Author: ForCommonGround

There should be no stress when celebrating Jesus

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Time and time again, I hear people talking about the stress of the Christmas season. I don’t understand. Aren’t we celebrating the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us in the person of Jesus? What is stressful about that? Could it be all the things that people do that have nothing to do with Jesus is what makes this time of year stressful? To keep our eyes of the Savior should alleviate all stress and anxiety. Celebrating the birth of the Messiah has nothing to do with black Friday deals, credit card debt, Santa Claus, putting up trees, and having the perfect party or family gathering with all the right food. If we would only give up the things that don’t celebrate Jesus, we would find so much freedom.

Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.

Psalm 100:2 NLT

The Problem with Abundance

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Every time I see devotions and books about abundance, I get a little wary. Especially with the acceptance of the prosperity gospel (which is no gospel at all) by so many. I’ve heard many messages that demonstrate a misunderstanding of Jesus’ proclamation in John chapter 10 that He came to give us abundant life. So mix that idea with their goals of gaining wealth and health. All you have to do is look at the life of Jesus and His teachings to know that the life of a disciple of Christ is not a life focused on the material or yourself whatsoever. That’s not too say God won’t bless people with financial provision, careers, healing, etc…God loves His children and knows what they need and when. But some of us can’t handle money. Some of us need to walk through valleys in life. Some of us need to struggle to learn dependence on God. He knows the faithful stewards and He knows how to mold His children.

I’ve come to realize, in my short 37 years of life, that there is a simple equation that can be applied universally across humanity. Abundance produces apathy which results in atrophy. I’m not using the word abundance in a spiritual sense but in a physical sense. When Jesus said He came to give us abundant life, He was referring to a spiritual reality, not materialism. Life experiences have taught me the pitfalls of physical abundance. So have my studies of history, and more specifically, the Bible.

“Take heed lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes, which I command you this day: lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’

Deuteronomy 8:11-17 RSV

Before Israel entered the promised land, God warned them not to forget Him once they had the “good life”. What did they do? They forgot Him. Quickly too. It only took one generation. So did the future kings of Saul and Solomon. Once prosperity hit, they were corrupted. When our sense of need for God dissipates our devotion naturally follows. Abundance generally produces a desire for more abundance. People don’t want to lose what they have. The more they have, the more effort and worry they’ll put into maintaining it. The more we do that, the less mental capacity we have for God. The more time we strive to maintain a way of life, the less time we have to spend with God. The more we have, the more prideful we can become. Pride makes no room for God. Apathy creeps in. The more apathetic we become, the more our faith atrophies. The longer this process continues, the more dangerous the outcome. For Israel, and their kings, it took tragedy and destruction to get them back on track. My story isn’t too far from that. I have had to lose in order to win in life. Even now, I feel a pull during the “good times” where nothing is going wrong and financially we’re well off. That pull is towards comfort and away from convictions. I can easily lose sight of what matters most during those times. It’s easier to not fall on our knees in prayer when we feel like we’re keeping ourselves standing tall.

Learning these lessons has really changed the way I pray. I don’t pray for anyone to be wealthy, especially myself. The opposite of poverty is enough, not wealth. All we need is enough. All we should ever want is what God knows is best for us. He knows what we can handle. If we’re not generous in our poverty, there’s no way we’ll be generous in prosperity. If we’re not faithful with our time in hard times, why would we be in good times? God is so good. And good things are going to happen to us. But we can’t let the good times and the good things derail our faith. That happens when our love for prosperity outweighs our love for the Giver. No matter our present circumstances, our need for Him never changes.

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB

Peace in Christ brothers and sisters

Start at Home

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The pastor must first be the shepherd of his family. The missionary must first be witnessing to their spouse and kids. Before we were charged to go to the nations, we were charged with teaching our children in the ways of the Lord. The man who proclaims the gospel to the world, but does not love his spouse as Christ loves the church, has abandoned his greatest calling. The woman who pours her heart out for everyone but fails to devote her heart to her husband has missed her greater purpose. Parents that devote so much time to the church and so little to their children are missing the mark. Loved ones, the call of Christ will take us all to different places, but it will always start at home. 

Jesus said GO, not stay

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He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Mark 16:15 NIV

So many of us are spending our lives staying put, waiting on something or someone, working away through the drudgery of life. When we live that way, we are ignoring the life mission that our Savior has given us. Our life mission is to be on mission, wherever we are, and whenever there is an opportunity. Jesus tells His followers to go, not to stay. That warrants the question: what does it mean to ‘go’? Well, I would say that depends on several things. What are your passions? Are you using them to make Jesus known? Where do you work? Is the gospel proclaimed there? Who is in your sphere of influence? Do they know Jesus? What’s your financial situation? How can your possessions and/or money be put to use to further the mission of Christ? Where are the hurting and needy in your community? How can you come to their aid?

Going means knowing the needs of those around us and doing what we can to fill those needs. The world needs Jesus. The world needs genuine love. The world needs a truth that is unwavering and doesn’t bend to cultural pressures. The world needs to value life and human dignity. We can, and should be bringing those things to our home, our work, our schools, our community, and beyond our shores. Whatever we do, we cannot waste this life we’ve been given by staying where we are, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Stagnation always leads to regression. The call to “go” beckons us to move forward…to progress. Jesus didn’t say, “wait until I call you.” We’ve already been called. Let’s make Him and His love known. The world awaits us.

…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

Acts 1:8 NASB

The Gifts we Give

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So much of this time of year is devoted to spending money on gifts for everyone. But how many people have stopped to think about why? Is it fun to give gifts? One hundred percent yes! It’s one of my favorite ways to show I care for someone. But why do people choose a celebration that is supposed to be about Jesus to make it about everyone else? Think about it. The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion. What?!?

Let’s not forget that it was Jesus who received gifts upon His birth. It wasn’t humanity, but the Savior of humanity that was honored. As we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, throughout this fall and winter season, let’s keep it about our Messiah. The last thing kids need is to be showered with presents. Materialism is an enemy of the soul. What our kids need is to love Jesus. What our family members need is to love Jesus. That’s the greatest gift. Think about what one person can do for the cause of Christ with $700 rather than buying stuff that has zero eternal significance. Or what one nation could do with a half a trillion dollars. Americans could provide clean drinking water to the entire world in one holiday season. Just one. You could provide a billion kids with a free education in impoverished nations. Those are causes worthy of honoring our Savior.

Celebrating the birth of Christ is celebrating the greatest gift, which has already been given. God became flesh and dwelt among us. We already received the gift. It’s our turn to give the gifts back to Him and to raise up our children to love and honor Him with their lives. I love giving things to my kids. I really do. And I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t get gifts. But why, for a celebration that is supposed to be all about Jesus, do we make it about anything other than Jesus? Let’s give the gifts of love, self-sacrifice, and service to those in need. Let’s devote our heart to Jesus as our gift to Him. He gave all of Himself to us. Now it’s our turn.

Peace in Christ, our Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, and Almighty God!

The Gifts we Give

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So much of this time of year is devoted to spending money on gifts for everyone. But how many people have stopped to think about why? Is it fun to give gifts? One hundred percent yes! It’s one of my favorite ways to show I care for someone. But why do people choose a celebration that is supposed to be about Jesus to make it about everyone else? Think about it. The average American will spend $700 on holiday gifts and goodies this year, totaling more than $465 billion. What?!?

Let’s not forget that it was Jesus who received gifts upon His birth. It wasn’t humanity, but the Savior of humanity that was honored. As we celebrate the birth of our Messiah, throughout this fall and winter season, let’s keep it about our Messiah. The last thing kids need is to be showered with presents. Materialism is an enemy of the soul. What our kids need is to love Jesus. What our family members need is to love Jesus. That’s the greatest gift. Think about what one person can do for the cause of Christ with $700 rather than buying stuff that has zero eternal significance. Or what one nation could do with a half a trillion dollars. Americans could provide clean drinking water to the entire world in one holiday season. Just one. We could provide a billion kids with a free education in impoverished nations. Those are causes worthy of honoring our Savior.

Celebrating the birth of Christ is celebrating the greatest gift, which has already been given. God became flesh and dwelt among us. We already received the gift. It’s our turn to give the gifts back to Him and to raise up our children to love and honor Him with their lives. I love giving things to my kids. I really do. And I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t get gifts. But why, for a celebration that is supposed to be all about Jesus, do we make it about anything other than Jesus? Let’s give the gifts of love, self-sacrifice, and service to those in need. Let’s devote our heart to Jesus as our gift to Him. He gave all of Himself to us. Now it’s our turn.

Peace in Christ, our Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, and Almighty God!

Spiritual Homes

~ ForCommonGround ~ 3 Comments

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you go to church? Or why you go to small groups? I used to. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. We need to understand why we do things, especially as important as church. And we need the answers.

I used to be among those who didn’t always see the value of going to church. I’ve said my fair share of statements like, “you don’t need to go to church to be a Christian”. I never experienced church how it was meant to be experienced. I never found a place that felt like home. They were all so distant, methodical, cold, monotonous, and the like. Relationships were hard to come by and getting connected was not easy to do. It didn’t fee all that different from going most places. Most of the time it was far less rewarding. That’s sad to say.

The other problem I had, besides the churches that I went to, was a lack of knowing why God wants us in “church” in the first place. A huge gap in many people’s lives, who give up on church, or go “church hopping” is that they don’t know why they’re there in the first place. I fully admit that some churches are just hard to be in. Jesus addressed seven churches in the book of Revelation, which can also be seen as types of churches in all eras, most of which did not receive good marks. With the exception of those churches that are not good environments to be in, we can all do ourselves a huge service by understanding why we’re there.

Now, I still believe that a person does not need to be a member of a church to be a Christian. At least not the way that the western mindset thinks of church. But we are commanded to not neglect meeting together and encouraging one another. However that may look for you. Whether it’s a home church, a Bible study small group, you and a friend or two getting together, or an organized church gathering, it’s important. That’s because God knows that we need each other. We need a spiritual home to unpack our lives and establish our spiritual roots. We need a safe place. We need relationships that are healthy and can help keep us moving forward towards Christ.

A 2 hour trip to a building once a week just can’t cut it. Especially when the other 166 hours of the week are spent out in the harsh environment of the world. Also, if those 2 hours are spent singing a handful of songs, listening to a sermon, making some small talk, and then going about our day, then we aren’t getting the meaning of church. Perhaps that’s why so many lose heart and lose focus. Or maybe didn’t ever gain the right focus in the first place.

Church is, and always has been, a place for relationship. The primary relationship that needs to be fed is between us and the God we worship. Heartfelt worship is certainly one way to do that. Hearing from Him through His word and teachings can also help tremendously. But those are all things we can do on our own. And we should be doing those things every day on our own. But corporate worship is powerful. Whether it’s you and a friend or a congregation of thousands, multiple voices lifted to heaven is amazing. We need to be helping one another to understand the word of God and holding one another accountable in our pursuit of Christ. That, we cannot do on our own.

The other relationship that is important about church is the one we find in a friend. We have so many people at our church who we consider more than a friend. We consider them our family. They aren’t by blood. In fact, one a few are related to us. But they are closer than most of our family members. They know us more deeply. They’ve been there for us, and us for them. We pray together, serve together, sing together, and simply do life together. That is what church should look like. That is what is missing for so many, and what was missing for me for most of my life.

Church is a place where we should be pouring ourselves out every bit as much as we’re getting filled up. Church is not a department store where we go to find what we are in the market for. Yet that’s how so many treat it. We can’t go into church asking what we can get out of it. If we do, we’re lost before we ever walk through the doors. It’s not about our entertainment or satisfaction. It’s about relationships. And those only thrive when they are a two way street. Why should you be gathering with other believers? Because we need one another. Desperately. And our relationship with Yahweh only suffers when we decide to go it alone. Let’s worship together, learn together, and grow together. If that is truly what you want in life, God will open the door. Because that is what God wants for you.

God bless brothers and sisters. And may you find deep and meaningful relationships with other believers. And may your relationship with your Savior be more fruitful than ever! Shalom.

White noise

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Life is so full. Full of cares and concerns, responsibilities, obligations, and the like. There’s work time, play time, and down time. When I was single, I thought life was busy. When I got married it seemed even busier. Add children to the mix, and time becomes one of the most precious commodities. But no matter how busy life is, it seems like we always find time and ways to distract ourselves.

In a media-driven world it seems altogether too easy to create white noise in our day. Stopping to check ESPN scores, news updates, the social media feed, likes and shares, video games, movies, Netflix, or a quick stop on YouTube for short videos. All of these simply amount to us creating distractions for ourselves. We’re drawn to these things because they are easy and they matter very little. We can escape the weightier matters of life through these other mediums. We can “check out” for a bit. Some might view it as regrouping. After all, some of life’s responsibilities are just too heavy to carry.

I am as guilty as most when it comes to making time to escape. But my goal is to fill that time escaping in more profitable ways. I want to feed my emotional, spiritual, and physical health in that space. It’ll be hard. I’ll have to fight so many urges and temptations. But in the end, if I’m successful, it’ll be so worth it. For me it’s drawing, playing music, working out, and writing that fill me back up. But what fills me the most, is time alone with Jesus. Praying, studying, and journaling. He is our ultimate source of strength and regeneration. He is the vine that provides the necessary nutrients to our souls. There is no greater escape we could make than to escape with Jesus. Then we can return to life’s matters fully equipped with His spiritual strength to face whatever the world throws at us.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

May His peace and strength grow in His children so we can face the world full of joy and courage. God bless loved ones.

The Messiah of Psalm 118

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Often regarded as the center chapter of the Bible, Psalm 118 contains multiple prophecies regarding the Messiah. This psalm is beautiful and it paints a glorious picture of the future hope the Messiah brings. From verses 17 through 26 God addresses His chosen nation. The Messiah will be sent to Israel, be rejected, but while the temple still stands, He will be presented and His death will only be temporary. Below are three prophecies and how they played out many years later in Jesus of Nazareth.

  1. Death is not the end for the Messiah (Psalm 118:17)
    • In Luke 24 the tomb of Jesus is found to be empty. Not only that but there is an angel watching over it declaring that Jesus is risen. He says, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Jesus met with hundreds of people after He had risen from the grave. Death was not the end for Him.
    • “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV
  2. The Messiah is the rejected Chief Cornerstone (Psalm 118:22-23)
    • Jesus told several parables or stories about how the religious authorities of the time would reject Him. And most did. The parable about the landowner in Matthew 21 was particularly concise at building this theme. His time here on earth, Jesus was met by constant criticism and hostility by the religious authority.
    • “For it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 1 Peter 2:6-8 ESV
  3. The “Blessed One” of the Lord will be presented to Israel while the Temple stands (Psalm 118:26)
    • Multitudes sang praises about Jesus as He entered Jerusalem as being the Blessed one of God. Check out Matthew 21. Not long after this, Jesus enters the Temple to cleanse it from the profane acts being done there. Not long after, the vail would be torn and the Temple period would come to a quick close. But the Temple still had to be there. Let’s not forget that Israel was without a Temple for a long time until Herod rebuilt it just in time for Jesus’ arrival on planet earth. If the Messiah had come at any other time, these three prophecies couldn’t have worked. They could only come true in Jesus.

This concludes our walk through the book of Psalms. There are so many other Psalms we could look at. Here are some that were not included if you’d like to give them a read for further study: Psalm 78:1-2, 80:17, all of 88, 89:27 and 35-37, 90:2, 91:11-12, 129:3, and 147:2-6. We’ll conclude phase II of this study by looking at a couple of the Proverbs. Stay tuned! God bless brothers and sisters.

Divine Embrace

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Lost in the moment in treasure’s embrace. The concerns that once flooded my mind vanish, without a trace.

My heart is overwhelmed by loves great call. How long has it been? I couldn’t recall.

Since the power of love had carried such force. What I felt was so beautiful, no fear or remorse.

It grasped my attention and broke down my walls. It was as the pure light which illuminates all it befalls.

My heart was so light yet my eyes filled with tears. For a few short moments, I had no problems, no fears.

I couldn’t escape, but why would I want to? I held on a little tighter, what else could I do?

As I stand in worship, life’s memories are before my eyes. Thankfulness in my heart continues to rise.

At times I am silent, I can’t muster my voice. And at times I can’t help but lift praise and rejoice.

The weight of this moment I couldn’t comprehend. But one thing I knew, I didn’t want it to end.

For the love of the Father has set me free. I may be holding my little girl, but God you’re holding me.

*A while back at church my daughter Anna and I were together for worship. She wanted to be held and I had no problem fulfilling that request. In the middle of worship, while I was holding my then five-year-old little girl, I was completely ambushed by God’s love. I’m not sure if that’s the right way to put it but that’s how I felt. It was out of nowhere. And extreme emotions overtook me. I was captivated all over again. God used my immense love for my daughter to remind me of His even greater love for me. It was a cherished moment that I’ll never forget. The words of this poem cannot fully express how I felt. But it’s at least a small glimpse. I hope you’ve all felt overwhelmed by His love for you. If not, that’s my prayer for you. God bless brothers and sisters.