Soiled Saints

No matter what you face, or what you enjoy…we must face or enjoy in light of God’s great grace.

Our culture is completely whacked.

We glorify the wrong stuff and deify the wrong people for the wrong reasons.

In the last three weeks, I’ve perhaps read way too much on Tiger Woods.  Who’s sleeping with whom, and the whole issue of his alleged-but-probable affairs.

“Another role model has bit the dust” is something I’ve heard many times.

HE’S NOT A ROLE MODEL.  He’s not marketed that way, not presented that way, never asked for that (to my knowledge) to be laid upon him as a mantle to wear or a cause to live for.

He can drive a golf club better than nearly everyone alive.  Does that automatically give him the right to be a role model?

Sure, he’s by his very presence and stature a wonderful example of bridging races with his golf success.  But again, is that an automatic stamp for role model?

I don’t think he asked for it.  And I don’t think we should give it to him.

Should we really be surprised that a guy who never asked to be put on a pedestal fails to live up to our expectations?

No.  We should be praying that his marriage stays together, that his life would be transformed by the forgiveness that Christ offers and gives.

And we should pray that “re-nup” doesn’t enter our vernacular as commonly as “pre-nup” has.

Geez……

Jason

On Monday, it was Pearl Harbor Day, and the 68th anniversary of that tragic event that hurt and killed so many people.

For me, it was a different type of anniversary, one, that I’m happy to say is a bit more joyous.

It was on December 7, 2008 that Southway asked me to be their pastor. And I accepted.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a year since the day I started here. But it’s been a year since my life changed forever.

And the changes have not stopped.

Thank God.

Jason

This past Sunday, Taylor led worship through song. He did a great job, as usual. In between the 2nd and 3rd song. He spoke to us from 2 Corinthians 11, where the NIV uses a great word in describing false teachers.

The verse quote was: “12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” 2 Corinthians 11:12-15

Taylor had earlier used this quote as his facebook status update:

“May I not masquerade righteousness! Rather by the knowledge and grace that has been given, humbly live out the Gospel.”

He launched off that to warn and encourage us not to wear masks before a God who knows it all anyway. Using the imagery of a masquerade ball, where people dress up and wear masks, Taylor urged us to not treat this “party” (worship celebration) as a masquerade and to be transparent and real before a God who knows it all anyway. And since this morning, that got me to thinking:

Masks reveal faddlish idols: If I’m masking, I’m more concerned about my public image than the name of Christ. My image will fall…like a trillion others fads. I’m more concerned with looking good than showing the often-dirty, always-slow process of being made more like Jesus Christ in which He is seen as the hero.

Masks reveal foolish insecurities: If I’m masking, I haven’t grown in my appreciation for justification that is given through Christ.

Masks reveal foul intentions: To think that I would try to present one thing while being another…..that’s foul…..that’s a lie….that’s showing that I don’t love people enough to be real with them. And that I don’t love God enough to expose flaws (again, not saying in inappropriate ways) and be okay with “I’m not okay and I’m not staying that way.”

I have a feeling I’ll be musing on this for a while.

being debt free.

You know, in one sense, since I was young, I’ve been debt-free.

(And you know where this is going. Stay put anyway…)

I owed an impossible-to-pay debt, with interest incurring exponentially every time I tried to pay off God.

Yet, in his grace, he not only wiped the debt clean, he insured that I’ll never go into that debt ever again.

Now, let the joy of my monetary debt-freedom continually remind me of the massively-bigger debt-freedom I enjoy by God’s grace.

Jason

T’was a very cool day outside, but it was warm inside..both temperature wise, and in intensity.

-Here are some things we covered in our Advent Series called Coming Soon, in part 2 called 2 sides of the story…

-What if the 2 sides of Jesus’ story helped us understand the massive implications of Jesus Christ to our own lives?

-What difference do the 2 sides of his story make in a 21^st century world ripe with problems and possibilities?

-Here’s how we defined the 2 sides:  Jesus is Fully God and Fully Human.

The Greek word: Anthropos:  God-Man

Hypostatic Union:

451 Council of Chalcedon came up with the Chalcedonian Creed.  Jesus is one person with two natures:  fully god and man.  Hypostatic union is taken from Greek word hypostasis for person.

Humanity of Jesus:

He was born of a woman: ⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, Galatians 4:4

Had a normal body of flesh and bones: ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Luke 24:39

Got hungry and thirsty:²And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  Matthew 4:2

Had compassion: ⁴¹Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.”  Mark 1:41

Funny: ²³And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24.

Grieved and Angry:   ¹ Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ²And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴And he said to them,  “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.  Mark 3:1-5

Pained: ³⁷And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Matthew 26:37

Jesus was human:  He experienced the full gamut of emotions..betrayal, joy, anguish, pain, relational difficulties.

Divinity of Jesus:

⁵And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 2:5-7

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”   (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Colossians 1:13-16

Jesus was God: He is enough for us.

Mistakes about Jesus’ nature:

-JW:  Jesus was created by God the Father billions of years ago as Michael the archangel.

-Mormons:  Jesus was born as the first and greatest spirit-child of the Heavenly Father and Mother, and is also the spirit-brother of Lucifer.

-Oneness Pentecostals:  Jesus appears in roles of Father, Son, and Spirit.

What we took away today:

As fully man, Jesus understands us like no one else would.  As fully God, Jesus has done for us what no one else could.

We closed with:

¹⁴Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:14-16

After months of waffling back and forth (options to be explained), and after getting wise counsel in both ways, Mandy and I decided to make the decision, and take a leap of faith.

I’ve listened to Dave Ramsey for a while, and as you may well know, he hates debt and encourages, chastises, cajoles (and anything in between) people to get rid of debt as fast as possible.  That’s option 1.  I’ve also paid attention to the people that say pay back the sizable student loan in chunks, due to the interest rates being so low.  That way you still pay it off accelerated, and keep some of that hard-saved money.  That’s option 2.

Well, Dave won.  And I’ve said goodbye to a….friend….

On Thursday, I pulled out a significant sum of money (for us, and for many we know, the amount would be significant.) from our bank, and applied it to a cashier’s check.  I then took said check, and mailed it with all the bells and whistles (certified, had to sign for it, got tracked, etc.) to the post office, and gladly spent the $20.00 it took to overnight it to Sallie Mae.

Sallie Mae may not be your facebook friend. In fact, I doubt, for many of you who know her, that she’s a friend at all.   I thought she was a friend at first, but over time, I’ve realized that she’s not been a friend to Mandy and I over the four plus years we’ve had to put up with her.  Here’s what she’s been like:

She’s rude:  Every time I call her to see about something, she always makes me jump through all sorts of hoops before I get to talk to her, and then, she always is wanting me to go to her website, rather than talk to her in person over the phone.

She’s demanding:  If I don’t do what she wants at her time, she is quick to warn me about defaulting in our relationship.  She’s not grace-oriented, and in my opinion, even though she “says” she offers grace, I don’t think she’s had an encounter with grace in her life.

She’s all about her: I can never seem to have a relationship with her based on mutual edification.  She’s basically always late with my needs, and never late-always complaining about her needs.

How many of you know a real person like Sallie Mae?  Do tell…

While I may not get on Dave’s radio show (which is simply awesome by the way) any time soon…allow me to say like so many others on his program….

WE’RE DEBT FREE!!!

And…we’ve lost a….friend…forever.

Only by grace,

Jason

In honor of Thomas Young and his passing a week ago today, I’ll begin a short series chronicling his breakout session I attended from the Acts 29 “Endure” conference two and a half months ago.

Thomas spoke on developing a Gospel-centered community, basically, making sure that the Gospel is focused on and central to our worship, our studies, and our small groups.

Specifics to come in the coming days.

Also, we’ll finally revisit the people who have influenced and shaped my life.

Jason

Last week, in fact a week ago today, I received a text message before Thanksgiving dinner about Matt Chandler being rushed to the hospital after having a seizure.  Matt has been a hero of mine for a while, and a mentor from afar.  His ministry reaches far beyond the walls of the Village Church thanks to mp3’s, conferences, and itunes.  While many thousands of people have never met him, they do feel the weight of this recent trial he, his family, and his church family are going through, especially if twitter and facebook are accurate barometers of how people are responding (which I think they are).

Sunday morning in between services, I received another text from the same person who informed me about Matt, (person lives on the east coast) asking me if I’d heard about Thomas Young’s sudden death.  I hadn’t.

I heard from both of these men at the Acts 29 Endure conference back in mid-september.  Matt was a main session speaker, and Thomas was a breakout speaker (more on that tomorrow).  I was stunned all over again.

But I found out later that day that one of our church family used to attend Thomas’ church.  She spoke very highly of him.

One of my good buddies, Mike Skinner, emailed me later in the week to talk a bit about Thomas, since their two churches were close in proximity.  He later told me that Thomas had spoken at a spiritual emphasis week at his school.

According to his church website, Thomas and his wife had a marital dispute, and during the dispute, Thomas tragically took his own life.

Thomas’ funeral will be today at Sugar Creek Baptist Church at 1 p.m. Central time.  I’m going to be praying.

Matt’s surgery to remove a tumor in his frontal lobe will be tomorrow afternoon.  I’m also going to be praying.

Personally, I have been reminded that but for the grace of God go I, in both circumstances.  God hasn’t lost control because Chandler got a mass, or because Young ended his life.  God is still on the throne and He is good.

Also, the way Thomas Young’s life ended should NOT take away from how it was utilized for God’s glory.  Check out www.thesanctuaryblog.com to see how God used this man in the lives of many across the country.

Here’s what I’ve learned through the last few days regarding these two guys and leadership:

Social Networking is here to stay.  So we might as well utilize it to advance the cause of Christ.

I received four texts from four different people about Matt Chandler.  One from Rob (east coast), and one from a friend named Paul, who received word from a former youth pastor of his who lives in San Antonio.  Within the matter of a few minutes, news travelled 210 miles from SA to H-town.  And from Portsmouth, Virginia, to the Woodlands (northeast Houston).

While I’m somewhat slow to get on bandwagons, this is one that not only must I get on, I must become okay with.

News has never travelled faster.  So let’s get the right news out!

May God have His way today, tomorrow, and…every day.

Jason

Yesterday, the time waster I had was trying to please everyone all the time.

Now, here’s part 2:

Time Waster 2:  Thinking that Every Good Opportunity is One to be Pursued Immediately.

Between calls, the internet and books, I am (painfully and painfully slow) learning to have discernment about what things I need to chase.

I have a stack-0-books on my desk right now that are “Must read” for different reasons.  And if you look at them, they are.  But in my acquiring them, I’ll easily slip into the read-the-latest-book-of-what’s-happening-now.

I regularly start books and put them down to read the latest-greatest book.  At last count, I’ve partially read about 7 books.  And with each month, when I get the new idol maker…errr……Lifeway new release catalog, I’ll peruse for the latest book.

Case in point:  I’m reading: Forgotten God by Francis Chan, Why we love the church by DeYoung and Kluck, Death by Love by Mark Driscoll, 7 Practices for Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and friends, and that’s only counting the books within arms’ reach of my laptop right this second…….plus a list way long I’ve got to start and not finish.

I’ll peruse the web, and find links to other things.  Before I know it:  I’ve got 8 firefox tabs open.

All of them good stuff.  Not all worth my immediate attention at that moment.

And finally….ironically….blogs.  I subscribe to about…let me check…eleven.  All of them good.  Either they are personal friends or heroes I admire.

Not all of them are worth my immediate attention.

I am learning that while there are many good opportunities to pursue, not all of them are good for the immediate.

I often miss the great….in pursuing the good.

Jason