teaching

What Are You Known For?

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

Tonight, Dave Ramsey spoke at Kairos and one thing he said stood out to me. Just as a brand name of a product is known for a certain quality of that product, so we are known for something in our lives. It’s not what we say that we are known for, but what we do. So what are you known for?

I think I know. I want to be known as a man after God’s own heart. I want to be known as someone absolutely drenched in God and drowning in the overflow of His love and grace. I want to be someone who has no glory of his own but reflects the glory of Christ just as the moon has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun. I want my goal to be that I look a little more like Jesus today than I did yesterday, this month than I did last month, and this year than last year.

I want to be known as someone who lived what I said I believed. Someone whose heart beat with the heartbeat of God, full of compassion and tenderness. Someone broken-hearted over the things that break God’s heart. Someone who was not afraid to love the least of these, even when they least deserved it. Someone who gave himself away for the Kingdom every single day.

I don’t want this to become another legalistic checklist where I fail if I don’t get at least 4 out of 5 of these checked off daily. I want it to be a growing passion in me and a desire that never wavers or wanes. I want this for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that we together reflect as the Church the full beauty and glory of Christ and love each other and the world in such a radical way that it demands their attention.

When we are known as a people not who judge or condemn or make new rules, but as a people who love and forgive and show grace, then we will be known as a people whom God used to dramatically change the world. We will be the change in the world that we want t see. May Christ in you be your only hope and stay and may His love continue to captivate and transform your heart into one like His.

Amen and amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Some Unpopular Theology

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Ok, I’m not sure that these thoughts I have are all theology-related, but it made for a snappier title than “Some Unpopular Random Thoughts I Had While Driving Down Franklin Road.” Here are a few for your reading pleasure (or possible displeasure, depending on your point of view).

1) Not everyone will get into heaven. If you read the Bible and hold it to any kind of place of authority, you must concede that not every person will be saved. The sad part is that there will be many religious, morally upright, seemingly perfect people who will say to Jesus one day, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do miracles and heal the sick and give tithes and never miss a Sunday at church?” and His response will be, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

2) God’s ultimate plan is not about you being happy and comfortable and rich. God’s ultimate plan is not ultimately about you. It’s about God. God’s overall plan is to bring glory to His own name and have as many people who will be able to bow and profess Jesus as Lord of their own will as possible. The good part about that is what what brings God the most glory also happens to be what is best for you and me. God is most glorified, a famous writer stated, when we are most satisfied in Him.

3) God does not favor America. Americans are not better than the rest of the world and God is not oblidged to bless us because we were once a Christian nation. God’s chosen people are the Israelites and if God favors anyone, it is a group of people Jesus referred to as “the least of these”: the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, the sick, the poor. . . .essentially the underdog. Those are the ones closest to God’s heart.

4) Suffering is a part of following Jesus. Jesus Himself said that if we followed Him, we would face persecution and trouble. We live in a culture that goes to great lengths to avoid any discomfort or suffering, but those are what draw us to Jesus and make us more like Him. Paul called it the fellowship of His suffering, meaning that we as believers really unite and bond strongly during difficult times.

5) God wants you to know Him, but not on your terms. Always on His terms. There’s no other way to know God and get to heaven than through His own Son, Jesus. If there were any other way, God would have spared Jesus the agony and torture of the cross. If we could have been saved by good works or good deeds or any self-effort, Jesus would not hav needed to die. Jesus did not say He was a way or even the best way, but the only way.

The good news is that the gospel is too good to be true and yet it is still true. The news that you are loved passionately beyond your wildest dreams by the God of the universe is true. The news that His love can rescue and transform anyone  at any time from any hopeless situation is true. And whether or not I choose to believe these things does not in anyway make them any less true. These promises are as true as the God who made them.

Amen and amen.

The Good Confession

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I wonder how many of us are walking around with condemnation. I did for a long time and I know I’m not alone in this. Several of you probably have had thoughts that go along these lines: “If anyone ever found out the real me, they’d bail on me in an instant” or “I just know that person is going to see _____ (a sin or flaw in me) and call me on it and be done with me”. Here’s the deal. That’s not you or me anymore.

I challenge you to confess not just your sin, but to confess, or to agree with God, about the good things He says about you. The amazing, awesome, wonderful things He says about you. Confess these things daily:

1) In Christ, I am pure. When God looks at me, He no longer sees sins and stains and scars, He sees the blood of Jesus and He sees Christ’s perfection.

2) In Christ, I am righteous. In fact, by that same blood, I am as righteous as Jesus. There is no more striving to make myself what God has already declared me to be.

3) in Christ, I am forgiven. God will not bring up any of my sins against me ever again, because Jesus paid for them 2000 years ago. In fact, according to Scripture, the only way God knows my sin is if I remind Him. He has cast them as far as the east is from the west and remembers them no more.

4) In Christ, I am victorious. I am not fighting for victory, but from victory. Jesus won the battle already and as I claim His promises more and more, I see more and more of victory in my own life.

5) In Christ, I am loved. When I was as far from God as I could get and as lost as I could be and as messed up as I ever was, Jesus set His love on me. That love remains unchanged, unwavering, and eternal. I can’t lose His love and I can’t decrese it. All I have to do is receive it gladly and let it overflow in me to those around me.

6) In Christ, I am home. Jesus didn’t come to show us the way or even walk with us along the way. He came to be the Way. He’s the Starting Point by which we enter, the Road we walk, and the Final Destination. We never leave Christ, but we only grow in Him and more in love with Him.

Confess all the good promises of God from Scripture daily. The more you believe what God says and live it out, the less power sin will have over you. My prayer is that your confession be not something to dread, but something to look forward to, because you are confessing who you are in Christ and that is a new creation and something worth shouting about!

Amen and amen!

My 1st Annual Birthday Blog!

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

Today I turned 39. I enjoyed turning 39 so much, I just might turn 39 again next year. And the year after that. Hey, as long as I don’t look my age, I’m gonna milk this thing for all it’s worth! And for the record, I absolutely refuse to act my age. My driver’s liscense may say 39 (and it’s a real liscense– I promise I didn’t make my own fake ID!), but I feel like I’m in my 20’s. And mentally speaking, I feel like I’m 10.

But I am honestly so thankful to be alive and blessed. I have family who love me and support me! I have friends who I seriously don’t deserve who continue to show me what Christlikeness looks like. I have my God who forgives me and fills every morning with new mercies and every moment with second chances and fresh starts.

I am still a dweeb at times (and I was reminded of that today, too). But I am less dweeby than I was a year ago, so go me! I am not where I thought I’d be at this point, but I am where God wants me to be, so that’s good enough for me. I am in Christ and Christ  is in me, so whereever I am  is a good place!

I finally am realizing this year that I don’t have to fear people finding out the real me and abandoning me. I am who God made me to be and that’s a good thing! People like me for me and they choose to stick around after they find out who I am and see some of my warts and other assorted broken parts. I am amazed that they do, but they do. And I am so beyond thankful for that!

You are not a mistake. You are not an accident. God made you with His own hands and breathed His own breath into you. Then after you fell into sin, He went and bought you back. You were the treasure hidden in the field that Jesus went and gave everything to buy back. You were worth that much to Jesus! You are the apple of your Abba’s eye! Don’t ever forget that.

So, until further notice, my 40th birthday has been postponed indefinitely!

Amen and amen!

Thanks, Mrs. Johnson (A Tribute to Teachers Everywhere)

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

I can remember my second grade teacher, and not just because we share a common last name. She made me feel safe. She made me feel like I belonged. She made me feel smart, like I could learn and grow up and be somebody special.

I even remember my kintergarden teacher. She protected me once from some students and I still remember that. Other teachers along the way have inspired in me a love of reading and books, literature and poetry. Partly because I tried and wanted to learn, but mostly because they cared enough to invest in me.

Times have changed since I was a student back in the Renaissance. But one thing remains– if you are a teacher, you have more influence than you know. Some students are really listening and watching you. What you love will be what they grow to love. So teach with all the enthusiasm you can, even if it feels like nobody cares.

If you are a believer, your witness will not go unrewarded. The Bible teaches that God’s Word never returns void. That means you can’t live and model a lifestyle of godly character and speech and it not have an effect. It will. I truly believe there will be people in heaven who will thank their teachers for their faith.

Keep teaching. Keep praying for your students by name. Keep believing in them even when they can’t believe in themselves. Keep expecting the best from them. For as long as God calls you to teach, let it be your holy mission, your sacred calling, your mission field.

One day, a President may list you as an early influence. A scientist who discovers the cure for cancer might look back at you and say you started his or her love of science. A musician or writer may dedicate an album or a book to you. You never know but that one student you taught may be the one to radically change the world.

If you are faithful for the time you teach and put your heart into it, one day your students will rise up and call you blessed.

Amen and amen.