Flesh or Spirit?

"What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).


Recently, I've noticed a growing shift in emphasis among Christians. There is beginning to be a reawakening to the social aspect of Christ's teachings; i.e., caring for the poor, the needy, the homeless, etc.. Personally, this appeals to me and I'm glad to see this taking on renewed importance. Leaders have arisen in the ranks (Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo) whom I think are doing a good job of living this out and teaching others to do the same. There are others who have come up from the ranks that I'm not real sure of. God is their judge, not I. But, their presence on the scene has reminded me of an important truth, which is this: The nature of an activity does not determine whether it's holy or not; the holiness (or godliness, meaning "god-like-ness") of any activity is determined by the source of the activity. Is it produced and performed by the Holy Spirit through me? Or is it produced and performed by my flesh (my own independent will, abilities, and resources)?


Any activity done in the name of Christ - preaching, caring for the poor, serving, teaching, whatever - that has as its source my own strength and resources. In other words, anything done independently of Christ's own initiative and sustaining power is worthless. Only those actions and deeds that have their origin in Christ and are performed and sustained by Christ's activity in and through me have any eternal value. Therefore, if my Christianity is lived in my strength, my wisdom, my resources, my abilities and my talents, who should get the credit? Myself! But if my Christianity is Christ living His life through me by His power, His abilities, His gifts, His resources, then who gets the credit? Christ Himself! Who, then, is glorified? Christ Himself!


Anything done in the name of Christ, that's done independently from Christ, no matter how "good" it may seem, is merely a monument to myself. Only Jesus can produce and perform anything that's worthy of His name. Only Jesus.


"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever" (Romans 11:36).

The Weight of Little Things

A month ago, as the leaves began to turn and fall, my two boys (6 yrs. and 4 yrs. old) and I were raking the front yard. Each one of us had our own rake and we were working together to create the biggest pile of leaves on the planet. As the pile began to grow in size, I saw an opportunity for a "life lesson". So, feeling a little like Jesus and Michael Landon rolled into one, I asked my sons, "Hey, guys! What can we learn from these leaves?"  
My oldest son answered, "We learn how to rake!" I smiled and said, "Good. But there's something else."  
My 4-year-old chimed in: "We learn to work together." Again, I smiled, pleased with their answers.
"That's good, but there's still something else. Do you know what it is?" They both shook their heads and said no.  
"See how these leaves are all small," I began. "Each one of them is very small, but when we rake them into a pile, they become a big thing." I smiled again as I watched their little minds light up. "Guys, little things that we do - like when we obey or when we don't obey; when we are kind to someone or when we are mean to someone - all those little things add up to become big things in our lives. That's why we want to always do good things to others and to obey Jesus." My heart warmed when I heard their excited responses and the look of "wow" on their faces.  
At that moment, I experienced two things: 1) one of those beautiful "teachable moments" that every parent looks for; and 2) the joy of seeing them "get it". The sad thing is this: God never intended the lesson for them only; it was also intended for me. And I didn't get it.  
A few days ago, as I prayed and asked the Lord to show me how I have hardened my heart, he didn't show me "big things" like adultery, murder, sexual immorality, unforgiveness and bitterness. He showed me all the "little things"; all the little choices where I have excused sin; all the times that I took his grace and forgiveness for granted; all the little fantasies, all the little "love scenes" in movies, all the little disobediences, all the little sins. And now, as I lay buried beneath the rubble of my own personal "spiritual 9/11" waiting to be rescued, I realize the weight of the little things. 
I realize that my willful, small choices were like the bolts and nuts and the steel beams that joined together and grew into something far bigger and taller than I had ever foreseen. Steel to steel, concrete floors stacked story upon story, nuts and bolts, cables and wires - all came together, one by one, and began to rise into the sky as a monument to myself. Little by little, and without my own awareness, my own "twin towers" of Sin and Self-Righteousness stood tall and erect, appearing stronger and higher than any other thing. Until the enemy attacked...and the towers fell, creating a massive cloud of dust and ashes that blocked out the sun, burying my heart beneath the rubble and the weight of the little things.  
Now I get it.  
I thank God for the mercy He has shown to me. The rescue has begun, and the lesson of the little things is being learned in the clean-up. The same way that my heart became hardened is the same way that it will be made soft and alive again...in the little things.

Goodbye, Farewell And Amen

I hope that anyone reading these installments has been blessed and encouraged by them. That's been my intention all along. However, I have reached the end of this road. I have decided to close down all of my blogs. In the future, I may start another, but for now, this is the end. God bless you all!

Dead or Alive?

"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26).

If you have a body without any spirit in it, all you have is a dead body. It may be a beautiful body and may be decked in the finest clothes, but without the spirit, it's still just a dead body. And if you have faith without any deeds or actions, you may have a beautiful faith and you may have it all decked out in the latest Christian jargon, but without deeds, it's still just a dead faith. A body that doesn't live is no good to anyone; and neither is a faith that doesn't live. "It's not what you believe that counts; it's what you believe enough to do." Faith that doesn't live is no good.

In all of my life as a Christian, any time that I've read this verse, I have always reversed the equation in my mind. In other words, I've always read it like this: spirit equals faith; body equals deeds. And so, I interpreted it to mean that the spirit makes the body alive; therefore, faith makes deeds alive. But that's not correct. James, the Lord's brother, says that the body equals faith; spirit equals deeds. This changes everything. The interpretation now is that deeds makes faith come alive! Not the other way around.

In the same way that spirit animates a body, the Lord desires for deeds to animate our faith. The Lord wants faith to produce actions. "Faith expressing itself through love" (Gal. 5:6) will produce deeds of love. Jesus never intended for the gospel to simply be assimilated by our brains and stored away inside of ourselves. He intended it to be received and acted upon (Matt. 7:21-27). He desires that my belief will be expressed through loving obedience and trust. He desires more from me than an intellectual nod of approval and agreement. He expects actions of love that animate my faith. Anything less is dead and useless.

Therefore, how do you tell if faith is dead or alive? By deeds of love. If faith doesn't have these with it, it's only a dead faith.

Knowing Is Not Enough

Luke 10:25-28

One day, I guy asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asked him what he thought the answer was based on his understanding of the Law. The guy answered, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself." Then, Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly..." (v. 28). Can you imagine what it must feel like to hear Jesus say that you have the correct answer? Especially when the question is, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" I'm sure this guy felt pretty good about himself, knowing that Jesus, the controversial rabbi and spiritual "media figure" of the day, said publicly that you were right on. "Jesus said," he may have thought to himself, "that I have the right answer." And he did. And I - just like that guy - usually am satisfied to stop right there, with only the right answer. But the rest of Jesus' answer painfully reveals the bankruptcy of only the right answer: "Do this and you will live."

The truth is, Jesus was answering the man's question with greater honesty and accuracy than he himself wanted. His question was, "What must I do...?" Maybe, like myself, he had become smugly satisfied with right answers and fluffy excuses that let you you off the hook without doing any damage to your own self-perceived, self-righteous image. Regardless of his condition and motives, the answer Jesus gives exposes our selfishness while revealing the liberating truth: knowing is not enough, we must do. Right answers must be lived in order for us to truly live. James says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).

Jesus was the Word of God in human flesh (John 1:14) and lived among us. Now, dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit, he still wants to be the same. May we seek to know and to do, so that Jesus will once again live among us, and that we may truly live.

Losing and Living

"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?" (Luke 9:23-25, New Living Translation).

When I read these words of Jesus and simply let them say what they say, I find myself once again repenting of "my christianity" and the christianity of pop culture and prosperity gospels. I find that I have settled for another gospel, one that cost me nothing in terms of giving up my life. In short, it is a cross-less christianity, which is really not Christianity at all. Much less, good news.

Jesus, give me your gospel, which really is good news; and give me the cross daily that I might really know true life.

Just Like That

Jesus said, "The first and greatest commandment is this: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40, also Mark 12 and Luke 10).

Take a look at this: Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is the command to love God with all of your being. This is the greatest commandment - this one is the big one! You don't want to not do this one. Jesus is saying that loving God with all that you are - your entire self - is paramount. But, look at what he says next...

"The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus says that this commandment is the second greatest - in other words, this is the second commandment that you want to be sure and do; you don't want to miss this one either. Then, he makes this puzzling statement: the second greatest commandment is like the first one. The word "like" means the same as. Jesus is saying that loving my neighbor as myself is the same as loving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

So, the answer to "How does one love God?" is: Love your neighbor as yourself.

And the answer to "How do I love myself?" is: With all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Let's make it more practical: If I need a new shirt, do I go and buy myself a used one or a hand-me-down? No, I buy a new shirt. If I'm hungry, I feed myself as much as I want. If my heart desires to become a nurse, I seek out the fulfillment of that desire. If I desire to go somewhere I like, I find a way to get there and I go. Whatever I desire or need, I with-hold nothing from myself. Jesus says, "Love your neighbor in the same way, just like that."

In Isaiah 58:10, God says, "Give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed."

Love your neighbor, just like that.

But, let's not miss this: Jesus says that when we love our neighbors just like that, we are also loving God just like that.

Oh, may we so live and so love that, when others ask, "What does love look like?" Someone (maybe even God himself) will point at us and say, "Just like that."

I want to live and love...

Just like that.