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Living Proof

No Resurrection—No Christianity

It’s that simple: if you don’t believe in the resurrection, then you don’t believe the core tenet of Christianity. Let me say it another way: if you reject the resurrection then your belief system is not Christian. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave is so critical to Christianity, and by it, to finding the path to eternal life, that Jesus himself spent a good amount of time after his resurrection offering many proofs that he was indeed alive. He wants you to know that you know that he rose from the dead. So if you are still having doubts about that yet find yourself wanting to believe, then simply bring your doubts to Jesus and pray this simple prayer found in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” And he will!

Enduring Truth // Luke 24:15

As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them.

A lot of people say, “I believe in Jesus. I think he was a great teacher…in fact I’d say he was God’s Son. But I’m not too sure about this resurrection thing…I mean really, it’s kind of unbelievable. It’s probably just a myth, anyway.”

According to a recent poll, 85% of Americans claim Christianity as their personal faith, yet of those, an astonishing 35% believe that though crucified, Jesus never had a physical resurrection. No resurrection! The Risen Lord is the heart and soul of Christianity. The Apostle Paul said Jesus rising from the tomb on the third day isn’t just a creative little addendum to the Easter story, it is central and essential to authentic faith. He pointed out if Christians are not going to stake their lives and their eternal future on the reality of the resurrection, then they are wasting their time being Christian.

Large numbers of people are fascinated with Jesus; they respect him; they even love him in a way. Yet they are uncomfortable with the resurrection and uncertain that it really happened. However, buried deep within their hearts is a longing for the resurrection to be true. They need Jesus’ resurrection to be real—even if human logic has buried the possibility of someone rising from death—because they, too, hope for resurrection when they reach the end of their lives.

They are no different, really, than the people in first century Palestine who had placed their hopes in Jesus. They, too, had bought into his proclamation of eternal life, only to have their hopes dashed when Jesus was crucified on the cross and buried forever in a cold, hopeless garden tomb.

Or so they thought! Stories began to immediately circulate that Jesus had risen from the dead. At first his followers didn’t believe it—who in his right mind would?—until Jesus himself began to appear to them, offering not just hearsay evidence, but irrefutable evidence that he was alive—living proof. That’s right, Jesus himself showed up and blew the doors of disbelief right off their jailhouse of doubt, forever freeing them to the settled truth that he was alive and that resurrection was now the new end of life order for all who placed their faith in him.

Jesus himself showed up! (Luke 24:15, 36) In the accounts of five different New Testament writers, the Risen Christ made thirteen separate appearances to a total of 557 witnesses—people who saw Jesus alive with their own eyes. At the time Paul wrote his piece about the resurrection, some thirty or so years later, he pointed out that most of those 500 plus eye-witnesses were still alive, so all any skeptic had to do was just go ask one of them for their personal account. (1 Corinthians 15:6)

Acts 1:3 says, “During the forty days after his crucifixion, Jesus appeared to these people many times with convincing proofs that he was actually alive.” Jesus himself showed up. He wanted people to know that he was alive—that resurrection was the new order of the day.

When you consider the historical, physical, visual and the transformational proof of the resurrection—verifiable evidence—you are forced to decide about Jesus: He is either Lord of all or he is not Lord at all. He is either the risen Christ or he was an incredible liar. Either Christianity is based on truth that you should order your life by or it needs to be discarded as unreliable and swept forever into the dustbin of history.

The evidence says the resurrection is reliable fact; we can be confident in that. Jesus especially wants you to be convinced!

Thrive: Do you find yourself wanting to believe in the resurrection, but still having your doubts? Bring your doubts to Jesus and pray this simple prayer found in Mark 9:24, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

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Bible Worship

The Very Real Danger of Bibliolatry

The goal of Bible study is not to gain greater knowledge of Scripture, or to grow spiritually, or to simply be able to check off that item on your daily list of things to do. It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. By “knowing” I am not referring to an intellectual event, but the intimate exchange of one’s life with the Almighty whereby love is deepened, obedience is practiced, and faith is expanded. That is when searching the Scripture leads to eternal life.

Enduring Truth // John 5:39-40

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.

I can think of no simpler yet more powerful practice for greater spiritual growth and intimacy with God than daily Bible study. The truth is, if you don’t have a regular quiet time with God—which would include not only reading, but also meditation and prayer—you will fail to thrive spiritually. It is a simple as that.

Yet Bible reading, journaling and Scripture memory alone aren’t enough. In fact, there is a very real danger lurking in the practice of a daily quiet time that will lead to even greater distance from God than not reading at all: Love of Scripture without love of God. That is what we might call bibliolatry.

Bibliolatry occurs when we acquire biblical knowledge without spiritual discernment; when our study of the Word is not commensurate to our obedience of the Word; when our love for Scripture exceeds our love for God, and correspondingly, love for our fellow man; when pride in our practice of Bible reading leads to a false sense of righteousness; and when the spiritual discipline of quiet time becomes a work of law rather than an offering of grace. When that occurs, in effect, we are worshiping the Bible rather than the God of the Bible.

There are far too many “Christians” who read the Bible little, if at all. That is an unfortunate blight on the modern church. Yet there is another segment of believers, much smaller, but in deeper spiritual danger, who have been lulled into a sort of spiritual smugness because they fancy themselves as “people of the Word” or because, as they happily proclaim, the church they attend really “teaches” the Word.

Knowing the Bible isn’t enough. Satan knows the Bible as well as anyone. He can quote it at will. Daily reading and Scripture memory aren’t enough. Nicodemus (see John 3) had that down pat. Going to a church that teaches the Word verse-by-verse isn’t enough. There are people in those churches who are lost and don’t even know it.

Hearing, reading, and believing the Bible aren’t enough. Believing in Jesus is. Jesus said, “Whoever believes the Son has eternal life.” (John 3:36)

The goal of Bible study is not to grain greater knowledge of Scripture, or to grow spiritually, or to simply be able to check off that item on your daily list of things to do. It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. By “knowing” I am not referring to an intellectual event, but the intimate exchange of one’s life with the Almighty whereby love is deepened, obedience is practiced, and faith is expanded.

That is when searching the Scripture leads to eternal life.

Thrive: Offer this prayer today: Lord, may my study of your Word always lead me to greater intimacy, obedience and love. May I not simply grow more knowledgeable of the Bible—may I grow more knowledgeable of you.

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The Whole Enchilada

Be A Grace Giver!

Whatever you do, don’t make it difficult for those who are turning to God.

Enduring Truth // Matthew 20:16

Jesus said, “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

On its face, the Parable of the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16 has to be one of the most unfair stories in the Bible. Come on—people who come to work just before quitting time and get paid the same as those who’ve put in a full day! You’ve got to be kidding! Since Jesus told parables to illustrate the Kingdom of God, how in the world does this story represent the Father’s righteous rule?

In this story, a landowner goes to the marketplace to hire temps at the beginning of the work day—a 12-hour day that began at 6:00 AM—and contracts with the most suitable looking workers: a day’s work for a day’s wage—one denarius. Then, still needing help, he goes back at 9:00 AM, again at noon and at 3:00 PM to get more workers. Each additional time, however, there is no contract; he just says he’ll pay them whatever is right. Finally, at the 11th hour—at 5:00 PM—he goes back and sees a few more workers hanging around. Now you’ve got to ask why haven’t they been hired yet…and how come they’re still here? Waiting to get hired with one hour left in the day is kind of like showing up at a Pumpkin Patch the day after Halloween looking for work. Obviously, these guys are not your Stanford MBA types; they’re not the most employable people at the temp service. But help is needed, so they’re hired.

Then the owner blows them all away at the end of the workday by paying all the workers the same: One denarius—a full day’s wage! Imagine the surprise of the 11th hour workers when they realize they’ve just been paid the same as the all-day guys. I can imagine one of them saying, “We didn’t really deserve this. Let’s get out of here before the payroll people realize their mistake and ask for the money back.” And the all-day workers—man, are they mad at the ridiculous generosity of the owner!

So what is Jesus getting at in this parable? To begin with, understand that this is not a story about how corporations should draft compensation policy, so don’t get hung up over that. As a general rule, people who work 12 hours should get paid more than people who work 1 hour. Operate your HR department like this landowner and you’ll soon be out of business.

What Jesus is doing here is picturing the kingdom for us: Undeserving, unlikely desperate people trusting in the generosity of God to include them in his vineyard. The vineyard is a metaphor about coming into God’s kingdom, through Jesus. Who gets to be in God’s kingdom? Everyone—anyone who accepts Jesus’ offer, that’s who! And all kinds of sinful people are taking Jesus up on this offer: Prostitutes, tax collectors and even Gentiles. They’re coming in at the 11th hour and still getting the whole denarius.

But the pious Jews who’ve been in the vineyard all day long aren’t happy about this. They can’t grasp this thing called grace that Jesus is revealing; it’s nothing less than scandalous to them.

Now here is one of the things I’d like for you to consider in this story: You are an 11th hour person—me, too—but the longer we’re in the kingdom, the more we become like the all-day people. Every time someone new comes into the vineyard, they become the 11th hour worker and we move back down the line to 9th hour workers, to noon people, to the nine o’clock crowd, until finally, we are sitting with the all-day folks. And the real danger we face is taking on the attitude of these all-day workers.

As we move along in our walk with Jesus, we are either moving into what we might call performance-based Christianity, or we’re moving toward grace-based faith. Performance-based people believe they deserve a full day’s pay based what they do. They act as if God is getting a good deal in getting them; that he couldn’t run his vineyard without them. But grace-based believers understand they did nothing except to show up and accept God’s offer. Their entire relationship with God is based on trust in his ridiculous generosity and gracious character.

Don’t slide into an all-day spirit. Rather—perhaps you should do this on a regular basis—simply recount the gracious goodness of God that invited you into his vineyard when you did nothing to deserve it at all. Take a moment to absorb what Philip Yancey wrote so insightfully about this in his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace:

“Many Christians who study this parable identify with the employees who put in a full day’s work rather than with the add-ons at the end of the day. We like to think of ourselves as responsible workers, and the employer’s strange behavior baffles us as it did the original hearers. But we risk missing the story’s point: that God dispenses gifts, not wages. None of us gets paid according to merit like these early workers, none of us, for none of us comes close to satisfying God’s requirement for a perfect life. If paid on the basis of merit, we would all end up in hell.”

Good point—none of us gets paid according to merit. And aren’t you glad for that? If we did, we would all—all-day and 11th hour workers alike—end up in a Christ-less eternity.

Listen, friend, you received the whole grace enchilada when you didn’t even deserve a nibble of the beans and rice. So be grateful—be very grateful! And don’t ever stop!

Thrive: Quit trying to control how others come to God, or worship, or serve or grow in their faith. Just release them to God’s grace, because his grace will do a much better job conforming them to his image than your griping.

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When You’re Deeply Disappointed With God

Now Is A Good Time To Tell Him—He Can Handle It

It is easy to believe in the good times—when things are going great, prayers are getting answered, and God is obviously on our team. But just cut off the flow of blessing, squeeze our faith a little, push us out of the comfort zone, let God get outside of that nice, neat theological box we like to keep him in—then take our spiritual temperature and see if we’re still aflame with faith.

Enduring Truth // Matthew 11:2-3

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Let’s be honest—we’ve all been deeply disappointed with God. Sometimes he doesn’t live up to our expectations. A prayer didn’t get answered the way we wanted, when we wanted: a healing didn’t occur, a job was lost, a relationship went sour, a marriage wasn’t saved, a loved one refused salvation, a child died…

That’s when faith really gets tested. It is easy to believe in the good times—when things are going great, prayers are getting answered, and God is obviously on our team. But just cut off the flow of blessing, squeeze our faith a little, push us out of the comfort zone, let God get outside of that nice, neat theological box we like to keep him in—then take our spiritual temperature and see if we’re still aflame with faith.

John the Baptist was there. He had obeyed the call of God early in his life as the forerunner of the Messiah. He had arranged his whole world around announcing Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. He had lived an austere life, preached his heart out, courageously confronted the religious establishment, boldly challenged sinful hearts, and called Israel to national repentance, all to prepare the way for Jesus. He expected his faithfulness to God and obedience to the call would usher in the Kingdom of God when Jesus showed up and launched his messianic ministry.

But now he was in jail. He was in a pretty serious situation that in a few days would lead to his beheading. And Jesus was out there preaching to small crowds, doing a few miracles here and there, and not taking this Messiah thing very seriously. John was disappointed, to say the least.

Did you notice how Jesus handled John’s disappointment and doubt? Not with a brow beating, not with a rebuke, not with anger, Jesus simply reaffirmed John and spoke about his value in God’s eyes. Jesus understood where John was coming from.

Jesus also understood that God’s timing was way different than John’s. John wanted the Kingdom now, and when it didn’t happened, he questioned. So Jesus redirected John’s faith—he encouraged him to take his eyes off circumstances and put them back where they belonged:

Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’” (John 11:4-6)

Jesus is inviting John to keep his eye on the undeniable evidence of God’s activity; to stand firm in the unshakeable hope of God’s Kingdom; to lean into the unbreakable promise of God’s Word; to never let go of the irrefutable goodness of God’s character. And then, when it’s all said and done, John is just to fiercely trust!

We’ve all had those kind of doubts, questions, disappointments and perhaps even anger with God when he doesn’t live up to billing. Maybe that’s where you are today. That’s okay—God is big enough to handle your upset—provided you do as John did: Own up to your upset. God won’t give you a holy beat-down if you’ll come to him with a humble and honest heart. He’ll simply reaffirm your inestimable value and remind you of his everlasting love—and invite you to trust.

And at the end of the day, you’ll never be disappointed when you trust God. The Apostle Paul, who knew a fair amount about suffering, wrote these encouraging words in Romans 5:3-5,

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Thrive: Have you been honest with God about the doubts you are having—especially when they concern your confidence in him? He invites your thoughts, worries and concerns—so right now is a great time to talk to him. And to listen. And then, to fiercely trust!

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Give Me Chastity–Just Not Yet

Get Your Parts Right

You have been freed from the slavery of sin in order to live in the freedom of a different kind of slavery: slavery to the glory of God. Now you are to use your parts—all of them—as instruments of praise and righteousness. Are you? Have you consecrated every part of your body as an instrument of righteousness to the glory of God, or are there some parts that are still doing their own thing? After all that God has graciously done to redeem you from the slavery of sin, the least you can do is exert your will and consecrate your whole life as an instrument of praise.

Enduring Truth // Romans 6:13

Use your every part of your body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

A six-year-old little girl burst through the door one afternoon, excited to tell her mother what she had learned in school that day. “Mommy, guess what I learned today?” she blurted out.

“What, honey?” her mother replied. “What did you learn?”

Pointing to her head, the girl began to describe her first official lesson in human anatomy, “Mommy, I learned about my parts. I learned that this is my head, and it’s where my brains are.” Then she held out her hands and her looked down at her feet, “these are my hands and my feet, and they help me to do things and to go places.” Then she touched her chest and said, “here is my chest, and inside it is my heart. And it keeps me alive.” Finally, she put her hands on her tummy, and exclaimed, “and mommy, these are my bowels, and my bowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.”

She got most of her parts right, anyway. And that’s what Paul is calling us to do, to get our parts right by offering them every day in every way for the glory of God.

But do you? Is your brain an instrument to do what is right? Are the things that you allow your mind to dwell on the kind of things that will bring glory to God? If your thought life were to be played out in living color on the big screen, what kind of rating would it be given: P? PG? How about R? What? Really…you’d have to give it an X? What about the kind of things you allow to come into your thinking? Are those things—the TV shows you watch, the places you go on the Internet, the books you read—do they count as instruments of righteousness?

What about the things your hands do, or the places your feet take you? Would Jesus be comfortable doing those things and going to those places? What about your heart—have you closely guarded it, since it is the wellspring of life? (Proverbs 4:23) And your “vowels,” I mean, your bowels—what about what you take into your body? It is the temple of the Holy Spirit, after all. (I Corinthians 6:18-20) How are you treating the temple, the dwelling place of God? Are you treating the ol’ bod more like a temple, or a sewage treatment plant?

Paul’s point in Romans 6 is that we have been freed from the slavery of sin in order to live in the freedom of a different kind of slavery: slavery to the glory of God. We are to be instruments of praise and righteousness with every fiber of our existence:

When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:10-11)

Have you consecrated every part of your body as an instrument of righteousness to the glory of God, or are there some parts that are still doing their own thing? Far too many of us are like Augustine, who once prayed, “Oh Lord, give me chastity and continence, but not yet.”

Dedication and consecration are an either/or thing: Either you are, or you aren’t. God wants you to be totally dedicated to him; fully consecrated in mind, body, heart and energies. And he deserves it, particularly in the light of his costly investment of grace in your life.

You have been saved by grace—God’s unmerited favor. You have been freed from the slavery of sin; you are no longer under the threat of death—all because of God’s rich and undeserved mercy. You have been given the free gift of eternal life—all at Christ’s expense. Even the faith to believe was supplied by God. Don’t you think that in response, God deserves you to give “your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of him”? Since God has graciously done all that, the least you can do is exert your will and consecrate your whole life as an instrument of praise.

Now I’ll admit, what I’m suggesting won’t be easy. In fact, it will be the toughest thing you ever do. (See Romans 7:14-20 if you don’t believe me.) C.S. Lewis said, “The full acting out of the self’s surrender to God therefore demands pain: this action, to be perfect, must be done from the pure will to obey, in the absence, or in the teeth, of inclination.” St. Augustine finally got it; he surrendered his desires to God, fully dedicating his wandering will to the glory of God. Having experienced that spirit-renovation, Augustine made this observation: “Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.”

Will! So the question is, will you? God has given you his grace. Now mount up and get going! Use your whole body—every part—as an instrument to do what is right to the glory of God.

Thrive: Read Romans 6:1-23, then memorize verse 23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Compare Romans 6:21 with 6:23. Do a cost-benefit analysis of the particular sin that you seem to struggle with on a recurring basis.

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That’s Quite A Prayer Team You’ve Got

When You Pray Father, Son and Holy Spirit Get Involved

There is a lot of prayer going up for you! I hope that comforts you, because whether you realize it or not, you’ve got quite a prayer team. Think about this: When you pray, it’s not just you praying. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit get engaged the moment a prayer leaves your lips—if not sooner.

Enduring Truth // Luke 22:31-32

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.

There is a lot of prayer going up for you! I hope that comforts you, because whether you realize it or not, you’ve got quite a prayer team. Think about this: When you pray, it’s not just you praying. Romans 8:26-27: 26 says,

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

That is tremendous news! Paul says the Holy Spirit is actively engaged, at this moment, interceding within you and through you, lifting your life, taking your case, speaking your name before the throne of the Heavenly Father and praying the Father’s perfect will for your life. As the great theologian C.H. Dodd so appropriately noted, “Prayer is the divine in us appealing to the Divine above us.”

Even when you don’t know what to pray for, or how to pray, or stumble through prayer, or even shortsightedly pray things that would be to your harm, the Holy Spirit comes alongside you to translate your prayer into the world’s greatest prayer, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Through the Spirit, “our prayers,” as C.S. Lewis said, “are really His prayers; He speaks to himself through us.” As frustrated and inept as you might be, when you pray, you unleash a divine dialogue between Father and Spirit. When you pray, Father and Spirit are strategizing how to turn the circumstances of your life, both good and bad, into that which will produce the greatest good in you. That’s why there’s no such thing for a child of God as ineffective prayer.

Now as amazing as that is, there’s more. Not only are Father and Spirit in a constant conversation about you, the Son is in on the discussion as well. Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Compare that to Hebrews 7:24-25, “Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

Jesus’ job description as resurrected Lord is to be your personal intercessor. We saw that with Peter here in Luke 22, but it didn’t stop with Peter. Now Jesus stands night and day before Father representing your case, too. And he intends not just to help you get through whatever you’ re going through, his mission is to save you completely!

What all of this means is that Father, Son and Spirit are actively engaged on your behalf at this very moment, and they won’t stop until they see that the Father’s perfect plan is fully worked out in you both in time and for all eternity.

And when you join them, that’s quite a prayer team you’ve got, isn’t it?

Thrive: No matter how confident you are with your prayers, offer them up to God. After all, you’ve got quite a prayer team praying with you!

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The Tip Of The Iceberg

But Wait, There's More!

As you read through the four Gospels, it is hard to imagine that much more could be added to what Jesus did and said. I suppose the Holy Spirit limited the inspired thoughts and pens of these men in order to present to us only what our finite minds could absorb. But wait, there’s more! Day-by-day eternity will roll out the the never-ending story of the magnificence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Enduring Truth // John 21:25

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

The Apostle John ends his gospel account of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus with this remarkable commentary: “What I’ve written here about Jesus, you don’t know the half of it. In fact, since I’ve been with him night and day for three and a half years, I’ve gotta tell you, this is just the tip of the iceberg!”

Wow! As you read through the four Gospels, it is hard to imagine that much more could be added to what Jesus did and said. I suppose the Holy Spirit limited the inspired thoughts and pens of these men in order to present to us only what our finite minds could absorb.

Even then, we have trouble getting our brains around Jesus, don’t we? I mean, how do you top the incarnation, the virgin birth, and the Bethlehem narrative? Then there is his sinless life—what do you do after that? What more can be added to the Sermon on the Mount? Can anyone illustrate Christianity better than Jesus did with his parables? What about his miracles—how could you improve upon the feeding of the 5,000, the deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac, the healing of the blind man, the walking on water, or the raising of Lazarus? Is there any “wow factor” left after the crucifixion, the empty tomb and his glorious ascension?

Even though we would love to know more, mercifully, we have been given Jesus in bite-sized chunks. And just with that, we will spend a lifetime in wonder, awe and gratitude for the life, love, death and resurrection of this marvelous Savior and Lord. Even if all we ever had of Jesus was John 3:16, you and I would have enough to keep us undone with love for all eternity—and then some.

So what do you do for an encore with Jesus? Only one thing remains, which John alluded to back in John 14:3,

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

It is probably a good thing that we didn’t get any more details than that, because there is only so much the redeemed mind can absorb this side of heaven!

Thrive: S.D. Gordon wrote, “Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand.” To as much as our finite minds can handle, the incomprehensible God has made himself comprehensible in Jesus. Get to know Jesus and you will get to know God. Spend some time meditating on John 3:16 today—I think you will appreciate God a whole lot more.