Love/hate relationship

Psalms 97:10 (NIV) “Let those who love the LORD hate evil…”

I find this interesting that those who would love God are encouraged to hate evil. Why? When you love someone deeply you love what they love and you hate what they hate. God hates evil. It is destructive to those that he loves so He hates it. Hating evil is an issue of love. In fact the sincerity of our love is on the line.

Romans 12:9 (NIV) “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”

We were designed by Love for Love. God is Love. He wants us to receive it. He wants us to give it. When sin is looked to for a source of enjoyment we lose our ability to love. We still desire love and still want to give it but we cannot. We become self-seeking and lack authenticity. Pride, envy, jealousy, and other controlling motives take over the heart rendering it unable to give and receive love. Therefore we must guard our hearts with all dilligence against love for the world.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV) 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

God’s love and love for the sinful pleasures of this life cannot coexist-so we must choose. Die loving the world or live forever loving Him.

that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh

Today I took my son out to swing him and he began singing “that's the way, uh-huh uh-huh, I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh…” He had this big smile and he just kept singing it. I hated it! What’s up? I loved that song as a boy in the 70’s! KC & the Sunshine Band!!! Come on!! Ok. Let’s be honest. That song is about sex. Pure un-adulterated sex-(is that an oximoron)? My 4 year old son singing joyfully about sex? I asked, “where did you here that song”? “On TV”, he said. On TV? MY TV? WHEN? Later that day I heard it-a commercial with that song promoting a product in a subtle but sexual way. Love…does not rejoice in unrighteousness. My son unwittingly enjoying a song about sex? ENOUGH!!!!

Having children causes us to re-evaluate. How much trash is being downloaded into Sam’s brain (or mine) in very subtle ways? How much do we entertain ourselves with media that is impure? How much does that affect my ability to give and receive love? As I contemplate 1 Cor. 13 I am realizing that love does not enjoy evil. And to the degree that I allow evil (even unwittingly) into my life I am diminished in my capacity to love. I want Sam to grow up with a strong capacity to love. I want him to have a strong sense of what is good and what is evil.

When it comes to Sam I hate evil. Wow there it is…no wonder my Father hates evil and tells me to do the same.

Amos 5:15 (NIV) “Hate evil, love good...”

Blondes have more fun?

This week I am reflecting on fun as it relates to love.

1 Corinthians 13:6 “Love…does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth"

We love to have fun, but could our fun be unloving? Most people view sin as a way to have fun. Las Vegas is built on the idea. Our culture is largely centered on entertainment. Movies, television, internet all are mediums of consuming images that stimulate pleasure neurons in our joy hungry brains. Is this how we are designed to enjoy life? Last night the Travel Channel aired a showed called:
21 Sinful Vegas Hot Spots In one fast-paced glitzy hour, the alluring, sexy and luxurious hot spots in Sin City are revealed. So, toss your inhibitions aside and prepare yourself for a head-spinning trip around town for 21 Sinful Vegas Hot Spots.

I guess that great philosopher Kurt Cobain spoke for a generation when he wrote “Here we are, now entertain us.” He has been labeled, “Spokesman of a generation” a title he was never comfortable with. In disallusionment, he eventually took his own life. I know there was a time in my life when I celebrated in sin-even bragged about my exploits. I thought it was how you had fun. It almost killed me.

Proverbs 14:12-13 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Laughter can conceal a heavy heart; when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

I am reminded of one of our cultures most famous blondes and how her tragic story ended...I wonder, do blondes really have more fun? What is fun really?

rude

1 Cor. 13:5
“…Love is not rude…”

Recent studies conclude that people today are significantly more rude than 10 years ago. In our highly productive, fast moving, marginless culture people are stretched to the max. They feel pressure. People under pressure put people under pressure. This leads to a rude society. I sometimes can be rude. As I reflect on the times and situations where I am rude (whether it is with strangers, friends, or even my own family) I find it is usually when I am in a hurry to get somewhere or get something done. Jesus advice to me and other rude ones like me: SLOW DOWN.

1 Corinthians 14:1 “Let love be your highest goal…”

If we are to be people oriented instead of task oriented then we must create margin for people and reduce our pace.

We are looking at love and there are some things that love is and there are some things that love is not. Not envious-not boastful-not proud-not rude AND not in too much of a hurry. Jesus never seemed rushed-have you noticed that? He noticed people. He valued people. People were his task. He was not self-focused. He was others-focused.

Try slowing down a little around people today and see if you are able to improve the quality of your relationships.

God's pain

I've often heard people talk about God's heart breaking over our sin. Is that really true? Does God experience pain? Grief? Over us? Love suffers long. God suffers with us. I long for the day when His pain will be over. Irony-His pain will not end until ours does. What love.

Hosea 11:8 "Oh, how can I give you up, my Ephraim? How can I let you go? How can I forsake you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart cries out within me; how I long to help you!

Let's get something straight...

What if right now, everything we knew, felt, believed about Jesus was suddenly turned “upside down.” Challenged. Tested. What if we came to realize that much of what we thought and believed about love, grace, forgiveness, Jesus, each other and ourselves was poorly defined at best and flat wrong at worst? JesusHD is about challenging our current image of Christ and getting deeper clarity-sharper focus. Before we dive further into 1 Cor. 13 (The Love Chapter) let’s get something straight. When you see things in HD, you see things you never saw before. Love is strong as much as it is gentle.

“Submit to God's royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of your pursuits— for his anger can flare up in an instant. But what joy for all who find protection in him!” NLT Psalm 2:12

Could some of us have a LD (Low definition/analog) picture of Jesus? Surely the Jesus of the New Testament would not give birth to such a passive church. Open the Bible to the Gospel of Mark and you immediately see a Jesus who commands the respect of leaders, fights the devil, and influences men to drop everything to follow him wherever He goes. I submit that some of us have been led to believe in a “nice” Jesus instead of a “good” Jesus. A nice Jesus would be afraid to tell people to quit jobs, spend extended time away from family, knock on doors unannounced, and die martyr’s deaths. I this what love looks like in HD? Patient? Kind? Forgiving?

No, Jesus is not nice but he is kind. He doesn’t play by “the rules”. He confronts people, is opinionated and filled with strong will. He threatens preachers who are in religion only for the money. He calls His disciples slow learners, wondering out loud how much longer he’ll have to be with them. People are always trying to trick Him so he shows them up publicly and calls them names like snakes and hypocrites and worse! He verbally rebukes government officials. He says things at church services that basically disrupt the entire meeting. One time he said something so hard that many of His disciples couldn’t take it and left him for good. What did He do? He just watched them walk away. Instead of nervously explaining himself, he turned to the rest of them and asked them if they would like to leave as well.

I think that some have unwittingly projected an image of a Jesus who doesn’t really exist. Thus many have believed in a wooden Jesus who was “perpetually somber, consistently robotic, and consummately nice.” This Jesus would not think of using sarcasm or being critical because He has nice manners.

Many sermons (including some of mine) have been designed to spin for us a Jesus who is always approachable, always calm, and endlessly patient. In his book, “No More Christian Mr. Nice Guy” Paul Coughlin says that kind of Jesus is “fiction right up there with the Da Vinci Code” he also says that Jesus was a dissident and “brought the world both- the kind of conflict and division needed to shake things up for our own good.” Jesus was not nice. He was GOOD. Good is the opposition of Evil. You overcome evil-you are not nice to it. In order to overcome evil you must take a stand against it. That was what Jesus did. He was a fiery revolutionary with clear goals and a focused mind. If you opposed Him or got in His way, He could put you in your place right quick-even if you were his “friend”. OF COURSE Jesus was compassionate and forgiving, he could weep and display love, but He was also unpredictable and people (including His disciples) learned very fast not to mess with Him.

It is this Jesus that I hope to present to you in HD. He rejects passivity and leads courageously. He rocks boats that need rocking and boldly speaks the truth in a very powerful and loving way. He commands respect and makes a difference. From a place of strength not weakness He “turns the other cheek”. He has a good and dangerous heart that fights evil. He fought for my heart and won it. It cost Him a great deal. It is in honor of such bravery and great sacrifice that I surrender my heart in love to Him.

Impotence

Many people wonder why the church is losing it's influence in today's world. Why are people voting with their feet and leaving in droves? Why are lives not changing? Could it be that the church and it's people have lost power? Have we become impotent?

1 Cor. 13:1-3 If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. [3] If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

According to what you just read, without love...

• What you say is annoying


• What you know makes you know-it-all


• What you believe becomes irrelevant


• What you give gains you nothing


• What you accomplish is worthless

In other words: Life unmotivated by love has no power. It is impotent. Worthless. Nothing matters more than relationships. And in relationships nothing matters more than love. God is Love.

1 John 4:8 (MSG) "The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love."

May your life be empowered by love.

JesusHD

“Now we see things imperfectly…we will see everything with perfect clarity.” 1 Cor. 13:12

A little over a year ago I went to a gathering at a friends for lunch. He had a football game on his gigantic new HDTV and the clarity was amazing. Never before had I seen so much detail. I had an HDTV but I did not have the HD signal converter so I went to the cable company and got one. I was amazed at how much of a difference seeing shows in HD made for the overall viewing experience. I would switch back and forth from ESPN regular to HD and just be blown away. In fact, I was up recently on Saturday night watching college football highlights and they played clips that were not in HD and it was almost frustrating how poor the quality seemed to me. Funny...that was normal to me a couple of years ago. And when I was a kid, I would be happy to see games in black and white. (Am I that old?)

I Cor. 13 has been described as the love chapter. It seeks to clearly define what love is and what love is not. But even after going into great detail, it say we still "see things imperfectly". I am convinced that it does not matter how much information I get "about" love, until I see Jesus for myself, my life experience is greatly diminished. Life is enhanced through connection to a Pure Source. That connection is Jesus. That Source is God.

An analog signal cannot deliver an HD image. If you are receiving an analog signal into your TV set you are missing a world of detail and definition. It does not even matter if you have a great TV. The source must be digital. God is Love. His Spirit is pure signal. His Son Jesus is an exact representation of God's image. Jesus is God in HD.

John 1:18 (NCV) "No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and he has shown us what God is like."

How's your signal?

My source of Joy

The other night I was watching an interview on Lary King with Winona Judd. She was talking about her current victory over depression which led her to alcoholism. She said something that I may never forget: "Now days when I start to reach for a drink, instead I reach for relationships." She went on to explain that healthy, loving relationships was what she always needed and did not have. Now her happiness is found in love with other key people that she allows into her life.

I have found this to be true as well. Joy for me is found in relationship to others who I am exploring what it means to give and recieve true love. Nothing matters more than relationships. Those who devalue relationships lose out on much of life's joy. Paul recognized this in his letter to some of his friends. They had a "special place in his heart" and were a constant source of joy in his memory bank. He could simply think of them and experience joy. Listen to the message paraphrase:

"It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. 8 He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!" Phil. 1:7-8 (MSG)

Jesus taught us that the secret to joy was loving each other the way that He loved us. To lay down our lives for each other and serve one another in love.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:11-14 (NIV)

My joy is ultimately found when I listen to Jesus who leads me to live an others-centered life giving myself away in loving relationships with those He loves. I am glad that Jesus is showing me this again. My joy is expanding as I obey Him in this. Like Winona, I too am reaching for relationships.

May the Joy of Jesus be in you today and may your joy be full!

Do you really love me?

Once a woman went to her husband and said, “Honey, do you love me”? He said, “Of course I do.” She walked away with the same lack of assurance as she came. Why do you think she asked?

Probably because the love was only verbalized not actualized.

If I ask you, “Do you love God?” What will you say? If you are like me you will say, “of course I do”. Let’s examine what the Bible says about true love for God:

We show our love for Jesus and God by obedience.

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

Love or non-love for Jesus is reflected in our obedience to Jesus' teachings.

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23, 24)

Love for God is reflected by our actions, not our words or emotions (which both can be a lie). Our actions do not lie. When we obey, we say, “I love You” according to God. Also when we obey, God reveals more of Himself to us. He “comes to us” and “makes His home with us”. What a priveledge for the one who obeys. What an honor to know and be close to God!

Some might say what does that mean-to be close to God? I know what that has meant for me but I cannot know what that means for you. Obey Him and find out for yourself.