photo by: tleonard1

As I watched the MJ memorial yesterday (and some of the comments on twitter and facebook) I was alarmed at the misrepresentation of God. I heard so much about Michael and what he had done. Obviously, he was an extremely talented performer hailing himself as the ‘King of Pop’. He was extremely charitable (which is something I greatly admired about his life, love that). And the list went on and on about what an incredible person he was. It was also often talked about how he was now in heaven and how God needed him there, etc…

All those things are great and wonderful thoughts, but, unfortunately, we must be brought back in with a little reality…

On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. (Matthew 7:22-23)

That is kind of a crazy scripture to take in. He’ll be talking to people who have done absolutely amazing things while on earth. BUT, notice the focus. Look what we did God. Look what I’ve accomplished. Then, look at what the response is… He doesn’t acknowledge accomplishments or what they did, he addresses the relationship; ‘I never knew you…’

I don’t know about you, but, when I go, at my memorial/funeral/whatever, I want it to be talked about my relationship with God and how that transfered into my relationship with the world. God first, that’s what drove me, motivated me, comforted me, strengthened me, and, plain and simply made me.

I hope beyond all hopes that MJ had a life altering and changing experience with God at the end and it grieves me that he may not have, but, my hopes and prayers are now with the family and kids that they could put aside past differences and identities and look to the true King as their source and identity.

Not unto us, Lord, but, unto You…

A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” (Luke 7:41-43, ESV)

This is one of those scriptures that has marked me. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, at least I hope not.

I used to wrestle with it a lot ’cause it says that the more we’ve been forgiven, the more we’ll love God. I used to wrestle with that. I would ask questions like, ‘what about murderers who come to follow Jesus? They get to love Him more than me, I’ve never done anything like that.’ It really bothered me for a while. But, then I had a revelation of grace…

And let me just say, you can’t really have a revelation of grace until you’ve had a revelation of sin. They go hand in hand. It was at the point that I began to realize the depth of darkness in my soul that I started to begin understanding grace a little better. It’s at that point that you really begin to understand that scripture above. That’s when you begin to realize just how big of a debt He forgave and how awesome the grace at the cross really was. Seriously, incredible…

I find myself more and more just thinking and meditating on God’s grace. It’s often times all I really want to talk about. It’s completely ridiculous (in an awesome way)!

Was talking with a friend the other night about missions. He’s looking at several different short-term trips he could go on. During the conversation he mentioned that one trip was fairly dangerous. It’s an unstable country, where, regardless of the precautions you take, things could go horribly wrong. I’m a big fan of those mission trips. You really have to put a lot of trust in God, more than you’re used to.

Later on that night, though, Jess and I were talking about this further and she made a great point. What’s more dangerous? Going on this mission trip, or not going (speaking in general for all of us, not just this persons situation)? If we do go, it’s dangerous for us. We could be harmed in some certain way. If we don’t go, however, all we’re doing is not taking the word of God to an area of the world that desperately needs it.

Which is the more dangerous mission?

Over the past few years the gospel has taken root in me like I never thought it could. I love it. It drives me, gives me passion, encourages me, strengthens me, and challenges me.

I copied this from John Piper this morning and can totally relate to it. As his title suggests, never let the gospel get smaller. You can read the whole post here:

‘The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,

grace gets bigger;
Christ gets greater;
his death gets more wonderful;
his resurrection gets more astonishing;
the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
its global extent gets wider;
your own sin gets uglier;
the devil gets more evil;
the gospel’s roots in eternity go deeper;
its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.
So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart.’

Is it growing in you? Never let it get smaller!!!

And, if you said, ‘holy crap, a blog post from Daniel?!?!’ I said the same thing

I figured I’d continue with another great video. Great video from Craig Groeschel. Try, Fail, Learn, Adjust.

Pulled this from Tony Morgan’s blog.

photo by: eliazar

On to continuing the discussion on ‘different’ churches. 

photo by: CarbonNYC

I’ve been challenged lately by the above question. “Is ‘Different’ Right?” Is being a ‘different’ kind of church really the right thing to do? I understand the thought process, in fact, I’ve been a big proponent of that thought process. We do things different so that we can distance ourselves from the negative views traditional church has carried. We do things different to attract a segment of culture that traditional will never attract. We do things different because, hey, Jesus was different from the religious institutions of His day.

What about Atlanta (or insert your city here) though? Is different the right way to go? Are lost people who are seeking looking for a different church? Actually, what I’ve found is that lost people who are seeking God in their lives are not looking for different, they’re looking for stable. They’re looking for that church that has real answers to their tough questions. Just being different doesn’t cut it for them. Being a ‘different’ church only appeals to Christians who want to feel cool and edgy.

What if, in your city (or mine), being different means planting a completely traditional service that preaches the gospel in simple yet effective terms because that’s what feels stable, helpful, and safe to seeking people? What if a seeking lost person is looking for the only thing they know church to be; a hymn singing, robe wearing, acolyte donning church? And what if that church had a real life changing message? Incredibly unpopular with the new edgy Christian crowd? Maybe. This is what I would call ‘different’.

Now, I’m not saying I’m right here. I’m just posing thoughts that have been running through my head lately. 

What are your thoughts?