Why did I say that?

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” – Romans 7:15

“With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.” – James 3:9

Have you ever struggled to say the right thing? Or have you ever regretted saying something you shouldn’t have said?

You are in good company…with the rest of the human race.

In Chapter 3, James devotes a lot of attention to the power (and potential destructiveness) of the tongue. He compares it to the rudder of a ship. It has the power to shift our direction! Just as a forest fire begins with the tiniest of sparks, the tongue, be it small, is like fire. Sometimes we need to pause to take an inventory of how we’re using this powerful thing we’ve been given.

Am I setting relationships or friendships on fire? Am I using my words to demean people who were created in the image of our God? Am I saying and doing the very things I don’t want to say and do? Are blessing and cursing coming out of the same mouth?

The bad news is this: no matter how hard we try to tame the tongue and say the right thing, if we are trying apart from the power of the Spirit, we will fail. Over and over again. We’ll set relationship after relationship on fire. We’ll steer our ships aground.

But the good – no, the great and wonderful and beautiful – news is this: as followers of Jesus, we are no longer enslaved by our sinful tendencies to destroy people with our words. We are humans, and we will say things we regret this side of heaven. Grace covers this, but our speech should be markedly different than that of the world!

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” – Galatians 5

Want to tame the tongue? Be filled with the Spirit. Know who you are. If you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are a son or daughter of the King, and He has redeemed your heart and everything that flows from it, including the words that flow from your mouth.

Father, may we be people whose hearts and the words that flow from them praise you. May we be marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as we walk by the power of your Spirit. Thank you, Father, that we are no longer enslaved to our brokenness and sin, but that we have been adopted into your family. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

See you Sunday!

Faith Without Works is Dead

"...Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." - James 2:17

This is a pretty common phrase in the church today, isn't it? Often it's used to clarify the importance of works in the life of a Christian…in other words, what are you DOING that proves you’re a follower of Christ? Where’s the evidence of faith? 

But this kind of thinking may miss the point of James 2. Let’s flip back to Ephesians for a moment.

 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  - Ephesians 2:8-10

Yes, faith without works is dead. But works without faith is equally as dead. And both are useless. All of Scripture points to this.

Dallas Willard often said, “Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.”

The moment I work to appear holy and righteous, to please others, or to add something of my own to the cross – to make myself worthy of the cross, I miss the point. I fail to understand the totality of Jesus' death and resurrection. I inadvertently cheapen grace!

I cannot add to the cross. It is finished; my debt has been paid. But I am HIS workmanship. You are are HIS workmanship. And according to Ephesians 2:10, we were created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has already prepared for us to walk in! 

Father, We may not be able to add anything of value to what Jesus has done, but goodness, we can and should respond to what He has done. To what You have done. May we have faith that works – not in an effort to earn anything – but out of a desire to serve You, our Creator God who has written stories for us far greater than we can write for ourselves. You graciously work out Your goodness on earth through us. May we be people who understand who we are, whose we are, and why we were created, and may our faith compel us to walk in good works which You have prepared. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Today, there is someone in your path who has been prepared for you to love in Jesus’ name. There is a work for which you were specifically created. Will you accept your mission for today? Go with confidence and grace, knowing that our God has gone before you in preparation.

See you Sunday!

Let Brotherly Love Continue

This time last year, I was in Thessaloniki, Greece, serving alongside a local church as they welcomed refugees from Iraq and Syria. Most Greeks in Thessaloniki wanted nothing to do with these people. They were unfamiliar, foreign, filthy, needy, and viewed as a burden. 

But the church where we worshipped took a distinctly different approach from the city they called home. 

These followers of Jesus built relationships with the refugees. They welcomed them into their homes for meals and into the church building for showers and rest. They showed them love.

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4)

Because our Greek brothers and sisters took Scripture like James 2 seriously, scores of refugees came to know the God of the Bible. They experienced the love of Jesus, and they couldn’t get enough of it. 

Today, many of the refugees who walked through the doors of that church are now extending selfless love and care to their Muslim countrymen in the name of Jesus, often risking violent responses in order to do so.

These are the subversive, life-giving acts of love to which we’re called. This is the upside down way in which God redeems the world. 

We may not be in Greece, but there are certainly people among us who feel like outcasts. Who are the “others” in your life? Who are the unfamiliar, the foreign, the filthy, the needy? Who are you viewing as burdensome? What would it look like for you to embrace them with the love of Jesus this week? Not to just tolerate them…but to love them?

Or perhaps you feel like the other. You feel like an outcast. A burden. Friend, YOU are loved so deeply that God sacrificed His Son to redeem you. You have a Father who is there, ready to embrace you in your loneliness. Just call out His name. If you have more questions, please reply to this email, and we'll talk. 

Father, may we be people who love others as ourselves. May we be known for the radical nature of our love, rather than for our exclusion. May we love the least of these in a way that draws them to Jesus, which is only possible through Your Spirit and Your grace. Amen.

“Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)

Hope to see you tomorrow night at our monthly prayer gathering!

Erika

Slow to Anger

Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. - James 1:19-20

From cable news networks to Facebook to our personal relationships, we often practice this in reverse, don’t we?

Our culture says: be quick to anger, quick to speak, and painfully slow to hear.

The thing is, our hearts are naturally – sinfully – interested in self-preservation. When we’re chasing dreams and idols apart from our Creator’s plans for us, and especially when our worth and identity is tied up in these dreams and idols, anything that interferes with them becomes a personal attack. This need to self-preserve often causes us to respond quickly in anger.

And while James says that our anger does not produce the righteousness of God (and we read elsewhere that our anger gives the devil a foothold, that anger resides in the lap of fools, that it leads to evil…the list goes on and on.), he does offer an alternative to our self-destructive anger:

“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

God offers us a way out. He throws us a life raft. He gives us an opening for His healing and restoration!

When we turn from the sin that occupies our hearts – the idols, the affirmation we crave that isn’t rooted in Him, the dreams we’ve planned apart from Him – we need only to have teachable hearts that humbly receive truth that has already been printed on our soul and be ready to submit to it. God Himself does the heavy lifting! His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Not only do we have the Word, full of grace of truth, but we have Jesus, the Word in the flesh, dwelling with us. We don’t have to self-preserve! We don’t have to defend ourselves! He did everything that needed to be done on the cross. Just receive.

Father, may we people who rest in the finished work of the cross and allow the implanted Word to grow and flourish within us. May we drop our idols and our need for affirmation from people around us and instead look to You to define us. May we seek to self-surrender instead of self-preserve. May we be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, as our hearts continue to be transformed by Your grace. And in our graciousness and patience, may we be salt and light in our city and world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

"Course He isn't safe. But He's good."

From the moment Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden, one question has remained for humans throughout the centuries: is God actually good?

For Adam and Eve, they chose to believe that the one tree forbidden to them – even though they had the rest of the world to enjoy – was evidence that God was withholding something good from them. Though God had warned them of the dire consequences that would come from eating from that tree (“you must not touch it, or you will die”), they ate anyway. Without pause. And their decision brought spiritual death – pain, brokenness, misery, and separation from God – for all of humanity. 

Later, James echoes this same cautionary warning – that “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” He pleads with us! “Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”

But let’s not miss his next message. This is where the hope is, friends. This is where we see the answer to the question asked above.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

James 1:17-18

Let’s take this in for a moment.

After the fall, God didn’t leave Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity in our pain and devastation. He could have, but He didn’t! He began to draw people back to Himself. He began the great story of rescue and redemption that you and I continue to be a part of today. In His goodness and in His grace, He has continued to give us good and perfect gifts from above – namely, Jesus.

Just as was His desire with Adam and Eve, God – who never changes and is always faithful – wants to give you and me the most precious, miraculous, joy-bringing, life-giving gift there is: Himself. He creates beauty from ashes, and causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him. We just have to follow Him. We have to choose life.

May we be men and women who so grasp the depth, the height, and the width of God’s goodness and love for us that we choose life over death.

And remember, in the glorious words of Mr. Beaver in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: “Safe? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”