Who Is REALLY Your Father?

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44)

Who was Jesus speaking to when He said this?

A) The priests of a cult that worshipped Jupiter, Mars, or another pagan god?
B) A bunch of power-hungry political rulers in the oppressive Roman government?
C) A gang of thieves, harlots, and murderers?
D) The religious elite of Israel?

I'll give you a hint: it's not A, B, or C.

Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees.  These guys, in public, were the perfect people.  They were so dedicated to being holy that they created a buffer of man-made rules to ensure that they never even came close to sinning.  Unfortunately, they became to wrapped up in these regulations that they forgot the whole point of obeying God's laws: to worship and honor the Lord.  In making this spiritually fatal mistake, they shifted from believing that God was holy to believing that THEY were holy.  They became corrupt, manipulative, self-serving bullies and showed everyone who their real father was: Satan.

Satan's fall was remarkably similar.  He began as a mighty servant of God in heaven, one of His chief angels, if not the highest one of all (Ezekiel 28:11-15).  However, he became so wrapped up in all of his God-given glory that he started worshipping himself instead of the Lord and decided that he could do a better job of running the universe than his Creator did (Isaiah 14:13-14).  He eventually went completely mad and tried to overthrow God with an army, only to be defeated and cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:4; 7-9).  Although all those who reject Christ as their Savior are destined to burn in the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:15), it was originally created for Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41).  It makes perfect sense that Satan's "children" would follow a similar path of pride, self-worship, and ultimately, open hostility towards God.

How do we know if we are making the same mistake?  How do we know if we are God's children, or the children of Satan?  It's very simple.  Christ is God incarnate.  He is the strongest and clearest picture of Who God is. 

Our reaction to Jesus Christ will show whether or not we are God's children!

"Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me." (John 8:42)

Now, bear in mind folks, we are looking for patterns of behavior.  If you gave your life to Christ and still sin once in a while, as long as you are repentant and continually trying to serve Him with all of your heart, then you are saved.  If you simply are a "pew-warmer" and sin as much as you want without caring, then either:

A) You were never truly saved to begin with, or...
B) You are so hardened by your sin that God is about to take you to heaven early by killing you.  He did this to the Corinthians when they abused the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:30).  Hey, when He promised you eternal life, He didn't mean in this current world, ladies and gentlemen. 

In addition, you don't want to have a "witch-hunt" at church and go around accusing people of being children of Satan.  After all, as God told Samuel, we "look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel: 16:17).  That pregnant teen might not be unsaved.  She may have simply been too naive to resist the advances of that charming, handsome boy that one particular night.  That boy blaring Rob Zombie on his Ipod might not worship Satan.  He may simply be going through a rebellious period because he is being rejected by his peers.  Conversely, that squeaky clean elder with the big house and huge family might be embezzling money from the church without remorse.  It is also possible that the prim and proper Sunday School teacher who just graduated from a Christian college might be shagging her "gangsta" boyfriend every night and loving it. 

So rather than risk condemning the innocent (or getting hosed by the guilty) just take a look at your own heart and your own reaction to Christ.  After that, ask yourself the following question: who is REALLY your father?  

Marriage: Friendship To The Millionth Power!

"His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem." (Song of Songs 5:16)

What is the most important part of marriage?  It's not "sweet love" in the middle of the night, and it's not the "Prince Charming" fantasy land that is in romance novels.  Marriage (traditional marriage, my friends) is friendship to the millionth power.  Oh, and it's an exclusive friendship, so in this case, sharing is not caring.  Ladies, friendship is what makes you willing to please your husband, even when you have a headache.  Gentlemen, in your case, it's what makes you willing to romance your wife, even though it's football season.  When I get married, friendship will make me stay home and be romantic when UFC is playing at Duffy's.  I know that I'll have met my future wife when she makes me want to miss a title fight in the octagon for a candlelight dinner.  At any rate, that friendship is what will make your marriage last.  It won't be the "midnight dessert special" that you get from her once a week.  It won't be all the roses and fancy jewelry that he buys you with his six-figure salary.  It will be that unconditional, selfless love that made you both say "I do" to begin with.  That love that kept you together through thick and thin and that made you want to work it out after your arguments became verbal MMA grudge matches.  So remember, you are not tying the knot to get a sugar daddy, nor are you doing it for a guilt-free booty call pass.  You are doing it because you are best friends who are there for each other no matter what.  Ultimately, you are also doing it to show the world what it will be like when Christ is married to His bride, the church (Ephesians 5:31-21).  So make sure that nurturing your friendship is a priority in your marriage.  You lovebirds will have plenty of time to "get busy" and go shopping later if you want. 

Money Will Solve All Of Your Problems! NOT!

"Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

I've never been a particularly wealthy person.  Granted, I made a decent salary when I got a temp job working for a mortgage company shortly after I came back from Peace Corps.  However, when I got laid off from that two years ago, it wasn't pretty.  Finally, I have a job which allows me to pay the bills.  That being said, I have sometimes wistfully daydreamed about writing a bestselling, kick-butt novel that would allow me to strike it rich and become a multi-gazillionaire.  I thought that doing so would make me happy.  However, this verse gave me a reality check.

This verse was written by King Solomon, one of the wealthiest men of the ancient world.  It is included in a book where he basically says that life outside of God is completely meaningless.  Imagine if Bill Gates or Carlos Slim went into a soul-wrenching depression and started venting about how useless money was and you would start to understand just how shocking this statement is.  The fact is that money doesn't make you happy.  It allows you to buy a bunch of shiny toys and influence/manipulate people into doing what you want, but it can't bring you fulfillment.  Can you use a Visa card to heal the pain of a divorce?  Can you use your Mastercard to buy true friends at Macy's?   don't think so.  If you died today and God asked you why He should let you into heaven, do you think that He would be impressed by all the billions of dollars on your PNC bank statements?  No.  The fact is that only a relationship with Christ can make you happy.  Money, at the end of the day, is just a bunch of paper and pieces of metal.  Can it buy amusement?  Yes.  Will it allow you to keep your house, your car, and provide for yourself and your family?  Yes.  Will it make you happy?  Heck no!

At the same time, God does expect us to be faithful stewards with what He has given us.  In other words, He expects us to manage our funds properly, as well as to save and invest wisely.  This is indicated by the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  That being said, our goal is to honor God in our usage of money by being generous, responsible and shrewd children of the Lord.  It is not to be a greedy slimeball who casts aside all morality and ethics and exploits people for their own personal gain.  For that reason, as much as I'd like to be a multi-gazillionaire, I'm going to focus on building my relationship with Christ and wisely using the provision that He is giving me now.  That way, if I do strike it rich with that awesome, kick-butt novel, I will know how to prudently use that wealth.   

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." (Luke 16:10)

October Celebrity Prayer Project: Ronda Rousey

This month's prayer project will be the Queen of MMA: Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey.  The girl is basically the female MMA version of Muhammad Ali and is highly entertaining, in addition to being a gifted athlete.  She has dominated all of her opponents so far and is currently unstoppable.  I was laughing my butt off when I saw her satirizing her haters on Youtube by pretending to be a Sarah Kaufman fan.  Alas, being beautiful, charismatic, and talented is not enough to get into heaven.  Only a relationship with Jesus will get you there.  For that reason, I will be praying that the Queen of MMA puts her faith into the King of Kings, who submitted our sin by dying on the cross and coming back from the dead 2,000 years ago.

(Photo from MMAWeekly.com)

Becoming A Disciple of the Awesome Band Disciple

 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

I once met an awesome fellow Christian named Pat who told me to check out a band called Disciple.  So I finally decided to look them up on Youtube.  I thought that Third Day and MercyMe were amazing, and indeed, they are good.  However, Disciple is on a whole new level.  From the mournful song called "Things Left Unsaid" to a plea to stay alive called "Suicide" they have some intense and visceral lyrics which have reminded me what Christ is all about.  He not only died and came back from the grave to get us into heaven, but He also wishes to provide healing and comfort through His relationship with us.  Christians have to deal with tragedy and depression too and they need a way to express it and find healing.  If your church has issues with you expressing the pain and suffering in your life, then you need to leave and find a better one.  True believers are there for each other through the bad times as well as the good. 

September Celebrity Prayer Project: Muhammad Ali

As a lover of combat sports, I decided to pick one of the greatest boxers of all time for this month's Celebrity Prayer Project: Muhammad Ali.  I first discovered him on ESPN as a child, where I saw a rerun of his boxing match against Ken Norton and was blown away by his speed and skill.  Now that my friend, Juan, has gotten me into boxing again, I've seen a documentary on Ali on Netflix and read more about his life.  I will watch another documentary involving him (which covers his fight with Chuck Wepner) as soon as I am done with this post.  I really think that God is working on his heart because Ali is much more humble and mature than he was as a young man.  In particular, I am impressed by the way that he sought to make amends for the way that he treated his rival, Joe Frazier.  Ali is one of the most entertaining and charismatic figures that this world has ever known and it would be a shame if "the Greatest" did not get to spend eternity with the one who made him so great: Jesus Christ.  For that reason, I will be praying for fifteen minutes every day that Ali has an encounter with the Lord who knocked humanity's sin down for the count 2,000 years ago.

(Photo from http://www.fanpix.net/picture-gallery/muhammad-ali-picture-19720138.htm)

Tough Love Is Good Love!

"Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me —that is oil on my head.  My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers." (Psalm 141:5)

Many people are under the false impression that love never chastises, rebukes, corrects, or disciplines.  Well, quite frankly, they are dead wrong.  There is such a thing as tough love, and it is necessary sometimes, especially when dealing with someone who is especially stubborn and unruly.  I myself am very thankful that I have many friends who are willing to speak out whenever I get a bad attitude or am about to do something dumb.  They have helped me stay on track and develop as a person.  Christians especially should be grateful when they are rebuked or metaphorically stricken (I do not think it is wise to actually strike someone in our particular culture since our society is extremely sue-happy) because it allows them an opportunity to change their ways so that they can grow closer to Christ.  It is one of the ways in which "iron sharpens iron" so to speak.  However, very often, rather than take constructive criticism like adults, we become defensive and angry, lashing out at the person instead of letting their words sink in so that we can evaluate whether or not their words have any merit.   So before you jump all over someone for daring to criticize you, ask yourself the following questions:

1) Are they trying to help you?
2) Have they always given you good advice in the past?
3) Do they have a strong relationship with Christ? Legalistic Pharisees and Corinthians who think that anything goes don't count.   
4) Is what they are saying biblical?  If it's a matter of personal taste, then does it fit ordinary common sense?

If the answer is yes to those questions, then you better take it and love it, bub.  After all, tough love is good love.