Feeling impatient?

As believers sometimes we might find ourselves feeling a little bit frustrated and impatient.

- "Lord, where do you want me to be?"
- "Lord, when will I meet and marry the person you intended?"
- "Lord, when will you tell me my true purpose in life?"


It's important to remember that in surrendering to and obeying Jesus, we become like slaves of Christ. Which means we submit to God's timetable and trust His schedule.

Not vice-versa.

Betting Odds

Gambling is a sin (not because Roman soldiers cast lots for Christ's clothes, but because gambling is an attempt to reward ourselves apart from God's sovereignty).

It's easy to recognize gambling when slot machines, lottery tickets or football pools are involved. It gets a little harder when the wagering takes place at home (and I'm not talking about online casinos or sports books).

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Here's some odds:

Of the tens of millions of married men living in the US who identify themselves as Christians, not one will wake up tomorrow morning promising God, "By noon today I'll have willingly taken the first step toward denying Christ by ruining my life with financial debt, adultery or substance abuse and not one person will be adversely affected by my decision."

Of the tens of millions of married women living in the US who identify themselves as Christians, not one will walk out of church next Sunday morning thinking, "My walk with Christ will be enhanced and my emotional life will be fulfilled by having an adulterous affair, by becoming a prescription drug addict or by gossiping about that woman who has the gall to show her face at my church."

Of the millions of single Christian men living in the US, not one will fall asleep tonight praying to God, "Please make me a porn addict and expose me to the ridicule of family and friends, that they may see your righteousness in me."

And of the millions of single Christian women living in the US, not one will show up at a party (or a date) next Friday night having prayed, "Lord, help me share my faith with others by smoking pot, doing shots, losing control and waking up the next day with no idea who I've had sex with."

So how do those things happen? Sin happens when we live as though we're betting that it won't.

Given the odds on that wager, we're guaranteed to lose every time.

"I don't mind going once in a while and think church is OK up to a point, but life's too short and I don't want to miss out or deny myself anything."

When people say things like that, it's usually accompanied by a grin ... a smile that's uncomfortably sincere.

It's estimated only 10-30% of what we express is communicated verbally, so in this case it's the smile that's communicating the commitment and devotion being expressed:

I have time for premarital sexual adventures, but not time to pursue the joy of walking with Christ, following His will or knowing Him

I have time to put my priorities ahead of God's, but not time to worship and surrender to the Creator

I have time to swear, curse, judge, hate and ridicule others, but not time to be Christ-like and Holy

I have time to express my outrage, indignation and political opinions, but not time to share my witness and testify to the peace and mercy of the living Christ

I have time to rationalize my sins, but not time to repent and walk away from my old life

I have time to shop for and buy the things I want, but not time to tithe and thank God for his grace and mercy with an offering ... much less a sacrifice

I have time to obsess about my job and my career success, but not a minute to spare working for God's Kingdom

I have time to fantasize about becoming rich, but not time to be generous or help the impoverished

I have time to be obedient to the world, but not time to read and obey God's Word

I have time to lie to my friends, cheat on my spouse and steal from my employer, but not time to hear the Holy Spirit, repent and beg God for forgiveness

I have time to indulge and entertain myself, but not time to seek God's will through Scripture, in prayer, or by asking the counsel of righteous believers

I have time for me, but not for God

I have time for my life, but not for eternal life




O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,
from men of this world whose reward is in this life.
You still the hunger of those you cherish;
their sons have plenty,
and they store up wealth for their children.
- Psalm 17:14


You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
- John 5:38-40


For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
- Mark 8:25


Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
- John 17:3


What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Philippians 3:8

"What's the President going to do about the crisis in Louisiana?"

More than 1,796,830 unsaved people live in Louisiana ... and looking for solutions from the White House won't stop the flow of people in The Magnolia State who'll live out their lives in sin and die without knowing Christ.

Government has a different agenda; it believes plugging that hole in the gulf is more important.

Looking at Love

Came down with a sore throat yesterday morning and by mid-afternoon I was stretched flat on back with body aches, chills and a self-diagnosis that I'd been tetched by something heinous.

The symptoms got worse today, leaving me feeling like I'd stayed up for a week and then been pushed backward off a two story building. With nausea. Around 1:30PM I finally turned off my phone, slid the little curtains over the hatches to make the cabin dark and tried taking a nap.

I never did fall asleep; I started thinking about the crucifixion instead ... and how, knowing the terrible pain and agony that lay ahead, Christ ended his prayer in Gethsemane telling his Father "May your will be done." (Matthew 26:42)

Then something hit me: Christ was willing to be crucified and die such a horrific death in our place because he loved us in just the same way that God loved him. Dying in our place not only revealed, but proved, how much Jesus loved us.

Sure, you might be thinking, we already knew that. But what's it got to do with you and with me?


Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

- Deuteronomy 11:1

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I tried to imagine the priorities Jesus had in life ... did he place importance on becoming wealthy or focus on being a bigshot and having lots of influential friends in the Sanhedrin? Did Christ adhere to the commandments and worship his Father on the Sabbath but then turn his back on God, gawk at women, tell off-color jokes, lie to his customers and curse his subordinates at the carpentry shop ... worshiping his own priorities and agenda during the week?

No. We know Christ did none of those things (even though some of us feel we're entitled to, despite Christ's example).

Because Christ was entirely divine it's hard for us to remember that Jesus was also 100% human and that he faced exactly the same temptations as thee and me face every day. Yet Scripture tells us that Christ lived without sin. How is that even possible?

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Christ came to earth to save us from our sins that we may have eternal life in Him, but I don't believe for a picosecond that Jesus' Number One priority was creating a bunch of rules, regulations, rituals and procedures to keep people from sinning.

(I say this because if rules, regulations and restrictions saved us from sin, then we wouldn't need Christ. And also because unlike the Commandments, rules, regulations, rituals and procedures are 100% man-made.)

I do believe that Christ had just one priority (and that it wasn't wearing the right sandals or the most expensive cloak to synagogue, riding the nicest donkey around town or insisting that synagogues read only from Scroll 33B "The King David Version"): Christ's Number One Priority was loving God with all his heart, all his mind, all his soul and with all his strength ... all the time.

That's how Christ was able to live without sin: because he loved God in just the same way God loved him. Perfectly. That's why Jesus willingly died for our sins ... He loved us just as God loves us. To paraphrase, God's love is contagious. It grows in those who love Him. God's love moves mountains, forgives sin, raises the dead and promises eternal life. God's love is unstoppable.

Loving God as he loves us... not trying to outdo each other by piling on religious rules, tedious traditions and "just in case" restrictions ... is the answer to sin. But love doesn't stop there.

Christ commanded us to love one another.

Not to worship our religious smugness, our self-righteousness or our pious reverence. Neither did Christ command us or say it's OK to argue, bicker, provoke, ridicule, gossip, mock, scorn, judge, humiliate or condemn one another any time it suits us because all those things are fun, entertaining and do no harm.

God is Love.





One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

- Mark 12:28-30


A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

- John 13:34-36



If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

- 1 John 4:15-17

Rejoice

The joy of The Lord is our strength.






Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
- Romans 6:8


I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
- Galatians 2:20


And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
- 2 Corinthian 5:15

The habits we break, the habits we make

Making the decision to follow and live as Christ intended isn't something you do once and then go on your merry way. Following Christ becomes your Number One Priority ... a commitment every day, every minute and every second.


You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

- Ephesians 4:22-24

"God loves me and wants to agree with me."

The other night on a TV talk show, in the wake of a recent popular poll, the moderator asked his two guests their opinions about what was moral, and what was immoral.

When the question of abortion came up one of the guests answered, "It's one of those subjects that's up to each person to decide for themselves whether it's immoral or not." In other words "What's right for me may not be right for you."

That logic just doesn't wash: Saying "There are no absolute morals" is like saying "What's true for you isn't true for me."

But if "There is no universal truth" is true then that's a universal truth, and your statement contradicts itself: if "What's true for you isn't true for me" is true then what you just said isn't true for me. Which means the statement "There is no universal truth" is false.

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- from January 21, 2009

Our culture is vexed with the notion of "Choice." We're encouraged to Have It Your Way in every respect ... even if that means being disrespectful. Go ahead, express yourself!

Who can say you're wrong? Everybody's personal opinion is as worthwhile and valid as anyone else's.

After all, since everything's relative it's your right to chose anything ... from choosing whether to add bacon to your burger, to use profanity in public, to lie if it's convenient, to have sex outside of marriage, to kill an unborn child, on down to whether or not God exists: It's Your Choice.

Folks therefore feel empowered to choose what God said, and often take this approach: "I already know what I like and since I'm basically a smart, hard-to-fool Good Person, that gives me a pretty good handle on what God's like: God's a lot like me."

Their reasoning goes like this:

- I don't see anything wrong about being gay, so God must not either.

- I don't think people go to hell if they don't accept Christ, so God must not either.

- I don't think tithing applies to the New Covenant, so God must not either.

- I don't like organized religion, so God must not either.

- I don't think my private sins are a big deal, so God must not either.

- I don't know what happens when you die, so God must not either.

- I'm not sure Jesus is the only way to Heaven, so God must not be either.

But here's the kick in the gut:

- " I don't like people telling me about sin, salvation and being born again ... so God must not either."

Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
'What are you making?'
Does your work say,
'He has no hands'?

- Isaiah 45:9

Prayer Code Talking (updated)

I'm writing this at 2:13AM because it was very hot today and I've got an air-conditioning issue (that's code talk for "My AC is broke.")

The 27-year old air conditioner worked fine so far this season, but today the little 8000btu central unit only managed to lower the cabin's temperature about 5 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature outside, which the helm thermometer indicated had soared past 101.7F by 3PM.

Not only was I hot, but the AC was leaking water into the cabin and soaking the carpet.

Just like it had toward the end of last year.

Tonight I determined to finally fix it, and found out the problem is a clogged drain pan. It only took me 9 months (and 3 weeks of soaked carpet and standing water last summer) to diagnose the problem.

Tonight I'm gonna pray about how to fix it, cause I've got a total shortage of good ideas.

I did pray about it the next morning, and then I grabbed my tools and stuck both hands into the air conditioner cabinet and kept feeling around until I found the problem.

It turned out that since I'd removed the cabinet door to let a service technician recharge the refrigerant, without the cabinet door put back in place warm humid air was being sucked in around the evaporator ... and promptly condensed like the sweat on the outside of an iced tea glass, eventually forming the puddles leaking into the cabin. Yes, I screwed the cabinet door back in place and that fixed it.

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Ever noticed how often we pray for favors, blessings, gifts and miracles ... or for things to just generally go our way? We don't like to admit how seldom we approach God in prayer and ask him what we can do for him, so we might be in the habit of disguising our prayers in reverent, worshipful-sounding code talk ... as if The Creator can't tell what's on our minds and is clueless about what's really inside our hearts.

Here's a few examples.

Code: Lord I'm ready to settle down and commit to a long-term monogamous relationship that will eventually lead to marriage, so please send the man (or woman) you planned for me to be with to my front door.

Translation: I'm at the bottom of the dating barrel and I've started thinking Nobody will ever marry me and that I'm not worth being loved. Plus, I don't have the money to buy new clothes and keep going to singles bars.

Lord please heal my finances and let thy bounty and thine abundance shower down upon me.
Uh oh, my MasterCard bill came in the mail today.

Lord please guide and reveal yourself at my church so that they may get back on track and follow your will.
I got asked to volunteer and have used up all my best excuses.

Lord please reveal yourself to my boss, so that he may recognize and finally repent of his evil ways and be saved.
I've already told everybody at work what a jerk the boss is ... and I'm pretty sure he found out.

Lord please bless this food, and we thank thee for thy bounty and for thy blessings.
Translation: I hope there's nothing on my plate that's gone bad and ends up sending me to the hospital.

Lord please show yourself and spread your word so that sinners around the world will hear it.
I'm too busy with my own plans to do it.

Lord if you'll just do this one thing, I'll start going to church, start reading my Bible, stop sinning and I'll do whatever you want me to do with my life.
No I won't.

Congratulations Mike & Judith!

Meet Jaron Micah Farkas.

"Jesus, wanna come visit MY church?"

Imagine Christ showed up at your doorstep one Sunday morning and you invited him to visit your church.

As you pulled into the parking lot you'd point to a certain spot and say, "There's my parking space. It's got my name on the sign."

You might go to the corner of the building and point out the inscription on the cornerstone. "See? My name's written on the dedication."

Once inside the vestibule you could show him the stained glass window featuring your name and tell him, "I paid for that myself."

You might be a little angry to usher Jesus to your seat, only to find a visitor sitting in your pew. So you scowl and gesture to let the uninvited and unwelcome stranger know he and his family need to find seats somewhere else. Then you look back at Jesus and touch the brass plate bearing your name. You apologize to Christ on the visitor's behalf, "The nerve of some people. What's wrong with them?"

During the organ prelude you'd nudge Jesus and whisper, "I guess you know the church didn't budget enough for the new organ, so I made up the difference out of my own pocket. On top of what I'd already given so the choir could buy new robes" and when the offering plate comes around you wink at God's son, "I'm proud to say that I'm one of the biggest tithers here."

As the sermon began you might show Jesus your Bible and point to the cover. "I bought the nicest Bible I could find, and then paid extra to have my name embossed in gold letters on the front. See, I've had it five years and it's still in perfect condition without a mark on it anywhere."

After the service you'd let Jesus know whether or not you liked the sermon and then hurry to the line at the back door, "I want you to meet my pastor. I served on the search committee, but he wasn't my first choice. So I helped negotiate his salary down from what he wanted and ended up saving the church a lot of money. Still, I think we could've got somebody just as good for even less."

Outside again, hurrying Jesus back to your car so you can get to your favorite restaurant before the line gets too long, you skip pointing out the "God Is My Co-Pilot" sticker on the bumper. But as you start the engine you're suddenly curious about his impression and ask Christ, "So what did you think of my church?"

What if Jesus stopped and said, "I saw your parking space, your corner stone, your stained glass window, your pew, your organ, your choir robes and your Bible, and I just shook hands with your pastor. I saw your church but I must've missed something."

Puzzled, you shake your head and shrug, "What did I leave out?"

And Christ turns away from the building, away from your stained glass window, away from your pew and your personal parking space, looks you in the eye and asks, "Where is your cross?"

Making God make you happy

Lord, please help me lose five pounds before Friday. And please don't let my phone bill be more than $60 this month, Amen.


Bad things happen in life.

I don't mean not getting a much-anticipated pay raise or failing this semester's mid-term. And I'm not talking about being rejected by this week's once-in-a-lifetime girl or guy of our dreams (who we've been earnestly praying for at least 3 times so far this week).

I'm not referring either to speeding tickets we didn't deserve, surprises at the dentist's office or even to finding out that your spouse has been having an affair while transferring your life savings to a secret offshore account ... and who now says he or she is taking the kids and wants a divorce.

I'm talking about the things that happen that can make people despair ... and wonder if there's any point in going on living.

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Sometimes situations seem to come out of nowhere and present themselves in such hugeness and with such urgency that we feel overwhelmed and stunned, completely at a loss for any reasonable explanation. When true calamities and disasters happen, it's likely that what most makes us feel so helpless is that we don't know why.

After all, we hadn't planned on that bad thing happening ... just as we hadn't expected that at 1:58 PM on Tuesday afternoon, life's rug would be pulled out from under our (clay) feet.

Why did God let that happen, or did we do something wrong? Aren't we just, righteous and church-going people?

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We want to believe in a merciful and benevolent God who only exists to make us happy and to prove our faith, we say a 30 second prayer when there's something we really, really want for ourselves (and maybe put in a word or two for all the victims we see on TV somewhere around the world). When things are going good, we might even reward God for doing such a good job by dropping $5 or $10 bucks in the offering plate a couple of times a year.

Naturally, because we call ourselves Baptists or Methodists or Episcopalians or Catholics or Pentecostals (and because we attend the church that suits us best), we feel confident that God favors our religion above all others and so he must like us the best, too.

So when bad things happen, whether to us or to other people on the other side of the world, we might feel secure enough in our esteemed eternal status to think God owes us an explanation and also feel entitled to know why he didn't leap tall buildings in a single bound and arrive faster than a speeding bullet to save the day before anything bad happened.

It's as if we're demanding, "Lord, why are you falling down on the job ... or are you even paying attention?"

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Some people argue that if a supernatural all-powerful and merciful God exists, then surely he'd have made himself known and prevented so many of the bad things that have occurred throughout the course of mankind's existence.

(That argument's weak, because we have no way of knowing the extent of God's intervention throughout history, just as we have no way of knowing how bad things in the past few thousand years might've been.)

Other folks, you might call them Lucky Charm Christians, treat God like he's the rabbit's food in their pocket they rub for good luck. They play "If I do this, then God will do that" games in order to keep God on their side and be assured of perpetual happiness, health, stability, longevity and wealth. Instead of worshiping the Creator, they've chosen to make the wish and happiness-drive god they want ... in other words, they worship a god created in their own image.

In conforming God to suit their expectations of "God giving me everything I deserve in life because I'm a Christian and God wants me to be happy" what those folks are saying is "I refuse to worship a God who doesn't give me what I want."

But the god of our selfish creation has nothing to do with the Creator of the universe, or with the Father revealed in Scripture, nor with the Almighty Living God who raised Christ from the grave.




"So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.

- Malachi 3:5-7