Jesus: An Inconvenient Truth

I know it seems strange to bring up global warming in December in Michigan when the high temperature is a balmy 26 degrees, but the other night I was thinking about the documentary by Al Gore, “An Inconvenient Truth”.

An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times. (For the record, I never saw the film)

He was trying to share what he considers truth. The fact is a lot of people don’t want to hear about that truth or be inconvenienced over it.

Inconvenient - not suited to your comfort, purpose or needs; not conveniently timed

This led me to think about the birth and life of Jesus in a different perspective.

Jesus says in the book of John, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life…”

Jesus is Truth.

And I began to think over the life of Jesus and realize that from the very beginning, He was an inconvenience to most people.

Consider this –

Jesus was an inconvenience to Mary and Joseph. Betrothed to be married and Mary gets pregnant. Then they have to travel (walking mind you) to Bethlehem. This poor teenage girl is pregnant and traveling through the desert on foot. Only to arrive in Bethlehem and give birth in a barn. All the animals and hay and fresh smells around her.

Jesus was an inconvenience to King Herod because King Herod viewed Jesus as a threat to his throne. So much so that Herod had all the babies 2 years and under killed.

Jesus was an inconvenience to His disciples. Think about it, these guys all had jobs and lives that they were living and Jesus comes along and says “Give up everything you have and what you do for a living and follow me.” Only to follow a man that had no place to call home.

Jesus was definitely an inconvenience to the Pharisees. They were the religious leaders that measured their spiritual success by how well they followed the laws. Jesus radically challenged their way of thinking and encouraged them to have more of a relationship with God than just practicing a religion.

We see that the Truth Jesus taught and represented, was sometimes inconvenient to people. Jesus was an inconvenient truth.

My question to you today, “Is Jesus an inconvenience to you?”

Is it an inconvenience to pray, read your Bible, go to church, worship, give, love people, get rid of your pride, yield your will and plans to Him?

In Luke 2:7 , Luke’s account of the Birth of Jesus says,

“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him at the inn.”

There was no room for Him at the Inn. What an inconvenience!

I wonder are we making room for Jesus in our lives this Christmas season?

The Truth is that nobody gets to heaven except through Jesus Christ.

Is Jesus an inconvenient truth to you?

Messy Christianity

Proverbs 14:4
"When there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox."

This verse really makes me think of the phrase "Messy Christianity"

Do we expect Christians to be perfect?
We say come as you are and let God clean you up, but often our actions would say clean yourself up before coming to God.

Do we as the church allow imperfect Christians?

What if someone offends us? Do we write them off?
What if someone makes a mistake? Do we hold it against them and never give a second chance?

I think forgiven people who model humility and grace are a tremendous witness of God's true character.
Authenticity is a quality that i think our world really needs to see in the church.
Real people, loving a real God, in a real way.

The body of Christ is not a perfect body.

unfortunately, just as the media has tried to tell us what a perfect physical body should look like, "Church" people have created what a perfect church body should look like.

i wonder, what does a Christian look like?
I think it depends -
How long has the person been a Christian?
What kind of past have they come from?
Have they had mentors and leaders in their life to influence their growth?
How fast do they walk on their spiritual journey and what has that path been like?
What kind of obstacles have they faced and overcome?

I think it's time for our churches to get messy.
Time for our churches to be filled with messy people that need of a savior.

Time for us to be willing to get our hands messy while helping people deal with the garbage in their lives.

Coming along side people while the Holy Spirit takes out the trash. Think about it, it's really hard to take out piles and piles of garbage without getting messy and getting our hands dirty.

And yet isn't that what God does in people's lives? They come and give their lives to Him and He begins to take out the garbage? We need to help.

What good is a clean stable if there are no oxen?
Oxen bring in the harvest.

What good is a "clean" church if there is no harvest?

God didn't call us to have a nice building and nice things.
He didn't call us to make sure the youth don't mess up the church or that the children don't spill on the carpet.

God called us to make disciples and reap a harvest!

The Bible refers to followers of Christ as Children and as sheep.

Have you ever noticed that children and sheep are messy?

It's time we tear down our expectations and pre-conceived ideas of what a Christian should look like and be focused on the work of making disciples and walking along side people as they try to figure out what it means to follow Christ.

Tell me what you think a Christian should like.

Responsible Parenting

Being a parent is a privilege and a responsibility that often is taken too lightly.

Children are a GIFT from God. (Psalm 127:3-5)

As with all gifts, God expects us to be good stewards of them.

The Bible tells us that everything in this world belongs to God and the same is true of our children.

It is a sobering thought that we are responsible for raising God’s kids.

Part of our responsibility to God’s kids is that we are to help them flourish and grow.

Too many parents do everything for their children.

They are so afraid that something might happen to them.

We must allow our children freedom to fail.

They must be allowed to be embarrassed.

We must allow them the freedom to be told they are wrong and to be corrected.

They will get hurt in life.

We have to accept that children are miniature people. They are PEOPLE.

People are not perfect; therefore, our children are not perfect.

Our children are a work in progress. (Just like you and me)

Our children are not a fashion accessory that we doll up and make up to be perfect so that we can flaunt them and show them off to make ourselves look good.

If that is what you want get a cockapoo, do not have kids. Kids are people.

Do not be embarrassed by your children. Be proud of your kids. Even when they blow it!

Your reactions and behaviors to adverse things they face will become their reactions and behaviors.

If you model that appearance, status, and everyone else’s opinion is what matters and makes them who they are, then that is how they will measure their personal self-worth.

Love your children as they are. Love them for who they are.

Stop measuring them against your expectations and start appreciating who God made them to be.

Show them the right way to handle adversity. Show them how to overcome. Show them how to respond and react properly.

In addition, please, teach your children how to be responsible for their own actions and choices.

When things go wrong, it is not always someone else’s fault.

Lastly, please model for your children that neither our children nor we are entitled to anything.

Nobody owes us anything.

Hard work, perseverance, personal responsibility, and faith in Christ are qualities that will take our children a long way in life.

Let us teach our children well.

Stop Buying The Lies!

I was watching an episode of Bones the other night where the remains that Dr. Brennan discovered ended up being her mother that "left" her years earlier.

I only saw bits and pieces of the show, but the investigation led them to some pretty shady mob guys and seemed to point to a hit man as the killer of her mother.

As she and Booth interrogated this hit man, he unfolded the events that led to her mother's death.

He told them that Dr. Brennan's father had caught the hit man with Brennan's mother and that her father proceeded to kill her.

Brennan was shocked and caught herself believing this lie about her father.

Thanks to her partner and good friend, Booth, they realized that this hit man was lying and that it was likely the hit man who killed Brennan's mother.

Unfortunately, it was hard for Dr. Brennan to know the truth about her mother and father.

Someone was continually telling her lies.

The same happens to us as Christ followers.

It can be hard to know and believe the truth about our heavenly Father, God.
Someone is constantly telling us lies about Him and about ourselves.

The Bible tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. (John 8:44)

He has told lies about our Heavenly Father from the beginning.

He has lied to man about Christ since Christ came to this earth.

The devil is on a mission to destroy God and people.

How many times do we deal with lies about ourselves?

I'm not good enough.
I don't deserve to be forgiven.
I'm ugly.
I'm worthless.
Nobody could possibly love me.

These are all lies from the devil that are intended to destroy us and pervert the truth of who we truly are in God.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us that "our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
He is a liar!

1 John 3:8 says, "...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."
Jesus came to destroy those lies.

We have victory in Christ Jesus!

We do not have to believe the lies of the devil anymore.

God is who He says He is, Jesus Christ is our resurrected Savior, and we are children of God through Christ!

Here's the truth about how God sees you -

Psalm 119:14 - YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Ephesians 2:10 - YOU are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.

Stop believing the lies about you and Your Father.
Stand strong in the truth of God's word!

Coffee and Donuts

A couple weeks ago a dear friend and spiritual mentor, William Verlan Houseman passed away. As I reflected on the impact he had on my life, I recollected many wonderful times together.
Doing projects around the church together.
Countless meals.
Golf!
and most importantly, coffee and donuts.

I chose to follow Jesus on December 24, 1994.
6 months later God called me to be a pastor.
As I began to walk that calling out in my life, Mr. Houseman came along side me as a friend and mentor. Just being around him encouraged me in my walk with Christ.
His passion to worship and serve Jesus was an amazing example and very contagious.
When I began serving as the youth pastor at New Hope Assembly of God in Three Rivers, MI, Mr. Houseman started stopping by the church on a weekly basis to take me to Village Market for coffee and donuts.
At the time I thought he was a bored, retired guy looking for an excuse to go somewhere and have a captive audience to practice his corny jokes on.
As I grew in my faith, and especially now that he is gone, I realize that our time together was not about coffee and donuts.
It was about so much more.
He taught me to love God passionately.
He taught me to be a good husband and father.
He taught me to be a servant.
He taught me to love, honor, and respect my pastor.
He taught me how to pray.

But most importantly, he taught me to obey God.

When I told him that God called me to be a pastor, he said,
"Don't ever run from God's calling. you will regret it the rest of your life."

I am happy to say that I have been obeying God's call for the past 14 years, thanks in no small part to coffee and donuts with Mr. Houseman.

REFOCUS

Just thinking this afternoon about focus.
Sometimes we get so used to a routine, or job, or schedule, that it becomes very mechanical and uninspired.
If you find yourself in that place, it may be time to refocus.

Remember the passion you had when you first became a Christ follower?
Remember the excitement you had for ministry when God first called you?
Can you remember when the Holy Spirit baptized you the first time?

If those are distant memories, you need to refocus.

Ask yourself some questions -
What am I doing?
Why am I doing it?
Am I doing what God has called me to do?
Am i doing it under inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit?

Troubling questions for some.

How does a person refocus?

Well, first we need to stop what we are doing and see if we can clearly answer the above questions.
If not, we need to find out why.

Why have I lost passion?
Why aren't I hearing God's voice?
Why don't I let the Holy Spirit lead me?

Then pray. "Lord, renew my love and passion for You. Remind of the day that Jesus came into my life. Help me have a sense that I cannot make it through a day without You. And Lord, help me take time to be silent and let You speak."
Then, just like Samuel, you can say, "Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening"

Refocus on the simplicity of following Christ.

Listen and obey.

What are some ways you stay focused on what God has you doing?
Post your thoughts and answers.

Unfulfilled Expectations

How many of you have a relationship you are disappointed with?
A spouse, friend, mate, child, boss, employee...
Have you ever stopped to think about why you are disappointed with that relationship?

I think a lot of it has to do with unfulfilled expectations.

Think about it, we all have expectations of people in our lives. Unfortunately, thos expectations are often unfair (unrealistic) and we don't often make those expectations known.

Your spouse is probably the most amazing spouse in the world, but if you have unfair expectations that he or she can never live up to, then you will always gauge their success based on those expectations and they will never be good enough.

Same with your kids, they are probably awesome kids. But if you have unfair or unknown expectations you measure them against, they will often fall short.

Same for your boss, your employees, your pastor, your congregation.

Instead of putting our expectations on people, maybe we should pray that they would become all that God wants them to be and ask God how we can help people along the journey of reaching that goal.

If I expect 1,000 people to read this and 10 people do, I would be disappointed.
But if I trust that God will use this to encourage someone in their walk to become more like Him, then I will be successful.