The Vine

True Inheritance

2011-01-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:3-7)

How often do I work for an inheritence from this world? Not just an inheritance, but for respect, admiration, or other self-interested means? It's so easy to get caught being a "naval gazer" and only look out for what's good for me and what I hope to gain in this world. But my true inheritence is kept in heaven. Not only that, but my faith, of greater worth than gold, is being refined by trials so that it may be proved genuine. God cares about how we persist in our faith. Do we seek after Him when things get tough? Do we forget about him when times are good? Lord, help me to be consistent and persistent in my faith. Help me to seek you daily, to make room for you in new places that I have been keeping from you. Help me to understand and value what I should really rejoice in and put my hope in--my salvation attained by what Jesus Christ did on the cross.

Reflections on 1 John 3

2010-04-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

1 John 3

1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Brett's thoughts:
We are adopted children of God. Think about how much you love your own son or daughter and that is less than the love that God has for you. When we spend time in the Word, time in fellowship, time in worship, in prayer, in service, in ministry we become more like Jesus because we are spending time with him. To know Jesus is to love Jesus. The world does not love Jesus because they don't know him and don't accept him as Lord and Savior. Even though I am not like Jesus now, my heart is always going astray and I am always thinking about myself first I have hope that one day I will be like Jesus when he appears. There is something powerful and transformative about knowing and seeing Jesus. To know Jesus is to love him and to become like him.

4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Brett's thoughts:
Again it is about knowing Jesus. To know him, to see him, to live in him is life and a life free from sin. Jesus has always existed, but he "appeared" because God loved the world and wanted to "take away our sins". This is the Gospel message. But the last part of v. 6 is the Gospel as well--we must continue to draw closer to Jesus for the consequence of not pressing in to Jesus is the continuation of sin in our life. The removal of sin comes from what Jesus did on the cross, but salvation does not end with accepting that act as true. Salvation and sanctification comes from daily pressing in to know Jesus. Not that we can fully know him yet, although we hold fast to this hope (v. 3). We know Jesus and therefore we live a new life free from sin in him. Jesus does not hold back his love because we are sinners, but he saved us while we were still sinners. We can no enter into a relationship with him that will free us from a life of sin for we will want nothing else other than to know Jesus.

7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Brett's thoughts:
Jesus is not saying that you can judge a book by its cover here, but rather you can judge a book by the content of the book. Our actions are the fruit of what is in our spirit. If one's spirit is of the devil that person's actions will be sinful. The spirit of God in us is transforming us into a servant that is like His son Jesus. John was trying to protect them from being deceived by anti-Christ's claiming to know God, but in reality were carrying out the devil's work. We have been born of God--BORN, not only adopted, but born of God. We are new creation which means our spirit is of God. Since God is love, if we do not love our brother, how can we be born of God? John is laying out clear criteria for believers to identify who to trust.

Make room for God's voice

2010-03-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

"Dear God..." Do you ever write out your prayers. Sometimes I get so distracted that I can't focus when I try to pray. Writing out my prayers not only helps me SEE what God is speaking to me, but it also provides a visual reminder of what I've prayed at another time. I don't keep a prayer journal--maybe I should--but the few times I have looked at past prayers I had written out I've always been encouraged.

What is God speaking to you? My pastor challenged us this week of Easter to "make room" for God to speak into our lives. What is God speaking to me? I love you Brett. You are my precious child. I love you so much I sent my only begotten son to give his life for you.

My prayer: Dear God, help me to remember who I am in you and how much you love me. Help me to let your love overflow onto others in my life. Help me to love others with the love you have given me. Help me to make room for your voice and to distinguish your voice from the negative thoughts that so easily creep into my mind. Help me to not be so critical of myself so that I become critical of others, but rather help me to understand the grace I have been given so that I can extend that grace to others. Thank you for your amazing love. Amen.

Jealous God

2010-02-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ "O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes," he said, "then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance."

¹⁰ Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. ¹¹ Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ¹² Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. ¹³ Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. ¹⁴ Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. --Exodus

The fact that God is a jealous God might make some people shirk or view God as someone too weak or "human-like" to commit one's soul to. For how can the Creator of the Universe be susteptible to such "ugly" human emotions as jealousy? However, our modern culture has contorted jealousy into a simplistic, animalistic reaction to an unfaithful lover. We see it in movies, music and literature all the time--i.e. the boyfriend who gets caught looking at another girl and the girlfriend gets...jealous. Is this the same jealousy the LORD was talking about? The same emotion that he wanted to be known as core to His identity?

We need to step away from our modern mindset for a minute and remember who God was to Israel. God created the world and later created Israel as a seperate nation, a people who would be set apart from other tribes in the world by one singular characteristic--they were God's chosen people. The only thing that really made the Hebrews special was the fact that God chose to love them, to establish a covenant with them, and to make them into a great nation thus showing the entire world the power of his love and faithfulness.

Unfortunately, Israel does not live up to their end of the bargain. Exodus explains how Aaron even creates a golden calf for the Israelites to worship because they had given up on God and wanted some other god to worship and meet their needs. Can you imagine your very children, the children you love most turning their back on you, disowning you and pledging their allegiance to something you know will result in their ruin? Jealousy in the scripture is talking about the dictionary definition that is a little further on down the list--intolerant of disloyalty or infidelity. Was God resentful of the fabricated cow? No. Was God angry at His own people committing idolotry and adultry? Absolutely.

The next question I have is: Would I want it any other way? Would I want a god who is dispassionate? Would I want a god that doesn't care if I am loyal to him or not? Would I want a god that doesn't care if I choose other than his love? If I honestly answer those questions every time the answer is no. I want a god who loves me and is angry if I turn to some other god.

Imagine you come home one day from work and say "Honey, I'm leaving you for another person" and your partner just shrugs and says "Hey that's cool, no problem, whatever you want." What would your reaction be? If that is their reaction, did they ever really love you, especially (imagine you were God for a second) if you knew that the best life for that person is only possible if they stay with you?

Personally, I'm glad my god is a jealous God.

Tabernacle

2010-02-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

Reading Exodus after the Israelites escape Egypt by the hand of God can become somewhat tedious because of the incredible detail in which God describes how the tabernacle and everything in the tabernacle is to be made. But if we fast forward and realize that we are the temple of the LORD it can give you a new appreciation for how God views us. Before Christ came to be the ultimate sacrifice the Israelites needed to continually offer sacrifices in the temple, but once Christ came he rendered the custom of temple sacrifice obsolete as he became the sacrifice and the high priest that would go before God in heaven, not just a tent established by mortals on earth that was a shadow of the throne of God (Hebrews 8-10). Now that Christ has fulfilled the covenant promise we can tabernacle or commune with God at any time and without having to have a high priest offer a sacrifice. We are now the temple of the Most High and when we realize the detail and the exactness in which God demanded the tabernacle to be built it gives me a new appreciation for what being a temple really means. We are where the presence of God dwells. Are we corrupting the temple in any way? Are we failing to see ourselves as holy children of God? Are we allowing other gods to enter the sactuary?

God, help me to remember that I am your holy temple created to worship you in all that I do. Help me to invite you into every aspect of my life and not allow your creation to be corrupted in any way. Thank you that I can commune with you and experience your mighty presence all the time because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Identity in Christ

2009-12-21T21:22:00.001-08:00

Who am I? We ask this question of students all the time, but do the teachers actually do this for themselves? I know I need to ask this question. God has given us the gift of self-awareness and free will, however our freedom comes from surrendering our will to God. Though God has created us and given us life, we find true life, life that is connected to the giver of life, by dying to our own desires. My life, my identity must be found in the one who paved the way for me to have life and access to my Father. My identity is in Christ. I say that, but I constantly struggle with my status, which is a very Western view. I need to view my identity in terms of relationship. Who am I? I am a child of God (the God who's name is literally "I am what I will be and I will be what I am"--how is that for identity?) Even more so, I am not just a child of God, but I am a brother of Christ. My identity is grounded in my relationship to God through Christ.

Colossians spells it out more clearly:

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your mind because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…" (1:21-22)

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (2:6-7)

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the flesh, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." (2:9-13)

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ."

"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules"

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated a the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

"Put to death, therefore, what ever belongs to your earthly nature…"

"...Christ is all, and is in all."

Need there be any more explanation? My identity, my life is IN Christ. I have been buried with him and raised with him. I live IN Christ. Christ is my life. These are powerful ideas, but the beauty is they are more than ideas--they are reality. What is even more so, through the Holy Spirit the love of Christ can rise up and work through me to help others. There is great power in that reality, the power of the risen Lord working through our bodies.

Jesus, rise up in me and help me to have the strength to love as you love.

Questions, lots of questions

2009-08-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Why do I continue to sin when I know what I do is wrong? Why do I continue to rationalize my sin and make excuses for my thoughts and behaviors? Why do I try to self-medicate my own perceived needs with things other than the person of Jesus Christ? Why do I always ask myself the same questions? Why do I have more questions than answers? Should I try to talk these issues out?

Some times I feel like its the same old cycle. Sin, shame, guilt, prayer, still feel guilty and disappointed, more prayer and scripture, Christ restores me. Why can't I just be one with Christ in total statisfaction and confidence all the time? What is wrong with me? Thanks be to God for the restoration, which is really my own conscience for in reality Christ has fully restored me once and for all. And really that is the exact truth that Christ keeps bringing me back to when I do stumble. Christ has done the work on the cross. I can do nothing...NOTHING to create a relationship with God through my own righteousness. That can only be done through Christ and praise be to God, he has sent His only begotten son to be the necessary attonement for my sin.

Despite my repeated attempts to justify my righteousness before God with my own works they will always be filthy rags. My righteousness outside of Christ comes no where near that of the Pharisees so I am doomed from the beginning with that attempt. Again, the answer is Christ. He is my savior. I can't save myself.

What about sanctification though? Why do I continue to sin? Why does it always seem to be the same sins or behaviors? Is faith in the supernatural transformative power of the Holy Spirit really enough to rescue me from my own sinful tendencies? Do I really believe that God will change me if I continue to seek after Christ?

I pray to God that he will increase my faith that I can believe that to be true. I pray that God will help me to see myself as he sees me--a new creation in Christ. Help me to believe that sin has no hold of me any longer because Christ has defeated sin and death. Help me to cling to Christ no matter what the cost. Help me to believe that Christ really is enough and that anything I do not of the Spirit of God to try to satisfy myself will only leave me lacking and further from Christ in my mind.

Lord, take my life and fill me with your vital life that I may live in you. That is the answer.

to know Christ...

2009-07-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Christ is everything to me. At least that is my goal. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dad (Philippians 3:10-11). Yet how often do I actually try to find Christ in everything? How often am I rather concerned about my own well being, my own emotinal state, my physical comfort, my status or relationship with others, my own wants and needs. I often go looking in the wrong places for peace, and by peace I mean that sublime state where I just feel good about myself and the situation around me. However, unless I go to Christ in all situations, in all states of mind and emotion, with every relationship, I will always come up dissatisfied. Not that satisfaction is the goal, but that is my sinful nature, to appease myself. However, what does Paul want, what SHOULD I want--to know Christ. How often do I put knowing Christ as my primary focus? Unfortunately, I usually put myself first and then ask Christ to help me out when I come up lacking and confused.

Peace can mean different things, Christ in us can bring peace into a situation. I need to ask the Prince of Peace to rise up in me. Will I find true peace? If peace is my end goal then the answer is no. Will I find Christ? Yes. Will there be hardship and suffering in my journey to know Christ, absolutely, however I can find joy through those hardships because they are perfecting my faith and drawing me closer to Christ. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matthew 10:39). This is baptism. I need to give my life to Christ, to go into the river and die so that God will resurrect me and give me new life in Christ. This death is not a one time experience but a daily commitment that will bring renewal. Christ, you are my life. Here are the keys to the car, here is my family, here is my home, here is my heart, my mind, my soul, every good thing I've done and will do, every bad thing, I give them all to you so that you may rule and reign in me. Peace comes with death. Joy comes from the resurrected Lord living in us.

An invitation goes a long way

2009-04-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

"You should come with me to ___________ tonight." These simple words can literally change a life. By being obedient to God and accepting our commission from Christ to go and make disciples we will advance the kingdom of heaven.

When I was a 6th grader Dan Bursch invited me to go to a youth retreat at Ocean Shores. I was never too involved with our church's youth group, but since I knew Dan I thought I would take a risk. Little did I know that going to that youth retreat would change my life. For the first time, even though I had been going to church since a young boy, I heard and UNDERSTOOD, the Gospel. I understood the significance of Jesus dying on the cross for my sins. I understood that he gave himself up for me, so that I may be forgiven and live with him for eternity.

I went home after the retreat and gave my life to the Lord in my bedroom. God had saved me and he did it through my friend, Dan. Dan was obedient by asking me to join him and good fruit came from his obedience.

When I was a freshman in high school Doug Grandquist invited me to Young Life. Through Young Life I met Stu Collins who became my mentor in high school and challenged me to grow in my walk with the Lord. Stu challenged me to invite others to Young Life so that more people could experience God and hear the Gospel. Doug and Stu were obedient to the Great Commission, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).

When I was a freshman in college a guy named John Pell knocked on my dorm room door and invited me to Bible Study. I eventually did join the group and went on to lead another group for the football team along with another friend of mine where others were brought to Christ. My future wife ended up joining one of these dorm room Bible studies and gave her life to Christ. John and I are still great friends even though he lives in North Carolina. John was obedient to God's calling to lead a small group and to invite others to join and God worked through that obedience.

We never know what fruit will come from being obedient to God. However, we know that if nothing else, we are learning to listen and follow God's lead in our life. I have been the beneficiary of others taking the Great Commission seriously. All they did was invite me to join them. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him (Matthew 4:19-20).

Take a risk and be obedient to Christ's commission. Follow his lead. The kingdom of heaven advances through us. Lives will be transformed through a simple invitation.

Who can you invite to join you?

The Kingdom of Heaven

2009-04-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

At the risk of biting off more than I can chew I would like to try to examine what Jesus says about the kingdom of heaven in the gospel of Matthew for the next few posts. Hopefully a series might motivate me to be more consistent with posting. Please comment on these posts to correct, affirm, add, or provide personal insight into the scripture we examine. I would love for this to be a group effort.

We are not going to look at ALL of Matthew, but only the scriptures specifically dealing with Jesus either explaining how to live as one in the kingdom of heaven ON EARTH or what the kingdom of heaven IS like. Oh wait, that is basically the entire gospel. OK, so we have a lot to look at. In fact, when Matthew is not sharing what Jesus says about the kingdom of heaven he is giving an account of Jesus ushering in the kingdom of heaven through his life, death and resurrection. So when we look at the gospel of Matthew we are really reading about how we are to live as kingdom people on earth, what the kingdom of heaven IS like and how Jesus ushered in the kingdom of heaven and provided us a way to enter that kingdom through him.

If we begin with chapter 3, Matthew describes John the Baptist preparing the Way:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "

John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

John was preaching about the kingdom of heaven before Jesus even began to preach himself. Of course John the Baptist was trying to prepare God's people for the coming kingdom to be ushered in through Jesus. What was John doing to get people ready for this climactic event? He was telling them to REPENT. People were confessing their sins and getting baptized. Of course John was only baptizing with water and he knew that was incomplete. He understood that people needed the baptism of Jesus--to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and with fire. We can get into baptism more later, but I think a key point to recognize here is that John understood that we need to confess our sins and return to God. We need to do STOP sinning and START living the life we were called to live in Christ. The kingdom of heaven is full of sinners. Hell is full of sinners. One difference is that the kingdom of heaven is full of sinners who have confessed their sins, repented and been baptized in the name of Jesus (with the Holy Spirit). Then when it is time for judgement, when Jesus clears his threshing floor and separates the chaff from the wheat, those who have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus as Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven and escape the unquenchable fire.

Later, when Jesus finds out that John had been put in prison he began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt 4:17) Jesus began to preach the exact same message that John was preaching. As we continue, we will look at how Jesus ushers in the kingdom of heaven on earth and what he says those who belong to the kingdom of heaven should live like.

Questions: Have you confessed your sins and turned to follow Christ? What baptism have you received? Have you been baptized in the name of Jesus? Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Why do you think this is essential to entering the kingdom of heaven?

Please feel free to comment on this blog or just talk to someone else about how confession, repentance, and baptism are related to the kingdom of heaven.

Salt and Light

2009-03-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

It's been 3 months since I last posted on this blog, but this scripture reminded me that I am to shine the light of Christ to the world, or at least to those who read this blog. As a follower of Christ I cannot just sit idly by and expect others to get the Word out. I need to do my part (remember my last post?). Well right now, this Tuesday morning before I head off to work to be salt and light to students and colleagues, I have been called (challenged?) to get the Word out. Really, you could just read the bolded scripture for as the saying goes, "God has spoken. The rest is just commentary." Well, here is some commentary anyway.

Salt. Who doesn't like salt. Without salt food tastes bland. Salt helps bring out the flavor of the food. If salt loses its saltiness, what good is it? We would poor salt on food and only taste the food. Hopefully that food is pretty darn tasty without salt (assuming I'm not cooking). Before ice boxes and refigirators, salt was necessary to preserve food--to keep it from rotting. We are the salt of the earth. God created the earth and called it GOOD. He also said that we are the salt of the earth. Hmmm. Are we to keep His creation good? Are we to bring out the flavor?

Light. We need light to see right? How are we too see if we do not shine the light of Christ for each other? Can you imagine a world where all the followers of Christ kept their light hidden? Can you imagine a world full of closet Christians? This world certainly would be a dark place. But we have Christ. Christ has given us new life in him. Now we are to let Christ speak and work through us to help establish his kingdom on earth. How do we do that? Through loving God with all our heart, soul and strength AND loving others as we love ourselves. Simple command, but difficult to live out. But we can do it because that is what God created us to do. It's in our nature--the nature of Christ.

One Body, Many Parts

2008-12-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

This scripture really spoke to me yesterday because I periodically go through these phases where I question my calling to be a teacher and coach. For some reason I forget about the answer to prayer I received in college when a pastor whom I had never met before spoke a word into my life about going into this field, a true word from the Lord as I was seeking guidance on this very issue.

However, as concretely as the calling in college was and as fitting as my gifts seem to be for teaching and coaching I regularely question the value of my work for the kingdom of Heaven. Maybe it was because I grew up in the church, I don't know, but for some reason I have always bought into this myth that only pastors or missionaries are doing the true work of God. Even though this idea is completely illogical and unbiblical, the thought always seemes to creep back into my mind and create discontent with my work.

Thanks be to God though his word once again has provided me with guidance for I have been corrected and reminded that everyone has a unique role to play in the kingdom of Heaven. God wants me to be a teacher (at least right now) and I need to say YES! to that calling. If I fail to fully embrace that calling then I am not giving my all for the Lord. I need to stop looking at the kingdom of God as some spiritual hierarchy where some are more spiritual and kingdom-advancing than others. My role is important not because of the functional or material impact that I see myself having on the kingdom, but because God has called me to fulfill this role right now. I need to trust that God is doing spiritual work through me. I might not see it right now, but he is working through me. He works through each of us in a mysterious, creative and spiritual way every day. We just need to embrace our calling and ask God to fill us with his Spirit so we can passionately walk out our role in the kingdom and do our special part.

Love

2008-11-24T06:28:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 13

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I appreciate the clarity with which Paul describes love. Notice how love is not a feeling. Love is action. Love is intentional. It's a choice. I can choose to be patient and kind. But I can't just choose to love outside of Christ. God is love. Therefore, to love I must remain in God.

When I remain in God, God remains in me through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prompts me to love, even when I don't feel like showing love or even think I should show love. God's love transcends our merit-based world. God's love is freely given to us, therefore we are to freely give love.

I struggle with this because to often I withhold love because I think or feel that the person doesn't deserve patience or kindness, love. I'll wait for other people to meet my standard or expectations before I show them love. I become a hypocrite because I don't pass on the love that was given to me when I was still a sinner and had no intention of coming to God.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Thanks be to God for loving me when I was still a sinner and for loving me now, a sinner who has been cleansed by the blood of Christ.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)

Praise God! Let us love as he loves us.

A New Day Dawning

2008-11-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

Psalm 37:5-6

5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

The other day driving to work I felt like God was giving me an image of dawn. It might have been that it was a gloriously beautiful sunrise, but even that, God is still the creator of. I didn't know exactly why God was having me dwell on the image and word "dawn", but it was intriguing nonetheless. Later I looked up in the index of my Bible the word "dawn" to see what I could find. I only found two versus in the Bible I was using, one of which is above.

This verse comes in the middle of a psalm that is encouraging the reader to wait on the Lord, to trust God, to continue to live your life for God and the righteous will live and the unrighteous will perish. I think one of the important things to note about this scripture is the call to action on our part, "COMMIT your way to the LORD", TRUST in him and...", here comes the covenant, relational aspect... "HE will do this: HE will make your righteousness shine like dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Here we see that it is God who will make our righteousness shine like the dawn, not us. In fact, who is it that makes us righteous in the first place? Jesus Christ. We are can never be righteous on our own.

But the fact that it is God that saves us, God that gives us grace, God that has made us righteous through the blood of his son, does not exempt us from having to COMMIT our WAY to the LORD. To commit, we need to TRUST that God is GOD and Jesus is LORD.

We need to trust in who God is and believe that he has created us for a purpose. He delights in us and he wants to use us to advance his kingdom on earth. It is a holy partnership. We have been created in God's image to do God's work. "He will make YOUR righteousness shine like dawn, the justice of YOUR cause like the noonday sun." What is OUR righteousness and OUR cause? Does this imply our righteousness and our cause are different from the righteousness that God has given us or our cause is not the cause that God has given us?

Not at all, our righteousness is Christ in us. For God to make our righteousness shine is to expose the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world THROUGH US. Christ incarnate in us will show the world the glory of God. This is HIS cause and OUR cause. What an exciting cause? We are to glorify God by letting God show his righteousness through his son in us. Purpose driven life anyone? This is purpose.

In a time when many might think a new day is dawning because Barack Obama has been elected President, it is important to remember that true hope is found in the Lord. The Lord has already won the battle. The victory is secure. Death has been defeated through the resurrection of the Lord. True healing, restoration and justice will come with the coming of the Lord. In the meantime, we must do our part to live out our calling to allow God to manifest his righteousness on earth through Christ in us. That is what I can get excited about. That is a new day dawning.

Idols

2008-07-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

My pastor, Pastor Doug, has really been challenging our church to identify and confront the idols we have in our lives. For although we might not serve Baal or an overtly pagan god, everyone serves something. Wether it be equity, our job, our spouse, or most often, ourself, we each serve something and unfortunately that something is not God. When I first listed out all the idols in my life the list was long. Here are some of them:

-time
-perfection
-money/security
-football
-comfort
-being liked/respected

I know I have many more, but I thought I would just give a taste for the kind of idols I serve instead of God. Do I serve God? Yes. But do I get completely distracted by serving things or serving my own desires? Absolutely.

Today he challenged us to list out the reasons why the idol we fight against is dangerous. I think that God is showing me, at least today, that my desire to be perfect in teaching, coaching, marriage, essentially everything I do, is actually consuming my time, energy, and focus. Instead of focusing on Christ, instead of giving God room everyday to speak to me and show me what to do, I set my own agenda of what I think I need to do to do the best job and everything God has entrusted to me. I have forgotten that God is the one who is called me to teach, to be married to Alicia, to coach. I have taken those things for granted and assumed that I know best how to approach each of those endevours. I need the Holy Spirit to inform my thoughts, to change my heart, to focus my energy and attention on the one person that really matters in this world and the next, Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that my life has meaning and purpose. It is through Christ that the endevours and the people God has placed in my life will be blessed. My life will produce fruit in all those areas and in all my relationships when I place Christ above them all and recognize that even the most "benevolent" endevour or relationship can quickly become an idol and lead to death and destruction when I fail to put Christ first and invite Him into those areas so that He may rule and reign in all areas of my life.

Why is striving for perfection an idol? First of all, there is only one who is perfect and that is Christ. By trying to be perfect, I am essectially trying to become like Christ. Of course trying to become like Christ, who is perfect, is a great thing to focus on, but striving for perfection for perfection's sake is futile and destructive. I need to invite Christ to rule and reign in my life and allow His perfection to be manifested through me.

Another reason why striving for perfection is destructive on a practical level is that I will lose perspective on what is really important--what Christ is doing in my life and saying to me--and will focus on what I am doing with what God has given me. I essentially shut God out of participating in the work of his Kingdom that he has given me to help in. It's like God said to me, "Brett, let's work together on this", but then I just go off and try to do everything myself.

Striving to be perfect also leads to obsession. Obsession is great as long as it is obsession with Christ, otherwise obsession turns into destructive behavior and will lead me to ignore my relationsip with God and my family, the things that truely matter the most in my life.

Another destructive attribute of stiving for perfection is the self-critical spirit that rises up in me. I will never be satisfied with my work and I will base my entire self-worth on my works. I make things about what I've done and lose touch with the reality of the situation, which is that Christ is perfection and victory has already been won in Christ and what He did on the cross.

Listen

2008-07-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today, in addition to listening to the amazing thunder outside, I was able to spend some quality time listening to what God had to say to me. I thank God that he knows my meditative limitations in that I have an extremely short attentioin span so he was telling me some very freeing and comforting things before I'd drift onto another train of thought. God told me this morning that he will turn my weaknesses into strengths. That by me confessing my sins and struggles he will turn those things into victories for the Lord. He told me that I need to not feel guilty when I do school work or coach, because that is what he has called me to do right now. Of course I can never make work or football or anything else an idol before Him, but I need to let God use me in those areas to minister to his children. I was also able to pray in Ayla's room for her and inquire about what God would have her be like when she was older. Instead God just showed me an image of Him holding Ayla saying this is MY child. Your job, Brett, is to take care of her and create opportunities for her to experience God. I thank God for this amazing morning of being able to just converse with God. I'm not sure if this post aligns with the original purpose of the blog, but I also enjoy having this medium to document important things God has told me. The challenge now of course is for me to remember these precious things God has told me and to believe.

The Good Shepard

2008-06-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

No, we're not talking about the intellectual spy thriller with Matt Damon. We're talking about John Ch. 10: 1-21. Let's just start with vs 1-5. Jesus is talking to his disciples and some Pharisees:

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a theif and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepard of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

Let's identify some of the symbols here:
Sheep=followers of Christ
Gate=Jesus (vs. 7)
Shepard=Jesus
Theif/Robber=Pharisees/False Prophets/Satan (anyone not of the Lord)

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees here about who he is. He is the Son of God who has come to lead his sheep. He is the good shepard. All others, including the Pharisees, are no better than theives and robbers who come to steal, kill and destroy the flock. They are only interested in making themselves better off at the expense of others. Jesus separates himself from past and present Jewish spiritual leaders by explaining his love for his sheep and their love for their shepard. The sheep recognize Jesus' voice because they have an intimate relationship with him. Now, we have the Holy Spirit with us to commune with God. The more time we spend in the Word and in prayer and meditation, the more we will learn to recognize the voice of God who is calling us out of the sheep pen and into the world. We don't go alone. Christ leads us. If we follow someone other than Christ, we will be destroyed, but when we follow Christ we will have life and have it the full. Let's listen for the voice of the Good Shepard leading us and flee from all other voices.

Purpose...?

2008-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog is for me to type out my thoughts on the Word and the world without constantly loosing the slips of paper that I jam into my Bible until I eventually lose them or throw them away. I've felt inspired to do a daily (OK maybe weekly) devotional on a short passage because of my good friend and mentor Cliff, who sends out daily devotional emails to our church and others that he calls Breakfast. They are amazing and I want to grow from getting deeper into the Word myself, while at the same time commenting on societal/worldly issues on occasion.

Why "The Vine"? The simple reason is because I love the passage in John Ch. 15 on the Vine and the Branches. Jesus explain his relationship with the Father and our relationship with him and the Father using this beautiful imagery of a vine and branches. Jesus call us to to remain in him, the vine and we, the branches, will produce good fruit. God, the gardner, will cut off the branches that produce no fruit but prune the branches that do produce fruit. We are to REMAIN in the vine, remain in relationship with Christ, remain in God's love so that we will produce good fruit and actively love each other.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." John 15:12-14