Not As Easy As You Think!

Speedy Morris, Baseball coach for LaSalle University, was shaving when his wife told him he had a call from Sports Illustrated. He got so excited over the possibility of national recognition, that he hurriedly finished shaving and nicked himself in the process. Not wanting to delay the caller he ran out of the bathroom, lost his balance, and tumbled down the stairs. Limping, with blood and lather on his face, he finally got to the phone.

“Sports Illustrated?” he panted…

Imagine Morris’s disappointment when the voice on the other end of the phone droned on, “Yes it is, and for just seventy –five cents an issue you can have Sports Illustrated delivered to your door.”
Life is full of disappointments, but maybe the greatest disappointments come from those things that promise so much yet deliver so little. Each and every one of us has been on both sides of this situation. We have felt the disappointment of promises not fulfilled, and we have made promises in one way or another that have not been delivered.

As Matthew brings his account of Jesus Sermon on the Mount to a close he reminds us that it's easy to miss our way into life if we are chasing after things instead of Jesus. Things will disappoint! They will break, go out of style, wear out, or we will become disillusioned with them and want something new or better. What is worse if we are pursuing them, they will eventually lead us to the wide path and away from Jesus!

13 "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. Matthew 7: 13,14 (NLT)

For three days Jesus pointed out choices. Now as he ends this sermon He reminds us that we can enter the broad gate, plug into the wrong source, or build on an unstable foundation. And if we choose those paths we will end up being very disappointed, because none of them deliver what they promise. The other option is to enter the Gate of Life through Jesus, Plug into the source of hopefulness in Jesus, and build our lives on a foundation that will never fail…

History is littered with people who’ve trusted something else only to find disappointment: Jones Town, Waco, TX, New Orleans, and maybe your life or the life of those you know and love. if you’re just grazing from one thing to the next… let me encourage you to focus on Jesus come into Jesus’ fold and follow Him to Life.

Pressing On,
Dale

Big Things In Little Packages

When I started Boy Scouts I was in troop 61 and our troop made a point of spending at least one weekend each month camping. I was still young and had just earned my Tenderfoot badge and was going to get to go on my first Overnight camping trip. It was a great experience… setting up tents that were used by the Lewis and Clark expedition , eating food that tasted strangely like bug spray, standing around fires that were smoldering because of the wet wood we used. But the highlight of the trip came Saturday Night when I was introduced to a new way to play football. Troop 61 called it Night Football…We’d find an open field without too many trees, holes, or roots. We’d set the boundaries and make teams and play football in the dark. I was 13 and rather small but I loved the game of football and was willing to mix it up the 18 year olds in a game of night football. To this day I don’t know why but I ended up on the front line defensively and while I was giving away over 12” in height and more than 100 lbs to many of the older boys, I still tackled more people than anyone else… That night was the first time I had ever heard the phrase, “Big things come in small packages” and the funny thing is they were saying it about me!

Today I want to share with each of you a truth that has been growing in me since that night. The truth is that you can’t always tell by the outside the potential of a thing. It may look really good on the outside, but be empty and worthless on the inside, or it may look rather tiny and insignificant on the outside, but be filled with great power and value. As people we are trained from an early age to assess, judge, and assign value, but the truth of the Kingdom of God and those in it is that “Big things come in small packages”!

31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches."
33 Jesus also used this illustration: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough." 34 Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35 This fulfilled the prophecy that said, "I will speak to you in parables. I will explain mysteries hidden since the creation of the world."
  Matt 13:31-35 (NLT)

As you consdier the truth of this passage, my prayer is that you remember it's God inside of you that gives you strength, power, and the ability to accomplish great things not your size, education, or history. May amazing things happen for you, and through you as you allow God to do what only He can do... take a tiny seed and turn it into a tree, or take a person like you or me and change teh world.

Pressing On,
Dale

What Do People Think Of Your Jesus?

If you were to ask the typical person what they thought about those who follow Jesus today, what do you think would come to their minds?

1) Tel-a-vangelists – Hypocrites

2) Soap Box preachers, screaming the end is near – Lunatics

3) Those who've chosen to live in isolated communities – Reject this world

4) Ned Flanders – Homer Simpson’s condescending neighbor

These images and a thousand others have lead people all around the world to a rather distorted picture of what God is like. It’s not that God is a hypocrite, a lunatic, a separatist, or is condescending it’s just that those people who represent Him often are.

With that in mind I’d like to share what I think may be one of the greatest and at the same time saddest facts about being a disciple of Jesus:

“What people see in us becomes their understanding of who Jesus is!”

It’s great because God has trusted His followers enough to give them the awesome responsibility of being His representatives to this world. It’s scary because more often than not we don’t do a very good job of representing Him. The only way anyone can truly represent Jesus to this world is if they are willing to leave all those things that seem so important behind and allow Him to reshape us into his image so that we can truly represent Him

2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. Rom 12:2 (NLT)

Most of the time when we hear that we have to leave everything behind we think of things like money, possessions, and stuff. But I think it’s a whole lot more than stuff: We have to be willing to leave behind our security, our self image, our reputation, our sense of purpose, and even our wills and be willing to allow Jesus to reshape us into His image. It is then and only then that we can truly become a follower of Jesus… You see there is a war going on and you and I are the objectives. Both sides (Jesus / satan) desire to shape us into their image, there is no middle ground people are either on one side or the other, and the only real choice any of us really have is who are we going to follow.

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers-- Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew-- fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!" 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. 8 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Matt 4:18-22 (NLT)

Jesus early followers left everything to follow Him, to learn from Him, and try to imitate Him. Not only did this surrender change them, but in turn it changed their world. The question I'd like to leave you with today; is when people examine your life what will they think of the Jesus you are showing them?

Pressing On:

Dale

Faith In Action

In April of 1988 on the evening news there was a tragic story of a Skydiving Photographer. The story centered on a jump that had been planned with the Photographer and several of his friends. He was filming as they jumped out of the plane and preformed several skydiving maneuvers. The big finish was to be each of the skydivers opening their chutes in turn and landing near the runway where they took off. One by one they opened their chutes until the last one discovered an almost unbelievable mistake. This last skydiver had failed to put his chute on before leaving the plane.

This last Skydiver had placed his confidence in his parachute, but he had failed to put it on. Everything had gone well with the jump up till that point... the plane ride was good, jumping out of the plane was exhilarating, the acrobatics went as planned, and everybody else's chute opened without incident. In fact the last skydiver had packed his chute perfectly and had it sitting beside him in the plane his fatal flaw was that he hadn't put it on before he left the plane. The problem wasn't his chute, his trust, or even his ability... he just didn't do what he needed to do.

As followers of Jesus we know that we need to put our faith / trust in Him. In fact you will often hear followers of Jesus say that trust in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. The question is what does “trusting in Jesus” mean? While the bible is full of teaching about the necessity of faith in Jesus, the book of James gives us a bit more practical explanation of the kind of faith God wants to see in those who are going to follow Him.

14 Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, 16 and you say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well"-- but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all-- it is dead and useless.

18 Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds." 19 Do you still think it's enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! 20 Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless? James 2: 14 - 20 (NLT)

It would seem that James is saying that if your faith doesn't change your life perhaps you should consider changing your faith. If what you have put your faith doesn't really affect anything in your life then one of two things would seem to be true: 1) What you put your trust in isn't really worth trusting. 2) Maybe you are just fooling yourself into thinking you've put your trust in something when you really haven't. In either case the result is the same, your faith will disappoint. My hope is that you have discovered or are discovering that Jesus is worth trusting, that following Him is in your best interest, and that when you do things Jesus' way your life and certainly your future will be the better for it.

Pressing On:

Dale

Are You Really In Control?

Several years ago a speedboat driver, who survived a racing accident, gave his account of his brush with death. The race had gone well and he was running at nearly top speed (well over 100 miles an hour), when his boat veered slightly and hit a wave at a dangerous angle. Between the combination of the speed, the wave, and the angle the boat went spinning like a dust bunny caught in a tornado. The boat rose to a height of over 30 feet above the water, and finally the driver was thrown from the boat and propelled deeply into the water. He was so disoriented and so deep that he really didn't know which way was up. Instead of just swimming he decided to wait a bit for his life jacket to start pulling him toward the surface. With the direction of the life jacket he was able finally able to swim to the surface

In our day one of the most pressing problems faced by people is one of control. People are either tired of feeling controlled: The cost of living, health care needs and concerns, political issues, their jobs, their kids and their schedules, their addictions, and even their spouses. And if they aren't tired of feeling controlled they are trying to control: their weight, looks, bank account, retirement funds, relationships, health, and even those people around them. All this has lead to two very real and dangerous attitudes: 1) Isolationism: finding control by removing ourselves from everything and everybody. 2) The illusion of the self made individual who has everything under control.

Like the speed boat driver there are times when every one finds themselves in a situation that is out of their control. The options for every one are the same: 1) We can take control and live with the consequences of our choices. 2) We can allow the people and situations around us to control us and live with the choices of others. 3) We can wait for God's guidance to start pulling in the right direction and join Him. The question is basic who is really in control of our lives, who have we put on the throne to call the shoots, whose voice have we chosen to listen to when everything seems out of control?

James shares with us three specific areas where God's control is not just helpful, but necessary if we are going to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him: Human Relationships, Life Choices, and obedience to God's word!

11 Don't speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God's law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. 12 God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor? 13 Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog-- it's here a little while, then it's gone. 15 What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:11-17 (NLT)

Pressing On:

Dale

What Does It Matter?

Not long ago I read a statement that really caused me to rethink how I look at life and the things I’m involved in. I can’t remember who said it, or where I read it, but this is what they said, “Our greatest fear shouldn’t be of failure, but of accomplishing something that doesn’t matter.” What a powerful idea! It challenges us to leave our fears behind and take chances in order to accomplish something meaningful, something of significance, something of eternal value.

It’s possible for all of us to be really busy and have full lives. Our calendars can be filled to the last second of every day with activities. Our checkbooks can be riddled with entries for things we’ve spent resources on. It is possible for all that to happen, but to have done nothing that mattered. In the end each of us need to know the answer to this question “Did we use what God gave us to make a difference?”

Did the way we spend our time positively effect the lives of other people. Did that time make life easier for someone coming behind us or was it all about what makes our lives safe, secure, and satisfied? Did we use our financial resources to aid others, help other people in times of need, or was it simply to provide for ourselves and our wants?

Do you remember hearing about the conversation between Steven Jobs, former Chairman of Apple Computers and John Sculley, of Pepsico. After a seemingly failed attempt to persuade Sculley to leave Pepsi and help him run Apple computers. Jobs said, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?” Another way of saying that is to ask, is what your doing with your life really making a difference? Sculley must have decided it wasn’t, so he joined the Apple team and the rest is history…

Jesus said the same thing to His followers when He said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” Matt 10:39 Was He was saying that if all we do is care about ourselves we will ultimately have lived a life that doesn’t matter? It's my hope that you've come to understand that your life is of priceless value and that you are using it to make a difference that really matters!

Pressing On:

Dale

The Other Jesus

In his book The Other Jesus Lloyd J. Ogilvie describes Jesus this way:

“Who is this other Jesus? He is not a different Jesus; rather, He is the forgotten, neglected, overlooked Jesus. This other Jesus is often a stranger to our self-concerned, narcissistic, me generation. He is not the Jesus we have created of our own making and faking – an easy going, good natured Jesus who’s on call when we want Him to help us deal with our personal agenda. Having only this culturelized, benevolent, but somewhat weak “errand-boy” Jesus stunts our spiritual growth.

The other Jesus is the biblical Jesus – the robust challenging Jesus who is more than just a comforter. He also confronts us, and He will not accept second place in our lives. He calls us to an exhilarating adventure of dynamic discipleship. Though He meets us as we are, He loves us too much to leave us as we have been.

The authentic Jesus tenderly cares for us when we hurt, but He tenaciously exposes anything that keeps us from being His faithful servants. His love and forgiveness are unqualified, but His demands are unequivocal. He is the Master who holds the mandate for the King and the Lord of all life who calls us to commit all we have to Him.”

I just thought this was worth sharing. I hope your Jesus is having His way in your life!

Pressing On:
Dale