In Christ Alone

All posts tagged In Christ Alone

Why Frigga Was Right

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on January 10, 2022
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you know me at all, the MCU has probably come up in conversation. This past week, I sat down and re-watched (for like the 100th time) the movies Infinity War and Endgame. These are the dramatic conclusions to the initial 3 phase run culminating the first decade of Marvel movies. While I was watching Endgame, there was a scene between Thor and his mother, Frigga. Thor was having a tough time, feeling sorry for himself and his mother said something to him that stuck out to me. Now, I have heard Rene Russo deliver this line a bunch of times, but this time, it hit me different. When I heard the quote again, it was like I heard it for the first time. the quote is this: “Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.” I posted this recently on my social media and got far more response than I expected. So, I wanted to take a moment and explain why I think Frigga was spot with what she said to Thor and how it can most definitely apply to our lives.

“Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be…” We come with expectations don’t we? Whether those expectations were put on us by society, our family, our friends, or even ourselves, we all feel the weight of expectation sooner or later. The truth in this line is that eventually, we are going to fail at meeting those expectations. Now being someone who has struggled with perfectionism, the weight of that failure can become overwhelming. I know there are countless people out there who know this weight all too well. But you know what? That’s ok. Whether it is others or ourselves, we eventually have unrelenting standards placed on us that lead us to that failure because those standards are made to please an imperfect source. Eventually, we will fail to be what a friend expects us to be even though we gave them everything we had. Eventually, we will fail to accomplish something, even though we tried our very best. And what I have learned is, we place all of our value, all of our self-worth in that one basket- the basket of “who we are supposed to be.” Which leads me to the back half of the quote.

Through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, we don’t operate in a world of do, we operate in a world of done.

“The measure of a person…is how well they succeed at who they are.” (omission mine- I don’t get to fly around with a hammer, so I omitted the hero part). This is where we should be. This is where our self worth should lie. We should seek to succeed in who we are. Let me rephrase a bit, we should seek to succeed in who God made us to be. God made each and every one of us on purpose and with a purpose. He made each and every one of us according to His will and His plan. So often, we let a broken world try to tell us who we are supposed to be, instead of plugging into who the Father made us to be. Now, you may think that I am simply arguing semantics here, but let me show you the difference, at least in my mind. The difference here is how we measure success. When society tells us who we are supposed to be, it comes with an equally unrelenting set of measurements that we will eventually fall short of achieving. This leads us to doubting ourselves and if we place our value in those things, it leads to feeling worthless. However, that is not how God measures success. Through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, we don’t operate in a world of do, we operate in a world of done. So, for me at least, I want to succeed at being who I am, who He made me to be, a follower of Christ, a person who loves people, a person who shares the gospel. I want to let go of whatever the world expects me to be and cling tightly to who God says I am. That is where I want to live.

We all feel the weight of expectation. We all feel the pressure to succeed. I hope this sheds light on at least my perspective of where the shift needs to happen. I hope that this helps someone let go of trying to be someone the world wants them to be instead of being who they were created to be. Frigga was right, we should start being who we are, who God made us to be, and leave behind the unrealistic expectations this broken world places on us. We might find that our measure of success was skewed all along. We don’t need to be on the cross, that job is already done; however, we will find our worth, our identity, ourselves, instead, at the foot of the cross.

In Christ Alone,

Rev. Bro. Coach

Advertisement

Pack Your Bags: Parents, The Next Generation, & Discipleship

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on October 22, 2021
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

I had the privilege of preaching the Sunday morning service last Sunday as a part of a series that we are doing about the mission and vision for our church. The topic for my sermon was one that is very near and dear to my heart- the discipleship of the next generation. Unlike many stories pastors have about their call, mine is different. I was not called to ministry the same way many pastors are. In fact, my calling happened long before I ever felt led to become a pastor. My calling has and always will be teenagers. Now, I realize that God’s plan for my life is a mystery and a time may come where He transitions me into another role; but the best I can tell at this point in my life, teenagers are my mission field. I get them, I understand them, and I love the idea of God using me to reach them before culture corrupts their view of this world. God has fulfilled this calling in me in a variety of ways. I spent 20 years in the classroom as a high school history teacher. That opened the door for me to become a high school baseball coach. Ultimately, God’s plan was to move me into ministry- first bi-vocationally and now, into my present place as a full-time, Associate Pastor of student and families in Missouri.

Today, I wanted to share a portion of that message as both a challenge and an encouragement to parents everywhere currently raising the next generation- a boat of which I am in with you. Parents: we are the primary disciple maker in our kid’s lives. Now, when I say parents- I am referring to ANYONE who fulfills that role in a child’s life. I realize all too well that we live in a world where biological parents can be non-existent, where grandparents are on round two of child rearing, and where step-parents, aunts, uncles, and even siblings are in the role of “parent.”

In this message, I used a couple of visuals to demonstrate the importance and the urgency we should have as parents when it comes to discipling our kids. Both illustrations come from author Reggie Joiner, who has written dozens of books and conducts many training sessions with parents across the country in how to disciple their children well. He was giving advice to his adult daughter. She had ben married a few years and she and her husband were expecting their first child. She asked him if he had any advice to give her in preparation for the child. Joiner said, “yes, put a suitcase in the nursery and keep it there. From the time that baby is born, you are packing their bag to leave. What you pack, they will carry with them the rest of their life.” That is a sobering thought. Being the father of a 15 year old, I immediately began wondering what I had put in my son’s suitcase so far. While I was taking inventory of that, I realized the great thing about packing- I can pull things out and I can help my son let go of things that are in there that he doesn’t need. I am also adding new things to the suitcase that needed to be there, but weren’t there before. When it comes to discipling our kids, it really does begin with us and what we pack in their bag. Our children will value what we value. If we value being at church and being involved, so will they. If we value our quiet time and personal bible study, they will too.

The other illustration serves as both a wake up call and sense of perspective for parents in terms of the limited amount of time we have with our children. On the stage, I had a jar of 1000 marbles. It drove a lot of people crazy trying to figure out the significance. What those marbles represent is this: from the time our children are born til the time they graduate and go to college, we have approximately 1000 weeks with our kids. 1000 weeks to pack their bag with everything they need to make good decisions on their own. 1000 weeks for us to make our children into disciples who make disciples. Each week another marble leaves the jar. Marble by marble. Week by week. Month by month. That first year of their life goes quickly. They are learning how to feed themselves, how to crawl, how to walk, and how to talk…52 marbles gone. The next thing you know, they are starting Kindergarten, learning letters and numbers and how to tie their shoes and play sports….260 marbles gone. The next thing you know, they are starting high school. When our children reach their freshman year, we now only have approximately 200 marbles LEFT!!! Just 200 weeks to teach them to drive, make good decisions on their own as they become more and more independent. While we are doing that, we must also consider what we are doing to disciple them. Have we been intentional to share the gospel with them? If they have placed their faith in Jesus, have we been intentional about raising them to value church and independent bible study, to be plugged in the local church and to serve others. Have we instilled in them the importance of sharing their faith with those who do not have the same hope of salvation that they do? As of writing this, I did the math, and I have 135 marbles left before my 15 year old graduates. My job’s not finished but it has certainly been eye opening & humbling to realize how little time I have left. Reggie Joiner said it best I think when he said:

“When you see how much time you have left, you tend to get serious about the time you have now.”

Reggie Joiner

Parents, as soon as they got here, we started packing their bags to leave. What we pack in those bags they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. I’ll leave you with this story that sums up well the importance, the urgency, and the desperate need to disciple the next generation of believers: The English poet Samuel Coleridge talked with a man who did not believe that children should be given any religious instruction at all.This man claimed that the child’s mind should not be prejudiced in any direction, and when he became older he should be permitted to choose his religious opinions for himself.Coleridge said nothing; but after a while he asked his visitor if he would like to see his garden. The man said he would, and Coleridge took him out into the garden, where only weeds were growing. The man looked at Coleridge in surprise, and said, “Why this is not a garden! There is nothing but weeds here!” “Well, you see,” answered Coleridge, “I did not wish to infringe upon the liberty of the garden in any way, I was just giving the garden a chance to express itself and to choose its own production.”

In Christ Alone,
Rev Bro. Coach.

Welcome Home

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on September 3, 2021
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

There are so many famous sayings about home: “Home is where the heart is,” “There’s no place like home,” “Home is my happy place,” and my personal favorite, “Home is where the wi-fi connects automatically.” Home is relative. I was born and raised in Tennessee and that is home; but I have never felt more at home than I do here- Centralia is my home. Tennessee and Missouri hold spots in my heart that make them both home to me. In fact, I have adopted the phrase “Show Me State with a Tri-Star Heart.” And though I absolutely love my Centralia home, I do come home to Tennessee to see family and friends. It’s always good to be in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, seeing family, driving through Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg; but by the end of the trip, I’m ready to be home in Centralia. Home holds a lot of meaning for me.

Not everyone is as fortunate as I am though. For some, home holds painful memories and rough experiences. It’s not a place of fond recollections of time with friends or happy holiday festivities. Home is not some place they ever want to return. To you, my friend, let me encourage you today to change your definition of home. Let me encourage you to not look at home as merely an address or a location, but the place where you feel loved, cared for, encouraged, and supported. That may very well be an address or it may be a group of people. Regardless of your situation, whether home holds fond memories or terrible nightmares, let me encourage you today to come home to a place where you are loved. Wherever or whoever that may be. Too often, our default is to tackle the world on our own and one of the hardest things for anyone to say is, “I need help.” I want to encourage as many of you as I can today, no matter where you are, to come home- no matter what level that is for you.

Church- those who call Jesus Lord, be that home. Luke 15:11-32 tells the story of the prodigal son. A story that most people are familiar with. It focuses on a son who squandered his inheritance and wound up living with pigs. He finally came home, expecting to be servant, but was treated like a king. This is EXACTLY what God did for us when Jesus died on a cross. He made us joint heirs with Jesus Christ, clothed us in righteousness, and called us sons and daughters. The forgotten son in the story is the older son who resented his brother being welcomed back. His argument was that his younger brother didn’t deserve to be welcomed back or treated like royalty. Jesus reminds us in this parable, that none of us were worthy, but the love of God surpasses all of that and we should rejoice every time one comes home. We must be home to those who struggle, those who have messed up, those who live without hope. We must be home to those who don’t agree with us, not compromising truth, but proclaiming it and trusting GOD to change hearts.

So, to the person struggling to get through the day, welcome home. You can find peace & rest in Jesus Christ. To the person who believes they have messed up beyond help, welcome home. We cannot out sin God’s grace. You can find forgiveness in the love that Jesus offers. To the person who has walked away from their faith and the church, welcome home. It is never too late to hand your life over to the Lord. You can find redemption in Jesus Christ. To the person who hasn’t made their faith a priority, welcome home. You can find grace through Jesus Christ who wants to know you and wants you to grow daily in that walk as you follow Him. To the person who has hardened their heart to outsiders and change, welcome home. You can find truth in the Word of God that will open up a vast world of opportunity to reach people who are lost, lonely, hurting, and in need of hope. To the person who doesn’t know Christ as their savior, welcome home. We aren’t perfect. Someone will say the wrong thing to hurt feelings and we won’t always live up to expectations; but I promise you this, Jesus ALWAYS does. He can transform your life in a way that you could not possibly imagine. You can find salvation in Jesus Christ and I would love to share with you just how He can do that.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach

Get Off the Sideline

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on August 27, 2021
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

It’s football season and I am looking forward to being in the stands tonight to cheer on Centralia. That is where I want to be fan. I do not, however, want to be caught on the sidelines of my faith. Several years ago, Kyle Idelman, now Senior Pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, wrote a book called Not a Fan. It was a well written, thoughtful book about how Christians participate (or don’t participate) in their walk with Christ. The message of that book has stuck with me through the years since I read it and it caused me to view the Christian life, particularly mine, in a different light. One thing that it did, was it made me realize that, like the book said, there are far too many people sitting on the sideline, just a spectator, not really participating. However, as I continue to look through this lens (always at myself first), I came to the realization that there are so many different reasons that people stay on the sidelines. While I cannot address all of the individual reasons we choose to stay on the sidelines, I always feel the need to encourage you to get up and get in the game; and maybe, just maybe, I can encourage you today to do just that.

To my fellow believers- Get off the sidelines: The old cliche of 20% of the people do 80% of the work needs to exit our vocabularies. Get in the game. The Great Commission does not say “Church Staff” go and make disciples. It does not say “Sunday School Teachers” go and make disciples. It does not say “People who have their lives together” go and make disciples. It is an imperative from Christ Himself to ALL OF US to go and make disciples of all nations. In fact, the exact wording if you need the reference is:

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

Then in Acts 1:8, a coinciding promise and command is given, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” It is has been made pretty clear that we all have the responsibility to share the gospel, to see people baptized, and to walk with them as we all grow in our faith.

To the casual believer- Get off the sideline: God has placed you on my heart. I want you to be sure, without a shadow of a doubt that you belong to the Lord and not just think you might be. No one who truly has an encounter with Christ will ever walk away the same. I want you to have assurance that beyond a shadow of a doubt that your life has been handed over to the Lord. In his book, Kyle says this:

“The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren’t actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything from them.”

Kyle Idelman- Not a Fan

If you know that you belong to the Lord, but you’ve been on cruise control lately or for most of your walk, it’s never too late to get in the game. Don’t try to satisfy your conscience by checking boxes of “good, religious things to do.” Get in the game, do the work, and experience the amazing pain of growth. Jesus never asked for fans, He asked for followers; and following requires a response. We cannot hope to follow if we are firmly planted on the sideline.

To the non believer- Get off the sideline: There is a God who loves you. There is a God who wants to save you. I know it’s not always easy to believe that when people who claim to believe in Him don’t exactly reflect it. I get it, I really do. Let me say this though, being a follower of Christ doesn’t make anyone perfect. God never expected us to be perfect as believers, He does expect us to be authentic. If you have tried church before, let me encourage you to try it again. This time, look for one that is authentic and not perfect. The perfect church doesn’t exist, but there are authentic churches out there. You will always run into believers that will upset you, we do too. What I can promise you is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and real. It offers hope and salvation, and it provides a love that you could not imagine. It will change you- the way you think, the way you act, the way you perceive things. It will cost you and once you place your faith in Him, life doesn’t automatically become a bed of roses because we still live in a broken and fallen world. But, you will no longer be a slave to this broken world and this life will no longer be as good as it gets. You can’t know this peace and this love if you never respond to it. God is calling you to Him, the message is this repent, turn away from the broken life of sin you lead, and trust that Jesus is the Son of God and that He paid the penalty for those sins. That he lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we should have died. But not even death could hold Him because He rose 3 days later to give us victory over death. Don’t look for faith based on what you read or see on social media, find a believer, an authentic believer, not perfect, and let them share with you what God can do.

No matter where you are in life or your walk with Christ. If you are sold out or if you aren’t even a believer, get off the sideline and into the game. Respond to the gospel, be baptized, actively grow in your faith, and while we are at it, let’s make more disciples one person at a time. It’s good to be back.

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach

Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

Posted by Rev. Bro. Coach on May 14, 2021
Posted in: The Mindful Minute. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

What would Jesus do? If only we would be more like Jesus, the world would be a better place. Jesus would never be a democrat. Jesus would never be a republican. ALL you have to do is believe in Jesus and then be the best person you can be. Over the course of almost 14 years in ministry, I have heard all of these phrases at some point come out of the mouth of Christians and non-Christians alike; and the conclusion I’ve come to is this…Do we know who Jesus really is anymore? These popular sayings range from really cool Christian catch phrases to a completely false teaching of who Jesus is. So, when I hear things like “be like Jesus,” I often follow up with the question of “who is Jesus?” I think it’s worth noting that I DO NOT ask “who is Jesus to you.” That would imply that the character of Christ is pliable to fit our specific wants and desires. I want to know if the person knows who the Jesus of scripture is- the ONLY Jesus there is. These other notions about Christ are nothing short of a man-made, self idealistic dream of a genie in a bottle here to grant our every wish and desire; loosely backed by pieced together scripture taken out of context to fit our preconceived social or political notions. The truth is, there is only ONE Jesus, ONE Christ, ONE savior of mankind; and He is the Jesus found in the pages of God’s perfect and infallible word, not taken out of context, but alive with all the truth, mercy, and grace that point to Him on every single page- whether it steps on our toes or not. So, will the real savior of mankind please stand up?

I think it’s helpful to expose a couple of these popular false Jesuses in order to better understand the real Jesus that reigns at the right hand of the Father. First, there’s the Jesus of only truth or as I like to call him Rambo Jesus. Now, hear me- Jesus is truth, but Rambo Jesus is the representation that Jesus is ONLY truth, often filtered through legalistic scripture that never takes into account the situation for which it was written and tends to gloss over the mountains of scripture that depict God’s grace through His son. This Jesus is wielded like a weapon in order to put people in their place or have an epic “mic drop” moment as some non-Christian is “schooled” with theological might. The person wielding Rambo Jesus often does not understand or has lost sight of what the real Jesus did for them on a cross, after all, we aren’t born into our faith. At some point, we had to acknowledge our own sinfulness and repent of that sin. I have often felt that one of the most crippling aspects a Christian life can have is the lack of true understanding & acknowledgement of our sinful nature. Yes, the truth is important. God has set standards and expectations of us which Jesus taught. Jesus demonstrated righteous anger in the temple when He drove out the money changers, but the real Jesus is not one dimensional. The Jesus of scripture is much bigger than that. Rambo Jesus is not Jesus at all.

Then you have the Jesus of only grace, or as I call him Hippy Jesus (you know- peace, love, and whole wheat kind of thing). So many truths today. It really is mind blowing. We are living in a world where truth is now whatever you want it to be according to many. If you don’t like what’s going on in your life, change it. Declare your situation to not be true. In fact declare whatever, whoever, and however you want life to be and THAT can be truth. There are so many dangers in this line of thought. Personal “truth”, just because it is declared by a person, is in no way reality; but there are plenty of people attempting to push legislation to make it legal (notice I didn’t say true). In fact, the very definition of truth is: “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.” We have seen this spill over into the realm of spiritual life as well. Hippy Jesus is an active attempt to shape the image and character of Christ to look like whatever the currently accepted “truth” is. This often comes with justifying our sins through scripture, particularly the words of Jesus, as they are pieced together, completely out of context, in order to make it seem like Jesus condones or is in some way ok with our sinful actions (i.e “I haven’t killed anybody”). When confronted, you hear things like “Jesus loves everyone,” “Jesus doesn’t care what we believe as long as we believe,” (see, I told you John 3:16 can be dangerous if not taught correctly) or my personal favorite (thick sarcasm inserted here) “Jesus just wants me to be happy” (Thanks to the toxic & heretical prosperity gospel message). Hippy Jesus is the one that Mahatma Gandhi mistakenly took to be the real Jesus when he quipped that “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians…” Yes, Jesus was a force for social justice. Yes, Jesus loved the world. Yes, Jesus healed the sick. And yes, Christians should be doing all of this. But that is not ALL Christians should be doing. Yes, Jesus dined with sinners, forgave the adulterous woman, and healed the lame man; but Jesus ALSO did not want them to stay where they are. He told sinners to go and sin no more, called out the woman at the well for her lifestyle, and told the masses wanting another free, miracle meal that HE was the bread of life. And when they realized Jesus wasn’t just handing things out, they left Him. God wants to save His people and He did that through Jesus and that requires difficult and often times uncomfortable realizations about ourselves and how we live. The Jesus of scripture is much bigger than that. Hippy Jesus is not Jesus at all.

The truth is the Jesus of scripture, the REAL Jesus, is both truth and grace. John 1:14 says it best:

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Jesus is not a political figure, nor a mascot for a social justice movement. He is much, much bigger than that. He is the savior of ALL mankind, not just the ones we deem worthy, but those who He has established a relationship. The message of the gospel is going to step on our toes, it is going to give us a gut punch at times, and it is going to call out the way we live. The message of the gospel is also going to love you when you feel unlovable, give you worth when you feel worthless, and lift you up when everyone else has let you down. The true Jesus calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take in the stranger, visit & care for the sick and the criminal; and He calls us to do so whether we find them worthy or not because HE finds them worthy. This is not possible following Rambo Jesus, only by following the REAL Jesus can this happen. The true Jesus ALSO calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross every day, and follow Him. He tells us that HE is way, the truth, and the life and only through HIM can we get to the Father and that is going to cost us our selfish desires. This is not possible following Hippy Jesus, only by following the REAL Jesus can this happen.

It is my honest hope and prayer that we can come together and begin displaying the truth, grace, and character of the Jesus found in God’s Word- not a Jesus used as a weapon, but as a means to show the world the grace of love and peace as well as offering the truth of the hope and eternal salvation that comes from turning away from our sins and giving our lives to Him. “If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.” At the same time, we can take all the mission trips we want and feed all the hungry people in the world; but unless we share the the gospel of Jesus Christ, these are all just temporary fixes to a very eternal problem. I have grown weary of world focused on self. So, will the real Jesus please stand up?

In Christ Alone,
Rev. Bro. Coach