There is no doubt that those who have served in the armed forces have courage, and the willingness to sacrifice. Courage and sacrifice are noble traits, and are certainly necessary to win a war. However, these two traits left to themselves can become very dangerous. If we have only courage and sacrifice, than we fall dangerously short of God’s desire. We see evil rear its ugly head using courage and sacrifice. Muslim extremists preach courage and sacrifice as they charge into crowds and buildings as suicide bombers. It is also evident that Nazi soldiers were led into battle under the disciplined practice of courage and sacrifice. For courage and sacrifice to have any positive impact we must first ask, why, or for what purpose are we displaying these two character traits?

Courage and sacrifice has been used to defend a people group. When the Jews defended themselves from the Amalekites they used both courage and sacrifice (Exodus 17:8-16). However using courage and sacrifice for a people group is not sufficient enough of a reason. Again Hitler and his Nazi regime used courage and sacrifice to defend the Aryan cause. Courage and sacrifice cannot be good if simply used for country, because we have seen many countries do horrible evils under such guise. We cannot even say that courage and sacrifice ought to be used for religion alone because Christianity, Islam, the Caste System, and almost every religion have used these to instigate unspeakable violence against other peoples.

Courage and sacrifice are only noble when used for God under the ambition of love. To use courage and sacrifice for any other purpose is to pervert these great qualities that God has given us through his Spirit. Courage and sacrifice that is not directed towards giving God glory falls utterly short of the purpose of these qualities, and leads us into the danger of using them for sin. Let us then have courage as scripture commands us:

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:20).

Let us no longer be afraid to share the love of God and his message of his Son who was sacrificed on the cross. Like Peter in Acts, let us boldly proclaim Jesus and his message of salvation. Let us be willing to endure great sacrifice as our Lord and Savior sacrificed his own body for us:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers – 1 John 3:16

Let us be willing to suffer for Christ and even lay down our life for him. Let us practice courage and sacrifice not with sword but with the power of the gospel. Let us offer our courage, let us offer ourselves, for God and God alone. Anything less would be falling into the hands of the evil one.

He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. – Isaiah 2:4

Have you ever ordered a Non-fat half-caff triple grande quarter sweet sugar free vanilla non-fat lactaid extra hot extra foamy caramel macchiato at Starbucks only to find out with great frustration that they forgot to make it extra foamy? What an incompetent barista! In a world of endless choices and infinite preferences we find ourselves discontent with luxury, and content with meaninglessness. What I mean is that we get too irate over being cut off from traffic, having to wait longer than 10 minutes in line at the store, an incorrect order, a mistaken official’s call, a store selling out of an item in a particular color, gas that has raised two cents, and parking spots more than two rows back, that these cause us to demand rectification immediately or for perpetrators to suffer dire consequences. If you are honest with yourself, or if I am honest with myself we get angry, down right angry over small mistakes and small inconveniences. We have become discontent with the excess in our lives. We are angry because these are the things that are supposed to bring us happiness, they are the very products that promise us fulfillment and acceptance, and we find them lacking.

Perhaps the reason for this is simply because we are selfish spoiled westerners with a chip on our shoulder. Or it could be that we have pursued meaning and truth in all the wrong places. Perhaps we need to be looking less at what is seasonable and more at what is eternal. Perhaps we need to worry less about what our color wheel is, and look more at what our ultimate purpose is. Maybe we need to agonize less about what is the latest invention, and focus more on what is the ever-lasting truth. Maybe this rambling is a bunch of malarkey, but I don’t think it is. If we find ourselves discontent with the way our life narrative has turned out, then it is time we become discontent with the truth that the world has been selling us. It is time that we turn to a truth that delivers on its promise, that offers real contentment, life, love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It is time that we as a people find a truth that we do not simply apply to our skin, but a truth that penetrates much deeper and applies to our souls.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want – Philippians 4:12

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you - Hebrews 13:5

April 4th Easter

He is risen, he is risen, Christ Jesus has risen today!

Go celebrate new life in Jesus the Risen Savior...

Day # 40 April 3rd – Grace, grace, grace (and more grace)

Go to www.biblegateway.com and click on keyword search. Type in “grace” and see how many times it appears in the Bible. Type in “mercy” “compassion,” “forgive,” and “love.” These are more than passing phrases, but they are the theme of the entire story of God. By grace God created us, by grace God loved us, by grace cared for us, by grace God forgives us, by grace God sent his son Jesus, by grace he died for us, by grace he rose from the dead, by grace we are saved through him, by grace we are called to share him, and by grace we are united with him and his entire family for all eternity. Ephesians 2:8 says it best “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Remember who we are, is by the grace of God, therefore we accept each other by that same grace. No matter the difficulties of another person, we accept them as Christ accepted us. And whatever good that is happening in our lives, remember it is by grace. Whenever any bad is happening in our lives, remember it is by grace that we will conquer it and be in heaven some day. All these disciplines, and all our faith, is simply by the love and grace of God, share that grace always!

Day # 39 April 2nd – Releasing (being a hard-line liberal and a flaming conservative)

God does not like carbon copies. Look at the disciples, there were 12 of them who followed Jesus closely for three years, yet they were still all different in their own way. The Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all tell the same story, but they tell it in different ways, if they were all identical, we would only need one. God likes our unique traits; in fact that’s how we were designed. A puzzle has several, sometimes hundreds of pieces, all which are different. Each piece serves its own function, when properly placed they form one complete picture, that is like that body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says that there are different gifts, different kinds of service, different kinds of working, but that the same God works in all of them. The idea of “releasing” is that when we do the work of discipling, mentoring, and teaching in the faith, we conclude by releasing, letting the individual express their faith in their unique way. We cannot hold tightly onto every action. We teach the importance, and sacredness of the faith, and allow people to grow into who God desires them to be. This means that perhaps someone we discipled, or mentored ends up being a democrat when we are republican. Perhaps it means they listen to rock music when we do classical. Perhaps it means they use the ESV when we use the NIV. Remember the puzzle, our differences make us united. Correct when there needs to be correction, disciple at all times, be always mentoring, but remember to release and allow God to do his distinct work at its appropriate time.

P.S.  It is Good Friday, find a community of believers to go and worship remembering Jesus' sacrafice for us.

Day # 38 April 1st – Mentoring (making an example out of yourself)

There is much one can learn from reading devotions, listening to sermons, and reading Max Lucado literature, but nothing speaks louder than watching the word be lived out in another believer. Our life has so many twists and turns, that sometimes it is hard to see how faith impacts us. For those who have been a follower of Jesus for sometime it is therefore, vitally important to be a spiritual mentor. Is there one person you are currently investing in to help their faith? Whether it is a formal or informal agreement, mature believers need to invest in others lives. The words of 1 Peter 5:2 say it best “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you must, but because you are willing…” Those who are veterans in the faith should have the desire to say the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." Being a mentor starts by praying with the individual on a regular basis (no less than once a week). A mentor continually encourages one to be devoted to the reading of scripture. A mentor will take their mentee with them on serving opportunities (the Community Center, food pantry, etc). A mentor will ask their mentee how they and God are doing. Most importantly a mentor will allow their life to be an example of a disciple of Christ for the mentee to imitate. Who are you mentoring today? If you do not have an answer find someone, it is the calling and duty of our faith.

Day # 37 March 31st – Making Disciples not wimps

Matthew 28:19 says “therefore go make DISCIPLES” (some emphasis added). We are not making mere believers, we are making full-fledged ready to go to battle disciples. God is not in the business of converting, he is in the business of complete transformation of body, mind, and soul (Romans 12:1-2). A disciple is someone who in engaged in the disciplines of following Christ. Paul says it is like running, you cannot just show up to the track without training and expect to compete, but you have to train and practice (1 Corinthians 9:24-26). Jesus does not want us to go and make passive pew warmers, but trained chiseled message bearers. Therefore, faith for us does not end at accepting Jesus, but we must continue to press on (Philippians 3:12-13) and continue to grow through the journey of life and faith. We cannot expect to survive and thrive with a 6th grade education, but spiritually that is what we tend to do with new believers. We are disciples, we are making disciples, we are growing disciples, and we are training disciples. The verb “making” suggest that there is a process, it does not just happen. “Growing” tells us that it happens through time with nurturing. “Training” tells us that it comes with great effort, and no matter how long an athlete has been playing in the big leagues he/she still needs to continue to train. As a people of God, and as a church, we must be in the long dedicated process of making disciples.