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Are you sabotaging your marriage?

5/15/2014

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“You’re going to vacuum before they get here, right?” Leslie asked in an anxious tone as we were pulling into the garage.

“I’ve got it under control,” I murmured.

We jumped out of the car; each grabbed an arm full of groceries and hurried toward the kitchen.

“I’ll take care of these groceries so you can get started on the vacuuming,” Leslie said.

The tension was rising because in less than an hour, two other couples would be at our doorstep expecting a dinner party.

“Don’t forget to light the candles and turn on the music before they get here,” Leslie hollered from the kitchen.

I heard what she said but didn’t reply as I walked into my study to look through some “urgent” mail.

Only a couple of minutes passed, it seemed to me, when Leslie came in to my study and in exasperation asked: “What are you doing?”

“Reading my mail,” I responded defensively and with the best look of confusion I could put on my face. She didn’t buy it. “Don’t worry,” I said, “I’ll take care of the other stuff.”

Leslie sighed and left the room.

Five minutes later I heard the sound of the vacuum in the living room. I’m almost done here and then I’ll go in and help her, I said to myself. Ten minutes later the vacuum stopped.

I bolted from my chair and walked to the living room. “I thought I was going to do this,” I said to Leslie.

“So did I,” she replied.

We’ve all weaseled our way out of our spouse’s “to do” list at one time or another. Haven’t we? After all, we’ve worked hard, we’re tired, busy, preoccupied, maxed-out, whatever.

However we defend it, subtle selfishness is a deadly for couples. It lurks just beneath the surface whenever we are tired and there’s a household chore to be done or an errand to be run. That’s when we pretend we don’t notice the chore or we “forget” about the task, hoping our spouse will take over so we don’t have to.

Subtle selfishness seeps into our marriage in a myriad of ways. I (Leslie) am the first to admit I can selfishly hoard my husband’s time, for example. I can complain to Les about his busy schedule but never consider adjusting my own calendar for his benefit.

Or, I might think nothing of spending extravagantly on a luncheon with one of my girlfriends and later snip at Les for indulging himself with another computer gadget he “doesn’t need.”

Let’s face it. In big and small ways we all squirrel away money, energy and time for our own advantage.

Here’s the problem with subtle selfishness: it cuts the heart out of marriage. We can rationalize our selfish ways all we want, but we are missing the point of our partnership when we do not pitch in with a generous spirit and help our spouse with the task at hand.

This blog post is from Drs Les & Leslie Parrott.  I encourage you to order their book, Trading Places


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

1 Comment

Can I Really Change?

5/14/2014

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One of the things that is exciting about being involved in a church plant is the influx of new people coming to know Jesus, seeing miraculous things happening and being energized by new Christians.  It is absolutely thrilling when a person who previously didn't regard Christ as his/her Savior experiences a life-changing decision.  It boosts my faith when these people "who don't know better" really believe that God can do anything.

Having been a Christian for over 40 years, I think that I got this Christian thing down.  I can easily become complacent and lazy.  Yet, these new Christians are an inspiration.  They remind me of how I need to rely more on Christ and less on myself. 

I was in a small group from our church and we were praying for these new people.  I was struck by a thought that I am sure came from God.  I remember thinking, "you don't really believe that these new Christians are gonna make it, do you?"  It was difficult for me to admit that to myself.  But I sensed a further prompting, "tell these people in your small group what you have been thinking."  So I said, "this is hard to say but I'm gonna say it.  I have to confess to the sin of pride, of elitisim.  These new people that we have been praying would come to our church, I have been thinking that they wouldn't last.  That they aren't really gonna make this Christian thing work for them. I've been thinking that they will never be as good of a Christian as I am."  Now, I would like to say that my statements changed somebody but these statements only changed me.  

I am glad that I was brave enough to say out loud what I have been thinking for a while.  It was difficult but humbling.  I didn't experience any condemnation from my small group friends but rather an open discussion about attitudes and how we need to allow God's Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out.

I was thinking about my comments and my attitudes a little later, and I had another thought, "If these new Christians don't make it, you will be partly to blame.  It is up to you to offer encouragement, discipleship, friendship and support." 

That's one of the many things that I like about the Holy Spirit.  He's direct, to the point and doesn't just blast away at me.  God's Holy Spirit is an expert marksman.  He never misses His target.  He sees something that needs to be corrected and all I have to do is listen, trust and obey Him.  

I'm glad that after being a Christian for all these years, that God hasn't stopped with molding me into the image of Christ.  

If I'm honest and humble, He will do just that.  
He will do the same for you.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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Selfish worship

12/4/2013

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In 1992-1993 we were missionaries in Ecuador.  I have worshiped with people from many different cultures and have enjoyed the different ways that Christians engage in worship.  I remember one service in Esmeraldas that had a very African flavor to it and another in Guayaquil that was a tropical, Latin mix.  I thoroughly enjoyed both and could tell that these were ernest Christians who REALLY enjoyed worship.

On another occasion we went to Riobamba to a church high in the Andes mountains.  What I experienced there was quite different.  We had traveled there to visit some people from America that were on a work trip to the area and wanted to make some friends.  We had eaten supper together with them and the Quechua folk of that church.  When we went to worship, we were fortunate to have a teen choir lead us in worship.  The worship was more formal and the singing was in a very nasally, high voice.  It was in the Quechua language so I had difficulty understanding what they were singing.  

I was young, proud and had my wife and kids with me.  After the service one of the Americans came over to me and we were talking about the service.  I said something about the service that I shouldn't have said.  I said, "that music was gross!"  It popped out and I didn't take it back.  I was instantly convicted but was too stiff-necked to listen to God's Holy Spirit's chastening.  After all, I was the missionary, they were just people visiting.  

I have thought about my bad comment over the years, trying to analyze why I would say something like that.  Now, I know that one of the tricks that Satan uses is to keep reminding Christians of their faults and sins to keep them feeling condemned and ineffective.  I have been forgiven for my statement and my attitude and when I think about what I said, I still get a twinge of guilt but then I am reminded that was in the past and forgiven.

I recognized that I had in my mind certain ways that I approved of how worship was to be done.  This third church, in Riobamba, stretched me and didn't fit my preconceived notions.  I was clearly wrong.  I have prayed that the young American that I talked to (I have no recollection who he was) would not remember my insensitivity but the good things of his time in Ecuador.  

Now it is 2013 and I am miles aways and 20 years away from that event.  I have worshiped in several other cultures and other churches and have come to believe that I have put away such preconceptions.  I no longer have the feeling that a certain style of worship is gross.  I have matured.  I have become more Christlike.

But have I?  Have I really progressed?

I was recently at a worship service where we were lead by a worship team that had a decidedly "country" flavor to it.  Part way thru this experience, I excused myself.  As I walked past the sound booth, a friend asked me, "how do you like the worship team?"  I said, "I am not a fan of country music..."  I felt instant conviction, very similar to how I felt in Riobamba when I ignored the Holy Spirit.  I immediately followed it with, "but I see that others are worshiping and the team is really doing a good job, so I can't complain.  I'm trying to worship too."  

OK.  That was a bit better.

Then I was reminded of a statement, I don't know where I heard it, that says, "If your life is divided up between what you like and don't like and you just do what you like & avoid what you don't like, you're gonna have a miserable existence."  That statement is sooooo true.  I close myself up to God's ability to work in my life if I just simply become opinionated about everything and complain/avoid things I don't care for.  

So, I'm trying, I'm improving, I'm getting better, my intent is improving, my heart's getting into it.... 

but I still have a long way to go...

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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Lady Gaga and Jesus

8/30/2013

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When you set up a twitter account, you’re supposed to give a brief description of yourself that’s viewable for the public eye.  My description states, “I blog about my journey as a missional funeral director. I’m the last person to let you down in Parkesburg, PA.”

Lady Gaga’s used to state, “Mother Monster.”

Queer theorist Michael Warner writes,

“Queer is by definition whatever is at odds with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant. There is nothing in particular to which it necessarily refers. It is an identity without an essence. ‘Queer’ then, demarcates not a positivity but a positionality vis-à-vis the normative.”

Lady Gaga is the embodiment of Queer Theory, not necessarily in her sexuality, but by her identification and normalization of “whatever is at odds with the normal.“

A quick scroll through her nearly 40 million twitter followers shows that most of them are “weird”, they are “the rejected” and the “monsters.”  The kind of people that would walk through the doors of a church and be sneered at by the onlookers.

Many flock to her as their “mother monster” because she accepts, even normalizes the weirdness

the queerness

she embraces those who feel that they’re not apart of the “normal”

people that are broken

not whole

not legitimate

that are, in some ways, monsters.

People like … me.

Most churches would hate her.  Most churches would hate her followers.  They either couldn’t see past the lifestyle, couldn’t see past the way they dress or couldn’t see past the philosophy.

But not Jesus.  In fact, a quick look at Jesus’ tribe and we soon realize that he too was the “Mother Monster” the One who made a mosaic out of broken pieces.

Mary Magdalene the Harlot.

John the Baptist.

Matthew the Tax Collector.

Peter the Zealot.

Thomas the Doubter.

Paul the Persecutor

Monsters.  Rejected.  All.

Lady Gaga’s tribe is strong.  They’re strong because they’re united by their brokenness, by their “queerness.”

Like Jesus, Gaga has found one of the strongest bonds for community: not primarily sin, but rejection.

One of the main differences between Gaga and Jesus is that Jesus inaugurated his tribe through death and new life.

But, if Jesus was walking in America today, and if He was afforded the opportunity, I’d love to see his conversation with the “Mother Monster.”

I wonder if Jesus’ people have become too normal to embrace the rejects of the world?  If we see Lady Gaga and her followers as the ones Jesus WOULDN’T want, maybe we’ve lost touch with the real Jesus and become too comfortable with a Jesus that doesn’t exist.



This post was written by Caleb Wilde.  For his original post, go to:  http://www.calebwilde.com/2013/08/lady-gaga-and-jesus-2/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

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A tale of three pastors

7/23/2013

1 Comment

 
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Let me tell you a tale of three pastors.  All successes in their own right.  I would be pleased to be a member of their congregations.  They are good men, godly men, holy men.  They have the same Holy Spirit working in their lives....  yet, they are different.  And sometimes, they rub me wrong.  

At least two of them do...

One pastor was talking about how the Military creates dependency.  "In the military, you don't have to make any decisions, all decisions are made for you, you just obey orders.  They feed you, house you, raise you into a fighting machine.  They tell you where to live and who to make friends with."  (Just in case you're wondering, no, this pastor has never served in the military, although he has had numerous military folks in his congregation.)  Yet, when I think about this pastor, he went straight from high school, to college, to seminary, to his first church.  He serves in a denomination where the pastor is a professional.  The churches in which he has served have always providing housing, paid his expenses, and given him a nice salary.  (He is well within the top 1% of financial earners in his church.  To his credit he does tithe his salary.)  His denomination tells him when to move to another church.  Does that sound independent to you?

Another pastor was talking about how the new generation of churches will be smaller and transient with bi-vocational pastors.  This pastor is a good scholar.  He has researched trends in the church and realizes that is what he needs to be training the next generation of pastors to do.  Yet, when I think about this pastor, he went straight from high school, to college, to seminary, to his church.  He serves in a denomination where the pastor is a professional.  The churches in which he has served have always providing housing, paid his expenses, and given him a nice salary.  His church isn't a mega-church by any standards but it is a good sized, medium church.  He remarked the other day, "I haven't mowed a yard in years.  People from the church come over and mow my yard (actually the yard of the parsonage where he lives that the church provides for him as part of his salary package)."  Does that sound bi-vocational to you?

Another pastor, now at the end of his ministry due to his age, reflected with me regarding his life as a minister.  He never had a church of over 250.  He accepted meager salaries in spite of having seven children.  He told me stories about God's provision:  coats for his children that suddenly appeared on the doorstep one frigid winter morning, receiving "blue milk" and cheese from the local dairy, having an abundance of fresh farms eggs from an unnamed person in the community, working side-by-side with parishioners in painting and refurbishing the church (and telling of the wonderful theological truths and friendships that occurred during these times), caring for the church building by cleaning toilets, mowing the yard, taking out the trash, etc.  Also, he never had a parsonage.  Every home he lived in he either rented or owned (ironically, now at a ripe old age, on his meager salary, he owns several homes and they are rented by pastors or parishioners of his former churches). Each of these homes, he cared for in painting, refurbishing, caring for the lawn and shoveling snow.  (Oh, that reminds me, he shoveled the snow at his churches.  He wanted his church to be welcoming even during bad weather.)  He stated he would never cancel church.  "What if someone found their way to the church during bad weather only to find the doors locked?  What if that was the time that they decided they needed Jesus?  If even only one person showed up, I still had church."  He NEVER wanted to count on the church to take care of him.  He told me that he knew that he was called to be a pastor and in doing a pastor's work, he KNEW that God would take care of him.  His salary was just to pay what expenses that he had as he never went into debt, owing no man anything.  

Like I said in the first paragraph,  three pastors:  All successes in their own right.  I would be pleased to be a member of their congregations.  They are good men, godly men, holy men.  They have the same Holy Spirit working in their lives....  yet, they are different.  And sometimes, they rub me wrong.  At least two of them do...

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

1 Comment

My sins aren't as bad as yours

5/30/2013

2 Comments

 
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A temptation on the road to reverence is to stop and gawk at the wrecks in other people’s lives. Maybe it makes us feel better that while we may be struggling with one thing or another at least we’re not like that. Jesus tells a story of two men who go to the temple to pray. One was a gawker—that appears to be the audience Jesus intends this particular story to teach.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14, NIV).

Other people’s sins are much easier to confess than our own. Other people’s brokenness is much easier to mock than our own. But God seems to be seeking something other than “holiness police.”  God loves those who, rather than sizing up the difference between themselves and other “more sinful” people, instead bow low in recognition of their own unworthiness compared to Holy God. The road to reverence is paved with humility.

Prayer Position

Notice the position of the two men in prayer. The Pharisee stands on his own two feet proud of his goodness but the tax collector “would not even look up to heaven.” One was confident in his righteousness and the other knew God was good and he was not. The tax collector trusted God enough, or at least was desperate enough, to cry out for mercy. Which one does Jesus say went home forgiven?

God desires honesty. God wants truth. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-12, NIV).

The Same Boat

We’re all in the same boat. We’ve all sinned. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are all we were created to be, but yet somehow we have the audacity to condemn others while seeking pardon for ourselves. Or do we think we are without sin? We sing, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me,” but then try to claim it exclusively. Saved a wretch like me, not a wretch like you, you’re the wrong kind of wretch.

None of this is intended to say that sin is not serious. It is. It is deadly. It separates us from Holy God. But God is greater than our sin. God is also greater than our neighbor’s sin. Remember what Jesus told Nicodemus?  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17). While we need to take sin seriously we must take God even more seriously.

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin?

Sometimes Christians are seen as hateful when we point out the sins of others. But we claim this is not true. We “love the sinner and hate the sin.” I’m sure I’ve said that myself. But just this week I saw a quote by singer and humorist Mark Lowry with some important words to consider. They are helpful as we wrestle with sin and grace and how to live reverently. Mark said, “Love the sinner, hate the sin? How about: Love the sinner, hate your own sin! I don’t have time to hate your sin. There are too many of you! Hating my sin is a full-time job. How about you hate your sin, I’ll hate my sin and let’s just love each other!”

But too many of us are like the Pharisee in the story. We thank God we are not like those… fill in your blank here. Those drunks, those adulterers, those gays, those right wingers, those liberals, those “whatever we are not” people whose sins we want to highlight rather than allow the light of Christ to work in us. It is irreverent to do what God does not, to rank the sins of others as worse than our own. Since we are all in the same boat maybe we shouldn’t be so eager to see it sink.

Mercy Triumphs

James challenges us: “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:8-13, NIV).

It’s stunning to consider we have broken the entire law. All of it! How in the world can we then turn around and point a condemning finger at others when their sin is ours as well? But if our guilt is stunning, this is more so. God has mercy on us. God casts our sin as far as the east is from the west. Through Jesus Christ we find not only pardon for our sin but power to become all we were created to be. Our response to God is worship. The appropriate response to others is mercy and love.

A Journey of Grace

Though we journey toward reverence we’re not there yet. We couldn’t have even started on our own. It’s all about grace. Grace, grace, grace: grace to draw us, grace to forgive us and grace to make us as we should be.

One thing I know is that gawking slows us down. Sometimes it even causes us to wreck. Let’s keep our eyes on the road.

This excerpt is from the book, Irreverent: Finding Our Way Home. Order the book here or the Kindle edition here.

This post is taken from Seedbed, provided by Rev John Leece.  For the original post with comments, go to:  http://seedbed.com/feed/noticing-other-peoples-sins/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


2 Comments

Elvis Church

5/23/2013

1 Comment

 
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When children try to dress like their parents, it’s often cute. When teenagers try to emulate rock stars, it’s often bizarre. When adults try to imitate their folk heroes, it’s often embarrassing.

Ever since the mass media began enabling fame for ministry leaders, adoring church people have scurried to emulate their heroes. The result has been a wave of copycat terms and behaviors–repeated not because they make sense, but because they’re used by the cool and the famous.



Here’s a sampling of ministry me-too-isms:
  1. When you preach, sit on a stool.
  2. But don’t preach. Give a message.
  3. Call yourself a “communicator.”
  4. Name yourself the “lead pastor.”
  5. Don’t love people. Love ON people.
  6. “Press in.” (Don’t know why.)
  7. Call the worship location a “campus.” (Even if it’s in a jail or on the web.)
  8. Refer to teenagers as “students.” (But don’t use the “student” word for elementary school students or college students. They’re not “students.”)
  9. Dispatch men in little orange vests to direct traffic in the parking lot.
  10. Wear a golf shirt or hawaiian shirt when you preach.  Make sure it is untucked.

I guess it’s all scriptural. “Ye are . . . a peculiar people.” (1 Peter 2:9)

What would you add to the copycat list?


This post was written by Thom Schultz.  You can find the original post here:  http://holysoup.com/2013/05/15/9-ways-to-me-too-your-ministry-heroes/

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

1 Comment

"We're the best church in town!"

5/22/2013

2 Comments

 
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“Our church has the best youth ministry in town.”

“Everybody knows we offer the best children’s ministry in the city.”

“Our vision is to be the best church in the area.”

Over the last ten years I’ve heard statements like these with increasing frequency. Is this a good thing? Does our desire to serve God with excellence naturally lead us to want to be the best in town? Is the “best” classification the most honorable way to measure our success and effectiveness?

Most people probably view the quest for best as a helpful ambition. Driving to be better and better, at any endeavor, raises the level of quality for all. Right? Competition makes everyone better. Right? In many ways, that’s true.

But what’s necessary to be “best”? In any competitive field, in order to have winners you must have losers. In order to be best, you must conquer the others.

And that’s where the quest for best begins to turn ugly, especially in the church.

In the church, this spirit of bestfulness and competitiveness leads to pridefulness. This has not gone unnoticed by the public. A non-churched mom I interviewed said, “Churches today just want to be bigger and better than the next one. That’s not what church is supposed to be about.”

Yet, the quest for best seems intoxicating. Church gurus advise congregations to find something they can be best at in the community. “What makes you stand out among the others?” they ask. The trouble is, we’re not called to stand out. We’re called to stand behind.

In Mark 9 we see the disciples arguing about who stood out as the best disciple. Jesus confronted their quest for best. He said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” In other words, we’re not called to stand out. We’re called to stand behind those we’re called to serve.

If a church is not called to be the best in town, what is it called to be? It’s called to serve. Humbly. It’s called to touch lives with God’s love, one by one. It’s called to be faithful where God has placed it.

No disciple is called to conquer the other disciples in a quest to be best.

Jesus illustrated and summed up his lesson on humble servanthood by picking up one small child and urging his disciples to do the same, to faithfully welcome the small.

It’s not the kind of pursuit that will jetison a church to anybody’s Best 100 list.



This post was written by Thom Schultz.  You can find the original post here:  http://holysoup.com/2013/05/01/to-become-the-best-church-in-town/


BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.

2 Comments

Breaking attitudes of entitlement

4/15/2013

1 Comment

 
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It is strangely ironic that the freedoms and affluence we enjoy in our society are the very things that stand to ruin our children if not addressed early and effectively.

The consumer-credit industry is doing all it can to get your kids to fall for the buy-now, pay-later lifestyle. If you do nothing to intervene, statistics indicate that your child is headed for a life that will be severely impacted not by credit—credit is not the problem here—but by the debt it can create.

When the following three characteristics occur at the same time in the heart and mind of a child, they create a kind of “perfect storm” that has all the likelihood of creating a disastrous situation:
  1. attitudes of entitlement
  2. financial ignorance
  3. glamour of easy spending
For our debt-proofing purposes, “entitlement” is that demanding attitude that says, “I deserve it now even if I haven’t earned it or cannot pay for it.” Some call it the gimmes, others the I-wants. No matter what you call it, this attitude is running rampant, and not only among kids. Entitlement affects kids and adults alike. 

Entitlement is subtle. It creeps into our lives when we compare our lifestyles and possessions to those of the people we respect and want to be like. It shows up in new parents who throw all caution to the wind when it comes to nursery furnishings and “mandatory” equipment. It shows up in two-income families who, because they work so hard, feel they deserve to have nice things. It shows up in adults who feel compelled to conform to society’s relentless ratcheting up of standards.

Entitlement is the standard message of marketing and advertising. Look carefully at everything that shows up in your mailbox this week. The message to keep up is relentless. The push for conformity creates attitudes of dissatisfaction and entitlement.

At every turn it seems something or someone is fanning the flames of entitlement in our lives—and our children’s lives too.

Attitudes of entitlement, both yours and your children’s, are an enemy that, if not dealt with, will surely sabotage your efforts to develop financial confidence in your kids.

A frugal lifestyle, where you live below your means, is the best environment in which to raise kids. When children observe their parents consuming carefully, making wise spending decisions, choosing not to buy the biggest and the best, and not living on credit, they begin to assimilate those values.

By telling your children, “We don’t choose to spend our money on that,” you send a positive message that you have money but make intelligent choices about how to spend it.

Clearly, attitudes of entitlement are a serious problem. But they are not terminal. Diligent parents who are willing to be consistent examples and limit setters will find success in tearing down attitudes that have the potential to do great harm.

Excerpted from Raising Financially Confident Kids by Mary Hunt (Revell, 2012). 

To go to this post on Mary Hunt's site, click here.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


1 Comment

Spiritual perfection

3/11/2013

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Jesus tells us that we are to be perfect as He is perfect.   However, being human, it is impossible to be perfect.  What do you think Jesus meant by this statement?

Here is a good example of perfection.  Maybe it is close to what Jesus was meaning.  A piano student practices day and nite on a musical piece until he can execute it without error.  His piano teacher would say that he plays“perfectly.”  However, if he hasn't moved on and is still playing the same piece a year later, he is no longer perfect.  

Another example.  Let's say that you have a son with whom you are gardening in the hot sun.  He sees you sweating and obviously becoming overheated.  He thinks to himself, “I'll go get dad a glass of water.”  He goes into the house and gets a dirty cup out of the sink and fills it with lukewarm water out of the tap without any ice.  He carries it by the rim so that his grubby fingers get into the water.  He joyfully brings it to you, knowing that it will help your thirst.  When he gives it to you, you look inside the glass and notice that the water is not very clean.  What do you do at that point?  Do you chastise him for bringing you a glass of dirty water?  Nope.  A loving father would praise his son and gladly accept the water and drink it down.  You have a perfect son.  His intent was to please you.

The concept of intent is the key in both of these illustrations.  You know the intent of your heart (and so does God).  Let's say you do something that you think could be very helpful but someone misunderstands your intent and believes that you are not a very good Christian.  

For example, a Christian brother chastises you for going into a bar.  Your intent, when you went into that bar, was to talk to your friend that is drunk in there.  You went in there to take him home and prevent him from further harming himself.  Now the Christian chastising you does not know your intent.  However, you do and moreover, God knows.  Therefore, you are sinless (perfect) in regard to your going into a bar, a place where many people would say that a Christian should not be.  So, as God told Samuel of David, God looks on the heart.  God looks at our intent.

Sinlessness (perfection) is to be judged by God only.  That's why we have a hard time with this concept, we are looking through human eyes.  Some Christians have been taught  that “we sin every day in thought, word or deed.”  Nevertheless, it is possible to go for a while without sinning.  However, it is VERY RARE.  If a Christian looks in the mirror and says, “I didn't sin today!” then he just sinned.  If you go without sinning, you don't realize it.  You don't realize it because you don't focus on sin but on God's righteousness and God's ability to empower you to live a victorious Christian life. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness.  

You used to offer your body to impurity and wickedness.  However, now, you offer your body as a slave to righteousness which leads to holiness.  So, how do you offer yourself to righteousness?

Tomorrow, we will discover that together.

BE HOLY.
BE A MAN.


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