Con or Man

Lately I have been religiously watching the show White Collar. It's about a former con man turned FBI consultant named Neil Caffrey. In season 2, there is a scene where Neil is contemplating his old lifestyle when one of his friends says, "You can either be a con or a man, but you can't be both." It was a simple sentence but it completely changed the thought process. He was given a choice: either to fall back into his old habits; lying and stealing for his own benefit or continue in the lifestyle that gave him new meaning to his life, one that was filled with honesty and responsibility for his actions.

The same is true with Christianity. There are many people who claim to be Christ followers yet their lifestyle rejects Him. The choice is extremely simple: either keep living in sin with guilt and the 'not good enough' falsehood, going back to momentary pleasures that never satisfy or surrender your life to Christ; depending on Him for grace, love, and guidance. I say the choice is simple because it is. We often get caught up in the 'things' you must give up or the so called 'rules' that you think you have to live by, but the choice is still simple. You see, when you understand the cross and what Jesus did for you, love begins to make sense. You realize that you can't earn your salvation and your heart begins to soften. Then God begins to change your wants and desires to match up with His. The Bible isn't a rulebook, it's the guidebook to life and life to the fullest. You either are going to make the choice to reject Christ or accept Him, but the choice must be made. The choice is simple, the process will be difficult, but the reward is eternal. You can either be for God or against Him, but you can't be both!

When you live a life above reproach with full integrity, people notice. One of the greatest defensemen of all time is current Detroit Red Wing captain Nick Lidstrom. In fact, not only is he great at what he does but he has the entire leagues respect. Coach Mike Babcock is quoted saying this about him, "I think the number one most impressive thing about Nick Lidstrom is the kind of man he is and when you see him around his family, around his teammates, and in the community, how can anyone that good be that humble."

What type of person are you?

Fan Mail - By Shaun Groves

I was twenty-four and I knew everything. I had a diploma from a university where I’d studied music composition.
I moved to Nashville to save the Christian music industry – starting as an unpaid intern wearing a tie, making copies at a music publishing company. But someday, I thought, I’ll ditch this suit, and get paid to write better music than what’s on the radio.
“It’s not art,” I’d preach.
Art was god.
Then, one day I saw Joel Lindsey in his writing room down the hall from my office, reading a piece of paper and sniffling. It was fan mail sent to him by someone who loved those radio songs. God had used a song Joel had written to comfort the letter writer – to partially mend what was broken inside her.
It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.
“Art” is a moving target, with a relative definition at best. “…the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”
Significance?
Ultimate significance – Christian significance – isn’t found in chord progressions, simplistic or complex. Or production techniques, vocal timbre or range, instrumentation, rhyme scheme or metaphor. Ultimate value is measured in the secret spaces of the heart and mind, and across the span of eternity, by the Creator of us all.
How immature and unloving to turn love of “art” – however we define it in this culture and generation – into disrespect and disdain for one another. Or an entire industry. God, forgive me.
If only we could read everyone’s fan mail.

Actions Of Deceit

One of my favorite hip-hop artists, Andy Mineo, raps in his latest hit Whatever Comes, "I wrote this on Good Friday, but why they call it good? An innocent man was beaten and nailed into wood. It's only through the lens of grace we see, who that really should have been hanging from that tree, who the nails should have been put it...me." It's a reality that we often take for granted until this week every year. Those lyrics made me think a lot about how we deceive ourselves. It's only through grace that we see what Jesus did for everyone yet how often do we try to earn it? Actions are important but many times we can be deceiving, trying to prove to others that we are 'good' people. If you don't truly believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9), the cross means nothing to you. "Live the Cross, it ain't a chain or design cause sin is whack; don't wear one on your chest if you don't bare one on your back." (Andy Mineo, Pick It Up)


Dr. H. L. Wilmington puts a little perspective on it and paints it this way. "Imagine yourself in the vicinity of the Garden of Gethsemane on a warm April night 2,000 years ago. As you watch, a man walks up to Jesus and begins kissing Him. You would probably conclude, 'How this man must love the Master!' Shortly after this you are shocked to hear another man bitterly cursing Christ. Now your conclusion would be, 'How this man must hate the Master!' but both times you would be wrong. Judas, the man who kissed Christ, really hated Him, and Peter, the one who cursed Him, really loved Him." We've all made mistakes but grace is what brings us to the all-knowing, all-powerfull, all-forgiving Father. You either hate Jesus or you love Him. There is no in-between!

Betrayal

There are a lot of circumstances in life that bring a lot of pain. Pain that makes you weaker than the flu. Pain that turns your stomach, hurts your heart, and brings you to your knees. Loneliness is the only word that describes your feelings, even when supported by good people. I think we all have experienced different levels of pain, some much more extreme than others. Death is one, but I believe the worst kind of pain is that of betrayal. We see all kinds of different levels of betrayal in life. You see them in friendships, in love relationships, in marriage, with co-workers, with teammates, and in leadership. It leaves scars, unforgiveness, and bitterness. It brings you to a place of brokenness and grief with uncertainty of the future. This is the place that makes you or breaks you...

Here's a promise: Your grief will turn to joy! Jesus came to save the broken, the people in need! I think sometimes we forget how much Jesus experienced. He was betrayed by one of His disciples. Mark 14:34 Jesus says, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," because He knew what was about to happen. Jesus knows what you are going through. Kenny Luck says, "Leave room for the miraculous God that, with ease, creates and calls into being things which do not previously exist. You keep your eyes on Him and when your eyes and heart tell you 'it's over', just remember everyone said that on Friday and then Sunday came. He specializes in resurrection from the dead because when the dead rises, God gets all the credit." Your Sunday is approaching. Your test is happening and Jesus wants to know if you will stand firm when everything has collapsed around you. Do you trust Him? "Stand firm, and you will win life" (Luke 21:19). "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all" (Isaiah 7:9). "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Your rescue is coming, hold on!

The Fall

It's quick and easy to fall into sin. There's that brief moment to react to circumstances in our lives, and if we get it wrong it can cause a downward spiral into destruction. There's that saying that says it takes years to build up character and only a moment to tear it down. That is very true. That is why it is so important to stand firm in Christ and have the truth of the Gospel embedded in your heart.

Sex sells. You see it everywhere! Companies that have nothing to do with females, have women in loose clothing advertising their products. It is something that we will never get away from. For guys, the temptation of women has been around since the beginning. Just take a look in Genesis. Genesis 3:6 shows that Adam had an opportunity in the garden right after Eve fell into temptation. He had the opportunity to follow what God said and obey, or eat the fruit that Eve gave him. There was a moment in the garden where Adam had to choose. This moment played a pivotal part in humanity as Adam followed after a woman instead of the truth of Christ. Man has been chasing after woman ever since and it is something that we will constantly have to battle. It is so easy to get distracted and carried away from the plans that God has for you if your focus is on the opposite sex and not on God first. Don't allow yourself to be consumed by someone to the point of compromising your relationship with God. Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." When your relationships are God honoring, He blesses you in incredible ways. 

Paralyzed

What do you do when you feel paralyzed in your circumstances? What do you say to someone who is going through the worst season of their life? When life happens, times can get extremely tough. For those who have a daily relationship with Christ, thoughts of doubt that He is in control may creep in. The encouraging reality is that even when we are not faithful, He is always faithful. He will get you through. He always delivers. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of those comfort verses which says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The reality behind that verse was that the Israelites still had to suffer for 70 years before they were delivered. You think their faith was tested? Or how about Noah. Do you know that it took him 120 years to build the ark. Imagine what his thoughts were after 2 years without the frame even completed, but he just kept pressing on. 

In Matthew 14, Peter was the only one that wasn't paralyzed by Jesus walking on the water. When Jesus asked Him to come, he wasn't paralyzed by fear, distractions, or discouragement. God has you in this season for a reason. Don't let it paralyze you from doing the things that God wants you to do. Trusting God may be the hardest and most challenging thing to do right now but just keep going. Just keep your eyes on Him because the moment you take them off Him, you'll sink.

Again in Luke 22 at the Last Supper, there is another incredible encounter with Peter and Jesus. Right before Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times, Jesus said that He has prayed for him. In fact, He says in verse 32, "But I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail. And WHEN you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." How is this encouraging? Jesus knew that Peter was going to fall, but He also knew that Peter was going to rise back up. Jesus knew that Peter's going down would not be a staying down. We know this because Jesus said 'when', not 'if'. God knows you are struggling. He wants you to trust Him, even though you feel hopeless.

If you haven't heard a Word from God yet, keep praying, keep trusting, keep believing. Your time will come, don't waste it. God is preparing you for something great. Perry Noble says, "Before God wants to do something through you, He wants to do something great in you." Don't stay paralyzed. Get out of the boat and walk towards Him. Keep your eyes focused on the promise and have faith. God is preparing you for something great!

Invisible Children

You are about to read something that I hope will turn you into a critical thinker. If you were to ask someone about Joseph Kony today, they would most likely be able to tell you who he is (if not, you clearly don't know how to use Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube). The Invisible Children** non-profit organization released a video of him and his evil actions that has seen millions of views in less than three days. This video is all over my Facebook news feed and re-tweeted by people I follow on Twitter. I watched it and was deeply saddened. If you're like me, you are emotionally drawn to anything that has a sad story. The problem is, we often jump on the bandwagon of stories or organizations that speak of a 'good' cause without researching them. The bigger problem is, we don't get this fired up about spreading the name of Jesus.

We have also seen that evil isn't stopped by killing particular people (Hitler, Stalin, Bin Laden, etc, etc). Evil exists because Satan exists. Evil is a spirit. However, evil is reduced when people pray. When was the last time you prayed for an evil person such as Kony? If God's grace is for everyone, why won't most Christians pray for Kony's salvation?

Maybe it's time for you to use this Kony exposure as an opportunity to relate it to the Gospel with someone. Maybe it's a chance for you to talk about grace and love. Maybe it's a chance for you to pray for those who don't know Christ. Maybe it's a chance for you to realize the importance of giving your time and finances to a church and/or a non-profit that makes Jesus famous. Maybe it's time for you to use your social media account as an opportunity to be an example for Christ. Maybe it's time for you to stop hiding behind your social media account and live it! The choice is yours...

FYI
**The producer of this Kony film quoted the government and said that the government won't get involved unless it compromised the United States financial interests. So it's about money...Did you know that non-profts are rated on a 4-star scale? They are rated on a finance report and by accountability and transparency. It's important to know the impact that non-profits are making and where the money is actually going. You might want to research somebody before you give your money away. Although Invisible Children is a great cause, only 31% of your donation actually goes into charity work. The rest of the 69% goes to film making, travel expenses, and salaries. Just something to think about.**