I’ve never been to Egypt

So I was reading through Leviticus(ha, I’ve never started a sentence with that phrase), as part of a Bible reading plan. It’s the 90 day plan, so it’s a lot of reading everyday. Now if you’ve never read Leviticus, let me sum most of the 27 chapters up for you: it’s pretty much God telling the Israelites how to deal with people that have skin diseases, skin boils, rashes, moldy houses, and a bunch of other stuff that will make you glad you didn’t eat just before reading. The whole time I was reading through this, I kept thinking, “Why would God put this in here? I totally understand why it was important for the Israelites at that time, but seriously?” But I guess the whole time I was saying that, God was probably saying, “Ken, just chill out, hold on, I have something pretty awesome for you. Reading through all this will be worth it.” Then it happened, chatpter 26, verses 12 and 13…”I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.” I’ve never been to Egypt, never been a slave to an Egyptian, but I’ve been held captive and been a slave to my sin. But now I am no longer, I can walk with my head held high. Thank you, God.

He helped him up…

“Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.” -Matthew 3:6-7

This was Peter’s response to a crippled man, whom was begging at the gate at the entrance to the temple. What I find interesting about this passage, is that Peter didn’t just encourage this man, he didn’t just speak healing over him, and went on his way…he took this crippled man by the hand and “helped him up.” Notice that it wasn’t until Peter helped him to his feet, that the man’s “feet and ankles became strong.” There is definitley power in prayer, and speaking encouragement, love, and even healing in the name of Jesus, but often times it’s much easier for us to just say things, without putting our words into action. Peter put his words into action. Who is it in your life that you’ve been praying for, or you’ve been talking to, maybe trying to encourage this person through some rough times…but both this person, and God, are waiting for you to reach out your hand and help them up?

New Year

My heart beats like a drum, flying up with the sun
I grab Your hand again
Renovated with life, my eyes again bright
And You are radiant
Where hope can hold my hand of sorrow
And we can walk into tomorrow
Where peace is found in troubled days
And the joy of Jesus carries pain

This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, lift up your eyes
This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, and point the way to God’s great life

I’m held in a place, a beautiful space
Where heaven meets earth
My heart opens wide and the Father pours life
Deep inside my soul
Where hope can hold my hand of sorrow
And we can walk into tomorrow
Where peace is found in troubled days
And the joy of Jesus carries pain away

This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, lift up your eyes
This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, and point the way to God’s great life

Where hope can hold my hand of sorrow
And we can walk into tomorrow
This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, lift up your eyes
This is a new year, this is a new day to rise
Shine, and point the way to God’s great life
This is a new year

-Charlie Hall, “New Year” from the album “The Bright Sadness”

Jesus makes all things new. You’re forgiven of your past. This is a new year. There is new life in Christ.

Birth

Birth is a miraculous, powerful thing. It’s so easy to get caught up in everything that “is” Christmas, that we lose sight of what Christmas really is…the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ. I love reading it in the book of Luke, where it says the angel came to the shepherds and then a whole bunch of angels appeared in front of the shepherds! That’s such an awesome picture to me! Just imagine being one of the shepherds, viewed by society as some of the lowest and even worthless people, but chosen by God to be the first(other than Joseph and Mary) to know of God’s plan to save the world!

With the birth of Jesus, came the birth of a savior, the birth of restoration, and the birth of hope…a hope that can be born into you this Christmas.

He Desires To Be Close

I read this passage about a month ago, and I loved it. I’ve never seen it before, but it’s New Testament truth, spoken in Old Testament times. I’ve wanted to write a blog about, and now I finally have. I know it’s not a new revelation, or anything like that. But I just wanted to share it.

“Like water spilled on the ground, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remained estranged from Him.” -2 Samuel 14:14

I love this verse. God’s desire is not for anyone to be separated from Him. This verse is saying that just like water that is spilled on the ground, that can’t be gathered up again, we all will die someday. But after that death, we either have eternal seperation from God, or eternal relationship with God. The beautiful thing is that, for all of history, God has devised ways for people to not be separated, or “banished” from Him, because He loves us, and desires to be close to us, and for us to be close to Him. It makes me think of falling in love. How you will devise any plan, no matter how inconvenient it may be, for you to be close to the one you’ve fallen in love with! That’s what God has done. He doesn’t just want a relationship with us after our life on earth is over, He wants it now! He wants it now, because He knows that He is what is best for us. He has worked out a way for us to never be seperated from Him, a way that will never fail, that way is Jesus.

How do you respond?

Last night, I was at The Garden, doing a Bible study/preaching with the ladies. The text was Luke 20:1-8. Jesus is teaching and preaching the Gospel(which is really cool to think, because the Gospel is Jesus came to save the world, so he was preaching about himself!), and some elders and teachers of the law, came and asked him who has given him authority to do the things he’s been doing. Jesus being so wise, answers their question with a question of his own: “John’s baptism – was that from heaven, or from man?” Well these guys knew they were stuck…if they said it was from heaven, then Jesus would ask them why they didn’t believe him. After all, John was preparing the way for Jesus, and if they really believed John, they would believe Jesus is who he says he is. But, if they say John’s baptism was from man, then according to the law(remember, they were teachers of the law), they would have been stoned to death for rejecting, or denouncing, a prophet of God. That’s a tough situation for them to be in…so they answered, “We don’t know.”

The way these guys responded revealed their ignorance and pride, it revealed their hearts. Which is always what happens when we encounter the words of Jesus. However you respond after hearing the words of Christ, or having an encounter with God, reveals your heart. Example…if you get mad when a pastor preaches on tithing, you’re just revealing your greedy heart.

Even when confronted about an area of your life, that maybe some friends have noticed, do you make the effort to change, do you consider their advice, or do you get upset and start calling out things you notice about them. We’ve all heard this, “You can’t judge me!” or “You think you’re better than me? Who do you think you are to confront me?” However you respond in those situations reveals your character.

People can see who you really are, your heart and your character are always revealed, by the way you respond. So how do you respond?

What I’ve learned from John Mayer & Frank Decker…

John Mayer (is in my top 5 favorite artists, I’m not sure who the other 4 are, but he’s definitely in there) has a song on his Continuum album, entitled “Belief.” It’s been one of my favorite songs off that album since the first time I heard it, a couple years ago. The very first lines are:
“Is there anyone who ever remembers
changing their mind from the paint on a sign?
Is there anyone who really recalls
ever breaking rank at all
for something someone yelled real loud one time?”
I love this line because they are real questions, that make you step back and think about how you are getting across your message of what you believe in.

Frank Decker is an awesome man, with an awesome heart. He loves God, he loves telling people about God, and he has done so all over the world, as a missionary. He’s the Cluster Group Pastor at The Vine, and is also the Vice-President of Mission Operations at The Mission Society (sidenote: where my wife now works!). A few Sundays ago, Frank was preaching at The Vine, and said so many things that have just taken over my thoughts since that day, but one of the things that really hit me was this, “It’s not a bumper sticker, a tract, or a mini-sermon to someone over lunch…the best witness for Christ is a life that is experiencing transformation.”

I love how these quotes come two very different people, speaking with different motives, but are saying a lot of the same thing! I can paint signs, yell at people, put bumper stickers on my car, hand out tracts, and preach mini-sermons all day long…but unless people see me living those beliefs, no one will care! The way I can think to sum it up is this: “people will listen to your beliefs, when they see you living your beliefs!”

The best way for me to “preach” to people in my life, and tell them who God is, and what God is all about, is to live the life that God calls us to live. The only way to live the life that God calls us to live, is to live a life that is being transformed by the Holy Spirit. A life transformed by the Spirit of God, should be different than the life we lived before, and different than the lives of those who do not have the Spirit of God living inside them. If we live like this, people will see it. It will be evident that there is a power stronger than us, living inside us, because we’ll be living with renewed minds, and transformed hearts.

John Mayer believes music is important to life, it’s easy to see that in his lyrics, and the work he puts into making an album. Frank Decker believes that God is the ultimate source of life, love, and hope, it’s easy to see he believes that, by looking at his life and the way he lives. Now I don’t have this all figured out, and I don’t claim to, that’s why it’s important to note that my life is being transformed…it’s a continual process. But hopefully people know what I believe, because of the transformation that’s taking place. So here’s the challenge: what does your life say about what you believe?

Stride for Strength 5k

On September 26th, I’m running in the Stride for Strength 5k, in Suwannee, Ga. I’ll be running to raise money for Amigos for Christ. Below this blog, you can see a video, of some of my friend’s mission trip with the Amigos for Christ organization. I would love it if you’d consider donating to this, anything from $1, $5, $20, or any amount you feel comfortable with. Here is the link for my fundraising page. Thank you so much!

Amigos for Christ video

Recently, some friends of mine, and members of The Vine church, went to Nicaragua with Amigos for Christ. Here is a video I put together with some of the pictures that were taken on their trip…

The Rose

This is Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church, in Texas. This comes from his talk at the Desiring God conference from February ’09. I can’t really say much more about the video, because I’m afraid I would take away from the video. So here it is. I love it.

I’m the rose…you’re the rose….Jesus wants the rose!