Criminal Finds Success

This past week I was reminded of the first time I stole something. I started my criminal record as a hardened 3 years old, and I stole a Siamese kitten from my grandparent's cat's recent litter. I wanted that kitten, but my parents said no. So as we got ready to leave my grandparent's house, I quickly tucked the little ball of fluff under my coat while my parents were busy saying their goodbyes. 

Now, I don't know how I thought I was going to keep this cat a secret but I guess somehow I thought it would work out, so I was terrified when a few miles down the road a faint "mew" escaped from inside of my coat! My Dad slammed on the breaks and began to scold me, but with my Mom's coaxing he saw how much I wanted the kitten and that's how I got to keep my Siamese cat named Tiger...and how I saw the benefits of theft. (Check out next week's blog "Stealing is BAD") Growing up, Tiger and I were inseparable: he seemed to know he was my cat, he slept on my bed every night and just days after I went to college, my Mom found that old cat had died on my bed, curled up in his sleep. The memory of stealing Tiger brought up all the emotions of fear turning to joy that I had experienced as a 3 year old boy.

Remembering the good that's happened in our lives awakens powerful emotions. 

Unfortunately, the same happens when we're reminded of the negative events in our lives: we instantly become discouraged and frustrated.

Negative memories actually take up more space in our brains than positive memories since we usually process the negative over and over. It's like a movie playing in our minds as we watch the negative event unfold and soon we're thinking about how we could have done it better, what we should have said, and the frustration of our failures. But we don't have to watch this movie! We CAN change the channel.

We can't move on to the good things Jesus has in store for us if we stay on the bad.

Bad breaks happen to us all so we have to train our minds to remember the good. God never told us to remember our defeats. Just imagine what would happen if we'd spend our time going over our successes instead of our defeats! 

In the past, God instructed His people to throw week-long parties several times a year just to celebrate their victories! We can celebrate our victories everyday if we just take a moment to dwell on how we met our spouse, when we kicked an addiction, how Jesus set us free, or the memory of the day our kids were born--God gave us amazing victories before, He can do it again! 

Go over all the successes in life: remember how God protected you when you couldn't protect yourself, advanced you beyond what you were qualified to do, helped you make the right decision...or gave you a childhood friend when what you really deserved was a spanking! Remember the WIN--not all the mistakes made in the process!

Don't stay busy remembering what you should be forgetting. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions--change the channel when it's negative. We all have bad breaks sometimes, but it's worth the effort to remember all the GOOD God has done for us!

Our Lord, I will remember the things You have done, Your miracles of long ago. I will think about each one of Your mighty deeds. Everything You do is right, and no other god compares with You. Psalm 77:11-13

JOY: a lifestyle

It's Christmas time--the time when we celebrate Jesus' birth. There's an overall confusion about Jesus these days. Some think He was a Jew with a Mexican name. Some think He was a lot like Mr. Rogers (I ask you, who would crucify Mr.Rogers?!). Some think He gave us a bunch of ridiculous rules and unreasonable standards to load us full of guilt and shame.

The truth is, Jesus invaded our world to bring joy! Not a momentary feeling but a whole lifestyle of joy. And how was He going to do that? By bringing us the news of grace, the best news ever which is simply: quit trying! You don't have to DO anything but simply believe! 

Here's some quick theology to explain why: Jesus' death on the cross ended the old covenant and began a new one. The old covenant teaches all the things that you have to DO to be acceptable to God, like the 10 commandments. The NEW covenant teaches that Jesus already did it all! The old covenant requires us to examine our lives over and over to see where we've failed, but the new covenant turns our eyes away from ourselves and we instead focus on Jesus!  (Theology lesson over...throw yourself a party: you survived!)

Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we are no longer demanded to perform since it's not about what we can do or what we should do--it's about what Jesus has already done. It's not about trying harder--it's about simply believing that Jesus is who He said He is: the perfect sacrifice once and for all who fulfilled every requirement of the law on our behalf.  If we have to act a certain way for God to accept us, that would mean that Jesus' death on the cross wasn't enough, which isn't true. So we get to QUIT TRYING! We simply believe to become a Jesus-follower, and we simply believe to live the life of a Jesus-follower. We don't have to DO--just believe!  Your own efforts to live a "good" life just plain SUCK compared to depending on Jesus and Jesus alone for victory! This is the crazy-good news (gospel) that Jesus came to Earth to GIVE to us. The gospel of grace is what the apostle Paul calls the ONLY gospel! And truly understanding God's grace leads to relief & thankfulness which leads to a LIFESTYLE OF JOY!

So quit trying, let go of all the guilt and condemnation, stop working and wondering if you measure up! Jesus did it ALL for you! All you need to do is BELIEVE! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's some scripture to start you off...there's way more...do your own research Galatians is a great place to start :)

Romans 11:6

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

Galatians 2:21 

I don't turn my back on God's gift of undeserved grace. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.

Hebrews 10:11-12 

The priests do their work each day, and they keep on offering sacrifices that can never take away sins.  But Christ offered himself as a sacrifice that is good forever. Now he is sitting at God's right side,

Colossians 2:14 

God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

Galatians 3:1-5

You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you? I want to know only one thing. How were you given God's Spirit? Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in him? How can you be so stupid? Do you think that by yourself you can complete what God's Spirit started in you? Have you gone through all of this for nothing? Is it all really for nothing? God gives you his Spirit and works miracles in you. But does he do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in him?

Galatians 1:6-9 

I am shocked that you have so quickly turned from God, who chose you with his gift of undeserved grace. You have believed another message, when there is really only one true message. But some people are causing you trouble and want to make you turn away from the good news about Christ. I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn't matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.

When You've Messed Up So Bad

Have you ever thought you've messed up so bad that you're not sure how you'll ever fix it? You watched your future go down the drain and your hope shrivels up and you experience a pain in your chest that is SO BIG that it just feels...numb. 

You're not sure how you got there, but it's not good. You know you've gotta get out of there, but how?

So you begin to try, but every attempt just puts you back down in that black hole. Faith becomes as elusive as luck, hope is reduced to wishing. The worst keeps happening over and over, the bottom dropping out again and again...so you begin to expect it. It's safe to expect the worst. then you're not disappointed.

But expecting the worst doesn't safeguard us from disappointment--it's the vehicle of disappointment! When we're cynical, everywhere we go we'll just see more to be skeptical about. Cynicism breeds cynicism! And here's the worst thing: it closes our eyes to all the good that's already around us! It deafens our hearts to the encouragement God is speaking to us on a daily basis. When we're not thankful until the BIG THING happens, then we're missing the WHOLE THING because it's the little details, the small everyday kind of miracles that make our lives so rich, not some destination, some moment when we've magically arrived! 

Live life to the fullest! Sometimes life is pain, but pain isn't always bad. Sometimes it's the pain of change as God is bringing something new to your life, rather than the pain of injury. Experience it all! Don't reason away the good God wants to give you--don't doubt it away--but believe for the impossible! Dream! Risk! Hope! Try it again! Look for the best from God and you'll be sure to find it! The Creator of the Universe promised you some good things in your lifetime--you can trust God when He makes a promise!

Joshua 23:14 AMP

...Know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one thing of them has failed. 

I HATE religion!

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for my FREEDOM! Thanks to everyone who's served in our armed forces, we can all be thankful for that! Americans love freedom! Freedom of the press, freedom to bear arms, freedom from religion...

It's actually freedom OF religion, but I'll go along with it. I hate religion, too!

People are amazed when I, a pastor, say that, but it's true! Religion sucks!

Religion doesn't care about people: it cares about rules. Religion doesn't care about your circumstances and your tough breaks: it cares that you broke the rules. Religion says "No" and then makes you feel like a jerk for asking. Religion finds out about your flaws and broadcasts them in front of the world. Religion is sure your innocent mistake is some deeper flaw that's infected your humanity and made you UNACCEPTABLE as a person, as a whole. And then Religion makes sure you forever know you messed up, you are a mess up, and maybe you're "forgiven"...but, really, Religion never forgets.

It's terrible that Jesus is mistaken to be Religion! Jesus doesn't operate in guilt and condemnation! He doesn't hold things over our heads! He's not into physically or mentally tormenting people or ruining our day for the fun of it! He's not al-Qaeda--just another example of American freedom: freedom of speech! 

In fact, when we mess up, all we have to do is tell God we're sorry. Period. We don't have to feel guilty to pay for our mess-ups--Jesus already paid the whole debt. With His blood. His blood is a big deal!

This is so cool: do you know why Jesus' blood is symbolized by wine? Because wine (not grape juice, water, or pop if you had a youth pastor like me) symbolizes intoxication in the Holy Spirit! In 355 AD, there was a huge church council that decided it would be bad to use anything BUT wine in communion because of the parallels between wine and Jesus' blood:

• drinking natural wine makes us feel happy=Jesus' divine mercy makes people feel amazingly free & happy
• drinking natural wine lifts our sadness=our past is lifted, forgiven, and we become brand-new when we say YES to Jesus

So Jesus' blood  gives us life, removes our sin, makes us complete, helps us overcome obstacles, makes our connection with God closer than our breath, gives us eternal life, cleans out our guilt, allows one-on-one with The God Of The Universe, redeems us, brings those who were far away from God near to Him, and it brings us peace and reconciliation to God! 

Jesus turned water into wine and the church has been trying to change it back, eversense! Just sayin'

I know Jesus has this image as a pale, frail, plastic-y kind of do-gooder who's hard to relate to. But that's just the 2000 year old urban legend-garbage that's only a shadow of the truth that was painted by men who never saw Him (remember: there were no photographers back then...now we know). The real Jesus can relate to us! Jesus knows how it feels to see the bigger picture when nobody around Him had a clue. Jesus had to work in the family business for a time even though He had different dreams. Jesus' friends never really got Him. Jesus knows how it feels to be a laughingstock and beat down by His enemies. Jesus knows how it feels to be publically declared a criminal. Jesus knows how it feels to be innocent yet charged with all kinds of wrongs. He rode a donkey at the height of His fame. His friends deserted Him when He needed them most. He often disappeared to go pray--maybe because the disciples were driving Him crazy... Jesus can relate to the insanity of living on this earth! You are not alone! Jesus gets you! More than you know...

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people — free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need,letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ --Ephesians 1:7-10

Giving Up

A few summers ago, we rented a cabin in Southern Minnesota for a family vacation.  We're Minnesotans and that's what Minnesotans do: vacation in Minnesota! Do we do that because we love lakes and trees that much...or because of the time and expense it takes to get to a real vacation spot since we're so far away from anywhere remotely tropical or glamorous? Who knows. Let's just keep it at "we're Minnesotans". 

Anyway, as we drove we were surrounded by (you guessed it) lush groves of trees and sparkling lakes and ponds.  Beautiful scenery! However, as we got closer to what GPS was leading us to, the landscape turned into dead, abandoned farmland complete with decrepit houses and an eerie absence of life: no people driving cars, no animals scurrying away and no trees or plants! This void of everything was screaming DEAD! GO BACK! SAVE YOURSELVES!

We had never been there before, but it didn't look right! We checked and rechecked GPS thinking we'd made a mistake, but our dot of a minivan was still obediently following the happy little blue trail. The Google Maps Lady wasn't yelling at us, either (she can be SO BOSSY!). We were right on track...to the Bates Motel, apparently. We're talking desolation and despair!

Just about the time the pack of timberwolves would have been cued to break into our minivan and systematically hunt us down in the frozen tundra had this been a movie (sorry, couldn't resist) we turned a corner and saw that we were overlooking a valley in which was nestled our long-awaited vacation spot! Just moments before we were sure Google Maps was on crack, but now we were mouth agape staring at our destination! Just moments before we were ready to give up and turn around, back to civilization, but now we saw our campground! Which was not just any campground but a resort including a golf course, hiking trails, basketball court, swimming pool, and a trout stream running right through it, and our cabin that turned out to be a spacious lodge, all surrounded by limestone which, dear friends, KEEPS MOSQUITOES AWAY!  Even at dusk! Even in the bushes! (If you happen to be in the bushes at dusk...for some reason...?) Kinda crazy, right?! One minute we think we're completely lost and the next minute we're overlooking a gorgeous resort that was even better than we'd imagined. It's incredible what the turn of a corner can bring! 

When you've never been there before, it's hard to tell if you're getting close to your destination. When you're trying to fix a relationship, you usually have to weather some fights before there's unity. When you're trying to get your finances on track, it's usually because your bank account is dying a slow, painful death. When you're chasing a promising career, your friends and family may feel neglected before you realize you need to realign your life's balance. When you've been publicly humiliated by your child's behavior, you have to be a little more consistent with discipline at home before the world, too, can see the greatness in that kid. But if you've never been there before, it's hard to tell if you're on track to EVER get there!  If you've never observed the difficulties that are required to reach a breakthrough, you may not realize just how close you really are to that breakthrough! 

Your scenery may look like desolation and despair, but maybe it's because you're about to turn a corner!

It may take some strength, more than you thought you had, but don't give up! You may feel like you just can't take it, but don't quit! You don't know what's just ahead! You don't know what God's up to behind the scenes! You don't know everything that's being orchestrated to arrive right on time even better than you'd planned! Maybe it's taken more blood, sweat and tears than you had anticipated, but the end results will have you staring mouth agape at the amazing success your story has turned into!  

"Most people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure" is a great reminder from Napoleon Hill.  Maybe everything around you looks dead and abandoned. Maybe you're thinking of heading back to civilization. Maybe your friends and family have labeled you crazy to even keep trying, but sometimes you just have to figure that if you've gone this far, what's another hour, day, month or year... This is when you benefit from your vice: stubbornness! Dig in! Expect the best! Refuse to listen to reason: refuse to know the meaning of the word "quit". Think of your future self--the one who's overcame this obstacle--what advice would your future you give the present you? Do that and live without regrets!

Do you see what this means — all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running — and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 3 When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! 

Hebrews 12:1-3 The Message

As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. 11 We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul — not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, 12 thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. Colossians 1:10-12 The Message

By Heidi Elznic :)
The Fusion