Tag Archives: faith

Until I Get My Life Right

lost-places-1646374_1920

What I hear more than anything as I encounter people who consider themselves “unchurched”, is a reluctance to come to worship “until I get my life right.” Surprisingly, there is an element of this that is good theology and demonstrates a knowledge of God that many “churched” folks have lost as a result of their religion: God is holy and I must be holy or in “right standing” to enter into His presence. That’s truth.

But, here’s the good news (the gospel): God loves you so much and is so committed to being with you, that even before the beginning, He architected an ingenious Way for you to be in His presence without compromising His holiness. He provided a Savior able to pay the debt required for our sin and thereby making us able to be in right-standing (righteous). Not only that, but when we believe Christ, we’re given a new heart, HIS heart, a seed that grows unto a new spiritual man and empowers us to put to death our former, godless appetites. And, as we undergo the process of being re-made to look more and more like a Son of the Father (sanctification), we enter the presence of God by the blood (the work and person) of Christ. As a result, when God sees you, He sees His Son in whom He is well pleased so that you can dwell boldly in His presence. Hallelujah! #TheDoorOfTheChurchIsOpen

In loving memory of the greatest teacher of grace I’ve ever known, my mentor and friend, Dr. Gregory Wilson Jones.

Fake Good

church-africa-mission-737988

Among Satan’s most powerful deceptions is fake “good”. I suspect it’s why we do mission trips to Africa instead of San Francisco. The poor think anything’s better than what they have and the rich think they’re good and have need of nothing. But both are deceived (Revelation 3:17). Good is not attaining affluence or material possessions (Mark 10:21, Mark 10:25). Good is right relationships -having a right relationship with God which causes us to have a right relationship with everything else (Mark 12:29-31).

And, a right relationship with God is made possible exclusively through Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:27, 1 John 2:23) . Without Christ, any idea or understanding​ that we have of God is askew which causes us to relate improperly to everything else (family, money, ourselves, etc). So, let us pursue real good which begins with feasting on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (John 6:53-58). Start here.

Dying For An Apology

Couple Disagreement

Has someone ever offended you and it seemed that the relationship was “on hold” until they apologized? Yep, me too. It naturally makes sense to think that the one who broke it should fix it. But, Jesus teaches something very different in Matthew 18:15. There, we’re told when someone hurts us, that we are to take initiative to restore the relationship and go to the offender. You’ll also find in Matthew 5:23-24, that Jesus commands those who realize they’ve hurt someone to take immediate action to restore the relationship. What does this mean? Regardless of who is in the wrong, I am responsible for doing all I can to pursue a healthy relationship.

I think this speaks to the heart of what it means to be Christian, a follower of Christ. Jesus’s entire purpose was to reconcile creation to God (Colossians 1:20). And to be Christian, is to be Christ-like. Therefore, we also have this ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). What this means to me is that our default disposition should be one of restoral. We should be driven, looking, to restore people to fellowship with God and then with us.

This helps me, especially in marriage. When my wife and I are at odds, I must take responsibility for restoring that fellowship -regardless of whether I hurt her or if she hurt me. Practically speaking, if I truly desire to maintain the relationship, I would remove any obstacles that prevent us from getting there. And among the first obstacles to remove is the idea that because I offended her or I was offended by her, I’ve taken a position that is against her. Instead, I must communicate, even over-communicate, that I am for her, I am not her enemy, and desire to be in fellowship with her again.

I’ve tried to implement this by establishing ongoing gestures that communicate my openness and good-will toward her. One of these gestures is simply to kiss her on the cheek or on her forehead every night before we retire to sleep (Ephesians 4:26). Whether she’s angry or whether I’m angry, I try to do this to communicate there’s hope and I’m open to restoring fellowship.

How is God doing that for you? How has He communicated His openness to you and the hope of fellowship with Him? First, have you received His gesture of goodwill? And secondly, how can you do more of that for others?

The Paralysis Of A Perfect Plan

Planning Whiteboard

I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted waiting to develop the perfect, fail proof plan. I have to constantly remind myself that if God wanted to make me a robot that operates on strict step-by-step instructions, He would have. Instead, He made me creative, resourceful, able to navigate obstacles and has given me discretion over how I represent His interests. So, I must simply be led by a desire to please God, put my hand to the task before me with what I have and work to grow my stewardship. There is no need to agonize over my next move. If I first aim to have His heart and relate to the world as He does, my steps will be guided in the process.

I don’t reach out and stay connected with people like I should…

Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, May 7, 2017.

I don't reach out and stay connected with people like I should because Satan's always in my ear convincing me that I have nothing to offer because of my failures, because my life is not perfect or because I haven't attained a certain level of wealth or success. I feel like once I get my life together and do something important then I can be around people because I'll have some value to offer and then it will be worth it for them to have me around.

But if I pay attention, Satan's tactic is always diversion. In this case, he deceives me into placing the focus on myself. Satan cannot overcome the Light so he works to turn us from the Light. As a follower of Christ, I know that the Power to help others is not in me but in the One who uses me.

And so, I must fight to make myself available because my faith is in God who is able to make straight paths with crooked lines. I must trust He is powerful enough, brilliant enough… God enough to use me. Yes, even me. #MakeWar #TurnToTheLight

That 90’s R&B Type Love

Black Couple
So, listening to 90’s R&B yesterday evening has got me in my feelings and thinking about the blissful allure of an intense, all-consuming, never-ending love that characterized our music. And, sometimes I think I want that, but I’ve learned to ask, “Is that really good?” Is the way I want to be loved healthy?

If I can be real for just a second, I will admit that I sometimes struggle with wanting to be the center of my wife’s universe. But I know that isn’t good because I lack the “weight” or kabad to hold everything in her universe together. Being the center of her universe puts me in a position to do something I’m not built for -to sustain someone else’s existence forever. Conversely, it puts my wife in a position to be sustained by something that will surely fail (even if I were perfect, I have to die at some point). Apply even a little Bible and you’ll quickly find that my looking to be central to another: to be exalted and worshiped, isn’t love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil…”

To be blunt the love trumpeted by most music is promoting idolatry -a diversion of attention to someone or something else for what we should be getting from God.

So, what SHOULD we want? Answer: an intense, all-consuming, never-ending love with the only one who can deliver it -God. I believe the first step in really enjoying love is to be completely satisfied with Him -alone. Only then, can we really love or be loved by others, because if God is love (1 John 4:8), to love is to share God. And, for that He has to be central.

You know, my dad wasn’t particularly expressive when I was growing…

You know, my dad wasn't particularly expressive when I was growing up but there were was things he…

Originally posted on Facebook on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.

You know, my dad wasn't particularly expressive when I was growing up but there were was things he did that spoke volumes. One example is how he would always be looking for change on the ground. It didn't matter where we were or the condition of the coin -it could be in the bottom of a puddle, covered in mud or even bent and mangled, my dad would stop in his tracks to pick it up. I also observed the same attitude when he would help people. I can't tell you how many times we were late getting somewhere because he would stop to help someone on the side of the road. Somehow as a child I put the two things together and what I learned from watching my dad was that all people have value, no matter where you find them or how they come to you. So, now I stop to pick up loose coins wherever I am, no matter the condition I find it in because it's a reminder of a lesson I learned from him. Happy Birthday Rev. Paul Luckett. I love you.

His flight leaves Jackson International Airport in 2 hours and…

Originally posted on Facebook on Monday, January 23, 2017.

His flight leaves Jackson International Airport in 2 hours and we're still in Starkville. Undeterred, we hop in his gold Cadillac, and speed down 25 in a heroic effort to make a two hour trip in an hour and thirty. On the way, Dr. Gregory Jones and I are having a discussion about grace and mercy because, being new to grace, I was struggling to make a distinction between the two. And, just as as we get out of the Starkville city limits, we are met by the blue lights of a Mississippi Highway Patrol car. As the officer leans down to take my license, he sees Pastor Jones and recognizes him immediately. They chat, they laugh and the officer lets us go with a warning. As we pull back onto the highway, Dr. Jones says, "See, the officer letting you go without a ticket is mercy. He didn't give you what you deserved. Now, had he let you go and also gave you $100, that's grace – giving you more than you deserve."

I could tell a story every day for years about what this man invested in my life. But what's more important is that you get what Dr. Gregory Jones life was all about, what God shared him with us to give: Your innermost desire is to see your Heavenly Father smile, to know that "you're good". And, all it takes to make God smile, is to accept the Gift that He gave -Christ. The Gift, through acceptance, does the rest. That's grace.

One first Sunday in 1996, I attended Greater Ebenezer M.B. Church…

Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, January 22, 2017.

One first Sunday in 1996, I attended Greater Ebenezer M.B. Church in Starkville, MS. The church was packed with college students and as I was leaving, Pastor Gregory Jones stopped me at the door and said, "Why didn't you take communion?" I responded flatly, "Because, I am unworthy," thinking of 1 Corinthians 11:27. Pastor Jones replied, "Thinking you're not worthy and knowing Jesus is, makes you worthy."

Up until that moment, I only knew the exacting requirements of God, I saw Him as judge I could not please. I knew nothing of the provision God had already made to satisfy those requirements Himself through Christ, so that I could enjoy the endless pleasures of fellowship with Him. Everything I know about grace began with Dr. Gregory Jones. He died today. I will miss him but I know where to find him -in Christ.

Happiness Is Easier Knowing I’m Never Satisifed

I think it’s easier to be happy when you know there’s a part of you that will never be satisfied.

I believe there are ideas in the world that, when accepted, become part of us, such as the spirit that seeks fulfillment through indulgence, apart from God. This is biblically referred to as our “flesh” (not to be confused with our biology). We all wrestle with it and it can never be satisfied, not with any achievement, any possession, any experience, any relationship -anything. It robs us of joy and peace because it’s restless, discontent, constantly grasping but never laying hold of.

When my flesh is aroused and I find myself dissatisfied with my life, the temptation is to feed this hunger, to do something that gets me more of something: more enjoyment, more recognition, more money, more power. But this focus on “getting” runs counter to the purposes the Bible says we are created for: to be fruitful, to create, to produce -to give. So, I find the key to my peace is not feeding this fleshly hunger but to starve it, to redirect my focus and energy from what I want to get out of the world to what I want to put out into it that yields life. That’s where I find fulfillment.

Jesus put it this way, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” [Matt 16:25] What is His sake? That we may have life. [John 10:10]