One Year Ago...

Tonight is January 11, 2011.  Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of an earthquake near Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti.  The earthquake hit the city and the nation like a ton of bricks.  Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere did not have the infrastructure to withstand the quake.  Thousands died and most structures near the center were either destroyed or severely damaged.  Since that time, there has been very little rebuilding.  Thousands live in tent cities.  They have for months.  As if an earthquake that killed thousands wasn’t enough, in recent months, the country has been ravished by cholera…a disease that could easily be eradicated by clean drinking water and proper hygiene.   My heart aches for the people of Haiti.  I’ve longed to see them and to encourage them, but twice now I’ve thought I would see them and twice the trip has fallen through.  But, I am praying for them.  I read the stories on websites for CNN and Samaritan’s Purse.   I pray for them and I hope to go there soon.

It would be so easy to judge Haiti and say that they deserve what they get.  The country’s government is corrupt.  There is widespread voodoo practiced on the island.  They have mistreated a number of people that have come to their aid.  They have abused and robbed the earth of it’s resources until the country is barren and unable to support itself.  But, when I hear people say things like that, it reminds me of a rebellious and stiff-necked people that refuse the love of God.  Yeah, that’s us.  So, I don’t want to judge because I am them.  Love the Haitians and pray for them.  If you’re able and God burdens you, go to them.

Much love!

(P.S.  Read this article.  It will bless you.)

I am blessed

I’ve been thinking about my blog entries and as I’ve thought about them, it seems like I lament a lot.  So, I wanted to write a more upbeat entry, because if you know me, you know that I enjoy life and I laugh a lot (a whole lot).  In some ways, my thoughts and my personality have intensified over time.  And, that ultimately stems from a heightened desire to please God in my actions and to see the world around me changed for the better.  But, in all that intensity, I’m still a happy, joyful, upbeat person.  So, what I want to proclaim today is that I am blessed beyond all measure and in more ways than can be enumerated.  God has given us more than we need for every situation.  It’s just like his name says of him Jehovah Jireh, he’s all we need, a great provider.  Yes, I am blessed!  I praise God for that because I am truly grateful!  I never want to stop praising him and blessing his name for all he is and all he's done!

Gravy
So, here’s the lament part of this, but it’s really not a lament.  It’s an encouragement or maybe even an admonishment to myself and others.  Recently, I was sitting around the table with a bunch of folks.  And, we were talking about our annual performance incentive and how we performed in 2010.  Well, it turns out that we had the worst year ever as an operating company (by far).  And, in the room that I was in, nobody was complaining because the year ended better than we thought it would.  But, like everything for the few that are happy to just to get something there are many more that complain about the goals that were in place that prevented us from having the highest achievable incentive.  But, as I sat and thought about the whole thing, I said [to myself], “This is gravy!   As a matter of fact, it’s all gravy.  Half the world lives on two dollars a day.  Anything beyond that is gravy. “  In a subsequent conversation, I did share that with someone,  and he said, “My friend if you roll out of bed in the morning, the rest of the day is gravy, forget about making one red cent.  Living life is gravy.”  So, I’m blessed.

Comforts and Luxuries vs. Survival
Now back to this two dollars a day business…  We need a car.  Well, according to middle class American standards, we need a car.  We have two old cars…one that’s twelve years old and one that seven years old.  The twelve year old car runs a little sluggish and it leaks multiple kinds of fluid.  The shocks are shot and it sometimes scrubs the ground.  It creaks and rattles as I roll along.  And, it has 170,000+ miles on the odometer and we take it to the shop and spend several hundred dollars on it at least twice a year.  So, I hope I’ve drummed up sympathy for our plight here.  And, if you know us, you know we Dave Ramsey disciples as far as not adding on debt goes anyway.  So, we’ll pay cash for a gently used car one day.  But, I don’t think that day is today.  Unless the twelve year old dies and few hundred dollars want fix it’s death, we won’t be getting a “newer” car.  And, here’s the reason.  I’ve been reading about Haitians that walk for hours to get their sick family members to a clinic for treatment of cholera.  And, I’ve actually been to Belize with a medical team where people walked for miles and miles just to see American doctors that were treating minor ailments.  If the people in these two countries have cars they are most likely older than the ones we have and leaking a lot more fluid than the ones we have.  So, what I’m saying is middle class America leads us to revel in comforts and luxuries while the rest of the world is just trying to survive.  I for one want to change that.  I want to acknowledge that I am blessed and then use what I have to bless others and help them transform their lives… pulling them back from the brink of both spiritual and physical death.

Conclusion of the matter
I am blessed.  We are all blessed.  Even people in America that make the 10 or 12000 thousand dollars it takes to be at the poverty line are blessed.  We are all waking up in the mornings and we have far surpassed the $2/day mark.  We have access to the best health care in the world.   Almost all of America has clean drinking water which solves most of the world’s disease problems.  Folks, we are blessed.  So, let’s connect our blessings with those in need.  Give your heart, your time, and your financial resources to change the life of another person for the better.

Much love.

Why don’t we pray?

For two successive nights this week, I woke up between two o’clock and three o’clock in the morning.  It was not because I wanted to; I just couldn’t stay asleep.  And, I found that when I woke up, I had a great burden to pray.  I prayed for my family; that I would be a better husband to my wife, loving and leading her.  I prayed for my son’s salvation.  I prayed that we would let God use our family however he wants to.  I prayed for the church.  I prayed for our church.  I prayed for our small group; for every person and for their children.  And I prayed for a lot more things like the mending of broken relationships and for wisdom…all kinds of good stuff.

Now, I am not boasting because I can tell you my greatest conviction for both nights was, “Why don’t I do this more often?”  And, by that I didn’t mean, “Why don’t I lay awake in the middle of night?”  I meant pray.   When friends who have had great trouble having a baby in the in the past says they are trying again, why don’t I say right then and there, “Let’s pray.”  When Kimberly and I are frustrated with each other, why don’t we pray?  And when God blesses us unexpectedly with his grace, why don’t we celebrate in prayer?   What arrived at is that I lack faith.  If I believed that God would do what he says he would do, I would ask him to do it.  And, that asking is prayer.

So i said to God, “Lord I believe! Please oh please, help my unbelief"

Much love!

Two Houses (Be sure you have a good foundation)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:21-27

So, Jesus has talked about roads and trees and now he breaks out telling talking about houses and foundations. But, just before that he‘s telling people they can’t enter a kingdom called heaven unless he knows who they are. And, he renounces them as workers of lawlessness. It’s remarkable to me that Jesus is calling out people that seem to think or maybe even KNOW that they are in good standing with him. He refers to a group of people that call to him maybe even crying out to him saying Lord Lord and he says of that group of people that not all of them will enter the kingdom. He goes on to say that some will even say that they did great works on his behalf (but they won’t necessarily get in). That’s remarkable for this reason; it seems that we make it a lot easier to get to heaven than Jesus does. We’ve taken God’s Amazing Grace and cheapened it such that anybody that labels themselves as a Christian or even just a good person goes to heaven. To paraphrase a statement from a book that I read recently, it is as though we have made heaven the default position when a person dies. But, it seems to me that Jesus is saying quite the opposite. It appears that he’s painting a picture that we’re all bound to spend eternity in a desperate state unless we are given his approval – approval that changes the default from hell.

Getting down to the foundations… Jesus encourages us not to be hearers of his word only but doers. In fact, he sets a clear distinction between those that hear his words and don’t change their actions versus those that do what he says. Jesus is putting the finishing touch on his sermon. I can hear him preparing his closing as he leads us through the progression 1) If you choose the right road, 2) you will bear fruit like a good tree AND 3) you will build your house like a wise man. And, he essentially says that the wise man’s house will last forever. That’s it! Make the right choice. Live the right life (only by God’s grace). And, you’ll have a house that lasts forever, eternal in the heavens. But, if you make the wrong choice (of paths that is) then you’ll be the tree that bears diseased and rotten fruit yielding a life that leads to a house that is destroyed when the true test of houses comes. Jesus is making it ultimate that a storm will come. The rain will fall, and the floods will prevail. Will your house stand the storm?

You see one day, the end will come. We only have one life to live and then the judgment. That bothers me. It bothers me enough that I have to “test [myself] to see whether I am in the faith” because in the end folks, I simply don’t want to be lost. And, if I am lost, as my grandma would say, it’s nobody’s fault but mine. I want to spend eternity celebrating God’s presence and I want you to be there with me.
Much love (and with many tears)!

Two Trees - Which life will you live?

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."

So, it would seem like the easy part is over, right? We make a decision for Christ. And, I would not say that the decision was totally ours -- but I’m not going Calvin versus Arminius on you. What does it look like when a life is yielded to God? Here in the next set of verses after Jesus charges his listeners to enter at the straight gate, and to walk on the narrow path, he turns to a warning about false prophets. Thank you Jesus that you warn us about false prophets. We should always be aware that there are many that are not preaching what is true about God. And, there are also some that are preaching a gospel, but they aren’t living the true gospel.

But, halt (as Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!”), before we go off on a tirade about bad preachers and other “church folk”, what does YOUR life look like? Or mine for that matter? In the fall of 2008, I sat through a sermon series that knocked me for a loop. The title of the series was “Radical: What the Gospel Demands”. And, it was essentially a knock in the head that said we are indeed saved by grace alone through faith alone, but our lives after coming to faith must look radically different. In other words, at that moment we no longer live for ourselves. And, I know this all sounds familiar, but looking at the words of Jesus and saying let’s take him at face value is a lot different than most of us are taught. We MUST live lives that are yielded completely to God and that meet the requirements that Jesus lays out. What do these requirement look like? Well, first we are living lives that are not indulgent. The way you spend your money and your time are barometers that show your spiritual condition. Secondly, we must obey the primary command of Jesus Christ to his followers to teach other people what it means to worship God and baptize them making disciples to the end of the earth. And, as we do that, we care for the poor and those that are on their way to hell with an urgency that shows in our lifestyle. So, in the end there is a change on the inside that is reflected strongly on the outside. In essence I heard and believe that a life that pursues achieving our dreams (even the American dream) more than it pursues living out the Jesus commands (being led and sustained by the Spirit of course) is probably not truly bearing fruit for God.

So, what this has done to my life is to cause me to look inward. It has caused me to literally wrestle with whether or not my life lines up with God’s word. In other words, is the fruit that I am bearing good or bad? And, in the places where my life doesn’t look like God’s word, am I willing to yield to God, repent, and be obedient? And, quite honestly, I have been rebellious in some areas. I have gone through periods of refusing to pray. I have gone through periods of questioning my salvation as result of my disobedience. I have been so wrapped up in trying to figure out where I stand in light of all that I see in God’s word for myself. And, I think this challenge is good, because it is causing me to look at my fruit. Am I a diseased tree that today deserves to be thrown into the fire? Or am I a good tree bearing fruit. We will recognize false prophets by their fruit. We must also recognize whether or not WE as individuals have truly been regenerated (i.e. born again, born of water and Spirit, whether we are bearing fruit in keeping with repentance). Look at your tree and determine what kind of life are you living. Is it one that brings glory to God because God is inside of you helping to glorify him? If not, join me in praying for God to reveal it to you. And, then respond accordingly!!

So, in closing this entry, I know I will probably get some flack for saying that I question my salvation (and suggesting that you question yours) but, I think it is okay and healthy for all of us to question our salvation sometimes. Paul said in one place that we should “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. And, he also said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 that we should “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” Because on the flip side, I would say it is a dangerous thing to walk in presumption. Being confident in your faith is one thing, but I think many have cheapened grace down to a prayer card form the first grade when they first said they believed in Jesus. And since that time, many have lived as they desire, not choosing to bear fruit, good fruit. Choose life, my friends!

Much love!!

Two Roads (There are really only two choices.)

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”

This is Jesus’ way of starting to close out his sermon. He has several impossible commands such as loving your enemies, doing good to those that hate you, not putting your good deeds on display that others may love you. And, his purpose in all of it was really mounting an impossible list of to-dos to show that the work that his Father wants from is to believe in the Son. That’s it. That’s how you’ll overcome the world, is by believing in the Son.

My take on this specific command from Jesus that we “Enter through the narrow gate (or straight gate as the translation may read) is that there are two choices that we have. There is one choice to make but only two options. If we are to enter God’s kingdom, the way is narrow and small. There isn’t a lot of room for error. Or the alternative is a broad path that is wide and very roomy.

Hearing this recently mixed with some other things made me think. The broad way includes options like all out rebellion against God. It also includes the proud attitude that “I am really okay because I am a good person.” It also includes the option to say that I am a Christian when there has been no change in your heart. But, to contrast these three options (and there may be more, but these are clear) there is a narrow road and small gate that leads to righteousness – that is right standing before God.

And, as I alluded to in the introduction entry to this series, I’m wrestling mentally, emotionally, and willfully to know whether I am dancing and silly little dance in this wide street or if I am crawling and scratching and moving cautiously in the narrow way. I think if we are to know that we know – or at least for me that is – we must wrestle. In the same way that Jacob wrestled with God until he changed his name, we must wrestle with the truths of God’s word to know that our names are changed and written in his book because in the last day, I don’t want to be found to have made the wrong choice.

20 Wisdom calls aloud in the street,
        she raises her voice in the public squares;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
        in the gateways of the city she makes her speech:
22 "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?
        How long will mockers delight in mockery
        and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
        I would have poured out my heart to you
        and made my thoughts known to you.
24 But since you rejected me when I called
       and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
25 since you ignored all my advice
       and would not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
       I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
       when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
       when distress and trouble overwhelm you. – Proverbs 1:20-27

In dealing with a child that came to stay with us recently, one night when we were against the wire of a deadline. I laid out two choices for him. I offered him an opportunity to do his reading assignment or lose a privilege AND stay up until he read. In his words, he said, “I choose neither.” What followed was a rather short discussion where I said, that is not an option and if you persist in saying that you choose neither (which is not one of your options), the removal of privilege is the default AND we will sit here until you read. And so it is with us by not choosing, we really are choosing to take the broad path. So my friends, I encourage both you and me to choose life, seek life, and cry out to God because he will not deny us. But we must make our choice before it is too late. Remember “only a few will find it.”

Almost forgot!!  (mUcH lUv mY frIeNds!!)

Two Roads. Two Trees. Two Houses. (Two Choices. Two lives to live. Two Rewards.)

Introduction

I’ve wanted to write a series on this blog. Here’s why. I keep complaining that I have complex thoughts, but I keep throwing out softballs that can be handled in a page or so (maybe even three paragraphs when the truth is, I don’t think in three to five paragraph intervals). Long running thoughts are really closer to three to five year intervals before they are actually resolved. And I think this topic is my best shot at getting something out there that is not nerve wracking (to you that is) yet serious enough to cover in a series. I’m thinking Intro, 3 main parts and a conclusion of it all is what we’ve got in store.

I’ve mentioned before that our church is participating in something called the Radical Experiment. As part of that, we are doing a few things that are intended to point our lives toward living for the glory of God by seeking to “make disciples of all nations”. Part of this experiment is to read through the entire word in a year. Accompanying this reading are several things, one of which is a sermon based on the text (or some portion thereof) that was read during a given week. So recently, a pastor from our church preached on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7). The best part about this sermon is that it brought the text from these chapters together in a way that I had never seen it. With the division of chapters that have been ascribed in the bible, it’s not always evident how things really were intended. It would be like having me write a paper and then having you come along and reassign the paragraph divisions. It could make for some confusion on what the point is or was.

As I listened, I learned that there were three major sections to this sermon that Jesus preached. He had an introduction (that we call the beatitudes). He had a main point as seen in Matthew 5:17-20 (that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and scribes). And, he had a time where he described the expected response or goal. And, that (the response) is the basis of this set of blog entries that I’m introducing tonight. Jesus tells us as he’s preparing to close his sermon that there are two roads. He then proposes that there are two kinds of trees. And, lastly, he says there are two ways to lay the foundation of a house.

I do not intend to regurgitate a sermon that I heard, but in keeping with the intent of the “random Jarvis thoughts” blog’s purpose, I will extend to you my thoughts on what he said and the thoughts that I had beyond what he said. And, in keeping with the reality of this blog, I must tell you that sometimes I hear things through the complexity of what I am experiencing. And, I have been engaged in a mental battle for about two years about what it means to be a “follower of Jesus Christ”. And, the reason that battle exists is because I think it can be missed. We can hear what someone else tells us it means to be a Christian, but it really is something you must know for yourself. And, you must know that you know without being presumptuous. Presuming on God will only get you killed. And for no extra cost, I’ll throw out God will allow us to roll along presumptuously if we refuse to acknowledge that he must reveal to us the way of truth… See 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12