The (Real) Supreme Court

Psalm 82

When I was in high school, I was all about politics and political history.  There was no cooler job in the world than to be a Supreme Court Justice.  Think about it–you have the ultimate job security (the justices are appointed for life).  You get a great six-figure salary.  And (if memory serves me correctly–and it may not), the justices have a private movie theater where they would view movies of a questionable nature–stuff that may over-step the 1st Amendment free speech stuff.  I may be wrong about that, but I remember one my history teachers saying something about it.  Anyway, once I realized what it would take for that to happen, I quickly abandoned that dream.  There are only nine spots on the Supreme Court bench, and most of those seats are filled for decades.  You’ve got to be the right person who has the right connections at the right time.  No thanks!

Psalm 82 is all about the Ultimate Judge, God, passing judgment on the human judges of ancient Israel.  In this short Psalm, we see what is near to God’s heart:  the plight of the afflicted and downtrodden.  Look what God says to these human judges in Psalm 83:2-4,

How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?  Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

The author wraps up the psalm by calling on God to judge, not just Israel, but the entire earth–all the nations.

How often are we guilty like these human judges of ignoring the plight of the “less fortunate”?  Yeah, we may feel sorry for them, but the feeling goes away (and we probably force it to go away).  How many times do we actually see and need and fill it?  Not as often as we should.  We rationalize.  We make excuses.  We don’t want the headaches that sometimes come with helping others–we have to sacrifice time, resources, and effort… often without thanks, and often without seeing the results we hope for.  So why bother?

Because God says to bother…

Jesus showed compassion like no other, and people often turned away from Him when He made the jump from the physical need to the spiritual need.  It never stopped Him.  The greatest act of compassion was the cross.  As a follower of Jesus, I’m called to carry my own cross… part of which is developing and showing Christ-like compassion for others.

In a response to a comment I left on his blog, author Bob Roberts, Jr. (author of The Multiplying Church) encouraged me to “find those who are hurting most” and serve them.  What an awesome challenge.  As representatives of the Ultimate Supreme Court, that’s our job–to reflect His heart for the hurting, to step into their mess, and help by showing them how much Jesus loves them.

Method Acting

Psalm 81

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I like movies.  One of the best I’ve seen in a long time is “There Will Be Blood.”  It’s long, it’s slow paced, and it’s completely awesome because of the lead actor, Daniel Day-Lewis.  He won his second best actor award for his role in this film.  I’ve seen a few of his movies, and this one is by far his “meatiest” to date.  He’s an absolute lunatic wild man (the final “milkshake” scene is ridiculously good). 

Critics say that what makes Daniel Day-Lewis so good is the way he gets into character.  He does a lot of research on the type of character he’ll play, and he COMPLETELY immerses himself in his role during filming.  In fact… he never “breaks character” while filming.  Ever.  When the director yells “Cut!” on the final scene of the day, Daniel Day-Lewis stays in character.  He doesn’t become Daniel Day-Lewis again until filming is over.

If this film doesn’t quite do it for you, maybe Borat will.  Actor Sasha Baron Cohen portrayed Borat for months leading up to and after ”Borat” was released.  Every time he appeared in public, it was a Borat (it’s no suprise that he “retired” Borat a few months ago… it must have even annoyed him!). 

Psalm 81 has a little bit to say about “method acting.”  The author calls his readers to rock out in all out praise to God because of His deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt.  God instructs them not to worship any other Gods, but the Israelites didn’t listen.  They were stubborn, so God let them be stubborn, and allowed enemies to subdue them.  God’s mercy overflows in the latter stages of the Psalm–if Israel would just obey Him, He would subdue their enemies.  Then look what God says in Psalm 80:15,

Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him; and their time of punishment would be forever.  But I would feed you with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

God isn’t a big fan of acting when it comes to devotion to Him.

There are so many references, especially in the prophets (the dudes who wrote the last part of the Old Testament in the Bible), where God expresses His displeasure at people who are satisfied with “going through the motions.”  They show up at the right time to the right gathering, they say the right things, they pray the right prayers, they do all the religious stuff.  But their hearts are far away from God.  They do their religious duty, and then go home and act as if nothing happened.  They live life as if God had no part in it.  They may even pray and read their Bibles during the week, but there’s no evidence of life transformation at all. 

They’re actors, playing a role before God.

And they aren’t winning any awards for their performance.

For those of us who follow Jesus, there will be times when we “go through the motions”–we’ll lose focus, we’ll get depressed and stressed, and the devil will take advantage of an opportunity to weaken our faith.  What the author of this psalm is telling us to look out for is an overall heart problem.  He’s not talking about a momentary “slip”.  He’s talking about a chronic condition, where a person is never close to God, they’re always content with going through the motions, and they want to live their lives on their own terms.

God isn’t interested in acting.  What He desires is full-blown, heart-felt, hard core devotion and commitment to Him.  It means making hard choices.  It means sacrifice.  It means giving all of our lives to Him.

So what are you–an actor playing pretend with God, or the real deal?

Skynyrd is Awesome…

…but people becoming followers of Jesus Christ is way more awesome.  Click here to see the video of our newest micro-church’s first baptism.  We celebrated with an abundant and varied assortment of fire grilled meat afterwards!

Bright Light, Bright Light!

Psalm 80

I love the ’80’s classic, “Gremlins”.  Yeah, it’s a cheesy premise, with some cheesy effects (although pretty decent for the mid-’80’s).  But it’s still awesome.  I remember buying several boxes of Gremlins cereal so that I could get a Gizmo doll–that thing was awesome!  It was “life size”–the size of Gizmo in the movie.  It sqeaked, it was furry.  I loved that thing.  I wonder if my mom kept it… my girls would love it.

One of the three rules about Gizmo was that you couldn’t expose him to bright light–it would kill him.  The gremlins hated light–that’s how they all died (the final scene where Stripe, the leader of the gremlins, dies in the greenhouse, is pretty cool).

Bright light can be frightening.

I can’t stand it when someone turns on the lights when I’m in a dark room, or have been sleeping (repeated appeals to my wife have fallen on deaf ears!).  Why is that?  Light illuminates and exposes.  It awakens.  It reveals.  While uncomfortable at first, we tend to welcome bright light–it keeps us from stubbing our toes!

Psalm 80 is filled with references to bright light.  The author begs God to turn the fortunes of Israel.  Three times, he repeats this phrase (with several intentional variations):

O God, restore us, and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. (Psalm 80:3)

O God of hosts, restore us, and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. (Psalm 80:7)

O LORD God of hosts, restore us; cause your face to sine upon us, and we will be saved. (Psalm 80:19)

With each instance, the author adds something about God:  He is the God of hosts (He is powerful, and in control).  He is also the LORD God of hosts (He is powerful, in control, and full of compassion and mercy).  He is able to deliver from terrible circumstances, and He will deliver from terrible circumstances because of His compassion and mercy.

All three of these references refer back to Numbers 6:25, which is the priestly blessing upon the nation.  What is the author of Psalm 80 asking for when He begs God to shine His bright light upon them?  Grace, peace, and blessing.  When God delivers these things, it will lead to a revival of faith and renewed praise of God.

We need some bright light to illuminate our lives.

So often, we think that God should make life trouble free and worry free.  Yet, we know that’s not a present reality.  Sometimes, the trouble and worry lead us to a realization that we’ve forgotten God, and that our life is (to carry on the light metaphor) darker than it should be.  We face a choice–we can cop out and blame God, or we can turn to God for some light.

For me, the “dark times” serve to remind me how much I really do need God to shine on me.

We could all use a little light…

Remember Who You Are And Where You Come From

Psalm 79

When I was in high school and had my freshly printed driver’s license, my father would always tell me this before I left the house.  It was a simple reminder to remember my upbringin’, and to not do anything stupid.  He heard it from his father, and I’ll pass it to my daughters.

Psalm 79 is a tough read.  There’s been a major disaster that was caused by the invasion of an enemy, which has caused the author great stress.  In this Psalm, he begs God for relief from the suffering.  Look what he writes in Psalm 79:8-9,

Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us; let Your compassion come quickly to meet us; for we are brought very low.  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and forgive our sins, for Your name’s sake.

He’s asking God to remember who He is.  As if God needed reminding!

God has lots of names in the Bible, all revealing something about Him and His character.  The name that inspired the most (for lack of a better term) reverence was YHWH (depending on which vowels are used, is pronounced “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”).  Ancient scribes took the name of God so seriously that when they were copying the scripture, they would stop before writing the name of God, go wash and change their clothes, and then come back and write his name.  The ancient Jews refrained from saying this name of God for fear they would break the third commandment (the one about taking God’s name in vain).  Jesus got Himself in trouble with the Jewish leaders by referring to Himself with this name (see the end of John 8).

In this Psalm, the author asks God to help, deliver, and forgive for the glory and sake of His name.  Everything God does brings glory to His name.  Sometimes, we (like the author of this psalm) don’t understand how our present circumstances bring glory to God’s name, but He does.  It’s when we look back on the situation, sometimes months or years after it has passed, that we see how the situation brought glory to God’s name.

So if everything God does brings glory to His name, what do we do to bring glory to it… or shame to it?  Sin brings shame on His name, and yet even that has brought glory to His name–through the cross of Jesus.  For those of us who follow Jesus, the cross must motivate us to live lives that glorify His name.

Because we wear it (Christian… “little Christ”).

30 Days to Live: What Are You Waiting For?

You’ve watch the videos.  You’ve read the blog posts.  Hopefully, you’ve done some hard evaluation of your life.  Now, take some time to tell how God has used this series to change you.  Leave a comment, answering this question:

Having gone through this series, what will I now do in order to live in the now with an eternal perspective so that I can leave a Godly legacy?

30 Days to Live: Leaving a Godly Legacy (5 of 5)

Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.  Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath.  Psalm 39:4-5

Look at what the Bible says about David (the most respected king of the Old Testament—the first half of the Bible) in Acts 13:36,

 

“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep (died)…” 

 

What a legacy—he served God’s purpose in his own generation. 

 

That is what God desires of us—that we serve His purpose in our own generation… that we live in the now by turning our intentions into actions and turning our whole heart to Jesus, that we develop an eternal perspective that focuses on what’s important—Jesus.  All He asks is that we do it where we are.  Not all of us are called to do massive, publicly recognized feats.  Most of us will be called to serve God’s purpose in quiet ways that most people will never know about… but it will make a lasting impact for the kingdom of God in the life of those people who did see and experience Jesus through you.  That will be the legacy that we leave.  When our last 30 days are up, we’ll have fought the good fight, we’ll have finished the race, we’ll have kept the faith.

 

Live in the now.  Turn intentions into actions.  Develop and live out an eternal perspective that focuses on Jesus.  Say what God wants you to say.  Do what God wants you to do.  Live as God wants you to live.  Leave a Godly legacy.  Sounds like a great idea if we knew that we only had 30 days to live. 

 

Who knows?  We just might.

 

What are we waiting for?

30 Days to Live: Leaving a Godly Legacy (4 of 5)

Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.  Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath.  Psalm 39:4-5

If we want to leave a Godly legacy, we’ll say what God wants us to say, we’ll do what God wants us to do, and we’ll live how God wants us to live. 

 

Look what Paul wrote at the end of his life—and while in a damp, dark prison awaiting certain death—in the Bible book of 2 Timothy 4:6-8,

 

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness… 

 

Now that’s a legacy. 

 

Paul could look back on His life and see one thing:  Jesus.  In his 30 years of ministry, Paul had planted churches for Jesus.  He had introduced a ton of people to Jesus.  He issued stern but loving reprimands to some of those churches for Jesus.  He suffered greatly for Jesus.  He experienced physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain for Jesus.  His life reflected Jesus—he said what he needed to say, he did what he needed to do, and He lived as God wanted Him to live. 

 

Paul’s legacy could be summarized in one word:  Jesus.

 

If we had 30 days to live, what words would summarize our life to this point?  Driven… outspoken… loving… self-centered… selfish… gracious… kind… passionate.  If someone close to you were to describe your life in a few words, what would they say—and would you be embarrassed to hear it?  What do we need to give to Jesus to change so that our lives reflect Him?  What sins are we playing around with that we need to kill?  What about our lives must be transformed so that we, like Paul, can say at the end of our final 30 days whenever they may be that we’ve fought the good fight, we’ve finished our race, we have kept the faith—we’ve given absolutely everything for Jesus? 

 

Think about it—that’s what Jesus did for us.  He said what God wanted Him to say—he preached the good news of the kingdom of God (of which He himself was the centerpiece).  He did what God had him to do—he preached the gospel, he showed compassion to the sick and the dead, he actively loved the unloveable social rejects by simply hanging out with them when no one else would.  He lived how God wanted Him to live—the life we could not live, a life without sin… so that He could die the death God wanted Him to die, on the cross for our sin.  He suffered through the horrific physical pain.  He suffered through the unimaginable spiritual pain.  He took our sin on Himself.  He took our punishment on Himself.  He did the time for our crimes.  Three days later, God raise Him from the dead.  2,000 years later, we are His legacy—imperfect people forgiven by God because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

 

The question for us, then is this… 

 

How shall we now live?

 

30 Days to Live: Leaving a Godly Legacy (3 of 5)

Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.  Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath.  Psalm 39:4-5

If we want to leave a Godly legacy, we’ll say the words God would have us to say.  But we’ll also do what God wants us to do.  Look at what the apostle Paul (the dude who went from murdering Christians to planting churches and writing most of the New Testament—all because of Jesus) said to a group of church leaders as he faced an uncertain future in the Bible book of Acts 20:24,

“…I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” 

Paul wanted nothing more than to fulfill the purpose and plan God had for his life—to plant churches and introduce people to Jesus.  At this point of his life, he wasn’t finished yet.

What is our unfinished assignment from God?  For me, it’s to raise my family to love and follow Jesus; to plant more micro-churches so that more people can be introduced to Jesus; to mentor and equip leaders to plant new micro-churches and to oversee our network of churches.  As far as I know, I’ve only just begun.  Jesus still has work for me to do.  But since I don’t know when my time will be up, I have to continue to do what God wants me to do.

 

What about you—what is your unfinished assignment from God?  If you’re a part of the Discovery Christian Church community, it may be to help plant a new micro-church in our network.  It may be to drop everything in the States to go make followers of Jesus in a culture completely unknown to you right now.  It may be to drop everything and make followers of Jesus on your street.  It may be to develop a heart for and serve a certain segment of the population that is often ignored.  Whatever it is, it will stretch you, it will pull you out of our comfort zone, and it may be something that you’ve sworn you’d never do.  It may be big; it may be small; it’s all important to God; it’s all an integral part of his plan. 

 

What’s your unfinished assignment that God has called you to do?

 

30 Days to Live: Leaving a Godly Legacy (2 of 5)

Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days, let me know how transient I am.  Behold, You have made my days as handsbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight, surely every man at his best is a mere breath.  Psalm 39:4-5

If we’re serious about leaving a godly legacy, then we’ll live in the moment (we’ll turn our whens into nows, we’ll turn our intentions into actions, and we’ll turn our whole heart toward Jesus), and we’ll develop an eternal perspective.  If we’re serious about those things, then we’ll do three things that make it absolutely clear to those around us that we’re not interested in simply passing through life.

 

First, as we live in the moment with an eternal perspective, we’ll say the words God wants us to say.  Look at what the Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:20-24, as the author pleads with his child to heed his words,

 

“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.  Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.  Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” 

 

The author tells his boy, “Pay attention—this is what I want you to know above everything else.  It will affect your entire life.”

 

All of us have words of life that we need to speak to someone—words that, if we knew we would be gone in 30 days, we would say.  For some of us, those words would be, “I forgive you” to that parent, sibling, friend, or spouse/former spouse that hurt us.  We need to say those words because forgiveness is the only way to break the cycle of bitterness and the only way to clear the rubble so that the relationship can have any possibility of continuing (even if it is with scar tissue).  For others of us, those words would be, “I love you” to a child, spouse, parent, or friend that is hurting and in need of grace.  For others of us, those words would be, “I care for you, and I want to tell you about Jesus” to that person we care about that doesn’t know Jesus.  It may be something else—an encouraging word, even a stern (yet humble) rebuke to someone who’s fallen into sin and needs to be turned toward Jesus. 

 

What are the words God wants you to say?