by Caleb Gordon | Mar 13, 2018
The world in which we live really is insane. We’re more connected now than we’ve ever been, yet it seems like most everyone around us can’t stand each other.
Research has shown, in the last couple of years, if you get a phone call from a friend it actually causes us anger, not delight. You would much rather receive a text from a friend than a phone call because you can answer a text on your time. Because we are viewing our time as more important than someone else’s time.
Do you see how self-centered and narcissistic we’ve become as humans? Our world, in spite of all of the advances in technology, has regressed when it comes to actual community.
Take notice, the next time you’re sitting with a group of friends, what are almost all of them doing? We (and include yourself because you’re guilty too) are not engaged in a meaningful conversation with each other. Rather, everyone is glued to a phone.
The next time someone interrupts you while you’re phone or device, take note of your reaction. Are you angered when you have to be pulled away from that screen, or is there grace given to the person wanting your attention?
Most often we’re angry. Why? Because we view our time as far more important than the other person’s time. I’m guilty of disconnecting from reality and plugging into the matrix to escape. So know I’m writing to me as much as I’m writing to you.
It should not surprise or shock us that children are degrading each other. If we as a society are inconvenienced, even a little bit, we fly off the handle at each other. Students say some of the cruelest things to one another all in the hopes of making a funny meme out of it. We’ve created the monster, and we are have given it a place to live in our houses.
I’m not blaming phones for our problems. They are simply barometers that tell us what’s going on in our hearts. Our hearts are the problem. So I have diagnosed the problem, what’s the answer. In short, it’s living in a Gospel-centered lifestyle. What does that look like?
- Be Present With One Another. Put someone’s desires over yours.
“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4).
When you are with friends and family, be with them. Engage with them. Ask questions that require more than a YES OR A NO.
When you begin to put someone else in front of you it really does transform so many things. When you’re looking at helping someone else’s cause, rather than just your own, something truly incredible happens.
Zig Ziglar once said, “You will get all you want in life if you help enough people get what they want.” The next time you’re in a group of people, look at how you can put their agenda ahead of your own. Rather than telling people about all of the incredible things you’ve gotten done, ask about that other person’s accomplishments. See what happens.
- Use language that builds up rather than tears down. If you notice on social media people are quick to rip each other apart. Even if you are in a ‘Christian social media’ platform or room, people are quick to rip each other apart.
It’s very rare that people are trying to engage one another in order to see them reconciled, but honestly, we engage in the hopes of being proven right. Take a look at this verse:
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29).
What would it look like if we purposefully used language with one another that always had the intention of building one another up rather than tearing each other apart? Prov. 18:21 says that there is life and death in our tongues. We really do need to make a conscious choice to use words that move us forward rather than drag us back.
- Outdo one another, in showing honor. We live in a world that loves to compete. We love to try and outdo each other. We attempt to top everyone else.
If you tell a cool story, I’ve got a cooler story that will make your story look like a child’s fairytale. But when we have a Gospel-centered view of life, we want to try to honor other people. We want to show respect.
The next time you’re with your crew, look for ways to honor someone or everyone in that group. See how it changes the atmosphere. And who knows? It might be so contagious that everyone might start living their lives that way.
Rom. 12:10 tells us this: “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
Like I said, when we have a GOSPEL-centered view of life our priories change.
The Bible is full of stories of people who were engaged in their community with one another, and if you notice, when those people were present with one another, there was a sense of completeness. Because it was really not about them, but rather about JESUS the author and perfector of our faith.
Let’s live our lives out in such a way that it catches on like wildfire, and we start to see the KINGDOM in our communities!
by Caleb Moore | Feb 27, 2018
It’s likely many of you missed this news, but for those of the Mormon Church, the passing of their prophet and president Thomas Monson was heard around the world. Monson was 90 years old and had been the Church Prophet for nine years. Most of the prophets are fairly old when they get the job, and the same can be said for the newest one, Russell M. Nelson at 93.
Why are they always so advanced in age? It has to do with the fact that founding prophet Joseph Smith never really left a clear path for who would follow him after his death. This caused lots of confusion and disagreement after Smith died, but now they just pass it on to the oldest serving apostle.
I have heard their new prophet speak before in person, and it was one of the most terrifying sermons I have ever heard. Years ago I was able to get tickets to a priesthood conference in Salt Lake City that is typically reserved for Mormons. It is a yearly gathering of thousands of Mormon men coming together to be motivated and to hear their leaders speak. I was the only one there not wearing a white dress shirt, and needless to say, it was obvious I didn’t belong, but one of my good Mormon friends wanted me to have the experience.
This was a few years before he would become the church prophet, but he still carried an important role within church leadership. Nelson was a former heart surgeon and one of the top surgeons in the world at his time. He began to tell of a story of an operation he had performed on two young girls who had congenital heart failure. Their family was Mormon and had high hopes for the surgery, but unfortunately both little girls passed away shortly after the operation was over.
For 60 years, Nelson felt a sense of guilt because this incident shattered the faith of the parents, and they stopped being active in the Mormon faith. Until one day, Russell Nelson claims he was visited by the two girls from beyond the grave.
These two young girls begged him, “Brother Nelson, we are not sealed to anyone. Can you help us?” In Mormonism a girl must be sealed either to her husband or her father in order to obtain everlasting life with the rest of their Mormon family. This sealing must be done in a special temple and contains a long list of things that have to be done before someone can be worthy to enter the temple.
Without this “sealing,” the two girls would remain in a lower level of heaven apart from the presence of God. The now 88-year-old father of the two girls was moved by the supposed plea of his two lost daughters and agreed to begin all the work needed to become temple worthy.
A person cannot just simply wish to enter the temple. You first must do a list of interviews to make sure you are temple worthy. All tithes must be paid as well as avoiding tea, wine and coffee, and applicants must confess their belief in the prophet of the church.
As Nelson spoke, my heart began to break. I could not believe what I was hearing, and I was terrified at how many people were smiling and nodding at his story. This supposed holy man was telling us all that God doesn’t allow innocent little girls into his presence until their dad pays his money and serves his time becoming temple worthy.
Nowhere do we see Jesus talking about temple marriages or sealing. What Nelson was describing was salvation by works in the worst way imaginable.
I turned to my friend and told him it was time for me to go. I was visibly shaken as I went over the details in my head, trying to get a grasp on everything I had just heard.
I told my Mormon friend that the god I had just heard described was a moral monster. This “god” would not let these young girls enter into his presence until a man paid enough money and served enough time to become temple worthy.
Can you imagine such a god? One who demands entrance into heaven must be purchased by good deeds and financial gifts? Can you imagine a god who would turn away young innocent children simply because their dad hadn’t kept up his payments to the church?
Russell Nelson is now the prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. We should as Christians pray for him and all those who sit under his leadership that they may come to know what grace truly is.
Next time a Mormon missionary comes to your door, welcome them in and share with them the Gospel as many times possible. Our God is a God who provides, not a god who demands. Jesus is enough, and that message has more power than we could ever imagine.
by Brian Hobbs | Feb 22, 2018
Like quotes attributed to any great figure, like Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill, it can be difficult to know what quotes were actually said by the person.
As best as I can tell, each of the following quotations were uttered by the world renowned evangelist, Billy Graham, who just went home to be the Lord. I hope they mean as much to you as they did to me.
On the Gospel and the Afterlife
“My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.”
“No, I don’t know the future, but I do know this: the best is yet to be! Heaven awaits us, and that will be far, far more glorious than anything we can ever imagine. I know that soon my life will be over. I thank God for it, and for all He has given me in this life. But I look forward to Heaven. I look forward to the reunion with friends and loved ones who have gone on before. I look forward to Heaven’s freedom from sorrow and pain. I also look forward to serving God in ways we can’t begin to imagine, for the Bible makes it clear that Heaven is not a place of idleness. And most of all, I look forward to seeing Christ and bowing before Him in praise and gratitude for all He has done for us, and for using me on this earth by His grace—just as I am.”
On Long Life
“Most of us, when we are young, think that we are never going to get old. I certainly admit feeling that way from time to time. … I know my time on earth will not be over until He calls me home. I admit I don’t like the burdens of old age–the slow decline in energy, the physical annoyances, the pain of losing loved ones, the sadness of seeing friends decline. But old age can be a special time of life, and God has lessons to teach us through it.”
On ‘Dad Life’
“Except in emergencies, we never let a day go by but we had Bible reading and prayer. As the children got older, we asked them to participate. When I was home, I went up to tuck them in and to pray with them. Sometimes Ruth would stay up till one or two o’clock if one of them wanted to talk. Some of the greatest conversations I’ve had with any of my children have been late at night. The same principles and promises we applied to our children are still true for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We pray for each one each day and spend hours each week on the telephone with them. Without question, the regrets are greatly outnumbered by the delights. The mistakes we did make were not fatal, and we both thank the Lord for that. And that bolsters our faith that He will do the same for the generations coming after us.”
On Life Regrets
“Although I have much to be grateful for as I look back over my life, I also have many regrets. I have failed many times, and I would do many things differently. For one thing, I would speak less and study more, and I would spend more time with my family. …
I would also spend more time in spiritual nurture, seeking to grow closer to God so I could become more like Christ. I would spend more time in prayer, not just for myself but for others. I would spend more time studying the Bible and meditating on its truth, not only for sermon preparation but to apply its message to my life. It is far too easy for someone in my position to read the Bible only with an eye on a future sermon, overlooking the message God has for me through its pages. …
About one thing I have absolutely no regrets, however, and that is my commitment many years ago to accept God’s calling to serve Him as an evangelist of the Gospel of Christ.
For some interesting facts about Billy Graham, check out this article by Joe Carter. What articles or things you’ve read from Billy Graham meant a lot to you?
by Aaron Hanzel | Feb 13, 2018
We all have a portion of our lives that we regret having to go through. For some of us it’s a decision or string of decisions that quickly remind us of how broken we are. A fleeting thought or a year-long battle that put us in a corner we didn’t like.
Sometimes it’s fear; sometimes it’s pride, but regardless of what doorway sin stuck its foot in, we carry that history of ourselves with us.
There is a portion of my past that lasted about six years that I can honestly say I regret. My plan for my life didn’t match up to my reality, so I gave up. I felt defeated-like I had failed. In a matter of days I had lost my apartment, my job and had to drop out of school. After the sting of defeat came the anger. I was mad at myself, at the world, at God, at everything. My anger became my comfort.
I wrapped myself up in selfishness and told myself “It’s not fair!” I dried my tears with it. I clinched my fists with it. I was self-absorbed as often as I breathed.
The American dream became the most real to me during this time. Work (physically and emotionally) as little as possible; do what makes you the most comfortable.
Years passed as I distanced myself from God, responsibilities and obedience. I find it ironic that this season of my life perfectly mirrors the Israelites throughout their story of the Old Testament. They fumbled along, trying to figure out how to “make it” by their own means. Just like them, the Creator of all things hadn’t given up on me.
The renowned musician John Coltrane was very familiar with the Lord not giving up on him. In his liner notes to the album “A Love Supreme” he describes what he experienced as “a spiritual awakening”. He talks about how he prayed and asked God to give him the opportunity to make people happy with his music, and he did.
Those six years I regret ended in the spring of 2016. I was visiting a new church for the first time along with my sister. When the band started to play and sing, I began to worship. I emptied myself to the Lord and begged Him to forgive me of my sins. With tears streaming down my face I asked Him to restore my joy and be the center of my life again. After a series of returning Sundays to that same church, I continued to weep for restoration and fellowship with the Lord. The Spirit has returned my passion. Jesus has restored my faith, and God Almighty has shown His glory in His grace upon my sin.
I look over my shoulder at the six-year span of wasted years, and I regret them. I don’t regret that they brought me back to the warm and loving arms of Christ. I regret that those years had to happen to me, that I had to be the one to go through sin again to be able to glorify God. I wish with all my heart that I could be like the angels in the sense that they never had to taste sin in order to worship. Since I am created in God’s image and lavished with love, I am at an advantage compared to the celestial beings, but I digress.
Brothers and sisters, there are even darker tales than mine of lives lived in sin, but I have good news. You were not designed to wallow in it.
When God formed you in your mother’s womb, He did not do so believing He would regret the breath of life breathed into you. The Spirit does not move throughout your soul with regret of every gentle tug He makes. And Jesus, praise the Almighty, stayed nailed upon a cross not because of regret of His love for the Father and me and you; He stayed for the glory of God. Oh church, there is no regret in righteousness! You were created for more than your past sins.
One of my growing favorite verses in the Bible loudly proclaims this!
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:9-11).
Do not stay in sin, church, rather empty yourself to God who has made you for greater things. He will heal and repurpose your life. Put your back to your past, so that you may lift your eyes to the One who will glorify Himself in you!
by Caleb Gordon | Jan 10, 2018
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates – Deut. 6:5-9.
We live in a “Christian parent culture” that, by process of elimination, is teaching by example. In and of itself, this is what we are called to do.
We are to lead our kids. We are to show them what it looks like to love Jesus. We are to show them what it looks like to love the church and to truly be committed to the body local of Christ.
But there is a problem. The stats are showing something different. More than 80 percent of students are walking away from the church by the time they are seniors in high school. And there are blogs, articles and books that attempt to address the “why,” but I think the biggest reason is that the parents are not truly living out Deut. 6:5.
We have adults who are professing to know and love Jesus, but they act as if they are atheists. Look at this command:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…”
What are we to be teaching our children? Are we teaching them to pursue Jesus with everything, to make him the top shelf when it comes to our priorities? Are we teaching them that being active in the church is important?
The sad thing that is happening is that the average church member only makes around two church services (meetings) a month. This includes Sundays and Wednesdays. Church attendance is not what saves us, but it is an outward barometer that measures what we view as priorities.
If you, as a member of any other social organization only made two meetings a month, it would be deduced that you really did not think that this group was that important. Out of all organizations on the planet, the church should be one of the most cherish and loved above all else. What we are doing in the church WILL matter in 10,000 years.
You need to ask yourself the question, “Does what your recreational sports team is doing going to really matter in eternity? Is it more important than the things that Jesus has called us to do?”
I know the regular arguments: “We can be salt and light if we are in these areas.” And the answer to that is YES WE CAN BE! But in all reality, 99.9 percent of the time we are NOT being salt and light.
We don’t want to rock the boat. We don’t want to truly engage on that level. So we remain quiet, or even worse, we dive headlong into the realms of the people who are present with us, and instead of showing the light of Jesus, we just become exactly like the other lost people. So in all reality that excuse is not truly valid.
It’s been my experience with people that if folks are replacing church with other activates, they are committing idolatry (i.e. they love this world and the things of this world more than JESUS). And just so you know, that ends badly for those people.
Our utmost commitment needs to be to Jesus Christ and the mission of Jesus, which is primarily executed in the local visible New Testament church. If you are devoting more of your time to any other organization or group, you are living un-biblically.
Matt Chandler said: “There is data out there that now shows that kids are not being secularized at college by some atheist teacher. Rather, they are being secularized at home, before they go to college by well-meaning Christian parents who can’t tease out the value balance between sports and activities and the gathering of people of God.”
So, in other words, a ball game or some other activity determines and dictates how your family views and operates around God and the church.
One of the major reasons atheism is growing in our church culture is because men (fathers in particular) in the last 60 years or so have placed high regards on everything and anything, (sports, money, jobs, hunting, fishing, video games, etc.) but the things of God (Bible study, Church membership, being active in that biblical community, and prayer) have mostly been ignored.
Because of this, it has had a trickle-down effect on children, so we are seeing children now not just ignoring the things of God, but rather becoming hostile to the things of God. So the bottom line is parents are choosing to show their children that investing in a ball and a gun is vastly more important than investing in the eternal things of God.
It’s time to change things! MEN (Fathers) WAKE UP! Take an active role in your child’s spiritual formation. How can we do that?
- Make sure you are committed to a local Bible-believing church. What does that look like? You and your family are actually committed and active in that community, and not just on Sundays but throughout the week. Have other believers and church members in your home on a regular basis, and show your children what a healthy loving church community looks like.
- Make time to have regular family prayer and Bible study together. This means taking time to get on your knees and pray with your wife and children. Open your BIBLE inside of your home, and encourage and lead your family to do the same!
- Be committed to living the Gospel out in your city. This means, actually do something. Lead and encourage your children to do mission projects that actually will have an impact, and commit to helping lead others to Jesus Christ!
What are we to be teaching our children? To make Jesus our EVERYTHING…and we should be chasing Him more than we chase anything else! Or are we teaching them that Jesus is just an add-on? What you’re doing right now with your children matters!
This verse sums it up: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).
by Hannah Hanzel | Dec 21, 2017
Dear Satan,
There was a time that you and I were friends. You and I achieved many sorrowful and terrible things together. But, as you well know, I am no longer with you. I have been released from your presence and captivated by a new love.
It seems though you have been extra active this year to reclaim many of the Children of God whom you lost over the years. As I hang my stocking with care this Christmas, I can’t help but feel the weight of your attacks. Every day on social media, the news, and even in conversation, your handy work is displayed in racism, divorce, mass shootings, car wrecks, cancer, natural disasters and more. You have indeed been busy.
But I do not write this letter to you in hopes that you may stop… I know that is futile. I write to you that you may know the truth of where we, the Children of God, stand this Christmas. With every murderous gunshot, teen suicide, wayward step, adulterous thought and cancer diagnosis, we lay victims as well as perpetrators to the sins of the world and to the mourning that comes with this darkness. But know this; we do not mourn as those without hope (1 Thess. 4:13).
Our hope gives us what we need in the wake of your treacherous work. For the times we wept over lost loved ones, Christ gave us comfort (2 Cor. 1:3). For the times we faced trials, God renewed our strength (Is. 40:31). For the times we suffered unjustly, God made us more conscious of His presence (1 Pet. 2:19). For the times we fell into sin, God faithfully forgave us in His justice (1 John 1:9). For the times tragedy fell on our nation, God reminded us of the great things He promised to do (Hab. 3:2). For the times bitterness and forgiveness seeped into our stone hearts, God gave us new ones of flesh (Ez. 36:26). For the times our prayers seemed to bounce off the walls, the Spirit interceded for us with His celestial groans (Rom. 8:26-27).
Satan, you have done everything you can to take the message of hope and rebirth from us this Christmas. But you must know something; you will lose. Christmas is not yours to take. The Gospel message of hope and life is not yours to give or take away. The precious baby that we celebrate on this day has defeated you. Your efforts are waning; your resources are depleting, and your victory is destroyed all because of the nail pierced hands of One greater than you.
You will not take our Christmas. Death loses. Cancer loses. Hate loses. Suicide loses. Divorce, Anger, Injustice, Starvation, Tears, Bitterness and Pain lose. You lose. The God of all victory, all majesty, all truth, all salvation, triumphs over you and this is the day that we rejoice!
Satan, as I sit with my family this Christmas Eve and my Dad reads the Christmas story from Luke, I will think of you for a moment. I will collect in my mind and heart all the things that have happened this year, good and bad. I will briefly mourn over the loss, but as my Dad reads Luke 2:10-11 I will remember my Savior.
“But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the City of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.’”
You will not take my Christmas.
Sincerely,
A Child of God