Somebody's Gotta Pay

I love the end of the movie "National Treasure." One of my favorite lines is when the FBI agent asks Ben Gage what he wants for finding the treasure and he says, "I would really, really like to not go to prison." The agent answers, "Somebody's gotta go to prison." In essence, there was a crime that had been committed, and somebody had to pay a price. It reminds me of Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death." Somebody has to pay back sin with a death.

I've started reading Leviticus. It doesn't exactly read like a John Grisham novel. It's a tough read and can be repetitive. However, the message of book in the first few chapters is clear. Sin required a sacrifice. Lambs, goats, bulls and such had to die when people sinned. And they had to be flawless. They had to be the best goats, bulls and lambs.

Listen, I don't know why things are this way. I didn't make up the rules. I do know that sin has made me experience little deaths inside. I've experienced that. And I know I most definitely DO NOT want to have to pay the price for all my sin. I would really, really like to not go to prison, so to speak. But somebody's got to pay.

That's Jesus. Do we really get that? Jesus stepped in and paid the penalty for our sin so we wouldn't have to. Gracious, if I really got that, wouldn't I go all out for Jesus? Wouldn't I give Him everything? Wouldn't I live my life as a thanksgiving offering to Him? I'm not sure we really get it. We say we do, but we live our lives nonchalantly. We didn't have to pay. This Christmas, you'll get lots of gifts you didn't have to pay for. None will compare to this gift of Jesus. Live into that gift.

A Different Kind of Thanksgiving

I went to a Bible Study on Monday night, and one of the things we talked about was the things we are thankful didn't happen. Basically, when we had our heart set on something and just knew it was what we wanted and maybe even what God wanted, but it wasn't in the cards. Later on, we learned that God had a bigger and better plan. On this Thanksgiving week, that really struck a nerve with me. There are a million things I can think of that I'm thankful didn't happen or turn out the way I planned. I thought I'd list a couple. Feel free to leave your own list in the comments. It's sort of like those ol' Unanswered Prayers that Garth Brooks sang about.

I'm thankful...

• I didn't get the daughter I hoped for because all my wild boys are blessings


• I didn't become a pro football player because chances are I wouldn't have the life I have now.


• God didn't listen to me when I tried to convince him that she was the one (multiple times over.) Turns out He knew who "the one" really was for me.


• I didn't decide to go play football at a small college because I'd have missed out on all the friendships I made at UGA.


• My daddy didn't take a job in Jackson, TN he got offered when I was in middle school. I can't imagine having gone to high school anywhere but Palmetto.


• I didn't pursue that music career in Nashville.


• My long-time youth pastor didn't decide to stay at my home church because it gave me the chance to connect with another, new youth pastor. And now I have two men that impacted my life greatly.


• That Jarvis Jones' career at USC didn't work out.


• Planting a church hasn't always gone according to plan because it has humbled me and taught me more than I can imagine.


• That my wife didn't have to work the week she was to bring her grandmother to visit my great aunt in Carrollton, GA.


• Jesus doesn't hold a grudge for all the mistakes I've made.

Be thankful for the things that didn't work out because there just might be a Great, Big God behind the scenes working out something better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fried Turkey = God's Love

Yesterday our church hosted it's 5th Annual Turkey Fry. You can see the 11 fryers going above. We fried 60 turkeys to give away to residents in the community who could use a helping hand. It's a small gesture, but it's got a big heart behind it.

Our men did a great job frying and volunteers walked from house to house delivering the turkeys with a small card that said, "God Loves You" and explained that this gift was an expression of God's love. Simply put: we're doing this because we love God and God loves you, so we love you, too.

I don't know the lasting impact a turkey fry has. I don't know that anyone's life is dramatically changed. But I know that it's part of a greater story. I believe there is GREAT power in giving God a good name in the community. For years, churches held BBQs and cookouts and sold the food to the community. For years, that worked. People trusted the Church and wanted to help them out by paying for a few BBQ plates. They figured it was a good thing to help the Church raise a little money for their building or mission trip or whatever. People even looked forward to that BBQ every year. That is not the world we live in today.

Today, people outside the church are skeptical of the church, as well they should be. Financial and sexual scandals have rocked the Church. People aren't sure about the Church. Many are convinced that the Church is out to get them. Others are certain the Church does not care for those in need, only wanting to build bigger, fancier buildings. Now, those of us inside the Church know this is hogwash. The world would be a sad place without the Church. The Church is responsible for some of the greatest acts of compassion on the planet. But that's not always the perception. Our Turkey Fry is about changing those perceptions. It's about letting people know that we believe in investing in the community, that God's love is FREE, that it is rooted in selflessness. I know we gave God a good name yesterday. We gave the Church a good name. What can you do...and what can your church do...to give God a good name? It's Thanksgiving week, so maybe you should fry a turkey!

Sad Valley

"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Proverbs 17:9

That was the Proverb this morning for my men's LIFE Group that meets at the Grayson Olde Post Cafe at 7 a.m. on Thursdays (shameless plug - all men, you're invited!). I couldn't help but think of the events this week in Happy Valley. Now, I'm a pretty huge college football fan. One of my first memories of watching a college football game on TV was the Georgia vs. Penn State National Championship game in the Sugar Bowl on January 1, 1983. I was almost 6 years old. Joe Paterno won his first national title as the Nittany Lions beat my Dawgs. I'm still not quite over that one. But, I've at least respected how Paterno led his program over the years. Penn State had been an example of doing things the right way for years in college footbal. You have ot know that to understand the backdrop to the story. You might not be a college football fan, but you'd have to be living under a rock to not be aware of the situation at Penn State University and their football program. In short, a former assistant coach was a known child molester and was allowed continued access to the football facility with young boys and, at worst, school officials, including legendary coach, Joe Paterno, helped cover it up through the years, or, at best, certainly didn't do enough to end the terror on these young children and get this man behind bars. I've kind of been gathering my thoughts on it. This Proverb opened it up for me.

Generally, we get most upset when we are offended. We lash out at family or cashiers that offend us. We struggle to cover over offenses in instances in which we are hurt, harmed, offended, or insulted. The Bible says these are the times we should forgive. These are the times we should drop the matter. These are the times we should give grace. Grudges don't help anyone. However, we overlook offenses against others. We turn a blind eye when the poor are marginalized, when ethnic groups (that aren't ours) are offended, or when the vulnerable are taken advantage of. That is because coming to the defense of the weak may cost us relationships, pride, standing in the community, and time and energy we're not sure we have. We often trend the wrong direction. We are quick to respond when we are offended, and look the other way when the weak are. The Bible says that we have this all wrong and backwards. We are to give grace when we are offended, but we are to stand up for the weak and disinfranchised of the world. When someone's actions hurt us, we alone have the power and place to forgive that and move on, and we should. However, when someone's actions harm others, the community, and the organization, we have a moral and Scriptural obligation to do something about it. At it's core, that's what is wrong with the situation in State College, Pennsylvania. Those in authority at Penn State were not willing to risk relationships, jobs, and status for the sake of the weak. And that's how someone that was once a hero becomes a legend no more. And that makes me sad. Sad for our world. Sad for those boys that were victimized. And sad for every Penn State player and fan that are good people. You and I will probably never face a situation like that in our lives. I hope you don't. But there will be times when we are called to NOT cover over an offense against the weak and helpless. Let us stand up for those whom God has called us to defend when the time comes.

The Power We Don't Know We Have

I'm reading through Exodus. Pretty amazing stuff. Exodus 32 is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It shifts a lot of the assumptions we have about God's character. I'll give you the short version. While Moses is up on the mountain getting the 10 commandments from God, his brother, Aaron, leads the Hebrews to make golden calfs to bow down and worship. God catches wind of this (He kind of sees everything), and tells Moses that He's fed up with it, and He's going to wipe those people out and basically start over with him.


In Exodus 32:11-14, Moses replies to God:

11 But Moses asked the Lord his God to show favor to the people. "Lord," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people? You used your great power and mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt. 12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'He brought them out to hurt them. He wanted to kill them in the mountains. He wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn away from your burning
anger. Please take pity on your people. Don't destroy them! 13 "Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel. You made a promise. You took an oath in your name. You said, 'I will make your children after you as many as the stars in the sky. I will give them all of this land I promised them. It will belong to them forever.' "14 Then the Lord took pity on his people. He didn't destroy them as he had said he would.

Moses changed God's mind. Does that blow your mind? It does mind. God loves us, wants to be in a relationship with us and listens to us. God's mind can be changed when we are faithful and we plead our case before him out of righteous motives. God wants to work good for us and in us and through us. God hears us. Sometimes we can start thinking that we don't matter. But we matter immensely. We are game-changers. Be a Moses. Be a game-changer. Our Father is listening to the cries of His people.

Totally

Francis Chan asked a piercing question: When's the last time you depended totally on God?

The truth is, we often use God as a fall-back. Or He's a side-kick to our other best laid plans. It's often God AND. There is no AND in authentic faith. There is something to the stories of the Bible that illustrate this. People often ask, "Why don't we see the miracles they saw in the Bible?" There's probably a lot of answers for that, but one of them is that we have too many 'ANDs".

Are you depending on something along with God in your career, family, marriage, addictions, and struggles? In the first commandment, the Bible says, "You shall have no other gods before me." But, many translations say, "You shall have no other gods before or besides me." Often, it's not that we have something before God, it's just that we have something sitting beside him. When we do that, we limit God's power to do something miraculous in our lives. If we only need God to come through a little, then a little is all we'll get. However, I believe that when we totally depend on Him, we begin to see Him do crazy stuff. We begin to see big God things happening in our lives. When He is our only hope, our only source of strength and our complete source of inspiration, when we are completely surrendered to God and God alone...we are poised for a miracle.

When was the last time you depended totally on God?