The cold weather they are forecasting for this weekend got me thinking. There is an very popular and equally misunderstood passage in Revelation 3 where Jesus tells the Laodiceans that he wishes they were either hot or cold, but because they were luke warm he was going to vomit them out. The popular understanding is that hot is good, cold is bad. That is a very modern interpretation of the meaning and is very wrong. The concepts of being hot or cold spiritually aren’t the point and, in fact, are contrary to other parts of scripture. Jesus doesn’t say hot is good, cold is bad, luke warm is really bad. The only bad is luke warm. Hot and cold are extremes. His point is that they weren’t extreme for the Lord, they were luke warm.
continue reading "Cold isn't a bad thing"

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While gearing up for a study through the Book of Judges I was doing a review of the Bible up until Judges. I wanted to get a flavor of the historical context of the events, as well as the spiritual vibe of the people being written about. It doesn’t take long, whether reading Genesis through Joshua, or just Judges by itself, to see a pattern of people loosing faith in God. Not because of what God does or doesn’t do, but because of the people and their choices. This idea of trust or faith struck me in light of Genesis 2 and 3. It struck me because I’ve never seen these events in this light before. Maybe I’m just slow. (Some would say there ain’t no maybe about it!) What struck me in Genesis 2 and after is this; where there is faith, there is life and relationship with God. Where there is no faith, there is no life, there is death, and there is separation from God.
continue reading "No Faith, No Life"

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Paul, writing to the believers in Galatia, says in Galatians 4:19, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,” In Romans 7:3-4 Paul says, “So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another–to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” (emphasis added).

It’s interesting how sexual and intimate Paul can be in his language. In other places he said that he considered himself a nursing mother to the new baby believers. Marriage, sex, labor pains, fruit. Fellow believers, especially you pastors out there, have you ever thought about it like that? The “labor in birth” dynamic hit home for me this past week, and indeed these past several years. I’ve always conceptually understood it, but never really experienced it. At least I never connected the dots. (I can be a little slow sometimes.)
continue reading "Labor Pains"

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This past Tuesday I had the privilege of teaching at the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists at Pacific U. It was a total answer to prayer to be able to connect with a group of college students. My role is to teach at the weekly Bible study every other week. On the off weeks one of the students will teach a more topical study and I will teach through a book. I chose Galatians because it’s shorter and it’s so meaty about being believers in the world, sticking close to right doctrine, and walking in the power of the Spirit.

When it came time to start the study I asked everyone to open their Bibles. (If you are one of these students and you happened upon this blog, this isn’t an attack on you. Consider it an exhortation and encouragement.) Only one person had a Bible with them, besides me. And he had it by accident. Every Christian, every believer, everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ ought to have a Bible with them or easily accessible at all times. It’s just a must. It’s a given.

Why? It’s your bread of life. It’s your water. It’s your sword. We are always in enemy territory. If we go around unarmed we are also undangerous. We have nothing with which to ward off the enemy. We have nothing with which to defend ourselves. Most importantly, we have nothing with which to open and share the words of life. Granted that much of this can be done with scripture we have memorized. That is extremely important. But in this day and age it’s really nothing to carry one around with you.

I do remember what it was like as a college student. It’s often required that you carry all of your books you need for the day’s classes all day long because you don’t have a chance to go back to your dorm to reload. They get heavy! But these days you can get a Bible, a whole BIble that is 3x5x1.5 and weighs next to nothing. If you have a break between classes you can whip it out and read a chapter of Psalms, or the whole book of Jude. get a quick snack as it were.

Christian, God’s word is your lifeline. It is the final answer. Stash one everywhere you are. At your desk, in your car, in your bag or briefcase, especially in your heart. Who knows? Maybe this is why God hasn’t been using you the way He wants to use you, and the way you want to be used. You haven’t been equipping yourself. Try it for a while and see what happens.

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Greg Laurie would be considered by some to be a superstar pastor. I used to think that was always a negative thing. After tonight I don’t. Why not? Because God uses superstars.
continue reading "Can I get saved again?"

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