A trail in the woods

Multanomah Falls

The Martyr's Song

There was a time when Christians were heavily persecuted, when they were fed to lions, decapitated, crucified, boiled alive, and used as human torches, but that doesn't happen anymore, does it? Don't we live in a modern, civilized world where tolerance abounds and no one needs die for their faith? Unfortunately, the answer to those questions is no. Despite the freedom we have in America to believe whatever we choose without having to count the cost, the harsh reality is that much of the rest of the world does not enjoy that privilege.

Although fictional, The Martyr's Song does an excellent job of depicting the plight of people all over the world that are made to suffer for the cause of Christ. Despite that fact that it nearly brought me to tears it was greatly encouraging, it not only puts the hardships of your own life into perspective but it also reminds you of the great joy that awaits those who live, and die, for the cause of Christ.

I encourage you, as you read this book, to not only think on your own life and circumstances, but to do as it says in Hebrews 13:3 and "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."

Be Sure To Check Out These Links
Thomas Nelson's The Martyr's Song Page

Max Lucado - Fearless

Who of us hasn't been afraid? When we're little our fears are obvious, we're afraid of the dark or the deep end of the pool, or clowns. The thing is that our fears stick with us when we grow up, they're just harder to point out because they seem more reasonable. That is the subject of Max Lucado's latest book, Fearless. As the title suggests, Fearless discusses the topic of our fears, how they control us, how they limit us, and, most importantly, how to overcome them.

I don't want to give away too much about this book, but I really enjoyed it and would encourage anyone to read it, even if you don't think you have a problem with fear. Max Lucado is a gifted wordsmith and does an excellent job of conveying biblical truth in a way that is engaging and makes for an enjoyable (not to mention enlightening) read.

All of that aside, I would have to say that my favorite thing about this book is that it is true to scripture and it explains that Jesus is the solution to our fears. It proclaims this message not in a way that is talking down to you, as though you were some sort of creature inferior to the author, or up to you pandering to your desires, trying to please you, but across like a friend who knows where you're at, and feels for your situation.

Be sure to check out these links:

TheFearlessBook.com

Thomas Nelson’s Fearless Page

How's Your Doctrine?

The other day I was faced with a dilemma. You see a was listening to a message that a good friend was preaching and he made a very bold statement. He said something along the lines of, “You can’t sacrifice to God, you have nothing you can give to God, because everything is already His.”

Sounds pretty good, huh? It kinda gets you pumped up, excited, and feeling all fuzzy inside doesn’t it? I’m ashamed to say that I probably wouldn’t have had a problem with the statement. Except it conflicted with a message I had just preached about how what we sacrifice indicates who or what we worship.

Now, after reading the title of this blog, you may be thinking, “What does all this have to do with doctrine?” You see this is something that has stuck with me for weeks now, and the issue of doctrine is something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to for months now. How often do we settle for warm fuzzy thoughts and comfortable ideas rather than hard, uncompromising, rational Biblical truth?

This past summer I read The Shack. It was a great read, excellently written with a great story and a compelling plot, but, throughout much of it, I kept reading statements that I know contradict scripture.
(On the subject, the book is great. There is a lot you can learn from it. I just encourage you to
read it with a careful consideration for what is good to hold on to and what needs to be
disregarded.)

The thing that I‘ve realized through my study and prayer, is that it is important to hold doctrine in high regard. To know the Word of God and to sort out what truth is according to that word.

2 Peter 2:1-2 talks about false teachers and the people that follow them, saying that they, “will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” As Christians it is important for us to know what truth is so that we will not dishonor the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teachers, especially, need to be careful that they do not unwittingly become false teachers, leading themselves and their followers into destruction.

I urge everyone, figure out what the Bible says, and what you believe. Submit your beliefs to the Word of God and to spiritual authority. So that you will not be mislead and so that you may honor God with your mind and with your life.

Sacrifice and Worship

Something that has been a topic of discussion lately is sacrifice. One Bible story that received a lot of attention was the story of Abraham and Isaac, when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a teat of his faith and stopped him at the last minute.

I was reading over that story and something really cool popped out at me. It comes to the part of the story where Abraham and Isaac are about to part ways with the rest of their group, here is what the scripture says,” He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’”

He said that they were going to worship. Now, it’s not like Abraham was lying to his servants, or trying to trick them into thinking that they weren’t going to sacrifice, that was obviously their intent. Rather this statement makes clear to us that worship is sacrifice. Worship is more than just music and lyrics, but it is about how you live your life.

Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Living sacrifices, a life dedicated to the worship God is characterized by sacrifice. This is something important for everyone to know because what you sacrifice for is a good indicator of who or what you worship.

Romans 1:25 says, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” So I leave you with this: What do you sacrifice for? What is it that motivates the majority of the sacrifices you make? Are you worshiping the creation rather than the creator? Who do you worship?

Who Do You Say I Am?

When I was much younger my family lived in a condo and right upstairs from us lived a girl named Amanda. Eventually Amanda became my little brother's “girlfriend” which was kinda weird because she was two years older than me, which made her four years older than him, and four years is a lot when you’re five. Anyway they got “married” one year around Christmas when our banister was decorated with a fake garland, from that point on, until she moved away, my little brother stopped calling her his girlfriend and started calling her his wife. Who she was to him had changed.
In Mark 8:27-29 Jesus asks his disciples a question…

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

I want us to stop and reflect on that question for just a moment. Think about it, who do you say Jesus is? Is he your Master? Is he your Shepherd? Is he your King? In Hosea 2:16 God tells his people what their response to that question will someday be.

"In that day," declares the LORD,
"you will call me 'my husband';
you will no longer call me ‘my master’.

God is saying that the day is coming when we will no longer look at him as merely a master, but as a husband. The Bridegroom is a title that is used to describe Jesus. Jesus has many titles but the Bridegroom is a particularly special one. You see, the King has subjects, the Master has servants, and the Shepherd has sheep, but the Bridegroom has only one bride!

We are the bride of Christ, and He loves us. Not just, the Bridegroom loves his bride the church, but the Bridegroom loves you, his bride. Jesus loves us, and we are his bride but too often our relationships with him resemble that of a bad arranged marriage. Where we are introduced to Him, and marry Him. But beyond that we do not pursue intimacy with our Husband.

Have you ever been rejected before? I have, let me tell you. I was in middle school, and I really liked this girl. I liked her for more than a year before I worked up the courage to ask her to the dance at the county fair. To summarize things, she said no. Ouch, that hurt.

I was devastated when she rejected me. I know now that it was just a middle school crush, but at the time it felt like there was no point in continuing with life, that’s how much it hurt. It’s the same way when we reject intimacy with Jesus. We are His bride. He chose us, He’s pursued us, He desires us, and we’ve accepted his marriage proposal but denied Him intimacy. He’s already doing everything that is necessary on His end, but still we hold back and then turn to Him and cry, “Why can’t I hear from you!” We need to give ourselves wholly over to Him. Holding back is the only thing keeping us from true intimacy with Christ.