Keeping It All In Perspective

Jonah's first day of the 2008 spring baseball season just started on Saturday. It is amazing just how many kids are in the SCLL (Saint Cloud Little League) program. Take a look at the pictures below. My son likes baseball and football and I am glad he plays and I hope he continues to enjoy playing.

My only concern is that we can keep things in perspective. As it is the world is upside-down. Sports and entertainment dominate our world and especially our culture. Sports are everything and God is only something. I think it is great that the kids play and enjoy playing. But how many of those little league kids will go on to be professional ball players; maybe less than 1%?

Someone might argue that it is not about the kids going on to be the next Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron. Trust me, for some of the parents it is but not for all. So some or most may say it is more about developing character and shaping them to be a great person in this world. Does that require baseball 5 out of seven days a week? Two games and three practices, you add it up. Is being a person of great character in the world going to amount to anything if they do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior? Would knowing and following Jesus Christ help make a child a person with better character...I think so with complete confidence.

Over the course of the last 40 years different social programs and agendas including athletic ones have replace the role of the Church in society and we have let it. People no longer trust in the Church as a relational body to help mold and guide the character of their child; in Little League we now trust. More social programs such as Oprah, Dr. Phil, ABC's Home Makeover and more are becoming our cultures lifelines. While all of those things might be good they leave out the most vital ingredient to life...Jesus Christ. Your kid may be able to hit a home run but are you confident about where he/she will spend eternity. You may have a new home but is Jesus welcome there. Oprah may have given you a new car but do you use it to drive to Church on Sunday.

All I am saying is that everything is upside-down. People are paid millions of dollars to hit a ball with a wooden stick but people teaching the next generations are barely getting by. Guys get paid millions of dollars to run as fast as they can with the pigskin, or dunk the rock but people who are supposed to protect and serve make in one year what the others make in one hour; and you wonder why we end up with some police officers who use excessive brutality while the great officers go unnoticed. Dr. Phil makes more in one episode than I have made in my entire life for saying, "How does that make you feel." Actors get paid millions of dollars to look into the camera and say, "Kiss me baby!" They also get millions of dollars just for pictures of their baby, while the great dad struggles to make ends meet for his family because he choose to put them first.

The saddest part of the whole scenario is...we are the ones that make it happen. We watch the movies that turn the movie industry machine, we are the ones that buy all the sport gear and watch the games, we are the ones who flip on the TV and tune into the shows increasing their ratings, popularity and paychecks. We are a culture so driven by entertainment that we have traded the character building principles of the Church and Jesus Christ for sports programs and the excitement of the Word for the entertainment of a dazzling movie. We dash out of town every time there is one day off school or work. We spend more time running around than we do in peace with our families. We look for every opportunity to make something in life out to be an entertainment venue.

The only way we will stop the madness and right the ship is if we begin at home. Every nation that has ever existed in the past has come to ruin. What makes us so arrogant to think that America is exempt from that? The same principles that led to their demise are still relevant today. If we put social programs ahead of Jesus Christ and the Church we will loose touch with our relationship with God. If we continue to be entertainment focused we will become a culture of people that have noting meaningful left to live for because the extra 90% of the 100% of entertainment we consume is nothing more than ash in our mouths. Even still the 10% that can help encourage family unity and health needs to be focused on things other than what the world currently has to offer.

God, give me the strength to live differently and guide my family in your ways even in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation…this I pray. 1 Peter 2:9-12

He Is Everywhere

Just a fun little story that reminds us of the omnipresence of God.

I received a call from the resource officer (School police officer) at Jonah's school. Jonah, my seven year old son was way out of line in class and was told so by the resource officer. However, Jonah did not know that the officer had called his parents.

On the ride home I said nothing. When we got to the house I told Jonah to go to his room and I would be right there. He wanted to know why and I told him that we would speak about it in a few minutes.

When I entered the room Jonah saw that there was something in my hand, let's just call it a domestic device for corporal punishment.

I asked him what had happened at school today and Jonah replied, "Nothing."

I asked him one more time and at this point Jonah's voice began to crack a little but still replied, "Nothing happened."

I asked one more time and I told him that if he came clean his punishment would be lighter and he responded, (with some tears now)"Nothing happened, no one had to get on to me today dad."

I said, "So the school resource officer didn't have to pull you out and talk to you today?" There was this long and eerie pause. The tears in Jonah's eyes began to flow more freely and he belted out, "I DIDN'T KNOW HE CALLED YOU" in a horrified surprise!

It amazes me that people get embarrassed when the preacher finds them someplace or doing something that is not godly, when the truth of God's presence is constantly proclaimed all around us in the glory of His creation. Not a move goes unnoticed.

Kingdom Of Converts

I am not quite sure exactly what the percentage is, reputable statistics are hard to come by. However, there is a crazy insane number floating around out there that 80% of the American population considers themselves to be Christian. I go to the mall take a look around and wonder, by what standard do they gauge themselves?

Thank you seeker sensitive church models. This concept that every Sunday is evangelism Sunday has developed a Kingdom of converts. The model of the Bible lays out Sunday as the Lord's Day. A day when all those who put their trust in God come together to worship God and remember. It is a day in which those who are called can be challenged and encouraged. If the Church is functionally properly and they are learning and being challenged on Sundays evangelism will happen all throughout the week and not just Sunday when the staff creates an emotional charged atmosphere that drips with style and is sucked dry of substance.

I am tired of people calling themselves Christian, because in our current culture it it has lost a lot of meaning. For all we know Britney Spears calls herself a Christian. Disciple is a label that will make people go uh! Matthew 28:18-20 doesn't charge us to go into all the world and make converts of people. We are charged to make "disciples of all nations." Jesus told the Pharisees that they go from one end of the earth to the other to find converts and when they find them they make them "twice as much a son of hell" (Matthew 23:15).

I am not getting all extreme here and saying that there are only two or three real Christians out there, or that the church I go to is the only good church left. I am not saying that those seeker sensitive churches are completely filled with flimsily converts only. I am not saying that the day you decide to walk in relationship with Jesus Christ you have to give up your home to become a missionary. The Christian life is a process in which we must fail forward and grow day by day, step by step. I don't like to cut my nose off despite my face and overlook the good a person or church is doing just because I disagree with their philosophy of ministry.

However, it is time we wake up and realize that the Church is becoming a Kingdom of Converts rather than a Kingdom of Disciples. Disciples are people who learn from Jesus and follow Jesus. Disciples stand out from the world rather than blend in. Disciples don't just check off Christian on a survey they exemplify it in how they live. The scariest thing of all is that the name Christian could loose all meaning, and that is exactly what will happen if 100% of the population starts considering themselves Christian. What will the true remnant call themselves then? How will the true one be distinguished from the fake? It won't be by name but it will be by action.

So, would the real Christian please stand up and stand out as different from the world you live in. Please shape the culture rather than be shaped by it. Be Christian and not just converts. Stand for all that Christ has called you to stand for and yes, you need to be prepared that it may cost you everything you have and if that is too much...the convert line is on the left (Matthew 25:41-46). For all those on the right, let's reclaim the name Christian because it means something.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Thou shalt not watch R rated movies. Wouldn’t that make things more clear. PG-13 and down and we know we are doing what is acceptable in the sight of our Lord. I suspect that many if not most of the PG-13 movies would not make the list these days. What about “The Passion” movie by Mel Gibson? It was rated R but it was about Jesus so it would be ok, right?

Some say Eve was the first legalist because she was the first to add to God’s commands by saying, “...or touch it” regarding the fruit in the garden (Genesis 3:3). There are some things left unsaid. We live according to the Spirit and not the Law. The point being Christ governs our actions and the governors mansion is our heart. Lists of laws don’t govern they rule. We are creatures created with freedom. So let’s answer the question, what is freedom?

Some would define freedom as the ability to choose, but true freedom is not in our ability to choose, rather freedom is found in what we choose. So a person can be deluded by believing they are completely free when in all actuality their ability to choose (their idea of freedom) has bound them up physically, mentally, spiritually or all three. What we choose determines if we are free or not.

This is “freedom from.” When Paul wrote, “Do you know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” he was dealing with “freedom from.” Notice that Paul’s concept of freedom/slavery does not match up with the common mindset. “When you present yourselves…” indicates that there is a choice being made. The freedom is not in the choice but the object chosen. So many slaves are walking around today celebrating a false sense of freedom.

Freedom is in what we choose and when we choose Jesus Christ and his ways we are “freed from” all kinds of horrible things. We are freed from darkness-Colossians 1:13. We are freed from death-Ephesians 2:2. We are freed from deception—John 8:32. This freedom is in what we choose. John 8:36 says, “So if the son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31 says, “If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Do you see! “Continue in my word…” and what is, rather, who is God’s word? John 1:1, 14 inform us that the Word is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is where freedom is found and the current concept of freedom that has been skewed by a mentally twisted culture is running interference. Christ and all he commands brings freedom when we choose Him and His ways.

Understanding “freedom from” is the foundation that leads us to “freedom for.” We will discuss “freedom for” next month but in the time being let me come full circle to the purpose for which I began discussing the issue of freedom.

As Christians I believe we often abuse the concept of freedom. First, our misunderstanding of what freedom really is gets us on the wrong path. It is not the ability to choose but what we choose. Second, we endulge ourselves in far to many “freedoms” (Choices) and then when we come across someone who disciplines their life or family we think them a prude.

I remember a story of a group of ladies going to see a movie. All but one chose a move that was not appropriate. The one voiced her opinion that the movie was not appropriate. I wish I could say that the others said, “Your right, thanks for the right motivation.” But this group of Christian women gave the one a hard time.

It is bad enough when the world laughs at us and tries to persuade us; but fellow Christians! It just goes to show you how dangerous our culture can be and how deceptive Satan is. He makes things appear softer and more acceptable than they really are. So much so to the point that millions of so called Christians are so tangled up in their culture that telling the Christians from the non-Christians apart is hard to do; especially if all we have to measure is their entertainment choices.

I am free to watch what ever movie I want but I want to be truly free so Christ controls me. He has also convicted me more and more through time. “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything”—1 Corinthians 6:12. Can you go an entire month watching nothing but movies that inspire you to be a better parent, spouse or generally speaking, Christian?

Rather than choose a movie for its entertainment value can you choose it for its edification value? That’s a challenge. When the latest thriller comes out, can you say not to it and only watch what will be truly profitable to you and your family? Our family has made a choice to not be mastered by anything and we have narrowed our movie selection. We have narrowed our choices but we sure do feel a whole lot more free than we once did. Go figure.

“The Ultimate Gift”
This is an excellent movie to begin your movie fast with. It may not be among your normal choice, but remember, freedom is the results of our choices that bring us closer to Christ, not the choice itself. Only Christ can set us free.