Archive for April, 2010
We finished our Pierced series this weekend. It was a great series for us. We waded through some deep waters and talked about some tough issues. This series was heavy in a lot of ways as we looked at some weighty issues but it was liberating in the sense that we were able to talk about the whole life that God intends for us.
One of the things God has been teaching me in recent days has to do with the fullness of the gospel, that He intends for us to live whole lives in Him – that our lives are not to be defined by our wounds (life experiences) but by Him. Salvation is not just a free ticket to heaven. It is a reality with which we are to live – a way that is complete and satisfying in who Jesus is and what He has done (the gospel). This series, along with our Mirrors series from last year, have helped clarify some of this reality for me. I am continuing to learn what this truth means and looks like in everyday life.
Yesterday I talked about forgiveness and how only through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and learning to forgive others can we find complete healing and wholeness. The NT principle of forgiveness, forgive as Christ forgives, is a tough one to digest at times. To learn to forgive without conditions and completely is difficult. And yet it is only through this type of forgiveness that we find healing.
If you want to hear the Pierced series, check out our podcast. Here’s a link to some pictures of the final Sunday from an awesome photographer in our church Ron Dillon. As part of the creative element for this series, Alex Kahr painted a 4-part painting that came together yesterday to illustrate that through His pierced hands we find healing.And the girl singing is Muna Hiluf, a local Vegas high schooler who made the final 50 on American Idol a couple of season ago. She brought down the house!
- Our 2000 Ford Windstar is starting to have the basic problems a 10-year-old vehicle in the desert has. The good news is that I know some good mechanics and car repairs are still much cheaper than monthly payments! The plan is to drive it until it drops dead.
- I am NOT a mechanic but I enjoy spending time with the guys who can work on my vehicles. I got to spend a couple of hours with Jason Barbour this weekend. I love Jason and Christy. I baptized Jason and Christy sings in our worship band. Their daughter Tabby is a sweetheart and they have a boy on the way! They are a great family.
- We went to PF Changs with some friends on Saturday night and planned to see a movie but Zac got sick and we had to come home early.
- Sunday was another solid day at GP. We had great attendance and continue to see a lot of guests.
- Some days being portable is quite the challenge! Maybe one day …
- We showed a video of our student intern, Jeremy Martin, getting his lip pierced. It was funny.
- Our Pierced series has seemed to connect to a lot of people at GP.
- I taught on the role of the Bible in our spiritual healing today. It was a good reminder message on the power and importance of God’s Word.
- I told the G-rated version of a surgery preparation I endured. It was hilarious.
- Some of the message highlights:
“God uses the Bible to perform spiritual, grace-filled surgery on us in order to makes us spiritually whole”
“The Bible is alive and effective. God uses it to generate life and transform hearts”
“As a Jesus follower, you must get the Bible in you somehow”
“The Bible transforms us from the inside-out which is why we must get it in us”
“The Word of God penetrates the dark corners of our heart and exposes them to the light of truth which causes conviction which leads to repentance which leads to transformation”
“The Word of God analyzes, reviews, and critiques our hearts and actions in light of who God is”
“It is important to get the truth in us so that we might learn to make wise decisions”
“The Word of God reveals our hearts before God”
“The truth of God cuts us deeply so that we might die to ourselves and live to Him”
- One of the concepts God gave me this week is the idea stems from Heb 4:13 where the Bible says we are exposed and vulnerable before God. I talked about how those relationships in life where we can be completely vulnerable provide security – the safety to be who I am and still be accepted. Our tendency is to try and hide from God and live with our wounds when in reality our vulnerability before God should leave us with the security of who we are in Him. True vulnerability results not in fear or guilt but in safety and security. In essence, I can know that God knows completely who I am and yet still loves and accepts me through His grace. This truth should drive me to live for God and not into a life of hiding from God.
- I ended the message with the story of Martin Luther and how the Word of God held his conscience captive and his only choice was to stand even when it cost him his life.
- The staff is headed to Catalyst West this week for some fun and the opportunity to recharge our batteries. I love our team and look forward to spending some time with them.
Have an awesome week.
I have a humorous story that I tell on occasion about a surgery that I had when I was in my mid-20s. Without getting into graphic detail, let’s just say I had a surgery that required me to be prepped in an area of the body where most men do not want to be prepped and most prep people I imagine do not like to prep. It was an awkward moment for me and for the person assigned the task of preparing me for the surgery. I had to resume an extremely uncomfortable position in order for this poor dude to perform his horrific task of preparing me for surgery. Not only was I humiliated but my own wife laughed at me and had to run out of the room to keep from losing it. One of the lessons I learned from that life experience is that sometimes you have to be made uncomfortable in order for the necessary outcome to take place.
As I am writing this blog, my mother-in-law is coming off successful breast cancer surgery. My mother faced a similar surgery a couple of years ago. In both situations, the surgery was necessary to both eliminate and prevent a potentially deadly disease. Surgery was necessary for health and wholeness.
This Sunday we are talking about the scalpel that God often uses to cut away that which hinders us from living whole and healthy lives. We are talking about the Bible – the tool that God often chooses to speak into the lives of His children and transform them from the inside out.
Hebrews 4:12-13 informs us that the Word of God is living (effectively transforms lives), penetrating (cuts away the wrong), discerning (helps us make wise choices), and revealing (exposes our hearts before God). God works through the living Word of God to bring healing to our wounded souls.
In our series Pierced we are discovering that what Jesus did on the cross was all that was necessary to provide complete healing for the Jesus follower. He was pierced so that I might find life – so that I might live life to the fullest – as God intends. The opposite side of the discussion is that life often pierces our own souls and leaves us wounded and marked. Life has a way of piercing our souls in a way that dictates how we live life. And so the gist of our series is that God did what was required to heal our piercings by being pierced Himself.
God intends for us to live whole lives in Him – not lives marked by our own shortcomings. He employs life experiences to transform us into His image. And as we will learn this weekend, He also uses His word to penetrate our souls, reveal our sins, and lead us toward the truth. For that reason, we believe it is important to get the Bible in you somehow. Not every Jesus follower enjoys reading and we all know the frustration of trying to read the Bible daily when we are not motivated to do so. Soon something intended to make us more like Jesus becomes a source of bitterness and guilt. I can’t tell you the number of times I set out to read my Bible for xxx amount a time a day for xxx days only to find myself bogged down in Leviticus or some Minor Prophet wondering why I even try. So what do we do?
Ignoring the truth God provides in His word is not a healthy option for the Jesus follower trying to take positive steps on their spiritual journey so we try and encourage people to get the Bible in them somehow and someway. That looks different for different people but the goal is the same: get the truth in you. Someway – somehow – consistently get the Bible in you. Whether it is reading it, listening to it, discussing it, or whatever method you choose – get the Bible in you. It’s God’s scalpel and it helps make us whole as God uses His truth to perform grace surgery on our hearts and souls.
Consistent spiritual surgery is necessary for whole and healthy living. And the Bible serves as God’s scalpel to make that happen. Get it in you!
Starla went this week to be with her mother who had successful breast surgery. The initial reports are positive and there are no signs of any other cancer at this point. Of course that means daddy and the kids for 7 days! I am a good dad for the most part but not sure I am a good dad AND mom. We have survived and the kids are very patient in the absence of their mom. I realized this morning that the dishwasher was completely filled with bowls which means we have eaten a lot of cereal and ice cream. Good times. Kayleigh has been sick so we have been restricted to the house for most of the weekend but did get out and have a little fun on a couple of occasions.
- Friday night: Chuck E Cheese & Baskin Robbins. Horrible pizza but a fun environment reminds me how important creating engaging environments is. Parents will put up with some bad food and a horrible mouse costume if their kids are happy. At least we got good ice cream to offset the bad pizza.
- Saturday was crash around the house day as Kayleigh tried to recover from her sickness. We did hang out with some friends on Saturday evening.
- Sunday was another good day at GP. We had good attendance and a solid service overall. I taught on pain and suffering so the subject matter was a bit heavy but a great reminder that God is in control even when we can’t see it.
- We continue to see a lot of new faces at GP.
- Our band has really come together in recent weeks. We have several new faces in the band and some incredible musicians. I love to see people use their talents for God’s glory.
- Our 4-week creative element, a 4-part painting, is a great asset to the series.
- I taught on the story of Job today. That story never ceases to amaze me. Today I focused more on God’s dialogue with Job about His sovereignty and our humanness.
- We ended the service with Blessed Be Your Name but from a different perspective after just hearing what that really meant for Job.
- My voice was a little weak today but I made it.
Here are a few highlights from the message:
“Pain and suffering can leave behind some deep and lasting wounds and scars”
“Jesus was pierced so that we might be healed and whole”
“Salvation is more than a free ticket to Heaven. Salvation is intended to make us complete in God through what Jesus did on the cross”
“Sincere Jesus followers often have confusing and incomplete answers as to why pain happens”
“We lived in a stained planet”
“God will one day restore the earth – remove the stain – but until that day we live with the brutal reality of pain and suffering”
“God provides no play-by-play explanation for pain and suffering in the Bible”
“Job’s options according to his friends and family: confess sin or curse God. Neither was a viable option for Job”
“The issue is not about pain. The issue is about faith/trust in God.”
“Will I trust God even when it does not make sense to do so?”
“God want us to cling to Him even when we have every reason to deny Him”
“Will I love the Giver when the gifts are taken away”
“God’s lesson for Job: I am God – You are not. Will you trust me?”
“Before we accuse God we need to understand the greatness of the God we are accusing”
“Pain produces value”
“Jesus endured my pain and suffering so that I might find healing in Him”
- This series seems to be speaking into the lives of a lot of our people.
- Salvation has so many facets that it is difficult to understand the full magnitude of the gospel.
- Enjoyed watching the Masters this weekend. Phil Mickelson was awesome. And let’s just say that whether you love him or hate him – Tiger Woods is a golfer!
- Sundays are exhausting and exhilarating. Tough balance.
Enjoying these few weeks with a little less intensity than the previous several. I am actually sleeping better (for now).
We continue our Pierced series this Sunday at Grace Point. This weekend we are talking about how to find healing from pain through what Jesus did on the cross. Pain and suffering can cause some deep and lasting wounds. No doubt the question of pain and suffering (often labeled theodicy) causes many to question God’s compassion, power and even His existence. Pain pierces deeply.
To complicate further this question there is not a lot of “explanation” passages in the Bible as to why pain and suffering exist. If anything the NT even admonishes the Jesus follower to “rejoice” in suffering. The only exhaustive treatment of this issue is actually an OT story – the story of a guy named Job who was basically stripped of everything we consider important in life (family, friends, possessions, health, security) and then told by God that the difference between the infinite and the finite is so vast that there is really no graspable explanation for the reality of pain and suffering.
Here are a few things we do know about this issue:
- We live in a jacked up world. Our stained planet is filled with pain, evil, and suffering. It is simply a part of the reality. Pain and suffering are part and parcel for living in a planet distorted by sin. We can anticipate one day that God will restore earth to its original intent and remove the sin factor.
- At the end of the Job story God has an extended conversation with the sufferer and basically reminds him that His plan is much broader and bigger than we can comprehend. God owes humanity no explanation for why things happen. He is God. We are not. There’s simply some questions to which we will never get answers. So what do we do?
- It seems throughout Scripture that one of the primary purposes for pain and suffering is to enable us to trust God at deeper levels which in return makes us more like Jesus and less like … us. God allows pain and suffering to refine, shape, and mold us. The reason we are instructed to celebrate suffering is not because God is the evil troll under the bridge who enjoys torturing his children. The reason we welcome pain is because God uses it to grow us. Pain and suffering remind us that God is paying attention – that He is working in our lives to draw us closer to Him. Obviously the reverse can take place – pain can cause us to retreat, question, doubt, and run from God – but that is not God’s intention. God allows pain to bring us closer to His original design for us.
- Here’s is one important lesson we don’t need to miss in this discussion – Jesus was pierced for our pain and suffering. Jesus hung on a cross so that I might find complete healing. One of the most important truths within our Pierced series is the idea that what Jesus did on the cross was intended for my wholeness. In other words, the life experiences that pierce my life, my wounds so to speak, can be completely healed through the gospel. We have a tendency to allow our wounds to define and shape our lives. But the gospel allows for another option. The gospel allows my life to be defined by Jesus. Salvation is more than a ticket to Heaven. It is a way of life. Salvation is the means by which God enables Jesus followers to live complete, whole, satisfying, intentional, purpose-filled lives. The gospel allows my pain and suffering to be defined by God’s intention and not by my reaction or adjustment.
I am not sure I can completely unpack the significance of the gospel when it comes to pain and suffering. I am not sure I completely get what it means to find healing through the piercings of Jesus. I am not sure I completely grasp the eternal meaning of what happened on the cross that enables me to live as a person defined by wholeness and not by my failures and shortcomings. But I do know that if what Jesus did was authentic, then my pain and suffering are part of a process that makes me more like Jesus and less like Devin.
I guess I am mentally ready to try and recap the weekend. It has been a LONG season and I am in that fog between adrenaline and crash. For me, my highest highs are always followed by my lowest lows. I think it is just the reality that you work hard and long and then its all over. I am not sure anyone outside of the lead position gets the total reality of that emotion. But anyway, here are some of the highlights from Easter weekend…
- We had our first ever Saturday night service this year. It went very well. I was pleased with the turnout and LOVED the spirit of the service. It seemed a little more relaxed. Not sure what that means for our future regarding Saturday night services but it definitely gave us something to think about.
- Our two Sunday services were solid in attendance. We had a lot of guests. I’m not sure about final numbers but it was a great day.
- We began a new series called Pierced. I really like the central idea of this series that Jesus was pierced so that we might find healing from our brokenness.
- I shared the gospel clearly and had adults stand who wanted to commit their life to Jesus. Again not sure on the final numbers but we know there were over 20 adults who stood.
- Christian Brothers, a local rap group, performed for our services. One of their members, JRich, regularly attends our church. Their lyrics are awesome and I love their hearts. They brought a good vibe for us.
- Our band was CLICKING on Sunday. JRich did some spinning on one song. Good stuff. Proud of our band right now. They are working hard. It always amazes me the talent God brings to GP.
- Alex Kahr is painting a 4-part montage throughout this series that will come together at the end. It was a great creative element.
- Some of the highlights from the message:
“Life can pierce our soul and leave behind deep visible and hidden scars”
“What is sometimes lost in the Easter message is that Jesus was pierced so that we might live complete, whole lives in Him”
“Most of us are satisfied with incomplete living. We learn to adjust to our wounds and allow them to define us”
“Jesus came to remove that which mars our life – to make whole living possible”
“Jesus died to remove that which separates us from God and provide security and completeness instead”
“We are broken people”
“Sin violates our relationship with God and others and leaves us wounded and scarred in the process”
“The reality of sin lurks within each of us waiting to rear its ugly head and remind us of our depravity”
“God did not create us for sin but for relationship with Him”
“Sin robs us of God’s divine intention”
“We fail to recognize the magnitude of sin because we live in it”
“In the gospel God did what was necessary to mend the broken relationship sin creates”
“He was pierced, scarred, mutilated, maimed, and murdered to remove the sin factor”
“He was pierced to bring me healing”
“The resurrection proves Jesus was qualified to offer forgiveness for sins”
“Jesus makes the Great Exchange – my ugliness for His beauty, my sin for His righteousness, my impurity for His holiness”
“The scars remain in the hands of Jesus to prove He offers healing”
- The message seemed to connect to a lot of people.
- Teaching three times is taxing but rewarding.
- I am glad Easter is over but I also realize the letdown is coming until the next “adventure.” The ups and downs of ministry!
And by the way, just to help me remember my own humanity – my hot water heater went out and I had to replace it on Sunday evening – or I should say I stood and made jokes and went to get tools and watched some of my friends make it happen. I guess in leadership we call it delegating!
Here are a few pics from the weekend:
This weekend we begin a new series at Grace Point called Pierced. The central point of the series has to do with the idea that our souls are often pierced by life experiences that leave hidden and/or visible wounds and scars. These piercings can only be healed through the gospel – the story of the God-man who was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our iniquities. On the cross, He took our spiritual wounds. He became sin for us so that we might be made right with God.
I believe the average Jesus follower is content to live an unfulfilled, incomplete Christian life. We learn to adjust to our wounds and in some weird way even believe that we deserve them because we know what is behind the curtain. Part of this tendency stems from our inclination to make salvation a “free ticket to Heaven” instead of salvation as a transforming way of life. If we begin to understand what Jesus did on the cross, we begin to grasp that He died so that our wounds might be healed. He died so that I might experience life to the fullest.
Life pierces our souls. Jesus heals our souls through His piercings. The work of the cross provides what is necessary to enable the Jesus follower to live a whole life in Christ.