No one has a sin problem

This thought has kept going through my head over the past week. A couple of years ago Mark Driscoll was over teaching at an event called Mandate. He said something that has stuck with me to this day. No one has a sin problem; everyone has a worship problem. It’s so true! Sin is just on outcome of our worship problem.

Question, if I was truly worshiping God all the time, would I sin? No, because I can’t worship God through sinning. We all worship something all the time. We’re wired that way. So as Christians we worship God or we worship something or someone else.

I don’t know about you but when I see that I have a sin problem I try to do the sin less. I try to not think about it as much. Or I think about not giving into temptation and technically I’m still thinking about the sin. It never works! I’m sure you’ve all heard the first part of this illustration before but let’s take it a step further. Don’t think of white mice. Don’t think of their smooth white hair. Don’t think of their long pink tails. Don’t think of their small pink feet. Don’t think of their small pink nose and their long whiskers. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of their piercing green eyes. Don’t think of their long rough tongue. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of there long soft black tail. Don’t think of black cats. Don’t think of their movements as they climb a tree. What happened to the white mice?

See the point of the illustration is that we don’t get over something by thinking about not doing it. That only ends up with us thinking about the sin more and it just increases the temptation. We get over it by thinking about someone else. We need to fill our minds with someone else and begin to worship someone else. We need to think of someone bigger than anything. Any ideas?

The whole point is that we can’t get over sin by ourselves. We need to worship God to get over it. If we get tempted and we start to pray, worship, read the Bible or do something else that makes us praise God then we’re sorted. Just as long as we can redirect our worship to the one who deserves it.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4v8

The only thing that I can hold in my head that is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of my praise is Christ.

Think Christ, Live Christ

Don’t Kony 2012!

Kony 2012… I’m sure by now I don’t need to explain what it is. Everyone has seen the campaign and I’m sure you’ve all seen the video. I’m not up for Kony 2012 and here’s why…

Ask yourself this question. What will happen to Kony if he’s caught? What do you actually think will happen to him? They are obviously going to kill him. They will find him and give him a sentence and he will receive a death penalty. Well that’s if they don’t just shoot him right away.

So when you support Kony 2012 you support the death of a man. That’s what the Kony campaign is all about. Give Kony a wanted tag and lets find him and then he’ll get punished (killed).

The argument against this is that many people are getting killed because of Kony. If he died then many others would be saved. You could say that killing Kony would be the best thing to do as you save many others. But I want to think what Jesus would do if he was he in person.

Would Jesus be up for the death of a person, even if they deserved it? In John 8 a woman is brought to Jesus. She had been caught in the act of adultery. By the Law of Moses they should stone her. Now remember to Jesus, all sin is unbearable. She is a sinner and she deserves death. She deserves eternal death. Did Jesus send her there? Did Jesus say stone her? No her didn’t. He was more interested in showing her love and saving her.

I’m sure at the time there were men like Kony on the earth. I don’t read any stories about Jesus killing any one or any of the early disciples. Paul could have saved so many people by killing some of the Pharisees but he didn’t.

I also think it’s safe to assume that Kony isn’t a Christian. So if we support in the killing of him then we support sending a man directly to hell. A soul lost for eternity. If Peter or one of the other disciples had killed Paul that would have been it for him. An eternity in hell. But they didn’t. They cared more about him coming to follow Jesus than their own lives. Paul was just like Kony; a man that deserved to die. But he wasn’t killed and he became a follower of Christ. Wouldn’t it be cool if Kony became a follower of Christ?

Let’s pray for Kony and his men. Let’s pray that they find plenty of Christians. Let’s pray that Christ’s love gets shown to them and for a complete change of heart that Kony and his men may fall and the cross in submission and give their lives to follow him. Let’s pray for young Christians that are willing to die themselves before they kill another so that they message of Christ is shown to them. Let’s pray for the invisible children.

As Shane Claiborne might say, I would die for the invisible children but I wouldn’t kill for them.

Stop Masking Jesus!!

Jesus is not football. In fact He’s not any sport at all. He’s not a lot of fun games and He’s not food. He’s not a great night out or a pile of new friends. He’s not a ticket to a problem free or painless life.

The question is, ‘why do we advertise Jesus as this?’ ‘Oh come along! It’ll be a fantastic night. There’s football and food and different fun games. Oh and you’ll meet a pile of new friends.’ Why are people so scared these days to advertise Jesus as Jesus?

And why do people plead with people to become Christians. I never saw Jesus running after people, on his knees crying out, ‘Please. Please follow me. I’ll do anything…’ No he was quite the opposite. He told people that they couldn’t follow him if they weren’t willing to die for him. So why do we plead with people to become Christian’s and even mask Jesus with heaven. And yes we do mask Jesus with heaven. ‘Become a Christian and receive the gift of eternal life.’ The best bit about Jesus is Jesus. Not heaven but Jesus. I have not seen heaven but I hear it’s pretty incredible from the Bible. But the best bit about heaven is better than heaven itself and it’s that Jesus is there. So stop masking Jesus up with eternal life because all you get is people that’s in it for eternal life and not Jesus. And this creates an unsalty church and a group of church goers that are not willing to die for Jesus and are going to heaven.

So STOP MASKING JESUS!!

Lastly why do we put so much effort into evangelism events rather than just showing Jesus? Were told to be imitators of God and Jesus is God. But so many of us would rather put time into planning an evangelism event than spend time alone with God, becoming more like him. And our biggest problem is that many people don’t want to actually follow Jesus. It’s like how little do I have to do to get into heaven. It’s all about heaven for some people and not about Christ. But we have a problem with Christians that aren’t willing to do whatever it takes to follow Jesus, even to death.

I heard a guy on T.V. one day talking about his rally driving career. When he’s in a race he’s so focused on winning that if he needs the toilet he just goes. He just wets himself in the car. And there’s this one time he threw up in his helmet and just continued on for a couple of hours. How disgusting is that? Yet he endured the smell, the bad taste in his mouth, the wet trousers, the disgusting feeling and he fact that he felt ill, all so he could just finish the race.

Another man at a weekend talked about something called hard routine that they have in the army. The soldiers would be so focused on the mission that they would even let leeches suck on their blood. If they needed the toilet they would just go. They would spend days outside in all types of weather. There is no tolerance for error and no room for selfishness, indulgence or lack of focus.

We lack people with such a focus on Christ. People that give up their WHOLE lives to live out Christ and not just half of it. People that lack a desire to do God’s will and be holy like Christ.

Although this may not seem like evangelism the Bible says a life like this is.

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:14

Evangelism is not about changing other people; it’s about changing ourselves to be more like Christ.

The Great and Humble King (2)

This is a little extra bit relating to The Great and Humble King.

As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

Acts 5:15

I thought this verse was really cool because it is what Jesus said in John 14 taking action.

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 14:11-14

We can’t deny this fact. When Jesus says something you can be assured its true. Throughout all Jesus’ time on earth people drew near to Jesus. At the most people would have said something like, ‘if I could just touch his cloak I would be healed’. Then we look at Peter and people are saying, ‘if Peter’s shadow would just fall on me I would be healed.’ Now I’m not making up anything here. Read it for yourself. But I feel this next bit might sound very odd.. Peter had greater works that Jesus. This is something that people struggle to believe. ‘It can’t be! Jesus was God.’ Well it’s true and Jesus said it himself in John 14. Do you actually believe this scripture? Because I look about the place and we should have more than a few people that have greater works than Jesus but I look about and I don’t see it. I look at myself and I don’t see it. Our faith is so weak. Like if it only takes a mustard seed’s worth of faith to move a mountain then my faith must be smaller than a mustard seed.

Again I don’t want this to put Jesus down in your sight. We need to understand that we aren’t greater than God. If you’re reading this and still haven’t read the Great and Humble King post then read it now. Because you really need to understand that Peter isn’t greater than Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that does these miracles and it is Jesus that is with the Father and it is Jesus’ name that we ask these things by. Peter’s miracles were only greater than Jesus’ because of Jesus.

Again this just fills me with awe of a creator so humble that he would let others do greater works than he did when he was on earth. His humility is humbling and inspiring. But at the same time it makes me question my own faith. I know people always use the excuse about the different gifts the Spirit gives and that not everyone can do miracles. But when I read the John 14 text I see the words ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES’. Not ‘whoever believes except the ones that aren’t gifting in that area.’ As usual, the problem is with us. I feel a need to go and spent time to pray. I feel the need to pray for faith and the Spirit to help me with this. And I think you should as well.

Lastly, our lack of these greater miracles might be because we seek his Spirit for our own needs. His Spirit wasn’t sent to us so that our names could be glorified and praised but it was sent so ‘that the Father may be glorified in the Son.’ So maybe it’s because were so self-obsessed and we want things to satisfy our own ego and pride. Have you ever thought that just maybe, this could be you? That you could be praying, ‘Lord heal this person so your name may be praised,’ and God listens to you and hears, ‘Lord heal this person so I can be praised.’ I’m not saying this is you but it could be. Pray that his Spirit would show you if this is you or not. I don’t want you to go away and let this verse destroy your faith, but instead I pray that this would drive you to have a passion for your life to be all about Christ. After all that’s what it’s all about anyway.

Testing the Waters

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

Genesis 3:1

I saw a picture of a snake the other day and for some reason the verse above happened to come into my head. And God showed me that it said the serpent was more crafty than another beast of the field. This suggests that the other beasts we’re also crafty. Now it was Satan that made the serpent crafty. It was Satan in the form of this serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the tree. So if Satan made the serpent crafty he also made the other beasts crafty.

Most people suggest that this was the first time Adam and Eve where tempted. But now when I read this verse it’s as if Satan tempted them many time before this. He came in the form of other animals and tempted them, being crafty in his ways. But each time Adam and Eve declined and didn’t fall for his tricks. I’d almost say it was as if Satan was testing the waters. Seeing how strong Adam and Eve were and what type of bate they would take.

Back in the days when cities had massive walls around them and when the men battled with swords, armies would have tested the strength of the other army. It still happens these days as spies are sent in to see how strong the enemy is. But back in them days sometimes the king would have sent a number of men to attack the city, knowing what the outcome would be. They were not trying to win the battle and most times the men would have been killed with only a few getting away. As this happened the king and some of the head men of the army would watch on and point out the strengths and weaknesses of the city and its army so they could come back with a plan that would work.

Is it possible that Satan tested Adam and Eve many times to see what their strengths and weakness were? Did he use other animals to tempt them until he found out what would get them?

What about us then? Is it possible that Satan comes back and tempts us so many times every day to see how strong we are? Sometimes we fall for something easy when we’re having a bad day or were tired. Other times he might try to get us with the same thing but that day we might be strong enough to resist it so he’ll just try to tempt us with something else to trip us up. And if that doesn’t work he’ll just keep coming back and back until he gets us. We can’t let our guard down and we can’t lose our focus on Christ. We need to be pray constantly as the Bible tells us we should (1 Thes 5:17), and this is pretty impossible for us so we should be praying that God would help us do this. Remember, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)

Finally whose power is Satan testing? Is it yours or is it God’s? Satan cannot win a battle against the Holy Spirit but he will triumph in a battle against us. Live today by God’s power, praying on your spiritual armour.

It’s time to get real!

I’m so sick of the way we hid ourselves these days. As you look about church you see everyone with these perfect lives. You see all these people that don’t have any sin problems. All these people better than you are. I’m so sick and fed up with it. Is it any wonder why people that visit church that aren’t Christians feel so upset. They just feel as if everyone is judging them. Why have people told me that they can’t become a Christian yet because they’re not good enough? They have these thoughts that we’re all perfect. That church is for good people and not sinners. Is it any wonder?

We need to start being real. We need to stop polishing up our sins and we need to let everything come out. James 5:16 says, ‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.’

It’s a command that we should start to confess ourselves to one another. We’re in this together and not alone. That means we help each other and don’t put others down. We make some people feel so bad about their sin and make people feel so guilty at times. And you may say that you’ve never made someone feel guilty about their sins before. But if you’ve been putting yourself out there as someone that’s a good person and as if you never fail then you’ve probably made someone feel bad about themselves. It’s time to be honest with each other. It’s time to be honest with God.

I’m just back from a men’s weekend. A man stood up at the open session on Saturday night and admitted how he felt fake. He poured out his sin to all of us. I just wished that there was more of this honesty in church. Would we not be so much stronger and be so much more attractive to the world if there was?

God spoke to me a few years ago and he said this: ‘Let us share in our victories and defeats as if we were one. In this way we will grow stronger.’

At first I saw it between God and people but a while after God helped me to see it in a different way. He helped me to see it as a relationship between people as well. So may we become people that share. May we share our victories in Christ with each other and encourage others with our testimonies about the things that God has done in our lives. But may we share our faults and failures with each other so that we are real. May we stop trying to polish ourselves up as these great people. May we stop trying to make our sin out as not being as bad as it is. May we be people that pray for each other. People that care. May we be people that grow together in Christ and may we be people that grow stronger as we share and pray.

It’s time to be real. Everyone else is feeling the same way. You’re not alone because other people share the same sins as you.

I’m Clifford White and I’ve been a fake. I’ve polish myself up as someone better than I actually am. I’ve decided not to receive prayer at the front of church before because other people would know that I struggle so much with sin. They would see me as a weak man. I’m tired of not being strong enough to be real. I’m fed up with being weak because caring about what other people thought of me was the real weakness. Admitting sins is not a weakness. I struggle with anger at my brother yet outside everyone knows me as a man that never gets angry. And I’m so self-obsessed and feel this is a common one among everyone. If we weren’t self-obsessed we would love everyone so much and we’d never sin because we would be following Jesus completely. The times when we sin we’re too focused on ourselves. So everyone needs to confess this and talk about it and pray for others as they confess. And I mean I’m not just self-obsessed but I am so focused on myself. I have joined in on gossip before. I have made excuses up for why I sin. I love to blame others for my sin. I struggle with pride. I’ve envied people in church before. At times I just don’t want to follow Jesus. I’m really not that bold when the time comes. I’m a hypocrite and preach and teach people about things that I don’t even live out in my own life. I’ve listened to people saying they’ve struggle with things and I’ve help them but I’ve never admitted that I struggled as well and that I was not doing the things that I had just told them to do. I’m a sinner! And I was a sinner at birth. My sin isn’t God’s fault, it’s not Satan’s fault, it’s not my upbringings fault, it’s not other peoples fault, it’s not my poor health’s fault; it’s my fault because I am a sinner. And even still there are things I haven’t confessed and I’m going to finally get real with people. And I’m going to confess with a couple of guys this weekend. I’ve just sent them a text to make sure they see me this weekend cause I know I’d only pull out of seeing them. And man I just feel God’s freedom right now and I feel relaxed and joyful. I’m just so glad that I’ve finally shown people that I’m not a super holy person and I feel God’s love right now.

So pray with me, grow with me, become stronger with me, confess with me, share gladness with me, be free with me and be honest with me. Let’s get real!!

Some of you may want to post below this and confess and some may just want to go and tell your close friends. Either way make sure you do it tonight or at least text them and tell them that you want to confess sin’s to them. And remember, were in this together and make sure that there is not one sin that at least a couple of people are praying about. Don’t hold any confession back from at least a couple of people.

Suffering

I thought I would just share this with everyone even though I’m only really writing it for one family, but I think some others might benefit from this. I would like everyone to pray for this family; for strength, peace, joy and for healing. And although you have no idea whose family it is or what the problem is, God does.

Suffering is a guaranteed fact of life. It’s everywhere we look. With a world full of diseases I’m sure every one of you can think of someone who is suffering, or you can see it in yourself. At times like these we are asked, ‘Where is your God?’ We either stand up for God and try to justify why he allows it or we fade away and we start to question his ways, as if we know best.

During suffering, our job is not to try and justify God. Nor is it to question him. Sometimes we may know what he is doing and why he is doing it, and others we might not have a clue. But don’t lose sight of what our job is. Our job is to worship the King who is worthy of praise. Our job is to believe that his ways are the best ways. Our job is to trust him with our lives and let him do what he does, no matter how bad things seem to get. Our job is to rest and find peace in his promises.

One of the greatest promises from scripture is found is Philippians 3:20-21. That Jesus is transforming our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. I find this promise so great because God is making us become more like him. Is that not something to rejoice over? This is an on-going thing in our life and we can be assured that no matter what happens in our lives, he is making us more like him. And he can use times of suffering to make us more like him. I know that the hardest times in my life have been the times I have grew stronger in Christ. Although the pain may seem unbearable at times and you may cry and struggle, you can rejoice about what God is doing in your life. And I know that it’s a lot easier to say than to do. So pray that God would help you to do it.

When the golf ball was first created is was completely round. Then after research scientists realised that the golf ball would travel further if it had dents in it. Sometimes God brings things into our lives that hurt us and leaves dents. The reason is so that we can go further in him and become more like him, that we can be better than we ever could be by ourselves.

In Romans 5:3-4 we are told that our sufferings produce endurance, and endurance produces character. And I’ve already pointed out Philippians, where we’re told that Christ is making us more like him. Do you believe this? Do you believe that God does not lie? Do you believe that he says what he means? Do you trust him? Do you trust him enough to stick with what he says? God is doing something wonderfully complex here; so complex that we do not understand. Continue to praise him, thank him and trust him, even though it can be every hard.

Now I’m not going to pretend i know all the answers. Maybe he’s working through your life to reach others through this. Maybe others will come to know God as they see your faith through this time. Maybe it will encourage other believers. Or maybe he is trying to bring you closer to him. Maybe he is bring you to a deeper understanding of trusting him and relaying on him.

I don’t have a clue what he is going to do through this situation but I can assure you of one thing. Through life he is making you more and more like his glorious body. I will ask the questions again; do you believe him? Do you trust him?

Lord, I give thanks to you that you would care for us enough to make us more like you. I thank you for you Holy Spirit, who works inside of us to help us. I pray more than anything that you would help this family to rejoice in this storm. I thank you that you are making them more and more like you through this, no matter what happens. I pray that you would heal this person and bring them back to full recovery. Though I do realise that you’re ways are not my ways and you’re thoughts are not my thoughts. I realise you do complex things in our lives that we do not understand. So I humbly ask for healing Lord, but may your will be done. May we not question your actions but understand that they are the best actions that can happen. Help us all to know your plan of Christ-likeness in everything that we suffer. In Jesus Christ’s name I ask these things, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen