Eternal Life Is Worth the Cost

Would love if you took time to watch my sermon from Gospel City Church on Luke 18:18-30.

The big idea of this text is that living faith sees Jesus as more valuable that anything this world could give or death could take.

The truth is many, like the rich young ruler, look the part and even walk the part. Many can rattle off spiritual truths, and hold gospel oriented, spiritual conversations. The tragedy of our humanity is that we are often focused on the “DO,” rather than the “WHO.” The rich young ruler had done so many things right, but the one thing he lacked was Jesus — and when faced with the opportunity to leave this word behind to gain Jesus, he wouldn’t do it. So it is with many on this earth.

Eternal life cannot be earned and it only comes through Jesus. And while it may indeed cost you this side of heaven, the reward of heaven is worth far more than it could ever cost.

Where Do You Run in the Midst of the Storm?

Where do you move to when you’re under pressure? All of us move toward something, whether it be anger, or sadness, or calculation. As human beings, it’s natural to either want to take the obstacle into our own hands, or avoid it all together.

But when our minds start to race and our emotions start to move, let’s not forget to move toward Jesus. He is calm, waiting, and ready — He may not calm the storm immediately, but for certain He will calm the heart and mind of those who ask.

Our most dreadful storms are but a hush to our Savior.

You Are Not Promised Tomorrow

Your urgency in hell will count for nothing, but your lack of urgency today could cost you everything.

What are you waiting for if you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus? Here’s 4 minutes to take to heart:

Living Faith: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

I recently preached on Jesus’s parable from Luke 16:19-31, about the Rich Man and Lazarus. This is one of the Bible’s most sobering passages, and greatest warning passages. It’s warning the listener to wake up because life is a vapor (James 4:14)! It’s hear today, it’s gone tomorrow, and immediately upon death we all will go to one of two places — we will either hear “well done good and faithful servant (Mt.25:21)” as we’re welcomed into heaven, or we will hear “depart from me, you worker of lawlessness, I never knew you, (Mt 7:23)” as we are sent to hell.

There are six things I took from this powerful parable of Jesus.

1. Man’s Condition, and how it does not matter in eternity

2. Death’s Reality — that everyone will die, and no one is promised tomorrow

3. Hell’s Torment — the souls of those in hell suffer so profoundly that even a drop of relief would mean everything to them.

4. Hell’s Permanency — you can’t get to heaven from hell, and no one from heaven will visit you in hell.

5. Scripture’s Sufficiency — people don’t go to hell for a lack of information. The Bible tells us how to get to heaven, and where to put our hope and obedience.

6. Today’s Urgency — today is the day of salvation! Repent, believe, and follow Christ. “Seek the Lord while He may be found (Is55:6),” before it’s too late.

Would love if you took time to watch this message, and ponder these thoughts in your own heart.

Psalm 103 Reflections

Today —— our responsibility regardless of feelings, is to bless the Lord from our souls. The soul is the deepest part of who we are. That’s the level that God desires to share with us today. Every day!

And not just from our souls, but the Psalmist writes, “let all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Every ounce of our being, every day can be called into account by blessing the Lord. Blessing Him with the thoughts of our minds, blessing Him with the service of our strength, blessing Him with the kindness from our hearts; with the words from our mouths, with the sights of our eyes, with the choices for our ears, and so on and so on and so on.

And yet it’s easy to forget, right? It’s easy to wake up in your feelings, acting on temptation, or just plain forgetting that your life is not your own.

When we forget to bless the Lord, we forget His benefits. There are benefits to following God. There are benefits to centering with Him on a soul level everyday, and Psalm 103 tells us to forget NOT all His benefits.

HE FORGIVES ALL YOUR SINS. Not some, not the ones you repent of…for those in Christ Jesus, God sees His beloved Son rather than your sin! Even the sin that you forgot about, or don’t know about!

HE HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES. God has the full picture. Your diseases, your sickness, your hardship, or your life may not look or be the way you wished it was right now. But when you choose every morning to bless the Lord from the depths of your soul regardless of your circumstance, you’ll remember the benefit that God’s in eternity, your place is secure in eternity, and every temporal thing you feel today prepares you for eternal perfection then!

HE REDEEMS YOUR LIFE FROM THE PIT. I am prone to run toward the pit. Ultimately, I’m prone to run head long toward the pit of hell, but even after God in His grace has saved me from hell, I still run to pits. The pit of despair, the pit of depression, the pit of anxiety, the pit of negativity…you name your pit. But then remember! He redeems your life from the pit! You don’t have to live there, or fall into there! Bless the Lord from the depth of your soul, and remember today what He has done for you!

HE CROWNS ME WITH LOVE AND MERCY, AND SATISFIES ME WITH GOOD. He’ll give you that crown every day. Every time you turn to him, seek Him first, and bless Him from your soul, you will find these good things.

So in remembering to bless Him from my innermost being everyday, despite my feelings or circumstances, I will undoubtedly be reminded of His great benefits and find strength for today. He’s that good! All the time!

You should read Psalm 103:1-5. Now? Yes! But perhaps every morning. What a way to lead your thoughts every morning to the place of praise. Your flesh will naturally move toward the pits of this world and you will easily forget the benefits of following God when your soul is not anchored in worship.

Living Faith: Surrender Your Heart (Luke 16:14-18)

This sermon is from Luke 16:14-18, where Jesus confronts the self-righteous Pharisees with their issues concerning divorce and remarriage.

Now there are few subjects that have more opinions and more ambiguity in our culture than that of divorce and remarriage. It’s important to note that God has zero unclarity about the issue, and while it wasn’t spoken of often in scripture, it was not due to a lack of God’s desire and plan for marriage. The questions and opinions around the subject today are only due to a world muddled with sin. Things are not as they were ever intended to be. We are broken people living in a broken, decaying society and are contributors to it when we choose to live by our own passions and desires, rather than by what God has called us to in His word.

Marriage is for the glory of God! When we treat it as such, our marriages will be sustained by Christ-like forgiveness and a God-ordained covenant. He can redeem the worst of situations, the worst of offenses, and the worst marriages when we choose to forgive one another, and hold our marriages in high honor. Watch this short clip:

Now, a large majority of this passage is focused on the self-righteousness that all of us are prone to. Jesus was constantly getting to the heart of issues. While sin issues must always be addressed, our selfish pride and deceitfully wicked hearts are to blame. So in this passage, Jesus is addressing just that as He talks to the Pharisees and raises this particular issue. “

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, and does not lift up what is false.” Psalm 24:2-4

I don’t know about you, but I want access up the hill of the Lord. I want Him to have my heart. I want my actions to flow from a heart that is surrendered to God’s will and God’s word. I want to trust and obey, for there truly is no other way.

Here’s the full sermon if you have time or desire:

Open To Interruption

I read this earlier this week by Bob Goff:

“We might be known for how much we knew or what we said, but we’ll be remembered for how available we were. When I look at Jesus, I see a person who was willing to be constantly interrupted. Don’t carve out time for people in your life. Make your whole calendar an opportunity to be more like Jesus.”

I’ve been convicted often this year by the interruptibility that Jesus seemed to often display. Even amidst urgent business he would take the time with the people who came between Him and the task at hand.

As a planner and detail person, I can feel my blood rise when MY plan is interrupted. But even this week God has reminded me that HIS plan is always better, and when it involves loving others it is in line with the mission He has given us as disciples.

When we take the time to put the “busy” down and love another, God can show us that the urgent may not be as urgent as we often make it. And if it’s urgent enough to keep us from loving another the way Jesus did, it’s probably time to reorder our priorities.

Jesus didn’t just show us the way to live.
He is, in fact, THE way.

So go that way! His way is easy, and the burden light.

Even with all this interruptions!?

Yup! Something about doing life the Jesus way, brings freedom in the full, while the human way brings anxiety in the unaccomplished.

I don’t know about you, but I want to follow Jesus. I want to order my life and my priorities in such a way that I’m open to any interruption that might allow another to experience the love of Jesus, and the work He’s done in me.

I have work to do, but I’m thankful for the reminder in 1 John, that we love because He first loved us.

Who's Fruit Are You Bearing?

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Christ in You is the hope of glory. It's the remarkable truth that with Christ, those who fall short may no longer live for themselves, but for God. The Bible speaks of believers in Ezekiel 36, as those who have a heart of flesh; God puts His Spirit in the believer, causing them to walk in His ways and be careful to obey His statutes. 

With the Spirit, God's Word is illuminated, our hearts are convicted, and our lives bear the fruit of one who is a Christ follower; not perfectly, but there should be a progression. 

So tonight I had a meaningful conversation with Donald. Donald is about 55 years old, homeless, and has been addicted to alcohol since he was a young teenager. He's heard the Gospel, he knows right and wrong, and he depressingly told me how he keeps doing what he knows he shouldn't. He knows what he needs to do, but doesn't do it. He can't beat it. 

We talked about what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and about what the life that is pursuing Christ looks like. I wrote out the fruit of the Spirit on the napkin pictured above, and Donald came up with what we called the Fruit of Satan, or perhaps a better name, the Fruit of Self. A good friend did something similar with me once, but the truth for Donald, myself, and anyone else is so valuable. When we live for ourselves, we will produce bad fruit. In Donald's case, he acknowledged his lack of self-control in His life. He acknowledged having depression towards his situation, and anxiety about things like where he might sleep, or if he will live. His inability to have self-control when it comes to alcohol has led him so far down the path of destruction that he is so gripped by the need to drink.

While Donald's drinking is a problem, it is not THE problem. His problem is the same as mine, and is the same as yours. He instinctively is the king of his own heart, like all of humankind who fall short of the glory of God. By God's grace, some do not travel the heart-breaking road of addiction, but we all face the same dilemma of living for ourselves, or for a God who gave His son to save us from ourselves.

The Fruit of the Spirit, at their core, can only be fully produced in the life that puts it's own sinful desires to death. The Spirit works on our behalf when we surrender our lives to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Galatians 5:16 challenges, walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  

I shared with Donald the areas in my life, where I still battle with living for myself. I shared with Him the bad fruit that has come from those areas. But, I was able to share that since Christ changed my life. Though I'm far from perfect, I have the hope of defeating the hardest battles I face. Living for ourselves will only produce fruit that will disappoint, and eventually destroy.

Who's fruit are you bearing?