What Does It REALLY Mean To Follow Christ?

In the last year I have read two books that continue to plague my thoughts. They brought up questions that I cannot answer. They have made me rethink many things that I thought I already knew. The information found in these books continue to roll around in my brain....like a never ending blender, slowing down at times, speeding up at other times, but never, ever shutting off.

The first book was called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.


I read this book a year aqo...it bothered me...in a good way. But I guess it didn't bother me enough. I didn't change anything because of the book. I just put the information in my mental blender.

And then a month ago I read another book. "Radical" by David Platt.


If possible, this book bothered me even more than "Crazy Love" did. But again, not enough I guess. I still haven't done anything about what I have read, just went and put in the mental blender.

But now I can't seem to turn the blender off. Questions keep coming to the surface. Questions that I cannot seem to find solid answers to. Maybe that is the problem. Maybe there are no solid answers....but that doesn't mean that there aren't any answers.

So, I thought I would put my questions up here. Maybe someone who reads this can help me with the answers....maybe not. Maybe we'll just have a group of us with more questions than answers....but if the questions won't go away, maybe we can search for the answers, and in the searching, while we might not find an answer, maybe we will BE the answer.

What does it really mean to follow Christ?

Matthew 4:19 (New International Version)
19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

How many REAL "fishers of men" do you know? Does following Jesus mean that you would be a fisher of men if you follow? If you're not fishing for men, are you really following?

Matthew 10:39 (New International Version)
39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

What does it mean to lose your life? How many people who go to church every week, how many pastors have truly lost their life? I'm not talking about physical death, but death to self.

Luke 14:26-27 (New International Version)
26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple

What does this look like? I know what I've been TOLD it means...my love for Jesus in comparison to my family will make what I feel for my family look like hate....but is that REALLY what it means? If so, how does this look in our society? How is it lived out? And the taking up and carrying the cross thing....what does that look like? It's waaaaaaay more than just having to deal with the unpleasent things that come our way...a man in the days of Jesus who was carrying a cross was a dead man...on his way to the execution...so how is that life lived out here? What does it look like?

Matthew 13:44 (New International Version)
44"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

And now for the last set of questions for the day....how is the above scripture lived out? If the kingdom is worth EVERYTHING...why do we spend more time entertaining ourselves than we do advancing the kingdom? Why do we spend more money on ourselves than we do advancing the kingdom?

Ok...that's enough for one post...but I have more questions...and maybe I'll post more later...but it all boils down to this:

What does it REALLY mean to follow Christ? Do you know? Do you know anyone who TRULY follows Jesus?

Stil rolling the questions around in my mind....
Pastor Dave

Ice Cream Lessons

Today I enjoyed one of the good things in life. A vanilla ice cream cone, dipped in chocolate.



I had my first chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone at a little roadstand burger joint between Lemoore and Armona in central California with my grandpa when I was just an itty bitty dude. Since that time I have been hooked. But as good as they are, and as much as I like them...well, let's just say that there is a time and place for them....and driving in the car while trying to merge onto the freeway is neither the time or the place.

If you've ever had one of these heavenly ice cream delights you will know exactly what I'm talking about and I bet you will be smiling as I describe to you what happened. If you've never had one, well, hopefully you will still get what this blog is going to be about, but you won't get the full effect.

Anyway, while driving and trying to merge onto the freeway, my delicious chocoloate dipped vanilla ice cream cone turned evil on me. It did what they always do, which is kinda cool when you're a ten year old boy eating at a picnic bench with your grandpa...but not so cool while trying to merge into traffic at about 65 miles an hour.

The ice cream began to melt and run down the cone....and then onto my hand...getting my hand all sticky. I tried to steer with my knees, while wiping my hand with a napkin...and then a big piece of chocolate broke off and fell onto my lap somewhere, so I looked down trying to find it.

Not a good idea.

There's a reason why you're not supposed to take your eyes off of the road.

While you are trying to find the chocolate before it melts and leaves a stain that will be there until Jesus comes back, the chocolate has moved from your lap to the seat and your car has just merged into the lane next to you while there is still a car occuping the lane next to you there. Now as we all know it is impossible for two cars to occupy the same space...one must move...or the two cars will become as one...and that is not a good thing.

While all this is going on, and I'm still looking for the rapidly melting chocolate I happen to turn the cone upside down....and get some vanilla ice cream in my lap. So now here I am, a sticky, melty, chocolate mess, as well as a bit on edge having almost caused a pile-up on the freeway.

Thankfully, everything ended up fine. I finished the ice cream cone, the chocolate wound up on the floor mat, the ice cream in my lap was easy to clean up and some handi-wipes took care of the rest.

So what is the point of this blog...well, other than the very good lesson that you should not eat a chocolate covered vanilla ice cream cone while driving on the freeway?

The point is a little three letter word.

Sin.

Yep. Sin.

You see, the chocolate covered cone is kind of like sin. It looks good. We've had it before and it tasted fine. But once the newness begins to wear (melt) off, you're left with a mess. And unlike the ice cream cone mess, you cannot make everything better with a handi-wipe.

In fact Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death..." And sin always pays its wages. Every sin we commit results in death. Death of trust. Death of health. Death of innocence. Death of a marriage. Death of relationships. Death of friendships. Death of a job. Death of life. And the worse....eternal death.

Sin looks good...and honestly, for a little while it is pleasing and pleasurable. But then the chocolate coating begins to melt...and it gets messy. One addiction leads to another. One lie leads to a lifetime of habitual lies. One broken relationship leads to a string of broken relationships and hardened hearts. What started out as pleasing and pleasurable winds up a mess.

You know one of the "funny" things about my chocolate covered ice cream story is that it was not the first time it had happened. I had done this before. But this time I told myself it would be different. I was more experienced. I was more mature. I talked myself into something that I knew from experience was a bad idea.

We do the same with sin. "One last time", we tell ourselves. "I can handle it this time", we say. "This time it will be different" we lie to ourselves.

Sin cannot be managed, excused, coddled, trivialized or played with. It must be dealt with...it must be hated. It must repulse us. We need to move from being sin-sick to sick of sin.

And there is only one way to do that. The same verse in Romans that tells us that sin pays its wages also says, "...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Oh man, you gotta love that! Eternal life!!! Wooo-hooo! Now there's something to shout about!

But how does that help us deal with sin in the here and now? Read it again...."but the gift of God is eternal life IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD." Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, once we have comitted to following Jesus with our lives, we are IN CHRIST...and not in sin. We have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to help us combat sin. We are no longer identified as sinners, but as children of God! I understand that we will still struggle with sin. We will even still sin...but we are no longer on sin's payroll. We have been forgiven and cleansed from our sin. While it is true that we will never be sinless before we are untied with Jesus, we will sin less. We are set free from sin. When sin calls, I don't have to answer the phone any longer. When sin comes knocking at my door I don't have to open it. I am so grateful to Jesus for this. It took me years to appreciate this part of my relationship with Him. But I am so glad that sin no longer has a hold on me. Thank you Jesus, for dying for me, for saving me, and for keeping me safe....even when I'm making a chocolate covered vanilla ice cream mess.

Ok, that's all for now.
Pastor Dave

God is God

I have been reading through the book of Isaiah the last few days, specifically chapters 42 through 55, and I've been working my yellow highlighter overtime. There is so much great stuff in this book. Of course, that could be said about every book in the Bible, but I guess that even though I have read Isaiah several times, this time it was different. This time, the place I am in my life, in my ministry, caused the Lord to use Isaiah in a different way.

I noticed that over and over again God keeps telling us that there is no one like Him. Chapter 43:11 "I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior." Chapter 44:6;8;22 "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god....Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any." Chapter 45:5-6 "I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God...I am the Lord, and there is no other...Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Chapter 46:9 "...for I am God and there is no other, I am God, and there is none like me."

I have just begun to realize these past few weeks how much I put before God. There is NO ONE like the Lord...there is NO OTHER GOD...nothing and no one else offers salvation, peace, security and contentment. Maybe I should rephrase that last statement...lots of "things" offer salvation, peace, security and contentment...but God is the only one who can actually deliver on the offer. Everything the world has to offer will let us down...even our friends and family will let us down...but God will always be there for us. Our salvation is secure in Him.

So why do we chase after so much? Why are we a people who must be constantly entertained? Why does the average Christian spend more time watching televison in one day than they will spend in the Word of God all week? Why does culture and popular opinion shape our decision making process more than God?

We have so many Bibles to choos from in this country. Go to any Christian book store and you will find a variety of translations to choose from: KJV, NKJV, NIV, TNIV, ESV, NLT, The Message, The Living Bible, RSV, Amplified and more. On top of that, we have more "types" of Bible than you would ever think we need: There are Men's Study Bibles, Woman's Study Bibles, Army, Navy, and Marine study Bibles. You can choose from the Bible that looks like a magazine, or you can even pick up the comic book Bible. You can find a Bible that looks like a tennis shoe, a Bible with a metal case, and even the duct tape Bible! There are Bibles with special helps for single men and women, married couples, mothers, fathers, and new believers.

Sadly, the most common type of Bible you will find is the one that is not read.

We need to get back to the Word of God. We need preachers who will not follow the flavor of the day, the trend of the moment, the hottest thing on the market, but will open up the Word of God and feed it to their flocks!

The church chases after the things of the world and seeks advice from Oprah and Dr. Phil more than we do from Obadiah and the Apostle Paul! Why? Because our eyes are glued to the televison instead of having our nose in THE BOOK!

Why is it that we get all excited over a multitude of things, but can't muster up even a sparkle of excitement over the Word of God? I've seen Christians get more excited about getting a good parking spot at Wal-mart than they do about finding a life changing verse in the scriptures! I've seen Christians get more worked up over someone pulling out in front of them in traffic than they do about the reality of their friends and family members that are heading for hell!

Why are we not burning for revivial in the church today? Why are we not passionate for the lost? Why are not more of God's people on fire for the Lord? Because you cannot start a fire without fuel...and the Bible is the fuel, but it sits in the container instead of being poured out on the lives of believers where the Holy Spirit will then strike the match to start a blazing inferno!

After reading Isaih, I have been on my knees and face crying out to God for revival, for passion, for a downpour of the Spirit and to see a movement of God in my life, my church, my town, my state and my country.

God I pray that you will rend the heavens and ignite in your people a passion for YOU, for YOUR WORD and for the LOST....may your people begin to realzie that You are the Lord and besides You there is NO Savior.

In His service,
Pastor Dave

Abandoned To God

Almost two weeks ago I had surgery on my left hand. Because of that, I can only type with one hand....and so, I have rarely been online, blogging, on facebook or answering emails. It's just too big of a hassle, and way too time consuming, so this will be a very short blog entry.

What I have been doing though, is a lot more reading of God's Word...and other books, and much more time in prayer.

This has driven me to a conclusion that I do not like, but must admit.

The conclusion is twofold: 1: I have idols in my life, and 2: I'm not as abandoned to God as I should or could be.

I am asking you to join with me in prayer, that I might be what God has called me to be...with abandon. Hopefully, you will see some of the results of a life lived in abandonment to God, here in this blog...but more importantly, I pray that my family , my church, my friends, my brothers, my neighboors and my community will see it in my life.

Monday, the stitches will be removed, and two weeks after that I hope to be able to retun to two-handed typing...and have much to share.

I close with some lyrics to a favorite song of mine:

Abandoned To God

Oh for a heart that loves the Lord, undivided, holy and pure.
A workman unashamed, rightly dividing the Word.
Counting all things loss–except for knowing Jesus.
Just to bear the cross–sharing His sufferings, to glorify Jesus Christ my King. Abandoned to God, heart, soul, and mind.
Surrendering every part of my life.
This is my prayer, my solemn vow: just to be hopelessly, helplessly, faithfully abandoned to God."

By faith alone, in Christ alone.
Dave

Defying Gravity

I like to read. I like to read a lot. Over the years, I have found a few authors that I have tried to read everything they write. They have become heroes of the faith to me. Some of them are John MacArthur, Randy Alcorn, Bruce Marchiano, John Piper, Tony Evans, Mark Driscoll, Mark Buchanan, Max Lucado & Joseph Stowell...just to name a few.

This last year I have added a new name to the list: Daniel Henderson


While he has not written a lot of books, the two I have previously read, "Fresh Encounters" and "Pray-zing!" have impacted my life in ways that I cannot describe. All I can say is that I have not been the same after reading them. I have also attended a "Prayer Summit" that Daniel facilitated, and believe that it has been a defining moment in my ministry.

Because of that, when I found out that Daniel had a new book out, I jumped at the chance to get a copy and read it. I was not disapointed, and I don't think you will be either.

The title of the new book is: "Defying Gravity-How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry".


It is a book that I wish was available to read when I first began pastoring. Of course, that would not have been possible, because the book is new, but the information is extremely valuable and will benefit not only pastors, but anyone in any leadership position, in ministry or in the business world, although I think those in ministry will benefit the most.

Daniel compares the person in leadership or pastoral ministry with a pilot flying a plane. The analogy works very well, and it brings a perspective to the subject matter that is missing in other books on the same subject.

What Daniel writes about has been written about before, but I don’t think I have ever enjoyed reading about it as much as I did reading this book. Much of what he covers would fall under the category of “common sense”. However, since the list of fallen leaders in the church is long, and sadly, growing longer it seems every day, the information presented is vital and needs to be read, absorbed and become a part of the life of pastors and leaders today.

Daniel is often known as the “prayer guy”, and if you have read any of his other books (which I highly recommend), or have been to one of the many Prayer Summits that he facilitates, you know why. This book though is not about prayer, although it is touched upon in the book. This book is about making sure you end the journey intact.

The length of the book is just right. At 179 pages it makes for a fairly quick read, and yet it is long enough to tackle a subject that I have gotten bogged down in while reading lengthier books on the subject. Throughout the book I found myself smiling, nodding in agreement and feeling the need to correct the current course of my ministry. I feel that I am not only a better pastor after having read “Defying Gravity” and putting the information inside to practice, but I am also a better husband, father, friend and brother.

Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

“…the Enemy does not have to destroy us but simply distract us. Little distractions tolerated over a long period of time result in big disasters.”

“The issue of intimacy with God is core to spiritual health and leadership survival.”

“Our identify should rest securely on the unchanging truth of who we are in Christ.”

“Accountability is not always safe, but it is always worth it.”

The book is filled with facts, but also life stories, including that of the author, who have lived out and experienced the subject matter of the book. This is not a dry academic read, but one that engages you with personal stories, real life anecdotes and quotes from others who have gone before. A few of those quotes reached out and grabbed me, like these from E.M. Bounds:

“To give prayer the secondary place is to make God secondary in life’s affairs.”

“It is better to let the work go by default than to let the praying go by neglect.”

I am not a professional book reviewer by any stretch of the imagination, however I am a pastor, and a fellow brother who is doing his best to follow Jesus. The writings of Daniel Henderson have enabled me to not only continue on this journey in a way that has enhanced my relationship with the Lord, with “Defying Gravity” he has shown me how I can complete the journey in a way that will enable me to hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. And in the end, that I what it is all about.

Thank you Daniel, for being obedient to what God has called you to do, for writing this book, and for being a brother....and a friend. I think I need to go check the instrument panel now.

Pastor Dave

To- Now, Not To-Later

When our oldest daughter Amie was just a little toddler learning how to speak, she would get upset when she wanted to do something, or she wanted us to do something and we would tell her that we would do it tomorrow, or later.

One day, she expressed her frustration, as only kids can, by mixing up the words today & now and tomorrow & later, when she said with determination in her voice, “No. To-now, not to=later!”

That thought came to my mind when I was reading this verse:

1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”

The very first word in this passage, “but” can also be translated “now”.
Now is when we need to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts.
But too often our heart is divided. We are always putting things off until tomorrow. Or after we finish whatever currently has our attention.

But the time to do this is not tomorrow.

Not after the big game.

Not after the audtitions on "American Idol".

Not after your favorite TV show is over.

Not after you get your taxes back.

Not after you get married.

Not after the kids are born.

Not after you retire.

Not after you‘ve done all the sinning you want to do.

Not to-later, but to-now.

We need to be clear on that? When do you set apart Christ as Lord?

NOW.

Sadly , that’s not how we normally do things…

We say we’re going to start working out when…tomorrow…

We’re going to start eating healthy when…tomorrow…

We’re going to quit smoking when….tomorrow….

We’re going to start saving money when….tomorrow…

We’re going to start reading the Scriptures on a regular basis when…tomorrow….

Peter is telling us now is the day…now is the time.

Carpe diem…seize the day, the moment to set apart Christ as Lord now!!!

The urgency of doing this now hit me even harder when I was at a Prayer Summit a couple of weeks ago and I heard Daniel Henderson talking about this verse:

Ephesians 5:16 “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

The word “time” is “kairos” which means a “set time” not “chronos” which means a “space of time” - even years.

You see, Paul is not telling us to make the most of our teen years, our twenties, our thirties, the rest of our life, or the time we are involved in a particular ministry (although we should make the most of those periods of time).

What Paul is saying is make the most of right now. Right now redeem the time. Right now decide to live for Jesus. Right now cash in your life for His. Right now set Him apart in your heart. Right now. The time is now.

Or as my daughter Amie would say, “To-now, not to-later!”


Trying to serve God in the here and now,
Pastor Dave

P.S. You can check out the website of the ministry of Daniel Henderson here:
http://www.strategicrenewal.com/

What Facebook Taught Me About Heaven

Over the last year or so I have learned a little bit about heaven from, of all places, facebook. I know that seems a little odd....but then God has a habit of showing up and teaching us lessons in strangest of places.

He showed Himself to Issac in a dream, and even wrestled with him. For Moses, God showed Himself in a burning bush. Daniel found the peace and protection of the Lord in the lions den, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found him in the middle of an extremely hot spot in their lives. For Matthew, God showed up while he was at work, extorting money from his fellow citizens. Saul ran head first into God on the road to Damascus while he was going to throw followers of The Way (Jesus) into prison. John got a very special view of God while exiled on the isle of Patmos.

So...for me, God shows up on facebook. And He taught me about heaven.

Ok, let me explain myself.

Over the last year or so on facebook I have gotten reaquainted with many former classmates from my high school (Hanford High, Class of 1975, with an undefeated footbal team-yes, I still remember that-went to every game that year-even the away games-the last minute win against Visalia is one I still remember 35 years later!).

Some of those from my high school were friends of mine, some were people I kinda knew, and others were part of the "poplular" crowd, of which, I was never allowed admittance too. I'm not complaining here, that's just the way high scool is. I had a lot of friends that belonged to my social order / group: the mid-level popular group.

As I have "friended" and been "friended" by people I went to high school with one of the first things I began to notice is that the high school order of things no longer exists. I have become friends now with some who NEVER talked to me at school (again, this is not a complaint, just the facts, and to be honest, the social / popularity order is kept by both sides - in other words, I never talked to the popular kids either). In fact when I sent a message to one person who was part of the popular crowd, I wasn't sure if they would even know who I was, and I described myself as "kind of a dork" back then. The replied back, "Yes I remember you, and we were all dorks back then." The popular kids thought they were dorks too? Wow. What a revelation that was.

On top of the newfound friendships with all types of people I went to school with, I found that many of them have now put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In fact, one person that I barely knew in high school, Bob Craine, I had the honor of having worshiping with him and his wife and going to lunch with them after church services! As Bob and Jeannie shared where they have been and their journey of faith with the Lord, I felt as if I was having a meal with the Holy Spirit Himself! The love of Jesus just overflowed from these two people. As we left, I told my wife that although I barely knew Bob in high school, that after worshipping with him and sharing a meal with him, I felt as if I have known him all of my life. My wife responded, "It's the Jesus factor."

The Jesus factor.

Yep. That's it all right.

Now here is how God showed up and taught me about heaven through facebook.

You see, at the foot of the cross we are all equal. Rich, poor, medium income, black, white, red, yellow, northern, southern, democrat, republican, independent, and on and on.

Just as there seems to no longer be any popular social order left over from high school, so there will be no popular order in heaven. No one will feel left out. No one will feel like a dork, a nerd, a geek, or whatever other word they used these days to describe those that are not part of the "in" crowd.

Just as I have found many from high school to be followers of Jesus now, in heaven I will get reaquainted with many who did not know the Lord when I knew them, but together we will worship the Lord around His throne.

And, in addition to those from my past that I have met on facebook, I have alos had the pleasure of "meeting" and becoming friends with many, many people across the world who call themselves followers of the Son of God, of Jesus, of the one who gave His live for us. Some of these people I have prayed with, and they have prayed with me. Some I have met face to face as they have visited the church that I pastor. Others, I will never meet here, but will await the joyous homecoming one day and live with them forever in heaven, and one day on the new earth. And as I have found myself drawn into their lives here, it makes me realize how many new people I will meet one day that I have never known. People who have gone before me and kept the faith an fought the good fight and sacrificed so that I might have the opportunity to hear the gospel and come to know Jesus as my savior.

Speaking of those who have gone on to be with Jesus in glory, Revelation 5:9 says, "And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

If the Bible were being written today, John might have written it this way: "...and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and nation and popular and unpopular social order, and from people on facebook all over the world."

Thank you Jesus. Thank you for life. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for the many, many blessings that you have given me over the years, and yes, that includes facebook.

Ok, so there's that.
Pastor Dave