THE BOTTOM LINE

We Americans tend to be pragmatic & conscientious about making sure that we get the most return on whatever resources we have personally invested in something. We ask, “What’s the bottom line?” Or we want to make sure we “get the most bang for our buck.”

There is a part of this that is very biblical. We are called to be good stewards & to get the most from our investment of time, energy, finances, etc.

But sometimes over-emphasizing what we think is the bottom line can blind us to a lesson that Jesus taught His disciples in Mark 14:3-9:

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

They learned something unforgettable thru what appeared to be an irresponsible act – anointing Jesus with perfume worth a small fortune. This reflected 2 “bottom line” things in the Kingdom of God.

One is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Like the woman’s offering of something very valuable seemed a foolish, pointless waste of resources, Jesus’ death of the cross first appeared to be a colossal waste of a life God had blessed.

Another is same the reckless abandon that motivated her to sacrifice her treasure. We can, & must, surrender our whole being to God – past, present, & future; abilities, resources, & dreams.

You see, these things are the real bottom line.

CHRISTMAS IN THE DARK

It's Christmas Eve today. Where we live it's usually sunny & bright, but the last few days it's been dark & overcast. Today we got up & felt kinda draggy, & it just didn't seem like Christmas Eve.

That got me thinking about all when Jesus came. There was nothing observable in the world that indicated that anything positive was going to happen. The world was a dark place spiritually, with oppression & racism. 

Demonic beliefs & practices were on the rampage. Women, children, & the disabled weren't valued. There was nothing to indicate that there was any change coming.

Today, it's just the same. There's a lot of hatred & racism being expressed. Those in government who are supposed to serve us seem to be serving themselves. 

In many ways the church really struggles. Nothing seems to be happening spiritually that's uplifting, liberating, transformative, & empowering to people.

So, nothing appears to have really changed, at least outwardly. Much appears to be like it was when Jesus came.

One thing I've learned is that God doesn't usually work in blatant in-your-face ways. He usually works behind the scenes in ways that we can't see with our eyes. But the transformation IS coming and we WILL see it with our eyes.

Jesus transformed this world thru His first coming 2000 years ago that we can't even imagine from our perspective today.

He is coming again, but He has more changes in mind to do in you & thru you before He returns.

Be encouraged & look for His coming. But keep your eyes open for the things that he's doing today. 

THE RIGHT ITCH, THE WRONG SCRATCHER

Everybody knows that there's something wrong with their lives, with our culture, & with people in general.

We all feel the itch.

The problem is, what do we use to make the itch go away?

When you look at all the possible solutions, there are 2 bottom-line ways to see the problem. One is that it's on the outside & it needs to be fixed by changing things that are wrong there. 

The other way is to see that something inside us is wrong & needs to be fixed.

If I'm not a Christian & believe that the root of problems is on the outside, I'm probably going to be about social, economic, & political justice. I'm going to try to fix the systems in which we live.

If I'm a Christian & take the Bible seriously, I will believe that the root of the problem is on the inside. I'm going to find out what God says about the inner transformation of people, families, & communities. That's what the gospel is all about. It changes us from the inside. 

If we're going to try to fix what's wrong with us from the outside, it's really only going to be like putting the proverbial Band-Aid on cancer. 

But if we want effective solutions, it's something that's got to happen on the inside of us. As we turn from our sins, surrender the throne of our hearts to Jesus Christ, He will transform us.

 
The great thing is that the gospel does affect outer conditions of people - the economic & political systems, along with race relations. 

But it only works when we first let Him fix what is wrong on the inside.

THE OPPORTUNIST

I was reading in Luke chapter 4 today about the temptation of Jesus & something interesting jumped out at me. At the end of the temptations, verse 13 says that when the devil had finished every temptation he departed from Jesus until an opportune time. That can be translated a more convenient time or appropriate time.

From this passage I learned something really important to help us to keep things in perspective.

Did you know that the devil doesn't drive the events or the processes that we go thru? He doesn't have the authority or power to do that. All he can do is seek opportunities and convenient times to try to disrupt God's plan for our lives. That's because those things are actually in the Lord's hands.

The devil could only tempt Jesus because it was an opportune time. Jesus went to the cross when He did, not because the devil said it was time, but because it was the time that the Father had set for Him.

So, whether we're going thru a season of victory, season of discouragement, season of sickness, season of challenge, season of growth, or a valley & dry time, it's because God is leading us according to His timetable. In those times the devil may very well seek opportunities, but they are only in the times that he thinks he might be able to discourage us or derail us.

But if we're committed to God's plans, process, & priorities, we can be sure that His plan for us will succeed according to His timetable.

LORD OF THE SABBATH

Reading through the Gospel of Luke, I ran into something really interesting. It's a series of Jesus doing things that "violated the Sabbath."

In 4:31-41 He spent probably 6-8 hours, beginning in the synagogue then going to Peter's house to continue until sunset, healing people. The Sabbath goes from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, so He must have had a point to make by apparently stopping at the end of the Sabbath.

In 6:1-5 Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath because His hungry disciples went thru the fields harvesting the grain so that they could eat it.

In 6:6-11 Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. When the leaders saw that they were enraged at him.

In 13:10-17 He was again in the synagogue on the Sabbath and healed a woman who wasn't able to stand up. He said that she had been bound by Satan. One of the leaders responded that she should have come be healed on one of the other 6 days of the week.

In 14:1-6 Jesus had a meal at the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees (right in the belly of the beast). A man was there with extreme swelling in his hand & Jesus healed him. I don't know if the man was a plant, if he just showed up, or if he came there with Jesus. But it was the Sabbath day, in the home of a leader of those who criticized Jesus for breaking the Sabbath, that Jesus healed him.

Jesus gave a number of responses to His critics. But the one that really got them was in 6:5 - “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” 

Why would this bring out the greatest anger in them?

Because He was saying that He takes precedence over the Sabbath. He created it. He gets to say what is appropriate on the Sabbath. This was a claim to Deity. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. He is the God who created & ordained it.

Since He is your Lord & mine, that means that He calls the shots. He says what is right in our lives. We can get mad like the leaders did, or we can rejoice like Jesus' hearers did.

Whatever our response, He is still Lord. Of the Sabbath & of us.

GABRIELLE

We just watched this for the first time the other day, but it's going to be one of my favorite episodes of Bonanza. 

It's not just because the little girl, Gabrielle, is so cute (kinda like Shirley Temple). She is, but she is also a good, mature, stable person in the midst of a lot of tragedies and hardships in her life. 

Gabrielle is contrasted with her grandfather who also experienced injustice in his life but allowed it to destroy him.

The thing that especially intrigues me is that the people responding to her and wanting to help her think what she needs is to be given things & have things done for her. She is constantly saying "I want to go where I'm needed." And her grandfather is the one who really needs her.

A huge secret of serving people is that it's not enough just to give to them or do for them. It's to understand that they want to be needed. They want to give. They want to serve. They want to do things.

Even with good intentions, we can do people a great injustice when we want to be the ones to do for them, because too much of that will disempower them.

One of the great things about the Gospel is that we come to know Jesus Christ we grow in our relationship with him, but not simply because of our need. We experience these blessings from God so that His grace can flow through us and meet the needs of others. 

But, it doesn't stop there. It then empowers them through the transforming power of the Gospel to pass it on to others.

I encourage you during this Christmas time watch this episode if you're able to look it up on YouTube or somewhere else. Then let the Lord take you where you're needed.

CATS & STATIC ELECTRICITY

We're taking care of one of our kids' cats for a while. One of the fun things about this is watching how she reacts to static electricity.
Believe it or not, this makes a great illustration.

Christians sometimes (based on Isaiah 55:8-9) talk about how God's ways are higher than our ways & His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. That is true, although sometimes we think that God's ways are not reasonable, rational, logical, consistent, or coherent. 

Sometimes I've described our ability to understand God's ways to the ability of an ant to understand computer technology. Maybe that's not the best way to to describe it. 

A better way might be how the cat reacts to static electricity. She notices it but doesn't understand it. It stimulates & irritates her. 

Ants don't even know that computer technology exists, but no one can convince the cat that static electricity doesn't exist. She just doesn't understand it.

That's the way God's ways are to us. We know He is real. We know He has ways of doing things. But sometimes we don't understand it. Sometimes we don't like it. 

Sometimes we even rebel against it. We're kind of like the cat & the static electricity.

Keep fighting, kitty.

But Christian, trust God & His ways. Especially when you don't understand them. If you do, it (& He) will make sense one day.

FORM VERSUS SUBSTANCE

One of the scourges of our time is what I call form versus substance. 

This audio has been around for years & illustrates it perfectly. Someone who appears reasonably intelligent & educated calls the local radio station. But we split a gut when it becomes obvious that she doesn't have a clue.

What I mean is that people look at appearances & make assumptions from those appearances rather than looking at the reality that is behind the appearance.

It's easy to be fooled in that way if we allow ourselves to be. It's also easy to give in to the temptation to be fooled, accepting the image uncritically & at face value even if we sense that there's more behind the image.

A lot of spiritual problems go back to this. A lot of the moral dilemmas we face also go back to this. And a lot of the political challenges we have as a nation go back to a failure to understand the difference between form & substance, appearance & reality.

I challenge you today - look beyond the visible, please! 

1 Samuel 16:7 says that God sees the heart not just the image. As His people we must understand more than just what appears to the eye. We need to look beyond appearances & see reality.

AN EXERCISE IN APPRECIATION

On days like Veterans Day, my mind goes back to a special experience that we had in June, 2011. 

At that time we had just come home from 4 years overseas, & we were spending time with our kids on the West Coast. We attended a soccer game with them and the only thing I really remember from that game was the National Anthem.

After having spent 4 years overseas where it wasn't really wise to to display any kind of American symbol outside our house, including something as innocuous as a tee shirt with an American flag (things that we take for granted that we can do here in the US) we heard our National Anthem being played on the stadium's PA system. 

Hearing it like that for the first time in 4 years, I can't tell you how that felt. We were home, in a place where we could do things like that freely.

We were at that moment in a place where we weren't seen legally & culturally as people that were transplanted to another country. To be honest, I choked up when I heard our National Anthem.

So, for those that have a problem with our flag or our National Anthem, things that symbolize our country, I would like to suggest a little exercise in appreciation.

It would be good for you to try spending not just a day, a week, a month, or even a few months outside the US. Try spending 2 years or 4 years outside the US. Then come back and see if that has an effect on your ability to appreciate your nation, our nation, & the things that symbolize its greatness.

STRONGHOLDS

The term "stronghold" is one that Christians use quite a bit & usually has negative connotations. They say things like "He can't overcome that because the enemy has a stronghold in his life." 

I have a little bit of a problem with that. There is a place, II Corinthians 10:4, where Scripture uses the term "stronghold" or "fortress" in a negative sense. 

But I want to remind you about a few of the 14 places in the Psalms where the word "stronghold" is used. Each time it has a positive meaning. 

Psalm 9:9 "The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." 

Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliver, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield & the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." 

Psalm 31:2 "Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly, be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me."

Although it's possible for the enemy to to have a stronghold in someone's life, it's important for us to remember this: God did not just make a stronghold; He IS our stronghold. 

We need to take refuge in Him. He needs to be our hiding place. I encourage you today make the Lord your stronghold. 

If you do this, you'll find out that the enemy can't have a stronghold in your life.

USE WORDS - IT'S NECESSARY

A famous pastor centuries ago said something like, “Preach the gospel, & use words when necessary.”

He was giving a very powerful truth about the importance of how we live to confirm what we profess. But it's not one or the other, words or lifestyle, that we must choose between.

If we have a Christian lifestyle without words, people really don't understand what we believe.

If we have words without a Christian lifestyle, people stumble over the way that we live and don't believe the message.

I encourage you today, proclaim Christ with both your lifestyle and your words. It's a holistic message. The lifestyle confirms the truth of what we say. The truth we speak gives meaning to the lifestyle that we live.

The really great thing about this is that the Holy Spirit uses both our words and our Christian lifestyle to bring conviction and revelation to the people that we love, care about, & pray for.

HENERAL LUNA

This movie emphasizes the issue that has plagued the Philippines since before Spain colonized it hundreds of years ago – it is divided & weakened by regionalism & inordinate commitment to the family clan. Both Spain & the US recognized this & exploited it.

This problem is not limited to one nation.

One of the strategies that socialists use to advance their agenda is to divide groups of people based on race, gender, & economics. We can see this very effective weapon being used on many levels throughout our culture.

Maybe you never thought about this, but Jesus is the answer for the divisions in our nation today. He doesn’t change our class (race, gender, socioeconomic etc.) when we surrender our lives to Him.

What He does is make us part of His all-inclusive, all-encompassing, ever-expanding Kingdom. 

There is no better answer to what divides us!

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

This is not about politics or even about the death of the ISIS leader al-Baghdadi. It’s about communication.

Some people are upset about what they call the crude way the President described it. 

But rather than being offended, it helps me to see that he understands how other cultures communicate differently than we do in North America. He used terms, figures of speech, & images that speak loud & clear to people outside North American & Europe.

While those things seem crude & offensive to us (read “unpresidential”), they speak very loud & clear to the people (both our friends & enemies) in the culture in which al-Baghdadi lived. And that’s what’s important to understand about this.

It wasn’t just a major blow to our enemies. It also spoke to the people in that culture. So rather than criticizing the way he communicated these things, it’s better to have an intellectual curiosity about why he did so & what he was trying to accomplish. It was to instill fear in our enemies & confidence in our allies. We are in a war, you know.

He was speaking a language that we may not understand or appreciate, but he was speaking a language that our enemies & allies in the region easily understand.

And that’s what it means to communicate cross-culturally.

SHOW & TELL

It’s been 9 months since my last blog. A lot has happened during that time, some good & some not so good. But thru it all I haven’t lost the desire to share my thoughts with you.

Have you ever heard of show & tell? Kids do it in elementary school, but it’s not something that someone just thought up in an education course. 

Let me explain...

There is a story of a man who had spent time persecuting & killing those who followed Jesus. He actually thought he was serving God by doing that.

But one day Jesus got hold of his life & used him to travel the known world & bring the message of Jesus to places where they had never heard of Him.

That man was the Apostle Paul.

His life was a show & tell of what God can do in the life of even the most deceived & evil people.

No matter your background, your life can also be a show & tell for others about what God can do in the life of a person who will let Him.    

THOSE TV PREACHERS!

Are you sometimes irritated by those TV evangelists who take advantage of gullible people who may have been hurt & turn to TV preachers who (at least by stereotype) get rich from the money their viewers send in?.

This isn’t about that particular kind of TV preacher. 

It’s about another kind of TV preacher.

The kind of TV preachers I’m talking about display smug self-righteousness. They seem to enjoy condemning others who don’t measure up to their level of legalistic beliefs & values. They look down their noses at those on a lower moral plane than they are.

This kind of TV preacher sees the pulpit they preach from as an inherent right, & may the Lord help anyone who would try to ignore them or take their pulpit away from them.

This kind of TV preacher demands to be heard & respected as a herald of what is right & enlightened. They see themselves as authorities on all things spiritual & moral.

Who are these TV preachers? Here's just one of them...

CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM?

Some have seen in Acts an incipient “Christian socialism.” They use passages like Acts 2:43-45 & 4:32-35 to show that the early believers practiced socialism. For a number of reasons, that idea is just not true.

First, socialism is generally non-theistic or agnostic. I say this not because those might be most common beliefs among socialists. I say it because socialism in effect replaces the biblical idea of God as provider, protector, executor of justice, & even Savior. Government & its bureaucracy become the replacement for God.

Second, socialism is wealth transfer. What we see in Acts is a response that today would be called relief. It is making sure that victims of a natural disaster or other kind of calamity are kept housed, fed, & clothed. It only keeps people alive, but it doesn’t empower or enable them to care for themselves.

Third, socialism is coercive. The wealth transfer in Acts was voluntary as a compassionate response to a very real need. No one was required to give or penalized for not giving. Socialism would never happen if people were given the option to not participate.

Fourth, socialism seeks to create utopia thru human effort. It is one thing to seek to alleviate the terrible effects of sin & the curse while recognizing that ultimate cure will only come thru God’s sovereign action. It is something totally different to presume that human effort can remove the effects of human rebellion against God.

What do I say this? Because Christians have no business pushing this idea. They need to take a closer look at Scripture.