Someone contacted me today from Calvary Chapel Camarillo to share another rendition. It is absolutely awesome; more moving in some ways.

I’d love to share and discuss some thoughts about some differences in this version, but I don’t want to give it away.

Enjoy:

That is, if we let them. The problem is, it’s easy to let them. When our flesh starts gettin’ itchy, nothing can be more tantalizing than the treat of a dirty joke here or some juicy gossip there.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; 
Ephesians 5:6-7

This brought several people to mind who simply desire nothing but their own selfish satisfaction with their histrionics and vitriol. They’re obvious, though. They’re outright obnoxious and typically avoided by everyone. The Enemy will certainly try to use these persons’ behaviors to create stumbling blocks for us, but we will also find the less-obvious distractions in people who aren’t “all that bad.” 

Sometimes it’s the ones everyone likes – who’re cracking snide remarks or putting others down with foul language. Sometimes it’s our bosses or other authorities to whom we show respect and submit – and then they put down your peers, tempting you to join in. I’ll admit, it’s attractive and sometimes I want to be a part of the “fun,” but that’s just a factor of my immaturity.

Fortunately for Me, The Flesh was Crucified

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galations 5: 24-25

By this, Jesus is showing us that we don’t have to let our *wants* take over. We don’t need to laugh at the fools’ foolishness and encourage them to press on. I know it’s tough. Sometimes in attempts to get attention, I slip and do something crude, but there is a greater joy in just letting it go.
As Christians, our behavior is constantly being watched. Most people in the world don’t want to be like Christ, but they are almost always attracted to His people’s uprightness. So, as His ambassadors we have a responsibility to learn how He wants us to act around others.

The Bible speaks very plainly to this:

…for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 5:8-10

We Are The Antioxidants

You might be distracted into believing the difference you make in the world is insignificant. That’s simply not true, though. A yielded spirit will a make difference against the spiritual cancer vying to take your soul. Fact is, Jesus’ Spirit will bring you through your challenges, if you let Him.

Writer John Piper said it pretty well,

“Part of what the Spirit does in overcoming human resistance is to humble us to the point where we can let go of ingrained patterns of thought.”(1)

The practical take-away for us all is from Galations 5:22, the fruits of the Holy Spirit:

Love: Above all else, show love. Do not let yourself be confused with lust on this one. Love simply means to put others’ needs before your own.

Joy: Have a presence about yourself that exudes a joy. It’s impenetrable.

Peace: Sow peace in the minds and hearts of those who’s actions can be used to mutate your spirit.

Patience: Be unwavering.

Kindness: Kill ‘em with it.

Goodness: Stay focused. Meet expectations.

Faithfulness: Follow-up and follow through.

Gentleness: Act with command, not demands.

Self-Control: You have the freedom to chose your responses.

These are not some byproduct of evolution worked in as social moraes. These were set forth years and years ago in the Bible. (as an aside, it’s the very book that provided the foundation for the political establishments of the United States.)

It is true that anyone can act and show those 9 traits for all the world to see, but for whom do they do it? Themselves or something greater?

Links:

1. Preaching As Concept Creation, Not Just Contextualization

We are not designed to sit still, but so often that is exactly what we do; never realizing our potential to be all that we were made to be.

This all occurred to me in service this morning as my pastor taught on spiritual gifts. Speaking from the quintessential passage 1 Corinthians 12: 12 -13, he invoked a critical visual for us.

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Everyone has natural gifts, but there are some who are given supernatural gifts. That are only given to us from the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5: 22-26

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Sure, many non-believers exhibit these traits as well, but the difference is, for whom does it serve, their selves? They cannot control how long anything remains, how then do their acts have anything more than an insignificant and ephemeral impact? And if their intention is to have no lasting impression, then, what was the point?

So, as a Christian, I want to be a vessel filled those fruit and influenced, but not for my own gain- rather to give glory to Jesus Christ. For He alone, as God, has the ability to make mine a legacy lasting for eternity. He has desired that I be close to Him and I stand in this truth and seek His eternity.

With the Internet primarily being a social medium now, some are predicting that we are in the post-Information Age. I wonder sometimes, what is out here on the interwebs that will have a lasting impact– for eternity? I remember in my college sociology class, almost a decade ago, there was a prediction that shortly after “the information era” we would see heightened spiritual awareness. What does that mean for this highly-connected generation?

Do not be idle. Do not let idleness take you. Don’t let theories and opinions rule you. Seek truth and realize for what you were truly made and make an impact.

My concern is partly because “friend” is losing it’s place in our language as a noun. Now we’re using the the word as if it were an action. The verb meaning to make a new “friend” is “befriend.” It’s important to make this distinction because of that key prefix, “be.” As the Resurrection (or Easter) holiday is here, I think about what it means to be a true friend.

It’s frustrating really. Just when I thought the world couldn’t dilute the true meaning of the most critical aspects of Creation any further. Life of the unborn, marriage between one man and one woman, love contrasted to lust… the list goes on. Now, it’s easy to confuse what it really means to BE a “friend.”

I’m not saying people we meet online are not friends nor to stop making friends online (I would say be careful and read this: Online Safety for Social Networking). I’m not even saying to stop using the word “friend” as an action. I realize the message of “friendship” is being recontextualized for this generation and cannot be stopped, but I do want to bring attention to what it really means to BE a friend.

Now, I know not everyone who reads this blog is a Christian, but His story provides a great frame of reference.

Jesus is the best friend, the truest best friend anyone can have. Whether you believe in Him or not, doesn’t matter. Knowing what He endured for His friends, I don’t think anyone could deny that He was a great friend.

And so, it goes like this: Jesus came down from Heaven, lived here for approximately 30 years, began teaching to lands all around Israel. Then – as we have observed this past week – He began to say goodbye to those friends. So He told them:

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
John 15: 11-12

That’s pretty heavy right? It’s like, whoa…. because we all know what’s about to happen.

Then Jesus told His friends what the religious leaders were going to do to them for following Him:

They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.
John 16:2

They were going to kill Jesus’ followers, but the next night, this is what Jesus prayed to God just before He gave Himself up:

And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:22-23

Again, this was just before Jesus gave Himself up. That’s a real friend. He’s basically proclaiming that, even though He knows He’s one with God and could be like, “They’re going beat me and hang me on a cross??! Forget this crap, I’m outta here” He doesn’t.

Even if your opinion is that Jesus is not God and was just a man, realize, Jesus knew His time was up. He could have made a run for it in the middle of the night. So, why did He allow Himself to be apprehended?

To show that He’s a friend – a true friend: someone who is going to go through awesome lengths to show how much they care.

I call so many people that I’ve met online “friends,” but I wonder, what kind of lengths would I go through for them? Would I “endure the cross” for all these people? Truthfully, I’m not so sure I would as much as I’d like to.

Who I’m concerned about are the younger generations growing up that they miss the true meaning of friendship. Are they going to miss the point because the usage of the word is shifted? Maybe, maybe not, but my hope is that anyone who reads this post can forget about all the religious controversy around this holiday and think about the example He provides for true friendship.

UPDATE: There is a new rendition to this popular skit.

First, I prayed, and then went out to get some help from friends. In the quest, made a new friend with a ministry called to help others do just this: MinistryCamp. So many people are online these days just starving, hungry for information and digesting (too much in many cases). And so there are lots of opportunities to encourage folks all over the world by way of a blog. Many have been doing it for years, but what you may not realize just how easy it is. If you’re interested, you can set up a blog and have an online ministry running in minutes. Blogger, WordPress.com are just a couple. Just google for blog services and you can find plenty of freebies to get you started. Also, getting a page on a social networking site such as Facebook or Virb is in a lot of ways better for the uninitiated because you can get plugged right into groups to help you feed into the blogosphere.

What is the flesh? In the physical sense, our flesh is the stuff wrapped around our bones, but on the spiritual front, flesh has a life of it’s own.

• Flesh wants that which does belong to it; it drives us to desire that which we cannot have or afford.
• When our hearts seek to love, our flesh will trash it into lust.
• Our flesh screams out for attention, screeching to world in a thousand voices, “look at me, want me, come to me!”
• It’s our flesh that drives us to have the last word in an conflict – causing the other person to retaliate and escalates arguments into explosions of emotions leaving relationships irreparably damaged.
• When you think to put off until tomorrow what you should do today, that is your flesh bringing you down.

Giving into your flesh feels good – at first. Sooner or later, though, that satisfaction will give way to guilt or shame and you will have regrets.

We’re All Vunerable, Christians Too

Many people, including deceived Christians, think they’re not susceptible. If they give you that impression, it’s a farce. Don’t let anyone lead you believe they’re somehow immune. We all are. It’s the way we humans are now.

One morning last week while waiting for the bus, there was a girl wearing jeans and open-toed sandals with fresh pink toenail polish. From where I was standing, that was all I could see. The rest of was behind a wall and my flesh wanted to know what the rest looked like.

In my heart, I knew sneekin’ the peek was not an option. I belong to my wife. Even if I weren’t married, I’d still have no good reason to even contemplate a gander because she was married or maybe engaged (her significant other was right there). If we were both single, then it would be okay to see what what the rest of her looked like as long as I didn’t lust. (lust and Love is for another post)

The way I handled the temptation of the pink-toed lady was to turn my head the other way (“bounce the eyes” as we call it sometimes). But here’s what happened: After looking away to distract myself, I took a step toward the street to see if the bus was coming. Then, distracted from the temptation and past it, I moved on to a new thought. With the temptation out of mind, I stepped back and guess what, my flesh – out of control, – had literally positioned itself so that it could look. I was actually frustrated with myself. It’s like, man, God help me. When are you going to take me home so I don’t have to deal with this corrupted mind and body!

It was a tough choice to not look and see the challenge my flesh gave me?
Disobedience is a Sign of Weakness
All this talk about how our flesh drives us to commit wrong doings would suggest that the flesh is rather strong, but herein lies the main point of this post: obdience to authority actually requires strength.

My flesh (the physical) is designed to be in submission to my central nervous system, my brain. My spiritual flesh is designed to be in submission to the Spirit, but it’s not. It’s disobedient. Romans 8:1-17

Many think they’re being strong or cool when they tell someone off, check out a girl’s butt, give someone the finger, get gossippy with their girlfriends, drink alcohol before they’re of age, etc., but they’re wrong.

I know, I know *everyone* acts like that. So, you ask “what’s wrong with that?” Giving in to be just like everyone else show’s that you’re not being you; you’re not that unique you God wants you to be.

We all have authorities in our lives: parents, bosses, clients, teachers, government, etc. Making the choice to be obedient to them is difficult; it’s a challenge. If we just continue to give in to the flesh, we don’t grow; conversely, taking on challenges make us grow. If we continue to irritate people, objectify women, make ourselves petty, how is that cool or a sign of strength?

If God Made Us, and He is So Good, then Why are We Made this Way?

Truth is, we weren’t originally designed this way. We were designed to be in constant fellowship with God. In the beginning, we knew only good, but then we fouled it up and thus, we have a separation from God (that’s sin) and most of His qualities. This is a basic tenet of Christianity.

There is only one true God-given quality we all share that no one (even God, He could, but He won’t because it’s choice that defines a relationship) can take away: freewill. We have the freewill to choose how we handle ourselves.

People know the difference between right and wrong. It’s just so dang hard to be good sometimes, right? Well, fortunately for us, Jesus has made it pretty simple. He said:

“… Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:25-30

Yes, being obedient means being submissive. Being submissive is never easy, but being obedient to our authority figures in the tough times will always make us stronger. Bottom line is – as Jesus said above: You can go to Him and He’ll give you rest. He will give you strength.

I found a great site that encourages teens to act their age when comes to sex: StayTeen

It’s apparently becoming quite popular ‚Äì the site that is. The only thing that gets me is that they’re not overt in their communication with respect to abstinence. At least not right off the bat. “Safe-sex” education is not the answer to stopping teen pregnancy folks, abstinence is.

They do get into some facts about abstinence under a couple links, here’s the direct link: Abstinence at Stay Teen.org

While I’m at it, figure I’ll share another great group: Dads and Daughters. Their mission is to promote healthy relationships between fathers and daughters. Surprisingly, many fathers distance themselves from their daughters not even realizing it and are more likely to connect and bond with their sons. Fact is, daughters need this relationship (among tons of other reasons) because more often than not, it’s this relationship that sets the grounds for their future husbands.

There are a lot of great sites publishing on these topics. If you have any you’d like to share please do.

The lifestyles of these folks, however, are not the choices I would encourage someone to make: Many smoke and drink, and revel in their drunkenness. Many of the men glorify porn. Most use sex to sell in some capacity. And often they tempt the unfortunate to purchase that which they cannot afford. And the list goes on…

Now, I don’t dispute religious issues because having a relationship with God is not something to argue about, but this week, I almost got into a bit a theological debate with a colleague and it got me thinking…. and convicted.

My point is that even in these dark cultures, we have no place to judge. We have no idea what’s truly going on inside these people’s hearts. As followers of Christ, we are no better and cannot condemn anyone for their lifestyle choices. We’re all sinners. God Loves them just as much as He Loves His followers. Recall, or if you don’t know, God still loved us while we were sinners. So much so, he died for us. Roman 5:8

I’m drawing attention to this because there are Christians out here who condemn and judge those who have the lifestyles mentioned above; however, we are no better and it’s not our place. So, if you’re a believer, consider those words from Romans (and these from Ephesians) before you condemn people for their behavior. God did not die for us in vein. He made the impact that He did so that we could have His word in our hearts and we would have love and pray for others.

If you’re reading this and you’re not a believer you may be wondering what the heck this crazy born-again is talking about, but it’s true: God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth does love you, He does desire to have a relationship with you, and He does have a specific plan for your life. You and your life only. Ask Him about it, He’ll tell you. ;-)

I had to ask myself. When you finally do win the rat race, as a rat, what do you win? I’d imagine that in the end, as we cross the line beating out the other rodents, the trophy is just cheese. Cheese, it’ll either go moldy with age or – at the end of our lives, when all that we’ve done is tested with fire – will melt before the flame even touches it. Sure, we could keep it refrigerated forever or stored in a cellar, but what benefit does that bring anyone else? And as we win more cheese, let’s not forget about the long-term expense of energy bills.

There is no doubt, we are certainly forever looking to attain goals and accomplish directives, but for who’s gain? Let’s think about what we can do for others. Put our initiatives aside for awhile and run a real race for a real trophy – one that will last for eternity.

Jesus Christ’s Love is sacrificial. He too ran the race for awhile, but look Who’s winner’s circle He’s in now. His goal was to finish for no one’s gain, but ours. Carry others over the finish line as an act of Love and find yourself also in the the first Medalist’s presence.

Just some thoughts.