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How to throw a party

25 Apr , 2014 No Comments

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Jesus was once invited to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. Luke adds that they “were watching Him closely” (Luke 14:1). He had already silenced them by asking if it was unlawful for Him to heal a man on the Sabbath or if any of them would not save their own son if he fell into a well on the Sabbath. They would not answer Him. Following the letter of the law while disregarding the spirit of the law leads to absurdity. The radically religious are often blinded by their heartless obsession with the law.

Then Jesus said to the man who had invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14).

Tonight, Park Cities Baptist Church threw a party. Not your normal North Dallas party mind you, but a BIG throw down, dance party for the crippled, the lame, the marginalized, and those too often ostracized in our culture. Hundreds of volunteers set the stage for the most amazing prom any of us had ever seen. Special needs students from Richardson I.S.D., Highland Park I.S.D. and other parts of North Dallas, were matched up with “buddies” from our student ministry. Crowds screamed and applauded as each student was dropped off, introduced on the red carpet, and welcomed into the Commons. Prom pics were taken and dinner was served as a band provided music for hours of non-stop dancing into the night. We had more fun than any of us have had in one night in a long time.

It was unforgettable. Together we experienced the Kingdom of God. I believe it was a foreshadowing of Heaven where the last will be first, the weak will be made strong, and all that’s broken will be made right. As we pray the prayer of Jesus-  for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven”, let us be the answer to His prayer. Love the unlovely, give to those who cannot repay you, forgive before the other makes the first move, and out-grace everyone in your life.

Big thanks to our student ministry team for a night that none of us will ever forget.

The Saddest Day in History

18 Apr , 2014 No Comments

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“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Matthew 27:46

We call it “Good Friday” but like so many things in the Kingdom of God, it was good for us, but bad for Him. What we call “Good” was terrible for our Lord Jesus. As you go about your day today, consider these facts: Early on that Friday morning, after no sleep the night before, Jesus was taken to Pilate’s prison. He was beaten by professional torturers who knew their craft all too well. He was then presented to the crowd who chose a notorious prisoner over the very Son of God. Throughout the day Jesus was silent and ironically, directing every move that was taking place. He was taken into the courtyard (called the Praetorium) and the entire company of soldiers surrounded Him.  They stripped Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, a staff in His hand, and knelt down before Him in mockery. They spat on Him and punched Him many times, as hard as they could. Tortured nearly to death, exhausted and famished, He carried His own cross to Golgotha and was nailed to it about noon. Darkness came over the earth from noon until 3:00 p.m. Close to 3:00 p.m. Jesus cried out “It is finished!” and He died. Around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. the women came to prepare His body for burial and they placed His corpse in a borrowed tomb. The massive stone was rolled into place as the sun went down on the saddest day in history… and the angels were silent as all creation watched to see what would happen next.

As you go throughout the day today, be in a constant state of remembering what happened to our Lord Jesus. Think about each event as though it was all happening today. Consider the horrific emotional strain of knowing you are about to be killed, and greater still, the anticipation of the very wrath of God upon sin that would come upon you. And remember, He did all of this for one reason: you. Of all the faces that came to the divine mind of Jesus, one of them was yours. And it was enough to kill Him.

Pray: Lord, today I will walk with You through Your sufferings. I will meditate on every phase of Your sacrifice for me.  My heart breaks over my sin that put You on the cross.

“Why is this night different from all the other night?”

15 Apr , 2014 No Comments

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On the night of Passover, the first of four questions leads the Jewish family into a journey of remembrance: “Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot?” The seder (“service” or “arrangement”) meal presents a quest to rediscover the ancient mystery and meaning of the Passover, God’s liberation of His people out of Egypt. For thousands of years (according to Levitical Law), Passover has been observed on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar (Leviticus 23:5).

From the time He was a child Jesus kept the Passover. The Gospel of Luke tells us that His parents went to Jerusalem every year. When He was twelve years old, He went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-42). He observed the Passover throughout His life and did so with His disciples. (Luke 22:7-13). On the night before His crucifixion Jesus observed His last Passover (on earth)  and said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16).

Jesus brought new meaning to several key aspects of the meal, revealing how He was the fulfillment of the long-awaited Messiah. He explained that the bread of affliction (matzah bread- always pierced, always striped), broken before them, represented His body. The next day His body would be broken on the Cross, providing forgiveness of sins, accomplishing the ultimate Exodus of the human heart. He explained that cup of redemption would be fulfilled by the shedding of His own blood upon the cross.

Consider the backdrop of the Passover in light of Easter. Central to the Passover meal was the Passover Lamb. Each family in Israel would select a lamb from the rest of the flock- a male, without blemish, chosen five days before Passover. All the lambs were to be killed during a two-hour period just before sunset. Though no more that two men from each family could go into the Temple area of sacrifice, as many as a half-million people would move through that area in the two to three hour period and a quarter of a million lambs were sacrificed each Passover season in Jesus’ lifetime. This was a bloody religion. And on Good Friday (due to a chronological twist in how the Galileans kept time and how the inhabitants of Jerusalem kept time), Jesus was being crucified at the exact same time lambs were being slaughtered for the sins of the people. As He died on the Cross He cried out, “It is finished”, announcing that God’s redemption was now made possible for all who would believe.

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…” Hebrews 10:11-12

Do you believe that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the only Way to the Father? Receive His forgiveness now and give your life to Him as an act of worship. And experience the greatest Easter you’ve ever known. He’s done all that is necessary to rescue you from your sin. It is finished.

 

Blinded by the Light

07 Apr , 2014 No Comments

blinded-by-the-lightGod’s saving grace can rescue and redeem anyone.

Paul’s radical conversion is recorded in Acts 9. He was completely transformed by the blinding light of God’s rescuing grace. Blinded to all that he had known, this self-salvation project that had been his life, his pursuit, his hope, his obsession. And it was completely dismantled by his encounter with Jesus. FOUR truths we learn from Paul and now seek to apply to our lives:

1. Just because you’re running doesn’t mean God can’t catch you. (vv. 1-9) Someone once said, “Just because you’re NOT paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out to get you!” Someone is out to get you. God is pursuing you. Your running doesn’t preclude God’s pursuing grace. Later in Acts 26:14 Paul recounts his conversion again- and adds that the Jesus said to him, “It is hard to kick against the goads” What goads are you kicking against? God is trying to get your attention-, often through painful, difficult seasons of life. God is not trying to pay you back He’s trying bring you back! He loves you. He is, as English poet Francis Thompson called him, the “Hound of Heaven”. In a haunting, powerful 182-verse poem, Thompson describes God as a hound following the hare, never ceasing in its running, “ever drawing nearer in the chase, with an unrelenting pace, so God follows the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit.” He is the Hound of Heaven.

2. Just because you’re blind doesn’t mean God can’t see you. (vv. 10-17) Some of us are like little toddlers who hide their faces, believing they are hiding from us. Some of us see our relationship with God like the proverbial blind men encountering an elephant. Each one, touching a different part of the elephant, has a different take on what he’s really like. One man grabs his leg (it’s like tree), another the tusk (it’s long and smooth), another his trunk (it’s like a snake). This story is often told to explain the relative nature of truth; it’s all subjective and up for grabs. As if we each have our own take on reality. The idea is that no one can confidently say they have a grasp on truth, or God, who He is and what He’s like. The problem is someone does know what the elephant looks like. The one telling the story knows exactly what the elephant looks like which is why the Storyteller is explaining that none of them have it right completely. The Bible tells us that the Storyteller has actually stepped into our story and He has shown us exactly who God is- His nature, His character, all of His parts in One Person- revealed in Christ who was “full of grace and full of truth” (John 1:14). If we have seen Him, we have seen God. You may be blind, but God sees you. He knows you. You cannot hide from God. But here’s the beauty of His grace: He sees and knows everything about you- everything– imagine that, every thought, every hidden sin, your darkest, deepest, most shameful secrets. And it does not matter. But you must recognize and admit that you are BLIND. Consider with me:

Different kinds of spiritual blindness Sin is not as much something that we do as it is something we are. Sin, at its core is not simply “good” or “bad” behavior- it is a condition of the heart.

  • Blinded by the world
  • Blinded by pleasure
  • Blinded by success
  • Blinded by materialism  
  • Blinded by religion

Only the Superior Light of God’s grace in Christ can rescue us from our blindness.

3. Just because you’re sinful doesn’t mean God can’t rescue you. (vv. 15-19)

Ananias is told to go to Saul because God has chosen him. Ananias begins debating with the Lord, “you’ve got the wrong guy!” This Saul is a tyrant. He’s terrorist. Our past does not disqualify us from God’s grace. Broken, sinful, and wrecked, God can redeem.

4. Just because you’re unable doesn’t mean God can’t use you. (vv. 20-31) Replace the word “unable” with any other word you tend to use as an excuse: powerless, helpless, incompetent, ill-prepared, unqualified, inexperienced.. whatever word you want to throw in there as an excuse, toss it out! Your past does not disqualify you from the future God has in store for you nor does your past disqualify you from God’s service.

How would you know if you’ve been “blinded by the light” of God’s grace? It seems awe and wonder are key signs of an encounter with Jesus. I think humility is as well. Another measure is that you are more and more obsessed with the Gospel and what Christ has done for you and less and less obsessed with what you do for Him. I think honesty and humility is another sign. Later, in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul would say, “I am the chief of sinners.” And imagine this: this killer, this terrorist, yanking women out of their homes for following Christ, would go on to write 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient. Love is kind, it’s arrogant or rude, not self-seeking.. it does not demand it’s own way, it rejoices in the truth.. it’s enemy love…” Saul, now Paul, this painter of words gives to us this portrait of Jesus. And now Paul is starting to look a lot like Him.

God’s saving grace can rescue and redeem anyone. Even you. Have you lost the wonder of salvation? Begin again. When Paul opened his eyes everything looked different. So, Saul the persecutor, blinded by his sin, becomes an apostle “apprehended by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12) Now blinded by the Light of the World he would go on to devote his life to being a light to the world, pointing others to His Savior.

Beautiful, tragic, inspiring and heart-breaking.

29 Mar , 2014 No Comments

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples!For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 117:1-2

A short film by History Makers – for AsiaLink.