The Walking Dead

Right now, zombie movies and television shows are very popular. Zombie are essentially dead people who don't know that they are dead. Their animated corpses wander around aimlessly with one goal in mind. EAT. FEED. The problem is that they consume and consume and they are never satisfied!

This is what life is without Christ. As Christians, we see the walking dead around us every day. We see people who are dead inside, but try to fill their lives with alcohol, sex, relationships, going to the gym, work... the list goes on.

They try the same thing over and over expecting happiness, but it just doesn't happen!

Ephesians 2:1-9 explains it this way:

 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a]and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b]4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

In every zombie movie I've seen, the "survivors" are in one of two different camps:

• those doing what it takes to survive
• those working on a cure

Christians doing what it takes to survive are missing out on great adventures that God has in store. We have the cure to life and were even commissioned to take this cure that we call the gospel and share it with the world!

Let's put Christianity in action and let's cure the walking dead!

What are you looking for?

Almost everyone that I know is looking for something: acceptance from friends, a promotion at work, the love of their life, to loose weight, retirement, vacation... the list goes on forever.

For most of these people, these things consume their day. They are absolutely preoccupied with this never ending quest. The problem is, they are never satisfied when they get what they are looking for. There is always something else around the corner that is pushing them towards the next thing!

To me, this begs the question: what will make you happy? What will give you peace?

Peace is a concept that has been lost in our day. It's turned into a tag line, or a greeting, or something that people do to look cool.

The Bible uses the word "shalom" for peace. Shalom not only means peace, but it's this kind of peace that comes through completeness. The big question is where does this completeness come from?

In the book of Hosea, God asks Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman. This unfaithful woman symbolizes how the relationship between Israel and God had become. Israel had left their first love and were seeking after other gods in an attempt to find peace and happiness.

The following is said about Hosea's wife:

She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them.Then she shall say, "I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now."

His wife would continually try to find happiness - shalom - and never find it! She was seeking after the wrong thing. In the New Testament, Jesus shares the same idea but slightly differently. He says:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying "What shall we ear?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Imagine how your life would change if you chased God instead of chasing things? God understands what your needs are, but if you seek Him first ask for His strength and guidance how would your world change?

My challenge to you is to take a few days and put this in action and see if your peace... your shalom increases.

 

Who is calling you?

I use to love watching the classic Batman series when I came home from school. There was something comforting about knowing that when there was a need, Commissioner Gordon could pick up the Batphone and let Batman know that there was a mission... there was something that needed to be addressed that only he could handle.

On the other side of the phone, the person that answered was always expecting to hear the voice of Commissioner Gordon. On the rare occasions when  someone else, like Batgirl, there was surprise, because they new the voice of who they were expecting and that there was a need.

Really in Christianity it is no different. 

We all have missions in life that God wants us to accomplish. Whether it's praying for a person or a situation, sharing the gospel with someone or meeting a need that someone may have, God is always reaching out to His people to achieve His goals.

One of the things that has perplexed me about the post-modern church is that a lot of people have stopped answering the phone! There is this idea that going to church is enough, or participating in church activities is enough. There's this idea that those that are called into the ministry or the mission field are the ones that are supposed to act.

The idea that we don't have to jump into action because we haven't been called is a false notion. We are all called. That's why I love reading the first line of most of the books penned by the Apostle Paul. For example, in the book of Galatians, he says:

Paul, an apostle - not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead... Galatians 1:1

Like Paul, we are all called, not by man but by Jesus Christ, whose final words before ascending to heaven were:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matt 28:18-19

We know this wasn't just the mission of the disciples. If it were, neither you nor I would believe because there are no direct disciples of Jesus today and His message is still changing lives.

Here is today's call to action: Think about the Christians in your life who have made an impact that weren't Pastors, Ministers, or missionaries. There are probably quite a few. Let's act and become a part of that number!

It's Game Time!

The one thing that everyone likes about basketball is how fast paced it is. People love to see the break away plays, the ale-oop, the monster dunk or the well placed fade away jumper. As a matter of fact, that's the way many of us face life... run and gun and hope for the best!

The thing that fascinates me about basketball is that when the game is on the line, they will run set plays. When they need to score, they have a game plan.

Christianity has a game plan too. When Jesus left His last words, what we call The Great Commission, was to go to all nations, teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, when it comes  to living out that mission, we adopt the run and gun offense.

Today, I would like to talk about "Out-of-Bounds Play #1" - remember why.

Colossians 1:9-14 says:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We need to remember that we were once "out of bounds" - we were sinners and now we have redemption and forgiveness of our sins. For this reason, we need to continually be filled with the knowledge of His will and bear fruit.

I pray that you remember that we were once slaves to sin, but God has set us free and that we listen to His voice and take advantage of the opportunity to share this with others!

Before you start...

The Old Testament starts with these words:

In the beginning, God...

The New Testament starts with these words:

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Sometimes we get so caught up in looking for something esoteric in the Bible that we miss simple things. Everything great thing that we see in the Bible begins with God. Here are a few examples:

• God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go. 
• God told Samuel to choose Saul as Israel's first king
• God called the Judges
• God called the prophets
• God says "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased" at the beginning of Jesus' ministry

God has a plan for all of us. A lot of times we miss it because we don't know where to start.

My challenge to you is to listen to God... and ask Him what it is He wants you to do, and how He wants to accomplish it. Don't "Go" until you hear Him!

 

In the beginning..

Faith is an difficult thing. There are ways that we express faith on a daily basis that we take for granted. For example, when we see a chair, we sit on it. We don't pick it up to make sure it's solid. We don't press on the seat to see if it will withstand our weight. Without thinking about it, we just sit down and trust that it will hold us.

Creation is another matter that requires faith. Whether Christian, agnostic, or atheist, it takes a lot of faith to understand how we all came into being. Somehow, we are here and no one really has an understanding of how it happened.

As Christians, we believe it's this simple:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)

As Christians, this profound statement is the cornerstone for who we are as a people. We are identified by a relationship with God who formed everything and chooses to adopt us into His family. The order, majesty, and beauty of creation points us to the very nature of God.

Whether you believe in God or not. If you have been hurt by Christianity, Islam, or any other religion, cast that aside for a moment. Take the actions of man/woman out of the equation. Meditate on the fact that God created everything... then ask Him how you should respond.

Feel free to post your reactions!

Now... is the time.

The Kingdom of Heaven is now. In order to live in the Kingdom, it's important that we do it... NOW - at every moment, with every decision.

David was a man after God's own heart, but in a moment he made a bad decision - decided to sleep with Bathsheba, then continued to make bad decisions as he conspired for the death of Uriah. The moment that you stop experiencing the Kingdom, you're in danger of going down a path that takes you away from the Kingdom of heaven.

Peter wrestled with this too. He kept his eyes on the future and missed the Kingdom moment. When he was in the garden with Jesus, he said I will never forsake you! His bold declaration about clinging to the kingdom of heaven was looking in the future and he missed what was happening in the moment. The result was that he denied Jesus 3 times before morning.

1. Matthew 3:2
   And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
2. Matthew 4:17
   From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3. Matthew 10:7
   And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

This reminds me of a principal that I leaned called the kairos circle:

as we're living our lives on "chronos" time... God will intersect our lives... it's up to us to understand what God is saying, and respond immediately in a way that is in alignment with the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let us struggle to recognize the voice of God and respond in a way that keeps us connected with the Kingdom of Heaven.