Wednesday, October 29, 2008

"Who Would Jesus Vote For?"

For all of you who are wondering who to vote for next week, I figured the most helpful thing to do would be to cut through all political promises and mud-slinging and get to the bottom line. Let's just ask the question: Who would Jesus vote for? (About this time I imagine some of you are getting a little hot under the collar and others of you are thinking that it is about time I said something--I have a feeling I am going to disappoint you both).

Would Jesus register as a democrat or a republican? Would he put an Obama or a McCain sign in his front yard? I think that's a pretty good question to ask just days away from election day. The problem is I am afraid that Jesus will end up doing what he seemed to do best when he was here on earth: He will end up offending people on both sides of the party lines.

That's what we see Jesus doing in John 6. Here's the setting...Jesus has just finished feeding 5000 men plus women and children with 5 small loaves of bread and two small fish. Talk about a great political move. He's just had 5000 + people hearing his speech on what it means to have God's kingdom come on earth and then he led it to all culminate with not only making the promise but meeting the need. Well, you can imagine that Jesus was rating high in the popularity polls. In fact, Jesus knew it. That is why we see Jesus do what is recorded in John 6:14-15, "After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, 'Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.' Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again into the hills by himself." You see the people misunderstood the kingdom of God. They were convinced it was to be a political revolution in which the Messiah would overthrow the Roman government and reestablish the throne of Israel.

Over 2000 years later, God's people seem to still be looking for Jesus to do the same thing. We want a Christian nation. Our hopes for our nation seem to rise and fall based upon the legislation in favor or opposition to Christian values. We are determined to force Jesus to be king. But Jesus showed us that he was not interested in being king of a nation. He was and is interested in being King of individual lives that make up the Church through whom he plans to usher in heaven on earth.

John 6 continues and Jesus explains this. He says, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me" (John 6:56-57). In response the people, who hours before wanted to elect him king, now say, "This is a hard teaching who can accept it? " (John 6: 60) and many of them walk away from Christ.

Ask Jesus who he would vote for and according to this chapter of the Bible instead of getting an ear full of political information, Jesus would say that we who call ourselves Followers of Him are to be more concerned with how we live than who is elected. I guess we would call Jesus un-American (of course, he was not American, though we tend to forget this) because he would not appear to be nearly as concerned with who is in office as he is with who is in at the center of our personal and corporate lives as the Church, His Body. To feed on Christ means we eat of his love so much that we love him with all ourselves and love our neighbors as ourselves.

Wait a minute? Am I saying Jesus does not care if Obama or McCain is president? Am, I saying Jesus would not want us to consider wheather we vote per our morals or the economy? No...I am not saying a word on that simply because Jesus apparently did not think it was important enough to give time and talk to it. Instead, when he was offered the throne of a nation he said all he was interested in was being in the throne of our personal lives so much so that wherever we go, whomever we meet we are ushering in God's kingdom here and now.

The hope of our nation does not rest on the next President of the United Sates. The hope of our nation rests solely in Jesus Christ and that hope is made reality each and every time a person turns form self to Christ and each an every time a church turns from self-service to others-service. And each time that is allowed to happen, Jesus said it is like a mustard seed. No matter how small of a beginning it has, it will grow and grow until it becomes the largest plant in the garden. And when God's kingdom is growing through the hungry being fed, the sick being cared for, the oppressed being freed, the hated being loved, the prideful being humbled, the spiritually lost being found...then it does not matter who is President...because where Christ is King no man or nation can stop heaven from coming on earth.

I am Chad Current and I approve this message!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"Don't Play Defense"

In these thirty four years of my life, I have only played on any kind of organized sports league for about three years. In fourth through sixth grade I played Miamisburg Rec. League Basketball. As I look back on those years of discovering my unathletic ability, I remember that I always like playing defense better than offense. I liked defense better because I was always better at blocking a ball ( I was tall for my age, so that helped) than I was at shooting the ball. In fact, I remember praying during the game that no one would pass the ball to me. And that is not the only time I have prayed on the defense.

Tonight during the men's accountability group we were looking at Acts 4 in the Bible. Acts 4:23-31 records the prayer of Christ Followers as they were facing there first onslaught of threats of persecution. The powers to be had told them in no uncertain terms to stop worshipping and preaching Jesus Christ. So, the Christ Followers all gathered for prayer.

What would I pray, if people were threatening to make me stop preaching Christ, if I did not stop my own? I can tell you what I would pray...I would pray for God to protect me and stop them. In other words, I would pray on the defense.

However, the Christ Followers in Acts, prayed just the opposite...they prayed on the offense. Listen to their prayer in Acts 4:29-30, "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." That is no prayer of defense...it is a prayer of offense! They don't pray for God to stop the threats but to give them courage in the face of the threats. They don't pray for the enemies of God to shut up, but for the people of God to speak up. They don't pray for the hand of Satan to no longer to be seen, but for the hand of God to be seen all the more clearer in the presence of evil.

In response to their prayers, the Bible says in verse 31, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

Do you want to see God shake things up? Instead of being filled with worry, fear, stress, sadness and weariness, do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Instead of cowering on the defense, do you want to be bold in your faith? Then don't just play offense, pray it!

Instead of praying for God to put prayer back in school, let's pray for God to raise up students who are so on fire for God that nothing can extinguish what God will do through them.

Instead of praying for legislation to be passed to uphold our morals, let's pray for we the Church to shine so bright with God's love that those who are around us can't help but be transformed by the love of Christ.

Instead of praying for God to protect us from evil, let's pray for God to use us to put evil on the run.

Instead of praying for God to make our lives so easy that we never have to deal with any trouble, let's pray that even in the face of trouble God would make us courageous in him.

That is one of the reasons I love Baptism and Child dedication Sunday (this Sunday, October 26, at 11 AM). In Child dedications, parents are saying, "We know that we live in a broken world, but by faith we believe that He that is in us is greater than that which is in the world." Child dedication is an act of praying on the offense on behalf of a child. Baptism is also a bold and offensive move. It is a Follower of Christ making the decision to no longer allow his or her Faith in Christ to remain private. It is a courageous step of publicly proclaiming that without Christ I am dead even while I live, but with Christ I am alive even if I die! This Sunday, is going to be a powerful day of praying on the offense. I want to invite you to be with us...show up and I believe together we see God shake us up, fill us up and send us out with a renewed sense of boldness.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

"Sleeping in the Trash"

Sunday afternoon I was taking some trash to the dumpster. I opened the lid, tossed in the trash and then I jumped and ran! I was expecting to find trash in the trash, not two eyes starring back at me followed by a mean sounding "hiss." I am not too big of a man to admit that I about wet myself...it scarred me half to death.

Of course, God never lets me have moments like those by myself. Two other men were walking by just as I was startled. They got a good laugh and the brave one looked in the trash, poked around and said, "Its just a raccoon sleeping. You know they sleep during the day." I could think of a lot better places to sleep, but apparently the raccoon was quite comfortable in the trash.

I can't really judge the animal for its sleeping arrangements because I too have too many times found myself comfortable enough with trash to sleep in it. We can get so good at denial, justification and rationalization that pretty soon we make ourselves feel good enough with trash that we sleep in it. The sin that use to bother us now doesn't even make us flinch. The unethical business practices are just business as usual. The unhealthy relationship has gone on so long that as far as we know and our kids know that its just normal family life. We spend so much time blaming others for our problems that we are convinced that our problem is everybody else's problem to fix. We treat our bad habits as though they are an unchangeable part of our DNA. Bottom line, we might as well crawl in the dumpster and sleep with the raccoon because we are sleeping in the trash.

Scarier than finding a raccoon in the dumpster is finding ourselves reaching the point where we are so out of tune with the Spirit of God that we are OK with making a bed in trash. Friends, God has better for you and me than trash. The Bible says, "Godly sorrow leads to repentance that leads to life."

If you wake up In the trash today or any day, don't roll over and hit snooze. Get up. Let Godly sorrow fill you in such a good way that you are ready to turn away from the trash to more fully receive all that Christ has for you and you'll be amazed at how much better you sleep!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

"Beyond Ordinary"

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13.

The context of the above verse is that Peter and John are telling others about Jesus Christ. The two men knew that to do so meant they were painting a target on their backs. However, they did not let that stop them. Their love for God was greater than their fear of the opinions or negative actions of others. Those who opposed them noticed their courage. And they noticed something more...yes, they were unschooled and they were ordinary, but something set them apart from other men...what is it? What is different about them? Then, "They took note that these men had been with Jesus." That was the difference...they had been with Jesus. Being with Jesus took ordinary men beyond ordinary.

Do any body where you or I live, work and play take note that we have been with Jesus? Do we want others to take note that we have been with Jesus? What will it take for us to be with Jesus in such a way that others recognize that we have been in his presence?

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

"Singing in the Rain"

A while back my neighbor that lives across the street from me said, "Chad, did you hear the rain early this morning?"

"Yeah," I said, "It woke me up."

"Did you hear anything else?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"The birds," he said, "The whole time it was raining the birds were singing. When was the last time you sang in the rain?"

What about you? When was the last time you sang in the rain? I have cried in the rain...I've thrown adult-temper tantrums in the rain...I've shouted in frustrated, "It's not fair...why me?" in the rain...I've withdrawn into a dark and lonely place in the rain...but sing...? I wonder what birds know that I don't? I wonder what would happen if I gave their response a try to the rain in my life?

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God , and the other prisoners {Did you catch that? Paul and Silas are singing in prison} were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison door's flew open, and every body's chains came loose. The jailer woke up and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, 'Don't harm yourself! We are all here!' ...the jailer asked, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:25-30).

That's what happened when Paul and Silas, beaten and bleeding in prison, sang songs of praise to God! First of all, singing to God got their focus on something greater and more hopeful than their own negative circumstances. Next, when we focus on God we put ourselves in a position to let God open doors for us that we could never open on our own. Third, God uses people who sing in the rain or in the prison cell to help others hear and receive his love now and forever.

Birds singing in the rain...Men singing in a prison cell...I wonder what they know that I don't? I wonder what would happen if I gave a their response a try?

Is it raining? Why not try singing?