45 Days in the Gosepls: Day 10

Matthew 23-25

- The Seven Woes of Religion. Jesus wasn't a fan of the Pharisees. In fact, He spent all of Matthew 23 warning them of their sin.

Now, I'm kind of an idiot... but I don't think making a public fool of the religious leaders who are already attempting to kill you is the best way to make peace. Jesus clearly isn't backing down from His position against the Pharisees.

I find it interesting that Jesus is so harsh with the religious leaders of His time, and with the "sinners" Jesus is so forgiving and loving.

I think this reveals something about God's nature. Scratch that... I know this reveals something about God's nature.

God HATES religion. God HATES all religion. I am sure that if you are reading this that you are aware of the phrase "Christianity is not a religion... it's a relationship."

I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing this, because I'm sure you have heard it enough to have a grasp on it. If not, just google it. In fact, I just did... and the search results came up with a t-shirt.

If we claim this all the time, the question I have is why am I so religious then? Why do I still try to earn God's love? Why am I so "holy" in public and so un-holy in private?

I think the answer for me (and maybe you are either always perfect or "love freedom in Christ") is that religion is easier for me to understand. Religion is a natural result of my sin nature.

It makes perfect sense that I should act a certain way and do rituals for God to love me and (the word Christians use when we mean the exact same thing) bless me.

Someday I will stop being religious, but that day will be the day I die.

- It's the end of the world as we know it... Jesus describes the end times for the entire book of Matthew 24. And from this chapter, the book of Revelation, and a few other chapters in Scriptures... we have 2000 years of books being written and sermons being preached about "the most exciting time in history."

Think about this... how is it possible that Jesus gives us a very vague description (at least before we have hindsight) of the end of the world. And we write theology books and novels and movies and just about anything... filling in the blanks for ourselves.

We will argue with Jehovah's witnesses of their interpretation of Matthew 24:13, but we use the same verses to prove when Jesus is coming back... EVEN THOUGH verse 36 is in there.

I guess my point is... speculation is all we have. All we do is speculate. The Jews speculated for 2000 years before Jesus came and then they completely missed Him, because He wasn't what the expected.

I pray that we don't make the same mistake. I pray that I don't make the same mistake. I think we need to get our focus off of what is going to happen in the future and get our focus on today. We need to not worry about what God is going to do in the future... and worry about what God is doing today.

Not that we shouldn't study end times... but our obsession with it is what I think we miss. Think about it... when is the last time that God did what we expected Him to do... the way we expected Him to do it?

- What are you living for? Jesus makes it very clear in chapter 25 that life will end someday and we will give an account of our time on earth. The question is... what are we doing with our little bit of time?

I was listening to a sermon this week and the pastor made a comment that hasn't left my mind. He said "A lot of people don't get me. They wonder why I am the way that I am. And if you were to cut me open to core, the reason I am what I am, the reason I live like I do... all I want in life is to hear 'well done, my good and faithful servant.'"

To be completely honest, I don't think that is true of me. If you look at my life, I don't live like eternity is all that matters. I don't live as if God is the only thing that matters. And that is a sin.

I want to be able to say that eternity is all that matters. I want to be able to say that God is all that matters. But I can't say that.

I know the right answer. I have really, really good theology (some 5-pointers might not agree). And as much as I talk about surrender to God and giving up everything to God... I haven't.

I keep holding on to my life. I live like my life is worth something.

For 24 years, I have been "a good Christian." And I have gotten really good at faking people out. I am one of the most religious people that I know. To be honest, I am a fraud...

I'm not all together. I haven't given everything to God. I do just enough to make people think that I am close to God.

I need so much prayer. I need God to break me. I need God to take over my life.

If holiness is my pursuit, then I am still at square 1.

Matt Chandler is right... the Bible is very easy to read, but it's very difficult to let the Bible read you. Pray for me.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 9

Matthew 21-22

- Hosanna to the Son of David. I have grown up hearing this word, Hosanna. I have heard Bible stories with it being used. I have sung songs with this word in it. But it wasn't until senior year at Cedarville that I knew what it meant.

At Bible conference, they brought in a special worship leader (very controversial... btw). And we didn't sing the Lion of Judah 42 times. In fact, we didn't sing it at all. But we did sing the Paul Baloche hit "Hosanna."

And after the 2nd or 3rd session, I realized "I have no idea what I am singing." I knew the word comes from the Triumphal Entry narrative, but what does the word mean?

So, I did what any good Bible college student would in my situation... I googled it. It means "please save" or "save now."

I had no idea. I thought it was a praise word, such as Hallelujah.

So, the people are actually lining the streets crying out to the Son of David that He is their Savior. They are begging Jesus to save them.

Ironic, that just 5 days later they are nailing Him to the cross and spitting on Him and mocking Him.

Isn't that our natural reaction though? We cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" on Sunday. Then for the rest of the week, we drag Jesus' name through the mud with our lifestyles. Ironic... don't you think.

A little too ironic... yeah I really do think.

- I bet Jesus wasn't a fan of Fig Newtons. The story of the fig tree withering is one that has always made me wonder. Why did Jesus wither the tree?

And I could steal PD's message about our fig leaves, but this blog is no place for plagiarism or sermonizing.

The main reason is that the tree looked like it was producing fruit. It's leaves were plump and exciting. On the outside, the fig tree was spectacular. But on the inside... Nothing.

This story reminds me of pretty much every interaction between the Pharisees and Jesus or John the Baptist.

- Only Jesus can not answer a question and sound wise. If I were to have people asking me questions all day and all I did was ask them a question in response, people would think I didn't know the answer.

Jesus on the other hand, almost never answered questions directly and He was the wisest Man ever.

The reason for this is that Jesus' response (usually a question) would always expose the motives of the man or woman asking Him. I think it would be nice to be able to know what people are always thinking and their motives.

Then, maybe I could sound wise. But, I don't think that ability would make me too many friends. It didn't seem to work out well for Jesus in the friend department.

- Jesus knew He would be rejected... and still He came. Do we ever think about this truth? Jesus knew that His creation would completely reject Him, and He still chose to come into the world to save them.

I think the story that we usually here is that Jesus came to earth as a cute baby that everyone worshipped and gave presents to. But we forget that every baby in the area was murdered because of His birth. They were trying to kill Him.

We hear stories of how thousands and thousands of people flock to Jesus to hear Him speak and be healed by Him. But we forget that His own brothers and sisters and friends that He grew up with... did not believe that He was the Messiah.

I think too often we think of Jesus as this nice guy that everyone liked and was really popular for 33 years... then all of a sudden a couple of "haters" put Him on a cross, while everyone cried.

This isn't the story of Jesus' life. People were trying to kill Him from the day He was born. People rejected Him from the day He was born.

God in human form spent 33 years being rejected by His creation. While the entire time, all He did was love them. All He did was serve them. All He did was give Himself for them.

- GC-squared. Love God... Love People.

I have heard/taught enough messages on these three verses to fill an entire book. The implications of the greatest commandments are endless.

Every single act you do in life revolves around and reflects the Great Commandment. Every act shows whether you love God or not. And every act shows whether you love people as much as yourself.

So the question is... who do you love?

45 Days in the Bible: Day 8

Matthew 18-20

- Cut it off. Jesus has a weird sense of humor here in Matthew 18. He says it is "better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire."

Weird sense of humor... unless He's not joking. I think Jesus is talking directly to 2009 Christians on this one. We play the "God-and" game.

We want God and a nice house. We want God and a cool car. We want God and a loving family. We want God and a good education for our kids. We want God and to hang out with our friends.

We say I want God... but I also want ___________. Even last night at small group someone made a joke... you have to choose between something and God. And the person chose both.

It was a joke... but the idea is the same. We want God and we want our own lives.

And we completely miss who God is. If I want "God-and," then God isn't enough. If my faith in God is based on the fact that He blesses me with health and wealth, then I'm not truly loving God... I'm loving God's stuff.

Playing the "God-and" game is like saying... I want all of Bill Gates money (God) and a Happy Meal (my life). And we only want God, IF we can get that Happy Meal. Do you see how ridiculous this is?

So why do I hear all the time? I trust God, but I really want a husband/wife. I trust God, but I really want that job. I trust God, but I really want out of this marriage. I trust God, but I love my boyfriend/girlfriend too much to break up with them. I trust God, but I really want my kid to get a sports scholarship. I trust God, but ME ME ME ME ME ME... I want my Happy Meal!!!!

Jesus says... if it is keeping you from having all of God... CUT IT OFF!

- Forgiveness is a sign of repentance. I talked yesterday about the fruits that a Christian should show. Forgiveness is a huge one.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant is a prime example. Here's the story... 1 guy owes his master millions of dollars. He can't pay it back... and the master wipes clean the debt. AWESOME!!!

A 2nd guy owes the 1st guy a couple hundred dollars. He can't pay it back... and the 1st guy has guy 2 thrown in jail for not paying it back. (Which he has ever right to do according to the Law)

The master hears about this and gets very angry. He throws guy 1 into jail, because guy 1 isn't thankful or forgiving.

Obviously (at least I hope), this is a story about the gospel. God saves us from a debt that we have no chance to pay back on our own. He completely wipes it out. Shouldn't we also forgive others who in no way owe us as much as we owed God?

Has anyone on earth ever hurt you so much that you were forced to send your One and only perfect, sinless Son to die as a sacrifice for their sins? And completely rejected you from the day they were born? And continually reject you even after you have forgiven them?

I don't think so. Maybe we should be quicker to forgive and less quick to hold grudges.

- Jesus loves the little children. I think the most overused verse in the Bible is Matthew 19:14... Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me...

This verse is written on my nursery and children's ministry rooms than any other verse. And this verse is quoted by more children's workers and pastors than John 3:16 (or so it seems).

And every time we use this verse is to prove that Jesus loved children MORE than adults. Really? Is that what this verse is about?

I know Jesus loves children. I know God created and formed children. But in a society that completely rejected children as worthless, Jesus did not reject children.

This verse does very little to prove that Jesus preferred children or loved them more than adults. In fact, Jesus interacts with children very few times in Scriptures. Which children's ministry professors fail to see.

Ok... END RANT.

I do love kids and ministering to children. But their ministry is not the "most important ministry in the church." (weird since I teach children every Sunday...)

- Money vs. God. If you had to choose right now between $100 million and spending eternity with (while being in poverty on earth) what would you choose?

And don't say God just because you know the right answer. Seriously think about your life... what would you choose?

And now more importantly, what have you chosen as you look over your life?

For me too often, I have chosen money. I have chosen the world. God is really working on me about this lately. Pray for me. I need to choose God. God is enough. But I still need prayer.

- First shall be last; and the last shall be first. God has a weird way of doing stuff. It's almost like He took human logic and flipped it upside down.

I'm pretty sure my logic says the first shall be first and the last shall be last. That makes sense to me... but then again I'm not God. (and there was much rejoicing)

All throughout Jesus' life He demonstrated this. He is God is human form. And He chooses to be homeless, born in a barn, have no money, be rejected by almost everybody, killed in a terrible death, and the whole time all He does is serve people.

Jesus is the most selfless human being in history. And He had every right to be the most self-absorbed. (After all Jesus is God)

Maybe God's logic doesn't make sense to me, but if I want to be Christlike... maybe I should try to follow His logic.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 7

Matthew 15-17

So... it really is day 22 and I just finished Mark, but my blog is waaay behind. I'm trying to catch up but weekend blogging almost rarely happens and I seem to just fall further and further behind.

It's all good though. Going back through it has been... therapeutic. Let's keep going with today's blog post.

-It's what comes out of a person that makes them unclean. This is one of Jesus' more interesting statement/dialogues.

The Pharisees are accusing the disciples of being unclean for not washing their hands before they eat. And Jewish tradition says wash your hands. Most people would agree that washing your hands is necessary before eating.

But for some reason the disciples are not eating with washed hands. And the Pharisees call out Jesus for allowing "uncleanliness" to enter the disciples.

Jesus makes a comment that almost completely ruins the Pharisees' way of life. He says that following traditions made by men over following the Words of God is sinful.

And the disciples in verse 12 crack me up... "Jesus, don't you know that was offensive to say to the disciples?"

I think so often I/we/the Church have our traditions that a "sacred." We can't miss our traditions. But really are they anything more than traditions?

Have you ever wondered when church became a building? Have you ever wondered why communion is so quiet and "sad?" Have you ever wondered why we have Sunday school? Have you ever wondered why we pass out bulletins?

Are any of these Biblical? Are any of them anything more than tradition? Churches are groups of believers in the Bible. They did not have buildings. In fact, they got stoned and tortured in religious buildings in the Bible.

Communion is a time of celebration of Jesus death, burial, and most importantly resurrection. Why do we treat communion as if we are in the cemetery placing flowers on Jesus' grave. He has no grave. HE IS ALIVE!!!

Sunday school was originally a time for churches to teach literacy by using the Bible as a form of evangelism. It is now a discipleship hour. It was never mentioned or even alluded to in Scriptures. Why does every church do it? Simply because every other church does it?

Bulletins. Are they anything more than another form of announcements? But once again, every church hands out bulletins. Maybe it is a souvenir for visitors to remember the church. There has to be some reason we keep that tradition alive. (Please don't tell me it is just to keep the club members attune (is that the right word) to the happenings of the "lodge." Then we become "Jesus group.")

- It's like deja vu all over again. Do you ever feel like the disciples would learn to trust Jesus? Here's the scene...

Jesus is teaching. It's late in the day. There's 4000+ people listening to Jesus. They are starting to get hungry. Jesus says "let's feed them." Sound familiar?

And what do the disciples do? They start to try to figure out how they are going to supply all these people food with some bread and fish. Seriously, they did it again. Some people never learn.

Wow... those disciples. Let me tell you. I can't believe that after everything Jesus is doing, they still don't get it. They still try to do it on their own. They still don't realize that Jesus has it under control.

The problem with the Bible is... me. It's too easy to read a passage and look at the disciples being idiots or whoever is not trusting God and saying "hey, idiot God is in control."

Then, I look at my life. And the saints that have gone before are looking at me saying "Hey, IDIOT God is in control!" (They yell at me... I'm much nicer to them then they are to me... because I need to be yelled at more)

Over and over and over and over again in my life I don't trust God. I try to do it my own way. I fail the tests. Sometimes it feels like I'm about to finish Kindergarten and then I fail an easy test.

Those disciples aren't idiots. They are human. Just like me... they don't get it. They are learning. They are growing.

And then, I love what comes next. They cross the lake and don't bring bread and Jesus says "beware of the yeast of the Pharisees." And guess what, they still don't get it.

Welcome to the real world, Brent. Maybe someday you will get it.

- Peter has the right theology, but living it out, that is another thing. Peter is an American Christian. He has to be. He is loud. He is a show off. He wants to be the best. He speaks without thinking. And here in Matthew 16, he plays a perfect American Christian.

Jesus asks the question "Who do you say that I am?" Peter jumps up first and yells... THE MESSIAH/THE CHRIST, the Son of God!!! You are the One! You are God in flesh!

And his theology is perfect. He knows exactly who Jesus is. He believes all the right things about Jesus. He makes one of the most beautiful declarations in the history of the world.

He knows that Jesus is the coming Messiah. He knows that Jesus is the Son of God.

And then, Jesus starts to talk about His death. And Peter (the word the Bible uses is) "rebukes" Jesus. And Jesus says "Get behind me, Satan."

Where does Peter go wrong? He knows the truth. He has the correct theology. But he doesn't live it out. He still is trying to tell the Son of God/Messiah how to be the Son of God/Messiah.

Crazy Peter... when will he ever learn.

And the scary thing is, this is American "Christianity." A bunch of people who know the right facts about Jesus, but it doesn't change their lives. They know the stories. They may have even prayed a prayer... but they are not changed.

Billy Graham once said that he would guess that about 5% of the church attenders in America are truly saved. How can he say that? Well think about it...

If you look like a apple, smell like an apple, taste like an apple, and feel like an apple... what are you? An apple.

If you look like the world, smell like the world, talk like the world, listen to and watch the same things as the world, dress like the world, and go to church on Sunday morning... what are you?

To verses that should keep you up at night... Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

Correct theology does not get you to God. Knowing the right facts about God does not get you into heaven. It is all about faith and repentance.

- You just saw Jesus revealed in all God's glory... DON'T TELL ANYONE!!! Here's the story... Jesus takes Peter, James, and John on a trip up the mountain. He leaves the rest of the disciples back "there."

They go up the mountain. Jesus starts to shine. Moses shows up. Elijah shows up. Peter, James, and John just stand/fall prostrate there watching and worshipping Jesus.

It is the most amazing thing that any of them have or will ever see. They just saw Jesus' "God-ness." And Jesus says... don't tell anyone.

I don't know what happened when they returned to the group. It must have been really weird to have this awesome secret. And it must have been really weird to be left at the bottom of the mountain wondering what is happening and then trying to figure out the secret.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 6

Matthew 13-14

- Jesus spoke in parables. Well duh, Brent! Of course Jesus spoke in parables, everybody knows that. But the real question is, what were the parables about?

Jesus always spoke about things people knew. His parables were always about farming (which in an agricultural society is very common) and fishing (what jobs did the disciples have?). He would always speak in terms that people understood.

If I were to talk to the teens at church about farming and fishing, they would be completely lost. They don't farm or fish. So, I need to make the Bible parables relevant to their lives.

This is one thing I love about Brad's preaching. He doesn't speak from an ivory tower using big theological words and deep theological ideas. He preaches to us on a level that we can understand.

He makes the Bible relevant in 2009. He brings in real-life examples that helps us to grasp the Bible. This is something I continually learn from him.

- Jesus was rejected in Nazareth. Have you ever noticed this story? We kind of skip over this one, because we don't really get it completely.

The best way to describe it is kind of like a kid who grew up in the 'hood and everybody knew as a gangster. He had a reputation and somehow got out.

He comes back home a couple years later and is a completely changed person. He's no longer a gang member. He's got an education. He has a career. But people still see him as the old troublemaker.

This is what Jesus is dealing with. He grew up as a carpenter's son. He probably didn't go to school. He never did miracles (Wedding at Cana is the first... He is 30). And now Jesus is a huge celebrity who is healing people and preaching.

Everybody thinks He is a fraud or something. And they completely reject Him.

- John the Baptist had a terrible ministry. I know I talked about this just yesterday, but I think it is worth repeating. John's ministry was probably the most "unsuccessful" ministry of all time.

He is born being told he would be the greatest prophet. He is called the 2nd Elijah. He is preparing the way for the Messiah. And how does he spend his life?

John lives in the desert. He where's camel skins as clothes. He apparently eats a lot of locusts. He gets thrown into prison. And he eventually gets beheaded... (more or less) just because some girl is a good dancer.

This isn't the ministry that "the greatest prophet" dreamed of growing up. In fact, very few pastors and ministers today would sign up for that ministry. They would probably rather work at McDonald's than follow God's leading into that ministry.

- You feed them. Jesus has an amazing sense of humor. These disciples were worried about the 5000+ people's well being, so they asked Jesus to send them away to get food.

And what is Jesus' response? "You feed them." So, the disciples get together and quickly realize that they have enough food for 1 maybe 2 people.

I can almost see Jesus laughing as He gives them this task and they start to scramble. They come up with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (which we find out in John is from a young boy). And Jesus feeds all the people with that little food.

There is an important lesson here. Give Jesus what you have and let Him do His thing. This is a lesson I have learned (and failed to learn) sooo many times in my life. I constantly try to do it on my own.

- Lord, save me! How come every time we preach and read the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water we miss the most important part? We are so enthralled with the fact that they are walking on water that we miss the point.

Jesus did miracles all the time. Peter does miracles all the time (just read Acts). It's not weird that a miracle is happening.

The story here is a story of faith. And a very honest story about faith in God.

We usually get the part of Peter stepping out of the boat. At this point, (I think) Peter is just showing off for the disciples. We all know Peter is the "kiss-up" disciple. He is always the first to open his mouth and is always trying to be "the best disciple."

That is what I think Peter is doing here. And it works... at first. But as Peter starts to look away from Jesus, his faith is gone. He starts to drown. And he yells the 3 most important words ever spoken in Peter's life. "Lord, save me!"

He realized that the only salvation is in Christ. The only salvation is in Jesus. He isn't walking on water on his power. Only Jesus can save him.

Don't miss those three words. And the question is have you ever spoken those three words? And more importantly... and meant them?

I think it is so easy for us to think we are relying on God even though we are relying on our own "goodness." That's what Peter was doing. It wasn't until he realized that he needed Christ that he cried for help.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever come to the place where you NEEDed Jesus? You couldn't do it on your own. You were no longer good enough to make it on your own.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 5

Matthew 11-12

- John the Baptist wasn't sure. Chapter 3... John declares that Jesus is the coming Messiah. Chapter 11... John is in prison and not so sure anymore.

Have you ever noticed this story here? John the Baptist (the coming "Elijah"/prophet) starts to wonder if Jesus truly is the Messiah. This truth is essential to understand to understand any of the Jews in Jesus' time.

John and every other Jew reads the Old Testament and is expecting the Messiah to come and to "free them." They are expecting God to save them through this Messiah. They are expecting a King to come and to rule over the world.

Enter Jesus (the Christ... the Messiah). Jesus is a homeless guy who does miracles. Jesus is not a King. Jesus is not overthrowing Caesar. Jesus is not freeing the Jews and ruling the world. He's just a homeless guy who hangs out with other homeless guys.

Things start to go bad for John. He gets put in prison. I don't think this is the ministry he thought the "Elijah" prophet was going to have. He's probably thinking that he was supposed to be Jesus' right hand man for global domination.

This whole idea doesn't really fit into American church doctrine too well.

- Jesus is more of a figurative guy than literal. Listen to Jesus' words... "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

I have heard this verse my whole life and this has never, ever, ever made sense... unless Jesus is speaking about eternity.

Jesus' says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Last time I checked, Jesus suffered possibly the most painful and humiliating death in the history of mankind. He was rejected by his family. He was betrayed by one of his best friends. He was denied by his strongest partner in ministry.

Sounds easy to me... or is He talking about eternity. Is that why God calls it "My rest?"

I don't think that life on Earth should ever be easy for Christians. If it is, then we aren't living for Christ "hard enough."

I think Americans miss this one too. We hide behind our freedom of religion and avoid any persecution. In fact, we have no idea what persecution is. We think that having a Democratic President who wants universal health care is persecution (oops... I'm not talking about politics).

- Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. Have you ever noticed that we have swung the pendulum to the complete opposite side of the Pharisees when it comes to the Sabbath?

In Jesus time (and in the Old Testament), Sabbath meant you do absolutely nothing all day, except go to the temple. That was it. You aren't even allowed to blink. Ok... that may be a stretch (which they weren't allowed to do either), but you get the picture.

And in 2009 America, Sabbath means go to church on Sunday morning... unless I stayed out too late on Saturday night. Sabbath = an hour at church.

I might get called legalistic for this comment, but I think it is Biblical. If not please let me know why it isn't...
Christians need to get back to what Sabbath was intended for. It was intended to be a holy day each week in which you (a) didn't work, (b) focused on God, and (c) sacrificed something to God.

How did 24 hours of meditation on God turn into 20 minutes of singing and 40 minutes of preaching?

- A house divided cannot stand. This is one of the most quoted phrases by Jesus that most people have no idea the context of.

Jesus is being accused of driving out demons, because Jesus is Satan. So, Jesus makes the comment that if Satan was driving out his own demons, he would be hurting his own cause. Then, Jesus says the famous quote "a house divided against itself will not stand."

Somehow this has turned into a sports joke for people from opposite colleges.

The truth here is that Jesus is being called Satan. Jesus makes it very clear that He is not Satan and that if He we Satan, He would be an idiot.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 4

Matthew 8-10

- Jesus touched the leper. This is something that Brad talks about all the time, and for a very good reason. Jesus touched the man with leprosy.

Leprosy is a skin disease that was believed to mean that someone was cursed and contagious. They were ostracized (big word that means "kicked out") from the towns. They had to leave their homes and their families.

They would yell "UNCLEAN!!! UNCLEAN!!!" so that people would know not to go near them. They were literally "untouchable." If you touched them, you would also join in "their curse."

Jesus touched this man. Jesus touched the man who was "untouchable." Jesus joined in the curse. This is 100% an example of the gospel. It is a beautiful picture.

- Jesus healed the centurion's servant. This story may be more amazing than the leper story. Think about it... this Roman (not-Jewish) centurion hears about Jesus and believes. And he doesn't even want a "magic show."

99% of the people who followed Jesus wanted to see miracles and magical stuff. This guy just wanted his servant to be healed. He didn't even think that he was worthy of having the Messiah in his house.

This centurion has a respect for Christ and His power that very few Christians (even today) have. (Maybe especially today is more appropriate)

- Jesus doesn't want just anyone. Matthew 8:19-22 (and the same passage in Luke) has always been a crazy, "non-American church" passage.

People come to Jesus wanting to follow Him and to become disciples. And what does Jesus do? He tells them "thanks, but no thanks." He sends them away. He gives them reasons not to follow Him.

Jesus would be a terrible pastor. He tells people not to join His flock. The point He is making is something that we too often miss. Jesus doesn't want to be an add-on to our lives. He doesn't want to jump in trunk off our car and become our own little trunk monkey to fix flat tires and ward off road rage.

He wants (and demands) to be the driver. And if you think about it, He made the car... so He knows best.

- The disciples still don't get it. 8 chapters into Matthew and the disciples still don't understand who Jesus is. The believe He is the Messiah, but it amazes them when He calms the storm. Those guys...

sound eerily similar to me. 24 years into my life and I still don't get it. I still try to do life my own way. I still don't trust God to handle situations. I still think I am in control. At least the disciples had only been with Jesus for a couple months/years at this point. What's my excuse?

- Healthy people don't go to the doctor. Jesus is hanging out with Matthew's buddies (who happen to be liars, cheats, and prostitutes) and the church-goers don't like that. And what is Jesus' response? He says "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

If churches really believed this, I think it would completely change the way that we did life at church. But when church is about me and my wants and my desires and my preferences, I think I miss the point.

(One quick example) What kind of music do teenagers listen to? Hip-hop. What kind of music is put out by 90% of Christian musicians? Pop/Rock music. I know of 1 hip-hop/rap artist who puts out Christian music (that is good enough for me to recommend to teens). 1... that's it. I think the church is missing something here...

- Demons were real in Jesus day. Luckily, Satan and his demons no longer attack us. They no longer cripple people. They no longer make people insane. Demons haven't been around in 2000 years. Or have they?

Why do we ignore the spirit realm so much? Are we too weak as Christians to ward off Satan and his demons? Are too weak to even acknowledge their existence? Do we think that if we ignore it, that Satan doesn't exist?

I think that Christians (especially non-Charismatic ones) are very ignorant of the spirit world. The Bible talks about it all the time, but (in our literal translation) we don't take those parts literally.

- Jesus describes the life of a Christian. Matthew 10 is Jesus' description of what it means to be a Christ-follower. This is how Jesus describes the church. This is what Jesus expects of His followers.

Read it... seriously, do it. Does that look at all like my Sunday morning hobby? HECK (I don't think heck is a strong enough word) NO!!! We have so missed the mark. We are so far from what Jesus describes.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 3

Matthew 6-7

- Humility is a part of holiness. Jesus starts chapter 6 by talking about privacy in your relationship with God.

Not that you should hide your relationship with God and nobody knows, but that you do not serve God, pray, and fast to win men's approval.

To be honest (I hate this part of blogging... the honesty), I struggle with this. As a pastor, I want my relationship with God to be respected and seen by the teens and adults and children at our church. And at the same time, I do not want to make what God commands to be private a public thing.

I find it very difficult not to "brag" about my spiritual growth. I want to share lessons that God is teaching me without coming off as self-righteous. It is a difficult line that I tread.

Oh yeah, and humility is something I struggle with. But you all already knew that.

- The Lord's Prayer is a whole lot harder than what we quote. The paragraph continues with verses 14 and (more specifically) 15... But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

We always seem to miss this part. I know that we have already said Amen, but Jesus makes a very important statement... and we seem to forget about that one.

- Worrying is a sin. That's right... worrying and stressing is a sin. If you think about it, what are you worried about?

God is Sovereign over EVERYTHING. He is completely in control. Do you honestly think that you have any control? Do I think I have control? HECK NO!!!

Why worry? God is going to do what God is going to do. In the word's of my favorite philosopher (3-year old, Josh Jackson) God says "I do what I want."

-Don't judge me! You don't know me! You don't know my life!!! You ever heard that phrase? I have heard a few too many times.

The problem is that my judging them is making me a hypocrite. What makes me any better than anyone else? Paul thought he was the chief of sinners; He never met me though.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm a HUGE sinner. And I'm the worst kind, I'm a self-righteous sinner. I think I'm better than you. (just being honest) And that is a sin. And I apologize. Pray for me...

- Are you saved? Seriously, are you? And then again, am I?

How can anyone read Matthew 7:13-27 and not doubt their salvation? If you don't know what I am talking about take some time and meditate on what it is actually saying.

Then, examine your life. What gate are you going through? What path are you traveling? What fruit do you show? What are you building your life on?

And just because you know the right answer doesn't necessarily mean you are doing it. Take some time and search yourself.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 2

Matthew 4-5

- Jesus knew the Scriptures. Every time that the devil came to Jesus to tempt Him, Jesus used the Bible to defeat Satan's attacks.

How many of us know the Bible well enough to quote Scripture (that makes sense in the situation)? I don't think that me quoting John 3:16 is going to help someone struggling with life. Reminding people that "all have sinned and fall short of God's glory" isn't really helpful when they are dealing with temptation.

I think too often we think of Bible memorization as children's church. Adults rarely (if ever) take time to seriously memorize Scriptures.

I know for me, even as a pastor, I don't memorize the Bible. (unless of course it is to show off my "holiness")

Each week I "memorize" 2 or 3 lessons that I teach to teens, but I don't take time to memorize Scripture. I can pretty much spout off 3 or 4 pages of text, but 3 or 4 sentences of the Bible... not so much.

- "Galilee of the Gentiles." Jesus lived in Galilee which was not a Jewish only province. I don't think that I have ever noticed that before.

- Simon, Andrew, James, and John IMMEDIATELY left everything. The disciples have always dumbfounded me. I understand that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God in flesh.

BUT... the disciples seem to fall for the world's corniest "pickup line." I will make you fishers of men. What kind of line is that?

And they seem to follow Jesus so easily. They left their homes, their jobs, their families, everything... and it seems to be such an easy decision.

Maybe the fact that I think it is weird... is actually weird. Maybe this should be the norm. Maybe I shouldn't be so attached to my "life."

- Jesus is an A-list celebrity. Imagine the life of a celebrity with paparazzi following you everywhere that you go. Now multiply that by 1000s of people everywhere you go. This is Jesus' life.

He spent 3 years of His life being hounded by masses of sick people. Pretty much everyone in the entire area of Israel heard about Jesus and wanted to meet Him and be healed by Him.

I once saw a special on a faith-healer and his "ministry." Every single stop on his tour is full of all the sick and lame people within a 300 mile radius. There are people lined up for days just to have an opportunity to get inside to possibly be healed.

Jesus couldn't eat breakfast without being hounded. He couldn't even sleep in town because people would not leave Him alone. He ended up sleeping outside of the city, so He could get some privacy.

- Jesus isn't a very good preacher. If Jesus didn't do miracles, His ministry would be almost non-existent. He never spoke to make people feel good about themselves.

In fact, Jesus always spoke contradictory to having a good life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek? Does Jesus really think that any of us want to mourn or be meek?

So many preachers today have a ministry of teaching, but their message is I'm OK... you're OK... let's all get along and sing about Jesus. That's not Jesus' teaching. That's not John the Baptist teaching.

They said REPENT. Turn away from your evil sin. You're dying. You are headed for destruction. Turn around. REPENT.

That doesn't please my ears very much.

- I am a Christian to show God to the world. Do I really need to rant about this one? No thanks... I might get too personal.

- It's not the just the action that is the sin; it is the thought. How often in our society do we label some things as OK and some things as bad? As long you don't act on your thoughts, you are doing nothing wrong...

Pornography is the number one business in America. And how does society view porn? It's how boys become men... It's men's stress release... It's just education for the future...

Most of our society will tell you that pornography is not adultery. It is not cheating on your spouse. Oh really? I'm pretty sure you are having sex with that person in your mind.

And it is the same way with wishing someone was dead, or wanting to steal something, or thinking dirty thoughts about somebody. Thoughts are sin.

- Be honest. One of my favorite Bible verses is Matthew 5:37. It is so simple, and yet if you have ever been out in the world this verse gets abused.

- Love your enemies. Isn't it a whole lot easier to just love your friends? Can't I just love people who get along with me?

I love what Jesus says here... even the pagans and tax collectors love their friends. Even Nazis love other Nazis.

How will the world know that Christians are any different? It's not because we are nice and kind people. It's not because we say 'please' and 'thank you.' It's not because we love poor people. Unsaved people can (and do) do all of those things.

It is our love for our enemies that sets us apart. It is our love for Muslims. It is our love for gays. It is our love for Nazis. It is our love for Barack Obama (oops... stepped on some toes there). Love your enemies... Brent didn't say it, Jesus did.

45 Days in the Gospels: Day 1

Matthew 1-3

-Jesus is the descendant of Abraham and David. Jesus is a Jew. He is in the line of Judah, therefore He is in the line of the kings of Israel.

It is interesting that there are 4 women mentioned in Jesus' genealogy. Tamar (really awkward and weird story), Rahab (a prostitute and Gentile), Ruth (another Gentile), and Mary.

-Mary became with child "through the Holy Spirit." I am currently reading a book about the Holy Spirit and I don't think it has mentioned yet that the Holy Spirit has the ability to impregnate.

It makes me think... how often do we take credit for the Holy Spirit working?

- Jesus means "the LORD saves." It is the Greek name that is the same as the Hebrew name, Joshua. If we look at the lives of Joshua and Jesus, what comparisons do we see?

Joshua led people into the Promised Land... Jesus leads people into salvation. Joshua was a great warrior... Jesus wins in the end.

Once again, the Old Testament gives us a glimpse of the New Testament.

- Jesus is also called Immanuel. Did Mary and Joseph really understand what it meant that they were having a Son who is God? They weren't just having a baby who is the Messiah, but is God in human form.

Why do we only use the name Immanuel at Christmas time?

- The Magi knew that "the King of the Jews" was born. Where did they get this understanding? And how come the Jews did not know this?

- I read the story of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to Egypt to avoid Herod's punishment. Do we just naturally think that Mary was like "okay, whatever you say?"

If I tried to tell Keyla that we had to move to Mexico and go into hiding, and our parents didn't hear from us or ever see our child, I don't think that would go over smoothly.

I think so often we read the Bible and assume that everyone has a "blind faith." They are almost robotic and just characters in a story. We tend to forget that these are real people, with real emotions, and real lives.

And sometimes, God "screws up" their plans.

- John the Baptist has an interesting life. He has a life that not many Christians would want. His ministry is to go around preaching repentance and baptizing those who listen.

Repentance is something that is almost never preached in America. Most churches don't want to preach that you are going the wrong direction... just that you are a little off course.

John the Baptist (and eventually Jesus) teaches that there are only 2 options. God and self. If you aren't living for God, you need to repent (turn around).

And if you honestly think about it, what were we made to do? Live in a perfect relationship with God forever.

John the Baptist was only telling people to do what will fulfill them the most. He is only telling them to live life like it was meant to be lived. He was trying to help.

We have made repentance into such a negative word, when it is only a reminder (a begging... an urge) to run back to God.

Day 87: Hebrews

It's interesting that as I read Hebrews, I continue to see Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy the whole time.

Day 86: 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

Interesting stuff today. Makes me think.

Day 85:1-2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy

This has quickly become one of the worst blogs on the Internet. And today's post is not much better.

Day 80: Romans 1-9

So... my blog has been gone for a while. And today is just recording what I read.

Day 66: Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah 1-8

I thought about writing about Haggai, since we just finished discussing it in our youth group, but then God spoke to me in Zechariah 1:3.

Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Return to me," declares the LORD Almighty, "and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.

That is possibly the greatest promise in the entire Bible. God will not reject you. God loves you.

As I read through Zechariah, I saw something completely different than pretty much everything I have read for the past month.

Up until this point, the prophets have all been speaking on behalf of God and declaring His impending (big word) punishment for their sins.

BUT... Zechariah is completely different. For the first time (in like 500 years), the Israelites are obeying God. And Zechariah is a book of God's blessings.

And it all changed in Haggai chapter 1. (Ok... I will talk a little about it) Haggai 1:14b says They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God...

For the first time in the Prophets, the people actually repented and followed God. (Ok maybe that's an exaggeration, but it sure seems like it) And God no longer punishes them. He blesses them.

And I have seen the same thing in my own life. Times when I am far from God and doing my own thing... God seems to let me just coast through life. But when I am close to Him and obeying Him and loving Him... God blesses me in countless ways.

DISCLAIMER: I think that if you read this post, you may get the wrong idea about God. God is not Santa Claus.

The difference between God and Santa Claus is that God gives us what we need... not what we want. People love Santa Claus because of his presents. They are "good" so that they can get more presents.

God is (should be) the opposite. I don't love God so that I can be blessed. I love God, because He loves me. There are benefits to loving God, but I would still love God if He never blessed me.

A lot of Christians (especially American Christians), love God for His stuff. The love the blessings. They are all about God's blessings. And to be honest, they really don't love God if all they care about is His stuff.

Imagine if I needed a million dollars and befriended Bill Gates. All I wanted from him was the money, so I was his friend until he gave me the money. After that, I could go back to my normal life.

That is how a lot of people approach God. The only want Him for His blessings.

If I only love God for His blessings, then I don't truly love Him.

That's why I choose to love God... with or without being blessed by Him.

Day 64: Amos 5-9, Obadiah, and Jonah

Jonah and the big fish is probably one of the most recognizable children’s Bible stories. It is top 10 most told in most churches.

It’s up there with Noah’s Ark, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, and Jesus’ life. And almost none of those stories are actually child appropriate. Other than Jesus, they are stories of disobedience and slaughtering.

But I digress… back to Jonah. Jonah is probably the most American-ish person in the Bible. You can make a case for the rich, young ruler… but I’m going with Jonah.

If we look at Jonah’s 4 chapter life:
- Chapter 1 – He runs away from God instead of obeying, He claims to be the follower of God and yet the other sailors are the only ones who fear God, and Jonah attempts suicide instead of obeying God
- Chapter 2 – Jonah is stuck in the fish, so He asks God’s forgiveness (it seems genuine… and most children’s stories would make this seem like he is repenting… I have my doubts)
- Chapter 3 – Jonah gives a 7 word altar call, he never says anything about God
- Chapter 4 – Jonah gets mad at God for forgiving Nineveh, he wants to see fireworks (Sodom and Gomorrah style), then he got mad when God’s blessing is taken away

Jonah is a quality hero of the faith. He is never seen in a positive light. BUT… we teach our children that he is a hero.

Why? Because he gets eaten by a fish? Because he gets spit out by a fish? Because God uses him to save 120,000 people?

And all this, through a terrible attitude.

Wow… does this sound like American church or what? We want God to use us… we claim to “follow” the One true, but when it gets hard… we run away.

How many times in my life have I run away instead of obeying God’s voice? Too many to count.

How many times has God done something great and I had a bad attitude about it? Too many to count.

I can remember one time very specifically. I was in Brazil on a mission’s trip. Our group was performing skits and giving testimonies. I had volunteered to share the gospel at the end and was all excited and had all these verses I was going to use.

Then, one by one the skits went and with each skit one of the teens gave a testimony. And get this, they used my verses. They started talking about MY verses.

So, finally I got up there after all the skits and testimonies and I went to share the gospel. The only verse I had left was Romans 6:23. So, I talked about my 1 verse and we sang a song.

The whole evening, I was kind of ticked that everyone had stolen my thunder. They used MY verses.

2 women came forward and accepted Christ as their Savior that night. And while that was exciting, I was unhappy that it wasn’t ALL ME.

Then later, we were on the bus on the way back to the Santos’ home where we were staying. And Misti said something to me that I will never forget. She said “You didn’t get to do it all, because God used us all.”

And still I was not happy. This was my moment.

After about 20 minutes of being back at the Santos before our nightly devotions, I was on the toilet. (TRUE STORY) And I was thinking about what had happened and what Misti had said (which I wasn’t happy about).

And God basically punched me in the stomach. I realized how prideful and full of myself I was. I realized it’s not about me. It is all about God.

All I cared about was MY verses. It’s God’s Bible. It’s His Words. I just had the privilege of sharing them with these Brazilians.

I was Jonah. But, God changed my attitude. I can only hope that eventually God changed Jonah’s attitude.

As a youth pastor, I find myself falling into this trap still. It’s not MY ministry. It is GOD’s ministry that He allows me to lead.

Day 57:Ezekiel 6-20

Today's post has nothing to do with today's reading. It has to do with yesterday's reading. I just can't get this picture out of my head.

Ezekiel 3... God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet to the Israelites.

In God's calling of Ezekiel, He says "they won't listen to you." Guess what Ezekiel, God is calling you to a ministry that WILL NOT SUCCEED. You will fail.

Wow... I can't wait for God to call me to be a failure in my ministry.

In fact, God says that if He had given Ezekiel a message to another language group, then those people would listen. But the Israelites will not listen. They are too hard-hearted.

This sounds like the best possible life choice for Ezekiel.

But the fun goes on... later on in Ezekiel 3, God says that Ezekiel must warn sinners that God is going to take their life, but they still won't listen. And if Ezekiel doesn't, then he is guilty of their blood.

Sign me up for that ministry. I get to tell people that God is going to kill them for their sins, and they aren't going to listen... and if I don't, then I am guilty of their blood. Exciting ministry.

God is setting Ezekiel up to fail in His ministry. He is making Ezekiel's life miserable. But for some reason, Ezekiel says yes. Oh yeah... because Ezekiel saw God.

I think if we all truly understood God and saw God, we would all sign up for anything. The problem is that the "god" we worship lives in a box that we can understand. It isn't the god of the Bible. Yahweh/Jehovah/God is sooooo much more than the small "god" that we worship.

But that isn't where I want to go with this post...

Let's turn the page of this failing ministry to chapter 4... to possibly the most disgusting thing that I have ever heard/read. I can't get this picture out of my head.

God says to Ezekiel in verse 12... Eat the food as you would a barley cake; bake it in the sight of the people, USING HUMAN EXCREMENT FOR FUEL.

Yes, you read that correctly. Set some human poop on fire to cook your bread. First off, I didn't realize that poop burns so well.

And Ezekiel gets all spiritual in his response (I am sure hoping that God will change His mind), and says that he would never defile himself in such a manner.

So verse 15... "Very well," he said, "I will let you bake your bread over cow manure instead of human excrement."

Hmm... this ministry opportunity just keeps getting better and better. God changes human poop to cow poop.

My guess is that Ezekiel doesn't have many (if any) friends. The guy tells people that God is going to kill them. He eats food cooked with poop as a fuel source. And pretty much all of today's reading is Ezekiel prophesying the exile. But thankfully, no more poop cooking.

I asked a question this Sunday in Sunday School... "what are you willing to do for God?" Are you willing to move away from your family and friends? Are you willing to live in India where you don't use toilet paper? Are you willing to be homeless?

I think I have a new question... Are you willing to eat food cooked over burning cow manure for Jesus? Ezekiel was and did. The real question is am I?

I don't know the answer. I want that I could say "yes." But, I just don't know.

There are so many things that I have said "no" to for Christ in my life. I fear that it would be a "no." Pray that God would give me strength and reveal Himself to me.

I want to say "yes." But I need to mature in my faith. I need to pass the little, everyday tests. Then, I will be able to handle the bigger tests.

Pray that God will test me. Pray that I will pass. Pray for my maturity as a believer and follower of Jesus. I need your prayer. Please pray.

Day 52: Jeremiah 1-13

Other than Jeremiah being really sad and depressing I don't have much to say.

I did find Jeremiah 3:10 to be a very interesting verse. "In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did no return to me with all her heart, only in pretense," declares the LORD.

The people of Judah (literally) prostitute themselves to every other god imaginable. AND they do it in God's Temple.

Then, Judah "repents" of their sin. I put repent in quotations, because apparently they only repented in their words.

So what does this verse actually say? It is saying that (get this) God doesn't want to hear my platitudes. God wants my life.

This goes back to the verse that says God isn't interested in my sacrifice or worship, He wants my obedience.

And obedience is much harder than my praises. My praise is easy. God already knows how Great He is. God wants to know how much praise will affect my life.

When my praise affects my life, then (and only then) is it called WORSHIP.

Worship is not singing. Worship is not dancing. Worship is not prayer. Worship is not Bible reading.

Worship is OBEDIENCE. Everything else should come from obedience. Everything is a part of obedience.

Judah said "we're sorry" and then went right back to what they were doing.

And to be honest, that is almost exactly what I do in my life. I truly am sorry for my sins. I don't want to be a sinner. I don't know how anyone can read Leviticus and not be sorry for their sins (or John for that matter)(or any of the Bible).

So, I sin and I "repent." I am sorry. I really, really don't want to commit the same sin again, but I do over and over and over again.

I can remember for about 5 straight years asking God for forgiveness for the exact same sin... fighting with Alyssa. Seriously, I knew it was wrong. I did not want to fight with her.

BUT... for 5 years, we fought all the time. I still don't know why I did it. I can make excuses, but the reason is this... that sin of fighting with Alyssa had me and I couldn't stop. I would "repent," but never truly repent.

That's Judah. And that's me, even today.

My sins are more mature. I'm full of myself. I am unwilling to submit to God. I constantly tell God "no" when the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. I'm full of myself. I'm lazy. I lie. I think I'm better than everyone else. I'm full of myself.

Too much honesty to be writing on the Internet. I need prayer. I need to repent. I mean truly repent. Not just say "I'm sorry," but change. I need to more Christlike.

Life is hard.

Day 50: Isaiah 41-53

Guess what is back? That's right more poetry.

So... I'm just going to get right into it today. Isaiah 53 is perhaps the most famous book of Isaiah. It's up there with Isaiah 6 and Isaiah 40 (and possibly Isaiah 7 can be included).

But, as I think about Isaiah 53, I doubt it was very famous until about 34 AD. You see, this chapter is a prophecy of the life, death, and burial of Jesus Christ.

I cannot imagine myself being a BCE Jew. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live waiting for the Messiah to arrive (oh wait... yes I can).

I don't think that most Jews would understand Isaiah 53 at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that they didn't.

You see it over and over again in the gospels of how the Jewish leaders and even the disciples do not understand at all how Jesus MUST die as a sacrifice.

Then, we look at the Old Testament and see how it is prophesied over and over and over that Jesus is coming to die. But, nobody understands it.

And I guess for me, the question it brings up is... what does this mean for His second coming?

Whether you are pre-trib, post-trib, amillenial, post-millenial, pre-millenial... none of us know for sure what is coming.

We have passages in Scripture that we base our opinions and doctrines around, but we don't know for sure what will happen.

I mean if you look at Jews for thousands of years... they read the same OT that we read and their expectation of the Messiah was completely wrong.

They expected an emperor to lead Israel to be the rulers of the world like a Caesar or Alexander the Great. But Jesus came as a humble sacrifice to save the world from sin... not from "evil empires."

So, the question I have is... what are we missing for the second coming?

We have a small advantage... we have Revelation. We have God revealing some of His future plans. We know the "end" of the story.

But with our extreme obsession with End Times, do we ever stop to realize that WE KNOW ALMOST NOTHING?

I mean seriously... let's make a list of what we KNOW.
- 7 years of tribulation
- God wins
- Satan losses
- Jesus is going to reign for 1000 years

Other than that, we don't really know a whole lot. We speculate on whether Christians will be here or not during the tribulation. We have Bible passages that we use to make our points, but there are just as valid Bible passages to make the opposite points.

To be fair, I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. But I am by no means going to argue with someone who believes in post-trib... because we don't KNOW.

We speculate on when Christ's 1000 year. When it will happen. Whether it will be a literal 1000 years with Him sitting on David's throne in Jerusalem. Who will be on earth at this point.

There is so much we don't know... and yet, we will probably be sitting in eternity someday looking at the Bible saying "duh." Look at all these prophecies throughout the entire Bible.

It is just like the Christians looking back at the Old Testament seeing tons of prophecies about Jesus death on the cross. Even though the Jewish experts read the same passages 1000s of times and never saw these as prophetic.

I guess the whole point of this post is that I don't know what is going to happen. You don't know what is going to happen. That pastor on TV doesn't know what is going to happen. The author of that book doesn't know what is going to happen.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with being excited about eternity. I am just as excited as the next person.

I think where we go wrong is when we "know" what is going to happen, and when we "know" the day that Jesus will return.

We don't KNOW much. All I KNOW is that God wins in the end, so I want to be on God's team.

And in the end, there are only two things that matter:
1. Does God KNOW you?
2. Who did you bring with you?

Day 49: Isaiah 28-40

Isaiah (and most of the prophets) is a very depressing book. Israel won't stop sinning, so God continues to punish and punish and punish them.

Even when Israel/Judah does something right, they end up screwing it up and taking the glory for themselves.

Chapters 28-35 are prophecies and then (for the first time since Job) Isaiah 36 starts with a narrative.

Don't get me wrong. Poetry is much "faster" to read (only because it's not in paragraphs which makes it less words per page). But, narrative has a flow to it. And I like flow.

So, King Hezekiah (one of the few good kings after Solomon) and Judah are being attacked by the Assyrian empire.

Assyria is just wiping out everybody... kind of like Israel back in Joshua/David/Solomon's reigns. Nobody can stand up against Assyria or their king, Sennacherib. (I just wanted to use his name because its long)

Assyria walks up to Jerusalem and gets ready to attack them. Everyone in Jerusalem and all of Judah are scared.

Everyone except Isaiah and Hezekiah. For once (or so it seems), they choose to trust God. And possibly the biggest Godly massacre in the Bible happens.

185,000 Assyrians die in their sleep from the angel of God. God once again delivers His people.

This passage is a clear "Prodigal Son" story. His people run away from Him. His people don't trust Him. The natural punishment of sin comes to their doorstep, and they turn to God and He saves them.

And we see this over and over and over again in the Bible. God is there waiting for me to return to Him. God is waiting for you to return to Him.

And I think where most of us get this wrong is that God is not somewhere else waiting. He is right behind us begging us to turn around.

He is putting stop signs in front of us. He is throwing guard rails in front of us. He has His lights flashing. He is honking His horn trying to get our attention.

But we keep walking the other way. Eventually (hopefully), we repent. We turn around. We look back at God.

We change our direction.

I think the one part of the Prodigal Son parable that we get wrong is that we think the Son has to "get back home."

We have all heard the phrase "God helps those who help themselves." This is the idea that we have to take the first step towards God.

But this is COMPLETELY WRONG!!!

God helps those who ask for it. And God sometimes helps those who don't.

The most accurate picture is that we are falling in a pit and God is holding out His hand waiting for you to grab it. You grab His hand and He is there.

All Hezekiah had to do was trust God's promises and God protected Judah. All I have to do is grab His hand and He is with me.

Day 43: Psalm 120-150

Saturday night... Thomas and I go to dinner at Chuck's about 5:15.

Thomas eats something healthy. I have a plate of nacho/tacos.

We are dressed in complete Brazilian attire. Brazilian basketball jersey... check. Guarana T-shirt... check. Trademark Brazilian flag... check.

We finish dinner about 5:45. (Well, Thomas finished at 5:20 cause he eats like a horse... I'm more of a cow... I chew the cud... haha... I love Bible jokes) I finish dinner at 5:45.

On our way back to the room, we make a quick (4 hour stop) at the gym.

The girl's game is at halftime and Brittany Smart already has 50 points and the team is up by 30.

We sit and watch the girl's 2nd half as they easily beat the other team. Slowly people start to fill the stands around us.

The pep band starts to fill in their bleachers and begin to warm up their instruments (I threw that in there for you Tiffany).

Streams and streams of yellow-clad college students fill the bleachers behind Thomas and I. The pep band is playing through some up tempo songs now.

Even the cheerleaders have arrived and gotten in my way about 10 times.

Then... the moment of truth. Anticipation starts to rise as we see the basketball team huddling by the doors. Everyone rises to their feet. Cleveland picks up his flag. The cheerleaders walk onto the court and get in the other team's way.

Out come the Jackets. Everyone is clapping and screaming. And all of a sudden I hear a single voice. It's yelling "BRAZZZZIIIIILLLLLLL!!!!

I quickly recognize the voice as my own. I wildly wave the Brazilian flag that for some reason has not stem, so it takes both hands.

The team takes the court and line up for lay-ups. Maicol Venter walks over to Thomas and I and shakes our hands. We wish him good luck and tell him that we love him.

And for the next 2.5 hours, 1000s and 1000s of college students yell and clap and jump and dance and scream. Every time the other team has the ball, DE-FENSE is the chant. Every time Cedarville has the ball, we clap at an increasing rate of speed.

With about 30 seconds left in the game, everyone is exhausted. The team calls timeout. And he comes Coach Martin.

We have already lost our voices. But this is the pick up we needed.

Give me a J... J. Give me an A... A. Give me a C... C. and so on and so on...

All of a sudden, the entire building is on its feet. The entire building is chanting JACKETS!! JACKETS!!

Soon... the game is over. Maybe we win... maybe we lose. Either way, Thomas and I finally make it back to our room.

We sit/lay their exhausted. We just expended all of our energy at the game. We didn't even play for a second. But we are dead tired.

It was a great night. And we will be ready again on Tuesday and next Saturday and whenever.

Memories... aren't they great?

Psalms 135 through 150 are "Praise Psalms."

They are meant to be sung/prayed to God in such a manner that we are exhausted by the end.

These are meant to be given to God with the exact same sort of worship as a crowd gives to a basketball team.

We are to give God everything and hold nothing back. We are to cheer. We are to clap. We are to dance. We are to jump. We are to scream. We are to yell.

These psalms are not your typical poetry. They aren't your typical quiet songs of reflection.

They are meant to be public displays of affection by one person or an entire body of believers.

Every time I read these Psalms they same question comes to my mind. Why am I not excited about God like I am excited about Cedarville basketball or Michigan football?

Why don't I show up an hour or two early to church to ensure that I get a front row seat? Why don't I exert all of my energy in praising the God of the universe who specifically created me? Where is the excitement? Where is the passion?

And the scarier question then comes to mind... which am I more passionate about? A basketball game or the God who saved me from my sins by sending His Son to give up everything for me?

We have 2 services at our church. The first service, which I attend, is our traditional service. We sing hymns and the old praise choruses. Brad gives the message.

The second service, which I have now been to once, is our contemporary service. They sing "worship music" and up-tempo praise choruses. Brad gives the same message.

I grew up in a church were it was 90% traditional until about 10 years ago. It has since moved into a mixed. But, I grew up "traditional."

I grew up on hymns. I grew up on 70s/80s praise choruses. I can sing most of them word for word.

Then, for the past 10 years, I have been immersed in "worship music" and up-tempo praise choruses.

I have been around the full spectrum of musical worship. I know a ton of American psalms.

But, when is the last time that I exhausted myself for God? When is the last time I lost my voice praising God?

It has happened a few times in my life. (now I'm going to say this... and it may get me in trouble, but its the truth) But it has rarely happened in a church.

At church, I tend to go through the motions. Not just our church... any church. Growing up in church... I went through the motions. Church at college... I went through the motions. Church after college... I went through the motions. Church now... I go through the motions.

90% of the time that I exhaustively praise God is in my car/at chapel at college/at chapel at Barakel.

How do I foster an environment of complete surrender through singing in my life at church?

And to be completely honest, I think it has a lot do with me. No... I KNOW it is completely me.

I am ashamed to sing loud in church, because it would be awkward. I am ashamed to raise my hands and clap, because (first off... I can't hold a beat) it would be "different" than the norm.

God deserves my all... my everything. And I am worried what other people would think about me. How shallow am I?

I didn't care in college when I gave CU basketball my everything and looked completely ridiculous doing it. I don't care when I'm watching Michigan play football and Keyla thinks I am an idiot.

So what is the difference at church?

Day 40: Psalms 48-74

I just finished reading for today (yesterday) at 12:11 am. I need to read earlier.

At some point, I am going to discuss what it means that "God is my refuge." It keeps popping up in Psalms and I want to chat about it.

What do you think?

Day 39: Psalms 25-47

Psalm 44 is disturbing to me. It isn't what I would call your typical Psalm. It's not very "happy."

As I read it, I am pretty sure that I understand where the psalmist is coming from, but where is the happy ending?

Aren't all Psalms supposed to end like children's fairy tales? Aren't we all supposed to live happily ever after?

The writer starts out Psalm 44 as a history psalm. He is praising God for everything God did in the past.

He talks of God winning battles for Israel. And he talks about God bringing Israel up to a world "super-power."

Then, my favorite Hebrew word. Selah. It always sounds like it has some deep spiritual meaning like amen or hallelujah. But no... it just means 'break' or 'end of stanza.'

But back to Psalm 44... after verse 8, the psalm becomes a song of how terrible things have become in Israel.

People are fighting against them and winning. Countries are oppressing them.

(And as I am reading, I figure that clearly Israel is in sin and God is punishing them)

Verse 17... All this happened to us, though we had not forgotten you or been false to your covenant.

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

God allowed bad stuff to happen to people who were obeying Him? That isn't very 2009 American of God.

Walt Disney just rolled over in his ice cube tray.

Why is it that we love Psalm 37:4, and base our entire (life) theology around this verse, when 99% of the Bible says that our obsession with Psalm 37:4 is unbiblical?

Psalm 44 clearly shows that "God does what He wants."

God doesn't do what I want. The Bible is (get this) not about Brent. The Bible is about God.

Whoa... did I just blow your mind?

The Bible is not about God serving me and making my life better. The Bible is God teaching me how to glorify Him and make much of Him. (dang it... and I dislike Piper)

Over the past 600 pages, which is a little bit less than half of the Bible, I haven't seen my name yet.

And if the most important book ever written doesn't have my name in it... maybe that is a clue to something.

The world and Christianity and God don't revolve around Brent.

Psalm 44 is about not always getting what you want. It's about God being in control and in charge, even when I'm not happy about it.

And I think that is why I dislike it. I want God to do what I tell Him.

But let's face it... God does what He wants.

Day 38: Psalms 1-24

One day, Brad and I were driving somewhere in his car and we were discussing our favorites books of the Bible. It seemed like a very "pastor-ly" thing to do, because all of our conversations are about theology or ministry.

(Please read the previous paragraph with the sarcasm that is oozing from it.)

So... we were discussing this and I was surprised by what he said. Or more surprised by what he didn't say. I figured he was a Psalms guy. I honestly don't remember what he said was his favorite, but it wasn't Psalms.

I made the comment that I expected it to be Psalms, because he kind of reminds me of Dr. Estes, my Psalms professor. And I kind of picture David being a lot like Brad.

Brad made a comment about that being emotional or something. BUT, I definitely didn't mean that comment as a negative.

When I picture David, I read Psalms and see his deep relationship with God. And he almost has this High School Musical mentality of I have to sing to express my emotions.

Brad is a great singer, and when he sings in church it is very apparent that he is truly singing to God and worshipping God through song.

And also, when I read 1&2 Samuel, I see David as possibly the greatest warrior of all time. David literally slaughters 1000s and 1000s of people.

I've never seen Brad kill anybody, but he seems like the kind of guy who could handle himself in a fight. Especially when I think of Brad in high school, being recruited to play D-1 soccer.

David was the complete package of a man. If you were making a movie and needed that strong, lead male character who was a "beast" and in touch with his feelings, David is the guy you would want.

Brad is the same way. Obviously, he is taken, but he is a man's man and is also not afraid to show his emotions when it comes to his relationship with God.

Those of you who know me, know how emotional I am. Those of you who don't know me, I am not emotional at all.

Those of you who know me, know how tough I am. Those of you who don't know me, I am 6'-140 lbs.

The best Bible character that I would say I relate to is Luke. Luke is a skeptic. And if you ever read my other blog (please don't... it's completely ridiculous), I am very skeptical.

I don't really know where this post is going... so I am just going to end it I guess. It started with an anecdote, that led me no where. So here I am at no where... The End.

Day 37: Job 25-42

I have had many comments about the disappearance of my blog. So, it's back. (again... who knows how long this time)

It's not that I don't enjoy blogging, but I don't enjoy blogging just to blog. And like any other habit, if I start to not do it, then I tend to not do it for a while.

Well... let's catch up a little bit with Job. Job is (possibly) the richest man in the world. Job follows God.

And in about 10 minutes, Job loses everything. His children, animals, livelihood, everything (except his lovely wife).

His 3 friends show up and give Job some really good advice. "Job, you are clearly sinning and God is mad at you."

Job isn't sinning and his friends are no help at all. Finally, Job finally says "God, come face me like a man and tell me what I did wrong..."

So, in Job 38, God shows up. And God is not exactly thrilled with being called out by Job.

God starts off with some hilarious "sarcasm." Then, moves on to reminding Job everything that He has done. And finally, ends with "who do you think you are?"

It is funny to read and think about God being "sarcastic."

BUT... like every other Bible story, I see a lot of Brent in the story.

Too often, I come to God and I know what is best for my life. I know what is best for my ministry. And most importantly, I know what is best for the entire world.

We all do this. We all start out sentences like this "If I were God, ____________________."

What is God saying in Job 38-42? He is saying "Guess what Job (Brent)! You are not God. You weren't there when I created the world. You don't know the birth time and place of every human/animal/flower/plant on the face of the earth. You can't harness the wind/rain/snow. You can't even tame wild animals."

And God is right. Yet again, God is right.

Why is it that we think we know best? Why is it that our first instinct is to tell God what He is doing wrong?

I think that it's my natural instinct because I love ME. I love ME, a lot. I mean, I love ME a ton.

There is no one on this entire planet who I love more than ME. I think about ME all the time. I can't stop trying to make ME happy. I live MY life in such a way to make ME the center of the universe.

Think about it... whose favorite TV shows do I watch? Whose car do I care gets into an accident or not? Whose blog do I read the most? Whose job is the most important job in the world?

When I do something wrong to somebody else, I want mercy. When someone does something wrong to me, I want justice.

So... the question that I have and Job had is this... why me? Poor me. What did I do to make God stop loving me?

Obviously, when you see this from somebody else, you call this a pity-party. But, when you see this from yourself, you call it wanting justice.

I think the solution to the problem is one thing. Perspective.

I have been working on perspective for about 6 months with our teens. It all started with Isaiah 6. Now, God is coming full circle with me in Job.

I heard a pastor say today on the sermon I was watching, "most Christians want Jesus AND..."

Most Christians want Jesus plus something else. I love Jesus so much, and I will be satisfied once I get married/new house/new job/promotion/graduate/retirement/money in the bank. That is really bad perspective.

The pastor went on to say "that is like saying I want Bill Gates' $50 billion and this music stand."

That is the perspective that "God-plus" Christianity gives us.

If God alone doesn't satisfy, then your (my) perspective is terribly, horribly, completely wrong.

If the God who made this universe and everything in it, who breathes life into every human being all the time, who knows the number and name of every star in the sky, who sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross in my place isn't enough for you (me).

We have some serious problems. Pray for me. Pray for my perspective. Pray for your perspective.

Pray that God will reveal Himself to us and He will completely blow us away.

Day 29 - Umm.. yeah

No excuses yesterday... but my Bible did not move from its spot by the door all day. And seeing as how I was not home all day. I guess you can say that I failed to read my Bible.

But... I actually had a really good day serving God and then fellowshipping at night.

Day 22-28 2 Samuel-1 Kings-2 Kings

My blog is waaaay behind, but my reading is all caught up.

Here is a quick summary of what has happened in the history of Israel:

-David good king for the most part
-Solomon starts out very well, but then is "dragged away and enticed" by women and power
-Solomon's sons (Jeroboam and Rehoboam) can't get along and start a civil war and the nation splits
-Israel and Judah have a bunch of kings (most are ungodly)
-Israel is defeated by the Assyrians
-Judah is finally defeated a long time later in 2 Kings 25

I think my favorite part of the reading was Elijah and the prophets of Baal. This story has always been one of my favorites.

I think it is partly the "pyro" in me and also Elijah's sarcastic attitude. It makes for a great story.

If there was one story I could teach in Sunday School every week, it would be Elijah. His whole point is "You need to CHOOSE!!!"

I love what he says in 1 Kings 18:21... Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

He says stop being so politically correct. Stop being so wishy-washy. Stop saying one thing and doing another. Stop playing the convenience game. Pick one or the other. You cannot have both.

You can either choose to serve Yahweh or Baal. You cannot have both. This is either/or... not both/and.

As I look at my own life, at times I am wishy-washy. I say that I am sold-out for God, but is that what my life shows?

Elijah is saying to me... Brent, you need to decide. If Jesus is God, live your life for Him. If you are God, stop wasting your time pretending.

And I know the answer in my head. I know that Jesus is God and I am not. I know this. On the test, I could get the answer right. I can fill in the right blank.

BUT... the only test that matters is my life. How am I doing on that test? After my sermon yesterday, Keyla proposed a question to me. And to be honest it caught me off guard.

She asked "so Brent, what are you going to do?"

And with that question, she exposed my weakness. What am I going to do? How am I any different now then I was yesterday before I preached? How I am any closer to God today than I was yesterday?

You see... I think as Christians we view God on the "MACRO" scale. We think about the big things. We say "yes, I give God my life."

For me, I have seen this. I moved from everything I knew as comfort for God. I have given up entire seasons of my life to serve God. I have given up the ability to make comfortable money for my entire life.

I have given up BIG things for God. And I think that most Christians view sacrifice on this BIG scale. Because for the most part, that is what we have heard preached from the pulpit since the time we were born.

In fact, that is basically what I preached yesterday. Give up EVERYTHING.

BUT... life is lived on the "MICRO" scale. Life is lived in the details. Our relationships are formed on the little things.

Marriages don't work that are based solely on vacations and honeymoons and big experiences. Marriages work in the day to day love that the couple shares.

But we view God differently. We know that God loves us unconditionally, so He has to love us. He doesn't have a choice. God is love.

So... how does this play out? We "love" God once or twice a week. And the rest of the time, we pretty much ignore Him. We know He is there, and if we are in trouble we expect Him to fix our problems.

If you want to know how it feels to God to have one hour a week from you, ask your spouse to ignore you all week except for one hour. They aren't allowed to talk to you. They know you are there, but they can't communicate with you.

How long do you think that the marriage will last on 1 hour a week? Probably not long.

Because life is lived in the day-to-day/moment-to-moment living. Life isn't just big events. When was the last big event in your life?

For me, it was preaching yesterday (twice). But guess what... It's been 24 hours and I've been alive the whole time.

Before preaching, the last big event was my trip to Texas on August 13-16. If nothing BIG happened in those 29 days, does that mean that I wasn't alive? No.

So, life is day-to-day/moment-to-moment. My relationship with God MUST also be day-to-day/moment-to-moment.

So, what am I going to do? Still a good question. Still don't have a great answer.

All I know is that, today I am going to grow my relationship with God. I am going to spend time in His Word. I am going to tell Him about my life. I am going to work at my job for Him. I am going love my wife the way that He commanded me to. I am going to drive my car for His glory.

I am going to live my life in such a way that every little thing I do gives God glory. And if everyday I do that, someday I will look back and see how much I have changed and how much closer to God I am then, than I am today.

So... I choose Jesus is God. Now the real test...

Day 20-21 1st Samuel

Needless to say that I am quite behind in my blog. This is also needless to say, but I am still behind in my reading.

I was supposed to be done with 1st Samuel on Monday, but it is now Thursday. That means I have a lot of reading to catch up. And a lot of blogging to catch up.

But first, I want to give you my really bad excuse as to why I am so far behind... college football. At first football only got in the way of my blog (Judges and Ruth), but then it became priority over reading the Bible.

See bad excuse... and this weekend I won't have that excuse, because I am limiting myself to watching just one football game (UM/ND). So, I will have plenty of time to read the Bible and stay caught up with things that should be priorities.

Thank you to those of you who have bugged me about it. I need the accountability.

Now... enough really poor excuses... 1st Samuel.

Saul, Samuel, and David are the main characters in this book. Samuel is a prophet (not a priest like I originally thought). Saul is a bad king. David is God's chosen (soon to be) king.

If you would have asked me last week what Samuel's position was in Israel, I would have said that he was a priest. He served with Eli. He prepared sacrifices. I just assumed he was a Levite.

I was wrong. 1 Samuel 1:1 was really confusing for me. Samuel was from the tribe of Ephraim. Then, as I continued to read, Samuel was not a priest. I had been thinking he was the high priest.

But, it makes sense that he is a prophet since he is speaking for God and (get this) prophesying.

Saul was a bad king. I think that it is interesting that the first king that God lets Israel have is a poor one. Saul seems like the perfect choice as king. He is tall and handsome.

If I am picking a king, I want those leadership qualities. Tall and handsome. What is this high school? Really Israel? Pick a king because he is tall and handsome?

But then I think about what I learned in history class that since the invention of television, the "better looking" candidate has won the election in America almost every time. We aren't so different, are we?

Then, there is David. The youngest in his family. No leadership training. His father and brothers don't even think to bring him to the house to possibly be picked as king.

God picks the king that He knows will serve Him. God picks the leader who is following His voice. God picks a king who is spiritually mature, even though he is physically just a child.

David probably has as much faith as anyone in the entire Bible. He is up there with Paul and Daniel. They are probably my top 3.

I don't know about you, but as a teenager I don't think I ever fought a giant. I never led an army into battle and completely destroyed the opposition.

As a teen, I was worried about running sprints in soccer practice and who killed Lincoln and whether this girl who I was too afraid to talk to liked me. (BTW... the best way for someone to like you is to not talk to them... and if you believe that I have some ocean front property in Montana to sell you)

And you can say... back in the day teens weren't teens. And you can talk about how teens didn't exist like we know them until the invention of high school in the early 1900s. But the point is, God was preparing his leader as a child.

In America, what do we expect of teens? We expect them to go to school, not get into (too much) trouble (or at least don't get caught), and basically act immature while beginning to become independent.

That is completely different than what David was doing. David was leading armies. David was a national hero and not because he could shoot a ball into a basket (it was some one's skull instead).

Our culture has spread this adolescent trend from just 13-18 year-olds to about 9-25 year-olds. And you can see it spreading even further in the near future.

At what point do we expect our children/ourselves to "grow up?" I'm not saying "grow up" to mean be boring. I'm saying "grow up" to mean be mature.

David was "a man after God's own heart." Don't you want that to be said of you/your kids? I want God to say that about me.

David wasn't put in charge of the armies because he was tall or handsome. He was placed by God in positions of leadership, because of his faith. David didn't waste years of his life "having fun."

David spent his whole life seeking God and serving God.