Faith

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Finding Faith That Lasts

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on December 4, 2020
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

I took a week off to be in Tennessee for Thanksgiving visiting family. I missed this. I missed sitting in JJ’s, eating my breakfast sandwich and writing down what is on my mind. It’s good to be back. Routine is good. It’s comforting, you know. It allows you to feel purposed, like you are going to accomplish something today. It’s predictable and predictable is in short supply these days. Routine is as welcome as my favorite comfort food or my reliable Cariloha (shameless plug) lounging pants/sweatshirt on a cold night.

Another thing in short supply this year is sustainable faith. I spend way too much time on social media for someone who wears their heart on their sleeve. I hurt for my friends struggling with depression, health issues, wayward children, job loss, death, and other trying and tumultuous occurrences. At the center of all of these situations, everyone is asking the same question…..”Why?” Believers and non-believers alike are questioning why things are happening to them. They have asked why such a loving God would allow them to suffer. For many believers, 2020 has shaken their faith to the core and for the non-believer, it has driven a wedge even further between them an accepting the idea that there is a God who loves them.

Now, 2020 has been anything but a minor event, but you have to wonder how our faith has been rattled so violently- some to the point of walking away for good. There will be time when your faith will be tested and it will legitimately be difficult to see to the worth of surrendering your entire life to God just to drag yourself through the muck of a sinful world. So how do believers latch on to a faith that may be rattled, but stands strong through any storm that is thrown its way? Likewise, how do we share the gospel of a loving God during such a difficult time to live? The answer isn’t easy to digest and its one that I am constantly working through and growing from. I believe we lose faith in Christ as the answer because the faith we have in Him was misplaced or wasn’t genuine to begin with. We placed our faith in a “genie in a bottle” and once the first sign of trouble happens, life doesn’t go our way, or the first prayer isn’t answered the way we want, then we dismiss Him like a fad diet that didn’t work.

I will be the first to admit that my faith is shaken every now and then. The profession to which I am called does not make me immune from periods of doubt. I think the key to sustainable faith is getting back to the foundational word of God. There we will find a faith that lasts, that stands up against anything, and a God in whose plan we can trust no matter how tough things get. In this media saturated age, we can find clips and snippets of “preachers” who will tell us exactly what we want to hear. This isn’t a new phenomenon- we’ve seen it for years- it’s called church hopping (going to a church until they step on your toes and then find another to tickle your ears), the internet has just made it convenient to do it from your home. They will give emotionally charged messages about how you can be David and slay your giants. Which will have you pumped up & ready to run through a wall by the end. The problem is- we aren’t David in that story, Jesus is. Like everything else, the story is about Christ, not us. The truth is the Bible will convict you. It will step on your toes and it will make you constantly re-evaluate how you’re living your life; and quite frankly we don’t like that. The Bible, however, also heals. It comforts and it guides. It reminds us that we don’t have to worry about the results because we are not in control of them. That is a faith that is sustainable because it’s not about doing the right thing or accomplishing a task, it’s about leaning on Christ who has taken care of it. Unsustainable faith tells us to “do,” but the Bible tells us it’s already done.

We don’t need a motivational speaker on Sunday mornings to get us pumped up like we are getting ready to play in the Super Bowl. We don’t need a smoke and light show or Sunday morning concert entertainment. We don’t need another religious TedTalk that uses the Bible as a reference. We need to let the Word of God speak and speak truth, to humble us. Sustainable faith is rooted in humility- humbleness before a creator and in our pursuit of holiness. To borrow from an idea given to pastors by author Jared Wilson, I think sustainable faith is found not in a religious, righteous “swagger”, but in a humble “limp”. The bottom line here is this- is the Bible all you need? Pastor and author, David Platt, gives us a chilling thought about where we have placed our faith. He said:

“What if we take away the cool music and cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for His people to come together?

-David Platt

Sustainable faith comes not from a posture of expectation, but from a posture of surrender. Sustainable faith comes from grounding ourselves in the truth of God’s word, even when that truth is hard to swallow. Sustainable faith comes from building our foundation on the truth of God’s word, not the momentary emotion of a rehearsed speech or stirring motivational story. There will be more 2020’s in our lives. We will lose loved ones, we will hit speed bumps, we will have our faith tested. Are we preparing our faith to weather the storm? We see this imagery in Matthew 7:24-27, at the end of Jesus’s sermon on the mount. One house was built on the rock and the other was built on the sand. When the storm came, the one on the sand was destroyed, while the house on the rock stood firm- but remember…..they BOTH went through the storm. Sustainable faith is built on the truth of God’s word, anything else is…well, quite frankly, shifting sand.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach

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Eliminating the 3rd Chair

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on November 13, 2020
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

At this point, you’ve clicked on this article for one of two reasons: 1) You follow this blog and you wanted to see what is rattling around my brain today or 2) You really want to know what I have against chairs. That’s fair, so let me offer some background. There is an evangelistic message that I use when I am invited to speak and occasionally I will use it at church called the 4 Chairs. I didn’t write it nor did I put it together. I first heard it years ago when I heard Adrian Despres present it at a youth conference. I became friends with Adrian (we have a mutual friend that we were unaware of at the time) and I eventually got the courage up to ask if it was ok that I use the 4 Chairs as an evangelistic tool when I spoke. He was very excited and graciously told me he would love for me to use it.

So, without going into the whole thing, here is what each chair represents: Chair number 1 represents those who are completely sold out, believers of Christ, pursuing holiness and growing in their faith daily- not perfect Christians (there is no such thing) but definitely growing. Chair number 2 represents Christians who have gotten comfortable. They attend church, but don’t care to miss for frivolous things. They have growth spurts, but its not necessarily an on-going process. They are believers, but it is often compartmentalized as a Sunday and/or Wednesday thing that doesn’t always make an appearance in their life outside of church unless specifically asked about. They absolutely believe in evangelism, but tend to shy away from doing evangelism themselves. They are satisfied staying where they are until they realize that by staying still, they have moved farther away from Christ, so they catch up (hence the growth spurts). This, unfortunately is where most members of churches are today, especially here in American where we don’t suffer the hard persecution that other countries face. And before pride gets the best of you, ALL OF US have spent time in this chair. Chair 4 (yes, I know I skipped chair 3) are those who know without a shadow of a doubt that they are not Christian. They are what we consider lost people. They act like lost people, they rely on themselves, but something you need to consider as a believer- many of them are wonderful people who are as “good” or better humans than a lot of believers. They love others, they help people in need, they smile at you, and they are great students, neighbors, family members, etc… This is why the gospel is so important to reach them- we can’t be good enough to get to Heaven, and the message of the gospel is that we ALL need a savior.

That brings me to Chair 3- the most dangerous chair in this entire presentation, because the concept behind this chair is very real in our churches today. Chair 3 represents people who have at some point in time in their life been convinced that they are saved, but are not; and now they go through their lives thinking they are Heaven-bound but they aren’t. They sit in churches and hear the gospel preached and never respond to the invitation to accept Christ because they think it does not apply to them. This can happen for a multitude of reasons. Some think that salvation is inherited- their grandparents or parents are Christian so they are. You can identify this mindset because it is often accompanied by them telling you they’ve been Christians “their whole life.”

As a church, however, we need to take responsibility for eliminating this chair in our churches. Too many times, you see a kid walk the aisle at a VBS only to walk it every single year at VBS after that. As a a youth pastor, we see hundreds of students go forward at a conference because they feel convicted for something in their life. There is no doubt that many genuinely give their lives to Christ, but I have seen far too many come back and absolutely nothing changed in their lives. They just wanted to feel better in the moment- but no transformation. You see, you cannot encounter Christ and walk away the same person. Romans 6: 1-5 paints this picture:

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

Romans 6:1-5


I believe we have a responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen. We, as the church, cannot rubber stamp salvations without putting in the effort to follow up with those new believers, not because they need us to be saved- that’s God’s job, but to talk through what salvation will mean for them. They need to know the road will be tough. They need to know that they will sacrifice things, actions, habits, friends, and sometimes even family. They need to know that this isn’t a decision that fixes all of their problems, that it’s not a quick escape plan, and there will be many more difficult times in their lives. How do we do that? Discipleship! Yeah, yeah, there I go with the D word again. Sorry, not sorry. If we do not take this step, then at the first sign of trouble or opposition they will learn the hard way and many walk completely away from the church deeming it a failure or worse questioning if this “Jesus stuff” is even real. These things happen all of the time and I am fearful how many people are walking around today thinking they are saved and Heaven-bound only to be in for an eternally rude awakening when they stand before the Lord in judgment and He says, “I never knew you.” I was told of a recent conversation between someone close to me and their friend. The friend identified himself as a Christian, but thinks he’s an agnostic or atheist. Those two things cannot co-exist and by identifying himself as Christian, he is convinced that he is saved.

You may think that I am taking a seemingly rigid view of this, but let me ask you- how upset would you be if you thought you were saved your whole life, only to find out you never had a relationship with Christ after it was too late? And how much worse is it, if a church was the one that gave you that false assurance because they did not follow up or disciple you? When you accept Christ, you CHANGE- simple as that. You desires begin looking like God’s desires. You WANT to grow, you WANT to be a part of the body, you WANT others to have the same salvation that you have. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, and see, the new has come.” So, yes, I am taking a rigid view of this because it is that important and no, this isn’t a Keith Jones crusade, I have taken my cues from Christ himself. Read Luke chapter 9, you will discover that Jesus talks people out of following Him as much as He brought people along to follow Him. He explained the cost and what it takes to follow Him. He made sure their commitment was genuine.

Truth is we won’t get them all. Some people don’t want life change, they only want temporary relief from guilt. Others will outright reject the gospel invitation, but we have a responsibility to reach as many as we can with the gospel of Jesus Christ and we definitely have a responsibility to make sure that we follow up and invest in the genuine growth of His disciples. That means making sure that no one walks away from us with a false understanding of their own salvation. This is not meant to make you question your salvation at all- it is intended to make you think- about your life and how the gospel is presented to others. If you feel like you may fall into this 3rd chair, I urge you not to waste another moment, talk to someone you trust and get on that path to follow Christ. My approach…my heart in writing this is if I am wrong in being this particular, then there is nothing to lose, I’ll see you in Heaven; but if I am right, if there are people destined for hell that think they are saved and I don’t say anything, that would be difficult to live with. Church, let’s put the work in. Let’s celebrate new life where there is new life. Let’s all make efforts to become believers in that first chair and let’s make every effort to eliminate the 3rd chair.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach

Exercising Your Faith

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on October 11, 2015
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

IMG_20151011_112316_827It’s a fitness crazed world. Everyone is getting into the act as the fitness fad sweeps across the nation. Now, as far as fads go, this one at least has healthy benefits. People are making conscious decisions to take better care of themselves and lead healthier lifestyles. Everywhere you go, you see people running, doing Crossfit, or at home with their P90x or Insanity. When I played baseball both in high school and college, the number one thing I hated doing more than anything was running. In fact, I swore once my career was over, I would never run again. Yet here it is, 2015, and I too have joined the fitness craze. Tomorrow, I will begin week 2 of my couch to 5K training program, I bought a fit bit to help track my exercise & sleeping patterns, and I am counting my calories using My Fitness Pal. Now, did I jump on the bandwagon because everyone else did? No, I just realized a simple truth, a truth most all of us have realized- if we don’t take care of ourselves now, we may not live to spend later days with our family. So, in all morbid honesty, I could no longer stand the thought and fear of having a stroke or heart attack and leaving my family behind when I should have done something about it.

This revelation, as most of my revelations do, got me thinking about the spiritual implications of my decision to get back into shape. What are we doing to maintain our spiritual health? I mean there are all of these programs, apps, and gimmicks we buy into in order to achieve our physical health goals; but what about our spiritual health? Do we have spiritual health goals? What are we doing to exercise our spiritual muscles; and what are we doing to maintain our spiritual health once we begin to exercise it? I believe that the exercising of our faith is far more important than any physical exercise that we can accomplish. I also believe that it can be done just as easily as our physical exercise if we are willing to put forth the effort.

All of these categories fit into what I call Basic Faith Maintenance. This is a concept that I talk with my students about quite often. The tools needed to maintain a healthy spiritual lifestyle in a very dark and lost world. Basic Faith Maintenance is a simple 3 step process that includes daily prayer, daily bible study, and being involved in a community of believers. Daily prayer is an act of worship- an act that should be done to glorify and honor God in every request we bring before Him. When we engage actively in prayer with our creator, an amazing relationship builds out of it. Secondly, in order to grow our spiritual muscle we must exercise our faith and our knowledge of God’s Word daily.  Being engaged in Bible Study not only stimulates that faith growth, but it prepares us for the tough times of persecution that comes our way and tries to convince us that this is all just a myth. Lastly, we MUST engage with a community of believers- the church.  Our culture has redefined church as something negative and unneeded. Culture has convinced us that we can have “church” on the lake, or in our houses in front of the TV, or somewhere else. Culture tells us that our quiet time is enough. The problem with this thinking lies in the fact that church is not just a building with a sermon & a few songs sung- the Church is the PEOPLE!! People who are like minded in faith, who hold us accountable, who are a support system when the world has beaten you down. They are they recharging station our spiritual lives need when we have spent a long week in this cold, lost world that cares nothing about us.

As a I wrap this article up, it would be easy for me to say that I could have church, sitting with my family at this table looking at the Atlantic Ocean- but the truth is that I missed my church family this morning. I missed the recharge I get when I see my students and get to pour into them. Now, I will be the first to tell you that this time away was desperately needed, but I can assure you that next Sunday evening I will be more than ready to be in front of my students engaged in God’s Word, because even us pastors need the Body of Christ to help heal us and recharge us from week to week.  So let me encourage you- if you can find time to run, if you can find time to Crossfit or lift, if you can find time for P90x, then you can find time to exercise your faith.

In Christ Alone,

 

Rev. Bro. Coach