Faith and Works

Let's talk about the phrase, "Faith without works is dead". We know this statement is a biblical fact as we read it in James 2:14-26. However, I think people really get stuck on the word "works". We can tend to think, "Am I doing enough to prove my faith?" or "Have I done enough good in my life?"  This is not what was intended by James. You can do good works or deeds and still have a dead faith. Faith is referred to in the bible as a seed and a seed is intended to produce something. If I have a dead apple tree in my yard and I go to the store to buy apples, that fruit was not a result of the seed planted in my yard. I have apples but they weren't produced by my apple tree.

In the same way, if our works aren't the fruit of our seed of faith, but a result of some sense of need to do good works, our faith could very well be dead. Jesus talks about false prophets in Matthew 7:15-16 and how they will be able to be distinguished by their "fruits". This word fruit (Karpos) means "everything done in true partnership with Christ" and it is the same word "fruit" used when Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. This fruit of the Spirit is the product of our faith.

That word for fruit, Karpos, also translates as "deed" or "action". Are our works the result of our true partnership with Christ? Galatians 5:25 says, "If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit". We need to stop thinking about our works as what we are doing and instead see our works of faith as where the heart behind our action is coming from.

A work or good deed done through the flesh is temporal and it's results can and will only ever be temporal. But the Spirit is eternal and works done through the Spirit are eternal and will have eternal impacts. Therefore, the works of our faith should have eternal impacts!

Mike

Priorities

Perhaps once, long ago, you made a decision to submit your life to God, to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and to live a life pleasing to Him. With this decision came a freedom. You were set free from the penalty of your sins, your debt was paid. And you set off to build a personal relationship with God, a relationship which would cause your life to change dramatically. The way you thought, the way you acted, everything about your day to day life was different.  You set off to rebuild, to repair that which was broken by a life of sin. Only, over time, your priorities shifted. You found yourself working a little less to build on that relationship as other things crept in around you. Perhaps one day you realized that you had stopped working on that relationship at all. 

We all make excuses. “I need to work more overtime to make up the shortfall on my bills. I want my child to excel in the sport they love and that means signing them up in a league that has tournaments every weekend. I really want to see that new movie that came out last week. I’m tired, and I need to make more money, and I just want to watch this one show, and I need a night out with my friends, and I need some time for myself.”  We find ourselves pushing so hard to get ahead and find that we are continually drained and falling short.

One time, long ago, the Israelites were set free. They had been in captivity at the hands of the Babylonian and Persian empires for many years because of their wickedness but the Lord stirred the heart of the man who held them in exile and he made this proclamation:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2-4)

The people of Israel went with the blessings and the provision of a foreign king to rebuild the House of the Lord, the temple in Jerusalem. They were free to go resettle in the land from which they were exiled with one command: They were to rebuild the temple. Fast forward twenty years. The building of the temple had completely ceased. Opposition to the rebuilding had come and it was no longer worth the risk or the effort to them. From where they were standing, they just didn’t have the time or the energy to focus on that anymore. So, their priorities had shifted off of the building of the temple and onto other things. They changed their focus onto rebuilding their own lives. They restored their houses, they reworked the land for harvest, and they set to re-establish their old way of life in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, their lives only got harder from there. They struggled just to survive. There never seemed to be enough food to eat or water to drink. The harder they worked, the further behind they seemed to get.

Then Haggai, a prophet of the Lord, spoke up. “’Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?’ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts; ‘Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put them into a bag with holes.’” (Haggai 1:4-6)

The word of the Lord described perfectly how the Israelites felt. They were getting nowhere with all of their hard work. They knew this is what their lives had become but they had no idea why it all seemed this hard. They were God’s chosen people! Why were they struggling to survive? The Lord had the answer to that question as well:

“’Why?’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘Because of my house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labour of your hands.’” (Haggai 1:9b-11)

The Lord was working to get their attention. He caused them to struggle as they worked for their own gain so that they would turn back to Him. As they collectively took their attention off of their own livelihoods and went back to building the temple, God had a promise for them.

“Is the seed still in the barn? As yet, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you.”(Haggai 2:19)

How does this story of the Israelites parallel to our lives today?  Consider the temple of the Old Covenant. Inside the temple was the Holy of Holies, which was the place where the presence of the Lord dwelt. This is where the Ark of the Covenant was placed and inside the Ark of the Covenant was the recording of the laws given to Moses on Mount Sinai. This area was shrouded off from the rest of the temple by a great veil and it was only to be entered once a year by the high priest to give the atonement sacrifice for the sins of the people. We read in the account of Jesus’ crucifixion that this veil was torn in two at the time of His death (Matthew 27:51). In the new covenant, the Lord no longer houses the Holy of Holies within a physical temple. Rather, the Holy of Holies has been made accessible to us all, anywhere, by the blood of Christ. His Spirit no longer dwells in a physical temple, it dwells within us, His Spiritual temple.

“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

 The laws that were once set in the Ark of the Covenant have now been placed, by Him, within our hearts.

“’This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’” (Hebrews 10:16-17)

Jesus residing within us causes us to become His temple. When we neglect this spiritual temple to focus instead on our “flesh”, our personal desires and ambitions, our work amounts to nothing! The struggle stops when we lay down our own desires and pick up His. Chasing after our own desires is like trying to swim against the current. You become exhausted while getting nowhere. Our blessing comes through putting our focus on His spiritual temple - not our bodies, but His Spirit living within us! It is time to take a good, hard look at ourselves. How is it right that we live out our personal desires while our spiritual lives are in ruins? Our spiritual drought is in response to our spiritual stinginess towards God!

We need a wake up message like the one Haggai delivered to the Israelites and we can find it in the words of Jesus.

“Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

To be honest, the things that Jesus mentioned in this passage most likely don’t even register as a worry in the everyday lives of most of us in North America. Perhaps today Jesus would say not to worry about such things as our positions at work, how big or new our houses and cars are, whether our wardrobe is in line with the current fashion trends, whether we have an iPhone 4s or 6s, whether our televisions are 17” or 70”, whether we got down to some tropical destination for a vacation this year… We waste so much time and energy and money focusing on the things we want. Even if we did seek the kingdom first, I doubt many of these things would be added to us because, if we're being honest with ourselves, they are not desires of the Spirit, they are desires of the flesh! 

We need a shift in priorities. I need a shift in priorities. Perhaps you gave up on the building of your temple. Perhaps you’ve neglected your spiritual growth in your relationship with God because opposition rose up, because life got hard. Start now! It’s not too late! Will life get easier? No, probably not. But there will be fruit! Galatians 5:16-25 talks of the difference of the products of life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. I won’t speak on the works of the flesh. We see them every day. But the fruit of the Spirit. Those are worth mentioning. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the things that I desire in my life. These are the blessings that follow when we build up our relationship with God, through Christ.

Lamentation of My Heart

Today, my heart breaks for our society in a way that I have never felt. To place the way I am feeling into words is difficult as there is such a deep issue at the heart of it. Yes, these feelings are spurred on by the announcement today that the US Supreme Court has ruled same sex marriage legal in all 50 states. This should not come as a surprise to anyone as the US is viewed as behind the curve in such "progressive" and "open-minded" thinking. I live in a nation where this battle was brought to a head on July 20th, 2005. Canada was the fourth nation and first outside of Europe to pass a gender neutral marriage definition. This was a long time coming for our southern neighbours. However, same sex marriage is not the issue for me; rather it is a symptom of the issue. There are many other symptoms. Deficit spending, not only on a personal level, but also on a corporate and even national level is a symptom. The degradation of traditional family morals and values is another symptom. Perhaps the  greatest symptom and most glaring view into the heart issue of our world today is a look at our largest industries.

I will put pornography, prostitution and human trafficking together in one as they are all so closely intertwined. The disgusting fact is that a large part of our society gets pleasure sexually at the expense of others. We can kid ourselves by hovering on the fringe of this industry where it can be passed off as legitimate and consenting but the fact is that even the most "innocent" and consensual  of pornographic media condones the deepest, darkest corners of these industries. We are entertained at the expense of others through the piracy of music and movies. We love the art these artists are creating enough to have it, just not enough to pay for it. We love to have things that we didn't need to work for. This fact also fuels the lottery and gambling industry (legal or otherwise). They offer us the opportunity to get rich quick. Just give them your money and pick some numbers or a sports team and you may just be the next big winner. Not winning at life? That's fine. The bank or credit company will give us a card to buy things we really can't afford so that we can at least look the part. We put on our masks of Gucci, BMW, Cartier...still can't afford all of these brands with our impressive credit limits and mortgages? Here enters another growing industry - counterfeiting. It doesn't have to be expensive, it just has to look like it was.

The heartbreaking thing is that, even with all of the pleasures we take and treasures that we accumulate, so  many of us turn to ways of survival or escape. Illegal drugs are a massive industry fueled by addiction but ignited by emptiness. What starts as a break from life turns into a way of life. Cocaine is smuggled into the states at a staggering rate. Marijuana is so common that it may very well be the next thing to be nationally legalized. I can't stop at illegal drugs. We legally allow the sale and consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, both highly addictive and with proven long term negative effects on health. Why? If we can't stop the use of such substances then at least we can control them and tax their use. How about the more subtle addictions? Caffeine, sugar, food, work, beauty, attention...

WHAT. A. MESS.  

What can save us from this downward spiral of inward thinking and destructive selfishness? The answer is not what but who! Jesus is the only answer, the only way. You see, as we continually fight for equality, many of us fail to see that we are all equal. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That goes for the man trafficking girls to pad his wallet, the two men engaging in sexual relations with eachother, the man down the street cooking a steak on his bbq and the pastor in his office writing his sermon for the next Sunday. 

Getting back to the news of the day, the fact is that to this world marriage is a contract between two equal people regardless of gender. That is the worldly definition of a legal marriage. It was passed by the same legal system that allows the sexual exploitation of the human body for pleasure and financial gains. This is the same legal system that allows the sale of harmful substances to adults because they are only hurting themselves. This is the same legal system that allows people with addictions to ruin themselves financially at the lotto booth because it funds government shortfalls or hospital drives.  The eyes of this world are so collectively off of God that we are drowning in a lifestyle of "me first". 

This is backwards from the commandment that Jesus claimed as the greatest. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 23:37-40). Now, I can hear the voices rising up..."See?!? Jesus taught love. Love everything, love everyone!" Hold on a second. Jesus' definition of love is very different than our world's definition. If you want to understand Jesus' stance on love you must read of how he talked about it to his disciples. 

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. Just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you" (John 15:9-14). Jesus did lay down His life for us in the ultimate display of love. He did not do it so that we can keep on living a life permeated in sin! The Jesus that laid down His life is the same Jesus who preached and said,"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). He started and finished His earthly ministry with this message. "He said to them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem'" (Luke 24:46-47).

We are quick to preach the love of Jesus but we shy away from the importance He placed on the identification, confession and repentance of sin. It is not popular, it is not comfortable, but it is necessary. The world loves the Jesus that hung out with sinners but it hates the Jesus that saw them changed through repentance. This is what our society needs now more than ever. Not just those that are too often targeted and identified as sinners but the whole lot of us, every last one. As I watch us step further and further away from a lifestyle of repentance and submission to God, I am reminded of something Jesus shared: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37)

So, to the person reading this, no matter where you find yourself in life, I say that this is not about hating on you because of your sin. I have it too. This  is about the lamentation of a grieving Saviour who loves you so much and is just longing to embrace you if only you would turn to Him. Only He can offer true joy and a lasting peace. The world has pursued it and continues still, and yet it has never been found lasting outside of Him. 

As I look at this world I think:

WHAT. A. MESS. 

But I also see:

WHAT. A. MESSIAH.

Turn to Him and you will see too.

With love,

Mike

Kicking Against the Goads

“And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 26:14

The first time that I read this and it really caught my eye, I was left dumbfounded by what it meant. What is kicking against the goads and why did Jesus say it on that day when He met Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus?  I believe that the saying must have carried a certain importance to Paul for him to share it in his telling of the encounter to King Agrippa in Acts 26.

It really wasn’t too hard to find an historical explanation as to the origin of the phrase “kick against the goads”. A goad was a long pointed prod used by farmers to guide their team of oxen through the fields. The idea was that a well-trained ox would know by a gentle poke that you desired for it to begin working or to turn one way or the other. The amount of pain inflicted by this poke would be very low. The goad was not intended to harm the oxen; rather it was intended to guide the oxen. However, an ox that was still being trained would often feel the poke and, instead of walking or turning away from the poke, it would kick back at it in aggression or confusion. Often, this would lead to a much more significant poke than the farmer had intended, perhaps even causing significant harm to the ox.

So why did Jesus use this phrase with Saul? I believe it was a warning. Saul was being given fair notice that his response to the encounter on the road to Damascus would either lead him into the plans that God had for him. Or it would lead him to his destruction. As we see that Saul was rendered blind at Jesus’ word, we also know that it was temporary blindness on the condition of Saul’s submission and obedience. Had Saul not submitted to God and gone to Damascus as instructed, would he have spent the rest of his life blind? Or worse? I believe so! (“Correction is grievous unto him that forsakes the way: and he that hates reproof shall die.” Proverbs 15:10)

Submission… That is the word we should take from the phrase “it is hard for you to kick against the goads”. God loves us enough to use our surroundings and circumstances to gently prod us towards His plan for our lives. When we submit to His will those prods become our guidance rather than just a source of pain or discomfort for us. However, if we fight against His guidance and His will, we are only doing more harm to ourselves.

Maybe God is prodding at you. Maybe you think God is punishing you for some reason. Maybe you don’t even associate the afflictions of your life as God’s prodding at all. I know that when we are going through hard times it can be easy to lash out in response. But please, just consider for one moment what reasons there could be for the things you find yourself going through. Perhaps you are being guided into a place where the pain that you have gone through will be used for some good? (“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28)

I will leave you with this thought. When an ox plows a field it is sharing in the labour of its sustenance. Those fields may grow grains and hay that will be used to nourish those same oxen. When we submit to the will of God and “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33) He will supply our every need.

Mike

2015 - Walking in Victory

We’ve all had those moments; Those times in our life where we feel as though defeat is knocking on our door and calling out to us, “Hey! You’re done for. May as well just give up, let me in and get it over with!” As followers of Christ, walking in this feeling of defeat only holds us back from seeing the power of God in our lives. When I find myself slipping into this mindset of defeat, I have one portion of scripture that I know I can turn to and find encouragement and direction in how to handle this oppression in my mind. The story is of a king named Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat had spent a great deal of energy turning the people of Judah back to the Lord God and urging them to fear the Lord. Now, suddenly, he found himself being targeted by the people of several surrounding nations, specifically Moab and Ammon. In 2 Chronicles 20:3, it says that Jehoshaphat “feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah”.

It says that Jehoshaphat stood and talked to the Lord. He began proclaiming who God was: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You?” (2 Chronicles 20:6)

After that he began to proclaim the things that God had already done:  “Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:7)

This next part is powerful. Jehoshaphat shared with the Lord about the current situation that Judah found itself in. He shared how the very nations that God had instructed the Israelites to leave alone when then He took them out of Egypt were now coming against them:  “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12)

This is a relationship that we see sporadically between God and the descendants of Abraham in the Old Testament. Real communication was taking place. The people of God spoke, and He listened. God responded, and His people stood on His promise. To put it simply, Jehoshaphat had basically said to God, “I know you are amazing, you’ve done so much for us already, I don’t understand why we are in this situation, but I know that without you we are as good as dead. Help!”  It says that a Levite man, Jahaziel, spoke up and said “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

Wouldn’t you know it; they all got up early the next morning and went out to face the armies of Moab and Ammon. They sang and praised God on their way and, as they did this, God caused the different groups of people who had come against Judah to turn on one another and they completely destroyed their own armies. Is that amazing or what? When the people of Judah finally made it to the place of battle, all that remained of the multitude was the dead bodies and all of the valuables that the armies had carried with them. There was so much spoil of war that it took the people of Judah three days to gather it all! It is obvious through this story that as followers of Christ and, therefore, people of God, we need not fear. He hears us and He answers us. The Lord is with us and He fights for us.

When we feel defeated, we need to set our eyes upon the Lord. No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we should remember that Christ has already won the victory.   When Jesus cried out “It is finished!” (John 19:30), He meant it. We cannot allow our circumstances to cause us to walk in defeat when we have been given victory. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:56-58). When you find the troubles of this world are bringing you down, “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps” (Proverbs 3:6).

 I really feel that if the church can grab a hold of the victory of Christ and begin to walk in that victory then, just like Judah spent days collecting the valuables that were left by the fallen enemies, so can we find a great work in gathering and returning to Christ that which the enemy has lost a hold of. The valuables of this victory are the souls of men and women returning to God.  In the victory of Christ we have been empowered AND commissioned to go and “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Let us see the value in this call, forsake the treasures of this world and, in victory, store up the treasures of heaven once again. It’s hard to feel defeated when you know that all of heaven is on your side.

Mike

The King of Kings left His throne

To come and save us, make us His own

He's triumphed over the enemy

And from sin's bondage, He's set us free

Now we go forth in victory

Taking back from the enemy

Yes our triumph comes from the cross

The blood of Jesus redeems the lost

The victory is ours

The battle is the Lords

So lift a shout of praise

We are an army, we will not fear

We stand triumphant, our King is here

Chaos into Order - His Ways are Higher

Sometimes when I look around, all I see is chaos. People being oppressed or killed, nations suffering through famine or drought, communities being destroyed by nature’s fury, families being broken apart, the rich getting richer while the poor keep getting poorer, the list goes on and on.  I don’t understand. Sometimes I see scientific articles, news reports, or debates on certain topics and I am frazzled by what they have to say. Everyone is trying to prove their own points while trying to disprove the points of others around them at the same time. Terrorism, global warming, overpopulation, conspiracy theories….everyone has an opinion, everyone has an idea and everyone thinks they are right. I’m tired just thinking about it. Chaos.  All I can say is Lord, direct my steps by your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me. When I don’t understand, I have to trust that God has a plan that is higher than I can comprehend, that what I see as chaos God created as order.  Isaiah 55:8 says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” 

Many people struggle with this, including me. It is in our nature to want to understand and to be in control. Even when we cannot control something, we attempt to. We gauge things, we forecast things. We cannot control an earthquake but we try to control the damage it causes by placing strict building codes in areas where they are frequent. We cannot control the weather (though some of those conspiracy theorists think that the government can and is) so we forecast it. We can’t control when it is going to rain but if we know roughly when it is going to rain we can make sure we are indoors when it does.

Even in our chaos, we have a certain amount of order. We have recognizable seasons; we have a gauge on time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, centuries, millennia, etc…); many of us recognize some form of a higher authority whether it is our parents, our employer, our government or our God.  The question becomes did we create this order within our chaos or were we made aware of it? The vainglory of man would have us believe that, out of our own intelligence, we have created some order. My belief is that, as the creation of God, we have been given certain revelations into His design.

I recently shared a Facebook update that consisted entirely of numbers:

550701701809050140420250404201601409022016042030404205504024012018042080240180702804205501026070420230901404202602404201702601703201201701404042015010330904207024025017026017024026042024033090180420250902704205502201601023025016042061061069044061063063

…and I left it at that. To look at those numbers, one might see purely chaos. They may think, “Wow, Mike must have rolled over on the computer while he was sleeping”.  Another may look at it and say, “This doesn’t make any sense but perhaps if I look at it long enough or study it in some detail, perhaps something will begin to come together”. The plain fact of the matter is, I know what this number means and you do not. I know what it means because I made the system to create it. I gave the number its order and it makes perfect sense to me. It is not overly complicated and I’m sure there are people out there smart enough that could figure it out given time. But, the easiest way to understand what it means would be to either simply ask me, or ask for the key to decipher it. That leaves me with a choice. If I want you to know what it means I can tell you, if I want you to figure it out for yourself I can give you the key and if I really just don’t want you to know I can simply do nothing.

If I were to choose to not tell you what it means or not help you figure it out, how would you react? Some might become angry and turn away from me. Some might continue to try and figure it out on their own. Some might decide that it may really have no meaning and just forget about it altogether.  What reason could I possibly have to not show you what it means? Perhaps I would not tell you because even though it has meaning, you wouldn’t understand it if I showed it to you. Perhaps I would not tell you because it would hurt you to see what it means.

It comes down to trust. We can trust that where we see chaos, God sees order. We can trust that God gives us the answers we need. We can trust that God protects us from things that we don’t understand and could hurt ourselves with (look what the knowledge of good and evil did to Adam and Eve when they chose to try the fruit over trusting God). We can trust that God has the keys and that He gives them to us when we need them.  I can trust because “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts”.

With love,

 Mike

P.S. I purposely didn’t give you the key to decipher the number. I will however give you where to find the answer - Psalms 119:133

Obedience over Understanding: The whole Duty of Man

Psalm 111:10 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

 

So often in life, I have heard others talk about how they want to believe in God but they just can’t seem to come to an understanding about certain things that are involved with believing in a sovereign creator. Topics such as follows commonly come up:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why does He allow children to suffer and die?

Why does God allow people to die in natural disasters or at the hands of evil rulers and regimes?

Why does it seem like God isn’t answering when I pray?

The list could go on and on. Unfortunately, there really isn’t an answer that can be given or found to appease the minds of most, including me. I don’t understand. The good news is that we can get to a place where we don’t need to understand everything before God becomes real and important in our lives.

When I think about being asked to accept things that I don’t understand, I am immediately brought back to my childhood. There were times that my parents would do something that I didn’t agree with. There were also times that they would inform me that I was expected to do (or not do) some specific thing for no reason more than they were the parents, I was the child and I was to obey. Back then, as a child, these things may have rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t understand why my parents were doing what they were doing or why they wanted me to do (or not do) something. I wasn’t always capable of fully understanding the reasoning behind decisions and rules that they made, even if they took the time to try and explain it to me. For example, if my parents were to ask me to stop eating out of a bag of candy, I likely didn’t understand that if I ate too much candy I’d have a sour stomach shortly after.  All I knew was that candy tasted good. It was not that they weren’t explaining it properly. They had a higher level of understanding than me because of the wisdom that they had accumulated over the years through their experiences in many different circumstances.

As children of God, there is a great parallel in this relationship. God, the Father, in His sovereignty, possesses knowledge, wisdom and understanding in levels which we cannot even begin to comprehend.   As His children, sometimes, He looks to us to simply obey when we don’t understand. One great example of this is the story of Abraham and Isaac. In Genesis 22, God came to Abraham and asked him to do something that seemed totally absurd. Let us remember that, previously, Abraham’s wife had been unable to provide a child for him. God promised Abraham a son in Genesis 18:10 and this son was meant to fulfill the promise of God given in Genesis 15 that Abraham’s descendants would be as innumerable as the stars. Now God was asking Abraham to take this one and only son and offer him as a burnt offering. I can only imagine what must have gone through Abraham’s mind as he obediently took Isaac up the mountain to do what the Lord had asked. “I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any sense!” Yet he went up that mountain fully prepared to do what had been asked of him. Thankfully, in Genesis 22:12, God interrupts the preparations of Isaac and says, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for I now know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” Abraham’s fear of the Lord was so great that he was willing to obey Him at any cost.

Fear of the Lord is something that is sorely lacking in our current times. As a world of prodigals, we very rarely look upon God as someone to respect and hold in reverence. With my father, there is a respect that I hold because, as his child, I have come to an understanding that when he says we will do something, he does it, whether that is in the form of discipline or reward. It is the same with my Heavenly Father. My fear of the Lord comes from a personal understanding that He rules over my life and that when He says He will do something, whether discipline or reward, He will do it.  Isaac must have learned well through his own personal experiences that it was good to have a healthy fear of the Lord and Isaac must have also passed the importance of the fear of the Lord to his own children as well. In Genesis 31:42 Jacob refers to God as “the God of my father (Isaac), the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac”. Such reverential submission must Isaac have had for God that his child would refer to Him as the “Fear” of Isaac.

While this level of “Fear of the Lord” is an extreme example, we can see that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob still held a healthy understanding of the fear of the Lord hundreds of years later.  We can see that the fear of the Lord is seen as an enticement to obedience and service: to fear God is to do his will. As we can see in Deuteronomy 10, the Israelites see the correlation between fear of the Lord and obedience. “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?”(Deuteronomy 10:12, 13).

If we turn to the book of Proverbs, we see that one of the first topics is the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 says simply, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction”. Similarly, Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If we tear these verses apart we can see a progression.



Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. However, we can despise wisdom and instruction. An instruction (or commandment) is simply being directed to do (or not do) something. When we are given instructions we have the choice to obey or not to obey. Psalms 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments”. It is logical to see the progression as follows then:

Fear of the Lord -> Obedience -> Understanding, Knowledge, Wisdom

As I sit here a 30-year-old man, I have a much greater understanding of many of the decisions that my parents made. I also have a greater understanding of many of the instructions and rules that they gave me to follow. Through my obedience to them, I built up my own understanding of why certain rules were important and I am now giving many of the same instructions to my own children. It is my conclusion that before we are able to understand, we are called to obey. One of the final verses of Ecclesiastes sums up well the point that I hope I have been able to make.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments:

For this the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV)

With Love,

Mike

...but what if I'm right?

Please allow me to be blunt for a moment.

I believe in God. I believe that He created all things both seen and unseen. I believe that God created man to be in fellowship with Him and that our ability to fellowship with Him was severed when sin entered the life of man.

I believe that God set in motion a plan to bring restoration to the relationship between man and God through the nation of Israel. Out of this nation came The Lord Jesus Christ - fully man, fully God. I believe that, through the obedience and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have all been given the chance to turn back to God. The call made by Jesus was simple - "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus offered Himself as the offering for our sins so that we can have eternal life because He is the only one worthy to make that payment in full. What love! This is what saves us all from the penalty of our sins which is eternal death, not of the body, but of our spirit within it. Then, as a gift to help us live a life of righteousness, Jesus sent the same Spirit which was in Him to live in us and work through us to continue the furtherance of His kingdom.

The truth is that all which we see on this earth will fade away. Our time here is short but it's meaning is significant. Out of all eternity we have 100 years or less to make our personal decision. Believe and follow or deny and turn away. I choose to believe. So often I hear "but what if you're wrong"?  If I come to the end of my days on this earth to find that I was wrong then I will have lived a good life, have made many good friends and have given and been given much love. Let us turn that question around: But what if I'm right? The things you have accomplished for yourself in your lifetime, those things that stay behind at the time of your last breath...will they have been worth it? Or will you find yourself saying "I would trade it all for one more opportunity to turn to God"?

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭33-36‬ NKJV)

Waiting for the trees to wake up...

As I was walking with my children recently, I thought to myself of how it felt more like mid to late March than it did like April 30^th. As I looked at the trees, I was perplexed by the fact that there were not even the beginning signs of leaves on any of the trees in our neighbourhood. Because our winter was longer and colder than we have seen in many years, the trees are behind in their growth for this year. You see, trees go into a state of dormancy over the winter triggered by the shortening of sun exposure. However, it is not the increase of sun exposure that wakes a tree out of dormancy. It is the change in temperature in the spring that signals to a tree whether or not it is time to “wake up”.  Unseasonal temperatures can cause a tree to bud leaves early in years that we have a warm spring and they can also cause a tree to delay budding of leaves in years that the spring is cooler than normal.

As we were walking, I began making connections between the trees and us. I began thinking about how many Christians, including myself, find themselves from time to time in a form of spiritual dormancy. By dormancy I mean, inexpression, underdevelopment, unconsciousness, inactivity. When we are in this state, increased exposure to the Son is not enough to spur on a season of growth. The number of people sitting in churches every Sunday without seeing any change in their lives can attest to that.  A faith that isn’t totally dead is in survival mode attempting to brave the cold state of our hearts, holding out for that moment when our hearts become warm and hospitable for growth once again.

***I recognize that dormancy is a dangerous word to use when it comes to our spiritual state. The origin of the word “dormant” originates in Latin as “dormire” – to sleep. I refer to Ephesians 5:14: “Arise, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light”. Those who are spiritually “asleep” and those who are spiritually “dead” show no visible difference. The only way to know the difference is whether or not they ever wake up. ***


Let’s take a step underground for one moment and acknowledge that for warmth to trigger growth in a tree, the tree must first be rooted into good soil and plugged into a source of life-giving water. Without water, the tree will wither and die. Jesus is the source of this life-giving water to us.  John 4:14 says, “Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life”. How do we get this water? John 7:38 says, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink!” It is our belief in Jesus that draws us near to the “rivers of living water” that flow from His heart. Psalms 1:3 also talks of the importance of being near this river: “They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do”. This is a stark contrast to the next verse, “But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind” (Psalms 1:4).


It is the love that we share with others that bears witness to us also loving God and having had tasted the living waters. Proof of this is found in 1 John 4:8 – “But anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love”.  We are called by Jesus to ”love one another” with “agape” (or unconditional) love (John 13:34). Though we claim to ”love one another”, this love is usually limited to those who share our beliefs, interests, or bloodline. This is called ‘Philia’ or brotherly love. In Matthew 24:12, Jesus talked about how agape love would grow cold. I believe it is the cold hearts produced by the lack of agape love being given to others that brings on a state of spiritual dormancy. It is the love of God, His unconditional love, which has the ability to warm our hearts.  It is this agape love being given to back God and being shared with others which will build an environment of warmth that initiates growth. This is why fellowship is so important. In the metaphor of Ecclesiastes 4:11 we are shown how “…on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone?” Fellowship is the way in which we can share our love with others and with God. 1 Peter 1:22 says “love (agape) each other fervently”. I love the definition of fervent:

/ˈfɜr vənt/ 1. having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm

2. hot; burning; glowing.

 Loving others fervently literally brings warmth of spirit!


It is when a tree is exposed to adequate warmth that buds on the branches begin to break open with sprouts which will later grow into leaves. The leaves that develop are important in accelerating growth of the tree through exposure to light via photosynthesis. A healthy, hungry tree can be identified by the leaves that it produces. The energy absorbed through the leaves allows the branch to grow. Similarly, as we are exposed to warmth and begin to wake up, we will also become hungry. We will desire to be exposed to the light (…and Christ will give you light) to be fed and to sustain energy for our growth. Yes, Christ is the source of light. John loved to talk about the light of Christ. John 1:4 says, “Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone”.  Later on, John 8:12 quotes Jesus as saying, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life”.

 Now, we know from John 15:8 that, as disciples of Christ, we are to bear spiritual fruit so it is safe to say that we are fruit bearing trees. All fruit bearing trees grow flowers. This is necessary to the process of a tree bearing fruit because pollination must happen to produce the fruit. Through pollination, these flowers will give way to fruit. These flowers are a pleasing aroma to the ones who are capable of pollinating the flowers. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 3:15, calls our lives “a fragrance presented by Christ to God”. The most natural of ways that pollination happens is that the wind blows the pollen from flower to flower. The Greek words for wind and Spirit are the same –pneuma. John quotes Jesus as using “pneuma” for both in John 3:8, “Just as you can hear the wind (pneuma) but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit (pneumatos)”. As the wind gives life to fruit, so does the Spirit give life to us. Again, in John 6:63, Jesus is quoted as saying, “It is the Spirit (pneuma) who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing”.

This life giving Spirit is why the fruit in the life of a believer is called the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). Good fruit tastes delicious and people love to receive our Spiritual fruit from us for the same reason; it is pleasing to them. However, though the flesh of fruit is tasty, it is the fruit that also gives way to the birth of new trees. The seeds inside of the fruit, when handled properly, when germinated and placed in good soil, will break open with new life and start the process all over again for a new tree.  When we share our Spiritual fruit, we also share the seed of the Good News from within it. When handled properly, these seeds can break open and give birth to a new believer who, one day, will also mature and grow to the point of being able to produce good fruit.

How long do we have after being born again of a Spiritual seed to grow and mature to the point of growing fruit? There is no definitive answer to that question.  If we base our thoughts on the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), There is a grace period given to allow us to mature to the place to be able to bear fruit; However, we do not know how long it may be before we are declared by God to be “just using up the ground” and we find ourselves being cut down. This is why it is so important to share and spread the love of God! We need to stay in an atmosphere that is permeated with the warmth of that love, not only for our own ability to grow and produce fruit, but also for the ability for seeds to be sown so that we can see the birth of new believers!

 Proverbs 11:30 - The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Romans 12:10-12 – LOVE one another, not lagging in diligence, FERVENT in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer.


Mike

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Today many people around the world, whether Irish or not, are celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day. We all love to wear green, speak with a fake accent and eat chocolate coins in celebration of this day. It has come to my attention that many of us really have no idea what we are celebrating! So, I thought I would give a little information on Saint Patrick and the origin of this holiday.


First of all, Patrick was born around 385 A.D., he was not Irish and his name was not Patrick. He was actually born into a wealthy Christian family on the English Isle. Scholars cannot pinpoint the location of the village he was born in beyond it being somewhere in England. Although he was born into a Christian family, he had little interest in Christianity during his youth. When he was about 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland where he was forced to work for around six years as a captive herder. During this hard time in his life, he turned to God for solace. He spent most of his time calling out to God in prayer.

During one of these times of prayer he heard a voice he believed to be God telling him it was time to leave Ireland. He fled to the Irish coast, a walk of nearly 200 miles, and escaped home to Britain on a ship. After a hard journey in which he was taken captive a second time for two months, he found his way home and was reunited with his family.

From this point forward, Patrick had a burning desire for the people of Ireland to hear the gospel. It is said that an angel told him in a dream that he was to return to Ireland as a missionary. After almost 15 years of study and training, he left for Ireland to go and spread the good news of the gospel to the largely pagan populations of the country. This was what he devoted his life to for the next 40 years.

As for some of the more common symbols of Ireland, it is believed that they have their origins at the hands of Saint Patrick. It is said that he used the shamrock as a symbol to explain the holy trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is also believed that he superimposed the cross onto the sun, an important symbol to pagans. Some say he did this simply to show that the cross of Christ was superior to the sun that they worshipped. Others say this was done to help the pagans see Jesus Christ as the one who gives them life rather than the sun.  This is likely where the origin of the Celtic cross comes from.

So why do we celebrate the life of Saint Patrick on March 17^th every year? It is legend that Saint Patrick died on March 17, 460 A.D. so it is fitting that his life is celebrated on this day. To many, St. Patrick’s Day is simply an excuse to party and/or show their Irish pride. To me, it is a celebration of the spreading of the love of Christ to an entire nation and a hope for today that the good news of Jesus Christ can and will be both shared and accepted!

If interested, check out St. Patrick's own testimony, "Confessio"

Also, for children (and adults), Veggie Tales shares this story in a fun way:

Finally, a real Irish song, performed by a real Irish band:

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all! Stay safe!


With love always,


Mike

Building Towers (a lesson on pride)

My young son and I love to build together. We have spent many afternoons using our bountiful supply of preschool sized lego to build houses, bridges, towers, spaceships…you name it, we’ve built it. The past few days, my son has become adamant that it must be possible for us to build a tower that goes from the floor all the way to the ceiling. The first day we attempted this, we went with the theory of building it as quickly as possible. We attempted to make one large single cube block tower to see how high we could get. I don’t think we ever made it past a few feet tall with that tower and that was with me holding on to it the entire time. Without a strong foundation and some supports to brace the blocks, the tower was just not strong enough.

On day two I managed to convince my junior architect that we needed to build some supports around the single cubes to help keep them standing straight.  We did much better with this tower. We managed to get up to about five feet tall before I had to hold onto the tower at all times so that it would not fall. Eventually, we started running low on blocks so we abandoned the outer supports and went for the single cube ceiling touch. No matter how hard we tried, we could not get it to stay standing up. It crashed to the ground and we were done for the day.

Today, I decided that we were going to continue as far as we could with the outer supports and just see how close we could get to the ceiling...

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We managed to build a tower that not only stood on its own, it also was only a few more blocks away from touching ceiling.  If you take a look at that picture, my son was so proud of what we had accomplished. So was I! “Man, this is the coolest tower we have ever built! We are lego tower building geniuses! I’m so proud!” Proud…pride…pride comes before the fall…

“First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 MSG)

If I’m being honest, the entire three days we were working on these towers I kept thinking about the tower of Babel.  Here was a group of people united in goal. “They said, ‘Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world’.” (Genesis 11:4 NLT)  We do not know how far the people of Babel got on their tower but we do know that God took notice of what they were building.  It was not the tower that was being built that concerned Him, it was the pride that they were building within themselves. Remember, they were building for themselves. To humble them, God came and gave different languages to confuse and scatter them.

You may be wondering what the big deal about pride is. Why does God oppose pride so much? Let’s define the word to start:

Pride - A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. (Oxford Dictionary, US English version)

God’s issue with pride is that it takes our eyes off of Him. We can feel something towards God for His accomplishments and His qualities - this is called “fear of the Lord”. That feeling towards God is what leads us to giving Him glory, honor and praise. That feeling is what causes us to humble ourselves before Him. When this feeling is not directed towards God and is instead turned back upon us it becomes pride. This is when we place ourselves in a place of honor above God.

Isaiah spoke of this pride: “For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars, I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’" (Isaiah 14:13-14 NLT)  

 Ezekiel also wrote on this pride: “Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.” (Ezekiel 28:17 NLT)

These verses from the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel were words given to them by the Lord to serve as messages to the kings of Babylon and Tyre. God was referencing the fall from heaven of a “mighty guardian” or “shining star”.  God wanted them to see that as pride can be the downfall of a heavenly being, so can it be the downfall of a mere man, no matter how wealthy or powerful they may seem to be.

I am made aware that towers continue to be a symbol of pride. Every time I drive into Toronto I find myself looking for the CN Tower. It is a symbol of pride to the city of Toronto. Even by simply searching Toronto on Google in images you will flood your screen with pictures of the famous tower. If you search another famous city, New York, in Google images you will again find yourself barraged with images of skylines filled with the many famous towers, buildings and statues of the city. It should not serve as a surprise that the terrorists of 9/11 used the famous towers of the New York skyline to strike a blow on the pride of the United States. It also does not surprise me that new towers are being built on the same ground as the first ones to serve as a symbol of the rebuilding of the pride of the nation.

The fame of buildings does not stop in North America. Cities such as Dubai, Mecca, and Taipei hold their towers in high regards as the pride of their cities. Browsing the websites of these cities' towers, you will find words such as “world-class”, “magnificent” and “masterpiece” to describe them. Not every building attempted has been so successful. Cities such as Pyongyang, Bangkok, Krakow, and Caracas are home to buildings that have been abandoned in an unfinished state. These buildings serve as eyesores and embarrassments to these cities. No wonder buildings were so often used in parables and metaphors to send us a message.

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is useless”

(Psalms 127:1 NLT)

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you!”

(Luke 14:28-29 NLT)

“For every house has a builder, but God is the one who made everything.”

(Hebrews 3:4 NLT)

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on rock. But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will fall with a mighty crash.”

(Matthew 7:24-27 NLT)

                     

My son and I had fun building the tower today but right after we took a picture of it we took it apart before it could fall down. The towers we build do not signify how intelligent, powerful, wealthy or cool we may be.   But the damage done when the towers fall will show how high our pride has taken us.

“First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 MSG)

"Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn your back on evil"

(Proverbs 3:7 NLT)

With love always,

Mike