Obedient Faith

Saving faith is carefully defined in Scripture and needs to be understood because there is a dead, nonsaving faith that provides false security (James 2:14-26). True saving faith contains repentance and obedience as its elements. Repentance is an initial element of saving faith, and it involves three elements: a turning to God, a turning from evil, and intent to serve God. No change of mind can be called true repentance without all three. Repentance is not merely being ashamed or sorry over sin, although genuine repentance always involves an element of remorse. It is a redirection of the human will, a purposeful decision to forsake all unrighteousness and pursue goodness instead. The faith that saves involves more than mere intellectual assent and emotional conviction. It also includes the resolution of the will to obey God's commands and laws. Obedience is the hallmark of the true believer.

Reflecting on the text: Why is obedience a mark of true faith?

The above statement comes from my study guide of Colossians 1:1-8. The statement comes from the thought of the Greek word pistis for "faith," which means to be persuaded that something is true and to trust in it. But far more than mere intellectual assent, it also involves obedience. As we read in James 2:14-26 we understand that to just believe without works is a dead faith. So since we know that a dead faith is really in an end of its self no faith, this should cause us to examine our faith, our salvation as talked about in Philippians 2:12.

I think before we can dig into the word “Obedience” we need to define the word believes. John 3:16 says For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. This has to be one of the most misunderstood verses in the whole Bible. People say I believe and point to this verse. I think when we jump to James 2:19 we see that the demons themselves believe in one God and they shudder. Let me ask you; are demons going to heaven? The answer is no, never! So if demons believe and are not going to heaven would that be the same case for us as humans that just believe? We find the answer in John 3:36, which says: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. We find in John 3:36 that the way we believe in God is communicated by the way we live our lives before a fallen world. I love how Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines the word obedience:

“Faith is of the heart, invisible to men; obedience is of the conduct and may be observed. When a man obeys God he gives the only possible evidence that in his heart he believes God. Of course it is persuasion of the truth that results in faith (we believe because we are persuaded that the thing is true, a thing does not become true because it is believed), but peitho, in N.T. suggests as actual and outward result of the inward persuasion and consequent faith.” –Vine’s Expository Dictionary Pg.796

I always love how Scripture is the best way to define what a word means. I believe for obedience we see it clearly in Luke 9:23-24 and Jesus said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Jesus Himself said in John 13:15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 1 John 2:6 says whoever says he abides in Him (Jesus Christ) ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.

My friend Jimmy recently preached a message titled: Jesus died to save the world. In the message he gave 5 observations of the growing Christian. They were: believe – look – change – live – tell. First we believe in our hearts of what Jesus has done (dying on the cross) for the sinner to bring him into a right relationship with God (John 3:16-18). Second we look to the cross of Christ, and understand that is how God saves the world, is through the death of Christ and not of anything that we have done. God’s gift of salvation is a free gift, nothing we can earn, but just receive (Ephesians 2:8-9). Third, we start to see the change that God is doing within. If God saves you, He will also give you a new heart, a heart that longs for God’s holiness, righteousness and not our old nature (2 Cor. 5:17). Titus 3:5 says He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Are you seeing the Holy Spirit’s work within you? Forth we live it out in our lives, in the way we handle our duties as husband/wife, father/mother, child, work, communities, church..etc. As well as forgiving, loving and serving each other, weather Christian or non-Christian (Col. 3:1-17). Fifth, we will tell others of the good news that is only found in Jesus Christ alone. We will find ways to make disciples that make disciples (Matt. 28:16-20). In Jesus’ day when He healed people He would tell them to not tell anyone and they would go tell everyone, but when He was ascended into heaven He told us to go tell everyone the good news and we tell no one.

My friend Susan said it best about the word obedience. In the middle of the word obedience is the word "die". I have found that in order to be obdienant to Christ we MUST "die" to ourself and our wills!

Keep pressing, keep praying and keep being obedient to God and His Word! Let’s be a church that reps the king of Kings well, not just believe, but live it in our daily lives.

Father's Build Your House on the Rock!!

Build Your House on the Rock

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:24-27

Being Father's Day, I have so much thankfulness and gratitude for the family that God has blessed me with! God is good, Always! When I ponder my life I can't help but be thankful for the influence that Christ has on my life. I find my hope in things not of this world, but in things above!

What makes a family successful? If you said a big house, great paying jobs, a boat, yellow hummer, $20,000+ in saving, I might think you just watched an episode of "cribs". But the truth is none of these things make a family successful! Success is not found in the abundance of your possessions (Luke 12:15).

The success of a family is only found upon the foundation of Christ! As we read the Passage in Matthew 7:24-27 we find that when the storms of life come our way we are able to withstand them with the help of God himself! When we dig into the Bible we find God's will for our lives. We are not to just be hearers of the Word but doers of the Word! When we place our hope in anything other than Christ and that hope is swept away in the storms of life, we will drown ourselves in the worries of this world.

I would encourage all dad's to lead your family in away that honors God. Build your family on the foundation of God's Word, let that be your standard for living. God wants our lives and our families to be focused on His kingdom and His righteousness and not to be anxious about the things of this world. Remember God cares about us, so why be like the world and chase after empty dreams? Christ saves from the American Dream!

Don't waste your life! A life without Christ has no hope!!

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord! Joshua 24:15

God bless & Keep pressing

Big Summer Plans...

This summer is gearing up to be a great one indeed, with weekend getaways, camping and even California how could you think otherwise. But when you overlook all the summer plans I have you might think that the road trip is the biggest plans this summer season. Disneyland, SeaWorld, In & Out, family and friends will indeed be a blast.

The funny thing is these are not even my big summer plans. I’m sure you would have a hard time convincing my 3 year old of that; he is very determined to get that photo with Mickey. For me, being the spiritual leader of my family flock, my big summer plans are the spiritual plans that I have for my family. My wife and I are kicking off a study through the book of John and I am also leading a men’s study through the book of Colossians. My son Peyton and I are still working on Psalm 1 and plan to have it completely memorized come September. I also have a big stack of books that I plan to read through, including The Practices of Godliness, Desiring God, Trusting God, Knowing God, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, The Lost Commandment – Have we missed what Jesus really wants?, and Improving your serve.

I desire to lead my family in the spiritual things in a way that pleases God. I want to be that example to my family of what it looks like for someone to follow Christ and live the narrow path, instead of believe in Christ and live life on the broad road. Believing in Christ makes you no more a Christian then standing in a garage and believing that you will become a car. God doesn’t save us and leave us unchanged (2 Cor. 5:17). The truth is that if my only desire is to do my best to help my family be successful in everything other than God, then I not only waste my life as a father/husband, but I help them get a jumpstart to waste their lives as well. I believe this is something the world needs more of; good godly men who desire to lead their families in the spiritual things. To have your family just focused on earthly things is to miss the whole point of God’s design for your family.

So when making your summer plans don’t just focus on the worldly things, but make God the first priority. Put Him first above everything else. You won’t regret it, and some day your children will thank you for teaching them the truth about what this life is really about. Below are some of my favorite Scriptures that speak about making plans and who is the center of my life as well as my family. Keep pressing, keep praying, and keep seeking God’s help when leading your family!! God’s wisdom and discernment are an endless supply to those who ask. God bless!!!

But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD Joshua 24:15b

But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands. Isaiah 32:8

Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Proverbs 4:26

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Nets of Life

And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And IMMEDIATELY they left their nets and followed Him. Mark 1:17-18

As I reflect back on 2009 I see where I grew in trusting God more completely. I have a new measurement of faith like never before. It's not that I have never trusted Him before. Last year was just a year of learning to keep my eyes on Him. My life has a new focus.

I have always allowed distractions of my life to keep me from moving forward. As we read in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline", I've always followed my fears rather then Christ. As you will see, last year was a year I would drop my nets and completely follow Christ.

God has taught me that it's more important to trust Him, instead of trusting my circumstances that are around me. I will always have difficult circumstances in my life. That is never going to change. So last year I decided to pursue higher education. I enrolled last October and started classes at Liberty University Online just this month.

So I understand that school will be a hard, but short road. Raising a family, working full-time as well as school seems like a lot. I will be successful for only one reason. I will lean on God for His strength, and pray for His wisdom as I learn. I'm thankful for a wife that supports me and has encouraged me so far. She gave me a plaque that sits next to my desk that reads:

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward THE GOAL to win the prize for which GOD has called me heavenward in CHRIST JESUS. Philippians 3:13-14

Keep pressing, keep praying, keep moving forward!

In Search of a Christian

I've been reading The Irresistible Revolution living as an ordinary radical by Shane Claiborne. I'm only into it 5 chapters and it has really stirred my heart. I'm ready to be an ordinary radical. I wanted to share a portion of chapter 3. So here we go! Enjoy!

In Search of a Christian

I remember when one of my colleagues said, "Shane, I am not a Christian anymore." I was puzzled, for we had gone to theology classes together, studied Scripture, prayed, and worshiped together. But I could see the intensity and sincerity in his eyes as he continued, "I gave up Christianity in order to follow Jesus." Somehow, I knew what he meant.

I wondered what it would look like if we decided to really follow Jesus. In fact, I wasn't exactly sure what a fully devoted Christian looked like, or if the world had even seen one in the last few centuries. From my desk at college, it looked like some time back we had stopped living Christianity and just started studying it. The hilarious words of nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkeegaard resonated in my thirsty soul:

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament. (Soren Kierkegaard, Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard, ed. Charles E. Moore (Farmington, PA: Plough, 2002), 201.

I knew we were not going to win the masses to Christianity until we began to live it. So I went on a quest. I went looking for a Christian. I looked around hoping to find someone else who might be asking, What if Jesus meant the stuff he said? And I kept coming across dead people. (pages 71-72)

After reading this I connected with it. I see how lots of dead people can talk Christianity, but living it seems to be a dead end. Just the other day I was talking to a stranger, and listening to his words he spoke. Within the first 5 minutes he used the Lord's name in vain and a couple of other choice words that Christians should not speak. In our conversation he claimed to be Christian. How does foul language represent Christ? Are we not called to bear good fruit?

Over time I've become discontent living in "Disneyland America", sad but true is some Christians seem to have forgotten that this is not our home. Are we just passing through or are we planning to stay forever? Instead of seeking Christ we seem to have decided to seek our own desires. Did we forget that the Bible says "this world is passing away"?

Church, let me encourage you. Our lives should reflect Christ. Our walk should match the Word. Let's live in away that shows we are rich in God and poor in the things of this world. Many unbeliever's are looking into the church and seeing no difference between their life and a believer's life, causing them to think why do I need this Jesus Christ? They don't understand that we are born separate from God. They don't understand that Christ brings us home to God. They don't understand that you can't serve God and money, nor love the world and Christ. They don't understand and neither does the church.

Let's take the words of Jesus seriously. Let's be living sacrifices in this fallen world. Christ must become greater; we must become less. Let's get it and live it!

Keep pressing, keep praying, keep growing in the Lord!

Necessity of Systematic Theology

I've been reading and studying systematic theology. I've been coming across some good stuff. Wanted to share with you why systematic theology is and should be important in your daily walk with God. In the book, "The Moody Handbook of Theology" they discuss 3 points of the necessity of systematic theology. Enjoy and keep pressing, keep praying, keep building up the Kingdom of God!

NECESSITY OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

1. AS AN EXPLANATION OF CHRISTIANITY - Systematic theology is necessary as a researched and studied explanation as well as a systematic organization of the doctrines that are foundational and necessary to Christianity. As a result of systematic theology, Christians are able to have a clear understanding about the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith. The Bible was not written in a doctrinal outline; hence, it is important to systematize the parts of the Bible to understand the doctrinal emphasis of the entire Bible.
2. AS AN APOLOGETIC FOR CHRISTIANITY - Systematic theology enables Christians to defend their beliefs rationally against opponents and antagonists to the faith. Early in the Christian church believers used their systematized beliefs to address opponents and unbelievers. This is perhaps even more important today with the emergence of humanism, Communism, cults, and Eastern religions. The systemized doctrines of the Christian faith must be researched, delineated, and presented as a defense of historic Christianity.
3. AS A MEANS OF MATURITY FOR CHRISTIANS - Systematic theology is an assertions of Christian truth; these same truths are essential to the maturity of believers (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Paul's writings make it clear that doctrine (theology) is foundational to Christian maturity, inasmuch as Paul normally builds a doctrinal foundation in his epistles (e.g., Eph. 1-3) before he exhorts believers to live correctly (e.g. Eph. 4-6). Also many Christians have faithfully attended church services for decades and yet have little understanding of the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Yet a knowledge of correct doctrine is important in Christian maturity; moreover, it protects the believer from error (cf. 1 John 4:1, 6; Jude 4).

REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

INSPIRATION AND INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE

• No adequate theology is possible without a belief in the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture. If this doctrine is abandoned, reason becomes the source of authority and reason sits in judgment upon the text of Scripture.

How You Walk?

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.

The Bible is clear that the way you walk will be a true reflection of your heart. It's easy these days to talk a big talk, but in the end your reflection will be shown through your actions. Words can be deceptive, misleading, rationalizing...But our actions are the very words that the heart will speak.

How are you as a Christian living your life out before the eyes of the world? Are you living with the reflection of Christ or with the reflection of the world? Do you have a hunger for God's Word, God's holiness, a desire that all you do, you do it for the glory of God? How long have you been a Christian? Over time have you changed? Are you becoming a Romans 12 Christian?

You see, when God saved you He doesn't just leave you alone. Imagine a child going to kindergarten for the first time, do you just pull up and drop them off and say, have a great day and I'll see you after school gets out. If you get lost just ask a stranger for directions. Does this seem correct? NO WAY that would be a major disaster, quite possibly that child would never want to go back. My point is this, if God is going to save you from His wrath through the blood of Christ, wouldn't He change you to be more like Christ? Wouldn't God give you a new heart with new desires, new joys, a new attitude, a new song in your heart?

God gives us everything we need, His Son, His Word, His Holy Spirit as tools that will help us along the path of life when we choose to live for Him. Over time we as Christians should be seeing some change come into our lives. We start to do things differently, talk differently, handles problems differently. We see the world through new eyes. Our heart starts to beat for the lost. Our greatest desire is to be sold out for the greater cause of Christ. Our love for the things of this world fade, and our love for the Lord increases.

We can only be two types of Christians.

• "FC" - fake Christian
• "LC" - Legit Christian

We as Christians should be living in a way that reflects the image, the love, the mercy, the grace of Christ. We should be growing up into mature Christians, Christians that would look and act that they belong to God's church. Let’s be 2 Timothy 2:15. Let’s be pure and holy, set apart to do God's work.

God elects (chosen), then justifies (declared guiltless), then sanctifies (make holy), then glorifies (reign with Christ) us in the life to come.

Bottom line is if your faith has not changed you, it has not saved you. Meaning if your a "LC" on Sundays, but Monday through Saturday your an "FC" there is a real problem. Let's abide in Jesus' Words. We are only fooling ourselves if we think that the impure things, impure people of this life are fit for God's Kingdom! So ask yourself, are you fit for God's Kingdom?