Month: August 2016

I can remember the shock and disappointment I felt many years ago when I saw that bottle of beer in my Christian friend’s refrigerator one night. What a bad example he was setting! I had been so sure that he was a deeply spiritual man like myself. After all, I didn’t smoke, drink, cuss, chew or even associate with those who do! I could go to restaurants and pick out the saints and the sinners. The saints were the ones who prayed before their meal. The sinners were the ones who had alcoholic drinks on the table.

As I look back on that era of my life, I’m amazed at the patient love of Jesus for me. He saw those pharisaical tendencies of mine and yet He saw through them all the way to the core of my heart where there was a man who could be pliable in the Potter’s hand and be conformed into the image of Christ.

In my mind today I picture Jesus standing over in the corner of the restaurant watching the people, but He’s not observing what I was looking at. He’s not really too concerned with who’s praying before the meal or the bottle of beer on the table. He’s concerned about the measly two dollar tip left for the struggling waitress by the man who piously prayed before his twenty dollar dinner. He looks with pleasure at another table where a young man drinking a cocktail and dining with his friends grabs the check and pays for their meal, all the while leaving a generous 30% tip for the waiter.

I have heard from many who work or have previously worked in the restaurant business that Sundays were the most dreaded days for wait staff to work. Why? Because Sundays are the days when the church crowd fills up the place. So why would they dread this day so much? Because alcohol sales will be down? No. Tips will be down. Way down. A friend who was once a waiter told me of a man who left what looked like a one-hundred-dollar bill on the table. Imagine his excitement when he saw it only to grab it, open it up, and discover it was one of those gospel tracts that looks like a hundred-dollar-bill. Seriously?

It is not the purpose of this blog to bash the church. After all, I am part of the church. I too was once one of those who calculated the 15% tip in my head to make sure I didn’t leave a penny more than was required.
I’m reminded of the words of Jesus to His disciples,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;
As I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34-35)

What does love look like? It looks like giving.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”

The real gospel would have been proclaimed had that man rolled up a real hundred-dollar-bill inside the tract. There’s something about lavish generosity that preaches the gospel.

The love of Jesus is extremely generous. Our demonstration of the gospel is never more clearly understood than when we love generously. The next time you go to the restaurant, leave a tract on the table. You know, one of those green ones, and if you’re not going to leave a generous tip, please don’t misrepresent our generous God and tell them you’re a Christian. Thank you!

Generously,

Kevin

 

One of the most popular subjects among passionate followers of Christ today is the presence of God. There have been hundreds of books and thousands of sermons preached on this subject, not to mention all the conferences, seminars, and even schools centered on it. Oh yeah, and all the songs too. There are men and women who have dedicated their entire lives to the pursuit of a greater understanding of this topic.

Having been in church circles for the past 30 plus years or so that put a premium on the presence of God, I’ve seen, heard and read so much about it that my conceptual understanding of it can be clouded at times.

Being somewhat of a wordsmith, I am very cognizant of concepts that are conveyed by the way we use words and phrases, especially when we’re speaking “Christianese.” If you’re not as concerned as I am about words and the concepts they bring, then you may view what I’m about to say as nitpicking. Believe me, it’s not.

1. We don’t have to ask Him to come. He’s already here. This is true individually and corporately. He’s dwells within me as an individual by His Spirit. He dwells with us corporately because He said “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:20) No, I’m not demanding that we do away with every song that says “come Holy Spirit.” Instead of judging it for being scripturally inaccurate, I choose to see it as an expression of love for Holy Spirit who is already in our midst (although sometimes I wonder if He’s leaning over to one of the angels and saying “please go and let them know I’m already there”).
2. He’s not going to leave if we don’t do everything just right. Why have an Old Covenant mentality that if we don’t dot every i and cross every t, He’ll be displeased and separate Himself from our midst? He wants to be with us more than we want to be with Him!

 

If all of this is true, then why are there times when we sense His presence more than others? Why do we have church services where we get so overwhelmed by His presence and then have some where we hardly feel anything at all?

 

I believe it can be summed up in one word: awareness. God has told us he will never leave us or forsake us, so if He is true to His word, then I have His presence at all times. Psalm 139:7-8 says,

 

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

 

If He is always with us, even to the extent that we can’t even run or hide from Him, then when I can’t feel His presence, the problem lies with me. I can choose whether to be aware or ignore Him.

 

Here are 5 ways we can be more aware of His presence: (By the way, these are from my own personal experience and the school of hard knocks)

 

1. Be thankful. Just begin to thank Him for anything, for everything, and in everything. I remember one time a few years ago, I sat down with a pen and tablet and started making a list of everything and everybody that I was thankful for. Two-and-a-half pages later I had to put the pen down because I was so overwhelmed with joy I could hardly contain myself. And as an added bonus, I completely forgot about my problems.
2. Talk to Him. This is otherwise known as prayer. When you talk to your Father, speak from your heart. When I’m alone with God, I call Him “Papa.” When the words “I love you, Papa” come out of my mouth, I can literally feel His presence in a very real way. Of course I can’t neglect praying in the Spirit. Speak in your prayer language. If you don’t have one, ask Him for one. He’ll give it to you. He’s so good!
3. Meditate. Think deeply about Him. Let the word of God that you know in your heart come to mind and let it just roll around in your head. Philippians 4:8 is a good place to begin. When we consciously redirect our thoughts from our present circumstance to Him, we become aware of His presence.
4. Worship. By yourself and with others. Music helps me a lot. I’ll sing, hum, whistle, or listen to some good worship music. Gather with others to worship as often as you can. There is something exponentially awesome that happens when we gather together to love and adore Jesus!
5. Love unconditionally. We are never more like Jesus than when we love. Especially when we love the unlovely. The gospels have much to say about this.

 

 

I’m pretty sure this is not an exhaustive list, but these are the things that have helped me the most to be more aware of His presence.

 

Just remember, He is always with you.

Simply be aware.

 

In His presence,

 

Kevin

I’ve been on a particular journey for a long time, actually for most of my life. I’m on a journey to find Jesus. Ok now, before you begin to show me the Roman Road or The Four Spiritual Laws and tell me how to find Jesus and get saved, let me assure you I do know Him. You see, a while back, what I call a divine dissatisfaction with my understanding of Jesus began to set in on me. I knew Jesus in the sense that He is the Son of God, lived a sinless life, died for my sin, and rose from the dead – the essentials. I had read the entire bible. I had read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I had read the Sermon On the Mount. Many times.

I recently decided to take off my American evangelical glasses and read the story of Jesus for what it is – God became a man. You could put it this way, Jesus is what God looks like.

This has caused some gut-wrenchingly honest soul searching to take place in me. I didn’t like what I saw. I saw a man whose image of Jesus had been molded into a modern, watered-down version of something that was a little easier to swallow than the one who preached the greatest sermon ever in chapters 5,6 and 7 of Matthew’s gospel. You know what I’m talking about? Those statements Jesus made, like

 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

 

I have to be honest with you, when discussing passages like these with other people, more times than not I would follow them up with a “but.” As if we can take everything Jesus says at face value except the ones that require complete trust on our part. It reminds me of an old hymn…

 

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His word…

 

I am finding that there’s no greater peace to be found than when I simply take him at His word. I don’t know about you, but it scares me to think about turning the other cheek or the inconvenience of having to go the second mile, but He didn’t say it would be easy. I get tired of hearing that worn-out cliché that says “God won’t put more on you than you can handle.” That’s not true! Some of His commandments are more than I can handle! If I could handle them I wouldn’t need to trust Him, would I?

It’s becoming easier for me to trust Him the more I realize just how much He loves me. His perfect love does indeed cast out fear. The more I become aware of His love, the less fear can dictate to what extent I’m willing to obey Him.

So let me sum it up like this: If I turn the other cheek and get knocked down, His love is there to catch me.

 

I can’t think of a better place to fall.

 

Trusting Jesus,

 

Kevin.