Sometimes it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose focus from what we’re supposed to be doing.  It happens all the time- you pause in the office to catch a news report on TV or listen on the radio; you answer the door while cooking dinner and it ends up burning; you’re typing a paper and you find yourself on Facebook somehow… it happens.

And sometimes we get sidetracked by things that are not necessarily bad things, but they still distract us from what needs to be accomplished.

I have felt this way lately in my relationship with Jesus.  There is a certain side to pastoring where you are always learning.  You’re always reading, studying Scripture, analyzing theological positions, etc.  And, honestly, many times that becomes a distraction to what should really be happening in your life.

Here’s what I mean:  

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.   (Hebrews 12:1-2  ESV)

Isn’t it easy to let sin and other weights distract us from keeping our focus on where it should be- on Jesus Christ and His cross.  Lately, I’ve been so wrapped up in theological arguments that I’ve put a certain system of beliefs above Jesus, or I’ve given more value to a theologian than to Jesus.

I’ve lost sight of the cross.  That’s the main point.  I’m worrying too much about trying to figure out what some Scriptures mean and not just reading God’s Word in awe of who He is.

It’s not wrong to try to understand Scripture or hold a certain position on a certain issue, but when that understanding and holding replace the awe resulting from the cross of Jesus, we are simply being disobedient to Scripture that tells us to look to Jesus instead of the things that weigh us down.

Let’s find a balance between increasing knowledge and being in awe of who Jesus is and what He’s done on the cross for us. 

Download the guide here.

A Somewhat Critical Review of Mitch Albom’s
The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I must admit that I am not much for reading fiction.  In fact, the last fiction book I read was probably in high school when I was assigned a book report on To Kill a Mockingbird.

But Albom’s book was interesting to me because it involves the topic of heaven.  Even though fiction is fiction (just made up), it often carries themes and ideas that people will accept as truth.  For that reason, I thought I would read the book and comment on how it might influence readers.

I am a follower of Jesus Christ who tries to live by what the Bible says.  That’s where I’m coming from in this review.  However, I think Christians can be very judgmental sometimes toward works not from Christian writers or artists.  We must keep in mind that this book is fiction and is not claimed as truth by its author.  In fact, as you will read later, I think there are some great lessons found in Albom’s book.

So how might this book influence the reader?  Let’s review it!

CLEANLINESS

By cleanliness, I am referring to the typical things parents would look for in movies before allowing their kids to watch- language, sex, drugs, etc.  Albom’s book contains at least twelve uses of profane words, and at least once uses the Lord’s name in vain.  There are no sexual references or joking even of a sexual nature.  Alcohol use is mentioned throughout parts of the story, but it is referred to in a way that makes it out to be a poor decision.

THE WRITING STYLE

I have never read any of Albom’s books, but I did enjoy reading this book because its style of writing.  This might be one of the reasons the book was on the New York Times bestseller list.  He writes in a way that flashes back to different periods of the main character’s life then returns the reader to the current time period.  He uses the flashbacks to explain the current state of the main character in such a way that by the end of the book, all things become clear and connected.  The style of writing was so smooth and easy to read through that it enabled me to read it rather quickly.

A NOTE ON HEAVEN

Albom’s book does not represent heaven according to the Bible.  First off, there is no indication that the main character or any of the people he meets in heaven are born-again believers in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, the main character or others would never have actually reached heaven.  If the reader can get beyond this, then he might enjoy the lessons learned from the story.

A wrong view of heaven is found on page 35: “…and that is what heaven is for.  For understanding your life on earth.”  According to Scripture, this is not the point of heaven.  Heaven is for those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord to live eternally with and in worship of their Savior.  There is no indication in Scripture of heaven being a place to reflect on your life on earth.

Another wrong view of heaven is found on page 47:  “But now I gotta pay…For my sin.  That’s why I’m here, right?  Justice?”  I am not sure what could be farther from the truth than this view of heaven.  This was spoken in the story by the main character, although he received an answer similar to the view I wrote about in the previous paragraph of heaven being a place to reflect on life on earth.

There are a couple other references to heaven in the book that represent heaven incorrectly, and if these views are going to be understood as truth by the reader, then the reader needs to take extreme caution with this book.  Remember, this is a fictional work.  But if this fictional work becomes truth, we will have problems.

I would recommend that readers of this book go through a Biblical study of heaven before reading Albom’s book so they are not confused as to what is truth.

KEY LESSONS FROM THIS BOOK

CAUTION:  IF YOU READ THIS SECTION, YOU WILL SPOIL A MAJOR PART OF THE STORY!!

Despite the inaccurate view of heaven, Albom’s book does teach some great lessons.  Eddie, the main character, goes to heaven after his death in the first chapter.  He meets five people in heaven who were each aprt of his life on earth.  Each one teaches him something about his life that he was not aware of.  The lessons from these characters match the view of heaven prevalent in this book–that heaven is a place to reflect and make sense of life on earth.

The lessons taught by these people are great lessons we all could learn from.  Although I will not summarize each story, let me summarize each lesson.

Person One-  the lesson here was that everything we do in our lives has an impact on someone, even when we don’t know it.

Person Two-  Sacrifice is supposed to be a part of life.  Some profound things are said about sacrificing for others:

“That’s the thing.  Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re really not losing it.  You’re just passing it on to someone else.” (pg. 94)

“I shot you, all right,” he said, “and you lost something, but you gained something as well.  You just don’t know it yet.  I gained something, too.”

“I got to keep my promise.  I didn’t leave you behind.”  (pg. 94)

Person three: “Learn this from me.  Holding anger is a poison.  It eats you from the inside.  We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us.  But hatred is a curved blade.  And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.” (pg. 141)  This quote summarizes the lesson of this person.

Person four:  the lesson here is how important love is between a man and his wife.  Eddie recalls his life with his wife since she is the fourth person he meets in heaven.

Person five:  I did not find as much of a lesson from the last person as another reader might.  This person was a great character to tie up one of the unknowns of Eddie’s life.  It showed him that he was right at one point in his life at following his natural instinct to help someone even though it could have cost him much.

MY CONCLUSION

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a well written book that will entrance the reader because of its style and plot twists.  It is captivating to learn the lessons taught to the main character to see how they apply to the reader’s life.  But it contains inaccurate views of heaven that will mislead people if those views are accepted as truth.  As with anything, it should be read with discernment and be compared to the truth-Scripture.

Please comment on this review to add to this discussion if it interests you.

I’ll say it plainly- no.  We read nothing in Scripture of God creating
sin or creating evil.  But wait, what about Satan?  God created him,
didn’t he?  Yes.  As the youth looked at, Satan was originally created
as an angel, but chose to rebel against God, therefore causing God to
rid heaven of Satan and putting him in his current form, which in the
end of time will be permanently defeated by Christ.  That is not the
reason I write though today.

This is why I write- There has been some thought that God promotes
sin in order to accomplish his purpose; that He would make someone sin
so that He could eventually work out of that.  I want to let Scripture
speak for itself on this one:

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that
we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?
Absolutely not!” -Galatians 2:17

This
one passage speaks to many things, the first being justification. 
Justification is the one-time act of God declaring the believing sinner
righteous in Jesus Christ.  Justification comes only through faith, not
by works.  It is not a process, but a single action.

“It becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners”- If you look at the
context of this passage, it is Paul’s discourse on justification by
faith versus the incorrect thinking of justification by works.  This
scripture is saying that if we are trying to be justified by our works
(the “righteous” things we try to do), that is sinful, because that is
not what Christ taught.  In fact, in the context of this Scripture,
Paul is writing about how he rebuked Peter for falling back into this
way of thinking that justification was by works. 

“Does that mean that Christ promotes sin?”  Here’s a simple answer
that, in retrospect of what I just wrote, Paul is saying that if we try
to be justified sinfully by relying on works to accomplish
justification in our lives, does Christ promote sin?  Absolutely not! 
He does not use sin to accomplish his purposes.

I think that God can bring good out of situations caused by sin, but it
was not his original intent to use sin for his purposes.  God is holy
and righteous.  It would be against his very nature to use sin to
accomplish his sovereign will.  He can however, in his sovereignty,
bring good out of sinful situations.  And I’m thankful for that!

So what’s the conclusion here?

God loves us and created us to be righteous as he showed us to be
through His Son, Jesus.  Let us be cognizant of sin around us, not to
blame God for it, but to rely on Him to help us to live righteously as
Jesus did.

“Why do I need to ask God who created all things and sovereignly puts
all things in order, to do His will?  Won’t he do it anyway if he is
sovereign?”

This is the question I asked at the end of my last writing regarding the Lord’s prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13.  It’s a really large question too!  Let’s look at the Scripture again:

“your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.”  -Matthew 6:10

Jesus said this as a guide for our prayers.  So we should be asking God for His will to be done here in our lives and around us on this earth, just as it has been done in heaven.  So the question comes of what good is there to pray when God is sovereign and accomplishes His purposes anyway?

I have been searching for answers to this, because if there is no answer for this question, there is no need for prayer.

I’m glad there’s an answer!

I think it might start here: 1 Corinthians 10:31:
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

And what about Colossians 3:17:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Bible teaches us that all we do is to be done for the glory of God, meaning we are to bring fame and honor to His name by our words, actions, thoughts, etc.  The verse in Colossians 3:17 adds another dimension to this by telling us to give thanks to God for Jesus.

So we know two things:
1- We are to do all things for the glory of God
2- We should be thankful for Jesus who makes all things possible that we do

So if we are to pray, “Lord, Your will be done,” it echoes the example Jesus himself gave in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded in Matthew 26:39:
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed,
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not
as I will, but as you will.”

Even Jesus knew that he was to follow the will of God.  But so often, we think we can do things on our own.  We don’t need help, right?  Wrong.  I think God wants us to come to the point in our lives where we’re living for His glory, and we can only do this with His help. 

By praying for His will to be done and not ours, we are
1- acknowledging our priorities.  We realize that God has a plan for each of us and we are expressing to God that we desire that plan to unfold the way He created it.
2-relying on God’s power, not our own, to accomplish His will on this earth.

That might be the answer.  Therefore, prayer is necessary.  It takes the focus off of us and brings us under the dominion of our Father.

Let’s all strive to pray for God’s will to be done, and then to follow His leading to accomplish that will in our lives!

There are many times I’ve felt like I don’t know what decision to make regarding my future.  High school, college, working; all of these areas have presented big decisions for me. 

I have been reading in Scripture this week about prayer.  Prayer is one of those amazing things we (if believers and followers in Christ) have in our lives given by our awesome Creator.  Prayer is our communication with God.  Yet even though we are able to talk to God, the Creator of this universe, I often find it a hard thing to implement in my daily life.  For some reason, prayer doesn’t come naturally for me and maybe it doesn’t for others either.

But the Bible tells us: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for
all the saints.”  (Ephesians 6:18)

It also says “pray continually” in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Apparently prayer should not just be an effort to get what we need out of God in a state of desperation, and it should not be limited to just before eating or bed time. 

Prayer should be a lifestyle.

Prayer should be a habit. 

A habit of talking to God.  But then the question comes often of “what do I say when I pray?”

Last night, I led a discussion with the youth at Bethel on prayer.  I broke down the Lord’s prayer we find in Matthew 6:9-13 to give us a guide of how to pray:

This, then, is how you should pray:
    ‘Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us today our daily bread.
 Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.

This prayer is recited in many arenas- football teams say it before a game, it is heard in movies and songs, and of course recited in churches sometimes.  But what if Jesus didn’t mean it to be just something to recite, but as a guide for our prayers?

Think of it this way- Jesus’ prayer could be broken down into categories like this:

1. Praise  “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name”
2. Priorities “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”
3. Provision  “Give us this day our daily bread”
4. Pardon  “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”
5. Protection  “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us”

These are things we can do through prayer!!  I’m really chewing on the second one though.  Why do I need to ask God who created all things and sovereignly puts all things in order, to do His will?  Won’t he do it anyway if he is sovereign?

More on this next week…

I’m really excited for Chris and Elissa this coming Sunday!!  Both of these young people are going to be baptized!!!  It’s an exciting time because I get to see their faith growing and get to see them following in obedience to Christ by being baptized.  I can’t wait to see what these two do with their lives as they allow God to lead them.

As I prepare to baptize Chris Sunday, I’ve been looking back into Romans 6 to revisit a Biblical explanation of what baptism is and why it’s important.  It’s simply a symbolic act of showing that a person is burying their old sinful nature and he is rising with new life, much in the same way that Jesus was buried and then rose again.  Look at the Scripture:

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life.”  Romans 6:3,4

I write very little today because that Scripture sums it up.  We should rejoice because of these new lives in Christ who are publicly showing their faith through their baptisms!  We should rejoice because of what Christ did on the cross for us, to allow us to be forgiven of what we’ve done and spend eternity with Him in Heaven!

What am I learning in Scripture this week?  To rejoice!!

• Took people captive from another nation
• Thought he was a god and built a big gold statue of himself for people to worship
• Became extremely proud
• Ordered people to be burned in a fiery furnace if they didn’t worship him

Doesn’t sound too much like someone God was working through, does it?  But it was.  Meet King Nebuchadnezzar.  Besides having a name you can stump anyone with in a spelling bee, he has an ultimate purpose from God that included some things that didn’t necessarily seem “Godly.”  You could look into his life and think he’s a horrible person, but then you would realize that in the end, God used it for His (God) good.

Look at Daniel 4:34-37:

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”

36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

These are the last words we read about this king in the book of Daniel.  And it shows the king’s change of heart and his realization that God is sovereign and over all things.  God was using those things that most would think were bad to do much good.

Consider this verse- Romans 8:28:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Everything in this life that happens is allowed by God for some reason.  Especially in the light of September 11 yesterday, many struggle to understand why God would let tragedies happen.  There are reasons for calamaties- namely, peoples’ sin- but in all things, God can work it out for good.

Even Nebuchadnezzar’s actions resulted in good.  Look at the life of Daniel and what he was able to do as an exile in this king’s government.

The point is this- see through those tough times in your life to see the sovereignty of God, and anticipate the lessons and the good that will come from them.

I preached a sermon I titled “Pressing Forward” this past Sunday.  It pretty much is the message behind the title of this blog and a big part of how I live my life.  Since it has so much to do with this blog, I thought I’d post the sermon podcast site here.  You can click here to go to the page and listen to the podcast of the sermon from this past week.

In case you missed the interview between Senators Obama and McCain, you can watch it by going to this website:  http://www.relevantmagazine.com/politics.php