Have you ever thought about what you were here for?  What your purpose is?  I suppose we all do, or people wouldn’t flock in the millions to purchase books about yoru life purpose, or living the life we’ve always wanted.

For those who follow Christ, the question can be answered in two ways.  The first is quite simple.  All of us are subjec to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.  I think those should be renamed the “everyday” commission and commandment.  That would better reflect how it should be lived.  By adding the word Great in front, we tend to leave it for people we think measure up our idea of greatness, and usually that’s not ourselves (at least in our eyes).

This means we are to love God with all our Heart, Mind and Strength.  Love others as good or better than we love ourselves, and make disciples of all nations.  That means telling the world about Jesus and sharing the good news that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)

The second answer to our purpose statement is actually a question.  How do we do that?  You see our overall mission is a simple idea – tell people about Jesus.  But each of us has a distinct context (location, culture, style, need, etc…) in which to fulfill that purpose.  So here’s my advice:  Be an authentic disciple.  An authentic disciple is a follower of Jesus, one who seeks to be a copy of the original.  We actually try to live as he lived.  Not like him in the sense that we wear sandels and eat fish and bread a lot, but like him in essence.  Listening to the father and preaching the coming Kingdom of God.

So as you look at your life purpose, from a Christian point of view, you need to figure out how to be like Jesus if Jesus lived where you do.  It’s not just the same as WWJD (what would Jesus do?), it means looking at what he did, how he did it, and finding a way to do the same things where you live.  If Jesus was a student at your school where would he sit?  What would he talk about?  What activities would he be involved in?  Some of your answers might surprise you if you are seeking to follow his example.

So if you are a believer and follower of Jesus, find out what he did, then do that in your context…where you live.  If you aren’t, take a look at the life of this guy Jesus in  a Bible (you can find them around).  Decide whether this was the kind of loving, passionate, purposeful and free life you have always wanted (John 10:10) and decide for yourself if Jesus is worth following.

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).  In order to better understand this text, you need to also read Proverbs 9:10.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and the Knowledge of the Holy One is the key to understanding.  In the book of Proverbs, the author uses a familiar form of Hebrew poetry called parallelism.  It means two lines of poetry either contradict or reinforce each other.  Most of the book of proverbs and many Psalms follow this structure.  In the case of Proverbs 9:10, they reinforce the idea.  In other words, the fear of the Lord = knowledge of the Holy One.

To know God, is the same as to fear God.  What is meant by fear here, is the idea of awe; being overwhelmed by the scope and power of God.  One of the students in a small group tonight used a great word to describe it:  Perspective.  If you understand who God is, and who we are in contrast, you will have awe, or Fear of God.  It does not mean we are like ants waiting to be squished by an all powerful tennis shoe.  Or that we are children dreading the abusive scolding of a vengeful father.  It simply means, he is larger than we are.  If we have the right perspective when we begin to look at the world, we will have wisdom.  We will be able to see His hand in things.

It is easier to believe in God as creator of the World, and how our world is dependent on His mercy and grace, if we have an awesome God perspective.  It is easier to understand how God can handle major world crises when we are aware of His Greatness.  If we know who God is, it is easier to understand how insignificant we are.  Knowing this will likely lead to less pride, Haughtiness (which is really pride), and lots of other negative habits of taking ourselves too seriously.

What may not be easier to understand when we know how big God is, and how small we are, is why he cares about us at all.  But a quick read of Psalm 139 tells us that this everywhere, all-powerful, all-knowing, awesome God, cares about us on a personal intimate and microscopic level.  If you get that, you are on the road to being very wise indeed.

The letter to the Philippians was likely written from Rome with Paul in Prison (house arrest).  He wrote to a group of people who supported him and, by the way he addresses them, he loved them dearly.  It is a very encouraging and passionate letter.  As I read through it, among the many things I see it saying, I see Paul’s encouragement to the church in Philippi and to Christ’s Church everywhere.  Here are 7 things I saw:

1.  Leadership 1:1-2 – the authentic church needs leaders who are stewards of the Mission of Jesus Christ in a place.

2.  Partnership in the gospel 1:3-5 – an authentic church needs to be a partner with the Church of all ages in the building of the Kingdom of Heaven through the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

3.  Commitment of Life 1:21/ 2:30 – the Church is worth risking and losing your life for.  To live = Christ.  If anything else is in the way of that Christ focus, you will not be able to give your all to His Kingdom.

4.  Unity through Humility 2:1-11 – the authentic church is like-minded and focused on the work of the Kingdom and humble in regards to one another.  Humility gets us through our disunity without compromising the Gospel.

5.  Perseverence 3:12-16 – the authentic church perseveres through trial and presses toward the goal.

6.  Fearlessness 4:6  – the authentic church has nothing to fear.  If death is gain, you have no fear of death which is the root of all fear.

7. Gratitude 4:10 – the authentic church is driven and powered by a spirit of thanksgiving to God for the things He has done.

The question remains, in order to have an authentic church, we need to have authentic people.  How do you measure up to this list personally?  Have you stepped up to steward the mission of Christ, Partnered in the Gospel, committed your life, sought unity of purpose with other believers through humility, persevered through trial, given up fear, and thanked God for all He has done by giving him all he had given you?  The authentic church is led by authentic believers.  Are you one?

Some of you may be temtped to poke fun at the bald-headed Youth Pastor.  It may seem like an easy target.  The mild-mannered man seeking to lead you to a saving knowledge of Jesus might just snap when provoked.  Don’t believe me?  Don’t believe it’s worth fearing? Consider this not-so-famous story from the Bible (2 Kings 2:23-25):

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

 So seriously…BEWARE THE BALD-HEADED YOUTH PASTOR.

HAHA.  Have a good day!  and watch your back : )

I am my own worst critic, so I often spend a lot of time second guessing my presentation and content.  So I thought I might share a little bit of my afterthoughts here.

I preached last night, at authentic, on not loving the world.  I used the illustration of the Prodigal son, and a text from 1 John 2:15-17.  I may not have been as clear as I wanted to be about what I was saying.  So, let me try again.

Love of the world, is something we all struggle with.  It can be terrible life-ruining trap in which we end up literally feeding with the pigs, oro it can be that our life goals are so messed up that we don’t fufill the purpose for which God has made us or intended.  In the case of the prodigal, his life is a mess.  Often times, the other, is more difficult to notice.  How can you tell when you have fallen in love with the World, when you life is not as bad as the prodigal’s? 

John Piper recounts the story of a couple who retire early in their fifties and spend their time playing softball, cruising the bay in a 30′ trawler, and collecting shells.  I can tell you unequivocally that this is not what God has intended for his creatures.  From the very beginning we were charged with caring for our environment, stewarding our resources, and creating just like our creative God.  There is nothing about this story that reflects our creator God.  Our very purpose on this earth is to glorify, that is to make much of, God.  Not to make him much, but to make much of him.  To show hom for who he really is.  That is why sin, which means to miss the mark, is so sad.  We really cast a poor light on our creator when we fail to live up to his Holiness. 

However, we can glorify God through our weaknesses by pointing to the cross.  If not for the cross of Christ, it would be impossible for us to glorify God.  Nothing we do would have accurately reflected Him.  But with Christ, now all things are possible, including glorifying God.  We can now reflect him in what we do, glorify him through what he has done for us, and what he has given us.

In the case of the prodigal, the father was completely forgiving of his son.  The father is glorified, that is made to look good, by the acceptance and love he shows his son.  We need to tell more people that story. 

The true inspiration for this message came listening to another sermon the radio.  It was the idea of condemnation verses conviction.  Someone said to me after my authentic message last spring, that they were tired of the cendemning message of the church.  As a result, they were on a journey to find something more open minded.  Open minded to me, is a code word for empty-headed.  Our minds should be filled with Christ.  There is nothing open about that.  It is finished, were the famous words on the cross.  The case is closed.  What case?  What is finished?

The very condemnation this person hated in the church (and I don’t doubt she felt it from churches who do not preach Christ), is the very thing Jesus closed the subject on.  There could be no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  Jesus came to forgive all your sins, past, present and future.  God loves you so much, he sacrificed His only son, so you would no longer feel condemned.  So what is it you feel when you are sitting in church and the preacher tells you, “Do not love the world, crave sinful desires, lust with your eyes, and boast about what you have and do”.  This is not condemnation.  This is conviction.  It can feel condemning, if you allow yourself to be told, by others, or by yourself, that you can’t or won’t measure up.  Satan plays these games.  But conviction is different because it breeds dependence.

Dependence means you trust God.  The Holy Spirit is your comforter and guide.  But he is also your convicting conscience.  he tells you areas where God would like to shape you into something more like himself.  That is for the Glory of God and to bring you more joy in life and greater freedom.  Conviction leads to repentence and dependence on God.  So next time you feel condemned from the pulpit, check to see if this is an area of your life God could be bringing about growth.  Reject the idea of your condemnation, that can only come from the evil one.  Instead turn to God and pray.

That is all I can think of right now.  More later perhaps.

I was sent this video twice today through e-mail.  This is a great presentation.  I was OK with it until I heard the crowds’ reaction and watched the closing.  Then I needed the kleenex.  I hope you all enjoy it.

It’s been a rough year and a rough couple weeks.  I remembered this morning something from a TV guide from years ago.  It is funny how you remember things.  I was in my grandparents living room, in their old house on Conchise in Grandville.  There was a test in the TV guide, you have seen them before, take this test to know your compatability.  Anyway, this one was about stress.  You answered a list of questions to determine how much stress you had encountered in your life.  It asked things like moving, losing jobs, loss of loved ones, illnesses, financial problems.  I don’t know why I remember it, I must have been about 10-11 years old, but I remember it vividly.  My parents had been through some of the stresses listed in the magazine.  Stress was running high, but we were quite happy, at least us children.

I wondered this morning what I would have scored. I have not lost my job, my Dad did.  I don’t have to move, but my parents may, and have from the condo to the duplex.  We have had a death in the family, Health problems, financial concerns, and work stress.  But is that really more than most people have to deal with.

I have found myself in the last weeks being very frustrated.  I have been waiting for God to step into my circumstances and make things right.  There has been a little bit of frustration (OK a lot), that he hasn’t done that.  Even a little bit of fear that he DOESN’T do that.  I found myself searching the Scriptures and asking Pastor Steve (my living concordance) where it says that God will take care of things.  The Bible seems to say that nothing in this life is a guarantee.  That is absolutely correct, but not very comforting.  I found myself just bracing for the inevitable next set of stressful circumstances.  You can’t live that way, and I knew that, but I didn’t know what else to do.  You reach a point sometimes where you just need to know God is going to do something.  Maybe he won’t, not the way we want it to be anyway. 

But that was leaving me a little frustrated.  I am not sure I am completely out of my funk this morning.  I should be, because God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and family for 12 years now.  But I was just watching Joshua’s video again this morning and some verses I included there came to mind.  Jesus said that he came to give us life to the fullest (John 10:10).  Well, my life is certainly full.  But sometimes I look at all I have to do as a burden and not a blessing.  It is amazing how our perspective can be off in regards to the things God is bringing into our lives.

I also remembered the verse from Phillippians 1, that God will carry to completion the good work he began in us.  I believe that is an enduring principle, a character of God thing, not just a promise trapped in time to the church in Philippi.  So if God began a good work in me, it won’t end until he has finished the work he has established for me.  Then I can go rest. 

It really still comes down to surrender to God and listen to God.  Could it be that simple.  All of the internal debate in my head over what God is doing and why can be widdled away to the simple truth of the Hymn “Trust and Obey”.  The words are really appropriate to my attitude this week.  “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be HAPPY in Jesus, but to trust and obey”.  In fact the whole song really says it.

1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
   What a glory He sheds on our way!
   While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
   And with all who will trust and obey.
   • Refrain:
     Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
   But His smile quickly drives it away;
   Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
   Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
   But our toil He doth richly repay;
   Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
   But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
   Until all on the altar we lay;
   For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
   Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
   Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
   What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
   Never fear, only trust and obey.

Now the challenge is to ask God to help me live that way.  Daily!  Hour by hour, minute by minute.  Worry is a sin, just like any other addiction it takes discipline to remove it, and die to sin to live for Christ.  We can do that through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:4)