Brothers

Brothers. I have them. I love them. We are all pretty close, and I like that. We all have different personalities, faults, and strengths, but we are still brothers.


I enjoy holidays. A holiday is more than just a day to us. These are the times that we all take a break from our busy schedules, come home, sit around, and just talk. From time to time a wrestling match, or "discussion" will break out, but we love it. They cover my back, as I do theirs. My brothers are important to me. I like that.

At the Last Supper, Jesus sat around the table with His disciples. They sat like brothers. They talked. They ate, as all brothers like to do. Jesus spent time with His disciples. He loved them.

Because Jesus loved them, He served them. Jesus is master. He is the example they, and we, are to follow. He led by serving. In John 13, Jesus calls His disciples together and does something remarkable. He commits an act that is outside of this world. He washes their feet.

I can't imagine that they were pretty feet. They were the feet of walkers. The were the feet of workers. They were the feet of harvesters. One by one, He washed. He didn't whine about the dirt under their toe nails, and he didn't complain about the smell. But, He washed. Jesus didn't wear latex gloves, or keep a bottle of hand sanitizer near by. But, He washed. He didn't worry about what others would think, and he didn't do it with selfish ambition. But, He washed. After He washed, He commanded us to wash. Not for me to wash my own, but for me to wash yours.

Lesson? We are to serve. If you care about someone, you will serve them.

Humility

I should not serve a brother with myself in mind. As we do it for those we love, we to do it for them. Don't serve your husband or wife and expect something in return. Don't serve your brother or sister so that they will cover your back when hard times come. When you serve others, serve them and not yourself. Obvious.

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." - Jesus, John 13:14

Don't think that you are above it. If Jesus did it, we are not worthy enough to do it ourselves. But, He commanded it. And, it is our privilege to listen. Some of us think we are too good. That washing feet is below us. The Lord of Lords did it. The King of Kings did it. Are you above Him? No. Don't be foolish. John the Baptist even said that he was not worthy to untie the straps on Jesus' feet.

Who do you love? Are you serving them, or are you only concerned with being served? Real question. Do you have a real answer, or only excuses.


Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.

Completely Done By Sovereign Grace Music

This is one of my favorite songs. It is finished.

What is this you speak of?

There are many topics that I fail to understand. I often answer questions with, "I don't know." I often respond to comments with a dumbfounded look.

You're like this too. This is an obvious fact of life. We don't understand everything, and if we claim to, it shows how little we know.

I hate math. I hate math, because I do not understand math. In class today, I found myself in anger. It was almost like my teacher was speaking another language. I felt like an Indian who just met the pilgrims. I mean, I was frustrated beyond belief. What do you not understand? Maybe the way your spouse communicates or fails to communicate? Maybe the way your parents act over your curfew. Or it may be life. I stand on what I said. We hate what we do not understand.

The religious folks in the new testament did not understand grace. They could not wrap their minds around anything, but rules and regulations. When people spoke of grace they tuned their ears to a different station. In their eyes, when they saw grace, they saw nonsense. They didn't understand grace, so they hated grace. Jesus supported grace. Grace was shown through the actions of Jesus. Grace was heard through the words of Jesus. Grace was felt through the hands, and the blood, of Jesus. Religious people do not understand Jesus, so religious people hate Jesus. 

Religious people? When you hear this term you may think church. When you hear the word religious you may see gargoyles or nuns. This is not what I mean by religious folk. These things may be an aspect of a certain religion, but that's not what I'm pointing to. When I say religious people, I don't mean people who go to church, even though people who attend church may be religious. Your church or your t-shirt does not define you as religious or not. When I say religious people I mean this...

Religious people are those who find themselves too good or righteous for Jesus. They are those that find themselves to be better than everyone else, and even those who find themselves to be better than some or most.

These people do not even understand the law that they attempt to represent. But, they most definitely do not understand Jesus.

Jesus came for sinners, and we are those. Jesus set down his crown, to walk as a human. He decided to humble himself and deal with our struggles. He did not do this from a distance. He came to us and walked among us! Jesus was sinless. Jesus was perfect. But, Jesus was murdered. He put himself in harms way. Jesus took death. But, it wasn't ordinary death. It was our death. We made mistakes, but He paid the literal price so that we could be victorious in the name of Jesus. We chose sin, He chose us.

Religious people hate this. They see themselves as different from sinners. They go to the altar, looking down on sinners, as if they are not one!


I don't claim to even begin to understand grace. But, I love it. I love it, because I have felt it. I embrace it, not because I am above it, but because I am below it. And yet, Jesus has still shown it.

Jesus is Lord. We are not. Love Him, know Him, and serve Him.

• "...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed"- John 20:29b
• "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble..." Proverbs 3:34

On the other hand...

There are other things that I do not understand. Like, why should I make my bed? I'll get in and mess it up the next night. I do not understand why I have to do school work at home. It seems senseless.

Maybe your sitting there thinking that you are okay. You are not. You say your okay out of pride or laziness. You may think that you have no need to stop sinning, because you love sin. You may think that you don't need to stop sinning, because you don't sin. Don't be lazy, don't be proud, for the wages of sin is death.

Don't allow YOU to get in the way. Jesus is is everything, and if you don't have Jesus, you don't have anything.

Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.

Big Belly or Little Shirt?

I have gained weight. How do I know this? Well, the shirts that used to look big on me now look like spandex. Not, what you would call, appealing. Why have I gained this weight? I like to eat more than I like to run. I like to eat a lot. It is fun. There are times where I know that I should eat a banana, but I choose a honey bun instead.

I don't just stop with that snack. I want another..and another...and another. I never seem to get full, and if I do, the satisfaction passes quickly.

So what sense is there in me eating? Why should I fatten my self up like a prize calf, when the only fulfillment is between my stomach and shirt?

This makes no sense. But, you do it as well. You may not be on the brink of 800 lbs. like me, but you feed yourself with something.

Love money? Work real hard? What happens to that money once you spend it? Sure, you may have a new product, but won't it get old like the one you had?

Alcohol, drugs and sex? Feels good while your on cloud nine, right? But, what about when you fall? What about when the girl or boy, man or woman gets up to leave? What about when you wake up and feel as if someone hit you over the head with a baseball bat? Broken and ashamed. Empty. Sure, that's what we're looking for.

Athletic success? Maybe you want to be first in your class academically. Where does this get you when you don't go pro or people stop looking at your high school transcript?

What then? I will be quite frank with you. Once you smother yourself in the crap of this world you will still be hungry.

John 4:14 "..but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

Do not drink "the water" of this world because you will thirst again. Do not invest in worldly things, because they will fall through. And, do not pour yourself into the ideas of people, because they don't even hold water. I beg you, believers in Christ, do not whore yourselves to this world, for you are not your own, and you were bought with a price.

But eat, sleep, drink, and breathe Jesus. He alone is worthy, and he alone is enough. He will not falter. He will not leave you needing more. His love can never bounce like a bad check and His grace will never grow old.

Put every bit of hope into Jesus. You do that, and everything is taken care of. I am not talking of health, wealth, and prosperity. I am speaking about love that never fails, and a peace that will pull you through any suffering. As our Lord suffered, we will  suffer, but we will do so without hunger.

The woman at the well was holding on to 5 husbands. What do you need to let go of?




Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.

Tenth Avenue North - Love Is Here

Read "Big Belly or Littel Shirt?"

John Piper and the Prosperity Gospel

Football and Opportunities

Image by scotthelsinger via Flickr

Today is the first College Football Saturday of the year. Let me say that I am pumped. Watching young men go out and punish each other is a treat. Helmets bashing and cleats click-clacking.

The coolest thing to me is the preparation and the pay-off. The players have worked hard. Most of them have waited for this moment since they were small children. All summer long they have busted their butts. Breaking themselves down in the weight room and building each other up in the locker room. They pulled themselves together and toughed it out through 100 degrees practice. And on this day, it all pays off. They will battle another team, who has prepared just the same, and attempt to catapult themselves to victory.

That is passion.

Do you have passion? What pushes you? Is it football? Is it your job, and that big promotion? I pray that for those players, it is not the game. I pray that it is the opportunity. I pray that they take it as an opportunity to glorify Christ in the game.

Everyday you live in a game. You prepare, you plan, and you play. But, who do you play for? I know this is cliche, but men do not play for themselves. Real men do not even play for the game. But, they play for the one who created the game and the one who gives us the opportunity to play

1 Colossians 3:17


"And^(AT) whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,^(AU) giving thanks to God the Father through him."


What do you do? Do it for Christ. What pushes you? What motivates you? For men, it is to be Christ. Period. If it is not, you are not a man. You are stuck in the 7th grade. Grow up, and put your big boy pants on. 


Whatever it is, do it in the name of Jesus. When you lose your job, Jesus is there. When you realize you won't make it as a pro, he will be there. Do you put your hope in things that won't?


Take everyday as an opportunity. An opportunity to make an impact. Players seek to make big plays. Make the great throw, run then great run, or completely demolish someone with a devastating hit. Make an impact, but not in the name of Seth. Not in the name of Bob, Bill, or Dan. Not for the Glory of Susan, Lucy, or Ashley. But, in the name of Jesus. Thats the only way it will count. In the end, with the points tallied, the scores that will count are those that were scored in Jesus' name. Make an impact today and tell someone the Gospel. Be a gamebreaker and love someone unconditionally. Uncomfortable? Maybe. Worth it? Yes!


Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.