Run Fat Boy Run!

I’m talking to myself, of course.

I’m running in the Seattle Half Marathon on November 30th.  I’m a large man and I need some motivation to help me keep running.  So I’m running, along with several others from Creekside Church to help send some amazing girls in Kenya to a top-notch school.  By sending these girls to school we are actually helping to ensure that they have a chance at having a bright and meaningful future.

So I’m writing this post to give everyone who reads it an opportunity to pledge me to run 13.1 miles.  if you did $1 a mile that’s $13 dollars, less than a CD.  How cool would it be if we could get 100 people to pledge $13 dollars.  That’s $1300 dollars!  I did that math in my head.  That’s more than enough to send one girl to school for a year.  Our church is trying to send 5 girls.  I’m not doing this alone, and I want to give as many people as possible an opportunity to change some lives.

Think about it, and if you are able to pledge me and my running endeavor, then go here:

http://tinyurl.com/57ubq4.  Fill out the form, and let’s change some lives.
Want to hear more about these girls than you can watch this video.

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more about “Run For Life – Video“, posted with vodpod

Grudges

“what do you do in a situation where you know someone holds a grudge against you that is unfounded?”

Whether or not a grudge is founded or unfounded, there are some pretty clear scriptural guidelines, that we as Christ followers are supposed to follow. In Ephesians 4 we have some pretty good guidelines about what we are supposed to do:

25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We need to make sure that we are not talking trash about the person holding the grudge.  We need to make sure that we are willing to forgive them for their unfounded anger at us.  Paul is writing to the church in Ephesians in regards to how church people treat other church people.  So if the grudge holder is a Christian we need to follow these imperatives.  And if they are not Christ followers, then we need to be willing to take the first step, really we should always be willing to take the first step for reconciliation.

Anytime we have been offended, we need to be willing to go to that persons (Matthew 18), but I think Paul makes it very clear that we can’t wait to make it right.  “DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON YOUR ANGER.”  Don’t wait for tomorrow.  Sometimes we say, we just need to sleep on it, and see if we care in the morning.  Sometimes that may be wise, but more often than not, I would say that is unwise.  We need to resolve our relational issues as quickly as possible, otherwise, we “Let the devil get a foothold.”   Our anger and bitterness that we hold against each other, gives the devil an entryway into our lives.

As we talked about in our Philemon series, sin is anything that breaks relationship first of all with God, and then with other people.  If we are allowing our relationships with others to be broken, then we have given the Devil an opportunity to speak into our lives, and to steall the blessings of Christ’s grace from us.

So, go talk to that person.  Do everything you can to make it right.  Do everything you can to bring the truth into the situation.

Of course, we can only do so much.  Sometimes no matter what we do or say that person will still hold onto that grudge.  When that happens, then we need to make sure that we are not holding that grudge up again.  We need to love them.  We need to speak kindly of them.  We need to make sure that we are not feeding into their bitterness.  And we need to make sure that we do not let ourselves be dragged down into the grudge.  You can’t control what the other person does or thinks, but you can control what you do and think.

Grace helps us to walk above the mud of that situation, grace helps us to not play the grudge games.  So whatever you do, don’t wait to try to make things right, watch what you say about that person, and be sure to give grace without limit, because Jesus does the same for you.

Philemon Series

I had the privilege of preaching an entire series on my own.  I talked about Philemon.  Wow, what an amazing example of receiving grace and giving grace. All the audio has been posted.

Week 1 – Receiving Grace

Week 2 – Giving Grace

We also have video if you want to watch the messages.

Week 1:

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Week 2:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Do they know what we are referencing?

Read this article from Seth Godin.  Seth’s basic premise is that, as a communicator, you are not going be able to assume that everyone has seen everything.  Yesterday when I spoke, I used a Seinfeld clip, and as we were watching it, I realized that not everyone has seen Seinfeld.  With all of the choices that are available to people today, it’s very easy for someone to miss a cultural reference.  I used a scene that didn’t really require any back story though, so it was ok.

But this article got me thinking along another route.  Not everyone has read the Bible.  When we teach the Bible we can’t assume that we are in a “christian” nation.  The church, the Bible, our faith have all become just one more cultural option in our society.  So as we communicate the Bible’s teachings we need to be very clear about what we are talking about, who the main players are.  We can’t assume that People know that Timothy and Paul were great friends.  We can’t assume that people understand that Jesus came after Moses.  We need to work to be very clear and know that there is a possibility that over half our crowd have no idea what we are talking about.

As someone who likes to teach the Bible that’s exciting news to me.  Because if over half the crowd on a Sunday morning has no idea what Philemon is about, then I get to teach them.  And I get to see their faces light up with a small piece of Scripture makes sense to them.  And I love that.

Prisoner of Christ

At Creekside we have been experimenting with extending the dialogue on Sunday mornings.  We’ve been playing with the idea of text messaging questions that people have from Sunday’s sermon.  If you are interested in doing this check out PollEverywhere.com.

Well I spoke on Philemon 1-7 this week and I received this question:

In vs. 1  prisoner of Christ  why does he say prisoner. figurative and literal? language a bit morbid?

So why did Paul use this phrase?  The simple answer is that he was actually a prisoner.  Paul is uses this phrase twice in Philemon (vv 1, 9), and then again in Ephesians 3:1.  For the writing of both of these letters, Paul was in Jail for preaching the Gospel. Paul spent a lot of time in prison, and he references prison and his chains often.

Prison during the first century was generally a miserable experience.  Our prisoners today have it way easier.  Paul never would have received free cable and a gym membership.  But Paul wasn’t always in the deepest, darkest pit that Rome could find.  In at least one of his imprisonments he was on house arrest.  During this time he literally had a Roman soldier chained to him at all time.  So Paul had someone to share his faith with every day of his captivity, so he had something to do at least.  Paul took his chains and used them as an opportunity to preach the gospel

12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard[a] and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1.12-14

Paul was able to take a bad situation and make it a gospel opportunity.  He had nothing to lose, he only had souls to gain for the Kingdom of God.

Part of the power of Paul’s Prison imagery, was the freedom that he found even though he was in physical chains.  No prison could hold his spirit.  And he was truly free from the chains of the law, and he was free to live in the grace and mercy that Christ purchased for him on the cross.

So Paul’s references to prison are, in a way, ironic.  Yes he is in physical chains, but the chains around his heart are gone.  And that’s what happens in our lives when we surrender our lives to Christ.  No matter what situation we are going through in our lives.  We are free in Christ.  The real trick then is to acutally live in the freedom.

In Galatians Paul is talking to a group of people who are reverting back to the prison of legalism.  They are putting themselves back in prison and closing the door, behind themselves.  Jesus broke the locks, he’s set us free.  Whenever we try to earn God’s favor, or live in a law-based, legalistic way, we are putting ourselves in prison and are denying the power of the Grace of Christ in our lives.

Whenever we play around with temptation and sin, we are putting ourselves back into the prison that Jesus set us free from.

The contrast between Paul’s physical chains, and his message of hisFreedom in Christ, should remind us that we truly can be free, and that we can only find that freedom through the Grace of Christ.  We just need to walk out of those open prison doors and into the grace of Christ.