Blessings and Thanks

A little over four years ago I was in a deep state of depression. I have a wonderful wife and family, a home, clothing, food, and all my needs met. But even though I was blessed with all this, I still had a gaping hole inside. I contemplated just ending it because then I would be home and my problem solved. It was the proverbial 'Its a Wonderful Life' moment. So laying in a hotel bed in Florida, tears streaming down my face, I cried out to the Father. "Lord you have to tell me what you want me to do." "I can't do this anymore."

I opened the bible and it was the story of Moses in the wilderness. I said, "Ok Lord you have to take me through the wilderness before you can use me." Three years passed and for the most part, nothing had changed. I had just turned forty; a number I felt held great significance. It would take a supernatural event two months later to get my attention. The Father sent a messenger to tell me I wasn't listening, and that my destiny had been written long before I was born. I was to carry on the calling of others in my family, and bring the Father's light to the darkness. To live a life of servitude and humility.

So I started a mission to help the poor. The important word there is I. Not the Father, but I. Once again I was not listening to His voice. I was doing what I thought was right and not His will. So like anything else we try to do alone without it being His will, it failed. And again I felt lost. But this time I knew I was being attacked. Satan was trying to pull me back into a state of depression, and a feeling of being unworthy so I could not complete what the Father wanted. This time he would not prevail. The Father led me to begin an online teaching ministry. After seven months there were only 10 followers on the blog.

You can probably guess what comes next. The attacks began again. I went straight to the Father and said, "I only want your will to be done. I will continue to teach if only one person is reached." My hope to have "Olsteen" numbers would not be a distraction. Three months passed and I felt a pressing to check the blog. The numbers were in the hundreds. He confirmed that all things done through him would be completed. A couple of weeks ago I ran into a old friend. He greeted me as Pastor Shane. I said I'm not a Pastor, the Father hasn't appointed me to a flock to shepherd. Well guess you can tell where this is going again.

He led me to once again check the blog. This time not to just show the greatness of His work, but to correct the statement I had made to my friend. As of yesterday, the Father's word is now reaching 20 countries. Praise God! Over 5,000 people now follow the blog. There are no limits to what He can do; even through an introvert with public speaking issues. The second largest country of followers is the Ukraine, and especially Crimea which has a large population of Muslims. Praise God! From Ukraine to countries in South America, Europe, Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, India, and more. The Father is bringing His light to some of the darkest places in this world.

Thank you for all that have supported this ministry. Please continue to share it with all you can. You never know when you share, that a friend of a friend of a friend in another country may see it and share it with others.

May You Be Blessed with Peace and Understanding 

Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Luke 18:27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Wounds Of A Friend

When we think of friends, we often think of the people who we naturally like, who like us, and who like the same things we like. We hope for friends who will encourage us, comfort us, and support us — but what about praying for friends who are willing to wound us?

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Proverbs 27:6)

True friends are not mobsters who club us with their words to prove points or settle scores. But godly friends are not less than EMTs (emergency medical technicians) who will rip open our carefully crafted excuses and stun us back to life. They wound us for our good. And of course, friends must be more than than this — after all, we aren’t Pavlovian puppies to be shocked every day. But in a world of political correctness and hyper-sensitivity to criticism, such friends with backbones are nearly as extinct as they are unwelcome — even within the church.

Your soul needs friends who are willing to risk wounding your pride in the moment for the long-term good of your soul. The world cares nothing for our eternal good. Ungodly friends cheer us on toward destruction. They bequeath the kiss of flattery — the Dementor’s kiss. They coddle our egos, telling us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. Even the most genuine and moral among them sets sail away from God. Thus we need a crew of Christian companions — a body — to keep us from shipwreck. Finishing the race is not an individual endeavor, and eternity is at stake.

Praise God then for the faithful wounds of true friends who protect us from ultimate injury. They tell us plainly, “You’re flirting with destruction!” Or, “Spiritual sloth is unacceptable!” Friends who ask us hard questions, who crush the whispering lizard on our shoulder, who are for our eternal soul above our momentary feelings — these are true friends.

Find these friends. Thank these friends. Imitate these friends. They are, God’s “community grace” to you. Jesus calls his followers friends (John 15:14). Some of us may not have many companions, but in Christ we have the Truest Friend, who gives friendship meaning. But had we lived two thousand years ago, we might not have enjoyed living with the Son of God as much as we suppose at first. Jesus was not afraid to wound his friends for the healing of their souls.He did not walk in step with our unoffensive niceties. He rebuked follower and Pharisee alike. He would not have balked to say things that would offend us. He was without guile, without flattery. He called a spade a spade, and sin “sin” — always with love, and always with truth.

But the unbelievable thing is that Jesus also was wounded for his friends (John 15:13). He didn’t do accountability drive-bys and leave it at that. He loved with word and deed. He rebuked the sleeping disciples, and called Peter “Satan” one moment, only to lay down his life for them in the next (Matthew 16:23; 26:36–46; 27:24–56). Jesus loved his own with comforting words, encouraging words, life-giving words — and hard words. And he backed up every sharp word with three piercing nails and a cutting crown of thorns — all for the everlasting good of his friends. He hurt his friends in order to help them. He was wounded for his friends in order to heal them (Isaiah 53:5).

We should thank God when he gives us friends like Jesus, and pray that he sends us more.

1. Pray for friends who wound in love.Though they don’t always feel like it, these friends are a good gift from God. Your soul needs these friends. Ask him for them.

2. Pray for friends who also build up. More than just wounded, we want to be built up. We want to be loved through encouragement, affirmation, and deeds as well as tough words (1 Thessalonians 5:11; 1 John 3:18).

3. Thank friends who love enough to wound. Often, those friends who do speak the truth in love feel as uncomfortable and awkward saying tough things as you do hearing them. They may also fear your disapproval and rejection, so when they do speak up, thank them — even when they don’t do it perfectly.

4. Invite wounds from others. Take initiative to ask friends to be honest with you about your weaknesses and blind spots, knowing that, because Christ was wounded for us, we can invite wounds; he is our identity. May we say, Let a righteous man strike me — it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. (Psalm 141:5)

5. Be a friend who wounds in love. The author of Hebrews calls us to beware unbelieving hearts that cause us to fall away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12). How do we not fall away? We “exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

Today is called today. Which believers will you exhort? Be courageous and speak the truth in love when the time comes (Ephesians 4:15).

Don't Be Yourself

“Just be yourself,” “keep it real,” and “keep it 100” are life slogans for many in our day. And when they are, authenticity often takes precedence over courtesy, self-actualization triumphs over self-discipline, and the self — whoever it may be — is to be celebrated and never censured.

And subtly, we can adopt this philosophy in the church. Even though every imperative in the Bible protests against it, every identification of sin condemns it outright, every discussion of holiness and God’s judgment warns against believing it, we too excuse sin tendencies as our personalities.

"Oh, her? She’s just strong-willed and independent. That’s why she doesn’t submit to her husband."
"Him? Don’t worry, he isn’t trying to be inhhospitable and cold towards everyone. He’s just shy and introverted."
"Yeah, he doesn’t lead spiritually, but don’t fret. He just doesn’t go deep — that’s not who he is."
"Why isn’t she growing in her knowledge of God’s word? Because she just isn’t a reader."
"Why does it seem like he flirts with every girl he meets? Don’t read too much into it. He just has a playful personality — that’s just the way he is."

This unassailable sense of self is contrary to biblical thinking. Our personality must bow to God’s standards, never vice versa.
Wives, submit to your husbands, whether you’re strong-willed or not.
Introverts, be hospitable and kind, even if your inclination is to stow away for time alone.
Husbands, lead your wife and wash her with the word, even if you’d prefer to just keep it light and casual.
Christian, meditate on the word of God day and night, even if you haven’t read any other book since high school.
Romeo, restrain yourself from engaging women’s hearts, even if you find it easy to engage with the opposite sex.

Ever since the fall, being yourself is the opposite of what God desires. Since the fall, our authentic selves are unsurpassed in self-absorption; they hate God by refusing to treasure him above all things. Therefore, the authentic you is worthy of death. And this is the scandal of the gospel. It tells each man, woman, and child — whether criminal, “good,” religious, or otherwise — that they must be born again to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3). It tells us that the unregenerate man who is “keepin’ it real” is keepin’ himself in constant threat of God’s wrath and only increasing his condemnation (Romans 2:4–5).

Whether Mr. Rogers or Gandhi or Stalin, being the “true you” does not produce the righteousness that God requires. We all need God’s righteousness freely offered to us in Christ (Philippians 3:8–11), and we all need to be new creations of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
Jesus doesn’t say, “Just be the true you.” He says, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).
And Jesus died on a cross so that we can be born again. He bore the wrath of his Father while we were “just being ourselves,” and sent the Holy Spirit to make us new creations in him. And the Spirit dwells inside of us who are born again to cause us to increasingly walk out who we already are.

This new us is a better us than we could have imagined. We are not made to image the ideal versions of ourselves, but to reflect the image of God himself. God ordained our salvation to make us look like his Son (Romans 8:29) — a being who, if you saw now, “you would be strongly tempted to worship”
So, “just be yourself” is only good advice when it means “be that person: the new you in Christ.”

Paul returns here again and again in his epistles: At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8)

In other words, Paul tells Christians to be who we are in Christ. We walk as children of light — not to become light, but because, by a work of our almighty God, we already are. We live as new creations with new affections and joys because, by the Spirit’s regenerating work, we already are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17).And we become more like who we already are when we stare at Christ and seek to be what he is (2 Corinthians 3:18). We do not gaze within and become more of what we see inside, but we gaze without to see him — and to others who look like him — and, by the Spirit, mimic what we see (Philippians 3:17).

Don’t be yourself. Be something higher. Be who God predestined you to be. Be who you are in Jesus.

Triumph Of The Light

In the series True Detective, two partners played by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey work a murder case in the backwoods of Louisiana. Haunted by evil, the case twists and turns taking the detectives deeper and deeper into darkness — their own and the criminals they investigate. Wrestling with evil and injustice, McConaughey withers before the viewer’s eyes, physically reduced to a tattered shell of his former self. Darkness broke him.
With darkness encroaching, ostensibly more with each new headline, what difference does Jesus make?

The Gospel of John boldly proclaims, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). We need the light because we live in the shadow of our broken selves. This shadow seems to grow during the holidays. Unplugged from routine, our passions can get the best of us. Holidays can surface old hurts, even send us into the presence of people we’d rather avoid. “We’re only staying at your mother’s house for an hour, not a minute more!” “I don’t care; we are not getting uncle Billy a present, after how he’s treated us!” Many live in relational darkness.

We’re quick to identify the darkness out there, but often slow to find it in here. It’s tempting to treat darkness as a social phenomenon, one detectives and politicians must solve, or family brings to our homes. It’s easier to see the darkness around us instead of inside us.
But the darkness lurks in us all. It’s why a seemingly good family man like Matt Laurer can fall. Why pastors suffer depression and politicians play cover up. The darkness doesn’t respect position. And so, we need a light with a capital “L.” Light exposes and warms. The light of Christ exposes our darkness, revealing we all possess a sinful capacity to make the headlines. And if we think we don’t, we’re even more deluded than we know, drunk on our shadow. But there is a Light, the true Light, and he has broken into this world.

To move beyond exposure to warmth, we have to first admit our inner darkness. We have to emerge from the shadows. John writes: “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness” (1 John 2:9). You see, we can’t be the light and harbor hatred toward others, no matter what their political position, racial follies, or moral failures. We might think, “I’m not a hater,” but Jesus says those who insult others express hatred deserving of hellfire (Matthew 5:21–22).

Why does Jesus take such a hard-line on hate? Because it’s demeaning people made by the Light. It’s harboring self-righteousness as we peer down on others. It’s refusing to forgive fellow strugglers or hang out with that family member smugly thinking, “I’d never make the mistakes you’ve made or hold the political position you do.” It’s abstaining from the reconciliation he died to extend. The darkness inside you and me contributes to the trouble of the world. “The hypocrisy of the human heart is where a lot of the trouble of the world starts

How do we get into the warmth of the light? I’ve been a moral mess my whole life. We need a light stronger than our moral constitution. The burning Light warms as it purifies: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Walking in the light isn’t just being good; it’s bringing our darkness to Jesus over and over, and to one another, to experience his cleansing, purifying light. Is there something you need to confess to him? Where are you harboring darkness? Where do you need to let the light in? Coming out of the darkness can be painful, but once we do it, the light can cleanse us.

The Word became flesh, a package of light inside of Mary, stepped out into the world, and suffered under a cloud of judgment at the cross, so we could experience the cleansing joy of the light. This should provoke wonder. Jesus, knowing everything he knows about you and me, says, Let me do it. Let me die in their place to triumph over their darkness and bathe them in the light.

Thank God the eternal Word didn’t remain behind eternity, but sank down into the womb of Mary, and suffered the sorrows of humanity to shine his light into our darkness. And you know what, the darkness did not overcome it. We needed the Light to overthrow the darkness. And he did, by being snuffed out and raised in resurrection glory, securing a glorious future and purified present for us.

Those who walk in the light now will walk in Jesus’s final triumph over darkness, when there will be no need for a sun or moon because his glory illumines his city forever (Revelation 21:23). It’s coming. Keep bathing, keep confessing, keep hoping. Don’t just dip your toe; dive headfirst into the wonder of the incarnation.

In the closing episode of True Detective, Harrelson rolls McConaughey out of a hospital in a wheelchair, stopping out front, just beyond the pale of the artificial light. McConaughey describes his brush with death, “I felt the darkness and all I had to do was let go, and I said, yeah to the darkness.” Looking up at the stars Harrelson responds, “Seems like the darkness has got more territory.” McConaughey responds, “There’s just one story, the oldest: light versus darkness. You ask me, the light is winning.”

Be encouraged, the Light is not only winning. It has won, and it makes all the difference in the world.

"What If He Was Just Like Us?"

I was reading a sermon on the significance of the manger, when He reminded me of a song that was popular when I was in college. The song was, 'What if God was one of us,' by Joan Osborn. I don't think she was aware of the profound meaning in cased in her lyrics.

If God had a name what would it be? And would you call it to his face? If you were faced with Him in all His glory. What would you ask if you had just one question?

There are many names for God, each with a powerful and deep meaning that we call out to His face everyday. His glory surrounds us in all His creation. The problem is the questions and requests we often ask of Him, are quite often selfish. We tend to only cry out when we need something. And we rarely take the time to simply thank Him for the abundance we have.

1 Chronicles 16:11 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us. Just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home?

God was one of us. And he was a slob like one of us. He lowered Himself to become us to take away our sins. He lowered Himself to the point of being born in a feeding trough for animals. A king was never born this way, much less The King of Kings. He wasn't born in a palace surrounded by riches. He was born in filth surrounded by animals. And His life would continue to be a lowering right up to His death. But all of this was His journey on the bus. Because without His loving act, we would never be able to find our way home.

Hebrews 2:7 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

If God had a face what would it look like? And would you want to see if, seeing meant that you would have to believe in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints, and all the prophets?

This is the saddest part of the whole song. And unfortunately, will be the outcome at the end of the age. Many people will see Him coming, and see His face and they still won't believe. We as humans have a problem with taking responsibility for our actions. We pile on excuses, throw blame,  or seek to harm another just to cover our shame. We've been doing it since the garden. We made a vale attempt to hide our sin then, and we continue to this day. Seeing and believing, means we give up control. We don't like being told what to do. From childhood to the golden years we fight for control. But we miss out on the greatest gift possible when we try and keep control...God's Grace.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Just tryin to make his way home. Like back up to heaven all alone. Nobody callin on the phone...

I can't even begin to fathom what that last day was like for Messiah. The excruciating feeling of pain and loneliness. Because He was alone. Despised by His people. Removed from the Father. Carrying the entirety of mankind's sin. And in those last dark moments, He did make one last call. He called out to the Father, 'Why have you forsaken me?' See folks, Messiah had to be removed from the Father to save mankind. Death, sin, or sacrifice could not inhabit heaven. He had to become a slob like one of us. He had to lower Himself, be beaten, be ridiculed, be despised, and be crucified as our sacrifice.

Isaiah 53:3-5 We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him—we ignored him as if he were nothing.“But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received.

All of this done out of love for a creation who wants nothing to do with Him. Is your control worth eternity?  Our Creator was one of us. He became a slob like one of us, because He loved us. And without His love, we could never find our way back home.

The Matrix

We were outside at night and, as we often enjoyed doing, looking up at the stars.

"Your life began in darkness," he said, "in the darkness of the womb. It was once all you knew, your entire life, your entire world. If you had been asked then to describe life, you would describe it as being dark, warm, and wet. And if someone tried to tell you that there was more to life, another life, another world, outside the womb, a world of stars and grass, of flowers and faces, of sand castles and setting suns, what would you have thought?"

"I guess I wouldn't have believed it. I wouldn't have been able to fathom it."
"But would there be a way that you could have known that this other life, this world beyond the womb, actually existed? What evidence would you have had within the womb of that which was beyond the womb?"
"I don't know."

"You," said the teacher. "You would be the evidence...you, dwelling in the darkness yet with eyes made to see color and light...with no ground to walk on, yet with feet made to run...with no air to breathe and yet with lungs made to breathe air and a voice box with which to speak into air...with no one's hand to hold, yet with two hands made to hold and be held by the hand of another. You yourself would be the evidence of the life beyond your life in the womb and the world beyond your world. Your very being was the evidence of a world yet to come, and yet you were surrounded by a much smaller world that was unable to answer what was within you."
"And this reveals..."

"When you hear of a world beyond this world and a life beyond this life, when you hear of heaven, you're hearing of it as a child in the womb. You've never seen it or touched it. And yet everything within you was made to know this world and live within it...a heart made for a love that is perfect and without condition, a soul yearning for that which is eternal, a spirit longing to dwell in a place of no death, no fear, no tears, no darkness, and no evil. And yet you live in a world of imperfection, of corruption, of pain and evil, of darkness and the absence of love. And as it was in the womb, so too this world can never answer the longings of your heart or the purpose for which you came into existence. And every tear, every sorrow, every disappointment, every unfulfilled longing is just a reminder that you're not home, and that you were made for something more, to be a child of heaven...and that this life is only the beginning of real life and the matrix of the world to come."

Take all the unfulfilled longings, needs, and desires of your life and turn them away from the worldly and to the heavenly.

Psalm 139:13-16 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

The Door Of Evil

"How do you deal with temptation?" he asked.
"You resist it."
"Yes," he said. "But how?"
I didn't answer. I didn't know what he was looking for.
"The Book of Proverbs reveals how to deal with the temptation of sexual sin, the seduction of an adulteress. It is written: 'Keep your way far from her. And do not come near to the door of her house.' You see, the best way to deal with temptation is to not deal with it."
"I don't understand."

"If you keep yourself away from the temptation, there's less chance you'll be dealing with it. But the Scripture goes farther than that. Listen again. It says, 'Keep your way far from her. And do not come near to the door of her house.' This is an even greater key. It reveals that it's not enough to stay away from temptation-you must make it your aim to stay away from the door of the temptation. Think about it; which is more alluring, a person trying to seduce you or a door?"

"The person, of course."
"Which is more tempting, a substance that would addict you or a door?"
"The substance."
"And which is more likely to harm you or make you fear, a dangerous situation or a door?"
"The dangerous situation, of course."
"Exactly. So instead of dealing with the person, or the substance, or the situation of danger, deal with the door. Deal with the door and you'll avoid the temptation."

"And the door is what exactly?"
"The door is not the temptation, nor the sin. It's that which would lead you to the temptation and the sin. That's the key. Make it your aim not only to avoid the temptation. Locate the door to the temptation and then stay as far away from it as possible. For it is the wise who, instead of dealing with the temptation and sin, deal with doors."

Today, make it your aim not just to avoid temptation, but to avoid even the door that leads to it. Focus on the door, and stay from it.

Proverbs 5:3-8 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.