Living Faith

Back in November of 1972, Tom T Hall came out with a song called "Old Dogs and Children and Watermelom Wine."  In the song, he talks about the wisdom of an old white-hair gentleman, who had given up on people and now trusted in old dogs and children and watermelon wine.

The idea is that old dogs will always love you, little children haven't learned to hate and watermelon wine always remains the same. All three were trust worthy. OK, so what do you do with that. Do you go out and hang around dog parks, frequent children's playgrounds and later head to the liquor store? Putting your faith in those things causes you to live how?

Faith in something or someone isn't real, if all one does is romanticize about it. If there is no life change, no new direction, no action to take; there is just an idea, not an ideal. To have faith is to trust in, lean upon and move forward with. To have no change is to invalidate your faith. As James says, "Faith without deeds is dead" (Ja 2:26).

To believe capitalism is to get a job or start a business, not consider its merits while expecting the government to take care of you.to believe in eating healthy leads one past the fast food dive and instead dive into the produce section of the local grocery or farmers' market.  To believe or trust in, to have faith is transformational or it is a false narrative.

It is the same with faith in Jesus. To,just be a fan is not real, we must be followers. As Jesus put it, "Why call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things I say?" (Lk 6:46).   Why say the words if there is no action plan behind them?

So here's the Christian life plan as delivered by the apostle Paul: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (Col 2:6-7).  Put your words in your walk. Just s' Say'n.

The Cost of Sin

Sin can look very appealing and seem to come without cost.  The soon-to-be meth addict thinks, "Just this once, what can it hurt."  The young husband opens the door to divorce as he takes his first peak at porn saying to himself, "It's just pictures, what can harm can it do?"  He teenage girl, violating her parents rules and dismissing their warnings, agrees to meet the man who is about to abduct her, assuring herself that "Tommy" is the one for her.

Regardless of how remote the prospect of harm may seem or how innocuous the sin may appear, it has a cost "and you may be sure that your sin will find you out" (Nu 32:23).  Sin choices are like seed planting: while the final results may be a ways off at the moment, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction..." (Gal 6:7-8).

We can't plant seeds of lust and grow fidelity in a marriage. We can't sow seeds of addiction and reap freedom from the drug's control. We can't sow seeds of recklessness and reap safety and security. Sin demands payment and "the wages of sin are death" (Rom 6:23) - the death of your marriage, the death of your personal freedom, the death of your health and even the loss of eternal life itself.

Sin always comes with a price to tag and the interest is always death. The Good News is, however, that Jesus has already absorbed the cost, already paid the price: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit" (1 Pet 3:18).

We need only accept his offer of grace, embracing Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We can't afford the cost of sin and we can't self-improve beyond its grasp as "all sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). What we need is a savior, someone able cover the cost of our sins, and that is Jesus alone!  He has, he can, he will - will you allow him to pay your cost?  Jus' Ask'n.

Unintended Consequences

You hear a lot about unintended consequences regarding laws that are passed and battles that are fought. When a law is passed to protect the environment, it often results in businesses being shut down and people losing their livelihood.   Attacking an enemy stronghold can easily cause the deaths of innocent civilians who had no part in the choice of war.

The possibility of unintended consequences isn't restricted to nation states. An individual choosing to answer a text while driving may wind up killing or being killed as their car careens into oncoming traffic or runs over a pedestrian. A young woman experimenting with drugs may give birth to an addicted baby. A police officer returning fire may hit a bystander.

Unintended consequences are always a possibility and should be given weight when making decisions. However, unintended consequences are not always negative nor to be avoided. For instance, laser weekend I was talking to people at an event regarding veteran issues when one veteran mentioned her fractured relationship with God.

I began to talk with her about God and his plans for her, how that her life mattered to Him and how turning back to Him could not only change her life but others as well. I talked about the fellowship of Christians an them impact of that fellowship. The young veteran told me what an encouragement our conversation had been and that she intended to find a church to be a part.

I hadn't gone there that day to talk about faith and Chritian community but I didn't pull back from the opportunity I followed the directions found in 1 Peter 3:15, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."  Her encouragement was not on my agenda that day but it was on God's. The unintended part of the consequence was only on my part.

When we set about the tasks of our day, there is always the possibility of unintended consequences for the kingdom, depending in our response to the opportunity before us. We need to be faithful to our calling as children of the King and be prepared for our day to be interrupted with kingdom work. As the apostle Paul put it, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone" (Col 4:6). Jus' Say'n.

Value Added

In economics, the phrase "value added," is not just about the up side of a proposition - it is the value remaining after calculating the downside. Specifically, it is the sum of the unit profit, the unit depreciation cost, and the unit labor cost is the unit value added.

Yesterday I listened to a Dave Ramsey caller talk about the nearly half a million dollar student debt for a degree that promised a good but not great income. This individual wanted to know how much if a house to buy considering the starting income promised. Dave said to forget about buying a house or a nice car or making any unnecessary purchases until the debt was cleared up or the debt would follow them their entire adult life.

The problem the individual had was built on considering the sum of the promised income without considering the dollar cost of the education and the interest cost of the loan. What resulted was this individual becoming a highly educated but deeply indebted professional who would need to live like a poor college student for several years to dig out of it or face a life of making a good salary but a mediocre net income.

Some start but never finish a college degree program because they did not accurately factor in the time, effort and expense involved in acquiring that sheepskin. Many go on a diet but fail to achieve e the results or to maintain the results because it never occurred to them that the desired results required a lifetime of eating like a rabbit or drinking their nutrients. The actual cost of a lean body was more than what they had bargained for.

Exercise programs, self-improvement programs, foreign language programs, programs of all stripes promising fabulous results with minimum efforts and low dollar costs turning out to be difficult, time exhausting and expensive. Many have fine print lime a diet supplement adding at the end of an add, "Best results come with proper diet and exercise."  Trouble is most don't read the fine print or look closely at the cost verses reward ratio.

People often approach faith and religion in the same way, thinking that the new life in Christ is simply a matter of accepting some new ideas and perhaps showing up at the church building now and again.  Faith and religion is considered an add a n to their real life to be worked in when convenient.

But Jesus warns this is not so, that true discipleship warrants thoughtful consideration before taking it up:  “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish'" (Lk 14:28-30).

The true cost is a total life transformation and surrender to the Lord. The Christian Faith is not an add on, it is an adding up of everything you have, offering it to Jesus - your very life is demanded: "...whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:27).

When one does count the cost verses the reward of this new life, the value added is immeasurably greater than the sum of the costs, but their is real and sustained cost to following the path of Jesus. He invites us to accept those costs and follow him but not without acknowledging them first. To follow Him is to stop charting your own course, it is to repent (change your mind and actions) a follow a new course. Consider the cost and the value added. Then come me to Jesus. Jus' Invitin'.

I Declare

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Rom 10:9-10).

So that's it, huh?  Just believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and verbalize that he is Lord, and you're in. That's easy enough. There's nothing to this salvation thing: Just believe it and announce it. Yeah...no!

Just believing something does not mean you accept it for yourself. Many believe they should stop smoking, eat more vegetables, get to bed earlier - whatever. That belief could be a life changer or it could only be an indictment of their poor choices. It depends on whether the belief makes the 12 inch journey from their head to their heart or not.

James tells us, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that---and shudder (Js 2:19).  The demons shudder because their head belief about God does not transfer to their heart acceptance of him as Lord. Paul's Staten of belief in the passage above results in a declaration of lordship.

A declaration is a statement of fact as in declaring at a border that you have or do not have certain things or intentions. The border guard isn't concerned with your words but the truth band them. And when he checks your car, your words had better match up with your declaration.

Paul says that a saving declaration is that you believe Jesus was raised from the dead - that you accept the prof of his divinity. And, based upon that truth, you accept him as Lord or as ruler if your life. That is fundamental to salvation but this declaration must match your life or it is a lie, which voids your declaration of belief.

Jesus asks us, "“Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Lk 6:46).  Why bother with the words ifs they do not match your actions?  If Jesus is your Lord, as you say, then your choices will be made based not his will not your will but his.

So, what about you, are your head and your heart in agreement?  Do you believe in the truth about Jesus and do you accept him as Lord?  Is your declaration real?  Does is resonate in your heart or just reside in your head?  Jus' Ask'n.

Crosswise

A word you don't hear much anymore is "crosswise."  It means to cut something from one corner to the other or from one side to the other.  It can also mean disagreement or conflict - to cut across as in drawing a line in the sand, so to speak.

It is a word that should describe the Christian life as our moral and ethical stands cut across the grain of secular society.  In a culture that debases human sexuality to the level of animal behavior, we are called to monogamous, marital purity and sanctity.  In a self-seeking world, looking out for number one; we are called to sacrifice self and seek the good of others as a priority.  In a world where the love of money is the root of all evil, we are called to the love of God, which is the root of all good.

We are not in this world to fit in, follow the crowd or accept cultural norms.  We are called to crosswise against the flow of society, to break the secular mold, to draw a counter-cultural line in the sand and invite others to join us in accepting the Kingdom of God, becoming followers or disciples of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul put it this way: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Rom 12:2).

We are not to be "conformed" (form along with the grain of society) but rather to "transformed" (formed across or against the grain of society).  Rather than be cast in a secular mold, we are called to  cut crosswise society from one corner to the other, moving above and beyond its norms to that which reflects God's will for us, embracing Kingdom norms that transcend this world.

If you will allow me a little literary license, I want to close with a different slant on the word crosswise.  I want to challenge you to be wise in the way of the cross - to be crosswise in the sense of rejecting the foolishness of selfishness and embrace the wisdom of selflessness.  As Jesus put it: "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" (Lk 9:25).

So, here's the deal: Will you choose to be crosswise or cross-foolish?  Will you selfishly seek the treasures of this world that are limited to this world and its passing.  Or, will you selflessly choose the treasures of heaven and its eternal glory?  Will you be a modern day Moses, who "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Heb 11:26)?  Jus' Ask'n in a crosswise way.

The Last Train To Clarksville

The 1966 debut song of the Monkees, "The Last Train To Clarksville," was actually a protest song against the Veitnam War in which a young draftee pleads with his sweetheart to meet him at the train station before he gets shipped out.

His knows that there is a good possibility that he will not be coming home and he therefore never see her again.  He begs her not to be slow and miss the train for to do so would be to miss their one opportunity to be together, perhaps forever.

What if she decided she really wanted to sleep in that morning, deciding to catch a later train?  She would miss the only opportunity to see him as it was the last train or only train she could catch that would allow her to meet with him.  What if she chose to show up on time to the last train to Williamsburg?  Again, she would miss him as that was not his train.

Why was he being so narrow-minded?  Why didn't he tell her to take whatever train at whatever time she wanted?  Because there was only one train and one time slot that would connect her and him together before it was too late.  Any other train at any other time would not intersect the two sweethearts together.  He was not being closed-minded or bigoted against other trains or other times, he was just letting her know the only possibility of their being together.

When "Thomas said to [Jesus], 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (Jn 14:5-6).

He was not being narrow-minded or bigoted against other paths to the Father, he was honestly and openly revealing the only way to the Father.  It isn't that other ways aren't good enough, there are no other ways.  If we want to see the Father, Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life.

As someone once said, "Jesus is the way - without him there is no going.  Jesus is the truth - without him there is no knowing.  Jesus is the life - without him there is no living."  He is poetically, The Last Train To Clarksville. Don't miss him.  Jus' Say'n.