I’ve recently made the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.  Yesterday I was the Pastor of the FBC McKinney; today I officially begin my new role as Pastor of the Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.  Though God’s call on my life has come once again- with crystal clarity- it has been difficult nonetheless.  In fact, I’ve discovered that those things are almost always one and the same; following God is always costly.  Throughout the process I have turned to Jesus, venturing deeply into His character, His heart, and His desires.  I’ve hung out in places like Colossians 1 where Paul offers one of the most comprehensive revelations of Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. There, Paul speaks of the preeminence of Christ- the Supremacy of Christ in all things.  He summarizes his thoughts with, “Christ is all.” Colossians 3:11

Years ago I decided that Christ would be preeminent in my life but the reality of that commitment has played out in ways I would’ve never imagined.  Christ becomes preeminent in one’s life only after being confronted with a series of life’s hardest decisions.  I’ve been confronted with the same question(s) that Peter wrestled with on the shore of Galilee.  In John 21, Jesus is face to face with Peter for the first time since His resurrection.  He’s given up as a disciple.  He has denied his Master and now Jesus will show Him the depth of His forgiveness and the length of His restorative agenda for Peter.  Jesus asks,

“Do you love me more than these?” John 21:15

What are “these”?

• More than these other disciples love Me?
• More than you love these disciples?
• More than you love these fish? (Some commentators offer a stronger argument for this option than you might imagine).

Do you love me? Here’s the weight of this question:

• As I love you?
• More than you love any other human relationship?
• More than your own livelihood?
• More than your own plans, hopes, and dreams?

As I’ve wrestled with this question as never before, I’ve asked (again), “How would I know?”  How would I really know if I love Jesus more than anything/anyone else in life?  In the end, the only way you would know is if God called you to give up your hopes, your dreams, your loves, – even your deepest and most meaningful relationships- in order to follow Him.  This, of course, aligns with Christ’s words in Matthew 10:37 (and elsewhere) when He says if we love our father or mother, son or daughter is not worthy to follow Him.  Did he really mean this?  He most certainly did.

How would you know?  Well, every now and then in life we have one of those defining moments when we are faced with a decision.  God comes to us and says, “Do you love me more than these? More than anything in your life?”  For me to leave the greatest church I’ve ever been a part of and dive into the great unknown of the future has been heart-breaking, hopeful, sad, exciting, and gut-wrenching.  I know that He has called me to go; so I must go.  It is true, “saying goodbye is such sweet sorrow”.  Some day I will stand before my Savior again, face to face (like Peter) and on that day I will be the one resurrected, following after my Savior.  When He asks, “Did you love me more than these?” I want to say, “Yes, you know I did.”

What about you? What is He asking you to release, to deny, to give up, in order to love Him comprehensively, with your whole life? Seek His face.  Let Him reveal what it is.  Then, do it.  Ultimate freedom in life comes when you realize that nothing is yours and all is His.  Freedom. Release.  Joy.  Christ is all.

“But what about you?” He asked, “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15

The first followers of Jesus encountered Him in a profound and life-changing way.  But with successive generations, it’s possible for this encounter to fade like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.  What begins as a revolutionary, life-altering encounter with Jesus, eventually subsides into a codified religion and is then incorporated into normal social life.  The “YOU say” is contextual. Each new generation, every culture is given a “you say”.  And if we get our “you say” wrong, we get everything wrong.  It was W. A. Tozer who said, “What comes into our minds when we think of God is the most important thing about us.”  I would say that what comes into your mind when you think of Christ is the most important thing about you.

Jesus did not come to be the Founder of a religion.  Rightly understood, Christianity is decidedly anti-religion. Through His life, death, and resurrection Jesus ushered in a whole new way to experience the God of Israel- which later became known as Christianity.  Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.  In fact, Jesus eliminated the need for religion. But for most Christians, Jesus is simply part of the American life and not the guiding, defining center.  A vibrant, ongoing, and exciting relationship with Christ is reduced to just going to church.  We receive Christ as Savior of our sins but not Lord of our lives.  And this is what I want us to talk about today.  After all is said and done, and after all the opinions of Jesus are offered…He remains the Risen Lord!

What is Christianity?  It is Christ.  Nothing more, nothing less.  In his book, “Jesus Manifesto”, Leonard Sweet has noted, “Christianity is not a religion, it is not an ideology, or a philosophy.  Neither is it a new type of morality, social ethic, or worldview. “  Christianity is the “Good News” that life, beauty, redemption, and all that is good and right, and made right is found in a Person, whose name is Jesus.  And true humanity and community are founded in and experienced by connection to that Person.  I’ve heard people say they want go deeper and move on to other things.  Deeper? What “other things”?  Other things beyond Christ?  Is there anything deeper than Christ?  If you think you can move on beyond Christ, you’ve never really encounter Him.

In Colossians 1:15-23, Paul sets forth one of the greatest revelations of Christ in all of Scripture.  He says Christ is supreme in creation, He is supreme in authority, and He is supreme in redemption.  All things were created by Him and for Him, including you. You’ll finally discover ultimate freedom and joy if you’ll allow Him to be supreme in every area of your life.

Scientists in the UK say they have certain proof that the answer to the oft-posed question of whether the egg preceded the chicken or the chicken preceded the egg. The answer, say the researchers is… (drum roll here)… the chicken came first.  There you go.  You can sleep tonight.

According to the scientists a protein called “ovocleidin” (OC17) is the catalyst for the creation of eggs, and it’s created in the ovaries of chickens (and nowhere else).  One news report noted that, “Some mysteries remain as it is still unclear where the chicken that came before the egg came from.”  Okay, let me solve that mystery (and maybe I’ll make national news too).  The Bible says God created all things- including the chicken.  God created chickens so they could make baby chickens; that’s why the chicken comes with an ample supply of ovoleidin.  Sheffield University´s Dr. Colin Freeman stated, “It had long been suspected that the egg came first but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first.”

This is further proof of God and the fact that He created all things.  It is pure (and simple) Aristotelian logic: For every cause there must be an effect.  The world and all that is (again, including chickens) is the cause and God is the effect.  Let’s talk science: You can’t something from nothing! It is scientifically impossible.  Living matter does not come from non-living matter.  This is not improbable or unlikely; it is impossible.  End the debate.  God created everything that is.  Let’s all be accountable to Him and steward this one and only life He’s given, for His glory.

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:22

The Chicken or the Egg?

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

Click here: THE MISSION

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.