Why Forgive?

Posted on February 27, 2012 by jeff warren

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 The first of seven phrases from Jesus on the cross is a prayer, not for Himself, but for His executioners.

Now, you think of someone you need to forgive. But remember, we forgive people, persons, (individuals) not institutions or groups of people. You forgive what they have done, not what they are. And you can only forgive someone who has done something to you directly that has wounded you.

1. It breaks the chain of “ungrace” Only grace breaks the cycle of retribution. If Jesus had prayed, “Father, give them what they deserve” there would be no forgiveness- no grace. Do you forgive others who are “executing/crucifying” you? You see forgiveness has that maddening quality of being undeserved, unmerited, unfair. But as I forgive, as you forgive, we break the law of retribution- the chain of ungrace is broken.

2. It sets us free from anger Often we think, “I have justifiable pain!” This is simply another way of saying, “I will not forgive.”

3. It sets the offender free Forgiving does not remove our scars any more than a funeral takes away all of our grief. We often carry a scar even after the wound has been healed. But if we continue to have resentment over time, we are “feeling again” the pain caused and our response in hatred. “Forgiveness” in the Greek means, literally, “to release, to hurl away, to free yourself”. You know you have forgiven the person when you release the person to God- and even hope for good.

4. It heals the relationship Forgiveness brings life to the relationship again. But, not always- Jesus forgave but not every one was reconciled. Forgiveness doesn’t always mean reunion or reconciliation. Sometimes we pay for our sin by being shunned, let go- we are left to our desires and pay the consequences.

5. It sets us free to love again One of the best books I’ve read on forgiveness is Lewis Smedes’, “The Art of Forgiveness”. In it he writes, “When we genuinely forgive, we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us.”

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”- Colossians 3:13

Theologically, the Gospels give a straightforward answer as to why God asks us to forgive: because that is what God is like. We are never more like Christ than when we forgive. Why? Because Christ has forgiven you. We are to forgive “AS” HE has forgiven us. How has He forgiven you? Completely. Unconditionally. You cannot fully forgive until you’ve been forgiven. Was Jesus’ prayer answered? Every prayer He ever prayed was answered. You have been forgiven so that you might be one with God.

You and I cannot muster up forgiveness on our own. We must allow Christ to transform us from selfish, prideful, unforgiving people into those who extend grace to others. But it begins when we embrace the One who is Perfect, the Giver of grace.

“The object of my faith is not personal change. It is the unchanging perfection of another Person.” Byron Yawn

Forgive.

Why Lent?

Posted on February 24, 2012 by jeff warren

Growing up I didn’t know anything about Lent. I only knew Lent as a strange “Catholic” practice. I’ve gained a broader picture of the Body of Christ through the study of Church history and I’ve been able to experience a deeper expression of prayer and worship as a result. I want to help you do the same. Most Protestants think of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season as a “Catholic thing” while, in reality it was part of the early church’s consistent pattern of worship. Our earliest known reference is that of Ireneus (who died in 202 A.D.). What I’ve sought to do is strip the Lenten season of anything that is not biblical but maintain a simple and clear focus of prayer, repentance, and personal sacrifice. I’ve heard many sermons on Christ’s instructions to pray when He says, “When you pray…” pray like this… But He also says, “When you fast…” fast like this… He didn’t say “if” you fast, but “when”. Jesus expected His followers to pray, and at times, fast as a regular part of our spiritual pattern of worship. Could it be that we (in the U.S. in particular) could learn a few things about giving up so much of what we want and dying to our selfish needs for more? I am certain that prayer and fasting is greatly needed among believers- particularly in the affluent West.

What many have written off as “weird” (ashes on the forehead, giving up certain foods, etc.) I’ve sought to recapture in its purest biblical sense. It is true that Ash Wednesday or “Lent” are not in the Bible (of course, neither are Christmas Eve services, Good Friday services, Advent, and so much of what others of us would call “normal”). You don’t see “Easter Sunday” in the Bible either (because every Sunday is Easter Sunday- or better, Resurrection Sunday for the believer.

“Lent” may not be in the Bible but focused seasons of sacrifice, confession, and repentance clearly are. In the church I grew up in we rushed to Easter Sunday without any preparation of the heart before God. I’ve learned much from the larger Body of Christ as it relates to the spiritual disciplines solitude, prayer, and fasting. “Lent” of comes from the Middle English word “Lenten” which means “Spring”. The Lenten or Easter Season is a focused time of confession and repentance from “Ash Wednesday” to Easter Sunday. Forty Days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (minus the Sundays leading up to Easter- because the early believers would not fast on Sundays). Later many would go from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday (forty days later). Maundy comes from “mandatum”, meaning “mandate” or “command”. Jesus said, “A new commandment” (mandatum nuevum) I give to you.” So the Lenten season is a period of focused prayer and fasting (with a focus on confession, sacrifice, and repentance). Why forty Days? Forty days shows up throughout the Bible. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus (Luke 4:1-2) all fasted for forty days.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

The ashes are to remind you of your mortality and of the need to repent of sin in your life. It was common for Jews and early believers to mourn the loss of a loved one with “sackcloth and ashes”. Ashes were also a sign of brokenness and repentance of sin. Confession of sin is a private thing between you and God. It is not something to be paraded around and seen by everyone but a private moment between you and your Savior.

Fasting is the act of the will through which the follower of Jesus puts forth spiritual control over the flesh (through sacrifice- i.e. not eating, or some other form of self-denial) with a view to a more personal and powerful experience with God in prayer. Fasting involves giving up but is much more about receiving. You give up in order to receive. You die in order to live.

Types of fasts:

Total fast (be careful and receive guidance)
Water only Prepare your body for it. Hunger pangs will go away- first 2 days hardest.
Liquid only Juices- not milkshakes! (When you don’t eat, more time for prayer)
Eliminate certain foods No deserts, no caffeine, no junk food- “Daniel fast”- healthy
Media fast NO television, NO movies, NO paper, NO internet, NO video games, etc.
Multiple possibilities Be creative and specific-but a sacrifice- must cost you something.

During a fast, when your earthly desires kick in, you turn to the Lord and you are reminded that He is more than enough to meet your every need. It is a wonderful way to be drawn to the Lord and to overcome the desires of the flesh in many areas of your life.

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.” Psalm 66:18-19 What is David saying here? I cannot harbor unconfessed sin or unresolved sin in my life. Any Christian who desires to fully serve God and follow Him must attack sin from all fronts. We cannot hold on to sin but release it and the first step is to confess it- to God first and then, to others.

“For me, to live is Christ and die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

To be alive to Christ and to live for Him means I must die to myself, my needs, my wants- continually. “In the body” is where dying of Jesus is seen through my life and revealed to others. It is, at the same time, the place where this life (the resurrection life) of Jesus is seen. In the same passage he says, “so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in my body.” My life then becomes a presentation of a Story- the Story of the passion of Christ. I die to myself in order to reveal His life in my. You see, you are called not only to tell the story of the Passion, but to LIVE it, experience it. How? By dying to self.

But the language used by Paul is a continual dying- the process of dying- you are continually dying. To remind you of your mortality- your body is dying and to get you focused and busy on the eternal that does not die. You see, death for Jesus was not the end- He lives. So, how can we position ourselves to move to this dying of self? How can I be touched by God to go to deeper levels? By confessing my sin to Him, by showing Him that He is all I want- all I need. Fasting is that spiritual discipline that helps us live that out in unique ways. It’s why Jesus says, “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16)- it was an expected practice of the believer. It’s a way to deny yourself of earthly things in order to focus on heavenly things.

“My food” Jesus said, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” John 4:34 During a fast He is your food. The will of God becomes your sustenance.

May you walk to the cross with the Lord Jesus this Easter season as never before.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

“I Have a Dream.”

Posted on January 15, 2012 by jeff warren

On the 15th of this month, 83 years ago, Michael Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His name was later changed to Martin, the son and grandson of Baptist pastors. He himself served as co-pastor with his father at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta while he became the central figure in the civil rights movement in the United States.

On August 28th, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech that would shake a nation and the world (and as a pastor/preacher- one who traffics constantly in words- I believe this is one of the finest speeches/sermons ever preached). Dr. King was so articulated, so clear, so picturesque in his words, but what drove his message home was his passion- and even more, I believe, a divine anointing upon his life. Consider the fact that he was only 34 years old.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream and it was a dream aligned with God’s dream for a better world. Let his words resonate in your heart again:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal….’I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”

“…One day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

In April of 1968, Dr. King went to Memphis, TN in support of mistreated black sanitation workers. On April 4th he stood with a friend outside his hotel room on the second floor balcony. A shot rang out and an assassin’s bullet hit Dr. King and the civil rights leader was dead at the age of 39. To get deeper into the heart of this man we need only listen to his final words preached the night before he died. Listen, in light of what would happen the next day: “Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. (Amen.) But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Martin Luther King had a life mission. His one life made a difference. Let me ask you, do you think that only certain people have a mission in life? That maybe there are only a few people who really have a God-given dream? Or could it be that every single one of us has been given a dream- by God- to serve His eternal Kingdom purposes while we’re here on this earth?

Throughout this month let’s allow the life and the words of Martin Luther King Jr.(and even more so, the words of our Lord Jesus) to inspire us to dream as well. Each of us has a God-given dream that He’s calling us to live. And our God-given dream has the potential to change our world. Your dream may or may not find its way on the national or international stage (it may!) but your God-given dream is unique to you and given to you to fulfill your life’s purpose.

So, let me ask you: What do you dream about?

Questions to Ponder this Month:

* What is your dream for life?
* What is the vision/calling (or God-given picture) of your life?
* If you had unlimited resources (of time, money, energy, people) what would you want to accomplish with the rest of your life?
* What do you love to do more than anything else? What makes you feel fully alive? Why?
* What do hate the most? What makes you angry? Why?
* What do you do best? What are your best gifts? (You’ve heard others tell you this).
* What is God’s unique mission for your life?

How will you fulfill this mission- starting today?

Do All Roads Lead to God?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by jeff warren

On New Year’s Eve, you may have heard Cee Lo Green’s rendition of John Lennon’s, “Imagine” (which apparently has become a tradition just prior to the ball being dropped at Times Square). But this year, instead of listening Lennon’s version of the song, they had Cee Lo sing it. He created a big stir by changing the words- instead of singing, “imagine no religion too”, he sang, “and all religions true”. People debate and ask the question- is there really only one way to God? The classic presentation of this argument ends up with the idea that “all roads lead to heaven”, “all paths lead to the same God”.
But is this true? I’ve changed the way I approach this question. The truth is (and read carefully) there are many roads to God- all roads lead to God but there is ONLY ONE WAY to eternal life with Him- there’s only ONE Way to LIFE and it is through Jesus Christ.

It is true that everyone will end up before God.

“Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

Though we may get through different paths, everyone will stand before God some day. But the idea that all religions are true is not even logical, simply because not all religions teach the same thing- by a long shot. In fact, in many ways, Christianity cannot even be compared to other religions. It is the anti-religion- it’s not a religion (that is, a way to achieve some standing before God through good works, following a certain set of moralistic standards, or follow set of rules). That’s not Christianity. Jesus taught us that we could never achieve God’s approval apart from His grace. If this were not true there would be no reason for the cross- which stands at the center of our faith.

No, all religions DO NOT teach the same thing and not all roads lead to a right relationship with God. And you don’t even have to go to the Bible to see this. Simple Aristotelian logic would say that two contradictory truths cannot be equally valid. It’s “The Law of Non-Contradiction”. This is a basic, fundamental Law of Logic. It states that two contradictory statements cannot both be true at the same time; one is true and one is false. Formulaically, it’s presented as, “A equals B and A does not equal B are mutually exclusive statements”. Now, every child knows this, but in America we have become so open-minded our brains have fallen out.
Some people say, “Well, Christianity is so exclusive. How can someone be so prideful as to think that ONE religion has all truth? I’ve talked to people who say, “My approach is to choose the best from all religions. That’s a better way to come to truth.” Really? Let me ask you then, “How do you determine what to chose from each religion that you’re going to then put together as your chosen collective religion?” YOU are going to choose? You’ve just made yourself your own God! You have just formed the religion of YOU; and you are, in the end, worshipping yourself. You have the final word on all things. And think about this: Isn’t it more logical to believe that ONE religion would have the truth within itself? A collective, united, comprehensive and cohesive body of truth- within one religion makes a lot more sense (again, if we want to bring logic into the equation). But alas, logic doesn’t seem to be in the mix when it comes to spiritual conversations these days. Let’s bring it back into the conversation.

All roads lead to God and then judgment based on what we have done with Jesus.

When Christianity Becomes Idolatry

Posted on September 1, 2011 by jeff warren

Excerpt from Matt Johnson

Even good Christian theology can become an idol. When Christian belief is information detached from the substance of Jesus’ objective work on the cross for sinners, it becomes idolatry. Like it or not, you and I are guilty of it. How so?

• Do you live for the approval of others in the church?
• Do you stew over your spiritual performance and personal holiness more than you steep in what God has already accomplished for you in Jesus?
• Are you prideful about your biblical knowledge?
• Do you love to debate finer points of theology with others and get angry when you’re challenged by your views?
• Are you feeling burnt out and joyless in your service to those in the church?
• Are you uncomfortable with suffering people and find you’re quick to recite Bible verses as a way to avoid awkward, personal engagement?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, there is a good chance you have taken God’s good gifts and used them for your own selfish purpose. You have used God to make yourself look good through your service, your knowledge, and personal growth. This form of idolatry is hard to detect because the “fruit bearing” looks good to everyone else. Let’s face facts though; it’s idolatry.

The problem is, like the Pharisees, we prefer our safe religion over the death of our selfish spiritual aspirations.

Thy Kingdom Come.

Posted on August 4, 2011 by jeff warren

A Thousand Questions

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiNBmNl88Pk]

What Really Happened on the Cross?

Posted on April 11, 2011 by jeff warren

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

People ask: “Why do bad things happen to good people?” R.C. Sproul noted, “That only happened once, and He volunteered.” Jesus was sinless and yet He “became sin” for us. What does this mean? If you want to live forgiven you must fully grasp what took place on the cross. And the key to unlocking the mystery of the cross is to consider the most perplexing, uncomfortable, and difficult words that ever came from the lips of Jesus. In His final moments on the cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 He’s actually quoting Psalm 22:1, but clearly this is a cry of anguish. Here “forsaken” means, “abandon”, “left in trouble”- someone in trouble and turning your back on them. I’ve had many people ask me, “Did He really believe the Father had abandoned Him?” Could it be that God the Father really did forsake Him? To understand the difficulty of these words we must first understand the nature of the Triune God. The Trinity (the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) is at the core of biblical Christianity. It’s important to note that the Trinity is a relationship of submission. The Son says He does nothing apart from “the Father’s initiative” and that He does only what He sees the Father doing. Jesus says that ultimately the Spirit would come and “will guide you in all truth”. At Jesus’ baptism, the Father says, “This is my beloved Son”. In John 17:11, Jesus prays for the Father to make His followers “one even as we are one”. Could it be that for the first time in all of history there was violence done, not only to Jesus, but to the Trinitarian relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Understood correctly, this cry of anguish found in Matthew 27, is one of the most powerful, perplexing, and comforting words that Jesus ever spoke to us. In fact, I pray that as we unpack them you will be overwhelmed, besieged, and undone by God’s love for you.

See Matthew 26:36-46 In an attempt to understand more fully what Jesus meant, we need to go back to the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the cross. As I read the event of Jesus’ last week, I’m struck with the reality that He is in complete control of all that is happening. If you look carefully and listen to His words it seems as though He Himself is writing the script. As the story unfolds you realize that’s precisely what’s happening. He has a secret ambition. It’s interesting to note that just prior to His arrest, John 18:4 says that Jesus knew “all things that were to happen to Him.”

Matthew’s account of the events leading up to the moment of Judas’ betrayal is the most descriptive account of all that Jesus was going through. After Judas agrees to betray Him, Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples. During the meal Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him three times that night. Then they go to a spacious olive grove of the garden called Gethsemane. Emotionally drained (in fact Luke tells us that they were “exhausted from sorrow” in chapter 22:45), the disciples reclined under the moon and stars of a now peaceful night and quickly drift off to sleep. Jesus, however, would find no peace, no rest at all. Matthew says He “began to be sorrowful and troubled” (26:38). Mark adds that He was “deeply distressed”. Often Jesus would go off alone, most of the time to be alone, but on this night He would need His best friends there with Him. Jesus, the Man, needed human companionship. Solitary confinement is the worst form of punishment our species has ever devised and, in this moment, Jesus didn’t want it.

When His disciples failed Him, Jesus did not try to conceal His hurt: “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (vs. 40) His words suggest something more threatening than loneliness. Is it possible that for the first time ever He did not want to be alone with the Father? A great struggle is underway in the heart of Jesus. No formal, well recited prayers would come on this night. No poetic, nicely phrased petitions in these prayers. Dr. Luke tells us, “being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling on the ground” (22:44). He describes a rare medical condition that had taken effect, known as “hematidrosis”, in which the blood vessels, under such stress, expand and burst into the sweat glands. Imagine what happens next: He falls face down on the ground crying out to God the Father.

Why was Jesus in such agony? I would suggest that you and I have never known this kind of anguish. I’ve talked to many people who knew they had only days, even hours to live. Some are terrified but most are accepting, even calm. Jesus seems anything but calm. Knowing what was to come, was He afraid of the beatings, the scourging, the spikes driven through His wrists and feet? Was it the fear of death that tortured Him so? Here we realize that sometimes it’s a blessing not to know the future. Was it the betrayal of His closest friends? Was it the denial of Peter? Was it a combination of all of these things together? No. I believe that the pain Jesus knew in the garden and would experience on the cross was greater than any one of those things and even greater than all of those things combined.

To know what was at the heart of His agony, we must understand what He meant when He referred to the “cup” the night before in the Garden.

What was this “cup”? What was Jesus hoping to avoid? It was not merely death. It was not physical pain on the cross. It was not the scourging or humiliation. It was not the torture of nails being driven through His body, not the horrible thirst, nor was it the disgrace of being spat upon or beaten. Again, it was not even all these things combined. I say this because those were all the things Jesus said not to fear. In Luke 12:4, He said, “And I say to you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more they can do.” “But,” He went on to add, “I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast you into hell; yes, I say to you, fear him!” (vs. 5) Clearly, what Christ dreaded most about the cross was not physical death. It was the outpouring of the wrath He would endure from His Holy Father. The key is a clear understanding of “the “cup”. The “cup” was a well-known Old Testament symbol of the divine wrath of God against sin. Consider just a few references:

“Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, You have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out.” Isaiah 51:17

“Take this cup of fury from my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.” Jeremiah 25: 15-16

“Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall down and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.” Jeremiah 25:27

Pretty graphic stuff. What Jesus was experiencing on the cross was nothing less than the cup of the terrible wrath of God! It’s worth noting here that “wrath” is not an out-of-control reaction of someone going “postal” on an angry rampage. God is beyond that. Wrath is God’s holy reaction to sin and in this case, it is unleashed on the Son. The “cup” that Jesus was to drink was the vile, repulsive cup of sin bringing upon Him the full fury of the wrath of God.

Now, consider this: The One who had never tasted the tiniest drop of sin, the One who had never been separated from the Trinitarian relationship, will now bear the full brunt of the divine fury of God upon the most terrible, grotesque sins ever committed by every person who would ever live. This, of course, includes your sins.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That holy transaction of our sins being poured into Him, the full wrath of God unleashed upon the Son, is what Jesus feared most. He had never been separated from the Father, until the cross. God the Father has never abandoned anyone except His own Son.

This is the only way to explain the perplexing prayer of Jesus on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Friend, as you read this, do you realize what you’ve been saved from? God imputed (transferred, exchanged, ascribed) your sin to Christ and then punished Him for it. Peter puts it this way:

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 Don’t you feel a need to stop right now and thank Him? Go ahead and do it.

In the garden we find the only place where Jesus addresses God as “My Father” (Matthew 26:39,42). In fact, Mark records He prayed, “Abba, Father”. “Abba” is the Aramaic equivalent of “Daddy” or “Dada”. I believe that Jesus was experiencing a kind of “holy separation anxiety”. What parent has not seen the terror in the eyes of a child while being left behind- as if their eyes and their cry was saying, “I can’t believe that you are leaving me!”, as if to say, “Why have you abandoned me?!” I believe that is precisely what Jesus went through on the cross, and the garden was a prelude to the pain He knew was coming. With this cry, He yelled, “My God…” not “My Father” (the only place He does this). Did the Father really abandon the Son? Was there really violence done to the Trinity while Jesus was on the cross!? I can’t explain it theologically or understand it rationally, but how else can you justify this cry of Jesus?

As He cried out in anguish, God’s inflexible holiness and boundless love collided, and our redemption was made possible.

That’s what happened on the cross. For you to be fully forgiven, Jesus had to be fully abandoned. In that moment, the Man Jesus was not in charge, the Father was. What does this transaction over 2,000 years ago have to do with you today? Everything. It is more relevant than today’s newspaper and more powerful than any truth you’ll ever know. “You are forgiven”, He says. Jesus, the Lamb of God, took on the full fury of God’s wrath. He died so that you wouldn’t have to and now, you can live forgiven.

What is the “righteousness of God”?

“But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.” Colossians 1:22 What is “the righteousness of God” poured into us?

The “righteousness of God” is to be as righteous as Jesus is righteous.

How can I receive it?

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

How can I live in it?

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

So, grace is unmerited favor- Does God forgive me regardless of how I live? And once I receive His grace, can I go live any way I want to live? I believe this question gets to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. If I truly comprehend the gift of God’s grace and the price that was required to pay so that I might be forgiven, then I will respond with a gratitude that would involve my whole life- all that I am. Otherwise I experience what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”- grace that cost Jesus everything but cost me nothing. To receive His grace is to experience “costly grace”- I understand that the possibility of grace cost Him everything and therefore, cost me everything. It is costly because Christ’s life, death and resurrection becomes a model, the example for MY life. Thus Bonhoeffer’s most famous quote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” There is no greater cost. Of course this is in line with the call of Jesus Himself:

Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Out of gratitude for this great exchange we die to ourselves in order to live for Jesus. As we die to ourselves it is HIS life now alive in us. Let your life now be one big, constant, ever-growing act of gratitude back to God for all He’s done for you.

Why Lent?

Posted on March 4, 2011 by jeff warren

Growing up Baptist kid I didn’t know anything about Lent. In fact, in North Carolina, I only knew Lent as a strange “Catholic” practice. All I knew was they practiced some strange liturgy- at least to me, in my small little world. Praise God as I grew older I was able to get broader picture of the Body of Christ through the study of Church history and I was able to experience a broader expression of prayer and worship. Most of us Protestants think of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season as a “Catholic thing” while, in reality it was part of the early church’s consistent pattern of worship. Our earliest known reference is that of Ireneus (who died in 202 A.D.). What I’ve sought to do is strip the Lenten season of anything that is not biblical but maintain a simple and clear focus of prayer, repentance, and sacrifice. I’ve heard many sermons on Christ’s instructions to pray when He says, “When you pray…” pray like this. But He also says, “When you fast…” fast like this. He didn’t say, “if” you fast. Jesus expected His followers to pray, and at times, fast as a regular part of our spiritual pattern of worship. Could it be that we (in North America in particular) could learn a few things about giving up so much of what we want and dying to our selfish needs for more? I am certain that prayer and fasting is greatly needed among believers- particularly in the affluent West.

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

Fasting is the act of the will through which the follower of Jesus puts forth spiritual control over the flesh (through sacrifice- not eating) with a view to a more personal and powerful experience with God in prayer. Fasting involves giving up but is much more about receiving. You give up in order to receive. You die in order to live.

Types of fasts:

Total fast (be careful and receive guidance)

Water only Prepare your body for it. Hunger pangs will go away- first 2 days hardest.

Liquid only Juices- not milkshakes! (When you don’t eat, more time for prayer)

Eliminate certain foods No deserts, no caffeine, no junk food- “Daniel fast”- healthy

Media fast NO television, NO movies, NO paper, NO internet, NO video games, etc.

Multiple possibilities Be creative and specific-but a sacrifice- must cost you something

“For me, to live is Christ and die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

“My food” Jesus said, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” John 4:34 During a fast He is your food. The will of God becomes your sustenance.

May you walk to the cross with the Lord Jesus this Easter season as never before.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10

Lighten Up

Posted on July 16, 2010 by jeff warren

I never grow tired of this sequence from “The Mission”- a powerful reminder that we have been set free in Christ. If you have received Christ’s forgiveness you are now completely loved, fully pleasing, totally accepted by God. You don’t have to pay the price for your failures.

Think about your own life for a moment. What burdens are you carrying around? What failures from your past continue to beat you down? John Mark McMillan’s lyrics from, “How He Loves”: “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us.” Life is too short to be burdened by sin that Christ has taken to the cross.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

http://vimeo.com/12127228

The Myth of More

Posted on June 24, 2010 by jeff warren

We often think, “the more I have the better off I’ll be. The more I have the happier I’ll be.” Someone said, “I know money can’t buy happiness but I would sure love to figure that out through my own personal experience.” Well, you don’t need to. In fact, the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a primer on wisdom learned from mistakes made by a man who had it all. Solomon wrote the book (and God put it in the Bible) so that we could all learn from his experience. He was the wealthiest man in the world. In Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 he reveals the myth of having more. In his little book, The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn breaks it down like this:

The more you have…

The more you want (vs. 10), the less you’re satisfied (vs. 10), the more people will come after it (vs. 11), the more you realize it does you no good (vs. 11), the more you have to worry about (vs. 12), the more you can hurt yourself by holding on to it (vs. 13), the more you have to lose (vs. 14), and the more you leave behind (vs. 15).

J. D. Rockefeller was, at one time the wealthiest man on earth. When he died a reporter asked the executor of the Rockefeller’s estate, “How much did he leave behind?” The executor answered, “All of it.”

Giving is the only antidote to materialism.

When you embrace the fact that God owns all that you have, then you’re free to give out of adoration and celebration- not out of obligation or calculation. People who’ve been set free from their stuff give joyfully- it’s the hilarious giver that Paul talks about. Instead, people have all kinds of strange ideas about giving, about giving 10%, about the offering…

God prospers me, not to raise my standard of living but my standard of giving.

The truth is, most of us are working- not to fund our needs but to fund a lifestyle that we’ve chosen lifestyle. At the core of the missional life is one who is a GIVER- and YES, it starts with our money because money is number one deterrent to living a life of generosity.

Five Things You Can Do With Your Money (the world’s way):

1. Spend it 2. Repay debt 3. Pay taxes 4. Save it 5. Give it

The Financial Flip-flop (God’s way):

1. Give it 2. Save it 3. Pay taxes 4. Repay debt 5. Spend it

Here’s what I’ve learned: Underneath this entire conversation about holding loosely to your stuff is this: a proper understanding of GRACE. If you have come to realize that you are a sinner saved by grace then you will practice radical generosity- not just in certain areas of your life, but in every aspect of your life. When you realize the cost of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and how He has bought you to be His own- how He has given His life for you to set you free from sin, guilt, and hell- then you begin to live in that freedom. You’re not bound to the things of this world. Then, and only then, will you lighten up.