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theology

Pray then like this…

Posted on August 11, 2011 by jon in life, prayer, theology | Leave a comment

Sometimes God’s will hurts.

If that makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably because you know it’s true. When God’s will doesn’t line up with my plan, I have a tendency to think that God isn’t answering my prayers. And I pray hard (even though I’m not quite sure what that means).

What are we supposed to do when we pray for God to provide in a situation and He doesn’t seem to do so? The answer here, I believe, is actually in the question.

When we pray about a specific trouble or hardship in our lives, what do we ask of God? Have you ever prayed, “Lord, if you really love me, please don’t let this happen to me…” or “God, if you’ll do this in my life, I’ll never //insert sin here// again.” Have you ever prayed a prayer that is grounded solely on something you want, and you’re just seeking God to give it that extra boost of possibility? I have, many times.

As genuine and perhaps well-intentioned as these types of prayers may seem to us, they’re fundamentally flawed. Because at the very core of these types of prayers is the notion that we have some sort of control or bargaining power with God’s will.

If we really want to pray authentically and the way I believe is appropriate to our Heavenly Father, we should look to the One who taught the multitudes – Jesus Himself.

During His famous “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus teaches the crowds how to pray. He gives it to them straight:

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:9-10 (ESV)

Notice that nowhere does Jesus mention that we should pray that God would act in a way that makes us happy. He simply says to ask of God, “your will be done…” We have to get away from the idea of praying for God to act in a way that pleases us and instead pray that we would respond to God’s will in a way that pleases Him.

God’s will is often times not our own. And that’s OK. Look back 10 years ago into your life. Chance are, in retrospect, your will for your life was much different than God’s will for your life. I know it was for me. But let’s not treat this as something to be afraid of. Because just as God said to the prophet Jeremiah:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Even though God’s will may not make sense, ultimately, it’s good. God is good. That will never change.

Above all, Lord, Your will be done. Amen.

To Glorify with Ink

Posted on July 30, 2011 by jon in choices, culture, design stuff, evangelism, favorite scripture verses, life, love, theology | 1 Comment

for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV)

Let’s talk about that verse for a second. Many of us have heard this verse before, but when we read it in context, we learn that Paul is using this while talking about sexual sin. But I believe that the inspired words of God transcend ordinary interpretation. So, with that understanding, let me tell you about a decision I made to fulfill this command.

For a while now, I’ve been thinking of getting another tattoo. For my 30th birthday, Nikki told me that I could get it as my birthday present. By the way – I love my wife. Can I just say that? She’s awesome. But I digress.

My other ink isn’t visible normally (it’s on my back), but I was thinking about doing something that would be seen all the time. But I firmly believe in the verse we just read together, so I thought of a way I could glorify God with a tattoo. OK. Stop sign. Yes, I am fully aware of the verse in Leviticus about tattoos. But I’m also fully aware, again, of the context of that verse. This verse is about “cutting your flesh” as a demonstration of allegiance to a pagan god. I’ve not done that. ‘Nuff said. Cool? Cool.

So, back to it. Another worship pastor whom I admire, Carlos Whittaker, has an AMAZING tattoo of the conversion of Saul, and from what I’ve been told, that tattoo has actually sparked conversations that have resulted in people accepting Jesus (check out Carlos’ ink here). I’d consider that a WIN. I decided that I would come up with something original, not out of a book, and even pray about it (really? yes.). But what should I get?

I decided to draw up something based on one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

First off, isn’t it cool that the two verses we’ve seen are both from the same letter, written by the same guy, to the same church? Now, I didn’t just want the scripture itself as a tattoo – I wanted a graphical representation, still done through text. I played with a few designs in Photoshop, and finally came up with what I considered to be just what I was going for – a graphical representation of that verse through text of different sizes and types. So I e-mailed the design to a highly-recommended artist, and last night, made it happen.

Did it hurt? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Do I still love Jesus? Yes. Will I now be removed from the staff at Vertical Church? No.

Check out these pics, taken by my lovely wife (who I believe was secretly snickering at the pain I was enduring):

I have to thank my awesome tattoo artist, “Big Rob,” at The Chop Shop in Hope Mills, NC. Dude did an amazing job. Highly recommend him.

Hear me on this: Getting a tattoo is not for everyone. But, glorifying God with your body is for everyone. So, how are you glorifying God?

All glory to You, Jesus. AMEN.

Being Passionate vs. Laying Low

Posted on April 27, 2011 by jon in church, culture, evangelism, fear, leadership, life, random thoughts, theology, youth ministry | Leave a comment

Let’s admit it. We all like to lay low from time to time when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission. There are a lot of us who don’t want all the baggage that goes along with sharing Jesus with others. Sometimes it’s because we’re overwhelmed. Sometimes it’s because we’re afraid. Sometimes it’s because we feel foolish or, come on now, even ashamed.

This past Sunday morning, our lead pastor Mike P. started off his message by talking about how Vertical Church is seeking to fulfill our part of the Great Commission by “leading people to be passionate about Jesus so that they can lead others to Jesus.” Take a second with me here and think about the implication of the last part of that statement. What if we re-worded it “…so that they can BE PASSIONATE about leading others to Jesus.” That word: passionate – how do we actually become passionate about sharing Jesus with others? Let’s look today at a few hindrances we have to overcome if we are going to develop this passion that makes us want to share Jesus uncontrollably.

1. Realize that you don’t have to be a theological scholar to share Jesus with someone. In fact, check this out:

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty… – 1 Corinthians 1:27
(AKJV)

Isn’t that reassuring? Even if you feel foolish, even if you think God could never use anyone with your lack of biblical knowledge, God said through His Word that he would use the foolish to “CONFOUND” the wise! If we can come to terms with this, the passion can begin to form within us. Now this doesn’t mean that we should abstain from reading and studying Scripture, but how much you know or don’t know should not be the basis upon which we seek to share the Good News with someone. Why? Because you might not know where that other person is anyway with their own knowledge, and even so, it isn’t Scripture that saves people – it’s JESUS that saves people.

2. You can’t be ashamed of Jesus. Now, why would anyone be ashamed? For one, because of public perception. Think about it – if you have lifelong friends who are unchurched, unsaved, and openly living in sin with no desire for reconciliation and salvation, you might be a grade-A Christian, but talking about Jesus to these friends? Many of us would say, “forget about it.” This is usually the number one objection to teenage evangelism as I’ve found through years of trying to teach teens how to share their faith. Listen to what Paul wrote in the opening chapter of his letter to the Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of
God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the
Jew, then to the Gentile. Romans 1:16 (NIV)

If you know anything about Paul, you probably know that Paul wasn’t ashamed of the Gospel. It kind of goes without saying. I mean, he was arrested for sharing the Gospel, and continued to share the Gospel from prison – he was eventually martyred for it! But why was he never ashamed? Because he recognized that it was synonymous with the power of God, which needs to be shared with everyone. Do you recognize that power? Have you ever read something in Scripture and thought – “WHOA!” The Word of God is powerful – insanely powerful.

3. We can’t be afraid of animosity, rejection, or even persecution. When we hear the word “persecution,” we don’t really think of that word applying to us, especially in the United States. But essentially, the word persecute means “to cause to suffer, to harass, or to systematically mistreat.” When we put it like that, chances are we’ve all been persecuted before. After Jesus ascended to be with the Father, and the church began to form in the book of Acts, the apostles faced constant persecution by the chief priests and government. They were even flogged due to their refusal to “lay low.” However:

The apostles left the [council], rejoicing because they had been
counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 5:41 (NIV)

What if we looked at persecution as a privilege? What if we rejoiced over something like this? In today’s culture, sharing the message of Jesus isn’t particularly easy or welcome on many accounts. But I’ve always heard that “nothing worth doing is ever easy.”

So, all that being said, are you laying low right now? Do you feel unworthy or not quite knowledgeable enough? Are you nervous about what others will think? Is it just really hard for you to share your faith? I want to encourage you – you’re not alone. In fact, if we believe what we read in Scripture, we are all unworthy and undeserving. But you know what? Jesus died for all of mankind, out of His unending, unconditional love for us, and God wants to use you to share that message. That, friends, is something we just can’t keep to ourselves. How can we not be passionate about leading others to Jesus?

Life Change, Part 1 – The Fast

Posted on March 9, 2011 by jon in life, theology | 3 Comments

Last week was one of the toughest, most intense weeks of my life. Literally. Not only was I struggling with the decision to leave the church I’ve been with all my life, I was also on my first week-long fast.

A week prior, Nikki and I met for lunch and had a great conversation about why God seemingly hadn’t made His will clear to us. I had been thinking and praying earlier and had come to the conclusion that we hadn’t fully submitted. I told Nikki that I felt we needed to completely and totally submit everything to God as a sign of our humility and in an effort to allow Him to work freely in our lives.

On Friday, February 25th, I was sitting on my couch reading Acts when I came to this passage:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. – Acts 13:2-3

I was particularly drawn to this passage about the early church at Antoich because only after fasting and praying were Barnabas and Saul ready to do what the Lord had commanded. This passage made it clear to me that fasting was a sign of humility, and an active, constant form of worship. I also felt as though fasting had a close, biblical connection to preparation.

On Sunday, February 27th, our family went to a local mexican restaurant for lunch. I had been thinking about a fast, but wasn’t quite sure when to start or how long to go. The longest I’d ever fasted (on purpose – barring any times I’d been sick) was 30 hours. Seeing as how I love to eat, I knew I needed to make a gradual transition. Maybe eat less and less until I was comfortable with nothing. So, of course, I completely stuffed my face at that restaurant. I was so full that I wanted to go to sleep. But later that evening, as dinner approached, I felt a strong sense of God’s call to me that I needed to start my fast right then and there – and it needed to be for one week.

I was hungry on Sunday night. A couple of our youth parents made a great meal for the kids, and I was immediately tempted. But when was Jesus tempted? When He fasted. Yep.

I went to bed that night thinking – well, here we go, God. It’s on.

The next two days were excruciating. I mean, I love food. As the week went on, it got progressively easier, though. I was drinking water and apple juice only. I actually began to like apple juice a lot more.

God finally revealed His plan to me on Friday the 4th of March (I’ll share that in part 3 of this short “series”). At that time, I was tempted to break my fast, but my wife helped me remember my original conviction and what I believed God had instructed me to do, so I continued. I ended my fast on Sunday the 6th… with communion. The first morsel of food I had eaten in a week was the symbolic “body of Christ.” I have to admit – it was good.

Fasting was an amazing experience. As a side note, I even lost 12 pounds. But during this week, I felt closer to God than I ever had.

Next, I’ll share with you my incredible journey through scripture – when I planned to just “read a little more each day,” and ended up with, well, way more than I bargained for.

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