Tattoos, Cigarettes, and Sex

DO NOT EAT.

Those are the big, bold, capitalized letters on every packet of silica gel. There are no gray areas when it comes to whether or not you should consume silica gel – no excuses and no need to argue. Not everything is that clear though, even when it comes to the Bible. The Bible was written thousands of years before cigarettes, modern birth control, and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, so how do we navigate the gray areas not mentioned in Scripture?

Last Sunday at Awaken, we explored the topic of gray areas and got some pointers from Scripture on how to honor God even when it’s not in black and white. I hit as many controversial topics as I could, since we were on the subject, and we had a blast. In fact, I even got to pray with 3 people to give their lives to Jesus!

According to 2 Peter 1, God has given us “all we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His name.” So although it would be impossible for the Bible (or any book) to address every single scenario we will encounter, it does equip us with the tools to make Godly, discerning decisions.

Using what the Bible does tell us, we came up with 4 questions that we can ask when facing a “gray area”…

Can I glorify God in it?

1 Corinthians 10:31 - Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

If something we want to do defeats the purpose we were created, DON’T DO IT!

It may be lawful, but is it helpful?

1 Corinthians 10:23 - All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

As humans, we are free to do many things, but that doesn’t meant we should do all of them! If it’s not helpful or beneficial to others, we should avoid it.

Will it pollute or purify?

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

I know you think that what you watch or listen to doesn’t affect you, but it does. What goes in must come out, and Jesus said in Mark 7 that it’s not what goes in that defiles a man, but what comes out. How did it get there in the first place? You put it there!

Will it cause others to stumble?

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. 

This question is golden because it helps us to prioritize. You may be free to do it, but if it’s going to hurt your witness, is it worth it?

Earlier in the week, we allowed people to anonymously ask questions through our website about “gray areas.” We got some great questions, so I chose the top 9 to answer during the services. I answered 3 per service, then we pieced them all together so everyone could see them all (video below). I answered questions about sex, birth control, drinking, smoking, tattoos, addiction, violent video games, and more. I haven’t received any hate mail yet, but I’m ready!

You can watch or listen to the whole message HERE or watch the video of just the questions below. Enjoy!

God’s Will: Stop making it so complicated.

Why have we turned “finding God’s will” into such a hot-and-cold/hide-and-seek scavenger hunt? It’s good (and Biblical) to seek God’s will, but it’s not near as complicated as so many people have made it out to be. Even the phrase “finding God’s will” implies that it’s lost and there’s a search going on to locate it.

GOOD NEWS: God’s will is not lost and it’s not complicated.

We all love formulas and and mechanics, so on Sunday at Awaken, as we covered this topic, I gave a process on how to find God’s will for your life. It’s a 5 to 6 step process called Proverbs 3:5 TO 6, and here’s how it works…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

In the pursuit of God’s will for our lives, God has given us something so much better than formulas and codes – He’s given us a relationship!

A lot of people have gone about it all the wrong way. They treat God’s will as though it’s some distant future plan that He has for them, that will take years of frustration and secret decoding to figure out. But as long as you are in God’s Word, in prayer, and in repentance, God promises to lead and direct you. And as you are faithful with what God has told you in black and white in Scripture (1 Thess 4:3, 1 Thess 5:18, 1 Peter 2:15), He’ll be faithful to guide you.

So, bloom where you’re planted. Dig your roots in where you are and be faithful with what God has given you and you’ll find yourself living directly in the middle of God’s will for your life!

Catch up with our whole “Framework” series HERE.

STOP following your heart!

You can trace the evolution of the English language each year by which words were added to and subtracted from the dictionary. For instance, in 1997, “Macarena” was added, then in 1998, it was subtracted (like they wanted to pretend it never happened!); in 2001, “retail therapy” and “street cred” were added; in 2006, “google” became a verb in addition to being a proper noun; and in 2011, words like “social media,” “tweet,” and “fist bump” were added.

However, there’s a phrase that I hear often that I’m tired of hearing. I want to put it out there as a plea to quit saying it and most importantly, to stop doing it. Here’s the phrase I don’t want to hear anymore: “I’m following my heart.”

Almost every person I sit down with in counseling is suffering from the results of following their heart.

You probably read the headlines recently of the teacher who left his wife, children, and teaching career in order to move in with a former 18-year old student. Their reasoning was “We’re following our hearts.”

He’s in prison now. Why? Because he followed his heart…and that’s where your heart will lead you.

The Bible says our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked – no one can know it (except the One who made it, of course). The Bible also says that without Jesus, we’re dead in our sins.

So I say to stop following your heart because without Jesus, your heart isn’t beating!

What you really need to do is follow Jesus – the One who breathes life into dead and dying hearts. He’s the One who will never let you down or lead you astray. And although following Jesus often goes directly against the feelings and direction that your heart says to go, His way is the right way, and the one way that you’ll never regret following.

Stop following your heart and follow Jesus.

Make sure to listen to or watch this message about the church in Sardis who suffered the consequences of following their dead hearts into the grave.

The temporary pleasure is not worth the lasting pain.

Mercy from A-Z

Last night at Awaken, I taught from Psalm 136. It was the second-to-last message in a series called HeartBlog, a sampling of the book of Psalms in 15 weeks.

Psalm 136 is a unique Psalm – it repeats the phrase “His mercy endures forever” in every single verse (26 of them!). The phrase may seem a little repetitive, until you think about how much mercy you really need. When you grasp the depth of your sin, that phrase will become one of your favorites!

26 uses of the phrase made me think of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. I realized that for every letter I could use to describe sin, there is mercy to cover it.

God’s mercy covers us from A-Z!

Although the Psalmist did not have this in mind as he wrote, it applies to us today. Here’s a sampling of sin and a side dish of mercy to go with each one…

Adultery

His mercy endures forever.

Blasphemy

His mercy endures forever.

Complaining

His mercy endures forever.

Deceit

His mercy endures forever.

Envy

His mercy endures forever.

Fornication

His mercy endures forever.

Gossip

His mercy endures forever.

Hate

His mercy endures forever.

Impure thoughts

His mercy endures forever.

Jealousy

His mercy endures forever.

Kidnapping

His mercy endures forever.

Lust

His mercy endures forever.

Murder

His mercy endures forever.

Neglect

His mercy endures forever.

Offending little ones

His mercy endures forever.

Partiality

His mercy endures forever.

Questioning God

His mercy endures forever.

Resisting the Holy Spirit

His mercy endures forever.

Slander

His mercy endures forever.

Teaching another Gospel

His mercy endures forever.

Unbelief

His mercy endures forever.

Vanity

His mercy endures forever.

Watching evil

His mercy endures forever.

eXtortion

His mercy endures forever.

Yielding to temptation

His mercy endures forever.

Zeal without knowledge

His mercy endures forever.

God HATES sin.

I’m NOT saying that God just winks at our sin, supplies the appropriate amount of mercy to cover it, like Aloe Vera on a sunburn, then moves on. God HATES sin – it put His Son on the cross. However, because Jesus died on the cross, there is mercy to cover every sin.

Repent from your sin from A to Z, recognize that if it weren’t for mercy, you wouldn’t even be alive to repent, then receive mercy with confidence!

Sermon Leftovers #7: The Psalm 19 Challenge

Do you remember Show & Tell at school?

It was basically a chance to SHOW off and TELL everyone how awesome you are.

The best Show & Tell was something that everyone got to touch or take home with them: ice cream sandwiches, marbles, petting your rabbit – those were cool.

Honestly, nobody cared about the kitten sweater that your grandma made for you or that you’re “starting to get good at playing the recorder.”

Psalm 19 is God’s version of Show & Tell – it’s God on display through the world He created and the Word He recorded. The best part is, just like the best Show & Tell, we can take it home with us!

When I taught Psalm 19 last Wednesday, at the end, I issued The Psalm 19 Challenge. It has 2 parts:

1) Spend 15 minutes enjoying God through NATURAL REVELATION (creation/nature).

We all have at least 15 minutes that we can spend enjoying the sights and sounds of God’s creation. After all, “God’s glory is on tour in the skies…” (Psalm 19:1 – The Message). His fingerprints are everywhere you look. I challenge you to do this. Find some time somewhere in the busy-ness of life to separate yourself from technology and all distractions, and just take it all in. If you need an extra challenge, try counting the stars. When you can’t count any more, stop and think that not only does God know exactly how many there are, but He created them, knows them by name, and hold them in place!

2) Spend some time every day for the next 7 days enjoying God through SPECIFIC REVELATION (your Bible).

The world is a great, generic way that God reveals Himself to us, but the Word is a much more specific way. He lays out His plan and His love for each of us in a 66-volume masterpiece called “The Bible.” Most books that you read, you’ll never talk to the author, but the Bible is different – you have a direct line of communication with its Author. So, ask God to speak to you through it.

My prayer this week has been that people would experience God in a whole new way as they enjoy Him in these 2 ways. I also pray that our response to Him would be like David’s was in the closing verses of Psalm 19: repentance and obedience.

So, have you taken The Psalm 19 Challenge? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Sermon Leftovers #6: Courageous, Contagious Faith

Last night in Acts, we covered 70 verses (2 whole chapters). I didn’t have time to read every single verse, but we got through the whole thing!

We saw a big transition take place in Acts 21:27 when the Jews found Paul in the Temple, grabbed him, and dragged him out. From that point on, through the end of the Book of Acts, Paul is a prisoner (an “ambassador in chains” as he calls himself in Ephesians 6:20). At first glance, that might seem like a bad thing, but not to Paul – God had blessed him with an all-new prison ministry (read Philippians 1 for his thoughts about that!)! He wasn’t chained to guards – the guards were chained to him!

The thing that stood out to me about his arrest is that he knew it would happen. Right before he rolled into Jerusalem, something interesting had happened at Philip’s house in Caeserea. A prophet named Agabus had shown up, yanked Paul’s belt off of him, hog tied himself, then prophesied that the owner of the belt would be bound in that way by the Jews in Jerusalem.

It’s not much of a puzzle who he’s referring to – he had just grabbed the belt from Paul.

Paul’s friends had the natural response – they begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

Paul had the normal Paul response – he told them to quit crying because he was ready not only to be bound, but to die if need be (Acts 21:13). I love his attitude. He knew God had called him there, and no matter what happened, he would obey. Those prophecies were not prohibition, but preparation.

What happened next is key. Read it for yourself…

14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.” 15 And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge. – Acts 21:14-16

Did you catch what happened?!

2 things happened as Paul stepped out in faith and obedience:

1) His friends rested in God’s sovereignty (vs. 14 – “The will of the Lord be done.”)

2) His friends stepped out in faith (vs. 15-16 – the very men who tried to talk him out of going ended up joining him!)

Paul’s courageous faith in the Lord was contagious to those around him.

That’s the faith we’re all called to have. Many of us often say that God provides, but what people really need to see is us putting feet on that faith. If you believe that God can provide and is in control, live like it! Your courageous faith in the Lord may be exactly what someone else needs to see to encourage them to trust the Lord as well.

God knew we needed these examples of faith – you can tell by how the Bible was written. Just imagine the libraries that God could have filled with books about creation and the Flood! He could have explained how and why He made the animals, and described what it was like seeing things come to life by His words. He could have gone into far more detail about the Flood that ravaged the Earth. Instead, He summed all of that up in just the first 11 chapters in the book of Genesis, and spent that latter 38 discussing the daily events of just a few men of faith (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph). We learn by example. Others are looking to you for that example.

Does your faith have any substance to back it up? Is your faith courageous faith or comfortable faith?

Anyone can have sit-back-and-chill, comfortable faith, but no one is really interested in that, honestly.

People are inspired by, and need to see confident, courageous faith. That kind of faith is contagious!

Sermon Leftovers #5: If I Knew the Future…

We covered a ton of great stuff in last Wednesday’s study through Acts 20, but there was a lot that I didn’t have time to expound on too. This Sermon Leftover blog is from that Wednesday night study as well as yesterday’s blog post, Put Yourself First.

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Wouldn’t it be sweet to know the future? No. I don’t think it would be.

I mean, I guess there are certain times that it would come in handy – a minute before a car crash so you have time to avoid it, a few seconds before you spill your drink all over your nice clean shirt on your lunch break… I’m sure you can think of a few others.

However, when it comes to knowing the future about what will happen as you follow the Lord, I think it’s better that God spares us the details at certain times.

I love how Paul addressed this issue in Acts 20. He told the Ephesian pastors that he knew suffering was coming, but that’s it. He knew no other details besides that it wasn’t going to be “a walk in the park.” Here are his words from Acts 20:22-24…

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. – Acts 20:22-24

He didn’t know much about what the future held, but he knew one thing for sure: there would be suffering.

Don’t get me wrong. God is very detailed about the future at times (read Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation), but many times in our personal lives, He likes to leave a little mystery in it.

Here are two reasons I think it’s healthy that God doesn’t always spell out the future for us…

1) We wouldn’t be “walking by faith” then.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

There’s no need for faith if God shows us everything that’s ahead – He’d be contradicting His own command by not allowing us to walk by faith. Sight removes the faith factor. God knows that. He knows that the best way for us to learn to trust Him is for us to walk into some situations where we are forced to lean completely on Him. Those situations are scary…and healthy for us.

2) We might change plans.

A few months ago on a Wednesday night, I preached to 3 women and Nate. There were 4 women in Kids Ministry watching 18 kids, and since Denver was out of town and most of our guys are currently in Afghanistan, that left Nate, myself, and 3 women in the main service. I thought for a moment that I was teaching women’s ministry. Sounds awkward, doesn’t it? Honestly, I loved it. We had a great time and it wasn’t awkward at all (although I’m aware that it sounds like it would be very awkward). I preached like the room was full.

But let me be honest. If I had known about that Wednesday night while I was in Albuquerque making plans to uproot my family and move to start a church, I wonder what I would have thought. I’ll bet the temptation would’ve been heavy to not go.

Or how about the Flood of 2010 – the worst flood this part of the world has seen in hundreds of years. It just so happened that I moved to the area that would be flooded and started a church on the very street that got hit the worst. I would have never pictured myself going through what we went through when the church was flooded. I moved from New Mexico. Their state flower is the yucca (google it). Their grass is brown and cactus grows like weeds. It’s the land of tumble weeds. The last thing on my mind a year ago was what we’d do if the church got flooded. The last thing on my mind on May 2 (the day before the flood) was what we’d do if the church got flooded. Never. Crossed. My. Mind. Ever. But here we are – post-flood. I can now confidently say that we are better off for it.

If I knew that those situations (among many other things) would take place, I wonder what I would have thought. It certainly would have made staying in Albuquerque seem much more appealing. However, since God chose to spare me those details, we moved to Clarksville – flood and all. We are SO glad we did!

If I knew the future…it wouldn’t be good. God gives us just enough info to keep us going, but not so much that we have it all figured out. After all, He wouldn’t want to ruin the surprises, would He?!

Sermon Leftovers #4: Put Yourself First

If you’ve been on an airplane before, you know how it goes. As you sit there with your electronics switched off wondering if they really interfere with airline communication, the charades begin in the front of the plane – the seat belts, the exit doors, then the oxygen masks. I remember when I was young and they would tell the parents to make sure that “in the case of an emergency,” they put their own masks on first, then tend to the children or people who couldn’t do it themselves. That seemed so selfish to me. “I have smaller lungs,” I thought. “I should be the one who gets the mask first.” Then one day it dawned on me. If my mom passes out while trying to put a mask on me, we’re both out of luck.

A similar rule applies to us spiritually. Paul words it well in Acts 20:28 as he addressed the Ephesian pastors…

“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock…”

It’s simple, but important. Just like those oxygen masks, if we are more focused on taking care of everyone else than ourselves, we’re all in danger. If you pass out, spiritually, you’re of no help to anyone. That’s why it’s important for pastors (and all Christians) to prioritize the Gospel in our lives.

So how do you “take heed to yourselves”? What does that look like?

Set time aside to spend time with the Lord.
Don’t wait until you “have time,” because, let’s be honest, no one ever “has time.” There are a million other things you can do with your time than spend time reading the Word and praying. It’s easy to fill up your spare time, so make sure that you set time aside. Since you don’t “have time,” that means you need to MAKE time.

For me, it works best in the morning. Yes, that does mean I get up about an hour and half before I’d actually need to wake up, but losing a little sleep is worth it to me. Once my day gets going, slowing down for an hour right in the middle is a challenge and I’m not near as focused. I want to give God my best time, so the morning works for me.

If you’re not a morning person, or it just doesn’t work for you, try a different time – during your lunch break, before bed, etc. My wife is really good at setting aside an hour or so every afternoon when the girls are down for a nap. That works for her. Whenever that time is for you, make time to spend with the Lord.

If you want to impact other people’s lives, the Gospel must be impacting you.

So, although it sounds selfish to put yourself first, in the long run, you’re making yourself more available for others by taking care of yourself!

Sermon Leftover #3: Control Your ANGER!!!

Anger is everywhere. Murder. Revenge. Theft. Road rage. They’re all examples of what people do when they’re angry. None of them are good. The Bible speaks a lot about anger and how to act when you find yourself angered. Why talk so much about it? Because when we’re angry, we often do things that we regret (like anything in the list above and many other regretful actions). That’s why when we read Ephesians 4:26 (which is quoting from Psalm 4:4), it may sound a little crazy:

Be angry and do not sin.

Pretty simple right? It’s only 6 words long, but living it out is much more challenging than reading it and understanding it!

I heard someone ask the question this week, “What does it look like to be angry and not sin? How do you do that?” It’s certainly not easy. And yet, I got to teach about a guy last Wednesday at Awaken who I believe embodied Ephesians 4:26. It’s Paul, of course. We finished up Acts 17 last Wednesday, where Paul addresses the philosophers in Athens about their altar dedicated to “The Unknown God.” Acts 17:16-17 gives us a quick peek at what it looks like to “be angry and do not sin.”

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

That word “provoked” in verse 16 means “stirred up” or “angered.” It’s the same word used to describe Paul & Barnabas’ argument at the end of Acts 15 which led to them going their separate ways. It’s not clear who was right and who was wrong in that instance, but Paul definitely did the right thing here in Acts 17.

It’s this simple: Paul did something productive with his anger. He didn’t lash out, beat people up, or cut somebody off in traffic, he talked to them about Jesus. The word “Therefore” in verse 17 tells me that that was his remedy to the problem at hand.

The problem: the city was given over to idols.

The solution: tell them about Jesus.

Not sinning when you get angry involves doing something productive with your anger. Don’t lash out; reach out. Don’t hurt; heal. Don’t fight; fix.

Admittedly, this is much harder to do than to say (or blog about), but it’s certainly something to shoot for and it’s part of our obedience to God’s Word. God doesn’t make rules and set boundaries because He’s God and He can, He does it because He knows that the best possible way we can live our lives is in complete obedience to Him. He has our best in mind. Obey.

What’s the hardest part for you about not sinning when you’re angry?

What are some steps you could take to work on making sure you do something productive with your anger?

Sermon Leftovers #2 – Palm Sunday 2.0

Last night was #3 in our Premeditated series. It’s been an incredible series so far as we’ve looked back at how God was evidently in control of the death of Christ – it was all part of His premeditated plan. Here are some leftovers from last night’s message that I was unable to expound on…

Today is Palm Sunday, but we missed the real Palm Sunday by about 2 millennia. That’s more than just “fashionably late.” The good news, though, for those of us who missed it, is that we all still have a shot at making it to the next one. I call it Palm Sunday 2.0. I say 2.0 because it’s the new and improved edition – a major upgrade from the original. We’ll call this future event “Palm Sunday” although I don’t know for sure what day of the week it will be on (there is a 1 in 7 chance though!) What event am I referring to?

Revelation 7:9-10 – After these things I looked, and behold, ​h​a great multitude which no one could number, ​of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ​clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ​​“Salvation belongs to our God ​who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And why 2.0? What’s so much better about this one? Here’s 5 reasons…

1) For starters, we can actually attend this one, since we missed the original one.

2) Jesus won’t be about to die, He’ll have conquered death already.

3) Jerusalem is nice and all, but heaven is A LOT better.

3) We’ll be surrounded by people of all nations, tribes, and tongues, singing the same song. Epic!

4) We won’t have to go to work the next day when the worship service is over – this worship service will NEVER stop. Ever.

5) We’ll really understand what we’re singing – salvation will be complete and we’ll have a complete understanding of the lyrics, “Salvation belongs to our God…”

I hope you enjoy your Palm Sunday celebrations today. What a scene to picture Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 – a prophecy made over 500 years prior! God is very detail-oriented and completely in control of all that’s going on!

Happy Good Friday (and Happy early Easter!)!