The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...

 So I had to apologize last night about one of my earlier messages (I will be commenting on the related post to fix the error). We had done an activity where I put out a statement and yall had to determine if it was true or false biblically. Well, I had claimed one of those statements was false because I didn't think there was any part of the Bible that said that Jesus lived in our hearts. Then, this past week I came across Ephesians 3:17 - "so that Christ [the Messiah, the anointed one] may dwell in your hearts through faith...". That section of Ephesians goes on to talk about being filled with the fullness of God. Jesus is the Christ, so if Christ dwells in the hearts of Christians through faith, then I was wrong. And I'm sorry. The main challenge from that message was to read the Bible and know it. Clearly, I needed that challenge, too.

Moving on, I have 3 questions for you. Grab a piece of paper or pull up a memo on your phone - in some way write down your answers for these, please.

1. When you have money to spend as you please (not on essentials like bills or whatever), where does the majority of your money go? To put it another way, when you get to choose how to spend your money, what do you tend to spend it on the most?

2. When you have free time (time that you get to choose what to do with) what do you tend to spend most of it doing? School/work and sleeping don't count, so pick something else besides those.

3. When you have a choice, who do you choose to spend the most time with?

Once you have answered each of these questions, look over your answers. Your answers should give you a sense of what you value, or where your priorities are.

For me, the majority of my "spending" money goes toward snacks and coffee and stuff like that. Most of my free time goes toward videogames, social media, and TV. And the person that I choose to spend the most time with is my wife. From these answers you can see that I prioritize comfort/satisfaction, entertainment, and my wife over other things. What do your answers say about your priorities?

We're looking at two short parables from Jesus today, and they are found in Mark 13:44-46 - "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Jesus is using these parables to describe "the kingdom of heaven". What is He talking about with that phrase? Well, if you go back further in the chapter you'll find His parable of the Sower, where a man tosses seed out and it scatters across 4 different types of soil. He actually explains the meaning of this parable to His disciples, and says that the seed is the word about the kingdom, and the soil represents the people who hear the word and how they receive it. We can take this to understand that "the kingdom of heaven" is the message about Jesus - the Gospel.

With that in mind, let's look at these parables again. In both cases, we have a person who encounters the Gospel (the kingdom of heaven) and sells everything he has to obtain it. Whether it was the treasure in the field or the pearl, both people determined that these things were worth giving up everything they had to obtain. So what we find in these parables is Jesus demonstrating the value of the Gospel - it is worth giving up everything to obtain.

By these choices, we get to see their priorities. They valued those things (the treasure in the field and the pearl) and so they were willing to put everything else aside to get them.

Let's think about the treasure in the modern setting. Imagine you stumble across Blackbeard's treasure buried in the back yard of an old house. It's worth millions of dollars, so you go and sell your house and everything else you own so you can buy the property. We'll say it cost around $300,000. Well, now that you own the land, you can lay claim to the treasure which is worth millions. You gave up everything to obtain something of far greater value. That is the point Jesus is making in these parables. The kingdom of heaven, the Gospel, eternal life with Jesus, is worth far more than anything we could possibly get from this life or this world. It is worth sacrificing everything we have in this world to obtain. Later in the book of Matthew Jesus says this:

Matthew 16:24-26 - "Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?'"

Taking up your cross is a symbol for offering up your life. When Jesus took up the cross, it was to walk up the hill of Golgotha and die on that cross for our sin. Jesus is saying that if we want to follow Him, we have to sacrifice our very lives. We have to give up everything. And if we are willing to do that for Him, we will find eternal life. When we put our faith in Jesus and accept the Gospel, we die to ourselves and become new in Him - born again. He gives us new life, a new identity, as children of God. We become coheirs with Him in the Kingdom of God and we have eternal life to look forward to. This is a far greater gift than anything we could gain from the world. The world cannot offer us eternal life.

So, the kingdom of heaven has far greater value than anything we might be asked to sacrifice for it.

The kingdom of heaven will last longer than anything we sacrifice to gain it. Money, time, resources, energy, desires, dreams, ambitions, thoughts, wills, emotions - all of these are worth sacrificing, giving up, to follow Jesus and gain what He has to offer.

Think about, what benefit is money in the next life? None. It does not go with you, ad it cannot buy anything in the next life, no matter where you're going.

What benefit is videogames, or sports, or TV, or fancy shoes, or jobs, or careers? These might offer you something in this life, like a sense of accomplishment, or enjoyment, or power or authority. But when you die, they are all left behind.

What benefit is time? In this life, time is limited. We are all going to die someday. Having more or less time here won't help you in the next life.

Jesus asks an important question: What benefit is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? The whole world is not as valuable as eternal life with God. So, if God asked you to give up your time, or your money, or your ambitions, for Him, and He offered you eternal life in return, wouldn't you accept that trade?

Everything this world has to offer us can satisfy only a small part of us, and that only for a time. God satisfies our whole being. The point of these parables is to show the great value of the Gospel, and what people who find it are willing to give up to obtain it. They are willing to give up everything they have because they can see the value in the kingdom of heaven.

Look back at your answers from earlier. What does your lifestyle say about your values?

Calendars, bank accounts, schedules - all of these can say a lot about what you truly value. This is because when you value something, your time, money and energy are put toward it. When you look at where you are spending your money, your time, and your energy, does it show that you value the Gospel? Does it show that you value God? Or does it reveal that your priorities are elsewhere?

Ask yourself this: What is eternal life with Jesus worth to you? What are you willing to sacrifice to follow Jesus?

According to Jesus Himself, the answer has to be everything.

Church - For Our Own Good

 Since we had the intrusion of a miniature "snowmageddon" yesterday we had to go virtual for the third week in a row. While none of us wanted this, it was definitely necessary because the roads got bad last night! I'm usually not too worried about driving in the snow because there was one winter when I was in college that I had to drive home in the middle of a blizzard. An experience like that hardens you, and while last night's snow didn't compare to that blizzard, I also recognize that there is always potential for accidents on the road. The real issue isn't even my driving skills (or those of your parents), but the other drivers on the road. I could be the very best driver in the world and still have to worry because there are other drivers out there who have no business having a driver's license. So anyway, we went virtual last night.

We tried out a new game (I say new, but really it's an oldy) - Scattergories. There is a website that lets you set up a game for free and invite friends, so we gave it a shot. I realized that I am not so good at coming up with words on the spot, but I think we had fun seeing what everyone did come up with. We had a surprising underdog win from one of our middle school students, who I will refer to as Hummingbird.

We had a special guest speaker, our church's very own Serminator, who brought a message on "Why We Go to Church". He opened with a story about his days as a youth pastor and his experience with a foreign car. Evidently, this car had a manual transmission (which meant he had to manually shift the gears, using the clutch). The hydraulic system in the car contained a little message - "Use Castrol Girling Green Only". Apparently, it was common practice for manufacturers to include little advertisements for products in the car, so he assumed this was the case. Well, every six months or so the hydraulic system would break down and he would have to go to a mechanic and get it fixed. And every time, the mechanic would look at it and need to replace the entire system (which was pricey). When the Serminator moved to Denver to attend Denver Theological Seminary, this happened again. But this time, he had very little money and couldn't afford to take it to a shop, so instead he decided to try and fix it himself. He went to a shop to scope out the parts he would need and described his problem to the clerk, who handed him a small plug in a plastic bag. "That's all you'll need," the guy said, and then pulled out a big canister of hydraulic fluid. "You can refill the reservoir with this, too." And guess what the canister said - "Castrol Girling Green". "If you use anything else, you'll have the same problem in about six months." Evidently, that label had been there for his own good, and he had ignored it, causing this recurring problem that he had to deal with every 6 months.

According to the Serminator, church is very much the same way. It is there for our own good. He had us look to a passage in the Old Testament of the Bible, Deuteronomy 10:12-13 - "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" He broke it down for us in 5 parts:

1. Fear the Lord. This is not the same as being afraid of the dark or swimming in the ocean. Instead, it means to have a deep respect for God and to worship Him as the Lord.

2. Walk in obedience to Him. There is a sense of togetherness that comes from following God and aligning ourselves to His path. Just like going on a hike with others, walking in obedience to God builds us up as a community. It is where we can experience fellowship.

3. Love Him. Obedience to God, walking in His ways, is not a checklist for the Christian to check off. Christianity is not about rule-keeping. Instead, it is a relationship with God. There is give and take, and personal intimacy to be found with the Creator of the universe.

4. Serve the Lord. We have a responsibility (as well as the great opportunity) to work alongside God and help His people as well as others. There is stewardship involved in our faith. God has entrusted us with the responsibility to working to further His Kingdom and spread the message of His Gospel to others.

5. Observe His commands. This is discipleship. A disciple listens to and obeys the commands of the master/teacher. The disciple also carries the responsibility of discipling others - teaching them to obey the commands of God. There is a passing on of knowledge and faith.

All of these things in Deuteronomy are there for our own good. They will help us. Worship keeps our attention on God, fellowship allows us to have community and be encouraged, the relationship we have with God strengthens us in our faith and keeps us close to God, stewardship allows us to express our faith and love to others, and discipleship gives us opportunity to invest in others as we keep the commands of God.

We "go to church" for several reasons. For one thing, it meets the expectations of God. He expects us to gather together as believers regularly. As Christians, we base our lives on the Word of God, and church is one of the places where we study and learn about what God has to say in the Bible. Interestingly, the Bible tells us to meet together regularly, which would include going to church.

And finally, we go to church for our own good. The Serminator shared an illustration that many of us have recent memories of - a fire pit. For those of you who joined us when we met outside for the first part of the Fall, we had a fire pit almost every Wednesday. Well, he had us imagine that we took tongs and removed one of the logs from the fire and placed it on the ground. At first, it would continue to burn brightly. But, over time, the log would go out, becoming dark and cold. Now, imagine what would happen if you took that dark, cold log and put it back in the fire? Naturally, it would be rekindled, and begin to burn brightly again. The Christian life is very much like this. When we are regularly attending church and meeting together, our faith is strengthened and encouraged and we "burn brightly". However, when we stop meeting together and try to do it on our own, our fire begins to fade. Our faith wavers and we struggle to remain close to God. God never intended for us to "go it alone" in our faith. We are meant to meet regularly together and worship, have fellowship, build relationships, engage in our stewardship, and train in discipleship. The church offers all of this. It is the complete package, and not just another item on the Christian checklist.

Church is there for our own good. 

As Hebrews 10:25 advises all Christians, do not give "up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Why Should God Care What I Wear?

 Hey gang, so for those of you who were at Summit this night, you may still be having some nightmares about the examples I used of what was inappropriate for us to be wearing at Summit. For those of you who weren't able to be there, let's just say I modelled for the examples, and a crop top was involved...

The main topic of the evening was "Modesty". Well, what is modesty? My definition is "everything in moderation", "not too much and not too little", "not too flashy and not too skimpy", in terms of what we wear, just the right amount of clothing.

Where did clothes come from, anyway? This may surprise you, but the Bible actually tells us EXACTLY where clothes originally came from! Check out Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7, as well as verse 21: "Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

For context, the first verse there described Adam and Eve before they sinned and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were naked and unashamed. It didn't bother them or God that they were naked, and they didn't need clothes at all. Take note of this - the human body was not meant to be clothed, originally. HOWEVER, before you go joining a nudist colony, it is important to note the other verses there. These are immediately after Adam and Eve sin. With sin involved, now they are ashamed of being naked, and it bothers them. That's right, sin ruined nakedness. The need for modesty is a direct result of sin - disobedience to God. So, they first tried to clothe themselves, but evidently didn't do a very good job because later God makes proper clothes for them. You heard that correctly, God invented clothes.

But what's the big deal? As long as we are wearing something we should be good, right? Wrong. Check out what Paul says to the church in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies."

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us. Basically, each one of us is like a living, breathing, moving temple for God. You know how temples are usually considered to be very sacred, holy places? Well, that's our body, now. Our body is a very sacred, holy place, so we should be looking to honor God with how we dress our bodies.

Now, in those verses Paul was warning the church about sexual immorality, and the dangers of it. Jesus gives us a little more to think about: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:27-30) I remember as I was sharing this, one of you asked me if I would actually cut off my hand or gouge out my eye. I answered that if God came down and told me to, yes, I would. However, I should clarify that in this passage Jesus is making a point. He is saying that sin goes deeper than just what we do - it is also about what's in our thoughts and in our hearts. Just looking at someone in a lustful way is really bad and can get us into serious trouble. So, Jesus warns us to take every precaution, to do whatever we must to safeguard ourselves against sinful desires and actions.

Clearly, God takes purity very seriously. If just looking at someone can become a problem, then we have to be careful about where we look. Guys, that means not ogling (staring inappropriately) girls or turning them into objects of desire. Girls, that means not ogling guys (even the cute ones on TV) or treating them as objects of desire. And for both sides, it means doing our best to look presentable and to not wear clothes which reveal more than is necessary.

What this means is that as living temples of God, we have to be careful where we look AND we have to be careful about what we choose to wear.

Let me ask, why do we wear revealing clothing? Sure, in the summer there is the practical side of it being more comfortable in the heat. But if we're honest? We wear revealing clothes because we want people to look at us. We want compliments. We want attention, even it draws people's attention to inappropriate places. And that is not okay. People should be drawn to us by our good deeds, our good character, our love and care for others. They should not be drawn to us because of how much skin we show, or how big our muscles are. People should see our actions, not our skin.

In Romans 12:1-2, Paul calls us "living sacrifices" who should not "conform to the pattern of this world". Some students in the past have argued that our modesty policy just doesn't fit with the fashion trends now (just think about our swimsuit policy for summer camp). I am here to tell you that that's not even the point. We should not be conforming to the pattern of this world - just going with whatever the fashion trend is - but should instead be offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God and living the way He wants us to live. That includes how we dress.

Guys and gals, the need for dressing modestly is a result of sin. As long as sin still exists, we will need to be on guard about this stuff. Rather than trying to draw people's attention with how we look, we should be drawing people's attention with how we act and how we treat people (with love and respect). This is what honors God and is a demonstration of our commitment to Him as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Modesty means not looking where we shouldn't be looking, and it means not dressing in a way that draws people's attention to places where they shouldn't be looking. My prayer for all of you is that you will take on the biblical perspective and begin to treat your bodies with the honor and respect they deserve as temples of God.

God Wants Me to do WHAT!?

 Politics. It is a hot topic, to be sure. I know most of you reading this are not of voting age, and yet this past year we were all subjected to angry posts, fierce protests, online arguments, and not-so-friendly (or informative) debates as the 2020 Presidential Election drew near. The last few weeks leading up to the election were filled with hot debates between supporters of each candidate. Here's a question for you to think about:

Why do you think politics and elections are so divisive? Why do they always find a way to drive people apart and cause anger and disagreement?

As I am writing this post, we are on the other side of the voting process. The election process isn't quite over yet, but it is looking like Joe Biden is going to be our next president. Tell me, which side do you think Christians should have voted for? Why?

My purpose here is not to pick a side or endorse one over the other. The truth is, neither side is Christian. The Reds have some values which reflect Christian values, and the Blues also have some values which reflect Christian values. But neither side is strictly Christian. And this is part of why politics can be so divisive - picking one side over another puts some values over others. But anyway, I digress. My real purpose in this post is to share how we, as Christians, should approach politics and elections, and the following passage gives us some insight:

1 Peter 2:9-17 - “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (emphasis mine)

There are 3 things I want to highlight from this passage. First, we are not Americans first. Too often when we approach elections and the topic of politics, we come at it from an American perspective, not a biblical one. We are Christians first. We are God's people. Peter says here "once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God". He is talking about the church. The one thing that draws us together and unites us is our faith in Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul echoes this idea in Philippians 3:20 - "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ". Our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth. Our identity comes from Jesus, not from the Republican or Democratic parties. This means our values come from God, and our main goal is to do what pleases God and what is going to bring Him glory. And what pleases God?

Well, this brings us to point #2. God has instructed us to submit to "every human authority". For some context, this particular passage is part of a letter the apostle Peter wrote to a church in the Roman Empire, around the same time that the Roman Empire was imprisoning and killing Christians. According to Peter, just because the government is a bad government doesn't give us the right to rebel against them. It pleases God when we submit to authority, regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican.

Finally, it pleases God when we show respect to others. The last verse of the passage above says "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor". So, that means that when someone opposes my political views (say, they are a Democrat and I am a Republican), I should yell at them for being stupid and ignorant, right? Wrong. That is not showing respect to everyone at all. The apostle Paul sheds a little more light on this in another letter to a young pastor named Titus: "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone". Here Paul tells us that in our dealings with other people we should not talk bad about them, we should show respect, be considerate of their feelings, and always be gentle. Does this sound like any of the arguments or posts you've seen online or heard from other people? No, probably not. Instead, many Christians have chosen to slander, yell, bully, fight, and be rude to others - none of which pleases God.

God wants us to submit to the governing authorities, whoever they may be. Of course, out first priority is obedience to God, so in cases where the government tells us we have to do something that God says is wrong, we should not do it (for example, if the president ordered that everyone worship him, we should NOT do that). Obedience to God also means treating others with kindness and respect, no matter how mean, rude, or inconsiderate they may be toward us.

Now, after the last presidential election, a lot of people refused to accept the results. They wailed and protested and for the last 4 years have done everything they could to change the results or get Trump impeached. Let me be clear, this is not the way God wants us to respond, no matter which way this election goes. Fighting, arguing, causing division and rebellion - none of these reflect a spirit of submission. Instead, God tells us this in Paul's first letter to Timothy: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth".

God wants us to pray for our leaders, including our president. So, as the final results of the elections come to light and the country moves forward, I want each of you to spend some time in prayer over our leaders. And don't stop there, either. Continue to pray over the response of the people (as well as your own response). As citizens of Heaven, we need to entrust the affairs of this world over to God, our ultimate leader and Lord. He is our King, whom we worship and obey, and whom we follow. His will is that we pray for others, treat others with respect, and look for every opportunity to do good in this world as we patiently wait for the next.

God bless and peace be with you all.