I was speaking to a good friend today and I realized something that seemed so simple yet hit me as profound wisdom. I hope you can relate.
We were talking about our unwillingness to change and how when it comes to our idiosyncrasies many people will say, “That’s just they way I am.” And I get it, I’m as off center as the next guy when it comes to my routines and quirks. I also understand that we can resist change because we have grown use to ourselves, but from a spiritual standpoint, change is not an option.
God wants us all to change. Christ died so that you and I would change. To say, “That’s just the way I am” is to reject God’s transformation within each and every one of us. We may not like to do something or face personal change, but that was the old person, not the new man created to be like Christ. The true expression is to say, “That’s who I was”.
But that's no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. – Ephesians 4:20-24
We can’t accept who we are becoming until we reject who we were.
Vander's Thoughts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Paint
I finally got around to start painting some of the walls in our new home. I’ve come to realize that I enjoy painting, but could never do it for a living. No matter how motivated I am when I start, I get to a point when I’m finished even before I am finished. I can only tape and cut and roll and brush for so long before I start to feel trapped in painter’s purgatory.
In spite of this I like to paint because painting is an easy way to make a house feel more like a home. We paint to cover up what was. We paint to hide what has been. We paint because for $18 a gallon we can make our homes feel a little newer, no matter how old they are.
However, there is a big difference between painting to make something seem newer and painting to cover-up a flaw. If you try and paint over a crack in the wall or peeling paint, no matter how much paint you use the flaw underneath will still show through. To truly make it new, you would have to fix the crack or scrap the old paint off and then paint.
The problem is that we often try and do this very thing in life. There are areas of our lives that are flawed and imperfect and rather then deal with the true issue we try and cover it up. We cover it up with our pretend smiles when we really are feeling depressed, or when we make up excuses every time we let someone one down. Worse yet we often act like there is nothing wrong in a relationship when in truth we know we’ve caused someone pain by our words. And the saddest thing is that we really believe no one can see who we really are underneath, but the truth is it always shows through. Always.
Every one of us has flaws. We need to accept this fact and rather then try and pretend they are not there, deal with them so that we can change and stop trying to cover them up.
I resonate with this verse in Colossians because it deals with this. God calls us to live authentically before Him and before others. When we do we experience the transformation and therefore the renewal He wants for us, not the cover-up we are so good at.
“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your new Creator and become like him.” Colossians 3:9-10
It’s almost as if this verse is saying that we are all like walls full of cracks and flaws, but when we stop trying to cover it all up and hand God the paint and brush, he truly starts to make us new. New with His character. New with His life. Renewal that only comes from Him.
God’s not finished with me and you just like I’m not finished with the painting in my house. Three rooms down and only ten more to go
In spite of this I like to paint because painting is an easy way to make a house feel more like a home. We paint to cover up what was. We paint to hide what has been. We paint because for $18 a gallon we can make our homes feel a little newer, no matter how old they are.
However, there is a big difference between painting to make something seem newer and painting to cover-up a flaw. If you try and paint over a crack in the wall or peeling paint, no matter how much paint you use the flaw underneath will still show through. To truly make it new, you would have to fix the crack or scrap the old paint off and then paint.
The problem is that we often try and do this very thing in life. There are areas of our lives that are flawed and imperfect and rather then deal with the true issue we try and cover it up. We cover it up with our pretend smiles when we really are feeling depressed, or when we make up excuses every time we let someone one down. Worse yet we often act like there is nothing wrong in a relationship when in truth we know we’ve caused someone pain by our words. And the saddest thing is that we really believe no one can see who we really are underneath, but the truth is it always shows through. Always.
Every one of us has flaws. We need to accept this fact and rather then try and pretend they are not there, deal with them so that we can change and stop trying to cover them up.
I resonate with this verse in Colossians because it deals with this. God calls us to live authentically before Him and before others. When we do we experience the transformation and therefore the renewal He wants for us, not the cover-up we are so good at.
“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your new Creator and become like him.” Colossians 3:9-10
It’s almost as if this verse is saying that we are all like walls full of cracks and flaws, but when we stop trying to cover it all up and hand God the paint and brush, he truly starts to make us new. New with His character. New with His life. Renewal that only comes from Him.
God’s not finished with me and you just like I’m not finished with the painting in my house. Three rooms down and only ten more to go
Monday, February 28, 2011
Stained
Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t run into the blogs that are ripping on Rob Bell for potential discovery that he is a Universalist from his upcoming book, Love Wins: Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. Now I really don’t know what Bell believes about the reality of Hell, frankly because I haven’t asked him personally and the book doesn’t come out until March 29. I guess we will all just have to wait until then to see or if you’re lucky enough to have his cell number, give him a call and ask him.
The buzz about Bell’s new book seems to be centered on the description that a loving God doesn’t send people to Hell. And the truth is, why would a loving God want to send people to Hell? In fact why would anyone want to send someone to Hell? Oh wait, there are some people out there aren’t there that are pretty content saying that they are okay with some people going to Hell, but isn’t that what Bell is addressing in his book? Why is it that we have come to think that God is okay with the whole Hell thing? Yes He did create it, but why?
Now I’m not quite ready or have the room to deal with the problem of evil here in my blog, but what I do know is God is good and we live in a world that once was good, but it went bad. And because of Christ there are some really good things happening in our world today, but the world is not the way it should be. I believe God has done something and is doing something about the state of the world that you and I live in.
Imagine if you just bought a new expensive shirt and the first time that you wear it you spill hot sauce all over the front of it staining it (never happens to me). At that moment you would have two choices: throw it away or wash it out. Hopefully you are on the side that decided to wash it out. It only makes sense since you bought it to enjoy it for a long time. Now to remove the stain you would soak the shirt, then add a cleansing agent and finally work out the stain until it was perfectly clean again. But what would you do with the dirty water? You would throw it out right? Exactly.
God created this world perfectly good, nothing wrong with it at all. And then it got stained by sin. God in His perfect wisdom decided not to destroy the world, but to start a cleansing process that took care of the stain of sin. We are currently in the midst of that cleansing process and the stain is still affecting this world. Eventually the stain will be completely removed from this world and when that happens the stain has to go somewhere. That’s why there is Hell, to contain the stain of sin and keep it from affecting God’s perfect creation anymore. God’s grace allows us to remove the stain of sin from our lives and be made right with Him. He would never force this on us it is our choice to receive this grace and be made right.
So you see Bell is right at least in his statement that God doesn’t send people to Hell, people decide where they want to spend eternity; either in the perfect environment of our Creator or in the cesspool with the rest of the stain.
I’m not into stains and don’t want others to be stained either. How about you?
The buzz about Bell’s new book seems to be centered on the description that a loving God doesn’t send people to Hell. And the truth is, why would a loving God want to send people to Hell? In fact why would anyone want to send someone to Hell? Oh wait, there are some people out there aren’t there that are pretty content saying that they are okay with some people going to Hell, but isn’t that what Bell is addressing in his book? Why is it that we have come to think that God is okay with the whole Hell thing? Yes He did create it, but why?
Now I’m not quite ready or have the room to deal with the problem of evil here in my blog, but what I do know is God is good and we live in a world that once was good, but it went bad. And because of Christ there are some really good things happening in our world today, but the world is not the way it should be. I believe God has done something and is doing something about the state of the world that you and I live in.
Imagine if you just bought a new expensive shirt and the first time that you wear it you spill hot sauce all over the front of it staining it (never happens to me). At that moment you would have two choices: throw it away or wash it out. Hopefully you are on the side that decided to wash it out. It only makes sense since you bought it to enjoy it for a long time. Now to remove the stain you would soak the shirt, then add a cleansing agent and finally work out the stain until it was perfectly clean again. But what would you do with the dirty water? You would throw it out right? Exactly.
God created this world perfectly good, nothing wrong with it at all. And then it got stained by sin. God in His perfect wisdom decided not to destroy the world, but to start a cleansing process that took care of the stain of sin. We are currently in the midst of that cleansing process and the stain is still affecting this world. Eventually the stain will be completely removed from this world and when that happens the stain has to go somewhere. That’s why there is Hell, to contain the stain of sin and keep it from affecting God’s perfect creation anymore. God’s grace allows us to remove the stain of sin from our lives and be made right with Him. He would never force this on us it is our choice to receive this grace and be made right.
So you see Bell is right at least in his statement that God doesn’t send people to Hell, people decide where they want to spend eternity; either in the perfect environment of our Creator or in the cesspool with the rest of the stain.
I’m not into stains and don’t want others to be stained either. How about you?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Super Bowl?
In a few days we will watch the most important football game of the year. Over 100 million people will gather worldwide to watch the game. Cowboys Stadium itself will hold 80,000 in seats and an additional 30,000 standing to watch the greatest game of the year. With each person paying an average of $4500 per ticket! Man that’s super expensive to me.
With all that, I’m hearing just as much about the super-funny commercials, the super-entertaining Halftime Show and how to have a really super-Super Bowl party as the game itself. In fact pizza chains across America are gearing up to serve over 5 million super-delicious pizzas for the game. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ll be watching the game, laughing at the commercials, anticipating the controversy of the Halftime Show and probably choking down one of those pizzas. I’m just saying that we can tag something as super and that doesn’t really guarantee anything. Makes me think what makes something super anyways?
Think of all the ways we use super as a prefix. We have superhighways and supertankers, supermarkets and supersized meals, Superman and Super Mario. Expressing they are in some way greater than everything else comparable. So with that, the term super really means to be greater than everything else. And being considered great is usually associated with accomplishment, and accomplishment is usually associated with recognition and of course recognition is always associated with fame.
But Jesus, the real super-Man, turned this understanding of greatness upside down, literally. He said that if you want to be remembered as great than you must become less than everyone. Not super, but servant. Greatness is God’s eye is not associated with what accomplishments we make as much as it is about the impact we have on others. Why? Because like the Super Bowl, life on this earth will one day end, but eternity (a super-long time) lasts forever. Therefore what we do today matters for all time.
If you want to win in the Super Bowl life, you need super-natural wisdom.
With all that, I’m hearing just as much about the super-funny commercials, the super-entertaining Halftime Show and how to have a really super-Super Bowl party as the game itself. In fact pizza chains across America are gearing up to serve over 5 million super-delicious pizzas for the game. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’ll be watching the game, laughing at the commercials, anticipating the controversy of the Halftime Show and probably choking down one of those pizzas. I’m just saying that we can tag something as super and that doesn’t really guarantee anything. Makes me think what makes something super anyways?
Think of all the ways we use super as a prefix. We have superhighways and supertankers, supermarkets and supersized meals, Superman and Super Mario. Expressing they are in some way greater than everything else comparable. So with that, the term super really means to be greater than everything else. And being considered great is usually associated with accomplishment, and accomplishment is usually associated with recognition and of course recognition is always associated with fame.
But Jesus, the real super-Man, turned this understanding of greatness upside down, literally. He said that if you want to be remembered as great than you must become less than everyone. Not super, but servant. Greatness is God’s eye is not associated with what accomplishments we make as much as it is about the impact we have on others. Why? Because like the Super Bowl, life on this earth will one day end, but eternity (a super-long time) lasts forever. Therefore what we do today matters for all time.
If you want to win in the Super Bowl life, you need super-natural wisdom.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Buzzed
Man life can really make us busy. I know this all too well, so lately I’ve been trying to be better at time management and making sure that I am keeping my priorities in line with my responsibilities. The problem is I’m always getting buzzed. Wait, before you assume the worst let me explain.
Because we live in a technologically advanced world it is easier for me to keep track of all that I am supposed to do. I can schedule my calendar to remind me that I have an appointment or there is something to do – Buzz. I can receive my emails right to my iPhone so that no matter where I am I can stay in the loop – Buzz. People who need to tell me something can text me and get my attention at any time – Buzz. I can even set my phone to silent in case I’m busy with another person when someone tries to call me – Buzz. You see I keep getting buzzed! And with each buzz I am reminded that I have more and more to do and less and less time to get it all done. This ultimately leads to the problem I have in the first place that caused me to work on my time management.
Now it has been suggested that we should all just turn off our cell phones and go back to the age of snail mail and Morse code, but all that will do is make life boring again. And besides I like having easy access to everything and being able to look up useless information any time I want. That’s not what makes me busy, I make myself busy with my lack of discipline. You see busyness isn’t always a condition of productivity; it can be the results of ineffective living. Because sometimes being busy means accomplishing absolutely nothing.
Basically Paul says about the same thing to the church in Thessalonica, busyness is pretty much doing a whole lot of nothing.
2 Thessalonians 3:11 - We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
That’s why God instructs us to rest regularly to make sure our busyness isn’t getting the best of us, but He is. When was the last time you unplugged to seek His priorities for your life? Rest in Him and get over your buzz.
Hebrews 4:9-11- There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Because we live in a technologically advanced world it is easier for me to keep track of all that I am supposed to do. I can schedule my calendar to remind me that I have an appointment or there is something to do – Buzz. I can receive my emails right to my iPhone so that no matter where I am I can stay in the loop – Buzz. People who need to tell me something can text me and get my attention at any time – Buzz. I can even set my phone to silent in case I’m busy with another person when someone tries to call me – Buzz. You see I keep getting buzzed! And with each buzz I am reminded that I have more and more to do and less and less time to get it all done. This ultimately leads to the problem I have in the first place that caused me to work on my time management.
Now it has been suggested that we should all just turn off our cell phones and go back to the age of snail mail and Morse code, but all that will do is make life boring again. And besides I like having easy access to everything and being able to look up useless information any time I want. That’s not what makes me busy, I make myself busy with my lack of discipline. You see busyness isn’t always a condition of productivity; it can be the results of ineffective living. Because sometimes being busy means accomplishing absolutely nothing.
Basically Paul says about the same thing to the church in Thessalonica, busyness is pretty much doing a whole lot of nothing.
2 Thessalonians 3:11 - We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
That’s why God instructs us to rest regularly to make sure our busyness isn’t getting the best of us, but He is. When was the last time you unplugged to seek His priorities for your life? Rest in Him and get over your buzz.
Hebrews 4:9-11- There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
One Word
One Word
It’s that time of year again when we look back on our lives and make a decision to change some things. Perhaps all the things that we wished we would have done or realized we should have done or stopped doing or started doing all to improve our lives.
This past weekend I heard an intriguing message at my church that dealt with a new concept of New Years change called One Word. They idea is simple, instead of making a New Years resolution and change only one thing in your life, focus on One Word that could actually change everything in your life.
I really don’t know how many times I have a made a resolution to change, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been successful exactly 0% of the time. That’s’ why I’m so intrigued by One Word because it just might actually work. Maybe your struggling with your weight, well instead of resolving to eat better, your One Word may be ‘Healthy’. Therefore instead of just changing your eating habits, you focus on everything that makes your life healthy and just maybe for the first time you actually achieve the weight that you have always wanted.
My word for 2011 is ‘Truth’. It’s not because I have a problem with lying or anything, but my hope is that I can pursue truth in my life like never before. I want to dedicate myself to seeking God’s truth everyday in His word, I want to live His truth everyday of my life, and I want to speak the truth to others no matter how hard or at what cost. For me I want 2011 to be a year where living in the truth of God’s word will change my habits, my relationships and most importantly change me for the better.
What’s your One Word that will change everything in 2011?
It’s that time of year again when we look back on our lives and make a decision to change some things. Perhaps all the things that we wished we would have done or realized we should have done or stopped doing or started doing all to improve our lives.
This past weekend I heard an intriguing message at my church that dealt with a new concept of New Years change called One Word. They idea is simple, instead of making a New Years resolution and change only one thing in your life, focus on One Word that could actually change everything in your life.
I really don’t know how many times I have a made a resolution to change, but I’m pretty sure I’ve been successful exactly 0% of the time. That’s’ why I’m so intrigued by One Word because it just might actually work. Maybe your struggling with your weight, well instead of resolving to eat better, your One Word may be ‘Healthy’. Therefore instead of just changing your eating habits, you focus on everything that makes your life healthy and just maybe for the first time you actually achieve the weight that you have always wanted.
My word for 2011 is ‘Truth’. It’s not because I have a problem with lying or anything, but my hope is that I can pursue truth in my life like never before. I want to dedicate myself to seeking God’s truth everyday in His word, I want to live His truth everyday of my life, and I want to speak the truth to others no matter how hard or at what cost. For me I want 2011 to be a year where living in the truth of God’s word will change my habits, my relationships and most importantly change me for the better.
What’s your One Word that will change everything in 2011?
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Stuff
I’m realizing that my life is full of stuff. Some old stuff, some new stuff, some good stuff, and some not-so-needed stuff. I have loved stuff since I can remember. I even love watching shows like American Pickers and Pawn Stars because it is about stuff. Stuff is interesting. Every time I get ride of some stuff I eventually replace it with more stuff. Lately I have been asking myself what is it about stuff that makes me want more stuff no matter how much I already have?
What I have concluded is that stuff brings me three things: Security, Comfort and Identity. The quantity of stuff I have makes me feel secure. The quality of stuff I have makes me more comfortable. The price I pay for my stuff determines my identity. Of course what I realize is that although these things are fine to seek, God desires us to seek them in Him and Him alone.
I heard a great story this past week about a teacher asking her class to recite Psalm 23. One girl help up her hand and said that she could do it. She walked to the front of the class took a deep breath and said, “The LORD is my shepherd, He is all I want”. With that she proudly walked back to her seat.
It was a great reminder for me this Christmas, that in Christ I have security, comfort, and an identity that no stuff I can buy or receive can ever compare to.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
May your Christmas not be so much about seeking stuff as much as it is about seeking Him.
What I have concluded is that stuff brings me three things: Security, Comfort and Identity. The quantity of stuff I have makes me feel secure. The quality of stuff I have makes me more comfortable. The price I pay for my stuff determines my identity. Of course what I realize is that although these things are fine to seek, God desires us to seek them in Him and Him alone.
I heard a great story this past week about a teacher asking her class to recite Psalm 23. One girl help up her hand and said that she could do it. She walked to the front of the class took a deep breath and said, “The LORD is my shepherd, He is all I want”. With that she proudly walked back to her seat.
It was a great reminder for me this Christmas, that in Christ I have security, comfort, and an identity that no stuff I can buy or receive can ever compare to.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
May your Christmas not be so much about seeking stuff as much as it is about seeking Him.
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