Showing Partiality

Showing Partiality

James 2:1-13

Skit 1: The Hungry Working Class (1 Corinthians 11:17-22)

            Need at least 2 poor working class people who are hungry; at least 2 rich people; and 1 narrator.

Skit 2: Social Classes at Church (James 2:1-4)

            Need at least 2 rich people; at least 2 poor people; 1 usher; and a narrator.

Text: 1 Corinthians 11:17-22; James 2:1-13

1 Corinthians 11:17-22

But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. ¹⁸ First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!

 ²⁰ When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. ²² What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!

James 2:1-13

My dear brothers and sisters,^[a] how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

 ² For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting^[b] dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. ³ If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, ⁴ doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

 ⁵ Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? ⁷ Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name^[c] you bear?

 ⁸ Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[d] 9} But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.

 ¹⁰ For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. ¹¹ For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”^[e] So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.

 ¹² So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. ¹³ There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.

Tonight we are going to continue our journey through James. Today’s passage can be divided into two distinct but connected sections. One is showing partiality, which is a sin; and the other is the dangers of committing that one sin.

Most of you all know that for my day job I work in the Home Improvement business. Home Improvement is quite a bit different than new construction in many ways, but most importantly because the home owners have already moved in, have all of their stuff there exactly where they want it, and are usually there watching over you like a hawk. I have worked in million dollar homes that were kept in immaculate shape, and I have worked in homes that were completely covered with cockroach parts including parts that got crushed by the rubber seal around the refrigerator door. On that particular house, another contractor, who needed to use the restroom, took one step inside, turned around, and found an alternative solution to his problem. I have worked in houses where the home owner baked brownies for us every day which I gladly accepted, and I have worked in a house where the homeowner was a hoarder, the house was a complete disaster, and she offered us fudge-cicles everyday. I wouldn’t have eaten one of her fudge-cicles if I was running a marathon on the equator. I’ve worked in really expensive houses where the homeowner gave us a key and told us to lock up when we were done. And I have worked in some terrible looking places where the homeowner watched us to make sure we didn’t steal anything.

            One thing I take pride in while working is that I will treat your house like I would want my house treated by a hired handyman. This also means that I want to be treated how I would treat a hired handyman, with respect and dignity. It doesn’t matter if I’m working on the governor’s house or some rundown house I will do my best to get the job done properly, efficiently, and clean up after myself. I remember the one and only time Rebekah came to work with me, I was having some issues getting the soffit put back up just right and the homeowner let me have it. I was already frustrated when he fired off this zinger, “You wouldn’t leave this like this at your home.” I was already walking around to the back of the house when he said this, then he turned to my beautiful bride and said very arrogantly while laughing, “Oh, I got him with that one!” I don’t know who he thought she was but he definitely didn’t know she was my wife. The fact is that I wouldn’t have left it like that, and I wasn’t planning on leaving it like that, but my options were extremely limited at that particular moment. That one comment took a shot at my integrity and I’ll never forget it. He judged me without knowing me.

            Why is it that we treat people differently based on their socio-economic status (In youth slang: how much Benjamins they got rolling in)? Why do some contractors do everything they can to go above and beyond what a rich person needs done and will cut corners on a poorer man’s house? James instructs us that when we show partiality we become judges with evil thoughts. We start judging people by what’s on the outside rather than what’s on the inside. How many of you have ever met a man or woman that would be considered poor by the world’s standards but you would trust that person beyond a shadow of doubt? Now how many of you have met a man or a woman that would be considered rich by the world’s standards that you wouldn’t trust with your cheeseburger if you had to go to the bathroom? There are great people at every station of life, and there are terrible people at every station of life. There are people who favor the rich and there are people who favor the poor. The greatest mistake we could make is to judge someone based on their outward appearance or financial standings rather than what lies inside.

            James calls “love your neighbor as yourself” the royal law—a law that is superior to all other laws, but if we show partiality we sin. You might say, “Eh, what’s the big deal if I show partiality?” You know just yesterday I was at Chic-fil-a and I saw a family coming in the door that I was standing by and one of them was wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt. I wish that God said I was to love my enemies except for UM fans but he didn’t. When every fiber of my being said “Lock the door, turn off the lights, and everybody get down,” my non-partiality side said to open the door for them. Now if I can do that, what can you do?

            It’s hard to evaluate how we might be showing partiality because it is hard to evaluate ourselves, but here are some questions we could be asking. 1) Am I fine with the people who are coming to this church, including visitors, as long as they look, dress, and/or smell like me? 2) Am I fine with the songs we sing as long as they are hymns? Or Praise songs? 3) Do I get uptight when someone reads from a particular translation of the Bible that I don’t read from? 4) Do I believe that there is a standard for behavior within the worship service that includes, standing, kneeling, clapping, saying “Amen,” and raising their hands? Tough questions.

            I remember reading a story that took place at a church near a beach. The service had already started when a young man walked in wearing cutoff jeans, a tank top, and was barefoot. Every seat was taken as he slowly walked down the aisle scanning for an empty seat. Finally he plopped down, and sat cross legged in front of the first pew. The congregation was distracted and a little bit shocked by the whole thing, and most of them nodded approvingly as the head deacon approached the young man. I mean it was kind of unfortunate but something had to be done. The deacon, no spring chicken himself, made it to the front row, plopped down, and sat right next to him. The young man gave his life to Christ that day. How many of us would have done that?

            Partiality may seem like such a small thing when compared to murder, or adultery, but James says in verse 10, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” What happens to someone if they live a completely perfect life except they sin one time? They go to hell. God is so pure and holy that He cannot be in the presence of sin. He hates it. I use this analogy all of the time because it is so perfect, and I will continue to use it until someone comes up with a better one. Imagine a five gallon bucket of the best ice cream in the world sitting right next to a five gallon bucket of poop. All of the ice cream in the world won’t change that bucket of poop one bit, but one speck of poop in that bucket of ice cream ruins the whole bucket. Your sin is the speck of poop in God’s ice cream. If the story ended there it would be tragic, but it doesn’t. God sent His son to take care of our sin problem once and for all, but we have to let Him in. Simply knowing about God is not enough. We have to accept Him as both our Lord and our Savior.                  

  

           

A Review of "Average Joe" by Troy Meeder

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/ranking/13233
A Review of Average Joe

            I recently read Average Joe by Troy Meeder. It was a book I had been interested in reading since I heard him speak on Focus on the Family. I was also interested in reading it because I had recently read his wife’s book Hope Rising. I found both books to be fairly similar in that they were almost devotional in nature. Although the book was divided into sections, the chapters did not build off of each other. I did enjoy Average Joe more than Hope Rising because I was able to relate to Troy as a man, more than I could with his wife Kim.

            Although, I looked forward to reading the book, I still had my doubts and trepidations. I don’t want to be average. I don’t know anyone who wants to be average. And even if some might consider me to be average, I definitely do not want to be proud about being average. Troy addresses this issue by page 3. On page 4, Troy writes, “Before we go on, I want to make something really clear: when I use the word average, I don’t mean lazy, sloppy, inept, mediocre, or anything like that. A true average Joe works hard, gives his all, makes a difference. And he does it without whining or feeling sorry for himself. An average Joe isn’t expecting to get rich or famous. He’s content knowing that the One whose opinion really counts is pleased with him.” I can live with that definition.

            The book was an easy read and came equipped with a study guide that can be used for a men’s small group or in conjunction with a Bible study. I did enjoy parts of the book, Troy is definitely a skilled author, but I found myself becoming increasingly agitated with one small aspect of his stories. He owns a horse ranch that is known across the nation for its goodwill, he ran one of the largest youth ministries in the state, his wife was an exceptionally talented cross country skier and a best selling author, he takes flying lessons from a world class bi-athlete, and scubas in Hawai’i. I wish I could be that average.

            Other than that minor irritation I would recommend this book to any guy who wonders if God could use him where he is.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Christmas in September

Christmas in September!

James Series

James 1:16-18

            We’ve just exchanged, at least in theory, a bunch of terrible gifts. We all know what it is like to open up a present that you weren’t expecting, or don’t like at all, and you have to act like you love it. A few years ago my aunt was hoping to play a trick on my uncle. She wrapped up a hideous little stuffed cat figurine that was standing on its hind legs and wearing some renaissance outfit. It was the ugliest thing you’d ever see. She wrapped it up and put my great-grandmother’s name on it, so when he opened it up he would have to pretend that he liked it so not to offend the old grandmother. Unfortunately, my great-grandmother was sick that day and wasn’t able to spend Christmas with us. A good joke spoiled.

            When I think of bad Christmas presents, I think of Ralphy and that pink bunny costume that he had to try on. Remember Ralphy’s reaction? He was like “Are you kidding me? I’m not a six year old girl.” Randy, his brother, was rolling on the floor crying he was laughing so hard. Sometimes we feel exactly the same way with the things God gives us. We want a Ferrari and we get a Pinto. We want a corporate job in a high rise and we get a job as a window washer. We want an Ipad and we get a piece of cardboard with Scooby-Doo on it (true story).

            But James says in 1:16-18, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. ¹⁸ Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

            “Do not be deceived.” It may seem like it’s not a good gift but it is. Everything we get, big and small, is channeled through God. Philippians 4:9 says, “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches and glory.” For example: I have a job. I work very hard for my dad at David Koppin Home Improvement. At the end of the week I receive a pay check. Where does the paycheck come from? It may have David Koppin Home Improvement on the check but it comes from God. God just funnels what I need through DKHI. If I lost my job, God would funnel what I need through another source. So everything is from God. So what if I stumble across some pornography. Is that a good and perfect gift from God? No the pornography isn’t, but what you become after overcoming your addiction is a good gift. (Same thing with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.) Your parents get a divorce—that’s bad; you have a friend who is going through the same thing and you introduce her to Jesus to help her with her grief—that’s good. I have heard numerous stories of people who have had accidents, or even failed suicide attempts that resulted in the loss of their use of legs. When asked if they could take a magic pill and go back to what they were before the accident, they have all said, “No,” and that they were actually happier now. (Mark Zupan; Kristen Jane Anderson for example.)  

            There are so many examples of what we think are bad things today that will turn out to be good things tomorrow. Do you know how many stories there are of people who were supposed to be in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 but weren’t because they had car trouble, lost their keys, took a different way and got stuck in traffic, or some other terrible thing that ended up saving their lives? Hundreds and hundreds. They were probably worried about getting fired, maybe even cussing out God for making them late. But God was sitting in Heaven thinking, “Yeah, but you’ll see. This is for your own good.” I worked with a guy who’s wife was dying of breast cancer. She eventually asked him to stop coming to her doctor’s appointments because it was hindering her from sharing the love of Jesus with the other women in the room. She turned something very bad into something very good. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” He works bad things into good things for those who love Him.

            I love verses 17 and 18 of James 1. “There is no variation, or shadow of turning” with God. The way He is, is the way He has always been, and will always be. If He has been good to His people in the past, He will be good to His people now and forever. We can trust in Him. Verse 18 explains why He will be good to us. He created us out of His own free will and loves us. He wants us to be His first fruits, or the best of the best offering, from all of His creation.

            Essentially it all comes down to trust. Are you going to trust what you can see and perceive right now? Or are you going to trust the creator of the world, the creator of your circumstances, and the One who has been around from the beginning and has planned out the ending? Remember my pea and the watermelon illustration. Set the pea and the watermelon side by side. What can the pea tell you about the watermelon? Only what it can see. It can’t tell you about the bottom, top, the two sides, or even the inside of the watermelon. It is very limited in its perspective. We are also very limited in our perspective.

            Our first step in trusting God is believing in His son Jesus Christ. Without that relationship nothing else matters.       

Whose Fault Is It?

Whose Fault Is It?

James Series

James 1:12-15

           

            It all started about 6,000 years ago with a young couple who lived in a garden. Their names were Adam and Eve. God gave them some very simple instructions. He said, “Hey this place is paradise, but there are few ground rules. Number one: Don’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That’s it.” We don’t know how long it was before they broke the only rule God had given them. It could have been a day, a week, or ten years. We don’t know. All we know is that one day the serpent (Satan in animal form) made a suggestion to Eve that if she ate from that tree she would be like God. She noticed the fruit did look good to eat so she took a bite. Then she gave some to Adam, who was standing right beside her. That is precisely when all hell broke loose—literally. Immediately their eyes were opened and instead of being like God, they noticed that they were both naked. So they made some coverings out of fig leaves. Has anybody here ever touched a fig leaf? They are very itchy--kind of a weird choice to make your underwear from. Later in the cool of the evening when God usually walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, He couldn’t find them (because they were hiding) and asked the first question recorded in the Bible, “Adam, where are you?”

            Have you ever noticed when you’ve messed something up, you’re hard to find? My uncle set his barn on fire when he was a kid, so he ran inside, grabbed his father’s belt and hid. Usually it’s not because the offended party is hunting us down, it’s because we feel guilty, or ashamed, and don’t want to be around the other person. I broke the trust of my college coach. It took me a long time to not feel guilty or ashamed around him. Every time I was with him, subconsciously I had my tail tucked between my legs.

            Back to the Garden…God eventually found Adam, which probably didn’t take much effort because…well because He’s God. Adam said, “Well, you see, I hid because I was naked and I didn’t want you to see me in my birthday suit.” God said, “Who told you you were naked? Hey where did this core come from? Aww snap! You’ve been eating from the tree I told you not to eat from!”

            Then what did Adam say? “The woman You put here with me gave it to me to eat.” Who did he blame? Eve and God. What did Eve say, “The serpent made me do it.” Or, “The devil made me do it.” What did the serpent say? Nothing. He just laughed as he introduced sin into the world.     

            So not only has sin been around since Adam and Eve, so has the blame game. Let’s jump right into our scripture passage—James: 1:12-15, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

            Tonight we are going to be looking at three things: 1) What is temptation and what is a trial? So far up to this point in the chapter James has focused on trials—“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials;” and then the trials of the poor man compared to the rich man. In verse 12 it switches from trials to temptations. 2) Who is to blame for our temptations? And 3) What is the progression of temptation?

            #1) What is a trial and what is a temptation? A trial is something that tests you, something that if you withstand it successfully will make you stronger. For example—weightlifting. I don’t do it myself, because those things are heavy, but those who do lift weights put their muscles through a trial and make them stronger in the end. Now, if someone has never lifted a weight in their life decided that they were going to break the world record for the bench press, they would probably get hurt, tear some muscles and have less strength than when they started. If God puts you through a trial and you succeed, you will come out stronger and better equipped to handle the next trial God sends your way.

            Every trial has an opportunity to become a temptation though. When I am in the midst of a trial, I can either use it to exercise my faith, trust God, and become stronger, or I can doubt God, do things my way, and take the easy way out. If I disobey God and do things my way, the trial has become a temptation leading to sin.

            Some examples of trials you might be facing: Big test that you aren’t prepared for; You want something but can’t afford it; You heard something really interesting about somebody else; Your boyfriend/ girlfriend is encouraging you to do things you know is wrong; Your parents told you you couldn’t do something or go somewhere that you wanted to; You or someone you know is pregnant. Each one of these trials can be a strength builder, or could lead you down a very sinful road.

            #2) Maybe it’s because I have seen too many movies like Evan Almighty, or Bruce Almighty, but when I think of God and heaven, I think of everything being pure white—whiter than the best bleach in the world could get something white. When I think of sin, I think just the opposite—everything black, muddy, and disgusting. What part does pure white and disgusting black have together? They don’t have and never can have anything in common. The Bible repeatedly calls God “holy.” The angels even sang a song about Him saying, “Holy, holy, holy.” Saying it three times dramatically emphasized how holy he was. The definition of holy is, “Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system.” God in His perfect white suit is not playing in the mud. He is not playing really close to the mud but not getting in. He is not having anything to do with the mud. He is strictly staying as far away from it as He can get.

            Verse 13 says “Let no one say when He is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” In the phrase “I am tempted by God” or put another way “I am tempted of God” the word “of” needs to be looked at. In English “of” means “of.” In Greek there are two different words that can mean “of”--Apo and Hupo. Apo means directly, as in “I am tempted directly by God. God is right here enticing me to sin.” Hupo means indirectly as in “I am indirectly tempted by God. He is not right here but He has created the scenario, as well as my sinful desire, and has placed me smack dab in the middle of it.” The word James used was hupo, which means indirectly. It is not common for people to directly blame God for being tempted, but it is common for people to indirectly blame Him for the situations they are in when they do fall into temptation—“If God allowed me to have more money I wouldn’t have had to steal.”

            James doesn’t even consider the possibility that God could be responsible for directly tempting someone. That would go against everything that He stands for. His entire relationship with us has involved His molding us into His image, leaving our old sinful nature behind. Why would He then tempt us to do evil? It makes no sense. But then James goes further and says, “Don’t even say that God indirectly caused you to sin by creating the circumstances that you find yourself in.”

            Just in case you find it in your Bible, remember what I taught here tonight, and think I was wrong, and discount what I have to say, there is a story in Second Samuel 24. Verse 1 of that chapter says that the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel and He enticed David to take a census. You might think, “What’s the big deal about taking a census?” Instead of trusting in God’s protection, David wanted to count how many fighting men he had in case he needed to defend himself. Even in verse 3, his top advisor tried to talk him out of it. Verse 1 clearly indicates that God was the one motivating David to take the census, a sin that cost the lives of 70,000 people. This passage would destroy James’ entire argument if it was the end of the story. First Chronicles 21 tells the exact same story but from a different perspective—both inspired by God, except in verse one it says, “And Satan stood up against Israel….” Who stood up against Israel? Satan. Is Satan God? No, of course not. The only explanation then is that God allowed David to go through a trial, a chance to take the high and more difficult road and trust Him for protection, but David became tempted, chose to doubt God, and take matters into His own hands.

            Then we have Jesus. Immediately after His baptism He was led up by the Spirit (capital “S” means God) into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He was led into the trials by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the devil. He did not succumb to the temptations, and therefore, grew in His faith, if that was possible.

            To answer the question “Who is to blame for our temptations?” we need to look at…

#3 The progression of our temptation. James uses a very vivid image of the life cycle to describe temptation. James says God is not to blame, “but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Yesterday, at my day job, I had been working in an attic. It was a very tight attic with lots of duct work making it almost impossible to move around. We had decided that due to the distance we would have to travel and the amount of obstacles we would have to cross that it would be easier to take the vent off the side of the house and pass the material up that way rather than try to carry them through the attic. This would take longer, and require us to sit in the extremely high temperature longer. As I was sitting there looking out the vent I saw the homeowner walking with a can of Coke, and two cans of Mountain Dew. I knew that the cans just came out of an ice cold refrigerator because I could see the condensation dripping off of the can. I also knew who they were for—me and my two co-workers. I could taste the Coke and the Mountain Dew as I poured it in my mouth. I could feel the carbonation burning my throat. I was being put through a trial. Every fiber of my being wanted to drink that soda but I had made a vow to not drink soda for the entire year. Was God tempting me? No, He was putting me through a trial that if I succeeded would make me stronger the next time. (You’re probably thinking “What kind of trial is that?” Well, if I could resist something I wanted when I was physically worn out, overheated, and dehydrated, I could certainly find the courage to resist it when I wasn’t in that circumstance.) Was the homeowner tempting me? No, he had no idea about my vow. If he did, then it might be a different story. I was tempted by myself when I desired the ice cold beverage. I was not drawn away, however, and overcame that particular trial. By the way, it would not have been a trial for me if I looked out the vent and saw him carrying a jar full of olives no matter how cold they were. Each of us have our own set of desires that the devil uses to draw us away from God. The reason why I overcame the trial was because I had made the decision months ago not to give in if I ever had the opportunity.

James says we are drawn away by our own desires and enticed. I picture a sheep wandering away from the rest of the flock—he is being drawn away by his own desires enticed by something, whether it is a fresh clump of grass, some shade, or water. “Then when desire is conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown brings forth death.” A single thought, based on our own desires draws us away from what God would have us to do. That desire, that falls outside of God’s will for our lives, conceives sin. That sin, if it is not taken care of will bring forth death.

How can sin bring forth death? It depends on the sin. If your sin is drinking, death could come about through any number of things: an accident, health failure, or alcohol poisoning. But what about lust? Your lust might cause you to sin through pornographic websites, or inappropriate relations with your boyfriend or girlfriend. You might contract a life threatening STD, like AIDS, but for the most part the death James is speaking of here is a spiritual death. If you never take care of your sin problem, it will lead to what the Bible calls a spiritual death, or in other words you’re going to hell. By taking care of your sin problem I don’t mean making a commitment to never sin again, or doing extra chores at God’s house to appease Him. It doesn’t work that way. Once you’ve sinned, that’s it—you’re done. Remember God’s perfect white heaven? You now have thick black tar-like stuff all over you, and you can’t get it off. There’s only one way to deal with your sin problem and that is making Jesus your Lord and Savior. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.              

    

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

James 1:9-11

The James Series

            How many of you all would like to be rich? Richer beyond your imagination? Banks come to you for a loan? Now how many of you would like to be poor? Broke as broke can be? If it cost a nickel to travel around the world, you couldn’t get out of sight? You’re so broke you go to KFC to lick other people’s fingers? So broke that if you threw a pity party you couldn’t bring the snacks? Most people, if they were able to choose, would choose to be rich rather than to be poor. “Money can’t buy you happiness,” right? Can it rent it? Have you ever seen a sad man riding a jet ski? No, money can’t buy you happiness. It can’t even rent happiness. You can have fun for a short period of time, but once that time is over you’ll go back to your previous level of happiness, or even worse, you will become more depressed because you have found one more thing that didn’t satisfy. Money can’t buy you happiness but neither does poverty. In fact poverty can’t buy you anything. You will have a tough time finding someone who used to be broke, became fabulously wealthy, and then all of a sudden became happy. Just as you will also have a tough time finding someone who was fabulously wealthy, who then became broke, and suddenly became happy. What this means to me is that money is not a contributor to happiness. I know people who can’t pay their bills and they are perfectly happy. I also know people that have money coming out of their ears that are perfectly happy. I know rich and poor people who are absolutely miserable.   

So what do the rich and the poor have in common? Well according to Proverbs 22:2 it is that the LORD has made them both, but there is something else, too. As the Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy so eloquently put it, “The more money you come across the more problems you see.” The Lord has made both the rich and the poor, and He also made us both to have problems. Proverb 30:8-9 says, “…Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of the Lord.” The author of this Proverb was wise enough to see that there were rich people who completely lost touch with the reality that they are dependent on God, as well as to see that it is not good to be so desperate that you take drastic measures just to feed yourselves.

Let’s take a quick poll:

-How many of you have ever filled up a glass of water, drank part of it, and then left it sitting around, or drank what you wanted and dumped the rest out?

-How many of you have ever went to the sink, cup in hand, and prayed earnestly that clean drinking water might come out when you turned the water on? And secondly, how many of you have ever thanked God after drinking that clean water?

-How many of you have at least one car in your household? Two cars?

Review time:

-In America, for the most part, we don’t have to be concerned with the quality of our water unless we live near a factory, or a dump site. If that is the case, call Erin Brokovich. Therefore, since we rarely have to be concerned about clean drinking water, we rarely think about it. If we rarely think about it, then we certainly don’t pray for or thank God for it on a regular basis. In fact, we get pretty agitated during hurricanes when we have to boil our water.

-Because water is so plentiful in America, we take it for granted drinking only what we want, or need, and occasionally forget about it and leave it on the counter for the cat to drink out of and eventually knock over all over your school books.

-If you, or someone in your household, owns a car you are in the top 8% of the richest people in the world no matter what size, shape, condition, make, or model. If you own two cars, you are in the top 1%.

Now…how rich do you feel? You may not feel rich but you are. If you spent a week in Haiti, or lived in a shack in South Africa for a few days you would come back thankful for all of the blessings you have. So why don’t we feel rich? For one, we are so blessed that we rarely need to think about our daily necessities (food, water, clothing, shelter) and therefore, we focus on what we don’t have. Secondly, “mo’ money, mo’ problems.” The rich have problems. The poor have problems. We think that once we reach a certain financial level that all of our problems will go away. Some will go away, like, “how am I going to pay rent,” but they will be replaced with “How am I going to afford to send my kid to college now that they don’t qualify for financial aid?”

Today’s topic is not about money. It’s not about rich versus poor. It’s not about the benefits of being rich or the benefits of being poor. By the way, being poor is not a spiritual discipline, just like being rich is not a sign of God’s favor. Today’s lesson is about problems—we all have them.

James 1:9-11 “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, ¹⁰ but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. ¹¹ For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.”

In Israel, there is a grass that will grow at night and then burn and wither each day as the sun rises. Reading this passage, I always imagine a growing, beautiful plant in a pot sitting right next to a potted dead plant. The first plant is beautiful but no sooner than the sun rises it’s going to wither and die and look exactly the same as the other plant. Oprah Winfrey, the richest woman in the world will eventually pass away. When she does her skeletal remains will look very similar to Mother Theresa’s, a woman who took a vow of poverty.

So what is this passage saying? Don’t try anything? Ambition will get you nowhere? Not at all. There are two characters in this passage: the rich and the poor. Let’s look at the poor first. James says for him “to glory in his exaltation,” or glory in his being lifted up to an elevated state. But I thought it wasn’t spiritually beneficial to be poor? Yes, but in James 1:2 it says, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall in various trials….” James is telling the poor man to glory in the fact that God is putting him through difficult situations in order for great things to come from it. Verse 4 says that doing so will make him “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Then there’s the rich man. It seems the rich man has more problems because James goes into greater detail describing all of the bad things that will happen to him. Perhaps it is because the rich are used to fixing every problem with money and have a harder time believing they need God. Maybe James spends more time trying to convince the rich that, like that grass, they to will burn away. In summary James says for the rich man to “glory in his humiliation.” The rich man and the poor man will go through different trials and problems but the end result will still be the same—God making us “perfect and complete lacking nothing.”

So what’s the point? What are we supposed to be getting out of this? You are going to go through trials, whether you are rich or poor, white or black, male or female. The question is, “How will you respond to those trials?” Will you cave under the pressure? Will you seek another source other than God to get you through—like a new car, new girlfriend/boyfriend, new cell phone or other gadget? James says to count it all joy. Take it all in and embrace it. Ask God when you are going through various trials, “Lord, what am I to learn from this?” It may seem like I’m blowing off trials like they are nothing, but I am not. Trials are tough. Maybe you have lost a friend, or a loved one. Maybe your parents are divorcing, maybe you’re failing your classes, or you’re pregnant. God wants to talk to you. He wants you to be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Maybe the one thing he wants to teach you is, “Hey, my grace is sufficient for you. I’m all you need.” Maybe God is trying to get your attention for the first time and accept Him as your Lord and Savior.             

Double-Minded

Double-Minded

James 1:1-8

            I remember one freezing cold Saturday in Ohio. It was the last weekend in October and snow was all over the place. We had just finished racing at the Regional Cross Country meet. For those of you who know about racing, you know that the runners wear very thin and very short shorts and tank tops. To say it was cold was an understatement. About an hour after the race, I was back in my warm coat and standing in the concession stand line. Right in front of me was one of my teammates. He ordered a can of coke and a candy bar. He took one drink of the coke and said, “Ughh! Why did I order this? The whole time I was in line I kept thinking, ‘I’m going to get something warm—a hot dog and some hot chocolate.’” He then gave me the ice cold coke and walked away.

            Have you ever had a debate in your brain about something? Maybe you’re going to a movie and there is more than one that you really want to see—the whole way to the movie you keep going back and forth on which one you want to see. Or maybe its sports. A few years ago Ohio State played for the National Championship against the University of Miami. Miami had a tough team, filled with speed. They had not lost a game in a few years. Ohio State played their last game the last weekend of November and they wouldn’t play again until the first week of January. This gave me six weeks of “OSU’s going to get beat.” “OSU has a chance.” “OSU’s defense will crush Miami.” “Miami is way to fast for our defense.” I was back and forth so much I was starting to get sea-sick.

            Maybe its clothes. Maybe its politics. Maybe its popularity, or your spiritual life. Anytime there are two sides waging war in your brain, you’re double-minded. Perhaps the best way to introduce the discussion on double-mindedness is to talk about single-mindedness. What comes to your mind when you think of single-mindedness? Focused, purpose-driven, goal oriented, not easily distracted, on target. Double-mindedness is the opposite of all of that.

            We just finished studying one of the hardest teachings in all of the Bible—The Sermon on the Mount. Now we’re going to start studying one of the hardest books of the Bible—James. James is one of the shortest books, but it is one of the most difficult to live out because, like the Sermon on the Mount, James asks us to do a lot of very difficult things. For this reason, many people choose not to read the book. I like to read James whenever I feel like I need a good kick in the pants.

            Incidentally, I decided I would memorize a chapter of the Bible for the Transforming your Mind Initiative. I chose 3 John because the whole book was a chapter long, and I figured I might as well say I memorized a whole book of the Bible if I’m going to memorize a chapter. That took me about a week. So I decided to memorize 2 John, which is also one chapter. That took me another week. Then I thought, “Why am I playing around memorizing books that I will rarely use in my daily life? Why not memorize something that will be more useful like James?” So I memorized James. James is five chapters and I had it memorized in five weeks. I had memorized seven chapters of three books in seven weeks.

            James 1:1-8 “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”    

            There are a couple of things worth mentioning before we get too deep into the study. First, James is the brother of Jesus. Some say half brother because he was a son of Joseph and Mary, whereas Jesus was a son of Mary and God. I say brother because Joseph raised them both as if they were his own. The important thing to note is that James didn’t mention it. If it were me I would bring it up in every conversation. “Hey, you should listen to me, I am Jesus’ brother.” “Did the Buckeyes win today? By the way Jesus and I are brothers.” “Do you wanna go on a date with me? You better say ‘Yes’ because I’m Jesus’ brother.” Not James. He didn’t feel worthy to be called Jesus’ brother. In fact, he calls himself a slave to Jesus. By the way, how bad would that suck to have Jesus as your brother? “Adam, why can’t you be more perfect like Jesus?” “Who broke the plate? Was it you Adam, or Jesus, the perfect son of God?”  Secondly, it is believed that James did not believe Jesus was the Messiah until His resurrection. How did he miss that? Didn’t Mary ever explain to him the miracle of His conception and the whole virgin birth thing? And third, some translations. The word “double-minded” is translated from a word that literally means “two souls.” In other words, you have two souls, each fighting for control of you. Perhaps one soul is devoted to worldly things and the other to heavenly things. The word “unstable” literally means to stagger around like a drunk. So a double-minded man staggers around like a drunk.

            Tonight we will look at two men--one single-minded and the other double-minded. The first man is Joseph. Joseph was one of Jacob’s twelve sons who formed the twelve tribes of Judah. His brothers became jealous of him and threw him into a well to die. One of them thought that it would be better to sell him and make some Benjamins rather than have him die. So he was sold to some Midianites, and then again to a man named Potiphar. Let’s pick up the story there…

When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

 ² The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph, giving him success in everything he did. ⁴ This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. ⁵ From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master’s household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar’s household for Joseph’s sake. All his household affairs ran smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. ⁶ So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn’t worry about a thing—except what kind of food to eat!

   Joseph was a very handsome and well-built young man, ⁷ and Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.

 ⁸ But Joseph refused. “Look,” he told her, “my master trusts me with everything in his entire household. ⁹ No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

 ¹⁰ She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible. ¹¹ One day, however, no one else was around when he went in to do his work. ¹² She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.

 ¹³ When she saw that she was holding his cloak and he had fled, ¹⁴ she called out to her servants. Soon all the men came running. “Look!” she said. “My husband has brought this Hebrew slave here to make fools of us! He came into my room to rape me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream, he ran outside and got away, but he left his cloak behind with me.”

 ¹⁶ She kept the cloak with her until her husband came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him her story. “That Hebrew slave you’ve brought into our house tried to come in and fool around with me,” she said. ¹⁸ “But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his cloak with me!”

Joseph Put in Prison

 ¹⁹ Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife’s story about how Joseph had treated her. ²⁰ So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. ²² Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison. ²³ The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed.

            Jospeh was a man of single-minded devotion to God. He would not allow anything to damage his integrity. We should note a few things in this story. It is believed that Potiphar was the head executioner for Pharoah’s government. It would be wise not to make that man mad. Secondly, we know that Potiphar’s wife must have been a very attractive young lady. How do we know that? If she wasn’t attractive, Joseph wouldn’t have been tempted by her. If he was n’t tempted by her, it wouldn’t have been that interesting of a story. The fact that she was attractive, he had plenty of opportunities to have the affair and still refused even though she tempted him every single day demonstrates his single-minded devotion to God.

Let’s introduce man number two: David. David was referred to as “a man after God’s own heart.” This would be someone you would expect to be single-minded in purpose and devotion to God. Let’s check out his story.

            In the spring of the year,^[a] when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

 ² Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. ³ He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. ⁵ Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”

⁶ Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. ⁸ Then he told Uriah, “Go on home and relax.^[b]” David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. ⁹ But Uriah didn’t go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

 ¹⁰ When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, “What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?”

 ¹¹ Uriah replied, “The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents,^[c] and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.”

 ¹² “Well, stay here today,” David told him, “and tomorrow you may return to the army.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn’t get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guard.

David Arranges for Uriah’s Death

 ¹⁴ So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. ¹⁵ The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.” ¹⁶ So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting. ¹⁷ And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.

 ¹⁸ Then Joab sent a battle report to David. ¹⁹ He told his messenger, “Report all the news of the battle to the king. ²⁰ But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls? ²¹ Wasn’t Abimelech son of Gideon^[d] killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?’ Then tell him, ‘Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.’”

 ²² So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. ²³ “The enemy came out against us in the open fields,” he said. “And as we chased them back to the city gate, ²⁴ the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king’s men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite.”

 ²⁵ “Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,” David said. “The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!”

 ²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. ²⁷ When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the Lord was displeased with what David had done.

            Here we have David, in the spring of the year when the kings go off to battle with their troops, up on his roof, not off in battles with his troops. Have you ever thought about how if he would have just been doing what he was supposed to have been doing this whole mess could have been avoided? Secondly, he sees a beautiful woman bathing. Now, did he know she was going to be there and that’s why he chose to take a stroll on his roof at that particular time, or was it by coincidence? We don’t know. We do know that he watched, and did not turn away. If David would have turned away, perhaps he would not have been drawn in and tempted to do something wrong.

            Here we have Israel’s greatest king not doing what he was supposed to be doing, committing adultery, perhaps raping another man’s wife, getting her pregnant, trying to cover it up, eventually killing the husband, marrying the woman, and pretending that nothing happened. Not exactly what I would call someone who was single-mindedly focused on God.

            So which of these two characters can you most closely identify with?

            It is not good to be double-minded. You want everyone you have a relationship with to be single-minded. You don’t want to come home from school and have your parents kissing and hugging you, and two minutes later screaming curse words at you. You don’t want to have a teacher tell you the test will be open book, and then on the day of the exam inform you that it is not. You wouldn’t want to stand before a judge who has a history of giving out completely different sentences for the same crime. You want people to be predictable and single-minded. You don’t want them having a war in their minds over how to make a decision.

            So what should you do? You should avoid being double-minded yourself and try to be single-minded. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever being indecisive, but if someone sees you, do they have to wonder what version of you are they going to encounter? The mean one or the nice one? The Christian or the partier? The honest one or the liar? You should have a stability of moods and a predictability about yourself. Secondly, you should decide before hand what your values are, so when you encounter trials you will be prepared for them. Joseph decided long before he met Potiphar’s wife that he would be a man of integrity and not commit adultery. David did not.

            If you want to be single-minded in your devotion to God, you need to decide now that you will be pure for your future husband or wife. Even if you have already given that part of yourself up, you can still decide to remain pure from this point forward. You need to decide that now, not when you’re making out with the hottest guy or girl in school, because at that point it is too late and other influences are now going to help make that decision for you. You need to decide now that you will not drink or do drugs, and how you will avoid it, rather than wait until you are at a party and the peer pressure is on. You need to decide now to be pro-life not when you are an un-wed pregnant teenager. You need to take a stand for what you believe in before the circumstances influence you to do something you wouldn’t normally do.

            Lastly, you need to decide where you are going to hang your fate of eternity. If you want to see double-mindedness look at someone who is trying to work their way into heaven. They do good deeds and are elated, and then have a sinful thought or desire and fall into a pit of despair. One sure way of being single-minded is resting your hope of salvation on the only one who can save you. Jesus Christ was the perfect lamb of God, who was sacrificed to pay a debt that He didn’t owe and we couldn’t pay. Knowing where you will go when you die sure clears up a lot of anxiety and pressures in your life.

      

Built On A Rock

Built on a Rock

Sermon on the Mount Series

Matthew 7:24-29

            A few years ago a friend of mine served on a jury in a civil trial. A civil trial means that there were no laws broken, but one party feels the other party was negligent in some way and caused them damages. In this particular trial a couple had just bought some property in a subdivision and built their dream home. They had saved for years to build this home and it cost them around $280,000. Unfortunately, within a few years the foundation of their home began to crack. The couple asked the contractor to fix the problem. The contractor looked at the home, looked over their papers, and blueprints, and felt they had done everything they could have to build that house properly. When a contractor comes in to build on a property they have to bring in so much topsoil and pack it down to a certain depth. Once that has been done they have to drill down and take soil samples to test the quality of the dirt. Once all of that has been done, then they can start pouring the concrete for the foundation.

            Twenty years before this particular house was built, the land was used to dump old wood, and tree stumps and then covered over with dirt. Does anybody know what happens to wood that has been buried for an extended period of time? It disintegrates. Does anybody know what happens to large amounts of wood that has been buried? It creates sinkholes. A sinkhole is when a large mass of something underground disintegrates and the dirt surrounding it falls in on itself causing everything above it to sink. This will make craters on the surface.

            Unfortunately, the contractor and the homeowner did not know this land was used to bury old wood. The jury found that the contractor had indeed done everything that was supposed to be done in order to build that house properly. When trying to decide who was responsible for the damages, they came to the conclusion that the person who owns the property is responsible for knowing what is below their house. It was a sad case because this family had just spent $280,000 on a house that needed $200,000 more to fix. The contractors had done nothing wrong. The homeowners had done nothing wrong. It was just a really expensive case of bad luck.

            But a foundation is everything. The foundation of a house must support the entire weight of the house. That is an immense amount of weight. If you live in a brick house, I want you to find a brick, weigh it, and then get out a flashlight and count how many bricks you have on your house. You do a little multiplication and you have just figured out the weight of only the bricks. Next factor in all of the wood, shingles, windows, doors, and all of your stuff that you keep in your house, like your washer and dryer, refrigerator, things like that. Oh! And if you park your car in your garage factor that in, too. If you ask any contractor what the most important part of a building job is, and they will tell you it is the laying of the foundation.

            There are other kinds of foundations. There is the make-up kind. You start with that and build from there though, right? So it is basically the same. What about math? How many of you all went to first grade and learned about the Pythagorean theorem? No, what happened was your first grade teacher began a foundation of math that the second grade teacher could build on. What about chores around your house? Caleb is 28 months old and he has chores. Does he mow the lawn? No. We have started him out with little tasks and then we build from there. Right now he helps unload the dishes and is a really good sweeper. The other day he saw the broom and said, “I want to swoop!” What about your spiritual lives? Again Caleb is two years old and his Sunday school teacher, Miss Candace, teaches him every week about God, the Bible, and loving others. He comes out of class with finger paintings, bookmarks, drawings, and other pieces of art. Not once have one of those pieces of art depicted transubstantiationism. Caleb hasn’t yet decided if he is pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. He is having a foundation being built of who Jesus is, and that we should be nice to each other. That’s it.

            Well, today ends a nearly year long study into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ longest sustained teaching that we have recorded. The sermon covered three chapters, 111 verses, and nearly 2,600 words. This is actually only what we have copied down. Jesus spoke much more during the sermon that could not be recorded despite people writing down as much as they could recall. In all actuality, the sermon probably lasted several hours if not most of the day. But here in this last passage Jesus is winding it down. He had already given His altar call, and now He is kind of giving a warning—the same type of warning any parent would give to their children—“You can take my advice or you can ignore it. See what happens.”

The last passage, Matt 7:24-29, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”

            You can be wise and build your spiritual house on a firm foundation of Jesus’ teachings, or you can ignore them. If you have a good house on a good foundation you can live there for your entire life, and even pass the house on to your children. But if it is not a good house built on a good foundation, the slightest storm will knock the house over. I can tell you stories of people who have built their spiritual house on the firm foundation of Jesus, and when disaster struck, it made them stronger. Unfortunately, I can also tell you stories about people who had a really shallow faith. They may have come to church, maybe even more than the CEO Christians, but they never really took ownership of their own faith. So when disaster struck, their faith was shaken to the core, and they had nowhere to turn.  Remember the story of the three little pigs? The first pig built his house out of straw. When his house was destroyed he was shaken and ran to the one who built his house out of sticks. When his house was destroyed, the first two ran to the one who built his house out of bricks. Do you want to be one who is constantly running to others for help, or do you want to be the one who others run to? Only one of those pigs took ownership and therefore responsibility of their future.

            Remember the story of the cracked foundation we started with? The jury decided that the person responsible for what was under their house was the owner. You are responsible for your spiritual foundation. Not me. Not Brian. Not Rebekah. Not Barbara. Not the other Bryan. It is up to you.