American Struggles

I just read a news story on the front page of a major news outlet that details the government's plan to expand broadband internet. The plan is for 9 out of 10 Americans to have broadband by 2020. I am all for this and think that high-speed internet is great. As a matter of fact, if anyone is even reading this you are likely doing so via broadband service.
The part of the story that jumped out at me was that it portrayed a woman in Oklahoma who "struggles" because she does not have broadband. This poor woman has to "do chores" around the house while she waits for images to download to her computer because her internet service is so slow. And the story details the plight of her deprived kids who have to get her to accept their Facebook friends when she goes to work and has access to broadband. It must be nearly unbearable to have to survive under these stressful conditions and amidst these oppressive struggles.
Thankfully many in our world today do not have to face these same trials. Those without computers, for instance, do not have to deal with the stress that a lack of  broadband brings. Those without the availability of electricity are further freed from these trials as they know that even if they possessed a computer they would  not have the means to power it.
And the minds of countless multitudes in our world have been spared from this non-broadband anguish because they are occupied with other thoughts: One-half of the world's population is trying to figure out how to live on less than $2 per day. Today 30,000 people will fight their final battle with starvation. 13 million orphans will wonder about their future and if anyone cares about them. Around the globe others are struggling with malnutrition, no cleaning drinking water, abject poverty, death from preventable diseases, and a whole host of other things. Oblivious that there is even such a thing as broadband internet.
Struggle? Not having broadband can be considered a struggle? I fear only in America would this be considered such. Perspective is everything.

Do You Want to be Great?

In Mark 9:35 Jesus told His disciples how to be great. He said, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Consider four obstacles to being that kind of servant.
You will struggle to be a true servant if:
1) You are filled with pride
2) You have not denied yourself and taken up your cross
3) You are consumed with your rights
4) You are concerned with positions and titles and prestige
The common denominator in all of these obstacles and struggles to be a servant is me; it is self.

But consider ten things that a true servant will do and be.
A true servant:
1) Knows that there is nothing that is beneath him
2) Is never inconvenienced by serving Jesus and others
3) Will help and will give whether they get anything out of it for themselves or not
4) Serves out of delight and not out of duty
5) Serves so that people will see Jesus and not him
6) Is not just concerned about what is done, but about how something is done
7) Is always on the lookout for ways to serve
8) Realizes that serving is about people
9) Will get tired (sometimes exhaustedly so), but will not quit
10) Realizes that as they serve others they are ultimately serving Jesus

The Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:23-24 and says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” When you serve others it is not as if you are serving Jesus; but it is you serving Jesus.
It was Jesus who gave us the ultimate example of that kind of service. In Mark 10:45 Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The ultimate example of serving others was seen as Jesus hung on the cross for my sins. God in the flesh becoming the sacrifice and payment for every wrong that I have ever done against others and against Him. Dying in my place, for my sins, not coming to be served, but coming to serve as my Savior and my Redeemer, even at the price of His own life.
So now I can and must be a servant of Jesus and others because Jesus has bought me at the price of His life. Therefore, I am His possession and this now frees me to serve Him and to serve others because my life is not my own.

Do you want to be great? Here is how you do it: live as a servant of Jesus and a servant of others. That is how you achieve greatness in the Kingdom of God and that is how you really live!

Are You a Glory Thief?

God says in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another." He reiterates much the same thought later in Isaiah 48:11 where He says, "For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it; For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another." There is no missing the point that God is consumed with His own glory.
That is why it is not an understatement to say that God deeply hates pride. The reason that God hates pride is that He rightly loves Himself and pride is a person taking the focus off God and putting it on them. It is a person taking the glory and trying to put it on them; taking the spotlight that exclusively belongs to God and seeking to have some of it shine upon them and who they are and what they have done.
In our house we have a term for this: GLORY THIEF. A thief is someone that takes something that is not theirs. God has said that His glory He will not share with another because it does not belong to another; it is exclusively His possession. So if I am seeking glory for me then I am in the process seeking to steal something that belongs to God and that makes me a glory thief.
The world is filled with glory thieves because the world is filled with pride. It is filled with self-centeredness. It is filled with those who desire their glory at the expense of giving God all the glory that He and He alone is due.
Are you a glory thief?

The God Who Sings

I must confess that I am not a very good singer. In fact, my singing is quite bad. It is not that I do not like to sing; on the contrary I find great delight in it. The problem is that those who hear me find absolutely no delight in it. Yet singing is something that the Bible says we are to do in response to the person and work of God in our lives. Moses and the Israelites sang “to the Lord” after He led them through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19). King David was a mighty warrior, but an even mightier composer of songs to and about God (2 Samuel 22:1-51). The book of Psalms is a divine hymnal of praise to God for His mighty works. In the Old Testament singing was a part of great and historic events, such as the restoration of the temple (Ezra 3:11), while in the New Testament singing is a source of instruction for others (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). And as the book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into heaven we see singing there as well as the saints and the host of angels are gathered around the throne of God praising Him in song (Revelation 5:8-10, 14:3, 15:3-4).

The Old Testament book of Zephaniah speaks of singing as well. The majority of the book is taken up with the theme of the coming day of the Lord when He will judge the peoples of the earth for their rebellion against Him. God through Zephaniah describes that day as “a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” as the peoples of the earth come face-to-face with the righteousness and justice of God (Zephaniah 1:15). But after two-and-a-half chapters about God’s coming judgment God says, “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (3:14). Sing? Up to this point in the book there has not really been a lot to sing and rejoice about!

But then God gives the reason for their singing, “The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more” (3:15). Their singing is not based upon wishful thinking, nor does its foundation rest upon their ignoring the circumstances around them. Their singing flows from the truth that God’s judgment has been taken away from His people, their enemies have been triumphed over by God Himself, and God’s very presence is with His people. Now that is a reason to sing!

For those who have a personal saving relationship with Jesus we too can praise God for those very same things. The judgment of God has been removed from us because Jesus has taken away and paid for our sins and rescued us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8, 8:1, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 1:10). Our enemies have been triumphed over through the finished work of Jesus (Romans 8:37, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). And now, through Jesus, God is always present with His people to care for them and to bless them (Romans 8:31-39, Hebrews 13:5-6).

But the most shocking thing about this passage from Zephaniah is not that God is calling His people to sing, but the fact that God Himself is singing! God says, “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17). As God is in the midst of His people that He has saved He is rejoicing and singing over them.

If you are like me this seems too good to be true. At first glance it does not even really make sense. I mean think about it: there is nothing in me that is worthy of rejoicing. There is nothing about my life that is song worthy. So how can God rejoice over me with singing? The answer is found in the fact that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:10-12). He sings over me because of the triumphant and sin removing grace of God that has been demonstrated in my life through Jesus Christ.

No matter what your musical ability, “break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises” (Psalm 98:4). Whether you are a baritone, a bass, or something in between, “sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6). And as you sing know that in Jesus Christ God is rejoicing and singing over you as well!

Free!

If I live to be one hundred,
I will never understand;
The grace that freely flows,
From Your forgiving hand.
I could not buy nor earn it,
Though many times I've tried;
Your only Son You sent to earth,
For me He gladly died.
May I never take for granted,
The blood He shed for me;
I owe my life to Jesus Christ,
The Son has set me free!

Being an Armchair __________

I like football. I mean I really like football.
And I can be quite the critical football fan. When my team is down or when they lose a game it is quite easy for me to sit in my home and confidently proclaim what they could have done to ride to victory. From my living room I can clearly see where the coaches called a bad play, how the quarterback did not see what I saw from my lazy-boy, or what was a clear path to imminent victory.
To put it mildly, I am an armchair quarterback.
But my armchair quarterbacking does not end with sports. I am also extremely good at raising other people's kids. As I watch other people's children and their interactions with them I know exactly what they need to do to get their children on the right track to obedience. I know what "I" would do if "I" were them.
In addition, I am surprisingly good at pastoring other people's churches. I know the direction that they need to go and the ministries that they need to implement in order to be all that God desires their church to be.
As a matter of fact, I generally excel in knowing exactly what others need to do to succeed in life, family, business, and nearly every other facet of their existence.
And I think that the reason that I am so good at these things is because I am not actually in their shoes. I do not walk where they walk. This means that I do not know all of the situations and facts and extenuating circumstances that make up their life and shape their decisions. This kind of armchair living breeds a hyper-critical spirit and judgmentalism that lacks grace and that is surely not pleasing to the Lord.
This revelation in my life (I hope) will cause me to be more charitable to others. To dispense "the benefit of the doubt" when I can. To try and see things from other angles and other vantage points and not rush to judgment. And I hope it will cause me to be more forgiving and more loving toward others.
More than anything it drives me to the grace of God in Jesus Christ where I experience forgiveness and where that forgiveness can serve as God's standard for me to dispense to others (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13).
And besides, everybody knows that armchair quarterbacks could not ever truly be quarterbacks anyway!

Now What Are You Going To Do About It?

A few quick facts:
*There are only 100,000 missionaries in the world and only 3% of them are working among unreached peoples
*Over one-third of the world's population is considered unreached with the Gospel
*There are over 16,000 people groups in the world and over 6,000 of them are unreached
*Two-thirds of the world's population lives in Asia and 70% of them have never even heard of Jesus
*One-half of the world's population lives on less than $2 per day
*30,000 people starve to death every day
*There are 13 million orphans worldwide
*In the past hour 1,625 children were forced to live on the streets
*In the past hour 1,667 children died from malnutrition or disease
*In the past hour 257 children were orphaned due to AIDS
*If Jesus has saved you by His grace then He expects you to do something about these things

"Having seen all this you can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again, 'I did not know'" - William Wilberforce

"This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." - JESUS