What is your life sowing?

Matthew 13 English Standard Version (ESV)The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.⁹ He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,and you will indeed see but never perceive.”¹⁵ For this people's heart has grown dull,and with their ears they can barely hear,and their eyes they have closed,lest they should see with their eyesand hear with their earsand understand with their heartand turn, and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.^[b] 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

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If you and I were to glance back on our life and look for that peace that can only come from Christ, would our lives bear the fruit of the Spirit:  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (and self-control)?  That is not to say that we would not have trial and tribulation because for those of us who profess Jesus Christ as Savior then we know that those who love and truly follow him will face trials and tribulations of many kinds.  I am not talking about this, rather, I am talking about that peace that should be evident in our life.

I want to focus on where I lives are currently at (where they have landed at this particular time in our life).   I want to focus on the path that Jesus is talking about and ask ourselves these questions when we take a deep look at examining ourselves.  Are we bearing the fruit of the Spirit?  Are we in community?  Are we serving Jesus Christ (we are true followers and not just fans)?  Are we teachable?  Are we humble?  Do we exude spiritual maturity?  If not, why not?

Have our lives:

• Fell along the path:  We hear the words (the Bible, the teaching and preaching of the Bible) and we do not understand it?
• Fell along rocky ground:  We hear the words, but have no root in the Word, in community and fellowship, a prayer life?  And when trials and tribulations and persecution came along we immediately fall away from God?
• Fell among thorns:  We hear the words, but our focus is not on Jesus Christ and His Church, rather, it is on the ways of this world (living for our own desire and pleasures instead of God's will for our life).  This, too, proves an unfaithful servant.
• Fell on good soil:  These are the true disciples of Jesus Christ.  They hear the word and understand the word and apply that to their entire life and way of thinking.  When they hear the word and fall on good soil (God's word and His wisdom and understanding they are truly following His will in all their life).  These are individuals that you see that do face trials and do face tribulations and they are genuine.  There is something different about them.  Look around in the church, in your communities and in your work place - they are there! Are you one of them?

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When the Judgement of the Lord comes, and it will come, I do not want to be looking back at my life and saying I could/should have done it different.  I don't want to be saying why did I make all those other things in my life a priority instead of what God prioritizes for me in His Word.  I do not want to be second guessing myself at his Judgement Seat.  Instead I want to hear the words, "well done good and faithful servant".

I do not want to live the life of a fake or follower.  I want my life to bear his fruit daily.  I want my life to be that life of  a disciple.  Does this mean that I will always have it right?  By no means.  However, with daily prayer, reading of the word, accountability and honesty along with repentance, I can move toward becoming the new creation that Jesus Christ gave me versus always falling back to that old self (our old sin nature).

Do you not know that those of us that confess that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and follow his ways have been bought with a price?  A price that we could never pay nor endure?

As for me and my house, we choose to serve the Lord.

Blessings,

Dante

Sons and Daughters

Psalm 144:12English Standard Version (ESV)¹² May our sons in their youthbe like plants full-grown,our daughters like corner pillarscut for the structure of a palace;

As we move through Scripture through the days of our lives we realize that there truly is no clear way to spell out God's manual for raising our kids.  I mean, to say, that you can't just go to one book or one chapter of the Bible and get a step by step way to raise your children the way that God wants you to raise them.  However, as you read through the Bible (over and over should be our posture) as this is a life-giving manual, then you can see may different applications that are true precepts and statutes for us to learn and submit and obey (and then we are instructed to teach our children).

This is a very serious call for a parent.  If we miss this, we miss our mission field that God has given us authority over.  There are a lot of studies that give us varying degrees of how to raise a child, but there are so many different parenting styles and God has made each of us uniquely.  Add to that, when you have a husband and a wife in union with God' covenant marriage, we are called (as dads) to be prophets, priests and kings of our homes.

Here are some non-negotiable applications, as parents, that we all have to do:

• Pray for our children
• Pray for their spouses and spouses families
• Live by the Bible
• Practice what we preach
• Make our faith real to them
• Allow our children to fail (to lose) and to understand loss
• Trust the Lord (he has them)
• Be there for them as much as we possibly can (this thing of quality over quantity is horse rubbish - it should be quantity with quality wrapped inside of the quantity)
• Read scripture with them
• Teach them to memorize scripture (thereby which, we have to memorize scripture)
• Tell them stories of the Bible and life applications when devotions come (how does this text become relevant in our lives)

When my wife was sick and in the hospital for 6 days the first year and the 3 days for the second year I found myself in one of the worst trials and tribulations of my life.  I found myself praying more and more and relying more and more on God's will for my life.  I was angry, sad, mad, depressed, stressed and every possible emotion you can imagine.   I read the Book of Job a lot during this time.

If you remember that God allowed Satan to test Job by taking away his wealth and health and children.  His wife and friends thought he did something in his life and accused him instead of being there for him:  Comforting him, encouraging him and urging him to live a life worthy of God.  His wife, at one point, said to him to curse God and die!?!  Those were tough times for Job and when you think that things cannot get any worse - they do!

Job, however, knew something that not every person does:  There is a Redeemer.  There is a mediator between God and man and His name is Jesus.  Job had not met this Redeemer, BUT he knew that He lives!  That is pretty cool and that sustained me during my trials and tribulations with my wife.  In the end, we learn that God is in control and that nothing happens without God ordaining them.

As we are all different people from different walks and different talks in life, we realize that when we getting married in a biblical marriage (a covenant marriage) we realize that there are not just one sinner but two sinners coming together to make one flesh and who have little sinners that we are called to raise and train up in the Lord.  Understand the math: 1 sinner + 1 sinner = more sinners.  We are all broken and in need of a Savior.  God understands our weaknesses and daily struggles and Jesus left us the Holy Spirit.  Our bodies are a temple of the living God - we are called to be holy.

This past weekend, my wife and I had the pleasure to go to a wedding (Friday - dinner rehearsal, Saturday the wedding) and spend time with this family that we love.  The bride was our baby sitter with our kids for over 10 years.  She (and her two brothers) are different from most families.   They are real with their faith.  They love God and the church.  They are teachable and humble.    My wife and I felt that at any given time we could have literally left our kids with this you adult for a week, a month and or a year (not that we would) and that she could manage very well.  Our children adore her and the older two had to go and see the wedding ceremony.

One of these days, my wife and I are going to do dinner with her parents and pick their brains for a few hours and then we are going to have all three children (young woman and two young men) over for dinner and interview them about their parents and ask them what their parent did that has their faith so real (but this will be for another post).

We may not all have the same parenting training manual but there are things that we should do consistently for sons and things we should do consistently for daughters as legacy dads.

For Sons:

• Do not lie to them
• Teach them the values of Honor, Courtesy, Integrity, Self-control, Perseverance, Courage and Community
• Be real in our faith with them (struggles, fears, wrongdoings and repentance)
• Model love for them (with our children and with our wives)
• Teach them Scripture (read and memorize with them)
• Teach them how to treat women (not just by words but by action)
• Teach them the importance of purity (from this world, media and others around)
• Teach them how to pray (pray with them)
• Play with them (toys, games, board games, go see movies, fish, sports - just don't make things an idol before God)
• Give them hugs, kisses and your time

For Daughters:

• Do not lie to them
• Teach them the values of Honor, Courtesy, Integrity, Self-control, Perseverance, Courage and Community
• Be real in our faith with them (struggles, fears, wrongdoings and repentance)
• Model love for them (with our children and with our wives)
• Teach them Scripture (read and memorize with them)
• Teach them how to treat men (not just by words but by action - honor their moms and encourage them to follow her lead)
• Teach them the importance of purity (from this world, media and others around)
• Teach them how to pray (pray with them)
• Play with them (toys, games, board games, go see movies, fish, sports - just don't make things an idol before God)
• Give them hugs, kisses and your time

In everything that we do either as individuals or parents, first seek the Kingdom of God.  Second ask for His will and third lean on His understanding and not our own.  When in doubt - pray!  In all things, strive to make your faith real (this requires a real prayer life and the daily reading of the Word).

Blessings,

Dante

How can I live in such a way...

Have you ever wondered why life has trials and tribulations and we wonder why and how they keep coming our way?  Have you ever looked back for an instant in your life and seen where you came from and what God has saved you from?  Have you ever shared your life story (in a series of flashes) to someone who wants to know what's different in your life and why you are the way you are?  And then see them to come to know the Lord?Have you ever wondered what God requires from you?  Have you been frustrated in your daily walk because there are temptations (sin) that you cannot escape or that you continue to do over and over?  Have you ever asked aloud what does God require of my life?  What does the Lord want from me?  How can I conquer these temptations?  The apostle Paul gives us a snapshot of the new life in Christ in the New Testament.  At one point, he tells us (the reader) that what he knows he should do, he doesn't.  He also states that what he should not do, he does.  He let's us in on a life of a believer (a disciple of Christ) and tells us that when we come to know the Lord immediately there is a war within us:  The old self (sin nature) versus our new self (we are a new creation in and through Jesus Christ).  The beautiful thing about this is that God knows that we are human and knows that we sin daily (and some of us hourly or even by the minute), BUT God in his infinite wisdom gives us a Helper (The Holy Spirit).  Our bodies (those that confess, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord) become a temple of the living God (the Holy Spirit resides in us).

How can we live in such a way that we are in God's will daily:

• Proverbs 16:7 (ESV) 7 When a man's ways please the Lord,  he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
• 1 Timothy 2:3-5 (ESV) 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man[a] Christ Jesus,
• Ezekiel 18:23(ESV) 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
• Micah 6:8 (ESV) 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,[a] and to walk humbly with your God?
• Romans 13:10 (ESV) 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
• Hebrews 12:14 (ESV) 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
• Galatians 5:22-25 (ESV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
• Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) A Living Sacrifice  12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[d]
• Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV) 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

God doesn't want us to be religious, He requires us to seek His Kingdom daily.  He tells us to put to death the earthly things in our lives daily.  PUT TO DEATH!  The Scripture doesn't ever say continue to wallow in unrepentant sin, to try to justify to a Holy God that sin is okay to continue to do and then call yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ.  The Bible tells us to renew our minds, put to death sin in our lives daily, to pursue holiness, to share His gospel and to love and serve those who are in need:  Widows, orphans, our neighbors and those that persecute us.  The Bible calls us to choose God daily and to submit and obey to His will.

If you are living in sexual immorality and trying to call yourself a disciple of Christ something is seriously wrong.  From www.Gotquestions.org, we read the following definition:  "Question: "What is sexual immorality?" Answer: In the New Testament, the word most often translated “sexual immorality” isporneia. This word is also translated as “whoredom,” “fornication,” and “idolatry.” It means “a surrendering of sexual purity”, and it is primarily used of premarital sexual relations. From this Greek word we get the English wordpornography, stemming from the concept of “selling off.” Sexual immorality is the “selling off” of sexual purity and involves any type of sexual expression outside the boundaries of a biblically defined marriage relationship (Matthew 19:4–5).  The connection between sexual immorality and idolatry is best understood in the context of1 Corinthians 6:18, which says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” The bodies of believers are the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). Pagan idol worship often involved perverse and immoral sexual acts performed in the temple of a false god. When we use our physical bodies for immoral purposes, we are imitating pagan worship by profaning God’s holy temple with acts He calls detestable (1 Corinthians 6:9–11)."

We are called to one body to love our neighbor as ourselves and to purse holiness.  We are called to be disciples (not just followers) of Jesus Christ and to look after widows and orphans and to turn away from the ways of this world (flee sin) choose God's ways.

What are some things in your life right now that the Holy Spirit is revealing to you that you need to confess, repent and to turn away from?  What are some changes (degrees) that you can turn up or down to get back into God's will for your life?  For some, it may be reading the Bible more daily.  For others it may be getting some professional help (Good Christian/Bible based counselors) to help you forgive and cope with daily life struggles.  For others it could be more - you need medical help to overcome certain disorders that can be destructive to your life and others.  Whatever the change that needs to take place - don't wait.  The Bible is clear to us that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Pray, ask, seek God's will in your life and surrender to His Will.  If you think you are in His will (or you know that you are not) then examine your lives with Scripture and confess to things that you need to confess, repent of such things that you are called to do and share the good news with other Christians in your lives.  And we you are freed from such sins (addictions and disorder and chaos in your life) Go and make disciples and share the Good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Dante

My religious rights and the Constitution...

Why would people risk life and limb to come to a new land?  Why would you, as believers who were being persecuted for your faith, try and find a new place to worship?  Why would you come to a new land if not for opportunity for work, for land and for worship freely (not be persecuted for their beliefs).Some quotes by some of our founding fathers are as follows:

• John Adams and John Hancock: We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus! [April 18, 1775]John Adams:“ The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principals of Christianity… I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”• “[July 4th]ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”–John Adams in a letter written to Abigail on the day the Declaration was approved by Congress"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --October 11, 1798

Patrick Henry:[shareable text="This is all the inheritance I can give my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.”]The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.” [/shareable]“It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting ...

If we take this into context that the signors of the Constitution of the United States of America had an inherent belief that we were to become a Sovereign nation under God.  They believed in a creator and that all men are subject to Him and His will.  The idea of freedom of and from religion is critical to understand - the intent of the law was not to have one world (one government) religion that would prevent others from their worship or their beliefs.

Unfortunately as society continues its moral decay these original intentions have been misconstrued for an ulterior purpose - a nation without God, that is to say, and nation not under God.

A lot of people of the past several decades have blamed various reasons for this decay and breakdown in society, when in all actuality we could go back as far as the early 1940's when this began to happen.  I am not talking about new sins nor am I talking about something new that should be a surprise to all of us.

Ephesians 6:12-14 (ESV)

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

There are a lot of major conspiracies going around about government's and satanists and political and banking individuals that have this scripture in mind that they are spinning our world to this New World Order.  Don't infer that I am saying all political and banking individuals have this in mind because that is not the case at all - because their are godly men who stand in these positions and have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I am talking to you to tell you that there is:

• evil in the world
• evil people in the world
• Satan - who wants to devour Christians and lie to the rest of the world

I am also confident and sure that:

• God is on the throne
• Every knee will bow and tongue confess
• Jesus sits at His right hand
• We are not to worry

With all this being said, when you hear someone telling you that our founding fathers did not have the leading of God in mind when they created this great nation - tell them to stop smoking the crack pipe and to start going to the library to read unbiased truths about many of the founding fathers (not all, but many).  FYI - all blogs and internet writings are not always telling you the truth and the whole truth because they are their own gods (small g).

The Gospel is all over our Constitution!  Let us hold true to our freedoms and belief that God reigns!!!

Blessings,

D

What should our true motive be about Church

Sometimes I find myself surprised if not down right cynical when it comes to matters of people attending church and who are stuck where they are at.    That is, to say, that when you and I visit a church or join a church what is our criteria?For my wife and I (when we first got married) we had some important criteria before joining a church together (as a family) and wanted to worship God:

• Are they a Bible believing church?
• Do they believe in the Bible and use the Bible as their sold authority?
• Is there any compromise to scripture?
• Do they have a healthy, vibrant and clean children's ministry (this was important to us because 12 years ago my wife was pregnant and that was really important to her)
• Are the children in a safe environment?
• Is there accountability in preaching? in Teaching? and in oversight (are there elders, a consistory or a board)?
• Is the preaching and worship relevant to our daily lives?

Obviously, we found our current church and loved (love) everything about it.  We love the children's ministry, we love the preaching and teaching and the worship and we found our family in community.

As I get older (more cynical) I find myself in tongue in cheek conversations where I hear people say things like:

• I like this pastor over these other pastors because....
• I like this worship leader over other leaders because....
• I don't really feel like the preaching or worship meets my needs....
• The men's bible study is too early...why can't they have a different time or evening or daytime?
• What's up with the youth these days?
• I am not happy with this (fill in your blank)

The cynic in me chuckles to myself and asks the proverbial question(s):

• Why do we go to church?
• Who are we there to worship?
• Is church about my needs and my wants and my desires or is it about my act of worship toward the One who paid it all (for me)?
• Are we going to church because of a Mega Pastor or talented worship?

Lance and I were talking the other day about church leadership, church oversight, and mega-churches and their dilemma in legacy plans for who follows the footsteps of these leaders.

These leaders are where we have to honestly draw the line if we are true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Don't misunderstand me in saying this because I love our worship team and I love our pastors and my church and if you were to ask any of these pastors, elders and deacons and worship leaders (and they were worth their salt) they would tell you and I that it is all about Jesus and what the Holy Spirit does.  What God has done for us and who we should be there to worship.  FYI - our church is not small at roughly 4000 to 5500 between all the campuses.

Please do not take this as me being critical to mega-churches because I am not.  There is a lot of biblical and godly preachers that depend on the word and Jesus only - I am not talking about these men.  I am referring to those of us who come to be entertained instead of worshiping the one and true living God.

Knowing what He has saved us from, we should not have any other posture in corporate community except to serve and to pray and to worship together even if that requires us to be on our knees in prayer and thankfulness - we should do it!

Thoughts,

D

When I Was An Atheist: Final

In Part 1, I explained my departure from the church, belief in God and my worldview while I was an atheist. In Part 2 ,I explained how my new belief in science, logic and reason began to break down when faced with the real world, emotions and personal experiences. In this last section, I'll explain how I came back to Christ, really researched Christianity, the Bible and my faith and ultimately came to the conclusion that what I was really frustrated with...was religion, the modern  Church and the hypocritical people who called themselves Christians.

To the outside world, Christians get lumped all together. You, Me and Jesus get lumped together with the Westboro Baptist Church, Creflo Dollar and Ted Haggard.  When you or I go to invite someone to our church or share the Gospel message with them, we are contrasted with anyone bearing the name Christian who has hurt, gossiped, judged or turned their nose up at that person.  It's really sad.

How have some churches and Christians departed so far from Jesus' messages and the disciples teachings to the early Church?

According to Lifeway research, "a majority of Americans believe in God but do not want to attend or be associated with a Church" because they feel that modern churches do not accurately reflect Jesus' message.  Barna Group Research echoes this by stating that "a majority of non-church attending Americans believe the modern Christian Church is known more for all the negative things they are against", than the Fruit of the Spirit and Jesus' message of love.

Despite the early disciples best efforts to explain Christ's message and record it in writings, somewhere around 300 AD - the Christian Church started to implement many of the old, legalistic rules of the Temple Model back into Christianity.

The Temple Model existed before Christ and grants extraordinary power to sacred men in sacred places who determine the meaning of sacred texts and then tell followers how to live and worship God.  The obvious flaw of this system is our own human fallibility and the corruption this system entails.  Jesus himself cursed the hypocritical pharisees and the Temple Model of His day in Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness." 

Despite Jesus curses and the early disciples explicit instructions, ultimately men twisted Christ's message and used religion for their own devises for hundreds of years. The Crusades, The Inquisition, and legalistic rules added for conformity and to give power to the few.

This was once my view of God, Faith and the Church and ultimately why I left.   I went to church for 20 some years and mostly heard a list of "Do's and Dont's" act a certain way, look a certain way and look down on those who sin or don't have the same beliefs as our group. Of course it's not often said explicitly but that is the perception I was given.

I know not everyone has had this same experience, but I also know that I'm not the only one who had this same experience with the Church?  I hear people everyday tell me the same story but they insert their own personal details and often pain and hurt from the experience.  How did we get so far off the mark?

For hundreds of years, we relied on the Temple Model of sacred men in sacred places who read the sacred texts and told us how to live and worship God.

But somewhere around 1530, William Tyndale translated the Bible into the common language - English and for the first time, encouraged followers to read the messages for themselves. How did the Church react?  Tyndale was convicted of heresy and executed by strangulation, after which his body was burnt at the stake.  He was threatening the power of the Temple Model.

Despite Tyndale's efforts almost 500 years ago, most Christians today are assimilated into the Church, show up on Sunday and listen to the Pastor's message but rarely pick up the Bible and read it or research it for themselves.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great churches who are Bible focused and are doing a great job today in teaching people the Scriptures but I think we often miss the most basic message of Christ.

The arrival and sacrifice of Jesus signaled the end of the Temple Model and the start of something new.

Jesus showed up and threw the Temple Model out.  Jesus raised the standards so high that no one could meet them except through Him.  The Temple Model is a you-centered approach to faith and the heart of the Temple Model is this question: "What must I do or believe to make things and keep things right between me and God?"  It's based on personal works and adherence to rules rather than faith and trust in God and works through the fruit of the spirit.

Jesus came to show us we should be other-centered, Christ-centered.  Upward and Outward Focused, not Inward.  Everything Christ taught is about love and truth, he taught compassion with compromising truth.  He loved and showed mercy and grace to the sinner but hated sin and called us to turn away from it.

When the Early Church struggled with this very issue, Paul got so angry at people who were trying to insert the Temple Model into Christ that he wrote to the Church in Galatia  - "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" Galatians 5:6

Forget everything else, if you miss this one - you've missed the entire point.

Instead of engaging in hundreds of rules for behavior modification and sacrifices for repentance, which is simply how to get more out of God for less obedience.  With the Christ-centered model - we need to demonstrate, authenticate, and illustrate our love to God by radical service and love of other people - which in turn is obedience.

Trying to maintain the old Temple Model is no longer necessary and works ferociously against living, walking with and serving Christ.

I believe that my own struggles with faith and ultimately why I became an atheist was because I was raised in churches who unintentionally were keeping the Temple Model.

Once I broke free from this, read and researched the Bible for myself and felt the power of God's grace and love in my own life, everything changed.   My attitude towards others changed.

The message is so simply.  Love God, Love Others.

Christians get so caught up in theological debates, political debates and often times looking down at others that we forget Christ's most basic message.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 34-35

Imagine a world where people were still skeptical of Christians because of what we believe...but envious of us because of how we treated and loved others?

Here's What's Wrong with Manhood

I respect my wife and serve her every chance I get, I love my child like I've never loved anyone before, I give my time and money to organizations I believe in, but I'm not much of a man (or so society seems to think). Here's why:I'm not a big sports guy. Motor sports, yes. The typical "ball in play" sports, not so much. I can't tell you how awkward it feels when I'm at work in the morning and people are talking about the game the previous day.

"What do you think about the game, Scott?"

*Awkward silence and crickets*

Me: "I like Formula 1 and Moto GP..."

This is when the crowd dissipates quicker than people headed to the local pancake house after Sunday service.

I own guns, but it has been years since I went hunting. I didn't grow up doing it. At the time of this writing it has been over 6 years since I climbed a tree stand. I wouldn't even know what to do with a deer, or any other animal for that matter, if I ended up getting a lucky shot. No idea how to clean those things.

So What Gives?

I'm not coming to you as an axe wielding, lumber jack beard sporting manly man. Sure, I have a beard but it's nothing compared to Brian Wilson (a reference that I, sadly, had to Google).

What I am writing to you as, though, is a man who realizes he is broken and who needs to find his masculinity in something greater than what team I follow, how much meat I bagged during last season, or what the latest trend says that a man should be.

That "something" I speak of is the man I use as my model and whom I strive daily to be like.

Christ has modeled for us what it means to be a man. I have yet to see any public figure show the humility and service that Christ has.

"You can't polish a turd."

This is a phrase that I constantly heard during my time in the service. It may sound crass, but it has a good meaning behind it. To relate it to this topic, I want us to realize that you may be able to dress a man up and give him all the riches in the world but it's what's inside that really matters.

If a man isn't right on the inside, no matter how much you polish him up on the outside, you're not going to make him a good leader, mentor, father, etc.

Who Are You Really Trying To Impress?

It seems like the definition of manhood changes as each generation passes. How we've gotten to the era of skinny jeans, I'll never know, but that's another story. Regardless, we should refuse to be defined by what's popular.

Paul addressed this very thing in his letter to the Romans, stating, "And do not be conformed to this world (or age), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove (or approve) what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans, 12:2 (NASB).

Let us constantly remember to keep our eyes on Christ and to use Him as our example of true manhood. Newsflash: You're always going to fall short of this! However, if you dedicate yourselves to constantly chasing after God and what pleases Him then I'll tell you that you've already got a leg up over the next guy who is trying to chase the newest trend.

Question to Think About: 

-       Have you ever stopped to think who your real role model is?

This was guest post by Scott Friend

Get more of Scott's great insights at his site - The Business of Relationships

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