Thrashing Words

They throw their words out to and fro
     Just like a thrashing sword
And in a woeful ignorance
     Blood from the wounds out-poured

For words are not as harmless
     As we care for them to be
When we throw off the harness
     of the tongue it's stabs will be
     so fierce they'll make a spirit bleed

The worst part is the heart;
     It sees not what it brings
For thoughtless chatter, empty words
     To thrust such deadly stings
          Seems odd...

The thoughtful will bring healing
     The wise a remedy
While careless lips destruction bring
     The choicest words like silver sing
          A song to mend their broken hearts


"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts;
     but the tongue of the wise brings healing." -Proverbs 12:18

A Christless Christmas

A Christless Christmas,
     What would that be?
With stockings, trees, and Santa lists
     Could we see past the greatest gift?

Fine pieces on the tree we hang
     Would we forget our Savior slain
     To hang upon that bloody tree
     To give us life eternally?

Fine presents on that day we give
     Would we forget in whom we live
He died to purchase every gift
     To bless us with his presents

We make the food with family eat
     Would we forget the wedding feast
We wait upon the risen Lord
     To cleanse us with the blood he poured
     To wash our sins forevermore
     That as his bride we'll be adorned
To sit around his table

A Christless Christmas
     How could that be?
For Christ has purchased everything

To miss the Fount of every gift
You must have missed Thanksgiving.

Little Prayers From Little People

Little prayers from little people
Not from strong or mighty hands
Not from power or from greatness
But from children with a prayer

Little prayers from little people
Oh when God will show the world
How he moved the coursing rivers
At these small and humble words

Little prayers from little people
If only we could see
When they send their requests to God
He changes history

Little prayers from little people
We only see the strong
We see the steady pastor
But not the rock he's on

Weak old women will need help
Little children must be served
But what they offer up to God
Is the glue that binds the Church

Little prayers from little people
Find their way to Mighty God
And when he shows them to the strong
With tear-filled eyes they'll thank them.

Undeserved Grace

As humans, we presume on grace

We sin and bank on changing

We think that God is in our hands

A card we plan on playing

When trials grow too heavy

As God, He knows our every heart

He sees just what we're doing

Although He knows our wicked plans

He still keeps on renewing

Our hearts to be as broken

As we planned for them to be

The Lord is not our puppet

Although we may presume on grace

He still gives it so freely

We make demands and test the Rock

And to our great surprise

Despite our tainted asking

The water ever-flows

God does not leave his people dry

To prove their lowly motives

But in the wake of boundless love

We see the fools we are

His plan has come to pass

His children have returned;

In shame they wish they had not left

With silenced lips they thank Him. 

Eternal Resurrection

Reflections on the Resurrection: 

“It is a serious thing...to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics...It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splenders."

- C. S. Lewis

"An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out; those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the ressurection of judgment." 

- John 5:28b-29

Family and Christianity

Children are excellent candidates for disciple-making. They come into the world with no presuppositions and no cultural baggage, just them and their sinful tendencies to fight against. They quickly learn to trust their parents for knowledge about the world. When dad gives explanations for how things work, they’re true...because he said so. Because children have the tendency to believe and learn, the faith of a Christian is often compared to that of a child. In choosing disciples to invest in, why would it be foolish to chose the most teachable individuals who just so happen to spend all their time with you. 

Think about this: when a kid grows up in a home where the parents are bilingual, the kids will grow up knowing two languages like the back of their hand. In a similar way, when kids grow up in a Christian home, they grow up knowing and understanding the biblical faith, especially difficult aspects like God’s sovereignty and predestination. That doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of kids who take up contention with Christianity, but I think we underestimate the testimonies that begin, ‘I grew up in a Christian home.’ Seeing things this way makes having a large family a much more reasonable and strategic decision, despite American arguments to the contrary.

Not only is the family one of the strongest areas of disciple-making, but it provides a strong core for robust Christianity. Strong families ground individual believers, while doing much to integrate and support new converts into the Christian community. Also, by adding into the mix grandparents, newborns, young adults, men, women, etc., the family unit keeps the Christian community from being a group of people just like you. 

Since not everyone in your family is believers, it’s always a center for evangelism. Whether it’s cousin Bob who ran away from the faith but still comes to the family gatherings at Christmas, or your brother Joe who doesn’t love Jesus but still loves and listens to you. It also allows you to invite unbelievers to your home where they can tangibly watch godly fellowship. This is often a more comfortable context for unbelievers than local Church gatherings. In talking about discipleship and evangelism, I don’t think the role of the family can be overstated. I certainly don’t think it should be overlooked.

Can Christians Chop Down Fruit Trees?

Are Christians allowed to have tattoos? Do Christians have to take a Sabbath? Is tithing mandatory for new covenant believers? Can Christians cut down fruit trees during a siege while the Jews under the Mosaic law couldn't? (cf Deut 20:19-20)

These questions come up all over the place (except the fruit tree one).

This blog post has one simple point: These questions, all of these questions, are the wrong questions. As all Will Smith lovers know, "You must ask the right question" (I-Robot).

"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal 5:14). Christians have one command. One. Keep that command and fulfill the entire law! Rather than asking, "Is it allowed?" ask "Does it love?" Now that is the right question.

Theological Resolves Regarding Tradition

1. To never believe something the Church has never taught.

2. To ask both 'What does the Bible say about this issue?" AND "What has the Church traditionally said about this issue?"

3. To see authority in the Church as well as the Bible, albeit different in nature and degree.

4. To not hold a position on a theological issue without understanding the other major positions and properly located myself on the theological landmap.

5. To discern whether a theological issue is highly disputed or highly unified within the Church.

6. To establish the points of theology in which the Church is most unified (e.g. God as Trinity, Christ's Incarnation, Salvation by grace) as deserving the most conviction and the highest value.

7. To not defend a theological position before others without fairly describing the alternative positions and the support they have within the Tradition.

8. To be more teachable if the issue is more highly debated within orthodoxy.

9. To never criticize the Church from the outside. If I am part of the Church, I am necessarily engaged in a type of self-criticism, of reformation and not revolution. But if I am not part of the church, I have no business correcting it.

10. To go to church primarily to hear and receive from the shepherd God has placed over me, and not primarily to be a tester of their teaching.

11. To find humility in tradition, knowing that my views are neither new nor original.

12. To only embrace theology that leads to loving God and loving others.

13. To pray for wisdom and clarity when the Bible presents truths that appear to contradict true love.

The Gift of the Spirit

What is it that humans want? There are many answers to that question. Weak-sighted people may give answers like money, relationships, beauty, or popularity. I say 'weak-sighted' because rarely do people want these things for their own sake, but they want them for a deeper end. Money promises happiness, relationships promise joy and love, physical beauty promises self-fulfillment and worth, popularity promises the satisfaction of being valued. 

The problem is that all the promises the world has to offer are empty cisterns, blank checks that will only bounce back and smack us in the face, vanity and trying to grab the wind. On the contrary, God promises that he is our only ultimate fulfillment. He promises to deliver the happiness, joy, love, and fulfillment we desire, even in the midst of suffering. Perhaps God's promise that 'those who seek will find' is more radical than we think. Although God does not necessarily promise the things that we think will bring us fulfillment (e.g. cars, food, electronics), He does promise the Holy Spirit who will bring fulfillment. 

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13)

What if your life was suddenly penetrated by true and genuine love for others? a joyful smile through all circumstances? peace when the storms are crashing all around? patience so that you can wait contently when circumstances are not ideal? kindness, goodness, and faithfulness which flow from the love you have in your heart? gentleness when the world tempts you to strike back? and self-control, which is the truest of all freedom? (Gal 5:22). 

Is there anything on this list (which we tend to ramble off so quickly) that the world does not actively seek and deeply desire? Do we really believe that God will simply give them to those who ask? Do we really believe He will freely give His Spirit, to lead us into a most abundant life? After all, the best things in life you can't buy: a peaceful spirit, a good night sleep, lasting joy, etc. 

People have tried to buy the Spirit for His power and it didn't turn out so well. "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20). But all we have to do is ask, and God will give! Come, brothers and sisters, join me in asking for a Spirit-filled life, purchased for us by the blood of Christ because of the Father's love for us as His children! 

A Good and Faithful Servant

Finals week is a type of heaven. The person who thinks their works have nothing to do with their eternal reward have no concept for a "well done, good and faithful servant...enter into the joy of your master" (Matt 25:23). Heaven is going to be so much sweeter when we enjoy it after the strain, the heartache, and the endless toil. Yes, God's grace is the sole basis for our salvation and our righteous deeds. And yes, we do work; we work very hard.

What is that sweet rest at the end of a long day (or semester) if it is not a picture of our eternal rest? What is that pay check for a job well done if it's not a type of our heavenly reward? Woe to the man who disregards the mindset of working hard for a heavenly blessing in fear of legalism. He may well find himself becoming a lazy and unfaithful servant. May we rather thank God for his faithfulness in giving us the desire and the ability to serve him in the righteousness he provides.

"For it was granted [the Church] to clothe herself with fine linen...and the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints" (Rev 19:8).

A Parent's Ministry

Child raising should never be seen as a less-important calling for men or women. Raising up a godly family should be seen as one of the highest callings of your life. Coleman’s book The Master Plan of Evangelism helps to demonstrate that a heavy investment in a few can go a long way in multiplying the kingdom of God. Why not make ‘the few’ your own children? Why not make the people you spend so much time teaching, preparing, and equipping for further kingdom ministry the people who are already living under your own roof? Psalm 127:4 supports this thinking: “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” We are fighting a war and children are the arrows in the hands of parents. When a woman decides to become a mother and to put most of her time and energy in that vocation, she is not choosing the easy life or the life of peace. Rather she’s choosing to be engaged in war. She’s choosing to shape and fashion effective arrows that will pierce into the darkness of this world with the blazing heat of the gospel. But notice that the Psalmist refers to them as “the children of one’s youth.” This hits another issue. We live in a culture and an age which asks a young men and women aspiring to be parents questions like: ‘Why don’t you just wait a few years before having children? You’ll be ready when you’re older. Why don’t you enjoy life while you’re still young? You can have children later.’ While it may sometimes be wise to wait to have kids, this verse rules out the mindset that it is always wiser to wait to have children until you’re older. In fact, I there can be much wisdom in starting such an important venture such as child-raising early on. Just as the youth of a warrior helps him to fight with more vigor, so the youth of a parent is potential for more energy to be poured out into the struggle of raising children. 

Perhaps one thing that keeps us from seeing the value of parenting is that the fruit is not immediately evident. Isn’t it wiser to spend most of your time evangelizing the lost and doing ‘more important’ works of ministry? But this is the reasoning that Coleman pushes against in his book. He describes Jesus-like discipleship investment as “slow, tedious, painful, and probably unnoticed by people at first, but the end result will be glorious, even if we don’t live to see it...really it is a question of which generation we are living for” (32). Parents may not live to see it, but that doesn’t mean that their investment wasn’t worth it. The argument may be made that many people raised in Christian homes end up abandoning the faith, but even Jesus in his own ministry had a Judas. Our discipleship count will never be %100 . . . so maybe you should have more than one kid. :)

Spiritually Homeless

Home is where the heart is. At least, that's what they say. But what does that mean?

Some people may think it means home is where your affections are. But there's a difference between treasuring something or someone in your heart, and having your home there. Home is a sanctuary, a sacred space where you feel safe. You're able to open up and be yourself. You're more capable of allowing people to know you through and through. Home is not merely a place you value, but it's a place you belong. You can value something from a distance without actually investing in it.

Adam and Eve experienced this kind of home/sanctuary in the garden before the fall. They were naked and unashamed. There was nothing to hide.

With sin, it's much more difficult to find a safe place like this. Because of sin, we have so much to hide. So many secrets from God and others. We need clothes to hide our shame.

But there's a place for taking the clothes back off. First and foremost we need to be naked before the Lord. But there's also a desperate need for open/vulnerable relationships with others. We need to find people we can trust, and learn to be ourself around them. There is never risk in being open with God, but you'll find yourself in danger at the prospect of showing others the tender parts of your being. They may hurt you. They probably will.

Some people have lived in fear for years, and mostly because they still aren't right with God. They haven't been able to open up about sin and secrets. They remain with no home, no sanctuary. In a word, these people are homeless...spiritually homeless.

Co-written with Emily Moeser

A Frustrated Saint

There comes a time as a Christian when you return to the tree of the bitter and nasty fruit of sin one too many times. Time stops and you just ask Why? Why do I keep on cutting others down with my words and my rotten attitudes? Why do I continue to love money and material things above Christ? Why do I always compare myself to others? Why do I lust? Why do I idolize?

Quite frankly, I get frustrated; really frustrated.

If Christ's death is sufficient in and of itself to ransom for himself a bride and to clothe her with his own righteousness, what's the point of leaving the bride here in partial sin and great suffering? Couldn't we at least be a little more sinless...or suffer a little less?

I know there are many answers to these questions, but here's a thought:

One reason God doesn't apply all of redemption at once is so that we can live in a world of concessives

• Although we don't see him, yet we love him. 
• Although we don't see him, yet we believe that he exists. 
• Although we don't see him, yet we worship him. 
• Although sin makes promises, yet we trust obedience to be better
• Although we suffer greatly, yet we rejoice.

The list goes on. We live in a drama where we have the capacity for sin, we've tasted it's fruit, and we've experienced suffering. Though God could change our nature to a much greater degree, he chooses to let us continue the drama with these elements still in place. The old man still has power; his influence remains. God does this in order to show how even a little glimpse of Himself can spur a people to the greatest levels of love and self-sacrifice. Compared to other things in the world, our experience of God is extraordinary. But let me tell you, we haven't experienced God yet. We haven't seen his glory. And one day we'll enter into a new world which he is preparing for us; a world where great wonder and excitement awaits us. But in the meantime, may our lives only make sense through this 'kingdom lense.' 

Running and Coffee

I was almost at the two mile mark of my run (which, if you know me, is definitely the end). I realized at that moment that my relationship to running really reminds me of my relationship to coffee. Let me describe coffee first.

I broke down and started drinking coffee a couple weeks ago. Ever since then, I've been trying to figure it out. When I consider drinking coffee, it always sounds like a good idea. Immediately after I'm done drinking it, there's a strange sense of relief...or even accomplishment. Most of all I like it's affects on me. It gives me energy and life. But all of these positive things seem to stand against the bitter taste of the coffee which I can rarely say I enjoy. There are moments when I enjoy a good brew, but those are few and far between.

I also started running last week. Whenever I consider running, it seems like a good plan. Immediately after I'm done, there's that strange sense of relief and accomplishment. I've come to realize that I most of all appreciate the affect running has on me. It helps me know I'm alive. It gives me greater confidence and somewhat strangely helps bring me out of introverted seasons. It gives me time with God and helps me feel good about myself. Once again, all of these positive things seem to stand against the horrible feeling I get with a cramping stomach or imploding lungs. There are moments when I enjoy a good run...but it's rare for me not to feel like I'm dying.

Sometimes it's not the activity itself that you enjoy, but the results of sticking it through. It's no coincidence that the Christian faith is compared to running a race. Sometimes it's a bitter experiences that help you know you're alive and that make you appreciate the sweet things in life. For the Christian, no pain is arbitrary. It may have a strange (apparently random) cause, but the result is what God has in mind. Just push through and God will bless your faith. (and yes, my analogy just put suffering in the same category as coffee and running; no remorse). May God help us to see the benefits of suffering for his sake. Amen.

Patience vs Complacence

I've come to realize that there's a fine line between patience and complacence. It's an inner difference, and one not readily noticeable by those watching. Because it's such a subtle difference, many people mistake a complacent person for a patient one.

Here's an example: Three people have been working out in the heat all day and are now waiting for dinner. As it cooks on the stove, they can all smell the sweet aroma of an incredible meal. 

The first man sees the food cooking and continues to grumble and complain that it's not finished now. It's easy to see that this man's attitude is wrong. 

The second man, however, is more difficult. In an attempt to be content while waiting for dinner, he decides to ignore the food for a while. By suppressing his desire for what's coming, time begins to slip by almost unwittingly. From the outside, this man appears to be patient. But deep down he just doesn't care anymore. Complacence guises itself as patience. He no longer longs for the blessing ahead, but tries to forget about it until it comes. 

The third man exercises true patience. Seeing something good that is about to come, this man does not suppress the thought of it in his mind. Allowing full desire for the supper to remain, the third man affirms that it is worth waiting for. Because his hopes are held high, the waiting is really difficult and can be described as suffering...or even longsuffering. 

The second man avoids suffering, but his desire for dinner is inadvertently diminished. Not only does he enjoy dinner less than the third man when it finally comes, but a lack of future expectations may undermine his current actions. While it may seem crazy for someone to stop cooking dinner because they no longer desire dinner as much, we can imagine a Christian who stops bearing their cross because they don't desire heaven enough. 

We ought to be like the third man, embracing our present circumstances as God's will while fully desiring the blessing to come. When we look at the fallen world, and the depth of human hurt, and the effects of the curse, there ought to rise in us a deep discontent for the present state of things and yearning for God's renewal. These longings place value on what we long for and help us to endure. For how can we claim to prize something we are trying to ignore? 

(Romans 8:18-25) 

Fire and Brush

A father and his son went out one day to cut a path through the forest. After working a while, they started a fire to burn the brush they had already cleared. The father lit a match and, starting small, added more and more brush to the fire. Then they went back into the woods. When they returned with another load, the fire was almost completely out, just a few flickers and some hot coals. To the son's surprise, the father threw an entire bundle of brush onto the fire at once. Surely what was meant to be fuel for the fire would put it out completely! The boy was wrong, however, and the father knew exactly what he was doing. If he understood anything, he understood fire. In his wisdom, the father would never put too much brush on it. What's more, the fire that began small was larger this time...and even larger the next!

Sometimes it may seem that God has put too many trials and sufferings on the hearts and lives of his children. Surely the suffering he has allotted to us with quench our faith. And if not, what's the purpose anyway? I'd like to remind you of two things. First, the loving father who struck up your flicker of faith will never let it burn out. There will be times when the brush lays heavy. When you can't see a flame. When all there seems to be is some hot coals. But God will not allow your faith to burn out. The second thing is this: God intends to strengthen your faith under the brush. When this trial is through (or even in it's midst) it will burn brighter than you ever have before. True faith, when tested by trials, always burns through.

Learning from Unbelievers

Although much about how the world is makes sense through a biblical lens, I've come to realize the value of hearing things from an unbelievers perspective. It can be tempting to write off most of what they say because we think it's 'not true.' But just because they don't have the same picture of the Creator and his creation that we do, doesn't mean they don't have genuine experiences or know true things about this world. 

For example: I've heard the cry of an unbelieving heart against the injustice that runs rampant in this cruel, sin stricken world. I've seen the hurt of an unbelieving heart over the betrayal of a friend. I've heard the helplessness of an unbelieving soul apart from the sustaining life and guiding hand of God Almighty. I've watched unbelievers offer up true thanksgiving, though they do not know who to thank for their life, their food, their family. 

Don't tell me that they see no truth
Their broken hearts still work
While they may not have answers yet
True questions still do lurk

I believe we have much to learn from our fellow humans. A good friend told me the other day that we are all born with a natural bend toward good. After some original sin red flags shot up, I realized that she was right. People do seek to do good. Yes, sin is always present, and all are guilty before God. But that doesn't negate the fact that people are born knowing good and evil, and that they ought to practice the good. Now that's grace. 

Prayer

Matthew 21:22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Verses like these which are meant to encourage genuine faith often leads into a vert dangerous way of thinking. When our prayers seem ineffective, we begin to question whether we had ‘enough’ faith. This leads us to think that if we just work up a little more faith, then God would answer our prayers. The fundamental problem here is that we shift our attention from God, who is the object of faith, to faith itself. We turn faith into a work, thinking that prayer will only be effective if we know how the system works. We can’t create faith for ourselves; it’s is a gift of God. However, our faith will be strengthened by setting our eyes on God himself. We must see God as a loving Father, and we must trust him to give us the faith we need to pray rightly. We must have a bigger view of God than someone who will only work for us if we get things right. He’s the one working in us and enabling us to get things right. And even if we don’t have the proper faith, God is not bound. Nothing prohibits him from answering the prayers of selfish and doubting saints. He often does exactly this with me in order to show me his love, power, and freedom. Prayer is not the key to a machine to get what you want, it’s the key to a loving relationship where God where we can freely come to God and freely be blessed by him.

How We Love God

The main question I want to answer is this: How do we love God? If the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we ought to have a really clear idea of what loving God looks like. I believe this is where having fellow humans (especially brothers and sisters in Christ) becomes more essential than we often think.

In Matthew's depiction of the final judgment, the reason believers receive salvation is because of their love and service toward the saints, which Christ equates to loving and serving himself (Matt 25:31-40). I believe that truly loving fellow humans is at the heart of loving God and growing in a love for God.

1 John 1:12 poses a dilemma. "No one has ever seen God." While it's not impossible to find ways to love a God whom you've never seen (e.g. prayer, Bible reading, meditation), it's not at all easy. This is why God gives us family and friends. Loving one another is like a crutch, or a significant handicap, aiding us in our love and devotion to God and allowing us to live more faithfully. In other words, I believe the first and greatest commandment is largely fulfilled by faithfulness to the second commandment. While solitary devotion to God through prayer and reading the word are essential, the act of loving other people is also a huge means by which we love God. For this reason John says, "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). It's through the love we share with other humans that God abides in us and perfects his love in us.

So don't undermine the value of human relationships. If you want to express your love to God and expand your love for God, your interactions with other people are essential. After all, you aren't truly loving God if your spending all of your time being a jerk toward other people. "Whoever loves God must also love his brother" (1 John 4:21).

Also, God uses your family, friends, classmates, roommates, and fellow church members not just to express your love to him, but to expand your love for him. I've spent hours reading, studying, and memorizing the book of 1 John. But the moment I was moved to tears by realizing God's love for me was when I was holding a 6 week old baby. All I could think about was how much I would do to keep that baby safe from harm and make sure he had everything he needed. When the realization came that God loves me even more than I cared for that child, I hit the breaking point. The love we feel toward others teaches us about the love that God has for us. When we allow ourselves to grow closer to others, to feel more deeply toward them, and to care for them in a more significant way, we are not separating ourselves from God by drawing closer to another. Rather we are drawing closer to God by expanding our hearts for him and for others.

Resurrection

When thinking about the resurrection from the dead, we need to strike a balance between what we can know and what we can't.

Many theologians who teach the resurrection from the dead rightly emphasize the fact that we will have bodies in the new heavens and the new earth. We will not be floaty spirits which are finally set free from the material world. Material things are not inherently bad, and so our body is just waiting for the physical (and the spiritual) to be redeemed and re-made.

Although we can affirm that we will have bodies, we will eat, work, and do other physical things, there are still many things we don't know about our future resurrection. What indeed will we be? Will we be just like we are now with a few modifications and a remission of our defects? Paul actually answers people who come to him with this very question (cf 1 Cor 15:35). He describes our bodies as a seed that is sown. We must die (be buried) and be raised. The difference between the seed that is sown (your body) and the plant that it grows into (your resurrected body) is extraordinary. Paul says, "And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel" (1 Cor 15:37). In some regards, what we will be in the resurrection is completely different. It's not perishable, dishonorable, or mortal, rather it's imperishable, glorious, and immortal. But there's only so much we can know, for as John says, "what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn 3:2).

While continuing to affirm what we do know (we'll have imperishable bodies, not just spirits), we can continue to wonder and marvel at what our resurrected bodies might be like. Indeed, the difference between a seed and the tree it grows into is very great. Be ready for an incredible future. Be prepared to be raised in power and glory. Be ready to see Christ as he is and to become as he is.

Here's the main point: Although your resurrected body will not be the same as the body you have now, it will still be yours and it will still be a body. 

Spurring One Another

Hebrews 10:24 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."

The author of Hebrews is exhorting Christians to use our minds and imaginations to consider a variety of ways to encourage one another to love and good works. Besides vocally encouraging someone toward love and good works, are there more creative (and possibly more effective) forms of exhortation?

I would suggest that allowing someone to see your good works is one form of godly exhortation. Although we should be wary of the dangers of man-pleasing driven obedience, we should also recognize that there is a place for allowing others to see our good deeds. My own experience is that seeing the faithfulness of fellow believers is one of the strongest motivations for my own obedience. When I see the connection between their heart-orientation toward God and the spiritual blessings that they experience, there's nothing that I want more than to be like them. I think that's one of the reasons why we have the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. We're supposed to witness inspiring stories of Christian faithfulness in order to be . . . well . . . inspired. For this reason, I think it's appropriate at times to allow others to witness your own faithfulness, given the right heart attitude. Didn't Paul himself boldly declare how much he labored and prayed for other people? Whenever someone tells me they've been praying for me, not only am I encouraged but I'm also exhorted to imitate them in a more prayerful lifestyle.

So this is my suggestion. Rather than going around telling other Christians to live a more holy life in order to fulfill Hebrews 10:24, perhaps you should simply seek to be a godly witness. As others see your faithfulness and the blessings you receive, they will undoubtedly be encouraged to follow in your footsteps. This concept has implications for how we worship on Sunday morning, but I'll save that for another blog. ;)

Element of Trust

In my mind, trust may very well be the most important characteristic of a healthy, loving relationship. Trust has many elements, and I'd like to bring up a couple.

First of all, trust is grounded in the past. It's not that you can't choose to trust someone you just met, or recently met, but the more someone proves themselves to be the kind of man or woman who remains true to their word, the more you can trust them. Even when someone abuses your trust, this can be quickly mended if they have a strong track record.

It's interesting that we often seem to trust people for the big things more than the little things. For example, you may trust my word more if I promise to bring your seizure medications than if I promise to bring your mittens. I think the reason is simply because one promise is more important than the other promise. Which is a bigger issue, your life being at stake or your hands being warm?

The irony is that it seems like the little promises (like remembering to teach someone a Spanish song) should be easier to keep than the big promises (like a marriage vow). The truth of the matter is that little promises are easier to fudge on. The first goal is to find a person who cares so much about the reliability of their word that you can trust them to keep even the smallest of promises. The second goal is to be that person for everyone else.

Hard Words Shouldn't Come Easy

There seems to be a tension when it comes to 'saying hard things' in the Christian life. We all know that there are times where our friends need to hear the difficult words, but I think we often misinterpret what verses like this actually mean. 

Like many other issues, there seems to be two extremes one can take hard words. The first is the person who won't say anything that might be difficult for the person to hear. A lot of the time we are tempted to soften the blow of reality for someone. However, telling someone it's not too bad or that it won't get worse is not going to soften the blow. If anything, it's going to keep them from preparing for the realities of life, making things more difficult. This is why the Bible tells us we need to carry a cross, or that we'll be persecuted for our faith. No one wants to hear that, but everyone needs to.

The other extreme is the person who joyfully and all too willingly takes up their task of saying hard things. I've found myself in this camp all too often. The fundamental problem with this approach is that saying difficult things to someone we love should be difficult. Even the attitude that it's easy to do communicates that we don't truly care for their well-being. The way in which we speak difficult truths really matters. It's the difference between speaking hard words and harsh words; the difference between love and carelessness. 

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 

Profuse are the kisses of an enemy" --Proverbs 27:6