What is the most valuable thing you own?  A car, a house, investments, something else?  How much have you spent on holding on to it, maintaining it, caring for it?  How long do you expect it to last? 10 years, 100, 1000?  Jesus once asked the question “What good is it if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul in the process?”  How much have you invested in your eternal life?  Does it come close to the time, money, and energy that you’ve spent on earthly stuff?  Do you have any treasure stored in heaven?  If not, now might be a good time to open an account with God.  So, what would you be willing to trade for an account in the Kingdom?  What if God told you it would cost you everything you have?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:08 — 16.1MB)

Did you know that all Christians are supposed to be missionaries?  We might not all be called to travel to a foreign country, but Jesus did say to go into all the world and make disciples, to baptize them and teach them to obey everything that he taught.  And guess what?  Even if you’re not in some foreign country your still in the world somewhere—unless you’re an astronaut—though even in orbit there are people we can teach Christ’s commandments to.  No matter where you are, you are called to teach people to obey what Christ taught.  Maybe you’ve never thought about it before, but if you are not making disciples wherever you go, you are disobeying Jesus Christ.  And if you are disobeying Jesus Christ then that proves he is not your Lord and that you don’t love him.  Remember, he said “Those who obey my commands are the ones who love me.”  So if you don’t obey Jesus, and he is not your Lord, and you are not making disciples, then are you really a Christian?  Or are you simply mislabeling yourself?  James Chapter 2 makes it pretty clear that there’s a big difference between knowing God exists, and living a life that demonstrates your faith in him.  Even the demons “believe” in God and tremble.  So the question is, do you TRUST and OBEY God?   And inexperience or lack of education are both extremely lousy excuses, since all Christians are supposed to have the Holy Spirit living inside them and directing them.  After all, the only way you can get experience is by doing something.  Don’t you think it’s time you got started?

This talk is really just a short report on a building project we sent a team to help out with.  It was a trip in support of mission training and work, but all missionaries need support too.  So if you’re not ministering in a foreign country somewhere, be sure that you are helping to support that work with your money as well as sharing the Good News of Jesus yourself.  Just like the early disciples, we should be both spreading the Gospel AND financially supporting others who are making disciples around the world.

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Have you ever stopped to think about what it must have been like when God created people?  I picture Creation as a kind of artistic event—where God stands back looking at a blank canvas and formulates his ideas and then says “Let there be…” like an artist brushing strokes of color to create the image held in his mind.  Then he steps back and says “It’s good.” and keeps adding more and more to the picture.  But when he had finished everything else and was ready to make people he became the sculptor.  It’s like he got down on his hands and knees and picked up the dirt on the ground and shaped it into a man.  This part of his creation he wanted to do more than just speak into existence.  He wanted to mold Adam with his own hands and then breathe life into him.

And it seems that the farther we drift from God (as individuals and a culture) the less we care about Human life.  It tends to become less important to us.  A thief can wind up serving more time in jail than a murderer.  Old people, unborn children, and the disabled are seen as less valuable.  And we suffer as a people because of it.  Perhaps it’s time to take a fresh look at what it means to be a human being with the breath of God in our lungs that sustains us and makes us alive.

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Jesus said that the greatest love is shown when a person is willing to lay down his life for a friend.  I’ve heard so many true stories of people who gave their life to save somebody else or to save a group of people, and they’re always amazing.  I’ve often wondered how I would react in a similar situation.  If it was my family, like my wife or child, I’m sure there would be no hesitation to make that sacrifice for them.  But what about for a close friend, or an acquaintance, or a stranger, or even an enemy?  Yet that’s what Jesus did for us.   While we were still his enemies, Christ died to save us.  That is truly amazing, and it does demonstrate an amazing love.

So if the greatest love is shown by sacrificing your own life to save somebody else’s, then wouldn’t the greatest hate be to sacrifice somebody else’s life for the convenience of your own?  Have you ever thought about that–how unkind and uncaring and intensely selfish it would be to take someone else’s life simply to improve your comfort?  Can you imagine anyone being so calloused?  But it happens all the time.

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Have you ever tried reading the book of Revelation in the Bible and gave up because it was just too weird?  It’s a book full of symbolism and wild imagery that confuses a lot of people.  Some people probably find it more difficult to get through Revelation than the genealogies of the Old Testament.

Part of the reason for this cryptic language is that the book was written to be purposefully confusing to those in power in the Roman government.  Revelation was written in the midst of persecution against the church by Rome, and it talked bad about Rome and about the Caesars—especially Nero.  And since Nero already hated the Christians, John wrote this book of prophesy he encoded it so that the early church would understand it without incriminating anyone who might be carrying a copy.

That means the book was written for Christians to understand.  And if you can shift your perspective just a bit to the view of the Christians in Rome it might help make a little more sense of the book for you.  Like so much of the prophesy in the Bible, the prophesy in Revelation is meant to relate directly to the original ancient readers AND people in the future (like us).  So a lot of the prophesy in Revelation already came true in ancient Rome, but there is still a lot left to happen that we are waiting for.

Of course, with all the confusing pictures and prophesy aside, there is still a basic message that anybody can understand.  God very clearly tells the church where they need to improve if they want to be ready for judgment.  And that’s something that every Christian today should pay close attention too.  If any of the warnings God gave to the ancient churches of Asia Minor can be applied to your life, you might want to think about taking them personally.  God expects anybody who wants to survive his judgment to adhere to the same standards.  So Revelation is a very worthwhile book to read if you care about your own future.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:23 — 17.6MB)

I’ve heard so many people give me opinions of what Jesus was like who have obviously never studied the Bible.  They say silly things like he was a great teacher and he loved everybody and taught tolerance.  But you usually don’t see people clamoring to execute nice teachers who teach tolerance.  Jesus was a hard man.  He was full of compassion and kindness, but his teachings were not soft and tolerant in the slightest.  He said things that made people want to kill him.  And they did kill him.  And he told his disciples to expect it.  And he told them if they were going to follow him they should expect the same kind of treatment from people.

I think too many church people think that being a Christian is about putting on a happy face and singing songs and getting along with everybody.  But Jesus said that his teachings would cause people to hate your guts—even your own family members sometimes.  And he said if you’re not ready to be hated by your own family, if you don’t love me enough to give up everything else you love and prepare yourself for death, you’re not ready to be my follower!  That doesn’t sound like the friendly tolerant Jesus that a lot of people talk about does it?  But I dare you to read through the Gospels and then prove me wrong.

One of the things Jesus said over and over is “Take up your cross and follow me.”  In other words prepare yourself for extreme difficulty.  Before it became a popular piece of jewelry, the cross was an implement of bloody, humiliating, painful, horrible death.  It wasn’t pretty.  And when people came to follow Jesus he said you’re not ready to follow me until you’re ready to die for me.  Until you’re ready to sacrifice yourself for the cause of saving other people from Hell, you’re no good to me.

Jesus never deserved to die.  He never did anything wrong.  But he condemned sin and hypocrisy, and people don’t like it when you do that to them.  And the crazy thing is, he died to offer even his executioners a way to find forgiveness and new life.  He died to save people—including everybody who wanted him dead at first.

How about you?  Are you ready to die to save anybody—much less somebody who hates your guts.  Are you ready to love your enemy and try to bring him salvation.  Because if not, Jesus said, “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.  If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”  Check it out in Matthew, chapter 10.

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I think all the prophecy that pointed to Jesus coming is pretty cool.  I watch movies all the time where there’s some sort of prophecy to be fulfilled, and I remember back when Nostradamus was popular in the media, but the movies are just somebody’s imagination and the Nostradamus stuff is just so random that you really have to stretch to make it fit any real events.  But the prophesies about Jesus are real life!  And there are just so many things that match perfectly with his family line for generations and where he’d be born and how he would die and so much stuff.  So, of course, the natural conclusion is, if the prophecy about his first coming was proven, we can be pretty sure about the prophesy of his second coming.  And that means a lot of people are going to be in big trouble if they’re not ready.  And the Bible is pretty clear that you don’t survive the Judgment of Christ by the skin of your teeth.  It’s an all or nothing thing.

A lot of people do religion with a 51% attitude.  They figure as long as they do a little more good than bad, they’ll be ok.  Or they think that God grades on a curve.  So as long as their morality is slightly above average they’ll be fine.  But Jesus demands perfection.  And people who don’t accept that are in for some sad consequences when Jesus comes back.

Of course most people see religion as jumping through hoops and checking off lists, and they totally miss out on the purpose of living for God.  They miss out that God offers grace so that we can stop living in the past, so we can throw off all that old wicked baggage and start with a clean slate.  It’s like God changing your “F” to an “A” and giving us the Holy Spirit as a tutor to help us keep that “A.”  Plus when you realize how much more enjoyable it is to live a good life and to be motivated by love instead of all the bad junk, then you start living a pure life for the joy of it, and religion becomes a pleasurable opportunity.  You look forward to Christ’s return because you love obeying him, and you can’t wait to share the pleasure of his company.  If you miss that crucial point, religion does nothing but offer hoops to jump through and rules to keep track of, and you wind up being lost in your failures.

Religion without true love for God is a joke.  If you think you can please the Almighty God of Heaven with an impersonal 51% effort or a C+ attitude, I’ve got some really bad news for you.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:28 — 14.9MB)

How many electronic devices do you carry around with you?  How many TVs and radios do you have?  How many hours a day do you spend talking on the phone or texting or e-mailing?  How often do you watch TV while you’re doing something else?  Our lives are full of noise and distraction and busyness.  We are a fast paced culture that never sleeps.

I love watching the old films that guessed about the technological advancements we would have today and how much time they would save us.  There were people who were seriously worried that our modern technology would free us up from so much work that we’d wind up with too much extra time on our hands.  But it seems like we can put those fears to rest.  With every new modern advancement, it’s like we learn to multitask another level.

Have you ever just stopped?  Put down the devices and books and magazines, turned off the electronics, and sat down and listened for the voice of God?  The Bible describes the leading of the Holy Spirit as a still, small voice.  How much have you missed of God’s voice because your life was too full of busyness and noise?

Perhaps it’s time to be like Jesus and choose to make some solitude and silence in your life.

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Christmas is a great time for cute little stories.  I’m sure millions of people’s e-mail inboxes get filled with forwarded emotional drivel to make people go “aaaww.”  But the real Christmas is not cute things on cards and in movies.  The real Christmas is about God who so loves the world, that he was willing to come to Earth and make the biggest sacrifice possible to save the people who turned their backs on him and lost themselves in sin.  The whole world needs to hear about the real meaning of Christmas and how it can completely change their lives!

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I don’t know how many times I have heard people talk about getting revenge.  “I am going to get them back!”  And I’m not talking about when you’re playing around or having water balloon fights or things like that.  I mean when people have taken serious offence to something, and they will not rest until they’ve had vengeance.  Why do people feel so passionate about causing someone else pain?  Do they really think that will end the cycle?  Do they really think the other person will passively accept retaliation without escalating the conflict?  And when I’ve asked, “Well why don’t you just forgive them?” it’s like asking them to cut off their own arm.  “FORGIVE THEM?!  I can’t forgive them!  Do you realize what they did to me?  I’ll forgive them after I get them back.”  So they wind up, whether they exact vengeance o r not, carrying around this baggage of anger and bitterness and animosity, and completely miss the opportunity for healing in any direction.

I think that’s why Jesus said if you don’t forgive other people when they hurt you, then he won’t forgive you for hurting him.  Think about the wicked choices people make that shatter their relationship with God.  You can probably list quite a few sins.  Think about what Jesus sacrificed his life for.  Without his forgiveness, you will never restore that relationship.  Basically Jesus said, “If you refuse to forgive, you will go to Hell.”  After all the pain you’ve caused your own Creator, who has a love for you the size of infinity and therefore can feel the pain of your selfish hatred more than you can imagine, you can’t be his friend if you can’t let a little of your own earthly pain slide.  It’s completely hypocritical to expect forgiveness if you’re not willing to give it.

So besides the fact that you risk your soul by not forgiving, you miss the chance for reconciliation with others.  You can build relationships through forgiveness.  You can introduce others to the grace of God because they got a taste of his forgiveness through your grace.  God likes a BIG family.  And if you can’t see fit to add more people to it by building relationships instead of denying them through unforgiveness, then you’ve got no place in the Kingdom of God.

How’s that make you feel?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:15 — 7.9MB)