kind of behaviour, if we are a new person, the question that we need to ask ourselves has changed. Under the law, the question we had to ask ourselves sounded like this;

“What does the law say about this?”

I want to eat popcorn. Does the law say that I should eat popcorn or not? Being a new creation, the question now becomes,

“Why do I want to eat popcorn?”

Do I want to eat popcorn because my flesh desires it? Or do I want to eat popcorn by the leading of The Spirit? The questions that we as Chrsitians often ask ourselves are far from demonstrating and kind of spiritual maturity. We often evaluate the Christian way by asking,
“Is it wrong for Christians to……?” While analyzing our behaviour, the more pressing issue at hand should be to ask where the behaviour is coming from. Is this from my flesh, or from The Spirit?

In a way, the law was easier. It told us what we could and could not do. Living by the leading of The Holy Spirit requires us to listen and to be brutally honest with ourselves.

We haven’t been called to turn from sin and turn to the law. We have been called by faith in Christ to turn from disobedience unto Jesus Himself.

Rules, Rules, Rules

I seem to have stumbled on a topic that is much bigger than I had originally thought. I don’t really know why ‘the law in the life of a Christian’ has been on my mind so much. Maybe it’s because I’m coming to the end of Deuteronomy with my kids. We’ve spent what feels like a year or more going through the books of Moses. Explaining the nocturnal emissions to the boys was a load of fun. Actually, I chickened out. I told them that when they get older that they’ll wet the bed. I think that’s all the information that they need to know.

The question that I asked a week or so is quite similar to a question which was addressed in the early church. What are Christians allowed to do?

In Acts 15, some of the Jewish believers were insisting that non-Jewish believers needed to be circumcised in order to claim ‘Christian Status’. (If there is such as thing as having Christian Status.) It was a big issue, one which brought to life the direct confrontation of being saved by the underserved grace of Christ Jesus, versus the old way of trying to do the things that God told them to do in the Mosaic Law.

Peter challenged the Jews who insisted on circumcision by asking a question; “So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?” Acts 15:10 As hard as many devout Jews had tried, none were ever able to fully live up to the requirements and expectations of the law.

Amid the discussion over the issue, James takes a stand and lists four things that people who claim to follow Christ need to be serious about. He doesn’t give a long list. In fact, he makes it quite clear why they are to place few solid boundaries for the believing life. He tells the apostles and elders, “...My judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” Acts 15:19

He’s saying, ‘In my opinion, I don’t think that we should expect non-Jewish converts to the observe the whole law because it would discourage them from following Christ.’ So he lists four things that they need to stay away from if they want their name to stay on the membership registry. They need “to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating meat of strangled animals and from consuming blood.” Acts 15:20

That was it. They weren’t supposed to eat food that they knew had been sacrificed to another god. They weren’t allowed to drink blood or eat animals that they found already dead. They were also called to abstain from sexual immorality. Check. So lying, cheating, stealing, murder, kidnapping and sorcery are all in right? That doesn’t sit well with you does it? Good. I don’t think that it should.

To be honest, this attitude that I see in James and the disciples is challenging in a way. I mean, if you read Peter’s letters in the New Testament, he really isn’t a softie with regards to sin. Yet here, they only list four things that a Gentile believer is to abstain from. The reason why the list seems to be so short, is so as not to discourage anyone from coming to Christ.

Imagine if we were to follow this completely in our churches. (And I am NOT suggesting that we do.) What would our churches look like? We let the drunks drink, we let liars lie and we let thieves steal, all the while keeping their name on the church membership. Where is the repentance? When we believe, we are called to repent and to be baptized into His body; the church. If these are the only 4 things that we need to abstain from, my question is this; Repent from what?

Drinking blood is just gross anyway. I suppose vampires really have lost their souls. I don’t believe that eating animals that we find dead makes for good health. Food offered to idols...I think it’s still okay to eat at the Chinese buffet, as long as you don’t witness the food being offered on some Buddhist altar. (Is there such a thing?) Maybe leave the fortune cookie. :-)

If nothing else, this should reveal to us how serious God is about these things and why the issue of sexual immorality needs to be where we take our battle with sin absolutely seriously. There is little room even in this ‘lawless’ faith for us to live lives that intentionally go against God’s standards for human sexuality.

There are many aspects of the law that we really don’t even need to be bothered about; Things such as dietary laws and instructions for sacrifices and the priesthood. If The Lord is willing and time allows, I might work through this further.

If you have no idea of what God wants for our sex lives, reading Leviticus 18 might be a good start.

Do thieves, drunkards, liars and kidnappers can keep the fish on the back of their car?

Sports Statistics

Going into the third week of soccer this summer, here are the standings so far;


Win Loss Tie

My Daughter's Team: Peloquin Promotions 1 - 1 - 0

The Twins: Aylmer Kinsmen 1 - 0 - 1

My Youngest's Team :Brown Timbits 0 - 2 - 0


Nathaniel 1 goal so far this season

Jeremy - 2 goals so far this season. (One on his own net.)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpfhcljJ9bQ

A Useful Signpost

I answer her phone calls the same way that I answer all incoming calls. It is the way that my employer has told me to respond, “Good afternoon, The Mufflerman. Kevin speaking how may I help you?” That part must be fine. I suppose it is the conversation which follows which angers Bob so much.

“May I speak with Bob please?”

Betty is Bob’s wife and she often calls into work to speak with him. I respond by saying, “Sure.” That might be where I go wrong. I am not in the habit of making polite or flirtatious conversation with other men’s wives. I just tell her, “Sure. I’ll get him for you.” I then place her on hold and grab Bob’s attention. I’m not paid to take personal phone calls in the first place. In fact, our company, and most work places discourage personal phone calls on company time. In other words, I’m really not going to spend time making idle chit chat.

I shouldn’t be trying to defend myself to you should I? To be honest, I just never knew. I never knew that Betty felt that I was being rude to her and I didn’t know that Bob wanted to punch me in the face for the way that I spoke to his wife until a co-worker of mine informed me. Bob never told me how he wanted me to answer his wife’s requests. Perhaps if I had have known how offensive I was, I might have spoken differently. Now that I do know, I do try to put a little more enthusiasm in my voice.

How do you know if your actions are offensive to someone else unless they tell you? You don’t know for sure, which just happens to be one of the beautiful benefits of having been given the law.

“...It was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” Romans 7:7

There is a God in Heaven and He has been kind enough to tell us what He wants and what He does not want us to do. Could you imagine having absolutely no idea of what pleases and what angers him? If I didn’t have a co-worker inform me of how I offended Bob, how would I have known? And would it be fair for Bob to allow it to fester until it angered him to the point what he punched me out?

Fortunately for us, God is kind enough and man enough to let us know what makes Him angry BEFORE He gets angry. He has given us His law for that purpose. Which in turn reveals to us our need for Jesus.

24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

If you don’t know Jesus, I encourage you to read through Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy in the Bible. It’s a pretty tough read. If you do, and if you are honest with yourself, you will find that in a short amount of time that you have done the things that anger Him. At first read, you might be tempted to try and fall in line and just do what He says to do. If you begin to try that, you will also find that it is impossible to be completely obedient to His written law.

Since it is unable to purify us and unable to save us, if we really believe that there is a God who made these laws and that we are unable to jump over the bar, it reveals to us our need for a saviour – Someone who was spotless, without blemish, who was the only sufficient offering capable of cleansing us in the way symbolized in the Levitical sacrifices.

If we do not view, or ever have viewed our sin as being repulsive, I question whether we have really come to Christ. Perhaps it isn’t a universal Christian experience, but when I was brought to Christ, I came to recognize the cross for what it was. It used to be foolishness, but I realized that it should have been me. I was the transgressor; the one who broke the law, but He paid the price for my crimes. (And there were many)

Some of you might live life believing that your feces does not smell and I understand that. I’ve been there. Our smell doesn’t usually offend us. How could it offend us? We’ve been living in our filth our whole lives. We’ve become quite accustomed to the stench of it.

If you have come to Christ, I wouldn’t memorize the Old Testament laws, but I’d take a look at them from time to time. As holy as I’m sure you have become, I am just as certain that they continue to reveal the fact that we are still in need of a saviour.

Where Rules Fall Short

Before we even get in to what we can and cannot do (if there are such parameters), I want to take a look at what the law itself cannot do. Often, in my mind it has seemed that as I walk in Christ, my duty is to be conformed more and more in line with God’s moral standards. There is a lot of bad teaching in that mindset, even though on the outside, our sanctification may have the apprearance of being gradually conformed to a standard of moral excellence, but that really isn’t the case.

If we really were able to read His list of do’s and don’ts and conform to them, it really wouldn’t hold much value in our relationship to our heavenly Father.
“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.” Romans 8:3

The law CANNOT save us. There is absolutely no way in heaven or on earth that we can ever reach a level of moral perfection that could possibly impress Almighty God. Have you ever tried to impress someone who is smarter than you with your knowledge? Or think about the place where you work or go to school.

Over and over I hear my friends and coworkers say things like this, “People are so stupid.” I’m assuming that you have been privy to converesations like that. In fact, I have heard many of you share similar sentiments yourselves. Do ‘stupid people’ impress you? Do you think favourably on them? There is even a song on the radio that I hear right now which says, “God is great, beer is good, people are crazy.”

Smart people rarely, if ever, admire stupid people. So if any of us ever manage to jump up a few notches on the morality meter, what are the chances that a perfect God would be all that impressed with us? If we stop drinking, God isn’t impressed. If we stop lying, God isn’t impressed. If we give more to the poor, He isn’t pleasantly surprised.

The law cannot save us, even if it were possible to obey it all. Rather than leading us into any form of authentic purity, appart from Christ, it has the opposite effect.

“When we were in the flesh, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death” Romans 7:5

In fact, without Christ, as we walk in the flesh, the law arouses evil desires. It seems to work against the very thing that it should accomplish. A few years ago, my wife and I took our youth group to the Belmont Corn maze. At the entrance to the maze were posted several rules that visitors were expected to adhere to. I forget many of them, but this one comes to mind,

“No alcohol or drugs permitted.”

I remember vividly the response from one young man in particular. If he ever finds this post, I wonder if he will remember the day himself. After having read the rule, he responded by saying, “I never thought of getting drunk or doing drugs here, but now that I’ve read the rules, I feel like doing it.”

When we are told not to do something, there is this nudge that wants to push back in the opposite direction. For some reason, the law tends to arouse the very behaviour for which it speaks against.

In short - The law cannot save us or sanctify us.

Keep What?

Among the people I know who are serious about God, we tend to hold a fair amount of disdain for individuals who choose which parts of The Bible they want to accept. I would inc lude myself within just such a grouping. (I’m in the group that says we shouldn’t pick and choose.) It simply sounds inconsistant to say, “I agree with this part of The Bible, but I really don’t like other parts.”

I can honestly say that I do believe The Bible, from cover to cover, and I tend to take it at face value. Yet when it comes to The Law, even the most conservative minded can’t possibly begin to observe all of it. How does one decide what laws are important to keep and which ones are not?

This evening with my kids has been a great reminder of some of my old favourites. I used to like to hammer my youth with some of these:

“You must not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together.
You must put four tassels on the hem of the cloak with which you cover yourself – on the front, back and sides.” Deuteronomy 22:11-12

If wool and linen are a sin, what would God say about polyester cotton? How many of us wear a cloak let alone tassels? If I don’t have a cloak, would I have to put tassels on my leather jacket? The same God who said these things also said, ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ I go around saying that it’s wrong to steal, so am I a hypocrite if I leave the tassels alone?

Murder - bad. Charity – good. Lying – wrong. Tithing good. Adultry – bad. Trimming my beard – bad. Tassels - good.

Are there any things we are not allowed to do if we want to keep the Jesus fish on the back of our minivan? Are there any acts against the law for which we can lose our Christian stripes? Repentance is supposed to be an integral part of an authentic faith in Christ. Repent from what?

If I lie, do I still get to go to church? If I murder, do I still get to keep my name on the membership role? What if I tell a lie once a year? Does it have anything to do with frequency or intent? If I commit murder only once every two years, but I really struggle against it, can I stay?

If time permits, I might spend some time putting down how I’ve worked through how I decide what to and what not to observe, but it remains a scary thing, because I know, in my heart of hearts that there will be inconsistancies.

So if any of you have the tell all answer, I’m open.

Yuck. I'm reading...

I’m currently reading The Pridigal God by Timothy Keller. For those of you who know me best, you also know this to be an oddity for me. I don’t read very much other than The Bible. From time to time I check out MacLeans magazine or headlines that intrigue me from The London free Press at work.

I have never really enjoyed reading, which often makes me feel like a hypocrite since I spend a fair bit of time writing. Yet, as I write, there are many benefits for my intelectual ignorance. (If there are benefits to be found.)

Primarily, it keeps me sane. On any given issue within the realm of faith in Christ, there are any number of divergent views, which all have the appearance of legitimacy. When I listen to someone who says that it is wrong to dance, there is part of me which thinks, “I can understand that.”. So then I’ll read someone proclaim the beautiful place that dance can have in our journey. Again, I’ll think to myself, “I can get behind that too.” So as I remain in The Word, it helps me to narrow my vision. It isn’t that this helps me to know the ends to every issue, but it cuts down on the noise and keeps the voices at bay.

Secondly, I want to intentionally place a great deal of weight on to the godly people that The Lord sends into my life. I don’t spend much time idolizing Charles Stanley or any other public figure whom I find myself agreeing with. If you are to ask me who have been the more influential people in my faith, I won’t give you names like John MacArthur or Denis Miller. I’ll give you names like Don Graham, Barb Abell, Michael Krahn, Jamie MacArthur, Arthur Carincross, Peter Ungar and Bill Coleman. I’ll mention Will Ong, Craig Bauman, Jamie Yi or Margaret Neufeld. I know they aren’t all that famous and their doctrine may very well be as weak as mine, but I want to value and honour the people who have been there to pray for me and meet my spiritual need on a personal level.

Being ‘unread’ also has its role in what I write. Nobody can accuse me of taking someone else’s ideas and using them as my own. I might be embarassed if I write at length on something that has already been written on at length. Still, it remains something of embarassment rather than sinister. When I have read something of note, I find it difficult to refrain from using it and claiming it as my own.

Time. Time is also a constraint.

I find myself in a place however where the people whom God is sending to mentor me are quietly insisting that I read more. When I told Arthur Cairancross that I will be speaking on the prodigal son this summer, he responded saying, “You have got to read The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. You have GOT to read it.”

“Yeah. It sounds like it would be a good idea.”

“No. You’ve GOT to read it. I’ll bring it by work this week for you.”

So I figure, if Arthur Cairncross tells me 3 times that I have GOT to read it, then I suppose I have GOT to read it. So I’m reading it and it is helping me without adding unecessarily to my noise.

The Game of the Century

In what is being billed as the soccer match-up of the century, Christian Author Kevin Abell and Singer Songwriter Michael Krahn are heading into what could potentially test the limits of brotherly love.

Having his day off, Michael was conveniently unavailable for questioning, but Kevin was more than happy to field the concerns coming from the general public.

"My boys are ready. They're excited, but it's much more than emotion. They are ready in every respect. They're prepared emotionally, physically and spiritually."

The Abell Twin's soccer team has struggled offensively thus far in the season, just coming off of a zero-all tie. But that doesn't seem to bother Abell.

Abell responds to this concern saying, "Two years ago, Nathaniel led his team in scoring. He dipped a bit last year, but he's committed himself so well to his training that I'm certain he'll be on the top of his game before June 29."

One would almost think that this was the soccer final itself, but truthfully, the season is barely under way. One would have to wonder. Wouldn't they? One would have to wonder why this particular game has been drawing so much attention both within and without the confines of East Elgin Youth Soccer.

No Excuse

Romans 1:20

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

There is a certain amount of information about God that has been made readily available to every man, woman and child who walks of the face of this earth, whether they want to recognize it or not. This valuable information wasn’t sent via text message, e-mail, a blog or letter mail. He has chosen to write this universal knowledge upon the type of parchment that has prevailed ever since people have walked upon our planet. He has given us these specific facts within the form of the earth and sky themselves.

It isn’t as if He has written every fact about Himself in this form. If you look to the skies and are able to see the message that He has entrusted to them, you won’t read the Ten Commandments. Neither do they reveal His stand on gay marriage, tattoos or Hanna Montana. What we have all been given, has been enough of a prompting in order to come to the place where we could know Him. Specifically, the earth and sky reveal to us His eternal power and divine nature.

What are the implications for this truth? If any of us were to take the time and look at the lives of those who spend the most time under the clear blue sky, sleeping on earth’s terrain, what would we find? If you charter a helicopter and are dropped off in the midst of some African tribe that has never made contact with the civilized world, what will you find? When the European world landed on the shores of North America some 500 years ago, what manner of people did they encounter? Atheists? So I’ve picked on Africa and North America. Perhaps these are isolated phenomenon. How about the indigenous people of Australia; the Aboriginals? The truth under investigation here is neither isolated nor regional. It is universal.

You find some striking similarities among these people groups do you not? They might not have known His name, nor His ‘great commission’, but there are some things that the earth and skies have revealed to them; His power and divine nature. These invisible qualities are described differently between peoples, and each group has a different way of putting the message together. What they do all have is the sense that there is some great power, and that power in itself has certain inescapable realities for the life they live. Unbelief doesn’t incubate very well apart from civilization.

Still, even among the more civilized, it takes some convincing for us to believe otherwise. That is precisely why the more prominent agnostics and atheists of our day need to be decent debaters. Have you ever asked or heard someone ask something to this effect?

“How could God allow something like this?”

The very fact that this question is ever asked reveals so much of what the human mind really does acknowledge about God. That question, in and of itself demonstrates that we know the very things which are revealed to us upon the land below and sky above; His Power and His Divine nature. That question would never be asked of someone who is known to be either powerless or bad.

If God were known to be powerless, we could never expect Him to do anything about the situation in the first place. If we knew Him to be bad, then we would never expect Him to uphold anything that is good. That’s why no one ever asks, “How could the devil allow something like this to happen.?” It tends to be those who those without faith who ask the question, ‘If God is good, then why do bad things happen?’, even though the very query itself, exhibits the indicator to the truth within.

No Time

“I just haven’t met many people in the church whom I respect.”

These words were spoken by a fellow ‘churchgoer’ of mine about 3 years ago. These are comments that frequently come to mind when I stand back and consider my own faith journey and judging by how my relationship has developed with this man, I doubt that I am among the chosen few who have garnered his respect.

My dilema as of late happens to be just the opposite. In fact, it is a growing problem of mine. It is not the kind of problem that keeps me awake at night, rather, it happens to be the manner of issue that simply requires my attention on an increasing and ongoing basis. My problem is that I happen to have a great deal of respect for the many people that God continues to place in my life’s path.

At work today, one of my customer/brothers messaged me saying that it would be great to get together some time. It would be great. Near the end of my work day, I was visited by two young men from my former “church”. Our time together was brief and I found myself missing the days that we have spent together, wishing for more time with them. I am glad that they have each other and hope that they are able to minister to each other’s need.

In my e-mail inbox at home, I have an email that is waiting to be answered. It’s an invitation to take a road trip to the US to listen to Rick Warren. I’d like to go. I have old friends from my high school days that would like to get together with me. That would be great too. I really want to spend some time with one of my co-workers. We were planning to get together with our families for prayer, but it just hasn’t worked out. One of the men that I have been meeting with on a weekly basis called me this week and asked when we could get together again. I told him that it wouldn’t likely be until Septemeber. I think this upset him.

On my facebook last night, another guy that I would like to get to know better suggested that I take him out for a donut. And there is my newer friend who used to be a movie star, but now he is a child of the Living God. And the guy who used to be a pastor, but his congregation sucked the life out of him. Every time we get together we remark that it has been too long. I haven’t had any one on one time with my pastor in what seems like forever.

If I was a full time pastor and I could devote a significant amount of time to the people who are an active part of my ministry, perhaps then I would have enough time. :-) It gets easy for pastor’s right? They have all week to do the things that we as believers are called to do…..

(Wonders if M.K. will take the bait on that one. I am sooo dead. But smiling.)

When I say ‘no’, please know this – I’m not blowing you off because I don’t believe in you or because I think you are a bother. I really would like to have more time with you, but I’m spread so thin at the moment, and perhaps for some time into the foreseeable future. What will I ever do if it gets worse?

In a way, I feel like a hypocrite. Over the past several years of my ministry, I have encouraged other s to seek out and to cultivate Godly relationships. Then when someone considers me and asks me for some of my time, I tell them that I’m too busy. It sounds cruel.

It isn’t that I have hordes of people clawing at the edge of my robe, trying to get a piece of me. It isn’t like that. It’s more like, there are so many people whom I respect and would like to have more times to walk with them. I’m growing to appreciate the church as it is more and more, am so thankful to have a place within the body of Christ and want to make the most of it during the short time that we have here on this side of glory.

I’m thankful for the rocks of faith that God has placed in my life. I’m thankful for the young believers, still drinking milk and trying to wrestle through the consequences of their bad choices past. I’m thankful for the tares, the ones who didn’t get it, but kept listening anyway until they did ‘get it’. Not that I can place the labels on anyone, but I was a tare for so long, and it frightens me to think that some believers would have prefered to kick me out of the fellowship before I was awakened.

I write this in the hopes that if you feel that I have let you down, that you could find a way to forgive me. I know you know I am not your personal Jesus connection, nor you mine. I look forward to the day where time really is without end. I also fear that as I continue to say 'no', that the day will come when you stop asking.

Love Kevin

Kill the fattened calf!

A few days ago, my darling little girl came to us with a troubled heart. My wife and I spent some time talking to her and worked with her until we came to the point where we asked her,

“Is there something that you have on your heart that you believe God might be calling you to?”

“I think that God wants me to be baptized.” Was her reply.

It was a gorgeous day at the beach. Each of my older sons wrote a short letter letting her know the ways in which they see the light and life of Christ shining through her. Our youngest son drew her a picture. My wife also composed a wonderful letter, summarizing what a beautiful women of God she is becoming and I spoke a few words about baptism from The Bible.

After following the Lord’s example into the waters of baptism, my wife and I were overjoyed and felt like this was the kind of occasion that deserved to be celebrated. So we told our little girl that she could spend the rest of the day any way that she desired, up to $600.

On the ride home, my sons kept at her,
“You know what I would do if it were MY decision…..”
“Wouldn’t you like to do this….?”

Every few minutes I would check in on her and ask if she had made up her mind. After approximately 2 hours, she reached her verdict:

Take out pizza and a rented movie.

That girl really knows how to live.

Why do YOU do what you do?

Sometimes I forget why I do what I do. Now, as I say that and as I think about the direction that this post might take, I know that the form of it won’t necessarily reach you in the way that you like to be spoken to.

Some of you like it when a preacher or author tells you how it is, puts you in your place and reminds you of how far you have fallen short of the glory of God. You enjoy getting hit square in the teeth. Others among you really like to get into the theological details behind a matter. You like a ton of references and seeing in detail how our issues are linked intricately with the simple and profound message of the Gospel.

The truth is, I really don’t know the ways in which you have fallen short of the glory of God, so I really don’t know how to speak on your condition. I could hit you square in the face if that’s what you really want, but you’d have to give me the pertinent information. If theology is your game, what I say next might challenge you. Life IS theology, if you are discerning enough to recognize it for what it is. The day to day workings of our lives are delicately and completely interwoven with spiritual truth. That is why God didn’t inspire a book of doctrine. He inspired His written word which is made up primarily of stories about how He has worked among His people throughout the ages.

I’ve really been questioning why I do what I do in His service. Why bother? When I reflect on the question, there are any number of reasons why what I do is a waste of time. First of all, there are so many others out there who are so much better at communication spiritual truth than I am. Many of you are more than aware of the fact. Be honest, there are other preacher guys who light your fire much better than I do. Aren’t there?

John McArthur is so much better at saying it how it is. Ray Comfort evangelizes so much more effectively that I do. I’ve only been involved directly in making 3 disciples over the past 9 years. I know that most of you are batting much better than that. I’m happy for you. I really am. In my own church, we are so blessed to have other godly teachers who communicate the truth of the Gospel so much more effectively than me.

Would I not be more effective if I just shut my yap and posted Facebook links to In Touch Ministries, or better yet, Jack Van Impe Presents? Standing in the background, I’ll hear conversations like this one,
“Hi Mary Jane. I went to this Christian convention on the weekend and you should have heard the speaker. They were SO dynamic. God really spoke to me through them.”

So why bother? Maybe the best that I can do is to get out of the way. There is just enough truth in that line of thinking to tempt an individual to abandon his or her calling.

It’s rather pathetic really. I’m this pouting child having a tantrum
screaming, “If I can’t be the best at what I do, then I shouldn’t even bother.” Who really wants to be second rate at anything? I guess what happens is that even as we live out our faith in whichever form He compels us, we have in mind what a proper Christian ministry should look like.

For example –
The people who work in the inner cities – They are the ones who are really doing the work of Christ.

Or – the people who find new tribes in Africa and teach them God’s word in their native tongue – they are the ones who are really doing the work of the Gospel.

Or – The guy on CNN who held firm that Jesus is the only way – he’s the one who is really about The Lord’s business.

As for me, the faith that I have been called to live really doesn’t count. Teaching Sunday school to upper middle class suburbians really doesn’t count. Wasting my life away in some factory, sponsoring a Compassion child or missionary doesn’t count. Pastoring a church on the edge of a small town really doesn’t count and fighting to keep a small country church on its feet doesn’t count either. Raising a family and pointing them towards Christ doesn’t count and neither does it count when we love our wives in the same way as Christ loved the Church.

My conscience may never be completely satisfied with my call, but I have done what I could. Maybe that doesn’t describe it accurately enough, because in truth, I (we) always could have done more. In order to phrase it a little more accurately, here it is;

I did what I knew I had to do.
And so, once again I revisit why I do what I do; not for fame, fortune or notoriety. This is it.

I believed in God, so I spoke.


(By the way – for us hardcore Evangelicals – how many disciples have you made and baptized in 2010 so far? Ten? One? None? Are you a failure then? Disobedient to the call?)

I Knew That.

Romans 2:14-15

“Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know His law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”

It’s a rather strange phenomenon. Is it not? If we are prepared to look closely enough at human behaviour, it isn’t too difficult to discover that somewhere in our minds, even when we say that we don’t believe in God, even when we have no intention of living for Him whatsoever, we know that He is right. When we live intentionally outside of His will for us, we are compelled to convince ourselves that everything is ok.

It’s why you never see, have seen or ever will see a Straight Pride Parade. If you were to interview most prison inmates, it’s why most of them will tell you that they are innocent. I had a friend who went to jail once and when he came out, he told me, “Kevin, I have never met so many innocent people in my entire life.” It’s why we expect our governments to do the good things that we ourselves as individuals are not prepared or willing to do.

I could list several ways in which this truth demonstrates itself in the realm of human activity, but I prefer to illustrate the matter by means of a story. It is a true story and I’m certain that none of you have ever made the same observations in your own lives.

Some time ago, I was invited to a party. I rarely go to those kinds of things, because when I go I feel like a fish out of water. It used to be my element at one point in my life. In fact, several of you were there right along with me in those days, but it isn’t my natural environment anymore. There are occasions however where I genuinely sense that it is my place to go.

Since most who read this are likely believers, I’ll fill you in on what sometimes happens at parties. We’re evolving as a creature so I’m certain that this type of thing will happen less and less as time goes by; so be thankful that I am preserving this precious part of human history in literary form.

These kinds of parties are where people gather together to consume significant amounts of alcohol. In more extreme forms, other drugs might be consumed, but among the more respectable elements of society which I have been involved, alcohol has been the predominant drug of choice. I don’t claim to be the all knowledgeable source on the inns and outs of party life and I’m prepared to acknowledge that much more goes on than I have personally experienced. I hear stories where people actually engage in sexual activity and violence. However, this wasn’t that kind of party. This was merely the kind where people went to drink and have a good time. I don’t believe that many of us were there on that night in order to uphold any sort of morality, either ‘religious’ or otherwise.

I want to tell you about three men who were there that day. (Besides me of course.) Their names were Billy, Bob and Jim. Jim was perhaps the most respectable of the three. He had a few drinks, but nothing serious. He never really got out of line or did anything too crazy. Jim was content to sip on his beverage and play cards with a few others who sat at his table. Jim seemed to enjoy being a part of the festivities and took a few pictures in order to remember the occasion.

Bob had a very different attitude towards the evening as a whole. In fact, he turned out to be what many would refer to as being the life of the party. I have to admit that he did indeed provide a significant amount of entertainment even for myself as I sat there taking part. I don’t think I’m being judgemental. In fact, I rather enjoyed watching Bob. He ended up wearing this funny hat, dancing on the tables and hugging each person whom he came in contact with.

Billy’s story was different still. He wasn’t nearly as entertaining as Bob. He joined in singing to the odd song that came on the stereo and gave Bob a hug from time to time. Mostly, Billy just drank and talked. He turned neither violent nor argumentative. At times, his voice would become tolerably loud, but tolerable still. Billy talked and drank. That was about it.

I did my absolute best to be there without passing judgment on anyone. Overall, from a worldly standpoint, I found very little to be objectionable. Nobody was hurt. No fights broke out. No one committed any form of sexual immorality. It was what most people would claim to be just good old fashioned fun. (Apparently.)

Truth is a funny thing and we each allow ourselves to see whatever it is we want to see from life as it happens around us. During the party, no objections were raised whatsoever. This was exactly the kind of scene that we see advertised on beer commercials during the hockey game. Believe me when I tell you that this was not a church gathering. The things that I share with you next are NOT coming from any form of Christian legalistic, rule following thinking.

Apparently, after the dust settled and the sun rose on the following day, a lot of the people there were upset with how much Billy had drank the night before. He didn’t hurt anybody. He didn’t fall down and break his neck, but was being accused of having drank too much. Don’t you find there to be something odd in that? ; That a group of beer drinking partiers would accuse their friend of drinking too much? Is that not exactly what each of them was there to do?

When Jim got home, he posted a few of the pictures that he had taken on his Facebook page. It was all good fun right? Nobody was hurt and no one was caught making out with someone else’s girlfriend or wife. As parties go, this one was pretty tame. So you tell me. Why was it that Bob ended up being mad when Jim made his picture public?

I’ll tell you why, even if you don’t believe me. In the recesses of our conscience, we know. Even though we consistently tell ourselves that there is nothing wrong with it, even for those who don’t even pretend to believe in any God at all, we really do know that He is right. It’s why beer drinkers accuse other beer drinkers of drinking too much. It’s why we don’t want others seeing us in that silly hat, even though we tell ourselves that it’s just good fun.

The law has been written instinctively into our hearts whether we want it to be there or not. Although we convince ourselves that there is nothing wrong with our actions, seeing our misadventures publicised is a direct affront to the conscience that we cannot erase. For individuals who are prepared to be honest with themselves, they eventually come to realize the fact that everything is not okay in Never Never Land.

I’ve looked at this issue in the negative sense, but I believe the passage also lends itself to the fact that Christians do not, never have, nor ever will have a monopoly with regards to issues of morality. God’s law really has been written on the human heart, so it’s not uncommon to find people who live ethically admirable lives, who in turn profess absolutely not faith of any kind. Atheists are often decent human beings. I know it’s shocking. Deal with it.

Let's Have A Worthless Discussion About The Law

“Well Kevin, I’m turning to the dark side.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Tilting his head slightly down, with a smile Karl replied, “I’m getting a tattoo.”

I must admit that I was supprised. I wasn’t supprised that Karl would get a tattoo, rather, I thought it strange that he would associate it with being ‘dark’ whatsoever. Where would he even get such a thought to begin with? Christianity might be well known for it’s assaults on the gay community and its mixed standards on gender roles within its leadership. I don't hear much in the public realm on this one.

Within the church, there may be a great deal of resistance to that type of body decoration, but it remains both debatable and within our walls does it not? Karl doesn’t walk around pretending to be Mr. Christian or anything either, so why would he approach me about it in that way?

“You’re going to hell you know?”

That wasn’t my response. That was Adam. Adam says things like that, but he always says them with a smile so it’s okay. Besides, he was kidding. Adam goes to church but I really don’t think that he has any serious issues with tattoos or body piercings for that matter.

Karl proceeded to show us a picture of the emblem that would soon cover the inside of his right forearm. It was a replica of the English crest, having three weird looking lions, one on top of the other. Karl spent his early years living in the United Kingdom. You wouldn’t know it by talking to him because he came over as a young boy, before his native accent could catch.

To be honest, I do have some small reservations about the whole tattoo thing, so I spent much of that night thinking and praying about it. “Do I warn Him God? Is it necessarry for me to go there? If you want me to say something, I’m willing. He hasn’t got it yet so there is still time.”

By now I have landed myself at odds with those of you on both sides of the issue. For those of you who are for the body décor, you may not like the thought that I have any reservations whatsoever. For those of you who are con, you might be wondering why I didn’t threaten him with the fires of hell myself.

The opportunity never seemed to to come and neither did the words. The ultra conservative fundamentalist in me flet like he had failed. He should have been adequately warned. I should have pulled out my NLT and read him Leviticus 19:28
, “Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord” It would have to be the NLT, because other translations don’t even use the word. If you’re going to cram the Bible down someone’s throat, you have to pick a version that says what you want it to say. Right?

But really, he doesn’t walk around saying that he’s Captain Chrsitian, so why wouldn’t he have one? I was at ease. So the non-churched guy wanted to paint his body. I could handle that. Until the next day,

“Kevin, what does Christianity say about tattoos?”

Oh Boy! Now was my chance to let him have it. The only problem is, I have to be completley honest with him.

“To be honest Karl, there is a great deal of debate over this one. The Bible does speak against tattoos but as far as I know, it’s only mentioned directly in one english version of The Bible and it’s only found in the law. The law isn’t something that many believers spend a great deal of tiime working through. Would you like to know my personal stand?”

“Yeah.”

“I think they belong on non-believers, but I also believe that there are bigger issues to be dealt within the church.

**********

I’ve shared that with you because I’ve been spending a fair bit of time wondering what things truly deserve to be called good. Some things are black. Some things are white. Some things should be painted grey.

Life isn’t black and white but there are some things that are quite straight forward. I should NOT walk into work and slaughter all of my co-workers. I should not steal from the company. I should not gamble away my life’s savings at the casino. Some things in life are white. I should remain faithful to my wife. I should love my children. Other aspects of human activity are grey.

The things that I call good are the kind of things that do not need to have any law written about them; things such as love, joy, patience and kindness. The things that flow out of a spirit led life are the things that I label as being good. Peace, faithfulness and gentleness, these are good.

I’ve never pretended to paint everything for you, but I do believe that The Bible does the best job of painting life as it is. Take alcohol for example. It speaks on several occasions against drunkenness and debauchary, but alcohol itself isn’t strictly forbidden. Is it? It’s painted in a rather dark grey.

On that note – just so you know, I had about 6 drinks last year. I plan to have a glass of wine or two on July the 3rd as well. (Unless there is a brother or sister there whom I know to be struggling against it.) It has its decent place, but it’s rarely used in that way.

Karl got his tattoo today, and he had the same question that many Christians have for me, “But what if a believer gets a tattoo of something from their faith, like a cross or something?”

I think Karl is going to be my brother someday. He seems to think just like one.

Sleep Tight

Sometimes being honest with you about my thoughts is a very difficult thing to do. I mean, there are moments when I think really dumb thoughts. I take a great amount of The Bible at face value and I think that it goes a long way, but it can also have its limitations.
There have been times when I would read passages like Luke 12:35-40 that have made me question whether or not I should sleep so much. (In a literal sense.) Don’t laugh at me or I’ll stop ministering to you. I’ll have the internet police bar you from accessing my blog post. I treasure my sleep. I really do. I prefer to have at least 9 hours or so. Of course, now that I’m blogging I tend to get a little less.
In Luke, we are told that we need to be awake when the Lord returns. So what if He comes at 1:00am Eastern Standard time? I never really took this thinking too far, but I must admit that it did cross my mind.
So I’ve been thankful to be studying the parable of the 10 virgins for an upcoming speaking engagement this summer. I was particularly grateful for this section of the passage,

Matthew 25:5-6 (English Standard Version)
5As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'

Again, with parables, you have to watch how much you dig into the minutia of the details, but I really don’t feel that I need to be all that concerned if He returns after my bed time. The virgins in the story had fallen asleep, but were awoken just prior to the arrival of the bridegroom. Maybe it will actually take on the form of the actual sound of a trumpet, or it might be more like a lightning show. What I’m convinced of, is that when He does return, there won’t be anyone on earth who will be able to sleep through the event.
I’m also toying with the notion that there may very well be some kind of spiritual awakening at that point in time. In the parable, both the wise and the foolish were woken up alike. If I’m correct in my recollection, the Gospel is supposed to be preached throughout the entire world before He returns. Even though the church on our continent is in decline, I’m hoping that there will actually be some kind of wake up call.
I know that this isn’t a tidy blog post, but I do hope that it might help you to have a sound night’s sleep.
Love Kevin