The Joy of Jesus

Luke 10:21, "Then Jesus was filled with the JOY of the Holy Spirit and said, 'O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.'"

I absolutely love the idea of Jesus being filled with the JOY of the Holy Spirit. It does our hearts well to consider that the "Son of Man"/"Son of God" was JOYful and that His JOY is available to us.

Think on these verses:

Luke 2:10 - The announcement of Jesus' birth was good tiding of great JOY

John 15:11 - Jesus told His disciples that His JOY would remain in them and that their JOY would be full

John 16:22 - Jesus taught us that the JOY He gives no one can take from us

John 16:24 - Have you ever considered that answered prayer was allow us to walk in a fullness of JOY? Jesus did

We understand that the fruit of the Spirit is joy but rarely do we hear people talk about Jesus walking around JOYful. How often have you seen Jesus portrayed as JOYful? Too often we see the ultra serious, stoic, and face like a flint portrayal of Jesus. What is lost in those pictures, movies, etc., is the JOY of the Lord that was present in His life. What is also lost is the JOY that can be in our own lives as well.

Jesus was filled with JOY when the seventy other disciples returned to Him with their report. It brought Him great JOY to know that the men He sent out were successful in their ministry of the kingdom. What great JOY it must be to the heart of the Father when we are found faithful in what He has called us to do.

Got JOY?

If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you then you have all the JOY you need. Ask God to flood your heart with JOY. May you experience overwhelming JOY in His presence. Call out the JOY that is actually stored up in you like a fountain of living water. Let the JOY of the Lord flow out of you like rivers of living water. And learn what it means to allow the JOY of the Lord to be your strength.

EnJOY the rest of your day!!!

Recapture Your Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:3, "And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Does anyone still marvel over Jesus' statement to become like a child or are we too mature to accept it's simplicity?

Children are willing to believe, to have faith, to love, and to accept love. The complexity of life leads us to question everything, to be guarded, and to be hesitant about receiving love from anyone. The doorway to salvation is opened for those who can enter as a child. The wonder of salvation is open for those who will continue in childlike faith.

This has nothing to do with being childish. It seems like any time I want to refer back to the mentality set forth by Jesus that there is a line of people waiting to tell me that the Bible says we should move out of the elementary principles. I agree...we do knew to move out of the elementary principles but we should never lose the excitement or awe-struck nature of a child. We should never become so "mature" in the faith that we lose the enjoyment of abundant life in Him.

Imagine if every believer came to church on Sunday with the excitement of a child
Imagine how loud the songs would be sung
Imagine how many people would be ready to clap their hands
Imagine how excited we would be to see one another
Imagine how we would never miss the small things

In "The Ragamuffin Gospel", Brennan Manning shares an interesting aspect of Christ's compassion toward people:
"The gentleness of Jesus with sinners flowed from His ability to read their hearts. Behind people's grumpiest poses and most puzzling defense mechanisms, behind their arrogance and airs, behind their silence, sneers, and causes, Jesus saw little children who hadn't been loved enough and who had ceased growing because someone had ceased believing in them."

How many seasoned adults do you know who revert to some childlike behavior? It seems as though life has taught them one valuable lesson: Stop to enjoy life.
Gone is the hustle and bustle of "living".
Gone is the idea that they have to achieve.
Gone is the idea that there is never enough.
In childlike wonder they watch other children playing. They love to be around infancy. I think it's because it reminds them of the greatest adventures of life.

To come to faith in Christ we must come in child-likeness. To uncap all of the wonders of this faith means we must remain childlike in all others aspects. Much of what God is longing to bring us into in this relationship hinges upon our ability to view life as a child. Remove the rules, the barriers, the laws of gravity, and all the things that were taught to us. Regain you childlike faith and trust His heart for you.

What if...?

What would happen if we changed the way we read the Bible? I'm not talking about changing your quiet time, or the particular method you use. What I'm referring to is the tone in which we read the Word. Do you think it would make a difference?

I'm exploring something in my own life. I have discovered that I tend to read the Bible in the way it was preached or portrayed to me. I think it's a common practice for most of us. There's not too many people who grew up watching the 10 Commandments that don't read Moses in Charlton Heston's voice. Or we get to a certain passage of Scripture and read it exactly the way a pastor/preacher read it during his sermon. While I'm grateful for preacher, pastors, and movies; their influence isn't always helpful. We tend to portray the voice of God in the way it was portrayed to us. So I'm going to do a little experiment. I'm going to read the direct quotes of God & Jesus in a way that I think best represents His nature. The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus was the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being. What do we know about Jesus? What do we know about how He interacted with people? What does the Bible say about the coming of Jesus?

John 3:17 teaches us that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. If God didn't send Jesus to condemn us then why do read His Word in such a condemnatory way? Case in point: John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments." Many (if not most) of us have heard this portrayed in a commander type way. If you love Me...you will... Another way to express this statement according to the tone that many believers read it is "If you love me then you better do what I say." Does that sound familiar to you?

What if the statement of Jesus is not just a command but a promise. What if He's proposing that your love for Him will benefit you in such a way that you walk in His commands? What if this isn't an "either/or" statement? You know...either you love me and you walk in my commands OR you don't love me because you don't keep them. What if Jesus is showing you that your love for Him will produce obedience rather than your obedience producing love? Could it be possible that we have read the word in such a way as to miss what He is really saying?

If there is one thing we know about God it is this: He is love. If He is love then don't you think He would speak to us in a loving way? I'm not talking about the kind of love we have seen displayed around us (the kind where someone yells at us because they love us). Do you really think that God needs to yell to get our attention? Does God have to portray anger for us to listen? Or is hearing the voice of God such a sweet moment in our lives that He can actually infuse us with more of His love?

This is my challenge for me. Read the Bible in such a way as to portray the unconditional love of God. Stop and really think about what is being said. Jesus accurately exposed God's heart to the world. Were there times where He was angry, frustrated, or upset? According to the Bible, Yes. But the Bible typically tells us when he was angry, frustrated, or upset. If we don't see it in the words, you can pick up on some of the tone in the original language. The point I'm making here is that we should be careful to always portray God in the way Jesus portrayed Him to us.

The Bible says of Jesus in Matthew 12:20, "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out..." It sounds to me like Jesus handled Himself perfectly. He was always mindful of who He was speaking to and was careful to portray God accurately. Now it's our turn. When we sit down to read the Word, let's ask God to guard our hearts. Let's be careful to never portray Him in such a way that is different than what He intended. We may actually discover that God wasn't as angry as we thought and that Jesus wasn't as demanding as some have perceived.

What if...?

A Rose By Any Other Name...

The recommendation is final. And the "Breaking News" coming out of the Southern Baptist Camp is that there will be a big change...sort of...well...not really. Several blogs ago I told you about the possible name change for the SBC. Here's the results:

The task force assigned to look into a possible name change of the Southern Baptist Convention reported Monday and recommended to maintain its legal name but adopt an informal, non-legal name for those who want to use it: "Great Commission Baptist."

According to Baptist Press, the task force decided that "...the potential benefits of a legal name change do not outweigh the potential risks that would be involved in a legal name change." Citing Jimmy Draper, "Changing the name of the convention would require a great cost in dollars and in energy, and would present huge challenges legally that create a multitude of issues. The value of a name change does not justify the risks involved."

Basically, the task force believes that keeping the legal name and using a non-legal, informal name is a win-win situation. What does this mean for the convention? None of us are really sure. The Southern Baptist Convention isn't until June and the messengers will have an opportunity to affirm the recommendation or start all over. The idea behind a name change is that the use of the word "Southern" can be offensive. So what really changed? I guess we will all have to wait.

In the mean time, should the SBC go with the recommendation, churches can voluntarily use the name "Great Commission Baptist" instead of the offensive "Southern" when referring to their church.

You want to hear my thoughts behind all of this?
> Tagging a church as a "Great Commission Baptist" church doesn't make them any more great commission than putting a hunk of steel in a garage and tagging it "vehicle" means you can drive it around.

> Has anyone asked the question whether or not "Baptist" is offensive? I mean, it seems to me that if being Southern can be offensive then being Baptist can be just as offensive.

> What about the potential risks of having this huge convention of churches divided between "Great Commission Baptist" and "Southern Baptist"? Does anyone else not see this coming? "Well...we are the great commission churches..." or "Well...you aren't really Southern Baptist..." If churches can fight about the color of carpet then surely we can start a good argument over how we are identified. Oh...wait a minute, we already do that.

My curiosity over this whole things isn't satisfied. I'm very interested in hearing how all of this plays out. What will Pioneer Baptist Church do with this? We will continue being a Great Commission Church by going into the mission field and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. We will continue to love God, love others, and serve both. We have never allowed the name on our church sign to be what identifies or categorizes us.

Maybe one of these days, preferably before Jesus returns, all churches will let go of denominational identifiers and be known a the church. Imagine a church without tags, without divisive denominations, and without disunity. Imagine all churches working together to see the Kingdom of God expanded across the earth. Imagine each of us working arm in arm to reach the lost with the gospel. That is the day that I look forward to.

Shout Out for Marriage!!!

In spite of the difficulties that many marriages face, there are some reasons to celebrate. If you are like me, then you are hearing the stories of failed marriages. Unfortunately, you can even see many of them falling apart on facebook. However, I want to give a shout out for the marriages that are making it work.

Last year at this time I was working with a couple to bring some reconciliation to their relationship. They had come through an extremely difficult season, had many reasons to give up, and this week we were able to celebrate some major victories in their family. While I'm not willing to proclaim that the battle is over, I'm rejoicing over at least one couple that has decided that divorce isn't the option.

This story isn't unusual. It's just not one that you hear as often. Our headlines are plagued with stories of celebrity couples that call it quits. Our workplaces are filled with lives that are falling apart. Our schools are filled with children that are waking up in broken homes, spending weekends with one parent or the other, and are trying their best to cope. And last but not least, even our churches have people nestled safely within the walls who aren't willing to work through the stuff. These are the stories that we are used to hearing. These are the stories that seem to get the most attention. But I want to celebrate the marriages that are learning to endure, learning to handle conflict, and learning to love one another.

The question that I often ask but is rarely answered is: Why do people think working on a new relationship is easier or more rewarding than working on a relationship that they are already in? The "grass is always greener" metaphor is garbage when you consider that you have to cut the grass on the other side of the fence. Or when you consider that maybe the grass was greener because they use a lot more *fertilizer. Couples that are willing to take on the difficult task of changing to make their marriage work enjoy the benefits that many people have chosen to live without. Couples that say "Yes" to their family discover a greater love, a greater capacity for forgiveness, and a greater understanding of the heart of God for marriage.

My wife and I will celebrate our 17th Wedding Anniversary this year. It hasn't always been easy. In fact, there was a time when I wondered if we would be able to pull out of the mess we had made. While divorce was never really something we entertained, I'm grateful that we also were not willing to entertain anything else that could have created greater problems. It took an honest evaluation from both of us. It took a willingness to sit across from each other and bare our souls. It also took responsibility from each of us to change what we needed to change. Our marriage has become a testimony of God's incredible grace and unfailing love. I can honestly say that I love my wife more today than I did 17 years ago. I can definitely say that I have learned to appreciate her as an individual, a wife, and a mother. She is God's gift to me and every day I thank Him for allowing us to spend our lives together.

While I celebrate what God has done in our lives, let me celebrate what God is doing in many of yours. Thank you for your willingness to work things out. Thank you for not giving up on your spouse. Thank you for enduring the pain, working through the emotions, and displaying to the world that God's grace is enough. I wish I could give you a trophy but I will let your children be the shining example of what you have accomplished. I would love to parade you all across the stage but I believe the community around you has given witness to what God can do through two people who are willing to make it work. What I will do, as I type these words, is applaud you for saying "Yes" to this most blessed relationship.

To all you married people out there: Keep Working - Keep Loving - Keep Going!!! God is with you in this endeavor.