It's alright, relax...

Some of God’s greatest masterpieces are found painted upon the canvas of a pond by the late afternoon light. The lightly wind rippled surface of the water comes to life in vivid color as the sun fades into twilight. I’ve always enjoyed spending time out near or on the water; I have found no better place to go relax, think, and pray, than leaning on the railing of a dock and looking out over the water. Looking out upon the reflected sun setting sky, God impressed upon me a metaphor for life. Like the water God has painted a reflection upon Christians. John writes in His first epistle that no man has seen God, rather God reveals himself to the world through those He indwells; we are to be a reflection of Jesus. Much like the pond is rippled by the wind marring the reflection, we can be as James writes in a similar analogy, like a wave tossed and turned in the sea. It is without a doubt we will face great struggles in this life, we will face great pain in this life, and we will face great opposition in this life; our lives can be choppy and at times our lives could suffer fierce storms. But we can not let this deter us, for there was once a great storm that caused great panic, but with three words the raging winds ceased: “peace, be still.” It was Jesus who awoke amidst upon the Sea of Galilee to His disciples full of fear and stress at the tempest that engulfed them and it was Jesus who said “peace, be still” to the storm, and it still Jesus today who when problems arise in our lives and we are full of fear and stress that Jesus says, “peace, be still.” It’s a bit funny though, I mean think about it: was Jesus talking to the weather? Honestly, I don’t think He was; He’s God, to calm the storm would take no more than a thought, maybe even only part of a thought, but He definitely wouldn’t have needed to speak or even wake up for the matter. Jesus did not just calm the storm by saying, “peace, be still.” Don’t get me wrong, Jesus did calm the storm, but He said “peace, be still” to calm the disciples as well. I think if we were to modernize that phrase a bit it would be more like Jesus saying, “it’s alright, relax.” In order to live this Christian life without going halfway past insanity into the realm of dye your hair TBN pink or falling off the edge morality into the depths of sin and shame we as believers have got to learn to relax, even when the world is ripping apart at the seams. “Relax? Relax?! How in the world can I relax in a time like this?” Hey, God is still in control, God knows what’s going on, God is going to get your through this. Take a deep breath, remember who God is and relax; stressing yourself out doesn’t help anything. Relax, praise God, keep going, and watch as He works His miracles. It’s alright, Relax…

More than salesmen

Sometimes I get stuck in books of the Bible. For the last good while I have had a bit of trouble getting past Galatians. I’ve read it over and over and over again; my spirit just won’t let go of it. The more I read it though the more I take from it, the more I see how great and powerful Paul was just through his writing; what an authorial role model! His words and flow of text look to me as a priceless work of art and I’m only reading a translation. One particular statement jumped out at me this morning. Talking about how he received the Gospel message Paul writes, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12) There are a couple of great and powerful things that leap forth from this statement. For starters, notice I wrote this is how Paul “received” the Gospel message rather than stating that this is how Paul “heard” the Gospel message. “Well duh, of course Paul didn’t just hear it, He saw Jesus on Damascus road!” Yeah that’s true, but what must be understood here is that the Gospel message of Jesus Christ was nothing new to Paul. Paul knew the message of the Christians and he fervently sought to destroy this new “heretical” movement. How many times did those early persecuted Christians share the good news with Paul? For that matter we know that Paul was present and approving of the stoning of Steven who glorified God until his last breath. So it can be understood easily that Paul had heard the Gospel time and time again. With that being said why is it that we as evangelical Christians base our evangelism on telling other people about Jesus? “Whoa, wait just one minute now! The Bible says were supposed to tell others about Jesus!” Well, in a round about way, yes, we are to tell others about Jesus, but maybe we should take a step back and reevaluate the methods we use to tell others. For Paul it took more than just words, more than just dedicated passion, more than just perseverance through persecution; to reach Paul it took an experience with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Why then do we base our evangelistic approach, those of us whom have one that is, on sharing words with those we are trying to reach? Yes, sometimes we can reach people by sharing our testimonies or explaining the plan of salvation, but how can we expect to tell anyone “good news” when in their own life they are experiencing physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual duress in his or her life. How can we reach these people? How did Jesus reach these people? Surprisingly enough Jesus used a great number of ways to reach those around him. He shared conversation with an unholy woman at a well, He reached out to the sick and hurting giving them physical relief, He showed grace to a prostitute full of disgrace, and He showed Paul through confrontation. Most times words are just not enough. When people are hurting words really don’t help, get-well cards with a little crown emblem on the back are meaningless for those dying because they can’t afford medical treatment, and an “I’ll pray for you” really doesn’t do cut it for one who is stressed and hurting. We must reach this lost and dying world, but sitting back and waiting for people to darken the door of our church ain’t gonna happen and those that do go out and tell others about Jesus usually don’t go too terribly much past that. We must reach this world for Christ; we must reach out to this world and touch it. America needs less to be told about Jesus and more to receive a revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ through those He has indwelled, commanded and commissioned to do so.